Lone Wolf

Outstanding premise. Tagline: "I hear chatty people." I've said it before (although not this season) - if a Pearson was lost in the forest, they'd talk to the trees while they were trying to find their way out. The love of a good woman makes anything possible? Sure, why not...

The credibility that is stretched and the disbelief that must be suspended with this show.... Kevin flies commercial. By himself. With two infants. Okay, he wanted to prove he could do it, but c'mon...with the resources he has at his disposal, why would he feel that need? Because he never touched the drain when the pool was full? Cassidy has a wonderful, heartwarming Pearsonesque family dinner and game night and then feels the need to go racing into a tree which leads to a lengthy hospital bed-ridden monologue. Apparently working on Pearson Sacred Ground instills one with Pearson Monologue ™ ® capabilities. Hopefully the other Seabees are immune, or they're going to get way behind schedule. After all, not unlike the Blues Brothers, they're on a mission from God. Or at least Rebecca. Kevin delivers a Monologue to a stranger in a hospital waiting room who's all "Dude. I'm just here to visit my wife." Now, that is credible. Rejected and maybe a little dejected, Kevin delivers another Monologue to his 9-month old infant. That'll put 'em to sleep. Matty's dad looked like he was heading for zee hills before it was his turn.

Speaking of that guy and his craziness, habu vipers in sake is a real thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habushu Everyone's so concerned about "doing good in the world", they should have donated that food to a homeless shelter. And speaking of things that "went out" over a century ago, way to stay current, Show - Howard Stern? Really? How much did his agent pay for that mention?

We lost my father about six years ago after a long illness. He and I were at each others' throats pretty much from the time I hit puberty, but once I moved out on my own things calmed down, although we were never close. Nevertheless, it surprises me that I still think about him as often as I do. This. My mother made what she made (which was determined by what my father liked) and we ate it, like it or not, and it was gone before we were excused from the dinner table. "You'll eat it before it eats you." To this day, I avoid potatoes au gratin, liver and onions, and creamed chipped beef on toast. Otherwise, no residual damage that I'm aware of.

I thought the same thing - seemed uncharacteristic of him, but I chalked it up to the writers needing another incident to contribute to how inevitably disastrous Pearson Thanksgivings become. And apparently are overcome after a Pearson Monologue ™® or two.

My GF says the secret ingredient is love (every time I tell her something she made is good, she says it's because it was made with love). The problem with these multiple timelines is that we already know what's going to happen, e.g., there's no Girl Loses Boy suspense because Rebecca and Miguel end up together. I realize the show's always been about the journey, but for me it's hard to get more than mildly invested in these characters when for two seasons or more I've known their destinations. Tobie - I get the concerns, but with due respect to your genes and traumatic childhood, it doesn't have to be either/or. Jack's just a toddler, not Joey Chestnut. There's plenty of time to instill healthy habits and monitor his calorie consumption. Lighten up, it's Thanksgiving. Speaking of which, Kevin's fumbling on the guitar reminded me of one of Adam Sandler's songs. I kept waiting to hear, "Turkey for me, turkey for you..."

Sam has some unrealistically self-disciplined doggos in the second episode. IRL, they would have torn that sloppy joe and profiterole feast to pieces if it was left unattended. I expected her to come down the stairs and find it in tatters. Fun fact: Ron is the guy who played Randall's father on This Is Us. Wouldn't have thought that Mary Kroft is still around, but God Bless Him, although I doubt he does his own grocery shopping. I still remember H.R. Pufnstuf and The Banana Splits.

