pasdetrois

She wasn't an heir, but there is an unauthorized biography of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother that asserts that she is the daughter of her mother and a staff member (footman? groom?). If I recall correctly, there were fertility difficulties and a suitable candidate was brought round to do the deed. I read a biography of a member of the English aristocracy in the 1920s - he was an artist and eccentric - and it portrayed that society as bouncing in and out of beds like rubber balls. Loved seeing Jacobi and I agree that his struggles to speak as he neared death reminded me of Claudius. "The crown always finds its way to the right head." I don't think Elizabeth called on David out of fondness. Her staff instructed her to go for political reasons. "Optics"

I've always felt that Camilla played Charles like a cheap fiddle. In the end, she got what she wanted. Same with Wallis. And BTW the recently departed Scotty Bauer, a Hollywood procurer and prostitute, insists that he serviced Wallis and David. This season has a titillation checklist meant to entice viewers. Drunken Margaret, Camilla (in the bath!), David, Mountbatten's treachery, randy Anne, even the Welsh tragedy. I'd prefer less sensationalism and more reality, which is interesting on its own. It's as if Elizabeth is playing second string in her own story.

Perfect explanation of the contradiction. I'm watching for Menzies, not for Philip's story. At least they are not painting him as a good egg, because he is known to be quite horrible. The way the spiritual conversations and setting were handled felt very twee. Again, how much of that discourse actually happened that way, in those words? How much of the script serves as a master class in acting by Menzies? All I could think as I watched this was how entitled Phillip was in his depression, imposing his needs on the earnest people around him. The astronauts were portrayed as simpletons, when in fact some of them were brilliant and introspective. But the talk about staying focused on space tasks and checklists rang true - those routine activities kept them alive.

I hadn't thought of that and it's a great observation. It's Charles' understandable neediness that is repulsing his parents. The neediness is justified, but it's hard to tolerate, especially by these stiff upper lip folks. My observation has been that the upper classes essentially ignore their children. I love Josh O'Connor and believe he will have an awesome career. He carried this episode. My gawd, the ugly hats. My mother wore a few humdingers in her time.

Not to mention sitting by his side during his bath. My Labs would have tried to get in the tub, as they are insanely delighted with all water. Charles Dance. How he smoldered in "The Jewel in the Crown." And I think I recall reading that Porchie was a romance or flirtation for Elizabeth in her youth. She continued making quiet little trips to US horse country over the years. As I watched Mountbatten's intrigue, I wondered why I had never heard of this incident. I'm disappointed that the show fabricated it, as it implies some pretty serious treasonous acts. Why can't the writers stick to reality, which was fascinating on its own? Why aren't we seeing more of the royal children? I'd rather them, the endlessly feuding palace mandarins, the queen's devotion to Corgis...anything rather than too much of Alice. I guess the filmmakers are leveraging the actress' chemistry with her colleagues. Anyone remember the old Betty Crocker photo? Colman looks just like it in her close-ups.

Class? In the 90s my pregnant girlfriend wore something that I think was called The Multiples. It was a small set of stretchy jersey clothing items that could be configured various ways. She wore it to my wedding and then after her child was born she wore it while she lost weight.

LeeAnne belongs in dinner theater. She can't stop playing to the back seats. Her every waking moment is on stage. I agree she was reacting to Kary's earlier comments about "going all Mexican." But a wiser woman wouldn't have repeated those words. D'Andra and Kary were throwing shade and poking the bear, knowing the bear would start swiping. Interesting that when the majority of the women sided with LeeAnne, D'Andra kind of gulped and looked a bit embarrassed. Kary ratcheted up into angry overdrive. D'Andra looked like she just rolled out of bed during the morning tours. Couldn't she at least run a brush through her hair? I'm cringing at the upcoming ping-pong scenario. Those women are essentially sex workers. No one should be making jokes and Bravo should not be sending its participants to see them. Anything for a buck, I guess.

I felt the hands of revisionist scriptwriters creep into this episode. Did the scene between Phillip and Alice really happen in real life, as written and directed? Did a reporter swoop onto her in the palace without anyone intervening? Not even a palace press officer? Did Alice's popularity really sway public opinion? And Anne's immediate fangirling her grandmother. Not to mention the excessive cheerleading at the newspaper office. One can see how Wilson made it in politics - those carefully crafted responses to the queen at each meeting. I wondered where Charles was during the documentary production and figured he was at school. More importantly: what happened to Alice's sapphire brooch? I could swear I've seen footage from the documentary. Least favorite episode so far (with apologies to the saintly Alice).

I see John is still exploiting his children for money and attention. He's only marginally better than Kate.

