pinkglove

I feel rewarded for sticking around. I was almost out a good few times this season but the last two episodes, especially this finale, were exactly the kind of crazy fun I'm here for. I didn't have faith in the whole Gargoyle King thing ending up having any sense but surprisingly, it did. Penelope being the main villain is probably the best possible choice. And there was a connection between her and the Black Hood before, so them working together isn't as random as I thought it would be. Also, Chic impersonating Jason is much better than Jason actually being alive and involved. Though, one thing I don't like about this is that Black Hood wasn't serious about his own game, he made Betty decide who would die and... well, I expected his twisted mind to stay more true to his own rules. I liked that the core four faced the challenge together. It seemed to me that Jughead's part was less powerful than the others' but it may just be my impression. I guess Alice being an FBI informant is marginally better than Alice being totally brainwashed. But I'm sure FBI could have sent someone who's better trained and, well, smarter. Still, I do hope Charles is not another fake FBI guy, another fake Charles, or both. Enough is enough. Surprisingly, I enjoyed Hiram in this episode. At some point, I was bored with him owning nearly everyone and everything in Riverdale; it got repetitive and I wanted him to go. Then, something changed and his influence became more subdued. It coincided with Veronica somewhat going back to him, which was even more annoying. After a break, it's fun to see him being kind of invincible again, pulling strings even from prison. And it will make it even more fun to watch him fail at some point. I usually hate cliffhangers like the scene from the spring break. But this was well done, combined with Archie's words. Also, the first thing I thought about after seeing it was the scene from the final season of "Pretty Little Liars" I do wonder why Archie was so reluctant to burn Jughead's beanie though.

Thanks. It's surprising that it disappeared from my mind so quickly, if it was only a few episodes back. I might have missed that one somehow. I forgot to mention that one thing I liked about this episode was Jerry telling Aaron that it was his brother's trick. But it also made me remember that Ian was way cooler than Aaron.

I also think it was Jerry who got shot. I hope it's not because Jorge Garcia wanted out. It feels like at first, the vibe was that 5-0 are awesome at what they do and the "WTF" moments were either regular "hey, that's not how it works" or because they were portrayed as too awesome (doing crazy spectacular things when there was much easier way to deal with the situation), which was fun in a way, but the writers run out of ideas for that. So, now, 5-0 seem pretty average most of the time and "WTF" moments are still either regular inconsistencies or "how could they mess up so badly." First Jerry doesn't discover the spyware, then they let in an armed woman with a possible personal grudge and whose reason for coming is unconventional... BTW, who is Adam's new old lady friend? I don't remember her at all...

Ditto! And because IMO he went to very boring right from very annoying and shady, I can't get it out of my mind that he's one of those too nice guys who keep everything dark bottled up and you never know when some of it will pop up. This kind of suits, or at least suited, Jane, as she tries/tried to fix everyone so that everything around her could be perfect, and pre-Jason Michael seemed to try too hard to be perfect. But that's her fragile comfort zone that is always one step from exploding in a very messy way. Rafael, who in Season 4 grew to not only lie his darkness on the table but without being ashamed of it or getting stuck in it, just seems like a much better partner for her. That being said, I'm less annoyed by Michael's return than I thought I'd be, I enjoyed the episode. Like some others here, though, I don't look forward to more Rose/Luisa. On a more positive note, I missed Petra so much. It was cute when she asked the police to stop JR from leaving. Also, it's true that the horror of what Michael went through was pretty much ignored, but it seems to me that it's kind of postponed because there's... well, no one to feel for. Of course, there's Michael/Jason, but he doesn't remember it and atm, isn't haunted by it. So, the sympathy could mostly be directed at the memory of Michael; but Jane and others already put a lot of energy into that in the past, even though it was for other reasons that turned out not to be accurate. And at the moment, there are more tangible things to deal with, too many of them, so everyone started by focusing on them, on people who are hurting at present.

It may be bad writing but not necessarily. If they did intend for Delilah to be narcissistic, they did a decent job. I know people almost exactly like her, both men and women. (It's even kind of believable that people are drawn to her, meaning men and just about anyone else who's always ready to rush to her rescue... that happens, too, with this personality type, according to my experience.) I guess it might seem like a bad choice in the sense that narcissistic characters tend to provoke strong reactions and it's hard to find the good beneath the bad and annoying. People tend to see their manipulative traits as the mother of all evil (which I kind of disagree with, because in non-extreme cases, and this one isn't, it takes two for the manipulation to work). But I'm not sure; there are plenty of such types in everyday life so I don't mind. What's disturbing is that none of the characters sees through it; that's what bothers me about the writing. They are all adults, even if they don't (always) act like it, it's not that hard to notice and yet whatever happens, 90% of the time they see Delilah as the victim and play along.