Exactly what I thought. After "Good for you." and just before "Hmm, she missed out on getting a cool pair of kicks." We haven't seen the last of Bonnie. As soon as she sat down in Chuck's office, I knew Dave was going to be around for a while. Antagonism with an undercurrent of flirtation, that meeting was. I predict that there will be romance afoot. Sacker's taking up the slack with the tight dresses and heels, though. Big 180 for her. It's funny that you mention bondage gear - at one point I was wondering what ever happened with the B&D plot line. Did they actually close that out somehow, or did it just fade away? I remember Chuck finding a new mistress, but not how it got to the point that he stopped going to her. I didn't pick up on the Hamilton connection. I thought it was just a historical reference; he could have said due diligence for Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and it would have been the same difference to me. And they'd have still scored another point for Black History Month. And it worked; Wendy still has her mojo. I don't think the writers know what to do with these two anymore, especially Senior. I'm pretty sure the Governor was spooning down a Haagen-Dazs Dazzler when he was on the phone with Chuck.

I've heard burn rate used to describe what someone's spending to cover their expenses, regardless of whether the cash flow is positive or negative (although your definition is technically correct) - Chris Rock once used the term in just that context during an interview. Given that, I took the stop tallies to be indicative of the individual's burn rate, which in turn tied to the class photo at the end juxtaposing what their ever-increasing magic number was to reach financial freedom. Same for the tallies of the cost to bring the Olympics to town so far. Apparently the cost of that particular Geisha coffee ($600) is mainly due to the inherent scarcity of it. Like anything else, supply and demand.... I think the writers just grabbed Bruce and BJ because they're the most well-known celebrities who live in Jersey who are vocal about their support of it, e.g., the Hurricane Sandy concert. I'd call it 50/50 whether they'd get involved with an Olympics campaign IRL. If all it meant was a private party (for which they would likely get paid or at least have their expenses covered), they might. Wags went to a lot of trouble and missed out on some fun and games that wasn't really necessary - the last I heard, women ovulate every month. Either he didn't think it through or Prince's "integrity and morals" are rubbing off on him (unlikely). I don't think Chuck wears suits from MW - his are probably custom tailored also. He comes from money, makes a good living, married extremely well, and he used wear to some great vested outfits in the early seasons that I haven't been able to find off the rack. They didn't show his stop tally because he wasn't part of Prince's firm - that's also why they didn't show Sacker's until she was. I think Prince was just bringing Taylor down to earth. He was already doing what they aspired to and he made them realize that as well-intentioned as their goal was, they were being naive about what it took to accomplish it. And it worked, although not in the way that he wanted to. And not for nothin', but Haagen-Dazs still makes The Dazzler. It sounds amazing, but I have a feeling that if I tried to eat one I'd have the same reaction as the Governor had.

Plus, per the books he's essentially a genetic freak. In one of them, one of his his pectoral muscles is so developed that it literally stops a bullet. He eats nothing but road food and lots of it, and it apparently has no effect on his build which as described would put Mr. Olympia to shame. Even in one short story that takes place when he's a kid there's mention of him looking like a bulked up Greyhound. That's standard operating procedure, too. In the books Reacher doesn't "get the girl" about as often as he loses a fight. He's all about using his elbows instead of his hands and breaking knees. My quibble is with the injury resulting from the soldier's jawbone becoming embedded in his stomach. They mentioned it briefly in the ep, but in the book the resulting scar was pretty horrific - here you could barely see it. In fact, he was in pretty good shape scar-wise overall compared to the books. All that said, I like the series better than the movies for the obvious reasons. Lee Child definitely stood his ground this time around.

That barely counts in my book. I spend a lot of time looking at the cats in the beds in the background to make sure they're real and not stuffed. It's a good example of what I call Mindless Entertainment - fun to watch because of a premise (breaking the 4th wall and waving at the end) or character (cats), but it isn't going to change my life and I don't miss it when it's between seasons or inevitably cancelled. This is a pretty good example of what the MWCP (Minimum Weekly Cat Presence) should be:

When Drew introduced his sister to Holly he should have said, "Haaaaaave you met Ellen?" That would have been a nice callback, props to HIMYM, and Easter Egg for those of us who are basically watching to compare.

