freebie

Which is why I couldn't help but wonder if Nick was taking advantage of Eden's inexperience and not actually penetrating her. Eden did tell Serena that her mother explained what to expect, but who knows how detailed that explanation was? My sister is a doctor who at one time worked in the obstetrics department of a Brooklyn-area hospital. Quite a few of her patients were very young Hasidic wives -- some just 14-15 years old. She often found herself in the position of explaining to these girls that they were pregnant and how that had come to pass. Apparently, their mothers and other women in their lives were less than forthcoming about the details of procreation.

Well, this might be the problem then, as Straithairn is mostly Scottish and from San Francisco. According to Wikipedia, Nadine Nicole, who is playing Melba, is half German/half Filipino and hails from Michigan. Her non-stage last name is Heimann.

Hey, we gotta talk ... about this episode. I kind of like that they didn't waste time on setting up the salvage/film crew/"Melba" story. I'll be curious to see what they do with Anna and how much of the book version will end up on screen. But I'm mostly interested to see what happens on the Behemoth. The roles are kind of jumbled up right now -- Drummer is captain, but also briefly took on the security chief role; Straithairn stopped the spacing, but he just oozes crazy bad guy; and Naomi seems to be an officer and an engineer, but also played a part in the drug crackdown. It's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Guys, I love David Straithairn, but dear lord in heaven, that attempt at a Belter accent took me right out of every scene he was in. I can't believe how very fast everything moved in this episode. There was a pretty big time jump from the last episode to this one. What did the guy Anna was talking to say, something like 187 days since the ring emerged? So I appreciated all the summarizing that was going on, especially when it was part of moving the plot forward and not just talking for talking's sake: Avasarala's speech got us caught up on her return to Earth and the fates of Errinwright and the bobblehead The film crew's presence was quickly explained -- Mars is disputing that Team Roci salvaged the ship legitimately, so the fees paid to transport the film crew out to the ring are covering legal costs The annoying reporter's probing led to Amos revealing Prax's current whereabouts with Mei back on Ganymede From the Alex-Bobbie Skype session we learned she is reinstated and back being a Marine on Mars, while he and the wife he never sees anyway are divorcing, and Anna's wife's complaints helped explain what she and the other folks on the same ship are supposed to be doing And then there was all the new stuff -- Naomi, Drummer and Straithairn on the Nauvoo Behemoth; Melba and her weird mixture of being overwhelmed one minute and scheming (and killing) the next; and the returns of Diogo (why?) and Detective Miller (yasssss!). It's hard to believe there was time for Anna to have her philosophical debate on the nature of the protomoleule as living alien thing or technology created by very intelligent alien thing. Plus, we sure spent a lot of minutes on the Belter kid zipping around the planets just to impress a girl before getting his brain ejected from his body. And while I will assign extra credit for creating original music, did we really need two songs to accompany that one-off story line? tl; dr This episode felt a bit like filler to me, which is unfortunate for two reasons: (1) we're now more than halfway through the season, so let's not take the foot off the gas just yet, and (2) if new people are tuning in due to the hype around keeping the show going, this might not be the best episode to get people excited for what this show ordinarily has to offer.

Based on the promo, it seems like they might be shifting some things around with respect to Naomi, maybe moving the Marco/Filip arc up? Not sure what to think of that. What does it mean for the whole gates/Ilus/Investigator storyline? Not to mention Clarissa Mao. I expect we'll get the Behemoth because Drummer has gone to the trouble to retrieve the Nauvoo, but I'm wondering what direction the rest of this season will take.

