Nutjob

When the guest judge is the highlight of the episode (I love Dmitry so much!), you know it's bad. I also didn't watch UtG, and thought Sam was insufferable this entire episode. He interjects to hear the sound of his own voice, and isn't 1/3 as smart as he thinks he is. I hope he goes quickly. That is, if I can stand sitting through Ken, Mitchell, and Alexander long enough to keep watching.

I definitely thought GA knocked this one out of the park. The scene where she was sitting in the car waiting for Mulder, who was in the paint store--her face perfectly conveyed that empty feeling you have when you lose a loved one. When my dad died a few years ago, I remember sitting at work having that feeling... you're just numb, trying to process what just happened. I'm honestly surprised this arc of episodes has been so focused on William, especially since I recall that not being a favorite story line of many fans. Since I'm a mom now, it doesn't bother me like it did in the original run, but I can see why a lot of people wouldn't want them to spend this much time on it. I do hope they resolve it or go somewhere worthwhile with it, though.

I took the quiz and it gave me Modesto, Fresno and Santa Rosa in California. Not bad, since I grew up in Vacaville and my family is mostly from Stockton. Add me to the list of folks who say there is definitely a California accent. Some people have it stronger than others, just like with any accent anywhere, but it exists... like I said in the main thread, listen to Gwen Stefani speak if you want to hear a representative version of a pretty strong California accent. I know I have a bit of it, and it gets stronger if I'm worked up about something. My hubby, who is a NYer from Long Island, noticed it the moment we met and commented on it.

There is definitely an L.A. accent--if you listen to someone who grew up there like Gwen Stefani (I know Gwen is from O.C., but it's pretty much the same) or Slash speak, you can hear it. It kind of has that "valley girl" sound to it, but in a less extreme way without all the affected slang. We have a lesser version of it in Northern California, and when I'm worked up about something it comes out stronger. Marjorie definitely slid down on my list tonight with her dismissive attitude toward Isaac. I get that she thinks he's a lesser chef, and maybe he is, but she definitely got her Heather Chandler face on during that brainstorming session. It was unnecessarily rude, IMO. Jeremy slid down on my list, too, for how rude he was to the serving staff and his screw up with the judges table. It was just poor form in general. Does Padma usually wear that much cleavage out to a normal lunch IRL? Because that was AGGRESSIVE. Chad's terrine looked disgusting. I mean, maybe a terrine is usually a tasty thing, but that looked moldy and grey and just... gross.

Most of those makeups were scarier than any of the monsters the contestants have made this year. Ugh. I think Robert and Rob were the top two simply because theirs were the only ones that didn't have any horrible edges and didn't look completely like wax figures, but they still weren't fantastic.

I was absolutely steeped in this trial when it happened--I was right in the middle of my college days, and lived for stuff like this, so I still remember many of the details. That said, I don't know if I'll continue watching, just because I was so infuriated by the verdict. Seeing the staged, reenacted crime scene and hearing the reminders of the abuse Nicole endured at OJ's hands brought all the frustration back. You can also count me in as thinking CGJ is not believable in this role--he's just too small, and his voice too thin. OJ has a very authoritative presence, size and voice that CGJ just doesn't have. It took me out of several moments during the episode.

Mr. Nutjob and I always disagree on these types of X-Files episodes--I love them, he hates them. He prefers the serious, spooky, scary stuff, whereas I love when they break it up with humor, so I felt this one fit right into classic XF. I loved how Mulder kept trying to get Guy to admit to killing people, and he never really did--he was an innocent, bug-eating lizard man all along. Ha!

I wanted to smack Padma... she was behaving like a drunk teenager at the table. Awful. Other than that, I don't have much to say about this episode other than I was pretty bored with it, and now assume Marjorie is winning this thing.

Well, Trump always had his kids as advisers in the later seasons, so I guess we're having some consistency! I live for the thought of Arnold yelling at Tyra, you guys. Live. For. It. Or maybe him yelling at Vince Neil. This has so much potential!

Did they really give these cheftestants pre-made teriyaki sauce? All they did was cook a protein and saute some veggies...I can make my own teriyaki sauce at home. Do I get to be Top Chef?

It's supposed to be "ice cream entrepreneur." The guy founded Three Twins organic ice cream.

I'm doing a rewatch of season 1. Interestingly, in episode 6, there's a scene where Lester's brother confronts him about being a suspect in the murders. Lester starts getting flustered, going on about how he's the victim here and what not, and Chaz abruptly cuts him off with, "People are dead, Lester!" Almost exactly like in Lou and Peggy's exchange.

