Avaleigh

Regarding Gothard--what's the deal with this asshole not being married and having a bunch of kids? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that no woman had the misfortune to have to be this jerk's wife, it just strikes me as odd that people are willing to listen to him about marriage and parenting without him ever actually experiencing either. Considering marriage and lots of kids is a huge part of the IBLP brand and lifestyle, it's weird that the king of the organization isn't expected to walk the walk. How does he justify it? Why doesn't he want these "blessings"? I feel like the Duggars are just the tip of the iceberg here. I'm sure that there are horror stories in a lot of these IBLP families. If they do a second season, I'd like to hear more survivor stories. I'm glad that there are people who have been able step away from the cult and come to terms with how harmful it is. I think another take away for me was the kids spending time doing useless stuff like the exercise where they have to look at women's fashion and spot what makes each garment slutty. And of course they only have to do this with women's clothing. These people would rather have their kids do that than have them be properly educated. SMH. I also appreciated the series mentioning how a lot of this homeschooling started as a response to schools being desegregated. So these people would rather their children receive a subpar education than have them attend schools with a diverse mix of people? Wow. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but it's still hard to hear.

This really got to me. As someone who was beaten as a child by my parents with belts, rulers, hairbrushes and even electric cords--seeing a roomful of people laughing about this sort of abuse and actively teaching and encouraging others to abuse their children made me see red. It's so disheartening to know how many people still think this sort of behavior is okay. The blanket training stuff makes me so sad. It's cruel. This woman and her baby voice knowing that she did this to 19 human beings and is apparently encouraging other parents to do the same just has me feeling so sad for the kids who are going to needlessly suffer. My baby is almost two and I would never. I didn't expect this to be so triggering. I've lurked on the Duggar forums and I'm familiar with the basics, but they're mostly outside of my wheelhouse. I'm more familiar with LDS fundamentalism. (Which, as insane as it sounds, contains even more horrific stories than the Gothard group.) For the people who are more versed in all things Duggar--is Jill fully estranged from her parents or are they still in contact? Are they a part of any other cult? I keep seeing it referenced here that Jinger apart of a different cult now. What's the deal with that cult and is she estranged from JB and M? Where does Princess Jessa come up in all of this? Is she on good terms with Jill and Jinger? One takeaway I had from that sad Megyn Kelly interview was the way Jessa looked at Jill when Jill started crying. It was like she thought Jill was going off script and seemed almost annoyed or embarrassed that Jill's real feelings were coming out in that moment. It gave me a vibe and made me side eye her ever since. Last question--are there any updates on Jana? Is she still a slave to JB and M? Did she ever say why she hasn't married? Nothing wrong with her not marrying if she doesn't want to, I just figured she might eventually want to escape from JB and M.

Moiraine just explained the deal with balefire. Rand used it against these hellhounds that were trying to kill him. I don't if I'm remembering all the points, but this is what I recall: 1) It sounds like the most dangerous thing somebody can do with the One Power. 2) Moiraine emphasized that even the Forsaken are reluctant to use it. 3) Using it has some kind of butterfly effect where if you kill somebody or something with it then it's if that thing never existed. 4) The more powerful the balefire, the more likely it's going to jack up the Pattern. Is that pretty much the essence of it? My eyebrows did raise when I read that even the Forsaken are hesitant to use it. I wonder why Asmodean didn't already warn him about this? It seems like Lanfear might have too, if for no other reason than self preservation. Thanks all for clearing up that Moiraine wasn't stilled on the show. I only watched each episode once so it isn't as fresh for me as the books are.

You quoted me but that wasn't my quote it was Hanahope's.

