BryroseA

I feel like the chefs got really caught up in the “locally sourced ingredients” part of the challenge, while the judges seemed to see it as more of a CARNE! challenge.

The eeeeeever so slight eye roll that accompanied that statement was HILARIOUS. Must be some fun holidays chez Colicchio.

That was a correct decision in both cases by the judges. Pablo has been doomed since week 1 and Nini just seemed to wander around overwhelmed all night. I can’t believe how rough Third Coast’s FOH was. Have we seen worse?

And WTF with just randomly having two contestants who didn’t have to do the first challenge? What kind of twist is that? Were their planes late??

Anya back on my screen making the EXACT SAME fucking dress/jumpsuit she made for every single challenge in her season.

I watch a lot of reality cooking shows (like...too many, definitely) so one thing I really liked about this one was that it featured some new-to-me chefs who were clearly big deals in the culinary world but haven’t necessarily made the rounds on Food Network/Bravo, etc. I think my favorite part of many of the episodes was the profile of the chef guest judge - super interesting, pretty food shots. I’m sold!

I’m super sad Chop Shop went. They seemed like the one truck with a chef who might actually WANT to run a food truck and their food looked GOOD. They were hurt by not cheaping out on portions or defaulting to easy-prep dishes like wings.

Well, if nothing else happens this season, at least Donathan got to meet him his first African American. :/

Carrie’s mom: “Who were those two boys with the tattoos.” Hahaha!

Well apparently you’re not the only one if JTF’s “porno queen at the end of the scene” comment is to be believed. I can’t believe that one made it past the censors. ?

Ouch. Justin, the English teacher, will probably be hearing about missing that FJ for a while.

After yesterday’s debacle, I almost lost it when ALL THREE missed the extremely easy Dayton first clue right off the bat.

I’m genuinely not sure I’ve ever seen a slate of contestants get so many WRONG answers (not just don’t know, but flat out wrong.) Yikes. I may have started cussing at the TV somewhere around the Treaty of Versailles ending the Revolutionary War.

Oh yes, I do know they have a brand (a few, right?) I think it was just the sentence that listed them alongside Dolce and Gabana as examples of collaborators that had me a bit head-spinny. ;)

Did I genuinely just hear Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen being referenced as an example of a successful high fashion collaboration?

I am unreasonably proud of myself for pulling Pliny out of god-knows-where in the recesses of my brain. I actually first pumped for myself, alone in my living room, lol.

Nooo, Lakedra! I was hoping she’d go on a good, long run. Seems like the categories just weren’t with her today.

Finally got a chance to watch and bruuuuuh, Lord John’s face when he recognized Jaime was EVERYTHING. The flitting joy, confusion, hope, and then the practically visible stomach plunge when Claire is introduced were beautifully done (as was Claire’s wtf face in response.) A+++ face acting there, Lord John.

RIGHT? Holy crap that was awful. I’d take a thousand vomiting sailors over that image any day. So did Claire foresee the need for a signaling device and that’s why she snatched the small mirror all stealth-like? Because that seems like some pretty prescient thinking, to me.

Noooo small Elias. :( :( I’ve forgotten most of this part of the book, so that was doubly sad. Thus far, I’m definitely liking the back half of Voyager better on screen than on the page. It translates better in a visual medium. That .02 second shot of Jaime in his tiny round glasses looking at the photos. GAH. More of that, please.

Bruh, I kind of love Marsali and that was...definitely not my reaction to her character in this part of the book, so good on that actress. I remember Willoughby’s speech, but not the book context (I’ve only read the second half of Voyager once as opposed to eleventy million re-reads of the first part). Did that scene go down the same way in the buik? Whit the whole “Jonah” incipient mutiny?

Nooooo Justin! I wonder what on earth was going through his head. There have been a lot of weird wagering blunders this year.

So, I’m clearly a major hypocrite because I was definitely among those decrying the changes from the book in the last ep, but this ep...I loved them. Seriously, everything with Jenny and how and why she was angry was so much better and felt so much more realistic than in the book. I’m glad they didn’t have Claire leave Lallybroch (even though her return scene is a personal favorite of mine in the book). The flashbacks to Jaime’s swim to the island fit well here (although I am wondering why they chose not to keep the part of the book where he’d been returning, with various Murrays in tow, for years to fund the family). I’m happy that we’re still dealing with the tension of Claire returning and what that means after twenty years. I loved that the first time we finally see her in Period garb as opposed to her bat suit is after she and Jenny reconcile. I really, really thought she was going to tell Jenny and am almost sad she didn’t. It feels like it would have worked in the episode, as set up. Also, dang does the actress playing Marsali look like her “mother” - good casting there.

Yes, that line is in the book. On the page, it marks the moment when they swing away from the wild emotion of reunion to the more embarrassed awkwardness of haven’t-seen-each other-in-twenty-years. The line didn’t work as well in the episode, IMO, because it wasn’t preceded by a giant cry-fest on the floor. Buik: “Given a moment to recover from the shock of seeing each other, we were both stricken now with shyness. I saw his shoulders straighten and then he turned around to face me. The hysterical laughter had left us, and the tears, though his face still showed the marks of so much sudden feeling, and I knew mine did, too. “It’s verra fine to see ye, Claire,” he said softly. “I thought I never … well.” He shrugged slightly, as though to ease the tightness of the linen shirt across his shoulders. He swallowed, then met my eyes directly.”

The word “fuck” meaning “have sex with” has been around in English since at least the 15th century or so, IIRC. That earlier scene and Jaime’s not knowing the word is a Gabaldon error (or, perhaps, attributable to Jaime speaking English as a second language, if you want to give DG the benefit of the doubt.)