30 Helens

1/5. I was also saved by SuperArmadillo. In the Spirit of Jeopardy Halloween, I will bring an assortment of Squish the last two together and they may taste like armadillo.

Sasha knew what she knew because she witnessed it, not because Willow confided in her. And Sasha had every right to turn around and confide in Cody (who I believe was just a friend at the time, not a partner) about her conflicting feelings over alerting her friend Michael vs protecting her friend Willow. The only person who was wrong in this situation was Willow, who should have told her husband what happened, and was stupid for thinking it would remain a secret. But of course she didn’t tell Michael because she actually wants to do more with Drew— another thing that makes her stupid. If I remember correctly from my Grey’s Anatomy classes, there is in fact a short window when organs can be harvested. I’m thinking maybe 10 minutes? But of course we know the real reason there was no organ donation is there was no cast member currently in need of a transplant. (Other than Lulu, and she already done had herses.) Screw everyone else, if they’re not a FOC*, they’re not worthy. *Friend of Carly

Thats’s my rule, too. If I can’t spit it out before the music stops, I’m done. But I like your rule better. I may have to revise mine. 😉 It would not have helped me on this FJ, though. I had no idea.

I thought Drew paid off Cody to keep him from telling Michael about the second kiss? (Although, too late! Loose Lips Sasha took care of that already.) Or maybe to keep him from telling Willow about the Nina sex? Or possibly all of the above. For a former teacher, Willow isn’t all that bright. She already knows part of her Drew Smooch History got out, yet she has total faith everyone will keep quiet about Part 2? This is the kind of soap contrivance that irritates me no end. Did I miss the part where Sam collapsed? Because I saw her laughing with Alexis, and the next thing I knew Alexis was coming out of the room shaking her head. I find it very odd that a show that won’t let any drop of drama go unsqueezed would let the actual death happen offscreen? SBu was good in his farewell scene (I say grudgingly). I just hope Dante gets equal time. And why wasn’t either of Sam’s sisters there post surgery?

FJ did not come instantly, but thankfully it did come, because I think I would have been drummed out of Texas otherwise. I was initially thrown by the “rabbit-like” ears comparison— while elongated, an armadillo’s ears have never made me think “rabbit”. But setting aside the ears and focusing on the shell got me there in time. While I have only ever seen a few of them, armadillos have caused great havoc in lawns around my neighborhood. They like to burrow, and their holes can be quite wide. (And their tunnels deep and long.) They’re mainly nocturnal, which is why they’re not often seen. And that’s fine by me, because I think they look creepy. But at least they’re small. It’s assumed that modern-day armadillos descended from an animal that was as big as a rhinoceros. Imagine stepping outside early one morning and being confronted by a 6-foot, 600-lb one of these!

Maybe he was thinking of Steve. And now you can sing that all night in your head, just like me.

Same here. I gave him a stern talking-to after the game. Hopefully that put the fear of Ken into him. Or, you know, whoever he worships. My rudimentary Spanish knowledge failed me, because I was trying to translate the FJ location to “New” something. (That would be Nuevo, not Nieve.) Maybe tomorrow.

You know how you see something and you don’t know what it is, but it’s not what you’re looking for so you dismiss it? And although it’s always there, after awhile you stop seeing it at all? Then one day you’re prompted to look at it and you say, “huh! Where did that come from?” I’m sure I have some unopened boxes like that. And probably some food in the refrigerator.

I think "the club in Cabaret" should count. And no, it's not because that's what I said. (Yes, it is.) After all the discussion about j-archive and the numbered squares, I had to go take a look. What do you know. Then again, I still can't remember to take notice of the new set, so observation is clearly not my strong suit.

I know you said that the original actor should approve it, but would they ever feel good about it? This seems like a more disrespectful option than killing the character off. I’m referring only to legacy characters, of course. Sometimes a recast is necessary. (Michael?) I love this idea.

When Gio first arrived, I had a sense that they were setting him up as a love interest for both women… because there’s nothing soap fans love more than watching two woman fight over a guy. 🙄 But maybe what I was seeing were just chemistry tests. (I personally think both tests failed.) On the plus side, Gio is a musician, so it will be very easy for them to send him off on some neverending tour. Maybe Blaze needs a band member? I hear Wynton Marsalis is also hiring? As for Leslie Charlson: On the one hand, I think it’s wonderful when a show like this can do a tribute while the actor is still able to see it. On the other hand, I always wonder how it makes the actor feel to have their longtime alter ego killed off like that— is it depressing? Does it make them feel like the proverbial coffin lid is being closed on them, too? What I would love for Monica is some kind of triumphant sendoff, where she is moving overseas to lead some breakthrough treatment protocol, or head up a team of researchers or something, but has to leave so quickly she can’t make the farewell party (except for a quick Zoom call, maybe, hopefully?) but everyone stays to celebrate and reminisce about her. That would serve the same purpose while keeping Monica alive and kicking ass (albeit offscreen) for the foreseeable future.

Of course he did. The man is clearly chicken obsessed. Seriously, I did not get the point of that at all. People might try it for the novelty, but then they’re just going to go back to whatever ice cream tastes best. I also didn’t get the need for the ski thingies. Is it really so important to put your skis against the car while you load them? Can’t you just lay them on the ground? And while I didn’t really see the bucket golf demo, I think they were just hitting balls into a bucket? Why do you need a kit for that? Can’t you just use your own bucket? And now I’m thinking that I must have been very cranky while watching this.

Do they know it's... bagel time?? Pizza bagels, that is! (0/5, if that wasn't obvious) I play Wordle, Connections, Strands and NYT crossword every morning. I hate getting up, and I find that puzzles are a great way to procrastinate without feeling bad about it. (Brain health is important, too!) Connections is my favorite. Edit: Oh! And Spelling Bee! I love Spelling Bee. Although I usually play that around 3am. (I hate going to bed, too.) I don’t allow myself to sleep until I at least get to Genius.

