ombre

I would love to know how they choose who to invite. Does the company make a list and start asking? Do past contestants volunteer and the company picks from that group? Some combination?

I suspect that the last celebrity one was a turning point. The ones that were the cast of this or that show were kinda fun in that they had chemistry with one another and you got to see people who work together ribbing one another and being silly together. The one that was just four different TV talking heads was missing out in even that level of interest. Just four very polished and professionally uninteresting* people being very polished and uninteresting. *as in, their job is to be less interesting than the person they're interviewing.

My mom and I have just started watching the sewing bee on hdclump. We used to sew together when I was younger (she's much more accomplished than I am, but I did make an elizabethan gown in middle school for a history project, so I was no slouch myself waaaaay back in the day!) it's a *joy* to see those familiar actions again. We're only in the first season, which includes history lessons as in early years of gbbo and also little projects you can make at home. If it follows the track of other shows, it will soon lose those fun bits, but I hope it doesn't. A great way to make one's fingers itch to play we with some fabric!

I'd imagine a focus on breaking down elements of a larger project? I'm super, super curious to see this! Thank you for sharing!

Ah. Lovely. I remembered everyone and think they did a great job with who was invited for this episode. Loved the idea of having to revisit a failed bake. It meant that everyone got to really, really *feel* the victory, not just the eventual winner. I'll admit, Sophie is one of those bakers who just stole my heart in her season. No muss no fuss down to business gal. I understand that she's got a business baking fancy cakes, so I suppose that the lipstick and careful hair are part of that, but she did look more comfortable in her skin those many years ago. I hope she is doing well. She doesn't get as much fun camera time as everyone else because she's so focused. Good on her for managing to do that! Teared up something fierce at Carol of the bells in Ukrainian. I suspect that for the rest of the day by brain will be trying to figure out how better to phrase the instructions for the snowflake bread. It so easy to understand with a picture! Made that for Xmas breadfast the first year of covid. Haven't made it again, which is silly because it was so fun and so tasty!

Screw it. Watching the rest of the ep while I make a cappuccino, since today has been exhausting. I have such a different kind of love for each of the finalists. I spent the first several weeks thinking Christiaan was about to get sent home. He seemed like one of those bakers who has funny flavor combinations and never figures out how to bend that to the judges' tastes. And his technical skills seemed just slightly off. Dead wrong, I was. He really managed to find that internal dial and crank it up. I suspect he is the most improved over the course of the show. Love him for it. That takes such determination. Georgie, coming into *this* week of all weeks and baking for the sheer joy of it. Breathless. Way to be in the moment and just put one foot in front of the other. I said in another thread that I hope to manage to hold on to illiyin's extraordinary poise in the face of heartbreak. I hope to keep a little of georgie's be-a-goldfish zen. And Dylan. Kiddo. It is so hard when you're so young. His bakes were (mostly) just phenomenal this season. What joy to see a young kid with such talent and drive. I've also just loved that Paul and Prue got to be human. Genuinely snorted at prue's pfft I'm not asking them to lay the eggs line. And Paul... That chagrined pause as he acknowledged his blue tongue. And then stuck it out. Great ep. Great season. Just lovely.

I always watch these slowly over several days, so I'm always late to the party in here and much of what I've thought has already been said. I'll join others in saying that this is one of my favorite seasons ever and certainly my favorite in some years. And I would have been happy with any if them winning. Lovely people. My primary thought on this ep that hasn't been said is how much I enjoyed the technical. A lot to do? Yep. But with a clear statement that figuring out how to slot those projects together is a major part of the challenge. It's such an unheralded, necessary skill in the kitchen whether you're a pro or a home baker. You have to really understand the nature of all your bakes and know what needs what and what can be fudged a little. Very fun. I've also liked the general bits of playing with the format of the technical this year. Good stuff! I also got a real, silly kick at Noel digging ever more into Christian's accent over the course of this ep and then nailing it in the mid-ep chat. Looking forward to the holiday eps, which, if I don't misremember, should be the first time that Alison is in them. She is such a joy! (as I watch, Paul just caught that champagne cork. He has gotten to be a much more enjoyable presence this year.)

