Ilovepie

All awesome! He just killed it - he was so great at beating Idol at their own game by rearranging the songs to suit himself. I always tend to root for the people that can do that. He also had the best winning song too IMO....

She was awesome! Way better than her audition with the box. Blaaaaake! I will never forget his version of You Give Love a Bad Name. I've watched since the beginning, but this was the moment I became obsessed with Idol. Now I have to go find this on YouTube. ;-p Add me to the list of David Cook lovers. I saw him in concert a decade ago or so and he seems so nice. My favorite Idol contestant of all time, but I think he broke the show. The first WGWG and the best. I watched his performance of Always Be My Baby when I finished watching this episode. Man, the old seasons of Idol were so great. I miss Simon, Randy and Paula, and even Ryan before he had 12 jobs. I still think Kennedi sounds amazing, but the country platinum ticket holder didn't sound any better than a couple of the other country gals, possibly because she had to sing something outside her genre? And woof, that Kelci girl made me cry too Lauren Alaina. Again. Something about her just gets to me and makes me want to hug her. Watching her sit next to those other polished country girls was hard to watch. You could almost see her wilting looking at them with their gorgeous hair and make up and all the experience, and when she got up there and was shaking so badly I just teared up. This is too much for her, but I can't help rooting for her. I just want her to be ok.

Welp, judging by these comments, I don't think I need to watch this one either. Was there anything of value this episode, or just lather, rinse, repeat of the same garbage? I'm getting to the point of writing off this season as a loss......

I too miss Harry at the clinic. Maybe Ben's party to woo him back to being the town doctor will see Harry returning there next season. Maybe it's time to bring more people into his circle who knows the truth about him. I think the scenes with the sheriff and the deputy or the kids work because their story lines are Harry-adjacent. That's the problem with the mayor, his wife and Darcy - nobody cares about them. If everyone knew about the alien in town it would get them all involved more.

The only time I laughed about it was when Harry was "flirting" with the scientist lady. So awkward and cringey and delightfully horrible. More of that please! I also liked when Harry was dating Darcy for kind of the same reason, so maybe the show should lean into the weird sex life of Harry more and less of Ben and his wife who nobody cares about.

I guess I'm alone here, but I actually enjoyed this season more than Season 1. I liked that Maddie was over the angst of Bill/Noreen for the most part. It felt more like an ensemble with the town. Dana Sue has always been unlikeable to me, so more of the same there IMO. At least this season she was actually called on it by Ronnie, her friends and gently by the pastor. I like Annie and Jackson together rather than her pining for Tyler. The guy playing Ty is probably my favorite on the show. Ty is such a good kid - almost too good, but I did love when CeCe made the relationship analogy of the value of continuing to repair a broken car vs. just letting it go. She is a boss. I liked that Ty made peace with Jackson. I don't mind that Jackson has been somewhat redeemed this season - I think the guilt of what he did last season made him realize what an ass he was. Plus, the weight of the expectations of the baseball team falling on him after Ty was injured might have helped him see things from Ty's perspective. I am kind of digging the Romeo and Juliet vibe of him and Annie. Of course the older kids decide to defy their parents while the younger ones defer. Helen continues to be the shining star of this show. I thought her storyline was the best and very moving until that turd Ryan came back. I hope she sends him packing quickly. It seemed she had already made up her mind by standing by Erik at the funeral. I think I would watch this show just to see what Helen is wearing. So much fab! And definitely the obvious choice for mayor. I admit I was moved when Maddie went to see Noreen after she had the baby. Her tears felt true - sad for what was lost yet knowing a little baby did not deserve to be blamed for the situation. Maybe my favorite scene with Maddie of the whole series - JGS always seems so wooden. And yes, her reaction to Bill was over the top. But man, I would be pissed to know Bill has sired yet another child. It's just embarrassing. I wonder why Dana Sue was given the money from Miss Francis. I hope Helen gets her baby, but not with Ryan. I hope Trotter and Ashley get their kid. I hope the mayor gets recalled and we find out what dirt Peggy has been holding back. I hope Ty and CeCe make up and Ty figures out what else he likes besides baseball. I want to see Jackson and Annie sneaking around behind their parents backs. I want to see Isaac and Noreen as roomies. I don't care about the psycho lady, Kyle or the younger sister who exists mostly as background noise to the point I wonder why she is even there. I don't really care about Maddie and Cal or Dana Sue and Ronnie. But I do hope there is a season 3. This is not high art, but it is easy to watch and relaxing. Plus, I like that Netflix has something that isn't TV-MA for once.

Who looks a lot like Shaina.........

I am here for that! I cannot wait to see him get some comeuppance! Bring it PC!!!!! I watched 20 minutes of the episode two weeks ago, zero from last week or this week. They need to go back to shorter seasons. Nobody cares to watch a recap when half of the regular episodes recap or repeat what already happened.

