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I almost never cry at movies/tv/books so I was shocked to find myself in tears at the birth of little Lizzie. Such a tragedy. Still, I had been braced for a car crash, thanks to the episode description, so I was thankful it wasn’t the car full of Turners, or any of the other carloads of wedding goers. Um…are we supposed to suspect that Tricia’s brother is gay? I sure did. That tiara wouldn’t have looked out of place at King Charles’ coronation! A bit much, even for Trixie. It was lucky that the couturier provided enough extra fabric to make a hat. It amuses me that this show, which purports to taking place in the ‘60s is so obviously written in the 21st century. Why no rice thrown at the wedding? Confetti is a modern solution to the environmental issues of throwing rice. Also, Corinthians chapter 13 has become a tired wedding cliche over the years, (especially since it isn’t really referring to romantic love) but was it back then? Sr Monica Joan seemed to have thought so. I preferred her reading. Once again Nonnatus house has been saved from the chopping block. But I guess we won’t find out about Nancy’s decision until the Christmas episode, unless PBS cuts that scene out and we come back to find that Nancy is already gone. Honestly…if PBS thinks I’m going to donate money so they can keep showing truncated shows like this, they can think again.

Ugh..a season end cliffhanger? Two, actually, with Aaron on a code blue. Why do they do this? If they think I’m going to be waiting with baited breath for September, I hate to disappoint them. By next week I will have forgotten all about this show and in September, when it pops up on my DVR, I’ll watch it with only a dim memory of where they left off. Still, until the ending, it was a pretty exciting episode.

I can’t say that I’ve made duck breast all that often, if ever, but I’ve watched it being cooked on umpteen cooking shows over the years, and I have never seen it cooked or cut like that. Ever. What was Saba thinking to order it cut into three hunks like that? And Jess just seemed like such a sack sack to me, with her limp hair and expression. I was surprised that she was so confident about the duck, only to mess it up. At any rate she voted herself off the island. Matt was not a good capo. He deferred to the other chefs too much, even asking who he should pick for the team. And then he froze up while presenting his dish, which shows lack of confidence. Interesting that they gave him another chance. I’m a big cooking show fan, though not on this channel, and I am enjoying this. One of the reasons I no longer watch the Food Network is because it’s always the same 3 or 4 people. If it’s not Guy Fieri or Bobby Flay, it’s Alex G, who seems to be on every show that they are advertising. It’s pate a choux pastry for the cream puffs.

I dislike product placements, but I do have to take some of the blame. I am one of those people who records everything and watches it on time delay so I can FF over all the commercials. Thanks to DVRs, advertisers have to sneak their products into the shows themselves. Sorry, everybody for making you watch egregious movie tie-ins. I actually had those grilled octopus balls in Kyoto. The best word I can use to describe them is…weird. I’d much rather have had Charbel’s version. Gabri said he told his team that he had never Frenched a rack of lamb. He said they didn’t listen to him, but I kept hearing him say it would be fine, and he would make it work. Then, they kept coaching him in terms he didn’t understand. I’m just glad he made up for a disastrous QF with a team win in the EC. I forget which country Charbel was from. I think he was one of the Middle Eastern trio. I know Ali is from Jordan, because my Son in Law is Jordanian so I told my daughter all about him, but I forget the other two. I hope he does well in LCK.

I can’t believe they left out an entire sub plot about Cyrill going to Jamaica! I knew that paper boy had leukemia as soon as I got a good look at him. Poor kid. The prognosis was pretty horrible back then. Was it a kindness to not tell him? I’m always of two minds about that. When Heather was in labor, I had no idea she was only a teen, though the father looked young. It was only later after she was in the hospital that she looked her age. I was sure Trixie and Matthew were going to elope after missing deadlines for this and that, though I guess he was able to get the order of service in on time, so it was only the bridesmaid crisis left to be sorted. Luckily Violet can do “Hauty Couture.”

A little of Randy does go a long way. I was glad that Lucy didn’t get all hung up on Isobel, and worked well with her. But Isobel can go away now, and stay there. Why do they hate me? Next week is another of those infernal Rookie Feds crossovers! Ugh.

Munich! I just laughed because “three months later,” it was still winter. Makes me think that the deck isn’t going to get as much use as they thought.

I was confused about all the locks Perry put on his door. He made it impossible for himself to get back in, and had to leave via the fire escape. But if Perry can get back in via the fire escape, why can’t somebody break in the same way? They are going to have to do a lot of explaining to have Ginny be the mole. So far, it’s not earned. I think Perry is just self sabotaging again, since things were going so well.

