DearEvette

Hence the "let's pretend" and "theoretically" qualifiers in the post. It was meant to be an illustrative example of the ways in which influence and control can manifest rather than an implicit example of something that we all know isn't actually true.

I think Michelle's show-boating comment was the only criticism she could make with Bob for that episode, and it was a reach, imo. Really Bob had a great night. Her runway was excellent. She embraced the spirit of Snatch Game perfectly by choosing characters that are recognizable, exploiting the one thing they are recognizable for and yanking it up to 100. I kinda did wince a little when she told that Madonna anecdote because it seemed so try hard. But it also came off like nervous talking. So I could see where Michelle might have wanted her to pull back there. But she pretty much saved Snatch Game from being an utter bore. Thorgy & ChiChi were good, but Bob actually made me laugh. I wish Naomi had stuck with Whoopi. Even if Bob had settled on Whoopi they weren't actually doing the same Whoopi. Naomi seemed like she was going to do Whoopi as Celie. The only issue I might have had with that, was, could you even make Celie funny? Whereas Bob looked like he was gonna do 'Sister Act' Whoopi. Case in point, Bob didn't actually do Uzo Aduba, but rather she did Suzanne (Crazy Eyes), a character Uzo herself plays. I bet Acid Betty could have done a fab Jessica Walter. All you need is a champagne glass, a great eye-roll and some really snarky zingers. I still thin AB tanked on purpose. AB has shown herself to be a shrewd performance artist. A person as smart as she should not have been capable of being that bad for a caricature like Nancy Grace.

So...they kept Derrick around to do Britney for Snatch Game and this is what she gives us? She wasn't funny or quick or punny. She was just giving face. That is it. So very underwhelmed. At least we got saved from that horrible "white girl who thinks acting out black stereotypes is funny" character. ChiChi's side eye was great. I also can shenanigans that she placed higher than ChiChi. ChiChi's Eartha Kitt was so much wittier and her runway was better. Ugh. Now that she's actually done Britney maybe they'll start judging her and stop coddlingher. Bob was Hilarious! Her Uzo and her Carol Channing were great. My god, what the heck Acid Betty? Did she throw it? You can't tell me she couldn't do better than that. She could have done better make-up than that. Poor Naomi. I like how she just straight up said she was embarrassed.

Not really. For one thing we don;t know what the terms of the post-nup were. How are children provisioned? What is April entitled to? Obviously Catherine would have made sure the post-nup was not going to hurt them, but bitterness + money + resentment + hurt feelings can make a lot of people do things they wouldn't normally do. Look at the earlier episode that starred Rita Morena. She didn't care about her husband's money when they got married but when he fell in love with someone else she refused a divorce to get the 30 million dollars she was entitled to if she was still married to him when he died. Also, the ability to mold the mind and ideals of of a person while they are young is a major deal, especially when you are talking the type of influence such as a foundation like Harper-Avery is supposed to have. I mean they had enough money to buy a hospital and not feel the pinch. For instance, how are they going to decide on the religious guidance of the child? Who gets to decide there? Let's pretend April's faith was the sort that didn't believe in rights for gay people. In a case like that, then this child, influenced by said religion at an early age, could theoretically use the might of that power to throw money behind things that are opposed to LGBT interests. It is just an example, but those are the sorts of things that come into play when you are talking about who gets to control and influence a small child who will later come into a lot of money. Gloria Vanderbilt is a famous case of a child heiress whose various family members fought control over her.

You guys are so funny. I have been debating all day. Will I watch live or let myself be spoiled to prepare myself? My husband is looking at me like "Dude, get a grip!" LOL. I plan to watch live. As of now. That might change in 25 minutes. It's just a tv show, right? No need to stress. It'll be ok.

Yeah, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is great for diversity and a fab show. One of my faves. But I was trying to look at show where there were true leads, not necessarily ensembles. I also considered Chicago Med, because it has three black female main characters, but none of them, imo, could be considered leads, esp. since none of them so far has gotten any storylines of their own really. Or rather nothing that drives narrative or speaks to their inner lives.

