EC Amber

I want to see Claudia installed as the next caretaker. That's probably the top of my list. Beyond that I'm a little torn. I kinda ship Myka and Pete... especially after the episode where Pete wished Myka nine months pregnant. If not, Myka and HG Wells would be excellent, even if Wells is all home-i-fied. If that happens, then Pete needs to settle in with the vet. Besides my own thing where I like to see everyone paired up. I want to be assured that Artie is going to live a long life. I've got no feelings for the shrink, but then I wasn't a big fan of Leena either. I'd like to Claudia to hook back up with the guy in witness protection. I just liked their chemistry. Mostly I want to see the series renewed as Warehouse 14 with Claudia and Artie running the place all Father&Daughter style.

When I saw how many talking heads he got I was afraid that it would be LJ. My sweet LJ. I was pulling for him. Clearly Sarah and Morgan were tickled pink at the idea of having LJ to themselves for three days. I'm looking forward to the Ponderosa clip to post. Tony is a piece of work. Didn't he out himself as a cop to half the tribe two weeks back? Yet he's still trying to pull the "I'm in construction" crap. I enjoy his ability to manipulate folks. I was shocked how many people think he is their closest alliance. LJ, Woo and Trisha all think they are his number two. I love how he can sell so many stories to so many people. But his mentality is grating. Next week looks excellent. Though I was hoping for more fallout from Tony's flip... here's hoping that Woo is ok. The reward challenge looked great, but I kept thinking of how little I wanted to see Jeremiah, Tony or Spencer in a kimono. I wasn't too keen on watching their feet get the rub down. But I love the spa reward. It looks so wonderful in the context of the game and sets up a great opportunity for strategy. And how fortunate that Spencer and Jeremiah were the ones to go with Tony. I"m convinced that if it weren't those three the voting would have gone differently. I was tickled for Tasha.. she needed a win. That immunity challenge is a bitch. I'm convinced that I would be one of the first out under those circumstances. All in all, great episode... next week should be great... so long as Woo is ok.

So is it Scott that cheated? I wouldn't be surprised... it seems like something he'd do. Just a guess here... any other guesses on who cheated? (and how did GJay find out?)

Well I'm new here so I just wanted to say hi. I LOVE this show. It's excellent getting a chance to have a forum for it that isn't muddied up by being all on one thread. Very excellent. :-)

Really?? All that hype, that build up... just to find that they already showed us everything that happened. Bait and fucking switch. Kinda pathetic. Sausage's canvas was a thorough and massive asshole. I don't think I've seen a bigger pain the ass. I don't know why but the whole "man of faith" thing just seemed... off. Not that I don't believe it of him, I just thought it was kind of a contrived way to introduce a rather irrelevant fact about him. I do think he deals with his contestants poorly. Not just in being a little delusional thinking he should get special treatment because he's "nice." Thing is, I really admire how his priorities are. That behavior should have positive consequences and that there are principles regarding competition... but holy fuck does he have some self-righteousness problems. He redeems himself by being a superior artist. But this idea that being nice means you should get picked for easy pieces is just unrealistic. What the hell did he expect? And then you see his work. WOW. He is definitely at the top of his game and put Scott and Halo in their place. Well done. GentleJay seems pretty ridiculous thinking he's targeted when he's as much of a non-entity as Lydia and Melissa. Melissa - I really liked hers. Turtle demon... yeah, funny. But it was pretty awesome. The jury was way off. Matty might be my dark horse. I've been enjoying him through this whole season, but frankly he places fourth in terms of best artist. Overall though I think I enjoy him the most. Halo - normally puts out amazing work and this one was just falling way short. Scott - I still hate you. Your personalty is ugly, arrogant and almost intolerant. Can you tattoo? Yep. But I wouldn't let you near me because I just couldn't sit there listening to you. LOVE Rob Zombie. Just big hearts. I felt bad for Lydia... this was her time to shine and for whatever reason she dropped the ball. Too bad, I really enjoyed seeing her. I suspect she is a great professional and puts out some excellent work. On a personal note - I think most of these people have a seriously inflated view of their job. "It's your job to lead them" is crap. I approve of Melissa's opinion that if someone wants something that you give it to them. People have different senses of style, aesthetic... it's ridiculous to put yourself in judgment of the person coming to you. I get trying to assist people get their ideas fleshed out (no pun), but it's played off so heavy handed on this show.

Well that ended the way I expected. I like Niko, he seems like a really nice guy. But I have been going through this season wondering when he was going to go home. Hell I had his girlfriend pegged over him. In any case, not a surprise. What did surprise me was Rashad being picked last. His vampire/werewolf were pretty spectacular and his portfolio from this show stands well above the rest. Although George did pull off two awesome creatures with a broken wing. Small detail, but I found it interesting that the hand prosthetics fell short on both. Can't wait for the finale!

