Ms. Poly Theist

So glad I'm not the only one to have caught the *shameless* Fugitive ripoff. Of course, once I saw that Ryan was going off the bridge into the teeming waters below, I could smell it coming. I swear, I think that first part with him stalking through the hospital corridors, before we saw who it was, was a shot-for-shot copy of that same scene in The Fugitive. I half expected Ryan to dye his hair black and for Andreas Katsulas to show up with one arm.

Elizabeth can't go to a dentist even in another state. Did you catch the scene towards the end where Aderholt said to Stan that he was fielding calls from dentists all over who had little old lady clients who somewhat matched her description? He mentioned that as he was picking up a call from a dentist in Buffalo, NY, which is quite far from DC. As for the reason they were being tailed, someone on another board explained it really well: Paaswell was being closely tailed by the CIA as one of their (vulnerable) Afghanistan team. Eliz and Phil started tailing Paaswell after the open house. One of Paaswell's CIA tails noted Eliz and Phil pass them more than once, which implied they were tailing Paaswell...so they started tailing Eliz and Phil.

Just finished reading this entire, wonderful thread. I love you people! I am, however, surprised at the omission of two items from TV. One is a pronunciation issue; the other is an issue of redundancy. Why do so many talking heads on news programs, and weekly news roundup shows, say "pundint" rather than the correct "pundit"? I doubt any of those people have problems with the words "bandit" or "gambit"; so why does "pundit" always seem to rate an extra consonant when it comes out of their mouths? And, on "Survivor": I've read in interviews that Jeff Probst says this phrase every week as a sort of tradition, and knows that it is redundant, but certainly the first time it was simply an error. He says: "Once again, immunity is back up for grabs." This sets my teeth on edge every time I hear it! The aorta is an artery, and there is no reason why it cannot be severed. Even if David Lynch used the phrase "punctured her aorta" in an episode of Twin Peaks. You can puncture or sever an arm; you can puncture or sever an artery. Anything that can be removed can be said to be severed.

I'm also someone who hated Natalie at the start, and cannot believe I am rooting for her now. I think I understand her thinking in wanting to keep Keith and dump Alec, and not even consider voting for Jaclyn this week. As many of you have pointed out already, Keith is someone who could be useful in keeping Jon from winning immunity. But also, I think Natalie has more confidence in being able to keep Keith loyal to her than she would with Alec. Especially after seeing Baylor softening up to Alec shmoozing her earlier that day! It's true that Baylor ultimately didn't buy what Alec was selling, but given a few more days out there together, and Baylor's possibly being an apple that didn't fall far from the Missy Tree, who knows what headway Alec might have made there. Alec isn't getting any jury votes, but he might have been able to sway Baylor (and Missy) to turn against Natalie and vote her out, after they got rid of J/J. And I think that not voting out Jaclyn can be explained fairly easily, too. It's part of keeping J/J comfortable until she can get rid of Jon. I'm sure that if Jaclyn had been voted out, Jon would have become angry, and felt betrayed, and started to play much more aggressively — having belatedly realized that he is not in control of the game. Giving him a reason to make more of an effort just seems to guarantee that he'd go on an immunity run, and end up sitting at FTC. I don't think Natalie flipping her vote to Alec is that much of a gameplay faux pas as some of you think. Besides the "oops, I thought I was supposed to vote for Alec" play, she could also confide in Jon and Jaclyn that she feared Alec was going to sway their loyal alliance-mate, Baylor, with his wily charms. Jaclyn would certainly believe that, and Jon is so easily led that I don't see it problematic at all for Natalie to convince him of it, too. And Missy and Baylor wouldn't need any handling with regard to this because they believe (correctly, I think) that they are in an ultimate F3 with Natalie, anyway, so as long as her move didn't jeopardize them, I don't think they care one way or the other. Especially when Natalie explains to them how Keith is more valuable at keeping Jon from winning back-to-back immunities. I still think Natalie could pull out a win based on this strategy. Except for blood loyalties (i.e. loved ones on the jury), it's likely that any non-bitter jury members would feel compelled to reward her with the win for her gameplay, considering she's the only one left who has any gameplay. Edited to add: wings707 mentioned something I forgot to post, but agree with: if they'd voted out Jaclyn and Jon aligned with Keith and Alec, it's not good for anyone because it would lead to PROD or fire building. No one wants to go out that way!

