ljenkins782

It was Kieran, it was a guy. Not sure if he’s still there or not. In general, there’s far less fanfare in the announcing, especially when they are slashing numbers so quickly.

Oh, I hadn't even considered that. I read Toby Mack's tribute to her about her struggles but had assumed some kind of addiction issue. Very sad either way.

Julia is short, on the heavier side, and not conventionally beautiful, in this culture, she's always going to be on the losing side no matter how talented she may be. Women are always going to be judged by the same criteria, so it's an uphill battle to achieve anything if you're not stunning in looks as well. Does Loretta Lynn really have so many fans that the connection is keeping Emmy going? Her voice is pretty enough, but she's SO nervous that's it's awkward to watch week after week. I did not love Roman's version of Roar while he was on the piano, but thought he sold it once he stood up and I'd rather see someone having fun trying things that may or may not work than watch someone terrified up there. I feel like Roman could have been this year's version of that kid last year who did wild performances every week despite not being the best singer. Since only one person can win, I'd like to be entertained or surprised by the others. I thought Abi's song was godawful this week, bad choice and poorly executed, but she's been great on other songs. I hope she takes Katy's advice and goes back to a different type of song. Jayna sang well enough but just didn't stand out for me, I wish they would have saved someone else and wasn't surprised when she left. McKenna's last performance was really good, I was ready for her to go, but that was good. I still hate this format, it's just too quick. How awful to have the high of being safe 1 day and axed the next.

Hmmm, the article suggests that they want to bring back the Scotty character in a”significant way” but that Lily doesn’t seem to be a part of the idea. Besides being kinda shitty since Lily was the character in the original, it makes me wary of them doing even more personal stories, Scotty’s terrible taste in women was heavily featured in the original. It wouldn’t be set in Philly and would only have one of the original cast, might as well just make it a different series, it’s not like there aren’t a million cop shows with similar premises.

I can't believe Flora is back, I thought she'd been permanently banned. Also never realized she was Ukrainian, I always thought she was Russian. She has had a whole lot of work done, but she still looks relatively the same. Also, hearing her say she was 51 definitely made me blink hard, ouch. Seeing this older, larger version of the Veronica/Rachel/Tina clique also made me feel some type of way. I figured Rachel would still be in fighting shape, but that face, oof. Earning that Butterface nickname since her very first challenge appearance. RR Adam was another one I didn't think we'd see again, I'll be curious to see how Adam 4.0 shakes out, he was a phenomenal competitor back in the day, but quite an ass too. Ayanna just makes me sad, I don't really enjoy watching her struggle to connect with people. Steve too, to a lesser degree, he's much quieter about it and doesn't have the meltdowns that Ayanna has, but it doesn't seem like genuinely connects with much of anyone. Having Adam here could help him this time around, but there must be something a little off-putting about him in real life.

I wouldn't bet on it, American Idol has paid him a mint over the years, plus I think he was executive producer on the Kardashians franchise, plus his radio gigs, hosting New Year's Eve, etc. Money doesn't seem to be the motivator. ETA: totally forgot about his gig on morning tv with Kelly Ripa! per the internet, his net worth is $450 million already even before he starts Wheel of Fortune.

Tim got me right at the end that too, that sly little smile and "I'm still the sexiest dad to ever do this" was adorable, I wish we had seen more of that personality. Tevin is somehow growing on me too, I have loathed him since he dominated the previews leading up to the season. But the episode where he talked about his dad drew me and sometimes his over-the-top reactions are funny, like the "lord Jesus" he let out when Jeff mentioned cream cheese danishes. Cream cheese danishes is what would have tripped my trigger too, so his reaction was right on point. Tiffany is my dark horse favorite, she's very logical but personable and entertaining. And Q is definitely painting an enormous target on his own back with his loudness and bossiness, plus he's a big guy and perceived to be a challenge threat, he's the perfect shield to tuck under.

Cause that's what Ryan needs, ANOTHER job. Kinda curious what drives him, he seems to have zero personal life and 8 million jobs and projects.

Mo just completely miscalculated the move she needed to make, which I can understand. If you're by yourself with no one to bounce ideas off of, it can be tough to decide whether you're better off pretending to be part of a tight group or a free agent. She figured it out too late. Kind of ironic since she was targeted for seeming like a strategic threat. Venus definitely has potential to shake things up if she can keep herself in the game long enough, which seems like a crapshoot at this point. Agreed with everyone who dislikes the earn the merge thing. It would be a lot more interesting strategically to see how the 3 tribes tried to keep their majority numbers or gain a foothold (in the Purple tribe's case). A few sacrificial lambs on the chopping block doesn't move the needle much, strategically.

