Black Knight

We're not seeing unprecedented numbers, though, simply a return to past numbers - not even the all-that-distant past, but those of around a decade ago.

Yes, from the start.

Because he's always gotten away with it in the past, and so he doesn't think this time will be any different. And it's easy to see why he thinks that. The entire women's World Cup championship team plus all of the coaches except the head coach have resigned, FIFA has suspended him, athletes all through Spain and around the world are protesting, the incident was on camera for everyone to see, and yet the Spanish soccer federation is still defending him and threatening Hermoso with legal action. I do think eventually the Spanish soccer federation will face reality and push him out, but it's unbelievable (and yet sadly not) the amount of pressure and the length of time that has already gone by without that happening. So one can see why he thinks he can just tough this out.

We weren't shown it, but I can believe it since Karen and Wayne do pot together (loose lips) and that a core part of their friendship for them is that they can say things to each other that they would not to anyone else. That's true. However, Dev picked his date specifically in an attempt to beat the USA and Russia to Mars. He had to fully expect that they would move their projects up. He'd have done the same. It wasn't NASA's decision, it was Dani's as the commander of the ship. As Ed and Tracey reiterated at key points in this series, once in space the commander decides. NASA and Helios with their 8-minute delay weren't in a position to do anything anyway. It was interesting after all the test pilot stuff to see things play out with Ed just as they did with Apollo 10. I don't fault him for aborting the mission, especially in the tin can that was the Helios landing vehicle. If Ed had been flying the much sturdier Sojourner, I think he would have landed successfully, and that if Dani had been in Ed's seat in the Helios lander, she also would have aborted the landing. In the end, this validated Margo's decision to choose Dani over Ed. Nobody ever argued that Dani wasn't better suited for the remainder of the mission; Ed and his proponents just didn't trust that she was a good enough pilot to handle the spaceflight and landing. But both of them are completely capable in that respect, so it made sense to choose the one who fit the rest of the mission better. As Kelly noted when she chose NASA over Helios, the NASA mission was more science-focused. Speaking of Kelly, I liked the moment when Karen was watching the TV coverage feeling sad for Ed, but then saw her daughter named as one of the first eight on Mars and cheered up. I imagine that will also be of great consolation to Ed. A Baldwin was still on the first vehicle to land successfully on Mars. Ed already has a number of historic accomplishments; now his daughter does too.

As much as I love side characters, and agree the canvas would really benefit from them, the absence of them is probably due to budgetary realities. B&B is a half-hour soap and consequently pulls in less ad revenue than the remaining hour-long soaps.

Watching S3 now after binging the first two seasons. It's been said a few times that Karen is a fantastic recruiter, so it was interesting to see her fail with Aleida. It seemed like her fatal misstep came when she talked about Aleida being seen as Margo's girl. She didn't realize that's what Aleida has wanted since she was a teen who'd recently lost her mother, to be Margo's girl. Karen was doing better when she was just promising more money and lack of bureaucratic bullshit - impersonal incentives that could let Aleida tell herself that she could make the move from NASA without damaging her personal relationship with Margo. Once Karen cast the move as a deliberate split from Margo specifically, it was over.

This was briefly covered when Margo went to visit Aleida. We found out that the amnesty the IRL Reagan administration offered took place in the alternative timeline too. That’s how the status of Aleida and many others like her changed. (Just binged S2 and now catching up here.)

Dotun mentioned in an interview that he's able to work remotely. So it could work out well enough, he can work while she's training etc. Not really that much different from any couple where both of them work.

It's not really the same with baseball as it is with football or basketball. The last time a MLB team moved was 2005, 18 years ago. Before that? 1972. A 33-year gap. So in the last 51 years, two MLB teams have moved. The A's appear set to finally break the current streak, and make it 3 teams over 52 years. Plus, MLB would like to get to 32 teams, both for the number balance and for the hefty billion-plus buy-in fees that would be shared among the 30 current owners. The antitrust exemption in MLB is one factor for why teams move so rarely compared to other sports. Another is that building a new audience can be harder than re-energizing an existing audience. Sure, e.g. Charlotte is a bigger media market than Milwaukee, but that doesn't guarantee more viewers, especially in baseball. It's not a coincidence that Vegas is the market actually getting a relocated team in the A's, as the expectation is that tourists will help fill the stadium as part of hotel packages and so forth. This makes Vegas unique among the markets that don't currently have a MLB team; other markets would be almost entirely dependent on cultivating a local fanbase. That can be tough, especially for baseball. A relocation from Milwaukee to Charlotte or Nashville is unlikely to result in such increased revenue that the owners would now be willing to spend like the Yankees or Dodgers. Without stars or success, the lack of roots can easily cause locals to grow disinterested quickly, since there aren't decades of emotional investment. In other words, in the new market the ceiling may be higher, but the floor is definitely lower. It's easy to see why MLB teams, despite their posturing, have for the last five decades typically balked at actually moving.

