phalange

Lots to unpack here! Pops of color with the toy helicopter and the blood, and finally everything going full technicolor at the end. It seems like everyone, including Wanda, was actually seeing in black and white, based on her reaction to the color. And the beekeeper's outfit has the same symbol as the helicopter. Now we have a Hydra commercial with the same people as the previous one. More weird reactions from the townspeople. This time it's Dottie being unconcerned about her hand being cut by glass, but freaked out by the radio. I was trying to place the voice coming through the radio. Are we supposed to recognize it? More old sitcom references, with the animated theme, and the two separate beds. I also liked the animation when Vision swallowed the gum. It does seem like Wanda has some control over what's going since she rewound time, but who knows. And babies! By magic! Which is basically how old sitcoms would pretend pregnancy happened, so that tracks.

Fun and just the right amount of trippy. They really made it feel like an old time-y sitcom, with the cheesy theme song, the way the audio sounded scratchy like it would have in the fifties, and even how the "screen" was formatted. And of course the magic elements gave it a real Bewitched vibe. Lots of clues to think about, like the Stark toaster "commercial" and what looks like a control room at the end. Plus the wife's odd reaction to her husband choking and how Wanda and Vision have no real knowledge of where they came from or how they got there, or what the company Vision works for actually does. Maybe they're stuck in some sort of simulation?

Damn, Laurel really had a rough go of things. Overbearing father, not knowing what happened to her baby, incarceration, cancer. I am glad she and Hai got to at least spend two years together before she died. It's good that Randall was able to get closure and to hear Laurel say she loves him, even if it was more or less a hallucination. It was sweet that she said it in Vietnamese, mirroring her saying it to Hai when they were young. Knowing this show, I'm not surprised Madison went into labor early, but it must be really early, because I swear that in the last episode, she said she wasn't due for five weeks after Kevin would return from his four weeks in Vancouver.

I love Maggie accidentally interrupting Zoey and Max but leaving them snacks in case they "work up an appetite." Max singing Take Me Out To The Ballgame as a distraction technique had me rolling. Zoey and Max singing a duet was adorable and the song worked really well. A Moment Like This! Middle school aged-me was obsessed with that song. Zoey would've been around the same age when it came out, so it makes sense that this is the one song she actually knows. Bringing the three women from the fifth floor on to the team is a good idea; it breaks up the fratboy environment. I like Emily's sister. I imagine she'll be around for a few episodes so we can get more backstory there. Zoey's "makeover" at the end was great, especially the faces she made.

I'm glad that Kate got closure with Marc. Even it was "only" a six-month relationship 20 years ago, what he did to her was terrible and abusive, so if confronting him helped her move on, that's a good thing. I can't say I loved Toby's initial reaction, though. If someone shares that they were in an abusive relationship, the first thing you say should not be "why didn't you tell me sooner?" Cracking up at Madison cutting off a Pearson speech before it could start. I do like her and Kevin together, so I hope they talk it out and figure out what they want their future to look like. It turns out William wasn't lying to Randall about Laurel, he just genuinely didn't know.

I'm so happy this show is back. The "Carry On" number with Zoey, Maggie, David, and Emily was perfect, and I may or may not have teared up a little. Max giving Zoey the shield ring was really sweet and I laughed when she held it up at work like it would keep her from hearing a heart song. And Zoey/Max there at the end! Lots of shows drag out love triangles forever, so I'm happy this seems to not be the case here. I love Mo, Simon, and Max's friendship and Max and Mo working together on a new project. I'm glad Zoey got a promotion, though I will miss Joan/Lauren Graham.

The scenes of the Doctor in prison were well done. I liked the Doctor telling herself stories and how some past well-known villains like a Weeping Angel (how did they manage to catch one?!) and the Silence made an appearance in the prison yard. Good to see Jack again; how nice of him to spend 19 years committing crimes to make sure he'd be able to break her out of prison. What a good friend! Smart of the Doctor to trick the Daleks into eliminating each other because of their own obsession with purity, and it's fortunate there was that spare TARDIS to use to get rid of the enforcer Daleks, even if it is sad to see a TARDIS destroyed. I'll miss Ryan and Graham, but I'm happy they got to leave on their own terms. It was realistic that Ryan would want to stay and that Graham would choose to stay with him. I like how their story came full circle with Ryan not giving up on learning to ride a bike. And it was nice of the Doctor to give them a going away present; those psychic papers will come in handy.

Since none of the final three were my favorites, this was a low-stakes finale for me. Poor Laura, once her signature went downhill it was clear she was going to struggle to come back from that. And I was nodding along at her comments regarding the technical: keep any coffee flavor far away from my desserts. The showstopper was kind of underwhelming. It just looked like a bunch of different desserts thrown together which isn't visually appealing. I could see how either Peter or Dave could've won and neither would have been surprising. It's nice that all of the behind-the-scenes workers who quarantined got to be at the celebration. The updates about the bakers hanging out together always makes me smile.

I know the judges had no choice because her showstopper was basically inedible, but I'm still sad to see Hermine go. I had a feeling it would be her, simply because as soon as someone's specialty is the week's theme, they always end up doomed; it never fails. I wonder why she had to switch up her recipe at the last minute. Maybe her original idea would've gone better, but hindsight and all that. Now that my favorites, Lottie and Hermine are gone, I don't really have a particular favorite to win, so at least I won't be too stressed watching the finale. I guess I'm rooting for Laura, since she's the underdog of the final three. As an American, I did laugh at Dave being confused by what a cornucopia is supposed to look like. It's like a few episodes back when no one understood how to make a crescent. He tried, though. Noel was still being too much this week, but I liked Matt encouraging Hermine and comforting Laura. I love that it was warm enough outside that all the bakers are all in shorts and t-shirts or sundresses, but then you have Paul, Prue, and Noel still wearing long sleeves like it's winter.

