LadyMustang65

Hopefully it was recent. I'm really hoping she's ok and able to dance tonight.

Oh well. I've been trying since I first heard about this new format a few months ago to work up some enthusiasm and interest for watching, but after looking at the little commercial, nope. Just nope. I suppose if the summer is really devoid of anything remotely interesting and I don't have a good book lying around, I might take a peek. Or I might just opt to go to bed early. This new format is of zero interest to me.

Has anyone heard how Jodie is doing? She injured her ankle during practice I think on Thursday and had to go to the hospital. But I haven't seen any recent updates on her condition. It looked really painful in the video.

Why did I think that Colt had dropped out of high school when he went to stay with his grandfather? He'll be 18 in 3 months and wouldn't need his dad's permission, but I thought either way he'd need to get his GED to graduate.

I agree. I don't think Deacon is being malicious or trying to push Frankie out, and yes, Frankie should sit down and talk to Deacon about it. But for whatever reason, he seems reluctant to do that. However, that does not mean Frankie's *perception* of being pushed out isn't valid. Feelings are feelings - they're not right or wrong, they just are. It looks like Deacon now understands the problems and hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here on out between them.

I think that's a very simplistic view of a very complicated issue. My take is that Frankie is feeling like he's being pushed out of his own bar. Things are happening faster than he expected, and Deacon is making a lot of decisions on is own without consulting Frankie. Even though they've talked about it, Deacon hasn't changed that - he still does what he wants and apologizes later. As far as Frankie is concerned, he is the one with no power in the partnership. Deacon is well known in his own right, and now he's married to the queen of country music who is adored by almost everyone. If Deacon decides to take over the bar and cut Frankie out, do you think there's much of anything Frankie can do? Frankie is having an emotional response to an emotional issue - the bar is not just a business to him - it's pretty much his whole life. And he feels like it's being taken away from him, and there's nothing he can do about it. And he has nothing to fall back on if that happens. Nowhere to go. It has got to be extremely frightening for him. I may be shown to be wrong in the remaining episodes. Only time will tell. But right now I have a great deal of sympathy for Frankie and have to fight the urge to smack Deacon upside the head and tell him to stop being such a jerk.

I remember Coleman and him being Deacon's sponsor at the beginning, but for some reason I was under the impression that Deacon and Frankie had known each other for a very long time, perhaps had even played/toured together. But I couldn't point to what made me think that. Maybe I misunderstood a conversation somewhere along the line. Anyway, since I have been under the impression that they are long-time friends, that probably explains why I view that situation differently.

I agree, but it can get complicated when you mix business and friendship. I think they kind of rushed into this and may have had different expectations for the new bar, which were exacerbated because, as you point out, they don't effectively communicate.

I don't know who choreographed it, but for my money the absolute best contemporary ever done on DWTS was the one Val did with Zendaya. It was light, refreshing, upbeat and utterly charming. If he didn't choreograph that one himself, he should always ask for help from whoever did.

Except they have talked several times about it, and Deacon keeps overstepping anyway. I may be misremembering, but I thought it was established that Frankie had been a big part of Deacon's rehab process from practically the beginning (which would have taken place before the timeline of the show started. I could be wrong, but I don't read it as Frankie being jealous and resentful of Deacon. I read it as Frankie feeling like he's being pushed out of what was his own business. This is a business that has been his whole life for a long time. He and Deacon were going to build a new business together, but now it seems like it's all Deacon and Frankie is being marginalized. This isn't something that just happened - it's been building almost since they started their partnership. There have been a lot of times when Frankie hasn't seemed really okay with some of the decisions Deacon has made, but he trusted Deacon and went along with him because he believed in the vision. But Deacon doesn't really seem to respect Frankie's input or his feelings. Deacon does what Deacon wants to do. It can be hard to resist his enthusiasm, but that doesn't mean Frankie has been okay with all of this. We've seen enough hints over the past few months to believe he's not really okay with all of it. But he's been trying for Deacon's sake. I think Frankie is feeling lost and disrespected, and I think he's worried about his future. What does he do if this partnership doesn't work out? What happens if he loses his best friend over this? I can't blame Frankie for perhaps feeling like Deacon is just using him to fulfill his own dream because Deacon sure doesn't act much like he's got a partner who should be part of the decision-making process.

