Catfi9ht

I started watching Lost but couldn't get into it. Lost and Carnivale started at the same time, and Carnivale was much more interesting to me so I dropped Lost. If you haven't watched Carnivale, I highly recommend it. What I have read is Lindelof had a set story for Lost and the network kept renewing it so he and the writing staff were literally making things up as they went along. I can understand why quality suffered and plot lines were dropped if that was the case. If you compare Lindelof's and Abrams's bodies of work after Lost, I'd say Abrams has more of an issue resolving endings and plot lines than Lindelof. Maybe the issues with Lost were more on Abrams than Lindelof but for some reason Lindelof is blamed more by the fans. I'm not in that fandom so I have no idea why that is. Full disclosure: I also think Abrams's work is based on nostalgia than story so I think he's just okay. When Lindelof tells the story he intends to, the results have been pretty fantastic. I think that's why he was adamant that Watchmen would be a single season. He wanted to tell his story and move on. I completely respect him for that. I think fans should be okay with that too. I'd rather have a finite, fantastic story than a lengthy, mediocre one.

For people who don't cook or watch cooking shows, I can see how they would naturally think the straight edge of a chef's knife would be the sharp one. Growing up, my parents didn't cook anything fresh. All our meals were from a bag, box, or can. We had one sharp knife, a paring knife, and a dull set of steak knives my parents got in a cookware set. None of those knives have a curved edge. I've also noticed on multiple seasons most people on this show gravitate toward trying to use the paring knife for everything. My theory is that they have a similar cooking situation to mine and the paring knife is their universal cutting tool simply because they don't know any better. I had never even seen a chef's knife until I started watching these silly cooking shows. I'm self taught and the bulk of my time spent learning and trying new recipes predates YouTube and a bit before recipes were freely available on the Internet. That's one of my favorite things about this show. I get alot of cooking 101 info I've never heard of or seen before.

There's at least one person a season they show trying to cut with the back of the chef's knife. This season it was Mark in the first episode.

My picks for the finale are Tracey and Jodie. Everybody is pretty likeable, but I'm almost always going to root for women to win. Men get enough accolades. I had forgotten about Tracey and her anorexia. As someone who had an eating disorder, I find the fact that she's on this show really amazing. I understand and can relate to the stranglehold it has on your life. Childhood actors usually always meet tragic ends. She looks so sweet and happy. I can't help but smile when I watch her. Her personality is infectious. I like how adorkable Jeff is. He and Anne make a good pair. I'd like to see him next season.

With all these new Trek shows popping up at once, I've spent some time thinking about whether or not I'm a Star Trek fan. If you asked me post-Voyager, I would have said, "Absolutely!" Today, I'm not so sure. All the JJ Abrams movies gets thumbs' downs from me. Abrams writes for nostalgia not story. Enterprise was really sexist; the entire point of T'Pol's character was to be Angelina Jolie-esque eye candy. I tried watching Discovery and Picard and didn't like either of them. I couldn't muster up any emotional attachments to any of the new characters. I found Michael in Discovery to be completely unlikeable, and the twin that lived in Picard to be tropely naive (I forgot her name). Since this show just started, I figured I might as well give it a shot since it's not much of an investment. What an excellent surprise. I really liked it. I thought Pike has a similar Kirk vibe but he's not doing a Shatner impersonation. I liked the crew alot. Lots of interesting personalities and each character got a chance to shine. The general thesis of this show feels very retro without being rehashes of the same ideas. I thought the first episode was a good setup with showing how Starfleet's mistake can adversely affect an undiscovered planet. Anytime music is math is highlighted is a win for me so I really liked this episode. It also kind of knocked Pike's ego down a bit for being judgmental about the comet monks. For me, trying to analyze Star Trek canon is an exercise in disappointment and frustration. There have been too many fingers in the pie and no head chef in the kitchen. At this point, I think I'm content with, if it looks to exist in the Star Trek universe, it works for me instead of quibbling about character details and events. I found everyone in the show to be interesting and likeable so far. I look forward to seeing where things go.

