Ms Lark

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Probably one of the best episodes yet. What a lovely holiday treat. Jay finally getting to meet the ghosts, even if only temporarily and them ratting out Sam for some of her fibs. I seriously hope Flower forgets what Thor told her about Sass. I was really glad she didn't "volunteer" to help him out. Thor learning Lenape! That was a revelation. Eventually we'll find out how Sass died. "I hate zombies!" HAH!

I love this show, too. Especially with Roy Wood Jr. Amber and Michael are also awesome. Looking forward to season 2. (Can't stand Andy Cohen, so I have to give him a 👎🏻.)

I loved Desi's take (12/12) on Hallmark Xmas Movies! That was hilarious. 🤣 Sad they'll be off until 1/6. 😢

I've been thinking for a while that I like the episodes with the usual crew better than any with Jon. I just can't relate to his style or humor. I guess he's the "big draw" and probably makes more in one episode than the rest of them combined all week. I could really do without him and just have the revolving rota. Take his salary and divide it among the cast (and crew). That's just me, I'm sure TPTB feel differently.

I'm enjoying the show for the most part and, yes, the Weasley/Phelps twins are adorable. The bakes and builds are fun. I like Carla a lot, but she's the wrong choice here. Need a Brit judge to deal with the British palate. Yoiks. Southern American isn't the right fit. Seriously. She's probably slowing down and enunciating since, unfortunately, most of the bakers can't understand what she's saying. I did not care for this week's "advantage" of 10 min freeze. Ten minutes is a long time in a competition. If the team with the advantage wanted to be very Slytherin they could have put the freeze into effect 10 minutes before the cutoff. That would be truly evil. [SIDE RANT] Too many of these baking competitions do not think through their twists, advantages, weird flavor pairings, etc. Many are completely unfair and really unnecessary. Especially when they are unevenly distributed. Plus, give them enough damn time to execute their designs. I want to see fully manifested bakes from these pros and am/pros, not someting you'd see on "Nailed It!" (No side-eye for Nailed it, I love the show.)

I was waiting for Paul to hit the pit! Even the stems looked real. Agree, great semi-final. Was right for Gill to go home. She's lovely, but the others tend to take everything another rung.

Most Brits do not like peanut butter. Paul doesn't and Prue has said she doesn't either. There's a lot of flavors that don't cross the pond in both directions! And whoa! I posted a link to an article about a possible Dylan💗Sumayah over in media. Could just be friends, but who knows? They're both young...

No comment or commitment from Dylan and Sumayah, but kinda sweet nonetheless: https://www.tvinsider.com/1162109/great-british-baking-show-gbbo-dylan-sumayah-dating/

I also thought Princesstorte due to green food coloring (gotcha!). But I really hoped it was Battenberg because I love Keiron and Janusz. Phew! I was surprised they didn't ditch team "too much buttercream", but I guess they got a lot more of the ingredients right. Still love the show and hope it gets renewed for next season. BTW Joel was on Seth Meyers Wed night. He did mention CSK at around 4:07:

Well, she did say she wants to retire after this show. I wondered how she'd feel if it kept getting renewed season after season. Another year to go Kathy!

On the Halloween track: 3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 Ghost. From last year: Entitled, snarky flapper ghost inhabits mansion inherited by young woman. Fun ensues. (Derivative of Ghosts, but I love Ghosts, so yeah!) I thought maybe I missed the rerun, but it's scheduled on Hallmark Family (um, ugh?) next Monday at 7pm. I really like this one, especially the ghost. I find that most Hallmark stuff is "fall asleep during one, wake up in the middle of another and you can't tell the difference!" They're really good when you're recovering from surgeries, injuries, hospital stays, etc. Yep.

Reba redux. Same characters, basically. Bobbie could probably contest the will.

Anyone else feel especially itchy throughout the whole episode?

I enjoyed Stephen's bit about "What's wrong with that guy?" So much so that I transcribed it! I'm putting it here under "spoiler" lest someone be offended. Think I got it right (no mean feat).

I thought the only "obvious" madeleine hint was pretty obscure. A little chip of candy melt with ridges? The rest were fairly vague. Plus, wouldn't the note be on the pans you returned? Give the team a 👎 for coming up with that one. If no one got it, that's on the show. Disappointing. Otherwise, it's still one of my (current) favorite baking competitions. Mostly due to Joel, who is knocking it out of the park, and the whole concept.