Yeah No

How low this show has sunk that we're scraping the bottom of the barrel to find something redeeming about any of these people! Palak seems nice but I agree that she isn't cut out for this sort of thing. Christian has hammed up his performance to the point that it feels forced but the judges seem to like it. I guess that's better than being ho-hum but it still is nowhere near being worth the win. Manny seems nice too but would I watch him? Probably not. Katie was "meh" so she was no great loss. Amy is "meh" too so that leaves no one to root for. I think FN has forgotten that it's about personal magnetism and a personality that can get people to root for them over anyone else. None of these people fits that bill, but my suspicion is that this is intended by the network because they really don't want any more stars. If they want to hire someone they just hire them, not make them go through this fake competition. The only problem is that if they don't feature contestants that get people interested and excited, the ratings of this show will eventually suffer.

I agree, I like him too. I don't think we can assume that he is just loafing around being stupid. Everyone criticized him not bringing fish hooks but it turned out he had a plan for that. We'll see how it goes! Me three. I think a lot of what he does is calculated and part of his strategy.

I can't help but think that some of Dave's on-camera brooding over this is for the benefit of the audience and he's not as uncomfortable with it as he wants to look. Just my gut instinct there because among other reasons, methinks he doth protest too much. Already it is obvious to me that this cast has been affected by the public response to them in their original seasons and is carefully editing themselves as a result (like Larry going overboard to "thank" every creature he kills). And as others have pointed out, Dave didn't seem to have a problem with how his fish died in his original season. I don't completely buy his shtick, especially because I think he's a kook anyway.

I took a look at the photos on another site where they're bigger and the kitchen and bathroom cabinets are in horrible condition as well. I always knew they were cheap crap but at least they could have done something to make them look better, like cleaning and filling in scratches, etc. If it's that noticeable in the photos they must be in pretty bad shape. https://www.redfin.com/NV/Las-Vegas/4039-Wild-Eagle-Cir-89129/home/40444428 I'm thinking that no one is living in this house while it's on the market since their stuff is gone. Maybe they moved into one of the other houses while this one's for sale.

Me too, although Rachael probably had her fill of this mess of a show. Can't say that I blame her! Robert disgusts me now, especially since his Jerry Springer/Dr. Phil-like talk show. Now he thinks he's qualified to solve people's personal problems. Vomit. I watched a few minutes of it once and it was dreadful. I can't believe it's still on the air!

While I don't really like the way the show has written Charles I'm still hoping that he's like an onion, and that we haven't gotten more than a few layers down yet. I have said that I thought that he had more depth than it looks like he does and that once he and Liza get together he may open up more and reveal a more interesting side of himself.

The photos show the interior looking staged and most of the tchotchkes and wall decor have been removed. Unless they're using older photos. Interesting.

I'm sure it had to be more than just the wood that made Jesse not poop for 2 weeks and then end up in bad pain. Like how about the fact that he wasn't really eating very much over that time period? You know, nothing in, nothing out. And then suddenly he gorges on what is basically wood. Anyone starving who suddenly eats a lot of anything is bound to have stomach issues soon afterward. Yes, in theory, but the extent to which Dave takes things is not normal, in my opinion. Like is this now going to become the issue he obsesses over and uses to sabotage himself? In his first season he sabotaged himself with denial and I don't know what, just being starving and mental. I think anyone that signs up for this kind of experience has to make peace with the fact that living in the wild and having to kill to survive is potentially not going to be "clean" or "humane". If he can't make peace with that, he has no business being there. Brooke already looks too thin only around 20 days in - She didn't start out with enough meat on the bone. Then she goes on about having to stay busy to pass the time - Has she learned NOTHING from her first experience? Expending too much energy just to "stay busy" is only going to make her lose more weight that she can't afford to lose that fast. Larry spends more energy hamming it up for the camera that he can possibly be getting from the food he's eating, which is not a good strategy for lasting long enough. The way he howled when he caught that fish was a case in point. I think he's a kook anyway. I don't underestimate Sam even though he looks like he's going to fail any minute. The guy almost lasted to the very end of the first season living in the flimsiest shelter ever, so he's made of pretty tough stuff. Plus he's obviously doing something right by bulking up before the season and losing it slowly. He's got a lot of pluck.

Sorry, my mistake, I meant Ashley. Going back to correct it now.