I hadn't heard about this show until a couple of weeks ago, and I binged the entire season today. Woah. I can't believe there isn't more chatter about this show. I really enjoyed it. All the performances were amazing. The sets and color palettes in the severance floor were mesmerizing. It seemed to live in a similar universe as Legion. While Legion had the 70s oranges and browns, Severance had the 60s blues and greens. The well-sustained tense undercurrent was probably the best of any show I've watched, and dystopian scifi is my favorite genre. For a show that is very reserved on the surface, the lurking menace of Lumon is always present. I'm so glad they renewed it. The last episode would have been disappointing as a series finale, but it was surprisingly satisfying for a season finale. Helly got to start to tell her story, and Mark told Devon Gemma was alive. That was enough for me to feel like there was some movement while still leaving alot of mystery and tension. Christopher Walken and John Turturro in the same scenes together? This feels like such a treat to watch. Adam Scott continues to be an amazing actor with crazy range. His crying scene at the beginning of episode 2 just wrecked me. Patricia Arquette started out as a terrible actress in the 90s but boy has she grown. She was super great in this. I've always had a fondness for the Arquette family; they always seemed really unique, fun, and not typical Hollywood types. The standout actor for me was Tramell Tillman. His ability to play cheerful one second then authoritarian the next really help make Lumon super menacing for me. The way the hallway scenes felt claustrophobic and confusing without seeming like they kept repeating the same shots and style was really great. I'm definitely interested in learning more about how the cult aspect of Kier Eagan plays into all of this. How do people outside of working for Lumon get super into those beliefs? Are there churches that exist separate from the company? Also, I remembered during the tour they said the company was founded in 1866 which isn't menacing at all. I wonder what else the company does and or manufactured prior to the severance experiment? It seems that this is set in a company town and most people accept it except for the couple of protesters we saw handing out flyers. Or do followers of Kier move to the town? Anyway, really glad I watched it. I'll probably rewatch it to see if there are tidbits I can pick up I didn't notice the first time through.

The like button isn't strong enough to represent how I feel!

I'm still not convinced. Dancing cows was last year's season opener. https://foodsided.com/2021/02/23/spring-baking-championship-season-7-episode-1-boogie-with-the-bovines/ I also don't see anything on Discovery Family Channel's website regarding Molly Yeh or a spring baking show.

Yes! I was going to say that and forgot. The wigs and beards are really great. Leslie Jones's hair and wig was a standout for me. Completely agree. It was the most emotional choice to make out of the crew. I noticed during my rewatch that after Izzy catches Black Pete and Lucius, he calls Lucius a homophobic slur instead of using his name every time he talks to Lucius after that. He definitely comes across as self-loathing to me. It starts out smashing gender norms. The discussion about sewing starts out as "women's work" then makes a U-turn into bad ass when Roach shows the scar on his arm. The crew settles into sewing pretty quickly. Wee John mentions making clothing for his mom and everyone in general is pretty proud of their own flag designs. Agreed. I saw this on Twitter and in my rewatch I noticed Stede and Mary never kiss even at their wedding and Stede only touches Mary on her shoulder and holds her hand at their wedding. It completely tracks with Stede being ace until Mary explains what love feels like. Other than "cartoonishly violent", I would say this accurately describes Schitt's Creek as well. It's the only other show I can think of that described love in a true-to-life manner instead of fictional and idealized. Not to be that gal, but I think it's because the vast majority of TV is written by cis het white men. Add on top of that, most network execs don't want to take chances. They'd rather invest in known content which is why I think Netflix's sub count is dropping. They're cancelling shows too quickly even ones that have loyal viewers. When someone else is given the helm and a network steps outside its comfort zone, we get amazingly creative and diverse shows. I've seen Twitter posts stating the only straight relationship in the show is Carl and Olivia, claiming both Mary and Doug are bi. I haven't seen anything to indicate either of them are bi, but there may be hints or signs I've missed. Thoughts?

Spring on the Farm is the first episode of this season's Spring Baking Championship. There's nothing about Molly hosting a new show on Food Network's website. I think it's just a rerun and your DVR got confused. whew!

I noticed I extend my finger when my knives need sharpened. If they're nice and sharp, there's little resistance so I don't need the extra finger power so my hand will naturally lay in the proper position. I'd guess the average home cook probably has a similar issue or is using the incorrect knife like I used to. When I was younger, I could only afford one and it was the cheapest one, the pairing knife. I ended up using that knife for everything which is embarrassing thinking back on it, but I didn't know any better. It's the main reason I watch this show. I was never given any cooking 101 knowledge and all my skills are by trial and error. I like learning "the proper way" and the reasons behind culinary choices and traditions.

Both. I want to emphasize I said Paul Reubens and not Pee-Wee Herman, but I have no doubt he could easily pull off Pee-Wee as a Halloween costume/impression. 😂

I'm in the minority. All of the contestants, with the exception of Traci and Lori Beth, seem like they are incapable of thinking for themselves. Almost everyone was having nervous breakdowns trying to make avocado toast. I haven't seen this kind of mania about such a simple "dish" in any of the seasons I've watched. Some of the food combinations they come up with are strange. They may not know how to cook but have they eaten food? The chefs are being really generous with their critiques. There is no world where a brat would taste good with cheese, pesto, and sundried tomatoes. I wasn't familiar with Jeff Mauro so I looked him up. I think he's thriving here because he has culinary teaching experience. Plus, he didn't use ketchup on his meatloaf which automatically makes him good people in my book. He seems like a mix of Jimmy Fallon and Paul Reubens in the best way. I usually don't like male hosts on FN because they're usually arrogant, suffer from toxic masculinity, or both, but he seems pretty relaxed and down to earth. When Anne pulled out the mandolins, I groaned. There's no way these people should have been exposed to that thing especially Nichole. Anne mentioned she's never had someone cut themselves on a mandolin which seems inaccurate? This season seems more bonkers with the lack of culinary experience and general lack of adulting, but I still like how silly this show is.

