possibilities

This explains human trafficking at the border. People are taken for slave labor or held for sexual servitude. They are kept locked up when they are not actively being used, so they can't escape. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_the_United_States You can find other articles (I know Wikipedia is sometimes not well-sourced), but many of them are behind paywalls. New York Times has reported on this, for instance.

I wish all interactions between big animals and humans (like the pumas and the bears) would be that relaxed and not full of fear.

I find it kind of funny that the "expensive earrings" cost $25.

I thought the sex scene was a cover to get them into the shower where they could talk without being recorded or eavesdropped on, just like going running was how X and Billy got some privacy early in the episode. I can't even remember what book it was I read years ago where the only way the heroes could talk freely was in the shower. But I think that's a pretty common plot device. I don't trust anyone other than X at this point.

I understand Ava. But that doesn't mean I'd date her.

Are we sure Sir is being taken to act as an informant for the FBI, and not just being moved to a higher security prison? He might be being used to find his sister, or he might be charged with conspiracy to kill Christian, or he might be anything. He seemed to be cuffed when they drove by the memorial. They let him see it briefly from a distance, but maybe they brought him back to prison after? Am I forgetting some detail that would confirm he's actually being given a deal, or being sent to witness protection, or something?

Olympia and Julian have already finalized their divorce, right? One of the articles in the media thread refers to them as soon-to-be-ex, but I thought I remembered they've finalized the divorce. If they were still married, would that mean she could not be forced to testify against him? And would her law license be in jeopardy if she didn't report him, now that they ARE divorced? Could he retain her and Matty and Sarah and Billy as his lawyers, to shield them from reporting him? Or could he cut a deal to get leniency if he turns his father in? We really haven't seen him do much lawyering, and he even offered to leave the profession if Olympia wouldn't tell anyone about his malfeasance. So from the show's perspective, him keeping his law license doesn't seem to be important. Based on that, one way I can imagine this going is, they conspire to take down Jacobson-Moore, he becomes a full time parent, and Olympia and Matty start their own firm by the end of Season 2.

Why isn't Shinwell telling Watson what is going on? He seemed to be falsifying the DNA samples-- not sure where he got them, but he was talking out loud about how he wasn't complying. So, clearly he doesn't WANT to betray Watson. I get why Ingrid doesn't trust anyone, and I have no idea what her game is with Sasha. But shouldn't Shinwell be trying to get help from Watson in dealing with Moriarty and M's minions? Ingrid's fear seemed real, at least. I don't think she's delighting in selling herself to Moriarty, or trying to win her own safety by doing so. Unlikewith Shinwell, I don't know what they want from her, but she doesn't seem keen to be part of it.

It gave me hope for Emma and Joe reconciling, because clearly she does understand why he did what he did and clearly she still loves him. I give him serious ??? over having brought what's his name into his confidence-- the male officer who is not Chee-- about Vines, when he was not telling Emma about it. He said he was trying to protect her, but it still feels, at least to me, like he's closing her out more than being a partner. That seems to be what his ketamine tripping visions told him, too. He needs to go to a ceremony. I really thought he wuould do something like that after last week's events. Maybe he will and the timeline is too compressed for that to have happened yet (seems like it was the next day, not a week later in show time).

When Alfie said he had done something that might be "over the line" I thought he had sent all the Wellbrexa/Jacobson-Moore documents to the New York Times. So, soapy as the dad reveal was, I was still relieved it wasn't what I thought they were about to say. It would be more than easy to determine the legitimacy of the guy's claim to be Alfie's dad, using DNA. So if they make ANY hesitation or mystery or confusion about that, I will be incredibly annoyed. I don't mind Alfie the way a lot of viewers do. I think it's wrong that they used him as their hacker and accomplice, but I kind of like him as a character otherwise, because he acts like a kid when he's not in hacker/spy mode. A few times he's gotten excited and kind of vibrated out of his skin in a very kidlike way. He sometimes acts sullen like a kid. And he has also shown love, and insecurities. I like him. I find him surprisingly 3 dimensional for a secondary tv teenager. So, I hope they have not introduced dad in order to write Alfie out of the show. I do, however, suspect that is what they are doing, especially after Edwin complained -- in Alfie's earshot no less!-- about not wanting to be a full time parent, and Matty expressed her desire to stay a lawyer after the sting operation is over. I would be very hesitant to just pack a kid off with a heretofore totally unknown person, even if he is the genetic father. But it's possible the guy would have a legal claim they couldn't deny, or that Alfie would want to go with him since he now knows his grandparents are arguing over who will take care of him. And if the network has determined that the character is not popular, realism or common sense would not matter anyway. I would have rather had Bitsy move in, but I suppose she's more expensive than the guy playing Dad. And maybe there's some story they could do with him. I don't know. If they keep Alfie on the show, biodad could turn out to be shady and having him in Alfie's life could introduce more drama to illustrate why Matty being fiercely protective is wise. Or if they've decided he's a decent guy, maybe they could use him in some other way, but if he's decent, it will make Matty and Edwin look bad that they never looked for him before. If they really want to budget cut, I suppose they could have Matty and Edwin divorce because he doesn't want her to work, and that would also change the show dynamics. Up until now, I liked seeing the complexity of their marriage, but I admit I was ready to kick Edwin out of the house when he was being a sexist prick and arguing about Matty's right to a career and complaining about taking care of Alfie while Alfie could hear him. She was consistently respectful and trying to explain her feelings, and he was just tantrumming like a spoiled baby-- which I guess is realistic, but I have a low tolerance for people who pull that crap. The soap opera aspects of the show are there. But it also has done some complex things with the characters and their relationships, and I appreciate that. Olympia and Julian, Matty and Edwin, even Matty and Olympia, and Matty and Bitsy-- those are interesting, layered interactions. I wish they hadn't thrown in the junior associate's baby with his ex, but I am letting the more interesting stuff outweigh it for now.

