iMonrey
-
Posts
15.9k -
Joined
Content Type
Blogs
Gallery
Downloads
Discussion
Posts posted by iMonrey
-
-
I'm very disappointed PBS didn't air this episode. I wonder why. They always air the Downton Christmas episodes. It's considered part of the regular series on that show. What's so different for Vicious?
Does anyone know if they plan to do a second season?
-
You know where this episode really lost me? When Kevin started taking down his father in the diner, and suddenly they went all slo-mo with religious music blaring over the soundtrack. There was nothing about this scene that merited that kind of dramatic license. Hell, a seven episode old series has not yet earned that kind of melodrama yet. We do not know what kind of relationship Kevin had with his father prior to him being institutionalized, we do not know what made Kevin Sr. go crazy, we do not know what the hell he's talking about or what the significance is to the Nat Geo issue, we do not know why this sets Kevin Jr. off. Yet, they felt this scene was so important, so dramatic, it had to go into slo-mo with religious music. WTF?
That kind of encapsulates what's wrong with this show: it's all style and no substance. They've done nothing to earn any kind of over the top, "oh my God, this is happening between these two characters!" kind of visual punch they pulled out for this scene. Even the religious/hymnal music (?) has no context here. It's all flash and pop and "look at me!" There's no "there" there. And that's where they kind of tore my ticket for this show.
If you want to go all Lostian
No, I do not want to go all Lostian and start looking up specific Nat Geo issues to look for clues like some obsessive fan sure he's going to figure out what's going on. Fool me twice, Damon Lindelof, shame on me.
-
2
-
-
I've been as critical of this show as anyone else, but you know what? This was a pretty fun episode. I mean, as long as you had it on DVR like I did and didn't have to sit through the commercials, it was an easy way to spend 42 or so minutes. I'm not even especially interested in military-style search and extract action adventure type stories, but this was interesting and quite well done.
Oh, sure, when you pick at it, it all falls apart, and I didn't say I found it entirely plausible. But it was well executed, like a mini movie. I enjoyed it more than I have any of the other episodes.
The other encouraging thing is that they seem to be moving toward some measure of closure. They have the vaccine, they have neutralized ( if not destroyed) the Russians, I think they crafted the story to have some kind of ending in case there was no second season. And I appreciate that. I'm so sick of shows that just leave you hanging.
Right after Adam Baldwin's character told the joke from the episode title, "Two soldiers walk into a bar...," he and the African American officer had a brief exchange about the joke. Did anyone catch what they said?
Slattery said "I thought I'd lead with a joke," and Jeter said "It was a good joke."
-
2
-
-
Does Jenna Dewan Tatum have some kind of dancing background I'm unaware of? Frankly I'd never heard of her before this show.
What was the point of having Ingrid move out of the house, anyway? Did they even show where she moved to?
-
In contrast, feel free to blow right through Frankie's "reveal" on Wednesday.
Aw, hell they're even promoting it for the upcoming episode. Does every episode have to be The Frankie Show? Jeepers. He's not that bloody interesting.
-
It should come as no surprise to anybody that the Texas legislature is corrupt as hell, but the problem isn't unique to Texas, because that's pretty much how government works everywhere, even on the national level. People are put in charge of "regulating" industries when they have clear and proven ties to the very industries they're supposed to be policing, and vested interests in not regulating those industries. It makes my head spin, and the "hiring a dingo to babysit" analogy is spot-on. Funny as the piece was, the overall message is depressing as hell.
-
2
-
-
Disco Dash! That had to be the highlight of the episode. What the hell did they do to his hair? Eric Winter looked even more like a serial killer than usual. Ironically, Disco Killian didn't look that different. He had some sideburns glued on but the hair was pretty much the same as it is in present day, and covered the mutton chops. The really didn't do much to make Freya look 70's. They could have given her a killer Farrah Fawcett blowout. I also love how "beads in the doorway" embody the 70s.
I'm still confused how all these witches came to our world - are they all from Asgard? We saw the flashback where Joanna, Wendy, Ingrid, Freya and Victor came through the portal. When the hell did all these other witches come through a portal? How many portals are there?
