overtherainbow

Having finished the show - This ATLA definitely felt more "mature". It felt like there was a lot more at stake. And the whole burning alive thing was pretty brutal. You don't realize the logical implications of firebending in the cartoon. Yes, it was condensed. Pacing did feel a bit off in places. Seemed like there really needed to be another episode or two. What was missing: Aang actually learning waterbending and the teaching moments between Aang and Katara. The little moments of character development that made the characters in the cartoon so loveable, like the Sokka/Katara sibling banter. I guess it's easier when it's animated, harder to develop that chemistry with real actors. The exposition could've easily been cut down ~10% (scene with Gran Gran wasn't really necessary). Witty banter could've been upped ~10%. Fantastic set design. The world perfectly replicated Avatar, from the city of Omashu to the icy fortress of the Northern Water Tribe. They even threw in our beloved cabbage merchant! Surprisingly didn't feel overly CGI'ed either. Overall, it looked and felt like ATLA. Ken Leung blew it out of the water as Zhao! What phenomenal acting. Also really enjoyed Daniel Dae Kim as Ozai. Iroh and Zuko were good too. I liked how much more humanized this Zuko was. Interesting choice to have Aang talk to all the previous Avatars at their shrines. The Kyoshi stuff in episode 2 was awesome. Sokka had some good one-liners. I thought excluding his sexism from the OG show was a bit of a missed opportunity, because it was a major part of his character's development. That said, I liked the backstory about his failed ice dodging trip and Hakoda and Bato not thinking he was up to snuff as a warrior. It was a great way of revealing his insecurity and forecasting growth. Katara didn't start off super strong, but she got better and better with every episode. Definitely felt like a flushed out Katara by the end of episode 8. It thought they did a good balance of incorporating things from the OG show without making it into a 1:1 adaptation. I can definitely see it being pretty divisive among the fanbase, with people either loving it or hating it. I think the creators do have a genuine love for Avatar, and it showed. I think they'll hopefully take some of the constructive criticism to heart going into season 2 and it'll be a little tighter. There's a ton of potential here. It's far from perfect, but I liked it and look forward to the next installment.

No thoughts yet? The trailer already looks way better than M. Night Shyamalan's monstrosity. I hope I'm right. Looks like a lot of rehashing of the show - there's Kyoshi island, Omashu, the Firelord's palace, and other familiar places from the Avatar world. There's so many routes they could, I just hope the dialogue holds up because ATLA is one of my favorite shows of all time and live action remakes are generally either hit or miss. Avatar had stellar writing thanks to Aaron Ehasz and a perfect mix of humor, warmth, and action. Aesthetically I'm pleased so far (CGI Momo and Appa notwithstanding). But there's not a lot you can gauge from a teaser trailer. The royal family casting is on point and Katara and Sokka's casting is so-so, Katara mainly looks really young to me. I'm excited for this!

She's desperate to stay relevant and grab another 2 minutes of fame because oh gee, her life has gotten so tough now that she work like the rest of us commoners. Of course the only way she can think to do that is by smearing the son she intentionally threw away for years, now that she's been painted the villain by pretty much everyone (and saying deservedly so would be an understatement). Mady's statement is confusing. I don't think we'll ever know what went on behind closed doors, only that countless footage over the years shows the family ganging up on him or excluding him. Kate's dislike of the poor boy oozed through in every scene of them together (which was rare). Collin doesn't strike me as someone who would physically threaten anyone or who has bigoted beliefs, but Mady seems exactly like her mother - quick as ever to cut people out of her life, including her own family. But maybe I'm wrong. Collin, on the other hand, still says he's open to a relationship with his mother, even after the abuse and neglect. That speaks volumes to me.

She was on food stamps but it was implied some of her neighbors brought her over food as well (outside of what the Barnetts brought her). There was a clip showing her bridge/pantry packed with food, but I too wondered how well she could get around and reach for stuff. I'm honestly surprised the neighbors took her saying she was in her 20s at face value. Looking back at what she looked like then and what she looks like now, she's clearly developed a lot. She was very childlike in that clip where she was racing the little boy on the bike. If I were her neighbor I would definitely have called social services to investigate, no matter how old she claimed to be. Especially if she was entering people's houses unannounced (which by the way, did none of them ever lock their doors?) I felt sorry for him too. You could tell he was conflicted and didn't want to say anything that negatively implicated his parents but what happened really messed him up. He probably has PTSD from being forced to urinate on Natalia's bed. I hope he's seeing a therapist to talk some of it out. I also agree he fueled their narcissism. I think he's pretty self sufficient, he's at the University of Waterloo in Canada working on his PhD still.. I also don't think he lives with Michael in that basement full time, he was just there for the filming.

