Bama

It’s not a great endorsement of a show when at the end of every episode I mutter to myself “What the hell was that?” and then realize I don’t even care about the answer. This season is a hot mess with cool period wardrobe and music.

Just for reference, shots from the press conference of Greg and his envelope. (It won’t let me upload all in one post, so forgive the multiple posts)

So, there was a very obvious cut during Kendall’s statement to a manila envelope in Greg’s hands when Kendall said “I’ve got documents that prove what Logan knew”. Did Greg pick a side and give his Pants Papers to Kendall? Was Kendall planning this all along? Urging Logan to meet with Stewy, knowing Stewie would tell them to fuck off? Forcing Logan’s hand? Was Roman in on it? Killing the private money option to also force Logan’s hand? I feel like there’s been a lot more private scheming going on to get to this moment than the audience has seen. Logan’s dismissal of Kendall not being a killer may have given Kendall the fire he needed to eviscerate Logan publicly but I don’t think what we saw was some last minute decision from Kendall. I think we’re going to find out a lot of Logan’s “pals” had a hand on the knife. Brutus didn’t stab Caesar all alone after all.

Yeah, costuming and hair and makeup tell the story of a character if done with serious thought and used in conjunction with the script and storyline. We’ve seen it in “Breaking Bad” with the color stories used for each character and in “Mad Men” with the changing wardrobes of Peggy, Betty, and Joan reflecting their change in status over the course of the story. Pointing out that the character of Shiv is using her hairstyle and clothing choices to project her new ambitions in no way devalues Sarah Snook’s acting ability just as commenting on how the Kendall character uses riding a motorcycle to project a cool image devalues Jeremy Strong’s acting. Great shows use wardrobe to enhance characters and the story. And both Shiv and Sarah look mighty fine as a bonus. (As for being shallow - I wish Sarah would borrow some from Shiv in the clothing department. Her real life choices are not the best.)

Sally is way too big an actress to have on to just be Annalise’s rehab roomie for one episode. She’s working for someone to get dirt on The Keating Crime Syndicate - the Governor, the FBI, Gabriel’s mom, Sam’s sister, the Castillos - I don’t know who but she’s definitely up to no good and that cathartic confession from Annalise is going to be a problem. Count me in on Team Not Dead too.

I have thoughts. After paying closer attention to the flashbacks, it’s actually Celeste who suggests the lie first. She says to Bonnie “I pushed him”. Then Maddie says “You (Celeste) didn’t push him, you (Bonnie) didn’t push him. Nobody pushed him”. Celeste kicked ass in court. I knew Mary Louise was responsible for the death of her other son. When Mary Louise came to Celeste’s door, all she cared about was appearances and not the truth. “Don’t lie about me; nothing about lying about Perry. And she sure didn’t have an answer to Celeste’s question about if Perry lied. All she cared about was herself. I was so happy for Maddie and Ed and Abigail doing the vows was amazing. Watching that scene really emphasized the fact that Reese Witherspoon does not age. She looked 25; makes me jealous. Also, did anyone else think that Bonnie actually poisoned her mother with the with the wine or the food? She woke up and then after eating she had a setback and died. Very suspect. Nathan and Ed are totally the same person. They’re both in love with women who don’t love them the same way. Maddie loves Ed from a basis of security and normalcy. Bonnie uses Nathan to escape from her past and uses him to try and live the ideal image of what she thinks marriage should be. Fuck Gordon. He gets to keep those damn toys while Renata loses everything. I cheered when she smashed everything with that bat. Too bad she didn’t use it on his head. Men like Gordon are the reason why the trope bitches be crazy exists. I knew the minute Bonnie started texting that they were going to go tell the truth finally. Hopefully that detective finally leaves them alone but DAMN if they all didn’t look fabulous marching into the police station. Their coat games were on point. But, seriously, fuck that ending! Especially if there isn’t a third season like has been announced. Finally, I’m super bugged by a few storylines they just left hanging. -Corey! Cop? Informant? Reporter? Just a dude paying a traffic ticket? -Abigail? College? Gap year? What? -Joseph’s scorned wife with the new tits. Did Ed say no? Did Ed actually fuck her and that’s why he feels fine moving forward with Maddie? Did she make Joseph watch and be a cuck? -The boys teacher. He seemed like he was going to play a role in the boys’ story. Then nothing. Same with the principal. -Perry’s father second family. Why drop in that very specific story and then never address it again? Overall I enjoyed the season but it was nowhere near the greatness of the first.