Eh, I don't know if I buy that. The other two brides live in Texas and don't look anything like that. Amber's mother and sister didn't look like that. Amber needs to update her style and stop living in the 90's! I agree. I can't help but think of what Stacy and Clinton would have done with Amber. They did over a woman from Texas once that had big hair and lots of makeup and that was outdated then, and that was years ago already. Amber's look is still stuck in that same rut even now. I could forgive it if it looked good on her, but it wouldn't have even looked good 20 years ago. It gives her a hard look. She needs color and style that softens her and makes her look less severe. Danielle Ashley bugged me last season with bright red lipstick that with her skin tone and bleached blonde hair gave her a similar hard look. But at least she looked better overall than Amber.

Thanks. All my friends and my Mom said "What do you have to lose?", so I applied for jobs and even used head hunters to help me get into a publishing company, but nothing worked. I tried to work the angle that I was a good editor/writer/proofreader having made it through graduate school thesis writing, etc., but got nowhere fast. The head hunters kept telling me it would be a hard sell given my age. I wish it were true that you can "reinvent yourself" at any age, but the only times I've seen that work (for women anyway) is when they go from a traditional career to something non-traditional (which often pays less or is done on a charity basis), they freelance, or they start their own business. Unfortunately those three options don't work for a lot of people. Some of us aren't particularly entrepreneurial, especially as we get older, or have too many financial responsibilities to be able to make a lot less over the long haul even if we could get hired at a job like that. And freelancing also doesn't work that well for a steady income in a lot of cases either. It's good if you already have something to fall back on, but doesn't always work as a primary income. So I really get how someone like Liza could feel backed into a corner with few options.

Did anyone else notice the lead in shot of Dealy Plaza after one of the commercial breaks? It had everything, School Book Depository, Grassy Knoll, you name it.

I looked in several places and saw that too. None of them are for sale. Then I looked at the wording of the articles and moving to Flagstaff seems to be some kind of future "plan", not something they've already done. I also noticed that the potential asking price of those houses has shot up since they bought them, so perhaps one reason for moving is to cash in on their increase in value. But the question still remains, "why Flagstaff"? The articles make it sound like they're tired of the LV heat. Well, there places other than Flagstaff if they want to be cool.

I watched a matchmaking special but saw my DVR recorded another 3 hours of I don't know/WTF to watch. I don't have time for all that nonsense right now. I already don't like most of these people. The so-called experts seem to pick the same basic types every season and then match them with the same types. Very independent female into her career matched with laid back guy. Hmm....where have we seen that before? If it didn't work the last 8 times, why on earth would they think it would work NOW? Seriously, they need new experts just for this reason alone. Mr. "No one darker than me" is pretty light himself. I'm very light skinned white and if I said that I'd disqualify about 98% of the world, not to mention how prejudiced it would sound. I wish the experts would have given him a little bit of a hard time about it. I don't completely believe this is just some sort of aesthetic thing with him.

Yeah, that too! Even if you're older and willing to work for less they don't want you. They think you'll eventually find something that pays more and leave. For what? At my age where am I going to go? It's ridiculous. Plus they don't want people that know a lot in jobs where you're not "supposed" to know that much. They want younger people because they think they can treat them with less respect, or that they can make them do anything because they want to move up the ladder. They don't like workers that they can't manipulate that way.

To some people everyone over a certain age is a "bitter boomer". But boomers typically aren't bitter at all. Puzzled at some of the accusations against them is more like it. We're more typically the generation that stands for taking people as individuals, not lumping them together in groups by age or anything else. But you'd never know that by some of the assumptions out there these days. ITA. I think it was meant to be ironic and funny, not to be taken that seriously. But there is still a serious point there. If we are talking about being accepted no matter what we identify as, then age should also be a part of that. We should be able to scream our age from the rooftops without experiencing prejudice and discrimination for it, just like queer folk should be able to be open about being queer. I think that's a powerful, serious point. I just think some people don't like something they think belongs to their generation alone coming from older people. But identity equality of any kind is for everyone, not just younger people. An attractive, vibrant, smart anything at 41 would not be able to waltz into a publishing company and get what is essentially an entry level position. And I know that because I tried it at around 43. There's a misperception that you can get hired at entry level jobs at any age, but that's the most typical situation where age discrimination is practiced. It doesn't matter if you're tall, white, male, female, or anything else. You get told you're "overqualified". They just don't want anyone with any kind of experience in an entry level position, and even the wrong kind of experience makes you less desirable. They want you to have the experience they feel is "appropriate" for your age in the field for which you're applying for a job. Anything else will not do, after all there are plenty of other candidates that have exactly what they want. It becomes a kind of Catch 22. At 41 you're expected to have a certain amount of experience in a certain area, and if your experience in that area is minimal or 15 years out of date then sorry, you missed the boat for that career, and just about any other even if you go back to school for more relevant education. This happened to a few of my friends. I had one good friend who became a lawyer in his late 30s. Could not get a job anywhere, so he went out on his own, but of course that's not easy or even possible in a lot of fields. So that's the premise of this show, that Liza had to fake being younger in order to get an entry level position because she couldn't say she was 41 and get either an entry level position or a more advanced one.

