taragel

For the folks who love White Josh, David Hull did a fun little photo essay of his day on set: http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Exclusive-Just-Another-Day-with-CRAZY-EX-GIRLFRIENDs-David-Hull-20161028

I thought this episode was actually quite different and more forward-momentum having than most episodes of Rectify! First of all, pretty sure that Aiden Young had more to say here (possibly in his final monologue alone) than he ever has at one time previously in the show. And I was actually quite surprised that they've brought up his need to know what actually happened with Hannah. I thought the point of last season (and the whole show) was that it really didn't matter if he was innocent or guilty, because the damage that's been done to Daniel by his long incarceration was the point, and when Daniel left home, I thought that was the end of the Hannah mystery storyline. So I'm surprised (but pleased) they gave this closing arc a goal to hang its hat on. I, too, missed checking in with the others this week. But previews show they return next week. It'll be fun to compare and contrast Clayne Crawford's Teddy with his Riggs from Lethal Weapon.

I keep racking my brain to figure out why Ms. Debbie Allen is consenting to be part of this hot mess in any way, shape, or form. I really don't think she's interested in taking on Abby's undertrained kids, and I'm sure she could call up TLC or Bravo or whoever and sell a reality show about anything she wanted in a hot second so I doubt it's for any kind of mercenary reason.

I wish I liked the actual writing on this show a bit more. (I too have yet to find it nearly as endearing or heartstring-tugging as Parenthood was so consistently.) I like all the characters but agree on the contrivance for maximum manipulation, namely this "big reveal" on Jack. It was really so unnecessary. I thought they had changed the original script with the lines about him being dead because they changed their mind and wanted some sort of Milo presence in the present. But they didn't, so there was really no need to draw it out like that because any other conclusion would have been either hard to believe (divorce --after this great love story they're building?, stuck in some kind of home -- but no one ever calls or visits him?) or turn Rebecca into a bit of a villain (she cheated on him and left him for his best friend!, he's got some sort of life-altering chronic issue/disease and she's abandoned him!). Plus....Kevin. (I hope there's an episode titled "We Need to Talk About Kevin" at some point.) I don't quite get why he's so socially awkward. Vulnerable about not being loved enough and attention-needing, I get. The selfishness/myopicness I definitely get. But he's also really, really awkward. All of his "jokes" that were like lead anvils, zero ability to read a room and pick up on cues of how others feel toward him.... those don't seem like traits that a successful young actor would have in Hollywood. He doesn't seem to have any suaveness or charm or perception--and he would totally need that. I get that he's been cast for his body (and now Manny fame) mostly, but those guys usually also have some charisma. Something just doesn't jibe with his personality and his looks/success to me. This guy should have Toby's personality, honestly. (And maybe Toby should have his.) The painting explanation (and hey, if you can do abstract art like that--get yourself an Etsy store, Manny!) was good in theory but didn't really move me because of how heavy handed it was. In fact, I think everything about Kevin feels very flat and heavy-handed. I'd like them to give him much more subtlety. I wondered if Justin (whom I loved as Oliver Queen on Smallville and do believe is a good actor and totally can pull off the hot, wealthy playboy with a vulnerable side thing) was just having a hard time with the character, but no, I think Kevin is just written kind of oddly, honestly. Toby...He's totally overbearing and that does seem to be the whole point of him--to push Kate out of her shell. (The show definitely thinks this is a "good thing" though and are totally not cognizant of how NiceGuyTM and inappropriate this behavior truly is.) But there was one scene last episode when he was talking about his ex-wife's betrayal that was really good--and I think there's way more of that to come. He totally covers with using humor and boisterousness--I'll be glad when they strip some of those layers away and he doesn't feel like he alway has to be "performing" for Kate. I also read somewhere that he's "interested in showbusiness", so I wonderered if he was maybe a stand-up comedian or an aspiring actor (there were hints that it could go that way in the Hollywood party episode.) They're clearly trying to come up with different obstacles for this love story in every episode, but the cumulative effect is just making me think that Toby and Kate just are not really right for each other. They're just too different. I'd like to see them in agreement on something instead of at odds all the time so this relationship can seem to work for once, especially if we're saddled with it long-term. Randall and Beth continue to be kind of too perfect for words. I didn't even get that Randall was packing up William's things in that flash-forward scene. Seemed unnecessary honestly. Forgot to say: I love Rebecca. A lot. And Jack is great too, mostly because he loves her and the kids so much, but I already feel like he can be kind of exhausting. With his moods. Having a pity party in a bar on Superbowl Sunday because your wife made an offhanded comment about not wanting kids that has clearly been a running inside joke between the two of you? Not a good look, Jack.

