freeser

Georgie quitting school was the main story line this week for sure. However overall, the episode made me realize how much I like the Ed Begley character of Dr. Linkletter. I like Dr. Sturgis - although I can get a little tired of him. But the Dr. Linkletter part is so well written, so funny, so clever and so well played by Begley. I love his responses to Sheldon, Sturgis, his obvious liking of Meemaw and all other characteristics. Dr. Sturgis is a B, while I think Dr. Linkletter is an A+!

Every time I see that commercial my thought is that if my kid said that to me, my response would be "Get comfy - you WILL be there all night kiddo". Such a snotty way the little girl talks to her parents. And to get rewarded by some Kraft cheese - to me a terrible response to a bratty child.

I think Mary's church involvement is really a problem also. I was watching a repeat the other day with the scene of Meemaw telling Missy why Mary was so into the church. Meemaw said that Mary was a smoking, drinking rebellious teenager in the beginning. After Missy was born, she changed totally and became the church going person she is now. Meemaw told Missy that she almost did not make it when she was born. She said Mary promised that if Missy lived, she would change and become devoted to God and the church. Not that her change was a bad thing, but what it did change was that George was suddenly not married to the person he thought he knew. George seems much more into the smoking and drinking and fun part of life. That apparently was who Mary was in the beginning. Now she has changed and is very different. But George did not change. His marriage situation did. I think George loves his kids, but wishes Mary was more of the person she was many years ago. It seems the things George and Mary did for enjoyment and fun in the beginning are appalling to Mary now. George is left to have fun, watch sports, drink, etc on his own now. Mary is left to satisfy her needs through the church. They have been on very different paths for a long time now. The future does not look bright for either of them.

I am so glad they are back on the set. I missed the interaction between the various cast members when they were filming in their homes.

I am mostly on Debra's side in the majority of circumstances. Ray is a lazy mama's boy who basically got married so he could have sex on a regular basis. He does not really care about matters concerning his children or Debra. He wants to watch TV, golf and eat whatever he wants. However, I do agree that Debra should have known better than to have married Ray. The meeting with Father Hubley when Ray was so disinterested that he could not really say why he wanted to marry Debra, claimed that he had no thoughts on whether or not they would have children, etc. should have been one of many clues that he was not the right person for Debra to choose to spend the rest of her life with.

I have thought that same thing during several shows this season. It really does not feel much like a comedy anymore. I do sort of like the show, but it has changed from when I originally started watching. It was so much lighter and fun and could be full of laughs. Now it might make me chuckle a little bit now and then, but overall I find it rather depressing. It has changed so much and makes me sad to see what is happening to this family. Not much joy or fun in watching anymore.

I believe 'Dr. Sturgis' said he was 71 years old. I just checked and Wallace Shawn is really 77 - so he is even older than his character.

I also thought Missy (just her face - not her height) seemed a lot older and more mature than Sheldon. Paige and Missy seemed right for their age, but Sheldon looked very 'childish' to me.

Of course, this is just my opinion - The back story of George and Mary is (according to MeeMaw) that Mary was not religious until there were problems with the birth of Missy. There was some medical problem and Mary promised that if Missy was healthy, she (Mary) would become devoted to God and religious. So when George married Mary, she was not the person she is today. Maybe the change in her attitude has caused problems in the marriage. Certainly, George does not seem to be into the church near as much as Mary is. Also, I really do like MeeMaw in general. But she is constantly on George with snide comments about him, his physique, attitude, habits, etc. Maybe he has gotten tired of her putdowns all the time. And I do think as mentioned above, George might be tired of Mary prioritizing Sheldon over him (and frankly over the other two children also).

I also want more Missy!! There have been several comments about it appearing that Missy has had a growth spurt and seems quite a bit taller than Sheldon now. But I would hope that they could give Missy some story lines that possibly do not involve Sheldon thereby avoiding the height comparison - if that is the problem. I also feel that Sheldon had gotten very self centered and obnoxious in this episode. He has no qualms ever about calling someone's superior to complain if he does not immediately get his way. When his mother tried to talk some sense into him, he just seemed to be so self involved that he didn't even consider what she was trying to teach him. It really is his way or the highway. Some self confidence is a good thing, but his attitude and behavior are beyond what should be tolerated.