I always think of the first episode and Lily marching that guy through the downpour when I hear Have You Ever Seen the Rain. And almost every Bruce Springsteen song used in 8 Years makes me think of the scenes from that episode.

I'm very glad Ziggy is gone, I couldn't take that level of drama every week. I don't know what it was about Raghu that was off-putting to me, but something was. Well okay, I know her audition was kind of annoying how they put on the whole pretense that she just happened to give it another go while there to support her friend, but it also had the vibe of like, a person who got dumped and gets very fit and puts on a new persona to show that person who dumped them. Besides the weight loss, she just seemed like an entirely different person and not 100% comfortable in her new persona. Also, "I will survive" as your showstopper? That's a tired old karaoke cliche. Poor choice. KBlocks is interesting, but probably too off-beat to go far on this show. I can see why the judges liked her and I did too, but I'm not foreseeing a long run on this show. Right?? Actually, he was good in his audition clip, but that Showstoppers performance was entirely flat. They had done like 3 "you're in the top 24" in a row so I knew someone was going to have to get denied and he seemed like the ideal candidate to let go of. He has already been extremely successful in one area (making it to the pros in football) so he's not a sob story, heartstrings candidate and his last performance was legitimately bad. I was shocked that he got through. I really enjoyed that performance of Come Together and I agree that it lent itself very naturally to the style change up and fit the rasp in his voice. Doing the fakeout with the guy who's living in one room with 12 people was cruel. And Katy REALLY sold that one, I was shocked myself at first. However...the diamond encrusted watch, rings, necklace, glasses really clash with the tale of hard times. Like, maybe they're fakes, but I assume you'd want people to think they're real, so it still seems an odd choice if you're looking to garner sympathy for your plight. I can't remember the name of the 15 year old country singer who acts like he's 45, but I think I like him. I can't quite make up my mind on him, but I think I like him. He's definitely comfortable up there and I always appreciate that. It's hard to watch the stage fright types struggle through it.

He's misreading the situation yet again, he seems utterly impervious to reality. And he can rearrange every interaction to make himself the victim and hero in his own mind.

Yeah, the styling did no favors to Chloe Savigny's already not classically beautiful face and she doesn't remotely resemble the real CZ Guest. I found her performance overly mannered in a way that didn't quite fit.

This is accurate. The thing is, she often had the right attitude, like wanting to confront things person-to-person rather than whispering behind backs, but she couldn't stop talking long enough to have an actual discussion. And in my experience, people who want to confront things that way don't understand that not everyone is that direct and that their directness can come across as aggressive. Doubly so if they can't stop talking over people. I thought this was a pretty good WTA, though I'd have preferred a full session of the girls fighting with each other vs rehashing some of the rejectees "journeys" with Joey. And at least Sydney admitted that she was annoying, perhaps there was a life lesson there. She was annoying on her own, but the edit really hammered that home. That had to be a tough mirror to look into.

She should have chosen either different shoes or practiced walking in them a little more. Those long Bachelor camera scenes of people walking away are a staple and she was walking like a linebacker in a dress. Joey giving her such obvious clues gave her the time to compose herself. Since I don't really enjoy the scenes of someone gushing their feelings only to be shut down seconds later, I appreciated this approach. From an editing perspective, the season was a bit of a surprise, I didn't clock Kelsey until they were down to like 5 people. Daisy's story came through even with all of the Maria vs house drama that occupied so much time, but the most thought I gave to Kelsey was thinking that she and Lexi looked like sisters.

I would take Joey's closed off reaction to the upcoming boots any day. I'll never forget the season where the guy (took me a solid 10 mins to locate his name in my brain space, but it was the Gabby/Rachel season) pulled out all the stops with each family and in every fantasy suite and had the exact same "I'm in love with you" vibe with every one of the final 3. That was cruel and no one could blame them for each thinking of course they were the one. Much kinder to give some kind of clues so they can prepare not to be chosen, he was able to convey it without breaking his contract. I don't think there was anyone at all who left completely blindsided, except maybe for that dummy Jess who tried to strong arm him into a 1-1 without realizing she didn't have the standing to do so, but that was on her.

