Tarasme

HA! You know that wounded singer song writer is going to create mayhem and anarchy. Death to the commercial marketers that steal unoriginal uninspired studio music!

Hi there- the police didn't arrest Sherlock, or do any more than question him, until the city politician called in the "I heard them arguing (or was it that he threatened her? or both?) just before she went missing" lie. The politician's clout within the department plus the other circumstantial evidence made for handwaving an arrest. I'm pretty happy leaving Sherlock's addiction woe in the past, from a plotting perspective. It drives the character that he is but I don't super enjoy it taking center stage. I *did* enjoy this episode, however, because JLM was ALL there. He was amazing through every note of what he was working with in this story. His shame and self-doubt over that period of his life (I think he feels VERY responsible- emotionally if not intellectually- for Oscar's plight) continue and shade all of his successes now. Good on the whole production team for making this one memorable and heartbreaking.

Agreed ChicagoRedshirt. But I guess I thought he had a little time to get his stuff together while meandering with Hunter. Then, when Hunter turns the gun on him (under the overpass?), Bakshi immediately gives up his superiors and lets sends the cattle to slaughter. He doesn't have old Hunter vet young Hunter or do any other recon. Just goes with the "all the other guys are trying to kill us- lets kill them first!" plan. :::shrugs:::: eh- it's the plot. And thanks for reminding me of how many Hydra big wigs were at the table. I didn't see Old British guy (*think* he spoke thusly accented) get auffed and I did miss "this part of the world" but caught the reference to the Baron. I imagine the reference to Von Strucker got me so excited that the details of the conversation became hazy. Good rationalization of this. And thanks for noting the two day timeline- It was hard for me to tell how much time had passed from the earthquake through to Skye being outed to Fitz (good lord I want to call him Finn- help). If they needed additional samples (as you pointed out, cells- epithelials?- would make more sense than blood) for more targeted tests, a line denoting such or acknowledgement of prior test results could have clarified.

Yay! More Marvel! Happy Agent Carter gave us excellent programming the last few weeks but I am SO ready for the extra puffy plot run up to a most excellent summer movie spectacle. Response to all the Simmons new-anti-extrahumans-bigotry: Skye- I was SO happy they allowed Chloe Bennett to do her quarantine scenes with non-glamorous "sick/ tired" make up. The character's befuddlement and fear with what had happened to her was- for me- on the money. It also rang true to have her team members be extra supportive while she was stuck in the cage. LOVED that team AOS removed 8 of 9 (or whatever) Hydra heads. And since Baron VS is all we seem to have left... PLEASE let Thomas Kretchsman make a cameo. Pretty pretty please! Only false note with the subplot was that Bakshi, who had been touted as such a formidable foe, fell for the ruse. The Inhumans- AWESOME introduction and good on production team for tying in Raina's predicament with an interesting direction and new as yet morally ambiguous characters. I like Gordon and that the transformation is difficult- not cool- for these people. Crazy Cal- I seem to remember that he's kinda strong? Maybe? In the context of the show what is his power? What team pinned Raina down on the highway? When Gordon rescued her? Was that Hyrda, Shield or the government?

Poe Head! Thanks so much for visiting and making the drivel that is "The Following" entertaining. Thank you Sarah for opening the door and allowing Poe Head to utilize the dust buster to keep his welcome. Poe Head!

Aaaahhh! Thank you thank you thank you thank you Powers that Be for allowing Sherlock to miss a razor for an ep. Scruffy Sherlock in no way resembles to Serial Killer-esque Sherlock. It's amazing how much some facial hair softens JLM's manner to make him approachable rather than scary. And- poor Andrew.

1. I spent most of the episode waiting for the Doctor to refer to Santa as "Jeff." 2. This plot only holds up until you start actually thinking... Why would the crabs- if they truly were using dreams as anesthetic- give anyone a nightmare? How did they end up unseen in everyone's households AND wherever the Doctor was? Bursts into dust, really? The Doctor begins questioning Santa's appearance on Clara's roof eight gajillion years after the rest of us? Everyone woke up and still no gaping head wounds? Are we supposed to be asking if everyone *did* in fact wake up? Am I supposed to be asking if *this* is all a dream? Tangerine on the sill means Jeff really did show up I guess... or back to the still dreaming junk, etc. 3. I would have LOVED if the physiognomy of the creatures was COMPLETELY different to signal the waking state (i.e. a minute freckle on the nose rather than the nightmare huggers) but I guess that would have removed the attempt at a vague ending. 4. This! I couldn't believe all the monologuing that was going on. Perhaps it was an attempt to get production's $$ worth out of Frost? 5. I couldn't help myself in comparing this to "Water." When they first homed in on the base, it looked like a Martian landscape to me- I was totally flummoxed that Doctor and Clara were walking into the base without gear and had to have "It's the North Pole" bash me over the head (which, with the dreaming, I guess it could have been the bottom of the ocean, but oh well). Good thing so many anvils were dropping or I might have missed it even longer. Anyway, I loved "Water" and had hoped this would be a similar vein of scary but heartrendingly poignant. It was coming close with the Not! ending, but missed by a wide berth by making that 60 years poof away. I'm not a Clara detractor but I was ready for a fresh start. 6. YAY!!! For BBC America broadcasting the special on Christmas day! This was the first time, right? Pretty sure the earliest Yanks have seen it in the past has been the 26th. Yippee!

