[S02.E01: The Rules of Professional Conduct]

Re: the last scene.

Did the writers really think they could rip off Primal Fear and nobody would notice?

 

.

[S11.E10: Requiem 1981/1987 - Part Two]

10 hours ago, tpwilder said:

Was there some significance to casting Patti LuPone?

I think Lupone is somewhat of a beloved figure in the older gay community. I can remember a Will & Grace episode where Jack was a super fan.  When he finally got to meet her, he was trying to prove to will that he wasn't self centered. Lupone was sat right behind him in a restaurant and Jack was dying to say something to her but he was trying to be a good friend to will. Finally, Lupone tapped him on the shoulder and asked him for something and Jack screamed, "Not now, Patti Lupone!"   

 I checked the show's tag on Twitter while the episode's aired. I cannot believe how many people were asking where the horror was. Many had no idea how accurately those episodes portrayed what was going on during the AIDS crisis. 

I think this season was very well timed. COVID highlighted how - to this day - people dismiss AIDS because of its association with the gay community. 

 I loved both episodes. The end of the 1st one had me bawling. I don't think I've ever been that moved by a TV show before. God, did  Mantello and Tovey sell those scenes.

 The 2nd episode was especially emotionally devastating.  Watching Gino so defiantly refuse to let Big Daddy take him while simultaneously  watching friend after friend die only to finally succumb was heartbreaking.

 To end with Adam giving what was probably yet another eulogy at yet another friend's funeral was especially powerful. I remember during the aftermath of 9/11 that it was funeral after funeral for months in Manhattan.  Now multiply that a few dozen times.  The trauma fatigue had to be never ending.

I'm sure the pregnancy store line was written in to accommodate Billy Lourd's real life pregnancy at the time. However, I found it odd they never once mentioned the baby's death when Hannah died. Not even Adam.  Did they ever Is clarify how Hannah and Adam met?

I'd give the season a solid B+.

[S11.E08: Fire Island]

On 11/10/2022 at 2:33 AM, LoveLeigh said:

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Neither she not Theo seemed sick enough to actually die

  I went back and watched And The Band Played On last night.  That was an HBO movie from the mid nineties about the early days of the AIDS crisis.  They mentioned how a guy who had recently died looked perfectly healthy just a couple weeks earlier. I think once they figured out what it was they were able to slow down the progression of the disease but not before that.

[S11.E08: Fire Island]

1 hour ago, Superclam said:

Still, I agree, it was the best season in a long time. 

Probably because there was no hype around it. Murphy's teasers  and cast announcements in the months leading up to the premiere drive fans into a frenzy. It's almost impossible to meet such high expectations.

[S11.E08: Fire Island]

6 hours ago, LoveLeigh said:

They could have done this entire season in two hours. 

I think Murphy wanted to give the AIDS storyline its own episodes. Understandably. I have older friends in the gay community and they talk about how the younger generation treats HIV too casually because of Prep. I would think a significant portion of the AHS viewership is young gay men. They weren't around during the crisis. They don't know what gay men before them sacrificed for them to not carry this burden and its stigma.

I'm a woman who grew up in the 80's. It had to be absolutely traumatizing for gay men to have nobody care they were sick, disappearing, and dying. And it had to be infuriating to watch the government finally take notice of the disease only when a heterosexual rich male athlete (Magic Johnson) announced he was HIV positive. Only then did politicians care because it made them realize HIV was not a "gay disease." Making that worse was that Freddy Mercury died a few months after Johnson went public with his diagnosis. How many more game changers - people who would have made enormous contributions to society and bettered it -  did we lose? We'll never know.

Despite the campiness, I found the end of the episode quite compelling.

"You will be remembered." I got chills when I heard that. Will he be remembered for his photography or because he was one of the first to die from this mysterious virus? What about those that died that just...disappeared? Will they be remembered? Or will they be forgotten?

/off my soapbox

It's now established that Big Daddy is an entity and not a sentient being. The Death card obviously prophesizes the oncoming plague.