Didn’t we see something in the first season - maybe from one of the non Monterey Five mom’s police interview - that hinted at the French nanny sleeping with Gordon? Or another father? I swear I remember something like that.

Mary Louise needs killing. That’s all I’ve got.

After watching Edith and her friend and their shenanigans with that company my theory is that we’re going to find out Edith and her activist group are responsible for the bank collapse and possibly the atomic bombing. She’s had a couple of offhand comments about it already being to late to save the planet and that she just wants to burn it all to the ground . I think she started as an eco-activist and now she’s a anarchist/terrorist.

Sadly tooting my own horn on this prediction. But it’s, well nice isn’t the right word, I guess different to have the mother be the past source of abuse still affecting a woman instead of the father. And the father be the “weak” parent who didn’t prevent it.

Bonnie called him “Dad” during that scene? Have we been told specifically if he’s her biological father or a stepfather or if he adopted her? I was assuming he was a second husband too but Bonnie calling him “Dad threw me.

The conversation between Bonnie and her mom makes me think there’s way more to their past than Bonnie not believing in her mother having some kind of supernatural gift. And her mom asking her “What did you do this time?” just reinforced my suspicion. I think we’re going to find out Bonnie’s mom is not a very nice person.

I was just coming here to post about the way both Moira and Alexis say “David”! Moira says it softer, more like “Dahhhy-vad” and Alexis really hits the first syllable, “Deeeh-vahd”. And they both turn it into a four syllable word. It’s great.

So then Future Randall is 51? Yikes - apparently Randall is in for a rough 13 years. He looks much older in the future scenes than 51.

I just watched the future Randall/Tess scene again. Right before it starts we hear Randall say “10 years from now” in his toast at Toby and Kate’s wedding. But those future scenes have to be farther along than 10 years, right? Tess is what, 12-13 in the present? Future Tess looks like late 20s/early 30s, not 22-23. And Future Randall looks way older than 48. Randall - “It’s time to go see her, Tess.” Tess - “ I’m not ready.” Randall - “Me neither.” I’m with most of y’all assuming the “her” is Rebecca and they aren’t ready to see because she’s ill or dying. But couldn’t the “her” be Beth? And they don’t want to see her because their family is estranged? No one has mentioned Annie in the future. Could it be Randall/Tess on one side and Beth/Annie on the other? Future Beth seemed different - almost cold. Her assistant seemed almost scared of her. Of course after Nicky being alive I could be looking for twists where there are none.

In the previews for next week - -Frank telling Laurel that "Gabriel is Annalise's worst nightmare". - So, nothing to do with Bonnie at all? Who in the world is he to Annalise? The math does not work for her to be her dead son. Is he some kind of plant to ruin her class action? Connected to the governor? I don't see how he connects with The Mahoneys. Could he be related to Wes? -Gabriel stalking Michaela's social media - What is this about? He has barely interacted with her. He's been focusing on Laurel. If he's "Annalise's worst nightmare", why is he interested in Michaela? Is he connected to some past case of her's and he's there to get revenge and he's trying to bring her down and everyone close to her? -Connor beating the crap out of someone. So, he gets in a fight with someone, so now we know why his face is all banged up at the wedding. Who is he fighting with? We've seen Asher, Miller, all the women, Frank at the wedding - no signs of a fight. So, who? Gabriel? Surely not Oliver! Does he find the prison guard who killed Nate's dad? -Various shots of Miller, Michaela, Nate all looking glum. Connor and Oliver meeting with a pastor who asks them if they have any concerns about getting married, followed by Connor rolling his eyes and Oliver face palming. Annalise looking at a file with her shocked face. And Nate saying "his blood's on your hands too". Which, come on Nate. I can't wait for next week!

But didn't she also tell them she had $10,000 saved up and wanted to use it for their wedding? I didn't think her talk was about guilting Connor into calling his dad especially since she had just offered her money. I thought the line about his rich dad was just her trying another angle if they weren't going to accept her money. I took Connor calling his dad as a sign that he's willing to deal with his dad and his money if it means giving Oliver what he wants. And I think the flashforward with Miller was definitely after the murder/whatever Bonnie did to whoever in the snow. When she looked at her phone the showed a bunch of quick flashes of her in the snow and the blood. There were some interesting clips in the preview for next week but I'll take that to the spec thread as I know some people don't watch the previews and I don't want to spoil anything.

