Allie56

I thought Hannahlei was far and away the best. I would also have loved to see Emily in the top five, but I like everyone but Jensen. She's a bit too "on" for me.

OK, the golden buzzer girl. I had such secondhand embarrassment when she started because I thought she was just plain AWFUL. I couldn't believe it when they all thought she was fabulous. I could have overlooked the weird convulsions had she been an amazing singer. I could have dealt with some wrong notes if she'd been a great dancer. It was awful. I'd rather watch Hans, International Celebrity, than whatever that was. And apparently she's won other competitions? Apparently I am missing something huge.

Not sure those stories would have held up when (Book)Jon turned out to be the spitting image of Ned, looking more like him than any of his actual children save Arya. And that was the best case scenario, the worst was him taking after his father -- although I've seen it pointed out that that might be why Ned allowed the Ashara Dayne rumour to flourish. I'd also say that in most scenarios, but especially in one's like Ned's where he's not a skilled liar, the simplest lie is generally going to be the best one. The more variables and outside factors you introduce the harder it is to maintain the lie. And it should be pointed out that his ruse was successful, he accomplished exactly what he intended and not only kept Jon safe and secret, but for the most part gave him a very good life. I think it does make sense for Ned to keep Jon close, especially because he's the last living piece of Ned's sister. I have a nephew, and you bet your butt I would claim him as mine if my sibling were dead and my nephew needed protecting, even if it infuriated my husband. I would imagine Ned loved Jon from the moment he saw him, and he may have wanted far better for him than could have been afforded if he'd been raised by the blacksmith, for example. I also green with Ashleyn that Jon as a bastard was a simple story that accounted for Ned's interest in the baby and their physical resemblance. I think that Ned's honor is also why the ruse worked - if Ned Stark says he's fathered a bastard, pretty much everyone believed him. Ned's name has also opened many doors for Jon, even if he suffered at the hands of Catelyn (and, in comparison, lots of other people suffered far worse at the hands of their actual parents). Even in the finale, Cersei referred to Jon as Ned Stark's son. There's a social benefit in having a connection to the honorable Starks, and Jon was educated, trained in weaponry, well fed, kept warm, loved by at least one parent, adored by several of his siblings, and primed for a leadership role pretty much as soon as he reached the Wall. One thing I haven't seen mentioned was a tiny moment when Sam was talking to Bran and Bran said that Jon "is not my father's son" or something like that, which means that at least in that moment he still saw himself as Ned Stark's son, as Brandon Stark, and not just the three-eyed raven. I was so happy to see a spark of humanity in him! I thought she really was upset, because northern independence was supposed to safeguard the interests of the north. She told him not to go because he'd be expected to bend the knee, and then he's gone for potentially months and bends the knee just like she thought. The Starks had finally taken back their home, reunited, and reestablished themselves as the most powerful northern family. Now they're beholden to a queen none of them know anything about. I could understand her frustration, even if as a viewer I loves me some Jon and Daenerys.

Seriously! not one of them covers their head-- they'll all catch cold! This has bothered me the ENTIRE SERIES. I have frostbitten ears from not wearing a hat during a bitter Midwestern winter, and my ears hurt like hell when it gets below 50 degrees. I can't imagine with the wind and ice and snow of the far north. It drives me to distraction. I was so glad to see the mercenary Bronn back, looking out for #1. After his seemingly selfless behavior in the last battle, I was so happy to hear him call Jaime a "c***," to see him make clear that he's only with the Lannisters as long as he's getting paid, and to hear him definitively state that he has no intention to stay around and get killed by dragons. I thought Kit did a fabulous job portraying the awe of seeing a dragon up close.

I thought of Sam's success mostly being luck, not that he's smarter than the maesters. The Arch-Maester already knew about the greyscale cure - I imagine other maesters also knew - but had forbidden it because it was more likely to spread the infection and kill the patient. Sam tried it anyway and was very lucky. The Arch-Maester said as much. I suppose the "I followed the instructions" could be interpreted as "Sam is the only person smart enough here to follow the damned recipe," but I took it more as him lucking out on his first try without any extensive knowledge to supplement the instructions.

I love the mental image of Qyburn in his dank laboratory whipping up some poisoned bubblegum pink lip gloss for Cersei. Her lip gloss be popping.

