EarlGreyTea

Pretty romantic episode all around. I still ship Dina and Garrett. Glenn stepping down as manager sets up the rest of the season's conflicts nicely. I'm not sure I want to see him as regular floor staff. I love that Sandra buying gifts for herself a few seasons back has come full circle. Jerry showing up in disguise at the end was hilarious.

For REAL. I grew up in southern California and about 10 years ago, the family and I booked it out of state because of the insane prices, taxes, housing costs, etc., and it's only getting worse. It is really no joke. You need to be making a very, very good living to live well in California, to say nothing of Los Angeles. Hope they've saved that show money. California is surprisingly pretty conservative in a lot of areas, but LA, not so much. Anything that gets them further out of their bigot bubble is a good thing.

I'm waving the flag aboard Team Kaylee. As I've said before, I've had a boss I really disliked and was, frankly, scared of. You know what I did? I kept a smile on my face, found a new job and peaced out. She never know how I really felt. I hate the endless cliques and passive aggressive faces from the UJ staff. Colby can go the way of Shannon as far as I'm concerned. I really can't with incompetent ass people refusing to own their own mistakes. Brittainy seems to be as much of a hard ass as Kaylee, yet the staff seems to like her. I wonder why that is. I have a theory or two. They claim Kaylee doesn't know anything about shipping, but frankly, based on their piss poor results, none of the people in shipping know anything. I will say it's a major fail not telling the shipping people that Kaylee was in charge for that day. Isn't it convenient that Kristin is always out of town when the store is busiest or operations are the most complicated?

Don't forget Dina and Garrett having sex in there last season!

Felt a little too close to season one's All-Nighter for my taste. Still, I like that Jonah and Amy once again presented as a team. And not being bored with someone after 24 hours straight with them is a real feat. Also they looked cute on the air mattress. Finally, the writers remembered that they're together. Someone needs to keep pulling America's hair back like it was this episode, because she looked great. Dina's eyelids! Hilarious! Cheyenne has rapidly become my least favorite character. I like the actress, but the character just GRATES. I hate that they keep pairing her with Mateo. To me, Mateo is funniest when playing off a straight-man character like Amy or Jonah.

Agreed. Kristin said last season that she didn't want cliques, but that's exactly what has happened. The fact that the sane people in the office (Brittainy, Kristin) like Kaylee and the vapid ones don't, is a big point in Kaylee's favor. I really, REALLY get that it is very hard to work for someone you don't like, and God knows I know the feeling of absolutely dreading work because of a boss, but then that's when you put your head down, find a new job as quickly as possible, and peace out. Why were there co-managers of shipping anyway? That seemed like a dumb idea from the jump. Is is the done thing to fire an employee without the CEO knowing? I suppose if it's bad enough, maybe?

It's interesting how much was unaired from last season that is being shown now. The whole saga of Kaylee as store manager could have been a good storyline last season. I'm a bit surprised that she was let go without Kristin's input. After seeing the lot of vapid employees screwing around in the warehouse, I'd have kept her in the first place and started from scratch with the others. Having said that, I've had managers who micromanaged to the point where people made major mistakes because of the added scrutiny, so there's pros and cons. But the entire band of UJ girls really get on my nerves sans Brittainy, so I'm Team Kaylee for now. I don't give a damn what the UJ employees think. Also I wish Colby had remained window dressing as opposed to becoming a main character. When Kelly is the voice of reason, you know you've gone off the rails. Nothing says professional like sending your husband in to do your dirty work. Who told Reagan that that purple shirt she's wearing in all her interviews was a good idea? Can someone buy these people a pocket dictionary so they can stop their misuse of the word "literally?"

Hysterical! An instant classic for me. Did you all notice the Cloud 9 workers furiously stepping in the background of each scene? Of course all Mateo needed was being told corporate might think he was average to light a fire under his ass. Another one of Amy's stupid schemes, but at least it made for a great episode. I love that they were given knockoff Fitbits instead of the name brand. I, too, am obsessed with getting steps.

