whiporee

I'm going to post this in both forums to see how the answers, if any go. It's 1985, and you've got one ticket. Who do you see, Midge Maisel or Deborah Vance? Same question, but this time you get to have dinner with one of them. Who do you eat with, Midge or Deborah? And lastly, who pulled off being a standup better, Jean Smart or Rachel Brosnahan? (I tried to think of TV shows based on male standups as to not be sexist in the question, but I couldn't think of any. Maybe Seinfeld? but he was playing Jerry Seinfeld. So anyone has anyone to toss in, please feel free)

That was supposed to be right after Midge and Lenny went blue in the blue room, before he actually tried to line up Tony Bennett for her and before his Carnegie Hall set. They were in the afterglow. If you think of that scene as canon, that's why he was so upset with her about the Bennett thing -- he had done a nice thing, he knew her talent and had complimented her, but then she went back and pissed away an opportunity.

I laughed out loud during most of it I guess I'm an easier mark. Not tons of closure, but a good finale, and it was nice to see Midge and Susie back together like an old married couple, albeit living on different coasts.There was fan service I liked -- seeing Lenny's deterioration, and that Midge and Susie tried to help, but then understanding they couldn't. And I liked in the end, the stuff that needed to be said was said -- Abe told Midge, Midge told Rose, Joel was okay accepting the ribbing at his expense, Imogene gave Joel the side eye, Moishe and Shirley still love each other. And in the end, Midge gave herself her big break, just like she always did -- her skill and and talent and nerve put her on the stage, and it put her over the top. There was something interesting, though. I watched the finale of season 2 before watching this tonight. Midge had just taken Shy's offer, and she came to tell Joel she knew she'd end up alone now that she had full-out chosen this life. No Jello molds, no three before 30. And she was fine with it -- did it without hesitation and really never looked back. That last clip of her walking through her giant, empty mansion proved it to be true. In the end, it was just she and Susie, just like the first night at the Gaslight. It was alwasy a love story between those two, and it was nice to see it end that way. Not shattering, maybe not even all that memorable (besides Susie's giant birdcage) but a good, nice, open ending finale, and I'm cool with that.

You may think the narrative you have is the correct one, but it doesn't strain credibility to think that the people who were involved in the area thought/think they were doing the good and right things in bad circumstances. Very few members of the foreign service are going to be twirling their mustaches and laughing at how they fucked over the Afghan people. So while you may think the occupation was horrid and unjustifiable, the people who were making the attempts to rebuild and restore the country did not, and it's not a narrative stretch how they reacted.

I think the phone call is most likely about Lenny, his hospitalization or a meltdown. Or in jail. If it's not a parent, only Lenny could get her running out of the office. Which leads to my big prediction. Lenny had a meltdown, can't do a big show. He asks Midge to fill in, and she nails it, which brings her enough recognition to break into the big time, and probably as Parr wanting her to take that spot after all. In the finale we'll see her eulogize Lenny, and that will be what actually pushes her into the major leagues that we see her occupy in the flash forwards. It will also be what causes her to spiral, which is what leads to her isolation from her kids (to even more extent) and the meltdown she had on stage that we saw in 1968. Susie and Midge are going to be strained because the favor Susie asked for will never be needed or used. So Susie is going to resent Midge making her jump through hoops. And Midge is going to resent Susie because she once again had the major role in her own success. My other prediction is that Jimmy screws up the Parr spot. Susie's not saying he's not ready because of Midge -- she's saying it because this is all too fast for Jimmy. It's not racist as much as it is him not being ready yet.

Maybe she was the hero who saved us all from the Darren 2 years.