Pros - Georgie's story line was great. He is quite the businessman even in his teens!! Loved how he got by with his scheme by telling the teacher he saw him and the librarian together. Cons - Not enough Missy!!! What happened to her part in this show? I don't think she has had more than a line or two for the past several episodes. Having Dr. Sturgis make appearances only via the phone or a letter to MeeMaw is just not the same as having him personally interact with the cast. I assume there is a reason Wallace Shawn can't be present in person, but it is not the same as when he was a regular cast member acting along with everyone. Not exactly a Pro or Con - But MeeMaw's reaction to finding out what the actual experiment was seemed rather over the top. She didn't know enough about the science behind the situation to be that upset.

And way too much Lundy. For me, he adds nothing to the show and took up time we could have been watching the regular cast members of the family. The six main characters are so good, I just don't see the need to add someone else like Lundy to take time away from the others.

Is Elle's weight loss something that happened recently or have I missed a lot of the newer episodes? I didn't realize it was her until she spoke and I recognized her voice.

It affected me also when she said she did not know how to hold him. It was sad. What was even more interesting to me was when I realized that when Charles was a baby Elizabeth was not even the Queen yet. She was still a Princess but I guess even then she was not a hands on mother. I think I felt that before she had all the duties of being a Queen, she might have had time to be a more involved mother. I guess not....

I also got the Godfather 'vibe' from that sequence. True - Philip was not a good father but I also felt he just really did not like/love Charles much overall. I don't think he ever thought Charles was man enough to be his son. I have read that Philip always felt that Anne was the child that should have been the 'oldest son' because of her personality and he (as indicated by him later on) liked Anne much more than Charles.

Thanks for the info site. Interesting that the cause of death was never determined. Also when I watching the show, the police thought there might be an accomplice. They kept saying Esteban was so small that they thought she must have had help. Makes you wonder if she was physically able to carry and bury the body in a canyon by herself. But I have not read that they found any one else was involved.

I was watching this episode for the first time last night. I fell asleep during the last half hour and woke up when they were waiting for the verdict. Last thing I remember was the friend being arrested. I missed out on the explanation of how she killed her and what she did with the body. Some help filling me in on the details please!

What was awful about the girls horning in on the tele-visit with the doctor was that the parents were upstairs and told the girls to stay there as they needed to talk to the doctor about Hazel's eyes. I couldn't believe it when they all came down and surrounded them and were watching what the doctor said. They should have been told to go back upstairs. I don't know if it was just fear of the doctor, but Hazel's inability to talk and respond to the doctor's questions must make diagnosis very difficult. How can a doctor understand and figure out what is happening with her vision if she is unable to answer basic questions about what she is seeing. I know much younger children have glasses and are so small that they cannot talk yet to voice what is wrong. But by age 5 Hazel should be able to help the medical team by telling them what they need to know.

I am also confused about how many kids Chase has. When you look up info about the family, there are not a lot of facts. I guess they chose to keep a lot of things private. Not that it is really any of our business (right?) but since they do show the kids on the show it is something that I have wondered about. I believe the caption on a recent show said 'Chase's son Fletcher' - hope I got the name correct. It seems like he always talked about daughters. All of the kids have blonde/reddish hair including Fletcher - who has very long blonde hair. I also wondered if he was a adopted or a child from another marriage. When Ashley did the family tree picture on one episode I remember her saying Chase had four children. So I guess he has 3 girls and 1 boy? I do love this show. The gang in general seems to really get along and care for one another. Chase seems to have a cool head about him as he usually calmly deals with problems or unforseen events. The one thing I always am confused about is how they can work on a house, put on a new roof, new windows, reframe the place, add a dock and furnish the camp for $20,000 to $25,000. We had two bathrooms redone and it cost the same amount as they spend for 6 weeks work. Are things in Maine that much cheaper than the rest of the country?

I also don't understand the law regarding this situation. Apparently the only way to prove the children were harmed is to find their bodies. There does not seem to be any law that requires the mother to actually address the disappearance. Can she not be forced to talk to the police and answer questions about the matter? Did anything happen to her for not bringing the children to Idaho within the time frame she was given? It does not seem like there were any consequences for her not showing up. Why not?

