Dowel Jones

And Sloane. Really, really awkward.

Yep, Bunker Hill, you do have a problem if I'm the first poster. Think of something, fast, Mr. Billionaire. Your show is on life support if this is any indication.

He has policies?

Does a sitting President vote in the DC precinct, or does he cast a vote in his home district? The only reason I ask is that DC has non-voting representatives in Congress and no Senator, and that's all that was on the ballot. Couldn't Atwood have written a note to the President, to be handed to him as he was speaking? These people should be able to think on their feet. Plus, he let another opportunity to remove the courier from the equation. And the scene in the Oval Office. Sorry, all I could think of was Mystery Science Theatre 3000. "Push the button, Mr. President." Alright Leo, got that settled in your mind? Then cut your damn hair, stop moping, and start looking like an actual First Son. You'll get laid eventually. So, the results are in, there's a Congress and a Senate to be sworn in and educated about how the processes work, and they'll have a budget to work with now. Wait, what planet are these people from? We're talking about Congress here.

Sorry about that. I went back and edited afterward. Asher did say that his stuff was available for everyone while he was putting it in the refrigerator. He probably assumed that everyone else would take that to mean the beer. Obviously Randall didn't, if he heard the statement at all. Regardless, you don't bring hallucinogens to a gathering without informing others that the drink is off limits. And I wouldn't drink any kind of individual drink either. That's just wrong.

Ahhh, poor Boden. He just gets his life back on track, and goes and beats up another miscreant. Assault and Battery must not be a noticeable crime in Chicago when it's done because your son was a beating victim. I didn't even think about Louie. He's probably back at the apartment, downloading porn on the computer and seeing how loud the stereo will really go. It looked like the grain guy did survive. I think that was meant to give Casey a win after the warehouse death. Otis, what the hell? You bring all those mudheads into a bar? Way to drive out business. Hermann may be afraid to look at the books, but he had better. Maybe that is going to be plot point in the future. I was really surprised when Casey told James to run interference against the truck driver at the traffic accident. The boy is 17. There's no end to the amount of trouble Casey could get into if something went wrong there.

I had to laugh at that scene, thinking '30 years and the tree hasn't grown enough to obliterate the carvings?" But it was cute. Milana Vayntrub must have got teased a LOT during rehearsals about that cell signal scene. Speaking of rehearsals, how great and well trained were the actors in the game scene when Randall is talking nonstop over their own conversations? That takes some work. Ghost Jack alluded to something really serious when he said that Rebecca had her own troubles to work through but she kept the family together. I don't think it was just the prospect of losing Randall. And that is a very real possibility. My brother and his wife had to spend countless hours in court and other places, defending their adoption of a son from an on-again, off-again drug addict. They eventually won, but it was trying. I feel for Kate, who now realizes, courtesy of Olivia, that she is placing her hopes for a new life on an external savior (the surgery). It may be the catalyst, but she has to change her own life. Randall has built this box around his world and thinks everything outside that box is the enemy. My take, anyway. Now this happens.

Point of information only: DEFCON is inverted, meaning that 5 is the lowest condition. I learned that from one of the forums, actually.

Does anyone have any insight as to the episode titles lately?

I thought it was a 2 hour round trip, as he said he would be back by the end of the movie.

I remember seeing a photograph of an FBI agent/sniper at an airport during an attempted hijacking back in the late 60s/early 70s, I think. He was set against a brick wall with his rifle on the wall and his coat off, presumably for more flexibility. He did shoot and kill the hijacker, but I also read later that instead of commending him for his actions, Hoover reprimanded him and banished him off to some out of the way office simply for taking his jacket off. Maybe the entire reason for Flynn's trip back was to murder the scientist. He organized the computer malfunction as a distraction, which obviously worked (I think) as the word was out that there was a communist spy in the house who wrecked everything and murdered one of the scientists. "Oh, hi, Houston. You're back. Yeah, we've already been outside. It's pretty awesome. What do you want us to do now?"

Will the last person not involved in the terrorist crisis please stand up? Last week I really thought the three "rescuers" were all involved, and this week I still do. And Nimah/Raina, what the hell is going on? Judging from the size of those air ducts, it must take a nuclear reactor to power the HVAC for that building. By the way, I loved the scene where the posse comes to the floor with the sign on the stairwell door that states "Roof Access". Yet, right behind them is another flight of stairs. Where did they go? Why in the world would an agent candidate murder a man in cold blood simply on the directive from a cell phone? I would like more explanation, please. Can't we have a Thanksgiving episode on some series that revolves around Black Friday, just for fun?

When the tv first came up in the bar, it showed the polls closing in 30 minutes, but then what seemed immediately afterward, they called Ohio (1 hour west of DC) for Dalton. Oops. I didn't really understand Russel's agitation at losing the coalition one day after the ship boarding. It would seem to me that the President would come right out and say "Iran has abrogated the agreement and we unilaterally embargoed a ship carrying centrifuges designed for nuclear weapons production. We stopped probable nuclear proliferation". Period. More info to follow. Besides which, there's two months before the House votes, anyway. There is time enough to campaign the House for your votes. And, to be sure, time enough to screw up. But, the Russia/US partnership announcement was a worthwhile workaround anyway. The delegates from the eight undecided states were almost laughable. "We hate Reynolds because he wants to go to war. But unless you can guarantee beyond a shadow of a doubt that you will not take the nation to war, we will go with the guy who wants to go to war." Yeah, that's a plan. Note to State Department staff: Election Day does not postpone the world. Drink (and fornicate) responsibly. I couldn't find any reference to the labor strife that Henry showed to Jason. Does anyone know if something actually occurred there? I caught one small editorial slip. In the conference with the wavering delegates, Bess referred to Dalton as "Dalton", rather than "the President".

