EarlGreyTea

The puppet exercise was horribly cringey, clearly a cheap gimmick for the cameras. I understood how talking about sex was important though. JP and Ashley annoy me. This is what you signed up for. This is how you got together. Get over it and stop acting holier than thou about it. I can see why the other couples are frustrated by them. Of course, I would not be comfortable either talking about my sex life on television and with other couples, but come on. Having said that, they're by far the sanest couple on the show. I despise everything the Duggars stand for, and I found Amy annoying on 19 Kids, but she's pretty likeable here. Well, in comparison to some of the other couples, at least.

I loved this show more than any other I saw last year. Probably one of my top 5 shows of all time. But I have to agree. There is not one original thought to be had in the making of the show; it's derivative as all hell. It's skated by on nostalgia, and damn talented child actors, IMO. Having said that, both of those things are enough for most viewers. Hell, I was born in 1988, did not grow up in the decade, and I STILL got suckered in with the nostalgia factor. And stayed for the great performances. Even Winona Ryder's performance grew on me after multiple viewings. I guess if you're going to do a pastiche, you could do worse than borrowing from Stephen King, lol.

I think they're somewhat behind on filming, honestly. They were supposed to start around mid-October, and they've obviously filmed some stuff, but the kids are doing so much promo and there's awards season, so I think that's delayed things. Makes sense it would take longer this time around too, what with being given an extra episode. In the teaser, am I wrong or did we see Eleven holding her hands over her face at around 0:15? It looks like Millie all right, with her partially grown in hair. Does this mean she gets sprung out of the Upside Down fairly quickly? I hope so, because it would tick me off if we had to spend the entire season trying to find her a la Will in season one. I absolutely love the dynamic she's built with Joyce and the other kids and want to see a lot more of that, especially with Will back in the mix.

I can fanwank that she came up to the basement door after a while and he just let her right back in. Pissed at her or not, he DOES have a crush on her, she has superpowers plus nowhere else to go, and Mike is a pretty sweet kid. I think he'd have cooled off after a while anyway, even if she didn't pick up Will's signal. Mike is my favorite character and I cut him a lot of slack, but I don't think it's too much of a stretch to think he voluntarily took her back in. Would have been nice to have had a quick scene establishing that, though.

I'm super late on this episode, but I just have to comment on the dress designer. First, what an obnoxiously breathy Michelle voice. Second, did I hear correctly? When Jinger shower her the ring, the designer said something like, "He didn't do so great on the ring, but he did great with you!" WTF? Someone please tell me I misheard, but I feel like I didn't, because Jinger's reaction was kind of like "Oh...." Edit: I'm turning into a moron just watching these people. I DID mishear. So in penance I will say something nice about the episode. Jill's hair looked great. Maybe she deep conditioned it or something because it looks a lot less scraggly.

I wandered over to Max Brown's Twitter just now and this tweet in particular, of angry fans saying how much Robert sucks, surprised me. I feel bad for the guy and it's interesting how many people can view the show so differently. Liam sure isn't the hill I'd want to die on, but whatever. I think most of the ire is coming from the fact that Liam has been around so much longer and that Max Brown probably appeals to older fans, while William Moseley has the teen/young adult market cornered. I think Moseley gives off a puppy dog demeanor, while Brown is more polished. It's a classic case of heir and the spare personalities. The writers got the dynamic exactly right. Having said all that, Robert fans should brace themselves. I'm more convinced that ever that he's going down in flames.

Excellent post. I will be PEEVED if they somehow make Robert turn heel or make him illegitimate or whatever the hell else to make way for Liam. He's the best thing to happen to the show since Eleanor and Jasper, IMO. Having said that, I think they are setting him up for a fall. He's a bit TOO polished, a bit TOO earnest. I think all those long brooding shots of Liam mean we're supposed to be rooting for him, plus the simple fact that he's been on the show longer. The Lord Chamberlain has insane chemistry with Helena. I love their dynamic together.

Snoozer of an episode except for Eleanor's new bodyguard, whom I totally love. Bumbling, funny, and sweet. I nominate her to be Eleanor's new BFF. I realize how completely dull I find an episode that does not have any Eleanor and Jasper scenes. They might have made up for it with some Robert/Willow, but I think the show was filmed so far in advance that they won't be able to take advantage of that chemistry until next season. It's hard to know how an audience will react to a potential pairing ahead of time. Maybe she'll be the one to drop the Liam/Kate bomb on Robert, though he may be inclined to shoot the messenger. I loved her smackdown of Liam. I can't see how in any way Liam deserves to be king, but I'm blinded by how completely babyish I find him this season, so I don't want him to have anything nice. Good on Helena for putting her damn foot down. A hashtag does not create a king. They really ruined Liam this season. Robert is one hell of a chessmaster. He may want to actually step aside as king, but it was totally awesome in a Machiavellian kind of way to make Helena take the fall. Utterly brilliant. Kathryn's sister is far more interesting than Kathryn herself. Why couldn't they have given a little personality to the love interest of two of the main characters instead of wasting it on her sister, a minor character? Liam is watchable pretty much only with Eleanor and especially Jasper. They should limit him to mostly scenes with those two. They are pretty much the only two characters he is not a whiny baby with.