Still processing, but ... wow! So much happened that I'll have to re-watch. Things I liked: Bobbie's fight with the hybrid was stressful, and I loved how she seemed conflicted once she got what she thought she wanted. The decision to make the hybrid launch primarily a threat to Mars so that Alex ended up leading the charge to shut them down really worked for me. Cotyar's ending was fitting. RIP, spy! Errinwright -- finally! Now if Anna could try not to be so freaking naive about the bobblehead specifically and politics in general ... And Strickland and Nguyen both going down under the weight of their own hubris. Not going to miss either of them! The symmetry between Naomi's last unilateral decision vs. this real group decision was nicely done. Not sure I get where they're going with her, but I'll take that to the book thread. The "whistling in the dark" conversation -- Holden's square watermelon and Naomi's "are they hypoxic?" -- was just plain perfect.

Well, but that wasn't my point. I was looking at the current state of affairs from Danerys's perspective, not Jon's. I don't think she expects to just walk in and have every northerner bow down before her. Her world view has changed dramatically because she sees what the real threat to her rule is. Her focus is no longer on how to reclaim the Iron Throne. But before seeing the Night King and his army, she absolutely would have expected everyone in the north to "bend the knee" immediately, regardless of whether Jon had capitulated. I appreciate that kind of character growth (looking at you, Cersei). At any rate, I don't think the conflict is going to be Danerys vs. the north, not really. I think the real conflict will be Danerys trying to reconcile her desire for the Iron Throne, which has consumed her for so long, with her feelings for Jon when it's revealed that he has a better claim than she does. It will be the reverse of Jon's situation -- he's never contemplated sitting on the Iron Throne and, based on current events, probably hasn't thought much past hoping not to die at the hands of the WWs. I don't think he can even envision a victory, let alone the consequences for the north if they somehow defeat the Night King. Right? I mean, how important is this notion of a KitN to the current bunch of northern lords if they've managed to do without one between Robb and Jon? Then, as soon as they name someone new to the post, they're already plotting his overthrow. I just don't buy that having a KitN is so sacred to them, or that there is a set of ethics and rules the KitN is supposed to live by such that Jon's actions constitute some sort of deep betrayal. They don't even have any recent precedent for how a KitN should act in situations like this. And, during the last big crisis, which pales in comparison to this one, you could argue that the KitN's destruction of a critical alliance paved the way for the Red Wedding, which devastated the north. At least the current KitN's actions have resulted in the *creation* of a critical alliance. For that reason alone, the northern lords ought to cut Jon some slack.

I'm confused by this on a couple of levels. First, while I agree that Jon could have done a better job to *inform* both Sansa (and the north, generally) and the various members of Danerys's entourage of his decision once made, I don't think he was under any obligation to *consult* with anyone prior to his decision. In particular, I cannot fathom why Jon would need to consult with Danerys's hand about whether he should bend the knee to her. At that point in time, Tyrion (a) was not in Jon's chain-of-command, and (b) had already made the decision to declare Dany his queen and follow her, so it's not like he'd be particularly objective about Jon's decision. As Tyrion said to Jon, "I would have advised it, had you asked." Second, I don't think the show has fully explained the impacts of Jon's action, but I believe what we have seen so far is: Jon's conversation with Danerys in the previous episode, where he calls her "my queen" and says those who have sworn allegiance to him will come to see her for who she is. Jon's "I cannot tell a lie" speech in this episode, where he says "I've already pledged myself to Queen Danerys." Jon and Danerys's follow-up conversation while Tyrion is attempting to negotiate, with Jon telling Danerys "You're not like everyone else." Jon's Ravengram reporting the basic facts (not on screen, but show-supplied info, so ...) -- Cersei has pledged her forces, Danerys has pledged her forces, and if we survive, I've pledged our forces to Danerys, we're on our way -- and signed in his self-proclaimed capacity as Warden of the North. Notably, Sansa simply describes the message as Jon pledging to fight for Danerys, which isn't really what Jon communicated, then extrapolates that "he's bent the knee." Of course, she was talking to Littlefinger at the time and could have been playing him by that point. One can only hope, but the consensus seems to be that Sansa didn't start thinking clearly until Littlefinger led her through the "how does Arya benefit" exercise to the false conclusion that Arya wanted to be Lady of Winterfell. Danerys's statement that she's not coming to conquer the north, she's coming to save it. Basically, it's not clear that Danerys believes all of the north is *now* pledged to her. She appears to understand that she has to prove herself first and that the WWs must be defeated. Even Jon has conditioned the pledge of his forces on their collective survival. Assuming a sufficient number of people do survive, the northern lords could then acknowledge Danerys as their queen and Jon as Warden of the North, or buck Jon's authority, declare a new KitN, sit out Danerys's pending battle with Cersei, and then decide what to do once there's a decision in the title bout between Cersei and Danerys. Once again, though, there's still the elephant in the room -- Jon's claim to the Iron Throne. I think there are so many ways they could go about this, and it's killing me that we have to wait so long. With all of the foreshadowing, particularly Jon's unwillingness to withhold information, I'm so looking forward to seeing how he decides to handle the information Sam and Bran are about to drop on him. Who will he share it with, if anyone? Will he just say we don't have time for this, or will he feel like he has to come clean on the eve of battle with the Night King? I'm far more interested in seeing how all of these interpersonal relationships work out than I am in seeing what's sure to be an epic battle. Fingers crossed the show runners don't mess this up!

