Maverick

I am tired of hearing the Jeff and especially Aarti (after weeks of her on the Halloween show) rag on the contestants. They like reproving parents that always have to follow up whatever faint praise they dole out with a smackdown of how you're really a failure. Like you (and Eddie) won Food Network Star. Maybe climb off that high horse you don't belong on. It would be one thing if they just offered criticism of the final product during judging, but they yammer on during the whole damn show. There were a few good pieces, given the constraints the show puts on them (chiefly forcing them to make the main piece a cake that has to be served) and the twist element continues to annoy and reduce the overall quality of the pieces. Wasn't the woman on the winning team this week part of the infamous Underbakers team on Halloween Wars?

The fix is definitely in for the TTTs. There is no way their build was the best of the Camps. The lave camp and superhero training camp were both much better. No matter what they turn in--impressive or crap--they're winning this thing.

I just realized the actor who plays Neil played Oliver Crane, the social media reporter from the Checkmate arc on NCIS: New Orleans.

They've really cheapened the show. No guest judge, 4 contestants instead of five. Oh yeah, and no prize except a tacky "gold" ornament. If I showed up and they found out that was the only prize, I'd get a bag of holiday Oreos and call it a day. I hope the couples thing was a one off because I didn't find it very enjoyable.

My take from the episode was no one in that family is likeable and they probably shouldn't have any interaction with each other.

Doubtful. I hate manbuns and can't think of any ornamentation that would make them attractive. There used to just be one or two hyper/over the top/look at me contestants but it seems like you have to be that to be cast anymore.

No comment on Kensi and Feels last week either. I think they've just given up. Which is fine, but if the writers can't be bothered to care about this show why should we? The only time I'm glad someone is missing is Roundtree. He's a dull wet blanket and any episode is better without him. Solve the rotating missing character problem by dumping him.

I'm sure the pavlovas and the cakes/pies were filmed on different days. It's still a lot, especially with so many contestants this early, but not as bad as eating all that in one day.

That would be Great, whose been on Halloween Wars a few, complete with her presenting to the judges in rhyme. She does pretty good work but as I recall she can be a bit highstrung/testy, which isn't uncommon with these "Wars" contestants. I thought it was BS eliminating them. If either of the other two teams had done anything.close to their level of work I could see being strict on the twist. But they had far and away the best product. Now we're stuck with two mediocre teams, on a show that's already mediocre due to all the tinkering and twists.

Looks like the first episode doesn't air in FN until Thursday. Odd that they put it online so early. My guide doesn't show it for next Thursday, just reruns of Holiday Baking Championship. Is this going to + only after the first episode?

Was Carla starring as Pocahontas in a junior high pageant and didn't have time to change? Or did wardrobe not realize she was filming Holiday not Halloween that day? That losing egg nog cake was embarrassing. Whoever said it belong on Spring Baking Championship With Molly Yeah (tm) was right. She would have wet herself over it. And Duff would have been on Twitter telling you all how mean you are. The sprinkles were bad enough but then the gumdrops? Yeesh. Willy Wonka called and said dial it down. So on Holiday Wars they booted a team that made something far, far superior to any other team because they forgot to throw a few Scrabble pieces on their display. But the one dude on here totally botches his cookies and gets to stay. The guy wear half the party section from his local Dollar Tree on his head bugs the crap out of me. I don't find it cute or quirky. I know he was probably melting under the studio lights but Jesse was rocking the winter outerwear.

The writing is just so...not good. The kids and some of their conversations actually could have fit in with the original show. But Ben and Addision just connect to the people in the leap. They keep saying they do but it just doesn't land for me. The scenes in the present were a particular waste this time. Jen and her father adds nothing. We see Ian flip out. And we learn Janice slipped away from the Scooby Gang...should I have spoilered that? And the whole thing with Addison not leaving the imaging chamber to help but then she just randomly shows up in the elevator. WTF? Bad writing or editing or both. Was I the only one thinking the kids were gay and the "school" was reeducation camp? Hurting themselves, bright but lashing out, being told their weird, embarrassing their family, the uncle being "different" (i.e. accepting), Addison hanging a lampshade on something else going on. I was like, "you're geniuses running a super secret time travel program..can't you figure out they're trying to beat the gay out of them." But despite the one girl having a girlfriend the other two start showing an attraction to the other. So, apparently not an extreme pray the gay away camp. Pf course Ben wants to save Addision. Sam who? So what, did Leaper X become part of a team sent to take over PQL and he killed Addison in the process? Will the next big reveal he killed the whole team?