I have to kind of stick up for Frankie here. Seriously, Deacon is the worst business partner. Frankie's little dive may have been having problems, but it was his place for years, and he seemed really happy there. Then Deacon offers the partnership with the whole idea of making it the up and coming hot spot in Nashville. I never really got the feeling that that was what Frankie wanted, but he was willing to go along with it for Deacon's sake. He was being a good friend. Then all of a sudden Deacon seems to completely forget that this is not just his place. Frankie is in charge of hiring, but he pretty much bull dozes Frankie into hiring Vita because Rayna wanted them to do it. Frankie didn't want to do it, and Deacon pretty much just ignored him and kept pushing. Then Deacon books Riff without talking to Frankie first and puts him in Frankie's spot, which it seemed to me he'd been looking forward to performing. It's not a matter of what was better for the bar - it's a matter of decency and not pushing your partner out of the way. And then after doing all that, he's basking in the glory of the night and can't even remember that it's not him his bar - it's Frankie's as well and was Frankie's first and remind people of that. Deacon has been kind of doing his own thing for months now and apologizing to Frankie after he runs over him. Is it any wonder Frankie has gotten to the point where he can't take it any more? He has nothing if he walks away from the bar. That's been his whole life for ages. Stop being a jerk, Deacon. He's your partner and more importantly he's your friend and more importantly than that - he's the one who helped you get and remain sober. Geez, buddy. I can't honestly say I care about Vita's life, but damn I love her voice and her songs. And speaking of clueless people, we wondered last week why Rayna didn't think to see if Vita needed some money. The girl is living in her car, for pete's sake. A simple - do you need a loan until payday? - would have/could have avoided a whole big mess.

Pitching in late - but this was one of the few times my family disagreed vehemently with the judges. We all hated Walter's and Melissa's creatures; we liked Mel's best; and we thought what Rob did was excellent and would most likely have been the winner if he'd been able to complete the work. We would have had them send Walter home and put Mel in the finals. Walter's this week looked like a pig with broken wings, and as others have mentioned, what was up with the ugly eye holes around Melissa's guy's eyes and the silly 'feelers' flopping in front of his eyes. We were at a complete loss this week. Only good thing was that Rob made it - he's been pretty consistently good all season and deserved to be there based on overall body of work.

Well, the initial deal of getting rid of Negan's group is huge! We know that the Saviors have indiscriminately killed several of the Hilltoppers, and they seemed to me to be pretty afraid of them. Having that burden removed would be worth a whole lot of food. Plus, Rick's group has the ability to teach the Hilltoppers how to fight, which most of them don't really seem to know how to do. With Rick's group they have another village that functions much the same as they do, so they would be natural allies. Were another group like the Saviors to appear, I believe Hilltop could count on Rick's group to help protect them. There is a lot that they can teach each other, and there is no reason to think this would not be a mutually beneficial arrangement.

My two cents' worth on that is that I don't think they had a few weeks for reconnaissance. The 'Saviors' were holding the Hilltop guy and waiting for Gregory's head in order to release the Hilltopper. I'm thinking the Saviors weren't going to wait too terribly long before they killed the guy just for spite.

