Check Sanity

I thought Violet already has a book for the story of her and Edmund. I’m not sure the book audience would be up for a second story with someone else. However, for the show audience, I wonder if this is a set up for the possible next limited series. It’d be a story not tied up as an adaptation. Plus, the show’s audience isn’t attached to Edmund in the same way. I haven’t read or heard anything, I’m basing this entirely on Violet’s arc thus far in this show. As for Ledger and Agatha, while I understand the dislike for the affair, I don’t quite agree on it being out of character. “Good” people are not perfect. Progressive values and a gentle demeanour trapped in a marriage with a bigot, is not exactly a recipe for loyalty. Cognitive dissonance takes its toll eventually. I can easily see how difficult it’d become to live with when confronted with someone more in sync with oneself. Also, consider the nature of marriages for that group at that time. Marriage was primarily a business transaction. George and Charlotte were an anomaly for actually being in love and there being no mistresses. That said, I do wonder and worry what this may mean for Violet and Agatha’s friendship, if Violet learns of the affair. Separately, I want to say, the casting did a great job with Lord Ledger. I get distinct Anthony vibes from him (perhaps due to stature), and then also Benedict and Colin in friendliness and supportive qualities. Also, it’s funny seeing aspects of the Bridgerton girls in young Violet—Eloise and Hyacinth in particular. This episode I saw a bit more of the latter in the birthday crown making scene.

Ah! I was trying to put my finger on what about her looked different/off from last time. I thought maybe her having freckles/more blush. The amount of change that’s occurred during the 20th century to now has been far greater and more rapid than any other time in history. Humans haven’t changed much, but societal structures, tools, means of production, weapons, etc., have all evolved and greatly impacted what daily life looks like for the majority of people on the planet. Exceptions being the handful or less of no-contact tribes in places like the Amazon and Papua New Guinea. That said, human’s ability and curiosity for travel and exploration was nothing new. Long before when Nigel and Isaac would have lived and died, people traded for a long time prior to empire expansion and colonization. Thor’s Vikings got around. As @Starchild noted, “good bones” is in regards to the structure, a solid frame and support beams, foundation, sensible floor plan, roof, etc. Mark listed the roof along with the “good bones”. He probably looked at it when going through the rest of the property. At first, I thought he was referring to where Nigel used to live. Yes! Exactly, Jay’s been shown to be quite talented. Sippr isn’t the only good review the B&B has had. There was also that “orgasmic” one. Plus the notoriously picky Yelp couple. I’ve been told chai directly translates to “tea,” so yes, it’s 100% redundant to say “chai tea.” It often gets listed among other silly translations, but I’m blanking right now. See it’s that type of specific realization and interest in language that leads me to believe that Thor is far smarter than the others usually give him credit for. I actually think, that’s the something he truly has in common with Flower. They’re both more complex than the surface would indicate and they’re both frequently underestimated for it. That sometimes “forgets” stuff is a great observation. It’s funny because it’s mostly harmless. Did we laugh at Jay trying to walk through Trevor? Then much later when he accidentally high fived Trevor in the face? I did. I figure the ax hurt about as much as a human walking through them, maybe less—wrist is a smaller surface area. Ha! Him explaining Long Island iced tea would have been great! Hetty would have approved considering what Coca Cola initially was made of... Exactly! Continuity! He has fun with words and language. As a Viking he likely was exposed to plenty. Words are fun! Is my bias for languages/linguistics/writing coming through yet? 😉 Bullying and pulling a long con joke on a close friend are not the same thing. Sass has pulled equally as “questionable” behaviour for his own drama entertainment*. If Thor realized he was hurting Sass he wouldn’t do it. It’s been established he’s quite the emotional softy. Also, Sass is not the only one that makes comments about boredom and loneliness. They all have and do. Isaac hid Crash’s head! Jay overtly shared his loneliness this episode! As did Stephanie. Has Sass mentioned it more often or are people projecting? I’d actually be curious to find that out. Something I’ve noticed is everyone giving credit to Pete for noticing Thor’s word use, when Alberta had done the exact same thing a few episodes before. *see below for further Sass/Thor friendship commentary I think people have a very poor sense of how people spent their time in the past. Humans seriously haven’t changed much, our norms and understanding of the world, sure, but not how we interact and behave. The main difference is access to information and distraction. All three of the ant watchers likely would have still been interested if they were alive. There are people who are alive now and are. Same with tea parties, the only difference would be actually being able to drink and taste the tea and not needing to talk about it from a far off memory or primarily focusing on scent. I absolutely see him messing with Sass like that, mostly because it’s likely Sass is the one he learned to do it from! Let’s not pretend like close friends don’t mess with each other from time to time. The sense I got from this episode was that some scenes got cut/added/moved around. Particularly because of this being the only scene with Sass. Sam’s (great?) aunt and Hetty’s descendant had a TV, but it was old and she only had a few channels/always had it set to the same, if I recall? She probably listened to the radio more. Still, yes, there were times of guests and parties but those aren’t really frequent occasions. The B&B with Sam and Jay, is probably the most activity of new people and things to observe than any other time on the property.