Okay, I'm typically a showrunner's dream - I'm easy to please and even episodes/seasons that usually aren't well liked, I'm all "Eh, not their best but I still love it and let me list the things I do like". I say all that because for ME to say, out loud, as the credits rolled on this episode, "THAT WAS TERRIBLE! THEY WASTED 1/3rd OF THEIR LAST THREE HOURS OF STORYTELLING FOR THAT GARBAGE???" - then I know everyone else is going to rage about this episode. They wasted an entire episode for what could have easily been condensed into the cold open! All to let Sarah Paulson get another turn as a bitch for no reason and to let Evan and Billy (both two of my favorites) play a poor man's Dumb and Dumber, albeit the coked up, horndog, Silicon Valley iteration? Seriously, this episode sucked major ass.

I'm calling my shot - the vietnamese woman in the picture is Nicky's love/baby momma, the necklace was originally Nicky's, after Nicky was killed Jack stepped in to help her and his nephew/niece, something horrible and tragic happened to the woman and the child and THAT'S what haunted Jack after he came home.

No, Madison being resurrected was also a flashback.

Gosh, I SO thought that was going to be Jesse (Aaron Paul) in the little red beater buying a phone from Saul, with the way they coyly did the delayed pan to the driver and since the car was so similar to what Jesse drove when we first met him.

Yeah, I don't think Howard is a shitty guy at all. He was caught in an impossible situation with Chuck and Jimmy. Chuck was his mentor and someone he greatly admired. I think Howard also genuinely liked Jimmy and admired him too, but in a different way. Chuck had the natural intellect and gift for the law that Howard wished he had and Jimmy had the charisma and hustle that Howard also badly wished he had. In Howard's eyes, if you combine the McGill brothers' strengths you would have the best lawyer in the world. And when Jimmy works his ass off to get that law degree, it seems natural to Howard to want to bring Jimmy into the fold. Only to have his own brother cruelly shut it down. Then Howard gallantly takes the blame for Chuck's decision and lets Jimmy - and Kim and probably everyone else at HHM - think he's the dick while Chuck gets to remain the above the fray good guy. Now, he thinks Chuck committed suicide because Howard finally says enough after years of Howard being his figurative trash can. So, now Howard's just a fucking mess. And Jimmy sees the mess and thinks "If THAT is what therapy makes you become by facing your feelings, I want NO part of that! I'll keep my feelings bottled up, please and thank you!" As others have mentioned, the lawyer that Saul tells Francesca to call can't be Kim. Francesca worked for Kim - doesn't make sense. It's got to be Howard, especially with him telling her "Tell them Jimmy (not Saul) sent you." And those poor contractors/excavators. The opening shot of the guy they didn't use showed him at Denver International Airport. That's a 6 1/2 drive to Albuquerque in the back of that van, with a hood on. And actually, probably even longer as it seemed like they took back country roads. I'd have been barfing up my toes. And something tells me Kim is going to become a criminal lawyer along with Jimmy/Saul but she won't be as good at it or as able to compartmentalize it and ends up getting caught. I see an orange jumpsuit in her future.

I don't think Stan is snaking Dawson or scheming and plotting. I think Dawson has gotten lazy and comfortable and complacent and thought Stan would be his loyal puppy and do all the hard work for him and just let Dawson swoop in at the end and take the credit and glory for Stan's work. He thought Stan was just a rube and was just grateful to be in Dawson's orbit and didn't expect Stan to be a hard worker with initiative and drive. Stan did his job well and the higher ups noticed him and rewarded him. Not Stan's fault Dawson was too busy partying and blew off his work and assumed Stan would just do it for him in his name. Dawson is just pissed his "lackey" actually took the ball down to the one yard line and scored for himself instead of handing off the ball to Dawson at the end to let him score off Stan's hard work. You got got, Dawson. Now he's lashing out like a petty baby bitch instead of deciding he better suit up and get back in the game, he's playing a dirty game to take Stan out instead of competing straight up. And considering who they work for, I have no doubt it will be Dawson that takes down Stan in a completely fucked up way and gets handsomely rewarded for it.

I kind of got the feeling that was an "OH FUCK! SHUT UP! We don't know this new person from Adam! She could rat us both out any second! Get back in your room and keep it together until I figure her out." reaction. Yeah, it was jarring and violent but when both your life and your crazy wife's life could be at stake, I can see a rebellious Commander who is hiding in plain sight having that type of reaction.