I feel slightly annoyed that D&D congratulated themselves in the previous episode for having a group of strong women totally in charge in Dany's war room, and then immediately stripped them of their power. Ellaria and Yara captured and humiliated by Euron, Olenna killed by Jaime, and Dany is now left without an army of allies, lacking the food and gold from Highgarden, and in charge of worthless Casterly Rock. I know we've got to even the playing field because Cersei seemed absolutely screwed, but I am really annoyed at how much they were pleased with themselves about "SISTERS DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES" only for them to get royally screwed, and mostly by men. I may be exaggerating how much they were proud of themselves about it, but still. Annoyed. I don't mind the women getting taken down, and in the case of Ellaria I'm not opposed to it, but it felt so quick and unearned to me. Loved Olenna going out in style, Sansa being actually good at things, and everything about Davos. I enjoyed Dany and Jon's meeting, even if 90% of it depended on Kit's smolder. Dislike Jaime being Cersei's lap dog and Bran's detached behavior. Poor Sansa.

As I posted at the top of the previous page. I'll admit it. I watched the "previously" and I saw the scene with the Hound and Arya, and I still had no idea where the BWB were during the episode or whether or not the Hound had known those people. I have only seen all the episodes of the show once, but I didn't make the connection. I confess.

I liked the opera singing cabbie as a person, but I felt like I was taking crazy pills. He hit wrong notes, his phrasing was off, and, yes, he was passionate, but it was all over the place for me. I thought it was pretty awful. Is it just me? LOVED Johnny Manuel belting out Whitney. I enjoyed the girl sword fighting her dog, but I don't think it's an act I would pay to see. I think the wife half of the competitive married couple vastly outshone her husband.

I thought he said to stop sweating on the steaks. I was very repulsed. There's something about this show that's just a total trainwreck, but I find it comforting. Any minute, somebody's going to swear and eat a grasshopper and Gordon Ramsay will get into a fight with a patron. I also find the question "Would you pay for this meal?" very interesting, because I've eaten some truly mediocre restaurant food and paid for it. I'd love it if more restaurants followed that model!

Agreed, and I actually have thought that quite a lot of people they sent straight to the academy should have gone to choreography, including Dassy. I want way more styles! I want actual jazz (not that girl who said jazz and then did bendy, hair flippy contemp), tap, Broadway, real belly dancing, swing! I skipped out on the kid season and I'm really happy it's back, but these auditions have been really dragging for me. Too much backstory, too much of Mary screaming for people who I don't think warrant screaming, and not enough emphasis on the choreography round.

I think I liked this season overall. It seems like, from the other threads, that most people are sick of Crazy Eyes, but I remain enamored of Uzo. The shot of her crying while tied to the bed got me right in my heart. The Good: I like the idea of the prison riot taking place over a season. It shakes up the daily prison routine and let us see a lot more strange couples interacting. It definitely sticks out as a very different style, but I liked it. Putting Boo and Pennsatucky together has redeemed two characters I couldn't stand before. Their scenes are amazing. I liked seeing the women pull together and do normal things, like start a coffee shop. I loved the opportunity to see more of the prison. I also liked seeing the women freak out over small luxuries that I take for granted, like a latte or being able to eat all the candy I want. Flaca and Maritza's beauty blog. Gloria's complicated and difficult storyline. Poussey's library memorial. Bayley's slow descent from guilt and depression. I felt so bad for the kid, even though he killed one of my favorite characters. Fig! Flashback cameos. The Bad: Way too much meth heads. I don't think they are funny. I think they are horrible people and I hated every moment wasted on them. Way too much of the neo-Nazis and the new Latina girls. If we'd just seen them running the coffee shop together, that would have been enough. I cannot stand the neo-Nazis AT. ALL. They are odious and repulsive and I hated having to hear their white power nonsense. I didn't like Maria's storyline, ringleading guard humiliation with abandon and then somehow ending up releasing them all so Gloria cannot get furlough. Piper. I really related to Piper in the first episodes of the first season, as I'm also a neurotic WASP who would have no idea how to survive prison. Her personality from season to season is so inconsistent. She is kind of the worst now. Too much time wasted on humiliating the guards with no advancement of the story. I started off on Taystee's side, but by the end when she was demanding that Bayley go to prison without understanding how the law has to work...I was done. I'm sure there is lots more I'm forgetting, but these are what stick out to me.

I screamed so primally that my husband said "That's a murder scream. That's a 'call the police on the neighbors' scream." I could not believe he stabbed Alfred. AMAZING! I loved this so much. I love when characters get a little more stylized and comic-booky with their vocalizations. Batman: TAS (which was usually pretty legit) and the Arkham games have pronounced it "Raysh." I had the opposite reaction to the pronunciation! I was so excited they were saying "Raysh." In a show of pure insanity, this was the one thing pushed the bounds of my belief. A bullet straight to the brain! But it makes sense if he's going to be Solomon Grundy. I really do love this crazy trainwreck. So much happened this season! I love being able to sit back and watch the insanity unfold. Selina is becoming Catwoman! Baby Bruce is becoming Batman! Alfred is alive! Lee is gone! And Corey Michael Smith is now officially my favorite Riddler ever.