As soon as the word "livestream" was mentioned, I knew something was going to go wrong. Randall handled it well though, and I liked his talk with Malik. I was wondering how the grandpa was going to find out about Randall and a video going viral makes sense. So clearly Laurel talked to him about her past since he recognizes William's name. I also noticed the box said "ovulation test" and normally this show is on top of everything, props included, so I have to believe that was a deliberate choice and not a mistake. Which makes me very worried for teenage Kate. I liked how pre-teen Kevin asking Randall for studying advice tied in to the present with Kevin using Randall's flashcard method to work on his acting. I didn't like how once again the show made Jack right about every parenting decision and made Rebecca look like the bad parent, especially when it came to letting baby Kevin cry. I know that was the prevailing advice at the time, but it was shitty advice. Comforting a crying baby is not the same as encouraging Kevin to stick with football. (And Rebecca was right about not taking parenting advice from Miguel and his wife cause clearly their kids didn't turn out great!)

Hermine really did deserve star baker for that showstopper. Her cake looked beautiful, like something you'd see in a patisserie. Laura's koi pond looked pretty too. Poor Marc, he tried to go for something ambitious and it didn't quite work. If the showstopper went better for him, Peter probably would've been the one sent home. I love cheesecake, but most of them seemed pretty lackluster. And that technical was a mess, through no real fault of the bakers. They weren't given nearly enough time. I've never heard of pond pudding before this, but it both sounds and looks disgusting. Suet? A whole lemon inside? No thanks. That recipe should stay in the 1700s where it belongs. Normally I like Noel and Matt has been ok, but this week they were...a lot. They need to dial it waaaay down.

I was wondering how the story of the grandpa and granddaughter fishing was going to tie in, and then bam, Laurel. The little girl didn't seem to know her aside from the pictures, though, so Laurel is probably not her grandmother, or she died before the girl was born. Or she and the grandpa broke up, in which case I wouldn't think he'd still have pictures of her around the house, but who knows. Team Tess, here. Maybe the video wasn't the most mature way of dealing with her teacher, but Tess is a teenager and I can understand being fed up when the teacher is still touching other black students' hair and continually misgendering her friend after being corrected more than once. And she's standing up for other students, too, which is a good thing, and should be encouraged. Teaching kids that they have to respect adults simply by virture of them being adults is actually what's harmful. If adults aren't showing children respect, they don't deserve respect in return. And "screw you" is so mild as to barely be an insult, anyway. If I were Randall and Beth, I'd talk to her about more productive ways of handling the situation, but grounding her for six weeks is unnecessary. I'm glad Kevin and Madison are opening up to each other about their addictions. Kevin recognizes that addiction has been an issue in his family and Jack never talked about it, but Kevin wants to do better than that for the sake of their children. Curious about this whole thing with the birth mom Kate and Toby met. I can see both points of view, that she seems nice enough, but maybe too nice.

I'm so sad about about Lottie being sent home; I was hoping she'd make it to the finals. She did come second to last in the technical, but did well in the signature so maybe could have saved herself if her ice cream cake had better flavors. I'll miss her snarky comments, but at least she'll be able to wear her own clothes now. Thrilled for Hermine! She deserved star baker. Her son running up to hug her at the end was adorable. I love that somehow, it never fails that the hottest day of the year in the UK will coincide with a challenge requiring easily melted food like chocolate or ice cream. And while I love me a good ice cream cake, I don't think of them as a particularly 80s food. I don't think of quiche that way either, though in fairness, I have no memory of the 80s. Never heard of finger doughnuts but they look tasty enough.

I'm not a fan of matcha though I am a fan of crepes, especially with strawberries, so the crepe cake looked 50% tasty to me. Like everyone else, I am seriously baffled that so many of the contestants were confused by what a crescent looks like. A lot of the showstopper cakes were extremely adorable, especially Laura's upside down pineapple and Lottie's mushroom and both the cakes that looked like dogs. Mark's avocado cake was also very cute, so it's a shame the flavor and texture didn't work out. Yay for Lottie getting star baker! Well deserved. But I feel bad for Mark and I'll miss their friendly rivalry.

Holy crap, that ending. As soon as Randall told Beth he wanted a year with no surprises, I knew there was going to be something. That conversation with Randall and Kate needed to happen, because he's right that he shouldn't have to pretend like everything is fine to make his white family members comfortable. He even started to say "I'm fine" when he called his therapist and it's good he'll be finding another therapist he can be more open with. I liked his conversation with Malik too, and that they check up on each other. He and Kevin still need to have a serious talk, though, and I understand his annoyance that Kevin was basically asking for advice without making any attempt at an apology. I'm glad nothing happened to Kevin and Madison's twins; I was worried there for a moment, even though I know we saw them in the flash-forward, simply because you never know with this show. LOL at Kevin's Grey's Anatomy reference and also at Randall saying of course he remembers Madison because she's the only friend anyone in the family has. Toby's reaction to the news at the very beginning was also hilarious. The scene with Randall and Rebecca was hard to watch, especially when she asked a second time about Beth and the girls because she didn't remember that she already asked. Jack and William unknowingly passing each other twice in the hospital also got me. I guess Randall was technically born the day before? It wasn't totally clear.