annewithaneee

Bobby is the ongoing lesson in toxic masculinity that none of us asked for or needed. It's rich that he thinks Hannah is warning girls away from him because she wants him all to herself; she's giving the other women a head's up because she knows he's a Lifetime movie waiting to happen. Out of the three captains we've seen, I think Sandy I would most like to actually hang out with, and probably work for. I mean yeah, she's a task master and probably a micromanager (a little too early to tell as this crew is brand new to her and she should be closely monitoring and testing them right now), but I like that she's not above getting her own hands dirty to help the deckhands and the interior, and she has a pleasant vibe about her. But I'm not sure she works for this show, time will tell. Still heads and shoulders above the guy from last season whose name I've forgotten.

Count me in as yet another Chris Pine apathetic who he won over last night. It even made me forgive him for "winning" in the terrible (but so much fun to watch with way too much wine) This is War. I mean, over Tom Hardy??!?! Who would ever pick his super-generic ass? Anyway, yeah, loved him in this.

@JakeyJokes -- Good point. Racking my brain, while I'm sure it has come up for other queens other than Trinity K Bonet, it was her critiques that came up in multiple challenges that made me think it was something they kept doing it to multiple queens. And Nina's delivery did suck all the way around, and she is defensive in an off-putting way. However, that "we were scared!!!" reaction really pissed me off. Like, show, maybe be a little more self-aware of the picture you're painting here.

I get that if someone's performing poorly in the challenge, and it does have to do with delivering dialogue, you can't (or at least shouldn't) edit it into another story line entirely. But I'm getting really sick and tired of black queens getting called out for not enunciating. I think it was the Jennie and Tori repeating a billion times that they were scared of an angry Nina that really pushed it over the line. They absolutely could have at the very least kept that as a one-off comment and left the reiterations on the cutting room floor. I'm so impressed with Trinity! Based on the intro videos I thought she'd be an early out; I certainly didn't see her being so naturally funny, both in challenges and in talking heads. I really want her and Shea to make it to the finale.

Well, I'm glad the specter of November 8 is no longer hanging over this season and we're done with it. It was maddening, though. I don't pay attention to social media in the off-season -- do we know how anyone else voted? Carole and Dorinda were Team Hillary of course, and Ramona I could either see as a third party or Trump voter, but I got no idea of where the rest of them stood really, and that pissed me off. Bethenny especially. It's not a good look to seem so bemused by the high anxiety in the room, like she couldn't even bother to mask that she's too rich and too white to really have a dog in this fight. Blergh. While I haven't loved Carole's smug election storyline, watching her tearful phone call to her mom the next morning really hit me in the gut. I spent at least two weeks after the election - which I believe would cover Ramona's party, as she's an 11/17 baby - in a depressive haze, physically struggling to get through a workday. Pretty sure I would've completely lost my shit had I needed to film a reality show during that time.

I don't really 'get' Jimmy as a comedian or a host, and this won't change that, but this monologue really endeared him to me on a human level. It is so touching, and so impressive, that he thanked that many people by name. It's usually such a frenzied, scary blur when you're going through medical crises and surgery that it's hard to latch onto the little details, the medical terminology and the names of the many nurses rotating in and out of the room. It's very sweet that he remembered and acknowledged the entire team, and used his spotlight to not only underscore the importance of NIH and ACA, but to drive people to donate to the hospital who saved his son's life. What a mensch.

I thought this Snatch Game was pretty weak, though at the same time it exceeded my expectations? I was very worried it might be full-on unwatchable, and instead it was passable. I think casting could/should do a better job at loading up at least a few solid impersonator queens in the chamber. I doubt Jaymes, Eureka, or Charlie would have really shone either despite being more comedic. It's been gradually downhill since Season Six for me, and I think casting is partially to blame for that. Peppermint though....damn! With her challenge performances ranging from safe to lukewarm so far, I'm super excited to see some more LSFYLs out of her. For some queens (like Alyssa), that's their way of leaving a lasting mark. I'm really hoping that soon we'll see fierceness on both sides of the battle. Farrah and Sasha seems like they both might be low energy (I've loved Sasha's stuff on YouTube, but it's more performance art, so who knows how she'll adapt to the show), but other than that the remaining girls should all be able to bring it. ETA: I was pretty underwhelmed with Nina's Jasmine! I was really hoping for a riff on "Rupaul's Drag Race done fucked up drag", or at least a very satisfying "PANTIES, BITCH!". In her case I think a past contestant was really the best choice, but it fell a bit flat.