Ridge and Taylor's second marriage lasted around five years (until her "death" at Sheila's hand), IIRC, because of Hunter Tylo's edict that the couple couldn't divorce. So the writers had to come up with stories besides having them divorce and remarry every couple of months.

I just finished binging this over a few days. It started slow for me, but the twists in the last few episodes - awesome! There's an interview with the showrunner prior to this where he confirmed that Helena Eagan is an idea they came up with mid-season. However, in a later interview with Britt Lower, she mentioned that because of the pandemic shutting down production, the cast had the complete finished scripts before filming began. And also, that filming was done out of order - they didn't film one episode at a time in chronological order. So the show certainly had a lot of room to fix episode 2, and didn't. I'm surprised nobody mentioned Dichen Lachman's stint on the Joss Whedon show Dollhouse a little over a decade prior to this show. When Ms. Casey was revealed to be Mark's wife Gemma, I laughed and said to myself that I should have seen that twist coming since it was Lachman in the role.

It's Roblox, which unlike Dreams isn't dying but going stronger than ever. Just like Grouchy Goat is Goat Simulator, Mythic Quest is World of Warcraft, and some of Poppy's ideas echo Minecraft. It's interested me how the writers do acknowledge IRL games, like when CW plays some of the most famous cut scenes for Rachel and they specifically name The Last of Us and so forth, but when it comes to the games the characters themselves develop, the obvious real-life inspirations are never named. But it's the writers' way of telling us that Poppy and Ian and Dana all have legit talent. Dana as the youngest, just starting out, gets linked to the unpolished indie hit that became a series, while Poppy and Ian are linked to some of the biggest games ever.

It wasn't "real" truth serum - Isabella said something about the combination of alcohol plus drugs having that effect. In other words, that a chemically-messed-up Luke wouldn't really be able to be careful about what he said. I'm pretty sure I saw the showrunner say somewhere that all the blood was Luke's. Shows can get a little overly enthusiastic about throwing fake blood around. Maybe she thought it helped sell the story that her boyfriend ran away from his life and thus ran out on her?

The problem with that scenario - and don't get me wrong, with these writers you could be completely right, because we all know this season's writers didn't think things through - is that Isabella didn't have transportation. It was mentioned in this very episode that for Isabella to be at the cabin the first time (for the planned ambush of Luke), Megan had to drive her there and drop her off, then return to the party to get Luke and bring him up. If the cabin was within quick walking distance, seems like Isabella could have just walked up the first time. That's why I thought Isabella killed Luke when she and Megan returned the following day. But really, the more I think about it, I feel you're right about the timing and the writers just totally forgot or ignored Isabella's transportation issues. This all goes to one of the big reasons that S2 failed. A show like this thrives on viewers speculating. But when there isn't any logic whatsoever, it makes speculation feel completely pointless because there is nothing to ground it on. The writers showed their hand early in that respect with the ridiculous "Megan would lose her scholarship if people know she was the one on the sex tape" plot point. I tried really hard to just forget about that, but it became evident that it wasn't a one-off that I could give the show a mulligan on but indicative of the entire season. S1 was not perfect in terms of logic, but those writers laid down clues and paid them off. Viewers were able to correctly speculate on who actually saw Kate in the house on the specific night in question that Kate referenced. And while the ending twist wasn't popular, it didn't go against everything we'd seen before. It fit in with a pattern of behavior for the character in question, and it was clever in that it pointed up that while we were all obsessing over the specific night in question that Kate was focused on, she was actually in the house for months and so that one night was not the only time someone could have learned she was in there. The twist didn't even make Jeanette a liar, because she was always careful about how she phrased her denials. It all held together pretty well. Unlike this season. Brent mentioned the sheriff gave him five minutes to talk to Megan. I assumed he told the sheriff the truth when he first came in, and then asked to be allowed to tell Megan himself. The sheriff didn't give any indication of being surprised as he listened in.

