Margherita Erdman

Amazon has Cordon, the Belgian-Flemish original — which did get a second season renewal.

From no plot elements relating to the origin and spread of the virus, to multiple plotlines going in different directions. Not my kind of storytelling, especially for a limited series. Honestly, with the level of civil breakdown that purports to have happened by this episode, there should be widespread looting, home invasions, sexual assault, and many more wandering waifs than just the one tragic little girl we saw. And as our recapper pointed out a week or two ago, this is Georgia, where many (most?) households have many many guns, so there should be a great deal more in the way of gunfire by way of armed civilians, and maybe citizen militia type activity going on, for good and bad, not just this one surprisingly well-spoken "gangbanger." And how long has it been since patient records, even a timeline of emergency room check-ins, were kept in anything like a wirebound notebook???

I did wonder if there was a missing clinic scene related to the "unwed mothers" that Shelagh mentioned to Sr. Julienne, and if that would have informed her making peace with the introduction of The Pill... Have ordered the full DVD set, can't wait until they arrive! That song was super skeevy — did Barbara know what she was putting on? And did all that extra Brylcreem turn Tom into a metaphorical greaseball as well as a literal one? Because he was acting no better than the dirty old men, bum-pinching at the pensioners' tea.

Ben told Danny that he wasn't Adam and (presumably, though we weren't shown the whole conversation) that Willa had set the whole thing up. I totally agree... And yet for me it got more and more watchable every week, until by the end I wasn't hate watching but actually looking forward to seeing what was going on with the bonkers storyline and the few characters who became compelling in a crazy kind of way — Jane, FBI guy, control freak Governor Mom, sad pathological liar Ben, and, shockingly enough, even, by the end, Willa, whose mask had cracked enough and humor and compassion had begun to seep through that I actually kind of liked her (as a character, anyway — IRL I think I'd still consider her as warm and trustworthy as a rattlesnake)

Liam's death was like a Looney Tunes sequence — and for all that, more entertaining than most of what passed for action on this show. And you really nailed what was wrong with Simon's death sequence. His proto-romance with Raina was perhaps the only relationship of any kind on the show that had any nuance or soul or restraint to it at all, and it deserved respect and a proper coda there at the end. Easy peasy — Alex is joining the CIA, so she'll have to start over again at the CIA equivalent of Quantico. Tried and true formula we've come to know & hate — rename the show something delightfully absurd like "QUANTICO: Camp Peary" or "QUANTICO: Alex Goes to The Farm" and you can have a whole new cast of recruits and a whole new setup for flashbacks and untrustworthy teachers/mentors with murky agendas. The beard was so, so awful — its awfulness almost canceled out the glory of the female cast's hair. The Beard may even explain why Alex's hair got so droopy and lost it bounce up top the past several episodes — it demoralized the tresses around it.

What exactly was Ben's successful escape plan/how did he finally get out? Did we ever see that? I watched every episode and I don't remember that question being satisfactorily answered. I absolutely agree that this show deserved renewal more than Quantico. I would have shown up for a 2nd season of this, but I think I will be AWOL from Quantico. That would have been awful — really, a focus on the Bridey character even after she's dead, when Adam has just revealed himself as still alive? Plus, Jane emerged over the course of the show as pretty darned fascinating. But I don't think Willa would have turned out to be the killer — I think it would have been a plot twist for the alcoholic big brother to have some meaningful role to play.

Here's something else that just occurred to me: we've seen that rats can be infected with this exact virus, so presumably it is zoonotic and jumps easily from vermin (or even pets? dogs, cats, parakeets, pigeons?) to people. So how can the cordon hold... Atlanta like any urban area is crawling with rats who have free run of the city through sewer tunnels, power lines, etc. and of course pigeons fly.

I see it very differently actually. It reminds me of the debate that raged for months and pages upon pages at TWoP of often unpleasant and disrespectful posts when Lucy Liu was cast as Watson in Elementary, long before an episode ever aired. Her gender and ethnicity alone were the triggers for most of the outrage, claims of betrayal of Doyle canon, blah blah. And now it's considered a pretty tame Sherlock adaptation, maybe a bit smarter than the usual CBS procedural... Arthur Conan Doyle never did rise from his grave in protest. Unorthodox or unexpected casting isn't the issue, in my view — in fact it can be vital to modernizing something that's gone horribly out of touch with modern cultural realities — but in the end, it's got to be about good storytelling, talented actors, and remaining true to the essence of the original story, myth, tradition, or franchise. And while we are speculating here that the new Ghostbusters looks pretty bad, I refuse to dismiss it on the basis of an all-female team. Some of the best Shakespeare productions I've seen have been those with non-traditional or downright surprising casting and set design. Hard for anything like it to be shocking now, but I remember a Midsummer Night's Dream in the 1980's in which all the men's parts were played by women and vice versa. Not a few audience members were scandalized, despite the fact that in Shakespeare's time all parts, including the Queen of the Fairies, would have been played by men anyway.