Millahnna!! I hadn't even thought of that! Well that put my head in a direction I wasn't expecting. :-)

I loved Valda 1.0 as he had a hard, no-nonsense edge to him but was ultimately pretty noble. Having him come back is the plus for me... evil/good is of lesser importance to me. Futurechemist I'm with you - I'd love it if Valda was coming back to restore his universe. But I'm a bit nervous... the clunky monologue of his "yes! You can now hear my thoughts! I control you my perfect soldiers Muah-hahahaha!!" (paraphrase) kinda took me out of the moment. I get that was supposed to be exposition and show us how Valda 2.0 is evil and manipulative and lacks empathy. But ouch did that passage come off unwieldy. Only Shepperd could come close to pulling that off (and I wonder if he rolled his eyes when first read the script).

My understanding was that Woo picked up Spencer's pants and the clue fell out. He tossed the pants aside (intentionally into the water to slow Spencer down, accidentally into the water because he was distracted, not in the water at all and Spencer lied - I have no idea)... The way it was edited it was really hard to tell what exactly happened in terms of him finding his pants, picking up his pants, finding the idol and getting rid of the pants. Boo edit monkeys, boo.

Post-op Myka is pretty freaking awesome. Force of personality, yes... but mostly it was the wonderfully typical recall ability. It does bother me that she had surgery and is running around, fighting and sneezing without blowing out any stitches or staples. Love Artie's "I had a backlog from when I was evil" which was a great line. But this is sillier than before. Yes, this is a rather silly show. But there is a goofiness that is new and I'm not sure I like it. Nice product placement. At least we were subjected to brief dialogue about how great the features are. Apparently The Olive Garden dropped a little cash though. I found the advocacy of "faith in science" being enforced through the supernatural wonderfully ironic. I'd be very curious to know if the writers intended that... Lisa DaVinci and Isabella - awesome. I love how their resolution always comes in the first episode and is then tucked away. It makes the rest of the season so much more fun. Speaking of: the "this season" looks great! Valda is back only he's evil Valda and I don't care because it means we've got a season of Mark Sheppard and I love Mark Sheppard. Even if he got oddly jowl-y. I can't wait to see how this season goes and am really bittersweet that this is the last season.

Frank Herbert. My absolute favorite though we'd strongly disagree about the deviancy of homosexuality (he thought it was a mental illness) I otherwise loved his insights on ecology, religion and politics. Anne Sexton - she provided deeply provoking peeks into the lives and minds of women of the mid-20th in a way that no one had (or has since). LM Montgomery - Her wonderful novels about coming of age young women of the late 19th were only made more poignant by her own difficult past that ultimately led to her suicide. The Bard - I need say nothing else Tom Robbins - an absolute bizarre style of writing has led to an assortment of novels that overflow with insane metaphors (one of my favorite: he was so lazy he was like a python digesting a valium addict). Neil Gaiman - If American Gods and Good Omens aren't your style, check out his trade paperback based on his best selling character Morpheus (see the Sandman comics). Margaret Atwood - Handmaids Tale... so much to say, but I won't bother here as it would come off more as a social commentary/rant on patriarchal and religious rules and their effect on women in todays society (and in other societies where women are marginalized and otherwise diminished into property). Ursula K. LeGuin - Wow... powerful sci-fi writer, yet the sci-fi tends to take a backseat to the story telling (my favorite kind). The Left-Hand of Darkness is fascinating in terms of gender roles, but my favorite is The Dispossessed - what happens when you take a brilliant anarchist and drop him in the middle of a decadent, but highly regimented society? Honorable mention to Dr. Bart Erhman for his scholastic work and his books for the layman regarding early Christian history. Approachable, knowledgable and eye opening to the texts that has shaped our modern world.

You know, I've been thinking of this and I think this might be the case. She is playing her own game and she's still there so it is working for her... for now. Thing is, I'm not sure I understand what she is playing for. She said she's playing for F3 and there is a good chance she'll get there. But she can't possibly be playing for the win, not unless she is suffering from the delusions that Philip suffered from. This episode and her last episode really underscored that she is playing her own game... but she's not playing for the win. Is she playing for the shot at another season? Perhaps, but I don't know how likely that is as they rarely bring back women in her demographic (not to say they don't, only that they'll bring back Boston Rob and Philip and Russell and Colby...) women just don't get pulled back with the same degree of frequency and not older women.

I actually found this episode to be one of the more boring ones. It was an "establish the characters" kind of episode and less of a "move a plot forward" kind of episode. We did get to see some nice sibling bonding with Simon and River and I always enjoy that. We also got our first clue that River's specialness expands well beyond what most normal humans are capable of. I do find the "hyper-religious backwoods" trope annoying. Yes, there is a lot of art imitating life here and a lot of truth to it, but it's gotten really old given the trend in the US. It just seems to lack creativity to me and is a cheap and easy way out. And I never noticed that Inara disappeared... that is a little annoying given her station and supposed influence and power. She brow beats Mal (a bit) into seeking out the Alliance, but doesn't assist in facilitating getting Book treatment. Weird and more than a little lazy. Not the strongest of episodes.

