blackwing

Finally Jordan is gone! For whatever reason, they chose to keep him on the show for so long at the expense of much better chefs like Von and Izayah. I actually thought this show was a real competition during the first season. In the second season, when one contestant from each mentor again made it to the final, it was looking more and more rigged. This season, I am more convinced than ever that the show is rigged. I thought from almost the start that Zack is the anointed winner. He was on Richard’s team. Richard is the only one who hasn’t won yet. He is a guy. Two women won the previous two seasons. I fully agree with you that the comments about Zack’s dish were that some of the things tasted funny. The vanilla didn’t work with the veal. Jordan surprisingly got good comments, the only complaint was that the beurre blanc was broken. But everything tasted great. I would have thought that the judges would assume that the fish was cooked by Zack, since he loves to play up that aspect of being in Hawaii and cooking seafood. But somehow both of them chose the veal. I am convinced that whichever judge is supervising the cooking tells the other two in advance whose dish is whose. They will decide in advance whether they will put the contestants’ dishes on the table in front of them, or whether they will have the orders switched. Or maybe there is some kind of prearranged signal, like one scratch of the head means the dishes are straight on, two scratches means they are reversed. There’s no way both of them would have picked the veal otherwise. Too bad for her she got put on Nyesha’s team. And yes, I truly loathe her voice. It’s whiny and petulant and tremulous and unconfident. I thought it was last episode or the one before, where she got burned by the cast iron pan or something. I remember her saying something about touching 500 degrees and it was going to leave a mark.

Has that happened in the “new era”? I can’t recall when the last time that scenario might have happened.

Last week I had determined that I didn't really like anyone after Hunter's exit, but the least objectionable were Maria, Kenzie, and Charlie. I like Kenzie's positive attitude and mostly good nature. She seems like a person that would be fun to hang out with IRL. I have more respect now for Charlie having won two endurance immunity challenges in a row. He beat uber jock Hunter and strong girl Tiffany. A win for skinny smart people everywhere! If Charlie is going to win, he needs to get out from Maria's thumb. Because at this point, I would assume it's perceived that Maria is driving their boat. Are the 90 minute episodes here to stay? They were done because of the strike but are they permanently 90, even next season? Because 90 minutes of Survivor plus 90 minutes of Amazing Race back to back is just brutal. Thanks to the 90 minutes, we got so much extra time to hear Liz kvetch about the EXACT BURGER. Ugh. I wouldn't mind the extra 30 minutes so much if the extra time was used to show us camp life. And I would like to see interesting camp life, not a stupid song-off. Like day to day things. I'm not really caring to see 30 extra minutes of strategy, it's not that interesting.

I really enjoyed Mystery Island, I like murder mystery games and the concept of one being set on an island was great. I loved the house with the secret door and I liked all the puzzles. I loved Elizabeth Henstridge on AoS. Her character here was good, and I liked that the detective welcomed her help. My only complaint about her was that she was always squinting. I'm not sure if that was a character quirk or not but it always looked like she was either looking into the sun or on the verge of tears. I don't think this movie was based on a book series, so I'm wondering if this is a one-off movie or if there will be more. The ending certainly left it open to have more movies since the island is staying open for the murder mystery game business. I also thought that a future mystery could be set at one of the castles owned by Lady Whatshername in England. Have not read any of the books but I am a sucker for anything medieval, and I saw a preview and liked the idea of a medieval costume party. I had not seen any of these movies before so I was a little lost at the beginning on who all these people were and how they were connected to each other. I really enjoyed it. Since this series is based on a food cozie, I wish there had been at least a little attention given to the food, particularly what she cooked for a medieval feast. Cookies are hardly medieval! I've set my DVR to record the three previous installments airing on Saturday.

Second episode in three where I found myself irritated beyond belief with these writers who try to make me feel sympathy for someone just because they are from a class that is having a rough time. First the live in helper who was supposed to get a pass because she is from Ukraine. Now a widower who was homeless and caring for his deaf daughter. Once again, a judge who threw out crucial evidence based on some level of expectation of privacy. At least with the Ukrainian killer, that had been her room in the victim's apartment. This time, the guy was clearly trespassing, and somehow the judge agreed that he was entitled to expect privacy because "he made it his own"? Ugh. If there is a FIRE MAROUN petition somewhere, I would gladly sign. She always seems to have a bleeding heart for the defendants. No crime is too great to be absolved by Saint Maroun. Some British actors can do American accents so well to the point where you wouldn't even know they weren't American. Others aren't so good. Iain Glen (Jorah on Game of Thrones and Bruce Wayne on Titans) is particularly awful. His American accent sounds like he learned it from watching old gangster movies and then he just talks slow and flat. Hugh Dancy's American accent probably comes from a similar place, from something he watched and now he's decided that's how he thinks he should sound.

