VeryNot

Before the jousting accident, Henry lead a very athletic life, and had to eat a lot to keep up with all his sports. Once incapacitated by his leg injury, he couldn't do his sports any longer, but still ate the same amount of food (also, while it's true Henry was slim and athletic in his youth and when he married Anne, by the time of his jousting accident, he was already getting fat.) I'm with those who speculate it was the head injury that turned him tyrant. While he was always known to have a temper and could be quite capricious, he was also known for his kindness, sunny nature, and romantic ideals. He WAS awful to Catherine of Aragon, but I think his desperation to have an heir drove his cruelty. It was just a bitter divorce. And I think Henry kept Catherine and Mary away from each other because that's what Anne wanted (and it could be argued it was wise to do so in case they might plot to dispose Henry, but I don't think that was in Kathrine's nature, as she loved England and its people and didn't want to bring war to them). Anne could be QUITE cruel, and in fact was often cruel when it came to Mary. Henry just let love blind him to her faults and motivations (much like his daughter Elizabeth was blinded by her love of Robert Dudley. The Tudors and their love blindness!). But after the accident, his entire personality changed. Some of it could be attributed to his leg injury, but I don't think that explains everything. His temper went out of control, he became even more paranoid, and he was needlessly cruel and blood thirsty. I think the show might even be hinting at this sudden change in his personality. And spoiler for those who don't know his history with Cromwell - What I really liked about this episode is it showed just how crucial an heir was to keeping the fragile peace. Had Henry actually died, it's certain England would have plunged back into civil war, with the potential to turn into a war with Spain to put Mary on the throne. It shows Henry wasn't just looking for an heir to suit his ego -- he knew very well that his force of personality kept him on the throne, as the Tudors had a weak claim, and without an heir, the Wars of the Roses could reignite. I also love how panicked Cromwell was, showing just how quickly allies could turn to foes with the death of a king. Man, I love Tudor history, and have seen/read just about everything I could get my hands on, but this show leaves me breathless and excited, even though I know all the turns in the story. This was SUCH a great episode.

I was fine with the ending, because humans are rarely linear creatures. Jimmy had essentially lost his two brothers in quick succession. One, his actual brother, was like the angel sitting on his shoulder whispering in his ear, "straighten up, Jimmy, come to ABQ and fix your life." The other, his spiritual brother, was the devil sitting on his other shoulder, whispering, "come on Jimmy, don't listen to him, he's a prick. Stay here, let's do one more scam, c'mon, just one more..." He's lost both their voices, leaving him rudderless. So in the end, twisting the ring, he chooses one more scam, because even if the devil leads him astray, at least he's honest, at least he genuinely liked Jimmy. The angel turned out to be a duplicitous sanctimonious prick who doesn't appreciate how hard Jimmy has worked to please him, so screw him. I don't see his final choice as freeing himself from his brother's exceptions. I don't see it as a positive now-he-can-finally-live-his-life-on-his-terms! turn. I see it as still all about Chuck. There's a real feeling of, "oh, so you think I'm Slippin' Jimmy and can never change and will always be a scumbag? Well wait till you see how bad I can be!" If he can't make Chuck proud, he'll bitterly prove Chuck right and pretend it's a victory. Which is to say, I don't think Jimmy is Saul at heart, any more than Jimmy was the guy tried so hard to be to please Chuck. And I think his trip home proved he's outgrown Slippin' Jimmy. I think Jimmy is a good man with flexible morals who needs to free himself completely from Chuck and his past. But Jimmy feels trapped -- the person he worked hardest to please doesn't believe in him, and his oldest friend died happy because Jimmy went back to his old tricks -- if he can't make it in the legit world, he's going to go back to what he knows, and maybe that's just the way it's supposed to be. He can act happy and free for walking away from a solid offer for a solid future, but what he's turning to is going to end up so much worse than what he's turning away from. His problem is thinking that if pleasing Chuck is pointless, he should do the opposite thing. Jimmy is completely lost.

