auntiemel

Agreed. And I have to admit, as much as I'm trying to be sensitive to my own reactions to copaganda and not get caught up in it, I couldn't help getting an inordinate amount of enjoyment from the following exchange: HUDSON: You lured me down here. ATHENA: No, I *chased* you down here, bitch! It was the line delivery. JUST. SO. PERFECT!!!!!!

Also, GonzosGirrl, I can't believe I quoted you earlier without saying how incredibly sorry I am that you are going through something so unbelievably difficult. I will be thinking of you! ❤️

Because depression lies to you. It tells you that you're a burden, and that everyone who loves you would be much better off without you, that it would be SO MUCH BETTER for them if you just disappeared. It's very convincing. It seems like the truth while you're in it, no matter how ridiculous it seems from the outside. And nothing your loved ones say to you about how much you mean to them, no matter how sincere, rings true. Depression is motherfucking bitch. If this were real life and not a TV show, I'd be very concerned that she was suicidal. But I don't think they'd go there. I think that's too dark for this show.

Agreed, that struck me as one of the realest moments. Also, I hope they don't write JLH off permanantly, if only because that seems like a really sad, shitty ending for a character who survived domestic abuse and went on to find happiness with a guy who loves and respects her. I want her character to get help and survive...and thrive. Agree that that bathtub incident scared the shit out of her, and she's doing this to protect Jee. Also, agree that Eddie and his waffling makes him a shitty father. He should NOT have brought Ana into Christopher's life in a "mom" role until he was a thousand percent sure about her. That sweet kid doesn't deserve more heartache.

I wanted to follow up on this and say that I talked to a friend of mine who still works as an interpreter. I thought maybe, since I haven't worked professionally in a long time, my take on this was "old fashioned" and there might be a more modern sensibility in the current climate. (I won't get into a whole detailed explanation, but I will say that I was trained in and worked under what was called the 'communication facilitator' model, but also interpreted for older clients who were still more comfortable with the 'conduit/machine' model, so I often adapted to that as well. What is most in favor today is 'bilingual/bicultural' or 'ally' model, which I never worked in professionally, although I do keep up with the industry and have friends who still work, so I am familiar with the constructs. There is ample information available on Google!). He said that he does know of a few interpreters who won't interpret curse words for reasons of personal conviction, religious or otherwise, but that those preferences/limits are well hashed out with their agencies and/or the entities they work for, and that they generally would never be sent on a job where it might come up. And if they were, for instance in an emergency situation where a regular interpreter had called in sick and no other interpreters had availability, the client would be made aware of it beforehand and the details would be worked out. But that, no--under no circumstances would the situation of an interpreter arguing with their client and refusing to interpret what they've signed in the middle of their job interview, right in front their prospective boss, ever happen. 🙂

Yeah, when I saw that, I was like, "Oh, shit, it's about to become the Hunger Games up in here!" I realize I'm a rarity, but I'm actually signed up with 3 different MLM companies because I genuinely like the products. None of them require monthly product purchases to stay signed up. I've never signed anyone up under me, I've never sold any of the products, I've never even really talked to the people who signed me up after I was in the system. I just order what I want off of the websites.

That's where I watched them, on Hulu.

And I loved his, "Fair point," in response. The combination of writing and line delivery on this show is great. Probably my favorite thing. It's like...a less broad Glee, if the acting (and writing) were more naturalistic. I mean that as a compliment. 🙂 I really liked Glee, especially the first few seasons, although I will even admit to not completely loathing it after that.

I hated the characters of Prince's daughters, but I love Gracie Lawrence of the band Lawrence, who played the younger one. So I'm torn. LOL.

That's too bad, I'm enjoying it.

