Paloma

Great post! Keep 'em coming.

Good point, and it could be at least partly related to his having to deal with Phillip's attitude/actions regarding Martha. Also, in general, Gabriel has certainly noticed the changes in P & E attitude toward their assignments and their increased commitment to each other. It's almost like they have become rebellious teenagers (P more than E, of course), so maybe he's decided that he needs to become a stricter "father" to counteract that.

What convinced me that Stan's girlfriend is some kind of spy was how she went on about Pittsburgh after hearing that's where Phillip was from. It felt like she was trying to trip him up in a "do you know this person or place" way. But maybe I'm just paranoid because she is Laurie Holden.

No, it was "Ruslan" -- or something like that Yes, it was Ruslan--I recognized the name because it is the name of a driver we use when we go to Israel. He emigrated from Russia to Israel several years ago.

Maybe this is because of the long time between episodes, but I was confused seeing Jane being warm and friendly (and even open to dating) Dennis. Wasn't she really angry at him not so long ago because he was sneaking looks at stuff in her home related to Michael's case? I'm very fuzzy on the details but do remember her being really angry at Dennis and even hitting him.

People notice ski masks. People tend to not notice white couples who don't look like themselves. That's why they wear wigs. Even the couple Of pictures the FBI have of them don't look like them. They don't have to wear ski masks in the act of breaking in (since they seem to be able to do that unnoticed), but it would be good to wear them once inside so that if someone does come in unexpectedly they don't have to kill him/her.

It's a shame, but I think we're done with this show. My husband and I didn't start watching until the third season (binge-watched the first two on Netflix after reading the good reviews), and--despite not being the target demographic, since we are in our 60s--we were really into it because we like sci-fi with moral and ethical dilemmas. But everything has just gotten too much this season (and maybe part of last season)--the nonstop disasters and near-disasters, the one-note characterization of some characters and the misfires in making others more complex (Bellamy: "He's bad; no, he's good; no, he's bad; no, he's a hero"), the unbelievable survival skills of main characters (if the writers wanted to keep Octavia, for example, at least have her injured in a way that would not certainly kill anyone else), the unrealistic details (especially the clean and lovely hair and perfect makeup that the female characters maintain in most circumstances), etc. We've been sticking with it this season in hopes that it would get better after the Alli plot that went on too long, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

This is one of my biggest issues with the Paige storyline. Based on my experience raising a teenage daughter in the 1990s (which I don't think was that different from raising one in the 1980s), Paige's loyalty to her parents and lack of rebellion are hard to believe. Not that there weren't/aren't plenty of "good girl" teenagers, but most of them go through at least a short period of surly attitude if not outright refusal to accept parental rules. Paige has shown only the mildest version of this, and I would expect much more attitude/rebellion given what she has learned about her parents. OTOH, I don't want to watch another whiny, rebellious teenager. Really I just wish they would focus more on the adults rather than letting this show become primarily about Paige. I would even welcome more focus on Henry, because his absence is becoming ridiculous and it would be interesting to see how they dealt with him finding out their secret.

I didn't pick up on this at all but guess it makes sense--why else would they need to know this "technique"? But the discussion seemed so vague to me that, if I were Paige, I wouldn't understand why they were telling me this.

I agree with most of this but have to disagree with "Why is that not good enough for her?" Although in show terms Rebecca was not presented as having a big career before marriage that she had to give up when she had kids, singing was obviously an important part of who she was. I know many young people in the arts (through my daughter, who is a professional dancer), and for most of them dance, music, or other art form is an integral part of their identity--even if they don't make a lot of money at it. My daughter had a baby a few months ago (not necessarily planned, but still welcomed) and had to give up several performance gigs. It was very difficult at that point in her career, and she really struggles with the feeling of losing herself. She's trying to come back now but can't easily do the kind of travel and rehearsal/performance time that is required. It's also important to note that usually it is only the mother who has to make these major compromises when having a child (unless the father chooses to cut back his career or be the stay-at-home parent, which is pretty rare in any field). So I have sympathy for Rebecca because in this area, as in so many others in the show, she is seen as the less-perfect parent because she is not willing or able to be the perfect super-parent like Jack.

I completely get this. Still feeling guilty, 10 years later, about putting our 12-year-old dog with a heart condition (stable on meds, but still) in a kennel so we could go on vacation. Got a call from the kennel while we were at the airport waiting to board the plane home--she had died that morning. Even though I knew it was a good kennel and had a vet who lived on the premises, and even though the purpose of the vacation was to see our daughter in an important performance (she was and is a professional dancer), I still worried that our dog had felt abandoned.

Maybe at least part of the reason she is so much larger than her brothers at that age is her "perfect" father often feeds her junk as a treat while her mother tries to keep her on a healthier diet. Just another reason why I get annoyed with the depiction of Jack as a saint. (Guess I have a few lingering resentments from being seen as the strict parent rather than the fun parent.) However, it does seem like there is also a metabolism issue with that degree of obesity as an adult.