I'm just happy they got the important things right: Henry was a fit, good-looking man before he had his jousting accident, Anne was kind of a nasty meangirl with a slight French affect, and Catherine had red hair (she also had blue eyes, but I won't quibble at the casting -- usually they cast an actress with dark hair and eyes for Catherine). I adored this, but as someone who loves Tudor history, it was made for me. I've never read Wolf Hall, but it's on the shortlist. I didn't find it slow, but that may be because I know the story so well, and it's nice to see it from a different angle, and to see Cromwell in a different light.

Wow, how embarrassing. She's a talented, attractive woman, But comes off so desperate in everything she does. I think someone nailed it above: I think Kate has the same sort of talent, with the added benefit of being a great team player. I liked Kristin early on, but I have a low threshold for intentional scene-stealers and "look at me! look at me!" mugging. Sorry to anyone who is her fan, but she's just freaking exhausting and brought the show to a screeching halt -- a show she's no longer even on. This crew had a bit of a rough start this season, but with the Blue Light and Raccoon sketches, I feel there's lots of promise. Too often SNL sketches are just weird without any point or punchline, and so often end abruptly or peter out. This group knows how to craft a sketch with a beginning, middle, and end. And that's the way to craft something satisfying. Sketches don't always need to produce belly-laughs; sometimes a great punchline can really elevate a sketch. In other words, good storytelling. Hope they continue with this style.

I liked the Ohio couple a lot. They were bright and enthusiastic, and realistic in what they wanted. And I'm totally on board with wanting an American fridge. I'm engaged to a Brit, and I've already told him I can live in the most wall-papered, no clothes dryer, no closets, smallest English home ever, but it must have an American sized refrigerator. I can't deal with those tiny things they use that barely hold a loaf of bread, and as my future husband, I insist he keep me in the manner to which I was born. I knew they'd go for the first house. Since we all know the show is rigged, as soon as they looked blankly at the realtor when he asked about budget, I knew the game. Who doesn't know their housing budget when looking for a place to live? Then he showed them the home that was perfect except for budget, and I knew "over budget" was the only way they could justify the couple not saying, "we'll take it!" as soon as he showed it to them. The whole budget thing was just to keep the drama up. When they checked in with them later, and the husband talked about how his company had lots of expats, and their guests were American, I was like, aw bless -- they found people they were comfortable relating to.

It's indeed Will's story, but his character doesn't exist in a vacuum, and the show really does veer closer to "ensemble" than "character study." I don't need every single character to be fully rounded with a rich background and motivations on full display (support characters are support characters), nor am I looking for wish-fulfillment in storylines. I'd just like to see more dimensions in Sorkin's main female characters. I don't mind flawed, weak female characters -- that's not what most people mean when they say they want "strong female characters". What I want are well-rounded characters I can engage with, characters that I don't have to be constantly reminded by the writer, "here's the woman's story! It's all about her relationship and her wedding and all the men explaining what's in her best interest!" If Mac is such a suburb and capable producer, let her go up the ladder on merit, don't just TELL us how great she is. If Maggie and Hallie are such up-and-comers, show them excelling (or even failing; that's fine too), don't just use them to prop up Jim's character. Hallie's entire storyline this season was to hammer home Sorkin's hate of social media journalism AND push Jim into Maggie's path. And when Maggie fumbles with the guy she's dated, like, twice, he dresses her down and explains to her the real problem is she's still hung up on Jim. And instead of saying, fuck you, ethics man, you've known me, like 2 days, who are you to start getting all judgey about where this relationship is going, she just looks sad. Ugh. OK, maybe I am looking for some wish-fulfillment. I'd much rather the stories have revolved around the business of doing the news over these loathsome and cringeworthy relationship storylines. What do I want out of any entertainment? Interesting characters with interesting motivations that engage me. What doesn't interest me are professional, intelligent women pouting over their boyfriends, or being lectured to by the men in their lives, or being elevated exclusively because they're women, at least if that's 75% of what makes up their characters. And with Sorkin, this kind of characterization is systematic -- it's poor writing, not just a writer whose choices I disagree with. As I said, I like Sorkin's dialog and have enjoyed many things he's done, so I wasn't watching this show just to pick on it. But I'm not blind to his flaws; I watched The Newsroom in spite of his flaws, because he's occasionally brilliant. But sometimes he pisses me off. And hoo-boy, between the rape storyline last week and what they did to Mac this week, I'm kind of on the rage train.