I will note that there is one situation that the prevailing wisdom is that the interpreter should soften/censor what is said, which is that white interpreters should never sign or say the n word. Some interpreters fingerspell it, some sign n+word. Some use the intended meaning, such as "bro" or "man." When voicing, they usually say, "the n word" - sometimes with an extra explanation that the deaf client used the actual word. Even that, though, like I said is controversial. Some black deaf activists argue that they have the right to know what was said uncensored, and formulate the appropriate reaction. If someone they are conversing with says something, it's up to THEM to decide the response, not up to the interpreter to decide to soften it. However, other black deaf activists argue that there is simply no excuse for a white person to ever use that word, in English or ASL, interpreting or otherwise. Honestly, I'm glad that situation never came up for me. If I were interpreting for a black client in a situation where it was likely to come up, I would probably have that uncomfortable conversation with them beforehand and ask them what they preferred I do - and then abide by their wishes, no matter how much everything inside me is screaming at me not to say it. Because, honestly, in that situation - they are the deaf person AND the POC, who am I to substitute my white and hearing judgement for theirs? Plus, I am there to serve THEM in that situation, it's not about what makes ME comfortable. However, like I said, I am just *REALLY* glad it never came up because that would have been really painful and uncomfortable to force myself to do.

Absolutely, and I also understand from a storytelling perspective why they would want to include a little exchange to humanize him (the interpreter). If they don't, his presence actually becomes more distracting to the audience because they're wondering who he is, what the rules are, etc. Giving him a small part of the action lets the audience categorize him in the scene. In real life, btw, we generally introduce ourselves to the other participants and lay out the etiquette at the beginning of the conversation. Something like, "Hi, I'm Melanie, I'm going to be interpreting for _____ today. I'll be standing slightly behind and to the side of you so that ____ can take in the movement of your lips and my signing simultaneously. I'll also be voicing ____'s responses in the first person, but that's because I'm translating. Everything said is coming from ____, and you should direct all of your statements to him/her. Do you have any questions?" It takes two minutes and clears up a LOT of confusion right from the jump. But that would be boring to include in a show. I think my reaction here is just one of those things that happens, like when lawyers watch legal procedurals and get tied up in knots because the attorneys on the show met a client in the morning and were in court by the afternoon. That's not how it's done! LOL.

Actually, that's a good point, I wasn't watching her, I was watching him...so either the shot was on him at that moment, or it was a wide shot and I just wasn't watching her. LOL. And I'm not really invested enough to go back and find out. Haha. Maybe I will tomorrow.

As a former interpreter, it bugged me that the deaf doc's interpreter wouldn't interpret her cursing. First of all, that's totally against the code of ethics. You aren't a "person" in that moment, speaking your own thoughts and feelings. You are a conduit of information, providing a voice for the person you're interpreting for. You don't get to decide what's distasteful. You convey everything going on in the room to them, and you convey everything that they have said to the room at large. You are not their moral filter. You are there for ONE reason only - to translate ASL to English and vice versa. It did seem that she and her interpreter knew each other quite well, though. If, for some reason, they had a system worked out between them where he said, for instance, "the s word" instead of "shit" and she was OK with that...that would have been worked out between them well before the meeting. You don't start arguing with your client in the middle of a conversation you're interpreting. The entire POINT of you is that the other people ideally forget you're even there. They talk directly with the deaf (or HOH) person, and the deaf person talks directly back to them. YOU ARE NOT PART OF THE CONVERSATION. That really bugged me. ***Sidenote - I was interpreting once for a motivational speech that football player Deion Sanders was giving. My client was a nine year old boy. And Deion all of a sudden goes into this story about a threesome he had one time. And he was talking about this girl's boobs, and how the girls were tongue kissing each other and grinding on each other, and making jokes about them taking their clothes off and what their bodies looked like. It was AWKWARD. AS. FUCK. And in NO WAY appropriate for a nine year old kid to be exposed to. But you know what I did? I fucking interpreted it! Because every other nine year old kid in that audience heard it, and it's not my job to decide that that deaf nine year old doesn't get to because *I* don't think it's appropriate.

I'm only halfway through the episode, but I hope Eddie realizes--or has it pointed out to him--that his son, who idolizes him, is watching him every second for cues about what it means to be a man. He's picking up the message that accepting help for medical conditions is weakness. When Christopher has to accept help for medical conditions, how is he going to internalize that message? How is that going to make him feel about himself as a man? I know that's the opposite of what Eddie would want his son to feel about himself, but he might not realize that kids can only pick up so much about how they should feel about themselves from how their parents feel about them. A huge amount of their self image is shaped by how their parents feel about themselves.