"I chose who I chose. I don't want Liz to go." That is so Q. I can picture him saying it in his Q voice while looking at the camera. Then the slight head shake while he says "Liz made a mistake. She voted for me. She showed her cards. Now I'm returning the favour."

I would hope that they would have told her in advance that no accomodations would be made for her. In most seasons, at this point in the game, the reward winner occasionally picks someone because they hadn't gone on any rewards and hadn't eaten. Unfortunately for Liz, the person she hated most won the reward. And she voted for him the night before and was one of the more vocal people who wanted to get him out. I also think that a lot of the failing is on Liz. Is there absolutely nothing she can eat? I'm starting to think she can't eat fish either. Did she discuss a plan with producers as to how she would be able to eat? Did she do any research in advance? Maybe she can eat certain leaves or berries or other things that grow in the forest. Mushrooms? She could have learned how to forage and determine what was safe and what wasn't safe. Boohoo Liz. The people on "Naked and Afraid" don't get any food either and somehow they survive. I've seen episodes when they can't catch any food (which she wouldn't do on Survivor since it's been prohibited for years except for fish). And they're butt naked at that. As I mentioned, I do resent Jeffy for bending the rules to try and get her food. Since when has Jeffy EVER brought popcorn to Tribal Council? Since when has Jeffy ever given any free food to the contestants? Since when has the single bottle of rice been an option in these rice negotiations? I think it's ridiculous that production seems to have broken their own rules in order to get food to Liz. I would definitely complain if I were one of the other contestants about the special treatment. And even after all that with the single bottle of rice and the "I need someone to make fire for me", I don't think we actually saw her eating the damn rice and moaning about it while imagining it was the EXACT BURGER. If we did, I must have tuned her out by then. I actually think they've done an amazing job of finding particularly crazy and unlikeable people this season. Jelinsky, Bhanu, Liz, Q. This is the oddest bunch of characters in some time. I would not be at all surprised if Liz's Applebee's tradition with her daughter is one of the things that casting noted about her. It would have been funny if she had been voted out before this reward. As you say, Applebee's has been a reward in recent seasons. Is it really that popular? I haven't been to one in years. This season we have two people who gushed about going there every week. I think in a recent season there was another woman who said that Applebee's was her favourite restaurant in the world. I do think they were all asked to comment about the food, especially Kenzie's commercial for the EXACT BURGER where she lovingly described the mushrooms and sauce and the moist and the juicy. I'm wondering what the Applebee's execs thought when watching this episode. They got their commercial, but they also got their name tied to an angry woman who seemed a bit unhinged. It's funny because I remember the early days when the contestants went apeshit over a bag of Doritos and a bottle of Mountain Dew.

IIRC, Liz said she has bought and sold 4 companies and currently owns 2. I wonder what kind of companies these are. Do they have any employees? I have to wonder what people are thinking sometimes when they decide to appear on a reality show. In many cases, the contestants don't care. But in her case, assuming she has employees, she is the boss. If my boss went on this show and made a complete fool of himself like Liz did, I'd laugh so hard. I think I would never be able to look at him the same way again. I wonder if she had these thoughts when she decided to go on the show. Perhaps she doesn't care what her employees think of her. Which makes me think about whether contestants try not to embarrass themselves. Hunter seemed very guarded, and I'm assuming it's because he is a teacher and he is aware of how he would be perceived by his students and their parents. Some seasons ago there was a firefighter named... JD?... that everyone said was so boring because he barely talked. Turns out he said he was paranoid that he would say or do something that would embarrass him and the fire department. Ah, I see, thank you for the explanation. I have a better understanding of what she might do now. That does sound like a worthwhile and honourable profession to help troubled parents. I was thinking it was more like someone parents who are lazy will go to and pay so that they can tell them what to do and validate their poor skills.

I agree with you about Maria. I want to like her, because it's rare to have the "older female" playing a good game and doing well. But she just seems so damn smug. I just noticed that her chryon says that she is a "parent coach". What the hell is that? A life coach for parents? Teaches and tells parents what to do and provides advice on how to parent? Seriously? People pay her money to do this? Most parents get advice for free from their own parents or from their friends. It does fall in line with her demeanor though. She seems used to having people listen to her and do what they are told.

