ninjago

The key to these shows is it has to be believable that the women all want to maintain their standing within this social circle-not that all the women are friends or love spending time together, just that they want to be part of this group so they interact and engage with each other. I don't believe that any of these people care about this social circle. I think they want to be around Jenna because she's famous. The rest of them I just don't believe they would have anything to do with each other outside the show. They should build a show around Jenna and Ubah and fill out the cast with other fashion people, like the lady who was going through Jenna's closet with her.

The writing on this show is so schlocky and unnatural, "I've been editing my doc", "I need to get a check to finish this doc". And some of the acting is junior high level. The woman who plays Seems is embarrassingly over-the-top, when she said the line about Tom Ford it was practically vaudevillian in it's hamminess. Also, Miranda acts like she's got some sort of head injury, she's so manic and hyper all the time.

The Abbey night couldn't have been the night of the divorce party, because Ally said she saw them at the Abbey after C-U-next Tuesday and James was at the divorce party that night. I wondered if the Abbey night was the night we saw, where Raquel was sitting in between the Toms, since James was DJing that night.

Tom on the phone with the siblings and his Minnesota-nice indirect hemming and hawing was making me insane.

How old are these people that they think you don’t have to sometimes make sacrifices in a relationship? What a terrible attitude.

Negging is such a loser move, whether it's from a woman or a man. And Gabby doesn't have enough going for her outside the TV cameras to have that guy take her shit.

Mya's beef should not be with Lindsey it should be 100% with Carl, who didn't defend their friendship and wasn't even straight with Mya about what the problem was.

I don’t like Lala and I do like Schwartz, but, yeah, I can see why she is mad and doesn’t want him around her. She’s not telling anyone else they shouldn’t hang out with Schwartz or taking it out on his friends. But she’s in a very nasty court case and she has to be able to trust people around her not to tell Randall anything. I was originally going to say Schwartz shouldn’t be hanging out with Randall because he’s a slimeball criminal, but they all ready knew that about him, I think. The only thing would be if he was a genuine Weinstein-style rapist, vs the garden variety “fuck me for a part in my terrible movie” casting couch sleaze.

The dynamic between Bobby and Josh was always so bitchy and bickering it seemed like a miserable way to live, constantly on guard from an incoming snipe. I don't think its fair to say Colton bilked Josh out of money-he probably made a case that Josh gifted him things, maybe even a house?, and therefore should get to keep it. Josh is just sloppy with his money and then thinks he can just take things back and storm off.

Luke was on my friend’s hockey podcast! He talks a lot of very local Minnesota stuff and hockey, but if you’re interested. He does mention he had dated Ashley.

Heather doesn’t respect Whitney at all. She takes her for granted as a fall-back in case she falls out with the other women. She was so mean at dinner and she meant to humiliate Whitney.

Did Keith poison Pam? I find that a very believable accusation. Was she getting treatment for her cancer? It sounded like she was just laying in a bed dying.

Holy cow, Willie’s hands are huge! Wonderful. What a doll he was playing stickball with the neighbor kids. I love baseball and wish it wasn’t fading so badly. Barry looks great.

Nicki knew the Camila testimony would be damaging. Does that mean she knew about his pedophilia and child porn? Her objections were that the trial wasn’t fair, and she believed DOS was a choice, etc. but I wanted them to ask her how she continued to support him with the pedophilia accusations? Because his lawyer might be a creep, but he was right: financial charges and even some coercive adult sex can maybe be spun, but once you’re a child pornographer and rapist no one is listening to you anymore.

I’m in love with these guys at the BBQ. They were all so sweet and hugged each other!

I do think they’ve played down the pyramid scheme aspect of this to make Mark, etc. more clearly the good guys. I know it’s not nice to think ill of the dead but any time there’s a glimpse of that creepy Pam Caffritz, especially in that horrid tinsel wig, it’s like nightmare fuel for me.

Every episode I'm semi-distracted by trying to figure out how much they made money on this thing. People came to their classes/lectures, right? That was the source of income for the group? But weren't most of the people in the classes people who worked for the group all ready, like Lauren and Nicki? So they got paid by Nxvim and turned around and spent that money on classes at NXVIM? How many outsiders actually came to these classes? Did the classes pay for the big compound and the seemingly unending banquets and fancy dress parties they were always throwing? Or was Bronfman underwriting all of it?

I feel like I need to apologize to Shep.

Not to catastrophize this, but where do we go as a society when we have so many people like Lisa Rinna, who insist there is such a thing as “my truth” and who hide behind third rail, untouchable words like “abuse” and “trauma” to avoid accountability and to be completely beyond the touch of reason.

A few months ago the NYer did a profile of Jeremy Strong from Succession and it got a lot of coverage because he came off as such an AC-tor and also because he was such a hustler as a young actor, inviting agents to watch him perform, etc. and his classmates at Yale Drama were like, “Ugh, he was so gauche” and of course you realize Strong came from Nowhereseville and his parents are working class and all these people who rolled their eyes at him were rich and/or connected. Having disdain for ambitious people is so classist. I’m sure Jeremy Strong, and Craig, would like to be able to sit around all day and never make any effort, secure the world will come to them when they are ready, like Shep and even Austin does. He doesn’t have that option and they are such snobs for making fun of him for trying at life.

Larsa used to be such a stuck up snob and now she’a just like a vulgar gutter person. She seems like she’d get in a physical fight.

This last episode was fantastic. Not to be a total cornball, but the band of brothers element-the camaraderie between Kareem and Magic, Kareem and Spencer, Riley and Westheas, Westhead and McKinney, Jeannie and Claire, even Bill and poor Jerry West-added some warmth to the fun, sleazy, cut-throat tone. Speaking of Jerry West, he was the best part of the show. I know he hates it, but as a lifelong fan of terrible (Minnesota) sports team, I related totally to his roller coaster, unhinged emotions while watching/not watching the game.

I only rarely watch this show and every time I do I come away on the side of Joe Gorga. Teresa learned from her father that she can treat Joe like garbage, then turn around and demand he let her use him when she needs him, insulting him all along. She and Louis will break-up and she will not just expect but demand Joe and Melissa support her and help her pick up the pieces for herself and her daughters, and Joe will because that's his role in their family.

Ooof Teresa is only allowed to have friendships with people they go on “double dates” with? Dolores-her long-time, loyal close friend wasn’t- invited to the party because she’s single? This is a terrible, controlling sign.

Shout out to Craig for telling the girls to move away if they were going to eavesdrop.