Babalu

The whole time I was watching this episode, all I could think of was that the only reason for it was TPTB had a contract with Tom Verica and wanted to get their money’s worth, so they built an episode around him. There was no other reason for it as far as I’m concerned.

Señora Sleep. Way more apt than I care to admit.

@mostlylurking - some of your questions were answered in Season 4 and others will presumably be answered in Seasons 5 and 6. I don’t know if you mind being spoiled or not, but @Crs97 (and anyone else commenting) - you may want to put your post in spoiler tags for others who are watching late.

I ❤️ed this - not because Sophie was crying certainly, but because of all the love and support shown her. Really heartwarming.

I don’t think it matters at all what group Kevin was in except Karen had to undergo the stress/stigma of being on the bottom group at Judges Table. His immunity MAY have made a difference, but only if his dish was worse than Jamie’s. But I don’t think his dish would have been worse than Jamie’s or Karen’s if he hadn’t had immunity and tried something new and unsuccessful. Of course, this perspective is based on what we know now. Still, I don’t think Karen had any reason to worry about which group Kevin chose. The only way Kevin could have affected her would be if Kevin made the worst dish among all the contestants and she made the second worst dish and got eliminated instead of him. Or if he made the best dish and she made the second best dish of all, it could have robbed her of being in the top at Judges Table, but Kevin would have still won the challenge.

Note on pronunciation because I’m a nerd and a Francophile: Several years ago, Top Chef had its finale at Hubert Keller’s now-closed restaurant, Fleur de Lys, in San Francisco, and I was surprised when Hubert pronounced it “fluhr de leess” because I’d always heard it without the “s.” I just looked it up, and it appears this is how most French people pronounce it, while Americans and British people omit the “s” sound at the end. So Adam wasn’t wrong, maybe just a little pretentious.

In the U.S., it appears it’s up to each state as to whether liquor stores are considered an essential business. I’ve heard anecdotally that some medical providers asked the health department to keep liquor stores open because they didn’t want to be dealing with withdrawal in addition to the overwhelming demands caused by CV.

I wonder if he’ll get immunity like Rick did for the first TC when he came back from EoE.

It seems like I’m seeing him everywhere lately! There’s a brief shot of him in the trailer for In the Heights, and he’s in a commercial I’ve seen several times (can’t remember what it’s for) in which people are swiping their cards for you at the subway entrance if you dance.

I’m so very sorry, @LBS. I know how you feel, at least inasmuch as anyone can know how somebody else feels at such a difficult moment, because I’ve had much the same experience since my husband died 2 1/2 years ago. I don’t know, of course, but I pretty much believe they’re in a “place” (not a place) that’s inaccessible to us right now unless we’re very enlightened (which I’m not) but maybe we’ll feel united with them when it’s our turn to sink back into the ocean. * * The Showtime series The Affair’s theme song was Container by Fiona Apple. I love the lyrics, part of which are: I have only one thing to do / And that’s be the wave that I am / and then sink back into the ocean My heart is with you right now.

My friends live in the same small town as Tony. They don’t know him, but after I told them he’d won Survivor in the past and was a contestant on this season, they sent me a picture of Tony and some Girl Scouts (presumably at least one of whom is his daughter) at a table selling cookies. Also in the photo - Michele, Nick, and Natalie. This could reinforce the spoilers that Michele, Nick, and Tony go far (maybe final 3?) and that Natalie comes back from EoE. I just looked up where they live, though, so it may be a matter of convenience - Natalie is 20 miles and Michele is about 25 miles from Tony.

Beautiful, beautiful Danny. This is so very sad. I, too, have watched and re-watched the Danny/Lacey samba (and the Alex/Twitch hip-hop) over the years because it’s so special. I’ve loved many, many dancers on SYTYCD, but if you forced me to name a favorite, it would be Danny.

He left Hamilton for a few months in the late winter/early spring 2016 for the musical Tuck, but then returned to Hamilton. I was lucky enough to see him in both productions. I’m thrilled that he has a featured role in one of the touring companies! I’m not sure, but I think Thayne Jasperson may be the only person who’s been in Hamilton continuously.