Late to the party, but, I just took the plunge and am two episodes in. Will probably binge the rest this weekend. I'm only commenting now because of the dialogue question up above. I remember "douchebag" being used in ET itself. The harried single mom in that movie reprimanded her older son for saying it. I can still hear Dee Wallace's delivery of "No douchebag talk in this house!"

Sure, from the point of view of the characters whose story lines have touched on logistics, the topic of food stores is important. For characters like Jon and now Daenerys, who recognize what is actually at stake, grain stores are way down the list as things stand at the end of this episode. There's simply no time to focus on "real world" issues like how the rulers are going to feed the rank-and-file throughout the winter. There might be a comment here or there, but this cannot be a major plot point. After all, the dead don't eat. Realistically, there is a very short amount of time left to tell this story, which is going to have to include, at a minimum: (1) a battle against the Night King and his army; (2) a battle against Cersei and her army (assuming the Night King doesn't defeat everyone in Westeros by the end of episode two and the remaining episodes follow his adventures as he and his gang take on the cities of Essos one-by-one); and (3) resolution of the question about who will be next to sit on the Iron Throne, which will require resolution of multiple subplots -- which Targaryen is the rightful heir; what will the non-rightful Targaryen do/say about that; how will all of the Starks, northern lords, and Team Daenerys react; how intensely will Jon brood about his actual origins; etc.

I thought his stress was more about money concerns (which paying for a nanny would add to!), not about parenting the girls. They have emphasized more than once that he focuses on spending time with the girls to escape his issues. I think it was the pastor in Nashville who first pointed out that he throws himself into hands-on time with the kids as a way to cope with his mental health issues. And I do think those issues are real. The way he talks about not caring about things that used to be important, for example, is concerning.

