Risky Librarian

TELEVISION! *cries tears of joy* Ahem, sorry. It's been a long year. I...get what they chose to do and why, but I also kind of hate it. I hate Ainsley, but it sort of feels like she had her agency removed by her brother and father in service of messing with the mind of someone who was already plenty messed up to begin with. That's not usually something that gets to me, but she's shown in the first season that while she's obnoxious and annoying, she's not particularly a fragile little toy. I'm going to do my best to reserve judgement, since this show tends to be pretty good at long games, but right now, I'm giving it just a little side-eye. That police brutality subplot...oy. Felt pointlessly tacked on for relevance. Yes, we get it, it's current, the lampshade on the COVID references was plenty large. But, in the words of Enid Frick of Sex and the City, it was like they took the script and jammed the word "race" in instead of...anything else. If you can't make it thoughtful, leave it out. That, and it's probably another tacit quarantine lampshade. Everyone I know, myself included, is in a real hair state, even now. My department's weekly Teams meetings are a cavalcade of COVID hair. Malcolm is absolutely the kind of guy who would just let it shag over the long months. His mother probably gave him grief about it the entire time. Malcolm is too messed up for Dani. But Dani is too much of a fixer busybody for Malcolm. I hope they just develop a friendship and run with that. If he wants to weird out with Edrisa though, I would allow that. Maybe she'll come up with more interesting ways to tie him down for his night terrors. I joke, but if that comes back, I'm going to laugh forever.

I kind of get her doing this. Maybe the idea was to try to stay as "normal" as possible, and not admitting defeat. The house was hers before she got married, if I'm remembering correctly, so she probably figured, screw you, I'm not letting you drive me from this place that is mine. Chin up, carry on, never let 'em see you sweat. As for her name, it's also her children's name, and she may have chosen to keep it out of solidarity with them, since they didn't really have the ability to change their names at that age. Not that it would have helped very much. Which may have been her other reasoning. Not like she hasn't been all over the papers; might as well own it. (See the aforementioned sweating and the not allowing 'em to see you do it.) Jessica also provides a contrast to Malcolm, steering into the skid instead of what she views as running from his past by changing his name. For what it's worth, I'm kinda with you as far as the house. I don't know that I could have comfortably stayed there. Though...it just occurred to me that a house that was the famous home of an infamous serial killer might be bought by someone who would turn it into some gawky collector's attraction, because people are freaks. I would be even less happy with someone turning my pain into profit tourism. Yikes. That feels pretty damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Control. Endicott wanted Jessica (and to hold a knife to Martin's throat), one way or another. If he couldn't suave his way into getting her, he does it with subterfuge. Eve is murdered and dumped within the proper jurisdiction, which upsets Malcolm, who presumably becomes angry enough to murder her killer when he's found, because he is his father's son who spent years under the tutelage of The Surgeon. Endicott reaches out to Jessica and pulls strings for a favor for her, tying her to him by obligation and fear. If Eve is found where she's murdered, Malcolm would have found out too far after the fact for it to be of any use, if he found out at all. And he might have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for him underestimating the other kid. That ending was kind of great. I don't care for Ainsley, but I enjoyed that resolution. She damn sure tried to cut that dude's head clean off. Which, let's face it. he deserved it. I'm going to be sad if this doesn't get a second season. I could have gone either way with it at the beginning, but I like the performances and the overall chemistry of the cast.

I loved that scene so much, Michael Sheen played it to the hilt. It was the grossly hilarious result of a massive miscalculation on the part of the assassin. Like, a way less classy dude just would have been all, "B*tch did you forget that I AM A SERIAL KILLER?!" It's even more effective non-verbally, with his eyes all full of the kind of ghoulish glee that has only been hinted at in Martin's other appearances (in therapy, or playing head games with - well, everybody). Finally, FINALLY something he could sink his teeth into, and he wasn't going to let it pass. It was the first time Malcolm had ever seen his father in full "The Surgeon" mode, that was clear. His was very much the reaction of one who had always been told something was a certain way, but had never actually seen it with his own eyes until now. For us too, really, the culmination of an entire season of being told that Martin is a murderer and is cool with that, and seeing bits and pieces of it, and suddenly there it is, in all of its glory. Well done, show.