I would rather take Liz to the end than Q. Q at least is somewhat competent in challenges, and he did make a move to save himself. When Liz was crowing about how Q blew up her game, I really wish someone had asked her "what game? You're a legend in your own mind, you've done jackshit other than brag about how much money you have and how many days you haven't eaten". If she does make it to the end, I want someone to ask her why she destroyed her game over the EXACT BURGER. She will say she was hungry and fatigued and not thinking straight. I would ask her if that kind of behavior is something that should be rewarded. An absolutely hilarious final 3 would be Q, Venus and Liz.

The most hilarious part of Liz crying about having to listen to others talk about not even eating the EXACT BURGER is that she ended her tirade in the confessional with "read the freakin room". As far as I could tell, Liz is the one that needs to read the room. The other three who didn't go on the reward, Charlie Ben and Venus, seemed interested in talking about it and being social. Meanwhile, Liz sits there with her angry face. The only person that need to leave the room was Liz. If she somehow make it to the end, I really hope the jury holds this against her. I don't buy her apology one bit, she's not sorry at all, and to this day as she is watching at home I bet she's still upset about that EXACT BURGER. I agree with you completely about Q. I loved Q at first, then grew to dislike his arrogance and his bossiness. But now that he's stuck around and causes Liz and Venus to go apopleptic, I hope he stays as long as he can and I hope he helps to vote them out. Venus' comments while sitting on the bench were completely uncalled for. I do wonder how loudly she was talking, whether we could hear it because of a mike or whether she was audible to the people still in the game. I agree that she is the type of person who is used to getting what she wants because of the way she looks. I wish Jeffy had paused the game and lectured Venus about sportsmanship.

I guess I didn't understand the reward, the way Jeffy lovingly describe each delectable item on the Applebee's menu (*snort*), I thought they were going to get to place an order from the menu, just like at Applebee's at home. I was waiting for more product placement. I expected to see a waiter saying "Welcome to Fiji Survivor Applebee's, may I take your order?" Then a scene of the contestants debating what to order and discussing the pros and cons of each dish (having been told to do this in advance). Instead... here is one of everything! I mean, what a waste. I know they haven't eaten much but how many people would have been able to eat the spinach and artichoke dip appetizer and then three entrees? I find it hilarious that none of them ate the EXACT BURGER and all of them left them there untouched. I was waiting for Kenzie to say she is taking it back for Liz. I bet she or Maria asked and were told they can't. This is mean, but it's Millionaire Liz who I now despise even more than I did previously, so I don't care how mean and catty it sounds, but I thought it was absolutely hilarious how Tiff and others were talking about how they were so stuffed they couldn't even eat the EXACT BURGER. I was cackling. And she was so pissed to hear about it hahahaha.

It is of course their choice to give up their spot. But it's not their choice to select the replacement. It's his choice because he won the reward. As part of the reward, he got to pick three people to enjoy the reward with him. If one of the people he picked doesn't want to go, then he gets to pick someone else. Why should someone that he chose be able to decline the reward and give it to someone else that he didn't choose? The winner of the reward always gets to make the choices, and that is part of gameplay and strategy. They can choose someone because they like them and are allied with them, they can choose someone because they want some time to talk strategy with them, they can choose someone to try and kiss up to them. But never has the reward winner gotten someone forced upon them. Which is what Kenzie and Maria were trying to do.

