[Severance - Season 1]

1 hour ago, LilaFowler said:

Is Helly R. the mysterious Reghabi?

Someone in the comments of the Vulture recap also wondered this and I really like this theory. I think it makes sense given 1.) there are no coincidences on this show and 2.) it would explain why Helly R.'s outie is so adamant against her leaving, even after threatening to cut off her hand and trying to kill herself.

I haven't minded the slow burn quality of the show so far, but I'm glad the pace started to pick up this episode. I can't wait to see the last three episodes of the season. 

[Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty - General Discussion]

8 minutes ago, SallyAlbright said:

I do, though, seem to have a general problem with Adam McKay as a director. His work always interests me, but then it's almost like he thinks his audience is too stupid to understand the point he's making so he beats us over the head with it. I understood the subtext of the media comparing Bird and Johnson without him writing WHITE WHITE WHITE BLACK BLACK BLACK across the screen. His films and shows often have things like that, and it takes me out of the show every time, like he's smugly sitting there yelling "LOOK HOW CLEVER I AM!". Same with the breaking of the fourth wall and the characters talking to the audience. It can feel different and fun in small doses, but McKay often overdoes it.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I 100% agree with everything you wrote. Adam McKay is too clever by half. Breaking the fourth wall made sense for a movie like The Big Short, where they had to find a way to explain economic concepts most people know nothing about, but here it felt totally unnecessary and a bit lazy. There were also scenes, like where Gaby Hoffman's character takes her hair down before going into the owner's office, where it was pretty clear what was happening and then the characters give a knowing look to the camera just in case we were too stupid to pick up on what was obvious.

In spite of that, I really enjoyed this first episode. The show's also really well cast. I read in the Vulture recap that the actor who plays Norm Nixon is Norm's actual son (and Debbie Allen is his mom!). 

[Severance - Season 1]

17 hours ago, arc said:

For that matter, given that they gave Cobel/Selvig a key to Mark's place, why isn't Mark's place actually wired up with bugs?

At one point during this week's episode there was a shot that lingered on Mark's turned-off TV, so I wondered if that was bugged or somehow used/will be used to spy on him.

This show's aesthetics are so good that I worried the story itself would be bad, but so far I'm loving it. Patricia Arquette is perfect as the boss who is both predator and, after seeing the scene with the board call, I'm thinking prey. And there's just enough humor for the show not to be 100% bleak. His brother-in-law's book 😂😂😂

[S02.E07: And Infants Shall Rule Over Them]

I was talking to my sister this weekend and found out that Kelvin's God Squad is based on a real group called Power Team, who performed at her high school (my family lived in the Dallas suburbs when she was in high school, so that's pretty on brand). I was shook. I thought it was totally made up and played up to be homoerotic because it was Kelvin. And then I went to youtube and there are videos:

But Power Team is less homoerotic than the God Squad.

[Media for Inventing Anna]

There's a great interview with the show's costume designer on Tom and Lorenzo - https://tomandlorenzo.com/2022/02/an-interview-with-inventing-anna-costume-designer-lyn-paolo1/

[S01.E09: Dangerously Close]

What I liked about this show is that most of the characters were completely unlikable. It makes things more interesting that way. Anna's obviously the worst, but Vivian sucked, Todd sucked, the rich people sucked (except Hamptons caftan lady, I liked her). Neff, Kacy, Rachel, sucked, sucked, sucked. (I kind of liked Kacy up until she confronted Rachel and was like "You turned your friend in?" Her friend? She stole $62,000 from her!) The only people who seemed the least bit likable were the spouses. Good for Todd's wife for walking away. Vivian and Todd's devotion to Anna is just bizarre. They know she's a fucking con artist who doesn't give a single shit about them, yet Todd's willing to throw his marriage away over her? I'm like Mugatu yelling "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!"

I hated how judgey Vivian and Todd were about Anna's parents. I'm not a parent, so take that into consideration, but I think a lot more parents should be honest with themselves about how their grown-ass children have turned out. Maybe they shouldn't go so far as completely cutting contact, but at least they can acknowledge that their daughter is just rotten.

