Avaleigh

I'm just catching up. I didn't realize the ratings were low. Are they comparable to the premiere of last season or not even close? I'm surprised that the ratings for the premiere weren't higher. I figured fans of past seasons would tune in initially out of curiosity and if the ladies weren't clicking that there'd be a drop off in the later episodes. How are the ratings for Crappie Lake? I haven't checked that out yet. I might have to read a few reviews first. I wonder if it would have been helpful to have two or three familiar faces to help with the adjustment to a new cast. Maybe Heather, Tinsley and Kristen.

Ha! I don't know about the plastic surgery (I thought I spotted at least one nose job), but the fillers, botox and lip plumping were in evidence. Ubah is only 39 and while she's indeed gorgeous, her face barely moves. I agree. I like the lighthearted side of the housewives. I think whether or not I find the show engaging depends on the charisma level of a couple of ladies. In a way it really only takes two or maybe three interesting housewives to make the show work. Watching them react to the others can sometimes be enough. I'm hoping the new group will gel for me by the middle of the season.

I feel like it's too early to say whether or not I'm going to continue watching, but based on the first episode, I think I'll at least finish out the season. Some first season shows take a minute to find their groove. I don't know that any RH show necessarily had me at hello after the first episode. When RHONY did its first cast shake up after season 4 I think it took me a few episodes to get into it and then I was all about that show for years until last season. I'll give these ladies a little time before I decide if it's working for me. If I have a complaint, it's that the show isn't that funny yet. This show used to make me laugh so much and I'm not feeling that vibe yet. On the plus side the visuals are good. Jenna's food spread--yummy! Almost 400 pairs of shoes? Good lord, how much do we think that shoe collection is worth? $400,000? Am I totally low balling it? Same. Although so far I'm liking her even more than Carole because Carole always had it in her head that she was above it all, like she was doing indepth research for her anthropology assignment. Maybe you can play that card for the first season, but once she came back year after year it's like honey, you're not above it, you're down with the game just like the rest of the Housewives. It remains to be seen if Jenna is as cool as she seems, but right now I'm loving the vibe. Maybe I didn't love the pillowcases but they weren't a deal breaker. Also, she handled the closet raid very well. I feel like there are other Housewives who wouldn't have been nearly as understanding. I got an annoying vibe from Brynn initially, but she kind of won me over...for now. I have my eye on her though. No real thoughts about the others yet. The model is gorgeous. The preview for the season looked good.

Damn, that felt good. Well done, Carlitos!

I'm in shock that Paddy Considine wasn't nominated. Sometimes I wonder if they actually watch shows because how on earth does this happen? It's also annoying how two shows basically dominated the drama categories for acting. I think Emma took herself out of consideration but what's the excuse for not nominating Olivia Cooke? Very disappointing. I hope this show gets more love in the future

I thought of another one--Joyce! And Brandi's still probably hating on that lol. I remember her saying something that indicated that she could be married to a guy like Joyce's husband if she wanted. Implying that Joyce settled for less because she married a wallet. At least Kyle stood up for Joyce unlike most (all?) Of the other ladies. Back to Kyle and Mauricio--I remember her saying something like "If my husband ever leaves me I am going with him." I'd like to think that they are going to work this out amicably. It's interesting though that they're denying that they're divorcing. Clearly things are bad if they felt like they had to make an announcement about separating at all. I wonder if Kyle will want to find a new house somewhere down the line? It would be kind of fun to watch Farah and Alexia help their mom find a new place.

Are they official or is it just a rumor? Interesting if she moved on before Mauricio did.

Lol, you know all of like two people reached out to her but she's still going to say her phone is blowing up.