I have zero sympathy for Liz. I know it's happened before, but I don't think I've seen someone cry this much about not getting chosen for the reward. I don't recall anyone screaming in anger about not getting picked. I don't recall anyone trying to guilt trip someone this much into picking them. I've seen begging, but not guilt tripping. And I definitely don't recall someone getting this much airtime about it. We had to hear about it SO MANY TIMES. I can't believe the sense ot entitlement she had. Just because she can't eat anything (it was her choice to go on the show knowing she wouldn't be able to eat much), just because she has a special dinner there every week with her daughter, just because it's the "EXACT BURGER" that she orders... OH WELL. If she wanted to win the reward, then she should have tried harder to win it. As it was, she was dead last in getting to the beanbag. For a minute with the swell in the music I really thought she was going to win with her first toss that went on and off. On top of that, I'm so glad that Q reminded her that she voted for him. She hated him the night before to the point where she stubbornly refused to change her vote to anyone but Q. Then the next day she's begging this person that she hates so much to take her? Mmmhmmm. I'd also like to send out a big SCREW YOU to Jeffy for bending the rules to give Liz her own personal bottle of rice. What?! I don't think we have seen that before. We have certainly seen contestants step out of challenges for food before (Jenna and Heidi stripping for peanut butter, and Tyson and Gervase eating chicken wings and gleefully flaunting them and throwing the bones over their shoulders comes to mind). But last week it was all or nothing. 4 people sit out or no rice. This week was the same. 4 people sit out or no rice. Oh but Liz had a nervous breakdown so let's give her her own rice. Don't understand that at all... the whole point was that it needed to be a group decision, and yet, they bend the rules to give Liz her own rice. Why didn't Q or whoever else was willing to step out last week get their own bottles of rice last week? Is there a psychiatrist at the camp? People have medical issues, Jeffy calls out the medical team. I think Liz should have been forced to undergo a psych eval back at camp. She seemed like she had a mental breakdown. I think that's the only reason why they gave her her own bottle of rice at the IC. I don't agree. There's absolutely no way she would be allowed to leave out her allergies. If she purposely omitted her allergies and then there was ever a situation where something happened to her because she was provided with food and had a health issue with it, there could be legal liability on production. Just the same as with any food allergy or other medical condition. I think she told them about it, they told her about the food situation. She may have expected them to make accomodations. It is evident that no accomodations were made, and I'm sure they told her that. Having done that, she still wanted to go on the show. Her not eating is a situation of her own making. Also, I cannot remember, but can she eat fish? If she can eat fish, why isn't she shown fishing every day? Or why can't she ask someone to fish for her? She also could have tried harder to convince others to step out to get rice last time. And yet we saw even this time, she refused to step out. She should have been the first one to step out and try to convince others to do so. "I'm gonna need someone to make a fire for me." How about, "can someone please help me make a fire or show me how to do it". So much entitlement. Q won the reward. He gets to choose people to take with him. If the person he chose declines the reward, then he should get to pick the replacement. Maria and Kenzie had no right to pass on their spot to Liz. Q didn't want Liz with him at the reward, and that's his right.

I thought Beets was better than Gumball. Their harmonies were fantastic. Gumball is good but Beets were next level. Just like how I thought Wilson Phillips and their incredible harmonies as the Lambs should have won over Amber Riley. I wonder if the panel is upset that they used the stupid Bell on Poodle Moth. Beets were way better than Poodle Moth. I find it odd too. Why present Group C, and then move into the final rounds for Group C right away? Wouldn't it have made more sense to go back to start with Group A? This only confirms for me that the entire show is rigged. The decision to use that Bell isn't spontaneous, it's decreed by the producers exactly who advances, who gets eliminated, and who gets saved by the bell.

Yes, I thought it was going to be revealed that LL Cool J was Sage, and that New Jesse was Parsley but hated the name so asked people to just call him Jesse. Writers missed an opportunity there.

As far as I am concerned, she deserves it. She's been ignored for years. Nobody does drunk better than MTS. The Three Faces of Ashley storyline... initially I thought that this was also a push to get Eileen Davidson another Emmy (gotta keep up with Jackie Wood, ya know). But now I'm starting to wonder if the writers are just trolling her. Or is this storyline supposed to actually be taken seriously? It's hard for me to keep a straight face during the Scarlett O'Ashley bits. Not to worry. She just came back from the dead, AGAIN, and seems to be staying put in Bell A.

Thanks, I was wondering the same, who was this person, they never even mentioned her before and we were supposed to know who she was? If this person was so inconsequential why did they even bother having a dead body? I guess this is to explain how 70 year old Jordan was able to abduct and carry out a young woman and a child? She looks like Sheila again. The Sheila as Phyllis debacle was a stunt to get Michelle Stafford and Emmy, and I'm glad it failed. I've been wondering the same about his delivery for years. However, I believe he's lived in the U.S. since he was 18, so he's been here for over 60 years. Does he really still have to translate everything in his head from German to English? So the copy of the script he gets is in German? Someone on the staff has to translate the script for him from English to German only for him to have to translate it to English in his head?

