shafted

This was one of the worst hours of TV I've watched in awhile, not just of The Crown but of TV. The start of Kate and William's relationship probably was pretty dull in reality and doesn't lend itself well to an entire episode of a drama without a lot of dramatic license. But how PM chose to exercise his dramatic license to make it seem more interesting and eventful was embarrassing.

I think Brett/Kara will be fine. Brett has always had story since she’s started on the show. Sometimes it’s comedic. Sometime’s it’s romantic. Sometime’s it’s action/drama. Sometime’s it’s the A plot, sometime’s it’s the B plot. She wasn’t dependent on Casey for story or connections to other characters prior to the Brettsey will they/won’t they. I don’t know why that would suddenly change just because Casey left shortly after they got together. May be nothing but they’ve already put more thought into and done better with incorporating Brett’s new side paramedicine program into the show and lining it up with Brett’s actual job duties/role on the show than they ever did with the Girls on Fire side program.

I liked the episode. I always like Mitch Pileggi. I wonder if this Splendifida angle for McGee is like the angle they played with Tony when he was offered his own team, contemplated the change, but elected to stay in the end? I hope that's what it is because I enjoy Senior Field Agent McGee. I'm interested in the Bishop and Torres potential relationship. It's been slowly developed but not stuck in perpetual neutral either. The writers can definitely dial back on the Torres comic relief angle though. Or, at least, use it better and more sparingly than they have been. I remember Vance saying once that Torres was one of NCIS' best ever deep undercover agents. For like 8+ years, right? So, how did Torres ever succeed as well as he did undercover given his apparent inability (or unwillingness) to read the room?

I thought Stefan let Chad beat on him at first to buy time so Gabigail could get away. I thought I heard Stefan tell Gabigail to run. I figured he was just too injured to do anything once Chad came back to continue the beating.

Was anyone dying for Jessica to return? I mean Jessica doesn't seem offensive or anything but I don't really care about her, or if her marriage to Wyatt survives, either. If the goal was always to do a Flynn/Lucy romance, the bigger question is why even make Wyatt/Lucy a thing in the first place (instead of just possibilities)? Wyatt/Lucy was never canon until episode 3 of this season which was also the same episode they ended. The show never even needed to make Wyatt/Lucy canon if they always intended for a Flynn/Lucy romance. That's just a really bizarre writing choice. If that was the reasoning behind all of this, it seems like they went out of their way to make it overly complicated for no real reason at all.

That's what Flynn says but will he really stick to that when he's faced with Lorena and Iris nestled safely back in their home? And it still doesn't solve the problem that, as of last night's episode, Flynn is still very much in love with his wife. That's where his heart is. Lucy still ranks behind the (dead) wife with both Flynn and Wyatt. Which she doesn't deserve at all. On another note, I feel like romantic complications and romantic geometric configurations have slowly taken over the show this season. It's become the dominant focus this season rather than taking down the psycho cult that wants to control the world through time travel. The romantic stuff coming to the forefront is just not a development I've enjoyed at all especially because the writers have handled the romantic subplots so very poorly this season.

I'm expecting this Jessica joins the team plan to blow up in everyone's faces. Either the universe course corrects, like it did with Kennedy, and Jessica ends up dead anyway or she's Rittenhouse and Wyatt placed a traitor right in the middle of the team. It's possible Jessica just hangs around for the next 5 episodes before maturely divorcing Wyatt and returning to her outside life. I guess that could happen but that seems too easy.

I'm curious about that as well. Flynn didn't seem to go anywhere without it last season. If it was in Flynn's possession when he was arrested, why doesn't Denise or DHS have it in their possession? Or, if it wasn't on Flynn when he was arrested, why didn't Flynn use it to bargain his way out of prison? If Rittenhouse is as big and bad as the writers seem to want them to be, then wouldn't what is essentially a guidebook from the future on how to destroy Rittenhouse be priority 1 for Denise and Co. to get into their possession?

