Alison

You know it's a sad state of affairs when it takes 6 episodes for the entire cast to get together. Coming off the end of NYC, where the women actually have history and relationships, to this cobbled-together, manufactured group is just boring and sad. Lol! You forget that Vicki claimed Shannon's husband physically abused her! That's pretty serious! I wouldn't engage with someone if they said that about me, especially if said person also perpetrated a cancer scam! Lol! ;-)

I apologize if my post came across as lecturing in tone; that was not my intent. The article I shared wasn't directed at you - I remember many posts after the season premiere lauding how articulate Rachel was, a word I can't recall ever being used to describe another lead in the entire franchise. It's just one example of coded language that kind of correlates to the Eric/grammar issue at hand. Frankly, as a white person, I don't think you (or me or anyone else who isn't a person of color) have any right to say "The code concept is wrong!" It exists because institutionalized racism exists. It exists because our country is embarrassingly racist. It doesn't seek to make white people "wrong," but rather inform them of subconscious biases they may have that have crept into their speech. I'm not claiming to be more enlightened than anyone, so again, apologies if that's how my post came off, but, as someone who tries to be a good ally, I think it's important to have these kinds of conversations, as uncomfortable as they can be.

A lot of coded language can be used unintentionally/subconsciously due to institutionalized racism. I don't think anyone is calling you racist, but maybe you can stop and listen when a person of color says, "Hey, X has negative connotations because..." A word or comment may seem innocent to you, whereas to a person of color, it holds a significant negative meaning for reasons you and I may never understand. There are a lot of great scholarly papers available on the internet that discuss coded language in a very interesting and eye-opening way. The discussion of Eric's speech on this board has continually made me uncomfortable as the season has gone on, especially this week. I encourage everyone to read this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/weekinreview/04clemetson.html

It baffles me that Catherine, who appeared to be popular and well-liked by her male classmates in high school, settled on balding, upskirt photo-taking Lyle.

Did anyone else notice in the previews for next week that Cheltsie is suddenly walking back on some of her claims about Shep during a convo with Austen? I think y'all are on-point about her aims here.

I know what we're seeing play out arguably makes for better TV, but I think it would humanize Cameran a bit if she shared her struggles with conceiving. How she's portraying it is super disrespectful to people who have fertility issues. I wonder if the absent Mr. Wimberly wasn't keen on their situation being seen by millions (thousands?) of people.

I thought the same thing. Having been on a litany of psych meds at various times for my issues, too high of a dose/the wrong combination can make you flat and affectless. Combine that with feeling awkward and uncomfortable, and I kind of get why Kathryn came off like she did. I thought Cameran's reaction upon Naomie telling her about Thomas courting Ol' Land-o said everything. They all seem to be as horrified by this as the viewers. The fact that T Rav has another girlfriend right now leads me to believe that this was truly a producer set-up.

*shrug* I'll be 30 in a few months, and my current relationship, which I've been in for a year and a half, is the first time I've been in love. Some people are late bloomers! I understand that everyone has varying definitions of taste and appropriateness, but, at its core, this franchise has always been about one person dating dozens of other people at the same time. Not really much taste in that when you think about it! Frankly, considering the constant objectification of women in the media and on TV for decades, I'm all about some gratuitous male shirtlessness and dancing. Viva le female gaze! ;)

Feline Walter was around long before Breaking Bad (his name is the middle name of my boyfriend's favorite basketball player), but now I'm imagining a cat with the Heisenberg hat and glasses on, giving that deadly cat stare at all who dare cross his path.

I'd like to reserve a room on the island, too, please! Let's make a rule that, should someone need to calm down, we're only allowed to say, "GO TO SLEEP! GO TO SLEEP!" Preach. My boyfriend's ex was cheating on him, and his otherwise lovely, friendly, affectionate cat never warmed to her in the years they were together. Walter somehow knew she was bad news.

Oh, I don't think it's a good reason at all! I think it's shady as fuck for the producers to cast someone whose gross racial views can be discerned by a casual glance at his social media.

I get what you're saying in that this franchise is generally escapist fare, but the reality for people of color is they deal with racism on both macro- and micro-levels every. damn. day. of their lives. I'm not saying this gives the producers carte blanche to cast someone whose beliefs wouldn't be out of place on Fox News, but sometimes real life has its way of creeping into reality shows :\

I thought Daniel was the most decent one out of this sad, sad group, but he lost me with his predatory behavior at the bar. It seemed like he followed that girl into the bathroom against her wishes, but then, when he was back outside with Juvenile Perv Lyle and Sock Magnate Louis, they seemed to imply he was....serviced....in there.

I don't know if this is specifically what the hosts' friend was talking about, but Pat loves this artist:

I have mental illness and have Borderline people in my life, so thank you all for your respectful discussions of these topics, and thank you to the professionals in here for offering their insight and knowledge! Now, back to your regularly scheduled snark....I've never seen/heard of Patricia's redheaded monster of a friend prior to this episode, and I hope to never see her again. What a miserable, pompous ass. Listening to Patricia explain the wonders of curry, as though she had just discovered it, made me roll my eyes. Also, and I may need to adjust my meds accordingly, but I found Landon slightly likeable during the dive bar scene with her and Austen. Then Shep came in and she started carrying on in her shrieking, dolphin manner again.