Ottis

Yeah not buying Fuchs as being able to pull that off. I expected Cristobal and his team to shoot him during his little monologue. All the drama with the actors is too much for me. Barry needs to move on.

Her speech to her troops resembled Nazi films. Her half crazy smile as she gazed at the throne was disturbing. Her explanation to Jon that she, and no one else, knew what a better world was was terrifying. Dany was clearly mad. I don't see how it can be viewed any other way, given what was shown.

She was chillingly mad, in my opinion.

After hating most of this season.... I think I liked it. Most of it.

I’m so annoyed they turned the GoT rap onto Grace and Frankie. They bring out Grey Worm and I’m thinking more GoT cast members will come out as everyday people and I like it. But no. They rap about a show I don’t watch. The “What’s Wrong with this Picture” was funny but was missing a coherent reason for being. First woman to the moon, Hillary against her will. Heh. When Colin laughs he looks like Jim Carey. “Thank you Keenan.” Ouch. The Boston accent is sexy? Who the hell did they poll? That’s the furthest possible from sexy. I like that they write jokes for each other. It’s funnier when it’s not a blatant attempt to be embarrassing and it’s more about how funny the joke is. Is the actual The View as awkward as this skit? DJ Khalid Is like a traveling variety show. Does he manage most of those artists?

Wasn’t the underwear party a photo shoot? I don’t know what PA is trying to say with this show. It has a core of real issues, and then it blows them up into things I don’t recognize.

Actually, they are very much the same scenario. Because at the ages these characters are, my friends and I all had different opportunities, and all moved to different places. They weren't even the places we are now. They were just the beginning of our journeys. That's my point. This show could have ended in a number of ways. They chose the most unrealistic, easiest one - no change. This despite the fact that these characters are at an age, and have the credentials, to have numerous opportunities in front of them. It makes me wonder if, in 10 more years and they are all still there, they all will regret it. As I said, you can remain close friends AND pursue your dreams. The odds of the dreams of 10 people ALL being in the same location they are in now? Tiny, unless they basically give up and don't grow any more. I think it depends on what people like IRL. YMMV, and in my opinion, ending a 12yo show by showing nothing is changing is uninteresting. It may feel comfortable, but it's lazy.

Agree it will change things, but it changes things in the most cliched, unchanging way possible. If they have kids, they put down roots, and its harder to leave. This whole ending was about not changing anything. Leave them frozen in time. Which IMO is the easiest way to end a show. Yes, all sorts of things *could* happen. That plane could go down and they all die. But we didn't see *anything* happen. We didn't even see any implications that anything would happen (i.e., jobs offers for Sheldon and Amy elsewhere). I don't think people mean nothing changed since we met the characters. What people mean is, the ending of the show indicates nothing has or will change at the end of the show. Here's another way this could have ended, which I would have respected more: - Nobel winners Sheldon and Amy get job offers at MIT (or some Ivy league East Coast school) and go there, where Sheldon must now break in a whole new bunch of snobby, East Coast types who think they are smart and must realize Sheldon is smarter. - Howard is called back to the space program to lead an initiative that helps scientists become astronauts, where his fears and vulnerabilities are a strength.... and Bernie's book about the astronaut becomes a smash hit. She leaves her job at the drug company to become a children's book author who doesn't take shit from publishers. - Penny sticks to not having kids, and she is recruited to another company to a C-level position where she is fulfilled and happy, while ironically Leonard is spotted by a Hollywood scout and is cast in a new TV show about a blue collar family in the Midwest (hint, hint, wink) - Raj decides to go to London and see if it works with Anya, and his dad coincidentally moves to London as well where they will spend more time together and seem to realize the value of that - Stuart marries his girlfriend and opens another comic book store - And while all these things are signaled and don't happen yet, the clear message is that through these changes, they all remain friends. I would have liked that a lot better. And it shows effort.

No, I very much do, but that wasn't my point. I'm over 50 and my four closest friends today are from high school - and we live in 5 different states, and have done so for the past 30 years. My point was that the show took the wimpy way out by changing nothing, with a group of people who are award-winning scientists and business leaders. In fact, the show went out of its way to change nothing by avoiding Raj and Anu's storyline, and having Penny get pregnant (despite her insistence until then that she wouldn't have kids). That's not realistic, and it's cowardly. And it's not even good for the fictional characters. That group of people should have many opportunities in their lives already. The show should have addressed that. The test of true friendship isn't remaining friends in arrested development. It's growing and pursuing opportunities and still remaining friends, no matter where you are.

Weak and predictable. They took the easy way out. There is no way that group of people will remain in the same place for long. But the show stuck its fingers in its ears and went nah-nah-nah.

If I had to live in Astoria, I would be depressed every day. That much money for those houses, to live in that location with traffic and crappy weather? No. Way. For that money you could buy a nice house in Georgia AND a beach condo in the Caymans. I count myself lucky that I’m not from there and have no reason to move there. That was one of the saddest HH episodes ever for us.