I'm going to stick with this show for now, even though Ioan Gruffudd is possibly a show-killer (Ringer, Century City), so I'm sure I will eventually be disappointed when it's cancelled. But as much as I've liked it so far, this week's episode was not my favorite. Two things really stuck out for me: 1) Henry saved Paul by giving him something to make him throw up...but unless my eyes deceived me, he'd overdosed on something he was shooting into his arm. How would throwing up clear something out of his system that he'd injected?! And 2), when Jo and Henry were in Paul's apartment after saving him, Jo says to Henry, "The EMT says he won't be able to answer questions until tomorrow." Since when does an EMT make those kinds of determinations? I guess they couldn't afford a scene change and a hospital room set and an extra to play a doctor. I really hope the show lasts long enough for Henry to reveal his secret to Jo, at least!

Great season overall, and a good finale, but I missed a few things keenly: 1) Varys in costume. I missed seeing Varys in a sexton's robe, with beard stubble, as the drunk gaoler, as a simpering, plump highborn lady... 2) The birthmark! Bloodraven didn't look as imposing as I wanted him to look. He just looked...old. I wanted branches growing in and out of his body in scary ways, and I certainly wanted that birthmark, particularly since they insist upon calling him the "three-eyed raven" (rather than the three-eyed crow). 3) I'm VERY sorry that they didn't touch on the story about Tywin taking the jewels and clothes from Lord Tytos's mistress and making her walk naked through the streets of Lannisport. It's a good setup for what I hope happens to Cersei at some point, but also points up his hypocrisy in sleeping with Shae. 4) Of course, the biggie: the Tysha reveal between Jaime and Tyrion!! How they could have left this out is beyond me. It's been well-expressed in a number of posts here already, so let me just say that I agree with many of you, particularly as it impacts Tyrion's impetus (or not) for straying from his escape route. Pah! I dunno; I think we got plenty of exposition over several seasons about why Shae would have done what she did. At first, she had all of Tyrion's attention, and she seemed to at least be fond of him. He treated her pretty well (and while Book!Shae may not have enjoyed being Sansa's maid, it's clear that Show!Shae did). Then suddenly he sends her away with some cruel words and an attempt to seemingly buy her off via Varys (at least, that's what she believed). There's a reason why "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" is a famous saying (well, it's actually a paraphrase: what William Congreve wrote was in fact "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."). Not that the show isn't absolutely awful sometimes in it's treatment of non-noble women, but I this case, I don't see how extra explanatory dialogue (that we didn't get in the book, either) would have helped. All in all, I think they could have cut Jon Snow's chat with Tormund about Ygritte's feels, and some of her Viking bonfire, and given us more of Tyrion's fantastic escape from the Red Keep, secret passages, costumed Varys, truth-telling brother, and all!

Ah, thanks, Avaleigh, I'd totally forgotten about that. Still, that's not much from the show on this subject. Yes, remember that the Bastard Letter (or "pink letter") is signed "Ramsay Bolton, Trueborn Lord of Winterfell."

Ah! Yes, I guess they could. Although it would have been nice if we'd gotten SOME hint of it on the show. I don't think we've seen Cersei's carnal appetite since Lancel (since they took away her consent in the scene in the sept). This is yet another example of Cersei's softening in the show. They're failing to show her sleeping with anyone who can help her achieve her desired results, and this takes away a lot of her agency with regard to plotting. It also takes away from the growing impression that she is a shitty, dangerous ruler, which was hugely gaining steam in the books by this point. I wonder if Ellaria Sand is going to get to do this. Presumably she could join Tywin for a meal before she takes Oberyn's body back to Dorne. I'm sure Tywin would want to meet with her, make sure Dorne isn't going to go to war over this, since after all it was Oberyn's choice to champion Tyrion and he knew the risks, blah blah blah. I imagine they could expand Ellaria's role to join her with the Sand Snakes — I mean, they've got Indira Varma; one would hope they would find some good use for her!

I thought maybe she was altering one of Lysa's dresses. You know, really fully embracing her role as de facto Lady of the Vale. I was watching the rebroadcast, and wondering if the unsullied are asking why it's called "Mole's Town." Removing the aspect of most of the town being underground, it doesn't really make any sense, as names go.

Wow, that was...pretty much exactly like it went down in the book. Bravo (this time), Weis & Beniof! And farewell, pretty, pretty Oberyn! One thing I'll miss happening like it did in the book is coming up pretty soon: when Tyrion says to Jaime of Cersei, "she's been fucking Lancel, and Osmund Kettleblack, and probably Moon Boy for all I know." No Kettleblacks, no Moon Boy. I hope they can come up with something just as powerful, something that will haunt Jaime like the quote from the book haunted him. Sansa's dress looked like something from the Elvira of Westeros collection. Or maybe it was "sexy Lady of the Vale" from the Eyrie Halloween costume shop.