I think the issue with Delilah (at least for me) is not that she isn't capable of taking care of herself or that she's too vulnerable. There are times when she comes out as someone who chooses to play vulnerable, which makes her seem narcissistic. She keeps using Gary's control issues to her advantage, until it no longer suits her, and she suddenly sees right through him and stands up to him. Also, the way she used Andrew (it's the third time I'm posting about him and I still don't know if that's his name) wasn't about her being vulnerable, she was more than capable. More than capable to manipulate someone new to handle her responsibilities. Similarly, it seems to me that she doesn't need Eddie to install the car seat, she needs to keep Eddie close and involved, without him being too close or too involved.

A quick question: Why didn't Hazel and his girlfriend die? It looked like they were about to time travel too. Had Hazel stolen something that allowed them to do it from The Handler? I missed that.

Good point! As for Delilah calling Eddie: She didn't have to call to see how Katherine was. She was in the restaurant with four people who pretty much told her everything five minutes earlier. She also could have told Gary to pass any good wishes and call him later to ask if Katherine was alright. (Unless my mind messed it all up and Gary and Maggie weren't in the restaurant when Delilah came? Not much of a difference either way.) Obviously, in those situations you also call to tell people that you are thinking about them. Which is all fine and nice unless you know that the person who had an accident doesn't want to think about you more than they already have to; and Delilah was aware that was the case here. And that Eddie most likely wouldn't pass the message. So, IMO, the reason why she called was for Eddie to know that she's thinking about Katherine and that she acknowledges staying with Katherine was more important than their plans together. Or, in other words, to look good in Eddie's eyes and to attach herself to the situation that she wasn't a part of and (for Katherine's sake) shouldn't be a part of. Of course she has no issue with letting her friends deal with their problems (or with her problems, for that matter) without her participation. But the one time when staying completely out of it would be best for everyone, she can't do it.

I don't find it that strange. They might have only met a few years ago but apparently they connected enough to pretty much abandon whoever else has been in their lives since before then. If they mostly spend time with people inside their group, it could be kind of awkward to ask for someone else's help; my mind tends to work in the same way.

It's official, my mind has been corrupted by watching too much of this show. I had a dream last night... I was hanging out with some random actress (I don't even remember who it was). I think I was some random actress too. Somehow, we found ourselves at the set of Vikings, probably because we were visiting someone. They were filming the scene with Floki and my friend said something like "I thought he was dead." And someone from the crew told her "No, this was just the beginning." Let's see if I'm a seer...

I can't believe that two episodes ago, I still had it in me to defend Delilah from the wave of hate. I guess as I said before, it's the little things that get to me and I really wanted to slap her when she called Eddie (knowing he's with Katherine). Also when she heard about the accident, I could almost hear her self-obsessed mind calculating; not even a flash of honest worry on her face. The lawyer was great. Katherine surprised me when she snapped about how she has to deal with "mothers who know." That would be the last thing on my list of crap to deal with in her situation. I'd literally be more worried about who gets the table. Also, forget about the affair, why would she want Delilah to be Theo's legal guardian? I can't even imagine those two interacting. I find Regina and Rome kind of boring. I can't explain it, it's probably that IMO the show doesn't handle the heavy stuff too well and there isn't enough air left there, though I don't have the same problem with Maggie's cancer.

I couldn't agree more. "A Million Big Things" is definitely not what I'm looking for here. Funnily enough, the further the show goes into the heavy stuff, the more I realize that those "little things" are the only part that I buy here. And it doesn't seem like I'm the only one, so many people stick around for Katherine and Theo, who bring relatively little drama. No matter how well it's acted, when something big happens to one of those characters / we find out something major about their baggage, I usually feel nothing. I could even relate to some of those stories and yet, while not always being able to pinpoint what's wrong, they seem forced. The "little things" though, they sometimes get right, and those are the only moments when I can make up my mind about specific characters, because all their big stories seem to neutralize each other, I mostly find them dull. The above being said, I'm sorry, Delilah, I tried to be the devil's advocate, but I'm out. After "I can take care of myself," I can never take you seriously again. BTW, she had a point about Gary trying to control everyone but the fact that it came from her cheapened it massively. She basically begs everyone around to control her, so she doesn't have to do anything. (Maybe that's one of the reasons why she gets on so well with Gary, while it's harder for Katherine.) And it's impossible to have it both ways. About Gary, for a better part of the episode I wanted to throw something at the screen whenever he opened his mouth. Seriously, he feels entitled to decide when Eddie should have sex and what's too long without it? Then he lashes out at Andrew (is that his name?) for helping Delilah when in fact she not only asked for it, but also counted on his help mostly (if not only) because she knew he was attracted to her. Sure, Andrew probably has his own agenda, like most people in most situations, including Gary. I'm aware that he didn't know the whole story but a) he could ask before ambushing the guy on the street b) I find his attitude toward Delilah kind of disturbing. I'm not sure if he treats her like a child or a saint, maybe both? Anyway, both are equally wrong, and can have ugly consequences. However, I also loved what I hated. Specifically, it made me laugh that Maggie got tired of his fake positive thinking and joked about him stealing candy from a child. But the joke turned into reality with the child being Andrew, and Gary wrapped it up with admitting that he doesn't buy things that seem too good. Also, when Delilah confronted him about his control issues and his first words were "I don't know" - it was one of those small moments but Roday delivered it well. It sounded pretty desperate and I liked how well it showed that Gary trying to control people around him is all about him not having control at all.