[S01.E01: Life of a VIP]

1 hour ago, Whimsy said:

I disagree. The fact that this show is allowing her to be an entitled, annoying, basically charmless person shows how even more incredible it was that she was able to scam so many people. 

I read the NY Magazine article this show is based on before starting to watch it and this section near the end stuck out to me:

"During the course of my reporting, people kept asking: Why this girl? She wasn’t superhot, they pointed out, or super-charming; she wasn’t even very nice. How did she manage to convince an enormous amount of cool, successful people that she was something she clearly was not?"

I don't think those questions have been answered four years later.

[S02.E06: Never Avenge Yourselves, But Leave It to the Wrath of God]

I like the idea of the Lissons being behind the cycle ninjas, but I think whoever it is is also behind the murder of the reporter and the other people who were on his rental property. It seems like it would be a pretty big coincidence to have two unrelated murders in the same small-ish town. (Unless the Lissons were behind that too, but, I don't know, to me that seems too convenient.) IIRC, the reporter said he was looking into Aimee-Leigh, so I hope we find out what that story was going to be about. 

For a character who broke his own son's thumbs, Eli is still the best (living) Gemstone in my opinion. Judy and Kelvin occasionally show redeeming qualities, like Judy comforting Tiffany in her own way, but I see none in Jesse. The best thing he's done is help the liberals and Catholics get clean water to the Haitians, but that's only because he was trying to win back his wife after cheating on her. But watching Jesse and his David vs Goliath posse slowly back away after threatening Junior cracked my shit up.

BJ being so happy that Eli shook his hand was just the sweetest scene. If it weren't for him and Keefe, I don't know if I could watch this show every week. They're the characters with the most humanity.

[S02.E19: Cinco De Mayhem]

That dinner scene was so funny to me because one pair of people would fight then stop. Then another pair would fight then stop. Then a different pair would fight then stop. Like they were all taking turns to start a fight with someone else.

One thing that's really bothered me this season is the cast members...I can't think of how to word this. Meredith will say that she doesn't want to be at events with Jen and get angry when she's at an event that Jen's also at, but we all know she signed a contract with Bravo and she's obligated to film with all the other women and that's why she can't just avoid Jen. Or with this trip; they're pretending the husbands came up with this trip idea and are paying for it, or that Jen is paying for dinner, but Bravo's paying for it. It's like they're pretending they're not on a reality show, pretending we don't know they're on a reality show, and pretending none of us know how these shows work.

Mary is such a miserable asshole. She clearly hates being around the other housewives, hates going the these events, and she isn't fun to watch, so put us all out of our misery and just fire her!

[S02:E18: Sorrys and Sleepovers]

Quote

Meredith is a whore who fucked half of New York

Let it out, honey. Write it in the book.

[RHoSLC in the Media: So Salty!]

2 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

Maybe next season's cast can include Valter.

Valter just stands in the corner and looks on unapprovingly.

Honestly, that would be better than Jen's shrieking and Mary's...whole vibe.

[S02:E18: Sorrys and Sleepovers]

13 hours ago, TexasGal said:

and it looks like good vibes only from here on out.

Narrator: It was not good vibes only from here on out.

[S02.E17: Who's Calling Who a Fraud?]

This episode wasn't fun to watch at all. Jen and Mary are the fucking worst and not in a fun way. They're both unhinged and dangerous (in different ways). They seriously need to get rid of those two.

[S02.E16: Holy Mother of Zion]

I don't normally post during the episode, but I just had to say...I can't fucking stand Seth. He's creepy and just a dork who thinks he's super cool.

[Murder, She Wrote - General Discussion]

9 hours ago, Maverick said:

He really should have popped up a few times over the course of the series as Moriarty to Jessica's Holmes.

That would have been awesome! Jessica should have had at least one enemy, given that she's a bit of a busybody and has busted hundreds of people for murder. Occasionally there'd be a police officer who didn't want her help, but of course by the end of the episode he's changed his mind about her. Or that episode with Juliana Marguiles. I don't remember how that episode ended, but I'm guessing her character ended up forgiving Jessica. 