What gets me is that she IS a good catch. She's apparently a stylist for big-time Nashville musicians? So: great job, clearly well-off, great hair (though it would look great shoulder-length), nice figure. So why does she drive me bananas? It makes me feel guilty. Tonight's episode had sooo much Kelly that I FFed much of it. I did snort at her making Pip's baby news all about herself. As always, the workplace stuff is interesting. Ten orders a week going out empty and/or damaged? Yeah, heads should be rolling. I get that repetitive work can put your mind on autopilot and you zone out as a result, but that's unacceptable. I don't know what the solution is, unless people weren't properly trained, or too many people have their hands in the pot, and then that would explain it. I also think Brittainy may be wearing too many hats, because stuff is slipping by her. And maybe her employees don't feel comfortable confiding in her when there's a problem, which is a huge issue. I noticed Colby last season because I think she's a stunner, but she comes off as somewhat dull. I don't miss Shannon's attention whoring and general histrionics, though. It's too bad that she gained somewhat of an online platform as a reward for being a shitty employee.

Did anyone catch the season two premiere? Updates: - Kelly continues to GRAAAATE for no discernible reason. I feel bad because I'm sure she's very nice and she has great hair, but she bugs me. - Shannon left UJ to form her own company and/or social media brand, which is stupid if she's no longer going to be on the show. The exposure is undoubtedly what gave her the power to leave, but once she's no longer on TV who the hell will care about her? I would have thought E! would double her pay, to get her to stay, since she did bring most of the drama to an otherwise uninteresting show. I'll be salty if they're still paying her to appear and she's not in the workplace. - Wirth left UJ to form a gym with Tim McGraw that is literally next door to UJ. Good, so we can end the pantomime of him working in retail while being worth millions. - The most interesting aspect to me is the workplace. I don't give a damn about Kristin's farm or her friends (although her befriending Luke Bryan's wife was amusing). - Brittainy's bf is still punching about his weight class by being with her. Also he has shorter hair.

Agreed. I rolled my eyes so hard at that. "Take care of yourself?" I was disgusted at that part. Anyway, I felt I learned absolutely nothing new from this series, as gripping as I found it. Ann Rule's book is the definitive word on Bundy for me (although I've never read any other books on him, so there's that). Her book covered so many angles that this series didn't touch - for one thing, making Ted's victims emerge as real people. I always feel a little bit disgusted with myself for my interest in Bundy, and so I'm glad when any book or doc makes the victims emerge as fully blown with actual lives of their own, as opposed to making them footnotes in their own murders (I am looking directly at YOU, Serial). For me, the most moving moment was Denise Naslund's mother looking absolutely destroyed while saying she hoped Bundy would die. Naslund's mother was not able to bury her daughter's remains for 10 years because the remains were evidence, and then the remains were lost before they could be given to Denise's mother, so Denise's casket contains only a dress, photos, and a few other things. I felt it was the definition of adding insult to injury. In fact, the most interesting thing I've learned this week has nothing to do with the doc and everything to do with the tidbit that @Cherrio just mentioned - that Bundy's grandfather might also have been his father. I've never heard that theory before.

Shirley is the most sanctimonious, insufferable character on the show for me. I'm sure Liz Reaser is a lovely woman, but she always seems (to me, at least) to add a layer of self-righteousness to every role I've seen her in. I groaned inwardly when I saw she was cast. Having said that, I don't think she's given much to work with here. All of the other siblings have interesting backstories. Someone has to be the straight man, and that's where Shirley fits in. She's the the least interesting and the most stolid sibling. Although I do love that scream princess Lulu Wilson was cast as her younger counterpart. That was some solid work on the part of the casting director. Every single sibling ragging on Steve has had the opposite effect on me. I like him.