I think Metz has also said in interviews though, that although she's accepting of herself as she is right now, she would like to lose the weight and may go through the same weight loss journey as her character, and whether that's successful or not, she's going to take it in stride. Weight loss is a very long-term process, and for someone who is very obese and has been quite large ever since childhood, probably a lifelong struggle. So loving yourself even while you want to improve certain elements of your life seems pretty healthy to me. What looks like "content with her weight" because she's a happy, confident, charismatic person may not be content at all. Or not content every day. Chrissy has said this in interviews and I totally get it. Because you have to be happy right now in your daily existence even while you strive: "I truly believe that if you don’t accept yourself or where you're at, you can't get to the place where you want to be, or become the person you feel you're supposed to be. I go back and forth. I’m like, 'Yeah, I'm cool, it's fine!' And then, 'Ugh.' "I'm not ever gonna be a tiny girl, but I have an idea of a size that I would like to be. I've always had this idea in my mind, but at the same time, I'm not beating up myself. I'm not saying, 'I wish I was this, I wish I was that,' because it's counterproductive. Some women and some men feel comfortable being plus-size, or some people feel more athletic, etc. Whatever makes you feel good, that’s what I think you should pursue. I'm kind of in both worlds. Part of me wants to change, and part of me is like, 'No, I'm good.'"

You may want to check out the American Housewife sitcom on ABC. Katy Mixon is considerably smaller than Sidibe or Metz, in the size 12-16 range probably, and the show is about how she deals among the thin housewives in her well-to-do Connecticut suburb (there are also some class issues commentary since her family is not as well off as their neighbors.) The show is hit or miss, but she's very winning and she lives a full, mostly confident & happy life. ETA: Oops! Luna beat me to it by like 30 seconds. Lol. Ah well, worth checking into.

No, sorry, I should've been more precise--I'm surprised Helen is still so hung up on him and wanting to be close to him again, but I agree he's not interested in her. I wonder if her interest is just guilt or more than that. But yeah Alison definitely seems to be poised to wreck Cole's marriage with....an affair. It's an interesting pivot on where the show started that I wouldn't have expected what with all the talk of soulmates that the original marketing campaign used.

Just wondering if anyone has thoughts on this coming season based on the trailers they've been releasing? I find it totally surprising that they seem to be backpedaling almost entirely from Noah + Alison as a couple. I mean I'm sure by the end of the season they'll be interacting again but the fact that they're estranged and both seem to be gravitating back towards their exes is very surprising to me. I didn't expect that. I wonder if their original story ideas changed at all as Maura and Josh became more important to the narrative/show.

I didn't get that vibe at all. His convo with Hector was about the sex being great but Rebecca being too crazy to have more with. I don't think that was because of that brief moment in the car. I'm sure subliminally he hasn't forgotten her "I moved here for you/our love story can start now." Plus, it might not be nice behavior, but it's sort of an interesting twist to see a GUY getting negged or gaslit by a GIRL, for once. I wondered about that too. His part also sounded a little bit electronica to me, and his previous songs have been in that same sort of wheelhouse so I wonder if that's the style they're choosing for Josh in general. I would be sorta surprised if we ever got a big Broadway-style number from him.

So happy this is back in my life on a weekly basis! I think what charmed me most was Paula's newfound resolve and her cute relationship with her husband. I'm so happy that her needing something else to fulfill her is law school and not leaving him. And yay for Greg with a little self-actualization there. Would still (especially now) like him to steer far clear of Rebecca. I think the show does a really smart job of balancing the flaws and strengths of each character to a real advantage. Rebecca gaslighting Josh was pretty terrible, but him basically using her for sex but otherwise being totally standoffish kind of balanced that out for me.

