watcher1006

But it might have been about the mother... It seems to me that Ashley Williams' Victoria character who came on to the scene mid-season 1 might have ended up as the mother if the show hadn't caught on and was going to end at the end of the first season. By the way IMO the character of Victoria was ruined by the show going on way too long. They bring her back late in the series as someone who Ted ends up disqualifying because she's too messy? Doesn't seem to fit a career cook who would likely be compulsive about her kitchen. I remember one of the creators making a remark late during the show's run about how they'd goofed, ruling out Robin as the mother from the very beginning of the show. A lot to comment on in your post but I wanted to say this: as the show went on I started wondering watching the Barney character whether Carter Bays and Craig Thomas thought misogyny was funny. He acts outrageously but I don't know if it's just that Neil Patrick Harris is such a good comedian or what but he hardly ever gets called up on any of it.

HIMYM started out as a solid sitcom with a great cast that really pulled off the ensemble well. But it was way too limited a premise - how long could they drag out the question of who the mother was? Even in its fine first season I thought this could go on for two seasons - maybe three. Instead it went on for nine and by last few seasons the writers were scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas. It was AWFUL. I could only look in occasionally on the show during the last two seasons, watching the episodes where I’d heard that something real might happen. And I watched the miserable series finale. Really miserable, a travesty. It’s really too bad when they have a TV show that starts out with a really bright and creative idea and then they try to stretch it out season after season because the viewers keep tuning in. Over the past decade I can think of other examples such as Once Upon a Time, Sleepy Hollow, Empire, and possibly This Is Us (remains to be seen). I had a lot of fun watching HIMYM in its early seasons. There were several Buffy- and Angel-verse actors who made guest appearances on HIMYM - Alexis Denisof, Harry Groener (the Mayor), Tom Lenk, Amy Acker and whomever else I’ve missed. But I resent the show for ruining Alyson Hannigan for me. I’m not a fan of sitcoms, I only tuned in initially because she was in the cast and I liked her character at the beginning. As the show went on and on the tired writing made AH’s character Lily Aldrin ever more insufferable. Finally she became unwatchable. I still love Willow from Buffy but unfortunately when I see Alyson Hannigan on TV nowadays she brings late show Lily to mind more than Willow. I should have quit HIMYM earlier.

I have some problems with this Willow-centered episode and what they did with her. For example at the end, does Willow have no remorse for the chaos she unleashed when she tried the spell with Anya? She made a totally innocent young woman either die or turned into a vampire and nearly unleashed a "Wish" style takeover of Sunnydale. Her flippant dialogue with Buffy at the end after having Percy suck up to her seems out of place, but I suppose Joss was just having fun with the character. As for Cordelia, I don't know if the writers of the series really knew what to do with her after her breakup with Xander. Here she seems to largely revert to her early Season 1 persona. Of Cordelia's stint in the late Season 3 episodes I like her in "Gingerbread" but she's not too prominent otherwise. I guess it was time for Charisma Carpenter to move on.

I wonder how much of Jenny Calendar's story they created between her introduction in Season 1 and her exit in S2. In Season 1 "Prophecy Girl" she demands that Rupert Giles explain what is going on then professes that she doesn't get the part about Buffy being the Vampire Slayer. Later on, it seems that Jenny was in the know all the time. A lot of fans criticize Xander for being a jerk or having his own agenda or whatever in his conviction that they had to do away with Angel. It always seemed to me that Xander had the most logical, understandable reaction in the whole group given the dangerous situation they had on their hands. I think it's puzzling that Giles would have so quickly gotten over his rage over Jenny's death in "Passion" to support the idea of trying to save Angel.

I also hoped Sophia Bush might be a recurring character and was let down at the end, although the romance did seem rushed and impulsive. Judgement, Kevin, judgement, you've been down the impulsive road before. I liked how she mentioned she was from Chicago, a nod to Sophia Bush's long stint on on Dick Wolf's Chicago franchise.😊 I am also tiring of constant flashbacks to Jack and Rebecca early days. I suppose there isn't too much more they can do at this point to keep Milo Ventimiglia in a major role on this series.

Yes indeed! This show is far from perfect but it treated a Down Syndrome story with balance and sensitivity. It was great to see Dr. Latham. And Dr. Abrams got to show a human side when he asked Jordy's father to let him know when his son skates again so he could see him. I don't get April. She couldn't bring up her fertility issues with Ethan? Perhaps he's been pressing the baby thing too hard with her but if they can't talk honestly about the matter then they don't belong together. Dr. Marcel doesn't know what he's getting into... I hope Will Halstead really has written finis to his relationship with Natalie. Enough already.