Susie stole from Midge. That 30 percent the mob got, that was money she never told Midge about when she negotiated deals. It was stealing, for her own interests. In addition, she used Midge for decades. Midge's talent is what gave Susie the chance to become what she became. Susie may have given Midge the potential of show business, but without Midge, Susie's got nothing but her little room. And Susie screwed Midge plenty -- Midge was clear about not wanting to be hooked up with the mob. Susie's favors came for Sophie and to keep herself alive, get herself an office, increase her own ability to get clients. Susie's mob pals did nothing to help Midge, but Susie's actions tied Midge in in a way that got Joel thrown in jail. And the other thing is that Susie HAD to know. The Mob doesn't just release someone from their arrangement because they like you -- the had to have told her Joel had arranged to free Midge. And Susie kept that secret every big as much as Joel did. I know people like to look at Susie as the underdog on this show, but the person Midge owes is Lenny. Susie asked him to come that night, but he only did so because he liked Midge. Susie screwed her over by taking Sophie as a client -- the person who had tried to destroy Midge, and Susie takes her on -- by booking Midge on the telethon despite Sophie being there, by not getting some sort of kill fee from Shy when they were negotiating, by not finding a way to counteract the negative press that followed Shy dumping Midge, by NOT KNOWING ABOUT THE NO STAFF ON THE SHOW RULE BEFORE GETTIN MIDGE TO TAKE THE JOB, by not even talking to the Tony Bennett people to present an offer, and by stealing from her for decades. It was an abusive relationship, for sure, but it was Susie doing the abuse. Her speech in the synagogue could be made by every husband caught cheating -- I did it all for you, baby.

She took the cover photo for Aurora.

Except that's exactly what happened with Kirk and David. Carol asked him to stay away and he did. They don't draw parallels between JTK and JLP very often. Jean Luc was pretty Kirk-like in this one, though.

I think they want Jack because he's got the last Picard DNA available. Jean Luc is a synth, after all. I don't know why they want the DNA, but I'm guessing that's why they want Jack. Picard's aggressive behavior could be because of his positronic brain reacting badly to the nebula. I think the Changelings are good choices for bad guys in this. Not as good as the things from season 1, but pretty good. I was sort of pulling for it to be Wesley, though. I wonder why Vadic wanted them in that gravity well, though. Crippled the ship and then just left as it fell. Something's happening in there.

It's got nice people, a good heart and solid music.

Was the dancing scene the Sestras? What if the whole second season is an extended dream sequence? (nodding approvals) Everybody has to sign the NDA. When are we getting the X-Men? I can't tell you that. Jen's hopeful face at the idea of he big screen. And whatever, Kevin. I loved it. Laughed out loud for 20 minutes.

I thought it was good. Glad Dev saved the actual day. I DID NOT like Margo's little smile at the end at everyone working together, as if her master plan of treason and espionage had led to something good. None of this happens without her giving away someone else's designs and ideas multiple times. I was also glad Danny stopped when he did. Still got off a lot of shots, but at least he kept the nuclear on in the holster. Nice to see Karen go back to her roots -- she knows what astronaut wives do. I can't remember Deke's wife's name, but it was that same sort of esprit-de-corps that used to be part of the program, back when it all seemed much more dangerous than it does now. I was less glad of the slut shaming Karen has to go through again -- she fucked a young guy at a bar. I don't know why it has to be more than that. Danny came on to her, not the other way around. Was it kind of icky? Sure. Was it life altering, traumatic, defining or abusive? In no way shape or form, unless we're going to start defining every sexual encounter between adults as an apex of existence. More often than not, it's just fucking. Kelly's baby brings up a real interesting point. Is it American or Russian? Who gets to claim it? The Soviets can easily say it's a citizen of the Soviet Union, and belongs there. Obviously, America will feel the same way. All we know about it is that it's Martian. It guess it would have been too telling, but it would have been interesting to see one of those news clip things about babies being born in space. With space tourism having been a thing, you would imagine it would have happened by now. And Kelly and Alexi would not have been the first couple to screw in space -- Gordo and Tracy did -- so I would doubt that this is the first baby conceived in space. So it might have been nice to see how that played out.

But he broke his sobriety -- as far as any of them know -- two years earlier. The show's never great about explaining timelines, but there was a two-year gap between Danny getting named and the missions launching. There's no reason to think Danny's sobriety was any more fragile now than it was then. Both Ed and Dani knew that Danny had a family history of being cuckoo in space after a prolonged time, but they both signed him up for it anyway. It's unfair to just point the finger at Ed for that.