If that's the case, and it may be, I'm not disagreeing, the show sure didn't play it that way. The show made it look like Howard and Bernie were the heroes, caring about Raj. I don't post in this thread enough (and I'm not a big enough fan of BBT) to know if your take is a majority or minority take. I'll just say I was confused about how the show portrayed Howard and Bernie here, and how their actions actually seemed to be the opposite of how the show portrayed them. At least from my casual watcher position.

I thought Howard and Bernadette's reaction was strange and selfish. Do they not like or trust Anu, and if so, why? Unless there was something they know that we don't, it felt like they were putting their own needs above Raj's. Maybe Anu is the right person to make his life complete. And living in London would be fun. They could all visit. regardless, they aren't all going to be stuck where they are now forever. At some point, one or more of them will move.

Hanks couldn't play the same character, obviously, but I thought maybe it was the continuing adventures of Denzel Washington's lawyer on another AIDS case in Philly, and Hanks produced. Too much?

Agree on both. Maybe he's so intrigued by Barry not giving a shit that he just can't leave it alone. Could mean an even bigger role, which I would enjoy because it would annoy Sally. I've actually been impressed at Gene's knowledge, I thought he was a complete dunderhead. But I have no connection with The Biz so all this coaching is new to me. I was stuck on this, too. We needed to see that something, her relationship with Barry, maybe, had changed Sally. But I haven't seen that. Barry is a prop in her Sally-focused world. Maybe it was her interaction with grown up Sam that did it, but if so, that was subtle. I *can* see Sally casting herself as the face of #MeToo, for the attention, but again we haven't seen any groundwork on that beyond her Sam story. I hope his name is Sam, I've forgotten. That was quite the convoluted evil plot to kill Hank and the gang. Leave them in a hot container, transport them on a school bus to what I assume is an isolated location, and THEN burn the bus? It was missing only the Bond villain explanation.

Thanks, all. That seems garish to me. I've never associated libraries and dead bodies, and always assumed former presidents were laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery or, more likely, the equivalent in their home states. Or at worst a family plot. It seems odd that when you visit a library, the president's remains are nearby. Was reading some interviews with the show execs and they acknowledge that one plan was to have Jonah win and Selena become his VP. That scrapped it because it was too obvious and also because it was common internet speculation. So it's our faults. I hope you all can live with it! Also, though, they said that Richard's two-time election as president was the one note of hope in the finale. I guess so, though while Richard seems to be a better person that Selena and others, I don't know if he would make a good president based on what we have seen. I think it's sad that Ben died. And I still don't know what happened to Amy that she went all Jonah Ryan.

Well, yeah... it was part of her library which the show had established looked like a vagina, on a campus that was a school for women. I hadn’t realized presidents were actually buried at their libraries. Is that a real thing?

The key was that the male soldiers couldn’t open her tomb. The female one did it by herself.

Rant mode on, by character: Dany? Dany's arc was the *only* one that was consistent with the show's past seasons and that made sense. During her arc, she arrived at cities and said give up or die, she crucified slave traders in a misguided attempt to show "you reap what you sow," she sent away advisers who loved her, bristled and resented anyone who didn't agree with her, BBQ'd the Tarleys instead of used them strategically, was more concerned with Jon's claim on the throne than her incest, employed no strategy to attack the city at the end (basically it was the same strategy as last week, but this time, the scorpions missed - really?), and threatened to kill Tyrion, probably her most loyal adviser left. I'm sure there are other examples I have forgotten. Add to that the mythology of her genetic family, which we heard about repeatedly, and how could she have done anything else? Dany's descent into madness is one of the handful of things that make perfect sense through the history of this show - if you aren't ignoring it because you proudly see her as something else. Did she turn too fast, and too hard? Maybe. But with only a few episodes, that had to happen quickly, and you can fault the pacing but not that it happened. Arya? Why in the world did they build up Arya as a Faceless Man, with years of training, and then never use it this season at the climax? It didn't even appear she used it when she attached the NK. She sure as heck didn't use it last night. What a waste. She should have used it to get into the keep, and put her in a position to either take down someone on her own (Qyburn?) or save The Hound. The Hound and Mountain? There were pieces that were OK. That the brothers had a final showdown was one of them. But it was never clear through the series what the resurrected Mountain remembered from when he was alive, or if he even had any memories or thoughts of his own. Now, at the end, not only does he recognize his brother, he also remembers his hatred for him AND it's significant enough that he defies his masters? That's a stretch. I know that falling into fire was poetic and has a link to The Hound's past. It would have worked better if the show had him recognize that end before it happened, and doing it anyway. They went through a stone wall. And BTW, Qyburns's death was ludicrous. I actually laughed. He was brushed aside by his creation, hits his head and dies. Pointless. They may as well have had a rock fall on his head. Far better and more poetic for Arya to have killed him, Wasn't he on her list? Jaime and Cersei? What a pointless ending. I suppose it had the metaphorical meaning of their transgressions were buried with them. But neither one stood for anything at the end except they loved each other, sort of. A far better ending would have been Cersei appearing to have won a costly defense, and Jaime killing her - and his own child - essentially for Brienne and a better world. Jaime would die after showing he was a changed and worthy man. Euron? His downfall should have come at the hands of Asha. Not a random, pointless fight with Jaime. Tyrion? One boneheaded move after another the past few episodes. No strategy, aside from making it clear that the bells ringing meant the city surrendered (and did it really? Because some people surrendered? Cersei didn't). He was sidelined to the keep during the battle with the NK. This is the guy who masterminded the successful battle of Blackwater Bay, reduced to an adviser who stared side eyed at Dany as she became nuttier. Why do this to him? Varys? Uh, I guess. I mean, he seems to have sent messages to someone with some basic facts. Why didn't Dany use him when she found out? If she weren't mad, if she were at all strategic, she would have. And what in the world was Jon doing this whole episode? He had to have seen the madness. Yet he stood around, silent. What kind of leader is that? I don't care that he loved his aunt. Tyrion stood up. Jon should have. What. the Hell. Happened. To this show. I can't read these responses because I'm so disgusted and I cannot believe anyone who really watched GoT thinks the past two weeks were good. They were so, so bad.