All of what you said is very well-put. This happened a bit in Season 6 too, where DeLa and Adore had a brief serious-music interlude about struggling with weight and body image that excluded Darienne. It did seem in last week's episode that Eureka was going to maybe admit to her own struggles, or it could have just been defensiveness (pointing out that anoxeria isn't the only type of ED), and it would've been nice to see the girls reach out to her rather than just accepting her apology. Given that this group seems to be ultra aware and emotionally intelligent, I wouldn't be surprised if they did talk about it and it didn't make the edit.

While a knee injury is bad news in any scenario, and I'm guessing even after surgery and rehab this will make lip syncing and dancing in heels for a living more difficult, this arc bodes well for Eureka should she return. She already got a few moments of redemption for her irritating behavior, and she'll likely come back with a better understanding of how to play the game and some new looks (and please god, different wigs). Anyone else confused as to why North West was apparently classified as a white girl part? And while it would be maybe risky/problematic, it was a real missed opportunity to not have someone play Caitlyn. If any show should throw a little shade at her, it's Drag Race. Sharon Needles proved that shit could be hilarious on the BoTS tour. Plus from a storytelling perspective it would've been a good opportunity to hear from Peppermint (not that she should've played Cait, but it would've made for a nice prepping-in-the-mirror moment). I really loved the girls opening up about ED and body image struggles. After having the worship of jaw-droppingly modelesque thin bodies in seasons seven and eight, I thought this was a much-needed counterbalance. I'm not saying that Violet and Naomi have or glorify eating disorders, but similar to the praise heaped on supermodel waifs it just made me feel a little weird, and it was nice to acknowledge that it's not just cis women who feel this pressure to have a 'perfect' body, like that's even a thing. Also, now that Eureka's gone I'm hoping we'll never have to hear Trinity declare "I call shade" again. I get it, 'shade' has gone fully mainstream and is misused all the time now, but girl you're a drag queen! Dorian Corey would be disappointed.

I really hope Carole's talking heads are going to move locations at some point. Those stairs make my stomach clench just to look at! I mean, from a decor perspective I guess they're interesting and modern and shit, but they're so unsafe-seeming! Those kittens and little dog could fall so easily, and these ladies are too big of lushes to have such a clear hazard in their homes. The Bethenny-Ramona fight was not a fun one. Ramona just pulled that out of her ass to be as provocative as possible and it wasn't organic, and since Bethenny kept her cool they had to repeatedly insist that she could 'dish it out but not take it'. She did take it! She listened to that bullshit for several minutes longer than I would have, had some moments of self-deprecation. Ramona didn't even really have a point so it's not like there was much for Bethenny to agree or disagree with. Dorinda was irritating me in her confessionals. At one moment, she's being snide about how artless and rude Ramona was with bringing up the soft core vid. Then, Bethenny's being unreasonable and showing her 'cracks'. She just wants to be the one narrating on-screen with a shit-eating grin and pithy commentary, she doesn't actually have a consistent POV on the situation.

Cameran might be committed to living child-free (and more power to her), but her "shouting shrilly into a phone that's on speaker, offering opinions on someone's romantic life they did not ask for" is classic mom behavior. Watching her pulls me back to my fourteen year old 'mooooom, staaaaahp' years. I feel like in a lot of ways this show is doing Kathryn dirty, but I had to snicker when she decided that modeling was a good move for someone struggling with coke addiction.

So now it's Charlie and Eureka who have said they suffered non-trivial injuries from the cheerleading challenge, but there's yet to be any mention of it on the show. If true (and I see no reason to doubt them), WoW seems very shady and unprofessional to me. Why not air the queens discussing their injuries? Did they even get to see a doctor or medic? To omit it from the narrative entirely seems hella suspicious. Anyway, even more reason to cut it out with the physical challenges. The other is that it makes no sense! They didn't even have any real judging criteria for that shitshow. The only time athleticism should factor in, at best, is a LSFYL. As much as I would love an American Gladiators challenge (The names! The personas! The custom leotards!), they need to knock it off while they're still un-sued.

