ribboninthesky1

Original recipe 911 has a few weak(er) actors, so it all comes down to cast chemistry and this cast doesn't have it. Yet. Maybe it will develop. Perhaps I'll let a few episodes pile up and check back in later. Right? I was truly perplexed why the catering bill for pasta salad and sandwiches for *maybe* 15 people was that much. If that was the common pricing, no wonder they didn't tip the man. Pretty much.

Agreed. I thought Meg came out the worst of them all because she was such a fair weather "friend" when it came down to it. At least Ransom didn't pretend to care about the staff. Chris Evans' performance reminded me of his role in Fierce People, so I wasn't surprised by the reveal. I have to confess - I wasn't 100% on Marta's side until she helped Fran. It was for naught, but I didn't completely trust Marta's perspective for a good bit of the film. Especially since I felt Marta reacted a bit too slowly about calling 911 when she realized the drugs were "switched" and the Naxwhatever wasn't in her bag.

Indeed, and it is most often unfair and sexist. Sometimes, though, it's apt. I can definitely see this angle. We didn't see much of Roger, who was an orphan as well. But he seemed less impudent, perhaps because he had to work for his keep. I also prefer Sam Elliot's Scoresby.

Right? I guess our memories are meant to be short, ha! I struggle with Lyra because it's clear the show (and maybe the books?) intends to show her as wise beyond her years, but still a child. And okay, she's special. No problem with that...in theory. The execution is less than ideal. Dafne Keen is getting a lot of acclaim for her portrayal of Lyra, but I think she veers into obnoxious territory more often than not.

Yeah, I can understand why intermittently showing them disrupts the narrative, though I confess it doesn't bother me much so far. Funny that you reference the black female character, as I had similar thoughts. I was hoping she would be a significant character, but nope, just a cipher for Magisterium cruelty. I assumed it was intentional that the Magisterium characters we've seen so far have reptiles or bugs as daemons. I went and looked up a summary of the other books, and well...my interest in the show has waned a bit. I'll continue to watch to see how it plays out.

Not a book reader, but did watch The Golden Compass. One thing I don't recall from Nicole Kidman's version of Mrs. Coulter compared to Ruth Wilson's is how the latter's daemon constantly turned away from her. I know the show made a point of how far Coulter's daemon can be from her, but I thought it was more striking how even when close by, it was wary of her. I didn't mind the film version of Lyra, but this version is kind of annoying. I want her to reunite with Roger, find Azriel, and learn to use the alethiometer, but I also want her to shut up sometimes (same with Billy Costa's mother). I was partially rooting for Coulter to send her back to Jordan College.

I think Nick was fully clothed when Jeff found him. Agreed. She deserved better writing, as did most of the cast. I chuckled when he asked to take a shower there. Dude was looking for a reason to hang around, lol. At first, I was like, "When did this happen?" Then I remembered that I've been FF through any Yoli scenes (unless she's interacting with Jessica) for several episodes.

I am confused. I wasn't surprised that Bobby was there the night of Diehl's death. I'm not even surprised that he's capable of murder. What I don't get is this so-called misdirection for the sake of plot twist. We were shown Nick confessing to a priest about murdering Diehl - a scene that was entirely unnecessary given this "revelation." Although I gotta say - if the argument is that Nick was too small to beat a 220 lb man to death, I'm not sure why I'm supposed to believe Bobby the toothpick is that much stronger. As for Jessica and the Feds, I don't understand why she was under surveillance. If it had to do with that file that Jeff stole, then that's nothing to do with her. If it had to do with the death of that man from the file, that still had nothing to do with her as it happened before she joined the mayor's office. Is Bobby under surveillance as well? Also, Jessica likes the thrill of being the biggest, baddest operator there is, apparently. Yet she's threatening to quit on Bobby after the McGann stuff because...? Then there was the final scene between Stephanie and Bobby. Apparently, the show forgot that they established the two of them were separated at least five years ago. Before Bobby and Keri got involved. So they were clearly having issues then. This bullshit about Stephanie believing in Bobby all this time or whatever. Please spare me, and just leave the man. This was so patently absurd. Angela has been railing and sabotaging herself, her family, and the neighbors, all because she wanted the mayor to make an empty promise? With Jessica's deal, everyone could have been put up in decent housing, rent-free, for a YEAR. She let that Carlos dude talk her and them out of it; he quickly disappeared. Then the mayor came up with a deal to put them up for 3 months. She turned that down. But she finally capitulates because of some half-ass speech that guaranteed NOTHING? Only a promise that they can vote him out if he doesn't deliver? The same speech where the mayor admitted that politicians make promises they don't deliver on to get elected and re-elected. Girl, what? I'm so glad Derrick quit. I was sick of Bobby's "I'm not racist, but I treat you like my lapdog" attitude towards him.