I wasn't trying to say anything else. Just that I really, really don't agree with the way she tried to force it on him. It's one thing to be firm but for me, she crossed the line here. But it may just be me.

I kind of see her like that too. She seems to have a "people pleaser" personality and I think that might be both why she was attracted to Eddie / sticked around for so long and (partially) why she agreed to help Delilah. I don't see Eddy as a full-blown narcissist but he goes in that direction, which makes them an unhealthy but pretty common match, based on unresolved issues on both sides rather than common interests. I'm actually not sure if Eddie/Delilah wasn't a blessing in disguise for her; without a huge blow, she would probably greet her teeth and last decades despite being unhappy and feeling sort of used. IMO she's the one who tries to be the bigger person, takes pride in doing the right thing and tries to score points with others by being nice, doing favors, agreeing to help her husband's lover, etc. It often happens on a subconscious level and it's probably only part of the reason, so I'm not saying there's nothing noble about her helping Delilah or taking on so much responsibility in her marriage. It's just that I don't agree with those who say that it's all great or that it makes her a saint; as always, multiple factors might be at play. Also, I feel like she's outside the group not because of what Eddie says about her, but because she's way more withdrawn than anyone else in their circle. I see her as the kind of person who will spend so much time thinking about what to say that before she does, Gary will manage to insult three different people, compliment two, pour out his heart on two separate matters, and top it with two jokes. Sure, it can be because the others spend more time together and feel more comfortable around each other, but I don't think that's it. IMO she doesn't fit there and the best course of action would be to stop trying.

I still don't get demonizing Delilah so much, or seeing Katherine as a saint (despite the fact that Katherine is my fav character). For all her faults, the former doesn't strike me as a person who would throw herself into an affair with someone so close to Jon as Eddie was without trying to fix her marriage first. It just seems like Jon was busy with many other things, mainly the mess in his head, he'd never heard her. And if I had to choose between being married to someone who cheated with one of my best friends when we were in a bad place (and unable to resolve it) and someone who never opened up to me, lied or covered up multiple things, and essentially made me live his pain without letting me know it was there (because IMO that's the only way having two faces can go), bring on the affair. Not to say that Jon is evil, obviously he had issues that were beyond his control, just that no one is evil here. Especially considering that the way I see it, Jon was never truly with Delilah. He admitted himself that only a part of him was there; it's a human thing to do to look for something more, even if you aren't able to do it graciously. I agree that she's boring though. I find it a little harder to understand Eddie here, but it's mostly because we barely saw or heard what happened between him and Katherine; those bits and pieces aren't enough. I hated the way he and Gary (I don't remember how others fit into this) spoke about Katherine at the beginning, as if she was evil - but that is one of the things about Eddie/Katherine that I can explain (to myself). To me, it's all Eddie's (not very mature) way to deal with what happened to his marriage and what he was doing to further destroy it; he channelled all of the anger onto Katherine, while most of it could actually be at himself. Ugly, but also human and not nearly bad enough to make someone evil. I was very annoyed with Regina telling Rome he needs to get back on his meds for her. I don't care if she's his wife, mother, noisy friend or whoever else, it's his body and mind, he will suffer most of the direct consequences of either taking or not taking them. Obviously, she will be affected too, but only by some of them and she can always walk away. I don't remember the details but I think it's not the first time she did something like that and I'm starting to wonder if Gary and Regina aren't playing a game of who is worse at minding their own business. (Not saying she shouldn't have an opinion on Rome taking his pills or not but the way she phrased it was just awful. If I were vulnerable, like he probably is atm, and heard something like that, it wouldn't be pretty. I feel like it's all going nowhere. I'm bored with Jon. And with almost everyone else. I like Katherine, Theo and Maggie's pink wig but I'm not yet sure if it's enough to get me through the final episodes.