snarktini

I think the scene could go either way and we'll find out. I saw it more your way, where Reggie's emotion is due to realizing what a "stool set" and Shy's pained face means -- Shy's in trouble. The overall story would make sense to have them as a down-low couple, but the scenes haven't read that way to me. My current best guess is that Reggie is fully in the know but there isn't currently a romantic relationship. If they are a couple, then Shy seeming alone so much of this episode makes me think they're on the outs and that's why Shy did something reckless. I can definitely buy Shy pining for Reggie, and perhaps that they used to be together. I can't imagine how hard it was to be a black man or a gay man in 1960, much less both. I wonder why Midge is so insistent her parents watch her show. Rose just isn't going to "get" Midge -- or even find it funny -- no matter what. Why push? I loved the exchange where Midge says "someone decided to drink their weight in gin" and Rose responds "I do not weigh that much". Ha!

First, no way Susie can afford to hop a flight back to NY. Flying was expensive back then! Second, Abe and Rose need to be spending their days apartment hunting. Why be there more than absolutely necessary? For "comedy", that's why. I come from a quiet/uptight household so there's no way I'd last a week in that house. Poor Zelda.

"Welcome to the library. Books feed me." "Well, it looks like you ate all of 'em." 😂 It's understandable that Sophie feels like Susie's ticket to the big leagues, but this is such a bad idea. Sophie is going to be a nightmare client. And promising Sophie she's her #1 priority? Oof. So glad that Imogene checked Midge (even if unintentionally). Really important for Midge to see that Susie is broke and can't make a living off of Midge alone. I'm not looking forward to the parents living together. IMO they've already overplayed the clashing in-law bit. This feels like a bad sitcom setup. The writers have totally rewritten Joel, to the point I'm with the judge. Should they have tried again? (Don't know if I could ever take someone back who cheated on me, but this is a work of fiction.) I wonder if they're being set up as end game. Very much in the ASP forgive-the-jerk playbook.

This is my takeaway too. Regardless of what he did or didn't want, she didn't even consider him when making a big life decision. He didn't even occur to her. That doesn't bode well for a marriage. Because I enjoyed his character and how he treated her, I would have liked for Midge to have at least discussed it with him. (Which we don't know for sure didn't happen.) OTOH, what's there to discuss? The problem isn't whether or not he was okay with her leaving. It's about where her heart and mind are -- and that's not with him.

I've been suspicious of Liz since the beginning, so this just feeds my paranoia. TBH when Miles was chewing her out, I was half expecting a "you used me...but we totally found something shady in her past that you need to know about." Really? Oh that's not right. I noticed something was off but I didn't think too hard about it. I assumed they would have cast better than that considering they've done ok otherwise. The honeypot thing jumped out at me, too, once they identified the bomber. It doesn't make sense he did the other things. So, right, did they not happen or is there a second threat?

We missed it here, too. DVR picked it up as scheduled in the middle of the night, but it was people talking about sports. Booo!

HOLY SHIRT, THIS. I had zero intention of even learning about this film, much less watching it. But it came up as a preview on a DVD (Spiderman!), and now I must see it.

It was...fine? Maybe 3/5 stars. To be fair, it's not a movie that I'd choose. It's totally the type of movie and cast my partner loves, though. This movie helped me realize a reason why mob movies don't hold my attention: I don't connect with the characters. I didn't really care about any of them, or what would happen to them. None of them were likeable or relateable to me. They didn't even feel complex in a "bad guy with layers" way. Why in the world did Frank take his daughter with him to watch that beat down? To show her he has her back? That really backfired! Imagine never feeling like you could take any slight or hurt to your Dad because you're terrified he'd beat the crap out of that person. I felt bad for his daughters and ex-wife.