If Hawaii hadn't been cancelled, I would have wondered if this would eventually have been a backdoor NCIS Elite pilot. The Elite agents were arrogant, but would have been interesting seeing their dynamic. I kind of liked "New Jesse", he was cocky but he did seem to know when he was beat, like when Ernie explained what he was doing. Next week's episode will be bittersweet. I'm assuming it will end on a cliffhanger since the show had no idea this would be the last season. That will suck.

It will be interesting to see what kind of numbers Sydney gets during a "regular" TV season when there's a lot of other shows to watch. I think it will do worse than Hawaii's numbers this year. That show is not great, the cast is not as likeable. The Hawaii cast truly felt like a family and they worked great together. I could understand if Hawaii was doing poorly, but it was getting good numbers and doing better than many of the shows in the CBS lineup. Why cancel this one and not one of the weaker performers? I greatly dislike Michael Weatherly so I won't be watching any show with him in it. He's the reason why I never wanted to watch the original, and by the time he was gone, I didn't feel like getting into it. The new Gibbs Origins show, I may or may not watch. I was going to, but now think I might not just out of being pissed at the Hawaii cancellation. Can Vanessa Lachey and Noah Mills be moved to Sydney? I would have thought unlikely, but CBS made room for LL Cool J.

Olivia Swann and the other guy play Americans, and on that show, while she is the head of the NCIS branch, she really is depicted as a co-lead of the show with the blond white Australian guy. And on the show, he has been farmed out to her unit, but she really still has to listen to him as she is on Australian soil and he is with an Australian agency. Whereas on NCIS: Hawaii, this was undoubtedly a show with Vanessa Lachey as the lead, and her character was undoubtedly in charge of the entire squad. I thought it was exciting that considering this was a show set in Hawaii, the only state in the country with a majority Asian population, it was really nice to see that they picked an Asian actress to lead this show. It meant a lot especially after the debacle of Hawaii Five-0 effectively firing its two Asian actors after refusing to pay them the same salary as the two white guys, when the show tried to bill itself as having four lead actors with 50% of them Asian. After the backlash, that show then promoted two sideline Asian characters to lead cast and hired another one and seemed to think that would silence the criticism. Now CBS has done Asian actors wrong again. If they CBS can cancel and uncancel SWAT twice, maybe there is a slim hope they will do the same for NCIS: Hawaii. Or move it to Paramount Plus.

Oo...salacious! Why do you dislike her so much? I'm not even British and I think she's a worldwide treasure.

I just finished the latest Jane Wunderley as well. I didn't like the Scottish island setting as much as I did the settings of the previous books, but overall it was still well done. Just finished the third Gethsemane book. Since there's only five, I've been pacing myself. I thought I read somewhere some pages and pages back that the author is working on a new one. Or am I making that up? I'm curious as to where the next Benjamin Stevenson book will take place. On a cruise ship? The only Door County mystery I read was the first book in the series by Patricia Skalka. I've been to Door county a handful of times and I remember thinking that her book could have been set anywhere, I thought she didn't use the location well at all. She seemed to avoid actual recognisable place names like the names of restaurants or shops. I've often wondered if I should give her another chance. But I've not heard of any Door County mystery by Annelise Ryan. Will have to check that one out.

I agree that this episode was good because it focused on ordinary people who actually need help. I also liked the character development for Dee, she's definitely grown as a character in four seasons. The relationship between Robyn and Dee is great. Latifah nailed her performance with that heartfelt talk with Dee at the end. Good performance from the actress who played Raya's mom too. Things I didn't care for: Drake. Don't really care. At all. I'd rather watch Aunt Vi cook. Dante and his dad. Don't care about Dante's dad. Hardass police captain. Does it really matter if Dante wants to help others? Her glaring looks and tough as nails commands are getting old. Fisk's text message. I so don't care about anything Fisk.

Sad news. CJ Sansom died this past Saturday from his bone marrow cancer, aged 71. We knew that he was having major health issues but it's especially sad that he died just days before the premiere of the TV show. I'm hoping he at least got to see advance footage of the show and know that his creation which brought joy to so many in his books also made it to the silver screen. All of the advance press I have read suggests the show is fantastic. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/29/cj-sansom-author-of-the-shardlake-novels-dies-aged-71 I'm sad that we will not get to read "Ratcliff". Here is a synopsis of what was supposed to happen. So much had been written in the books about how Shardlake never found anyone to marry, and it looked like it was going to finally happen in this book. I was also looking forward to how the reign of Mary I would be depicted in a potential Book 9. RIP Mr. Sansom.