iMonrey
-
Posts
16.0k -
Joined
Content Type
Blogs
Gallery
Downloads
Discussion
Posts posted by iMonrey
-
-
I'm no expert, but was the doctor still holding the probe over Laurie's belly when the baby vanished? Otherwise, the only thing she could be looking at on the monitor was the picture that the doctor had just taken, not the current view. And people didn't vanish from pictures.
It's not like knowing Laurie was Patti's therapist has given us any insight on the GR.
It gives me even less. Now that we've established Patti had some pretty serious emotional problems, and Laurie was her doctor, it makes even less sense that Laurie would join some kind of cult run by this woman. And, by the way, in the diner scene when Patti mentioned "our last session," there was no time reference included (she did not say, for example, "before 10/14"). At the time I took it to mean they had some sort of indoctrination session while Laurie was joining the GR.
Yes, in that session with Patti, Laurie was professional, but still looked as if she were thinking, "Yeah, right, lady, again you think something bad is going to happen again, even though you've never been right before." I can see why Patti being right about that would lead to Laurie thinking of her as a prophet rather than as her delusional or neurotic patient.
That doesn't make any sense to me. Essentially, Patti was a Chicken Little who kept saying "something is going to happen." That's awfully vague. I get that what happened was pretty profound, but still. For Laurie to go running to a former patient who's heading this weird cult all "You were right, something happened!" makes Laurie seem even less stable than her former patient.
There's really not much going on. There's no directed narrative. But, it's supposed to be a "character study" and "about the journey." Which is a cop out. Because if you have people meandering around and milling about, there's not much journeying going on.
Thank you! The other one you can count on from critics is "I'm just enjoying the ride." Great if you're into that sort of thing, but personally, I don't enjoy being taken for a ride.
-
2
-
-
Not sure why folks are down on Kelsey Grammer's episode. I just watched it today and found it very interesting. I am sure the producers skip around in search of whatever part of the story is going to make an interesting show. To me, the jump back to the ancestors who traveled the Oregon Trail seemed completely logical. It makes sense that they are going to try to find something of historical significance to highlight and, depending how far back and which line it is in, there is going to be some jumping over generations.
I didn't dislike the episode, it's just that now that I've seen a lot of them, I'm noticing a pattern. And you're right, I'm sure the producers skip around to wherever they can find an interesting story.
It's just that there's a disconnect that sometimes feels disingenuous. Grammer wanted to know about his grandmother. What he learned was that her father was . . . sort of a creep, for lack of a better word. If that were me, my reaction to that news wouldn't be "well, let's learn more about him!" - unless it's the next logical step, which is why he turned out to be such a creep. Instead, we jump back several generations of his ancestry to find out about some people who are comparatively admirable and note-worthy.
And that's fine, but what I want to know is, what happened to these people, that their descendant turned out to be such a creep? That's the story that's missing. And by going from the "creep" to the "heroes", it feels like "happy ending! I found the good people!" Except . . . that's backwards. The "good people" eventually turned out the creep. It's actually kind of a sad story.
Edward I's daughter married Humphrey deBohun, a VERY wealthy & important nobleman, so chances are that the daughter (Elizabeth) was legitimate.
Illegitimate children of the monarch were often married into wealthy and powerful (and sometimes even royal) families. They were often given titles. Just because Edward I's daughter married some wealthy nobleman doesn't mean she was legitimate. It just means the family wanted a connection to the monarch and the monarch wanted a connection to their wealth and power.
-
I'm afraid next season will prove that this should have been a one-season miniseries. I agree with TV Anonymous - once it moves into a post-apocalyptic land story, it's turning into something that's already been done to death. The thing this show really had going for it was the Navy ship. No, it was never all that realistic, but it was fairly unique, not something you see all the time. But when you start getting into South American drug lords and warlords and a post-apocalyptic world, we've already seen it. I'm not sure there's much more story to tell here that hasn't been told dozens of times before at least. Sure, they can drag this out indefinitely if they want to, but I don't think they should.
There are apparently some people who are immune to the disease, besides Bertrise. Maybe Titus Welliver and his crew are immune. Seems like other scientists besides Dr. Scott would have figured out the cure the same way she did.
