withanaich

I don't think we can root for anybody, really. Maybe we should just be rooting for Jane to extricate herself from this mess. The funny thing about them trying to make Weller super-speshul is that even HE looks like he barely cares about it.

That was awesome, and more awesome the more I think about it. I have totally had passive-aggressive conversations like Van had with her friend, totally known that one chick that always wants to toss their man's ugly friend at you. You can tell there is at least one woman in the writer's room, and she's being listened to. I was so with Van when she just got up and left, saying she was "going to the bathroom" even though everyone knew it was a damn lie. I can't even be mad at her for leaving without eating, because she would have had to wait around at that tension-filled table for her food to arrive. Nope! Never smoked weed or had to take a drug test, but I could still feel her panic and desperation as she was trying to figure a way out of this jam she basically got herself into. (Plus, I think it's good to show that she can be just as dumb and irresponsible as Earn. Makes her less of a Mary Sue, or an uptight naggy girlfriend trope.) That diaper-ransacking scene was the sort of the thing you have to watch through your fingers (as you whine "noooo..."), like a character getting creeped on by an axe murderer they don't know is right behind them. And then, just when I figured she was going to get busted because her sample had diaper chemicals or something in it, the show swerved left ... and she ended up covered in her child's urine through no one's fault but her own. And THEN, when she realized she didn't even need to go through all that? OUCH. I'm not a thousand percent sure, but I think it's supposed to be more like the scene with the guy making a sandwich on the bus. Less of a metaphor, and more "utterly real but so 'stranger than fiction'" that it also works as a metaphor. I don't remember stuff like that happening when I was in school, but from the videos kids put on the internet now, I have no trouble believing a kid might do something like that at school. I love how the one teacher was just so completely unnerved by it, which might have been the kid's intention. And for for Van to have to see that at the end of everything she'd been through, it was just like a WTF? cherry on top of her piss-filled sundae of a day.

Because this is the last season and it's only half as long as previous seasons. Guess NBC didn't want to commit to a full season with the ratings slipping like they have been.

Hee! That or a bus driver, but somehow Lucy Liu makes it work.

Yeah, the "bitch" thing was a bit much. Are there women who really talk to each other like that? I wonder if that was someone else's bright idea, because I don't remember her web series having that kind of a feel to it.

And this is why I have a hard time taking Jamal seriously, either, at least sometimes. For all his talk about how Lucious lets family squabbles interfere with the music (and business), Jamal is doing the same thing. He wants his father to take him seriously and treat him like an adult without pulling all these power plays (which is a fair point), but he wouldn't be able to pout and say "No, I don't want to do my job right now because you're mean" if his employers weren't Mommy and Daddy. Even though their family drama makes doing his job difficult sometimes, he also has a lot of (ridiculous, unrealistic) leeway. I get why he can't perform right now for health reasons, and of course if Lucious weren't an ass he would be understanding of that, but there is no legitimate reason why they should be taking Jamal's pouting about not releasing the album seriously. Except that he's their son, so apparently they're supposed to let him screw around with the bottom line. Lucious was well within his rights to release the album, because I'm sure in the real world when you're running a company that isn't Empire, there are contracts and whatnot, and people can't just say "I don't wanna" without some serious legal repercussions. But then, of course, he's Lucious so he can't just say "Jamal, grow the hell up, you literally signed on for this so yes, we're releasing the damn album a bunch of people worked so hard to help you make." Because he's Lucious, he has to agree to one thing with Jamal, and then go behind his back and do whatever he wants anyway. Which is what makes him such a snake.

Hakeem is so damn ridiculous. Hasn't given a single thought to Laura since he sulked off in that "Just Married" car, doesn't think about his child unless he's mad because his daddy "stole" her (have we even seen him in the same room with the baby?), but all of a sudden we're supposed to believe he's this worked up about his ex? I buy that he stumbled over to her place drunk and whined and passed out, but this sudden sober jealousy is a bit much, even for him. And all Lucious can say when Hakeem is (rightfully) concerned that there's a dangerous maniac running around his company is that at least he's getting shit done? Why isn't Lucious concerned? Even if he doesn't care about people (and we know he doesn't), Shyne is a financial liability. He might be accomplishing things now, but he is going to be dangerous down the line. I really hope someone takes him out too. That's what eventually happens when you go around beating and choking everyone around you the second you get cranky. Lucious was saying some things that made sense on the short bus, but it came off as ridiculous because it's ... you know ... Lucious. He is not in a position to be talking about anybody being "woke." The problem with his sons is not that they're gay, bipolar and spoiled (well, Hakeem is terribly spoiled), but it's not that they've forgotten that they're black either. It's that Lucious is a TERRRRRIBLE father. I laughed out loud when Hakeem called him "the original black man." When Hakeem knows you sound ridiculous, you know you need to work on yourself. On a positive note, Mariah Carey's duet with Jamal was probably the first time a song on this show didn't crack me up or make me want to hit the mute button. I see they let her bring her own wardrobe to the set, even though she could barely move around in it. I thought that kid's reaction to Cookie and Lucious arguing over him was pretty realistic. He might be headed for MIT, but he's still just a dopey kid, inclined to let the grown-ups figure things out. Also, Cookie was making a lot of sense and was very sweet with him (unlike Lucious, who always comes off as slightly pervy when he's talking to young people), and I like that she made that deal with him because no, we really don't need another rapper. (Also, if he does really well at MIT, he might be able to buy Empire, not to mention his own flashy car, down the road.) I also think Grandma Lyon doddering around the mansion with knives is ludicrous (especially given Lucious' former [?] fear of her), but I do like seeing her and Anika interacting. Anika tells it like it is. Yes, Grandma Lyon is dangerous and should not have free run of the house. Yes, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. And yes, Lucious is the one who needs HER, so he should stop treating her like he's the one doing HER a favor. (It was probably dumb to reveal her vulnerability by telling him why she went along with the plan, though.) And, as always, Portia is a delight. Funny and used in small doses, so that you miss her when she's not around.

