Eolivet

I did, too -- again, nothing specific, but the laser focus on Jeremy, ostensibly because "he needs the money" didn't sit right with me. Every time I saw a player foaming at the mouth to get rid of Jeremy for a nebulous reason, I was reminded of Papa Pope's "twice as good" speech on Scandal.

Avaleigh's post said it beautifully, but there was simply no romantic tension with Blake. He kissed her and she had no reaction! Not a drawn in breath, not a momentary stammer, not even a surreptitious longing look -- on either of their parts. They both just smiled like nothing had happened. There's been no evolution of that relationship since the season 4 Christmas Special. No family member ever remarked on Blake or why he was there (and he was there a lot), as they did with Atticus or even Lord Merton. Mary never had a private moment of reflection about him. She hasn't mentioned him even in passing since he left. It's like he no longer exists to anyone. If he comes back, I'd say he might be the new Evelyn Napier -- there to make snarky remarks about Mary's new suitors. As for the Christmas album, I remember when they had original song that was released specially for Christmas in season 2 called "Did I Make the Most of Loving You." They promoted it and the artist who sang it, and there was some speculation they'd involve it somehow in the Christmas Special. They didn't. It was entirely separate from the show. I just don't think who sings on the Christmas album has any bearing on what's happening in the Christmas Special. Julian Ovenden is a trained singer with an excellent voice -- of course the Downton producers would be silly not to try to monetize that (and he probably gets some kind of royalty from album sales as well). But like the last time Downton did something for Christmas, it's separate from the show.

Heh, considering 2/3 of those killed to protect their own self-interest instead of their family members, I'd say hide the carving knife and watch for a wishbone used as a shiv. ;) And wow, here's a list I never thought I'd make: Evil Drugged Hand Lotion: Softens your hands while you attempt murder! -"Grow" -"Rocket Man"

Not to mention that major news happened there -- it was where the bomber hid out, it was locked down for the whole day while the manhunt was going on. Maybe they wouldn't have known it the previous day, but Watertown was in the news from the morning to the evening of April 19. There was no way they wouldn't have known how to pronounce it by the evening (when Jim was still saying "Waterton"). It'd be like a news outlet saying "Col-oom-bine High School." When news happens there, you learn how to pronounce it! Even tricky metropolitan areas made up of such difficult words as "Water" and "Town."

Ask Ausiello had a question about Matthew Goode's tenure on Downton Abbey. To summarize, it basically said The Good Wife has "first position" on his contract (meaning if they pick it up, he's unlikely to be able to do Downton season 6). If the show had serious designs on making him an actual viable suitor for Mary, I wish they'd picked a different actor. Not only does The Good Wife compete with (and some speculate lost its Best Drama Emmy nod to) Downton, but they're direct competitors on Sunday nights when the show airs on PBS. In fact, ratings for The Good Wife always take a hit while Downton is airing. So, if The Good Wife has a likable suitor and a named actor that could actually help its direct competition, I feel like the show might pick up Goode's contract just so Downton can't have him. And then they're back to the drawing board for suitors. (Since the article speculates about the Christmas Special, I'm linking it here rather than the Media section: http://tvline.com/2014/11/11/sons-of-anarchy-season-7-episode-10-sex-scenes-opening/ )

I know "On Fire" was a stepmother, but Justin was still pretty young at 14, so I'm adding it: Borderline or inappropriate familial relationships: Oedipal -"Smothered" -"On Fire" Elektra -"Death Roe" -"Family Values" Families who commit crimes together stay together: (multiple criminals in the same family) -"Gemini" -"In the Wee Small Hours" -"On Fire"

