rubyred

This, so much this. I was watching but missed seeing BT's name in the credits, so I started the episode cautiously optimistic that they had nutted up and killed Juliette for real. But then Meisner showed up, and that screech, and I was like, uh oh... "Juliette" has been dead for a long time. The final nail in the coffin was her complicity in ambushing Kelly. But when she torched the trailer: dead.to.me. I so needed her to be dead after that. But I haven't been optimistic that they'd really get rid of her and now the only hope I have is that they don't follow through on the hints, like all the other storylines that have been introduced then dropped. Like, say - that damned map! Remember that? When Chavez went for her pocket I was sure she was going to pull out another piece of that key, but what was it? A fucking chess piece? The Royals "arc" was fucked up when it became clear they were writing as they went and didn't have a solid arc or story to write to. The waste of James Frain! And then poor Alexis Denisov, they gave him so little to work with he ran away to be on a poorly-written show on MTV but at least in that one he isn't required to be "menacing" (not his forte) and can practice his American accent. I've never understood why this show had to introduce babies into the mix. I wish the gypsy lady had taken Diana and that was the last we heard from her. Adalind as devoted mother I will never buy, because she fully intended to sell Diana before she was born. Childbirth is not shorthand for moral redemption, writers. And to double down with another pregnancy, smh. This episode was hard to watch; I loved seeing all the gang again but Manic!Nick is not my favorite mode. Chavez was needlessly cryptic- and why on earth wouldn't she have figured out or assumed that Nick might be a Grimm? Is it a "there can be only one" situation? I don't remember, because I don't think the show even knows.

Last season everyone (Keating4/AK/Rebecca) piled on Wes because he wasn't adjusting to the fact that he killed Sam, or at least he wasn't adjusting quickly enough for their taste. He felt the weight of that responsibility, which is such a buzzkill, omg! He's transferred that burden of guilt to whatever happened to Rebecca, and he's "paranoid" because he believes she's dead? She is dead! I agree that hearing him say RebeccaRebeccaRebecca is annoying but actually having guilt about killing a person (Sam) or putting them in harm's way (Rebecca) gives him one of the few characters with an intact moral center. Captain Save a Ho seems to be his allotted role on the show. But this show is almost virtuostic at making you root for the most despicable characters when you know better. I refuse to believe Asher took part in that gang rape. I really wish the show hadn't gone there, because so many shows cross a line like that and think they can be all bygones! when they've actually destroyed something essential about a character. I think he probably knew and/or was complicit in some way, like the house was owned by the Millstones, but I really hope they're not going to make him a gang rapist, when he, again, despite being annoying is one of the few characters who struggles with ethics and has been shown to try to do the right thing. One thing that is starting to confuse me more than the flashforwards is the layers of lying going on. So many, many lies! I can barely keep track of them. Bare-faced lies, lies of omission, half-truths - it's mind-boggling.

Even though I told Gemma not to kiss him, quite loudly, from my sofa, she went ahead and did it. But a second later "Love the One You're With" came into my head, thanks for the earworm Stephen Stills. I don't think that Will is necessarily Gemma's TL, things would of course be different on Earth, and Will is fully aware of how much Gemma loves Fitz. I thought that was a pretty engaging and entertaining hour of tv, even though I got damn sick of that blue filter. I'm really appreciating that despite its comic-book origins, AoS is finding ways to demonstrate that people can have more than one emotion at the same time. Fitz can love Gemma and be hurt, but still have the decency to share her urgency in rescuing Will. Gemma can bond with Will and still love Fitz deeply. We don't know yet how far any nascent romantic feelings towards Fitz had developed, we just know that she agreed to dinner/be open to it. It might have been a Cordelia/Wesley situation where all the lust in the world fizzled once they acted on it (so awesome, thanks BtVS).

At first I was disconcerted, but now I think it's a good move that the show makes so little fanfare about cast changes (other than Barnaby's, because, natch.) Dan Scott was "out sick" one day and we never heard from him again; Jones has been promoted to DI and moved to Brighton, all offscreen. The pathologist has changed a couple times...although I admit I finally got used to the latest one and I guess she's being replaced for the 2016 season, but whatev it's just the pathologist. I like Nelson so far but they've done absolutely nothing to flesh out his character other than being a good copper who doesn't wear a tie. Jason Hughes as Ben Jones put a stamp on the character from the jump, and I kept wanting to have an episode with his Gran. It's funny how the show has managed to be the same, and still different with the new Barnaby. I like Dudgeon's approach to the role, but I wish Sarah was a little less of a sitcom pretty, out-of-his-league type. But she's smart and they seem solid. They do need to be a little more judicious with the dog stuff, and now the baby stuff. Most memorable death: the catapulted wine bottles onto the guy pinned to his lawn with croquet ties, with his wheelchair-bound wife wheeled to the window to watch, and cackle "5 degrees more to the left, I think".