The party girl persona seems like a put on. Not saying she doesn't enjoy a party, but PA school is no joke, I don't think she has the time to be a party girl. Also, drinking is not a substitute for an actual personality so if that's her hook, it's gonna be a dull season. She's beautiful so I'm sure the guys will be lining up at first, but if there's not much else going on, the relationships won't get far. Maria could well have been a production nightmare with her capricious ways, but she would definitely be entertaining. After 2 back-to-back Right Reasons seasons where the lead seemed to find someone they genuinely wanted to be with, I could do with a palate cleanser of a slightly nutty girl keeping a group of guys on their toes. I remember being unimpressed at his selection as Bachelor, but as I can no longer even remember who else was a possibility, I guess I wasn't super attached, lol. Likewise, I was unimpressed by Charity's selection the previous year, but again, can't remember who I was rooting for. But in both cases, I ended up liking them more as leads than I did as contestants, which is unheard of, they both came off well throughout. And in Joey's case, it was noticeable from the very beginning that not only was the group of girls populated with more natural looking faces and hair than usual, it was quickly obvious that he gravitated more toward the least plastic surgeried, obvious hair extension types. Do they ask the leads for their type ahead of time?

Plus, he's only the 4th person to go, there's a lot of show yet. He could well be a footnote by the end. My fear is that the season is a huge dud and that's why they chose to focus so much attention on someone who goes out so early. Even the supposed intel he gave at the journey isn't worth all that much, so I doubt that was a setup for Bhanu's behavior affecting the future game. Kenzie is running the show? The dysfunctional, ever-dwindling show that is the purple tribe? Okay. I guess outing her as a strategic player is some info, but she doesn't exactly hide it either, I'm sure they'd figure it out quickly after the merge when she attempts to make alliances all over the place. Tiffany and Q are close? Well again, it's a tribe with next to nobody left, it's hardly revealing tribal dynamics with so few people. The show is definitely too far up its own ass. Can they please quit it with the treacly music played over the contestant's backstory montages? Without the music, it would just be a little insight into the individuals, which I don't mind (especially those we don't get to see because they're not on the pathetic loser tribe), but the music makes it so self-important and after school special-y.

I feel the same way. Maybe because I know it's an earlier race, and 60m episodes have been padded out to 90m each. There seem to be some casting misfires, like maybe they used the Survivor casting folks for a season, lol. TAR has consistently been better cast with the last 2 seasons being standouts, multiple teams that I really wanted to see win and sincerely enjoyed watching. I don't have any early favorites in this one and there are several teams who seem too incompetent to have even made it out of the first episode. Not a great start to the season, but hoping it will pick up.

Same, up until he left, I was trying to work out if this was some kind of long con. But it just didn't add up, with the tribe's decimation, he was walking the razor's edge. In a healthier tribe, he could actually have gone deep with Q herding him. That being said, the dynamic with Q made me slightly uncomfortable only because Q was not hiding the fact that he was goat herding. It's one thing to identify a goat and pull them in through whatever means will work on that particular person, but him saying right to his face "hey, you're a mess like Phillip Shepard, but I'm going to do what Boston Rob did and bring you along with me" was uncomfortable to me. I did appreciate Tiffany not bullshitting him in the last moments. She wasn't mean about it, but putting a stop to his histrionics and just saying yeah, I am voting you, I'm sorry was really the best way to handle it. I couldn't believe my ears when he wanted to know why. Ummmm, every single thing you've done since you got here? That's why. From the show running perspective, what is the advantage to 3 tribes? Every season it results in one tribe that we barely get to see outside of challenges because they're always winning and never have to make decisions. And for the past 2 seasons, it's a complete decimation of a single tribe. It was vaguely interesting the first time it came down to just 1 person (Ulong) or 2 people who wound up having a significant impact later (Malcolm/Denise), but it's becoming lather, rinse, repeat. Yeah, the fake idol for Jess was absolutely unnecessary. Even if she plays her shot in the dark, they have Bhanu as a secondary option. It's not like Jess being safe meant one of those 3 would go. Jem's plan seems like a massive backfire in the making. In the event that she ever has to use this idol (assuming she even gets it), won't these people be like wait a sec, all those group idol hunts and wild goose chases, that was you. It's not the kind of thing that people will appreciate and applaud the gameplay, it's going to feel personal and make her seem untrustworthy. Had it been found by a single person who wasn't going to tell anyone else, that would be one thing. But this tribe had already committed to searching as a group and treating it as a group idol. And with that kind of commitment to being a united group, they are more likely talk amongst themselves and compare notes, she might get discovered even before using the idol. This was a really lame episode overall. The montage of Moriah's jumping lessons were pure filler, especially since this challenge didn't end up involving jumping per se, a person could just step off that block and fall into the water. I was hoping for one of those jump and grab a key challenges, that would have been entertaining.