Not much longer, hang in there! :)

Seriously, if I hear the word "Junify" one more time... There was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of Becky from The Sorry Girls in the last episode, though. That was cool. Honestly, if not for the pandemic, I would have had very little interest in this show. Oh, and also, their contractor was HILARIOUS. I loved him. Them, At The Party: Here's some Rose, I can't believe you've never had it before, OHMIGOD that's like so random!!! (paraphrasing) Him, Takes One Sip: That's awful. I had to pause and laugh for a full thirty seconds. Also, when he was telling them that if they wanted to open by labor day, they were going to have to make some hard choices, given the available manhours of his crew. Them: But like we HAVE TO HAVE this, and we HAVE TO HAVE this, and HAVE TO HAVE this! We CAN'T choose, they all HAVE to happen! Him: I understand you feel that way, but this is a conversation about reality. BWAAAAHHAAAAHAAAHAAA!!!! Rick, you win television. You are awesome.

Bright spot in the episode: When Floyd is listening to Midnight Train to Georgia. Floyd: What do you think this song really means? Bloom: I think the title gets us most of the way there. 😂😂😂

I thought that, too. The other option I thought of was that she was a backdoor character to a new Firehouse-based spinoff, and trying to shoehorn that in is what made the writing stilted...whereas, in the execution, it came off as purposefully stilted in order to signal that she's bad news, which wouldn't have been the intention. Agreed! I actually thought it was pretty good flirting, just not of the coy/coquettish variety usually seen on TV. When she said, "You should come to the party," she delivered it with a certain monotone intensity meant to convey that there's a second meaning. In truth, there was - she wanted him to crash the cook. But, in a flirting context, I would have taken it to mean she was DTF. So, basically, I found it to be a pretty decent attempt at super-forward-intense-sexual-style flirting, as opposed to eyelash-batting-giggling-hair-tossing-style flirting.

I know people are saying that the son will likely be mad at the mom (and she did seem like a real piece of work), but if I'm ever in a coma/vegetative state, though, I've told all of my family and friends to pull the plug as soon as the doctors advise it. I don't believe this life is all there is, I believe we go on to something better, although I don't have a specific conception of what that is. I don't want them spending long, torturous days in limbo at my bedside. Let me move on, and then they can grieve and move on, as well! This hour of TV felt like going through the wringer. I cried ugly tears through most of it. Gina Torres is officially the Queen of All Things, and I bow down to her. She is off-the-charts amazing!

They mentioned it in the meeting, although it was a throwaway line. The nephew and his family are bringing a lawsuit against the department. That makes Bell radioactive.

Yeah, when Scarlett was like, "Don't worry, he'll never be back. Never, ever, ever. Never," I was like...girl, you may as well have just said he was dead. You basically just did.

Comes back for the second half of season 3 sometime in mid-July!

Interesting sidenote on the whole diversity showcase plotline: Stephen Guarino, who plays the clueless director of the showcase, is (in real life) an alum of the 2011 CBS Diversity Showcase, which I'm sure this is supposed to be loosely based on. He is now the co-director, along with Tess Paras. This is a video that Tess wrote/directed/starred in for the 2013 showcase. Stephen is in it, as the casting director. So, in real life, there is more creative input from the performers, and the overall tone leans more toward skewering those stereotypes than leaning into them. That having been said, I'm sure there are also a lot of stories like those depicted in the show from various experiences of trying to get past gatekeepers in all facets of the industry!

See, that's the thing. Comparing adopted kids with biological kids is NOT "comparing apples to oranges." When you adopt that child, THEY BECOME YOUR CHILD. It doesn't matter what an agency told you before the adoption, just like it wouldn't matter what your ObGyn told you before the birth. You are their parents. No apples, no oranges. They are your child. Just the same as a child who came into your life any other way. If you think my take is an unpopular opinion, I invite you to Google the Myka Stauffer situation that this plotline was based on. I think you'll find that most of society feels the same way.