He just disagreed with her assessment of the situation. I'm sure Dani didn't -- couldn't -- walk him through any difficulties Stevens was having during training, because that's classified and Ed doesn't work at NASA anymore. But let's not continue to place Dani on the pedestal of all-knowingness. She is the one that got Stevens going to Mars in the first place. She is the one that made him 17 percent of her crew. She shouldn't expect Ed to reject everything he knows --or thinks he knows -- about Stevens on her say-so. Two years passed between the scene in question and the launch of the Mars missions -- and Helios has a whole bunch of empowered people watching. Saying that Ed ignored Dani's advice out of malice is just to decide the guy sucks and any excuse you can find, you're gonna run with.

Wow. I'm glad they had such an unsubstantial episode to let us catch our breath. Margo is the worst, crying pillow and all. Danny is even worser. Ed went too far, though. Kelly kind of sucked. Everyone kind of sucked. It's nice of Moore to say that politics is politics, and much like the Reps did it to the Dems, the Dem would have done it to the Reps. It's just politics. Ellen might not suck, but she's dumb. Jimmy's fake girlfriend sucks, too. Jimmy is just pathetic. Kind of odd they took the tactic of having Wren Schmidt explain what actually happened in the "Science Of" segment. Looks like Dani will save the day. Again. Yipee. Alieda didn't suck. Too bad about her marriage. And, just for the record, that degree of cliffhanger is a cheap tactic that has been used WAY too much this season. How soon 'til next week?

Dani told Suzy (?) to go out and shoot video or Mars 94 in order to see if there was a way to transfer their fuel to Sojourner. It wasn't part of the rescue, or a part of the mission plan that had been spelled out pre-mission. She decided on her own, but the astronaut in a dangerous position near an unstable ship, in order to try to preserve her chance at reaching Mars. She ended up getting squashed. Was it a reasonable plan? Sure. But it went wrong, and she was the only one made the decision.

He is a friend. He's also someone NASA screwed over for the most important mission in history to date. You can think what you want about entitlement, but he was in consideration for the position, was told he had the position, and then was told the position was being taken away. People compare Dani's and Ed's reaction, but they overlook the difference is that Ed had it taken away for arbitrary reasons by a single person who broke protocol to do so. For 30 years NASA had done things one way, and Margo overruled because she didn't like the outcome. For history's sake, Nixon told Deke to drop Molly and the rest of the women -- including Dani -- fromt her space program. Deke didn't. Payne was every bit as opposed to Ed putting Dani in charge of Apollo-Soyuz, but he didn't overrule him. Dani benefitted from the old rules, and then benefitted from the old rules being overruled. But to her -- and the way the show is portraying her -- every action that benefits her is justified. But the glossing over of Dani's ills gets worse. At least one astronaut is dead because of a command decision she made to film Mars 94. That wasn't part of her mission objectives, and she did it only to enhance her team's chance of making it to Mars -- a noble idea, but a risky one. Now, thanks to her reckless decision to land in less than ideal circumstances (and Ed's decision to not risk his crew) he's her only ride home. Her team is flat-out screwed without Helios's help -- not just because of the busted engine, but because they don't have water at their site and have no real way of seeking it long-range. Ed owes Dani and NASA nothing in regard to this, but he came bearing gifts anyway. He congratulated her. He accepted her gloating dig. And then she yells at him for not breaking an NDA.

I don't know whether it's budget cuts or condensed seasons or whatever, but this is the second week in a row that something really major has been revealed between episodes. Because if it weren't for Helios, and Ed pulling up, they are all, to quote Mark Watney, fucked. I thought it would be Pam that outed Ellen out of principle. Instead it's going to be tabloid destruction. The Soviets continue their suckitude. Margo's inability to keep her mouth shut just fucked up the mission again. And why is Dani getting self-righteous with Ed for his company making a deal? It was a good episode. I liked that Kelly didn't hold Helios's decision against Ed. Ed's reaction to her boyfriend was awesome. All I can assume is Danny is going to kill Ed, or die trying. Is the showing that Don't Ask Don't Tell was inevitable at that moment in time? Since Clinton did the same thing?

Good shows can have bad eps. But I'm a little concerned that somehow they're running out of ideas -- first pirates, now princesses. it doesn't have to be phaser shots all the time, but maybe a bit more story creativity than we're seeing.