Watching Untucked, I really do feel for Aja. I think she's going through the same thing as Katya and Roxxxy did in their original seasons, anxiety and insecurity manifesting itself into a full-on psych out. At least she had the intelligence and humility to apologize to Valentina and admit she was just taking it out on her. It also sucks that she's taking on so much hate from the fandom about her looks. She had the especially bad luck to be on the first season shot in HD. It shouldn't really matter if she's a hot dude or if her skin is baby smooth. After her comments in Untucked, it seems like because she knew she couldn't pull off the chapstick and mascara beauty makeup look (like Courtney Act and Farrah), she needed to go the Trixie Mattell/Kim Chi route. But she's not really there -- her makeup is not polished, especially in HD. But what can she do, really? In the middle of the show isn't a good time to try and drastically elevate your look (Derrick). Hopefully she'll sort her shit out and improve after the show. It's admittedly tough to judge by her Instagram because she's been airbrushed to fuck and back, but I do much prefer when she does a muted nude lip (really softens the exaggerated overlining) and a bold eye with gorgeous bottom lashes. She's got beautiful eyes, with or without the blue contacts, and making that the statement will probably help. Also, I'd love to see Miss Fame do her thing and see what she looks like when she's not doing a full Kylie Jenner aesthetic (which I reeeeeally hate anyway, even on someone like Naomi Smalls).

Oh, and can we talk about how fantastic this year's drag name bit is? The Nina Bonina hyphenates are just the best. Nina Bonina Rodham Clinton! Can't wait for Nina Bonina Bonham Carter, and Nina Bonina Gordon-Levitt! It might supplant "may I call you Jiggly?" as my all-time favorite.

Each episode keeps getting better and better for me, but we should not be getting this close to Snatch Game time without having seen even one satisfying, competitive LSFYL! Trinity danced her silicon off, but Charlie was pulling focus by literally doing nothing, and to me that sinks the entire thing -- never going to re-watch it on YouTube that's for sure. I guess if there's one thing to recommend Charlie's performance, it's that she gave us present-day Britney realness, mood-stabilized and dance-shy. On the whole, I think Charlie was spared by going this soon; I don't think she would have been any good at Snatch Game, and as a celebrity impersonator queen, that could have fucked up her bookings. From seeing her shtick on the Celebrity Big Brother UK after-show (....I need hobbies), she could do the look but had literally no interesting or funny banter, and that was in pre-taped segments. There was no way after seeing her in this challenge that she could pull off the off-the-cuff wit and shenanigans that Snatch Game requires. And also, what a fucking cop out to say she neeeever lipsynchs because she's a live singer. Girl! That's even more pathetic than saying you've never sewn before. The second she got that call that she was on the show and had the thought "oh well if I end up in the bottom two I'm going home", get some goddamn gigs and start incorporating lip syncing in your shows to get some practice in! Like, how hard is that?? The edit on this is still feeling off, like maybe there's an entirely new team and they haven't seen the early seasons. Not only are we not getting the queen's reading the eliminated girl's mirror message, they're not even showing it in full for us to see! Also, unless I completely blacked out, we didn't get runway walks??? I still have money on Eureka full-on Laganja-ing herself before the season's done. Also in her fight with Sasha, I was basically team no one. They were both being humorless. I mean, Eureaka's "eating disorder?" wasn't funny, but Sasha stepping right over Valentina who was in the midst of a health revelation - what's her disorder??? - to insist on taking it so personally wasn't a great look either. It's drag. Jokes like that, even when unfunny and oddly timed, aren't pearl-clutching taboos. And then Eureka got obnoxiously defensive, and it was just deeply annoying all the way around. ETA: Reading Mark's fantastic as always recap, they did show the runway, but I guess fast enough that I completely missed it.

Oh, thanks for pointing that out. Then I'm reeeeeally confused as to what he could be talking about in a pre-season interview. If he'd never even seen Zeke before, how could he have picked up on something? I never pay much attention to pre-season coverage, but I'm assuming the cast is kept relatively segregated before the game really begins. It still just utterly blows my mind that he did that, if what he's saying is true. It feels pretty damn transphobic and idiotic to be so sure that you'd clocked Zeke that you could just ask "why haven't you told them you're transgender?" like it's absolute fact.