I think that this worked better for me at the beginning of the show than now. At the beginning, there was a strange juxtaposition of Gina as a crappy, uninvested, self-obsessed secretary surrounded by really good cops (this is one of my favorite things about this show - the comedy and drama aren't generally rooted in the 99 being populated with idiots) and Gina as a highly observant and capable woman. Now, she's miraculously good at everything and comes out on top whenever she's up against another member of the 99. I think Chelsea as Gina is hilarious, but it would be great to see her totally misread a situation or be wrong. At this point, I feel like Gina being really wrong about something would have to be a three episode arc, since she's been practically faultless for so long. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but I've rewatched the whole series recently (hooray for pregnancy fatigue!) and she's pretty spot-on. A great juxtaposition can be so beneficial for a character, and a lot of the 99 characters are like that. Terry is enormous and stunningly handsome, but he's sensitive and sweet and in touch with his feminine side. Jake looks and sometimes acts like an idiot frat boy, but the dorky Boyle is his best friend, he's highly protective of his friends, and he hates racism, sexism, and people doing the wrong thing. Holt is stoic and by-the-book, but he also loves the finer things in life and has a gloriously catty side. Hitchcock and Scully are grotesque cartoons, but they're often sharper than anyone gives them credit for and can get work done if they have to. Rosa is aggressive and private and harsh, but she lets her guard done for those she truly loves and I love it every time the mask slips and her love of romantic comedies or interior design comes out. Boyle is dorky, but he is a highly capable and brave cop with a voracious sexual appetite. I LOVE all of these characters because they win some and lose some. I still like Gina, but she lacks depth.

Lee...is so dumb. I have hardly ever despised a character so much, because her perspective is, to me, so ridiculously shortsighted. She knows Jim. She's been with him. She still sees him working. She still sees principled to semi-principled people working with and protecting him. She won't listen to ANYONE. Jim is also an idiot, but at least he's trying to be productive. Lee: JIM IS EVIL! Harvey: Something bigger is happening... Lee: EVIL JIM IS DOING SECRET MURDER! Lucius: The situation is far more nuanced than... LEE: MARIOOOOOO Jervis Tetch: I played you! Let me detail my plot to make you hate Jim, showing you how you were manipulated to hate Jim! Lee: I DO HATE JIM! Barnes: Being evil and insane and hopped up on virus sure brings clarity. Lee: I, TOO, NEED CLARITY! Jim: Barnes just murdered tons of cops and is working with an evil shadow organization. Are you here to help? Lee: LOL NO Lee: MARIOOOOOOO

I laughed because it was so ridiculous. I miss that ridiculousness from the early episodes. The show hasn't been that funny in forever. I felt uncomfortable because hot shirtless brother shares very unbrotherly chemistry with Mary. They would have totally had crazy we-almost-died-in-a-fire sex if they weren't siblings. I can't get excited about her with anybody. Her characterization has been all over the place (I am obviously still not over how the third season opened as though her relationship with Francis was magical golden happiness when she had been so awful in season 2). They're really going to have to power through the love interests. I would be more invested in this crazy if it didn't feel like a bit of a retread of Henri mixed with some PTSD Olivia. I got a bit excited when the promo for this episode had "necrophilia" in it. I thought, "OH MY GOSH IS THE CW REALLY GOING THERE?" I mean, of course they can't, but for a second I got a taste of HBO's Reign.

Exactly! What about Rory's life is good? Even her relationship with Lorelai is tainted by repeatedly lying about visiting Didi in London. Homeless, hapless, jobless, unprofessional, untrusted by (the admittedly unhinged and unpredictable) Naomi Schropshire, unwanted by Sandee Says, unfaithful to her boyfriend, and, to top it all off, going commando. I actually really liked Naomi, which might be an unpopular opinion, and I thought she'd make an amazing memoir. I would read the crap out of that book. It was just another example of Rory being unsatisfied with the options before her. Naomi Schropshire? Rory's bored and annoyed and happy to be rid of her. Sandee Says? They should be happy she deigned to visit their office. The thirtysomething gang? A bunch of losers she can't hang out with. Chilton? She considered grad school, but that, too, is just not what she envisioned for herself. People have done - and continue to do - much worse jobs to keep a roof over their heads and food on their tables. I really want to love Rory, but as so many recent articles have discussed, she's kind of awful in my opinion. And to add to the bow discussion, ASP says life doesn't have a bow on it, but this show has the Life and Death Brigade and a magical tango club and choreographed strutting down magical avenues and young men with enough money to easily buy up businesses and inns on drunken whims. BUT NO BOWS, PEOPLE! I BEG YOU! NO BOWS! I still don't think I hated the revival as much as a lot of people. I found it mostly watchable, and I would have enjoyed it a lot more if Rory hadn't been such a clustercuss. I love all of the random weirdos of Stars Hollow, and I wish we could have seen more of them. I think I just wish we'd had a lot less aimless stuff that went nowhere. Lorelai and Luke went to Paris's fertility clinic and wasted her time because they hadn't really discussed it. I liked the idea of Lorelai and Emily in therapy, but instead the therapist was ineffectual and it all went down the drain. The musical, of course. It could have been a lot tighter.