All in all, this is one of the first seasons in a long time that I've enjoyed from start to finish.

[S19.E05: When I Get to the Border]

On 11/4/2022 at 6:39 AM, DEL901 said:

And another ham handed PSA, the grown up equivalent of an After SchooL Special.

Absolutely. The dialogue came right out of a brochure.  When Shona Rhimes had Olivia Pope get an abortion it was incredibly powerful BECAUSE of the lack of dialogue surrounding it. Grey's writers always over do it 

Ryan Murphy doesn't does a lot of things wrong but one thing he does well is work the struggles and oppression of the gay community into his stories without hammering you over the head.

[S11.E05: Bad Fortune]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

But how did she die

  The reason I don't think Patrick killed her is because they very intentionally showed her in the bathroom after she had vomited and fainting soon after. She appeared to be sick. 

 Considering both Patrick and Gino now have lesions,  I'm going to assume that means they have AIDS.  Patrick could have infected Barbara. That's why I think Big Daddy represents AIDS and why Patrick keeps seeing him. 

[S11.E05: Bad Fortune]

Since it appears like the police outside Margaret's apartment didnt see a hulking man i a leather harness and mask go inside, it's looking more and more like Big Daddy is not a person but an embodiment of something. My guess is AIDS.

[S11.E04: Black Out]

On 10/28/2022 at 5:25 PM, SHD said:

the acting level of the cast is far better than most recent seasons.

The acting is what elevated the show. Without it, it was, well, 1984.

[S11.E04: Black Out]

I thought the 1st 2 episodes were boring but episodes 3 and 4 felt like old school American Horror Story.

When Murphy puts the material in the hands of actual actors and not a bunch of his friends and nepo babies and stops relying on shock value and torture p*rn, it works.

I read a pretty cool theory on another board. The recapper said he thought Big Daddy is actually a manifestation of something and not real.  I really like that idea. I think Big Daddy represents shame and that the theme for the season is how insidious and dangerous shame can be.  We're obviously building up to to  the beginning of the AIDS crisis so that fits.

Joe Mantello is carrying the season.

[S01.E10: The Brass Verdict]

11 hours ago, Whimsy said:

I wish it was getting more attention.

Right? It was certainly interesting enough that I binge-watched all 10 episodes in 24 hrs. I think the main challenge it had was a cast nobody recognized except for Neve Cambell. (Who looks amazing, btw.) Though I did like the cameo from Rebecca from The Practice (another David E. Kelly series) as the judge who handed over all of Jerry's coaches to Mickey.

Manuel Garcia Rufo made a great lead. Handsome without being pretty. A little weathered to make his year of addiction believable. I thought Cisco was well cast. Loved Becki Newton. Hopefully since it was Netflix's top show for the week it will get more press.

[S01.E10: The Brass Verdict]

Spoiler

Who was watching Mickey surf? Was it Trevor?

 

[S01.E07: Sex and the Widow]

1 hour ago, ByaNose said:

I thought we (me) were Che-less but they she showed up at the auction.

That scene reminded me of The Good Wife. It was the episode where they were prepping Mayoral candidate Alicia for one of her debates. Out of everybody else, Finn (Matthew Goode) is picked to stand in for the other candidate. It was his only scene in the episode. If anyone watched TGW they know how they completely bungled Goode's time on the show and under-used him so badly they didn't bring him back for the next season.

That is to say, Che had no valid reason to be at an auction for some privileged Upper East Side private school auction. That is not their audience. I seriously doubt any of them ever heard of Che.  Watching two of the UES Moms gush and fawn over Che as though the Moms would ever watch Che's special gave me second-hand cringe.

[S01.E07: Sex and the Widow]

Che's excuse for why they hadn't responded to Miranda's DM was pathetic. But not as pathetic as Miranda buying it. If this were 15 years ago and Carrie was whinging about Big giving the same excuse for blowing Carrie off, Miranda would have grabbed Carrie by the shoulders and told her to get a grip. Che is easily the most insufferable character this show has ever introduced.