I have to agree with you, and I didn't see that coming either. Ageism and age discrimination are real things and having just turned 60, they are very real for me right now as I look for a job. I have left out the dates of my education and omitted my first jobs from my resume to throw employers off like a lot of experts suggest, but it wouldn't take much for them to do a search online and find out my real age. And I can't scrub every site out there of this information. I feel like I'm lying all the time (even if it's just a lie of omission) but when I was honest and up front about my age I didn't even get a phone call much less an interview. Now I do get interviews, some of which have been spectacular, but somehow never get the job. And I never had anywhere near this difficulty even a decade ago. While I didn't agree with the extent to which Liza took her lie, such as living a double life and lying to friends, etc., I could appreciate the sentiment. More power to her if she can turn her lie around to call out the working world's discrimination and bring some good out of it for older people.

I was poking around online and the cost of living in Flagstaff is pretty high and much higher on average than the rest of Arizona. The real estate market is especially high. So I wonder why they would choose to move there if they were trying to save money on housing.

Not surprising, but I wonder how the kids are going to react this time. Some of them really like Las Vegas and others still miss Utah. Hopefully they had more warning this time.

That's the 'Cat in the Hat' for ya!

Yep, me too on actually liking seeing Alex lose because she always has to win. I kept imagining what Justin would look like without the beard. He's very good looking and talented. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of him. And me too on liking Susan and Jonathan as judges. I'm glad shows like this keep chefs like them on the air as I feel like I'm following them through my life. They were funny together. I don't always catch every episode of this new incarnation of IC, but it's obvious to me that everyone involved is very happy it's back and missed it a lot. It really shows that this is a labor of love for them. And I'm happy too. By now it feels like tradition. I know I'm old when James Beard award winning chefs say they grew up watching IC. I forget that I first started watching the Japanese version over 20 years ago.

July 21st.

Last week Jess did well. This week she did not. None of the things she did well last week were components of this week's challenges, and I'd still defend her on the basis of those things if they were relevant. Just because I didn't find her pretentious or entitled at any point doesn't mean she didn't deserve to go this week based on performance, because she kinda did. I was referring to all the criticism of her or statements suggesting that she deserved to go based on her being pretentious, entitled, being a food novelist (and that getting old), wearing too bright lipstick, etc., not comments specifically about her performance in this episode.

I'm sure it's no surprise that I'm not unhappy to see Jess go, although it does surprise me to see all the shade on her this week as opposed to all the defense she got last week when I agreed that she was full of herself and bashed her affected pronunciation of "piquant". These cooks are not great with the ideas. Christian should have done eggplant stacks with cheese for stacked food, although at least his dish was good. What Amy was thinking by putting herself up against Manny is beyond me, and then she does a taco for a guilty pleasure? She can pretty much do anything and survive. And him with the chili, where's the tie in to the firehouse? Seriously, he couldn't think of that? And everyone has already mentioned the ridiculousness of rice for "ooey gooey". C'mon cooks, we expect better!

I think you brought up a good point about the writers boxing themselves in with Liza/Josh, but I think there is a way it can still work out for them. If Clare suddenly reappears with a baby she didn't let Josh know about, or he somehow unknowingly impregnates another woman that can take care of his need to have children. When Josh married Clare I never thought it would work out between them, but even last season I thought she may end up pregnant, thus removing Josh's urgency to have kids with Liza. Even as I say that I was never a Josh shipper. I'm not a fan of age differences that big. I tried it once and it wasn't for me. To each his own, though. And Josh is a great guy but as a character he is in my opinion a little dull. Usually the one the heroine ends up with is the guy she can't have that she has always wanted and gives her that longing desire deep in the pit of her gut. And Josh isn't that guy on this show, while Charles is.