I don't think Eleanor has had a legit friend since Ophelia in season 1. I really loved their friendship, which they kept up even when Liam and Ophelia were on and off. Aside from the Liam storyline, Ophelia/Eleanor is an often overlooked casualty of Ophelia's departure. In another vein, I'm not even completely sure Liam likes Kathryn for herself. Would he really have given a damn if Robert hadn't been with her first? Sure, he met her first and was intrigued, but I'm convinced much of the attraction is to get one over on Robert. The girl is just too bland to inspire this kind of devotion.

Wow, where have they been hiding this Robert and Willow chemistry? He seemed to actually sit up and pay attention in scenes with her. No offense to the Kathryn actress, but the character is unbearably bland, and she might have been more interesting in a stronger actress's hands. She looked smashing in that purple dress, though. They seem to be villainizing Robert, IMO. Which is fine with me, because the show needs one and he automatically makes everyone else more interesting. I hope the writers don't kowtow to the fans and get rid of him to appease the Liam supporters. God, Liam is such a whiny baby. Goes to show how siblings can bring out the absolute worst in each other. I now know why Robert chose to stay on the island so long, if this was the welcome home he got.

Eh. Not sure how I feel about this. I love Zoey and the actress, but not sure if a whole show revolving around her would work, mostly because I love the sibling dynamic she has with the other kids. I'd miss seeing that, unless there was a lot of crossover.

Too bad if it's been canceled, because this season is the most I've enjoyed the show, ever. Robert coming back breathed in some badly needed fresh air. The murder storyline bored the hell out of me. I really like this new character-driven show. The actor playing Robert is doing a really great job. He really brings the gravitas, the wit, and the slyness. I wonder if it's just more obvious or William Moseley was instructed to play it as such, but Liam comes off as a pale, babyish imitation and it's very clear who the heir is and who the spare is. I like Liam a lot, but Robert has the gravitas and the manipulative skills to actually pull off being a successful monarch. If you told me the actor playing Robert was a royal IRL, I'd have no problem believing it. Dude looks the part. Having said that, Robert's general snobbery toward "the help" is pretty annoying, though probably realistic, so they're hitting that note correctly, too. And frankly, as much as I didn't like him screwing Jasper over, Jasper really does deserve the mistrust coming his way. Agreed with all that's been said about Kate. For all that Ophelia was thrown away after season 1, they could have erased her completely and had Kate there from day one. We'd probably be as invested as most of the audience is in Jasper/Eleanor. Although Jasper and Eleanor at least have distinctive personalities. They haven't given the actress playing Kate anything to work with. What happened to the brunette with the #kingliam hashtag? Hell, they could have made her Robert's girlfriend. She has a bit more of a spark and has been around longer.

Yeah, I've never quite understood the dislike of mixing comedy with politics, particularly on sitcoms. Sitcoms tend to make touchy topics more palatable by adding humor. It's more enjoyable and palatable for many people than watching straight political commentary shows or dramas. For me, as a minority (non-black), this episode gave me a lot of food for thought as to how different minority groups are going to experience the next few years fairly differently. There are a whole lot of people who should be watching Black-ish for these reasons, but will write it off completely. Too bad. There's some great work going on here, both creatively and in terms of acting.

See, I eyerolled through most of what Lucy said, but I think you can still love her because it seems clear to me she was brought back only to act as devil's advocate. They needed someone to play off of, and for some reason the writers decided not to make Dre's boss that person this week (that was weird, by the way. I have no problem believing Dre's boss would be a Trump voter, given what we've seen of him in the past. Although the post right above mine does a great job explaining why they probably went that route, so scratch that lol). On a different note, everyone laughing/cheering the day of the election when Dre's boss was like, "it's going to be an uneventful election night, get some sleep" made me howl. In terror. But mostly laughter. They hit every note right in this episode when it came to expectations about the election and the crash down to reality. And finally, Bow donating to various causes hit me right in the gut. For Christmas, I made contributions to Planned Parenthood on behalf of my two friends instead of getting them gifts. So that one was also hysterically accurate.

As much as I would have loved to have the full show bashing Trump, I grudgingly accept the show's tact in presenting the other side. The lack of productivity in the office the days after the election was so spot on - I think I spent most of the day afterward staring blankly into space and reading all the postmortem articles in the Washington Post. If all of that sounds melodramatic, I don't care. I'm glad the show gave voice to my terror. Dre's speech was a tad heavy-handed, but "Strange Fruit" playing softly in the background was a nice touch. I really can't fault the show for that speech, and I'm glad it isn't afraid to go there with racial issues that most shows would never touch. As a minority myself, it's refreshing. The workplace arguments were interesting but I couldn't quite buy that Dre's boss was anti-Trump, even with the explanation why.