Thank goodness this season is over. I LOL'd at the final shot of Megan, because it felt like the writers were trying to set up a potential continuation where the next season would be about Megan chasing Isabella around trying to bring her to justice. Or maybe they just wanted us to assume that Isabella won't get away with it in the end because Megan will make it her life's mission. Either way, don't care, certainly would not watch another season of this particular story. Yes. Isabella's parents are rich and we've never had any indication that they rein in Isabella's spending. Remember that expensive high-end computer she got Megan for Christmas that Megan got pissy about? And how over the winter she was already planning a trip to Ibiza? In any case, if she was near the limit on her credit card, I'm sure all she would've had to do is call and they would have purchased the ticket for her. They'd want her out of there ASAP. So Ned has security cameras all over the place, but never ever bothered to check the footage from any of them, not even when Steve was busy trying to get the cops to arrest him? Steve is even more of an asshole than previously known: So when he thought the cops had hit a dead end on investigating Luke's murder, instead of being happy about that and just leaving it alone, he went and hired a private investigator explicitly to try to get someone sent up for it anyway? Debbie being completely absent in this episode was weird. No closure on whether Isabella did or didn't murder Lisa, but I don't really care. And the whole thing with Luke's murder was weird. So Brent couldn't find him in the morning after shoving him off the pier, and then Luke eventually dragged himself to the shore and just laid there for what, 10-12 hours? It looked dark again by the time Isabella found and killed him. Why would Luke just be laying there for so long? The alcohol and drugs would long since have worn off, and that ear nick wouldn't cause him to lose so much blood that he'd still be weak that much later. And he had plenty of time to rest up in all those hours, but was still so weak that he put up the most infinitesimal of struggles. None of that makes sense.

They came up with that all the way back when they were shooting the fourth episode of the first season. So if anything, it was actually a relatively early idea, as opposed to being late or tacked on. It's a normal part of the writing process for television. As for Jeanette being misunderstood, I don't really agree with that, but it was certainly Jeanette's opinion, and I think that helped them in the writing of her. If they'd simply considered her the villain, it would likely have bled through in the writing and ruined one of the most interesting elements of S1, the mystery of Jeanette. (Actors also often defend rather terrible characters they play, because they can't really get inside the character's head if they're judging from outside.) I'd really like to have seen the S1 creative team have a go at the Isabella/Megan/Luke trio.

It's probably partly a function of the new requirement that NBA teams must be spending at least 90% of the salary cap at the start of preseason. Teams would rather potentially overpay a star than overpay bench players in order to hit that required floor. Plus, Brown's contract will be surpassed by other players' contracts in years to come, making it look less expensive/better value in hindsight.

Yeah, it is weird. S1 was such a viral sensation - you'd think the network would have done whatever it took to keep the creative team intact. Instead nearly everybody leaves, the new team feels they have to stick to the three-timelines concept but doesn't understand how to actually execute it in a way that makes it more than just a gimmick, and also does not understand how to create engaging lead or secondary characters. S1 not only had interesting leads, it gave real depth to many of the secondary characters. I've said it before, the premise for S2 had real promise (maybe the original creative team spit-balled it before they left...). It's just been executed so badly on a writing level.

I guess the writers could claim that because Debbie is often puttering around the place, the girls decided to keep up the illusion of their estrangement even when alone, just in case. It's silly, but so much of the writing has been silly that we obviously can't use that to rule out any possibility. I do suspect the season is going to end with at least two of the three of Luke/Megan/Isabella "in on it together."

Isabella did address that before she left the cabin. She blackmailed him with the threat of showing everyone the tape they'd made of Luke if he said anything. Luke agreed to stay silent. I was expecting one final reveal, that Luke kissed Isabella expressly for the purpose of then throwing her under the bus to Megan in an attempt to ruin their friendship. From what we saw of Luke and Isabella's relationship in this episode in the time leading up to the plunge, it doesn't make sense that he'd hit on her for real. He knew she was all about Megan and trying to push him out. I don't think it was ever described that way. The police chief recapped the coroner's report for us in the second episode, which was that Luke's cause of death was drowning, and that his ear had an abrasion suggestive of a gunshot wound. But that the bullet did not penetrate and it was just a surface nick. An episode focused mostly on the Chambers guys. Blech. So as this season limps to a close - thank goodness there's only one episode left - I guess it's down to Brent, Jeff, or Luke's dad who went to meet him on the dock. Or someone we've never met. I feel like we're being set up for a "shocking reveal" that Luke actually faked his death, and that the final scene of the season will be him on a boat somewhere. There's that pesky issue of the body, but I'm sure these crappy writers can come up with a supremely ridiculous explanation full of holes.

He gets a record 6.05 billion on this sale for being an utter sleaze. I'd call that failing up. Of course he couldn't be made to give up ownership of the franchise for free, but it still sucks. I'm happy for the long-suffering DC fans that they're finally rid of him.