I definitely agree that a certain level of bow-tying needed to happen. Also, burn the hats. I also think that it's a bit, I don't know, condescending that she felt the need to say she couldn't tie a bow on the show because life isn't like that. We know that. Even the lives of the Gilmore girls were never totally perfect. I think she just totally overestimated the amount of drama that Rory needed avoid what ASP calls "tying a bow" and what the rest of us call "creating enough conflict to build a storyline." Rory's life isn't a wide open field. It's a complete and utter shit show. Pick a lane! She doesn't have a home, or she feels like a sell out, or she can't find love, or Richard's death causes a bit of an existential spiral, or her career has stalled. Don't choose ALL OF THE ABOVE and add cheating, fat shaming, and gross entitlement to the mix. L/L was very strange for me in the revival. They were lying to each other for no reason. Well, for a show reason in that their lack of communication created ludicrous and unnecessary conflict. They seemed to talk but not hear each other. I didn't find it compelling. I found it frustrating because the plot didn't feel organic. I could practically feeling the writing: "they argue here about X, and this causes the strife necessary to get to Y." A lot of people have complained about the Stars Hollow musical taking up tons of unnecessary time, and I agree, but I felt that way about the Wild storyline as well. It was uncharacteristic of Lorelai to go on any sort of hike, let alone a MASSIVE undertaking like that. Hiking gear is expensive, so she dropped hundreds and hundreds of dollars and traveled across the country only to drop the whole thing immediately, after we've wasted precious time watching her struggle with her pack and bond with other hikers. It's all in service of LG's beautiful monologue about Richard and Luke's anguished declaration of love, but you could get to that point with her leaving Luke mid-argument and coming across a beautiful hill while driving around. I wish that, instead of Lorelai telling her horribly inappropriate sex story at her father's funeral, she just hadn't been able to say anything about him at all. That she couldn't talk about good memories with her father because she couldn't accept that he was gone, and that inability to verbalize happy memories was what drove a wedge between Lorelai and Emily. I hated the bad taste that Lorelai's stories of her father's cruelty left in my mouth. I mean, we all know that Richard was not a perfect father but he and Lorelai shared quite a few precious moments on the show. I didn't really need them to invent horrible childhood memories.

Haha, just realized I spelled Francis's name with the feminine "e." Oh, well. He was very pretty. I wish they would at least make it more exciting fan fiction. Gideon is a snoozefest. Darnley's engaged love is a snoozefest. Elizabeth wringing her hands about Mary is a snoozefest. Bring back the poison and the luxe but hideous dresses (that I want to wear anyway) and the hallway diddling! I have hope that Catherine and Charles will be suitably bizarre and upsetting.

I think I would have liked it better if they'd decided to make Mary really morally gray after Frances's death. Maybe make her a bit of a villain, like Catherine. I'm not sure what the point of Gideon is. We have very little time left, and he's just taking up space that could advance the story. We know Mary doesn't marry him. We KNOW she doesn't, so why waste an entire episode playing around with whether or not she will? It isn't even fun like Tomas of Portugal, whose failed proposal contributed to Mary and Frances's relationship. On a personal level, I felt upset that she seemed to fall in love with Gideon so quickly after Frances's death. I know people grieve in different ways, but I was still really sad to lose the character and the actor. Watching Mary get all up on Gideon so quickly after the love of her life died? It turned me off, and maybe that's unfair. But Frances died in episode 5 and she slept with Gideon seven episodes later. Not because she wanted to marry him or even because she was using him to get a leg up on the English, but because she liked him? It's just too much for me! Moxie Cat suggested Toby Regbo playing the role of Darnley, and that could have been an interesting way to get the audience invested in Mary and Darnley. You could even have him play Bothwell and use his resemblance to Frances as a reason for the Mary/Darnley drama to come.

