Carrie Ann

You're doing the Lord's work.

I like when Veronica's wrong, because it prevents the show from presenting her as superhuman and perfect. There's no way you could watch the series and see her as anything but an awesome, flawed person. And one of her flaws is that she really does think she's right all the time, because she trusts her own judgment and because she's smart and skeptical. And her instincts are generally good, but when they're off, she's pretty blind to it.

I watched the series as it aired, and the Lilly memorial is where the show got me. That was the moment--why am I all emotional about this character I've never "met," in a show that has existed for four episodes? How did they do this? And why is Weevil crying? Why is Logan half-smiling at Veronica so moving?

I like this one, but Mandy is a cartoon character and she drives me crazy. I also dislike both of Veronica's little monologues--first to Mandy about demanding respect and then to the bully about being a terrible person. They just don't work for me. Not sure why. But I like the Echolls family stuff, and the scene where he beats the kid to the tune of "That's Amore" is pretty brilliant. Plus, "Now I don't have to feel guilty anymore." "For what?" "Moving on." Swoooooooooooon.

Highly recommend Arrow for eye candy and quality comic book television. It's a delight. I have all of Tomorrow People on Tivo and haven't watched a single ep. Might never do that. Ah, anyway! Matt Donovan. Matt was the secret MVP of last season, if not also the season prior. I wish they would give him a better (or any) story this year. I really love him and am always terrified he's about to be killed off. But we need one truly human character, and he is it. I think they made a mistake when they killed Alaric--not really understanding how important he and the dynamic he created were to the show. (I know Matt Davis had that shitty series in the works, but they could have done something less permanent to the character to keep the door open) (no, the Other Side doesn't count.) (and I'm pretty sure he's going to make the final transition to the afterlife tonight, sobbing forever.) Anyway, killing Matt would cause the same problem. No more humans to protect or care about. Too much superpower, nothing to ground it.

I think Paul Wesley agrees with you, which might be part of why they've done so many variations for him. I think plain ol' Stefan gets boring for him to play. Especially when he has nothing to do but worry about Elena. The stuff with Katherine this season has been great. It's been nice to see Stefan interested in people other than Elena, and interacting with them for reasons that have nothing to do with her. Always love him with Caroline (not in a romantic way, though I'm pretty sure we're headed that direction), and I love him and Damon together. I wish there had been more of that this season, but Damon has been in Elena-Only mode and that is boring as hell.

I'm really at the point with Elena/the show where I need the writers to clarify what is going on with her, and if nothing is--if they think she's just great the way she is--I think I might be done with the show altogether. I really liked her as a human for the first three seasons, maybe in reaction to your Bella reference above. I think she could have been very one-dimensional, nothing more than a cypher. But I actually found her much more interesting than that. As a 16 year old orphan, she was self-sacrificing to the point of being maybe a little suicidal. Her loved ones' safety and happiness were more important to her than her own life, and that was that. All of her choices would flow from that. She didn't just sit around waiting for the supernatural hunks to save her. She called up Originals and made deals, even when those deals meant her probable death. This season, two of the most important people in her life were gone for three months, completely out of contact, including after one of their father's was murdered in front of the whole town. And she just... didn't notice. Didn't think that was weird. Or actually, did think it was weird, but pushed that aside because she was happy! So happy, in case she hasn't said that 100 times. When she found out what was going on, she basically said that she wanted to get them back (and then for Stefan to get his memory back, and then for him to get over his PTSD) because she had been happy. Now she felt guilty, and she didn't want to feel guilty anymore. That's not Elena. Or I should say, if it is Elena now, then I think I'm done with the show. Because that's not the kind of character development I'm looking for.

Well, I'll be the resident Stefan girl here then, because I LOVE him. I like Damon too--especially when he's allowed to just be funny and evil--but I don't think Somerhalder has the range Wesley does. So Stefan, Ripper Stefan, and Silas are all more interesting to me than Damon. Like, I find it actually painful to watch Ian try to pull off sadness. I was trying not to laugh when he pulled all those faces over Jeremy's shoulder when he told him about Bonnie. He's a funny, dynamic actor, but I don't think he pulls off the serious stuff very well.

Yeah, I think she got the N. Mpls one for like $5, but still. The amount of money that goes into them, I just can't imagine that she gets much back out. The Case Ave house from a few seasons ago (in East St Paul) was listed for like $85K, and I'm not sure what it sold for, but probably less than that. When you do that much work, top to bottom, you're not coming out with a lot of dollars. My house is a 1916 Craftsman, so I look forward to seeing the work she does on that '20s house. And figuring out where it is!

