krankydoodle

I loved the opening of S22 e3 (Happy Families), another fun episode. One of my favorite mystery settings is an isolated location where the investigators are stuck with the suspects. Is this the first time that's been used on this show? I also appreciated the production design, some of the shots (like when Fleur is leaving on the ferry), and another great guest star in Rachel Stirling. Bonus points for the mini Jonathan Creek reunion with Caroline Quentin and Stuart Milligan. Maureen Johnson recently published the book Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village that pokes fun at some of the tropes often found in English murder mysteries. It's also illustrated. It looks like such a fun read!

Ha, yeah, I finally put my glasses on to watch this and realized how much makeup some of the actors are wearing. I don't think it looks great and I'm sad that the show isn't really working for me. I'm glad other people are enjoying it, though, and hope it does well because I really like a lot of Mike Flanagan's other work and want him to be able to keep making stuff.

I like Freya. I was really impressed by her efforts, especially her cake. I also laughed at how casual she sounded talking to Prue and Paul when they were judging her vegan mini rolls ("It's a bit of a faff, isn't it, really?"). Chigs is the baker I was worried about. He looked painfully on edge at some points, but seemed to feel more at ease by the end. There was a baker in an earlier season (Stacey from season 8, I think) who would get so frantic that it made it hard for me to enjoy watching.

I figured the dog was doomed after what happened to the cats but wasn't expecting it to die so soon, or that its dying in such a horrible way would be shown onscreen. Ugh. So they shrug off hordes of cats showing up on a beach with no clear cause of death, but act pretty quickly to test a dog for poisoning? Not to say they should've ignored the latter, but given that the cats may have been a sign of a potential public health issue, why didn't they get them looked at too? But I have a lot of questions, like why has no one in this supposedly close-knit community bothered to check on Monsignor Pruett. BTW, is that a younger actor in old age makeup? Even Annabeth Gish's mom looks a bit off to me. This episode was kind of boring, but I'm interested enough in finding out what Hamish Linklater's deal is to keep going.

I loved The Haunting of Hill House until the ending and didn't make it all the way through Bly Manor, but was still optimistic about this. Unfortunately, starting with the casting of Kristin Lehman as Zach Gilford's mother, this isn't off to a great start. The dated glasses and hairstyle are trying to do some of the work of making her believable in the role despite there being only a 10 year difference between the two, but it's not enough IMO. And while it's great that Mike Flanagan has assembled a troupe of sorts, some of the actors don't seem like great fits for their roles here--specifically, Henry Thomas and Samantha Sloyan. As with Lehman, I find their performances mannered and not very convincing. To be fair to Sloyan, the writing for her character doesn't help. Zach Gilford, Hamish Linklater, Igby Rigney, and Annarah Cymone are faring better so far. The last 2 admittedly haven't been given much to do, but they at least come off as natural and like real people. And I love Rahul Kohli, but am having trouble adjusting to his American accent and graying hair after watching him on iZombie for years. I haven't seen the trailers so don't know where the show is going, but hopefully it get better. The dead cats are a bad sign, though. Not a fan of that development.

I like Maggie and really hope they don't carry on with the Prue comparisons. That opening was odd, though Paul seemed really into it even if the local wildlife was apparently not. And I didn't like Matt's Flintstones bit, but was happy that Noel seems to be more aware of when he's potentially distracting bakers than he was in previous seasons. His delight at Lizzie's ostrich story and their matching tops was also a highlight. I don't dislike Matt, but I'd probably enjoy the show even more if it was just Noel presenting. I felt bad for Jürgen but did laugh at the ending when they switched it up from the usual triumphant phone call with the star baker's family.

I was expecting a longer delay before season 3 became available on HBOMax so it was a pleasant surprise to see it on there today.

I didn't realize the first 2 episodes of season 22 were already on Acorn (with more coming on Sept 27). The first ep was ok but the second was much better, mostly because the delightful Hannah Waddingham had a significant role and made the most of it.

Yes, that's Mark. It also looked like he's bulked up a bit. It's kind of funny that he's been on the show for so long but we don't really know much about his character. Vera assigns him tasks and he returns with information. I'm fine with the secondary characters not having much in the way of subplots, but it doesn't seem like he has much of a personality either. Speaking of secondary characters, I've noticed a few former regulars popping up in interesting projects: Kingsley Ben-Adir (The OA, High Fidelity, Marvel's Secret Invasion series), Sonya Cassidy (Lodge 49, the upcoming The Man Who Fell to Earth), Cush Jumbo (The Good Wife/Fight, an upcoming Netflix-Harlan Coben series), and Wunmi Mosaku (Luther, His House, Lovecraft Country, Loki). Whoever does the casting has a good eye for talent.