Yeah, I remember her saying that she wished she had another one right after Portia. I definitely feel bad especially for Portia. I (mostly) thought they were in it forever, but it isn't like there weren't things that could be interpreted as signs. I wonder if this split will change anything with the dynamic between the Hiltons and the Umanskys. The Hiltons never got over their grudge about the way Mauricio left Hilton and Hyland. Will Kyle see their POV more now that Mauricio is no longer in her corner? Will this hurt his working relationship with Farrah at all? Will Mo be in the upcoming season at all? If so, I wonder if there were any visible signs in the new season that all wasn't well. Also, are they announcing because one or both of them have moved onto other people? Lots of questions with this one. I for one would never have predicted that Dorit and PK would still be together while Mauricio and Kyle are not. Now that I'm thinking about it, is LVP the only person from the early seasons who is still with her husband? Taylor, Camille, Adrienne, Yolanda, Marisa, Erika have all moved onto new partners...am I missing anyone? Oh, Rinna and Harry are still (somehow) together.

The heat got turned up with Moghedien. Nynaeve got the sharp lesson that Egwene was trying to warn her about. Ironically, Moghedien might have ended up giving a boost to the other side by having Birgitte kicked out if the world of dreams. Best of all though? Moghedien shielding Liandrin from being able to use saidar. She's not stilled but she's blocked from ever using it unless she can find someone who is not only talented enough to undo what Moghedien did but willing. Considering that Liandrin treats everyone like shit, that's an almost impossible task. At the same time I'm inclined to think that someone (probably one of the Forsaken) is going to help her out. If it isn't one of the Forsaken, I suspect that Rand will screw this up somehow if he uses balefire to kill Moghedien. Or maybe it won't be Rand and somebody else will use balefire. Either way, I do think Liandrin will be back to make trohble. Nynaeve's chapters are funnier than I was expecting based on previous books. Like when she gets caught using the dream world to try on different gowns. Or the way she wonders why all the guys want to eat at other tents on the nights she's in charge of cooking. Or when she gets a black eye from Cerandin. There's a lot of unexpected humor with her. I'm still not sure about this interlude with the circus. I'm curious who Siuan Sanche wants to be the Amyrlin away from the tower. The only reason I don't see it being Nynaeve is because she's still can't get a handle on channeling. It's all tied into her anger. Otoh maybe Siuan is thinking that she's grown past this. They all got wind of the strength of her power so maybe they think that's enough. She was able to deal with one of the Forsaken so when it comes down to it, Nynaeve is powerful when it counts. Still no update on Morgase. I'm worried about her.

Right? I want him to take a minute and realize that this is still better than those gigs he was doing at the mall. It's cheesy but their suite is nice and they get to hit uo a beautiful beach whenever they want. I see it as a win. Yes, too about Baby Billy Family Feud. It would be hilarious if Goggins could host an episode in character to promote the show. I would watch the hell out of that. My favorite moment in this episode was getting my weekly reminder of how insane and immature Judy is. Lol her outburst about the cousins? "We. Don't. LIKE THEM!!" Edi is so hilarious in this role. Just completely unhinged every week. Love it.

I blame Erika for this. She came in with OTT looks and Dorit started to compete with her. Dorit in her first season wasn't nearly as OTT with her looks. Once Erika and Dorit were on board the rest followed. If you look at the first four seasons of the show, sure they'd dress up for certain occasions but they were a lot more chill overall. I agree with you though that NY had an authenticity about it that made it feel real and fun to watch. (Outside of the last season.)

In addition to wanting to kill him for murdering his family, there's also the fact that David is probably going to get away with it because nobody knew that David was using Cliff's replica. They'll all assume that he killed his family and when they return, David will probably get to walk free while Cliff is the one punished for a crime he didn't commit. Not only that but David will probably get the hero treatment if he returns. Cliff has every incentive to want to kill this guy. He has nothing to lose.

Good point. I guess real life Joan probably just said something about the coffee being average and that got blown up into the coffee being garbage. I wonder if the stuff with the ex boyfriend was equally innocuous?

