mandymax

Already hooked! This kind of has a "Dare Me" vibe to it, if anyone else has seen that show. How often are they releasing new episodes?

I have to defend Katherine's meatball recipe. Those were a staple at my house for years on New Year's Eve, and they're actually really good. And I confess to being curious about the Mello Yello pie. All the Thanksgiving food looked great, and I liked the outside setup. Those are about my only "likes" from this episode. It used to be that I couldn't wait to watch each episode and wouldn't budge till I'd seen the whole thing. Now it takes me several hours to get through one, with plenty of pauses to go to menial household chores. It's a shame.

I have to be honest - when Whitney commented on how nice Naomie's gait was, I totally thought he was alluding to how she was walking after spending the night with him. I don't know why my mind went there. I'm sorry. It truly boggles my mind that in the first few seasons, Shep actually seemed like a nice, compassionate, easygoing, harmless doofus who could laugh at himself, and now they aren't even the same person. I can't believe it. What a shame. I never had an opinion of Olivia, but I'm really liking her after the way she stood up to Shep. She has a strong sense of self, which shows the way she calls Austen out on the things he says and does. Which makes it all the more amazing that she actually wants to be with Austen.

I'd be even more impressed by a guy who has mailbox money and still works under kitchen sinks as a plumber or up in hot attics on AC units anyway.

Is Naomie doing all of this to try and make all her exes jealous? Did she beg to come back onto the show so that Metul would see her on air and read about her in the tabloids and see how "great" she's doing and regret letting her go? Was her reasoning the same for Craig - so that Craig would see how gorgeous she is and regret not shaping up to meet her terms and keep her? And is she hooking up with Whitney as backup ammo to make Metul and Craig miss her? That's the only reason *I* can see for her being on the show.

I'm probably in the minority, but I thought the dog wedding ceremony was the most authentic part of this episode. Yeah, the idea was likely engineered by production and they were told to do it, but once it got going, I got the sense that all of them decided to relax and go with the whole ridiulosity of it and actually had a good time with it. Whitney going over the top with the guitar solo, Peaches refusing to walk down the aisle, Charles jumping in to "steal" the bride - all the laughter seemed genuine. Given the fact that they were forced to sit there in the rain on top of it, I give them a ton of credit for making the best of it and having fun. Then came the reception and it all went to sh*t again.

I'm liking Venita more. Not as much as I enjoyed the old cast members before they left, but more than I did. And I finally put my finger on who Paige looks like - Winona Ryder. It was driving me crazy. Also driving me crazy was her fuzzy 70s-ish getup at the end while drinking coffee out on the porch with Craig.

I actually like Whitney, too. The older seasons, when his mother says something embarrassing or controversial, his reaction is always "Oh, God," in this tone that sounds like he wants to crawl under a rock. And when he was Cameran's partner with the birthing coach and Cameran accused him of looking down her shirt, his "I'm not looking down your shirt! Okay, now I am" was hilarious. He makes me laugh. I didn't like the way he shamed Katherine after sleeping with her a few seasons ago, but overall, he's good comic relief, and I don't get the sense that he's malicious like some of the others.

Having watched Austen's explanation as to the times his family experienced in the house, what with his sister's traumatic death and the family's healing with the arrival of Katie, I have to say that it makes a lot of sense now as to why leaving it is so hard for him. Most families don't go through something like that, so I can understand why he has an attachment, even if it's not an entirely pleasant one. I had to laugh as they were driving through the neighborhood: "I tried to beat someone home by driving through this front yard, but I didn't beat him." "One year we TP-ed this house, but we got caught and had to clean it up." An entire neighborhood full of failures! And did anyone else cringe as the U-Haul was pulling out of the driveway because it looked like it was about to run over Austen's dad's foot??

I have no use for Marcie (I didn't even know her name till I happened to be watching the screen when she came on this episode). Nothing about her interests me whatsoever. And while Venita doesn't intrigue me, either, I think she's beautiful, I actually love her apartment, and I can relate to being a neat freak. Shep used to be so grounded and down to earth and just plain NICE in his thoughts and actions - what happened?? I really miss the seasons when you could tell they were all friends and there was actually some sort of common connecting thread throughout the season. This season feels like, "Crap - we have to film something. Let's go round up a bunch of people and just follow them around with cameras."

Yeah, having Naomie do the narration at the beginning of each episode doesn't do it for me - she's so flat, and it's not like she really contributes a whole lot overall. It's so sad - I used to love this show so much.

I actually bought the season, so I get the episode the day after it airs, and there are no opening credits. I keep watching and waiting so I know who's a cast member and who isn't, but they never show, so I'm as confused as you are. I get the sense they're just trying to throw everyone in in the hopes that something catches and takes off.

You're better than me - I see "Shleb."