I am so sick of the mayor's wife. Who decided her character needed to be expanded? She is completely unlikable now and seems like a totally different person than she was last season. And I don't need to know any more about their kinky sex life. I really don't care. The mayor's best scenes were the ones not involving her. Darcy also works better as a side character. The kids continue to be a surprising delight. I love their relationship with Harry. So fun and funny. I love that Sahar is the badass of the show. I sometimes envy Harry's ability to just say exactly what he's thinking without thought to anyone's feelings, especially at that party. I laughed at him opening the crappy gifts and saying just that.

Mark never eating sushi seems more common than not ever having eaten a taco. I know lots of people who don't like sushi (myself included). But I would definitely be surprised and give some side eye if I ever met someone who said that they had never had a taco - not that they didn't like them but that they had never had one. I can't even wrap my head around that, but I live in California. Half the population is Hispanic and delicious Mexican food is everywhere. Tacos are almost a religion here. The local AAA baseball team here even renames themselves the Tacos as a promotion every once in a while. No shade to picky eaters, but a taco is not exotic and can contain many different ingredients - different meats (or no meat), vegetables and sauces. Even the shell can be many things. It can be vegetarian or gluten free. It is just hard to comprehend Mark not eating any version of a taco at any time in his life.

That is a very low bar.......It needs to be a sliding scale - like on a scale of Mother Theresa to Alyssa from MAFS...... ;-p

Same. Came here to see if it got any better. We made it through the K-pop girl performance and half the next backstory before turning it off. Too much backstory. Sadly, I don't think me and the hubs will be taking this journey. I wish it was more bananas like Eurovision. I feel like they scrubbed it clean into a generic American singing show with the slick backstories - just another version of Voice/Idol. It's a pass...... From the standpoint of a song writing contest, I think Song Land was superior. Bummer because I was looking forward to this.

Confession: I liked guy in buffalo plaid flannel shirt (Sir Something) that barely squeaked in 2:1 more than the platinum ticket guy. Oh well....... I hate when two people audition together. You know they always prefer one over the other. I really wonder what would have happened if they had just auditioned separately? I feel like the guy deserved to go through too - they should have had her step aside and let him sing a solo. Boo..... The girl with the pretty long blonde hair and crop top and dad accompaniment - I knew she would get through because of how she looked, but I didn't really like her voice. She sounded pretty generic to me, and there are other blonde pretty girls with way better voices that have already been put through. Still liking Kennedi best in this lane, and also the one from Sunday in the plaid dress. I also would have sent fake lashes packing, sob story or no. Her voice cracked MULTIPLE TIMES. Just no. Loved the vibe of ballet guy - so chill and laid back and he sounded good to me. I hope he does well, but I wonder if he has another gear, as Katy would say. He'll have to bring it to stand out in the next round. Apologies for the lack of names - I can't be bothered to learn them at this stage......

Better than me - Only remembered Helen and Dana Sue. And I'm now through episode 4 and still think of the other as "the boring red head"......

Holy hell, seeing Nadia Turner's daughter auditioning made me feel sooooo old - not many things do that to me, but wow. Daughter sounds commercial to me, but not the strongest singer. Not sure she'll get through hollywood. I think nerd guy with plaid pants and glasses is going to show up to hollywood as a total hottie - he's obviously a good looking guy under the doofiness. It's like the old librarian cliche. Girl singing Avril Lavigne was not done any favors when they played the real version after her signing it. I wanted to plug my ears. I didn't love pregnant girl's voice. The fact she was pregnant was what stood out to me, not the vocals. I liked the first guy that played piano and did the impromptu bayou sing along with the judges, and the super blond girl in the plaid dress.

Exactly!

I believe the term for Mark is basic. WYSIWYG.........but I would say that I would take that over the controlling asshole Olajuwon any day. And being able to navigate social situations (unlike his wife) makes him the winner here in my eyes, taco and sushi or no..... I think it's really a shame with Mark because he wants to be married so badly and was prepared to work for it, but they matched him with this unhinged woman, who may be more worldly and sophisticated, but is mean, crude and has no social graces. If they had maybe picked a more basic woman he could have been one half of a MAFS success. I feel the same about Chris. Two decent guys ready to be married wasted on stupid MAFS drama. I have been out of town all week and haven't watched this episode. I might just FF to the dinner and skip the rest based on all of the comments here - will that work?

Ok I thought this season was way better from a comedy stand point, but plot-wise I thought season 1 was better. I am loving the relationship between Dr. Mallory and General Naird. When Mallory was shoved in between those vending machines and Naird left him there after getting some Sun Chips was hilarious to me. I also liked when they shared their terrible news outside and walked away friends still. The whole conversation about the theme song was hilarious to me. I liked the fife....... I also laughed at the virtual tour of Space X. John Malkovich is killing it for me in this show. The one thing I don't love is Captain Major Ali and Dr. Chan. I did like the battlebots fight though. As a semi-regular viewer of real Battlebots, I wonder if her magnet/drill would be disallowed. If not, it's kind of genius. I liked that Erin's day trading actually worked. In most shows, I feel like she would have lost all of her college money. They zigged when I thought they would zag..... I liked that Tony became a more 3-D character instead of just Jean-Ralphio Part 2. It was satisfying seeing him get slapped when he was freaking out about his cell phone. I liked what a good friend he was to Ali and Chan. I knew the Mad Buff commercial would be awful when the camera man caught Naird going "Blah Blah Blah", but it was still funny. Also, Mad Buff sounds awful. Gut Milk still wins for fake TV drinks! ;-p