There is a difference between what Jon, as KitN, can do with his power and what the northern lords can do in response to that. Simply because they *can* rise up against him does not mean that he does not have the authority they have bestowed on him. Also, what has Jon done that is similar to the brutish acts of rulers like Aerys burning people alive or Joffrey ordering his minions to beat people? Jon's actions have been focused on the big picture, not personal vendettas against his rivals or petty shows of force against innocent young women. He's ruling, not arbitrarily wielding his power in ways that benefit only him. As for whether he should consult the northern lords -- and by that, I mean seek their input, not take a vote and then do whatever the majority chooses -- he actively held open discussions with all and sundry while in Winterfell. Since he left, you could argue that a few more ravens would have been helpful, but shit's getting real. Having a Winterfell-style discussion with the northern lords via ravens whizzing back and forth is just impractical at this point. And unnecessary. The northern lords named Jon KitN. He made a reasoned decision to call Daenerys his queen. It's the north's move, now. They can choose a new KitN if they don't like Jon's decision. Or they can follow the man they annointed their leader because he made a smart choice. Either way, Jon will still fight alongside Dany and her forces to try and defeat the Night King. The north can sit back and hope that works out to their advantage, or they can join in to save their own damn lives I'm hard-pressed to think of a decision Jon has made as KitN that was based on what's best for him. Unless he is somehow selfish for wanting to vanquish the Night King? Yes, that would benefit him, but thousands of others, too. If he wanted to save only his own skin, he could have slipped away from King's Landing and crossed the Narrow Sea to avoid the conflict with the Night King. Instead, he's heading north again. The thing about Jon, as they've shown time and again, most recently when he wouldn't lie to Cersei, is that he's *not* like other rulers. Saying he's worse than Cersei is just not supported by what's been shown on screen. Sure, his decisions will have consequences that will mean not everyone lives, but hopefully his approach to this crisis will yield the best possible outcome for many people who otherwise wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell. If the north doesn't think what he's doing will benefit them, what's a better alternative that will yield a better outcome for them? Just saw this and wanted to add that there is only one decision Jon has made that could possibly be perceived as being based on how he personally feels about Dany, and that's the decision he made to acknowledge her as his queen. But there is so much more to that one decision than just what he personally feels about Dany. He didn't even make the decision until she tried to articulate how she felt about her dragons, how much the loss of one of her children affected her, and how she still wanted to forge ahead to defeat the Night King. In that moment, he saw her, not just as a person with a decent claim to the Iron Throne who might (or might not) be better than the last batch of rulers the Seven Kingdoms have witnessed, but as a *queen* who is willing to make sacrifices for the greater good and who is worthy of his fealty. Would he have made the same decision if he knew about his own claim to the throne? We'll find out. But in that moment, he understood her to be not just the rightful heir, but the *right* heir. That understanding goes beyond his personal feelings for her. He now sees her as the person who should be on the Iron Throne because she is deserving of that seat.

Jon is the head of a monarchy, not a democracy. His decisions are not subject to a vote by the northern lords. Yes, he consults them, as well as others, including his family, Davos, and Tormund. But that doesn't mean he is subservient to any of his advisers. He hears them out, then chooses what to do (see the dispute about the Karstark kids). And they let him because he's their king. That's typically how monarchies work, particularly in a place like Westeros, where there isn't a parliament as well. Also, the northerners aren't going around declaring their ruler to be the King of the Seven Kingdoms, just the King in the North (note: not "of" the north, but "in" the north). It's a bit of a cheat, really. On the one hand, by declaring one of their own to be their king, they're in open rebellion against the crown. But on the other hand, their king isn't trying to gain dominion over all the land. Even without the threat of the Night King and his minions, would the northerners be marching south to fight Cersei's forces and take the Iron Throne? No. They would be banking on either Cersei's forces being unable to get to them and wage war successfully in the north or on Cersei just deciding they're not worth the hassle as long as they don't come south. So, calling Jon "King in the North," especially in light of current events, makes sense for the north. The original decision to revisit the King in the North concept and crown Robb arose out of necessity once everything went to hell in King's Landing. The situation is even worse now, with the north squeezed between Cersei's rule and the threat of the Night King and Co. But enter Daenerys, who has a much better claim to the throne than Cersei, as well as a decent track record of ruling from her time in Essos. Also, she has dragons and a formidable and incredibly loyal army at her disposal. I'm not convinced that, if Daenerys proved to be a more competent, just and benevolent ruler than Cersei, the northern lords would still think they needed a king of their own. Sure, there might be some initial grumbling and a "show me" attitude from certain lords, but being a part of a well-run Seven Kingdoms would benefit the north far more than simply going it alone. Of course, all of this is going to be swept aside once the dilemma is not whether the north should bow to Daenerys Targaryen, but instead to Aegon Targaryen. There's so much potential here -- how will Jon react, and what about Daenerys and the northern lords? Jon Snow, Ned Stark's bastard, worked hard and overcame the (assumed) circumstances of his birth to become Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and then King in the North. Aegon Targaryen, son of Rhaegar and grandson of the Mad King, is heir to the Iron Throne simply by existing. Jon's identity crisis is going to be delicious (or at least I hope so)! P.S. I must add my voice to those disappointed that Lyanna named him Aegon. At first, I thought she said Eddard Targaryen, which I would have much preferred. Have any of the show runners discussed this yet?

