domina89

Don't forget Santa Barbara... one of my all time favs! I would be willing to pay $$$ for a soap opera streaming service if I could rewatch some of those classic soaps. These networks are crazy to not take advantage of the years and years of footage they already have and make money with it. I'm sure they would have to pay the actors residuals, but even so, it could potentially be a gold mine.

I feel like that is definitely the natural resolution to Murphy's story, even though I don't like the idea of it. He's the Theon Greyjoy of this series...

See if this was the 80's, they would have written all of this into the actual story itself to make it interesting, instead of just talking about it in a ugly hotel room. We would have had Steve and Kayla on their way to reconnect at Lake Louise, only to have the plane crash in the middle of nowhere and then at least one of them would have been wounded so ANGST, and then they would almost die from a bear attack so more ANGST, and then they would end up finding this lovely hot springs... oh wait.... 😉 Seriously though... we need some action on this show. I'm tired of watching people talking constantly.

I understand why you see it that way, but I think it's believable to realize that some of these characters are emotionally immature and would still possibly act this way. Not everyone "grows up" just because they age. Steve Johnson is a good example of this. He has been using the same playbook for 30+ years now. Steve is crippled by his insecurity and, yes, one would think he would be confident that Kayla loves him by now, but those childhood traumas don't just go away over time. He did this exact same thing to her when he pushed her to marry Jack (and we all know how that turned out) and was prepared to do it all over again even though he KNEW it was a super bad idea - all because he always thinks Kayla is better off with someone else and tries to make those decisions for her. It's infuriating but realistic. I think we all know someone like Steve and there are usually good people like Kayla who love them despite their flaws. Luckily in this case, Justin had enough foresight to see where the road was leading and bowed out gracefully.

Well Jack and Jennifer have always been nosy, which is why being reporters was a perfect career choice for both of them. I kind of like them being the town busybodies and being all gossipy together. It suits them and Matt and Missy are very entertaining when given lighter, more comedic, material to work with. And I agree with everyone else singing Wally Kurth's praises today. Amazing, heartfelt performance. Episodes like today's with all the vets bringing their A game reminds me why I fell in love with this show 36 years ago. Well done!

That would pretty much wipe out the Horton family... Lucas and Sarah are still around, but yeesh! I haven't heard any rumors about Missy leaving, but it wouldn't surprise me. Both her kids are expecting children this year and I could see her leaving in order to spend more time with them.

I agree! Every single sci-fi show and movie that has ever existed has a "key to everything" or a "star-child" or a "chosen one." So tired of that trope! It's a way to manufacture drama when the writers can't find a way to explain why a character exists or hasn't been killed off even though they should have died like 50x over. Boring. This series has kind of done it twice now because Madi is a chosen one, too. I am assuming Clarke is "the key" because of her interaction with ALIE/Becca in season 4. I think all this will tie back into that subplot because of Bill/Second Dawn. I just hope it all makes some kind of sense when the finale comes.

It will be something new for Jack, too, because his close friends in the past have mostly all been women. He has never had a close male friendship in my memory (I'm not counting his frenemy relationship with Steve). I guess you can consider Vern a friend but since Jack roped him into his schemes mostly against his will, I'm not sure that counts. 🙂

That makes sense. I guess what puzzled me was when Jamie says to Bree and Roger they "think" the Browns took her. I wish it had been worded slightly different to make that clearer to the viewer.

