[Meri Brown and her Wet Bar of Tears]

Wasn't that because she was on a diet (for the show) and no one else was? I think even Mariah was at Christine's eating with the rest. One one hand yeah she could probably afford better food than the others for obvious unfair reasons, OTOH it is possible to eat fruit and veg on a budget, in fact it would have been hard to eat more unhealthily than some of the recipes they publicly put up on the internet as regular meals. And It doesn't seem like any of them made a big healthy change until after they met with that trainer. 

[S01.E13: We Are Grounders, Part II]

Charlotte's death was not shocking. No one thought she would last after she murdered Wells. And while Wells death was shocking it was somewhat expected in a "the black guy is always the first to go" type of way.

 

Yeah unless someone is a series regular or a recurring over a number of years they don’t get to even think about it being shocking. Wells was in 3 episodes and Charlotte in 2 it’s just a slightly expanded “redshirt” death. I’m not saying people couldn’t find them effective, but it’s the type of death producers *think* they can big up as unexpected, when it really isn’t.

[S05.E01: Meri Drops a Bomb]

On some level, she knows its not fair that she has discretionary income to spend on going to school and Christine is over there probably barely making it through the week.  She is not contributing income, only spending money.  At least Robyn is TRYING to make some money.  (cough-pipedream-cough).

 

This would be the same Robyn that I an early episode of the show said "shall I just leave my bills on the counter, right?" like the magical bill paying fairy would deal with it. The jewellery is probably costing money at this point (or might. be if TLC is picking up it up as expenses for a storyline). Meri was in college when the show started and going back could eventually lead to a decent job post show, so I think its a fair use of her funds. Far better that than sitting scrapbooking or planning another "essential"  addition to her house.

 

Whilst I think the Brown finances seem perilous non of the "drama" was about them making ends meet if she goes to school. Christine should experience some easing on her day to day budget with a couple of her kids now in college, and again I don't get the feeling that the young kids' future college educations are in any way threatened by this.

 

I haven't exactly been a Meri fan since the first season, and she's been shown as alternatively ridiculous and selfish for ages, but this is (potentially) the first positive thing she's done not jut for herself but the families in a long time. And there's a part of me that's pleased we get to see the her possibly beginning to embrace the possibilities of an only college age daughter after watching years of her moan about her infertility compared to the others.

[Pretty Little Liars in the Media]

Well SG-1 was a mostly episodic show. It had season and series arcs and cliffhangers but most of its episodes are fairly self contained, that might be one of the reasons it lasted so long.

 

I’m not surprised it was renewed for S6 but I’d hoped 6 would be the last and they’d announce that now so we have a count down to the Series Finale and the writers can plan for it, like LOST etc. Can’t argue with the ratings for it, but I wonder if they’ll still be as good after another 2 years of stretching this thing out?

[S05.E01: Meri Drops a Bomb]

If they divided the pot based on number of kids, then they’d be likely to still need “extra” housekeeping or misc money for various things because they have separate houses, and Meri would still be able to spend more money on herself, it’s just going to inherently be the case since she only had one kid and the rest have 5/6, some of which are still young. I didn’t get the impression that her going back to college meant she was stopping one of the others from going, financially speaking. It’s healthier for her to spread her wings a bit now she doesn’t have a kid at home full time, rather than spend her time plotting another wet bar and more financially sensible than pouring the money into the MSWC business.

[S05.E01: Meri Drops a Bomb]

i think this is a controlling move on Meri's part.  She promised to help Robyn with the joory business but with Robyn the most popular this is a way to be sure she fails and falls in Kody's esteem.  Little did Meri realize that already seems to be happening.

 

Maybe, but even if goes back to college she could still help out at their business, especially as its not very busy. Lets face it the business is failing anyway. Although she might use college as a reason she can't if/when she doesn't want to. Wasn't Meri studying part time when the show started?

[S05.E01: Meri Drops a Bomb]

"My Sister Wives Closet" isn't even well marketed to fans on the show or anyone who might be interested in buying polygamous (or even polyamorous) themed jewellery, it's on the 3rd page of my "Sister wives" google. They have no business plan and no publicity apart from endlessly whining about it on the show, why should Meri have to give up constructive college plans to promote ugly jewellery that it seems very few people want. Robyn could do that by herself. It seems like its just an attempt to "direct" the family more than anything. 

[Meri Brown and her Wet Bar of Tears]

I don’t actually mind Meri getting an equal slice of the pie regardless of the number of kids everyone has. Yeah it would be much fairer if it was divided by kids but Meri already feels terrible for having one kid when Janelle and Christine popped out 6 each without a problem. She’d feel and act much worse if she lived in a much smaller house or apartment whilst everyone else got McMansions. For the sake of her remaining sanity and everyone else’s I can see why they do it. There’s no way she wouldn’t see it as “punishment” for her lack of fertility and she already hates the fact that she wasn’t enough for Kody. Plus she’d still need non kid related “housekeeping” money for general use. If they actually were a unified family who lived in the same house it would be a different matter, but they aren’t, they’re 4 separate families. Not that that excuses her from demanding an even more expensive house than everyone else.