My hope is that like has happened in other cases, once a story is brought up, several different vehicles (or networks) come up with their own version. Like when Hulu did Candy and then HBO came out with Love & Death. Same story, but with different actors and different direction, it produced a different feel. I would love to see a less...creative (? not sure what I'm looking for here, but fewer dead mommy dream sequences) version of this story. Something a little more direct and with more buildup to the actual splintering of the relationships. I had the same thought when I looked up photos of Babe after reading Swans of 5th Avenue. Polished and attractive certainly, but not the otherworldly beauty I was expecting. It could certainly be a case of an aura that exists in person more than in photos, I've known many people who glow in person and photos don't capture it.

Right?? I was so excited when I saw the previews for this, I loved reading the The Swans of 5th Avenue, but this missed the mark in a million ways. I think a more linear storytelling pattern would have helped it (and FAR few fantasy montages). I would have liked more buildup to the big rift and more scenes of the good times beforehand. Even if they had elected to stick with the style of showing the before times via flashbacks, it would have been a lot easier to follow without umpteen fantasy sequences making it hard to discern what was what. Jessica Lange emoting to the back row was also overdone. A scene or 2 would have done the trick to show the mommy issues, it felt like they'd contracted with her for Bette & Joan and had to find a way to shoehorn her into every episode here too. I haven't been able to read the Belle Burden NY Times piece (it's always behind a fire wall), but a few nights ago I WAS able to read a 1990 article about Babe from Vanity Fair magazine, and according to that article she wasn't the best mother as most of her efforts were focused on Bill Paley and his expectations of her. Even her children with him took 2nd place (and from the article, they were much more troubled than the kids both she and Bill had from their first marriages). The article was a long read but enlightening to the life that Babe had. Yes, the experience of a grandchild can be worlds apart from the experience of a son or daughter. But Babe wouldn't even necessarily have been considered a bad mother by the standard of the time and the social circle she lived in. Coldness toward the children or a demand for perfection was fairly standard, Jackie O has been accused of some of those things as well. And the way the book described her with her routine of putting on an entirely fresh face of makeup for when Bill came home from work and this carefully crafted facade, it's hard to see where the mothering side would fit in.

She was a lovely singer and person, certainly a better choice for a platinum ticket than the anointed ones last year (and I like the change of handing them out later instead of wasting them on someone early on when better people come up later), but the huge focus of attention seems like too much at this stage of the competition. Like, an entire hometown parade while still in the audition phase? That's a lot. I don't think we'd ever get another Kelly Clarkson type winner, someone who got next to no tv time and wound up winning anyway. There have to be lots of golden ticket winners who don't even make the broadcast given the huge chunks of time being devoted to the select few.

I don't put what she did into the same category as playing the mom to the tribe. Playing the mom like "Mama Julie" did last season, that was a nurturing sort of thing. What Maria did was much more in the manipulation department, she saw a young stupid kid and she played on that, successfully. That was a special kind of clueless right up to the end with his speech about blindsides and "getting comfortable, that's when they get you." Um, it was vote 1, and there was zero evidence that you had any sort of alliance or secure place in your tribe. Just an okay opener for me, no one stood out too much in a positive way. But it does seem like we're heading for another season of one dodo tribe who sucks up all the oxygen for the first few weeks and some other lucky tribe where you don't even learn anyone's name til the merge because they're never at tribal.

I can understand why the pressure would have hit at this moment, she's spent the previous weeks battling internally with girls who had no real connection with Joey. It occupied her time and she always won those battles, now that they're down to a small knot of girls with whom he does have a visible connection, it's a big difference in the atmosphere. I was a little surprised by Joey's muted response to it, but it also kind of tracks with their whole dynamic. He's called her a wild card and unpredictable since the start, so this bobble was probably not a total surprise. I don't know why this made me laugh so hard, but it did. And yes, once Rachel got a rose, the doomed were obvious. (And like others in this thread, the fact that there is a Rachel gave me a moment's pause too. I know her to look at her when the show is on, but her name hasn't clicked. And I think she's cannon fodder for hometown week.) Jen is beautiful and she put in a respectable effort to form a connection, but there's something inherently flat about her. Like she seems like the kind who could form that exact same connection with any guy they slotted into the Bachelor role, whereas Daisy seems genuinely connected with Joey himself. For that reason, Jen would probably make a fine Bachelorette, forging a generic relationship with multiple people is pretty much the gig. She's very pretty, she went far in the process and will likely get called to the heartbreak spotlight couch with Jesse at the Women Tell All, so she would be the perfect candidate if they're looking to cast their first Asian lead. She didn't do too hot on her Bachelorette audition in the van though, not enough tears and shock.