I seriously enjoyed that episode -- with the two standout scenes of Mary with Carson (with Mary and Matthew's theme playing the background) and Robert making the dead dog plaque for Mrs. Patmore's nephew. It's funny because we've learned that Julian Fellowes writes episodes 1-5 before each season starts, and then 6-8 during filming -- and generally, 6-8 have seemed more enjoyable or at least have had a better flow to them (at least for the last few years). Once he's seen how the actors react to each other and how the scenes play out, then he starts the last few of the season. This episode felt like he was wiping the slate clean for Mary: Blake's in Poland, Gillingham's getting married. Mary is losing Tom and Rose, and is once again alone. Looking back on it now, you can argue her assertions of "I want to be as happy with my second husband as I was with my first" in 5x01 was Fellowes' indication that he intended on clearing the decks of suitors this year. I believe he knew the suitors weren't popular, and set it up to write them both off. He wants the audience to love Mary's next husband as much as she does, and the audience was never going to love either Gillingham or Blake. I keep thinking Branson isn't going to leave, but then I wonder what else they have for him to do. Maybe his departure will be storyline-related, and he'll come back mid-season 6 with all these new American ideas for helping out Downton (and a new American wife perhaps?).

So, Sloan gets a new computer and said new computer helps predict a potential sale of the company, just like Jeremy's new computer program did in the "Sports Night" episode "Bells and a Siren." Perhaps like Sports Night, at least we can look forward to Quo Vadimus showing up to expand his empire and buy ACN in the series finale. And...Watertown is pronounced Water. Town. TOWN. How do you get "Waterton" out of that? No major media outlet ever called it "Waterton," and yet it was pronounced that way in the ACN background news and by Jim. Water. Town. It's not that difficult! No wonder you people are in fourth place!

I disagree about mansplaining, which I tend to think of as prominent male characters justifying what they're doing to the secondary female characters who need to be educated. The men may be "spazz wranglers" (per se) on Grey's, but the women are the main characters. April is driving the pregnancy storyline, not Jackson. Meredith is the one with issues with her sister, not Derek. Arizona is embarking on a new fellowship, not Alex. All the men do is react to the women. I see Grey's as delving into how women feel about their mothers, their estranged sisters, their new bosses -- and the men not really understanding it. I suppose I don't see the women as irrational as much as I see the men as emotionally clueless.

What a great episode. This show sometimes reminds me of Downton Abbey in how it addresses the lack of power and equality women have, head on -- without making some kind of sexist statement about it. In that sense, Catherine is Violet/Maggie Smith. Megan Follows' presence holds the show up, and it would be a vastly different show without her there. This was a fantastic use of Catherine and Mary -- and a really nice character evolution. When I think of how much she held Mary at arm's length last year, she's really evolved. The growing trust and respect between these two women has been a pleasure to watch. I continue to enjoy Lola and Narcisse -- though Lola actually getting her dowry back requires some massive hand-waving in terms of believability of the times. Narcisse is a great character -- I'm never sure from one moment to the next if he's going to turn on the charm or slit someone's throat. Or slit someone's throat while turning on the charm. I hope they keep him a villain to Francis, and sweet to Lola. It's a great dichotomy they have going. Francis: you idiot. As the Genie in Aladdin would say: Tell (Mary) the TRUTH!!! Dude, your wife just slaughtered an armed guard with a hairpin. Pretty sure she's gone beyond the "my wife must be protected" stage.

Oh, I understand this. I'm just saying by introducing the fact that Lila was pregnant, the show has now given Annalise a much stronger motive to kill Sam -- one that if her students found out, they might be even more compelled to try to cover up his murder. Since Annalise would likely be the prime suspect, I'm speculating how this news about Lila might strengthen the prosecution's case against Annalise for Sam's murder, and one more reason why her students would risk life and limb to cover it up -- that they know she'd be the prime suspect (and it seems like they wouldn't do it to save Rebecca or whoever the killer was). I apologize if that wasn't clear.

