MamaBird

I agree with the posters who would like to see an alternate reality in which Kyle survives. I too have wondered why nobody ever makes any reference to him. Rebecca and Jack were both looking forward to having all three children; they gave them names. During my own pregnancies I remember that I felt "in communication" with my babies, especially in the later months when they started moving around. Kyle would have been a real person to Rebecca, and probably to Jack too. Maybe the three babies they did have kept them too busy to mourn him, but it's hard to believe that nobody - not Rebecca nor Jack nor either of his surviving womb-mates - ever mentions him.

I remember a situation like that: Big Love, with the lead character Bill Henrickson. At the end of the show he was practically martyred, and we viewers realized that the showrunners meant us to be viewing him as a hero instead of a letch whose "testimony of the pants" guided his life of polygamy. That seemed to be as much of a surprise for them as it was for us.

It's been so long since the first season, I no longer remember exactly how Nacho got involved with the drug gangs. It does seem like all along he has been consistent in trying to protect his father, and resisting any attempts to involve or use him in the drug underworld. He's afraid for his father, frustrated that he can't convince him to save himself - and heartbroken that he has disappointed him; that he's not the son his father wanted and deserved. He's walking a tightrope between Lalo and Gus. And in the midst of all that, he can still treat the obsessive (tweaking?) girl with compassion, giving her the jigsaw puzzle to occupy her.

This reminded me of what happened when Janice Soprano did it! Maybe Kate pulled a Janice: Marc hit her and she shot him, and now the family's gathering around to clean up the mess and get rid of the body.

Here's how the laundromat attendant taught me to fold fitted sheets, back in 1973: Slide your hand up into one of the corners of the sheet. With your other hand follow one of the edges of the sheet until you reach the next corner. Plop that corner over the first one. Do that two more times, and you end up with all four corners over your hand. Then you've got something you can lay down flat and fold neatly. That laundromat attendant was really nice to this clueless youngster. She also helped me out the time I used waaaay too much detergent when washing a rug because I thought it was a "heavy load", and suds cascaded out of the machine and onto the floor. She seemed so old to me at the time, but she was probably younger than I am now.

I learned how to fold a fitted sheet from a laundromat attendant in 1973, when I was a 20-year-old newlywed. Even my mother didn't know, and she was fascinated when I showed her. I thought a Pearson Speech would be what got Nicky out of jail time, but was surprised that Nicky was the one to deliver it. I figured it would be Kevin. I agree with the others who've said it's time we learn more about Katie-Girl's first boyfriend and where that relationship went. We've seen quite enough ominous foreboding! When he snotted that "Practical Magic" was for 12-year-old girls, after hearing that Kate wanted to see it, in my mind Kristin Wiig appeared in a flowing red dress, intoning "RED FLAG".* *SNL fake perfume commercial

That's my problem with Deja as well. A lot of last season was spent on her; let's give her a rest for awhile. We now know almost as much about her new boyfriend as we do about Miguel, who is a significant character in all timelines. He was Jack's friend and co-worker, annoyed the Big Three by being (in their opinion) too helpful after Jack's death, and ended up married to Rebecca! I would rather see more time spent on characters like him (Miggy Stardust!) and Tess and Annie.

I'm so happy that Liz finally met up with the gang from the Lodge! I really think that will be beneficial to her and to them. Re the hollow-Earth theory: Do you supposed the head of Janet's costume figures into that in any way? (Did it survive being on fire and parachuting out of the plane?)

And for Allison too, right? She's the one who pushed Scotty into the road, but I can't remember if Noah knows this or not.

I wasn't very far into the pilot before I started excitedly texting friends to whom I've tried to explain the Amway experience. They nailed it! Truly, they did. The expensive gatherings to which you're expected to go, regardless of what you have to give up in order to afford it. The chanting ("FIRED UP!!!), the adulation, the glassy stares. The garage full of products. The overloaded credit cards, the multiple mortgages, the unpaid bills. The stalking and pouncing on people to try to get them to listen to a wonderful opportunity to walk away from your J - O - B and be your own boss.... Way back in the mists of time, in the late 1970s, I was married to a man who heard The Plan and became a true believer. Fortunately he also had a short attention span, so when we'd been in Amway for a year or so and weren't millionaires yet, I was able to convince him that we should drop out. We lost a little money on the adventure, but not very much, and while I would rather have skipped it, I must say it makes a fun story to tell.

I wondered that too. We never heard her cry, or saw Janine caring for her except in the first scene after the birth. After the way Janine kept talking about her during the pregnancy - "I know it's a girl." "She's going to have a yard to play in, and a place to sleep." - I expected to see her show some affection.

Pope has got a lot to deal with. Besides the death of his mother, and the knowledge that she intended to take him with her, he just received a massive information dump about his father. An uncle! Cousins! Pictures, and reminiscences! "This is your dad right before he went to Vietnam... " Oh, and by the way, he's buried right over there. Will he tell J any of this stuff? And if he does, will J use it to his advantage? Knowing where a body is buried on the preppers' land could be something he could use, if he believes Smurf. I must say that Laney impressed the hell out of me when she put down that toddler, went tearing off after her husband, and tackled him off of Janine! And then she proceeded to deliver the twins. Jed should appreciate what he's got.