Honestly, if the Northern lords, Sansa, and whoever else you want to put in the naysayers' camp don't immediately STFU the instant Drogon and Rhaegal take flight over Winterfell for the first time, Jon absolutely should trundle on out of there with his actual friends and supporters and leave everyone else to their silliness. It's one thing to hear the news that a Targaryen heir has arrived back in Westeros with the combined forces of Dothraki, Unsullied and dragons, but another thing entirely to actually lay eyes on all of that right at your front door. It would be like a fairy tale coming to life. One look at Dany astride Drogon, and I fully expect Lyanna Mormont to start a fan club, die her hair blond, and demand to be called Khaleesi! Add to that the personal stories Jon, Davos, Tormund and Jorah can tell -- Daenerys didn't slaughter the emissaries from the North outright when they came ashore at Dragonstone, even when Jon refused to bend the knee; she humored them and let them mine dragon glass; she eventually came around -- despite the fact that Jon still had not bent the knee -- and saved their lives at great, great personal cost to herself; and she's willing to go once more into the breach against the army of the dead, plus take on Cersei Lannister, assuming the Night King can be defeated. The North may have concerns in theory, but Jon is correct, once they see Dany, meet her, hear what she has done and has pledged to do, it will be a different story entirely. That doesn't mean there won't be angst or further strife, particularly once Bran and Sam arm Jon with the knowledge of his parentage, but this issue of whether or not Jon should or should not have bent the knee will be of little consequence once WWs and re-animated corpses are outside the gates of Winterfell. Personally, I hope the nonsense hand-wringing over Jon's reasoned decision to throw his lot in with Dany is over and done in the first minute of episode one of season eight. The North's very survival is at stake; no one breathing should still be playing the game of thrones.

I'm definitely uncomfortable with the cameras rolling while Adam pursues therapy. I'm glad he's seeking help, but how helpful can the therapy be if a camera operator, sound guy and who knows who else are in the room? Adam did seem sincere, though, when he was describing his experience. I would have preferred the therapist not get so in his face about depression being a DISEASE. Not sure that approach is going to be helpful with someone who has expressed reluctance to seek treatment. I get that she was trying to help him understand he's not at fault, but ... In unrelated news, there were a few comments about the manufactured drama of the trip to the aquarium. I definitely thought Danielle just wanted them to get the kids out of the house, not undertake a significant expedition. So, the decision to hit up the aquarium was on the aunts/uncles (or, more likely, TLC), not Danielle and Adam. And as far as the strollers go, I work across the street from the National Aquarium here in Baltimore and have been more times than I can count. Strollers are prohibited there because they just aren't compatible with navigating through the exhibits, plus they block other visitors from getting close to the exhibits. So, the aquarium provides child carriers that parents can use to haul their kiddos around. I'm not sure which aquarium Team Busby visited, but it's possible there was a similar prohibition in place. I mean, seriously, how of you "forget" a stroller when headed to a place like an aquarium with five two-year-olds?

I see mention of young Ben having run away from foster care, but wasn't he pretty young to be considered a runaway? Can an 8-year old be a runaway? Or did I miss something where it turns out he was older when he went missing from foster care? And, while I'm asking questions, how does Ben being in foster care fit with the backstory he told Willa, about never having seen the sunrise? That actually fits better with the waitress's story about losing her child at two (am I remembering that right?). Is Ben just a lying liar who lies, or is there some way to make sense of all this?