Good to see you, phoenics! I agree about being sucked in by Madden. Those suits and that accent - I never stood a chance. I love stoic characters, because when they finally blow their stack it's amazing to watch. I thought Madden did such great facial acting. It's hard to convey emotion when playing such an uptight professional, but it made his eventual emotional crises that much better to watch. I would also like a S2, but I don't know where they could go from here. The hook was the affair, the dynamic with Julia. Of course, there's plenty of other intrigue to explore, but their relationship was the core of this series. Which brings me to the wife, Vicky. I agree that they were directed to play an estranged couple a little too well. She seemed so indifferent to him throughout the series, which makes me very curious about how their relationship deteriorated. It must have been a long, slow unraveling to get them to that point in the series. They did lack a certain amount of chemistry, but I did buy them as having been in love in the past, and I bought them and the child actors as a family unit. I do also think that she was the one he loved this entire time, not Julia. I, too, thought David was in on the bombing. Since they did not show us exactly what was in the briefcase, I thought we were in for a twist where he was in on it the whole time. In fact, I was very confused by his motives for the first half of the series. First he's repelled by Julia's politics. Then he sleeps with her. Then he finds out she knew about the kids' school - at that point, when he had sex with her yet again after finding out, I figured it was to get his revenge by gaining her trust. But apparently not.

I agree with all of this. Obviously the show was a vehicle for Richard Madden (and man, did his accent/buttoned-up professionalism/nicely tailored suits really work for me), but I go back and forth as to whether Julia was fridged. As a trope - a female character's death becoming a vehicle for the male character to showcase his manpain - I disdain fridging, especially in 2018. Having said that, it was pretty ballsy to kill off one of the main characters halfway through, a la Janet Leigh in Psycho. I was totally unspoiled, so it was a genuine twist for me, although I suspected it was coming with her final speech to David and her being absent for much of the episode before she died. And like you said, she felt fleshed out enough that you could see how she met her eventual fate. I liked that she was ruthless and yes, she did seem to use David a bit. These layers helped keep her from being a one-note character used solely to prop David's pain. I thought Vicky also was criminally underused. I like her actress very much, and having seen her on quite a few other series, I thought she would have a bigger role than she did. The scenes she DID get in the final episode were so well-done. You could actually see how they worked as a couple. She showed real guts and in the end, her sticking by him was one of the main reasons he lived. I'd love more backstory on them. For much of the criticism Nadia and the show got for portraying her as a villain (and I can see where that criticism comes from), what I did appreciate was that they turned the victimized Muslim woman trope on its ear. Frankly, as much as I liked the first episode, I did kind of inwardly roll my eyes at David swooping in to save the damsel in distress. The whole scene seemed like a vehicle for the David character to showcase empathy, while Nadia was stuck as a one-note victim, well-acted though she was. So I liked that she was given more to do.

I'm trying not to get too attached to Karen, but I love her. I hope this isn't the end of the line for her character, plot device that she was. Maybe it was the acting, but the character has emerged fully-blown and interesting. Joe was spot-on when he described her as knowing who she was. Which is probably what takes the fun out of it for him. She's too real for him. People have said it in previous threads, but Beck is such an empty vessel for Joe to project his perfect-girl fantasies. I can't say I agree when people say they don't know what Joe sees in Beck. She's stunning, and quite frankly that's all some men (and women) need. I didn't mind her until this episode, but I didn't like the way she and Joe thoroughly screwed Karen over. I'm glad she got the last word with Beck. Paco is the most likeable kid actor I've seen outside of an episode of Stranger Things. The character does wonders for Joe's likeability. Penn and the kid are so natural together. It's amazing how invested Joe is in Paco's family, when he doesn't seem to care about anything but Beck.

For real. Jay has no concept of playing the long con. Had he stuck it out for 2 years or whatever it was, he could have divorced her and moved on, green card in hand. Even the guys in the barbershop, who were adamantly against him marrying Ashley, agreed that he should stick it out. It's cutthroat to do it like that, but it wouldn't have been that hard. Ashley was very gung-ho about the whole thing and gave him anything he wanted, including sex 3 times a day. The kids were with their dad half the time, apparently. And he and Ashley were clearly attracted to one another. This was not a situation like Azan and Nicole, where you could tell he was disgusted by her physically and emotionally, and had no money. Had Jay been 30 or even 25 instead of 20, he might have had a more developed sense of patience. Although if you're going to cheat, don't be so stupid as to do it in your wife's house.