I will completely check this out, but this lowered my expectations a little. I too loved the movie, but this looks a lot more like a remake than an expansion of the story/universe.

Jesus H! Any tiny shred of goodwill I had for Varner - in that he'd completely shit the bed in a moment of pure stupidity and ignorance and it'll have far-reaching implications for him - just evaporated. Poof! I'm guessing what he's alluding to is, if I remember right from last season in his brief moments of shirtlessness, that he has scars on his chest, possibly from top surgery. To take that nosy, inappropriate hunch, and do what he did at tribal? Even worse. Not 100% sure and just barreled ahead?! But I kinda don't buy that answer at all. I think he's just trying to spin this any way he can, because there's really only two realistic options for how he knew that Zeke is trans -- either Zeke confided in him and Varner betrayed his trust, or Varner was paying close attention to the Survivor fandom last year and saw all the discussion and speculation about Zeke including his physical appearance and scars (and later the almost for-sure confirmation that Zeke is indeed trans via some writing he did in college). I think it's the latter; he did his research and he knew, and he most likely also knew and understood from reading those discussions that Zeke wasn't publicly out. Either way, it's unforgivable. He either outed Zeke completely carelessly, or very intentionally.

Based off of her (weak) tagline and her talking points this week, I'm thinking Tinsley might fall into the same trap Jules did. I don't need to be reminded every scene that she's been arrested and has a mugshot. Not as grating yet as Jules turning literally everything into a reminder of her being both Jewish and Asian, but still. I also find the way she's being introduced a little contrived and also repetitive. We just had Sonja boarding a divorcee who was in housing transition. I'd much rather be introduced to Tinsley from inside her own actual life, even if it meant shipping the crew off to another state to film her in whatever house it is she's moving from. I need to know how she decorates, and if she has anything insane (and kinda amazing) like Kelly's life-size horse statue in her living room! I always find New Housewife intros really awkward and flat when it's inviting the new cast member over, or to an event, or at a boring ass lunch. Put us at Tinsley's house with Sonja coming over.

On a non-Varner note, the pizza reward reminded me that I never understand why people get so fucking hyped for the food rewards. Monica Culpepper, I think, had the right response by avoiding them and giving them up whenever possible. As much as it must be a massive comfort when you're hungry all the time, I can't help but think after pigging out on one of those rewards I'd never do it again. Greasy sodium-and-lactose bombs after two weeks of near-fasting, topped with sugary soda? I don't think the comfort and the full belly would at all be worth the indigestion, dehydration and headaches that are sure to follow. A merge feast is one thing, those are usually really filling nutritious meals, but I don't think I'd risk making myself sick right before an immunity challenge, no matter how much I love pizza. That shit has to really shock your system....whenever I go on weeks-long clean eating streaks, fast food is downright traumatic for me.

@LadyChatts thanks for sharing that tweet. The cynic in me says dude consulted with some PR people to craft that apology, and in all honesty he probably did. But that's the right way to apologize for the deeply fucked up thing that he did, vs how he reacted in the moment. Not sorry if he offended Zeke and his loved ones, sorry that he offended, explaining why what he did was so awful, checking his privilege, and saying he'll try to do better in the future. I think airing what actually happened was important culturally. I'm hoping we'll hear more from Zeke about production asking his permission to air this so we know the show did what they could to avoid exploiting him for some buzz.

