Pop Tart

I think one of the small, but crucial, indicators of who Allison is, is in those moments where she sees a mess and has a clarity moment of "I don't have to clean that up" but then she reverts to what's "correct" and does so anyway. She did it with the flyers, she did it with the laundry in the bedroom, she did it with a piece of paper she threw on the ground, etc. Each time she was wanting to rebel against the idea of doing what was expected of her, what was "right" and then caved and did the right thing anyway. I think that is where she is with her marriage. She wants to rebel and end it, but struggles because that would be wrong. And doing "wrong" (as regards her role as wife) is not only hard for her to imagine but it's also a lot of work. Killing Kevin would be a far, far bigger wrong, but I think it's actually easier for her to contemplate that. Because as hard as it would be to kill someone, having Kevin dead is a far easier out for her then having to go through the complications/difficulties that lay in just leaving him. Being a widow is a lot easier (in her mental scenario) than having to divorce Kevin. This relates too to what the ex-boyfriend was saying to her and to how she has responded to other offers of help. Those things are hard and exhausting, but Kevin dead and she's now a widow? Much easier and also she would not be seen as having done the "wrong" thing as a woman and wife (presuming no knows she killed Kevin). Analysis aside, I really started to get into this with the second episode as I began to get a glimmer of the layers and layers that would be coming. I'm in.

Yes I was thinking the same thing. All her "I'm so tough, no one would dare f*ck with me" is just so much bs. Joe G cheated on her multiple times and not only called her the c-word on tv, but did so to his mistress. I am not saying Teresa is to blame for the abuse she took or is in any way obligated to respond in any way other than what she decided worked for her to do. I am saying that for her to claim that she'd never put up with bad behavior because of how "strong" she is? And to do so in a way that is meant to shame other women for having done so? That sticks in my craw a lot.

Not that they weren't making mistakes but Glen's getting on them about it felt like he was trying to compensate a bit for his own big blunder of hitting the dock. Regardless of if the "reverse thrusters" failed or it was his actual piloting error, it was extremely mortifying for him. So his suddenly pointing everyone else's mistakes out? Feels like the kind of defensive behavior you exhibit when you're feeling bad about yourself. Again - not to say that Natasha's 'lick the table' dessert isn't the worst thing ever, it is. I think she's just not very good at desserts. Seems like many meals there has been no dessert, a few have had some kind of mousse, and maybe a cake once? My other thing with Natasha was her going on about how much food she was going to provide for them because they wanted more food after the first dinner she did for them. She said it as though they were massively over-demanding for more and more food. Yes they have been grossly demanding in all manner of ways, but they do not bear the blame for the unhappiness with the first meal. That is all on Natasha. The reality was she told them dinner would be five courses and then gave them only three. That was what prompted the questions/expectations for more food and the complaints. It is a mistake, of course, to be talking about the guests in spaces where they can be overheard, but Erica was clearly looking for something to be offended by and to be able to throw her weight around to show how important she is. Saying that her mother was likely to talk a lot during the massage? That required tattling to Glen? Especially since she'd already told Alli that she'd overheard the comment.

Yes exactly. You captured what I was trying to say so much more succinctly. I really enjoy a quick wit and snark, but your description of digging a little deeper and making the cut a little longer is right and it's what makes the wit and snark veer into cruelty and viciousness. That's when they lose people. I get how it happens as they're trying to top themselves each year in order to keep the attention they crave, but it inevitably takes them in a downward direction.

I don't mind if she still has beef with Rinna and Kyle, those make sense. What gets a little old for me is her put upon attitude about every event. When she was new last year and would project how much she didn't want to be at the events, especially when conflicts began (which they are probably contractually obligated to engage in), it made some sense. She's new to it. It's a lot to be going to dinner with a group of women and five minutes in have verbal screaming matches erupt. Makes sense that would make a person uneasy and looking for a way out. But she's not new to this anymore and having experienced all of that in season one, she still signed up for a second season. So the heavy sighs, the woeful "why do I have to be at this thing" attitudes, those don't work any more. She seems to be a very smart and careful woman in terms of what she's putting out there, which I totally get and admire. But at this point it's way too late to present yourself as caught up in things beyond your ken and control. You're in it now Garcelle. In some ways I think this is what tripped up Denise and maybe Eileen before them. They want to be only partially in, but in Housewives shows, like the mafia, you're either all the way in or you're out.