Bonus points if Malcolm then meets HER mother, and it turns out to be Emily Kuroda. ...I love/hate that idea in the best possible way. I am the most obnoxious of geniuses. 😄

Okay...my husband has Ankylosing Spondylitis (HOLY MOLY IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO LEARN HOW TO SPELL THAT BY THE BY) and the kinda carefree, "nah, it's all cool" way they delivered the news kind of made me almost laugh myself out of my chair. It is manageable, but...well, it's a variety of RA, and if you know anyone with RA, you understand what "manageable" really means. He was diagnosed in his late teens, and it actually kind of took them forever because it's so rare. He nearly died in the process, because delightful overactive immune system often attacks the bowel, so he couldn't eat and was losing weight rapidly (it's been like fifteen years since that diagnosis and keeping weight on is STILL a thing he struggles with, even on medication.) His current treatment is immunosuppressants, a weekly injectable. That's pretty standard, but it does leave him vulnerable to random bugs. The real fun part is pain management, because while generally not debilitating, it is pretty constant. At this point, he has partial fusion of his lower back, and he gets flare-ups. Nights are pretty hard for him, and he rarely sleeps more than a few hours at a time before his back or shoulders ache too much for him to stay in bed. Fortunately, massage can help a fair bit, so I do that when I can. Honestly though, he's a trooper (the other fun part is the mental game - he was pretty active before his diagnosis and he had to leave a lot of it behind), and I'm lucky to be able to love him. No idea what I'd do without him. Anyway, that was on my mind at the end of the episode. In other news, I need Mina not to sink my ship. Stop it, Mina. I get it, but stop it. Let that Raptor love you. MAKE THE SUPPLEMENT LADY GO AWAY. I know you're focused on the adorable baby and you want to keep your professional relationship healthy, but you love him and now we have to do the jealousy storyline and you're killing me, show. Also, it pleases me to see Cain suffer. He's going to pay it forward and that's going to suck, but I still love to see it. Skeevy jerk. That's the only upside to Raptor and the supplement lady, watching Cain lose to a decent man.

You know...as annoying as I find Jessica as a parent, I at least get her. Her concern and constant hovering really is more about the health of her son than the way that it looks on the outside, and I do give her points for that. But boy oh boy, do I not like his sister, and I gotta say, I'm actually kinda glad they skipped her this week. I pretty much want to pinch her every time she shows up. I don't think I'd be wholly mad at that. "Turns out that guy's got aaaabs, and we should probably have them make more appearances." - some producer, probably. He changed his name around the time he headed to college, so that he wouldn't be immediately associated with his father, the serial killer, presumably so that he could be spared a least a few weeks of not being looked at with pity or like he was a ticking time bomb that could go off at any time. If you mean why he specifically chose that particular last name, I don't think they've discussed that yet. If I had to hazard a guess, because it's...well, it's the obvious opposite of one of the darkest things you can think of, aka a tea-drinking, life-saving, serial killer parent who occasionally chloroformed his son to prevent him from remembering what he saw.

Ah, this show, still as subtle as a hammer to the face. Can we get Cain and Finance Guy some glue-on mustaches to twirl as they hatch their eeeeeevil money schemes in the next episode? Someone noted upthread that they're really good at supremely punchable villains, which is true, but where they get high marks for that, they score real low on nuance. The only even minorly layered antagonist was Bell, and he's practically a boy scout now, though they have given Bruce Greenwood more meat in that he's often wedged between his desire to do good and his intense impulsiveness. Usually, the Good Guys are unarguably good, and the Bad Guys are pure Snidely Whiplash. You'll get a subplot that gets skimmed every so often, like the ongoing disagreement between Conrad and Devon about the most ethical ways to practice medicine, but it rarely goes anywhere. It bums me out sometimes. They do layered stories incredibly well when they allow themselves to. He really did. Irving clearly loves the hell out of Jessica, and while it's a common thing (both on TV and IRL) to not really think much about the depth of your feelings for someone until you might lose them, it was done so well here. My heart bled for the guy, and I'm glad he'll have the chance to tell her.

From what I could tell, she and Bell's assistant got suuuuuuper drunk (presumably because she was jealous that The Raptor had a date), did some karaoke, crashed the bar mitzvah (where she ended up with Bell's suit because she was underdressed), and ended up going for a joy ride with another guest, the lottery winner who was trying to figure out his life. They flipped the golf cart and she was thrown clear (and bumped her head), while the other guy ended up under the cart. I think that's the gist. Someone feel free to correct my timeline.