What you said in your own post is what is missing here: "He left it up to me and never complained. We both never demanded anything." I don't think the problem is that O wants someone to make meals for him. It's his way of expressing this that is problematic. He is forcing it on Katina and demanding she comply regardless of her feelings about it. He is married to a woman that is not into cooking and doesn't seem to have any desire to do it other than because her new spouse expressed that it is important to him. The issue is that he never asked Katina if she wanted to do it. He's basically said "it's your job as a wife to feed me and you are not meeting my expectations." There was no discussion about splitting household jobs and what he would do vs. what she would do. Just this is your job (whether you want it or not) and you aren't doing it.

I didn't even get that far, and now I am glad. Blech!

I actually liked this episode a lot. I haven't watched Idol for a couple years, but this made me glad I'm trying it again. For now at least..... I liked the good looking guy that sang Strawberry Wine. His voice reminded me of John Legend a little. I also liked the weird low energy guy they said sounded like Owl City. I immediately thought he sounded like the lead singer from Twenty One Pilots. I don't know if that's good or bad..... Miss America is not going to survive. She's too perfect. She picked pageant-y songs. When they asked her to pick a country song, she picked the most schmaltsy one out there. I think they wanted her to show something different and she picked something exactly like her first song. Just no - she already sounds dated. She is not the next Kelly or Carrie.......however.......... I think Kennedi is great. I really hope she can navigate this and do well - pretty young girls with big voices don't usually do great on this show. But I liked the grit in her voice and her musical choices. The fact that she picked a cool song unlike Miss America bodes well. Fingers crossed she doesn't get chewed up and spit out like so many before her..... Ok, I hate the sob stories, but man, Kelci got me. She wasn't trying to tell a sad story - it just is a sad story that she is living. Maybe I'm naive, but coming in to her audition in muck boots doesn't feel like an ironic choice, but just what she has. Like, country poor. Talking about her mom and grandma and about grandma wanting her to sing in church, woof - I couldn't take it. Then she sang that song. When she sang I cried. Thinking about her I still feel sad. Watching her and her story made me thankful for the things I have in my life. I don't know why this one got me so much. I just want to hug her.

I think we have met them - when they are hanging out with the guys only they seem happy and fun. These women are horrible and never should have been chosen in the first place. Neither is ready for a relationship. I admit I stopped watching after Viv's conversation with O and Katina. By the time she was crying I wanted to punch him or my wall or something. There have been some real assholes on this show, but something about the way he speaks to her and about her triggers me. It absolutely disgusts me. I find his attitude about her "role" vile. Fuck you Olajuwon. Get a maid and a chef. Your "husband level" sucks. Just tell me - do I need to finish watching this episode? I saw the ball gags coming up and thought oh hell no........

Exactly! There is ZERO evidence of him being aggressive or threatening in any way, yet there is AMPLE evidence for her icy demeanor and nasty tone.....Jasmina is lucky this season features Lindsey and Alyssa because she is no prize either!

I totally agree with this assessment. I also think Lindsey has shown that when she asks Mark something, she doesn't actually let him answer - she immediately starts talking over him. And when he does answer, she has also invalidated his opinions by calling his feelings "bullshit" or rolling her eyes or saying something rude. Lindsey demanding answers from him and either not letting him talk or belittling his answers has taught Mark to just not bother. I would be over it too. She seems to think because she did a few nice things for him (I put on a hazmat suit!) that entitles her to talk to him however she wants. Tit for tat in a relationship is not a good road to go down. In real relationships, give and take happens and sometimes there is an imbalance and that's ok. Because the next time you might be the one that needs to be the taker. I don't see Mark throwing out "You put on a hazmat suit? Oh yeah? Well, what about when I took your side and smoothed things over with the others after your bad behavior on the plane?" Mature healthy relationships require doing nice things for your spouse without the expectation of reciprocation, but hopefully knowing that it will happen because your spouse also feels the same and treats you accordingly.

If you do, I recommend Kim playing "Corona" from early 2020. She's an absolute hoot. I am happy they won - they really earned it, and their knowledge of the show makes me feel like they really were fans and not just internet famous recruits. I would have been fine with any of the final three though, and that's not usually the case. I wouldn't mind seeing either the FA or Ryan & Dusty on an all-star season. Even though this was the weirdest season ever, I actually enjoyed it more than the last few "normal" seasons. I hope using self-navigation continues to be used more in the next season. It adds a layer of drama that has been missing since they don't book their own airfare any longer. I think that's why I didn't mind the chartered plane - flights as a source of drama has been missing for a long time in this show. I liked the final memory challenge - it's always so intense when it's two teams frantically trying to be the first to get it right, and this one didn't disappoint with the "FAULT"! "FAULT!" FAULT!" being called every time they got it wrong. I also liked the callback to prior seasons with the foley work. I will never not laugh at "MY OX IS BROKEN!"