I finished my second watch this weekend. This time I tried to pay attention to background characters in scenes and the scenes as a whole since I didn't need to focus on the main story. The main things I noticed were: 1. The lighting is amazing. They have to repeatedly capture sunrises, sunsets, light through fog and other weather events, and it's absolutely beautiful. I'd like to know more about which scenes were filmed on set and which were filmed on location. Some scenes are fairly obvious about which were which, but I think there are probably some surprises about how they were actually filmed. 2. Rhys Darby's range is excellent. Prior to this role, I've only seen him play goofy like Stede in the beginning of the season. In the pub when he talks about "how he's seen death", his delivery is riveting. When he flips on a dime and holds a knife at the poor guy's neck during Mary's art show, he's absolutely menacing. Contrasting that to his hilarious"Man for sale" delivery is crazy cool. 3. Scenes without the main characters (Stede and Ed for the sake of the point), are equally as riveting as those with them. The scenes where Roach tries to cut off Lucius's finger and the pyramid scheme plot are two that come to mind. This is a great example of how the show's side characters are developed and not one note. They can stand on their own which leads to a richer viewing experience and significantly expands the number of potential plots for future episodes. Absolutely agree. When Chauncey confronts Frenchie about the flag and asks, "What is this?" Frenchie's delivery, "That's bad ass is what that is" makes me laugh. His backstory leading to his pyramid scheme at the dinner party is really great especially his delivery of "they're such dicks about the fucking spoons" is is funny. His superstitions about cats and women on ships is super silly. I really hope they renew this show.

I thought this was a great thread on pirate flags. It includes Stede's and Blackbeard's. It was originally inspired by another pirate show, Black Sails, which is why it predates OFMD. CW: language

This line is what turned me into a huge Lucius fan. Everything he did after that was adorable especially delivering the break-up box.

I disagree with your post. There is nothing wrong with diversity. Representation and inclusion are good things. This show suffered from a terrible host, challenges that had nothing to do with spring and were geared toward a completely different aesthetic and skillset from previous seasons. Trying to say that Jaleesa won because of her race is completely false. While I don't think she was the best baker, and I do this this season was terrible. It had nothing to do with Jaleesa. She was in the middle of what the producers chose to make a disaster.

Agreed. Jaleesa is in the middle of a major shift in the show's theme. Whomever decided to bring Molly on and give her creative control is to blame for the severe decline in quality this season. This last episode was a slog for me. Two hours is way too long for me to deal with Molly and not-Spring themed challenges. The last three episodes were not spring themed. I'm just going by my memory but I'd guess that more than half the challenges this season were not about spring. I really do feel bad for all of the contestants. Anyone who watched previous seasons to prepare for this one has their expectations severely dashed. Congrats to Jaleesa. Too bad she was caught in the crossfire of this shitshow. If this show reverses course, I hope they bring back some folks from this season. Diego, Romy, Justin, and Carolyn deserved better. Who am I kidding? Everyone deserved better. Happy season finale everyone! May we be Molly-free next year.

This was my go-to show for the pandemic. It was great as background noise and I could pay attention when it got to my favorite parts. It still plays alot on Comedy Central and if I'm watching, I'll usually pay attention to folks in the background for reactions. There's still a ton of funny stuff even if I'm not interested in a particular plot.

To add onto this info, Molly is from Chicago and went to Julliard for music performance. This exemplifies how fake her farmy, folksy schtick is. She's such a caricature she's insulting the people she's imitating. Back to the show, if this were another season, Carolyn, Romy, Diego, and Justin would be the top four. Romy is the only one of those four who hasn't been eliminated. That's how off this season is. I wonder who's going to win next week? Carolyn makes a cake that looks like a wedding cake and next week is what? Wedding cakes! I don't think wedding cakes are spring but it's a bit closer to the actual theme than this week. At this point, the bar is so low, I only care that next week is the finale. Who wins? Who cares. We're all winners for finishing this season. Congrats everyone!

I only heard about this show a couple of weeks ago and just finished the season. I love the style and silliness. It really reminds me of my favorite Terry Gilliam movie The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. I started out only liking Frenchie, but all of the characters grew on me and I think they're all pretty fantastic. They turned the 40 orange glaze and cake into an actual recipe. Here's the thread. It's a functional recipe and also very silly.

I understand. Thank you for the clarification and I agree about the story sharing. I think it was Dennis that came out this season and not Justin though. Please let me know if I'm remembering incorrectly.

Being over the top for the camera is not the same as being transgender. Trans people are people just like everyone else and are not a prop or a joke to prove a point about this show liking melodramatic personalities this season.