She was also the best friend of Lea Thompson in Some Kind of Wonderful, the mom of Liv on iZombie S1 and she was on a sitcom called Herman's Head in the 80s/90s.

I've missed this show so much! Donna Lynn's gestures at the end to the other prariedogging co-workers are gold.

A sneak peek of the new opening theme song! http://www.vulture.com/2016/10/crazy-ex-girlfriend-season-two-theme-im-just-a-girl-in-love.html?mid=twitter_vulture

I'm on the East Coast, right outside Providence (watching on FIOS). Weird, I must have remembered it from reading the script alone I guess but I could've sworn he actually said the part about his mom still in the house they grew up in out loud. Minds be tricky sometimes though.

I thought it was in the version that aired near me but now I can't find a clip of it online--it was cut out of the pilot that's available on Youtube. Here's the exchange from the script at any rate. Maybe they changed their mind and decided to hold that info back in better reveal of a twist or to change it up. I could swear I heard him say those lines though in the version I saw. Weird.

Jack is dead. It was established in the pilot. William looks at a picture in Randall's living room and asks about Jack and Rebecca, and Randall answers that Jack died a few years ago and Rebecca still lives in the house he grew up in.

I'm torn about Kate's storyline and in general the way overweight/obese folks are depicted in media. Part of me thinks the ideal fat fictional character is Sookie on Gilmore Girls. I didn't watch it religiously but I don't remember one single storyline that revolved around her weight. She had a successful job/passion for her work, a best friend, a love life/husband/family, and a great sense of humor. I do remember (I think) some small moments of insecurity (especially revolving around romancing Jackson in the early seasons) but I don't recall if those were even specifically weight-based. Then again....she wasn't a lead character. We didn't get inside Sookie's inner life very much. And you also need a lot of story space if you're going to properly tackle an issue as big (no pun intended) as weight/body issues etc. But, on the other hand, I've been as big as or almost as big as Chrissy Metz in the past (for the curious, she probably weighs between 370-420--everyone carries weight VERY differently!) and that one line she said about "Everything is about the weight for me at this size" was fantastic, but is simultaneously both very true and also not true. It is true that you have to compensate for your weight and think about things other, skinnier people won't bat an eye at (like whether you'll fit into a chair with arms or a booth at a restaurant, or if you'll need to ask for a seat belt extender on a flight, etc.), and you're reminded by how fat you are when those moments crop up (or some jerk makes a fat-shaming comment or noise or what have you), which can be more often if you're going out and trying new things and going new places like Kate is currently doing. But there are also major components of your life that usually don't involve weight or thinking of weight. In fact, most of your life is usually designed around (IMO) not having to think about your weight, because you don't go places you know you'll be uncomfortable (like a chi chi Hollywood party). It's a weird state of simultaneous denial and terrible awareness. I think Toby is encouraging and challenging Kate to put herself in new situations where there is the terrible status of being the fattest person in the room or having to wonder if that chair will hold you, etc. And that can be scary, but then she has to at some point, accept who she is in the moment so she can have a good time (as she did at the party--though it did require some tequila). So I think it kind of underlines that you actually NEED that weird balance of awareness/denial as a morbidly obese person. If you're aware 24/7, you'll probably feel depressed and miserable. If you're in denial 24/7, then you'll be happy but endangering your health. I think they're trying to give Kate a fair amount of realism, and a good balance here. She wants to lose the weight and is working toward that, but weight loss (especially if you have to lose 100-200 pounds) is a very slow process, and life doesn't just stop while that is going on. So anyway I'm torn on whether or not I want them to focus so exclusively on her weight (which isn't unfair of them--for all three kids, we're not seeing much other than their predominant issue i.e. Kevin's career or Randall's birth father) or give her a more well-rounded happy life (How about a fulfilling job? How about some friends?) that I think is probably more realistic to who she would be if not a character on a TV show. No one chooses to mope about their lot in life continuously, generally speaking. I also really really hate the idea that ALL people who are very fat have some traumatic childhood issue they're trying to hide from. (As far as I can tell, and I've done the therapy route, that wasn't the case for me. I like food a lot and used it as a reward/excitement, comfort from general everyday stress, etc. Once you've done that for a while, it can be VERY hard to combat head hunger and change your thinking/habits/attitude about food.) I think her mom and dad have been shown to be pretty good parents and tried to cope with it as best they could. I really liked the scene where young Kate said she'd only eaten fruit that day and mom knew that was bad and she'd caused it and said they'd try to strive for a healthy balance together. I do think the discussion upthread about what you need to do to lose weight successfully and how the "rules" keep changing is spot on. I think blanket rules do not generally work for weight loss because it's so personal and different for everyone. Some people can lose by restricting carbs, others need to restrict fats. For some people, exercise makes a big difference; for others, not so much.