 

I am glad she’s going back to school, she needs something to occupy herself and its way more constructive than the jewellery business and might lead to her getting a job and realising there are some benefits of not having Mariah/other kids around all the time any more.

[Iris West]

Well theoretically at least Laurel was connected to key players in ways that could have been interesting, and pursuing justice in the courtroom as opposed to vigilante-ism is obviously a valid path both morally and as a career (whether or not it works is another thing). Obviously (hopefully) Iris won’t have the terrible sister/cheating/death/guilt backstory that Laurel and Laurel/Oliver is weighed down by and we can only hope the writing is better for Iris and Iris/Barry but based on the few seconds of clips in the trailer I’m not necessarily sure about that. Still I'll wait until we see everything in context and give the show at least 3 episodes to find its feet. 

[S01.E03: Spotted by the "Paparazzi"]

so Duchess Kate it is.  (I think media has finally moved on from calling her Kate Middleton; that lasted quite some time after she was married.)

 

I still see a fair few articles calling her Kate Middleton and though she does seem to be being more "Duchess of Cambridge" these days. Haven't seen "Duchess Kate" much, it doesn't roll of the tongue as well as "Lady/Princess Di" though I expect she'll be "Princess Kate" when they finally move up a slot. 

 

 

 

I think if it comes down to what a Butler or majordomo would do, he'd be using the exact correct formal title no matter what.  This is versus what almost anyone else (particularly the tabloids or the public in general) would be doing.

 

Absolutely, but this show is too low rent to give a damn. IIRC there's also protocol where you do say "Your Highness" on first greeting but after that you call them Sir/Ma'am, I remember some royal correspondent talking about it once and I think its been shown in a couple of films about the royals but I don't know when or how that applies or if it would to Kingsley. 

[S01.E03: Spotted by the "Paparazzi"]

so she should've been styled Diana, the Princess of Wales and after the divorce, Diana, Princess of Wales. If you really want to get archaic you could've called her Princess Charles but that's more Continental in style.[/royal nerd])

 

They've been calling her Princess Diana informally for 30 years. I'm not sure why it started (wasn't born then) probably when they wanted to be more formal than simply referring to her as "Diana" but less formal than "The Princess of Wales" or Princess Charles. For anything official it was always The POW or Diana, POW and still is. 

 

They do always refer to Princess Michael of Kent by her husband's name/title, in fact if you said her real name I don't think a lot of British people would know who you meant. 

 

I don't expect the girls to know, because if you can't recognise its not Harry and/or realise that he wouldn't be on a FOX dating show in a million years, then you aren't going to realise he's not POW. The producers and researchers for this show should have known the difference, even by wiki-ing him for 10 minutes. Then again this whole production is so cheap it makes The Bachelor look classy in comparison, so I guess no one cared.

[16th Century Fashion Police: Thou Art Under Arrest!]

Heh. One of the big things that got me when Genevieve pointed it out a couple of times is that Mary often  seemed to be allergic to shoulders and several dresses had long sleeves with shoulders cut out or dresses with detachable sleeves. Like they occasionally decided to go with it and at least have Mary in long sleeves but couldn’t quite bare to cover her up fully.

[Jane The Virgin Anticipation]

Yeah I agree. I think the ads make it look better than I thought when I first heard about it (which was WTF??) but even then I think its a difficult sell. Then again I thought Reign wouldn't last past 13 this season. And this one has an even more cracked out love triangle it seems. 
 
The creator is the same one as Emily Owens, MD which was similarly sweet looking and almost as twee seeming (and had ok writing for the premise) but I don't see it lasting any longer than that one did. 
 
I will check out the first ep though. And on the plus side it is a show with a more diverse cast than is usual for the CW

[S01.E18: No Exit]

I'm confused about why Penelope was still around. I thought she was just queen for a day. Is she just around because Henri wants her?

Basically. She gave him what he wanted sex wise and manipulated him into making her a mistress.

[Small Talk: Chewing The Haggis]

I've only read the first book and I like it fine, I haven't got around to reading the others yet because of mixed reviews. The show definitely looks interesting enough though so I'll probably check it out whether or not I've read book 2 by that time, I guess I'll be a casual viewer.

Since this show is going to get compared to it anyway despite being very different, I will say that before it came out a lot of book fans were wondering how GOT would translate for non book readers since they're so long and sprawling and that hasn't been a problem. I think Outlander has enough of a hook to get people interested with the right promos, it just depends whether the show can keep them afterwards.