[Current Plots Discussion: Actually Today's Episode]

I don't normally watch Days live, but I am today and can I just say - I really want the devil and Jan Spears to get their own spinoff. 

[S02.E14: What the Pho?]

Everyone arguing in front of Jen about who talked the most shit about her was absurdly hilarious. If it were anyone else, except Mary, I would feel bad for them, but Jen stole money from old people so...🤷‍♀️

I do kind of feel for the other housewives in regards to Jen. If someone were right in front of me crying and telling me how scared they are, I would have a hard time not sympathizing with them. And I'm sure they have no choice in filming with her (which is why Meredith's "don't invite me if you invite her" rings hollow), so it's probably easier to just pretend that Jen's arrest is all a mistake and a misunderstanding. 

Mary...just...goddamn, is she ever *not* an asshole? Good lord. Even her husband/step-grandfather seems to hate her. Not that he's a prize himself. Although I did laugh out loud at her, "I'm praying that you're guilty." Talk about a Freudian slip.

[S47.E09: Paul Rudd / Clip Show]

20 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

Maybe but I kind of loved it Christmas Shoes (worst song ever) shade.

Patton Oswalt has my favorite Christmas Shoes takedown. I was hoping this sketch would be more like Patton's bit, but alas, it was not.

 

[Current Plots Discussion: Actually Today's Episode]

52 minutes ago, Frozendiva said:

In the real world, he could face serious consequences for this. Charges being filed against him, having to pay for the police and civic resources used to find his body, and a civil suit from Brady. Hope the Salem PD sends him a whopping bill.

He's the Jussie Smollet of Salem.

[S02.E13: Fair Weather Friends]

Mary is a truly fucked up person. A psychiatrist would have a field day with her.

I think Lisa hates Whitney so much because she thinks Whitney is stupid but she's continuously getting outsmarted by Whitney and it angers her.

I feel for Jen's family members who had guns pulled on them by law enforcement that day. As young black men, they were in real danger. But there was one person responsible for putting them in that position and that person was Jen, so she can miss me with her tears. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again - my loyalty to my friends ends with federal indictments (fortunately I don't hang out with scumbags, so that hasn't been an issue so far). If Jen were smart, she would have stopped filming as soon as she was arrested. But she went on this show knowing she was doing something illegal, so it's not surprising she didn't stop.

[S02.E12: A House Divided]

Lisa is soooooo bad at shit-stirring. Does she not know everything she says is being filmed? Good lord, woman, just stop.

Whitney is the smartest of all of them. Well, outfit choices notwithstanding. Heather is a close second.

No amount of overpriced handbags or shoes is worth hanging out with Mary. What a miserable asshole.

[S19.E07: Are You Fur Real?]

I LOVED Prajje and Chasity's look, so I was really glad it won. I'm always happy to see color on the runway (well, except for Katie). 

I haven't been as annoyed by the sob stories as other people have, but Zayden and Coral this week...🙄😒🙄 And *of course* Elaine responded to it.

Bones is annoying af, but he was right. When he and Aaron were fighting and someone (can't remember who) scolded him for swearing, I got super pissed, possibly because I swear a lot myself. Unless someone is using slurs or saying something offensive, don't police other adults' language. You're an adult; you'll be fine if you hear someone say fuck. Also, when people are in the middle of a heated argument, that's the worst time to pull that shit. Just sit there and STFU.

 

[S02.E12: A House Divided]

Did they maybe mean Mary's late night gRifting?

[Got Questions?: We've Got Answers!]

Quote

Awful writers also had a hand in destroying what made Marlena an awesome character in her original run..

I copied this from the current episode thread because I didn't want to get too far off topic. What did make Marlena an awesome character originally? I didn't start watching Days until 93 or 94 and Marlena's always been fine, but not someone I would describe as awesome. Just curious.

[Dopesick - General Discussion]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Check him out as the "son" in We're The Millers. 

When I first started watching I was like, "Why does this kid look so familiar?"