You had to feel at least a bit for Elsa. Trying to approach Will and the guy didn't get it at all. At least the show didn't give the child case to Natalie. And she actually showed professionalism in the case she did have. In the real world Maggie would get in big trouble for what she did because there would be a conspicuous paper trail in forging an infectious patient's release but I wonder if the show is just going to drop the story. Indeed there are people out there making a living or trying to by taking in advertising dollars from reality Internet but this one was a caricature. If those crazies allowed their followers to take a life or death vote on medical care what other life decisions have those followers made for them? Seems like such a course would run into a dead end fast (pun unavoidable). A big *Ugh* and "not again!" to the preview for next week's episode...

From the time they introduced Jennifer Morrison's character it seemed almost inevitable that she'd hit the bed with Kevin. I only had to recall what happened with Milana Vayntrub's character back in Season 1 (wow, that was a long time ago!) It still disappointed me that they had to go down that all-too-predictable route. Kevin is nearly 40 now, he has to know that sex changes things between people, whatever his emotional state may be. After the talk they'd just had it seemed impossible for Beth to turn down Deja's request to invite her mom for Thanksgiving. A risky situation no doubt and one that her mom might have reservations about herself. But I have to wonder - has Deja been totally out of contact with her mom since being adopted by the Pearsons? It's so much easier nowadays to stay in touch, somehow.

Many thanks for this post. It doesn't seem possible that the Army would be so indifferent to the medical situation of one of their own as to insist on moving her immediately at great risk to her life. Choi wasn't tattling, he wanted to bring her VA doctor into the loop, not because he was a slave to all things military as April implied. I don't think Dick Wolf hates the military but what happened in this episode reminds me of some of the storylines in the Law & Order franchise where the military justice system conflicted with the civil one, particularly over matters of jurisdiction. As for the poor girl and her mother - yes, brain bleeds may be fatal and there may not be anything that can be done, as Dr. Abrams dispassionately explained. Having faced a similar situation in real life, I think it is just as well to hear a realistic assessment of the possibilities and options and not be given false hopes.

I generally feel that way about teenage love stories too. I suppose one can go to the CW to see those. But one thing Deja said to her parents that had the ring of plausibility about it was that Malik makes her feel like herself. It spoke to the alienation she still feels having been adopted at a late age into an upper class family. Hear, hear! I feel that boundaries have to be maintained between students and teachers. There is ever the possibility of improper conduct being perceived, whether it occurs or not. And there is the more mundane issue of favoritism among a teacher's students. I think he should have declined Jack's dinner invitation and suggested a different avenue for discussion.

Really, how crazy is this guy to bring her home? Not just her "associates", but she herself seems like an unknown quantity to me. In a real hospital workplace, might not there be rules against keeping alcohol on the premises? Just asking. I think Dr. Marcel is a good addition but I'm still disappointed that the show lost Dr. Rhodes, even though they had done a good job of ruining his character with that awful Dr. Bekker storyline. I am irked that Maggie would be supportive, even encouraging toward what Natalie Manning did. "Trust your gut"? What really irks me is that the show ended up presenting Dr. Manning as somehow being in the right, after the extreme outrage of her actions.

The Natalie thing was backwards. If she was so concerned about the child's safety and him not being treated by regular medical means then she should have pulled the levers of the court system early on - through hospital administrators and lawyers - before she did the crazy business of locking everyone out of the room. She does the crazy thing and THEN the hospital gets a court order allowing her to treat the patient? Not believable.

Is the show preparing for Torrey DeVito's exit? What Natalie did with the baby fits with her pattern but locking everyone out of the room to administer the IV was over the top. In the real world, wouldn't a doctor have a recourse to bring the case before the state child welfare department to argue for the child's best interest? As his situation unfolded I also felt that he was a goner. But anyway, the seriousness of blood clots is not to be underestimated. Maggie couldn't hide her condition forever.