They hinted at it quite a bit in season 1, enough that it made me look it up to make sure. Though by the time he was in that laundry room hiding and fighting another Grisha it was kind of obvious. She was never afraid of him even before she betrayed him. I don’t think that’s what bothers him about her. She’s been around with him his entire life, a constant. She’s his mother and was his protector before he got as strong as he did, it’s not surprising she’s a bit of a blind and soft spot for him.

I’m not so sure about it being “coincidental,” Sass has been seen to be attracted to a few women that have come to the manor. Sass has been teased about his behaviour in reaction to pretty women before. Sass and Trevor both appreciated Hetty’s maid. What I wonder is what happens if his longtime crush becomes actually viable. We know Sass had some romantic experience in life —and that Thor was witness to it. However, he seems to really hold a torch for one woman in particular. Ha! I think it comes up another time too. I wasn’t surprised by the mention of improv with Pete and others. While watching, I instinctively knew/felt like it had come up at some point before. I have yet to get around to watching the UK Ghosts, so I knew it wasn’t from mixing that show with this one.

Oh yes, very intriguing that bit. How did she learn about the melting? Also, the fact that's a possibility even when you've been sucked off. As well as the newly learned tidbit that one can be pulled out from "up there", that doesn't seem too peaceful. Alternatively, I imagine the same could be done with someone that's "down there", which adds another way besides flashbacks to see Elias again. That could come in handy with solving Alberta's murder too. Ha! I did briefly consider that, but Randy seems like more of an outdoorsy type. Something about pickleball requiring a court and having been introduced by the WASPy neighbours made me skip past the thought. Oh! Something I forgot to mention before, how much did Randy hear of the second seance and Sam talking to the ghosts? I think he and Thorfinn would get along swimmingly, imagine all fish and pickled food combo's they could come up with/list off!

I kind of hope that gets revisited, because it would be nice to know Isaac accepts all of Nigel. Isaac and Hetty are the most finicky and judgemental of all the ghosts (which explains why they're besties). I think Isaac's insecurities are tied to that aspect of himself. Now that I think of it, I wonder how often the things he complains about others are also things he doesn't like/accept about himself. Guess I'll have to rewatch and/or keep note from here on. I loved this episode so much. All of the callback/ongoing jokes, and that the majority of those gags worked as standalone jokes for new viewers, really tight writing. I'm surprised no one has mentioned Mark the Contractor's return this episode and dressed as the most adorable bee! In my head canon his son chose his costume to match his own. Trevor and Sas's reactions to Molly, ha! Especially after Molly says she'd like to go back to the place where "everything's perfect all the time", Trevor's face falls in disappointment but Sas is so smitten he mumbles out loud "You're perfect". Hehe. Flower's tendency for non sequiturs due to spacing out and losing the plot continues to supply gems: "Don't worry Molly. We're gonna find your dog." Ha! Also, I quite liked the unsuspected quirkiness of Randy "the pickler" who rollerblades to parties he invites himself to and considers Jay his best friend now. I'm actually surprised Jay isn't somewhat appreciative of Randy's specialty, from a chef standpoint. Sure, he may be above Jay's threshold of 40, but I don't think age is that big of a deal with adult friendships. I'm curious what Randy's favourite sport is, you'd think maybe football, but it's probably another left field thing like snowshoeing or curling. I'm not sure why common Canadian winter sports *feel* right as guesses. They do film in Canada and may be inspired by it, so I may end up not that far off should Randy return.