I finally finished the documentary and have a few thoughts. Natalia's "behavioral issues": I think it was obvious Natalia dealt with a lot of abuse as a child and perhaps had an attachment disorder. The inappropriate sexual comments and seeking attention in any man or boy she happened to be around reeked of someone who was sexually abused at a young age. She didn't just pick that up from nowhere. As for her terrorizing the Barnetts, we'll never know the extent to which they were lying. The only clips they showed were of her getting disciplined by Kristine (by the way, is it Christine or Kristine? I keep seeing it written both ways. I like Kristine better though.) The inappropriate behaviors in the apartments (sneaking into her neighbors places and eating their food), shows a little girl who didn't know how to care for herself and was deeply lonely. Putting her in an apartment by herself was a travesty. Even if they truly believed she was 22, that never should have been their first course of action with her disability and various other issues. I believe whatever issues she had were likely worsened by her time with Kristine and Michael, who seemed to be constantly interrogating her and did nothing to accommodate her. Michael: Boy was he a piece of work. The guy is so ridiculously performative. It was tough to sit through all the fake crying and theatrics. It was also disturbing to see the way he interrogated Natalia, the daughter he agreed to adopt and basically threw away to an apartment. I'm not sure I believe what he was saying about how Kristine beat Natalia. Something about that just seems too convenient to me. The electric fence: The electric fence stuff was ridiculous. I really wanted to hear Kristine in her own words justify a 3 foot tall, disabled child physically overpowering her and attempting to drag her into an electric fence (which we later learn wasn't even on). Everything points to Kristine being a drama queen and using the situation as justification for Natalia being "crazy" and a danger to the family and therefore justified in sending her away, when the evidence simply isn't there. Puberty: This confused me. Were the Barnetts lying the whole time about the periods, since Natalia and her new family claimed in the Dr. Phil interview in 2019 that she'd never had a period? Or did her condition give her precocious puberty from a really early age and she had "light" periods then but didn't consider them full-on periods? The period issue aside, Natalia did seem to have more adult teeth during the time she was with the Barnetts, which makes me think she was a little older than the age they were told she was. The birth certificate: So from the pictures of her missing teeth and the short clips of her, I never thought Natalia was 22 and born in 1989, but I don't fully believe she was born in September 2003 either. It's not uncommon for foreign orphanages to doctor birth certificates to make children younger than they really are, as they know younger kids "sell" better. I think Natalia was between 9-12 when she was adopted and living with the Barnetts, which would explain her teeth and periods (if she had them). Anna Gava (her biomom) however is still adamant she gave birth to her in 2003, but she could have also given birth to her in the late 90s and been paid off. English speaking abilities: This was the most bizarre part of the case to me. Natalia being a few years older and having spent more time in the US prior to the Barnetts adopting her would also explain why she spoke so well. I know kids pick up languages fast, but if Natalia spent the first few years of her life in the Ukraine, surely she'd have an accent still, right? Natalia seemed very Americanized and had virtually no connection the the Ukraine. Which made me think she'd been in the US for much longer than a year. Or she's just exceptional at picking up American English and getting rid of her accent. First family: There was very little about the first family that were mentioned in the Dr. Phil episode where they supposedly got rid of Natalia after an incident where she was accused of breaking the son's arm. I want to know what happened there. Natalia's new adoptive family: The family that "adopted" her and tried to get guardianship over her also sends my alarm bells ringing. I'm really surprised they didn't challenge her age status in court if they really believed she was underage (she's not now but still, I mean at the time) and go straight to social services and the police about a disabled child living by herself in appalling conditions. She seems happy and loved by them, but I also wonder if they're using her for the government benefits and fame. Apparently there's a part 2 that's just Natalia's story coming out later this summer. That should be interesting to watch.

I do hope some of the kids take her to court, if not now then a few years from now. I'd be pissed if a decade of my childhood was put on TV and I had nothing to show for it.