Has no storyline? That wasn't how I saw it. Her storyline was in part how her marriage was struggling - whether it was exaggerated for the show or not. To my mind that's a lot more of a "housewife" storyline than others. She's on a "real housewives" show and revealing things about her marriage. How is that not a storyline? Or at the least why is is less of one than Teresa's, which was starting a rumor about Jackie's husband and then fighting with Jackie about "my kids" for 80% of the season? I'm with you. I haven't liked her for most of the season, but thought that last night was really a good demonstration of why. She has clearly let this go to her head and was far too smug and smirky and she is totally Teresa's creature. I wished Andy would have delved more into the section when the topic of the Jen/Melissa relationship came up. Melissa made a fair point in that she hadn't said or done anything to Jen for the season and thought they were on good terms, but Jen used every opportunity to slam her in her talking heads. And I think 99% of that behavior is because Teresa still only barely tolerates Melissa. Jen is kind of where Margaret was a couple years ago. Liked by the fans because she has learned how to deliver a snarky quip, but letting the fame change her (credit to Teresa for actually getting that right, fame does change everyone) into someone who will become less beloved the more she runs with it. When Margaret joined the show she was similarly received. A few years later and her schtick has worn thin and/or the producers have changed the narrative. Snarky starts to feel vicious pretty quickly (and I'll admit I find Jen pretty vicious already). I know many don't like Melissa, but I think of all of the housewives, she seems to have navigated the changes wrought by fame pretty well. She hasn't steered into some exaggerated version of herself because that's what fans like. And too, she is able to let things go. Where Teresa will hold onto a grudge until 20 years past the day she dies, Melissa seems to be more of a fight it out and be done person.

Oh darn. You're right. Ah well, felt like a revelation for a moment. 🙃

The more I think about it... the more I'm thinking Dylan's dad may be the baby daddy for Erin's baby - and perhaps her killer (though I'd been leaning towards it being a woman). Came to it as I was thinking about Mare's question for Jess (? Erin's best friend) about why Erin said Dylan was the dad. The friend she said it was Dylan because his parents were nice and she wanted DJ to have that. But maybe it's because Dylan's dad is the dad? Not sure he's also the kidnapper, who may be Dan or the deacon, but my new suspect for Erin's death.

On third re-watch I am here to report that the ice cream was not left to melt in the breadbox. Helen stashed it there when Becca knocked at the door. But after letting Becca go down to the basement to wait for Siobhan, Helen went back to her ice cream. By the time Becca screams because she sees Siobhan making out, Helen is seated at the kitchen table eating her ice cream (with M&M’s and whipped cream on top from what I can tell). Still doesn’t excuse the half popped bag of popcorn. 😉

Another screenshot of the kidnapper - which does look like cousin priest Dan (I'll admit), but when you see Dan in other scenes his sideburns are not very pronounced (less so than Zabels or Deacon Mark), so... Other factor that makes it maybe not Dan is the big, maintenance man, style of keychain this guy is wearing. So? You decide.

I was hollering at the tv for her to text Siobhan. As to Becca claiming that Siobhan texted her...that felt like a spur of the moment lie she told Siobhan's grandmother so that she could stay at the house and wait for Siobhan. Jean Smart's character was clearly trying to edge her out the door and Becca wanted to stay and see Siobhan. A slower, building kind of episode, which I was enjoying just for all the character interactions. And then those last tense 15 minutes. Got me all riled up and conspiracy-brainstorming again. My theory now is that the kidnappings and death of Erin are two unrelated things. Probably wrong, but still thinking it might have been a woman who killed Erin. And based on the long look Erin's friend, name is escaping me, gave out the window after she told Mare about the journals, I'm wondering if she was involved.