The first house didn’t have a pool. They certainly would have mentioned it, with two very young children. I do love the look of a Queenslander, and right now the kids are too young for the one bathroom to be an issue. If they were buying instead of renting, it would be a factor, but for right now it’s fine. The husband reminded me so much of somebody, but I can’t think of who. Oh, I know…it’s the British guy who was on This is Us as Kate’s second husband. No idea of his name. Between the South African and the Australian, there sure was a lot of accent going on. I love them all, but have a hard time telling, Australian, New Zealand, and South African apart.

I have a question: Except for Randall on This is Us, has there ever been a town councilman in a movie or tv show who wasn’t corrupt? Politicians, in general, always get a bad rap, but town councilmen always seem to be the worst. I think maybe the woman in the hospital is the former junkie, who either fried her brains out on heroin, or was injured in sex games with Brooks, who paid the councilman off as part of the stadium deal, but who privately wanted him dead. Della, Della, Della…you are a coward! Not a good look at all. Paul Drake just beat a man up…why are his knuckles not swollen and bloody? True, it was dark when he got home, but he should have had problems even unbuttoning his shirt. And he gave no other indication of pain. That stuff really annoys me. What were those shoes burning in the end credits? Is that a hint for next week?

Trixie says that her wedding cake is going to be soaked in Armagnac. Isn’t she an alcoholic? It’s not like food cooked with wine, which cooks off….cake soaked in liquor is full of alcohol. Did the writers forget? Inflation is a funny thing. When Nancy revealed that she was in debt for almost 100 pounds, I chuckled. But I imagine back then it was quite a sum. Phyllis was shocked! I knew that rape wouldn’t count if it was the husband. Disgusting. It was the same in the US for far longer than it should have been. Poor baby with hemophilia. You rarely hear about that anymore, thanks to genetic counseling and other scientific advances I imagine, though I don’t know for sure. It’s also associated with inbreeding, but I don’t think that’s the cause, just what made it run rampant in some families, like the Hapsburgs.

I was half expecting a race horse’s head to show up on somebody's pillow, so Perry just taking him for a joy ride was a relief. I thought that there was some strategic reason for taking the horse, but I guess Perry was just acting out. Why were there no guards on a valuable race horse? I wish that Della had broken up with Hazel before carrying on with Camilla. I like Della and this kind of tarnishes her character for me. Is the actress that plays Hazel not available this season? She doesn’t need to be present to be a dumper/dumpee. I noticed that in the credits that there was a puppeteer! I know that puppeteers are used a lot in movies and tv, and not for the obvious. It could be the baby, but I can’t imagine what else. Puppet horses?

While I love the idea of pub food, I did get food poisoning in London after eating in one, so I tend to have a slightly soured outlook. It’s funny that the last two winners were both on the bottom this time, on different teams. I think the thing that saved Ali’s team is that their dish was Fish and Chips and they got the Chips right, while May’s team had one item, Scotch Egg, which they biffed. The salad was extra and not part of the brief. Their team never looked happy throughout the whole process. Buddha seems to be back in form, after not distinguishing himself the past two weeks. I’m sorry to see May go, but she could be back, thanks to LCK. I don’t watch that, but am interested in how it turns out.

When Sr Veronica said at one point that in her previous life she had delivered x number of babies, my first thought was, “oh now she’s claiming to have been reincarnated?” Of course, that wasn’t the intention behind what she said, but I don’t trust her to tell the truth about anything.

Nurse Lazy Lungs! I love it! Somehow it seems un nun like to be a pathological liar, but what do I know. I’m glad sister Julianne thought to check up on her story. I hate the PBS cuts and I haven’t found a way in all the years I’ve been watching this show, to see full episodes. So annoying!

I love my rice cooker. I can use it to make pilafs, as well as all kinds of rice. In addition, I use it to make a week’s worth of oatmeal for myself, which I freeze in portions. I want to try to make congee in it as well. One of the chefs did plaintively ask if they could use a rice cooker, but I didn’t hear an answer. I’m not sure why they couldn’t, since they use all sorts of other appliances. But I suppose it wouldn’t work for most of the dishes they were making, especially in those quantities.

