DearEvette

Oh, I love Betty. I want Betty. When Will asked about the results of Faith's blood test and she said 'The results came back positive for mind yo' business' I felt as if the words were coming out of the mouths of one of my aunties. I remember someone asked one of my aunts how old she was and she snapped back "I am grown ass woman years old. Now mind your business." And then her line about Ormewood and Angie doing a magic trick when they whipped back the curtain made me LOL as well. Will, Faith, Angie and Ormewood as a team were great. They were like the anti-Scoobies. So prickly, but still did the work. I admit I immediately suspected the son when he came to pick up his parents at the hospital. He was too anxious to get them away, not concerned enough that they hit someone with a truck. Also if he really were a ritualizing serial killer, Ormewood would not meet his pattern. It would give him stress to torture/kill Ormewood the way he does his regulars. Mostly he should have just incapacitated and stashed him, not added him to the roster. I do like that Ormewood kinda saved himself. As much as he annoys me on principal, I did like how he came through for himself and the other guy in the end. Another building block in the Will and Faith partnership. I am liking them quite a bit. This is where I am at with Will and Angie. I like her and I like them together. But Angie also makes me nervous. The show makes a point of bringing up her addiction and yet we never hear her even mention going to a meeting or anything. She seems to be soldiering but she gives me vibes. Maybe I am just too used to how narrative fiction usually works. If they point out a thing, it is at some going to become a thing. And I almost feel like Angie and Will are doing ok now, but some downfall is imminent.

I've always heard that the use of Clamato instead of just tomato juice made it a Bloody Caesar not a Bloody Mary. I could never bring myself to use Clamato. LOL. Something about clam juice in my drink just makes me squick.

I think for me Alternate Timeline stories are hit or miss. I tend to like it as a trope overall and Tv Tropes has a bunch that fall in the same family but are all slightly different-- Alternate Timeline, Alternate Universe, Alternate History, Alternate reality etc. I like them when a tv show explores a 'what if' alternate reality scenario in an episode. It can be fun. Grey's had an interesting one and of course the Community episode stands out as one of my favorites. More often than not if they are really playing with timeline shenanigans as an overall arc it gets muddled and confusing and yeah, they often don't commit to a real swing for the fences change unless they are trying to get creative about a major character leaving. I will say, one of my favorites was Eureka. In Season one Carter gets an Alt reality timeline episode and gets to experience his idyllic future only to know he can't keep it because it becomes and ethical dilemma. Only for the next four seasons to move him toward just that future in a more natural way (well, not exactly natural because it is Eureka).

Apparently Jessica Batten and her husband are expecting. Sounds like she is halfway through her pregnancy? Congrats to them. https://www.instagram.com/p/CnmoNNVpWhd/

I am sure Ke Huy Quan will take home the supporting actor trophy. But I am tickled that Brian Tyree Henry got a nomination and well deserved recognition. He has such range. I am always impressed when I see him in a role.

Yeah, from a personal standpoint, I think both the director and Joyce Carol Oates are garbage people. I am fine with de Armas being recognized for the performance since in my personal opinion the performance should be the driving force of the award. My comment was more along the lines of acknowledging that historically (and even currently) the Oscars have allowed circumstance beyond best performance to dictate result.

Huh. I am surprised. I thought I'd be a Barbara, but I am a Melissa.

Fair. And since the 'body of work' win happens enough, I am ok with it if that is the reason she wins (if she does). She should've won for Tina Turner. To this day I believe her performance was head an shoulders above Holly Hunter's in the Piano. The Supporting Actress category is a stacked category. I am rooting for her.

I think people are surprised because she has no recognition from any of the run ups, not even,I believe the big slate of Critics awards. There is also the fact that supposedly her campaign was championed/spearheaded by a big slew of A-list celebrities who hosted screenings of the film and were using their own SM to praise her and the film. And yeah, I find the Ana de Armas nomination more than a little squicky given the film. I gather her performance was good. And all things being equal that should be the only thing that matters. But this is the Oscars, sometimes the best performance is beside the point.