I have to admit that I was only peripherally familiar with Glover up until this show came out (I'm honestly unsure if I've seen anything else he's been in), so I'm basing my interpretation on the character's reactions (facial expressions, body language) rather than things the writer has done or said in real life. Now I'm wondering if the character could be simply exhausted by racism even if the creator thinks he's somehow exempt. Is that even possible, for Earn to see racism differently than Glover would, given that he's (at least partly) responsible for what we're watching play out? Or maybe it's possible to read it both ways?

I read it a bit differently, in that I think Earn is stunned when people are racist not because he's thinking "Did you just say that to me? But I'm the cool, special black guy!" but because he's thinking something more like, "Did you just say that to me? That terrible, fucked-up thing? WTF is wrong with you?" I could be wrong, but his reaction reads more like exhausted shock than hurt feelings. I really don't think he's one of those sheltered black people (his parents seem too no-nonsense, for one thing, but I know people that self-deluded DO exist) who think they're the special black friend, somehow exempt from racism, and get their feelings hurt (or twist themselves into denial) when they encounter it. I think Earn does know that he is going to be treated differently than Paperboi by some people (he suspected the radio station guy would never in a million YEARS say n***er to Paperboi and Darius), which is in itself a different form of racism. Whether people are thinking "Oh you're cool, you're not terrible like those OTHER black people" or "I can use racial slurs around you, because you're weak, unlike those OTHER black people," it's still not okay.

Bwahaha!! I don't even watch this show because A) I can't remember where and when to find it, and B) coming here for the snark provides schadenfreude a'plenty. Well, the snark and the screenshots. I snicker every time I come here and see that skinny dude sipping something and all dressed up ... in front of some kind of urban ruins. Sometimes I think you guys are exaggerating how heinously stupid these people are, but no: there's evidence.

I actually prefer a straightforward, not-very-mysterious mystery. Yeah, it's a bit boring, but a lot easier to watch than the convoluted cases with 20 or so players, a needlessly complicated motive, and 5 "twists" before the reveal. And on this show, I don't need the COTW to be super-exciting because the characters and the dialogue work so well together.

Baldwin's Trump impression is the most scary-good thing I've seen since Tina Fey's Sarah Palin (and that was built on their existing resemblance to one another). I'm not a fan of these one-note hosts that inspire one-note sketches ("You know how Margot Robbie's hot? So what if this sketch is about how she's hot?"), so I don't have high hopes for Lin-Manuel Miranda ("So what if this sketch is about Hamilton ... and this one is about a guy who raps ... and this one is also about a guy who raps") but he's actually a writer so he might be able to pitch in and steer lazy writers in a different direction. I think the show works best when things are unexpected.

That was my reading on it as well. If he was about to commit suicide, he would've stashed the gun (even if not in a permanent spot) before going to the door. You only take a gun to the door if you think you might need to use it on the person on the other side. I thought he was being cautious because he just got out of jail and he's not living in the safest environment.

Presidential elections and summer Olympics always mess up tv - why do they have to be in the same year? Since Ford is a show sponsor, I wonder if the car that hit Sherlock was a Ford? I had that thought too. The little sponsorship announcement was oddly placed. *SCREECH* *BOOM!* "This show brought to you by Ford."

Uh ... so how did Siberia end? Because that show was my guilty pleasure and then I ended up missing the finale (where I presume they explained everything).

I'm terrible with faces too, so I assumed her mistake was just that simple. But seeing other people's take on that encounter, I think it really might be another multilayered bit of comedy/social commentary. And then when she said he had a "sharecropper smile?" HOLY SHIT. I think it's very interesting that Earn doesn't react when people are throwing this racist shit at him, and I don't necessarily think it means that he's passive (although he sometimes is, very much so). I think it is, unfortunately, how a lot of minorities choose to deal with those kind of situations, either because they're tired of dealing with it, they don't feel like they're in a position to call people out, or it's just not worth it in that time and place. That was an awkward situation and he was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be, where he didn't want to make a scene and draw attention to himself. (Just like he didn't want to call out the guy at the radio station for saying n****er, because A) he needed to first confirm that the guy was treating him differently [which is why he tested him by having him retell the story] and B) well, he decided it wasn't worth it because he needed something from him.) Even though said "scene" would be the fault of the agent's mistake/racial blindness, Earn would have been blamed for it (just like Darius got blamed for the busybody starting an argument at the shooting range).

