helenamonster

Original airdate: 5/3/21

The mom bootcamp montage was the highlight for me as well. Not a mom (yet) but it was fun and just this side of ridiculous. The rest...yeesh. As usual, I have questions. Stan being all "Beth can't be involved" came out of absolutely nowhere, right? I'm not saying he's not justified to have these feelings about her, but it would have been more fun to watch them slowly come out over time. Like, maybe put him and Beth in some scenes together (have they ever actually interacted?) and show his tolerance of her and what she got Ruby into slowly evaporate. That would have been way more interesting to watch than a repeat of the same 3 subplots over and over. I also don't quite understand Annie and Greg's dilemma with Ben's school. So first, Greg says (to cover up his financial issues) that he wants to pull Ben out as he doesn't want the other, richer kids' advantages skewing Ben's expectations for himself. But Ben is a teenager, not a small child, and has always been fairly sensible. I don't think he would expect an elaborate birthday party just because another classmate had one. And then we find out that Greg and Nancy are going broke and can't afford the school anymore. Which yeah, it would suck to pull Ben out, as he has friends there, enjoys lacrosse, etc. But, like, tough? Shit happens, and again Ben seems like the kind of kid who would understand and wouldn't take it personally. It was one thing when these characters were legitimately barely making ends meet, but it's so much less sympathetic when their antics are fueling lifestyles that most of us could never hope to achieve. And it would be interesting if the show explored that a little more, but they don't, so it's just this weird unlikeable trait all the characters have now. Also, can I just say how much I hated, hated, the cold open. It wasn't funny, it went on for far too long, and was borderline gross. We all get what Beth and Rio did last episode, we don't need it spelled out, thanks!

Original airdate: 4/28/21

Original airdate: 4/26/21

Original airdate: 4/26/21

I'll be skipping as well. Besides just being a garbage person, Elon Musk is not known for being particularly charismatic, and has also shown to be incapable of taking a joke at his own expense. The episode will definitely have to be written around these limitations, making it terrible in second, different way.

Original airdate: 4/21/21

Just realizing now that Nancy Thompson is also the name of the final girl in Nightmare on Elm Street--I will now assume Friends and NOES exist in the same universe and that she grew up to work in a massage parlor with Phoebe (and unfortunately get fired :( ).

It wouldn't surprise me if Ross, Monica, and Rachel went to public school--while I don't think they ever say exactly where they're from, there are a lot of wealthy areas on Long Island. Just googling now, US News and World Report's most recent ranking of top public schools in New York includes districts in Jericho, Garden City, Manhasset, etc. I went to public high school with a lot of rich kids in an area that was lousy with private schools--if the free option is just as good as the not free option, plenty of people will take it, even if they can afford otherwise. Lincoln High definitely sounds like the name of a public school, and the only Lincoln Highs I can find in New York are in Brooklyn and Yonkers, so it's safe to assume the one in Friends is fictional.

Original airdate: 4/19/21

Original airdate: 4/19/21

Not too much to say about this episode, except that I'm happy Annie passed her GED and didn't sleep with the therapist. Can this storyline be done now? Before last season got cut short by covid, they appeared to be setting up a Single White Female situation with her, as they heavily implied she had little to no experience with close female friendships and was kind of obsessed with figuring out the good girls' dynamic. This looks to be them picking that thread back up. I actually think that's something that has potential, as it's not really an angle on the fed/CI relationship I've seen a show tackle before.