Re: Hunter/May - she may realize that tactically his point was true, about saving more lives etc, but 1) he would NOT have been singing that tune if Ward was threatening Bobbi again and 2) she may understand it but she doesn't have to like it, or him. I look forward to May freezing Hunter out till the end of time. Hunter has always seemed bush league to me (would have liked to see Michael Socha in the role). So much so that I haven't been paying as much attention to his scenes, so assumed that somehow or other Ward had never met or seen him, which was another reason why he was the best person to go undercover with HYDRA. To find out that all along he knew Ward would recognize him -- wtf? He banked EVERYTHING on the 3 nanoseconds Ward might be taken by surprise? Are you freaking kidding me? Bush league. Daisy is continuing to erode the goodwill I had toward her at the end of last season. I don't know if it's the writing or the performance, but she's always simultaneously insubordinate and bossy. Who is also now pouting because "dad" may have a new girlfriend. I like the haircut but everything else is not a good look. And I don't like that Mack is in even more danger because her impulsive inhuman ass rushes into everything.

This crazy-ass show. I still have a soft spot for Asher; he's written as this tone-deaf douchebro but we've seen other sides of him, like when he was disappointed in his father. He overcompensates socially because he feels like he's an outsider...and he is, he hasn't been involved in the misadventures of the K5/4. I hope they integrate him more into the show. Maybe it's the actor, I can't help it, plus he's sometimes the lone source of humor in a very, very, very bleak show. Been thinking about Annalise trying to get her freak on with Wes. I really don't like those scenes. But I'm thinking now that, master manipulator that she is, Annalise just hones in on what aspect of her personality rattles people most. Appearing to favor Wes keeps him off balance. Not that that I don't think she'd hit that, she totally would, I'm just not convinced that's all that's going on. She feels like using her sexual energy is the best way to control him, so that's what she uses. The other kids are scared of her already, all she has to do is tromp through the room and yell at them. Laurel/Frank: snooze. I actually thought at the end of last season there was some decent Laurel/Wes chemistry. I can't take Frank seriously because when I look at the actor all I see is Ben/Glory, not some dude pretending to be a made guy. I'm interested in what's going on with Wes. It's only been a couple of eps but there seems to be a brittleness there, a sort of deliberate withholding of his thoughts from the group. I'm assuming it's an acting choice and not just AE trying to keep the American accent on lockdown, ha. He's definitely less optimistic and trustful, and hopefully realizes that Levi is full of shit.

I was surprised to find myself actually empathizing with Carrie last night - I had thought that well had run dry several seasons ago. But seeing her trying to do her job around these people who don't get it: the dude who thinks his billions make him bulletproof; Moral Outrage with Braids foundation blogger (flashback to Dana Brody *shudder*); they think they understand the shit; they should meet Peter Quinn, who has been in the shit for 2 years and is more weapon than human now. It was a leetle convenient that Saul is European Division Chief and he's now running Quinn, so that they both could show up in Berlin, but whatev, it's CD's show. Overall I think there's some interesting story potential here, given how timely the subject is.

So I see what you're doing, Show, trying to add yet another layer of complications to an already convoluted premise, what with the Pit Boss getting that guy dronestriked and all. But they're still claiming that the rationale for the games is to keep rich people engaged so they don't destroy the world! What the hell? Walk that back, please, it's too preposterous. Now, the preposterous I like: Kane leaping out of a plane without a parachute. That was fun.

You know, if Katrina had been played been Shannyn Sossamon I might have liked her. I knew Nikki Reed was joining but watching last night I realized I was expecting to see Ashley Green. They are not the same person, apparently. The Betsy Ross stuff was lame, but for me the disconnect was that she sounded too contemporary. But it was her first show, here's hoping. (It will be bad) One thing about the ratings -- I had no idea they had moved the show to Thursday. If I hadn't glanced at the ptv homepage last night I would have missed the season premiere. Putting it up against Scandal makes me wonder if Fox is fucking up again and/or trying to kill the show.

Deacon would be a lot sexier if he'd take off that hairshirt he's so addicted to wearing. I've never seen a character so in love with self-flagellation. Why do all of Juliette's recent songs all sound like the opening chords of "Don't Put Dirt On My Grave"? I thought that was what she was about to sing... Was that older singer that dumped Rayna an actor or "someone" in the country music industry?

Ok, this show, what is this show, even? This has got to be one of the most ludicrous premises...and yet....the hour flew by. I enjoyed WS looking fine, wearing his tailored suits and walking in and out of rooms (and cashing that check). PW has to do all the heavy lifting, which is fine by me (kind of miss the British accent). It's obviously going to be plothole-palooza but if they can keep the energy up it's a mindlessly entertaining hour, IMO. I'm down for that. The blonde seemed a little young and out of her depth but she's not Megan Boone levels of suck, so there's that.