Not only is the Cold War still happening, but the US is losing it to a scary extent. According to the map in the premier, the Soviets now have influence/ control over all of South and Central America -- I can't see a world where the US tolerated that. Space is seen as the way the two teams show their superiority, and it's not one the US can afford to lose. The difference between Ed and Dani's reactions was telling but not unsurprising. Dani would not have really expected the assignment, but Ed would have. From a PR standpoint, I'm surprised this wasn't a Presidential decision, especially with a Democratic president supporting a Democratic nominee running against a former astronaut -- the last thing any incumbent would want to do is give Ellen a chance to talk about her good friend Danielle Poole being chosen to lead the mission. Ed had been an American hero for two generations -- he stared down the Soviets in space; he survived months on the moon by himself. And he's put in a solid decade more of experience than Dani has. While I can see the logic of him being too old, I can't see the logic of choosing Dani over him, unless Margo is trying to make a point herself. That factored into Molly's position as well. It's easy to forget, but Margo told Tracey to let Molly die. Meanwhile. Molly went beyond mission parameters to find ice, get Eulie a few more months of life, and was telling Tracy to let her go. Molly understands sacrifice; Margo understands sacrificing others. And she's a traitor, but that's a whole different story. As good a character as she is, Dani is about Dani, and every bit about her legacy as Ed is. Granted, she hurt herself to save Gordo. But subsequently, she took time off, came back and demanded command. She got it. During that command she ignored orders -- and remember her speech. it wasn't about doing this to save the world or make a statement, it was that SHE was tired of being treated this way by NASA. It did end up working, but compare it to Molly's ice capades. Molly went off script to find ice -- to finish the mission for the mission's sake. Dani finished her mission for her own reasons. If they wanted to make it a case of Ed being too old for such a long mission, then that would make sense. But it's also not fair to suggest Margo wasn't making a point, either, or that Ed's drunken argument didn't hold water. Margo is making every bit a political point with Dani's appointment as Ed was accusing her of. Dani was resentful of the implication, but it's also reasonable to remember she and her family were making the same assumptions about Ed when he was named commander. The difference was that she didn't say it to Ed, which is a big difference. But she still assumed it, still insinuated and still clearly felt it. I didn't like how the show turned this into Ed as bitter old white guy justifiably replaced by Dani as gracious and totally deserving black woman. Molly was playing politics, so was Margo. And I hope the backlash of that battle is show on the show instead of being ignored.

The Margo-Molly conflict shows a few things. One of them is that things have been going petty well for NASA and space in general -- pre Polaris anyway -- that Margo feels that someone with conflict management skills isn't necessary. Ed's been in conflicts; Dani seeks cooperation. Just like Margo. If things get rough on or on the way to Mars, Ed will have experience dealign with it. He's been a fighter pilot -- he's had direct confrontation with the Soviets more than once. Dani has mostly acted to get along -- she's someone who seeks cooperation and win-win situations. it's why she broke her arm for Gordo, and why she pushed to make Apollo-Soyuz happen. Margo is the same way. She's more than happy to help out the Soviets. But she's never had a gun pointed out at her, either. But Molly was very right about one thing. Ed wants to WIN. He would NOT let Apollo 10 happen again. And when a race has the level of stakes this one might have, the point is going to be to win, not tie.

I thought the two things that stood out as bad were the lack of crewmembers -- my old nerd days reminded me the Enterprise had something like "dere's over 400 guys up dere" when Kirk was talking to Mel, and how over-the-top stupid the acting/acting choices were of Angel once she revealed herself. Like unpleasant to watch bad. Still something I look forward to every week, though. I think over the 60 or so years of Star Trek, what they've shown is that Vulcans aren't unemotional. They're just repressed. They should have evolved to have wild Vulcan orgies -- have their own version of Bacannalles.

I think making La’an’s abductors Gorn was a mistake. Too much recognition and backstory from TOS. Should have used Husnock. All obliterated around 2366 so they’d have been terrorizing the edges of the galaxy at the time of the show but no backstory to integrate.

I really wish people would stop making Paula Pell into something. She’s a one-trick pony — basically the same character traits as she had on AP Bio. Or Ron Swansons mom.