I think the con couple thought they'd get away with the scam because the mom's threat to the City/CFD wasn't just the lawsuit but to go to the press within 24 or 48 hours if she hadn't received a check. . They were basically banking on the City/CFD wanting to avoid bad PR and a few ugly news cycles more than the City's desire to save money and make sure they weren't being conned. And avoiding bad press seemed to be the priority for the City rep at that meeting with Boden. The couple probably would've gotten away with it if Otis' guilt hadn't gotten the better of him and he followed up with the family. I almost had hope for a second that the writers were trying something new and Gabby might be held accountable for how she treats Casey when Casey started talking about how his issue wasn't the hook-up but Gabby's need to keep Casey in the dark and/or lie to him about what's going on or what she's done. Of course he caved 15 seconds later but for those 15 seconds I had hope the writers might try something different. But, nope. Nothing new to see. I did roll my eyes though when Gabby said it'll never happen again. I feel like she's said that before. Stella needs to run not walk out of Severide's apartment with that family dynamic in play. And ask him to burn everything in his room before she steps foot in it again. Severide's relationship with his dad is iffy on a good day. But mom and dad back together and hooking up in Severide's bed? The guy already needed about a decade of therapy before he walked in on his parent's post-coitus.

This was a stinker of an episode. Kirkman has been on the job for over a year now and still gets shocked, shocked! I tell you, that politicians from an opposing party may use his words against him for their own political gain? How is he still this brand new about how politics and DC works? I feel like a White House counsel happily working to quash a subpoena for a non-federally employed member of the First Family for a non-White House related legal matter during working hours and using federal government resources is probably a disbarrable and fireable offense. Or would at least invite about 1000 hours before a congressional committee about the conflict of interest and diversion of tax payer dollars to kill an investigation of a POTUS family member. And FLOTUS second chairing a hearing to quash a subpoena issued to her mother by an executive branch agency in an effort to kill an ongoing criminal investigation? Seriously? Again, inviting about another 1000 hours before a congressional committee on that one. Everyone took stupid pills this episode.

The first family was back so that always brings down an episode a notch or two. Kirkman was smart and passionate and confident and had to be talked out of doing something politically naive only once this week. Score a win for Kirkman. Seth and his smile remain a bright spot in each episode. Aaron and his hair (with bonus tux and casual wear) were another bright spot. Glad that Aaron and Emily rebounded and got to regain some of their competence this week. Hopefully it’s Seth’s turn next week. I missed Aaron/Emily/Seth interaction this week. It’s always a welcome addition to an episode. The 3 actors play really well off of each other. So far Lyor hasn’t brought anything new to the table except for a quip here or there. His advice and job isn’t any different than what Emily and Aaron, and even Seth, did all last year. He’s still feeling pretty pointless as a main character. The new lawyer character theoretically should provide something new but I wasn’t intrigued by yesterday’s effort. Maybe it’ll get better as she’s brought into the White House plots/dynamics. I’m glad others noticed that her intro felt like a rip off of the Ainsley Hayes WW introduction. Glad I wasn’t imagining things. Except yesterday’s scene between Kirkman and the lawyer was just flat out bad. Pretty poor dialogue and even more poorly executed. Except for Kiefer. He played it well and did what he could with the scene but the rest of it? Nope. The Maggie Q/conspiracy half of the episode was relatively strong this week. There was discussion of deploying more than just Hannah and her sidekick to bring down Lloyd. Hannah was smart and in super spy mode but not absurdly reckless. There was actual communication between all of the parties involved as the situation unfolded. I didn’t mind MI6 new guy. I always enjoy Chuck. I’m glad Reed Diamond didn’t get the boot between seasons. I hope resolution of the Lloyd matter doesn’t mean he disappears now. That said, after a year plus of build up to this confrontation and take down of the country’s greatest enemy, the best reason the writers could come up with for Lloyd’s treason was unresolved daddy issues? Okay.

