Jodithgrace

My only criticism of this episode is Pete’s wife being MIA. I mean, they can’t have it both ways. Either she’s in the show or she isn’t . Only the basement ghosts are not always around. Don’t get me wrong…I’m not a fan of her character and wish they would get rid of her some way, but she should be in scenes with all of the other house ghosts, shouldn’t she? And she wasn’t even mentioned. Im sure she’ll be in next week’s episode since it’s Pete centric, but things like that bother me. Except for that nitpick. I really enjoyed the episode, and I’m glad to have Flower back, and Thor happy again. So ghosts can’t Face time. Good to know. If a living had been able to drop a ladder down the well, would Flower have been able to climb it? Do rungs count as floor or wall?

I am late to the party. I was away (in Japan, appropriately enough) and waited to watch it until I returned. I’ve read the book a few times, and I’m currently reading it now. I’m also old enough to have watched the miniseries a time or two. 1. I really don’t like the actor playing Blackthorn. His looks don’t appeal to me and this version left out some significant steps that his character goes through to understand Japanese culture, including a near seppuku. So, no wonder he seems so clueless most of the time. 2. They left out the entire romance! People don’t see her attraction to Blackthorn, but believe me, in the book it is well supported. 3. Women commit seppuku by stabbing themselves in the throat, so that was accurate. 4. I don’t get the part where Toranaga sets Blackthorn free to side with Yabu. That never happens, and seems to negate all of the Anjin and Toranaga relationship which is such an integral part of the book. 5. This miniseries is gorgeous and well acted by everyone except Blackthorn, though that might be the writing, since they portray him as a doofus most of the time. I love the subtitles and the status given to the female characters, which was in the book, but often gets lost in a series. 6. I am disappointed in all the changes, but have enjoyed watching it, especially since I have been to Osaka castle and am a fan of all things Japanese.

Oh my goodness, you’re right! Those balloons should have sunk, not risen!

I have never understood the concept of not discussing finances with your spouse in the grounds that you are protecting them. It never works out, and often ends up with widows not having the faintest idea where all the debts came from. Some protection! As soon as May complained of not feeling well, I knew immediately what was wrong with her (I’m a great armchair diagnostician) I have read about delayed action drowning and it can be serious and even fatal. Of course I’m not perfect. I thought that the girl and baby’s eye condition was going to be syphilis and Melvin was going to be the culprit. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not a doctor. May’s problematic mother reappears. I thought May was adopted by now. I didn’t realize she was still only a foster child. The Turners really had a rough episode with lots of waterworks. I think the seaside outing was a moderate success! Only one near drowning and one woman going into labor. Practically perfect.

I’ve been to Japan a few times, as my brother and sister in law lived there for 15 years. I’ll eat just about any Japanese food, but not Natto. It’s slimy and gluey and tastes just like one would think fermented soybeans would taste. When Mariko said that blackthorn probably wouldn’t like what they were eating, I immediately thought, “natto!” And laughed out loud when I was right. My brother won’t eat it either, but my sister in law loves it.

I think that Matthew is under intense strain about financial matters that we are not privy to, as yet, and that’s why he’s being so needy. The clues are all there, but he isn’t sharing his problems with Trixie except in a very general way. He even changed the cause of his headache from tension to eye strain, dismissing his anxiety. I was afraid that Trixie was going to come home and find him unconscious on the floor. it’s funny..the babies on this show are usually so good, but the Chdozie baby was definitely a doll or some other inanimate prop. Half the time the actress looked like she forgot she was holding him. Poor Trixie, screwing up like that. She’s not perfect, but she is smart to stay at Nonnatus house the three days she’s on duty so that she isn’t torn between her job and home. Every nurse or doctor must feel that way at times, especially if they have children. Jonty does have a nanny, so they can manage, even if it’s not ideal. And at least she has a story line that doesn’t have her acting like a twit.

