wanderingstar

I'm sitting here trying to figure out how this show got a third season!

Julie and Tom are cute, but their story feels very isolated from the rest of the show. I'm hoping they're better integrated with the rest of the characters as the season goes on. I'm also going to need the Bill/Abigail story to move along. They need to hash out what's up with him and his wife. The Jack/Elizabeth/Charles triangle isn't grating on my nerves like most do. Progress! Looks like , so that should be interesting.

Two of my favorites: Blanche: We Southerners never forget. Dorothy: Yes, it's true: possum is brain food. Rose (to Dorothy): You said you were gonna make him suffer. Don't you have to date a man to do that?

Also - I laughed at Joseph Sikora saying (about Empire) "Just show that Chi-town skyline. It's gorgeous."

After watching the Scandal finale last week, I can safely say that this black viewer will be watching Sleepy Hollow on Thursdays at 9:00 and nothing else.

The Cast of Power Needs You to Chill with all the Empire Comparisons

The last 5 minutes of this episode stressed me out.

Interview with Empire's composer Fil Eisler Eisler breaks down the music from two scenes from season 1

I realized that Rosemary is growing on me. I loved how she scandalized those women while reading the letters to her advice column. Really enjoyed the Elizabeth/Jack scenes in this ep. And I'm adopting a wait-and-see attitude toward the coming love triangle with Charles. I'm staying open to the possibility that it won't annoy me.

I can't say enough about the AV Club's recap of the finale* It hit on every single thing that bugs me about this show. Some of my favorite bits: Preach. It. Dear sweet heaven - YES! It's like this recapper reached into my head and took these words out of it. Damn. And this... ...is the issue I've always had with Rowan, and frankly, with all the characters on this show (I have lost count of how many times Mellie's characterization been retconned to serve the plot). I'd like to say I'm curious to see whether the writers can pull it together and make this show fun and entertaining or not, but I'm just not. *And I say this as someone who's not crazy about AV Club.

Because...plot?

I have questions. Like, how does Mellie not know what Papa Pope looks like? And didn’t they try to take down B613 in last season’s finale? And do these writers understand that making Papa Pope/B613 omnipotent guts any kind of interest in the story or actions of the characters?* Also, why are they teasing me with Huck’s death? Fitz, who smothered Verna in her sick bed (among many other crimes) is going to judge Mellie’s involvement in the death of the grand jury members? Finally – now that Olivia & Fitz are together, does this mean they can finally stop whining about how they can’t be together?** I will say, I did laugh when that one dude blew up the B613 files. That was the best kind of comedy – the unintentional kind. And don’t forget Jake’s little pep talk, which I’m sure was meant to nudge her back to Fitz. This show is dumb. And not in the fun way. *Who really believes Daddy Pope won’t be back next season to wreak more havoc? **I live in hope.

I'm not even that upset about it. I was not looking forward to a Clasico final. Plus, I'd already resigned myself to Barca winning the CL.

Lyon lads grace the June cover of Essence magazine

Guest stars coming for season 2: Chris Rock, Alicia Keys, Lenny Kravitz.

I am hoping that the splitting of the 18 episodes will mean no filler eps, which is always my big concern when shows get an increased episode count.

I adore Joe Morton and have done since he was in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. But I need Rowan to die. There is zero suspense on the show because his character is always 12 steps ahead of everyone else. ETA: It would be one thing if the juxtaposition of those torture scenes with the other stories was presented as a commentary on their hypocrisy. But my sense is we're just supposed to passively accept that the OPA Gladiators fight for justice while also engaging in torture, and that the two things are completely unconnected.

I want Huck and Quinn dead too - except I want it done quickly. After 4 seasons, I have had enough of those two.

The writers really painted themselves into a corner with this B613 stuff. The more they double down on it, the dumber it gets.

Mellie sneering at the mere mention of Lean In was gold. That's all I got.

I can think of at least one occasion when she qualifies an assessment of a perp she had done for Jack & Co. It was the episode Savior, which had a father accused of killing his wife and son and injuring his daughter. When she makes the initial assessment (saying his a family annihilator), she is also careful to note "I'm on shaky ground with this." Later, after the accused testifies, she tells them her initial assessment could have been wrong (turns out it was). Jack begins to lay into her, and she rightly reminds him that she said she was on shaky ground.

Oh yeah - I love the cheesiness. It's one of the main reasons I keep tuning in.

Yes! It seemed that Alfred's biggest crime was that he wasn't Jack. Jack was definitely a Marty Sue. Now that I think about it, there was a lot of lazy characterization in that book.

While I liked Pillars of the Earth, there came a point (I think it was page 600), where I was like, why is this story still going. I mean, once I kept thinking, can we wrap this up? Also, I grew very tired of The Great Love of Jack and Aliena. By the time their love story resolved, I had stopped caring.

I started reading The Return of the Native years ago, but I didn't finish it. None of the characters grabbed me, and the plot seemed a bit aimless. And since someone mentioned Zadie Smith upthread, I never finished reading NW. The writing style was...different - very jagged. I think if I was focusing more, I could have gotten into it, but I do a lot of my reading while on the train or the bus, and this one felt like too much work for me.