EC Amber

I hope this is ok with the mods. I'm not sure I should link to youtube or cbs. To help anyone overseas who is having a hard time getting the cbs link click here to watch on youtube. To watch through CBS click here. Hope this helps (and I hope that worked)!

Donna is my favorite and it will take a lot to usurp that role. A lot of it was the character development. I love the idea of this woman showing up with all this latent strength that comes out quite naturally but is in a person who is wholly unaware she is strong at all. I love that she could be exactly what the Doctor needed - a true and good friend. I love that they could have such a bond of friendship with none of the cloying romanticism hanging off it. She was funny and clever and secure in herself and unapologetic about who she was. And I loved her journey. I understand why her ending is such an affront. It's almost like a betrayal... a huge negation of all she had done, all she had accomplished all the growth she did. The things she never knew about herself!! It's a goddamn tragedy of one of the highest orders. BUT (yep, that was coming), it made it more poignant to me. It brought up a lot of deep contemplation regarding the nature of value of self... if you can never know who you were and what you did - but still changed and protected and saved so many lives, is it not more valuable? At least in the sense that you can never be a part of that and so the power of the echo you leave behind is all that is left in the universe. And she left such a large echo... I'm a sucker for the bittersweet and Donna's whole season was bittersweet and beautiful and wonderful to me.

I got so wrapped up in the chemistry of 10/11 (the meta-crisis Doctor) that when Martha came along I wasn't ready for her. She felt shoehorned in and she kind of was. I wonder if she was written to be the Doctor's "rebound Companion." In any case, I tried, really tried to warm up to her but it rarely worked. At best I had a strong fondness for her during Human Nature/The Family of Blood. But on the whole I found her character more tedious than anything else. Ok, I did enjoy the idea of her spending a year faded into the background of all observation, wandering the world whispering stories against The Master. As a side note, Gridlock is one of my favorite episodes, but the thing is I think any Companion would have worked as well.

Now that the Ponderosa videos are posting I wanted a thread to discuss what the jury has to say once they are out of the game. Also?The Ponderosa is so amazing this year compared to years past. Just a beautiful setting to hang out while playing as jury. Just watching the first one with Sarah and my first question is: did Sarah ever lie in the game? I can't recall, but is she being a hypocrite here or was she really playing an honest game? She seems really shocked that someone lied to her (Kass) and is coming down like a ton of bricks with the "Kass, you have no integrity." Has she never watched this show? I love her thoughts about her mother and grandmother. I thought it was really sweet how much they mean to her Her breakfast was gross.

Well, she went from being my dark horse to being a flash in the pan. I'm with you CletusMusashi - who was that. The woman giving the exit interview, the one that was good natured? Where was she during the game? I sometimes wonder if people even bother to watch this game before showing up to play. How can you possibly not know that being the split vote is not something to brag about and is best handled by making a quick decisive action so you at least give both sides a feeling that you were never a split vote to begin with? This was painful to watch after really liking her, then feeling embarrassed for her (being so easily manipulated by Tony), then having that empathy/pity mixture to just outright dislike and revulsion. Wow, my head is spinning.

This casting was perfect. I love this show and I think without him as the ultimate straight man would have put me at just finding this show as good. As it is he makes it great and keeps me checking it out.

I can only speak for myself, but the many qualities you rightly listed for both women have nothing to do with why I have slid from liking Kass as a player to thinking she is a horrible player. Why she earned that has nothing to do with her gender or her age (and I'm a middle aged woman myself) and has everything to do with how poorly she read the Sarah, how poorly she handled Sarah and perhaps the most disappointing: how poorly she handled herself. I agree with many of the assessments of Kass here, none of which seem to list her age or gender as her flaws - she didn't think about the long game, about how easy it would be to take Sarah out one vote later. How her flipping ruined one of the tightest alliances in the game, certainly the tightest of this season. She just made horrible decisions. As to Trish, I mostly like her. But again, it's not about her age or gender, but I LOVED how stealthy she was at getting Kass to flip. She was instrumental in absolutely destroying the tightest alliance of the season, of regaining the power for her tribe and she did it by sitting and watching and then whispering just a few idea into Kass's (already receptive) ear.

This episode has one of my favorite all time scenes: Mal kicking the enforcer into the turbine. I love it for a couple of reasons 1, the wholly unexpected element. Who expects the hero to so causally send a man to his (albeit quick) end like that? 2, amusement. Ok, it was FUNNY that he kicked him into the engine. After all the guy was there to either kill or bring them back to be killed. It's not like he didn't have it coming. And the editing really made it such a non-event that it was rendered humorous. 3, we get another example of how easy it is for Mal to kill. Sure, we saw him at war and so obviously he has killed before. And yes, he combined focus and complete disregard when he shot Lawrence the mole in the eye and tossed him out like trash. But he was threatening to kill River - a girl Mal knows to be innocent and damaged. But this?? This was just a hairs breadth from actual enjoyment. It was like "ah well, I gave you a chance. Off you go." This, to me, is the first warning that our hero is a very, very dark hero. Aside of this rather minor scene I love the way the town's reaction to Inara. Their rusty, monotone coloring of clothes and land and buildings and air compared to the vivid color of Inara's entrance... it was a really subtle way of underscoring her status in this 'Verse. It helps keep the audience from easily falling into Mal's categorizing her as a "whore." I know we're supposed to feel like Geppetto (I know, Niska) is a sadistic bastard under the kindly old man persona... But I just don't feel any... dammit, I can't think of the word. Somewhere between malice and competence. I don't know, he just didn't hit the notes that Joss was aiming for with me. On the whole this is a fun little episode, good to get our characters more firmly established, but it hasn't really developed much depth or angst.