I'm not confident about this show's chances for a third season - it seems like Lifetime is bending over backwards to promote The Lottery, and they're not even showing previews for the next week's episodes anymore. Instead we get previews for the upcoming Lottery episode. Hello, it's just about the start! I don't need a preview for an episode just about to start, I want a preview for next week's Witches of East End, Lifetime!
-
I'm not sure that either Rod Man's or Nikki's style would lend itself to sitcom characters though. Their delivery is great for a stand-up routine, but for a scripted show where they're playing characters? Nikki wouldn't be able to rely on bugging out her eyes and making faces; Rod Man wouldn't be able to rely on repeating everything he says two or three times. Plus, they all pretty much bombed in the skit challenge.
-
I agree that this cast is not stupid
I disagree. I disagree vehemently.
-
8
-
-
I don't really feel bad for Frankie, because he's annoying as hell and I'd be thrilled to see him leave. But at the same time, it's frustrating to see him blamed for what is essentially Derrick's fault. And while it's true that it's brilliant on Derrick's part, it's not so much that he's a great player but that everyone else around him is stupid as hell. Nicole, of all people, knows damn well that he and Cody had an alliance with her and Hayden, which they obviously flipped on. And yet, Nicole still blames . . . Frankie? It was the entire "Detonator" alliance that wanted to vote Zach out, and it was Derrick's decision to keep him or evict him, yet Zach blames . . . Frankie. Unbelievable. Why doesn't Frankie point out that it's Derrick who's making all these decisions? I just can't believe how dumb these people are.
And it's not Victoria we should be calling the wrong name every week, it's Cody because he's even less of presence than she is. At least she's always competing because she's always nominated. What the hell does Cody do? They try to get a diary room sound bite out of him here and there and that's about it.
-
2
-
-
So last week as you recall, Lexi told Ben to follow her, whereby an alien craft (with somewhat questionable shock absorbers) landed, indicating Lexie and Ben were about to take a little trip, no? This week, Ben and Lexie are in a warehouse somewhere (?) and Lexie lets Ben go and he just walks back to Chinatown. WTF? Where did the ship take them, down the block? Are they that lazy? Or, was the ship waiting outside to take Ben back to Chinatown?
And what's with the weird parasite thing that got into Tom's arm? What is the freaking point of having weird little parasitic alien thingies on your space ship? What practical purpose do they serve, aside from infecting invading humans? Or - do the Espheni have a pest control problem?
I'm definitely getting the impression the show keeps throwing weird shit into the story just because they think it looks cool, even if it doesn't make any sense. That's what I got out of Lexi's cocoon as well. What did it even do to her aside from alter her contacts? Oh, maybe she has better control of her "powers" now (!) but was a cocoon really necessary for that?
I heard Tector and Lourdes' names being mentioned at the campfire toast,
Yes and it annoyed me to no end that just as Pope was saluting the memory of Tector they cut away to boring Anne and Tom, like Tector was some minor red shirt who'd only been in a few episodes. I didn't even get to hear Pope say what Tector would have said.
-
5
-
-
I'm reading tweets about how Production may have "adjusted" the comp once Caleb revealed he was going to sit down and not do it. I'm all for this if it's true. Frankie was at a distinct disadvantage, wasn't he?
The entire Duel HoH/Battle of the Block thing itself is one enormous rig. For some reason the producers seemed to have decided that the audience didn't like it when the strongest physical competitors were evicted early in the game because by design this "twist" virtually guarantees the physically weakest players would be nominated and evicted. So if they step in and modify or outright change the competitions to favor specific HGs that doesn't surprise me in the least.
What surprises me is if they think Frankie is so popular with the audience. I haven't gotten that impression at all. He's annoying as hell.
-
1
-
-
Is there really any point in speculating what will happen at this point? It doesn't even much matter who is nominated or who wins BotB, these people change their minds at the drop of a hat. All last week it was either Zach or Frankie going home and guess what? They're both still here. It was {literally} Zach going home 8 to 0 until what, the wee hours of Thursday morning? So all this talk about who is targeting who and who is going up - meaningless. I just can't put any stock into what their "plan" is for this week until next Thursday.
-
Has anyone seen the commercials for the stinky fart markers? Swear to God, not making this up. Some magic marker company has decided to capitalize on kids huffing their magic markers so they've made them smell like different flavors, and explain how they get those flavors into the markers: with fruits that fart out colored gasses which are inexplicably captured and injected into their markers. Please tell me someone else has seen this.