Agreed. Also, it's the kind of role/backstory they usually give a male character. The slacker who chimes in with the right answer at key moments to make you realize he's smarter than he looks/has been paying attention the whole time. It actually wouldn't surprise me if the role was originally meant to be cast with a guy instead of a woman (Hayes Morrison is fairly gender neutral). I didn't like this episode as much as the first because it felt a little too case-based. I like more personal than political in my dramas generally. I still like this cast though, and wonder at the critical reception being so poor when it seems no worse than Quantico, Blindspot or any number of CBS procedural shows. I actually think it's far better than Shonda's newest show, The Catch (which I had such hopes for--but recasting the lead guy with Peter Krause was such a mistake IMO--wrong vibe for that role completely).

That was the thing for me. She was so unrelentlessly terrible, it was over the top. Girl's been a pitcher in the minors for a few years--and she has to know how much is on her shoulders--I just couldn't believe it was one wild pitch after another ten times in a row. I get that it was a panic attack, but she has to be able to deal with some pressure to have made it that far. Some muscle memory should have kicked in at some point and she could've thrown like one or two good pitches in the midst of a string of bad ones. Or even if the bad ones hadn't been quite so hugely out of the strike zone. Rationally I get why an owner would want to keep her if she's getting all that attention, but even that only works for me to a point. Because if women were such amazing draws, talented indie female ballplayers would be asked to join the majors (or minors) a heck of a lot more often, eh?

I didn't get the romance vibe until Lawson was clearly checking out Ginny on the dance floor and was so uncomfortable that he left and immediately considered picking up her agent in the bar instead. I don't think they'll go a romantic route with them until at least season 2 (if it makes it there). I find the show really uneven. The pilot--the fact that she would get a second chance was really hard to buy given how completely awful she did. I'd also like Ginny to have more of a personality. I hated the agent's unnecessary cliche of a backstory (She can't have kids! Of course she must find fulfillment some other way!) that was sketchy reasoning/coincidental at best (I don't quite buy this movie/entertainment agent would even give a minor league female ballplayer a second look.) Lawson strikes a few odd notes from time to time as well. When he's trying overly hard to be charming, it doesn't work for me (MIke Lawson, you are no Zach Morris.) Also the show says he's 36 when MPG is 42 in real life and really looks it with that awful beard. Bad knees on a catcher at 42 is different from a catcher at 36 (which is still aging for baseball). I also don't love what they're doing with the manager. Shouldn't he be concerned with the team being more unifying and treating Ginny fairly? Maybe he doesn't really want her there, but when he started the "I have 3 daughters" I expected a bit more realization on his part--not for him to circle right back around and emphasize her prettiness over her talent yet again. I do like Blip and his wife, and Ginny's brother (though I don't get what the deal is with her family. Is her mom alive? Is the brother alive but estranged?) Why have we not seen her interacting with them instead of/in addition to Ghost Dad previously? And I liked the way they dovetailed both her commenting on the manager and the Florida rape case on Kimmel even if it was unrealistic/totally awkward. All that being said, it's a show about a woman taking on a man's world. We don't have enough of those. I'll keep watching.

I'm so glad they showed three this week, because I feel things are really starting to gel and move forward in this third one. I'm so glad they didn't drag out the note-leaver's identity as a mystery and that we got Jianyu speaking already. I was surprised that already Eleanor is being pretty nice, comforting both Chidi AND Tahani in their moments of insecurity. Michael's overall ineptness is interesting.