I don't understand why Skye using her birthname is such a big disconnect. We've known what it was for quite awhile, it's not like she suddenly decided, 'just call me Gwyneth, guys." I really do miss Cal's crazy ass, though. I couldn't get into the show watching it last night as it premiered, and I realized it's because of the (lack of) )lighting. Watched it on my laptop 2 feet from my face this morning and it was much easier to see what was going on. I am worried that May is not actually on vacation. I'm worried that Ward has her.

Much binge-watching has led me to this moment. Of all the twisted, delusional and craptastic things Ward has done, and there have been many, the look of sheer glee on his face when he shot "May" - glee plus 3 gut shots -- will.never.forgive.

Well the Rebecca/Annalise kiss/hookup took me by surprise, although I can see in hindsight it shouldn't have. It's just that Annalise does everything at ELEVEN, she's so intense I feel exhausted at the end of the show. Props to the show for still being able to surprise me. I really hope a Wes/Annalise hookup is just a red herring, because Wes looks as disturbed by the possibility as I feel. One thing I didn't get about Bonnie killing Rebecca: she killed her, but she also hauled her behind the stairs so that everyone thought she'd run off. Presumably she planned to go back and get the body and get rid of it, but Frank took care of that little chore so how could she think Anna/Frank wouldn't figure out she'd done it? Who did she think would have the skills to disappear a corpse like that? Did I miss something about that flashback? What was her plan?

I actually thought it was a pretty solid premiere, for Nashville. Sets up some long arcs and reignites some character issues. Although I was hoping that Bev was dead. I guess she'll end up being the block for Deacon and Rayna this season, as there's nothing she'd like better than to spike that wedding. It's going to be annoying, because D&R together actually feels solid and organic. And if done right, Rayna and HWY65 could be an interesting storyline. Here's hoping. I didn't really miss Jeff the Misogynist and Worst Businessman Ever. And without him I don't know why Layla is still there, except to have someone Juliet can punch down to. But with Teddy in jail, we don't have to deal with the MILF prostitute! Bright spot will be Cadence her three daddies. Gunnar/Scarlett bring out the worst in each other, particularly Gunnar, so they're harder for me to root for. How is it that he's so great and mature with the guys and a needy stalkeresque you must love me! adolescent in any of his romantic relationships? With Scarlett it's particularly bad but he wasn't that great with Zoe either. A couple of nice songs in there too! Missed that!

Late to the party so forgive the rant. I enjoyed the season so much except DAMN I am pissed off at Karen. And I don't want to be, I like Deborah Ann Woll, but the constant sob-talking and her insistence that Ben to what she wants right now it's important really grated. And then of course, her selfish agenda got Ben killed. And THEN, to add insult to injury, she unloads her guilt on his crying wife AT HIS GRAVESIDE and Show has his wife ABSOLVE HER. No. No no no. I don't think it was deliberate that the fight for Hell's Kitchen systematically stripped the show and the neighborhood of character, ethnicity and PoCs. But that's exactly what happened. Ben's death wasn't necessary; we'd already had graphic proof that Wilson was a Very Bad Man with his murder of Anatoly. The only PoCs left standing are Officer Brett and Madame Gao, and who knows when we'll see her again. But even giving the benefit of the doubt, I think this underscores a frailty in adapting from the comics universe: yes, you've got canon and origin story to mine, but it's mostly about the hero. In the present day, people will notice when 50s tropes are presented as right and true (I see you, The Flash and it's ridiculous "protection" of Iris). Karen is lauded as having "agency" because she's the one who shot Wesley, but other than getting rid of the gun she did nothing else reasonable, like telling her good friends the lawyers what's going on. Which I guess is par for the course for Karen, since she did the same to Ben when she dragged him up to St. Whatever's to meet Fisk's mom without his knowledge or consent. Also, these kids need to lay off the strong spirits. Watching them knock back so much alcohol did a number on my stomach lining. TL; DR: Karen pissed me off for being selfish and getting Ben killed. Comics, though there have been improvements (Claire rocks), are still bad at depicting women.

Jeremy is so trifling I don't think they even need to show him next season, just namecheck his downfall. He's not interesting enough to weave a plot around. And unfortunately we've seen that Quinn isn't always great at the long game; she showed her hand with Madison too soon which gave Chet time to protect himself. I was surprised that she did that, I had been hoping to see an epic showdown but it went flat because she was in a rush, I guess. My guess for Quinn's spiel to Adam: lawsuit, Rachel wuz hospitalized, Mary just killed herself are you sure you want to take on a psychologically volatile relationship, lawsuit, say goodbye to the vineyard ,lawsuit, Rachel broke down last year, I will grind you into the dust on national television you limey piece of shit. Paraphrasing.