Yeah, she said that she and her ex (her son's father) both got heavy into [unspecified] drugs and that even after getting off those drugs (which her ex didn't, which is why her in-laws hate her — gosh, how can so much backstory with so much detail still be so very boring?), she needs this other drug to keep her "balanced." Kinda wish Officer Jake hadn't found the meds — she might be more interesting than a dishrag in a shapeless sweater if she went a little manic or started jonesing for her illegal drug of choice or had a psychotic break even.

Don't bother trying to discern meaning amidst the nonsense, swimmyfish; I fear it will prove impossible. I just checked out her "About" page and: She describes her skills and experiences as including "concepting" "digital ephemera" "millenials" The triple sic is implied. If it is really true, as she coyly, revoltingly implies, that she has been playing pregnancy roulette for 15 years (and gotten pregnant at least once before) then I recommend she look into some skill-building in the area of contracepting. Also, I'm pretty sure that my tween is equally skilled as she at generating digital ephemera (in fact, I believe that even I am creating some digital ephemera right now!) as well as much more highly skilled than she is at using spell check. Her named interests include "narcissism." She ends her listing of selected clients with "etc" — oh honey no. What do you suppose the stereotype of the post-millennial will be? Because this baby has everything in place to be it. Also — and I hate myself for thinking it even as I write it — given the long-distance nature of the relationship, Nev's past history of wholesale catfishery, and this woman's self-professed 100% aversion to contraception — do you think anyone (perhaps the occasionally-sensible-or-at-least-willing-to-raise-an-eyebrow Max?) will suggest a paternity test at some point?

I think body disposal is just for general public health reasons because when bodies pile up they are breeding grounds for all kinds of nasties. Also, gross and dramatic visuals... because in a real emergency situation, the makeshift morgue would be anywhere BUT the sole functioning health care facility. The hospital would be operating under an emergency/disaster contingency plan designed to keep providing basic services to the community (like, oh, a place for the teen mom's baby to be born, even though I'm sure we can count on some kind of OTT birth scene in the storeroom amidst the bags of rice and flour) as well as treating victims of the virus and trying to educate the public about prevention measures. Thanks for the heads up about Amazon shapeshifter; I think I'll check out Cordon. And I guess I was thinking too literally that Teacher Katie was still on some kind of addiction maintenance regime instead of the somewhat dubious proposition that she contracted a mood disorder through drug abuse. Agree x1000 with everyone marveling at the idiocy of those characters who should know better (and who seem intended to inspire sympathy rather than contempt) but who continue to act over & over in ways that endanger loved ones and the world outside the cordon. Also, pity the poor rats being sacrificed in the name of "science" that seems to consist of dosing them with random antivirals and seeing if they exsanguinate any more slowly. They are in ATLANTA, FFS, site of the Centers for Disease Control (and last I checked one of the CDC centers was a world-class institution dedicated to infectious disease). Would have made an interesting twist (and good use of the setting) to have the CDC inside the cordon, or at least have CDC scientists involved somehow. As it is, there seems to be a single doctor in whom all hopes lie. Does this community hospital just happen to have a brilliant virologist on staff??? Call the crazy immortal infectious disease specialists from SyFy's Helix, stat! They love nothing better than a juicy field assignment full of vile bodily fluids and could help out at no risk to themselves! They are probably bored and twiddling their thumbs now that their show has been canceled... a show that was batshit bonkers but much more fun than this one. Lex and Dr. Lommers act as though it's inconceivable that anyone would be selfless enough to volunteer for duty in the hot zone, but thankfully we have seen that humanity can be better than that — health and other aid workers who continue to help in Syria under the worst conditions, who stayed in Africa through the Ebola crisis, who work caring for patients suffering from dreadful and highly contagious diseases like drug-resistant tuberculosis... And then, as others have said, there are those for whom it is simply their job, like the National Guard. Lex is the only character left who interests me even a little, although Jana is growing on me. Claudia Black has been a big disappointment so far.