It takes a lot for me to give up on a favorite show, but I'm about ready with this one. It doesn't even have the same vibe it used to. I did like "I feel like drapes." Otherwise, I'm not feeling this season's new people AT ALL. I like Taylor, and I used to love Shep, but Shep's pretty much run his course, and there's not much else to Taylor without him. Craig actually seems well-adjusted for a change, so no drama there. If I didn't know that was Naomie, I wouldn't recognize her. Katherine is just a pitiful tragedy. Austen appears to have nothing left to contribute, which is a shame, because he could really showcase himself trying to grow as a beer-preneur, but it looks like that won't happen. And no one else is worth commenting on. I miss Cameran, Chelsea, Danni, Shep when he was still somewhat endearing, even Thomas and Landon and Ashley - at least they kept it entertaining being people you loved to hate.

I thought he said last season that they got married and had kids too young, or something along those lines. But they're still good friends and get along well.

"I miss Michael. And I want bacon." Best line of the entire episode.

Chleb actually seems like a really decent guy - I enjoyed that whole segment focusing on him. Maybe he thought he could help Katherine by giving her some stability and treating her well. It's a shame that that doesn't seem to have worked. I just feel bad for her, on a basic human compassion level. Who knows how her life might have turned out by age 30 if not for the show. Regarding the Madison with the gray streaks: several seasons back, she had natural gray starting, just a few threads here and there. It looks like they've multiplied through the years, as with all of us, and she's just not covering them. Good for her for embracing her natural aging. I've never been sure how I felt about her personally - I liked her reserve when she first started showing up, and the way she measured her words and was always careful to not phrase things aggressively, but I also wondered if that was masking a deeper not-so-nice side. Jury's still out. Does Naomie still have that online boutique whose name I could never spell?

Craig would drive me nuts if I had to deal with him on the regular. But even at his worst, what I've always liked about him was that he clearly has compassion. At the season 5 reunion when they were all calling Ashley out on her behavior and staying with Thomas, he did it pointedly but in such a way that wasn't belittling and that showed it came from a place of concern for her well-being. In season 6, when they were all at the ski resort and Katherine was supposedly upset that Whitney denied having relations with her, Craig's point in confronting Whitney on it was "What does it cost you just to go talk to her and make sure she's okay?" Even when he orders at restaurants, it's always "May I please have" and "Thank you very much." When they're all vacationing together, he cooks for everyone. Little things, maybe, but they all show that he was brought up right and taught to have manners and be nice to people. Granted, that doesn't excuse his treatment of Naomie, but we all have our moments, and maybe that was the Adderall.

Is it bad that I still want Ashley and Landon to come back and be roommates or something on the same season?

I honestly didn't recognize Naomi. Lip injections and so skinny she looks like she'll snap in half, to the point where her head seems disproportionately-sized. It's a shame, because I always thought she was so attractive. I was never a Leva fan - she really left a bad taste in my mouth last season - so I'm not thrilled that she's back. Why is Madison still around? I guess I was one of the few that had hopes for Katherine - she was so level-headed and grounded during the Ashley season, and then came the slide. I still want better for her, because she is so young. I hope she turns it around. And I'm ashamed to admit that I always thought her boyfriend's name was pronounced "shleb."

I just have to say one more time how much I really, truly, wholeheartedly enjoyed this season, and how much I got out of it. Even the whole Julie thing can be appreciated because her shenanigans only served to play up, by their forced interactions with her. how classy and mature all the rest of them have become as adults.

I read it differently: Pride that she'd succeeded in driving Kelley out of the house, deflection in trying to apologize and keep her around to make it look like she felt bad, not to mention a bonus thought of "well, if she stays, I get to keep coming at her." Didn't Julie say she was a foster parent? Is all of this something that the foster system might request to see footage of to potentially re-evaluate her status?

The only response I can come up with is: WTF??? In reading Kelley's side of the story - that's not just disgusting, or concerning, it's ALARMING. I took it to mean that she was made to feel physically unsafe, and that the others also saw and agreed that she was physically unsafe. And that's just wrong. I can't even comprehend that this was allowed to continue. What on earth happened in that house? What was the "plan"? What was done to specifically create an environment that was literally physically dangerous to Kelley? How did that even happen? And what was the end goal of the whole thing?? Why on earth was Julie so focused on Kelley, and what did she hope to accomplish??? Clearly my inquiring mind wants to know. Otherwise, Melissa's "This person has a memory of me. I want to honor that" immediately became my new mantra. What amazing integrity, self-awareness, and class she has. :-) Melissa is awesome. And my inquiring mind also can't help wondering about Tokyo and his reluctance to say whether or not he had kids. My gut instinct is that it's an extremely painful topic for him, for whatever reason. I feel bad for him. All in all, though, Julie aside, I absolutely loved this season and may even rewatch it. This was a good one.

Of all of them, I'm absolutely loving Melissa's growth, groundedness, and maturity the most!

I hadn't known that David felt so self-conscious about his music after going on David Chappelle. That's a shame and so sad. I hate when people are made to feel embarrassed by something they enjoy (although I do admit that sometimes, like with Julie and her whole schipiel about Spencer and Jamie and sex and the hall pass, a modicum of self-censure IS called for). As for Kelley's discomfort and increasing anxiety over staying, all I can figure is that there's more going on than we've seen, and that something strikes her as a potential liability to her in some form or fashion if she stays. I hope we find out the whole story.