Same here.I won’t miss Sam, who hasn’t been a viable character for at least a decade, but my heart goes out to Kelly. The emotion in her farewell scenes was heartfelt, and no matter what I think of her as an actress, as a long time cast member she deserved better. Thanks to everyone who clarified the meaning of that last hand gesture. It looked like a defiant ”screw you” salute to me, but a defiant “I love this cast and you can’t take that from me” gesture is even better. Best of luck, Kelly Monaco. Hope you find a role/ purpose that makes you happier than this one seemingly did.

Which also pushed Jordan as Police Commissioner on us. And plenty of insta-docs and other professionals who completed basically a 2-week correspondence course. Speaking of which, I wonder what career-she’s-totally-unqualified-for Lulu will try next. After she goes through the requisite 6 days of recovery/rehab, of course. Great-Grammy, maybe. I am older than my husband, but even I have to refrain from thinking where we were in our lives at various years because when I was a (young) adult, he was still a child. And for much of Tracy’s adult life, Cody wasn’t even an embryo yet. They have a good friendship, can’t we just keep it that way?

Was he brought in under Mulcahey? I can’t remember. It seems like he’s there as a love interest for Trina, but with the return of Terrible Pacing, it might be next summer before they share a kiss. Not that I really care, as I see no chemistry there. She could do better. (Or, rather, the show should do better by her.) I have been one of Violet’s staunchest haters, but I have to admit she has done a fantastic job lately with the emotional stuff. I can’t say I’ll miss her, exactly, but it figures that the show would send her off just when she’s finally getting interesting.

Yeah, I was like “Sam Spade? No, an actual person. Raymond Chandler?” Meh. And I read all those books in my teens.

As someone who has to wear a dental guard for sleeping, I was very interested in an affordable customized option. I paid a ridiculous amount to my dentist for the custom-fit guard I wear now, but the only alternative was the kind of generic drugstore appliance that does more harm than good. So there is a market for something like this that goes beyond sports. I had read that the Kind Bar guy was going to be Mark Cuban’s replacement. But then they previewed a slew of upcoming Guest Sharks and I’m wondering if that’s a done deal. Because it looks like we’re in for a bunch of auditions. Based on this episode, I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Rashaun Williams. I would like the new shark to be someone of color, because we’ve seen plenty of Great Whites. A woman of color, even better.

Late to this party, but it sounds like nobody was having fun anyway. I knew going into this that the ending had been changed from the movie, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew it wouldn’t be Tommy, because he was clearly being pushed as a suspect. I knew it wouldn’t be Barbara, just because. I thought it might be Rusty. I never considered the kids. In the end, the only one I have sympathy for is Barbara. She is married to a man who is so cold, he can find someone he loved lying in a pool of her own blood, compartmentalize his emotions to the point where he’s immediately thinking of ways to cover the act, then further dehumanize said loved one by hogtying her. At the same time, Barbara has a daughter who is capable of bludgeoning a woman to death just because she’s pissed her off. What a family. I’m just going to pretend one more episode exists, and it features Barbara grabbing that suitcase, going to find the bartender so she can scratch that one last itch, then heading off alone to parts unknown. I guess she can take the son if she wants to. But sociopath husband and daughter need to be left far behind.

1/5 (Gatsby) I will bring some delicious chicken tortellini soup for @Driad’s recovery and for anyone else who would like to indulge their Grimace-shaped tastebuds.

I suspect she’s saying she would have taken MJ because MJ took her. It doesn’t really matter now, so why not choose the more diplomatic answer that would make MJ feel better? In private, she’s probably telling Cam it was him. If things had been different and Chelsie was taken to the end by Cam, I think the public answer to that question would have been “Cam”, although she might have given a different answer to MJ privately. I also think Chelsie knew she would win no matter who she sat beside, so she’s probably glad she never had to reveal the actual answer to that question.

I recently watched Being Erica on Hulu. Not only was it a much better show than I expected, Vinessa Antione did a lot with the Best Friend role.

I don’t think Robert is actually Sasha’s father. I think this is just another way for Holly to try and insinuate herself into Robert’s life. It’s a dumb move that is beneath Holly’s character, but it will allow the audience to breathe a big sigh of relief for the lovebirds Sasha and Cody when the truth is revealed, so I guess there’s that. I hate the practice of retconning every character into some forced familial relationship, but I actually don’t hate the idea of Sasha as the con-artist acorn to Holly’s fraudulent oak tree. Anything to put a little pizazz into what has been a very bland character. I do hate how two-dimensional Molly and Kristina have become. Kristina, who was once written as bold and independent, is now an impulsive trainwreck in constant need of supervision. Molly, once an intelligent, empathetic advocate of justice, is now locked into I-hate-Kristina mode. Neither character is remotely likeable at this point. Can they both just die along with Sam? Alexis would be sad, but she’d be better off in the long run.

The over-pronounced “jjj-OHN-hhra” used to drive me crazy in the Alex days, but I find myself missing it (and other weird Alex tics) too. I love Ken, but Alex will always be the gold standard. I guess I missed something today, but how would one pronounce oeuvre other than “oo-vhreh”? Was something different said? (Credentials: 3 years high school French + 2 years college) Thank you, F Scott Fitzgerald, for saving me from a shutout FJ week. Gatsby was an instaget.

I see all the letters of Columbia in that answer-- with, perhaps, the exception of the "a". It appears to have gotten away from him and somehow developed a tail. I might understand ruling against him for that part, but the rest of the letters are definitely there. They're just a little smushed together.