They're really leaning into the West Wing-lite angle this season, aren't they. I did like the lack of the first family though. Kirkman's still Kirman. Stumbling his way into success every episode. So, the US government has tasked only Maggie Q with tracking down the US government's greatest enemy since Bin Laden? Okay. Glad MI-6 has resources to spare. Maggie Q running around kicking the bad guys in the face without Reed Diamond or Malik Yoba watching her back just isn't the same. I'm not liking the Seth/Emily romance angle they're trying to force. I really liked them as friends last season though. If there had to be a workplace romance why not go with Emily/Aaron since the chemistry is there, the groundwork for it was laid last season, and they do have natural tension/issues to work through? Lyor was somewhat amusing in a broad comic relief kinda way. But I don't like that his actual role in the administration is coming at the expense of Seth, Aaron and Emily's previously established competence and political/DC intelligence. Part of what I appreciated about the trio last season was that they were shown to be loyal to POTUS but also hardworking and pretty darn good at their jobs. Former speechwriter Seth, who got the press secretary job because he did know how to phrase things and phrase things well on the fly, doesn't know how to phrase a written statement that puts the administration in a sympathetic light in the middle of a hijacked plane crisis with American citizens as hostages? Aaron, who was deputy COS and then COS to the President before 40, who was Senior Adviser/#2 to the Speaker of the House, and who has been a Senior Adviser/National Security specialist at the WH for the past 9 months, is clueless about the basics of diplomacy, the importance of perception, and knows nothing of Ukraine-Russia politics/Ukrainian sensitivities? It doesn't dawn on Chief of Staff Emily that having POTUS publicly welcoming and embracing one of his harshest critics from the news media would make him look better not worse publicly? Why does Kirkman even need to keep Seth, Aaron and Emily around when Lyor knows all and has the answer for every situation that anyone in the administration encounters on a given day?

Did Mark Fuhrman really sue the LAPD for turning him into a bigot?

This is delicious but will Rob hold his ground when/if Khloe threatens to cut off his monthly allowance and to make him get a job and place of his own? She does provide him with a certain level of comfort and life of leisure that he may not be willing to give up just to get revenge on Kim.

I think it'll be tricky with carrying what happened in Eye for an Eye over to Home and Away in any substantive capacity given how the characters in the final were set up and how they then were written to act in Eye for an Eye. They might just ignore it entirely for the sake of clarity. I kind of hope they do ignore it. I think trying to incorporate Eye for an Eye into the show will unnecessarily complicate an already complicated Who Killed Charlotte murder plot.

Poor Chris. Won't someone love him? For real, I really hope he finds love or true friendship. As much as I love his relationship with Irene and as a diner lady, I would like to see him cultivate some relationships with some people his own age. It was definitely the right thing to end it with Hannah but he really just wants to belong and to be loved. Interesting set up for like half the main cast to be involved in this Who Killed Charlotte story next year. Though I feel like all of the people highlighted in the last moments of the finale will turn out to be red herrings. That's usually how it goes with soaps. When all is said and done, I think it'll probably end up being someone more expendable who killed her. Someone not out of the blue and definitely with motive to silence her but likely not sticking around. Until then, it'll be fun to see everyone trying to piece together who really did it in order to clear themselves from suspicion. One thing I do want to see with this Who Killed Charlotte story is Hunter's crimes coming out and him facing the consequences of what he did and the ripple effect it caused. I want to like him and I do think he's now grateful to be part of Zac's life and Zac/Leah's family but dude's got major crimes/issues hanging over his head. The about face with him from how he was quite remorseless about his crimes and even seemed to delight in being accused of crimes he didn't commit (the brake cutting) to sensitive, sweet, patient soul/son/boyfriend and friend to everyone was abrupt and jarring. I wish they'd explain onscreen how his major anger and impulse issues and resentment were cured. They were there and then gone over night. I only really started watching Home and Away regularly this year so I'm probably missing out on a lot of history but I rather like Maddy. She's seems to have grown over the course of this year. I enjoyed her supporting role in Alf's PTSD story (I wish the writers would follow up on that story) and how protective she was of Roo during the James story. I like the development of her friendship with Evie. I really like Matt and Maddy too. Kinda looking forward to where they're going next season. I wish they'd focus less on the geometric romantic entanglements though. Pick a few couples and stick with them for a bit. How many triangles have Nate and Hannah alone been in over the past year or two? 3-4 each? That's ridiculous. Especially for Nate since he was married for most of 2014 and the first part of 2015. lol That said, I do have to say that I thought that the Matt/Maddy/Oscar story, as far as triangles (and teen triangles) goes, was one of the better, more mature ones that I've seen a soap tackle in a long time. No one acted perfect but no one was awful either. Every one of them made missteps that were understandable. I got why all three were torn, hurt, and conflicted over the mess they found themselves in. Yet it seemed like all of them cared about each other too and really didn't want anyone to get hurt even if they all recognized that as soon as the truth was out that someone inevitably was going to get hurt. I'm really interested in Irene's story next year. I hope she doesn't end up getting burned in her search. I hope the writers continue to do it justice. The actress has been phenomenal with the material. I also really like the friendship/quasi-family bond between all of the teen characters and the twenty-something females. I like how there's been more cross-over between corners of the show and intergenerational storytelling and more of a community feel. I hope the writers continue that next year.