Neal -- a peripheral character played in past seasons as a joke, and this season, when he finally has the opportunity to be part of a meaty storyline that revolves around him, they instead ship him out of the country and out of the show. Gary, Kendra, Jenna, Tess... who? Oh, those filler characters who have been given very little to do over the course of the series and barely have names. Mac -- The woman who got her job because Charlie wanted to manipulate Will into being a better journalist by hiring the woman he's attracted to, and who got the promotion because the network owner was trying to prove he's not a misogynist. Maggie -- a character largely defined by who she's dating or who she's crushing on. And even though in the end she was strong enough to go for the DC job, it's still grating that she couldn't just go for a job without all the Jim DRAHMA (with him barely supporting her in the end -- for a job interview HE got for her). Sloan and Leona are the only regular strong non-male white characters that aren't defined by who they're dating, or constantly looking to their male colleagues for help (when their male colleagues aren't already pointing out all the things they're doing wrong). And of course, being the most interesting and savvy women on the show, Sorkin instead invests more time in Maggie/Jim relationship BS (which almost made me nostalgic for Jim/Hallie relationship BS), or Mac manipulated as a clueless pawn into a meritless promotion. I won't go so far as to say Sorkin is a misogynist, because I don't think he actually hates women. But I also don't think it's an unfounded criticism to say he can't write women, nor to point out that his casts are populated mostly with white men who get more screen time and are allowed to have more competence than anyone else. I like Sorkin's dialog a lot and do enjoy a lot that he's done, but he is a very flawed showrunner.

Good to know that Mac's career success depended not on her being a smart, capable journalist, but instead on the fact the boorish anchor had a crush on her , and being promoted was a pandering publicity stunt. But as Will says, who cares how she got the job! She's adorable!

He also didn't mention his part in Love Actually as the porno actor stand in. Which I guess isn't all that odd, heh. But yeah, not mentioning Sherlock was odd. Howled when the blue light came on. One of the more clever endings to a sketch that I've seen.

I don't think anyone is arguing Don is some sort of unfeeling monster. Of course he's portrayed as sympathetic to the victim. But in order to bolster his own choice not to do the story, he seeks out the anonymous victim, disrupts her life, dangles the prospect of telling her side of the story, without any intention of actually allowing her to do so, even saying he doesn't want her to do it. He lectures her about "innocence before guilt", that he is morally obligated to believe her accused rapist (why? He's not a judge or on a jury. He's a reporter. What a ridiculous bias it would be to hold such arbitrary beliefs about his potential stories based on legalities that have nothing to do with private citizens. I could have stomached an "I don't know who is telling the truth" over, "morally I have to believe the sketchy guy."), the danger her website could pose, and finally, condescendingly explaining that going on ACN would make her a target for slut shaming. There's a reason these scenes upset a lot of people. And it's not because Don's twirling a mustache. It's because he's a colossal self-serving, self righteous prick with tears of compassion in his eyes as he tries to manipulate a victim into making a choice he doesn't have the balls himself to make.