She claimed she was desperate and needed a way to pay for her living expenses. She may have brainwashed her other kids into believing they'd be on the streets if she didn't dip into their funds. I think they were supposed to get at least 15% when they turned 18, which may have not even been that much and Hannah and Collin got nothing and didn't know until they got access to their accounts last year. The whole "downsizing" thing also seemed overblown to me. Their house in NC is a cool $750K and comes with a nice lakefront with a private pier and a pool. It may not have the land/square footage of their PA house, but it's very nice for a single nurse's salary and still far nicer than what the average person could afford.

Hannah graduated last year but the other sextuplets are still graduating this spring. Not sure if they finished online or attended a local school. I think the money's most certainly run out, hence why so many of the sextuplets are working part time. Even Mady's mentioned she had to take out a loan for college. Supposedly they had trust funds, but they're only supposed to get a certain percentage each year before age 30 and Kate drained Colin and Hannah's for $100,000 so I'm sure she touched the others too. I too am curious where they'll go to college and whether being away from Kate's clutches will make a difference. It certainly doesn't seem to have made a difference whatsoever with Mady and Cara. I know Leah's into baking, Alexis wants to become a zoologist (no surprise there), Colin planned to join the military this spring, Hannah's studying business at the University of Miami (not sure what happened with her beauty line or if she's still promoting it), and I think Aaden and Joel are pretty private so idk what they're doing. I peek in on Mady's tiktoks every now and then. Hannah has reconnected but Colin is still very much estranged from all siblings other than Hannah. Mady has no interest in reconnecting with him and snipes at anyone who brings it up or anything else she deems "not your business" but she's certainly quick to respond to comments and engage with people on social media.

I loved Kathy Bates as the grandmother and Rachel McAdams as the mom in this! I also felt the millennial director did a really good job depicting the general grunginess of the 70s - I wasn't a 70s kid but the ugly décor and colors all felt very familiar with everything I've seen of that era. No doubt Judy Blume had a decent role in the film as well. The book will of course remain timeless for tweens but I think the movie is a great addition to a digitized world.

Poor Nate, he's conflicted again. At least he's found some happiness. That was sweet of Beard to give Henry advice. He's been very side-kicky yet loveable throughout this show and that was nice to see. How old is Henry supposed to be? The actor looks like he's 10 or 11 but presents as much younger, like he's playing a 7 or 8 year old. Anyway, probably irrelevant. Poor Ted - he's not over his ex. Jack and Keeley - didn't think her and Jack would work out. I wonder if she's going to get back together with Roy. I think he's the only one who really "gets" her. So now that Isaac knows Colin's secret, I guess there will be some tension between them next episode? Hard to say how the finale will turn out.

This is what I wish the show would explore more. I can understand why Nate did it though (he was very broken at the time). We have a few more episodes left, we'll see

I actually like Nate this season, he's matured I think and I liked learning more about his family/background and him being bashful is honestly pretty cute. I don't like Jack at all, something about her is very smarmy. If she were a man showering Keeley with gifts would look really weird. It just would. I enjoyed the inclusion of Sam's dad and will probably get hate for this but - felt like the interjection of an emotionally charged hate crime and the politics that came before it in this episode was really not needed and really detracted from the rest of the episode. I get the writers were trying to make a statement but...it felt too heavy handed. I know these issues are very real, but gosh, I'd like a show for once to just be a show, Ted Lasso has lost a lot of the fluffy lightheartedness that made a lot of people start watching

There was certainly some heavy foreshadowing in this episode. I do think it's strongly hinting at Ted leaving, if not permanently, going on a long hiatus and packing up back to Kansas. I think he's been in over his head this season and it's becoming too hard to be away from his son. You can take the yank out of america but you can't take the american out of the yank. It's also the last season of the show, so it would make sense. Roy and Jamie's mentorship has been the highlight of the season for me.

What a finale! I loved how it intertwined Amy and Danny and everything came full circle. I enjoyed every minute of this show and its wacky personalities. I hope the discussion picks up.

This was my favorite episode. I really enjoyed the flashbacks and the little insights they gave into both Danny and Amy's self-destructiveness. It was difficult to watch Amy have to hold onto her dad's infidelity for so long and put pressure on herself starting from a young age. Danny throwing away Paul's acceptance letters was absolutely brutal.