Heh. It looks like Shonda Rhimes and Fox account for pretty much 100% of network dramas with black female leads. - Minority Report is cancelled - Sleepy Hollow's fate is up in the air - Empire will be back ABC is the most diverse across different ethnicites. Including the Shonda shows, we have: Quantico - East Indian female lead Agents of SHIELD - Asian female leads NBC is partial to Latina leads: -Chicago Fire -Shades of Blue CBS surprisingly has a lot more female lead shows that I'd thought, but only one with a WOC: Elementary (Asian female lead) or two if we consider Grace Park (Asian) a lead in Hawaii 5-0 In addition to the ones mentioned above, Fox also has a Latina lead in Rosewood. If we add in comedies: ABC is still pretty diverse: Blackish (black female lead) Fresh Off the Boat (Asian female lead) NBC is till pretty partial to Latinas: -SuperStore -Telenovela CBS: Crickets. Crickets. I am not finding any WOC leads or co-leads in any CBS comedies. Unless we count CW as a subsidiary, which case Jane the Virgin would count.

I also think the issues set up for them have been very interesting, far beyond Grey's standard soapy fare. There are are really good moral, ethical, legal and emotional stuff all roiling round in their story. I am gonna go the unpopular route and say that Catherine's inclusion is also a very good thing for the story. It is myopic to think that she wouldn't be involved. She loves her son, but she is also a sharp businesswoman who has for years been protecting her family's financial and professional interests. People like that don't sit back and just let things happen. And frankly, imo, left to their own devices April and Jackson by themselves do not make the story sing. I find their fighting tedious tbh. But with Catherine in the mix the story can go a lot of different ways. Jackson, rather naively, doesn't think about the Harper-Avery stuff, he is too busy just trying to be a regular guy. But unless there are a bunch of siblings or cousins running around, this kid is the next big heir. So it makes sense Catherine would be invested in the child.

Rose Rollins plays the co-owner of the detective agency and best friend of Mireille Enos' character on The Catch.

Let me get the UGH!!! stuff out of the way first. BUSTY ROSS. Why people why?!?!?! I was so pissed but then I read the article posted almost right after the episode aired (hmm... as if they knew fans would not like the idea of a revived BR). Ok, fine, let her and Ichabod say goodbye. Whatever. She is a terrible actress. Was that supposed to be weariness and despair on her face when she sat down with that blanket? JOE! I loved him as an addition and am super sad that he died. But I remember that conversation between Irving and his Priest about the companions of the Witnesses and some of them falling during the tribulations. It makes sense that some of their people to die. And at least I care about Joe and would not cheer him dying. DANNY. He's was part of the team for all of a nanosecond and started giving orders? Bitch please. Or questioning their decisions. 'Why do they both have to go?' Uh, Pandora's weary expression as she explained was great. If She could have eye-rolled him it would have been even better. I am glad he didn't die. Abbie doesn't need to mourn him like some noble martyr. But I hope she finds out he's been spying on her and reporting back about her and it kills any trust in for him in her. Please. Anything. Ok onto the good stuff. This was actually a good episode. Really good from a mythology standpoint. I especially love the shot of Abbie and Ichabod going across the Delaware, her singing, him looking all gorgeous bathed in the Dawn's Early Light. I loved all the time Abbie and Ichabod spent together. This was a good episode for their together time. I know people are pissed about Betsy, but for me all the good Ichabod/Abbie face time really outweighs that. Papa Mills being in the know! I the show gets renewed I hope he stays around. Jenny doesn't fall far from the tree. So it looks like Washington grabbed Betsy's cutlass when he left and he is actually the one that left it in the well, not her? My biggest disappointment, from a shipper standpoint, is if the show is using all the great Ichabbie stuff as a way to troll the shipper fans. Outside of that I am enjoying the storytelling, but it'll be tainted if that is what is happening. It doesn't help that Mison is really playing Ichabod as a man deeply in love. I mena he practically devours her with his eyes. I don't know if that is a directing note or if that is how he is choosing to do it. But if I don't think about the shippy stuff, this was a really, really good episode. Acts great as a penultimate episode.

Catherine was insistent that April sign a post-nuptial agreement. So maybe there was provision in there about children & divorce etc. that is very beneficial to April. That could be the "fraud" Catherine is talking about. I never thought I'd say this in a million years, but I liked the Maggie/Amelia/Meredith/Alex stuff. I was never crazy about it before it felt forced. But this felt natural. And Alex feels like their bro. I enjoyed them sitting around, waiting for pizza feeling comfortable enough with each other to speak unvarnished truth. Maggie wasn't neurotic (even though I kinda like her neurotic personality). She just sounded like a woman who was disappointed. Amelia wasn't annoying and seemed content in her choice. On a shallow note, I liked Steph's twist out. I had to snort at Owen clutching his pearls at the "inappropriate" conversation . Dude, did you wander into the wrong show? Oh, and by the way, why not go punch out your brother in law in the waiting room while you're at it. And we got kids sighting! The little actress that played Sofia was cute and the little girl who played Zola got lines too.