I kind of enjoyed how fast and loose the show has been with certain things -- Adam's "royal" credentials, etc, because I took it as a kind of meta joke about how the show actually doesn't give a shit about truth, or love, or any of it. They pay lip service and use words they think "the audience" (in my head I replace it with "those idiots" in Quinn's voice) responds to: Cinderella story, handsome prince blah blah but they seriously don't give a shit about any of that. Just like they have no investment in the POC contestants, who were just as ignored or boxed in as stereotypes as you'll ever see on these reality shows. Thus, Shamiqua makes it to final four and bye Felicia. There's like a whole other level going on on this show....including Anna finally having a feminist moment and dumping Prince Charming at the altar. Rachel finally got to do something transgressive within the genre. I thought the Duchess kind of overplayed it but she was fun. Brittany was a waste, except for the "turd eyes" line. I was enraged by Jeremy's bitch move but I don't think he can really do anything. Like someone else mentioned, Rachel is an adult and Olive can't medicate everyone involved in making sure her daughter is involuntarily committed. He's also a dumb bitch because Quinn can make sure he never works again, but sure go ahead and get your "revenge", ass.

Not to be an Adam apologist because he definitely wussed out, but any tales Quinn may have told him about Rachel's instability and hospitalizations would have come pretty soon after the Mary suicide debacle. So while it sucked that he let Rachel down, it was a better narrative choice for storytelling purposes and perhaps can be handwaved if they have Stroma back next season. Again this show manages to surprise me. The way Shiri turned on a dime after Adam left the confessional had me gasp - but then to see her open the door to reveal Anna in the other side - cold, cold, cold!

Wow, watching today's Lifetime marathon really brings home how corrosive and morally bankrupt these characters are. Off to pop more popcorn.

Not happy to have missed the Pete/wife/Simon scene either. And was there another snipped scene that explained why Vera was so complaisant while Niska and George discussed...everything? I kept waiting for her to bust through a door but there she was, sitting in the parlor!

Even with his betrayal I'm not convinced Quinn and Chet are over. They are too enmeshed to make a clean break, both professionally and personally. And it's not like Quinn doesn't know what a douche Chet can be, she's just always been on his side (until the lawsuit) so she didn't have to deal with his shitbag side directly. Right now she is raging and I am loving it, but it's not like she hasn't compromised in her love life before - she spent 8 years being Chet's "other woman." She'll get her pound of flesh but I wouldn't be surprised to see hate sex in the very very near future. That is, mutual hate sex, not the one sided hate sex she's having now, ha. On another note, one of the things I've liked about Rachel and Adam is that they don't get all slut-shamey and moralistic about the sex stuff. She knew from the beginning about Grace's bjs and saw him in action with the investor's wife; he had to know that "being with Jeremy" meant reigniting their sexual relationship, but neither holds it over each other's heads. It's an aspect of their own, I don't know, compartmentalization? that I think they share and that makes them a better instinctual match than Rachel/Jeremy. Jeremy is a guy who Rachel is always feeling like she has to live up to ('cause he's such a good guy, and she's such a basket case.) Adam doesn't require her to be anyone other than who she is at this moment. I don't care about any fantasy fairy tale happily ever after ending for Rachel and Adam; IMO those fucking fairy tales have done so much damage to how people think relationships should go: to wit, shows like The Bachelor et al. I just want her, if she has to be with someone, to be with someone who isn't judging her from some hypocritical high horse. Jeremy was engaged, not Rachel.

The Paley Center UnReal panel will live stream tonight (Thurs) on Yahoo at 7:45pmPT/10:45pmET. Here's the link: https://screen.yahoo.com/live/event/unreal.

I always like the moments when Quinn and Rachel really connect, so it was disappointing to see Q go into mega-bitch mode later and blackmail Rachel into working for her again. Just seems so counterproductive to what is on some levels a good relationship. She's now set up another dynamic in which Rachel is going to be trying to wriggle out from under her, instead of working with her. I also liked how Freddie Stroma played that scene; completely stone-faced and unreadable. You could totally believe that he could just shrug it off as just another sex tape scandal if it were just him involved. And I also didn't take his "let's run away" speech literally. To me it was more like, "I am not Jeremy and you know you like that even if you don't want to admit it to yourself. See how being with me would be so.much.more.fun on every conceivable level? Including dry cleaning?" The horseback riding scene was everything. I think Madison has more in store. I totally overlooked her until that bj but now I'm not buying the wide-eyed innocent bit.

I wouldn't mind, I like the actress best of the three. Still not sure what the upside for Faith is, realistically. But I didn't think Rachel would be able to convince Adam about a spinoff but bless her she came up with a palatable alternative. Kudos to Rachel's spinning skills.