I stopped watching Fire and PD a while ago and I wasn't enthusiastic about tuning back in so that I could understand the crossover story. I don't generally like crossovers because it always feels a little forced when they put characters from other shows into the context of a particular show and they often seem out of place. I will give this much to this crossover: it was well integrated between the three shows. As one show transitioned into another it actually did feel like the same setting and situation remained front and center. For example it was clever how the annoying parade business at the beginning of Fire came back into the story late in PD. And some key characters such as Sharon Goodwin and Jay Halstead stayed out front in the story and didn't just star in their own particular hour. Another good thing about this crossover is that they didn't have as much time to bog down in personal romance stories, although there was inevitably some of that in there.

After it became clear to everyone that they had a massive public health crisis on their hands caused by a communicable disease I was wincing at every handshake happening on screen. In Japan and other countries people wear face masks in public in much less serious situations. Of course of a TV show there's a lot less acting possible when the actor has half her/his face covered. Yes Maggie, go home and stay there.

I think Maggie has always been one of the more likable characters on this show but she has been selfish and unprofessional in the last two episodes. It's not just about her, what about the patients? Not a great move to ditch the operating room in the middle of a surgery. It's the fifth season of the show, isn't the Natalie-Will thing kind of tired by now?

With the heart surgery story this show may have answered my question about how much the heart-lung department will figure into this show now that it has lost Connor and Ava. Are they bringing in a new surgeon? I didn't catch the name of the one who was doing the stent operation with no electricity. And is Noah going to be seeing some of the action? It seemed they were hinting at that when the surgeon told him he had "good hands". Whatever, I hope Ato Essendoh has more time to appear on this show.

Dr. Charles and his placebos - it was way too predictable because that's how this show operates. I finally realized what the Natalie amnesia story reminds me of - that old Sandra Bullock rom-com "While You Were Sleeping", LOL. Of course with a more sinister tone. It took me a while to realize it was Jesse Spencer's character from Fire who was in there working with Natalie because the scene was so dark. At last I recognized him from his voice.

During the scene by the crib between Kate and Kevin I kept expecting to hear a joke about Kevin being "The Manny". I was unsure about the flashback story of Jack and Rebecca dragging their kids out to the pool but I ended up liking it quite a bit. Especially how they all want to go in their own direction when they first get there but end up together by the poolside.

They could have continued the theme of professional rivalry between Rhodes and Bekker, at least for a while longer. Maybe not the most compelling story but better than what they ended up doing. Why do female/male coworkers have to be romantically involved? Bekker's end was totally melodramatic and contrived. With the two surgeons in the cardiothoracic unit gone I wonder if we'll still see Dr. Latham on this show. I think this show has done well with Dr. Latham and Dr. Abrams as recurring characters.

The opening sentence from Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse Five comes to me: "Listen: Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time." That's what this episode felt like to me, as if exactly that had happened to the viewing audience.

I was definitely disappointed at the end about how much the plots of the series in general and the finale in particular hung on the question of Catherine of Aragon's virginity. Not sure I care to tune in for Part 2. The scene of Dudley's execution was grotesque but I imagine that historically headsmen were not always accurate and often enough had to take more than a single swing.

The Hapsburg line suffered particularly from a long history of inbreeding, marriages with a high degree of consanguinity. Of course that generally occurred in the royal bloodlines of Europe and thus the genetic troubles which often made those bloodlines less than robust.

I don't think Margaret Pole can love Catherine of Aragon because of what happened to Teddie but I don't think she hates her either. On the other hand I think she can hate the Lady Mother of the King for what the Tudors have done to her family. I could see her hating the mother more than the son if she thinks that it was the mother pulling the strings behind the scenes. She would do well to steer a pragmatic course but she may not see telling the King's mother that Catherine is lying to be that course. M. Pole knows what ruthlessness the King's mother is capable of. It was amusing how the Lady Mother of the King would only refer to Catherine as "that Spanish girl" in this episode. However much Catherine wants to be Queen of England I can't see her immediately and totally rejecting her mother's command to return and burning her letter.

I was also waiting for something more about Connor and Ava. It would be too bad if they just vanished from the show with barely an explanation. On the other hand, is the show worth tuning back into come fall? They made it look that way but if its the case it would be going too far, in my opinion. Dislikable as Ava Bekker may be, could they have they really turned her into a man-obsessed murderer? Maggie not only bears the burden of having metastatic breast cancer, she also has to deal with the guilt of having given it to a friend she was trying to help. She really CAN'T catch a break. I liked the idea of both Maggie and Dr. Latham being able to sign to the hearing impaired couple. Disappointing that they made a big cliffhanger about Will and Natalie. That relationship is so tired by now, they've been going at it since early Season 1.