-
1
-
-
TPTBs use this tactic in this way as a crutch because they aren't doing a good enough job. Here, they're using it to do the world building because their execution on the show is sloppy and poor. Why are they telling us that about 100 people vanished? Why couldn't that be worked into the pilot in the scene where the chief, mayor, et al., are talking about the memorial gathering?
It seems pretty clear to me that the writers aren't interested in the world building aspect of the show. This is purely a character study show, and that's all they're really interested in. Maybe they have interns who've sat down and outlined specifics for this world, which is what they refer to in extra media, but that's not what they're interested in writing about. It's all "this week, we find out what makes so-and-so tick!" Which is why I've said, the show reeks of Lost. Lure in an audience with a tantalizing premise, then keep them hooked with a bunch of bizarre and mysterious elements, but spend all the episodes following the minutia of someone's psyche. It isn't a show about a world in which thousands have vanished without explanation, it's a show about Kevin, Laurie, Meg, Nora, etc.
And to me, it's frightfully pretentious, because as you've said, there's no context. The show pretends to be highbrow but character study without context self indulgent on the writers' part.
-
1
-
-
We also get to hear if Roseanne can command a stage like in her Domestic Goddess days (my bet: yes.)
My bet - no. She had an HBO special a few years back, and I didn't think it was very good. I think the success of her long-running sitcom really changed her persona.
Bottom line for me, none of these people are going to get their own TV show. A "development deal" means nothing. I wouldn't even hazard a guess as to how many people in Hollywood have development deals with networks and studios. Hundreds, maybe thousands. The percentage of them that actually become shows is minuscule, and we're talking about people way more famous than any of these comics. With the exception of Amy Schumer, nobody who ever appeared on this show has ever gotten a TV show (and hers was not a direct result of LCS). Some have gone on to be successful stand-up comics, but that's about it.
So it all boils down to who I'd watch if they had a one-hour stand-up special on Comedy Central or even HBO, because that's about as much as they can hope to gain from this. And Joe was probably they only one I'd bother to watch. I recognize the appeal of Rod Man but he's just not my cup of tea, and while Nikki's delivery is engaging, her material is hit or miss. Same with Lachlan.
I'll watch the finale but I'll record it and speed through it. With Joe gone I don't have a dog in this race anymore.
-
2
-
-
UEL = United Empire Loyalists.
-
(Oh, and I agree with the person upthread who believes that the whole "You might be able to get back in the game" twist is so that just in case Frankie is actually evicted in the next couple weeks, they can put up three people for America to vote back in knowing that they'll put Frankie back in the house and their preening little peacock can have another chance at the prize.)
Well, someone's definitely going to come back into the house, regardless of whether Frankie is evicted or not. They wouldn't have brought it up otherwise. The question is how they go about doing it. They could wait until there are four people on the jury and then all four of them can compete to get back in, or they can wait until the fourth is evicted and he/she can go up against "America's Choice" from the previous three, like they did when Brendon battled Lawon. Which makes sense, production wise, because I don't think anyone's all that interested in seeing Jocasta, for example, come back into the house. It's not like she can do anything. But if "America" gets to vote between Donny or Frankie, I'm betting Donny wins that vote.
-
I think the biggest tragedy of this episode/season/show is poor Matt's hair.
Heh. At least he lost the mullet.
-
1
-
-
RE: Question 121, is there no choice for "I don't know?" Because that's what my answer would be. I also wonder if how the respondents answer these questions determines whether or not they get the death benefits (or, "departed benefits," as the case may be). Do they get rejection letters, saying based on how they answered these questions, they don't qualify?
So in short, again, it seems like these bits of information weren't really thought through. I know it's paradoxical, but I don't really care what TPTBs say off screen. Unless it's shown or said in an episode, it's amounts to speculation for me.
It's also a convenient way for the writers to cover their asses after the fact. All too often I see "the writers explain this in the Podcast." That's all very well and good, but the fact is, if the writers forgot something, or contradicted themselves, or made a mistake, it's really easy for them to go "Oh, this is what we meant by that" after the episode has aired and the viewers start pointing out errors or omissions.
