sportsgirl

CBS running ads showing Brooke & Scott in ep 2 during ep 1 took all the air out of the manufactured race-to-Phil drama. Glad that Joey & Tara weren't eliminated. I love them, but I can't figure out why they expected Brooke & Scott to tell them about the ladders when the two teams were fighting to not be last. Nor could I figure out how they looked at the picture of the window display, noticed the man, and decided to ignore him the whole time they built it. The elimination was sad. I don't like seeing people physically unable to compete, especially someone who appeared as sweet and good-natured as Floyd.

Brightside: I've been re-watching season one, so I loved the callback to Emma's Boston apartment (especially her door) & MA plates on her yellow bug; the TLK scene with Charming & Snow cut into their pilot kiss; and the symmetry of the girl showing up on Henry's doorstep delivering the same line of dialogue to him that he did to Emma. I also loved the Charming/Hook beanstalk adventure, though the CGI in that scene was inexplicably horrible (one would think fruit would be easy). Everything else was a cluster: Jasmine & Aladdin representing all the past realms (until we get Sven and the Caterpillar...but no munchkins back in Oz?) seemed random at best. Not even getting Robin Hood on screen, or four of the seven dwarves, or giving the ones that showed up (or Granny) any dialogue. Gold, of course, gets his damn happy ending, consequences be damned. The lack of romance, or really, anything, between Swan & Hook was pretty disappointing, too, following their wedding last ep. I thought Emma would have her memory jogged by the picture of Hook when she threw the book in the fire, but nope. For me, this was the series ender. I think I'm OK with that. The Charmings are alive, Emma and Hook apparently get to be happy together, and what, they'll have 4 years of happiness before Henry goes and knocks up Lucy's mom? Sportsguy was in the room while I was watching, and at one point, he said, "Wait a minute. That's the fourth woman who called Henry her son. Who on this show isn't his mom?" So it was fun to point out Henry's grandmother, two grandfathers, and great grandmother as well.

I noted TR Knight's name in the credits, and I still was surprised that he was Mockingbird. My guesses were Ethan (pulling his own scam), Rhys, the police chief, or one of the Kensington firm henchmen. Well played, show -- I'm trusting that questions will be answered. Or everyone will be quippy enough and/or we'll have fun guest stars again (Michel from Gilmore!) to distract us if they aren't.

Ducky, when Liz & Michael left with one goat, they took a different path to the wedding -- one with more road and fewer stairs that appeared significantly less steep. It was the same path they went up to get goat #2 (and why they didn't run into Team Fun, who were on the steps by that point).

I buy Tara & Joey's logic for U-turning Team Fun: it definitely made it more competitive for Liz & Michael, who would have been out if LoLo had burned the Uturn or if Fun got there first. I could see how it appeared like the only option to give Liz & Michael a fighting chance. That being said, I am so glad that Michael and his bad attitude are out. (Also, I cry foul that he got to skip the steep steps on goat trip #2.) And the emphasis on Tara & Joey being the oldest team left is a little grating. I know 30s/40s are like the lost demographic for racers, but come on. I will take a fit 38 year old with 20 years' military experience over a 20-something realtor who does not run.

When I first saw Frozen, I was convinced that Josh Dallas was the voice of Prince Hans. His singing voice in this episode again reminded me of that comparison to Santino Fontana -- they are similar in depth and tone, and both really strong. I definitely thought Charming and Snow were the best -- not just vocally, but actions/reactions mid-song. Hook's, too, was pretty awesome, and again, Colin's comfort level with performing in song was evident. The rest seemed less comfortable: the Queen's was maybe too campy for her to ever settle into, Rebecca's voice is a pure soprano but neither it or the song felt right for the Wicked Witch (I kept thinking 'but this is the character who gets Defying Gravity'), and Jennifer's voice seemed too thin. Interesting that she keeps Emma in a deeper range when speaking; I wonder if that's why her singing voice felt so hesitant and "off" to me (I was convinced she was dubbed until I read this thread). I don't want to comment on the plot, because....yeah. The retcons continue (although at least there was a reason why no remembered the song curse). Everyone Emma loves is frozen...except Henry...but curiously Zelena. The women's wedding attire: someone in the costume department is holding a grudge.

Now that I've seen the whole thing...this show is phenomenally good. I'd read that the last two eps go off the rails, but in my opinion, the entire season built to what happens at the end of the process. I also was truly surprised by the ending, of who went inland and who went offshore, so kudos to the writers. The fact that there's no communication between the offshore and inland is really the point of control, isn't it? How that played out in various storylines -- Marcos, Michelle, Julia -- was well done. I loved the last episode, when we saw Marcos' picture go on the wall. His son will grow up thinking his father is on the offshore. The sterilization was a a total mindfuck, but it made perfect sense. I started to figure out that childbirth was probably not allowed during the Julia episode...they kept stressing how everyone on the offshore earned their place, which seemed to say without saying that no one was ever born there, as birthright is the opposite of merit. I never would have guessed that Fernando & Joana would be back inland while Michelle & Rafael were headed to the offshore.

Just found this show and it is so good. I'm halfway through, and episode 4 floored me. It's the one where they all go Stanford Prison Experiment, the one where Marcos transitions from logical group leader to an entitled, villainous thug in 20 minutes flat. I don't think I've ever flipped from like to hate on a character so quickly. Good, good stuff.