Heh. There is a funny article I read calling out Ron for being relentlessly mediocre even though he had a level of privilege and access that Harry and Hermione never had. Here is a quote:

1) I agree 100% with everyone calling shenanigans on the B2. Derrick should have been there. Her runway outfit was as basic and ChiChi's honestly but even worse her performance was completely forgettable. She disappeared. Also Lucian Pane's "You're not that great of a vocalist" bwah! Of their entire group, Chi Chi was the only one who made any impression during their song. This felt so totally producer driven so 1) they could create an arc for Chi Chi and 2) keep personality-free Derrick around for Snatch Game because the odds are she's gonna do Britney. 2) My favorite performance was Chicken Wing. They were fun, their song was clever and witty and not a single one of them got lost on the stage. Also, Individually, their runway looks were great and distinctive. Kim Chi's Picasso thing was amazing. But I also liked Robbie's 'Wicked Stepmother from Cinderella" look and Naomi's Barbie -- which looked amazingly doll like. 3) My favorite, group, though was the Street Meatz. Mainly because I could totally envision Betty, Thorgy and Bob in some sort of New York Drag Queen version of the Golden Girls. They were cracking me up even when they were a little on the outs during their collaboration. And My goodness, Thorgy has great facial expressions. She reminds me of Joanne Worley! Even Betty seemed like she was having some fun. I thought Bob's runway was a vast improvement. It was conceptual and seemed to evoke both the theme of the runway and the performance. Acid Betty is basically an artist. I didn't mind Thorgy's Window Pane look, but I agree she needs to edit. 4) I hated all the twirling during the LSFYL, but when ChiChi wasn't doing all that and was actually Lip-syncing, she was very riveting. She really can perform. I especially liked her ending on the universal "call me" sign by putting her finger & thumb to her ear and mouth. Once again. Naysha seemed to just disappear. 5) Untucked was wonderful. Holy Christmas. There were some great lines: Kim Chin to Debbie Harry: "Your Titties look great!" Bob to ChiChi "RuPaul has put his long skinny black man hands on you" Acid Betty to Thorgy "If I could touch my ears I would plug them" Everybody was so warm and sweet to each other. My god, even Acid Betty's heart seemed to grow three sizes. And I am not gonna lie, that was some classy shit Naysha did at the end given the little pep talk Michelle/Ru gave to Chi Chi. I totally get the defensive pride in poverty that ChiChi feels. It is bad enough you have nothing, you can't feel as if you are going around asking for shit. Hopefully she'll incorporate that. Man this season is really cracking so far, I hope this keeps up.

I know right? All I could do was shake my head trying to dodge all the anvils. But I can't get to mad at Rick in that moment. He was feeling a moment of real contentment. He was cuddling with bae, probably had a night of great sex, probably had the first full meal he's had in ages, was feeling confident in all of their preparations. So I get it. Ditto Abraham. Same deal... he got the girl he wanted and is feeling optimistic about letting someone close. His "I'm ready to rip the world a new asshole" sounded very much like Rick's "the world is ours". Sigh. Those poor suckers.

Yeah, i didn't get the significance of the scene my first watch. I had to re-watch and then put on closed captioning, because I couldn't catch what Abraham was saying. But Rick's face when he realized that Michonne wasn't back yet made my heart clutch a little. And then he just stood there waiting for her, not even bothering to stop by his house but instead just waited. And then with Abe repeating "any second now." Oh man. Not to be a Debbie downer, but man, I am can almost see the Grim Reaper stalking Glen. That shot of Maggie in the rear-view mirror as he, Michonne and Rosita are leaving felt significant.

Ah, I see you're coming from CDB in-universe perspective, but I was coming at it from a viewer perspective to give context as to why Morgan's position isn't necessarily wrong.

You don't have to care. However when discussing opposite points it is useful to try to bring in such things as perspective. The whole point of a discussion forum is discussion not utter dismissiveness.

