snarktini

Michael defended Jane in an important way, telling parents to back off, but really did leave her twisting by never saying anything about her not being the only one at fault. It would have been fair to say: "Yes, Jane made mistakes, which I've forgiven. But I also played a part in our relationship ending. I was thrown by her situation, and made mistakes, too. It's not fair to put all the responsibility on Jane." He didn't have to say what he did or fall on his sword. He didn't even have to claim an equal share. Simply acknowledge the complexity that comes with adult breakups. Letting his parents focus entirely on Jane needing to prove / defend herself felt unfair. OTOH, the one positive think I'll say about it is he wasn't playing White Knight -- he was letting her speak for herself and handle it.

I don't trust him either, which isn't a stretch since we know he's up to something. His wide-eyed reaction read to me like he was playing dumb. Especially when he was asking Sophie who else knew, who all was involved. Intel gathering. I have some faith that Papa Mills will come into play, although I could be giving the writers too much credit. I think there's something supernatural in his past that will explain why he left and set up him to do something heroic in the present. In the show, the Sleepy Hollow legend doesn't exist. Otherwise everyone would know who Crane is.

No, that was Jack, I just checked: - You said you had this handled, and then we find out we can't send all four of our kids to college! - Jack was never going to college. - I know that, but we're supposed to be able to afford to send him to the college that he can't get into. I could be misremembering or mixing up the kids, but I believe I've heard them joke about Jack as not-smart a number of times.

I saw the "no strings" thing as purely positive and thought it was important considering their families and how money has been used as a weapon. I hear it as: "I want to help you because I can, and won't put conditions on it." Which, IMO, is the only way to gift money to an adult. If you don't want to give freely, don't give. There was every reason to believe Rory would stay in touch and maintain a relationship anyway, over the long haul (a few family spats notwithstanding). And considering his generosity, she may be even more inclined to do so. But demanding that is manipulative.

^^ I think this is a challenge with writing sitcoms. It makes for an easy joke that Jack is the adorable but unintelligent one with dim future prospects. But then they write a family that (we hope) wouldn't simply accept that in real life. Since the writers are clearly aware of their potential cultural influence, this is an opportunity to put out a better message. Reality v. funny is a hard line to walk.

My Tivo failed to record this episode, who knows why. I had an immediate flutter of panic about missing it... and then realized I really don't care enough to track it down. I'll just follow along here in the comments. I'm starting to think that almost every show goes to hell after S3.

Did THO really mean omnipotent? I feel like the writers meant omniscient. He first says it as a reason why he doesn't read. Which I interpreted as "I don't need to read, I already know everything that matters." (But I guess that could go the other way: "I'm so powerful, who cares about fancy book learnin'.") Then he repeats it later when he hears Pandora's confession and is surprised, and he says omnipotence isn't wisdom. Omniscience would work better there. And, at any rate, he's been anything but omnipotent lately! ETA: That culture list from Crane was great. Loved that he mixed in more modern stuff, Ta Nehisi Coates, Prince, Diane Arbus (who's modern by his standards at least).

Oh, I didn't think Trix expected or meant for Emily to find it. I responding to the earlier assertions that Trix kept her opinions to herself and didn't send the letter to Richard. I apparently missed the last page of posts, or I'd have seen this was already covered! Didn't mean to duplicate.

Trix DID sent the letter to Richard, and what Emily found was the carbon copy: EMILY: This is to your father. It's a carbon copy of a letter she sent to your father. LORELAI: Hmm. That's nice. EMILY: [reading] "My Dearest Richard, It is with heavy heart that I write you this letter tonight, but I cannot stand by and let you make a terrible mistake. Until now, I had thought, hoped, prayed that you would come to the same conclusion that I have. But you have not, and therefore, I feel it is my duty as your mother to beg you to reconsider your impending marriage." [Lorelai gasps.] "I'm sure that Emily is a very suitable woman for someone, but not for you. She will not be able to make you happy. She does not have the Gilmore stamina or spark. She is simply not a Gilmore." LORELAI: Well, sure, 'cause you weren't directly related to him. EMILY: [continues reading] "I don't know the circumstances surrounding your breakup with Pennilyn Lott, but it is still my belief that she is much better suited for you than Emily." [Voice breaking] "I know that the timing of this is particularly awkward, since you are to be married tomorrow." LORELAI: No way! EMILY: [reading] "But your happiness is too important to me, so timing be damned." LORELAI: She wanted Dad to leave you at the altar. EMILY: She begged him to leave me at the altar! She begged him in writing, and then she saved the carbons! LORELAI: Holy moly. Can I see that? EMILY: I can't believe this. I'm standing here in her basement, covered in dust. I'm organizing her estate and cataloging her things. I've been on the phone for days, trying to make sure that everything was exactly the way she wanted it, and all this time, she never even wanted me in her family! LORELAI: Man, she sure used a lot of exclamation points.