Also, if this disease is "air borne," how close do you have to be to people to get it? The police officers at the dock were told they didn't need their masks because the crew of the Nathan James wasn't infected, but then as they drove off through the city there were sick people all over the place. Surely their germs are everywhere even if they aren't physically present.
Bottom line, by this point, there should already be only immune people left alive if it's that contagious and fast acting.
-
1
-
-
I saw James Marsters' name in the opening credits and honestly did not recognize him when he first showed up. God, seeing him again makes me feel so old. I mean, Buffy only just ended 11 years ago, he shouldn't look so different.
How stupid is Ingrid? (Yes, that's a rhetorical question). She knows Dash killed that blackmailer guy, then suddenly the guy's father mysteriously drops dead right outside, after Dash ran off to make some mysterious phone call? Coincidence much? Good thing they established Ingrid's stupidity back in Season 1, at least it's not out of character. But still, compare some notes with your sister. Freya's gone on a flashback journey to her past lives and Dash was a villain in all of them. Get a clue.
My goodness, when Killian whipped open that shower curtain, how I wished this show aired on pay cable.
-
1
-
-
Drew and Nick...Neither was out while they were on BB.Drew and Nick...
Are they now? Or are we still just speculating?
-
After Dingaan (the pilot) and Cochise (the Volm who should really have more knowledge of Espheni ships) spend hours trying to figure out how to steer the beamer, 13-year-old Matt sneaks on board and finds the steering mechanism in about two seconds flat.
I know, right? Was that the dumbest thing ever or what? How long had they been trying to find the "steering" wheel and how did they miss the giant green, glowing things you just had to push to raise the steering mechanism?
I liked Pope before because he was the only one to call the Masons on their stupidity but he has become so stale. Now it's every episode Pope lead a rebellion or fight with Tom or Weaver and then have a redemptive moment, they should have decided between making a real villain or a part of Tom's crew a long time ago.
This, so much. Lexi still takes the cake for most annoying character, but Pope has sort of become like Dr. Smith on Lost in Space. It's really unfathomable that such an aggressive agitator would still be around with the 2nd Mass. They either would have killed him by now, or ejected him, or he would have left on his own. It's like he's contrary just for the sake of being contrary. Tom could stand up and say "We have to get water" and Pope would mock him and try to start an argument over it. I'm tired of it. He's such a two-dimensional cartoon - and I've felt that way about him pretty much from the beginning. Now, it's just ridiculous.
What is this dumb "shadow plane" thing where the Eshpeni meet, and what movie did they rip this off from? That seems like an awfully contrived way for them to communicate with one another.
Where the hell does Lexi keep getting all these clothes?!?
-
4
-
-
let's be real, no one in that house wanted to work with Donny because he looked the part of the odd man out weirdo
Every person who's walked out of the house has said how much they love Donnie, even Zach. I honestly don't think it's personal. That's probably why he wasn't included in the "bomb squad" or the "detonators" to begin with, but those alliances formed in the first couple of days.
The fact is, Donny just isn't playing this very well. He knows damn well Derrick is running the show but keeps trying to turn Cody. That was a dumb move, doesn't he know Cody is going to turn around and tell everything he said to Derrick? Plus, Derrick flat out told him he wanted to work with him and Donny didn't even make an effort to play along.
The one thing Donny has going for him is Team America. He should be working that angle with Derrick and Frankie as hard as he possibly can.
I am SO PISSED at how bad they were at that game. They have nothing to do all day. Memorize the damn days!!! The one where the answer was 6 days, Derrick is punching in 17. SEVENTEEN! And the question was just a simple "what day was xxx competition?" Imbeciles.
I agree. This is exactly the kind of thing Janelle was so good at because she spent all her time memorizing crap like this. They always have these types of competitions - this is the very sort of thing they should be boning up on, all the time.
And, show? Please stop trying to make Hayden and Nicole and thing. That ship has already sailed, and I don't want to see either one of them back in an "all-stars" season. They're both a couple of dumb bunnies.
-
3
-
-
To be clear, the part I found disingenuous was the jump from "crappy great-grandfather" to "ancestors who rode the Oregon trail." I mean, if he wanted to know more about his great grandfather, the next logical step is to try to find out more about his childhood and his parents. Maybe then they could determine why he turned out to be such a creep. Then, maybe, you could trace how this pattern went all the way back to predecessors who rode the Oregon trail.