What was the name of the drug that teacher Katie needed? I tried rewinding and listening a bunch of times but couldn't get anything that Google recognized. Possibly some kind of fictional methadone or Suboxone. Still doesn't make her any more interesting. Nor am I at all interested in her budding romance or creepy lost & found fashion show with Officer Jake. Strangely, my reaction to this series is equal parts fascination and boredom — I think it's that I enjoy the subject material, that a sudden virulent outbreak of an unknown pathogen leading to a draconian emergency quarantine in a major urban area, with all its attendant practical and moral complications, is entirely plausible — but this story is sooo slooow and opaque, with no real bread crumbs to follow or clues to ponder whether terrorist plot, government conspiracy, medical mystery, or some combination thereof. Plus the characters are super dull and seem stupid for being so extremely casual about covering their mouths and mucous membranes. Maybe that's because we can't have all the pretty actors covered up in paper masks and plastic visors all the time. I spoiled myself on the original Belgian-Flemish version Cordon by reading all the way through its Wikipedia page and even in summary it read like a tightly plotted, well characterized series with modern references and interesting twists (and it's been renewed for a second season). It seems like the American version has already departed from the plot setup of the European version in significant ways though. Has anyone seen the original? Does anyone know if it's on Hulu or Netflix or Amazon? I think I might like that better.

Paul Feig seems thoughtful and well-intentioned, as well as appropriately tuned-in to the straight-up sexism of the hate directed at the casting alone, before anything else was known about the movie's plot or tone or faithfulness to the original in any other way. But he still seems clueless about any other reasons that Ghostbusters fans (of all genders, ages,ideologies) might find the trailers or buzz out of sync with the spirit (pun unintended but hey, it works) of the franchise. As for Melinda Taub's script that you posted from Funny or Die (did it get produced as an actual skit)? I vote "Die." Proof that humorless sexist nastiness is not solely the domain of men. Sometimes so women can gain entrance to the boys' club of traditional comedy, sometimes, well, who knows. My son and his friends love the original Ghostbusters (first saw it when he was around 9-10), and despite the skeevy chauvinism of the Bill Murray character and the marginalized role of the incomparable Ernie Hudson, it really holds up. I also think that the classy, badass performance of Sigourney Weaver is stronger than the caricature embodied by Bill Murray — her acid contempt for his bad behavior is clear, and it is not a "bro" type movie as the other Ghostbusters all are focused exclusively on the task at hand. There's just so much that works about that movie, that I think we may have to view this remake as a different animal entirely — almost like an extended SNL parody skit.

Doesn't anyone else think that the show is doubling down on gay plot tropes and Mayfair is being set up as her hookup's killer?

Thank you for not only summing up my feelings about this show (including my mystifying compulsion to see it through to the inevitably disappointing splat of an end to the season) but for making me realize why this feeling is so familiar — it is exactly the same experience I had with The Following. Along with the shared parades of disposable cardboard characters, massive plot holes, nonstop retcons, dropped plotlines, and general nonsense, the FBI agents in both shows clearly share the same universe and went through the same crappy screening and training. Edited, upon further reflection, to add: here's an idea — since there is absolutely no one left in the cast who would be remotely interesting or believable as The Actual Terrorist pulling all the strings, and because bringing in some random would be even less interesting, I vote that Kevin Hardy return as Very Special Agent Ryan Hardy to emerge as the Big Bad. His motivation: presumed dead and living off the grid, his obsession with Joe Carroll has bloomed into florid psychosis and he is doing it for the greater glory of Joe, himself, and of course the literary legacy of Edgar Allan Poe. Which was, as The Following taught us, the real-life senseless torture and murder of innocents.

My husband came in at the very end of the episode and asked if Call the Midwife had gotten through an hour without being soul-achingly depressing. Then he saw the hospital orderly drop the box labeled "Baby Cottington" into the camera frame. "Never mind!" He can't even stand to be in the same room with the show. How powerful a teratogen is thalidomide, i.e. did all or almost all thalidomide pregnancies result in visible birth defects? Because if that were the case, wouldn't someone have stumbled on the association, or pinpointed the start of the problem as the introduction of the drug, pretty quickly?