No, but that was never explained in the original version either. I always assumed Al remember because he was linked to Sam, who was the one changing history. In the new version, who knows.

I did a double take at hiding the key and grabbing the killer in the in the gallery was really WTF. The rural part didn't bother me; Perry had them transferred to a sanitarium, which presumably would have been out of town in a country setting. What was odd about it is surely by the time ambulance got there the cops would have been all over the building. Also, Perry tells Tragg he'll meet him at the sanitarium in the morning but then they're riding together. Of course I wasn't paying enough attention because I missed how the killer got ahold of the glass and clothing to frame Perry's client. More importantly, I missed why she framed Perry's client and not her roommate, who was the one actually having the affair. The whole episode was odd.

Apparently they have switched to binges on Sunday permanently instead of just a summer thing. I'm glad to be rid of GIlligan's Island for hours on end but they dumped The Love Boat and The Brady Bunch as well. The big blocks aren't so bad when it's a show I watch, but more often than not it's something I don't care for. These networks don't appear to be putting in much effort anymore. They rarely change things up and keep cycling the same shows through. Cozi barely has any classic shows left, and is most current-ish shows. It definitely no longer belongs in the retro TV category.

Well if it walks like a duck....

Cody is sitting there thinking "I don't believe it, somebody talks more than me."

They kind of brushed over things at the end. Did they say the mom was going to suffer any consequences? Seriously? She cooperates with an escaped felon which lead to two Marshals being murdered. Also don't understand why Brandy was in the wrong. They can think it's their living room all they want but it doesn't make it so. It's a public placed in front of densely populated residential complex. She tried to be nice and politely ask them to quiet down and they blew her off, to put it mildly. I'm sure there were plenty of residents there who were trying to sleep and didn't appreciate loud music and firecrackers. I don't get the whole point of the restaurant story. It seems like ever plot point around it appears once and then is dropped. The bat, the ex con chef, it being a hangout for the officers.

Oh good, I was wondering if I'd be able to watch sappy Christmas movies anywhere this year.

I was thinking he's becoming this season's Coach. I was hoping Cassidy would be voted out. I don't think it's fair when they allow new people to enter a competition midway through.

Shut up, Aarti. She thought the details like the perfume bottle were nice but they didn't belong there? What?! These displays are all about the details. Sugar work like that used to be applauded no it's "eeeww, why did you put that on there?" Also, the pumpkins are a joke now. I know they're supposed to be in the pieces but you couldn't tell most of the time. And what the hell with the large pumpkins? They're already hollowed out for them? It's the finale, those should have been used as the focal point not cut up for a few pieces. How Food Network has fallen. A trip to Paris after all that work? Woo hoo.

OMG this is such a soap. Vince's brother, who also works in the family business, popping up? It's like when Alexis dragged Blake's brother Ben back to Denver to wreak havoc.

They explained this though. One of that dogs tricks was walking in a crouched position (intended to be as if he were trying to stay under the smoke during a fire). They even had him do that trick and walk down the runway to show that it made sense for their piece to be moving down the runway in that position.

I don't get that, or why Jane wasn't there either. In fact, Jane's barely been in any field scenes this season at all. For the first couple of episodes I thought it was because VL was off filming the crossover scenes for the premiere but it's continued on so far this season.

Hannah did a great job holding it together and getting her and the girl out. But there was definitely some plot stupidity when Hannah approached the wife. Hannah should have heard that board creak too and whacked her right then with the poker. And really she shouldn't have been in that situation anyway. When she heard the baby crying she should have kept going. Her best chance of helping everyone, including the baby, was to get out why it was clear and bring help. Sure they probably would have cleared out before she got back with the cops but they would know who was involved and could track them and the baby down. It's kind of like the airplane oxygen mask--you have to help yourself first so you're able to help someone else who needs assistance. Plus she wasn't just risking herself, she was risking the other girl. Did we know about Hannah's background before this? I don't watch every episode but the way she was telling the story as if it was her sister and admitting it was her at the end makes me assume this was suppose to be new info to the audience. Why does the new team member keep moving in with Hannah? Does the apartment come with the job? So someone died under Remy's watch. How long before we get that backstory?