Oh I'm not thinking that Frank is the killer. I just thought that if he thought Kevin was DJ's father, it would explain why he had taken an interest in Erin and brought diapers and supplies for baby DJ. An explanation that doesn't include Frank himself as having been in a sexual relationship with Erin (which I thought was an early red-herring). This isn't a likely scenario to my mind, but for those positing that Kevin could be DJ's dad, then Frank's behavior becomes a bit more understandable. And also would explain why he wouldn't tell Mare about it. Kevin's suicide and how it clearly dealt a death blow (pardon the pun) to Frank and Mare's marriage was enough already. So if Kevin is the baby-daddy or even if Frank just suspected he was, I'd believe completely that he'd keep it from Mare. All of this based on the conjecture about DJ and likely completely wrong. 🙂

I've been thinking about the theory of Kevin being D.J.'s father. At first I was an automatic 'nah' on that. But I was talking to friends who watch and mentioned it. One of them said Kevin being the father would explain why Frank took an interest and was bringing Erin diapers and supplies. So I'm now sort of considering it - or perhaps just considering that Frank thinks Kevin was the father?

Agreed. Sydney certainly has gone over the top with her reaction to her ONS with Gary, but the way he and Alli were behaving last night was bordering on cruel. Especially towards the end of the episode when Sydney, Natasha and Colin were sitting off by themselves. Suddenly here comes Gary and Alli to join the group and when they do they start a makeout session. Not just a side hug, but full on - two feet from Sydney. And then Alli kept pressing Sydney to say what she's feeling, etc. when clearly Sydney was too upset to feel she could do so. Alli knows at that point how Sydney is feeling. There was no need to force her to say it and humiliate herself further. Alli has talked a good game about not wanting to hurt Sydney but she sure wasn't acting like that last night. None of this is to say that Sydney hasn't been acting like a jealous loon, and they are on a boat so not that many places to go. But if Alli is meant to be the "nicer, cool chick"? I didn't see it last night. Oh and I was kind of rooting for Sydney in those moments where she would walk in and need to grab something at the bar when Gary and Alli were canoodling. "Oops just have to get a Leinenkugel, don't mind me, go about your business...". Made me laugh.

Another stellar episode and so many moments/beats to mull over. Will have to watch again of course as I'm sure I missed a few. Not sure if I caught it correctly (meaning not sure it was the same day), but I'm thinking part of why Zabel got so drunk that night was because of the previous case with the murder of the ten year old. When Mare was asking him about the case and he told her how he solved it and figured out where the girl was, he looked like he wanted to cry and it was difficult to even recount it to Mare. She asked him if they found the body there at the construction site (quarry?) where the suspect worked. He paused and then said they were able to bring her home or something like that. He wasn't even able to say how he found the body of the little girl, where she was buried, etc. That kind of death and discovery of a body is traumatizing and though we all watch cop shows a lot (I'm guessing) where cops find a body every week, for a detective in a rural county in PA? He's not seeing that many dead little girls who have been murdered. So his telling Mare about it brought it all back and he got trashed that night. I think Mare understood all of that. At least that was my read on it. My long shot suspect? Lori. The way that Erin was unclothed but hadn't been sexually assaulted? Makes me think a woman did it. And if Lori suspected John was the father of Erin's baby? Another theory: maybe Erin is raising money for DJ's ear surgery by sleeping with guys? So could make her connected to previous missing girl, Katie, if they were both sex workers.