After seeing this episode, I'm convinced Moffat is like the partner who's obsessed with Doctor Who's ex, Russell T. Davies. Moffat moved in to Doctor Who's house and went through all of its drawers. He found all of Doctor Who's pictures with RTD, blacked out RTD's face, and pasted his own over it. When Moffat and Doctor Who are together, he's constantly asking Doctor Who, "I'm better than him, right? Right? I'm the best you've ever had? Right? He's nothing compared to me!" Rewriting the Master in the same episode where one liberally cribs "Doomsday" in concept ("ghosts" were Cybermen = dead bodies were Cybermen) takes a lot of nerve. What's left? John Smith from "Family of Blood" was secretly a member of the Silence? Nothing would surprise me now.

It gives her a fantastic motive for murder, especially since any prosecutor will bring up Annalise's miscarriages. Killing her husband over an affair with a college girl is believable, but killing her husband over him getting another girl pregnant makes a lot more sense. Refresh my memory how Wes knew Lila, and what possible motive he could have for killing her? I hope they don't go "Primal Fear" on Wes. I think it's more likely he's supposed to be a sympathetic everyman, who's just not coming across as sympathetic.

I've seen "Proud Flesh" three times, and I still don't understand how Malcolm McDowell talked a super curly Matthew Morrison into suicide by cop and then confessing to his father's crimes. Threatening him with death, I guess -- just like his brother? And Jonas' wife's expression at the end is inscrutable. Always wondered what she was thinking.

Ugh, I have a hard time with that one, WendyCR72. I watched it once a few months ago when it was on, then purposely avoided it after that. Michael Emerson does creepy like nobody's business (you can see why he's won two Emmys!). This was I think their first attempt at family annihilators, and it's certainly less graphic than S8's offering, but the idea that Gerry Rankin (thank you, IMdB!) was systematically stealing from his wife's relatives, and then killing them when they asked for their money back (or at least his father-in-law) was so chilling. That's actually one of the episodes I feel like is slightly spoiled on repeat viewings because the twist is so shocking: I remember my jaw dropping when we found out the guy didn't work for the U.N. The scene of Gerry's wife (Dr. Hahn from "Grey's Anatomy!") on the phone asking about the kids is painful to watch. And Eames' disgust when she realized Gerry's gun only had two bullets. Good, creepy choice!

I can understand that -- but the small town isn't a private citizen. The fact that they want private citizens to spend an exorbitant amount on something usually financed by entire towns is just crazy to me. You could get a car for what you paid for the dog (and oh, the irony if it was carjacked!) It's like if people went on Shark Tank and sold recreation centers. Or schools. Or roads.

$20,000 for a dog. For a dog. For a dog. I don't know much about the price of designer dogs, and yes, this dog came with training, but still: $20,000. For. A. Dog. (Also, how exactly do you use the anti-carjacking dog? Does the dog sit in the car until the carjackers come? That's a lot of wasted time for the dog).

Influential Republican Senator "Lewis McDonnell?" I see what you did there, Shonda. I really liked this episode, as well -- and I love the idea of Liv and Fitz "teaming up" to help Jake at the end. Finally, this show has remembered it's always worked best as a soapy political thriller, not a watered-down spy drama. I see Joe Morton falling to the Curse of the Guest Actor Emmy Winner pretty soon, though I hope Rowan just disappears off to an island, like Olivia did. I think it would be fun to see him surface a year from now and try to wreak havoc again. But Shonda usually has more permanent solutions in mind.

Had not seen "In the Wee Small Hours" for several years, so it was a treat to rewatch it (especially seeing all the love it gets here!) It was a really tight, interesting case -- they balanced so many subplots, and yet, it all held together. Trotting out Goren's personal life with his mother was perfectly pitched for a "sweeps"-style episode, and that moment with Eames on the stand, reading the letter. Part 2 may be one of the most complex hours they've done -- maybe it was the trial aspect to it. It just seemed like the case mushroomed from "standard sensational teenager disappearance" into commentaries on the crime media (Nancy Grace and her ilk), a brief dissection of the detectives' personal lives, putting the puzzle pieces of an errant statement together and the fantastic denouement when the real killer is revealed. It was exhilarating, yet almost exhausting to watch. One of the few "stunt" episodes that not only held together beautifully, but exceeded the show's own standards. One of the great things that elevated the writing, in my opinion, are the details. The Sinatra locations and Tucker the disappearing dog into the salt marsh, for example (Chekov's dog, really -- from the moment Goren came running in with "He lost his dog!", you knew it was going to figure in somehow). I know this was clearly based on the Natalee Holloway disappearance, but there was a level of creativity that you didn't see in a lot of these "ripped from the headlines" cases. Sometimes I feel like all iterations of L&O copy the source material and change a few details, but this case became so much more. Hats off to the writers -- and the actors -- who made it sing (like Sinatra, heh).