I get that the entire season's theme is how nothing can stay the same forever but Christ on a pogo stick. What are they doing to these characters when Carrie - CARRIE - is the most grounded??? Of course, she's still wildly self-involved and has to make everything about her but considering the circumstances, she's been pretty reasonable.

I get what they were trying to do with Charlotte and Harry and her refusal to apologize but they really missed the mark. That was an instance where Charlotte should have apologized. As the season progresses, Charlotte is becoming more and more hysterical.

The most annoying part of the episode for me was when Herbert introduced Carrie at the auction by calling her sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw.  She's a best-selling author, FFS. She wrote a column 15 years ago that was about relationships and dating. Calling her a sex columnist is a classic example of how society sexualizes women as a way to diminish their accomplishments.

More Anthony and Seema, please.

[S01.E02: Little Black Dress]

19 hours ago, BrindaWalsh said:

I really don't want them to make Miranda an alcoholic.  

There seems to be a lot of speculation regarding Miranda's storyline. Many say she'll realize she's gay because of her chemistry with Che. Others says she's going to be an alcoholic. I don't think they'll do both. In fact, I don't think they'll do either. They already blew up the biggest relationship on the show. Miranda and Steve were second biggest followed by Charlotte and Harry.  I doubt they'll do away with another core marriage on the show. Especially between two regular characters. That's too much change for the viewers.

[S01.E01: Hello It's Me]

4 hours ago, TVbitch said:

Just say she moved to London for her career and lost touch.

I don't think that would be enough to justify why Samantha wasn't at Big's funeral. It had to be a deep rift to come between them.

[S01.E02: Little Black Dress]

1 hour ago, violet and green said:

but what really shocked me was the intense meanness in SJP's eyes when she slammed the door on weeping Charlotte outside that froufrou funeral place.

Well, yeah. I'd have some deep contempt for a friend that guilted me into going to her kid's piano recital which in turn caused me to be away from my home while my husband was suffering from a heart attack that killed him. Yes, Carrie was projecting her anger at herself for going onto Charlotte, but that rage is totally understandable given the situation. Grief isn't rational.

There's a reason they compared Samantha's split from the group as a death. It was certainly foreshadowing but I also think it was a parallel of sorts to Carrie's anger at Charlotte. With Carrie and Charlotte, Carrie was in Sam's position. Obviously, Charlotte wasn't intentionally trying to lure Carrie away from Big nor did she force Carrie to attend just like Carrie wasn't trying to embarrass Sam by firing her as a publicist. Charlotte wasn't trying to hurt Carrie but Carrie was still hurt by Charlotte's actions. In a small way, I think it helped notoriously self-absorbed Carrie see things from Sam's perspective. There's been a lot of talk about how toxic Carrie really was. This could be a way the writers are trying to make Carrie more self-aware and empathetic.

1 minute ago, bybrandy said:

"She did.  Which is what made that sex scene really gross."

The operative word there is "scene." The sex scene was gross. Two 17-year-olds moaning and grunting like porn stars.

[S01.E02: Little Black Dress]

4 hours ago, bybrandy said:

Kid is 17 a perfectly normal age to be having sex having sex in his home a perfectly safe place to bee having sex and wasn't terrible considerate about te fact that other people lived in his house because 17. 
 

That's not what was gross about it. I don't think anybody is clutching their pearls over two teenagers having sex. What was gross was that the writers actually thought depicting a sex scene between two teenagers was interesting or provocative. It had no purpose. It contributed nothing to the story. Showing Miranda step on a used condom would have had far more impact.

[S01.E02: Little Black Dress]

I really hope they give Sara Ramirez's character more depth. I found them super grating. Who the fuck gives a kid they don't know a hit of pot?

Speaking of Brady, the sex scene between him and his girlfriend was all kinds of gross. Why are we watching underage characters have sex? What was the point? They could have just had Miranda hear the banging of the headboard.

So far the only interesting new character is Miranda's law professor.

