30 Helens

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.

Ha! At this rate, there should be two people commenting on the final episode. Which, let’s be honest, is about two more people than this show deserves. I found the first couple of episodes entertaining in a cheesy, game show wannabe kind of way. This one was just boring. I’m sure that rope ladder was scary and hard, did we have to watch EVERY SINGLE PLAYER cry about how scary and hard it was? It went on so long, I was hoping the axe would make a comeback. I think what the “strategists” are doing with the vote is positioning themselves to be the strongest ones left. If they are mid level now, they will eventually become the slowest once the actual slow ones get picked off, and therefore become vulnerable. But if they eliminate everyone stronger than themselves, their ultimate position is more secure, because the weaker ones will always need some strong people to help them. This is just a guess. It still seems too soon to make such moves, but it explains why Becky is so intent on keeping the slower people around. What is this Mountain Keeper supposed to be, anyway? A protective supernatural force, or just a cranky park ranger? Because I don’t know why the former would need a black helicopter to get around, and the latter shouldn’t have time for these shenanigans. It’s the dumbest part of an increasingly dumb show, and they’re not even trying to make it interesting. It’s like someone watched an episode of Deal or No Deal Island, said “let’s have an unseen entity screw with our contestants, too!”, but got no further in the creative process. Must like the rest of the show. It’s a pastiche with no purpose. Stiff Aussie host should be embarrassed to be a part of this. But even if he were… could anyone tell?

Whoo, Anika! Those were some stellar dagger eyes. Too bad we can’t bring her back for the jury, because she could stir up a whole boiling pot of bitterness. When those chickens ended up back on the beach, I was waiting for another tribe to step up and say “We’ll eat ‘em!” and then for Jeff to hand them over. No harm, no fowl. (Sorry.) Andy has been a mostly entertaining mess, but he is currently teetering on the edge of smug unlikability. Stay in your Dumb Puppy lane, Andy. It’s where you belong.

RIP, Colonel Tad! I noticed the southern accent had faded, I just figured he was pulling a Ross Geller and letting it discretely slip away. But instead, they found an actual excuse for Lois's vocal coach! Yes, Brooklyn, Violet's grade school record is bound to haunt her forever. I once lost out on a great job when the recruiter got wind of a little kindergarten spitball incident. So embarrassing. My career was never the same. So I guess we know now how Sam is getting killed off. How nice for Dante, he gets to have both Lulu and Sam in the same body!... Or at least a little piece of Sam, which he can think of fondly every time Lulu metabolizes a glass of wine. Just please, Show, do me one last favor and harvest the liver through Sam's jeans.

I could use one, too. Maybe we can get a group discount. I ran the Talking Heads category, but fumbled at FJ. The "long dark night" part gave me Reagan vibes, until I was gently reminded that Nixon was a Quaker. Damn it, I had that fact tucked deeply away in my mental file cabinet, but I opened the wrong drawer.

I watched the first couple of episodes on Paramount because why not, Big Brother is over and I have a reality slot open. I wasn’t expecting much and after watching, … I’m still not expecting much. But I’ll probably keep watching. The problem for me is, I’m not sure what this show wants to be. Is it a celebration of teamwork and collaboration? Is it a high stakes survivalist challenge where one false move can send you plummeting to your “death” (or at least leave you dangling for a melodramatic second or two)? Is it a game of mystical forces overseen by an avenging mountain god (in a chopper)? I’m not sure the contestants know what the game is, either, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. It can be fun to watch players figure it out, like on the first season of Survivor, but in this case nobody is approaching this as a clean slate. They’re bringing the baggage of every other competition show (including Survivor) and playing accordingly. So we have people making alliances and looking for “threats”, when they don’t even know what that means in this context. Casting has done the usual Reality Casting thing, which means a handful of alpha bros, some decent eye candy, a few nice “old” people to awww over, some standard villain types who are willing to do “whatever it takes”, a few rootable “real” people, and a lot of filler to round it out. I do believe that these people had no idea what they were signing up for, because they seemed genuinely surprised when they first learned their mission. I think this could be a decent show if production interference were kept to a minimum, but we already have indications that that won’t be the case. I expect more manufactured drama and more twists that might not make a lot of sense. But if they can keep it entertaining, I’ll keep watching. Especially since they already did me the favor of excising Shweta Balls. They could really win me over by eliminating Half-Baked Generic Villain Dennis, but I’m not holding my breath. They’ve already devoted too much airtime to his crafty evilness, so comeuppance will surely be delayed.

After the fact, I can see how a purple blob could resemble a taste bud. But a milkshake? I don’t get that part at all. Either way, I would never have landed on a minor character like Grimace. I was focused on more prominent mascots like Tony the Tiger, Toucan Sam, Chester the Cheetah, Mr. Peanut, etc. But my major point of confusion was trying to reconcile an image of a milkshake with an image of a tastebud and finding no similarities. Meh. Didn’t like that one. Also didn’t like that Jack lost. He had potential.

Explain it to me. Because I’ve had hair of various lengths, but never any extensions. My hair has been as long (and thick) as any current HG, but I’ve never felt the need to pet or stroke it. What am I missing? Does fake hair just feel better? I’ve also never gazed into mirrors, assuring myself that I’m pretty. Am I crazy? Will Matt never pine for me? #crushed

Aaaand the most predictable season in BB history comes to a close. Love you guys, thanks for sticking it out with me.

ok, we all knew Chelsie was winning. But were we right about Favorite Hamster? Tucker, bring it on. No point in having any surprises now,