Well, since Mac and cheese, in any variation, uses elbow macaroni, I don’t think anybody expected her to hand make that. It would be different if she were making a long pasta dish. I was sad that the Mexican chef and Kevin were on the bottom (Kevin again!) since I like them, but at least they were spared. I’m glad Dan did so well in spite of his limitations. And Michelle…pit master my ass..she is a terrific all around chef! It bugged me that so many chefs made croquettes. Really..is that the only dish that comes to mind? Seems weird to me, since I don’t remember the last time I had croquettes.

Nolan said he was doing double duty to make up for people covering for him while he was on his honeymoon. But I don’t know enough about the police department to understand why he didn’t just have time off without these strings. Don’t they have vacation days? The honeymoon wasn’t exactly unexpected. I hate this Tim arc. There is no way he can get out of it cleanly and that guy is clearly too obnoxious to be allowed to get away with his crimes.

I had to keep telling myself that they wouldn’t kill off Fred on Easter Sunday, even if it wasn’t an Easter episode per se. But tetanus is a very scary disease and so easily preventable, even then. Fred should have known better. If Reggie had been the one to cut himself, Fred and Violet would have made sure he got “jabbed.” Trixie looks lovely this season, but her storylines have been terrible. An expensive sofa? Really? I appreciated the model mother’s baby story, but the part about the Mother/baby photo shoot was dumb, though I imagine the callous agent was accurate. I don’t have passport and really resent PBS for chopping the episodes into hash.

Bhanu said that Kelsie was a mermaid “from the waist up” Uh…

Everybody keeps telling Bhanu to feel free to cry and express his emotions. Where’s Tom Hanks when you need him? “Are you crying? There’s no crying! There’s no crying in Survivor. There’s no crying in Survivor!!” By the end of the episode I think my tv was soggy. I’m sorry that Random got evacuated because we have another week of Bhanu trying to win a million hearts. He hasn’t won mine, and from what I’m reading, he’s got a ways to go.

Vietnam: The guy reminded me so much of a young John Oliver, just made me laugh. Plus the epilogue with the fish was hilarious. But if the wife speaks Vietnamese, why didn’t she know the kind of fish she bought? I suppose that she was just not familiar with buying decorative fish and didn’t recognize the name.

I was so excited to see Kyoto, since I was just there in July and am going back in a couple of weeks. I wrote down everything. Unfortunately a pop up restaurant in its last week was no help. lol. I did like the looks of that buckwheat place, so maybe. The Mumbai episode was wonderful for me because I absolutely love Indian food. I admit that the food scene in Orlando didn’t interest me, but I found Washington DC really interesting. I enjoyed his lunch with Pete Buttigieg. My experience in Dubai is only the airport, which was an experience in itself What I love best about his show is Phil’s generosity of spirit, and his sense of humor.

Well, I guess that answers the question about whether Sheldon speaks German or not. I felt sorry for Iain having to learn all that, though he did a really good job. I don’t speak it myself, so I can’t say if he was perfect, but it sounded pretty good to me. Missy is asking for trouble, lying to George like that. Doesn’t Sheldon have classes? How can he go off on train journeys, though that sure looked like fun. I love train travel, especially in Europe or Japan. “Onions in, onions out!” So true.

Considering the fact that 99% of what the survivors eat is coconut, is this really the show to come on if you are allergic to it? I forget who it was that was allergic to everything including chicken and eggs ( she said eggs give her brain fog) but I can’t see her lasting out there. They might win rice, but that’s iffy. And if they don’t win the fishing equipment, it’s going to be nothing but fruit. The big food rewards won’t come for days.

She’s not pregnant. She was talking about her move or something and said, “I have a baby and I’m pregnant with number two.” At the time of the move. Not now. She has three children.

She said she was approaching 30. She didn’t say from what direction.