To Amar and Charlie's credit, I didn't actually see much awkwardness in their interactions. It was awkward because they told us there was a problem, but If they hadn't both given talking heads about it I don't think I'd have noticed. (Less friendly and in sync than JG/Jeremy, sure, but not frosty.) I suppose Palmer wouldn't have agreed to be there if he didn't think they could set it aside. Frankly, that was impressive to me. I suck and compartmentalizing and am envious of that skill. They just did the work, and I assume they addressed it at some point during or after.

I was hoping for flavor v. technique as well, but it sounded like Jeremy delivered really well on flavor, too, so it doesn't seem like they overweighted style over substance. I was rooting for Amar, but by all accounts they both served a good meal. RE: Palmer -- Amar said himself he got overly cocky and regretted things he said to Palmer, and Palmer said Amar crossed the line into asshole. Palmer may have contributed, but they both presented it like Amar was more to blame. I can't imagine starting into prep without saying something, anything to address the elephant in the room. Who knows, maybe Amar did. When will chefs learn to describe -- not name -- their food?! Never give the judges a chance to nitpick a great dish because you named it semi-incorrectly.

“Thanks for these apocalypse sweaters, Mabel. The end of the world has never been so comfortable.” Gonna miss this awesome little show.

Is it an UO to say I would have had the same reaction as Rory to Mitchum's criticism? Even though I agree quitting was stupid and probably means you don't have "it", it may have destroyed me the same way. Rory and I have a fair amount in common, both good girl, straight A, people pleaser types. And I have been there -- a critical voice can stick like glue. Of course it's ridiculous to let one single setback dissuade you from your dreams. But a respected person who tells you the one thing you're most terrified of...that can leave an indelible mark. There are things I've never been able to fully shake, even decades later. To this day, that one voice can overtake all the others. Unrelated follow-on: I'm like Rory. My brother is like Lorelai -- rebellious, a little reckless, felt disapproved of by our somewhat conservative and authoritarian parents. Their different dynamics with Richard and Emily feel a lot like us. I was simply easier, so parental stuff just rolled off my back. I didn't see it until much later. My brother acted out as a teen and left as fast as he could. (Like Lorelai, it was pretty minor acting out, in hindsight.) He'd have been happy to walk away from them, even though he and I are super close. Luckily Mom is way more kind and less prideful than Emily so she kept trying, even though things were strained for a decade and a half. This is why I have such a hard time with Emily and Richard. They didn't try hard enough to accept and reach out to their child.

YES. Even if Joan were a clothes horse -- which I don't see, either -- I still can't stretch can't explain all the silly bows and ties. I want Joan to be effortlessly chic!

Stick-mata! hahahahaha. I adore Wu. Nick is okay, but at this point in the series I'm here for the sidekicks. Wu, Monroe, Rosalie, and Hank are the best. Hoping it's the baby with powers. Very Wyatt from Charmed. (Unless re-hexening takes Adalind out of Nick's house and bed. I can work with that.) How short did Meisner look in the scene standing next to Renard? Man needed a box.

The closeup of Ichabod's face as he realizes Abbie's in trouble... sigh. He is a beautiful, beautiful man. Despite Crane's known outdoorsman skills, I was surprised by how fast he showed up. I love this insight about the Wendigo power tying in. That went over my head, you all are more clever than I. I think that's absolutely going to happen. But I wonder if Pandora's story is the opposite -- the thing you think will save you is the one that will kill you. If you let it. THO is the worst. Sophie appearing (not with Danny in tow) pulled me out of the scene. Didn't make any sense. And not only should Abbie have been worried about Danny hiking alone re: monster, but when he said if he got lost it'd be on him I thought, actually, there are more consequences than that. If he gets lost / dies, then there are only 2 of them to get injured guy out. I get the logic of going for help, but if anything happened to him the other 3 would have been in worse shape. That was practically Chekhov's Moss. The minute they called out "moss grows on the north side" my Spidey sense tingled.