My biggest laugh came when Vera is in the morgue discussing the latest findings about the victim and gazes at a sheet-covered body pensively until Malcolm abruptly asks, "You know that's not him, right?" and she gives him A Look before leaving.

Ha, I hope you don't regret asking 😄 I didn't expect season 11 of Vera to show up on BriBox so quickly! Now I need a streaming platform to make Vigil available to watch in the US.

I don't think these have been mentioned yet: Amazon Prime: The Missing Acorn: Jack Taylor, Wire in the Blood (although I didn't enjoy it as much after Hermione Norris left) BritBox: Scott & Bailey, Jonathan Creek, Cadfael, Life on Mars & Ashes to Ashes

Ooh, I think I know which book you're talking about and agree. I was expecting quirky humor and heartwarming adventures and while there was some of that, I wasn't happy about the tragic turn it took. I will say the audiobook narrator was wonderful, though, and I cried at the ending despite myself.

Pajiba published a nice write-up today about the show. It's so frustrating that it isn't available to stream anywhere. Justice for ‘Selfie,’ the John Cho Rom-Com Series Cancelled Way Too Soon

I could be wrong, but I seem to remember reading that they tend to prefer carpets over potentially slippery surfaces like hardwood or tile because it helps them feel a bit more secure when vomiting. My cat made it to 23 and threw up a lot in her final years, so my ears became attuned to that horking sound and I would rush over from wherever I was hoping to catch whatever she was about to produce in a paper plate.

I think all the available episodes are on Amazon US, but they're grouped differently: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_%26_Order:_UK#Episodes

We Broke Up showed up on Hulu a few days ago and looked promising. It stars Aya Cash and William Jackson Harper, and focuses on a longtime couple that breaks up a few days before her sister's wedding when he proposes and her only response is to vomit. Unfortunately, I only made it halfway through before giving up. I just didn't find it funny and thought it looked kind of cheap. I was also irritated by how obviously alternative romantic prospects were introduced. It was nice to see Larisa Oleynik and Peri Gilpin, though. But if anyone thinks it gets better in the second half, let me know and I'll give it another shot.

So glad I gave this a shot before my Peacock subscription expired because I loved it. One of the few things I've watched recently that managed to make me laugh and cry. All the characters are great, but Amina's anxiety issues really resonated with me. Her poetry reading was hard to watch because it was so well-acted. I also loved the fantasy sequences and how the show looks and feels overall. There's a freshness and brightness to it that's just so engaging. It's disappointing that there hasn't been a season 2 announcement yet, but hopefully that'll happen soon.

‘Manifest’ Making Deals With Cast & Writers As Series Gets Closer To Resurrection At Netflix I was impressed by how long Manifest stayed in Netflix's top 10 most watched list and hope this works out if only so there's a proper ending.

Along the same lines, did I miss it or did we not see any fallout from the situation with Fiona's horrible brother-in-law? She's going to be playing a cop again in Annika. She's been voicing the character on the BBC Radio show for a few years now.

I caught a few episodes of this show during its original run, but have been binge watching it now that it's back on Netflix. I think Matt, Jason, and Tim got more attention during the early seasons and while they're all great, it was Smash's story at the end of season 2 and beginning of season 3 that got to me the most. It's interesting to see how the actors' careers have progressed. I don't think I would've predicted that Jesse Plemons would be among the more successful.

One of the funniest moments from the Clue episode was when Gus goes missing and Shawn freaks out and tells Juliet that it should've been her instead.

I find James Corden more tiresome than hateworthy, but got a good laugh from some of the Twitter reactions today when he popped up in the Cinderella trailer:

Veronica Mars: I loved Veronica's relationship with Wallace and wish he had been given more to do in the revival 24: Jack and Chloe. The way that series ended was a bummer, though it did prove how much they cared for one another.

It's been so long since I read these that I can't say for sure. I did rate Hotel Paradise higher in Goodreads and I think that was because it felt like Cold Flat Junction covered a lot of the same ground. I'm reading Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell. It's divided into different parts covering movements/groups ranging from the deadly (Heaven's Gate, Peoples Temple) to the ridiculous (social media influencers). I didn't know much about some of these things before, so it's sometimes disturbing reading but it's incredibly interesting and well-written. I just finished the section on MLMs (like Amway, ugh) and how they continue to flourish, and have just started the part about the fitness industry (SoulCycle, intenSati, etc).