[Drunk History: Anachronisms, Inaccuracies and General Historical Butchery]

I've got a to agree that in a show that features versions of all these" characters" "how can you minimise Diane De Poitiers to pretty much unimportance for Henri II? Yes Megan Fellows is very good, Catherine was also an example of an documented complex woman, why do we have to have Kenna's Janet Fleming Lite BS there instead of two powerful (in separate ways) , clever, historical women? Even Catherine demanding Chenonceau was devoid of meaning because Diane had fled the show after 1.08 apparently never to be seen again even when her son is married or was almost crowned Dauphin. 

[S04.E01: Two Swords]

I always feel sorry for Elia in the story of Lyanna/Rhaegar, whether it was an abduction and rape or running off together ( I favour the latter) but never Robert for some reason, which is mostly that I can't stand him either as a person or a King, especially a usurper who ignored most of his duties in favour of hunting, drinking and whoring.  

That said given Dornish culture its not entirely impossible that Elia didn't mind Rhaegar theoretically having another woman, just not how it went down. Thought that doesn't seem to be the way the show will play it. 

[16th Century Fashion Police: Thou Art Under Arrest!]

I love that blog. 

 

I am now in love with Genevieve Valentine. 

Thanks for the link to the fashion tumblr. I really like some of the jewelry, even if it's entirely inaccurate, but what is with all of these ornate headbands? Some of the dresses seem like they could pass to a layman's eye, but Greer's white dress from The Darkness episode just looks like a too-bridal prom dress.

Yeah it kind of reminds me of that Heath Ledger movie "A Knight's Tale" some looked vaguely medieval-ish and some looked completely modern including modern hats, it was strange. On this show its the same thing. Some look vaguely ok and others look like a high school play hasn't even bothered and just bought everyone cheap prom dresses to suggest royalty because tulle is "fancy".  

[S01.E15: The Darkness]

o am I supposed to believe that Henri's new interest in kink is because he has some kind of disease (why else mention his black pee?) or because he has suddenly become a power hungry misogynist (see: his weird speech near the end of the episode)?

Yeah Henri was always a dog but he wasn't a choke the life out of you crazy misogynist. It seemed like he did love Diane and he let Kenna choose the time she lost her virginity. He wasn't exactly respectful but he wasn't murdering girls for fun or talking about putting women in their place (dead) either. So I guess we're meant to think he's got a disease, maybe porphyria? Or else "The Darkness" has got him like Olivia. I suspect he's not long for this world though, and this is the start of it.

 

Note to writers: Pick a gothic trope.  Either "crazy, neglected monstrous creature (ghost?) with a heart of gold locked away in the attic (or walls) through no fault of her own" OR "mysterious vaguely occultic practices (and vampires?) in the haunted forest threatening people."  PICK ONE.  Not both.

Yeah they are throwing very gothic and/or Game of Thrones trope at the wall to see what sticks. 

[S01.E03: Earth Kill]

Or Lost. I guess all survivor type shows reserve the right to have guest stars pop out of the ether for a brief time and then disappear back into the crowd or die. I've no doubt that description is actually less insane than what actually happens on the show. 

[Drunk History: Anachronisms, Inaccuracies and General Historical Butchery]

And they seem to have replaced the real life Catholic/Protestant issues with .........pagans. WTF?

[SG:1 The Great Rewatch Planning Committee]

Hi I'm Featherhat and I seem to be a diehard SG-1. I was seriously comforted to see a forum here minutes after I learned of this places' existence I'll go with whatever recap. I've found a nostalgic place for 1997 Sam in all her awkward glory (that briefing scene is almost the only thing I notice that is different.)It's very cringy but one of the only good things about SGU was that it did sort of complete her personal journey. (Jack and Daniel mostly *devolved* but that's another thread. ) 

[Jessa, Ben and Their Brood: Making a (Diaper) Mountain out of a Mold House]

I really, really, REALLY hate to give them any kind of credit but . . . I'm willing to consider that "you can't do this yeeeeeeet!" is a TLC frankenquote superimposed over a different clip.  Perhaps a talking head quote. 

But I agree  -- there's NO REASON why Jessa or any of the other older girls can't be more physical than side hugs. 

Yeah it is possible. It might even be a reference to holding hands or something equally not actually "humping" that happened on the up coming "Duggar Double Date". That said. I don't think we'll even be seeing the same degree of "handsex" on camera that Smuggar and Anna had after their engagement for this couple whatever her parents meant

[My Five Wives - General Discussion]

A refugee from TWOP here. 

I'm really interested in why Brady and family left the church. There have been rumours of being asked to leave and a big backlash against them from the community, which is why they want to move. I certainly don't believe 6 adults just up and leave their religion all at once but still stick with the lifestyle if it came from internal soul searching. 

And yeah I don't think they have a snowball's chance in hell of getting anywhere near adopting a baby. 

[S04.E24: A is for Answers]

I think this is the only title of a TV show where when I read it I said "liar liar pants on fire!" as a first reaction weeks before the episode even aired. That's pretty much still my reaction.