OhTheHumanity

For crying out loud, Chopped, get a second fryer! And while you're at it, another ice cream maker and more than two cast-iron griddles! If the point is to see what well-qualified cooks can do with a basket of weird ingredients and serious time pressure, why add in ridiculous equipment limitations? The lack of fryer space really affected the outcome of the most recent episode, which really sucks!

That, to me, is the saddest loss in SYTYCD over time...the loss of those special dance partnerships between the contestants for the first half of the live shows. Benji and Donyelle, Lacey and Kameron, Mark and Chelsea,, Fik-shun and Amy, Evan and Randi, Joshua and Katee, Aaron and Jasmine...watching these couple develop as individual dancers and as a team over five weeks was one of the joys of the earlier seasons, and we've lost that. I enjoy seeing previous competitors as All-stars, but I miss those ongoing partnerships.

Wow...Hester is just the WORST! I actually found myself unconsciously clenching my fists in anger during the second half of the episode when Nadine was talking about Hester ruining and then not even using Nadine's fabric that Hester had badgered/guilted her into sharing. I really hope that somehow after each episode the judges are filled in a little by the production team about what transpired in the workroom. Speaking of the workroom...I love that the newly-rejuvinated PR has updated and refreshed the sets (and the button bag 😊) And I love the LOOK of the workroom, but I don't really love how it works for me, the viewer. It's too chopped up and too hard to see the various designers except in relative close-up. I miss the incidental background glances and reactions we used to be able to see from other designers in the more open workroom of the past. The new one feels a little...I don't know, claustrophobic, I guess. Did I mention that Hester is just the worst?

His being beat up and shot is ENTIRELY on Beth. I'm having a bit of trouble with this perspective. Let's not forget that it was DEAN that over-mortgaged their house to the point where they were on the verge of losing it, mismanaged the car dealership, and had an affair with the receptionist at his workplace while Beth was home taking care of the house and kids and trusting him. Beth would never have been desperate enough for money to rob the grocery store in the first place if it wasn't for good old Dean.

I would pay good money to see a show with Dmitry and Fabio from Top Chef hanging out and cooking and sewing and mangling English-language idioms left and right. Comedy gold (and the male hotness factor wouldn't hurt either!)

I was really disappointed with this. I think I read that it was from the creator of "Alone", a show I like a lot, so I had high hopes. However, it was way too slow and talky, with WAY too much backstory and video of the contestants lives pre-island. I want to see the survival aspect and the calculation of whether it's better to stay alone or join up with the other competitors...I don't want to watch sob stories and journalling/sessions. And since we only met half of the contestants this week, I expect the same thing next week with the other half. Snore.

I'm glad to know I'm not alone in feeling that Brendan grates. He's clearly very talented, but there's something that's just...I don't know, maybe self-satisfied about him? And unlike nearly every other competitor I've seen across several seasons, he never seems to offer any encouragement or kind words (or hands-on help, although he's of course not obligated to do that) to any of the other competitors. Part of what makes this show so lovely is the camaraderie among the bakers, and Brendan doesn't seem to be part of that.

I like Koine, but I have to say, the side-by-side jazz dance Mandy Moore gave them didn't do Koine any favors. Taylor's lines, musicality, and persona (in that particular dance) were (literally) head and shoulders above Koine. On the other hand, I thought Koine and Lex's Broadway number was terrific, and she was wonderful in it!

So again, we have Madison's group willing to ruin the security for a large group of people to get what they want: From the first season, when the "heroes" destroyed the fence around their neighborhood so that they could get OUT, neglecting to close it up on their way out which allowed the dead to get IN Their destruction of the security perimeter at the medical/jail center where Nick was being detoxed and met Strand The destruction of the security perimeter at the hotel, because Madison just HAD to turn on the hotel signage lights for Travis (and all of the desperate survivors and the dead, of course) to find them. The destruction of the military base where they were being detained at the beginning of Season 3 The near-destruction of the Ranch (and the killing of the Ranch patriarch who took them in)--I still fully expect them to leave the Ranch in ruins and overrun by the dead at some point Now blowing up a truck and bringing down the fence keeping both dead and hostile alive out of the dam area...their self-serving destruction of the security of others knows no limits.

Just when I thought this show couldn't get any stupider...well, it did. Every decision Madison made is the wrong one; I feel like at this point, the other characters should ask Madison what she thinks they should do, and then ALWAYS do the exact opposite, because they know she'll make the wrong choice every time. I'm still a fan of (and somewhat of an apologist for) the original TWD. I don't see Madison and Rick as the same. Madison only--and I do mean only--cares about herself and her children, and sees her other allies and any other humans as a means to her family's survival. Rick is loyal to his entire group, and is willing to bring other allies into his group to strengthen the entire GROUP, not just his flesh and blood. Rick is flawed...Madison is evil. To me, there's a difference. Gah, this show. I may have to finally quit, and I say that as one of the poor, deluded souls who tends to stick with any show I've watched for one season all the way through to the bitter end.

Well, there was a little more dancing this week, so that's good. Still way, way too much focus on the All-Stars, though, and I say that as someone who LOVES seeing the dancers from previous seasons come back to partner this year's contestants...just not this early in the season and this prominently featured. I'm disappointed that we didn't get to see more of the group dances, and also disappointed that we can feel the heavy hands of the producers on every aspect of the team choices. Grateful SYTYCD is still on the air (I thought it was a goner after last season), but it's a pale imitation of what it once was.

I've so been looking forward to this week after A) the travesty that was last year's Kids Season and B) how boring I found the audition weeks this year. Sadly, I was underwhelmed by this first "Academy Week" as well. I want MORE DANCING. Way too much talking, way too much of the dancers standing at the microphone while the All-Stars were featured making their pitches. I'd rather have seen all 16 or 17 groups doing the hip-hop audition (and much more of the actual choreography instruction period) than a pale imitation of The Voice where the All-Stars pitch for why a dancer should be on their team. I mean, this is still an Uncle Nigel production, so we know that certain dancers are going to be featured heavily and others virtually ignored, but still...SYTYCD is ostensibly a DANCE show, so please, I beg you, show us more DANCING! Rant over. For now.

I understand that "Suits" is really just a soap opera that happens to take place in a law firm, but seriously, it's just gotten too ridiculous at this point. A secretary (even the secretary of the Managing Partner) would never, ever be made a partner, much less a senior partner. And living in Manhattan, how would she have been able to accumulate half a million dollars as buy in. And I agree with the previous poster that Rachel, as a first-year associate (didn't she just graduate from Columbia Law last season?) would never, ever be put in charge of anything, much less the associates program. Ridiculous. I've got a fair amount of residual affection for Suits, but I'm on the verge, finally, of being out.

I find myself wondering sometimes, when watching the show, whether the producers and writers have a bet going on how long a show can stay on the air with ZERO likeable characters... Although to be honest, I do like Strand.