I'm only 14% into book five but I'm really enjoying it. My wild theory now is that Aviendha wants Rand to marry both her and Elayne and since the Aiel ladies are down with having sister wives, I'm thinking it could be a possibility. The way Aviendha asked Egwene if a wetlander woman would be open to having a sister wife...clearly she's thinking about it. The chapter before, Aviendha ended up telling Rand that she hated him. Then she had one of the women whip her for supposedly telling a lie. My guess is the lie was that she hates Rand. The only thing I can't decide is whether or not Elayne would be okay with a polygamist relationship. My guess is no, because she was raised in a totally different way. The only thing that gives me pause is why this was all brought up in the first place. Why show this part of the Aiel culture if it isn't going to come up later? Mat is a broken record. He keeps saying he's going to leave and never does. Moiraine hasn't had much to do lately. I'm why she was stilled on the show. What's going to happen to Siuan Sanche if they seem to have given that plot over to Moiraine? Are they going to still them both? How does Moiraine being stilles help the story progress?

This is another thing, how is state senator Taissa being missing, after her wife was in a very serious car crash where Tai was driving, not a news story at this point?

I don't get this. I kept thinking that there was some part of the plan that I was missing. I mean, I knew they were all incredibly damaged, but that turn around to masked, group participant murder just confirmed that they're all nuts. Even Natalie went along. It's not like they're still in the isolated woods and need to survive. They were trying to kill Shauna because they randomly decided that one of their number needed to die. Wth? I've been of the mind that there is no supernatural element and that "It" has all just been in their heads because they needed an explanation for what went on in the wilderness. Now I'm wondering if this inexplicable thing is the explanation for why they all turned on Shauna like that out if nowhere.

I'm confused--I know that Lottie was sincere when she started chasing Shauna, but were the others suddenly on board once they put on the masks or were they just doing a really good job of faking it? While I was watching I was like Shauna, girl, you are not running fast enough! To me it looked like they were going to kill her if the daughter hadn't stepped in with a gun. I get that Natalie was the best of them and that's why they chose her as a leader, but to me that's too much pressure to put on someone in their situation. Ideally they could have had a kind of triumvirate sort of thing with three leaders as decision makers for the group. It would ease the pressure for any one person and it could help check any one leader's more negative impulses. I'll miss Natalie. She's the only character I was still rooting for. I still enjoy the show but this season wasn't as good as last season for me. Last season blew my mind with how good it was.

I agree with all of this especially your point about the speech being surprisingly respectful. Based on Roman and Shiv aggressively attempting to keep Ewan from speaking, I was expecting an embarrassing speech filled with OTT rage and instead, it ended up being the only great speech in the lineup. Once Ewan started talking about their wartime experience as children and Logan being blamed in childhood for the death of their sister, he somehow managed to do the impossible and made me feel more sympathy for Logan than I would have thought possible. I also liked the dig at Roman, Shiv and Greg when he asked "What kind of lowlife people would prevent a man from speaking at his own brother's funeral?" What kind of people indeed.

Yes! I don't know when it happened but somewhere along the way these two became my favorites after Geri who is still the mvp. I loved when Geri asked them what percentage of them is happy Logan is gone. Lol, those are the comments I'm here for. For me, Ewan's speech was the most powerful moment of the season. His honesty and dignity stood out from the rest of the assembly. (I feel like I can't really call them mourners in this case. Most people seem like they were there to be seen or to get confirmation that the old man is really most sincerely dead.)

That's so cool. Two years ago I actually would have been able to vote for her because that was my district when I lived in NY. I wish her luck. So many skaters end up having great careers after they move on from their skating careers. Sometimes it can be a difficult transition for some to find a new passion after leaving the ice, but there are so many success stories it's really inspiring. I hope that Gracie will get to that place where she finds something else she's passionate about in addition to skating and coaching.

This was truly my favorite moment of the episode. That along with Carl's "alright, alright' with that knowing smirk. I could have watched an entire episide of that crew giving their take on everything that was happening that night. In other news, Roman is the original worst.

I only liked seasons 1 and 2 of Slasher (didn't even finish 4) so I'm curious how you'd rank Ripper in comparison to the other Slasher seasons. I still love AHS even with the occasional shitty season. (Looking at you, Double Feature.)

