Elizzikra

She lost me when she didn't leash her dog.

I thought the whole reason he lived with his parents was to save rent. Does he pay reduced rent? I thought he paid nothing but I don't know why I thought that. I can't explain the serving bull but I think that it was some sort of hibachi place? I don't think the meat was meant to be eaten raw. When they sat down, it looked like there was a grill of some sort in the center of the table. Then they received sushi, which confused me. Then the giant platter of meat. That was a TON of food for two people. Oh - never mind. I just re-read your post and I see you got there, though the bull is still a bewildering choice for a serving piece. Maybe they just take them out back and hose them down?

I don't know if Michelle has savings or not, but for most people, housing is their single biggest expense. If David doesn't pay for housing and doesn't have savings, he's doing more frivolous spending than she is. I think that it is. I don't think that she has an issue with him drinking (or her drinking, or anyone drinking other than her mother, whom it was heavily implied is/was an alcoholic). I think she was upset that he chose to drive after drinking. That would upset me too, whether it was my spouse, a friend or the guy sitting next to me in the bar. Impaired drivers are dangerous to everyone around them. Agreed. Yes, they have different communication styles. Yes, he's "artistic" and she's "scientific." But their problems are because he is a rude, insecure asshole who is only comfortable around people who (unfathomably) find him impressive. Hard pass for me. Maybe? Which is not cool. I think that Madison has sort of tried, in that she recognizes that Alan is a good guy and a good catch and just on paper, he should be a good match for her. But she isn't physically attracted to him and she doesn't see it developing, no matter how much of a good, successful guy he is. She knows this isn't going to have to work and she is going to have to come up with some reasons why and she doesn't want to have to say "I just don't want to even kiss you, much less have sex with you."

I thought she started out brilliant and nice but not particularly ambitious. Then her son died and she became brilliant and bitter plus focused on work. Now, post accident we will see her get brilliant and nice again?

I think she thinks she wants both and hasn’t figured out if she can have that or not.

Also worth noting, I liked tonight's guest on After Party and I don't usually like the random podcasters/influencers/whoevers that come in and comment on the couples. I usually love Michelle's After Party looks but tonight, pretty much only the neck up. Didn't love the dress but the hair and makeup were on point. Also loved her necklace.

Agree to disagree then. I think that most people don't think they are too impaired to drive until they blow a BAC over the limit and get a DUI. And even then, they think they were "just fine." Or they injure or kill someone. Allen might have been "fine." He may have been below the legal limit even. We won't ever know. I, personally, would err on the side of caution because the stakes are too high. Different topic: I cannot stand Ikechi. Every week, I dislike him more. He is such an ass. He is totally insecure and then blames his feeling "small" on something Emem does or says. Emem doesn't say or do anything to Ikechi to make him feel "small." I think she sees through him and isn't impressed nearly as impressed with Ikechi as he is with himself. He doesn't like that. Plus, totally surface, what is up with his wide-eyed, unblinking stares followed by rapid blinking? He constantly looks pissed off. He also refuses eye contact when he is irritated with someone, especially women. Ick, indeed.

I think they agreed that he wasn’t “drunk” but they disagreed over whether he had more than he should have if he was going to drive. I think a lot of people drive when they have had enough for it to be a DUI when they are pulled over and they just get lucky and aren’t stopped. I think it’s common to underestimate the effect of alcohol on driving abilities.

Take an über next time, Allen. Definitely not cool.

I’m trying to remember. It felt like a bit of a slog, getting through it, first of all. It jumped off from the OG series’ finale, which I hated, so it suffered from that taint. There were (for me) too many unanswered questions about Harrison and the intervening years. Deb was too watered down and unoriginal (a lot of cussing but not the creative cussing of the OG, just a lot of f bombs).

I'm just going to own it. I like this show. I liked most of OG Dexter (blocking out the entire last season). I disliked New Blood. I'm enjoying this. I think it's interesting that, in OG Dexter, Deb set up Dexter with Rita and here she sets him up with her bestie. I don't know what I make of it, but I think it's a nice bit of consistency across the two series. I think Harry did have feelings for Laura. I think that is part of the reason he takes in Dexter, but not all of it. Newborn Deb had a ton of hair! I also enjoyed the ice truck Easter egg. Wasn't Doakes a little younger than LaGuerta and Batista? So in 1991 he's still in patrol or whatever. Maybe he will turn up soon? I think that we are being told the story that Dexter had a drive to kill that needed to be channeled. In one of the earlier episodes, he tells Harry that the hunting "isn't working" for him anymore. Harry tried to channel this need to, if not kill, then to cut flesh and draw blood, through 1) having Dexter become a surgeon and 2) hunt. When those don't work, Harry then tries to limit him to killing "provably bad" people in a way that reduces the likelihood that he will be caught. The bigger question for me is whether Dexter would have been a serial killer if it weren't for Laura, and more specifically Laura's bloody death and young Dexter's exposure to it. I think that we are being told the story that Brian had a similar bloodlust prior to Laura's death but Dexter did not though that would be pinning a lot of exposition on some de-tailed lizards. I think it's interesting to view this show through the lens of trauma. Harry is traumatized by the death of his biological son ("Junior"). Dexter is traumatized by the death of his mother and the experience of sitting with her body and her blood for days. Harry, Deb and Dexter are all suffering the trauma of Doris's death. And Deb (though she may not know it - do we know if Dexter and Deb know about Junior?) has the baggage of being a replacement child for Junior. Certainly not everyone who experiences trauma grows up to be a serial killer, but they each react in really different ways to the trauma and they have different narratives around it. Finally, can one be a serial killer and NOT also be a sociopath? Dexter is clearly a serial killer but I'm not entirely convinced he is a sociopath. I wasn't in OG Dexter and I'm not really now.