I think my lack of enjoyment in the show is that it's very different from when I most liked it. It was pure guilty pleasure. I liked all of the crazy fashions and the candlelit balls and the slow(ish) burning romances and the gorgeous interiors and the drama all concentrated in the court. Now I feel more like the show is hurtling toward the end and it's more of a chore than a joy. I think my enjoyment really started waning after Mary was raped and Conde - whose defining character traits were being protestant and sexing married women - became somehow Mary's perfect man. I am still loving Catherine and Claude, because Catherine is the best character this show has ever had.

Charles is freaking me out. He's looking like the lead singer for an emo band. The actress playing Leeza is, for me, very distracting and I wish they had the same girl who played Elizabeth in the pilot. She doesn't look quite right for the world...or something. I was also confused by the Claude storyline. It's a bit late to start bringing in new supernatural elements, right? I am really missing old characters. I like Gideon and James, and I don't mind Elizabeth. I want to bring back Francis, Bash, Kenna, Lola, Nostradamus, and Leith (although I'm not convinced he's dead yet). I even find myself thinking back fondly on Delphine! I miss the interactions of the women a lot.

Apparently a type of woman wants Nick. It's a good thing Paul's girlfriend never met Nick. I don't usually like Reagan, but I did enjoy her failed paraphrase of Jess's heartfelt pep talk. It's pretty clear that Nick/Jess are endgame, since Jess has regularly understood Nick's needs better than Reagan. Winston continues to be the light of my life.

Speaking of things that aren't good enough for Rory, I would change the Sandee Says interview. Rory goes into the Sandee Says interview believing the job is beneath her and Sandee is beneath her. She doesn't try. She doesn't dress professionally. She doesn't prepare. She expects the job to be given to her. She bombs and has a fit, but the job interview doesn't have any lasting consequences because Rory didn't try so it's not a reflection on her actual ability. The overall feeling is that she actually IS too good for this job, so not getting it doesn't matter. She can live off other people, so although she mentions having no money it never really lands. Rory never gets ACTUALLY desperate. She pays lip service to it, but she is surrounded by people ranging from financially comfortable (Lorelai and Luke) to very wealthy (Emily) to couldn't-spend-all-this-money-in-a-lifetime (Chris and Logan). She's so not actually desperate that she can go stay in her grandmother's enormous mansion and write a book without an agent or an advance or a book deal or anything. I get that she's EMOTIONALLY desperate, but she's not practically desperate. I would have Rory go in and really try and still not get the job, perhaps because I am about Rory's age and just finished my PhD a year ago. I, too, am unemployed and miserable. I recently applied and got an interview for a part-time job that was far beneath my education and abilities because I need the money. I prepared. I dressed professionally. I met with the people prior to the interview and got along well. I gave great answers. They talked like I had the job and we discussed the future. The next week, I was called into their office for them to tell me in a crowded hallway that they decided to go in another direction. I was absolutely crushed, but had to act like I was just happy that they found the right person. It was awful. The reason I tell this humiliating story is that, like Rory, I was told I was special. I was my class valedictorian. I went to (gasp! horror!) a public university, but I got a fantastic education and my parents have always acted like I was destined for greatness. But here's the thing - there are thousands of people who were told the same thing. Almost everyone I've ever met was a special snowflake somewhere, who'd been told his/her whole life that something really remarkable was in store for them. Having Rory come to grips with the fact that being Rory Gilmore isn't enough would have opened up an opportunity for her to actually become the force of nature they always talk about her being. Let her have a crappy job that isn't the Stars Hollow Gazette. Let her struggle a bit in a way that's relevant to people her age right now. I was very frustrated with her behavior overall, especially because a lot of my friends are Rory's age with Rory's great education and background, but struggle to find a job or a direction or a purpose. I would jump at the chance to work at Chilton! The show sneered at the aimless 30-something crowd, and it sneered at the idea that Rory might have to take a job that doesn't fulfill her. It seemed hell bent on showing us that Rory was good at everything (we're supposed to believe she was great at the Chilton alum day even though her dialogue was awkward and stilted), but that she should only follow her passion even when she is broke and homeless. I wish they would have incorporated the 30-somethings into Rory's story. This is very rambling, but I guess my overall complaint is that the AYITL felt very tone deaf to the plight of a lot of people Rory's age, and I'm included in that group so it left a bad taste in my mouth.

I love the idea of having some virtual tea. My whole life has been one big attempt to have a fancy tea like you see in movies. I find it adorable that Dash is the same dog. Has anybody ready any good, escapist historical fiction lately?