I don't think Mare wrote off Katie's disappearance. I think in episode one she mentioned all the ways in which she'd tried to find leads. Katie was different then Erin in that she just disappeared. Sometimes it's harder to find a missing person than it is to investigate when a body has actually been found. And someone else may remember better than I am, but I got the impression that Katie had some drug issues and/or maybe prostitution? I loved last night's episode. So many great little character moments. I was irritated by her mother and daughter not telling Mare about the custody suit, but I also kind of got it. Probably a combination of hoping Carrie didn't actually follow through on suing for custody and not wanting to be the one to bring Mare the news if it actually was happening. Still her mom has now twice not told Mare a piece of crucial info (engagement in ep one and custody now), so I can see why Mare may be a bit aggravated with her mom.

I understand all the Kenya hate, but I just am not there with her. Mostly because I can get that so much of it comes from her own deeply unhappy mental map. She's a damaged, damaged person. Not excusing her or suggesting the dislike/hate for her isn't warranted, but for me personally, I'd take Kenya any day over Drew or Toya. Totally at a table for one here, but Kenya feels more genuine to me as a reality show person - genuinely horrible much of the time, but also genuinely hurt at her core and so she lashes out to hurt others before they can hurt her. Don't stone me. Drew lost me completely last night when Andy was asking with "concern" about the choice to put her son's meeting of his biological dad on the show and why she made that choice. He then followed up with questions about how the son is doing, is he still seeing the dad etc. Drew gave very, brief lip-service (blink and you missed it) to his questions, but then like a shot went on the attack with Kenya and the retweet she'd done about the story, complete with fake tears and Porsha handing her a tissue, and all about oh how it was a betrayal and how could Kenya attack her son. It was just so incredibly fake and staged.

It did become rude that they were away from the table as long as they were - though Natasha and Dani started being mad almost immediately - but I also think that some of this is because it's a covid season. Both for legitimate "real" reasons: they're on top of each other on the boat and with covid cannot get away from each other even when they're not working. And for production reasons: they need the crew to break off into subgroups to have these kinds of conversations, otherwise there is just no drama. If they all sit and happily have a "family" dinner together? Where's the drama in that (unless you have drunk Rachel sitting there). Even if a argument does develop at the table, it's still a pretty static filming scene. I believe in the reality of them getting annoyed with one another because, due to covid, they're together ALL THE TIME. I also believe that production urges certain scenarios/groupings in order to have the kind of gossiping they need to create tension and interpersonal conflicts.

This was certainly a slower start to a series than we've seen recently, but I'm in. The character beats all felt like they will have a point as the series goes on. And the acting was stellar throughout - with special props to the young woman playing the eventual murder victim, Erin (Cailee Spaeny), who conveyed so much in her brief scenes. Kudos too to the writers for those scenes. I felt like I truly knew Erin and thus can feel heartbroken for her and be angry about her murder. Though I know Mare is a bitter pill much of the time, at least what we've seen so far. I did think it was kind of shitty that her ex and his fiancee planned their engagement party the same night as Mare was to be recognized for her past accomplishment. Yes, Mare had said that she didn't need her family there. But there wasn't a reason that the engagement party had to happen that night. It seemed like a fairly impromptu party, just a bunch of friends and family invited over, so could have happened anytime.

Amalia had mentioned having experience with violence in her past when she was talking with Mundy. He even asked her if her dead husband had abused her (in so many words). So what I took from that conversation is that Amalia and Maladie were in an abusive situation, as kids was my guess, and that Amalia escaped somehow and left Maladie behind to keep suffering the abuse. At least that is Maladie's viewpoint. Maladie's maniac persona up against Amalia's calm acceptance of guilt reminded me of the Alice/Kate relationship on Batwoman (maybe this is a Bat-world thing). On that show, Alice and Kate are twin sisters who were in a car wreck as kids. Kate was rescued before the car went into a river and Alice was presumed dead. But in reality Alice was rescued by a psychopath who kept her prisoner and thus she becomes the manic, evil Alice. Kate has tons of guilt about not having rescued her sister (though she was a child herself). So though Alice is an evil villain who has done massive wrong, Kate continued to try and rescue her. This is how Amalia and Maladie's relationship feels to me. I know these are jam-packed episodes and moving at the speed of light (which has bugged some critics), I am loving it for all the delights it's bringing, gadgets, special powers, smart kick-ass women, great cast, and so much more.

