snarktini

One more thing! Elsbeth's journey partner told her she needed radical transparency to win back the trust of Kaya (and others). Which is generally good advice, except it's not always possible for lawyers. There's probably a whole lot she can't actually say! For character and plot reasons I'm sure she will find a way through it but it's definitely a challenge to be honest in a case like this without violating privilege.

In a place where the uniform is white on white, Elsbeth adds a colorful scarf! Of course she does. (But...trapped in a hothouse...take it off! And I thought it read 104°, which is really hot but not pass out immediately hot even if also humid.) Also loved our guru calling her out on the omnipresent heavy tote bags. Why DOES she carry that burden, and why can't she set it down?! A very shrinky question. 🤔

I know! They kept saying he looked bad, and lol no. He looks good scruffed up and not so squared away.

There has to be more to it, unless I am giving the writers way too much credit. One weird interaction with Jade and then the boys' night incident? That feels like the first steps in Nate realizing he was in a viper's nest but not nearly enough to quit the job of a lifetime. Unless he really was over his head? Maybe we'll hear what really happened before the end. I hope there's some story there. That didn't strike me as odd. She made such a big deal out of wanting to beat Rupert above all, it made sense that she'd share her change of heart with Ted, the guy she was yelling at about it. I also think it was a way for the Rebecca (or maybe just the writers) to demonstrate to Ted that moving on is possible. This has been bugging me so much. I'm not in PR but in an adjacent field and none of this storyline makes sense to me, starting with the VC money. At that stage she didn't need it, and wouldn't have gotten it. Some money is needed to finance shoots and such but overall it's a field you can bootstrap. It would have made more sense to let Keeley stay on the trajectory she was on. The boring office and staff didn't make any sense either. All of that came as a package with the VC money, apparently? They didn't seem to work with or for her. They didn't even seem like PR people at all. Zero energy. Oh, and a business that small doesn't need a CFO even if Barbara wants to stay. My conspiracy theory? Immediately I thoughts she was invited explicitly because she owns Richmond and Sam's contract, and there'd be a poison pill in the deal that none of the teams could ever employ Sam. In other words, she was invited to keep Sam out. I thought her loyalty to Sam would be what killed any aspirations of joining a super league, and wasn't expecting the speech we got. I'm so with you here. Highly intelligent buried beneath pain and underachievement, sure. Able to see things that others can't, sure. Great tactician, sure. But genius? The writers are telling us that, by having him become a winning coach at lightning speed, but they've never really SHOWED us beyond one or two moments. It takes extraordinary talent AND loads of experience to coach at a world-class level! (Then again, these same writers would also have us believe Ted Lasso succeeds with no knowledge of the sport so clearly the writers aren't concerned about what it takes to be a stellar coach.)

Like when people say "I don't see color". Sigh. If you don't see color, you don't really see that person or their life experiences. I appreciated where Ted was going even if it wasn't one of his more eloquent moments. Not for Taste of Athens, that's for sure. They way they've written her she belongs at an exclusive club or restaurant, where the condescending iciness and gatekeeping is part of the vibe. Followed up by: "He seems wealthy. And nice-like." I laughed so hard! The very definition of damning with faint praise. She definitely had his number. Yeah, when Nate first went to ask her out the restaurant manager said she had classes on Tuesdays. I'm powering through the entire season in two days because it's a free Apple TV weekend... and oof I'm getting tired.

I'm in a third camp -- I don't want anything to happen to him, I just want to write him out. Indifference being the opposite of love and all that. Whatever they think they're doing, it's not working. This is where I keep landing. There are two entire side stories, Keeley and Nate, each with their own universe and neither is compelling. They are distracting and making the show feel disjointed. Where's the story editor? It's okay to write out characters, we don't have to keep all of them if they aren't strengthening the show. It's truly unlike me to really take against characters / actors but I can't with Keeley. I don't know if it's the character, storyline, or actor but she is nails on a chalkboard for me and has been from the beginning.

It was this show! When we first met Shandy, it was at a commercial shoot that included a lamb (why?!) that made the place smell bad. The lamb handler told them about the smelly poop (or, pooPEH) and that it would have been even worse with a younger lamb. The one in the conference room definitely looked smaller than the one at the shoot, so it seems Shandy arranged for an extra-stinky baby. That's also how Keeley knew who to call to get the lamb picked up.