This episode was amazing. So tense and so heartbreaking at the same time. I understand where Morgan is coming from when he asks about talking to them first, but after the Governor and Terminus and the Wolves and those folk at the hospital, our gang has figured out that in this world you don't mess around with people like that. Darryl's, Abe's and Sasha's run-in with that group made it beyond clear that these are evil, sadistic people who are not to be trusted. The plan was, as someone else said, elegant in its simplicity. And it was heartbreaking to see the look on Glenn's face when he killed the first man (how has he not killed a human before? He was with them through the Governor and Terminus - I didn't realize he had never killed anyone other than walkers before), and I loved him so much for saving his companion from that. Incredible. I am saddened and bothered by Carol's apparent loss of bad-ass-itude. I fear she's becoming soft. And I was flat-out annoyed by her attitude towards Maggie. Maggie is pregnant and early days still (so that a large stomach is not affecting her ability to move and fight). She's not sick. She's not disabled. And she's not suddenly become an idiot. Maggie has proven herself time and time again to be a capable fighter and an asset to the group. It was her decision, as it should have been, to go on this mission, and she didn't need Carol to babysit her. Yes, she's going to be a mother, and in true mother fashion, she was doing what she felt she had to to make the world her child would inhabit a better place. Give her some respect, Carol. Maggie knows there will come a time when she will be physically unable to contribute, and she wants to do what she can while she can. Abraham can die. That was just cold. Gabriel stepped up - I never hated him as much as many did, but he was never a real favorite. But he's growing on me these days. Morgan needs to come to grips with the fact that while life is precious, extreme circumstances like this can forever change some people and cause them to completely lose their humanity. That's one of the things I love about our group. They've seen and done some horrible things, but so far for me anyway they have never lost their humanity. Even Rick, who can seem pretty far gone at times, clearly did not kill in cold blood easily. You could see he had to force himself to kill - he did what he had to do but he doesn't like it. He's pragmatic and realistic, but not heartless. Our family also believe that was just one of possibly many outposts and clearly Negan was not there. I'm not ready to lose any more of our little group. I'm hoping all the conjecture is wrong, and we are not about to lose any of our main group. Well, Abraham can bite it.

Count me in with those who would have given the win to Yvonne. That creature was just stunning. But I guess I can't fault them too much for giving it to Rob based on the sheer amount of work he did. That was impressive. I would have put the emerald girl in the bottom. That is not even close to the color of emeralds. What made him go with lime green? Yuck. I found that just so incredibly distracting that it made me hate the make-up. I had thought they might use the save on Anna, but twas not to be. I thought she'd be doing okay most of the time. Mine cut off part way through it but it looked it had something to do with genies??

I had kind of mixed reaction to this episode. I liked it, and they did make reference Ariel Castro, so that was a nice nod to reality. But a couple of things really bugged - both probably kind of petty. Usually I can go with the flow of Garcia's tracking skills, but I just could not get past her being able to dreg up a list of Tom's clients. This is not some big corporation that would have a digital trail. We saw no evidence that Tom had or used a computer, and he's a small business man who probably kept paper records, if he kept any at all. So when she was able to bring up that list, it was more than I could wrap my head around. The other thing that got me was we never (unless they said something and I missed it) got any clue what was going to happen with Gina. (I think it was Gina - I'm getting a bit confused between Sheila and Gina, but I'm talking about the one who escaped.) Anyway, we know she was kidnapped from a foster home, and she's now 18 with all the social skills and knowledge of an 8-year-old. But we get zero information on what's going to happen to her. She's too old for foster care - are they just going to dump this kid on the streets? I had been hoping that Sheila's (the girl who died) mom or Amelia's parents would take her in, but I ended up actually being very concerned about that poor kid and angry at the writers for not telling us she wasn't going to be just turned loose to fend for herself. :( To Forever Alone - if my recent experiences are anything to go by, the hospital would in fact let the body stay there that long. When my dad passed away, they told me to take as long as I needed. In that case it was about 3 hours or so before I left the hospital. When my mom passed away (different hospital/different state), they said the same thing. I had two siblings who were trying to get there before mom passed. It was about 7 hours before all arrived, and aside from coming in occasionally to see if we (my kids and husband were with me) needed anything and bringing us tea and crackers to eat while we waited, they left us alone and never once even asked so much as did we know how much longer we'd be. And we stayed a couple of hours after everyone arrived. So I had no trouble believing the hospital would let the mother stay as long as she liked, especially considering the circumstances.

I loved that Max actually had a Valentine. :) I loved that Santiani's kid sends her balloons on Valentine's Day. The mystery was interesting, and I always love seeing Enrico Colantani (not sure I spelled that right) on my screen. But seriously, is there anyone who has watched television more than once in a blue moon who didn't see it coming a million miles away that Jake wasn't going to be around to be Laura's "fallback" guy for Valentine's Day? Sheesh. Of course she was going to end up alone - she sent the right guy packing. And I really really really hate the stupid trope about everyone and his brother, most of whom honestly probably could not care less, having to push the hero/heroine towards his/her "one true love." But the whole will they/won't they thing has long ago worn out its welcome for me. And I cannot stand busybody neighbors/coworkers/friends/sometimes total strangers who take one look and just "know." Ugh.