As someone else mentioned, Flower was more peripheral last season. One of the episodes showed her get distracted by a butterfly and wander off to chase it for most of the episode. Also, the way Alberta played Flower's memory was the same trick Alberta and Isaac used to find out her secret regarding the bank robbery and the commune. She almost caught them but her lucid time, which she does also get, came to an end. Oh definitely, especially considering how the critic, Sam and Flower behave when the wave of being stoned freshly hits. I think Flower may have built up a bit of a tolerance and/or possibly sobered up while dying, because she does still have her lucid moments. I don't think it's necessarily "something" about their death, but more about them feeling a strong sense of resolve and revelation--positive or negative. For Sam's mom, it was related to feeling at peace about her relationship with Sam by becoming more open and let go of her worries. For Elias, well, he declared never to change and to remain terrible. All the ghosts are still figuring themselves out. It makes me wonder about that elderly ghost couple Sam saw crossing the street, other than them all the ghosts we've seen have been relatively young when they died. Anyways, with this episode I really enjoyed the reactions from everyone in the background. The fact that Trevor picked up on the business pyramid scheme element, Flower the cult, and Isaac on everything that annoyed him about NotTodd(Norm?). I was also highly amused by Hetty's neck/chin jut after Sam shot down the snake oil idea. I'm happy to see Hetty embracing her sexual side, and that it came in handy to solve this week's cult problem. Though it does prove Jay was spot on with his concerns about the shower/bathroom.

Ah! Yes. Important things like "Landship! Landship!!" :P Heh. But yeah, I really love those marshmallowy soft moments from Thor. I would be remiss to not admit that Thor is a good listener, like he said to Alberta "You talk. I listen." He's very much invested in people or things he cares about. He's shut down certain things out of disinterest a few times over the season (the B&B, therapy, etc.). If no one pushed him before, it makes sense he hasn't taken bigger strides until recently. Also, yes! It was fun to finally see Isaac's response to Hamilton. Of course he was more sullen about a whole musical, and such a great one at that, being dedicated to his nemesis would eclipse his reaction to the details of Hamiltons death. I found it greatly amusing that Hetty enjoyed hip hop and rap as much as she did.

1, I think them being aware they have a curse to deal with is a switch up on its own. Though, yes, I think there will be a bit of a bigger impact from that fall besides having to come up with the money to fix the giant hole in their entryway. 2, I've wondered this too. If on their walks they might see and interact with the neighbour ghosts. However, I don't think Pete's the one that could end up having a star-crossed lovers thing, there have already been hints that Alberta thinks fondly of Pete. Perhaps Trevor should go hang out along the boundary... 1, He gets pretty good stuff, it's just the opposite of Rose. While Jay can't see the ghosts, he's still in on the secret and talks to them, like with the neighbour ghost. Plus that hilarious scene of him trying to walk through Trevor. On the other side, Sam has to ignore and pretend she isn't seeing ghosts. 2, I think this is more of an actor/character choice. Thor is a big sweet lug of a bear, but he's not the brightest. He's started to emotionally mature now, in part because of exposure to TV and Sam. His closest friendships have been shown to be with a squirrel and children that could see him (before and after Sasappis joined him). Even his attraction to Flower, fits with him being drawn towards more innocent/simple people. Sasappis on the other hand, is both emotionally and generally intelligent. He has a vested interest in reading people and learning about them, both for his own entertainment, as well as telling stories about and to them. It's more surprising to me that he hasn't figured out the whole "sucking off or going down on" thing yet. --- I enjoyed this episode, though I couldn't help but notice an oddity or two. It was interesting that the beginning of the episode had Sam ignoring Nancy because Mark was around, and then ignoring the 50s housewife ghost because of the Farnsby's presence. I think it's possible there was another way the finale could have or was going to go. If I recall, it was this episode they were shooting when they had to shut down production for a bit because someone on set got Covid. Also, Jay's line of relief that Sam would still be able to see ghosts came off as a bit sarcastic, to the point that I rewatched that part a couple times. It's edited to make it seem sincere after all, but there's still a bit of an eye-roll at the end of the line. Regarding the 50s housewife ghost.. I'm a bit surprised, but maybe also not that no one's mentioned the Reagan joke. I did have to pause to think about her question (I'm mid 30s and Canadian, it took a second!), but it still made me huff a "Ha!" when I got it though.