I can see him fighting for visitation just to spite Christine. I don't think that he cares about his relationship with Truely any more than he cares about his relationships with all of his other non-Robyn children.

I disagree. She and her friend seem ok but the boyfriend is her direct report so it's not good that they are romantically involved. And the daughter doesn't live with her and evidently doesn't talk to her often as evidenced by the message we saw Amy leave her to "call her mother once in awhile." I'm pretty sure that is a troubled relationship too though there is some love there. I mean, it's a tv show so sure, people may look past it. But in the real world, it gets her fired and him... maybe not terminated but definitely counseled about appropriate colleague relationships and probably pushed out because there are forever doubts about whether he earned any promotions/accolades he got or he just slept his way to the top. It's a big deal. Though it's an interesting twist to have the male staff member be in the position to defend from those accusations rather than the female staff member.

Maybe because the producers did the matching and not the "experts?"

I don't know anything at all about basketball but she looked like she knew what she was doing. She played in college, right?

I thought I read that this was shot in September 2023. If that is the case, she has had plenty of time to finish shooting, dump the Ick, date a new guy and get engaged.

I intensely disliked New Blood. I don't think there are other shows?

I'm trying to remember who else used to be billed that way on some show but was literally in every episode. Maybe it was perennial 90's "Special Guest Star" Heather Locklear?

Is he a resident? I thought he was a staff physician and she was the chief. If he was an internal medicine resident, he would be about 28 years old and I think this guy is supposed to be older than that. I have loved me some Scott Wolf since Party of Five and at first I will still on my "he does not age" mantra with him. But the more I look at his face, the more nervous I get. It looks like it's going to crack or slide right off. Maybe lay off the chemicals and the botox for awhile? I also didn't think he was supposed to be all evil. Whoever he called (wife? Girlfriend?) and told he was chief seemed genuinely happy for him. I wonder if he will be a little more nuanced. Maybe not incompetent, but made a mistake and fears the repercussions plus he's highly ambitious? I really hate the trope that one can be empathetic and basically polite OR one can be a brilliant physician but not both at the same time. I know several who managed to pull that off. I guess that doesn't necessarily make for compelling television though.

I think Madison knows that she should be into Allen and she just isn't. I was thinking tonight that either Emem or Michelle would be a good match for him except that I think he wants kids and they maybe don't? (I recall Michelle being sort of on the fence and I can't remember about Emem at all). In a totally random thought, I had a mammogram recently so I have them on the brain. I cannot imagine how painful they are for Karla; she literally has nothing for them to squish on those glass plates! It sounds like he started the physical contact and she went with the flow. Even if she did make an advance he didn't want, there were much better ways he could have told her and he has behaved badly ever since the honeymoon. I can't stand him. I think that Madison might make more more money than Michelle, but I don't think either of them are glamorous. I think Michelle is consistently better looking and better dressed than Madison. She did marry David, exactly as she promised. She also closed her mind to him almost instantly but I don't think it was based on his looks. She will never get over him living in his parents' basement.

I think Madison knows that she should be into Allen and she just isn't. I was thinking tonight that either Emem or Michelle would be a good match for him except that I think he wants kids and they maybe don't? (I recall Michelle being sort of on the fence and I can't remember about Emem at all). In a totally random thought, I had a mammogram recently so I have them on the brain. I cannot imagine how painful they are for Karla; she literally has nothing for them to squish on those glass plates!

Some impressive moments from people who don't always impress me: 1) David, popping into a dinner far from his job, because it was an important event 2) Karla, telling Emem not to stoop to Ike's level 3) Michelle, asking Ike why he bothered coming to the dinner if he wasn't willing to talk about his marriage.

Is that a thing? Because that's going to really stop me from commenting candidly on Ikechi. His belated arrival at the dinner just pissed me off. It's rude. He should have apologize for being late and sat down politely. What a dick.

Agree on Ikechi. I don't always like Michelle but I did love her yellow dress. It looks amazing on her.

I think it's nerves. Man, everyone's inner asshole is on full display this evening, aren't they?