I loved the idea of this challenge. It was a great concept. It also brought home very forcefully to anyone watching that doing realistic is much more difficult than doing alien or monster. Yes, most of them failed badly, although we did like the top 2 and agreed with the winning choice. But I think some of the others would have been better if the paint jobs hadn't gotten so messed up. I felt bad for the one girl who knew hers was going south and had no idea what to do to fix it. Everything she tried just made it worse and worse. We probably would have sent home the one who did the Indian woman who makeup was just falling off when they asked her to move her mouth. (Sorry, I still don't know most of the names.) Between the horrific paint job and the horrific application, it was, we thought, even worse than the Asian boy with hair stuck on his face. But I think that may have been that guy's first time in the bottom while Njorge was making his 3rd consecutive appearance. Three strikes and you're out?

We really enjoyed this episode, but it's one of the few times we've really disagreed with the judges' choice for the worst. Neither of the bottom looks was good, but where they specified that the Octoman would not be able to produce the appropriate sounds, we would have gone with that one as the worst look. Well, that and the black hole in the middle of the face. But none of us heard them say anything about the other one not being able to make the sounds, so we figured between the really bad look and the failure of the challenge, Octoman should have been the loser. Interesting that all of the ones who escaped elimination last night have been in the bottom a couple of times each. Does not bode well for them.

Are we the only ones who thought German-Texan's accent was a put-on? It honestly didn't sound at all natural to us - (I'm dating myself here but) it reminded me of Sgt. Schultz in Hogan's Heroes. He seems like a nice enough guy. It's a good thing I have my DVR set up to automatically record new episodes of Face Off or we'd have missed this completely. I kept checking the TV Guide on Tuesday. I agree it seems very soon, but I don't care. I just love this show. Even when it's not at its best, it's still good. :)

Bindi/Derek - Salsa - that was fun. I think we've seen better salsas on the show, but this was good. Alek/Lindsay - Waltz - I hated the obvious manipulation of the serviceman and the flag and the patriotic song. The waltz itself was not bad, but he still is kind of clunky in places. No way that dance deserved all 10s. Carlos/Witney - Contemporary - Still don't generally like contemporary on this show, and this was no exception. It was okay but not great. Up to this point, nothing has really wowed me. Nick/Sharna - Tango - again, it was okay but not great. He just didn't seem to have the right posture and attitude for the tango. Gorgeous dance by Jenna and Val. It's always a treat to see the pros do some serious dancing. Dance-off: Alek/Lindsey vs. Carlos/Witney - no contest here. Alek gave it the old college try, but Carlos was much better. Have no idea what Carrie Anne was talking about. Bindi/Derek vs. Nick/Sharna - this was a tough one. I thought they both did a great job. I'm surprised not one of the judges gave it to Nick and Sharna, but then again, I'm not. The judges have been on the Bindi train since the first week. Trios: Bindi/Derek/Mark - It felt kinda been there-done that for me. Between the box, the synchronized arm movements, and the light (which has been used multiple times on SYTYCD), I just felt like I'd seen that dance before. It was danced well, but I didn't get the "genius" comments at all. It was pretty much a retread/mash-up of several other dances. Alek/Lindsay/Emma - Again, not bad but it didn't wow me. Alek can do the lifts like nobody's business, but his dancing seems to have plateau'd several weeks ago. I enjoyed it well enough, but that's about all I can say. Carlos/Witney/Karina - Now this was fun and energetic, and I thought Carlos did a great job with it. One of the few dances of the night that made me really want to pay attention. Nick/Sharna/Peta - I thought Nick really stepped it up on this one. I enjoyed the choreography, they all seemed to be having a lot of fun, and no obvious (to me anyway) mistakes by Nick. I am completely baffled as to how he ended up at the bottom of the leaderboard. That's just wrong. < sigh > Overall, I actually thought this was a bit lackluster for the semi-finals. Everyone actually danced fairly well, I thought, but very little of the choreography really grabbed me.