I actually really liked the episode. While I don't enjoy seeing any of my favorites traumatized, I thought it was well done and Caitriona's performance was Emmy worthy. I love how much Ian has grown as a person. He didn't bat an eye or even hesitate at all when Jaime told him to kill Claire's attackers. He is very far removed from the young scared boy we saw in season three. He hasn't lost his humanity, though, which makes me like him even more. I adore Marsali and every scene she is in. She and Ian have really been a welcome addition to this season. Loved the disassociation scenes. It was a very interesting way to incorporate so much of the history of the show (the orange, the dragonfly, the vase, etc.) while also giving us a glimpse of what could have been in another existence. And I welcome any scene that shows me a happy Murtagh! I liked the themes of "home" or "what is home?" sprinkled throughout the episode. That's been a core idea this entire season, actually. I did have a few nitpicks: - How did Jamie and the others know the Browns definitely had Claire before they started killing everyone? We only see it from Claire's perspective, but it seems they find her rather late in the massacre. That would have been a big WHOOPS if they hadn't had her after all. -Just how long does that fiery cross burn? Roger and Bree would have been traveling at least a couple weeks in order to arrive right on time. The editing made it seem like the stones were just on the next hill over. Obviously they were already on their way back when Claire was taken, but the timing of all of it just seemed odd. I don't think they had sex. I think the skin contact was a comfort to Claire and also a way they could show the damage done all over to her body. You can clearly see the extent of the beating she took with all the bruising.

I haven't seen anyone mention that Germain was playing with a toy dragonfly in the 60's sequence. I thought that was a nice callback, too.

What a fabulous episode! Well done, Diana! It did leave me with a huge sense of foreboding when it comes to poor Claire, though. 😨 I'm again reminded that it is a shame they didn't chem test Sophie Skelton and David Berry prior to assigning them their roles. Their chemistry is tangible and much greater than anything she has with Richard Rankin. It's not his fault, of course- these things are unpredicatable. John Bell continues to impress! Can't wait to find out more about Ian's sad past.

I agree. As someone upthread mentioned, I equate silent movies with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton... basically comedies. That scene was critical to our understanding Roger's frame of mind and the silent movie treatment just took me right out of the scene and I had a hard time getting past it. It just felt very gimmicky to me- like they were trying too hard to be clever. I'm glad most of you enjoyed it, though. I will agree that both Richard Rankin and John Bell knocked it out of the park!

Stephen, Mary Beth and Matt Ashford are gold together. I miss the days of great dialogue, emotional storylines and scenes that lasted longer than 2 minutes. Sigh.

I actually think Deimos had a lot of potential (and a terrific actor to play him), but the show just wasted it. So does anyone know if Stefano knows Hattie exists? I can see some hijinks coming up if he mistakes her for Marlena at some point (and I am just speculating- haven't read spoilers).

Did EJ get disowned or something? 😉

Yes and that didn't go well at all... 😕

They weren't living in actual peace, but the world the Primes created was the perception of a peaceful society.

It reminded me of The X-Files because, similar to that series, it's the idea that those in power think that people "believing the lie" of their situation is better than if they know the truth. And similarly, Russell and the Primes (like CSM on TXF) like to play God and make those decisions for the people instead of allowing them to make decisions for themselves. Jordan was correct in that they were living in peace, but they were also living in ignorance and having their choices made for them- so which is better? There were hits and misses this season, but I do like some of the overall ethical questions they put out there.

I think it's kinda cool that the primes wear jewelry on their foreheads and Gabriel, who resists being a prime but is one anyway, has a tuft of gray hair near the same area. It's like he's marked as a prime regardless of how he rebels against it. I'd like to add my thanks to @TARYN74 and @QUARKS as well. The Murphy/Emori thing was making me crazy trying to sort it out.

I wonder if they fixed it back up and left it that way. That mall could make a fortune just charging admission to tour the dead wing! Can you imagine renting it for an 80's party? So much fun!

Maybe that was thrown in to illustrate how very little Steve actually knows about Robin or noticed her in school if she graduated with him but he hasn't even realized it.

Why did pod-Billy even go back to his lifeguard job in the first place? I can't imagine the Mind Flayer being more worried about Billy's job status than the pain the sun can inflict on him through his minions.

So the 80's movie references and homages were plentiful this season. Day of the Dead, Jurassic Park (not really 80's but close enough), Terminator, Rambo, Neverending Story, Aliens, The Lost Boys (the shots of the fair reminded me of the Santa Carla boardwalk), Back to the Future, Red Dawn, Gremlins, and all the movies referenced by Steve and Robin during their interview at the video store. Any more I missed? ETA: I forgot Karate Kid!

/\ THIS x 100!!! I was amazed that she actually knew how to parent at all based on what we've seen so far.