Girl! TRIFLING is what that entire family is. I figured Sam had his own angle when he was so willing to give up the goods on Frances. I did not see the Parker angle coming, though. It might be interesting to watch the clash of the biracial titans next season. Charley might have met her match. My sister watched the show for the first time with me, and as soon as she saw Calvin, she was like, "Who is that?" 😄 As for Jacob, I think the show has written itself into a corner with him. I'm still halfway convinced that Davis might be redeemed somehow - the redemption of messy characters, men in particular, is what this show is all about.

I fully support this theory. I thought she felt guilty about dropping the lawsuit for the job with the mayor's office. I think she wasn't upset about Angela not signing the deal because she knows a grift when she sees one. And she saw just that in Salazar, who we did NOT see at the City Council meeting. I'm fairly convinced that Angela is a narcissist - she's very invested in being seen as the hero, the savior. Whether it's "saving" her mother and her boys, or her neighbors. None of those people are being served by her actions, which is what Jessica was trying to tell her. She's gonna mess around and lose her job, and it'll probably be one more thing for which she blames Jessica. I wish her mom would take the boys back to Jessica's and leave her dumb self on the streets. Not sure why the boys have to suffer due to her hubris. I chuckled at Bobby expecting Keri to continue the affair now that it is out in the open. I'm glad she didn't buy that "ILY" crap from him, but I doubt it lasts. It would be sweet poetic justice if Stephanie AND Keri leave him alone.

The season started out interesting, and it was basically a live-action video game by the end. I half-expected Yazid to pop up alive again after being shot in the head. Someone way upthread mentioned the poor hair and make-up particularly among the middle Eastern male characters, and right there with you! It was distracting at times. Yeah, I thought Wendell Pierce stole the show from JK. Jack Ryan immediately undermining Greer's authority in episode 1 put him into asshole territory, and he never really left it for me. The scene where Greer mentioned narcissism in reference to Jack's morose self-loathing over the Paris church terror attack had me nodding my head in agreement. There's an inherently decent, compassionate person struggling to do the right thing, and there's self-righteous peacocking because your way is the only way. Jack Ryan was definitely the latter. Agreed on the lack of chemistry, although JK wasn't selling it. Abbie Cornish gave it her best shot, and wasn't getting much back. The writing wasn't there, either. I didn't understand why she felt so betrayed when it was revealed that Jack was CIA. They barely knew each other, and she was the one who wanted to keep it casual. Agree with the "drone pilot's spiral due to the PTSD arc was useless" sentiment. The season probably could have been cut down to 7 episodes without those scenes.

No one is arguing that Micah should be forced to go to Harvard. Or any college. Charley can absolutely be stubborn. But I don't think Charley is unreasonable for having a plan for Micah. It's pretty common for parents to have a plan for their children. I don't think we've seen Micah express a plan to Charley for his own life until 2 minutes before the end of this episode. I knew what I wanted as a teenager, but I told my parents well in advance (especially since we were working class and I was old enough to understand there wasn't money for college). I know it's common to consider an 18 year-old a kid. He's young, entitled, and immature, but he's not a kid. He's absolutely old enough to know better, which is why he dropped the bomb in front of everyone despite having all the time in the world to talk to Charley alone about it. I don't think he's afraid to talk to Charley. He just didn't want his plans challenged.

The latter might have gone over easier for Charley if he had been more forthcoming. She might have been amenable to Xavier if he had talked with her about it. Being an adult is having the tough conversations even when they are uncomfortable and may not yield the results you want. Charley has been held accountable when she's done things without talking to the family, and that's when it involved her own money! So Vi in particular needed to hush about "what's done is done" in that moment. Part of my long-standing frustration with this show is that they advocate only grassroots activism as worthwhile, as the morally superior path. This is despite the fact that they've written Charley as a shrewd, wealthy woman who has made significant headway in St. Jo because of that same wealth and the defiance it affords. Whoo, talk about a blindspot.

For me, Vi's words would been stronger if she'd read him for the trash he is when he showed up at her house (while not letting him in). Tracking down his address, and driving out to his dilapidated house takes the sting out of it, in addition to it being risky. But I guess we wouldn't have met the young woman he was abusing and who we'll probably only get glimpses of again, if ever. Even that felt too pat. On a separate note, was Romero in this episode and I missed it? I didn't see any attempt to reunite with Charley.

I kind of assumed she didn't want it traced back to her, but that doesn't make sense, either. That whole scenario was quite sketchy.

Yeah, I really wanted to like Angela. But she lost me when she declined the opportunity to have a no-mortgage home where her mother and children could be safe. The disregard for her children's safety and quality of life completely negates her so-called principles. It's one thing if she had no support, but she's got it. I don't even think it's pride at this point, it's a martyr complex. Maybe a touch of narcissism. I'm no Keri fan. I'm not sympathetic to Stephanie, either. Clearly that marriage is for political and possibly financial expedience. Which is fine, but then either put Bobby on notice about the extramarital affair or deal with it. No one is forcing her to remain married to a man she's known to be sleeping with another woman for five damn years. It's not just Keri who looks ridiculous. On a separate note, employees of the mayor's office fly first-class? Must be nice.