I do not share your dislike for Tamar, but you have gotten your wish. Tamar withdrew from the competition. She went back to the hospital, and doctors figured out she did not have pneumonia. She has something much more serious - blood clots in her lungs. She won't be doing anything for a while. I am sad to see her go. I had been hoping for a Nick/Bindi/Tamar finale. Sending prayers for a full and speedy recovery for her.

The only thing I can think of is it's some unwritten dance rule. The first time I remember someone doing this is when Heather Mills, I think, got Jonathan Roberts to wax his chest so he could have an open shirt during a dance. That's going way back now. I want to say it happened to someone else as well, but I could be wrong since I can't come up with a name. But it just seems like in ballroom dancing men should not have chest hair. ???

Alek/Lindsay - Salsa - I like Alek. He seems like a real nice guy, and this week he seems like he's back to having fun. But this is just okay. It's a fun routine, and I have to say that Alek handles the lifts really well. But there's a whole section where he doesn't move at all - the girls are moving around him. A lot of the time he's just walking, not really dancing. Not much hip action to speak of. I enjoyed the dance, but he is the weakest dancer left. Alexa/Mark - Contemporary - Not a fan of contemporary, but I thought this one was pretty good. I liked the story of it, and I thought Mark's choreography was fantastic. Alexa danced it well, but there were a couple of times where it looked to me like she sort of stopped dancing and prepared herself for the lift that was coming. It took me momentarily out of the dance briefly. I wouldn't have given it all 10s, but it was definitely a really good dance for her. Carlos/Witney - Argentine Tango - I liked the concept of this dance a lot, and again it was pretty good. But I didn't think Carlos' feet were that good in places. Where they needed to be sharp, they were kind of flat. But overall, I thought it was good. Bindi/Derek - Viennese Waltz - I thought this was quite lovely. Very nice choreography, and I loved the arm work with all the turns and passes. Really nice. Good job. Tamar/Val - Contemporary - ok, in what world does that dance deserve 7s? Seriously. Yes, it was clear it was a dress rehearsal, but it was beautiful choreography and incredibly well executed for someone with pneumonia on the verge of going to the hospital. It wasn't as crisp or as clean as it could have been, but 7s were just insulting given the 8s for Alek. I feel bad for Val and Tamar both. I hope this doesn't up sending her home. It's going to leave her probably at the bottom of the leader board going into next week. Nick/Sharna - Quickstep - I love the quickstep, but what was that? I don't get what Sharna was doing with that choreography. She took way too long to get into hold, and then you're not supposed to break hold during the dance. And Nick was not good in hold - I don't know what it was, but his frame was not good. He was kind of slouchy. I'm definitely conflicted - it was a fun dance, but it was a terrible quickstep. I wouldn't have given it any higher than an 8. And a 10 from Bruno is just plain stupid. Duets: Carlos/Witney/Alek/Lindsay - I'm showing my age - it annoyed me that neither of the guys helped their partners off the stage at the end. But aside from that, it was fun and interesting. I didn't think the guys did that great when they were by themselves - not 'enough' of something. I liked it, but it wasn't great. Alek is definitely the weakest dancer left. But they sure looked like they were enjoying themselves on the cruise ship. 8s were fair, I think. Bindi/Derek/Alexa/Mark - this was fun. Fun, fun, fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the choreography, and the two girls worked together much better than the two guys. They were clearly having a ball, and it showed. I'm not sure it was perfect and how convenient that both couples had completely perfect scores, but whatever. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it enough I'm not going to complain . . . Too much anyway. < lol > Tamar/Val/Nick/Sharna - Wow. I give serious props to Tamar for coming back in and dancing. Good for her. Really nice routine, and I don't know how she managed to get through that. She looked like she was ready to pass out at the end. Good scores for that dance. Alexa was absolutely the wrong one to leave tonight. As much as I like Alek, he is the weakest dancer left. Neither one of those two should have been the ones in jeopardy. I'm happy that Tamar was safe, but I really hate that Alexa left.