Amen's to all calling out Johnny's stiff, serial-killer esque attire and body language. Good lord, those shirt collars have buttons for a reason. I fervently search the other CBS shows I watch for Elementary trailers- because they show the graphics of scruffy, long (relatively) haired completely hot JLM instead of the "I cut my hair like Forest Gump's" version currently on display during this season's eps.

Thank you, Jeff Drake: "Padma tells us about cranberries and how they pair with a variety of foods and can be used in all kinds of dishes, from entrees to desserts. She says this to a room full of chefs. To a room full of human beings from earth." Thank you for brightening my Thursday. I swear, if I didn't get to read your Top Chef recaps on woeful days such as this...

Thanks Linderhill! I knew I was grasping but thought I'd ask. I appreciate the info!

Very very good. My crazy life of late has allowed me precious few tv hours and I'm glad I used my one last night to watch this. * Glad to see pretty much everyone last night; the SHIELD under players were represented, I didn't miss the omission of bad guys, and the A plot provided an opportunity to give a good balance to the team dynamic (not too much Skye, not too much "please kill me if I go bananas/postal" Coulson, great moments for all, etc.). * Simmons: Henstridge is killin' it and has some great material. How horrible to know that the person to whom you were so close that you finished his sentences can now literally not function with you around. And that he can't understand that fact and therefore can't comprehend why you would leave him. Misery. That character must be spending at least part of her nights balled up in a fetal position in the corner, crying her eyes out. * Mockingbird: such a great job by AP and I liked the interaction with Hunter. They had personal problems, currently they're stuck working together, and they appear to be putting some of that angst behind them. There's some childishness, yep, but both of them seem to be good hearted rather than vicious. *Wards: glad that they're moving GW's story line and nice to see his back story become his right now story. I really desire for there to be something other than mustache twirling bad guy to his character. It would be cool if tPtB can explore what evil is (compare to Christian's speech about the nature's of both SHIELD and HYDRA- SHIELD= good because they protect, HYDRA= bad because, well, world domination) through Grant. Is evil a function of selfishness? Does evil have to want to hurt/destroy/dominate people or can someone be evil just because they're completely and only self-interested? *Coulson, Skye, Skye-Daddy, Raina, Whitehall, etc.- glad their B plot got less time but still remarked upon this week. Nice stinger at the end to focus us for next time. Good pacing team! AVENGERS scene: AHhhhhh! So! Good! "Also really dug the Ultron preview, the 'Avengers in a beer commercial' was fa-reaking awesome! As others said, loved the moment Cap budged Mjolnir! Ha! But what the fuck was Ultron doing in their living room?" I was confused about this as well, but, after several viewings, I think we're going to find that the final print shows Ultron in the living room to be fancy editing by trailer monkeys. It doesn't make sense that everybody's partying in Stark luxury (assumed it was Tony's pad) to be roused by a lecturing half melty Ultron. Also, I wonder if the sound inflicted on them has anything to do with the Scarlet Witch? Her screaming at the end seemed to be banshee like. I'm not really familiar with that character; any chance that's part of her skill set?

""How can you base a food challenge on the midnight ride of Paul Revere?" you might ask. Well, firstly, think about how some producers took the game Battleship and turned it into a whole movie also called Battleship. And there's your answer." Thank you, Jeff Drake, for bringing sunshine to my ready-to-poke-my-eye-out-with-an-unsanitary-screwdriver Thursday. It is much appreciated.

That was fun! It was great to watch with my almost 12yr old daughter: "he's [barry's] my boyfriend!" Awesome= tone, Grant, Tom, pace, HYPOGLYCEMIA, FUN! Good= Metahuman research squad, Jesse (some of those expressions dwell awfully close to constipated face), VotW and his naming- heh Not so good= Candice- please give her more to do soon, Eddie- the red herring is draped much to garishly around his neck, too little William Sadler I'danevah thought Tom Cavanagh could do layered ambiguous motivations but doggone if he isn't a great gray storm of uncertainty in this popcorn show! Honestly, I will be really upset if the care taken to cast someone that looks SO MUCH like Grant (tall, somewhat lanky though toned, dark headed, bright eyed) is wasted in the plotting. HWells= Future Allen (not Barry, another one :)) FTW!

Ha! "Son, whole books of the Bible are devoted to why that "bandwagon" is a mad, bad, dangerous place to be. It's called trichinosis and it's kiiiiind of not a matter of expanded horizons." Sarah! This was a ray of sunshine in my otherwise crappy day! Thank you!

Thanks Sarah- I had forgotten much of season 4. I think that's the problem with it for me; while I don't loathe it like I do seasons 5 & 6, I've pretty much gone amnesia on everything but the high points.

Good lord- "State" of grace is something you have when you love Jesus. "Full of Grace" is a most excellent song by Sarah Mclachlan. Criminy.

I rewatch often and almost religiously skip most of S5 and all but possibly a single episode of S6 (GILES returns! GILES almost dies saving Willow etal!). For me, S5 was the descent of BtVS into unreasonably, mistakenly, unwarranted dark territory. No fun. Buffy's team gave us some of the best single scenes and best episodes of an entire decade of television and much of that awesomeness had emotional gravitas (State of Grace playing while we watch the "Now leaving Sunnydale, come back soon" sign through a bus window. *sigh* Genius. Heartbreaking. Did I mention Genius?). But somewhere on the road early in S5, the wheels fell off and fun left the building. I can imagine the derision I'll face admitting this, but I actually liked S7 MUCH more than 5 & 6- maybe because I like endings? Thanks Sarah for the concise re-watch so that I don't have to.