Yeah, I think that is the whole point of the Abraham-Sasha-Rosita thing. Choice. I am not necessarily a fan of Abe/Sasha mainly because we got no real build up for it. But I am not opposed to them either. I am equally not necessarily a fan of Abe & Rosita's either. I was really rather meh on Abe and Rosita. They were just kinda there. They certainly didn't get the romance arc that Glen and Maggie got or that we are now seeing in the nascent phase of Michonne and Rick. The producer that was on Talking Dead kinda confirmed my thoughts about the how and why of Abraham choosing Sasha. She tied it back to when Deanna asked Michonne 'What do you want?" and now that they've had the opportunity to stop and breathe a little, they get to look around and think about what they want rather than what was expedient or convenient while they were on constant survival mode. And I agree last night was positive moment for Abe & Sasha.

Not really another role per se, but Sonequa Martin-Green and Lauren Cohan will be battling it out on Lip Sync Battle this Thursday. Here's a preview of SMG doing the Nae-Nae:

I don't disagree that Morgan's actions re: the wolf guy wasn't dangerous and stupid. But everything is a matter of perspective. We never get the wolf guy's perspective we don't know what pushed him to be what he is in that moment. Kinda like someone happening upon Carol shooting Lizzie in the head could make the assumption that she was a psycho child killer and needed to be put down. We constantly get "our" people's side of things so it easy to default to their perspective and feel they are right. But Carol herself is teetering to the side of a brutal and psychotic. Look at her response when finding out Jessie's husband was beating her. She used Rick's obvious interest in Jessie to try to manipulate him into killing the man right then and there. How many times did she whisper in Rick's ear like some modern day Iago "You know what you have to do, Rick." Egging him on to get the result she wanted, which would ironically also lead to getting a doctor killed.

Ha! Have you met Dre? But seriously, though, the show has given some subtle and not-so-subtle signals of the color divide between Dre & Bow. Like your breakdown about how black families talk to each other (this still happens in mine, btw, mostly among the older set. And yes my family members have a wide color range from true gingers -- red haired, green eyed & freckled -- to dark, dark jet skin) there is love, affection, and a whole heaping help of black solidarity, but there is also an undercurrent of knowledge of how color/colorism gets unpacked internally. But it is simply not done externally. You don't air your laundry in public, you do it in your backyard behind your fences. In the show, I noticed it was most overt when Bow's parents visited but there have been a few sprinkles here and there with Dre alluding to Bow's skin privilege.

This episode was so darned frustrating! Overall I have enjoyed this second half of S6, but this episode will probably go down as my least favorite one. Mainly because it seems like it existed for no other reason than for our characters to make out-of-character stupid decisions to put them in positions of vulnerability. They are not newbs to the ZA. They are survivors, all of them. The entire scene of everyone getting into a van to run after Daryl was just ludicrous. The actors couldn't even make their worry sound authentic. It was textbook "we must create an excuse move a small group of people from here to there to put them in jeopardy." I honestly think the time would have been better spent with them interacting with the Hilltoppers or if they wanted them to be put in a place of jeopardy, why not have a big meeting where they discuss the Saviors and have Rick ask for volunteers to go do some more reconnoitering to gather intel about the Saviors. It would have had the same effect of separating the groups and getting some of them captured. But it would have been accomplished from a place of logic and action and not a place of dumb decision making. I also liked the conversation with Rick and Morgan. Like it or not, Morgan's perspective is necessary given how Rick has become Quick Draw McGraw. Killing strangers just because they are strangers should not be your first instinct. I also appreciate that he acknowledges that his pacifist approach may not be right but it is right for him. Re: Michonne and the apple. I don't think it was meant to be some overtly sexy thing. This is probably the first time they've had fresh fruit in ages. I read it more as a treat she had been excited to get. Like a kid on Christmas morning, the first thing you do when you get up because you've been anticipating it. Also, yes, as dental hygiene. Sure they may have some toothpaste sitting around, but they've been so low on food as we saw that it isn't outside the possibility that toothpaste is scarce too. When going on runs, food would have been their priority. It actually makes sense. If they are slowly devolving back into a pre-industrial society they have to become more sustainable (Eugene's got the right idea). Using more natural stuff like apples, mint, eucalyptus oil, pulped strawberries etc. is more beneficial in the long run.

I know, I love how she said "I'm not proud of what I just did there." Ha!

This is a great panel. I am loving them and how insightful they are. YNB knows her show! And yes, Sonequa's comment about a person not being able to run away from themself is a great point.

Sonequa's hair, tho!!