No one is making up "special" rules for rape or wishing the law would treat women differently (btw, men can be raped, too). The fact is, most rapes are never prosecuted and unless it's stranger rape, most rapists aren't convicted. Many victims don't come forward because society has a way of gaslighting victims into thinking they are somehow at fault or should be ashamed (and often, ignorant comments from strangers on the internet bears this out (NOT speaking of comments here, just to be clear)). I find it rather offensive that anyone could claim women are looking for special treatment by the law, when the law and society have completely failed the victims. Demanding justice isn't asking for special treatment. I totally saw Don as white knighting the victim, protecting her from her rash choices. DId he work just as hard to talk the accused out of being on the show? Or did he just go for what he thought would be the softer target? He doesn't have the balls to say no to the story, so he tries to appeal to the victim on the grounds of injustice? Is he for real? And then tries to put fear into her that she'll be slut-shamed? Even if I somewhat agree that such a website could become dangerous, how dare he appeal to the victim in such a way. It was despicable. I adore Sloan, and considering I'm completely allergic to Olivia Munn, that's really saying something. I must be the only one who didn't see Charlie's heart attack coming. I literally said, "oh no!" out loud when he collapsed. This show has been so uneven and I've loved it, hated it, and hate-watched it all in turn, but I love Charlie. Totally broke my heart. Also, fuck Maggie and Jim and their romcom "we're such idiots because we love each other!" crap.

Tonight, my yelling "you're in a chest at the bottom of the sea, why are you screaming for help?!" was louder than my usual, "why hasn't anyone given Elsa a change of clothes?!"

Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Am a bit crushed that just as this show is FINALLY finding its footing, it's going to end. I totally buy Neil's error. Hey, if people at ACN didn't make mistakes/poor choices, there would be no reason keep Marsha Gay Awesome, Esq. on hand. Neil is idealistic and hungry for his break, and he has a tendency to let his enthusiasm for a story overrule his senses. I'm a little less thrilled with Hallie's tweet. ACN is a NEWS network, not Perez Hilton. I can't imagine (especially after Genoa) they'd be tweeting anything other than straight news void of editorial comment. They were gun-shy to even begin coverage of Boston, and everyone in the newsroom felt the pressure of waiting, knowing they were being scooped and missing the story. So they were being extra cautious in how they handled the story, and in that environment, she posts a laughably partisan tweet designed to be so inflammatory that it would generate retweets? Hallie is supposed to be savvy; I get being tired and making a mistake, but these are journalists -- they always operate on tired mode. That tweet was so OTT and WTF inappropriate as to be unbelievable, and I'm hoping she had a plan behind it other than "retweets". And I enjoy Sloan/Don, but, to me, they're treading pretty close to the line between adorably hilarious and insufferably gag-worthy. Please, please, Sorkin, keep them on the right side of that line. And please, please, Sorkin, let Maggie continue her growth without any romantic entanglements driving her.

I love the Newsroom, despite Sorkin's tendency to write women as if, gosh, aren't women just so silly sometimes! I think that's why the bridesmaid things bugs -- it's that he tends to have his women characters either get so hung up on "woman" things, or so inexplicably inept in some way that makes no sense for someone in their line of work. Whoops! Mac can't use a smartphone! Silly thing! Tee hee, Sloan is considered awkward because she's driven and lacks a filter (but she's so, so pretty, so it's adorable!). Maggie and her love-life, so screwball, right!? He's notoriously horrible at writing women, but since there doesn't seem to be any malice intended, I grit my teeth and hope he quickly moves on from whatever silly little thing he has his silly little female character obsessed with, and hope he allows them to be competent grownups for the rest of the episode. (To be fair, he doesn't spare his male characters silliness, who can also be quite stupid at times, but he avoids defining them by how closely they conform to gender stereotypes.) So for me, that's why the bridesmaid thing grates. It could be that Mac is someone who is practical but secretly harbors a wish for a big splashy wedding, but I don't think Sorkin was thinking that deeply about her character. Her desire for an excessive amount of bridesmaids amounts to a lazy stab at humor because brides be crazy, amirite?

Anna calling David's father weak was pretty rich coming from a girl with parents so afraid of their daughter's powers they locked her up and told her to repress repress repress and thus created a monster out of her. I also found it pretty insulting to have Princess Sunny Mary Sue pass ANY judgements on someone struggling with alcoholism -- which, y'known, unlike evil queens and fairies, is a real thing real people struggle with. Super rubbed me the wrong way.