Just as important (to me) as where they went to the bathroom is what did they use for toilet paper? And what did the women do when they had periods? (Though I guess it is plausible that they stopped having them due to stress, etc.)

Just watched this last night and was really disturbed at how possible this scenario is in today's world. However, I have two questions: (1) Although everyone here seems to believe that Kenny was guilty of watching child porn, is it possible that "they" put that on his computer? Granted that pedophiles don't necessarily look or act a certain way, but I never got the impression that he was anything but a shy, awkward, decent kid--and his offering the child the toy just seemed part of that (I thought it was her toy that she accidentally left on the table). I can believe that a decent kid who was threatened with having everyone see a video of him masturbating (no matter to what) would go to desperate lengths--in real life, kids have committed suicide when sexting photos and videos got out. I'm not sure that Kenny was being singled out for worse punishment because of child porn--it seemed like they all had their lives ruined in various ways and that "they" were doing it just because they liked playing with people and ruining their lives, not out of any sense of morality. (2) What is the connection of the title to this episode? I know the Shut Up and Dance song and video but don't see the relevance.

This particularly spoke to me because earlier yesterday--the same day I watched this episode--I had posted a comment to a New York Times video on Facebook and was amazed to see that a few hours later I had received more than 500 likes (and as I write this comment on PTV it is up to 900 likes)! It definitely gave me an ego boost and, as I checked back periodically to see the numbers, felt like I was chasing a high. And yet I don't consider myself a big social media person and certainly not concerned about being trendy now that I am in my mid-60s. Facebook is the only social media I'm on and until recently I was not that active--mostly just maintained personal connections and expressed opinions about some political causes. But my husband thinks I'm addicted because it's hard for me to stay away from Facebook for a full day. I can absolutely see the world depicted in this episode coming about, at least to some degree.

numbnut, now that would make sense--though I'd still need an explanation for the scars and regaining her sight.

When she said "Homer?" at the end, it looked like she was in a white-tiled room, which made me think it was a mental institution--but I could be wrong about what it looked like, since I wasn't expecting the final scene and didn't look at it carefully. (I could rewatch it but don't have the patience.) If she was in another dimension after dying, I would have expected it to look more like the dark starry place where she had gone before with NDEs. I thought the ending (before that final "Homer?" scene) was well done and thought-provoking, but I was really frustrated by the lack of follow-up on looking for Hap and the captives. It didn't have to be either/or--they could have had both the metaphysical aspects and the real-world story. I would watch a second season if they promised to give answers to the real-world story (or to explain where she was and how she got the scars if Hap and the captives were not real).

Like AuntiePam, I am confused about who was supposed to be protecting whom when the kids were brought in after Hanna's murder. They seemed to be saying that Trey was protecting Daniel because Daniel was his friend, but if that was true then why did Trey as an adult try to make it look like Daniel killed George (who actually committed suicide)? Guess I just don't understand the relationships between Daniel, Trey, George, and the others either as teenagers or as adults.

Yes, I agree with this from personal experience. Probably sharing too much here, but it's relevant: I did not want to have kids (in part because of childhood experiences, in part because I was never drawn to babies or young children). But my husband really did, and I didn't want to disappoint him. We went to counseling and I eventually felt comfortable enough with the idea to get pregnant (though one child was enough for me--I don't know what I would have done if I had twins or triplets!). Although I loved and fiercely protected my daughter, I did not usually interact with her in the same way as my husband--he did most of the reading stories, playing, etc. As a result, he was the "fun" parent while I was the one who focused on getting things done. Also not incidentally, he worked long hours at a job outside the home, while I tried to work as a freelancer from home in the limited time that was not spent taking care of my daughter. So Rebecca's "detachment" makes perfect sense to me and does not (I hope) make her a bad mother.

Gobi, your explanation of "what really happened" is great--everything fits and makes more sense than most of the show. I am going with your version as the series finale.

While my husband was focused on the various outcomes for the people, I was focused mainly on whether the cat would be saved...and I let out a joyous shriek when the cat walked through the room. Overall, it was an interesting series with a somewhat satisfying ending, though still too many loose ends and unrealistic actions.

I thought that Elizabeth was justified in killing the guy to protect Paige, and that any parent would do the same if he or she had the training, but my husband strongly disagreed--he thought that she could have and should have just disarmed him so she and Paige could get away (since the other guy had already run away). Not sure if our differing views have anything to do with gender and women's greater fear of rape.

First-time poster here, and I'm hoping someone can answer a question about Matthew (sorry if it's been addressed in previous episode threads). I was under the impression from the first few times he was in the show that he is a couple of years older than Paige--maybe 18 (though he looks like he could be older). So it's unclear why he is even able to spend so much time at Stan's during the school year. Shouldn't he be in college? Or if still in high school, do his parents live close enough together that he can split time between them and still go to the same school?