These were two of the four I liked the most. Like others, What Alice Forgot was my favorite, then Truly, Madly, Guilty (though that was tonally different and the characters felt out of her usual world). The only one I really didn't like was Three Wishes. The Hypnotist one was OK, and I was thrown by the Last Anniversary because the central character was so off, though the mystery was kind of cool.

Yeah, it was that stupid. I think Ashton said something on camera about saving their energies by not actually racing to the first location, because they'd coin flip once they were there, but the actual agreement wasn't shown, so who knows? It was silly on everyone's part; you don't need to make silly deals that don't really help you, and you don't need to go back on silly deals and put a target on yourself.

I totally would have picked Shamir as a partner because he spoke Spanish. I would have been totally wrong in my choice. I am also surprised there was no penalty for breaking the window intentionally; it was clear that was not an accident. And I'm guessing production hates him, giving the way his tiny hand cuts were on full display, along with his tantrum. I loved how they kept editing in footage of the other men, totally fine in their harnesses, while he was complaining about it. It was cool to watch the teams figure out how to work with their partners, and hilarious to watch teams think that flipping a coin was an option when first place at something was on the line.

The actual confrontation happened so quickly, especially balanced against all the singing: I really wish the pacing of the trivia night was more balanced. Also, how many kids go to that school? There were so, so many extras posing as parents, it was insane. One thing I did really love was the look that Maddie and Nathan shared as they hugged their spouses: in it, Maddie's agreeing to protect Bonnie. I really wish the Joseph plot didn't exist and Maddie's story remained rooted in her conflict with Nathan, but this moment was still quite poignant. It strikes me that a lot of plot threads are tangentially tied up, but there's plenty that could be addressed more completely: Maddie's entanglement with Joseph and his wife; Bonnie's backstory; and most notably, the detective determined to uncover more about Perry's death: definitely seems to be keeping the possibilities open for a season two.

I loved the blind date season -- I thought the dynamics were really interesting, and it was fun watching teams of strangers dominate teams of established couples. Eventual winners Laura & Tyler were one of my all-time favorite race teams, too: they were fantastic partners, handled stress well, and didn't freak out on each other when things went wrong. That being said, the first ten minutes of this season filled me with dread. I couldn't tell anything about anyone, and the pair up directive seemed so gimmicky. But as it played out, I kind of loved it. First, my fear that we'd get a bunch of alpha male pairings didn't happen. The team dynamics were pretty interesting. Maybe because most racers were on their best behavior (and as someone pointed out, didn't have months to plan their team shtick), they were mostly pleasant and cooperative, while not being boring to watch. I love this show, and I'm in. (I already prefer this cast 100xs over the internet stars season.) Jenn was really into the stereotypes: about herself (no matter how many times people say it in the opener, looks are not a particularly useful tool on the Race), mainly, but in the every clip, it was either Asians or long-hairs or pretty people. I'm kind of glad she's gone, because that would have gotten old. Speaking of old, please tell me that TeamMom&Dad named themselves that because they each have kids, not because they're maybe a decade above the average age of the other contestants.

So many of the changes made between book and show are so frustrating to me, because instead of increasing the drama and tension, I feel like they deflate it. The Perry filtered through Celeste's point of view, which was the only one we saw in the book, was so complex: for a big chunk of the book, I thought his violent tendencies were one aspect of his personality, balanced by being extremely generous and a great father and a dedicated husband who recognized that the mutual violence between him and Celeste was wrong but he had no idea how to stop it. This version of him obviously unraveled as Celeste rented the apartment, but it still was there, enough, to add some suspense to the story: I literally gasped out loud at the bad twin sentence, because I'd been swayed by Celeste telling us that Perry was a good guy. I missed the reality, and the effect that it had on the twins, because that's what Celeste had missed, too. The successful Perry misdirection also made the reveal that he was Saxon Banks a surprising twist for me, but one that was completely satisfying: Moriarity's narrative abilities hid the truth in plain sight. The show, however, lacks that subtlety: instead, we get everything we know about abusive husbands (controlling Celeste's job, freaking out about how much money she spends). And the result is, Perry's guilt as both Jane's rapist and murder victim/murderer is telegraphed from the start -- in the ep threads, it's pretty much expected that he's the culprit because the show has gone entirely black hat with him. I also dislike the decision to switch Ziggy's conception from one of consensual sex followed by mental cruelty to rape. Again, I think it's trading off something different and compelling for something expected. Finally, Maddie's affair -- and how she continues to work with a man she slept with -- is really hard to believe about the book version of this character and takes the focus off her frustration with Nathan suddenly showing up as perfect dad to Skye, perfect husband to Bonnie after he abandoned Maddie with a newborn -- it's as if the show found that plot unsustainable.

I loved this season -- I think there appeared to be excellent cooking, and it made for terrific TV, and because we knew so many of the chefs, their familiar personalities really invigorated the show. I also liked seeing people who knew the ropes, who weren't thrown by the competition, cook in these parameters without it being an "All-Star" environment. I really do feel as if the final three and the final two were the best of the season, and that Brooke more than earned Top Chef honors. I hope they do this again next season: and I hope the four returning chefs are Sylva, Jim, Silvia, and OK, maybe Jamie (though his failure with vegetables in the first few weeks was, to me, his worst sins of the season). Because as much as the returning crew made for good TV, it was definitely not a level playing field for the new chefs and I'd like to see at least those 3 or 4 chefs get another shot at the show.