I finally finished the fourth and am onto the fifth book. I'm very curious how the show is going to show somebody being stilled. It sounds horrifying and I'm not sure how they're going to communicate how agonizing it must feel to be cut off from the One Power. Also, they aren't really doing the ageless thing on the show so I'm guessing Siuan won't look all that different. Maybe her hair could go white? Is Leane on the show btw? I can't remember but I find the change in her character to be kind of fun to read. It's like 'well, I can't do magic anymore so let me see if I can land a rich dude.' I don't know why I'm surprised that someone from the good side got stilled but I am. I thought it would be a fate reserved for somebody like Liandrin although she honestly deserves worse. I like that Logain is still in the story. I figured there had to be more with him since they bothered to include him on the show. I'm curious how long Elaida will be able to hang onto the Amyrlin Seat. I keep wondering if this is going to be a Defense Against the Dark Arts position now that Siuan is out and there will be a different character as Amyrlin for each subsequent book. Elaida doesn't seem like she's going to last long. I won't be surprised if she gets stabbed in the back. Favorite bit so far of the new book is the meeting between a few of the Forsaken. Interesting that they weren't all invited to the meeting. You'd think they'd all be on the same evil page but apparently not. Rahvin seems like he'll be a good villain. Curious who they'll cast to play him if they haven't already.

I agree 100% that it's important to know that Washington was a slave owner, in addition to knowing the role that slave labor had in terms of the history of the US. These are facts that should absolutely be taught in schools. I think the overall point that was being made wrt Washington was that for the kids they were talking about, the only facts they seemed to remember about Washington are that he was the first president and he was a slave owner. I think they were just trying to say that ideally, a student would take away more than that when it comes to a lesson about Washington.

I was and am such a fan of Alissa's skating. I've only seen her skate live on one occasion and it was Skate America. (I believe she won that year.) To me, she's the only skater who was comparable with Sasha Cohen and Michelle Kwan in terms of artistry. There are a lot of skaters that I think are amazing past and present, but to me there were only a handful that I would consider the real deal, full package, everything you could ask for in a skater and Alissa was one of them. A lot of times it seems like the most naturally gifted aren't necessarily the best competitors. I met Kurt once and I thought he was the nicest guy. They seem like they're happy so I'm happy for them.

Husband and I finally saw this on Paramount+. We thought the opening was great. In terms of the franchise's signature opening phone/kill scene, I think VI ranks second right after the original. I'd put 4 third. The others are tied for last. To be fair though I barely remember what happened in 3. I enjoyed the gag of having a cinema studies professor who apparently specializes in the slasher genre doing all of the things the "dumb blonde" does right before she gets killed. She basically did go and investigate a strange noise (in a dark alley no less!) Lol. I loved the first twist of seeing the killer rip off his mask in the opening scene. Then to have that guy go from killer to being the one who is toyed with and hunted was a fun second twist. It was nice to see a the change where the person being stalked was an evil asshole who got the tables turned on him. One question I have, what was the point of the scene in the convenience store? If the killers planned on framing Sam then how does that work if there are multiple witnesses who saw a masked killer attacking Sam and her sister? That store would have had cameras, etc. I don't get that whole sequence. I was onto Quinn from the jump but I couldn't decide if Dermot's character was in on it or not. It was the decision to not show her being stabbed that was a red flag. That and the killer standing over her but not doing anything. Mindy survived because of plot armor because the killer could have easily cut her throat. I'm glad Mindy survived though because they bring a nice amount of humor. Gale's scenes were good. I'm glad she survived. Loved Ortega punching her in the face. I thought the end lost a little steam but all in all I think this might have been the best of the sequels.

Best news I've heard all year.