Yes, seriously, call for back-up. I think why no one called Burgess out about it was because she realized on her own that she screwed up. She apologized to Roman about it. Doesn't change that she should've called it in but I'm glad she at least was written to have self-awareness about how she screwed up and was wrong in not calling for back-up. Good acting in the locker room breakdown scenes. The taser training was funny. Nice balance between the intensity of the warehouse scenes and the levity in Intelligence.

Amber is a whiny drip. I've never gotten the appeal of the character. The actress is certainly pretty but she just fades into the background onscreen and struggles with basic material. It's one area where i don't get the writers of this show. Their love of Amber. It boggles the mind that she's got multiple guys fighting for her yet dynamic, beautiful characters like Paige and Naomi get rejected and then have to troll the internet for love and Imogen can't buy a date and is stuck pining for a guy stuck on her best friend. The Matt mortgage scenario won't end well. He's way too put out over the issue for him to handle it reasonably and rationally. I'm curious if the Brad/surfboard thing will go anywhere. He sure was nostalgic and passionate for his past surfboard making. Still bummed they dumped Paige/Brennan out of the blue and basically rewrote Brennan having any feelings for Paige just to have Brennan to return to nosy, judgey mode and Paige to sit at home and practically bare all for an unknown guy on the internet. I hope the 30th Anniversary material turns out better than some of the stuff they're doing now. The show kinda feels like it's dragging or biding it's time. Could be the heavy emphasis and airtime devoted to the Sonya/Erin stuff and Naomi/Canning stuff with everyone else fighting for crumbs. I like the show most when it's better balanced.

And yet I don't mind the Burgess wanting to make Intelligence angle nearly as much as I do the CF "Gabby wants to be a firefighter" angle. Probably because it doesn't take up nearly as much airtime as the CF story and the ambitious Burgess angle has been a consistent part of her character since episode one of the series and she's actually been shown to be growing into a cop who could make it in Intelligence some day soon. Not sure I'm going to like incompetent Ruzek. Ruzek's been shown to be impulsive and hot headed at times but never lazy or incompetent. It was an okay episode. Good performances with the material provided, especially from Sophia Bush and Jesse Lee Soffer, but the focus of the episode was a story well I feel like they've gone to too much for a show that's only been on the air for 17 episodes: Someone or something from Erin's past haunts her and Jay in peril. And I still don't know why the show taped an entire B story and half of the promo photos released for this episode were of that B story, it was included in the episode descriptions sent out, and then cut the entire thing without explanation. Hope the Burgess, Platt and Roman actors still got paid.

Shay and Severide had been on the job for years when we first meet them. Severide was already a lieutenant when the show started. Isn't the EMT brand new to Chicago? Being new to the Chicago system, the new EMT might not be making that much. Since she was kind of a runaway bride, maybe she's got money tied up paying off her wedding that never happened? Still doesn't explain the stack of money in her front room though.

I like how Erin's trying to pay it forward. However, I'm concerned about Nadia being a permanent addition to the cast this season. Especially given a video I saw with the actress describing the writers' plans for Nadia this season. I feel like Nadia may be the first really false note they're going to hit with a main character. And honestly, I don't really care about Nadia other than how she allows Erin to pay it forward and be a bit of a vehicle for Erin to deal with her past demons. Nadia is barely 18, she wasn't even 18 when she first appeared on the show, yet she's now got full access to upstairs? It may be mean but I really don't care. I was perfectly fine with her as a here-there recurring character for the purposes of developing Erin. But that's about it. There are enough characters that struggle for airtime and development that I'd rather see get story/airtime way before Nadia.

I think it's been six weeks or so. In the scene between Halstead and Platt about the envelope and it going to his old precinct, Halstead mentions that the envelope had been mailed six weeks ago.