Essentially, there can only be one theory of the crime. The prosecutors would need to decide whether to charge Megan for Luke's murder, or Isabella for Luke's murder, or both of the girls together for Luke's murder. They can't just say to a jury, "Figure out which of those three scenarios you think is the most believable." The girls' defense attorneys would have a field day, since all it takes in the U.S. is reasonable doubt. Since Isabella and Megan are each claiming the other girl did it on her own, that makes the "they did it together" theory hard to prove in court in the absence of concrete evidence. And without a preponderance of evidence pointing specifically to one girl over the other, each of them saying the other did it makes it a toss-up. Since Isabella and Megan aren't friends anymore and don't trust each other, agreeing to just throw each other under the bus would be the smart play. They don't have the trust necessary to take the other option, that of both of them staying silent and stonewalling the cops. Each of them would be paranoid that while she stayed silent, the other girl would be accusing her of doing everything. Neither of them is willing to go to jail for the other at this point, but I do think there's just enough feeling left on both sides that they'd prefer not to have the other girl go to jail either if it can be avoided. Isabella is obviously somewhat stuck on Megan, and Megan acknowledged during interrogation that nobody else would have taken the rap for the sex tape, so I think she still feels a bit of a debt.

What was the tint of the scene? Blue is winter, green is summer 2000. Summer 1999 is basically normal lighting, the yellow turned up slightly to make it brighter. She wanted to remain clear-headed for the inevitable scene of Luke and Isabella accusing each other of stuff so she could better sort out who was lying. I don't think it'll come back up as there aren't any plot ramifications. It shows Megan didn't trust Isabella, but both we and Isabella already knew that. One thing that did strike me was at the police station when Megan and Isabella started throwing each other under the bus. The chief commented earlier about how their stories for being at Ned's matched up almost word-for-word. Well, so did their accusations against each other. Since the girls had already coordinated a story for the possibility of getting caught at Ned's, I wonder if they coordinated their turning on each other should the police come up with more evidence as well. Sort of an inverted version of the old trope about everyone confessing to the same crime so that the police don't know who to charge - if Isabella says Megan did it and Megan says Isabella did it, then it's a wash.

Well, at least the plot moved forward and we're one episode closer to the end. Since Luke knew Brent was taping sex with girls, and taped his sex with Megan, I wonder if he also taped his sex with Isabella. And did Isabella know this or not? We were shown that she knew Brent was taping sex with girls. At this point it seems like everybody knew it except Megan somehow. Ugh to Luke and Brent's dad. My guess for Luke's murderer is Parker. I don't know why or how that would have come about. I think it just because they keep going back to Brent's skeeviness for some reason, even though he's not the murder victim (and should have been). And Parker is just a pointless character otherwise.

I remember back then very well. Some people already knew about "no year zero" and others understood once it was explained to them. But a good chunk of the latter just didn't care. To a degree that's what many of the "well, actually" people didn't seem to get, that it's not that people didn't necessarily know or understand, it's that they didn't care. It was just too cool to see the numbers change from 1999 to 2000, and the change from 2000 to 2001 wasn't nearly as exciting, so the former is what people chose to celebrate, even if they knew about "no year zero." This season has a lot of issues, but to me, the biggest one is that the question of who killed Luke (if anyone did) just isn't that interesting, unlike S1's central question of "Did Jeanette see Kate in the house?" I love a good murder mystery, but this isn't it. For one thing, there hasn't been any real effort in building out a plausible list of suspects beyond Megan and Isabella. For another, Luke isn't a compelling victim - he's neither likable and sympathetic enough to make me care, nor is he awful enough to make me relish his death or (going back to the first point) engender a long line of plausible suspects. Sure, kissing his girlfriend's best friend, then throwing her under the bus to Megan after she rejected him, then engaging in some gross talk were all shitty actions, but they don't reach the level of making me want to see him dead. Brent would have been a better choice of victim, with just a bit of tweaking - have it so that he was not only taping sex with girls, he was blackmailing them with the tapes. Now you have an appropriately loathsome victim and can generate a long list of suspects with ease. There is something there with the triangle of Megan, Luke and Isabella that could have made for a compelling central narrative. And I think it's probably what the show is trying to do, make a twisty psychological thriller out of that triangle. But it's failed for a couple of reasons. First, the writing isn't very good, as mentioned by many posters. Second, Luke is poorly cast. I just read a few days ago that he actually played Paul Adelstein's son on Private Practice - a show I watched, but since that was quite a few years ago, I never connected the little kid from that with Luke here. It seems like Cruel Summer, for some reason, really just wanted to import the Private Practice family of Cooper, Charlotte and Mason to this show. Paul Adelstein is fine. KaDee Strickland is fine. But Griffin Gluck just does not work. It was a stupid sentimental casting choice. The actresses are being sabotaged by the writing too, but the casting in itself for those roles was not bad, especially with Lexi Underwood (who interestingly wasn't who was originally cast to play Isabella). I could see the promise early on with them, before the writing increasingly dragged them down.