Did the tasks look dangerous to anyone else? I kept reminding myself no one could actually be in danger because TAR can't let that happen. And if I was afraid of going over the edge that's what I'd be saying over and over in my head -- the show would not let me die. I'm safe. There are safety lines. But as the episode went on, it sure did feel like there was legit risk in some of these tasks. Maybe it was because some of the racers expressed so much fear. Or maybe that's just good TV, building suspense even if there really isn't any.

For awhile now I've read the comments about Luke's curmudgeonliness and didn't fully see it. I've always had a bit of rose colored glasses when it comes to him -- after all, I come from a long line of anti-social misanthropes -- so he seemed cranky but not unpleasant on balance. But DAMN I just caught a A Vineyard Valentine and I wanted to punch him.

March Madness is a televised college basketball tournament

On a personal level I would have liked Marjorie and Isaac. But I do like Amar, so I'll be pulling for him. I don't like Jeremy personally that much, but can't deny in the past few challenges he's earned his spot. He seems like a great chef, can't fault that. On these kinds of challenges, Amar proved delivery trumps the gimmick. He totally failed at showmanship but delivered on the food. Contestants should take note that's usually how it goes. ETA: Yeah, that OR-ange thing was so, so weird. English pronunciation was very distracting. I know most people haven't studied French, but or-AHNGE is pretty standard in the cooking realm even among the non-francophones. WTH?

I didn't think it was too weird J&D were sharing a room... it seemed like they had embraced twin-com and didn't mind living together until recently. If this were real life, I could see Dre and Bow waiting until Zoe went away to school, then giving Diane her room. It's not that far off. The girls could bunk up over holidays. (Or Zoe could get the spare room, if there is one and if that's where Ruby stays.)

Am in a rewatch -- the first time I've ever rewatched consecutively and intentionally -- and did S3 last month. I really, really loved it. Not sure where it stacks up against 1 and 2 but it's a serious contender! Couldn't tell you exactly what it was, but I found the tone and characterizations delightful. As soon as S4 started, something shifted and my interest dropped considerably. p.s. Last week a 23 y.o. colleague sent me a gif of Gus saying "Damn girl" and we found out we both adore Psych. With 20 years separating us, our culture references are so far apart, but this one we've bonded over. Awwww, thanks Psych.

Doesn't 2 pills seem like a small quantity for Rebecca to accuse him of addict-style hoarding? When Brian told his sister not to say anything, at the time I felt like he needed to say more than that. Something like "Look, my work for the FBI is a secret. There's a lot here I can't explain, and I don't want to scare you. But it could put me and you and our family in physical danger you ever reveal any of this." Maybe he thought being so explicit would draw too much attention, but I think she could have legit not understood how serious it was (even though dude dying might have tipped her off). Between a sister and her loser brother, this could have sounded like something he was hiding, rather than something that must be legitimately hidden. If my brother ever did something like that to me, not sure I could get past it. And I would sure as hell talk to him instead of going to Mom.

Agree that Alexis's wardrobe was all kinds of wrong. Very ladies-who-lunch. There's always been something a little suspicious about Haley, so I was surprised Alexis was so slow on the uptake: A: Can we trace the tracker? H: Nope! Absolutely not! It's too common. A: I traced the tracker. It was bought by this guy. Let's go see his aunt. H: Nope! Absolutely not! It's too dangerous. They wrote Haley to sound and act squirrely, and then Alexis pretended to delete the file so I thought they'd show she was suspicious. And even before that I expected her to say hey you said this couldn't be tracked but that was super easy...that's weird. But nope. I've jettisoned a whole bunch of shows recently. I've been hanging on to this one -- I generally like the characters, or at least I have enough goodwill from the good years. But the plots have gotten so awful. Hmm.

I'm not sure Grimms are supposed to have many super powers beyond the fighting ability. (Is the hearing one? Or is that just a side effect from the zombie thing?) What they are supposed to be is ruthless killers and expert fighters / hunters. I'd be afraid of that, especially surrounded by the legend. Our Nick seemingly chooses not to hone and use his skills.