It's sort of a false narrative to jump from a grandfather who was rather a tragic figure to his ancestors who had an interesting story with rare documention, because it made it seem like they wanted the episode to have a happy ending. But for Grammar to say "Well, my forebearers had the plucky can-do spirit of the pioneers, and that's where I get it from!" is just - no. No, because he would have gotten it through a descendant that clearly, by all accounts, did not possess these qualities himself.
If you follow this story in a linear fashion, this is actually a sad story. It may start with people who did something brave and rather admirable, but it culminated with kids who turned out to be kind of crappy people. Only by telling the story backwards do you get your "happy ending" but history doesn't really work that way.
And, not to be a party pooper, but just because people braved the Oregon trail doesn't necessarily make them nice people. How did his great grandfather get to be such a loser that he abandoned his wife and child, got kicked out of the marines for being drunk all the time, etc.? Can that pattern of behavior be traced all the way back to the wagon train people? Maybe not, but somewhere along the way, the wagon train guy wound up with a great grandson that turned out to be a pretty terrible guy - and to me, that's where the real story is.
It it's not a deliberate misdirect, it's certainly a disconnect. He found out about his grandmother's parents, and that was a sad story. But then it was "Look over there, something shiny!" A jump back several generations from the great grandfather to what could only be described as "better people."
-
1
-
-
I've noticed a pattern on this show that makes it somewhat disingenuous. I understand why it happens, though, because I'm sure once they get a celebrity that expresses an interest, they put researchers to work on their family tree to see what kind of interesting stories they can find, if any, and that ends up being the story they pursue, regardless of whether that's the stated intent.
For example, with Kelsey Grammar, he said he wanted to learn about his grandmother's mother, but instead of learning more about her family he followed the line of his grandmother's father - who wasn't even a part of her life. The one she found late in life and called and was rejected by. It seems odd that Grammar would pursue that particular branch of the family tree given the circumstances, but that's where the story was to be found, through that guy. They managed to trace him back to a family that traveled the Oregon trail and even found a hand-written journal by a distant relative. That's the kind of stuff they can make a show about.
I'd just be interested in knowing the mechanics of how it all works out, because if Grammar starts out saying he wants to know more about a particular family line, and the producers come back to him and say "Well, there isn't much there that's interesting, but we found out something interesting through a different line," maybe it's just an ego trip for the celebrity to be able to go on the show and point to an ancestor that did something heroic or famous or significant, even if that's not even the part of the family they were interested in to start with.
Or maybe in some cases the celebrity in question agrees to a compromise, which is why we see two different stories for the same star. Like with Sarah Jessica Parker, who got to explore the line she was interested in, and then turned around and explored a different line the show apparently found more fascinating.
-
Did anyone else think Julie Chen was wearing a wig? That's the first thing I thought of when I saw her hair and then when I found out about the ALS ice water thing it all made sense.
-
Cody looked like a gay porn star with his cowboy hat and pink kercheif. I did get a kick out of the guys cracking up in the DR though. But man, Cody is really skating through life on his looks, isn't he? He was as bad at that comp as Victoria was, and that's saying something.
-
2
-
-
I know I've heard them utter "shit" more than once an episode.
Freya said "shit" under her breath as she was searching the attic for the Grimoire, so that's two shits in this episode.
-
1
-
-
What is with this show and all the angsty relationship crap? I don't mind Tom and Anne so much (although, to be honest, I thought they already were married), but on top of that we've got this dumb Hal/Ben/Maggie triangle, which is something right out of a soap opera, and even little Matt has a little girlfriend. What the hell am I watching, Falling Skies or The Young and the Restless? Worse still, I think, is this new love interest for Pope. I about died from eyeball rolling when she came up to him and started lecturing him about looking inside before really knowing. Well that was a subtle metaphor wasn't it?
If everyone on this show has to have some kind of love interest, where's Weaver's main squeeze?
I don't get how these Nazi youth camp leaders brainwash these kids into turning against humanity if it's not chemically induced somehow.
Can someone please explain where the 2d Mass gets all its ammunition? I'll buy that some comes from cut down scavengers like the prep school toughs, but when Maggie started going all Matrix on us, I had to holler out "Wait a minute, for Pete's sake!"
I know, right? They cannot possibly have so much spare ammo laying around that people can just randomly target practice whenever they want.