Me either. And also pretty convinced she was on something during this reunion. Her answers were coherent, but in each case where she engaged she took so long to do so and seemed almost catatonic the rest of the time. Not just when she fell asleep. I did think her interactions with her husband made it clear that she's certainly not dominated by him. If anything I thought she seemed to be the one in charge of their relationship. And regarding that marriage? That is a puzzler. Some of her comments last week were pretty brutal about marriage. Can't remember the words she used, but they were blunt and sharp. And when talking with Robert? Seemed to be some tensions there for sure. I'd guess that they're not able to (or feel like they can't) get divorced because of their church.

See Elizabeth's gown here Totally didn't like Elizabeth before the reunion but the pose in her selfie, the dress, and all the posturing she was doing during the reunion has bumped my dislike up to yuck. It is clear that being on the show was 100% about her getting exposure. I'm guessing her next gig will be as an influencer on instagram. Which is fine if that's what she wants to do and if she wanted to get on the show to up her recognition? Fine. What sticks in my craw is her "woe is me, everyone's so mean to me and I'm doing the bestest job possible, I'm trying so hard and I don't understand at all how anyone could be frustrated". I contrast her with James who is equally immature, but who was up front about why he joined the show - for the kicks, and still he did his job competently.

She didn't seem to make any money off either fraud, at least not great gobs of it, just what it took to run a household and support her family. The people who worked with her on the Dale said she put every bit of money back into the work, paid them better than they would have been paid elsewhere, etc. The same seemed to be true with the flower business. She and her family were living in trailers in a dreary little piece of land, not living high off the sweat of the guys who worked for them. And I would totally believe that what money she made was being put right back into that business too to provide those homes and food for the workers. But all that said, I think your last sentence may be what she wanted more than anything else. The grifting, scheming, doing business, whatever you want to call it was to keep her family and what followers she could gather. This is what makes her so fascinating. She isn't just another oligarch making more money than anyone could ever possibly spend and then spending it in grossly ostentatious ways. She wanted her family to stay close, she liked having people depend on her. She liked being the one who was the smart one running things. And those are traits that would generally be seen as good. So why did she go about it in such bent ways? I'm very curious about the juror in the fur coat too. The whole story surrounding her seemed to be more urban myth, or stories that have morphed over time, and had lots of suspicions and suppositions that I'm not sure were based on real things. And really conspiracy theories from both sides. Fur coat was a payoff from Liz to make sure she was a not guilty verdict and the getting sick and then getting mysteriously replaced so that the prosecution could get their guilty verdict? Both right? Both wrong? Little snippets of each are true and false? It was a good doc for how well it demonstrated the complications that people bring to stories. Both of the male reporters were doing their jobs in investigating and reporting on fraud. I can still find them creepy and loathsome because of how they seemed to take much glee in the fact that they were outing this trans woman and using her gender "fraud" to titillate and shock. There were extremely high levels of transphobia coming through from both, especially Tucker Carlson's dad. Yuck.

Well if she's watched the show then she's definitely seen way more distasteful things now - her telling the captain to eat her cooter, her drunk and raging at James, her drunk and taking the stage, her talking about various bodily functions while cooking... certainly one of those is more distasteful?

I feel like the whole cake thing was some major producer manipulations, but even still... It was Rachel who ordered the cake so it was on her to make sure it was cancelled. She said she'd cancelled it but didn't look too surprised when it showed up, so I would guess she didn't cancel, or again, producer shenanigans. And as to the celebration? They'd all had some drinks at that point, though no one seemed too drunk, and were feeling relieved that they were getting past the initial awkwardness of the firing. That's how I read it. Not as a rah-rah Elizabeth's gone. Eddie and Francesca were asked about it on WWHL and both said that they were just excited because there was cake.