I laughed out loud when Susan Sharon said what many viewers were probably thinking. "Am I the only one that remembers what a prick he was to her?" Because he was. He left her at the altar for fuck's sake.

[S01.E01: Hello It's Me]

What I was hoping they'd address but didn't is menopause. They probably didn't want to go down that road because there's this delusion out there that women can only be vibrant if they're sexually active and have a strong sex drive. These women are 55+ years old. Hate to break it to Che, the inclusive and provocative podcast host, but women's sex drives decrease after menopause. For some the decrease is drastic. That scene in the studio was the perfect opportunity to address menopause but they chose not to. I feel like this is a taboo subject even among women. There's this pressure to assure other women that men still find us fuckable.

I liked this episode more than I thought I would. Big's death was spoiled a few years ago on a podcast. Chris Noth probably thought the show was dead for good so he didn't consider he'd be spoiling things when he revealed Big's fate for the 3rd movie that never happened. I'm fairly sure they killed him off because Noth didn't want to return.

I wasn't mad at how they wrote out Samantha. Carrie firing Samantha would be embarrassing for Sam. Even if she wasn't writing books she was still a media personality and needed a publicist, especially in the social media age. Carrie had a big enough presence that firing Sam would become gossip.

Overall, I enjoyed it.

 

 

[S23.E05: Fast Times @TheWheelHouse]

On 10/15/2021 at 4:49 AM, meatball77 said:

Maybe 10 years ago but the only people there were those supporting the rapists really?  It's 2021, there would have been a crowd of women outside the house calling for their heads.

Agreed. However, if you're on Tik Tok then you know the environment on that app is highly toxic and misogynistic. Sadly, A LOT of that misogyny comes from other women.  Certain Tik Tok Creators develop this huge following of sycophants that go to disturbing lengths to prove their loyalty. (I'm DYING to discuss this more if anyone knows of a forum on here where I can do that.)

What I'd like to know is how Olivia - the Captain of the SVU unit, a unit that often deals with cases of child abuse/porn - could let her 8? 9? 10? year old son on an app like Tik Tok. How does her child know about a 20-something Tik Tok star?

[S10.E07: Take Me To Your Leader]

Fell asleep when Amelia Earhardt was introduced. Woke up to Debbie Harry's Rapture. Fell back asleep when they learned they were pregnant.

All I can say is the use of Rapture in this episode SLAPPED.

[S03.E02: The President Kissed Me]

On 9/15/2021 at 8:48 AM, txhorns79 said:

Monica was also an adult.  She knew Clinton was married.  She knew he was President.  They both had poor judgment and should have known better. 

22 might technically be an adult, but a person's pre-frontal cortex - the part of the brain responsible for reasoning and judgment - isn't fully developed until about 25 or so. Throw in the bullying and rejection she undoubtedly received for being plus-sized and you've got an  emotionally stunted young woman with shaky self-esteem getting attention from one of the most powerful men in world.

Lewinsky irritates me now for constantly dredging this scandal up to get likes on Twitter, but she was a victim.

[S10.E05: Gaslight]

What's missing from this season (besides a cohesive plot) is a connection to previous seasons. Usually they work in something from a previous season to connect all the AHS universes. Have there been any this season?

Denis O'Hare, Leslie Grossman, Billie Lourde & Adina Porter were in no way relevant to the plot.  Evan Peters character also appears to have been unnecessary and made less important mid-way through the season. It's like they didn't know what to do with him.

 

[S10.E04: Blood Buffet]

I hate filler episodes. Sure, it focused on Frances Conroy, which is a plus, but the season is already so short.

Liked the first 2 episodes. Fell asleep halfway through the 3rd. Fourth episode was filler. Meh.

The Chemist and TB Karen feel like extraneous characters written to give Angelica Ross and SP parts. Don't care about the talentless vampire. Definitely enjoying Macauley Culkin. The less Leslie Grossman and Billie Lourd, the better. Denis O'Hare is being wasted in this role.

That's all I got.