I agree with you that she isn't as awful as Joan is Awful makes her out to be. That being said, I thought there were other indicators apart from the two things you mention to show she had a few issues. One thing was her being overly critical of the coffee that was brought to her on two different occasions. The first time it was the assistant who brought it to her and she basically made him feel like he was lacking by giving her subpar coffee. Yes, the coffee probably wasn't good but I felt like it indicated that maybe she wasn't easy to please. Later, when she gets coffee while she's with the therapist, she immediately insults it, so to me it gave the impression that she's not always easy to deal with. Regarding firing the employee, I think it was her overall lack of empathy that made her seem pretty awful in that moment. Yes, she has to do this but unless I'm misremembering, she didn't indicate at any point that she wished this hadn't happened or maybe say something about how she spoke up for her to the big bosses but they weren't receptive; she also didn't say anything about being willing to give her a recommendation. I just felt like there were ways she might have tried to soften the blow. With the boyfriend Krish, it wasn't just that she saw another guy behind his back, but she lied to his face when he asked to see her phone. I thought that was mean. She was treating him like he was stupid. That's on top of not being nice about his cooking. All this being said, I still agree that she wasn't that bad and didn't deserve to have her life trashed by Streamberry.

I enjoyed the episode, but you definitely raise some valid points. I agree that it's odd that there weren't any contacts on the ground who were there for support. You'd think that someone would have been in contact to do what they could to keep David from completely spiraling out of control. Regarding making another Replica, what would have worked for me would be a quick line where Cliff explains that it'll take a year to make another Replica. They have the technology to do it, it's just going to take awhile. One thing I did wonder about was why the families weren't provided security to begin with considering how the public knew about the Replica situation. These Replicas would have been incredibly valuable, but they just leave them around unprotected for anyone to potentially destroy. Even after the danger is demonstrated, Cliff's family isn't given any security? That didn't make any sense. I expected both of these developments to happen too, but I'm kind of glad that they didn't do the obvious thing here. I particularly thought that Cliff might pretend to be David to see whether or not she lied. Regarding Cliff saying those harsh things (some of which were untrue), I kept thinking, 'Dude, what are you doing? You still have to be in a confined space with this guy for the next three plus years. This isn't helping.' Did he honestly think Cliff wouldn't respond in some way? He's incredibly depressed and potentially suicidal. My initial thought was that David would destroy the key they used to activate the Replica so that they'd both be miserable for the rest of the mission.

I have so many thoughts on this episode. The tension in this was really well done. I felt uneasy from the jump even before the Mansonish cult showed up. The way those theatergoers wanted to touch David was a little creepy. I was really surprised how I went from feeling sympathy for David to being annoyed at what an entitled prick he was being. Not backing off when Lana told him she wasn't interested, and continuing to insist that she wanted his attentions and that Cliff would never know--he really went from sympathetic character to raging douchebag in about five minutes of screentime. Then he hits the son for messing up his painting? This isn't even getting into the murders. I'm shocked by the turn of events. When the episode started, I was convinced that Lana was going to fall for him because everything seemed so chilly between her and Cliff. There was such a contrast in the two marriages at the beginning, I really didn't expect her to stay loyal to Cliff. I initially thought David would bond with her and the son, and Cliff would notice that his family was looking forward to David's visits more than his. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress sounds like an interesting book. I was kind of hoping that we would get some commentary from Lana on whether she liked it or not. I also thought Cliff would notice that she was reading something that David would like. She goes from reading Valley of the Dolls to a sci-fi story, it seems like something her husband might have picked up on. Rory Culkin is definitely good at playing a psycho. That scene was horrifying. I actually had to look away. Regarding the ending, not only did David kill Cliff's wife and son, but Cliff is probably going to be blamed for the murders if they ever get back to Earth. It's so unfair that David will actually have the chance to start over. He'll never be the same of course, but at least he has a chance to marry and have kids again if he chooses. Not only does he rob Cliff of his family, but he's pretty much guaranteed that Cliff won't be able salvage any sort of life if they ever return. It's beyond cruel considering how Cliff and Lana were so concerned about helping David during his period of mourning. All in all though this was my favorite episode so far. I still have two more to go.

I actually liked the twist, but I'm not sure how I felt about the overall journey. Also, was the ending meant to be ambiguous? Isn't it possible that Mazey could have killed the photographer? I can see it going either way.