I think being able to show that Doug had access to Adam is critical. Also, Hank can tell Nina what Doug said, that he wasn't going to charge him to fix his cabinets because he owed him so much (or something like that). Why Doug felt compelled to say that and how Hank actually managed to put two-and-two together so quickly I have no idea. That was poorly done. I did like the debate, Nina's approach to dealing with the publicity surrounding her affair, and the whole tense scene with Claire, Willa and Ben trying to keep Nina and John from knowing the truth. Come to think of it, Claire might want to revisit keeping the two people who had an affair on the outside. She should at least read John in so that she doesn't give him and Nina yet another reason to bond. I absolutely hated that they teased the reunion between Doug and Ben, then didn't show it. Ridiculous.

Even if the show hasn't outright confirmed the sexual abuse Ben-as-Adam described (i.e., a doctor talking about evidence of sexual abuse), I have a really hard time getting past the horrific scars on Ben's back. He was flat-out tortured! And there was no indication that those scars were recent, so the beatings likely happened when he was a child. That kind of treatment alone would turn any non-cooperative kidnap victim into the compliant little Ben we saw, talking to Adam about how to get along with their "friend." Also, if he and Adam are about the same age, by the time Ben was 8, he was younger than Adam when his life in the bunker began, and he'd already endured captivity for a period of time. All of that is more than enough to account for Ben being "strange." I think that's why Willa's about-face was the most troubling thing for me. Here is this obviously damaged young man who is ill-equipped to navigate the world *and* is in need of years of therapy to cope with what he's been through, and Willa decides to send him off with $10K and a bag of clothes?!? There is a lot about this show that doesn't make sense, but WIlla's thought processes make the least sense to me.

When Kevin was trying to get to his feet and finally get back in his damn house, I said -- out loud, while watching alone -- "So help me, if his entire fucking family isn't inside that house ..." And, lo, it came to be! Lots to process, but at least I can be happy about the ending.

Which makes very little sense if the reason Evie and the other girls are with the GR is because they aren't happy with life in Jarden. Either Meg is extremely limited in her imagination and is hell bent on believing all the Jarden-ites are as happy and blessed as they keep telling themselves they are, or something else is driving the collision course the GR and the "missing" girls are on. What that could be, I have no idea. I might buy that the girls are fighting the illusion that Jarden is this magical place because it was spared any departures. To them, maybe it's not magical at all, it's just where they live. And where they live is essentially a zoo. Or maybe they accept that Jarden is magical, but don't care because they're bored/disgruntled/angst-ridden teenagers, and they need a cause to spice up their hum-drum lives. So they embrace the biggest new cause around, the GR, because they don't believe the residents of Jarden should be spared from having to remember the departed. What's interesting is that Jarden *is* magical, even if you factor out the lack of departures. I doubt Meg knows anything about the history of the town, the penchant for birds (and ex-cops) to survive three-day burials, or the firemen doing their best to eradicate all things magical. All Meg knows is there was a disturbingly accurate psychic living there at one time. Somehow, that's enough to drive her to hatch a plan that involves -- what? -- exposing or destroying Jarden? Is it petty that I hope whatever the magical thing is that makes Jarden different knocks Meg on her entitled, narcissistic ass? P.S. When I first heard the episode title was "Ten Thirteen," I immediately thought of Chris Carter's production company for the X-Files.

I actually thought Laurie was doing the same thing she's been doing ever since she came to her senses and walked away from the GR: clinging to the familiarity of her profession and, in so doing, failing to recognize that talk therapy ain't gonna cut it these days. As noted up thread, Laurie's "diagnosis" was more appropriate in the pre-Fourteenth world, but now? No, I don't think Laurie is right at all about what's happening to Kevin. I can't say I understand what's happening to him myself, but I have a hard time believing that Patti is no more than a crazy man's hallucination. Similarly, I'll be very surprised if her assessment of what went on with Tommy will prove to be true. Did he tell her he'd been sexually assaulted? Does she know everything about what went down with Holy Wayne? If not, then her assumption that Tommy took off because he felt bad about scamming people is flawed. Maybe she's projecting her own feelings onto Tommy because she's the one who feels bad about lying? Anyway, last week I said that I uttered some form of WTF? every 10 minutes or so while watching this show. This week, it was more like every 5 minutes, with a W..... T..... F.....? serving as my sole commentary during that very last scene. And my list of questions is longer than it was last week. Again.