I totally lost it at: "You are being mansplained by a briefcase." "I thought I was being mansplained by you." "Honey, the Doctor is in the room, this is mansplain central". "Oh I'm getting that." Also the chairs, yelling at himself: "You live in a great big giant spaceship and there aren't any chairs. And you haven't even noticed because nobody ever comes round!" (thinks) "Oh my God. I don't have any chairs." Like the Doctor, it had also never occurred to me that the TARDIS had no chairs lol. Not that it even makes sense for anybody to come inside, but it's a good comedy bit. While I appreciate his friendship with Anita, she didn't have "companion" written on her. She did not strike me as having enough brashness / adventure in her, though I am sure she'll appreciate the better job.

I'm confused! Why are their future selves present in 1999? When they went to KJ's house I expected them to find out that she'd been missing for 11 years, since they time jumped in 1988. Do they get mind wiped and dropped back in 88 at some point? Is it an alternate universe? Or is this just wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff? I also thought it was odd that KJ was so sure how her family would spend the holiday, given it's been many years. Things change. They might not have even owned that house anymore. But I'll go with "because they are 12 and how things are is the only way they can be".

Elsbeth's dress is just so HER. Everyone else is sophisticated in their neutrals and metallics but she's wearing pink pleats with pleats and tiers. Especially following her as Audrey Hepburn which looked stunning but far too classic (and black) for her.

IIRC, the real Maddie hasn't practiced in 10. But "Maddie Matlock" hasn't practiced in 30. She made up a fake resume -- her husband posed as a reference for her. ETA: Since not working in 30 years at age 75 would make it ridiculously hard to get hired, one assumes she only did that so that her fake resume would be too out-of-date to vet thoroughly.

I get that the bags are just part of her character's styling, like the patterned jackets and pussy bows. But it doesn't make sense! A prop should have a purpose or tell us something about the character -- Brenda Leigh Johnson was always haphazardly digging through her tote, Mary Poppins' bag was magic -- but Elsbeth just carries them. We rarely see anything go in or out and she even doesn't bump into things with them. (If I carried those I'd be knocking into things all over crime scenes.) He is definitely written and directed that way! I really don't get where they are going with him.

It's nearly impossible to protect fashion designs from copying, so yeah he can do that. Designers do it all the time. But what makes Elsbeth's style special, and what could make it an original line for a fashion house even if the pieces are not fully original, is the styling. How she layers textures and patterns and colors to create something truly distinct -- sometimes she looks unusual and colorful in a refined way (she has amazing blazers) but of course that day she visited Matteo she looked full-on whackadoodle. (Though IRL a designer of Matteo's caliber would put his own spin on it, not just mimic her like he did here.) Having been lowkey bugged by her totes all season, I laughed at having them all go down the runway like that :D

Last week the Lavish Ladies billboard, this week they're at the bar! And before that, callbacks at her party. I love how they're leaning into the in-universe stuff. I doubt we'll see them all the time it totally tracks that they'd gravitate towards a trendy place with expensive drinks. Keeping my eyes peeled for more easter eggs. It feels off, him being so cold and dismissive plus the case just *poof* being resolved. There's more to this -- a secondary thing about to happen, or he has another agenda here. I can see why he'd feel betrayed but truly she was only investigating, and there was really good reason to suspect him. She had an open mind the whole time. Most shows are formulaic, this is just a different way of being formulaic than the standard red-herring-driven crime shows. My nervous system enjoys getting to watch the solving of the puzzle. The process is the point, not the answer. I prefer it this way! The part that's repetitive to me is how all of them know she's on to them but they don't panic, they don't run, they don't lawyer up. They just stare her in the eye like a lawyer sparring in court rather than a someone who is about to lose their freedom. It's like they relish the challenge. That said, I don't mind this at all. The whole show is a bit on the fantasy side and that's fine by me.

Yes, this was so charming! And thank you for identifying the DJ - I remembered his face but forgot there was an actual DJ character. The intern matching up with the rapping tour bus guy was cute. It was more than valuable -- it was a family heirloom passed down through generations.