All of those family traditions started on that one unfortunate night, added onto the fact that Rebecca broke with her parents over the many insults she had to deal with over the first 8 or so years. It's not like the Christmas dinner in A Christmas Story, which would have been a one-off deal. That's why I think they're so important to the Big Three. Although, I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall (or tree) when they were deciding exactly where to put a 3.4 mile hike. Older furnaces, yes. You reached in with a match with the setting on Pilot, and lit the fire. After warming up, you turned it to On, and, whoosh.

As a fireman, I went to many a strip-and-burn in a winter rain. They light off the interior stuff, like seats, carpets, etc. with flammable liquid and it burns quite readily, at least for awhile. It behooves the arsonist to not stick around though, as flame attracts attention. Is Ludicrous Mode an actual Tesla setting, or was that just a shout-out to Spaceballs?

Yeah, me too. Back in the rathole, Oscar.

Interesting conflicts on this episode. I would think they would have moved the cult members to some out of the way observation rooms so that the ER beds would be available, seeing as how they are in semi-permanent Code Black. Ms. Death by AED was quite the spectacle. The cult members could have easily avoided the entire situation by filling out some sort of Do Not Treat/Do Not Resuscitate orders and have them on their persons. My guess is that they're going to try it again, and be more successful, upon their releases. Dr. Asshat barely made an appearance this time. When Angus flashed that x-ray, I swear the name on it looked like Trevor Noah. I had to freeze frame it to see that it was Trevor Nash. Where are they going to take this Dad's girlfriend relationship? Hopefully not Hallmark Movieland. I can slightly relate to the colon cancer patient's relationship with her step daughter. My wife's father just died, non unexpectedly. She has two sisters, and one's first reaction about the funeral was "Don't spend any money frivolously." Then she went through the house trying to claim various pieces of furniture, even while her dad's wife is still living there. Families. Ugh.

If I was a nationally famous jury consultant, maybe with my own talk show, I don't think I would attach my name to a tv show about a jury consultant when the tv character engages in so much illegality. It might give the public the impression that it is how I gain advantages for my clients. Hacking the DA computer? Impersonating an FBI agent? HIPAA violations? Jury tampering? People, as dumb as they are sometimes, believe the television over real life.

There's something about walking around a French fort in a French uniform with a giant bloodstain on the back that just might raise some questions from the rest of the soldiery.

Must have been a thriller of an episode to attract this much attention. I too was somewhat disappointed in the Gabby Sue storyline. "Somewhat", because we all know she can't be touched, but at least they hinted that there is some sort of investigative procedure in CFD. She should have been investigated by the CPD first instead of CFD management, but the way she snatched the pee cup out of the chief's hand just set me off. "Who are you, a chief, to judge me, Gabby Dawson, on what I did in the ambulance" kind of reaction. That, and contacting the plaintiff after specific instructions not to, would blow her defense right out of the water in real life. Note to Severide and Casey: Courts have held that searching private property after the initial attack on a structure fire requires a search warrant. I could see a defense attorney skewering them both on the stand, getting all evidence, including the confession, thrown out, and them having to answer to city officials as to why they were conducting a private investigation in the first place. Hermann, if you want to ride backwards in the truck, that was definitely the way to do it. He has the perfect timber in his voice to create the absolute indignation he wanted to portray. Casey should take a hit for that also. Although Hermann was acting as chief officer, Casey was in fact in charge and gave the go-ahead for the out-of-policy move. I thought the same thing about the FDNY storyline. It was probably filmed around 9/11, but aired two months later. It didn't really do much for the onscreen relationship between Boden and his son, but I expect we'll see more of James in the future.

Coincidentally, I was watching a program on the Pilgrims migration to the colonies, and they referred to a seaman who got swept overboard, but they managed to rescue him. The narrator stated (and I'm not going to vouch for this or research it) that some of his direct descendants included Brigham Young, FDR, and the GHW Bush clan.

On a side note, who puts up a roadside sign that says "Gas, 3.4 miles"? I had to laugh at that. It reminded me of a visit to a relative in Los Alamos, NM, home to more scientists per square mile than anywhere (slight hyperbole there). The highway department there had a sense of humor when they put up a sign that read "Road Construction Next .547 Miles". Watching the collision between Kevin and Rebecca and the resulting cranberry disaster, all I could think of was that if that had been me crashing into my mom in the same circumstances, there would still be three kids in the back seat. One of them missing a head.

Wow. Major epic buzzkill for a T-Day dinner. I felt so bad for Randall. That had to be a long drive back to his house. When I saw him in William's apartment, I said "grab that trumpet", but that point was soon moot. I am tempted to give Olivia a pass on her question to William about death. I thought that in the play she was a wife/partner who had died, but was still connected to Kevin's character. Maybe she wanted some real life insight. I loved those impromptu "traditions" that Jack established. Especially, after nearly 30 years, Police Academy 3 (the best movie ever made!). And getting rid of Rebecca's mom's itchy sweater in the bargain. Randall is quite the cook. Chrissy to producers: You'll pay for the gastric bypass surgery? Deal!

I wonder if the untold story there was that Randall ended up getting a good review from a scout, and went on to college on a scholarship and a good job, while Kevin found his destiny in acting (which, apparently, was a good job, too).

SOMEbody is going to have an enormous finance charge on that card. All you need to make it work is a thin coating of handwavium on the surface.