The garage band was fun, but even that had me thinking they had forgotten last week’s whole episode about Nolan’s “last shift.” Sgt Gray saved it by saying it was a tape from last week. Other than that, it was one stupid thing after another. I get the whole trope about everything going wrong, but these were things that made no sense! And you are going to tell me that the guys made those gorgeous flower arrangements? But Bailey’s wedding cake turned out awful? Well that part makes sense. Tim gets punched and thrown around by some huge guy in the stupidest plot twist, but is perfectly fine the next day. Not even a bruise. Are there no other police in the whole station who could have gone to Celine’s rescue? Aaron was drunk, but the others had also been drinking, I assume, being off duty and all. I just spent the whole episode muttering and shaking my head.

Thankfully the husband got over his “Swiss charm” obsession in order to give his wife a decent commute. Nothing like being a vegan in the land of cheese and chocolate! At least there seems to be a lot of vegan options, unless they showed the only two vegan places in Zurich.

I kind of thought that's what they were working up to with Georgie’s doubts. Hopefully next week something will push him in that direction. The big money is tempting but I think it will be a big mistake, and Connie should know better. So should Mandy. I'm glad Missy got wise and started spreading the chores around.

If they had presented it like that, it would have made sense. Instead Lucy accuses Tim of undermining her, which I didn’t see. She asked him to challenge her and then gets mad at him when he doesn’t spoon feed her the answer. So him giving her space looked like him going off in a huff. Just totally contrived.

PPS to the max. Is there anything that Aaron doesn’t have access to? Need a yacht? Sure…my uncle has one you can borrow. I don’t even have to ask him. Sure…need a new venue for your wedding this weekend? No problem. I don’t even have to ask if it’s available. So what if there’s a wedding scheduled there already…we’ll kick them out! And that red haired lawyer…ugh! As soon as I saw her, I knew she was in on the whole thing. I not only don’t remember her name, but I always got her mixed up with that red haired serial killer. I mean, why should a show have one sexy evil redhead when they can have two? When that neighbor rang Nolan’s doorbell, did anybody else wonder, “where’s Cheddar?” Lucy and Tim’s argument. Contrived much?

I’m hoping that a British person can answer this for me. I was an English major long ago and an Anglophile so I have read many British novels and watched lots of British tv and movies. Up until a few years ago, people in England said, “Happy Christmas.” Suddenly, they are saying “Merry Christmas,” even in period pieces like this. It’s driving me nuts. I can understand the Americanization in contemporary fiction,but have the writers forgotten how people used to talk? Can somebody explain this to me? Other than that, it was a lovely episode. I was so glad the midwife showed up so we didn’t have the cliche of Siegfried or, heaven forbid, Carmody delivering the baby. And I’m extra glad that James didn’t succeed in going AWOL. So Oscar the cat wasn’t the missing stout drinker. But they gave him up anyway, which was very nice of them. I suppose that Helen won’t need his companionship now that she has wee James to care for. Poor Carmody. No wonder he’s so lacking in social skills. It sounds like he was raised as a science experiment. The dialogue was quite funny. edited to add: doing some research reminded me that Dicken’s Ebeneezer Scrooge says “merry Christmas,” so it’s not new and different. Further reading suggests a class distinction between the lower classes saying “merry,” and the upper classes saying “happy.” Which I guess shows what sort of Brit lit I read. So perhaps the people in the Yorkshire Dales might well have said “merry.” It’s just one of those things I notice, like when a British person says “sweater,” or “cookie,” and I think, oh no, America has struck again!

Yes, the book ended just this way and with Dex and Jazz climbing Arthur's Seat. This was a lovely production. I lost track of how many children Tilly and Graham ended up with. She always had what looked like the same baby, year after year. (It probably was the same actor baby. lol) but in the 2nd anniversary of Emma’s death, they showed the whole family and she had at least three.

Yes, it’s been so long since I read the book, I was afraid to watch him with Jazz while he was drinking. Thank goodness they didn’t go there. I also knew immediately that Sylvie was with someone. And of course it was Callum! Ugh!