That really bothered me. It was poor writing. If anything, it gives him a more powerful story. He knows what it's like to have been closeted and not be able to "be true" to who he is. And now he has found that, and wants it for everyone. One of my best friends is also my ex-bf. We were roommates for years, after we broke up. (We never were serious enough to live together.) It was actually really functional and fairly healthy for us, but his dates/gfs were very suspicious and many didn't stick around because of me. Now he's married and I'm partnered up and we double date sometimes. 🙂 On the first point, this really took me out of the story. (Ask my BF who was probably annoyed that I kept pausing the show to say "Wait, what? How will his life be DESTROYED?") Yeah, it would suck for the kid and the mom for awhile. But this is local politics, not a national candidate. It would pass. And I still have a hard time believing "I have a plan" meant "quit". I was thinking they'd record the other team admitting to the extortion and go public with that or something. (p.s. takes a lot of chutzpah to tell someone your big plan that they should drop out.) 100% this. It was blood money for sure, but the cat was out of the bag (not by her hand) and that money would inoculate her against a lot of future problems and enable her to do more good.

IMO she 100% earned that.

Argh, that is not a practicum. However, even if she did it properly or doesn't need it, what school would actually hire her as a principal? No educational experience whatsoever, just a degree, a bitchy attitude, and an ego as big as Everest. This is so far from the very basics of reality we can't even see it anymore. But I felt the same way about the author storyline. In no universe (even sitcom universe) did she finish a book and find a real publisher. This is the kind of show that benefits in the DVR era. I would have passively stopped watching by now except I have a season pass and it just keeps showing up.

Random anecdote: The year was 1991. A group of high school seniors are on an overnight bus ride from Tucson to Los Angeles. One of the movies that played that night on the bus was The Killing Fields. Who in the world chose that to entertain a bunch of teens on their senior trip? Years later I watched it again and it's a deeply moving film. But in my mind it's linked to a bus trip to Disneyland, which feels so weird.

LOL on the "all proceeds go to a sport coat or necktie" for James. I kinda love that James doesn't wear suiting. Why would he? He lives in casual Vegas and gambles at home for his job. That's so something Ken would call out. I've never followed him on social media but from the tweets posted here, he seems very funny. More funny than I would expect. I enjoyed the tournament! Then again, i like James. I was hoping for a better showing from Francois because I really liked him, too! I assume he simply wasn't fast enough on the buzzer. Among 3 highly qualified contestants, that will make the difference. ETA: To be clear, Francois earned his spot and it's a huge accomplishment -- no shame in his game! His students should be pleased for him. And if you have to get beaten by such a margin, at least it's to an undisputedly stellar player and the person who beat said player.

My basic impression was the same -- okay as a movie, interesting as a character study. I deeply appreciated how she kept putting herself out there. As someone who has a history of *not* doing that, I found her bravery to be lovely. I had the same envy about her having this bar to go to! Near me there are a couple of "older" bars. The people in mine tend to be a lot more sad/old/unattractive than in her world. (Then again, I don't look as good as her either.) I've been a few times, just to dance, but definitely not to pick anyone up. 🙂

Worth repeating, though...they are all in the Bad Place because every single human has ended up there for hundreds of years due to the broken points system. We can debate what their faults are, but ALL of them were going there regardless.

Oh, that was such an awful thing to say! WTF

My disappointments were in the characters and their flaws, not the show! That I was so caught up in the characters and wanted better for them is due to it being a great series.