Eureka - I do a full re-watch every couple/three years Leverage - ditto Lovesick - cute little British rom com that runs 3 seasons on Netflix. The Friend group is great Firefly - yeah, it's Joss Whedon ... but my love for Gina Torres is a fearsome thing 9-1-1 - Still on air, but the early seasons are really easy to consume between seasons Legends of Tomorrow - but only really seasons 2 and 3. Midnight, Texas - Season 1

My husband, throughout the entire show, was always so tickled about how wrong Quentin was each time. He cracked on poor Quentin so much! I will give Quentin some credit, he was so convinced Kate was a traitor and he stuck to that conviction more often than not and voted her every chance he could. But, I think Kate's out loud personality overshadows the fact that she was just as wrong as Quentin in her track record, tbh. She was convinced it was Micheal and she let her personal dislike of Rachel convince her Rachel was a traitor. The only vote she got correct was Christian and by then there were so few of them left and she was up against him, that she kinda had no choice. Yeah, the challenge aspect was the weakest part of the game imo. The only urgency to win the challenges was because without them you couldn't add any money to the pot. Putting people on teams really added nothing because a team loss didn't really do anything to help suss out a traitor. It is not in the traitor's best interest to sabotage a challenge, they are taking money out of their own pocket. It just created resentment and frustration. There was no need because paranoia was already there. It would have been better if, say, the members of the winning team were exempt from being murdered that night or if an opportunity to win a shield was always on the table from the start. Regards the casting, yes, this was also a weakness. I think they lucked out with Cirie and Kate which gave the personality a show liked this needs. And non-reality folks like Andie and even Christian and Quentin. But overall the casting of the non-reality folks was rather bad. For me, I didn't even know any of the reality people at all, except Ryan Lochte (and only because of him being an olympic swimmer and because of a super funny clip of a pair of morning show tv anchors absolutely losing their shit on air about how not bright he comes off) and I had only heard about Cirie through pop culture references. But even without knowing any of the reality people, they had an assurance in front of the camera that spoke of some comfort/familiarity with the rhythms of tv reality competitions that gave them the spark that none of the non-reality folks had and made them easier to take as canon fodder. Even though I enjoyed the heck out of this, this did have the feel of something thrown together really quickly. I had heard that the challenges were exactly the same ones the British one had. So that adds to the 'thrown together' quality. Maybe if they had taken more time and had a longer, more thorough casting process they might have found a more eclectic, charismatic group of non-reality folks. Let;s face it, the reality stars of today started out as 'normals' themselves. So it can be done.

Another good episode. I am enjoying this show so far quite a bit. As much as I appreciate the comic relief of the B-plot with Angie and Ormewood and their triplets, I kinda wish the show had just stayed with the A plot alone. It as a great plot with a nice twist but it felt rushed. Too bad GBI got called in because Josie might have gotten away with it. But as it her mistake was taunting with the toy car. It was the one thing that pointed them to the older murders. And well, it is totally a tv thing for a criminal to hold onto evidence that could come back and later incriminate you. She was smart to insist on being the one to send the nail because that was the only piece of evidence that directly incriminated her. But dude, throw that shit in a dumpster don't keep it in your car! I think Ormestead's wife is an idiot. If he cheated once, he probably cheated more than once. What is she gonna do? Invite every woman to her house and warn them off? Also what if Angie was the type of woman to ignore her and still sleep with him. Then what? I'd also be curious to how she found out he was cheating? Sure 'cops wives talk' but unless one of them is a ride or die friend, the likelihood is not one of them is gonna talk to your face about your husband cheating. They'd be more likely to gossip about it in your absence. I like how Faith and Will are evolving. I like the touches of humor they are adding into their interactions. Interesting about Faith's mother and Amanda. It sounds like regardless of what she did, Amanda still holds her is some esteem or affection. Every person I've known from Atlanta, especially my black friends, 100% believe Lake Lanier is haunted. So Faith's conviction felt right on the money.

Yeah. my heart kinda sank when I read that casting announcement.

I also have to wonder if some of her past reality show game history was working on her as she went through her thought process there in the end. She had made it this far, and it would, imo, have been galling for Arie to have somehow come in so late i the game as a traitor only to somehow manage swoop in and take it from her in the end. She had no way of knowing where his mind was in this. Sure, in hindsight we see how it played out, but in the moment she had no real way of knowing if he would have gone for banishment or end game at that point. I could imagine being that close to winning and starting to get nervous about how he could derail her. Because at that point he really was the only one who could.

I unreservedly loved the book. But that is because I think he got the toxic dynamics of a University academic department just right. Plus the humor. I am so curious about the adaptation. I plan to do a re-read.