I guess we were all spoiled because of the advance episode description and the stark episode title "Aberfan." Given the US' own coal mining disasters (and corporate disregard for safety) I was braced for coal miner deaths as opposed to children. I was enchanted by the initial scenes - long-time neighbors dashing to work in the rain, the young schoolmaster and the squirmy children. I was very taken by the brief shot of the cluster of umbrelled mothers standing at the edge of the school yard, pulling the children in out of the rain as school let out. The bath in front of the fire and everyone practicing the hymn. Just wonderful and so evocative of a time and place. If they used locals as extras, then I hope production prepared the townpeople for what would be shown in the episode. Watkins is a revelation to me. What a fantastic actor. I do sense the use of this episode as a way to humanize Margaret, Snowden and Phillip, after they've all had such a lashing via this series. The queen's stoicism and lack of emotion surely must be due in part to her life-long training and watching the royals who preceded her. Remember the infamous incident where she left a very young Charles for an extended tour of the commonwealth, during which he didn't see her for months? I thought the single tear was very predictable and pandered to viewers, but I love Olivia and forgive her.

Something tells me that Simone is an introvert who was raised in a conservative/religious environment. But that doesn't square with her agreeing to be on this show. I like the casual good-natured bantering among the crew, and laughed when Lee got goosed. We need more of that, less vomiting and sexual harassment. More of the cheerful Kate who doesn't freak out at every little mishap. When the chefs complain about interior staff, I think they are remembering true yacht crews who were not on reality TV. Kate could do a much better job if need be, and the captains whine about not getting five-star service, but the show doesn't call for that. Nor provide for it. I too worry that Brian has a joint infection. What the heck did he hit? I could not figure out what it was.

I have a very close relationship with someone who is a birth mother. She has been involved in modernizing the adoption triad dynamics for 20 years. She has complained about this show from its beginning. I watched with her the other night. As background for my original post, there is a nationwide network of people like her who have worked to convince state legislatures to open the adoption records, or at least create registries where the birth parent and child can agree to be contacted by each other. In addition, there are volunteer researchers, usually people who have been through the experience. This all started long before DNA accessibility and ancestry. These researchers would comb through whatever records were available, often driving hours to do research at county courthouses. There were even companies that got access to records via unscrupulous methods and they charged a fee for access to that information. Now it's much easier if the records have been opened and/or when people have uploaded their DNA to a site like Ancestry. My friend has gone to support groups for decades. It is there that she hears the stories of people who tried to reach out to birth parents or children and were rejected. Also, there are message boards/online groups where people post information, sharing stories or asking for research help and emotional support. A lot of those situations are rejections, especially from older birth parents who were steeped in religious and social stigmas about premarital sex. Many older people didn't tell their spouses and children and are terrified at being discovered. Finally, my friend was interviewed by someone doing a thesus about the adoption triad and reunions and she saw the data. With the onset of open adoptions there have been some changes, obviously, but those relationships are very complicated and often do not endure (trouble between adoptive and birth parents). A lot of people have high expectations, or even demands, that cannot be realistically be filled and the reunion relationships crumble. In my friend's case, her child was eager for reunion, then began making demands for travel and money and proved to be quite unstable emotionally. And there are a surprising number of adoptees who do not want a reunion. It's usually because they don't want to hurt their adoptive parents' feelings, or because they are angry at being "rejected" by their birth parents. Sometimes they wait until their adoptive parents are deceased.

Just exactly what was Blunt hinting at? Wondering about drug-fueled orgies, or the more routine affairs. I love OC in this. I've seen Claire Foy in at least three roles, and her face is often an impassive mask. I assume it's meant to be stoicism, which Elizabeth has in spades, but OC conveyed some emotion and reaction while retaining the stoicism, and Foy generally didn't. She and Matt Smith bored me. Always a treat to see Menzies. Those horrible 60s boxy pastel suits. Many women wore them and they were so unflattering. Looks like HBC (Head Bitch in Charge? Just kidding) will do justice to playing Margaret. It would be so easy to slide into cartoon. Loved the photography and production values. With this set of actors, this season will be a yummy treat and I'm going to avoid binging to make it last.

Was Katherine there?

Another episode that was testament that people don't know how to take care of exotic pets. Even a vet who owned a chinchilla didn't understand the proper diet, which led to an animal with incurable, painful dental disease. A tiny baby parrot that had mysterious metal in its intestinal tract and insufficient calcium - the breeder's fault? And a family with no experience in any kind of pet buying her. It's distressing to think about how many exotic pets do not receive proper care and suffer so terribly. Thankfully Dr. T. knew how to treat the sneezey bunny, which apparently received sub-standard care from other vets.