Many years ago, I used to watch this show over lunch - three days per episode - and then be sad that it was over and... Watch the same ep again over lunch for the next few days until the new episode finally aired. And then I gradually realized I no longer enjoyed it enough to do that. But this year (and last year, tbf) I'm back to watching each ep multiple times. It's really back on its feet. Alison is a treasure and I love Noel with her. Prue and Paul are back to being *constructive* in their criticism. (I'd like to think the gradual shift to heartlesssness was only in the editing room, but who knows?) And the show has finally remembered something it did so well in early seasons, namely showing the *slow* moments: the camaraderie between the bakers, the anxiety of waiting for a bake to finish, etc. Why comment on *this* episode as my first comment of the year? Man, I just *hope* that whenever I next find myself in a slow-motion, inevitable train wreck that I can hold my head high and just put one foot in front of the other with the absolute poise that Illiyin did in this week. I've been plenty grateful to this show and the people who put themselves out there in past years, but I suspect I will be holding her in my heart for decades to come. Utter queen. Extraordinary.

It seems I now call all animals of all kinds "lovey." Keith, I am shaking my fist at you!!! (but, you know, grateful for everything else, so I think you're still winning by a lot in my heart!)

Sandi has a new series about a project she and her wife are embarking in upon - working with a 40-acre plot of ancient woodland. The series is called sandi's wood and it's on britbox. I've watched the first ep and am enjoying it (although as someone who does a fair bit of volunteer work in forests near me, much of which is pulling out and cussing at various undesired, aggressive species that get a foothold in the sunlight along paths and then wreck havoc, I'm more than a little antsy with their first step - cutting an access road). Fun to see her using her platform for what is very clearly a labor of love.

I suspect the quietness of the forum for the season shows the impact of hbo's refusal to air the most recent two seasons. I found an alternative way of watching the most recent season and it ended by noting the Keith has a new show - our Welsh chapel dream, in which he and his wife, marj (I'm forgetting her last name, sorry!) buy a derelict chapel in Wales (I know, you'd never have guessed that part from the title, eh ?) to turn into a pottery studio, performance/community space, and home. Looks like there are only four eps, which has me quite bummed as we're three eps in and enjoying it immensely. Anyway, I get the impression that he may have been up to his elbows in this madness while putting the latest pottery season together, which may well have been part of the reason why everyone is "lovey"! :D Heartily recommend the chapel show. Fun to see Keith just being a big damn dude and tearing apart parts of a big damn building. Relatable to see marj feeling a little overwhelmed by the task at hand and downright inspiring to see how she the turns on theater-manager mode and figures out the task at hand and dives in. And the pair of them manage to get the tiniest hint of fantastic orange into everything they touch. On the topic at hand, oh, I loved this season. Donna and Jan's capable scrappiness won my soul, and... Ugh I'm forgetting everyone's names already... Dan? The guy who wore the loud shirts. He physically reminded me of a very, very anal relative so it was quite cathartic to see such devil-may-care attitude coming out of that face! The last ep explained a lot about him for me - if you generally have internalized engineering principles then you can just *play*. Lovely season. Lovely humans. Lovely lovely show. So grateful that it exists!

Whitman as a Brooklyn hipster and alcott as the idealis hippie's burnt out kid are so chef's kiss.

I study Springfield Massachusetts during this era and hate Samuel bowles with a burning passion (especially pre-1854, but also 4eva). Imagine my surprise and joy to discover that he's featured and I can be the world's loudest boobird every time he enters the scene! :D As someone who know this area and this era pretty well, I am so, so charmed at how the show looks into it's soul and figures out how to communicate it's essence to modern audiences. And in utter awe at how quickly it slips from the froth to the real, weighty issues of the day. I can't believe this gem of a show got made. I'm so glad it did. I have one episode left to watch and I can't bear to.

In reading the above comments on lamb and Standish, I've got to say that I think lamb was telling her exactly what he thought would get her to walk away from slough house and the service and never look back. He was shaken that she was kidnapped (and that she is such a vulnerability for his team - look at cartwright white knighting into the park!) and wanted to get her out of there.

I loved the derry girls ep, having seen an episode or two of derry girls on Netflix, and even dug the next year's show, with the cast of... I can't remember the show's name but it was about queer life, iirc. Both were very personable people with real chemistry between them. This year's show had a real millstone around it's neck. The whatever the anniversary of channel 4?!? Lots of random people who know one another in passing and are primarily famous for being talking heads? Oy. That's a heavy load to lift. I'm sure it sounded good in some board meeting but... But if they wanted to just bring the derry girls back every single year I would absolutely tune in. Honestly, if they got that gang together to be terrible at a different activity every *month* I'd probably be down with it. Pottery. Basketweaving. Fixing car engines. Bring it!