It's not just commenting on past behavior or habits negatively though. It's the phrasing and implication. I think the intention to assign shame is the key. It's the difference between saying "That outfit really was so unflattering" and saying "Can you believe she would wear those leggings where you could see EVERY SINGLE ROLL OF FAT? Does she think she looks good like that!?" The latter implies that she should be ashamed of dressing a certain way because of her weight, because fat rolls = ugly, while the former statement is a negative opinion, but fairly neutrally expressed. Same with the ice cream comment. The implication there is that she should feel shame (And doesn't! And how dare she, blithely just blocking people left and right on FB who have GOOD POINTS DAMMIT) for eating a high calorie bowl of ice cream (because look how fat she is already!!) while other people are criticizing her weight. Well, that's exactly what fat shaming is--the idea that she deserves any shame thrown at her (on purpose or by accident) because she's so fat already...therefore "she's asking for it." I just think if we all saw Whitney as a wonderful, kind, motivated person who was striving to lose the weight, there'd be almost zero fat shaming going on here. But because she protests she doesn't care about losing weight but still considers herself an active person, or a dancer, or attractive sexually, AND because we don't like some of the traits (laziness, selfishness, manipulation, arrogance) that allow her to stay in denial about the fact that she does want to lose the weight (and I do think she does want that because of things she's let slip in confessionals and vulnerable moments) that offends in some way. A "good" fat person should know this is endangering her health and actively work towards changing her condition of life. A "bad" fat person is happy just the way she is, flab flying, and how dare she be (or in such terrible denial, she must be delusional, etc.)? Of course, the idea that "she must really want to lose the weight" is generally considered fat shaming, too. But I think with Whitney saying things like feeling she "doesn't deserve to eat at all" in weaker moments, that she really is in a lot of mental, interior pain about this, and not truly happy as she is professing. It's that contradiction that angers people. She professes to be happy but then we see all these painful, sad moments so we can't believe that narrative and then it feels like she's lying to us. But again, I'm not a mod, so this is just my .02.

You guys are right about the Bull Dyke comment. I went back and checked the script and sure enough:

I hope the mods will officially weigh in on this (no pun intended) because I do think the thread devolves into fat-shaming every now and again because people dislike Whitney so much overall (and fat-shaming is an easy target). I'm sure some people aren't aware of where the lines might be and figure any talk about her weight is fair game since it's most of the show's focus. I think it's mainly a tone problem, like tacking mean-spirited and mostly irrelevant comments about all the food she must eat on to other conversations that are pretty neutral. For example, one person talking about her blocking posters on social media, then someone insisting she does it while eating a big bowl of ice cream. Or criticizing her participating in a PSA, then suggesting her message should talk about how you could feed a family of four on what she eats. Or suggesting that people who want to go on her cruise are only doing it so they can gorge themselves with food. Or all the tittering speculation about her needing to use a special sex chair because she's so big. There's been talk about how terrible her clothing fits/looks over her "rolls of fat", speculation that she must be smelly or dirty because she's so big, etc. Criticizing her personality flaws or even her diet/exercise without resorting to snappish insults is most likely fine?

Their whole storyline was strangely, very pointedly sexual, right? I mean several comments about sex from him both before and on the first date and when she flat out says no sex, they watch a weirdly sexual youtube vid between a guy and a dolphin? It struck a rather odd, over-the-top tone, I thought. I'm a bit more concerned though that Kate get some development other than her weight struggles. Does she have a job? Friends? What was that cake "for the party" about--if there was no party? Maybe that's next week though. Overall, I think it's a very talented cast dealing with okay material, right now. Gerald McRaney and Milo V. both had very nice moments. Sterling K. Brown was engaging as was his dad (and the twist that dad could be a swindler/faking it is interesting) but I wasn't knocked out by them just yet. I really enjoy Justin Hartley generally but I didn't think his big scene/tantrum came off as powerfully as maybe it was meant to (maybe because his talent really does stop at "The Manny" levels, and he's no Ryan Gosling, IDK). It's just the pilot though, and I enjoyed it and I like family dramas best of all, so I'm very glad it's on the air. Got huge ratings too, which wasn't totally unexpected given the success of the promo campaign/trailers, and I'm happy to see a relationship drama be the big hit of the fall rather than the new MacGyver or what have you.