I understand the Queen being regal, controlled, etc. during her public outings. The family's motto of 'never complain, never explain' states how they feel they should act when the world is watching. But as someone mentioned in another post, I have always heard that in private the Queen was funny, caring and showed emotion to her grand kids and extended family. That was what I felt was totally lacking in this season 3. Olivia/Queen rarely ever smiled or looked pleasant in any circumstance. The dour/sour look was almost pasted on her face. There were plenty of opportunities to show the more carefree happy side of her personality in these episodes. In fact, I think that would have been such a good way to let viewers see the two sides of her - the public vs the private. But she did not seem to act much differently from one instance to the other in this series. Olivia could only work with the script she was given - so maybe the point of the season was for us to dislike her. But I don't know why the writers would have chosen that course. I would have much rather watched a Queen that showed different sides to her personality instead of the rather unpleasant one we saw in the show.

I agree that there are many moments in this season that make me dislike QEII. I don't know if it is how this third series is written, the actual stories, Olivia's acting or what. I don't exactly dislike her acting, but I don't think she has been given much actual emoting to do. She seems very dour most of the time and has the same unhappy serious look on her face. Except for the story involving the horses, she rarely ever smiles or has much of a change in her facial expressions. Once in a while as in the final scenes with Margaret, she seems to show some emotion. When I finished the final episode I felt overall that I did not like this series nearly as much as the first two. I think Phillip and Charles were very well cast and did a fantastic job. But Olivia - not so much. I don't feel her part was as well written as some of the others. Olivia probably did her best with what she was given. I was just not as pulled in by the stories and acting as I was before. I found myself looking more at the dresses, furnishings, scenery, etc. than the actors.

That last scene between the Queen and Charles was heart breaking to me. Charles was trying to show the country of Wales that he appreciated them and all they had gone through with his addition to the speech. I thought the Queen's response to him was horrible. She acted like she hated Wales and put Charles down so hard for saying positive things about Wales. They forced Charles to go to Wales to study against his wishes. But he went and learned the language quite well. A small thank you from his mother was certainly not too much to ask. I think that scene again shows that Elizabeth is Queen FIRST and a mother and member of a family second. I'm not even saying that that is wrong, maybe that is how it has to be when you are Queen. But it sure also shows how very hard it must be to be a child of the Queen when you come in second.

The feelings and actions of Margaret were indeed very interesting. When they were young girls, Elizabeth expressed her thought that she would not be able to take over as queen. Margaret said she would like to do so and inquired if she could. She was told in no uncertain terms that it was not possible for her to be queen. After Margaret's trip to America, she told the queen that she did not want any kind of reward for her efforts except for a more serious and involved role in monarchy events. Elizabeth looked rather stricken after Margaret's request and said she would have to think about it. After her talk with Phillip, she decided Margaret should not have a bigger role, but was so concerned about what that would do to her relationship as a sister to Margaret. Elizabeth knows that no matter what the personal/family consequences might be, her first and main duty is to be Queen and her family feelings come second. Pretty serious stuff and I understand a lot more about Margaret feeling like the vice-queen and having to play second fiddle all her life.

When the teacher was reviewing Hazel and Parker, she said that Hazel did not answer all the questions. But she felt that Hazel was kidding and fooling around and really did know the answers but just chose not to tell her. With Parker, she said something like she did not necessarily feel that she knew the answers. She was not as sure of the amount of knowledge that Parker had. She felt Parker might not be answering because she did not know the answer. I wonder how difficult it is to try to determine the ability of a child who just does not want to talk, participate or answer questions. I guess the teachers have to observe someone like Parker during the course of the day to see what her behavior is with others. Because if it all depends on a specific test and the child (for whatever reason) refuses to answer questions, how can the teacher know if the child has the knowledge and just won't speak or if the child does not know the correct answer. I agree with others who have said that Parker might have found out that she gets a lot of extra attention by NOT speaking up and just being quiet. I am sure it can be rough to get personal attention when you are one of 6 children. So maybe not answering questions is her way of having the light shine on her for a while.