Bah! Not another break!! Geez-Louise! I say this because the next episode is showing to air April 14.

The middle of an estate that everyone in society were actively shunning. Unless found by staff, it's unlikely any of the Bridgerton's or Sharma's would say anything publically in order to avoid further scandal. Though how Kate and Anthony got away with disappearing for so long and how Kate got back to her home in the morning is a wonder. The gazebo was decorated and had cushioned benches with throw pillows. I noticed because I thought the bench decor was pretty.

Except part of the Daisy cafe mandate is literally teaching about bear safety. Not sure that would have been something Ira held onto if Flower hadn't died from an actual bear attack.

Loved this episode. However, I am biased as it had an extra special treat for me. Within the first few seconds I immediately recognized the voice and eyes/eyebrows of Flower's fellow burglar and commune buddy as a person I know IRL. I didn't know he was going to be in it. Apparently, they let him keep the beans he used to count the votes for vs !!! Their footsteps also make noise. This episode I clearly heard Alberta and Isaac's heels/steps when they phased into Flower's room to share their examples of overexaggerating. Halloween you could hear them walking on the gravel outside. I think this aspect of the show is just something we--the audience--need to add to our suspension of disbelief. Sure, but you also already admitted you don't pay close attention while watching ;) Speaking of... Samantha got tired of the games and outed Sassapis' love for the woman before Sassapis said he'd rather be honest (yes, the woman freaked out and made an excuse to leave the convo with Sam). Sam came clean at home and when Sassapis heard about his crush's reaction, he begged for Jay to restart the games texting again. Later, Jay showed Sam his original post-first-date text that she never received, and though she now thought it was sweet, admitted she'd have run away. Then the ghost sex convo happened. So we'll see what happens between the two Lenni Lenape ghosts in a future episode I'm guessing.

LaDonna is able to manifest the appearance of things, but they're not actually there. This was shown with the necklace, her fingers went through it when trying to touch it. She also said she could "kind of" make a light. The flame blipped off and there was no smoke when Hayden blew out the candle. It's only been 6 years since LaDonna disappeared. Any comments on her appearance are superficial. Except her hair and nails, she has the same weave on that she had in her reality tv pilot episode. In 2015 she would have had an iPhone 6s or Plus, both of which people still have and use now. The phone would work on wifi just fine. Her concern for her phone seems more to do with a social media habit than actually trying to get in touch with anyone. An important aspect I haven't seen asked regarding the powers seems to be what the 4400 *can't* do. For some, their power affects everyone (Mildred, LaDonna), others only the non 4400 (Noah, maybe Shanice), and then for some, only themselves (Claudette, Hayden). Regarding Hayden, I mean that his gift is internal, though the consequences of what he sees and shares can affect others. He mentioned hearing what he knows. I think he sees/hears some things, but isn't in control of when. His reaction to hugging Mildred was similar to Shanice hugging her daughter, except where Shanice saw a memory, Hayden saw a few seconds into the future. However, Hayden doesn't see everything, the chess gift was a surprise.

They did suggest that actually, in the pilot with Jharrel on the phone with someone at another site who said his brother Manny wasn't there. Suggesting Jharrel knows other social workers at other places. The show showed people dropping from green light openings for awhile, who knows how long it took to drop 4400 people like that. I think the idea is that there was no warning, which is why the response has been so slapped together. However, there should have been more of a gov/military presence after a few hours or a day. I mean, they have alluded to doing the missing persons aspect of that. Why they have been keeping--those "young" enough to have--them away from their families is a good question. It makes sense that the city of Detroit is stretched thin with qualified people to take on this problem. I do wonder what else it happening in the country and world within the show for things to be delegated the way they have been. Is it a similar 2021 to ours? Maybe with the exception of the pandemic? The hotel isn't that strange, exits can be guarded. There are already cameras everywhere, as well as sleeping and lounging areas. Hotels have been used for quarantining travellers during the panini. Having them at a hotel sells the idea of not imprisoning them for a bit too.