What's this? Some questions actually answered? Goat, buried bird, wedding dress, even the origin of the mysterious pies. I like it! Honestly, though, I think I'm going to need a support group to get through this season. I watch by myself and utter some form of "WTF?" every 10 minutes or so. Everybody was killing it this episode -- especially Regina and Carrie in the questionnaire scene and Justin at the end. Wow! Nora continues to kick ass and take names. Loved the smack down of her own brother, as well as her hysterical, but relieved response to the wacky researcher lady -- where the hell did those two get their doctoral degrees? But Nora is also still so vulnerable, just not in ways most people can see. Man, the look on Erika's face when she turned the tables on Nora and asked her that question in particular -- yikes. Triumphant, defiant and horribly sad all at the same time. Then, Nora walks in the door to her house, her refuge, and Kevin drops that bomb. Kevin's flinch when he only partially answers Nora's question about what Patti is saying was what sold that whole scene for me. I think this show is actually getting better each week.

And yet I was cheering for him when he straight up asked John what the hell had happened to him to make him so freakin' damaged. Eccleston was killing it this episode. And I really loved that tiny interval where Janel Moloney got to be awake Mary for once. The dialogue sounded so natural between a loving wife and husband, and her delivery was spot on. It was nice to get a glimpse of what their relationship might have been like before this whole mess. Or, they had a horrible relationship, and Matt half-conscious is just as delusional as he is most of the rest of the time. Who knows? It was totally inappropriate because it was a pretty heavy moment, but I positively *cackled* when she snapped, "Get in the car, Kevin," while he was standing there befuddled as usual. And, yes, Brett Butler was so compelling in that role. I'd almost like to see more of her and her character. But then I remind myself how many unanswered questions I still have, so I'll learn to live without her.

Oh, Jeff, we hardly knew ye. I really am not looking forward to Layla's reaction to all of this. This. So much this. The age difference (and the whole manager-client power dynamic) has always squicked me, especially because Layla come off like a high-schooler more often than not. Her tantrum in this scene was like something out of a Lifetime movie called His Teenaged Mistress or something. She's ridiculous with her irrational mood swings, infuriating pouting, and cringe-worthy excitement about playing house with Jeff. So glad we won't be dealing with that anytime soon. With how this show usually goes, though, what are the odds that after Will's latest breakup with Kevin, Will and Layla will agree to "try again" as he helps her over her grief? Meanwhile, Will is the most out-of-touch with his own life character on this show, and that's saying something. I mean, he decides he wants to perform and to hold onto the songs he and Kevin wrote. Then he sings a boot-stomping number more suitable for pre-outing Will, tries to connect with the ladies in the crowd, just like pre-outing Will, then gets offended when the crowd demonstrates they are more up on current events than Will is himself. Why not bust out "Broken Song" and stake his claim as a legit country artist who just happens to be gay, rather than try to fit back into the straight guy suit he wore uncomfortably for so long? "Born for leanin' over the edge"? Um, no.

There was a lot to process, as usual, but the one thing I'm stuck on is the scene where Matt s leading a prayer group at the search site. They were giving thanks for being part of the 9,621, and it struck me how stuck the Miracle-ites are on that number, even someone like Matt, who obviously wasn't there on the Fourteenth. Which makes me wonder what, exactly, the population of Miracle is now. How often do newcomers like Kevin and Nora gain entry? Matt and Mary have only been there for a few months, right? So, counting both families together, that's six new people in a short period of time added to the population. Makes me wonder if they're trying to keep the number constant. Ugh. More questions. No answers. I feel like I'm watching "Lost."