I can't wait for The Partridge Family: A Visual History, so please do track that down. Back in the olden days of my childhood, I had a toy Partridge Family Bus into which I stuffed my Barbies and troll dolls and various other passengers, and I thought Susan Dey was the most glamorous thing ever, so I have many happy yet vague memories of primary color blocking and ruffly (unisex) cravats and (also unisex) blue velvet vest/pantsuits. On topic? I couldn't figure out what you meant by "mane comb" so I watched this whole thing twice — that's a banana clip, silly! And they were awesome, especially for those of us with the curly long hair and crazy bangs for whom a scrunchie really never did the trick. Awesome, and spectacularly unflattering (no one looks good with a flattened vertical ponytail). I had a couple that were huge, so long that they started at the nape of my neck and clicked closed at the top of my head. So pretty! Now that I see my own description of the super sized banana clip, "mane comb" suddenly seems like a much better name for it. You East Coasters do get it right sometimes, I guess.

While I am a sucker for spy stories in general, and for Le Carré, Hiddleston, Laurie, and Colman in particular — and therefore all in for this series — it is probably not a good sign that I was totally distracted right up until the end of the episode wondering what had happened to Youssuf and to Sophie's dog. Here's hoping the concierge gave the dog a good home. Frankly I found the image of the sad little dog smeared with blood much more haunting than dead Sophie/Samira.

Too bad you can't match with Chicago Med, where if you were a psych resident under Dr. Charles you could spend all of your time in the Emergency Dept! Seriously though, good luck with your decision :)

Great interview on KPCC's The Frame "Because women are so sexualized in pop music, what I like doing is using my own sexuality to explore the unsexy side of sexiness." — as with so much with Rachel Bloom and her show, at first blush this could seem like total nonsense, but take a breath and it is both profound and profoundly hilarious. EDITED because I prefer my subject and predicate to agree, mostly.

4/19/16 — Interview on KPCC's The Frame

You're totally right of course! I didn't see that before; there will generally be that contrast in chocolates with a lighter nose and lighter more golden brown eyes. I'm a German shepherd & Akita person myself, but some of my best friends are Lab people, and some of my dogs' best friends are Labs, LOL, coats of many colors. Looking at that same Dickens puppy picture above now it is obvious to me that the coat color is black (on the same screen, although I think the color temperature setting has now reverted back to cool from warm, which may make a difference). This slideshow and this behind-the-scenes clip provide heaping helpings of more Dickens cute and also make his coat color much clearer, for some reason, than it was for that first season on my PBS station, even in HD. I wonder, given how much sunnier — both literally and figuratively — Grantchester was in the first season could account for my seeing Dickens through rosy-brown lenses as a puppy :p It was still far from mainstream or "comfortable" in pop culture. I'm an Anglophile but no expert in UK culture in the '40s/'50s, but I do know that here in the U.S. during that time, jazz and blues were still considered "race music" (nice right?). One big reason (arguably the bigger reason), along with his overtly sexy vibe, that Elvis was so scandalous when he hit the scene was his blues-inspired music, so clearly influenced by and derived from African-American artists and traditions. To oversimplify, the youth-oriented"Jazz Age" of the 1920's and 1930's was a fairly narrow movement, and generally referred much more to safer, less experimental and improvisational, more Broadway- and Hollywood-oriented, *whiter* composers like Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, the Gershwin brothers (who were in their turn borrowing and riffing on African-American blues and jazz traditions). Were there beatniks in England? Because that was the epithet used to describe young white people who hung out in jazz clubs in the U.S. in the 1950s.

Thanks, Sonja & Judy — esp. for the bonus Dickens pic! He is a very dark chocolate though, quite a beautiful dog! The contrast in his coat wasn't showing up on my TV or maybe just not to my very old eyes ;)

I just posted this in the episode thread but perhaps it is better put here — is it my imagination or was Dickens a chocolate Labrador as a puppy and in the recent episodes (like the past two) appears as a black Lab now that he is closer to full-grown? Edited — never mind! Answered in episode thread! Thanks sonja & elle This slideshow and this behind-the-scenes clip provide heaping helpings of more Dickens cute and also make his coat color much clearer, for some reason, than it was for that first season on my PBS station, even in HD. I wonder, given how much sunnier — both literally and figuratively — Grantchester was in the first season could account for my seeing Dickens through rosy-brown lenses as a puppy :p

Here's a mystery that's been bothering me for the past two episodes — how and when did Dickens turn from a chocolate lab to a black one? Or is it just my TV?