Exactly. I don't care if Micah was 21, 25, or 30, if you are financially dependent on your parents, they deserve not to be blindsided with significant life decisions that they are financially on the hook for. I didn't hear Micah say he got a full ride to Xavier. I felt bad for Charley. At least Ralph Angel had the wisdom to be quiet. Nova and Vi's temerity annoyed me immensely. Same! *whispers* Keke's hairstyle in the museum should have been the prom style */whispers*

See, I don't think Bobby is providing much physical or emotional support. Before her relapse, there were hints that he wasn't around much, whether because he's hitting the sheets with Keri or just long hours at the office. And she suspects, if not outright knows, about Keri, if she is checking Bobby's phone behind his back. So I'm not seeing much peace of mind for her. It might be politically and financially expedient for her, though.

Especially since he started it. I don't know how he thought that would go. I'm still not sure how the deal with that union guy wasn't fraud. Or at the very least, questionable ethics. But hey, I'm not a lawyer. And I liked the Mia character, hope we see her again. That said, I do see what she's trying to do with getting the mayor out of McGann's grip. The problem is that the mayor is too prideful or cowardly to let her be the "dirty" person he says she is. Same with Nick. Still wanted to give Nick a hug, though. He's a murderer, and he can't deal. Poor Derrick. He seems like a smart, capable man. If I were him, I'd leverage the experience in the mayor's office into something else more lucrative and with less of an asshole of a boss. I don't think we've seen Bobby respect anything he's had to say to date.

I was perplexed by the casting of Homelander. He came off obviously off-kilter from his first scene. He wasn't particularly handsome. Or imposing for that matter - I think only the Deep was shorter in hieght. So he never felt like a twisted Superman to me, more like Bizarro (who the public would never believe was authentic). Karl Urban was more convincing as a narcissist wearing a mask and manipulating others. Homelander always came off unhinged, and a step away from losing it.

My take on Vanya was of the "psychopaths are born, not made" perspective. Her violent reaction to the nannies as a child because she didn't want to eat her oatmeal solidified that for me. Hargreeves' methods certainly exasperated things, but I also suspect Vanya would have been a problem regardless.

You're right about the 80s! I think if the dress has been strapless or Grecian style, it would have worked. I generally prefer her over Micah, so I'm always on her team, heh. I'm okay with Nova and Charley reconciling, but I did chuckle at Nova giving Charley advice on her speech. Charley shooing her away to Calvin so she could practice alone made a lot more sense.

😂 Why are you like this? *cue Aretha Franklin* I have convinced myself that Charley likes Jacob but doesn't want to face the implications of it. She was so petulant with him at the diner. He seems to be the only adult male, besides Prosper, that respects AND accepts her as is. I mean, he can't singularly atone for what his family has done, or racism in general. Yet, she seems to expect him to. I'm like, "Girl, just go ahead and further dilute that awful bloodline...do your part and get you some lovin' too. Reparations, sis!" Agreed. I think the show wants to capitalize on the actor chemistry, but they've written themselves into a corner. I rolled my eyes at the "reveal," although it is a callback to what his mother said about the men in the family. I really liked Erica Tazel on the show, and wish she could be around longer. I don't expect to see her again, or beyond this season. Even with no Darla in the mix, she seemed too mature for Ralph Angel. Her reaction to Darla's relapse reaffirms my wish that she was introduced as a friend to her, not Ralph Angel. I think the Kiki actress is gorgeous, but I had so many conflicting feelings about her prom look. Loved the color of the dress, but no to the design. And I HATED the hairstyle, it was too busy. Otherwise, I ff'd through the teenager scenes. Not the crease!

Keri is so very dumb. Bobby, who has ignored her for however long and snapped at her for asking about his wife, is suddenly full court press after he hears there are other men? If I liked her, I'd feel sorry for her. If she had the backbone to permanently end things, I might come around. As for Bobby's wife - why is she still married to him? She's clearly miserable, so not sure what she's getting out of it. They were separated five years ago, so I assume the marriage is for optics? This is also a case of the show telling us rather than showing us this great, mighty, charismatic Bobby. I've yet to see it. I wish Angela had come around on her own. And I also wish she'd learn to pick up a phone before showing up at Jessica's apartment - both times. I hope this is a genuine step in the right direction for the two of them. Jeff trying to slay Jessica's dragons after she put him on notice was interesting. And a bit desperate. We'll see how long they last.

Ha! When Nova said that, I thought the show was deliberately trolling us. Because I refuse to believe someone wrote that with an earnest heart and straight face.