snarktini

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!

It's not only the repetitive short/small jokes about Sandy -- nearly all their interactions are so scripted and forced IMO. They're trying too hard. I don't dislike Sandy or Noel, but I miss the more natural, easy camaraderie of Mel & Sue. I don't get the appeal of the St Honore cake at all! I'm with Rosie, I don't like custardy things, period. (TBF I'm allergic to egg yolks so it's moot. I suspect I don't like eggy/custardy textures because they made me sick as a kid long before it was diagnosed.)

My family makes pasta. When we roll, the person cranking is actually doing the least skilled bit. That's my job lol. It takes a lot of skill to use the machines well. The dough has to be hydrated JUST SO. You have to know when it can go thinner and when it will tear if you try. When it has to be rested. When it's getting too long or too inelastic to handle. When it needs a couple of drops of water and a rewrap. I've been helping my parents for decades and still, I crank. 🙂

They said Evan "cut piano class" and the three of them drove across state lines to Georgia. It's debatable how major an offense that is, but joyriding out of state is not something most parents would be okay with. I'd think Eddie would be in a lot of trouble for that, more than the other boys. It wasn't a memorable episode, but the fluffiness of it was a ton more enjoyable than the show has been in awhile for me.

I like seeing the theories that have been posted! We'll see! It did seem like a giant arrow pointing to a situation where Michael thinks he's being so clever but it backfires in some way. Love your take, Enginerd! Great questions. I wasn't clear why they were fixating on her being boring when the real problem, per the experiment, is that someone so utterly uninterested in anything would have not have the curiosity needed to question anything, much less engage with the other humans and ultimately grow. I do hope this is the case, too, because it doesn't make sense right now. In the past the writers have done a good job of turning what look like bad writing or glitches into well-thought-out plot points. It would also help explain why the Bad Place was allowed to select all the test subjects without oversight -- seriously, is the Judge / Good Place that naive? -- and then they cheated anyway and basically got away with it. I'd prefer a resolution where this is all part of the plan, not stupidity.

I'm not someone who HAS to finish a show, though I tilt more completing than quitting especially this close to the end. (Please, let it be the end.) Jessica is chasing me away! Which sucks because I like most of the other characters and still want to spend 22 minutes with them. They've done a good job cultivating Eddie's character and having him grow up. (Not to mention the acting has really improved.) Honey and Marvin crack me up, especially how Marvin was happy to show up and play reveille, no questions asked. I had to go find out who played his dad -- it was bugging me and I could not place him. Corbin Bernsen!!

So did my boyfriend! We got a lot of giggles out of that. . Sorry to see Jason go. He had a great run.

20s cocktails would have been much better! If you're at the point where it can be "any cocktail" (and finding yourself debating if a Vampire's Kiss is a real drink), it seems like a missed opportunity. With a few exceptions, there was a sad lack of 20s style in the bakes across both Signature and Show Stopper. The tarts were a total disappointment to me, as a bit of a deco design nut. David got it. Alice was getting there -- her four lines and bits had a bit of a vibe. But, flavor wise there was almost nothing to tie to the era aside from Henry's tortured Kool Aid reference. In terms of decoration I expected more awesome geometric deco things, but maybe the problem was time on the tarts . They barely had enough time to bake their tarts, much less pipe on elaborate decorations*. In Showstopper, they don't get the time excuse and at least there were some deco elements but still underwhelming. I kind of hoped someone would use the tiered layers to evoke a skyscraper, new to that era. The whole theme could have been better designed. * ETA: For the tarts, it wouldn't have been that hard. They were already making little bits and bobs to throw on top at the last minute. The little bits and bobs could easily have been repeated patterns -- geometric (chevrons / circles / triangles) or curvilinear (fans, peacock, sun rays) -- instead of random flowers and meringues, and that would have been easy deco.

I agree with this. Phil didn't do GREAT at anything. Sort of okay at everything, and poor in the showstopper. (Deservedly so.) The others made big mistakes but also had big successes. It averaged out with all of them in the same range, and boring went home. DON'T BORE NINA! Oops, sorry, wrong show! They do use dairy, but this was specifically "cultured dairy" -- buttermilk, kefir, yogurt, etc. That is a little different. I didn't think it was successful, though.

I like Luis's the best of the 3. He was a visual designer IIRC and I see that "design" eye in his dragon (2D planes, graphic, simplified), versus what I would consider more of a "craft" aesthetic in the other dragons and an "sculptural/artistic" vibe in David's flowers. The piping is very busy, yes, but without it there wouldn't be enough to it. It would have just been flat planes of biscuit, not a showstopper. His had the advantage of having fewer elements; I don't think his would have met the brief of this new challenge so it's not really a fair fight. Totally agree with Mabinogia that Priya's dragon, the green one, was hard to understand as a dragon. I liked her sketch and thought the green scale wings would be unique and visually exciting, but in execution it fell flat. They were uneven and mismatched. Worse, there seemed to be no back side to the dragon! I kept looking for its body. The face and front arms were quite well done, yet totally overshadowed by overly large wings and fire. The pieces didn't feel harmonious as a whole. Michelle's, the red/pink one, was definitely more recognizable. I liked the smooshy icing treatment she used to create scales, that was clever. Because of that, the head is quite successful (if a bit vulture-y), and the fire reads better as well. But then the addition of macarons lets it down, more like polka dots than scales. It felt like the "one extra thing" they feel like they have to add and it would have been stronger without it. (Whereas macarons were PERFECT for the lamb. That was exactly right for wool.) There were just too many slightly-different pinks and reds and the overall effect was just messy IMO. The biscuit used for the rooster feathers would have made great scales! ETA: I watched the last "How to Train your Dragon" this weekend so I have a lot of ideas about dragons and how to visually represent them. 😄

I hope that is the case! Because honestly nothing else explains some of their "Huh I've never seen that before" reactions. For me, this time around it was Prue saying she'd never heard of tea shortbread?! That's not uncommon. Also, wasn't there a whole prior biscuit-sculpture challenge with a tea chest with different tea-flavored biscuits? I absolutely loved David's flowers. I get the criticism of not enough color, but there was something so delicate and restrained...I think I liked it BECAUSE it was monochromatic. (Lol that's my art school training showing.) Often the biscuit towers are heavy and blocky and glued from here to eternity, for good reason. Instead, he found a way to make something so delicate and pretty! Those leaves were perfect. I'm not sure what I think about him as a person, but I think that's because he came out of the gate with "It has no fat! I love healthy baking!" ugh. Don't dislike him, but also haven't connected. The lamb and chicken were also amazing and adorable. I was deeply impressed by how those came out. I was disappointed in the dragons.

I don't know the names yet. I'm thinking of goth-y one who admitted she'd never made a Genoise sponge in her life. Um, showing up on GBBO without even having attempted a Genoise sponge strikes me as very dumb move. (Like Amazing Racers who didn't bother to learn a stick shift, back when they made them drive more.) I get that most of them had very little experience with it, but it's come up quite a bit and would be on my list of things to at least try once before arriving on the set!