That would be WONDERFUL! Back to basics, and each episode a different style of tattooing is featured, as well as things like composition. "Photo-realism", "Old school", "Pin-up", "Black & grey", "New school", and so on. Everybody tattoos every week; none of the "winner of whatever doesn't have to compete in the elimination tattoo" like they did a season or two ago. This is how it used to be when I first started watching the show, and it was great. They would also have a guest judge each week, and it would be a recognized expert at the featured style. The one thing I wouldn't bring back is the "human canvases debate to put one artist up for elimination". That couldn't help but make one or more of the canvases feel bad about their tattoo, and just struck me as cruel. Let the judges do the judging.

"Hey, J! Wanna go dig up your grandpa?" With the title of the episode being "Julia", I thought we might learn why Smurf gave her that name. Colin named Andrew - but Smurf always referred to the baby she was sure would be a girl, as "she" and "her". It was sad to see her so concerned with this little girl's welfare, knowing how badly their relationship would turn out.

Cue Tony Soprano: "What did you do? Play 'Name That Pope'?"

Little Carmine! He was great to have around, with his malapropismic pronouncements. We really needed his comic relief, especially after we lost Christapha. (Chrissie had so many great lines, but I think my favorite was when he said gravely of Jackie Jr., "He's the hair apparent.")

I absolutely love this name for the hospital! I have no great love for Owen, but I do feel that his character has been treated miserably by the writers. When he first started on the show, he was a kick-ass trauma surgeon with some PTSD issues. When I watch old shows from that time, I hardly recognize him. I think he's being very badly served by this whipsawing back and forth between Amelia and Teddy. Going all the way back to his marriage to Cristina, the only constant has been that he wanted a child. Well, now he's got one. This should free him to have a relationship with a woman solely for the relationship, without having to be concerned with whether or not she wants to bear a child. Who that woman is, well, I don't know. Whatever happens, I like Koracik and don't want him to leave the show.

If you do, you can flash it if anyone ever tries to put you in a corner.

With Fiona's departure, I'm done with this show. Actually I checked out early this season, when I couldn't watch even the first episode without fast-forwarding. After that, I continued to DVR it, but would come here and read the discussion first, and then decide whether or not I wanted to watch it. I turned out not watching any of them. I don't like the person Debbie has grown up to be, I don't like Carl's girlfriends, I don't like Lip's girlfriends, and I'm not interested in any of their adventures. I used to love this show, and look forward to each episode, but it's so different now. I did watch this last episode because I wanted to see how they'd handle Fiona's exit. I wish she had at least said to the mom on the plane, "Your daughter can sit in my seat - but you really should have asked me first." Politely but firmly correcting the impression that everyone can just treat her as a doormat, even perfect strangers, would be a sign of growth and an indication that she's really making a new start. One thing I thought I saw on the plane - but apparently I was mistaken, because I haven't seen it commented upon anywhere - happened when the camera backed up the aisle, through the coach section, then through first class. The last face we saw before the screen went to black was a young man sitting in an aisle seat in first class, and he looked like Jimmy/Steve. Were we supposed to notice that guy, and think it was him? Or notice the resemblance, and wonder if Fiona was going to get involved with this guy wherever they land? Or... was it just me, seeing a twist because I expected one?

Kevin was consistently dickish in this episode. However, I laughed out loud at his line when he pulled the plug on the bird documentary: "I don't CARE how it stores its food!"

As has been pointed out on another site, the Mamas and Papas' version of "Dedicated to the One I Love" did not come out until 1967, so it's an anachronism. However, it still made me smile to hear Mama Michelle's solo that begins that song, right when Fauna was about to meet Tamar - because in real life, Tamar Hodel was a close friend and mentor to Michelle. In fact, Tamar might even have introduced her to John Phillips, or at least, brought her to the party where she met him. Maybe that's why they couldn't resist using the song.

I thought the same thing. I remember when my mother was widowed (in her 60s, with me grown up), she said that several people had advised her not to make any big decisions within the first year. Beth's mom telling her to give up dance completely is one of those decisions. As others have pointed out, there are other kinds of dance besides ballet, and if she'd minored in dance in college, she would have been exposed to other possibilities. Her mother's message of "Okay, you're not good enough, time to forget the whole thing" was unnecessarily abrupt.... but I think it was coming from a place of shock and grief.

That was a display of selfishness that really floored me. First of all, he wasn't all that far back in the line. Second, there was a time limit on how long the event would last. Third, this was important to her son! Couldn't she have grabbed a snack from home before leaving, if a delayed lunch was so crucial? I was afraid she'd insist that he go with her, and the event would be over when they got back. At least that didn't happen.

... and THAT is where I spit coffee all over my keyboard!

This reminded me of something I used to do at work, many years ago when I worked on a CRT attached to a mainframe. I would type in "Get up off that fainting couch and walk!" and hit Enter, just to see it come back with INVALID COMMAND. Yeah, I used to get pretty bored at work.