This was a good episode. The actor for Evan was good because I flat out hated his guts from the moment he was lucid enough to speak. I was never so happy for someone to be caught. I liked that Paul saying 'we recognize predators' made both Angie and Will pause from thinking he was just being gung-ho and hot headed without thought to considering he might be right because of their shared experience. Speaking of, I really like that element of three of them and that connection. Even though the Emma storyline is over, I hope we see Mark-Paul Gosselaar again. I do like Angie and holy man, but her back story is horrific. Explains her addiction issues more than just being a vice cop who got caught up. I will say, though, that I am getting uneasy vibes. Her addiction feels like a Checkov's gun ready to go off. I felt like when her sponsor was telling her she needed to get to a meeting that she was giving 'Yeah, Yeah..I'll get to it." without really planning to. I am enjoying the very slow gel of Faith and Will. Her coming in with the Taser and saying "this is why you keep me in the loop" was fun as was her praising herself in his voice. And yes, she was rocking that outfit. I noticed it right off! A couple other light moments I appreciated: The Homicide cops learning about Angie and Will and being gossipy about it. And the super awkward hug Paul gave Will at the end.

My interpretation is at the end, Cirie was really struggling with a lot of conflicting emotions. She genuinely liked Andie and Quentin and she knew they both, especially Andie, really needed the money. But then so did she. And in reality, the only way they'd get the money anyway was if both she and Arie were banished. And she had come this far and did so much as a traitor that not getting the money in the end would have made the whole thing a waste. Regards Arie, she also struggled with her loyalty to him. They were both Traitors. But in her end game calculation, like she said, she was a Traitor longer, struggled longer, had to act longer, had to lie longer etc. He would end up with the reward for doing less work. It is kinda like doing group work in school. You do all the work and the teacher adds a new student to your group at the very end and they get the 'A' as well. As I was watching, I don't think I could have made that decision. I am too much a weenie. I would have voted end game at that point and just split the money with Arie. This is why I have to give her mad, mad props and end the end what made that last episode so riveting. It was really a boss move. As fo Arie himself, I think Cirie had boxed him in a corner. I am assuming the rules did not allow one traitor to outright out another traitor. If it came down to a banishment vote, I think he read the writing on the wall and knew he did not have the votes. Andie was ride or die for Cirie and I think Quentin was in her pocket to. He just did not have the loyalty from them that she had. I think he simply felt it would be easier to concede rather than get banished.

I jsut thought of some other great lines. When Gregory was low key trying to tell Janine that Maurice may not be the best guy (seriously, Gregory not cool) Janine asked "Is he a derelict? Is he a ne'er do well?" I was like, what in the 1800s...? When Henry was giving his sales pitch to Ava: "Excuse me sir, ma'am, or otherwise identifying human.” Also Ava referred to the candy bars as Wonka Bars. The only Wonka Bars I know that are still for sale are those that are made with cannabis.

Another top notch episode with good use of the cast in their different plots. Ava was on fire this episode. This was her wheelhouse and they used her well and effectively. I really liked her in this. I especially loved the scene of her teaching them selling tactics. I especially loved all the quips and verbal word play. The writers have really upped their game in this. One of my favorite lines was from the above mentioned scene: “Some people might ask for change, but those people are not Sam Cooke. So change is not gonna to come.” Some of my other favorites have also already been mentioned: Yup. I think I gasped-laughed when she said that and I had to rewind. Then I also cackled. The line delivery is what really sold this as was the dawning realization in his face. I was so happy to see Courtney. Of Course she is Ava's go-to. And her smile was both innocent and shark-like at the same time. Put me down as one who does not think Janine self-sabotaged. I think Janine has never been on a date with anyone but Tariq and it is looking like she never had any real girlfriends or even regular social interactions of that sort to give her the cues -- remember her friend Sarai from last season, Janine would wait outside of clubs while Sarai partied. So I just think she would think nothing of eating some good ribs. I do like how they are writing Maurice. He is a funny surprise. And I liked how invested Melissa was in 'Mo' and Janine's date. The Jacob/Mr. Johnson plot was great. I liked them acting like bickering parents who couldn't agree on how to raise their child. It also reminded us of Mr. Johnson's love of conspiracy theories .. hence his refusal to get Milton micro chipped. The end tag of Mr. Johnson crying was hysterical. But I wonder if he already knew whose cat that was? He insisted on calling the cat Milton and that was the name on the missing cat poster as well. I think the kids are the most realistic thing about the show. Even elementary school kids can be wise-asses I also think they are right on about the kids in Jacob's class and older being much more snappy with the comebacks. this school goes up to the eighth grade so the kids are gonna run the range on personality, how sophisticated some of them are based on home life, and their access to social media. We already saw last season that the kids in Jacob's class absolutely killed him in the Dozens. And we know the ones this year listen to Budden podcasts. So that crew is gonna be more precocious. But then we get a Henry who is also in that age range who is super sweet. And reading between the lines, he doesn't seem to have much at home so he doesn't come off as confident as the other boys. And yet a younger Courtney, who we know is killer smart and specializes in 'Psychological Warfare' is gonna be a pistol. One of my top five favorite lines on this show ever is from last season's Zoo Balloon episode where Mr. Johnson was with the kids who could not go to the zoo and he told them to keep out of his hair and that one little girl said 'Sir, you are bald." That line takes me out every time I see that scene because her line delivery was funny as hell and it that felt 100% authentic. Speaking of Henry, I liked that his circumstances showed yet another softer side of Ava. She had clothes in her office to give to kids who might not have them. Sure she cracks wise while she is doing it (btw, do they still call short pants like that 'Floods' or 'Highwaters?') but she handed it over with no judgement. So yeah, this was a great episode, imo.