-
3
-
-
A very short show for me because I skipped Wu Tang Clan entirely. I feel like I've been doing a lot of that lately with Jon's interviews, it's so rare anymore that he has guests I give a crap about. At least he got to do the Mitch McConnell voice in the first segment, that's always a treat.
-
3
-
-
So I know Rachel McAdams from exactly nothing. She's been in a bunch of movies I've never seen. Still, her story was interesting if disjointed. Kind of like Sarah Jessica Parker's - McAdams explored one branch of the family tree then abruptly jumped branches for reasons I don't quite get. She followed her lineage back to England where her 3x great grandfather worked as a footman. OK, that's kind of interesting, but they never explained how his wife and child made their way to Canada. Instead, they went back to Canada and traced a different branch of the family tree. WTF? If they couldn't find any info on the footman's wife and child and how they got to Canada maybe they shouldn't have included them in the story. Did they figure "footman" was just too interesting to pass up, because of the popularity of Downton Abbey?
I'd never seen the Gwyneth Paltrow episode before. The story about her great grandmother coming from Barbados was kind of interesting; the story about her great grandfather being a Rabbi, not so much. Another disjointed episode. I prefer the ones where they stick to one particular branch.
-
1
-
-
Zach would be annoying as hell to live with and he seems to be losing his mind, but at least he is entertaining on some level. Jocasta, not so much. She really doesn't bring much to she show. She's just sort of...there. She hardly even gets airtime. And her DR sessions are obnoxious. I'm sure she is probably very nice and easy to live with there, but I wish she was more interesting to watch.
That's where I am too. There isn't anyone I outright loathe this year (now that Devin is gone) but so few of them are entertaining. And I get tired of the "Praise Jesus" stuff all the time. The only other person who is mildly entertaining is Caleb and that's just because he's so delusional and unaware. Cody has no personality whatsoever, and while the show is desperately trying to make Hayden and Nicole "a thing," it isn't working and reduces them to props. Victoria is likewise boring, Derrick isn't doing anything interesting, Frankie is more annoying than anything else, and I'm tired of watching Donny stroke his beard.
It's kind of sad the only person I kind of enjoy is Zach, that says a lot about this season's cast. I think ordinarily he'd be the one I'd be rooting for to get evicted.
-
Is it my imagination or was Jessica high during her segment?
Oh good, it wasn't just me. I really did wonder about that. At the very least, it seemed like there was something going on that made it hard for her to get through the piece with a straight face. Maybe something off-stage, who knows. There was definitely something "off" about the whole thing.
-
1
-
S16.E22: Power Of Veto Competition #7
in Past Seasons
I was cringing at Frankie "coming out" as a famous brother of a pop star and a "social media mogul." That just made him look more pathetic than ever. I think it was more of an excuse to boast and attract more attention to himself than any real strategy.
That said, boy are these people dumb. How do they not realize that Derrick is the common denominator in every single one of these blow-ups? How does that dumb-ass Frankie sit there knowing Derrick is the one who a.) decided Zach should be voted out and b.) changed the vote to Jocasta, and not point that out to everyone?
Where do Caleb, Zach and Cody get off confronting Frankie about his "betrayal" to the alliance then turn around and do the exact same thing by lying to Christine (also in their alliance) that Nicole was going to backdoor her? How does Frankie not tell Caleb he's not even in the stupid alliance that he thinks he is? How does nobody ever seem to mention that neither Derrick or Cody are ever nominated?
Good Gob. The problem isn't that Derrick is so smooth or so smart. The problem is that these people are basically helping Derrick and Cody get to the final 2 without even caring. Caleb thinks there's still "the bomb squad." Zach and Frankie both think they still need "the Detonators." Christine thinks she still needs the Detonators. Victoria needs Derrick. Even Donny is marginally aligned with Derrick and Frankie because of the Team America thing.
It's all very much like The Brigade, in that everyone thinks they're tied to the same people, and they never sit down and compare notes. Even when they do, they blow it. Zach was in the perfect position to pull Victoria, Frankie, Donny, Nicole and Christine aside and say "Look, we have to get rid of Derrick, Cody and Caleb while we've got the numbers. That way the three strongest are gone." But no, he decides he needs the Detonators. {Head smack}