How embarrassing for the French chef to be the first one out, and for a cooking 101 mistake too. I got a kick out of the Middle Eastern chef winning with onions. I’m glad Dawn didn’t get eliminated after that accident with the water, since it wasn’t her fault. But that Mexican dish looked awful…the chef was only saved by shrimp poop. Fun to see Buddha again. Hopefully I’ll soon learn the other chef’s names as well as their nationalities.

That was bizarre. Four castaways go walking out together, leaving Carolyn alone. She opens the birdcage and gets the idol, failing to cover her tracks adequately. The other four come back, see that the cage has been tampered with and immediately start accusing each other! Uh…you were all together! And then Carolyn who is the absolute worst person to keep a secret and is positively squirming with the effort, somehow manages to avoid suspicion. Nobody seems to think she has it, at least not that we were shown. Also, my closed captions call him “Yam Yam,” but everybody calls him “Jam Jam.” Just makes me laugh. I guess it’s spelled Yam Yam, and pronounced Jam Jam. I guess I’d rather be named after a fruit spread than a sweet potato. I really like Harry Potter…I mean Carson. Literal rocket scientist who recreate survivor puzzles on his 3d printer. I like that he has 2 sides to his personality, so he can appreciate the emotional wild card that is Carolyn.

I guess resort #2 didn’t need a pool because it was already sitting in a lake. Honestly all that mud would be a giant turn off for me, though hopefully I would plan to not be visiting in the rainy season. Sure…I don’t know anything about owning or running a hotel, so let’s buy two!

Damn…Lupe really got in on the ground floor in Cabo. Her grandchildren must be millionaires!

I had been this way and that about David, whether or not he was a good guy. I mean preachers in these type of shows are never good guys, but thus far the show has been good at twisting tropes, and he did seem compassionate. But then he sat down at the table where everybody was eating soup, and was served a big honking plate of meat, and I knew right away he wasn’t a good guy. Then 20 seconds later he slapped the girl and removed all doubt. The problem with fishing is that unless the lake was stocked with giant marlin, or some such, it would take a huge amount of normal sized fish to feed a group that size. And fishing in such cold weather isn’t easy. Hunting provides better buck for the bang. (Sorry) And here I was wondering if the people would turn their noses up at eating horse meat, and then I thought hungry people will eat just about anything. Little did I know…

I don’t know which was more annoying, Nigel and his 5th Avenue whine or the fact that my closed captioning insisted on spelling “quiet,” as “quite.” I know that I’m old, but I do not understand “content” as he describes it. Am I supposed to be tuning in somewhere to see videos of him and his family in Mexico? I have absolutely no interest in that. Are there people who do? And if so, how does he make any money out of it? From what little I saw, (Here we are walking down the street!) he should have stayed with the CDC.

Monica + wood chipper= a match made in heaven! I did enjoy the way nobody at the LAPD bought one single thing she said. But Elijah is still in the picture? Ugh! I refuse to watch the stupid crossover, but is it too much to ask that they could at least get Abril? Daddy and Me traffic school. Is that even a thing? Tim and Lucy are talking about having kids so casually like it’s the next thing on their to do list.

I’m speculating based on, oh I don’t know, every tv show I’ve ever seen, that if we aren’t shown for sure and certain that a character is dead, they probably aren’t. And naturally HBO isn’t going to give away the farm by showing Joel in the previews. That said, his situation is certainly dire. A gut wound is a horrible way to die and infection (no not that kind) is a major risk even if she gets him to help, but this is fiction, after all. I did wish that Joel and Ellie could have stayed in Jackson for at least a couple of days to regroup, but I can see days turning into weeks. And it could turn bad for them if Ellie’s secret got out and anybody saw her bite scars. So getting out quickly was their best bet. Joel has never been inappropriate with Ellie. Ellie, on the other hand, speaks inappropriately to everybody, not just him. At first I found her language off putting, but now it just makes me chuckle, especially when people react to her. I don’t see even the hint of an inappropriate relationship between them.

Speaking of illogical, next week seems to be a Valentines Day episode, while last night was literally Valentines Day! Did somebody mess up the episode order? I could have waited a week to see more Elijah, believe me. I know that Nolan’s mother was a criminal con artist type, but heroin? That seems a step up from pyramid schemes and rip off beauty products. I half expected Elijah to show up at her door, if he hadn’t been otherwise occupied of course. I seem to have missed how Nolan’s old girlfriend was involved. He ran into her in the street and the next thing, she was bringing them sandwiches, and was giving them the news of the foreclosure. Was she a realtor, a lawyer? Given Nolan’s taste in women, probably both.