So many thoughts! I resisted seeing the show earlier. It didn't seem like my kind of thing, and I'm resistant to anything I'm told I MUST watch. Glad I did, though! How in the world did she suddenly have such a thriving cafe? Kinda liked that weird side plot with the bank guy. I was disappointed in their Dad. How could he ignore the backhanded remarks and the way Stepmom cut down his daughters and minimized his wife? Things like saying they split up when actually the mother died. Painting a portrait but only showing the back of one's head. Leaving Claire's flowers for their mother outside. Not saying anything about her slapping his daughter. I do get what the relationship gave him and that he wanted to move on, but he was so frustratingly avoidant. Also disappointed in the priest in the church-making-out scene. I know it's what they both wanted, but in that moment she was so, so vulnerable and considering he was an advisor/priest person it felt icky, like he was taking advantage. Very sexy and very human, but icky. Despite him choosing the church, I'm glad they were both able to say and hear ILY. They both needed to experience that. I was relieved that Claire believed her all along about who tried to kiss whom. But disappointed that she stayed with that tool anyway. So much fear in her. SUCH a low blow bringing up Boo. I was disappointed in everyone on some level, I guess! Which sounds about right for a story about deeply flawed people. None of their lives or family dynamics were remotely familiar to me -- like, at all -- but I felt for all of them. That's great writing. That said, I wasn't disappointed in Fleabag herself. She did a lot of stupid, stupid things so yeah that was hard to watch at times. But I appreciate her arc and how she seems to be growing. I feel like she's going to do better now.

That's what I heard. Totally this. I'd say it goes for Alice partly as well, despite her tears over the parents' delay. She teaches and you do have to keep yourself together in front of a class. Her reaction to the parental thing sounded a bit off to me, though. She said something like "this is the worst thing that could happen" and I was like...really? This was a fascinating read. What an interesting person and career! His final work was outstanding. I found him smug in the beginning but much more charming as the season wore on. He has a habit of pursing his lips which was creating the smug factor for me and once I realized that was just his composed face I could enjoy his personality.

I wasn't sure what to make of Grey's new girlfriend. Someone he's known for an hour says "tell me your deepest darkest secrets, right now"...and he does, including shady bar financing from dangerous people. That did NOT seem like a good idea, not because it would chase her off (even though it should have) but because that's some fairly dangerous info to have running around. Honestly my first guess was she was running a scam/scheme/investigation of some sort, but it doesn't sound like anyone else got that vibe. I can see why he was honest, given his recent blowup about not being forthcoming enough. But I might have stopped at "bad dad, stole cars, went to prison" and not given her the "safecracker + gangster money" bits. Also, I didn't hear her offering up any radical honesty. Maybe the writers will get there. Just felt off to me. Didn't care for Fiona at all - character or actress. Seemed a bit creepy towards Dex, at one point I wondered if she made the stalker thing up to stalk Dex. Tookie and Lt were cute enough.

I used the "fwd 10 sec" button A LOT -- not feeling patient enough today, I guess -- but there were some very charming bits. I laughed so hard when Pooh says "People always say nothing is impossible. But I do nothing every day." I want that on a t-shirt!

Characterizing Honey as sexist isn't totally out of left field. She's a beautiful young trophy wife, who does seem to have relied her looks and femininity quite a bit. I'd expect a character like her to have significant internalized sexism. However, the way they wrote her berating Marvin was definitely over the top. That was like 4 obnoxiously gendered insults in a matter of a few seconds! She's much kinder than that. And despite what the boys took away, it certainly was not ALL coming from Honey. I'm sure Marvin brought his fair share into that relationship. He just found a partner who doesn't mind, and in fact agrees with him! At least some of the time.

When Eleanor said she was sure everyone lost points I wondered: Did they? Hitting someone I assume is a point loss. But being honest, standing up for someone else, and defending values...could those ADD points? Just a thought. ETA: I guess I'm thinking mainly of Chidi here. In life he was indecisive to the point of harm. Taking a stand feels like positive growth to me. OTOH, the point system doesn't seem to work that way.

As soon as I saw the sign I immediately guessed it was a Yo Mama joke -- it didn't look like a number and this show likes a throwaway sign gag -- and sure enough the freeze frame confirmed. Win! Could he be any more adorable?! His glee was just amazing. I really like when we get to see happy Chidi instead of anxious Chidi.

This would make the most sense. Some people are better, in morals and actions, than others. Hence good/bad places. Not everyone will or even should get "better" and I kind of hope they don't turn him around. That'd be too pat. Humans ARE flawed. They're just better than the current system indicates. I thought that was just perfect. He totally found them!