I wanted to take a moment to say hi (been lurking on PTV for a little while and just started posting within the past couple of weeks). Another refugee from the TWOP boards... initially I was really sad to hear it was shutting down, but after hanging out here I'm finding I like these boards more! Better features, nicer set up... it's good stuff. Like a lot of people I also got into Survivor in the first few seasons and then fell away from watching. It's only been in the past four years or so that I started watching it again. It's a big show at work with lots of Thursday "Can you believe he/she was voted out?" and other strategy discussion. A lot of seasons were a bit of a chore to get through (I'm looking at you Boston Rob and RI season), but this season has been really fun to watch. We need more seasons with all new faces and a reduction of twists. Just give me 16 people, the struggles with lack of food and shelter and people trying to play a social and strategic game. There's no need for anything else and I wish the producers would be less insecure about that recipe. In any case... it's good to get to know other fans and get different perspectives on what is becoming an American classic in reality tv.

I'm with Willowy - I don't think she was in the middle of a live feed but was reviewing potential clients via a profile (think video dating) and turned it off when Atherton's call came through. But I also agree with mstaken that the Companion class was poorly executed. I like the idea on paper and it certainly had potential, but in the end she came off as more of a "sex worker" and less of a highly educated, cultured professional where sex was part of the job... at least in this episode. Which is odd because this was supposed to be an episode that highlighted her profession beyond the sex act. The (psuedo) elaborate dancing high society where she was supposed to be among her people and instead it seemed very vapid and shallow. I also agree that Badger is excellent, but then there isn't a role Mark Sheppard I don't love. I love the scene with him and River where River just slides through there without garnering any attention AND putting him in his place (and him loving it). I would have enjoyed more interactions with those two. Thrilling heroics.

Some general thoughts about Morgan's video. Mostly I just enjoy those two together. Aside of the mutual Kass hate, there didn't seem to be a lot of bitterness. And I think it says a lot about their ease with one another. Definitely sisterly and I enjoyed that. For some reason I was especially charmed with the make up scene... reminded me of me and my sister when we were much younger. Interestingly I feel like I got to know Morgan better and came to like her more. Everything except the mirror face thing... that was kind of odd. I didn't even notice it and she seemed to enjoy that feigned embarrassment while pointing it out to Sarah. So yeah, she's pretty conceited about her looks... but I don't think she's a terrible or awful person. Frankly at her age, apparent level of maturity and attractiveness (superficially) I'm pretty sure I'd be quite a bit like her too. I thought it was rather interesting that during their sunbathing Sarah relaxed and Morgan read.

The latest video has posted for Morgan's arrival. It can be found here.

Re: Woo... when Spencer doubled back and caught him I thought "Ninja fail!" I wondered that myself. "Give her the win" I kept saying until it dawned on me that some of the craftier contestants might realize that indicates he has the idol. I also noticed that he didn't tell Tasha who so far seems to be his closest ally. I don't think there has been one seriously tight alliance in this entire season which is odd... it seems there is always at least one triad or couple who are extremely tight until it comes to cut a throat at F4.

I'm going to have to rewatch because I don't remember Woo shaking his pants so much as hollering "hey you forgot your pants" picking them up by the leg and seeing the clue fall to the ground...

In terms of Ponderosa I think Morgan will be a good add for Sarah. She's a little self-absorbed and certainly entertained Sarah at TC. It'll be someone Sarah can be superior to (in a big sister kind of way perhaps).

I wondered the same thing. I'm shocked to hear him categorized as anything close to personable, much less "charming." He seems loud, obnoxious and overbearing. I guess when it's quiet around camp he's much more tolerable??

RE Jefra, on he bright side North of Eden (also - hi!) I don't recall anyone winning for "just being there." I don't always agree, but it seems the jury does tend to give the win to someone they can say actually played the game and didn't just hang out eating rice and failing challenges.

Aside of tossing Spencer's pants in the water (which I agree was a really crappy move, not fun to watch and made me like him a little less), I didn't see Woo do anything terribly wrong. He picked up Spencer's pants and told him that he left them. The clue fell out, he grabbed it... *then* he tossed Spencer's pants in the water and ran. Of all of that, it was tossing the pants that was wrong. But the clue fell out and he grabbed it. Seems fair to me. I am curious though, if he hasn't tossed his pants or ran... so what? Would Spencer have demanded the clue back? Would he have grappled with him?

Agree... Tasha and Spencer were great in that!! On one hand I was glad that no one in Tony's alliance got the idol (except LJ, I would prefer him to have found it)... but I'm rooting against Spencer on principle, so that was a bummer. His hissy fit when Woo pulled his ninja skills and took that clue was juvenile. And Woo's talking heads were brilliant! He was loving talking to the camera and telling his story. I love players like him - just enjoying being in the game. Kass can go to hell. Her play last week was flat out stupid. Just arrogant.This week she cemented that. Her snotty remark to Spencer coupled with her "allegedly I betrayed them" was over the top. If your going to flip - OWN IT. She couldn't take responsibility for what she did... but when her goat ass is in the F3 she is going be more than happy to say she made all these big plays. I hate how players who are the worst find their way to the end of the game. It kinda ruins the enjoyment of the game.

I can't be the only person who plays...