My god, I need to pick my jaw up off the floor. I....in some ways, I feel sorry for Varner. Outing someone is such a violation, especially on national television, probably as close as you can get to violence without putting physical hands on a person. And that was a fucking despicable thing to do, and the way Varner couldn't simply turn to face Zeke, or Jeff, or anyone other than gazing out towards the cameras made me feel sick, though I suppose that could have been him being in complete shock as it set in that he'd basically assassinated his own character as well as badly hurting someone. But I guess I pity him for fucking up so badly. Someone like Brandon Hantz has probably said and done worse things on this show, but Varner's an intelligent guy who is mentally stable, and he's basically never living that one down. Color me shocked that Jeff handled the whole situation with grace. I'm not a fan of his and probably never will be, but as a host he does seem to repeatedly come through in the clutch, like when he helped organize the medic clusterfuck in Tai's first season where several people simultaneously collapsed. And he did the right thing by asking questions and not rushing Zeke to make a statement before he was ready. It was also right, similar to Brandon Hantz's complete meltdown, to dispense with the formalities of the show and the voting process. Having them all sit there quietly while the votes were filmed (a process I'm assuming takes a fairly long time, at least longer than what is aired) and read would have been excruciatingly awkward for all involved. I knew via the Survivor subreddit from last season that Zeke was trans, and I'm guessing that's how some others knew too (was that also how Varner knew, or did I miss Zeke confiding in him at some point?) prior to the outing. And even giving Varner a tiny sliver of mercy as he was clearly melting down and trying to undig his grave, it really grossed me out that he kept reiterating that he had some trans friends who could vouch for him not being a transphobe and/or monster. If he really was a dedicated friend and advocate for the community, he'd understand and respect the concept of being stealth. I think Zeke articulated it beautifully, but Varner should've known that not all transmen and transwomen are 'out and loud and proud' about their status, for a variety of very legitimate and understandable reasons. Zeke's a man, let him be a man. Not openly self-identifying as trans, whether that be a Survivor strategy or how he's been living his life off-camera as well, is his own goddamn business and I'm sure Varner's friends would echo that.

So it's no longer Roam? What a waste of all that free marketing she did on the episode tonight! That site is a whole lot of "what???". First of all, yeah, why let the domain you knew you'd be plugging on the show die to buy a new one with a name that makes even less sense? And though I'm loathe to give her any clicks, the living site is ugly and devoid of any effort at all. I don't even...understand why it exists? Most reality "stars" who would bother making a lifestyle blog (which this appears to be, with a half-assed travel focus) would whore themselves out for brand deals. The "Spring Beauty Essentials" slideshow has like two sentences of the most generic copy per slide, each of which is an uncredited stock photo of some sort, and links to a beauty product that doesn't even appear to be an affiliate link. She really is the worst, she can't even be basic correctly.

After watching all of the previous seasons, I have no plans to continue watching this week to week, because there's a lot that genuinely troubles me about this show but not in an entertaining, Crazy Island way. The Kathryn stuff, and Thomas's presence in general, continue to be really dark and depressing but the show overall is so boring. I think I'm figuring out what's been bugging me about the show entertainment-wise: the participation is so uneven. It's like a southern Vanderpump Rules, except 80% of the cast are Sandoval and Ariana -- shit-talkers who think they're above it all and are, compared to the rest of the cast, guarded and overly conscious of how they'll come across. It doesn't make for remotely interesting television! Cameran, Shep, and Whitney have spent at least two seasons now having no real storyline other than having scenes looking down their noses at their other castmates who are allowing the cameras in. They either have incredibly boring inner lives, or can't/won't show any of it. They're not pulling their weight; on any Housewives show they'd be "friends of" at best, but here they're the main cast and are likely to stick around for the show's entire duration. Also, we completely lack a competent Greek chorus, which I feel like is essential for these kinds of shows. I mean, Cameran does it a little, but no one has ever satisfyingly called Thomas out for being a drunken fucking creeper. Instead, he gets fawned over for being a father to his kids, and no one makes a single snarky comment about said children being raised in the guest house by live-in help. The editors are doing all the legwork on that, with musical cues -- we need someone actually speaking to the audience about these things. Maybe it's the downside of having a cast made up of both men and women; the women seem to crave the guys' approval and won't make waves with them as much as humanly possible. It's gross, and super boring.

I'm pretty sure it was saying everyone thinks they are a keyboard hero. You have to do more than share and article or retweet 'RESIST' to make a difference. Doubt it had anything to do with him being white. I think it was pretty pointedly about Scott being a white man, in that the people singing and dedicating the song to Scott (giving him a pat on the back for giving the barest of minimal efforts) were women and POC. IMO it was both skewering social media only activism and oblivious white male progressives. I thought it was pretty funny, and a nice change of pace to see the dudes getting a hard time since white lady progressives have been receiving a lot of comedic kicks in the asses (deservedly so, to be clear) both during and after the election.