I think it would be so awesome if they used selections from New Order. Edited to add--I hope the teams really have fun with this theme. So much good music to choose from. No reason there shouldn't be lots of entertaining programs this season. Too bad Chock and Bates already used Bowie's Let's Dance. That would have been perfect for this season.

To each their own. For me, this would pretty much guarantee that I wouldn't watch. Maybe it's because I'm American, but I love the British culture aspects of the books. Also, so many of my favorite actors are British so I guess I don't see the "stuffy" downside to using British actors again for the series. To me it's one of the bonuses.

I would like to hear the rationale from the showrunners about why they feel Cissy did this. It was definitely an exciting, wtf moment for the audience, but otherwise I don't understand that decision from a character development perspective. Literally any other choice for her character would have made more sense.

I've long thought that a series would be a better way to tell the stories. I like the movies but they always felt so rushed and there were times where I felt like they had to sacrifice character development because of the run time. One of the fun things about the movies was learning about which actors were being cast. I remember being excited when I heard that they cast Helena for Bellatrix. Does anyone have an casting ideas or hopes for the series? I kind of like the idea of Ed Speleers as Sirius. I would also, love love, love it if Lindsay Duncan could play McGonagall. Even though he's already played a character in the Potter world, I think Gary Oldman would make an awesome Dumbledore.

I noticed when he mentioned that and I didn't recall Wanda ever expressing an interest in being in the music industry. I wonder if they plan on incorporating real figure characters or if they'll just have fictional characters whose stories are similar to music figures from this time period.

Ah, that explains why those kids on the street didn't recognize him. I thought they just didn't know the higher ups in their organization. One thing about Leom going back to Africa is that in the earlier seasons, he was portrayed as having a very large family of siblings and he was more or less in charge because the mom was kind of a flake. I wonder what became of all of his siblings once he was out of the picture long term. You'd have to think that more than likely one or more of them ended up in the gang life.

The finale was depressing, but very powerful. I was expecting to learn a little more about Louie's fate. Weird that the DEA are still after her but not Franklin. I was so convinced that Franklin would end up dead or in jail. I never predicted this fate worse than death where he ends up a crazed, alcoholic homeless man. He's basically in the same position as his father in the first season of the series. Cissy was very disappointing. Not only does she screw Franklin out of the money, but she doesn't even bother to explain herself. She doesn't give Franklin any final words of advice or tell him that she feels too betrayed to want to maintain any sort of relationship with him. She's just a silent wall. How does she think that's going to make Franklin suddenly see the light and make better choices? It really ticked me off that Cissy acted happy that Leon was going to keep the shelter open. He's doing it with the same blood money she took from Franklin. 37 million dollars in the 1980s is the kind of life changing money that could provide more than one shelter. It's the kind of money that could have created jobs and something positive for their community. By doing that she just put the money back into the hands of the government she hates. Her choice to do that was absolutely baffling on every level. I disagree with Leon's take that Cissy was trying to give Franklin one last chance to get out. She made a split secind decision that was based on anger over the fact that Teddy lied about Franklin's dad being alive in a Puerto Rican prison somewhere. He got her hopes up and dashed them and it made Cissy see red because Teddy did it in such a dismissive way. Teddy was another in a long list of white men who made Cissy feel like she didn't matter as a human being. I would have understood her choice to shoot him a lot more if she'd done it after the exchange was complete. That would have been the bigger FU to Teddy to let Franklin win, but instead she fucked over herself and Franklin for a brief moment of satisfaction. It was very frustrating to watch. Also, Leon is still in the game, right? That's why he had that meeting with his men about finding a new supplier. He also confirmed to Cissy that he's still in it and she disapproved. The reason I bring this up is because I wonder why Leon was given a happy ending considering the community is still being poisoned with drugs? I really liked the tie in of the filming of Boyz in the Hood. Very fitting. I'd be curious to see a spin off series where Leon is the boss. All in all this was a great series. It's too bad it doesn't get more attention or any awards consideration.