That was so bad. An insult to what this show has built. It felt like it was written by teenagers. I cold pick it apart... so glad Arya has all that faceless man training, eh? .... but it isn’t worth it. Shameful. Embarrassing. Pathetic.

I think when your opening is mostly about things that haven’t happened, you’ve run out of good material. Emma and Keenan Thompson. LOL. Leslie was awesome in the etiquette skit. Fantastic reactions. “I don’t wanna sing.” Lets see if anyone has a knee jerk reaction because the mythical white etiquette instructor hit the mythical black christening guest. I know this was the Mother’s Day show, and so we have to make being a mom out to be the hardest job ever. It’s not. I would have traded 10-hour work days and many business trips for staying at home with our kids in a second if it meant we made the same money. When I was able to stay with our kids, it was no problem even with the occasional mess. We had blow out diapers, food thrown on the floor, midnight croup, lack of sleep, etc. Part of being a parent. And I would have preferred that every time to defending a struggling project to company executives who might fire you, cutting off your family’s only income, after having had little sleep. I get that it can be different for single moms. Mad props to single moms. Had to fast forward through the judge skit. All that yelling in NYC accents... oy. Eric and Detective Pikachu. Heh. Georgia sucks. Florida, good grief. I eat ass? That would have gotten you beat up when I was a kid. Times they are a changin.

I actually am not repelled by the entitled attitudes of Max and Frankie. When you are successful enough to give your kids most of what they want, especially if you did not get what you wanted as a kid, you do it because... you can and you want your kids to be happy. And you *tell* them to be thankful and to understand their privilege and you think they do... and they don’t. Maybe mentally, but not emotionally. Because ultimately, knowing something cognitively and actually experiencing it are very different. But that’s what happens. Frankie is clearly bright. And she has a conscience. And underneath, I think she may be kind. Max, I’m not sure. She seems lost. Now the poetry slam stuff, blah. It sounds like whining disguised as art. Good for them I suppose. Pointless ultimately. This show is better when life happens and they deal with it. When it’s about manufactured events, it’s harder to watch.

Yuck, a show that caters to the neediness of these characters. “It’s all about me on my birthday!” And Manny... oy. He’s 20 and proposing? These people are smarter than that. This is the worst side of this show. It can be brilliant when it deals with things that happen to them. It makes me want to vomit when it is about their neediness. Only Phil’s comment about the kid’s mom was funny. And Gloria counting to three. And I’m done with Cam and Mitch. They had so much potential.

I don't recall Dany ever doing anything particularly smart. She took some basic steps any winner would do. But from pushing away advisers who truly care for her to crucifying slavers to killing the Tarleys in front of all to forgetting recon, Dany has done a number of silly things. I do agree with this. Dany may have forgotten. Her advisers would not have. But her advisers did caution her to wait, and she didn't, and rushed right into a trap. So I'm not sure what a warning about the fleet would have changed. Dany was being Dany. Generally, I find the handling of Dany by the show to be consistent. I think many Dany fans have tried, and continue to try, to make the character into something she is not and never was. Alas, as for the much of the rest of the show, it has felt like for several seasons now that the showrunners/writers are making it up as they go. And it shows. It will be the central shame of this series, that has become such a pop culture icon, that they dropped the ball at the end.

This was my favorite episode of the season. All of the plot lines were reasonable and fairly realistic, and it featured the characters working together. I actually laughed quite a bit at the whole dick pic scene at the beauty salon and at the comraderie at the barbershop. I also like the way they picked at Josh but had an actual dialogue vs. accusations or arguments. "You can't make no money playing a flute!" Someone play some Jethro Tull for Tray.