Well. Now we know how Sherlock's father made his bones. I'm pretty much with everyone else. I'm ready for this kidney storyline to be done. No matter how you view addiction, it's not unreasonable for a hospital to require a long period of time before considering an addict for a transplant. Giving a person who is destroying their body more body to destroy is wildly irresponsible. In the immortal words of Emily Gilmore, "When a woman has a crack baby, you don't buy her a puppy!" I hear that. I would love to see her come to a point where she realizes that she's got to take care of herself instead of letting everyone do her in just because she's related to them. Then again, that would go back to her having to admit that she...dare I say that she's addicted to being needed by her family like that? Dangit show, stop making me write for you. You don't pay me. I still like Bell. I think he's become a pretty balanced character, in a fun way. All props to Bruce Greenwood on that. He has these totally awesome moments, like pretty much reducing that guy in the club to nothing and walking out, balanced out by getting a little karmic kick in the teeth for his sucking up later on. Both sides are totally believable, and I have grown to love him. Heh, Mina loves velociraptors. Velociraptors love you right back, Mina.

America's favorite medical themed game show, "Druggie or Killer?!" (Sorry, I'm in a weird mood tonight. Knowing this show, it's probably both.)

I think the show wasted a real opportunity with the kidney storyline. It would have been much more nuanced if their dad wasn't a screw-up. A present and selflessly loving parent, genuinely conflicted about giving their addict child a kidney, would have been WAY more interesting, to say the least. The questions of, "am I being an enabler to my child by consenting to this? Am I willing to take a trust leap this big?" No matter what side of those questions you fall on, it would have been a great thing to explore and I would have liked to have seen it. Instead, Dad sucks and his pragmatism reads selfish and now Dr. Creep is going to insert himself by luring Nic into an alleyway and showing her the kidneys he has hanging inside his trenchcoat. Thanks, I kinda hate it. You know...I think I might have switched sides on Mina and The Raptor. There is something very sweet their conversation at the end of the episode. I'm certain I've had the same conversation with my fella. I...I think I might ship it now. I'm sorry, you guys. I tried to not ship it. But I ship it.

And this week, The Raptor walks four miles in a snowstorm. The man is HOOKED. He had every confidence in her, he knew she could handle it, and he made that walk anyway. Hell, at this point, if she don't want him, I'LL take him! XD I honestly thought that was it for Nic and Conrad. Professionally undermining him, going over his head when he made the right (and legal) choice for his patient? If that had gone sideways, Bell's ass would have been the one on the line, but Conrad might still have had some legal hassle. That's not cool. Have that argument at home, but at work? Not cute. Not cute at all. The staging of their last conversation was the absolute visual metaphor of doom as they turned and walked away from one another. They are absolutely going in separate directions right now. Love or hate Conrad, he HAS put in a substantial effort to not be the same old angry, closed-off guy that turned Nic off before, and she doesn't seem to want that either. She likes the drama. She likes the project. She likes to be the voice of common sense. Not even necessarily because she genuinely likes it, but because that's been her life and she's incredibly comfortable with that kind of dysfunction. I kind of hope that someone gently suggests that she talk to someone about that. I also kinda hope that said person is, say, Mina as opposed to Stalker Doc. (Speaking of Stalker Doc, the sooner he and his RV flip over 172 times and explode, the happier I'll be. Creeeee-pee.) The cancer patient was sad. That's a long time to hold a grudge, to nurse a bitter heart. I award that resolution one big ol' yike. No doubt. I have known people like that. I actually really liked the way Devon handled it. "Fine, kid, you wanna know? You're gonna KNOW." I wouldn't be at all shocked to learn that Devon was similar in the beginning of his medical education and had someone give him the same sort of metaphorical smack.

Oh man, I am going to be laughing at Gordon's car flipping over 172 times and catching fire forEVER. Holy cow that was hilarious. Like how many explosives were in that dude's car? It would have made more sense if he'd been thrown clear, as was mentioned upthread, but as fast as he was going, he probably wouldn't have survived that either. Then again, if he HAD been thrown clear, there would have been a good chance that the car would have then rolled over him, which also would have managed to be hilarious somehow. Were there no stop sticks anywhere in the Atlanta PD? I really wanted to thump Devon a couple of times during the episode. Cripes, boy, you only kissed her once, and I get that you're worried about her, but let's not keep pushing for risky procedures just so you can maybe get your answers. Calm yourself. I'm actually glad that she's turning up next week so he can finally exhale. I was glad of that too. The trope in which two long-estranged individuals start to make peace and work things out only to have one of them bumped off is played out and I'm glad they've managed to avert it thus far (though they have flirted with it twice, to decent effect - but don't push it, show; I'm watching you.) I was also happy to discover that he wasn't working against Conrad. Does not actually happen nearly as much as the internet would have you believe. Millions of interactions happen every single day and no one notices at all!

Oh man, did it ever. Again, WAY too close to the bone. About the only thing she didn't do is find a way to point to her daughter as evidence of her awesomeness, but I'm sure she would have if she'd stayed another day or two.