Yes to all of this! It was instant love the minute he opened his mouth. Johnny, on the other hand, is tap dancing all over the douchbag line, and should probably shut it pretty soon. Dude, stop complaining about your partner and do something constructive!

Also? Mulder singing the theme from "Shaft," which is THE BEST.

Yeah, I started to go down the path of indignation when I heard they gave Gaga the award instead of Kiki, then I reminded myself that the GG's awards are pretty much drunk in every way. I gave up on this season of AHS after the first episode, so I can't speak for the entire season, but Gaga was essentially a very beautifully adorned, bloody piece of wood in the first episode.

Ah, I remember that one. Took one look at Russell and said 'Oh, man, he lost, and he knows he lost'. It was as milk and honey to me, nourishing to my soul. HvV, too. He knew he didn't get a single vote, and when Sandra--whom he was so sure he could beat during the game that he made her his goat--smoked him, I laughed and laughed and laughed. Because I love Sandra, and she almost single-handedly dismantled his game by using his own tactics against him. I distinctly remember Parvati having to separate the two of them at one point during the reunion. It was also the one where Russell made the brilliant argument that he lost because there is a flaw in the game. A FLAW, I tell you! Good times.

IMO, Kini's the front runner in this group. I just hope Stella gets to make something with some leathah.

Here's the list, via EW. Ken and Alexander. Ugh. People from Under the Gunn? WHA? But Daniel Franco! For some reason, that tickles me something fierce.

Swirly Guy! HA!

She wasn't forced--in fact, Lou told her and Ed exactly how to get out of the sting, and she dismissed him immediately and went along with it. IMO, she considered it another part of the "adventure."

Thinking about this episode more today, what I find interesting is that it was Ed, not Peggy, who realized that she'd never be happy if they stayed married. Yes, he said it from his own selfish perspective, but he was cutting her loose if he lived so that she could go off and do whatever it was that would make her happy--he liked his life the way it was, and now it was completely ruined. If anything, in that moment, Ed was the one who was fully actualized, not Peggy.

I'm pretty sure that was Patrick Wilson.

She pissed him off because she constantly compared him to his more successful brother and told him what a complete failure he was as a man. If Peggy was a victim, so was Lester, with Malvo acting as his Constance, urging him to "actualize." And that's all I'm going to say on this matter--we are just not going to agree, and I'm OK with that. Would Mike's new job be the mob equivalent of middle management? I mean, he didn't even get to have henchmen anymore. All that, and not even a Kitchen Brother at his disposal.

That's not true at all. Both Lester and Jerry were routinely emasculated by their wife and father in law, respectively, and felt like they had to assert themselves to be the "man of the house" society wanted them to be. Lester, in particular, had extremely gendered motivations for his actions--he killed the man who bullied him for being a wimp, killed his harpying, emasculating wife, and later on challenged Malvo because he finally felt like the manly man he always was made to feel he wasn't. To say Lester wasn't motivated by expectations for his gender is ignoring his motivations for pretty much everything he did. Also, in 1979 women were just largely finding their voice independent of men, hence the heavy emphasis on communication. Floyd and Simone both made the mistake of allowing men to play and use them instead of being the true independent women they could and should have been--to me, that's about as non-sexist of a message as you can get. Floyd could have defeated KC, but her maternal instincts betrayed her and her loyalty to her very flawed sons were her undoing. Simone could have put herself in line to take over one day, but she let her hatred for Dodd cloud her judgment and allow herself to get used by Mike. Their trust in men instead of themselves were Floyd and Simone's undoing. Now, Peggy? She's a different story altogether. Peggy is mentally ill and in clear need of psychiatric help, which may not have been taken as seriously in 1979 as it would be now. Regardless of her struggles to shed her wife/mother restraints, it doesn't excuse the chaos she caused. The minute she thought to convince Ed to cover up Rye's death is the moment her justifications went out the window, in my opinion. And yes, people died because of her, and a lot of them--her husband included. I didn't find it sexist at all for Lou to cut her off in a moment of frustration, particularly since I believe most of his talk about protecting his family was overcompensation for the fact that he knows Betsy is dying, and there isn't a blasted thing he can to do protect her or stop it from coming. He tried to protect Ed and Peggy, too, and they wouldn't let him.

It might not to you, but the episode went to painstaking detail to show us the fate of every member of the Gerhardt clan we've met except Charlie. We even know exactly how Hanzee meets his end. Perhaps those of us who stick around for season 3 will see Charlie again.