I think a decent writer could write a character off without killing them. It would be hard to do it with Bobby, but they could have done it. Shows do it all the time.

I think they will reveal who was killed in the finale. I think they are following the pattern of "How To Get Away With Murder" which revealed who the murderer was at the end of each season.

Yeah, I will miss Rafael. This show does a really good job of making their chracters interesting.

For him to put Athena through that would be so cruel, though. If she was in on it, maybe. But not if he faked her out like it looks like he did. I think the show wanted to change its entire tone, and this was the last brick in building that plan. Seriously! Writers should be ashamed of themselves to admit they are so devoid of ideas that doing something like this was all they could think of. They chose this because they thought it was interesting. I disagree, but nothing will convince me that any decent writer would be unable to think of any other story.

It didn't occur to me until this minute that none of us even thought to question whether having something to smash was a good idea in the first place.

I thought Chee should have shot thje tires so the perp couldn't drive away. He was sitting right there next to a tire. I realize that's not the point, but it took me out of the scene.

I never met a cake I couldn't smash. Seriously, I had never heard of smash cake. So I looked it up. It's a small cake for the birthday of a 1 year old, that they can easily smash with their fingers. Genuine question and not being snarky: can 1 year olds not smash cupcakes? I do think that smash cake looks delicious, though, either way. And now I want one.

One for me. Doolittle, of course.

I am glad Goodall was not influenced by Curious George. Liam looked very young. Like maybe Kids Tournament young.

I like it. And last time I checked, the ratings were fantastic. So I'm hopeful it has a good run.

Those beetles "mouth fighting" and then the way they portrayed the female as so completely passive-- not only doesn't she participate in choosing her mate, but she also gets thrown off the branch when he's done impregnating her! Wow. That's some story. I was glad the sister puma shared the carcass.

I loved that they lost due to cultural appropriation, and then was disappointed that CA was just an excuse and they really lost because of corruption, with the other club's leader being involved with the judge. I was also surprised there was only one judge and not a committee, but I can handwave that part because apparently this is more of a country club status type competition and not a more community based endeavor, and the judge was supposedly high status and connected to Oprah. I also thought it was good that they replaced the president of their club-- this wasn't her first mistake-- but was kind of surprised they chose Catherine for the job, since she was also shown to be harsh and unpopular. How does this club operate, anyway? Do they have bylaws? How do the least popular people get the leadership positions? Is it all about money or something? And then of course Catherine somehow declined her Presidency and got the deposed Marilyn the job back without consulting the rest of the group-- I can't see that winning her or Marilyn any loyalty. Two scenes from previous episodes keep popping into my head: One in which Birdie tells her cop/lover that she and her friends murdered someone. Surely that is a revelation that will come back to haunt them. And another scene after the murder where Catherine is saying it's all her (Catherine's) fault. Did I make that up? I thought Alice had truly been moved by her husband's father, and that's why she invited the parents to dinner. But her telling his mom that she did it for leverage? Wow. I liked Birdie realizing she likes her new friends and her birthson more than her old friends and lifestyle. It's petty of me, and of the show, I realize. But her former friends were very unpleasant. Her new friends are actually fairly unpleasant also, though. So it's kind of funny in a way that really nobody on this show is very likable.

In all seriousness, though, I did kind of appreciate them taking the stalking seriously, and also not pulling any punches about how evil Oxalta is. No need to humanize evil; that's been a very popular agenda in the past few years and I like seeing the pendulum swing away from it. The resolutions are too easy, but at the same time, if they draw it out people will say it's dragging, so I give them a pass on a victory. -- You can print out digitally taken photos (I've done it), so I did find the chemical darkroom contrived, but I was mostly joking when I asked if that was SOP for stalkers. All I could think about, though, was that they were standing around all those chemicals during the blaze. I wondered if there was a better way to put the fires out-- I thought foam of some kind, or... I don't know. I liked Eve telling Jake to be a grown up. I don't want Jake to leave the show, though, so I'm not sure how they are going to handle his arc. I wondered how they were paying for Vince's memory care facility. Now we know they actually haven't really been able to. I don't really understand how ANYONE pays for those places, other than flat out oligarchs. I am liking the friendliness between Audrey and Gabriella. I really hope they don't rekindle the Bode flames to break apart their friendship.

Matty not trusting Olympia because she knows she betrayed Olympia and Olympia is pissed. I get it. Matty knows that turnabout is fair play and if Olympia was lying to her, well... Matty kind of knows she kind of deserves it. And she just finished teaching Olympia how to manipulate people, so all the more reason to have her guard up.

Soimetimes I think the writers of tv shows are just sadists.