What was shown in this episode (“Patty”) may be a good place, but I don’t believe it is The Good Place. In fact, it may be a more insidious version of The Bad Place (not the original Bad Place with butt spiders and penis flatteners, but maybe Shawn and Vicky’s version of Michael’s version of the Bad Place). I don’t know what The Good Place will turn out to be - probably not a place at all, but an opportunity to do good, be happier, etc., whether via reincarnation or being transformed some other way - some manifestation which is both you and not you. I hope that Eleanor, Chidi, Jason, and Tahani are the first ones through the exit door and go because they have faith about what’s on the other side. I’d hate to see anyone go through it just toescape the boredom.

Moved to Speculation thread.

I believe that Sarah very much believes her own point of view and choices and articulates them well in this article. But I don’t believe she communicated them well in the show itself - at least not to me, to many other viewers, or to at least some of the actors. If I have to read an after-the-fact article to understand her intentions, the series was not a success in my opinion.

Who knows, but my theory for now is they had to wait until both Wilkis and Emily were neutralized so that neither of them could destroy or change Piper’s programming. Emily’s inability to access the program may be only temporary (while she’s in federal custody), but perhaps the bracelet they gave Piper and/or the place they’re taking her locks Emily out in the future.

I’d be really interested to see the footage of talk around camp after Dan had been called away and before Jeff showed up. The remaining players must have had their suspicions about what was going on. ETA: @ByaNose - I was typing at the same time you posted, and I didn’t think about a confessional, but in the interview, Jeff said that production talked to Dan for a long time, so maybe they weren’t suspicious at first, but I bet they were after a while.

I’m way late (and for-topic), but I gasped when I read this because I grew up in Oberlin (in town) and moved back a couple of years ago. So, hi, (former) neighbor!(P.S., the memorial is for victims of the Boxer Rebellion.) Slightly more on-topic - as soon as we could ride bikes, we would be gone all day and our parents just trusted we were okay (which we were). My best friend and I were each given 45 cents every Saturday - 10 cents for penny candy at Gibson’s and 35 cents for the Saturday matinee at the Apollo Theater - starting at the age of about 6 without any adult supervision and no one questioned it. We never locked our doors during the day, whether anybody was home or not. We regularly climbed to the very top of the pine tree in our side yard and shook it - I don’t know how tall it was, but it was taller than our 3-story house.

Good luck, @Razzberry. My sister-in-law and her husband live in Cloverdale, so I’ve been keeping a close watch on things in your area. It’s terrifying.

Doug was probably paraphrasing Gertrude Stein (about Oakland): “There is no there there.” I agree that Haley’s character - and every other character, for that matter - has been reduced to its most obvious and superficial traits. I don’t think I’ll look back on this show fondly, which is a shame, since it was so good during its first several seasons.

So I’m guessing the #1 song isn’t Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” like I was hoping, huh?

I could be completely wrong, but I thought that scene was at Joanie’s house and she’d made herself throw up after taking all those pills in Episode 1. She told her husband that one of her daughters knew she was adopted, so I’d thought the other was their biological child. But after her “carbon bomb” scene, I was wondering if both were adopted since it seems like she’s opposed to depleting our resources via procreation.

Thanks, @Lady Calypso! I wasn’t particularly excited about the return of this show, but the addition of so many new actors - and, presumably story lines - intrigues me. I’m especially thrilled that Timothy Omundson is well enough to be in it.

Maura Tierney had breast cancer several years ago, and her treatment included a mastectomy, so there has been reconstructive surgery. Not that I know whether it was the breast we saw - probably not, now that I think about it, because we probably would have seen some scarring unless they covered it with makeup. As for the episode as a whole - I loved it. Joanie’s segment was the least entertaining for me and Anna Paquin’s moroseness wasn’t my favorite, but I enjoyed the futuristic touches, however contrived they may have been. Mostly, I was deeply moved by everything Helen and/or Vik and sobbed so much during the last ten minutes that I could hardly see the screen. (Full disclosure: my husband passed away a couple of years ago, so the emotions aren’t too hard to tap into.)