I have to think that nobody would have gotten out of jail, bail or not, if they'd actually murdered someone. The whole "you blew somebody's head off" is just another example of celebrity culture distorting the truth. At some point the guy who got "killed" will probably show up with a scratch on his leg or something where the bullet nicked him. Agreed, though I have to admit I was confused at first too, because I know there are performers who straight-up use another famous person's name as their stage moniker. "Is he supposed to be Justin Bieber, or is he using the name Justin Bieber, or is he pretending to be Justin Bieber and everyone's playing along or what?" Pretty sure he's literally supposed to be the Biebs. That's the joke. Well ... that, and his "music," and the way everyone reacts to him. He pissed in the floor! In a crowded hallway! And everyone was just like, "Oh, you scamp." When he was at the press conference and "casually" revealed the word "REAL" on his hat and everyone gasped, I about died.

That's why I just can't with Earn sometimes, but I don't think (at least it doesn't seem that way yet) that we're supposed to think his behavior is admirable. I'm sure there will be (dumb) people watching this whose takeaway is "damn, why doesn't his baby mama get off his back and just let him chase his dreams?" but I'm hoping Donald Glover is smarter than that. I think we're supposed to be exasperated with Earn, even if he is the protagonist. It's a mostly affectionate exasperation, because many people can relate to his sensible comments about how poor people need money and not investments. But then he starts talking about chasing dreams when he has a child he can't support (or remember to pick up), and you just think, "Shut up, Earn, and get a damn job." And he had the nerve to make fun of Van for wanting to open a boutique, but she has a day job and also she is supporting your ass, so seriously. Maybe they'll explain why he can't go legit (and why he left school) at some point, but right now I feel old enough to be Earn's mother despite only being a few years older than the actor.

Didn't love this episode that much as the previous ones. Kind of ... I don't know, uneven? Maybe a little too surreal? Darius, Earn and Paperboi seemed like they were all on different shows. The bits that reminded me of why I do like this show were the scene with the guy freaking out because Darius shooting a dog target was too messed up for him to handle (but people shooting human targets somehow isn't) and might scare his kids (!) at a shooting range (!), followed by the proprietor marching Darius out at gunpoint. The awful yet believable ridiculousness of that encounter reminded me of the jail scene, where everyone reacted to the mentally ill guy like he was putting on a show for their amusement ... until the cops got mad and beat the shit out of him. I also thought it was interesting how everyone reacted differently to Paperboi and Justin Bieber (the point being that celebrity worship and racism allow certain people to get away with shitty behavior but not others), though I didn't think the reporter needed to spell it out for us like that. But that song Justin Bieber sang at the end was hilarious, and exactly what a lot of popular music sounds like now.

I was speechless back when I'd only heard HALF of his disgusting statement. I can't believe he said that out loud ... in public ... in 2016. It was a real HOLY SHIT moment.

Agree with all of this, except for the bit about Thirsty. He's absolutely crass, which is why I love him. (Plus, you know, Andre Royo.) He just DGAF, or treat the Lyon clan's insane goings-on with any kind of reverence. And Lucious has to trust someone with his dirty laundry, so it makes sense for it to be someone utterly amoral that he's paying to do so (rather than the "family" he treats like shit whenever he's in the mood, who have every reason to turn on him). Still, it might be funny -- and fitting -- to see Thirsty eventually betray Lucious for more money.

I absolutely cannot wait for this! And now that I know the first episode's up, I don't have to!

So of course the original movie is bad (I just insisted that my husband watch it in preparation for the show, so he'd at least have something to compare it with), but I think it set the stage for a lot of "this is what happens when you mess with things you don't understand, stupid short-sighted humans" sci-fi that came after it. And Jurassic Park is just one example of that. Also, I would watch this or re-watch this over 2001 any day of the week. Because while Westworld is objectively awful, at least it's entertaining. "Grandeur" certainly is a word I would use to describe 2001. "Good" or "entertaining" ... no. My lord, do I wish for the time I spent watching that movie back. Sorry not sorry, film buffs.

He's already got 3 boys. Did he think he could mold #4 into his idea of perfection? Selfish prick. That's what's so bizarre/awful/hilarious about Lucious's excitement every time he finds out one of his sons is expecting a kid, and his persistent obsession with molding one of his grandkids into an "heir." You ... already have heirs, though? And they kinda hate you? Because you suck at parenting, Lucious. Stop looking for innocent kids to mess up.

But ... where is she even BUYING them?