My goodness, my old fave K-Law needs to get back on the streets. That's all I'll say. Unfortunately it appears that he and MasT were just trotted out for the cameras. I don't think K-Law wanted to be there under those conditions. Kudos to Nye for controlling their own tempers when dealing with the crazy puppy owners, whose message that the other dog came through a big fence hole got lost because of the yelling and threats. I'll miss Lafayette because some of the citizens and police have the rapidly-disappearing southwest/Cajun-ish accent. Captain Burt is my new fave. Nothing fazes that guy. Lieutenant Brown just keeps on, steadily and efficiently working the streets. Do ya think he hates dope? (Sarcasm) Most overused and least meaningful words in the English language: "I'll sue you..." Going back to watching occasionally, with FF, because the bro-show is obnoxious.

Agree with much of your post ProfCrash. I would like the "I'm so tough and Alaskans are so special" rhetoric to be reduced by about 90%. Sue, Jessie, Glen, Andy and the Hailstones do it, with the 2nd generation of carefully coached Hailstones chiming in now. I think that production encourages a lot of it, but some of them believe they are superior because of it. Chip Hailstone owes all that he has to marrying a smart, skilled Alaskan native. Enough. Other people struggle mightily in life regardless of residence. Go to an isolated Indian reservation without rich resources, or deep into Appalachia. I'm pretty sure Andy's latest companion has drunk the Andy Kool-Aid. He upped the ante this time, requiring a nurse. Andy views these folks as indentured servants. He's another one who has lots of expensive stuff and property. I'd love to know how the litigation with Kate has evolved. If Sue ever retires from running Kavik, she could make a part-time living as a handywoman. And I wonder if she used her own money (the loans she's talked about on the show) to over-improve Kavik, making it attractive to whoever owns the land.

Is there anything that the show's hosts do that people with an Ancestry subscription cannot do on their own? The hosts appear to be going through the motions for the camera. (Chris and Lisa are actors.) This show is an extended Ancestry commercial. Another complaint I have is that the show glosses over the thousands of birth parents and adoptees who do NOT want to be found or in touch. It's a very high percentage. Because the production company advertises to find its subjects, they are screening in people who want to be found. They may be handling initial contact with the birth parents off-camera, then recording the follow-through. In fact, I wonder if they approach the birth parents first, to see if they will participate, then launch full production. They give the impression that it's fairly easy to effect a reunion, not to mention what happens afterward when the initial excitement has gone. Often one of the parties refuses an ongoing relationship. I assume they are paying the participants an appearance fee, just like other reality TV shows do.

I'm shocked that Daisy Mae isn't spayed.

I find anything different, with talented actors and great photography, worth a viewing. This series fits that bill, despite its weaknesses. I kept thinking of "House of Cards" as I watched this. I worked in politics at the congressional level and believe me, many people will cheat, lie, steal, babysit, clean bathrooms, pick up dry cleaning, all in robotic devotion to a politician. For very low salaries or no salary. It's the proximity to power and the fawning and freebies that come with that power. Of course Payton is a school kid, but he lives with obscene wealth and comfort, which is compelling to acolytes. Heck, I'd stuff envelopes for Payton just to get inside that fabulous home. I guess Payton's ambition was the result of being the "bastard stepchild" (or adoptee) whose father and brothers were jerks. He was the fish out of water all of his life. I enjoyed the occasional musical interlude. Ben Platt is very talented. Which one? [snark] Zoey Deutsch looks so familiar. At first I thought Rose Byrne, but I see that Lea Thompson is her mother.

Speaking of Domino, I had a subscription when it was a monthly printed magazine. I loved it, wept when they stopped publishing, and saved every issue.

I kinda think LeeAnne targeted the family and sidled up to the two Ds and their money and social position.

Outrageous prices?

I wondered if Lenny wanted to get paid by production, as the family members are doing. I wonder if Todd gets any production money.

This is turning into the Victim Stephanie show. Notice how Kary's jewelry promo ended up being about Stephanie. And when Stephanie got stuck in her manic laughter in the limo I was reminded of a Stepford wife whose gears got jammed. And once again we have her citing the cost of all the money they are spending. The mid-life crisis theme somehow turned into a flaunt the fake boobs party. I think Kary is the only one with a natural figure. And Travis' eyes went straight to the boobs each time he greeted a sexy costume. D'Andra's costume: mid-life blowsy drunk, which is where she's headed. Because it wasn't about her, LeeAnne couldn't be bothered to make an effort at the costume thing.