Oh I totally didn't put that together. They were drinking rum (which is odd. Have they often given them a bottle of hard liquor?)... that surely changed some folks perception <looking at Sarah> Anyone find it a little irresponsible to give underfed, slightly dehydrated, constantly stressed people alcohol?

Holy Cow. Kass - way to go to the bottom of a six person group and hated by the other five. Good job. Freaking moron. Sarah - sorry. You were my dark horse in this one and in the space of 60 minutes went from one of my favorites to someone I'm embarrassed to have been pulling for. What the hell?? And that good-bye was so good-natured, Such a good sport! Where the hell was THAT person during that episode? You kept oscillating between the power trip (which went straight to your head) and this idea of being a victim. I really don't get why people dig their heels in so hard in this game. It seems to almost always end poorly for that person. This game seems to favor flexibility and adaptability above everything else. Dammit, and we still have Tony. The uses of the idols cracked me up, but LJ, c'mon man... really? You went to protect Tony? You had to know that they wouldnt' vote for him. Anyone else have an inward groan at the announcement of a "special idol"?? Because this season doesn't actually need any twists. The contestants are doing just fine and the reinventing of the wheel smacks of insecurity. Survivor producers: stop trying to fix what isn't broke! Jefra was almost a non-entity for this episode, so as soon as I saw Jefra was "the other one" I knew Sarah was gone. Plus that little smile Kass wore was a dead give away. Also - what was on Woo's feet that no one else was wearing? It seemed to have given him a bit of an edge and seemed unfair in a challenge that was designed to be brutal to the feet. Well looks like the person I voted for (LJ) just went back to being the most likely to pull this one out. And say what you will about Trish... she's a hell of a lot more keen than it seems she's getting credit for. While Tony is trying to brow beat Sarah, she watched, saw the crack, made a gentle approach, whispered a few ideas into Kass's ear and the whole damn game just tilted. Color me impressed.

Aww.. so awesome!! Weird, but I just did a rewatch in Feb. Glad I caught this earlier than deep into the series!

Damn, Rescue Mom! You wrote almost exactly what I would have written... except I got roped in by a coworker. I'm hoping to be more active which I think will be easier given how well this site has been set up.

Holy crap did Rashaad pull of one AMAZING piece of art! It seemed like everywhere my eyes landed was some really interesting detail. And the actor was so into playing that role. So well earned and so very well done!! And I'm with you Rhetorica - it was Daran's time to go... I can't put my finger on the instance that he turned for me, but I do remember that he had done or said something that just rubbed me the wrong way. And while I'll admire he's got a lot of talent, it's not enough to justify how well he thinks of himself. I rather like that he was the only bottom look. Not only did it kind of underline how I've felt about him, it says a lot about who is left standing. They really are at the cream of the crop stage... this is really shaping up to be another great season for FO.

le sigh. I do not share in the love. BUT I do not hate. I enjoy the character, but her story lacked enough linearity for me to feel like I could connect. What I found fascinating with Kingston is that she could work with a man 20 years younger than herself and create some really amusing and flirty chemistry. And while it wasn't devoid of sexuality, they managed to give it a depth of bond that made it feel more legitimate than if it were merely wrapped in unbridled passion (thank you for not doing that to us!)... all in all pretty damn impressive acting chops in that regard.

One of the things I love about this show is the span has allowed for such a wide variety of "flavor"... each doctor is his own vintage with his own unique qualities, characteristics and approaches to the ups and downs of being the Doctor. So which one resonates for you and why? Who is your Doctor and how did he win that spot? And a similar sentiment can be given to the Companion - still unique with wonderful variation of what they brought. Which one resonates the most? Who do you identify with the most and who do you love above the rest in his/her role as Companion? (characters only, not actors or actresses).

That's a good point Way Wes Jr, but I gotta say I oscillate pretty hard with her. It's a love-hate thing and I can't quite figure out what the switch is that keeps tripping me. One minutes she's sympathetic because she seems to be pretty much always at the butt end of Lindsey's rather juvenile ugliness. The next she seems grating. I wonder if perhaps without Lindsey there to give her that playground-underdog role if she won't deteriorate in appeal. Everyone loves an underdog, but few of us like to feel constantly irritated.

Sarah is my dark horse at the moment. She's got a crossroads coming up and honestly I think her best bet is to aim to be Brains number 4. She beat all of them in one difficult puzzle, has been shown to do well at puzzles in general and I think by day 36 or so will be in a better spot physically than Spencer (her only real physical threat in the game). If she stays out of everyone else's way and makes a good bond with them she may actually win this. Aside of her really wide blind spot to fellow cops I really like her. She seems pretty tough, focused on puzzles and pretty bright (again, with the exception of her blind spot). And she hits a little amusement bone with her wanting to bring the bible for entertainment purposes. I do feel a little pity for her when she sees how hard Tony pulled her chain on something that clearly means a great deal to her. I suspect it may take a little of the naivete off her eyes. But I also suspect it'll sting as it's often the case when the shine gets taken off of something like this and that sucks.

I voted for LJ, but not just a vote for LJ but also a vote against Spencer. He just rubs me the wrong way. And it's not even as though he's getting a particular edit (no villain or hero vibe to me). Spencer is just kinda there and a little repulsive. It's probably me, but honestly a lot has to do with the Romney worship. Just ick. That being said, secretly I suspect Spencer has the best shot at the moment - but I still hope LJ manages to pull off enough of a social game to stay off radar until he needs to pull an immunity run that gets him to the end.