I can fanwank that the wedding was supposed to take place in the evening, giving Emily time to travel back. I honestly think it's a simple cut and dry case of ASP wanting Emily's last scene to take place in that gorgeous new house, to convey her new stage of life. It wouldn't have been as poignant if she was shown driving in a car as her last shot.

I really wanted this. Puts a bow on the special relationship between Rory and Richard. They could call him Ricky or something. But you know ASP. There is no other possible outcome except a girl named Lorelai IV. Which is too bad. My biggest peeve is that Lorelai never had any more kids. The dynamic between Luke/Lorelai/Rory/a son would have been fresh and interesting. Lorelai trying to relate to a boy may have created some organic storylines, too. Having said that, if April is anything to go by, thank God we were spared another child actor on this show (with apologies to Vanessa Marano).

I thought it was cute. The Rory/Luke relationship was always criminally underused. I saw it as a nice touch that they're officially family. I only wonder why April wasn't there as well. I loved seeing Lane and Michel, but it really should have been Jess and/or April. Probably an availability issue. Since we're not clear on whether ASP has seen S7, then she must also have missed the episode where Lorelai wrote that letter on Luke's behalf to the judge. One of the best moments of S7 and gave respect to the underused Rory/Luke relationship.

Eh, I get where your mom is coming from. I have a habit, unfortunate or not, of handwaving a lot of things for fictional characters or couples. Of course, if it was real life, I'd be disgusted at the situation, but since it's fiction and no one IRL is being hurt, I don't mind it. I wouldn't condone it in real life. I think it's just that I love Matt and Alexis's chemistry so much. IMO, they still have excellent chemistry and it really showed. Her chemistry with Milo was still good too, but there was so little of it, scene-wise. Frankly I'm surprised the Logan/Rory scenes were so good, considering how much disdain ASP apparently has for their S7 growth.

I read - and I may be wrong, I got it secondhand - that ASP didn't watch any of Season 7, just had people tell her about it, or some such. I don't know if it's true, and God knows many parts of S7 were a mess, but what a damn shame. I didn't realize how much I appreciated Logan's S7 arc until the revival. That, and the lack of mention of Rory's awesome job with the Obama press pool, which was some of the best S7 had to offer. If she DID watch any of S7, it's pretty clear she chose to clear the slate anyway.

Yeah, was there some kind of scheduling conflict for Liz Torres? Gypsy seemed to be her stand-in for a lot of scenes she should have been in. Having her absent for the musical stuff, and especially not sitting on the stage during the town meeting next to Taylor was particularly glaring. And the bucket in the hardware store bit - WTF? Weird and particularly unlike the doting teenage mom we always knew Lorelai was. I think it makes more sense if it was played as, Lorelai puts Rory in a bucket that she carries around while she's cleaning rooms at the Independence Inn or something. But even that's weird and a stretch.

Agreed. I thought showing Francie was enough to trigger the freakout. They could have cut Tristan and just shown Francie getting under Paris's skin with the student council stuff for the same effect.

The issue with the revival (for me) was that the character growth that should have happened during all the interim years did not happen because it needed to be shown onscreen to create conflict for these 4 new episodes. Exhibit A: Lorelai and Luke not being married. She had wanted the whole package for the entire series, and we're supposed to believe they weren't at least engaged all these years? Exhibit B: No other kids besides April and Rory. My own personal fanon had Lorelai and Luke having a son together. I would have loved to seen Lorelai with a son. How would she have treated him differently than Rory? What would their relationship be like? What would his name be? Having said that, we dodged a bullet, because child actors can grate, and given how incredibly twee ASP can be, the kid would have probably been TJ levels of obnoxious. It seemed clear to me that ASP chose not to acknowledge that S7 existed (Logan's character growth, Rory joining the Obama press pool, etc.) which was a damn shame. "You've given me everything I need" was the better ending. Who'd have thought so many of us would now prefer S7 to the revival? I missed the opening credits like crazy. I was looking forward to seeing how they updated them.

I thought that too and was ready to flip my lid if it happened. I really, really wonder how much Edward Hermann's death changed ASP's plans for Emily. I would love to know what was originally planned for Richard and Emily. I think it gave the series a wistful tone than it might not have otherwise had. It clearly shook Lorelai to her core, but if Edward Hermann was still around, it may have just been played as a midlife crisis for her. One of my personal favorite scenes in the original series is when Emily is annoyed at Richard's constantly being in her hair when he briefly retired, and I wonder if there would have been more of that if Richard was in the revival.

I adore Alex Kingston with all my heart, but good God does she grate on this show. So, so cringey. I was a bit disappointed to see so much of the episode take place outside of SH. Babette and Maury grilling sausages was worth the price of admission. Absolutely hysterical sight gag. Loved Mae Whitman standing right next to Lauren and Alexis. I thought Lauren and Alexis looked more like mother and daughter than Lauren and Mae, but seeing all three of them together at once, it's pretty even IMO. Why was Tristan even there? He didn't even graduate from Chilton.