Kalani's hair looked so blah. A simple up-do would have done wonders. I didn't much care for the stank-faces of the family, as if they were the British Royal Family and Asuelu was Wallis Simpson marrying the heir to the crown. Nick looked AWFUL. Would it have killed him to find a dress shirt? I hate it when people go casual to weddings. Chris Rock once said you get the in-laws you deserve. He said something like, "If you don't like Puerto Ricans, you'll end up with Ricky Martin for a son-in-law." That's what I feel Father Kalani has ended up with, and he deserves what he's gotten. As a minority myself, there's nothing I hate more than a minority hating on people from their own culture. When away from the in-laws, Kalani and Asuelu seem to get along just fine. Which says a lot about how much that toxic family is eating away at their relationship.

I thought it was hilarious that Leida actually looked startled when Tasha went toe to toe with her. She is clearly used to everyone backing down. I don't like Tasha all that much either, but I appreciated that she gave it right back. I actually shared Leida's frustration about the pigsty, but that was as much Eric's fault as it was Tasha's, for the common areas at least. I never, ever thought we'd see a fiance more unlikeable than Anfisa. What a time to be alive.

I’m surprised Cousin Colt doesn’t have a nosebleed from being on his high horse all the damn time. Debbie isn’t a burden - to YOU. Visiting someone is another kettle of fish from living with them. He is giving Kalini a run for her money in Douchebag Relative category. I’m so tired of all the puffed up relatives pontificating and speaking in slow, clipped tones so the simple foreigners will understand them. Cousin Colt wasted his time riding into battle for Colt, who isn't worth the price of admission and can't even find a shirt that fits. There is nothing likeable about him. And I would disagree that Larissa isn't contributing in any way - she's letting Colt plow her nightly without complaint.

I tend to think the writers heard our complaints about how unlikable Jonah and Amy as a couple had become, and how she seemed to take little pleasure this season in being with him, because we've seen a sea change. I like when shows' OTPs look like they enjoy being together.

If I were Jill I'd end my partnership with that clothing retailer, because they did her dirty by giving her a shirt that's a size too big. A size smaller would work wonders for her overall look. Everything else looks nice. Well, okay, she could have chosen a nicer background.

Amy and Jonah take Glenn's tickets to a managers' conference in Chicago. Mateo's undocumented status is revealed. This will be the last new episode until 2019 (I think).

I agree. I was very impressed with how she acted during the sleep study. Jen had this soothing, calm voice she used at the hospital. Hell, I felt comforted, and I wasn't even the one having a sleep study! It was one of Jen's finest moments as a mother onscreen. I wish I could be her patient. I'm a Jen stan. I admire the hell out of what she's accomplished and what a firm foundation she and Bill have created for the kids.

Assholery must run in the family, because I wasn't impressed with Brother Kalani. Three kids in their 20s and 30s, all of whom are still living off their parents, apparently, and their voices are so filled with disdain, you could cut through it with a knife. Hey, Family Kalani, when was the last time you looked at the merchandise you're trying to move? Asuelu may not be a prize, but none of you are either. I thought the bike ride would have been cute, had all three of them done it. Having Asuelu do it by himself while they watched like indulgent parents was so patronizing, I wanted to scream. Nick in particular has this sanctimonious, clipped tone to his voice that adds a new layer to all their interactions.

Olga has the patience of a saint, and far beyond what I'd expect of someone her age. Clearly she had to grow up fast, and learned how to take care of herself. I felt awful for her when she started crying in the car. She looked so beaten down, yet she still stood up for herself and the baby. I found myself nodding along with everything she said, and was impressed with how she articulated it. It was sad how she was able to talk Steven down, mostly because it seemed like she'd had to do it a lot before, and not just with Steven. I think Steven likes the idea of Olga and their family, but the real thing just isn't fitting into his high expectations.