-
3
-
-
I don't think it's really going to matter who comes back into the house even if it's Hayden or Nicole. Neither of them walked out of the house blaming Cody or Derrick for their eviction and I doubt they've wised up in the jury house. They'd probably come back in and go right back to working with Derrick and Cody to get rid of Frankie or Zach. Which would be fine but it wouldn't change anything. Nobody seems interested in targeting Derrick.
-
3
-
-
Eh, I got really tired of Rod Man's schtick towards the end. I expect him to fade away into obscurity the way the last three winners have.
And Russell Peters isn't all that funny. I've heard some of his sets before and his material is pretty weak.
-
Frankie is truly an idiot (as if there were ever any doubt) to allow this dumb random draw thing and have two strong players be his nominations. He knows damn well they were trying to back door him last week and he needs to remain HoH to protect himself this week. But I guess his ginormous ego has help convince him they all want him around now. {headsmack - TM Cody}
-
1
-
-
Maybe I'm just cold but I don't feel the least bit sorry for Donny. Believe it or not, this is the nicest group of people they've had on the show in years, and every person who's walked out of that house has said how much they love Donny. If he's feeling alone and isolated, that's on him. So he watches the other guys play pool . . . do they not invite him to play pool, or does he just not know how to play? Has he asked anyone to play pool with him? If he gets up earlier than everyone else and goes to bed earlier than everyone else, who's fault is that? He knows he's on the outside of a big alliance but does nothing about it. I'm sure he's very nice, but he seems like an odd little man.
I still don't get how they expected this HoH competition to go. What if Cody had been right, and Frankie and Derrick had been wrong? Cody would be HoH and how would they decide who the second one was? Oh well, at least it sounds like they're through with this dumb Double HoH thing. Just in time - there are eight people left. That means only two people aren't going to be nominated.
Oh, Cody - that hair! When you're living off your looks, don't mess with the product. Although I guess nobody is really looking at his hair when he's doing those underwear ads.
-
2
-
-
If you can trace your ancestry back to England, there's a good chance you can find some branch of the family tree descended from royalty. Kings had bastard children right and left in the middle ages (both Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson were descended from Charles II that way). What I didn't quite catch is whether she was descended from a legitimate daughter of Edward I. They sort of glossed over that. Also, they took a rather convoluted path to trace her ancestry back to her - the father's mother's father's mother's father's mother's mother's father's father's mother . . . etc. That's a lot of jumping around and not a direct line of ancestry.
First time I'd seen the Brooke Shields one, obviously paired with Bertinelli's since she too could trace her roots back to royalty. Her mother's side of the story was very sad though.
-
I'm also way older than the age bracket who knows anything about Ariana Grande, so I woulda been in the house saying WHO? HUH? WHAT?
I wouldn't have known her by name either, but having caught snippets of Sam and Kat (not on purpose - I watch Friends on Nick at Nite and the next day when I turn the TV on it's still on that channel), if he'd mentioned she was on Sam and Kat, I would have gone "Oh God, is she the dark haired one with the weird falsetto voice? Is that her real voice? Why does she talk like that? What's wrong with her?" I wouldn't care if he's her brother or not.
-
1
-
-
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}
-
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?
S16.E28: Power Of Veto Competition #9
in Past Seasons
At this point I just have zero sympathy for either Donny or Nicole. I don't want to live in a world where Frankie is right about anything, but they were both idiots to fold on that last question when they knew Cody had two passes. They had nothing to lose and apparently just didn't understand how the game worked.
I'm also very put off by Donny playing the victim card. He said repeatedly "I haven't done nothing to anyone in this house and they've been targeting me for weeks." Again, it's as though he's never seen this show before, despite claiming to be a fan of it. He had to know he would be odd man out the first day he walked into that house. If he didn't know he was being cast as the token rube/old person I don't know what kind of show he thought he was going on.
I can't bring myself to feel sorry for anyone who goes on Big Brother in the first place, but there have been times when certain HGs were unfairly bullied, and this isn't one of them. Nobody in that house has been anything but nice to Donny (even if they say stuff behind his back), and everyone walks out of there saying how much they love him. His "woe is me" shtick has worn out its welcome.
I don't know, I myself have just never found Donny all that endearing to begin with. There are people I hate more than him I guess, but I don't feel sorry for him.