Finale Episode: Oh man. Oh man. Oh man. That last episode was intense. Really, tho, hats off to this show. Well done. That was a great ending. Brava to Cirie. Alan was right, she has the best poker face. At the point when it was the last four, it was a win-win for Cirie and Arie if they had all voted to end game. They would have won anyway. But Cirie took the gamble and it paid off. I will say I was watching with my hoodie pulled up almost to hide my face when Arie walked after revealing he was a traitor. Andie and Quentin were so grateful to Cirie for "umasking" the traitor. Knowing what was coming I was watching their grateful tears and their certainty with winning the money with a fair amount of pity and cringe. But like Cirie said, she was a traitor. What was she gonna do, walk away? So she had to be the best traitor she could be. So yeah, like any reality show I have ever watched I feel like the first season is really rather pure and always in hindsight tends to be the most satisfying. S1 participants really don;t know what to expect so they are winging it as they go along. They are the least predictable and are more fun to watch. Subsequent seasons, for me, the participants all tend to try to tailor their actions to what went before so they feel less authentic and even more calculating in their actions/reaction. With a game like this, I think that would be an even bigger issue. Anyway, I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would.

Airdate: 01/18/2023

One more episode to go. I have been spoiled, of course, but still very excited to see how it all plays out. I have to say Christian's face when he was voted out cracked me up. He just looked gobsmacked. But, dude, you were sooo obvious and then you threw out Cirie's name where up to that point nobody really had and in front of Arie. You were toast from that moment. Also the hubris. He really thought he was indestructible. I just knew karma was coming for him. The laser thing was very cool. And Andie was a joy to watch. I just love them. So I am going to feel bad when they find out Cirie is a traitor. My husband always crack up at them and Quentin because he is like 'they are just so wrong, so very wrong.' LOL.

So there is a new Netflix dating reality show that brings back other Netflix dating reality show people (who were unlucky in love in their first show) . it is called 'The Perfect Match.' Several people from LIB will be on it: From S1 - LC, Diamond and Damian From S2 - Shayne From S3 - Bartise (sigh) here's the cast announcement clip:

Yes. it is sometime after Duke died because she explicitly says it and I remember her mascara being all messed up. Also, IIRC, during Helen's meeting with Blanc, he said he could pull some strings and delay the news of Andie's death by a week. So I think they got to the island the following weekend after they got the boxes.

The only banishment I felt kinda bad for was Shelbe. I did like even thought Cirie is beast-mode gamer, she did take time out to check in on Shelbe when she isolating herself a bit. Also I got back on the Kate love train. She was totally cracking me up again. The only banishment I felt great about was Rachel's. Like Quentin said, you learn a lot about a person when they are under pressure. She was just being an asshole during her banishment. No class. Also I felt the ghost of Shelbe hovering. During Shelbe's banishment Rachel was hammering her hard to "prove" she was a faithful and Shelbe rightly said "nothing I say will convince you." Meanwhile during Rachel's banishment all she herself could say is "I promise you I am a faithful." So like Shelbe there was nothing she could say that sway anyone. Also it was just a game until it was her on the block and then it became personal and back-stabby.