Original airdate: 4/14/21

Original airdate: 4/12/21

Glad it wasn't just me who was completely lost this episode. I don't understand the Dean bail thing at all. He pled guilty and is in prison, right? He would be beyond bail at this point. Unless he's just in jail waiting on sentencing (all dependent on Beth cooperating)? I did understand the Eric element. Since Dean told him he didn't think Beth would come through with the bail, he decided to rob the sports memorabilia place, and then presumably resell what he got and use the money to get Dean out. What I don't get is--ok, the owner clearly beat him with the bat. But we saw Eric load a gun. Is the implication that he's not the type of guy who would actually use it? And then ok, so Beth didn't take the cut from lady's daughter on the first stop. So she went back and tried a nicer approach (and gave her the gun Rio's guy gave her, unless there's another gun floating around), and the woman gave her what was owed and an advance? That's way too much feeling disjointed for one episode. When Nancy left Dakota with Annie, I was begging this show not to go down the predictable route of her not knowing what to do with the baby. She has a kid! Yeah, we know she's not the most instinctively maternal, but it's not like it's a completely foreign concept to her. Maybe Beth was a big help to her in the early days, but then you'd think she'd have a closer relationship with Ben--I don't think either character has ever spoken to each other. I never notice stuff like this and even I found it glaring. Agree with everybody else that the rash mixup was on Nancy. If you know your baby has a bad reaction to a certain product, why would you ever have it on hand? If you're worried about an emergency (which is, what? running out of the right cream?), just have two bottles on hand of the product you like? I'm not a parent but this seems pretty basic. No matter what she told Annie before she left, Annie was more than welcome to assume that anything in the diaper bag was ok to use on the baby it came with.

I thought this episode was strong from start to finish, and that Carey did a great job. The show usually doesn't know what to do with her "type" of host (conventionally attractive actress known for her dramatic work) and I hope this is a sign that they've gotten over it. She seemed up for anything and blended in really well with the cast. I never expected a L'Eggs product placement in the year of our lord 2021, but yeah, they must be desperate, as you really don't see people wearing pantyhose anymore and it's no longer considered inappropriate for women to have bare legs in a professional setting. I always think of Claire from Six Feet Under, hunched over at her desk at her temp job from how tight her hosiery is squeezing her, and am happy it's gone out of style. So uncomfy! Bowen as the iceberg that sank the Titanic was truly inspired. "They came to where I LIVE and THEY hit ME!" Also loved the IBS ad. "Shut. The fuck. Up." Marcus Mumford's charisma and comedic timing are great, and much better than any music I've heard from his band recently (bring the banjo back! It's the one thing that helped distinguish you from every other mediocre alt rock band out there right now!). Surprised they don't have a host lined up for the next episode yet, with things opening back up and vaccinations on the rise. But I guess it's still a weird time in the industry with very little to promote.

Original airdate: 4/7/21

Lisa's laugh is so infectious, I love it.

Original airdate: 4/5/21

This episode was kind of a dud for me. Daniel's got charisma to spare and I thought his monologue was great, but I forgot pretty much every sketch right after it was over. I don't think we saw Melissa or Lauren at all, did we? Again, very little held my attention so they might have showed up and I just missed it. I was wondering if the timing of the Prank Posse sketch was just a coincidence or if they were actually supposed to referencing the Vlog Squad mess. There were enough pointed references that make me think it was the latter. I think SNL has exactly one Extremely Online writer on staff who manages to sneak this stuff in every once in awhile--I'm even only aware of it because of the (admirably) relentless coverage of the issue from the H3H3 and Frenemies podcasts, it doesn't seem to have penetrated the mainstream the way, say, Logan Paul having a dead body in his thumbnail did. If it was a direct reference, that does make me a little uncomfy. The whole situation is...dark. I regret to inform you that Shrimp Tails Guy and I'm Going To Put Sexual Assault In My YouTube Videos Guy are two different, terrible people.

Just finished: Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay, a pretty standard whodunnit. I wasn't bowled over by the ending. While I suspected early on that the rationale was a weird mixture of underwhelming and complicated. I think if certain things had been set up better (and if certain characters had been given more focus), I would have felt more satisfied by it. But it moved at a good clip and has a lot of characters, so makes for a fairly breezy read if you're into the genre. Next up: Eternal by Lisa Scottoline.

I was curious how the Ella Emhoff bit from the seder sketch would go over--I feel like she's not really a known entity outside of The Very Online. And not a single person here has commented about it, so I rest my case lol. Hot Ones was probably my favorite sketch of the night. A strong premise (what if Beyonce went on Hot Ones?) that writes itself. When Andrew said he was 5 years old in 2000, I learned that he's the first cast member who's younger than me, and I suddenly felt very old. We are very close to having our first Zoomer cast member, definitely within the next couple of years. Edith Puthie forever.

Original airdate: 3/29/21

Original airdate: 3/29/21

She also has a line when Rachel announces she's moving to Paris like "Once the statute of limitation lifts, I'll be able to travel internationally again!"