Just to be clear, I was just saying that they're all top tier from my point of view. I get that in terms of the industry standard the actresses are on different tiers. Regarding the episode, I liked seeing all of the Black Mirror inspired titles in the streaming service. I noticed the main character from Bandersnatch on one and Miley Cyrus in another. I love those little details. Another thing I liked was the episode touching on was why they went with Joan Is Awful instead of Joan Is Awesome. The rationale to go negative makes sense even though it is depressingly cynical.

Great opening episode. I liked the twist and thought Murphy and Hayek were great. Nice unexpected cameo from Michael Cera. I thought it was an interesting bit of commentary for the show regarding the Hollywood pecking order that implies Annie Murphy is basically C list in comparison to A list Cate Blanchett while Selma is somewhere in the middle as a B lister. As far as I'm concerned all three are top tier and at least as far as television goes I would definitely consider Murphy to be A list.

Still on book 5. The Forsaken are definitely intensifying the various plotlines. I really enjoyed the chapter where we get the POV of Morgase. I wasn't expecting to ever get her thoughts and I'm glad we did. Early on I think I'd wondered if she was being manipulated by a Littlefinger type, but it's actually much worse. Lord Gaebril/Rahvin using Compulsion is truly horrifying. The part where she's with Lini and she's finally remembering everything that's happened was really well done. The entire time I worried that somehow Gaebril's people would force her back into her rooms and Lini would end up getting killed. Very curious if those she exiled will believe her when she explains that she literally had no control over anything she's done or was done to her or others since Gaebril's arrival. (How much time has gone by, I wonder?) Also, will Gaebril still be able to control her now that she's escaped? Will he be able to use a gateway to bring her back? I'm worried that she isn't free of him yet. Speaking of Compulsion--I liked the part where Liandrin got schooled in it by Moghedien in such humiliating fashion. Moghedien is horrible, but I kind of love that she let Liandrin know what a worm she is and how basic her powers are in comparison to Moghedien. She also has Liandrin's number. She tells her that she can tell that Liandrin is the type of person who needs to be told twice before she learns her lesson. I hope they get a good actress for this role because it's definitely a fun OTT role that an actor can have fun with. Regarding the strength of Moghedien, considering the fact that Nynaeve showed that she is stronger, I'm guessing that they're setting up that this makes Nynaeve stronger than Liandrin and she'll be the one who ends up taking care of Liandrin once and for all. Rand and Aviendha are platonically sharing a bed, so that's interesting. I wonder what Elayne is going to make of their growing closeness if she ever learns about it. Mat is at the point where he's so badass with the spear that one of the Maidens is hot for him. I wouldn't have predicted this two books ago. I'm curious how they're going to handle the dream world on the show. There's a lot of exposition that goes with it. It's an interesting concept, but I suspect that a lot of the things that make it visually awesome will be too expensive to create.

Same lol. I enjoy both but if forced to choose, Team Hard Cheese all the way.

I'm so looking forward to this. I can't wait for the Annie Murphy episode.

I definitely noticed some similarities. Not only with the forced child labor but with things like Michelle's soft spoken baby voice way of talking. So many of the FLDS women are encouraged to "keep sweet" and they end up sounding just like Michelle. Another thing that reminded me of FLDS was the stuff with the hair. The women have to wear their hair to keep in line with the preferences of the men. They show a video of one of the girls (I think Jill) saying they have to have long hair because JB likes long hair. Or that one woman making sure she had curls in her hair because Gothard likes curls. These people aren't even allowed to wear their hair the way they want. It reminds me of FLDS women being forced to wear their hair in the braids and bouffant combo. The Duggars might not be wearing the prairie dresses, but when you look at those older videos when they're all dressed alike, it wasn't that far off the mark. Their way of dressing also reminded me of the Turpin family.

To me the difference is that priests aren't allowed to get married. Additionally, this guy makes it seem like having a large amount of children is incredibly important, so it's odd to me that his followers give him a pass from not leading by example.