I'm not a Meg fan either. She's most likable from her first appearance until , and then it goes downhill with a quickness. But even from the beginning, it's sort of disingenuous how she acts like it's Veronica's fault that she just didn't notice that not all 09ers hate her. Like, if she wanted to be nice to Veronica, why did it take months and months to reach out to her at all? Months in which Meg couldn't have missed people (her friends) being terrible to V. And then

This one always kind of makes me nuts because of the holes in the baby switch story. 1) There is no way this would have been kept secret in Neptune. I just think someone (hospital, courts, media) would have leaked the names and word would have gotten out. Or, some other family members or friends (grandparents, aunts/uncles, parents' friends) would have slipped up. 2) The timing is confusing, and I'm about to get really crazy on this. Veronica graduated in 2006 (sidenote: does that mean the movie takes place two years in the future?), so that means they were all probably born in 1987 or 1988, right? This episode was supposed to air before An Echolls Family Christmas, which would have indicated a Nov/Dec 1987 birthday, but it ended up airing in January. Then in Season 3, Veronica sees Madison getting a new car for her birthday in an episode that aired in February and definitely took place after winter break. So let's put their birthdays as somewhere between Nov 87-Feb 88. Veronica says they got the $1M settlement in May 1992, then the article she reads about the case says that the settlement came after five years of bitter legal battles. Ignoring the bad math on the part of the journalist, I think we should assume the families figured it out fairly soon after bringing the girls home. Maybe I'm really callous, but if I'd found out that early on, I'd probably be devastated but also want to switch back for my biological child? Or at the very least, I think some visitation would have been worked out. So.... 3) Why didn't they work out some sort of visitation? Before and after the settlement. I can understand the non-biological parents retaining custody of the children they raised, but the Sinclairs and Mackenzies both seem like loving people, and I can't imagine either of them being OK with never acknowledging their biological daughters. Especially when they live in the same small town! And the secret could actually become a problem someday for medical issues, etc. It just seems like a resolution that was reached for plot reasons only, which bugs.

You can tell when KB is wearing a wig because her hairline is too straight, and the hair kind of goes up at the root. When her actual hair is long, it doesn't do that. Wish I could explain that better. Heh.

I love this show. Partly because I live in Minneapolis, and I like tracking down the houses she fixes up based on clues from the streets and Google maps. But the main reason is that this is my kind of real estate porn. I love watching Nicole refinish floors, windows, woodwork, fireplaces. It's so satisfying and always makes me look around my 100 year old house, like, "Huh, I bet I could do that buffet by myself..." In general, I just really like Nicole, and I like the simplicity of the show, and her sincere love for what she's doing. A few weeks ago she landed in the Minneapolis newspaper after running into a house to stall the wrecking ball. They tore it down anyway. We don't get DIY, so I only see reruns on HGTV, so we're not up to the Detroit house yet. She just finished the North Minneapolis house, which was incredible, but is listed for $165K and probably won't get that. (http://www.trulia.com/property/1076898399-2914-N-4th-St-Minneapolis-MN-55411) A new roof, garage foundation, windows, walls moved and removed... I just can't imagine she's making any money on some of these places! I suppose the show makes it so that doesn't really matter.

Yeah, that was a cute nod to A Christmas Carol, but it was refreshing that it wasn't structured that way. Since this was all in Oliver's mind, it was interesting that the first two ghosts were trying to convince him to stop fighting. So when he goes out to fight Cyrus anyway, after pointedly not promising Felicity that he would come back, it was sort of like he was going in knowing he would probably not make it back and maybe not thinking that would be such a bad thing. It was kind of dark, which this show often is (not in such a Nolan Batman way though), and I love that. It was a nice touch to have it be a combination of Det. Lance, Diggle/Felicity, and the Ghost of Tommy who absolve Oliver of his guilt, and encourage him to do the hard thing and fight back and become a real hero. The makeup thing drove me nuts too--just logistically, it's hard enough to imagine him taking time to change into the Arrow outfit somewhere in the middle of a fancy party. Add in the time it takes to apply the greasepaint and remove it, and it sort of stuck in my craw. So I will accept the mask and pretend that I don't see the makeup underneath it. Just like I do with Batman.