I'm Team "Adequate notice before you cancel the show." Honestly, I just want an ending. I don't want the last episode to be, say, episode 10 that was written a week ago when they thought they might have a chance to complete the season. Realistically, the show won't last the year -- not with 0.9s for its sixth episode -- but at least give it a chance to wrap up, and Emily Kapnek a chance to write a true series finale. That would be a more realistic fan campaign.

Ugh, I'd forgotten the uglier part of Blood vs. Water -- those who confuse it with Amazing Race, and go on it to "fix their relationship." Missy, if your relationship with your daughter is broken for whatever reason, going on a reality show is not going to fix it. Stop confusing "We are working together in the context of the game" with "Look at how well we work together! Our relationship is healed!" That "I feel like she's getting in the backseat and letting me drive" analogy was just bizarre.

Was that episode written by an outside writer, or not a regular writer? Sometimes I feel like outside writers come in with their own style. It does stick out like a sore thumb, when every other title is pretty succinct. (I did not like the foreign language/fancy word titles that weren't explained in the context of the show. Maybe that's my relative stupidity. Things like "Ex Stasis" and "Graansha" and "Eosphoros." I almost prefer the simple, vague titles -- at least I can understand them, LOL!)

I don't know whether to be disappointed or impressed the reference came this early in the show, and that they didn't waste it on something like an episode title. "Accustomed to your facebook" anyone? I agree with an above poster, who thought this works well as a one-season comedy. I'm hoping the ratings will stabilize just enough for it to be picked up for the year, and given enough notice so it can be cancelled at the end of it. I actually can't see this as a multi-season comedy -- the pace they're going at is perfect for about 22 episodes of romantic tension, culminating in hopefully a "My Fair Lady" (as opposed to a "Pygmalion") ending. Though I selfishly hope they keep working musical lyrics into the dialogue. "I was serenely independent and content before we met" sounds very much like something this Henry would say.

I actually like the resolution of "The Posthumous Collection:" the photographer who wanted to make the women beautiful in death, because he loved women. Unlike Spencer, who hated women. But it's the torture Spencer suffered as a boy that took that episode to another, stomach-churning level for me: feeding him bad meat, throwing him in a scalding hot shower, smashing his marbles (and the sister who had no regret about it). I think that's almost the most disturbing scene in the whole episode: when G/E interview the sister, and she's so matter-of-fact about it, even years later -- like Spencer deserved all that meticulous, disgusting torture. And then to have Spencer turn around and inflict that on innocent women who had the misfortune of looking like his relatives...it was a revolting statement about how the abused become the abusers. Maybe that's the reason it bothers me so much -- most criminals with a bad past, I'm like "Oh, get over yourselves" (case in point: the creep in "Yesterday" with his "Wahhh, I just have to rape, torture and kill women, my life is sooooo haaaaaard"). But with Spencer, I was simultaneously sickened by what he did, and in complete understanding as to how it could happen. It's actually the mark of very good television, but it's part of the reason I have a hard time watching it.

I thought he was the firm's P.I. It would fit with the "rich girls" (including Laurel) toying with him, especially as cops/investigators are the "working class" profession, while lawyers are the more "white collar." Thinking about it now, Frank might like Laurel because she seems to be the only one to stand up for the little guy. If he's from less than favorable economic circumstances, that might be very appealing. But again: styled all wrong for a working class/aspiring upper class guy.