Hate-watching is not without value. My GF has sucked me into as many shows that we've watched together just to snark on as there are ones that we've held in high regard. And then there are ones that I call Mindless Entertainment - just fun because of the premise, a character, or whatever. Not really hurting anybody, but not exactly Appointment TV. Re: a second season, it's all about the money. As long as TBTB think that there's a profit to be made, it'll run. That's the fun of hate-watching though. Watch the show, go online and criticize it with other like-minded people who feel your pain. There's anger, but I don't think anyone's really losing sleep over it. I had the same thought about the brother getting some ashes. Maybe she pulled a Joan Rivers-with-Edgar-Rosenberg's-ashes and took the rest and scattered them at meaningful places throughout New York. She probably kept some for herself, too. I thought they did a good job covering Cattrall's choice not to participate (hello, How I Met Your Father, speaking of hate-watching) by having Samantha texting from time to time. I doubt many viewers really bought it, but it was a good choice.

Sondra Theodore. Definitely too much and/or bad plastic surgery. She even lisps when she speaks. I was mildly shocked that she's only 65, compared to Barbi Benton (another main girlfriend who apparently has declined to participate in this series), who's 72: Marilyn didn't own those pictures, so he didn't need her consent - IIRC, Hefner bought them from the photographer or whoever did own them, but MM signed away her rights years earlier when they were taken. Another fun fact: Mr. Romance bought the crypt next to hers so that they could spend eternity side by side - allegedly he recognized that her centerfold was the main reason the magazine survived initially and was (in his own weird way) grateful to her. As for Jennifer, I blame her father. Hefner's gonna Hef - the guy's life and business revolved around sex and everything that suggests, and he made no secret about it. Quite the opposite, in fact. But her father lived in the mansion with her the entire time. He should have been a father instead of Hefner's buddy - he should have known what she was doing, enforced boundaries, and as you said, generally protected her. And not for nothin', but what was she doing there in the first place - did I miss the explanation of that (obviously I haven't read her book)? To be clear, I'm no fan of Hefner but I don't think he was a predator like Cosby, Epstein, and Weinstein. I think he was selfish and manipulative, but he was not without redeeming qualities. I don't think he was as evil as he's being portrayed.

I mentioned this in the TIU forum, but once when I was hiking I met a Great Dane whose person told me that the dog's name was Taylor. As in Taylor Dane. I really liked the surprise party dancing - at first I thought it was going to be a flash mob. Perfect gift for Kat. I also like it that they have the minor part players waving at the end and not just the regular cast members. Kitties like uncluttered surfaces...

And even when you catch them, the writers are sometimes trying to be so tragically hip that that they're ridiculous, e.g., "Like Gere in 'Gent', I have no where else to go." Classic Wags, but if I didn't watch TV with captions, that would've gone right over my head. Not that it's Emmy-winning dialogue to being with... White people problems, indeed. I have a neighbor whose guests park in front of my house. I wonder how many drinks I'd need to buy and palms I could grease to get get my curb painted red. There must be a Chuck somewhere in my town who can help me out. Nice to see Saul Goodman's brother doing so well, but that plot line was silly, even for this show. The stereotypical angry mob had torches, but they forgot the pitchforks.

I recognized that pointy chin immediately, but between the number of elapsed years since The Breakfast Club and her glasses, I'm not sure I would have known it was Ally if I hadn't already read that she was on this show. Just finished the second ep and dropped in to say that Samantha's sponsor (Olivia?) had the biggest cat I've ever seen in my life. Years ago I had a good boy who was a Maine C*** who was a sizable 15 or so pounds, and that one made him look like a kitten. I'm still on the fence in that I'm not finding anything about this show to be really compelling so far, but I'll give it a few more episodes.

EXACTLY. For me, this show isn't strong enough (writing and characters) to stand on its own without cats, and lots of them. Without cats, it may as well be "How I Met Your Father". But worse. I was going to mention that she finally had more than a walk-on role. And now, not suggesting that a cat could have played Phil's part, but because there literally was ONLY ONE CAT IN THE ENTIRE EP:

It wasn't - I was trying to humorously comment on how much the actor looked and sounded like him. "Cat Benatar" reminds me of a Great Dane that I met during a hike once. Her person said that the dog's name was Taylor. As in Taylor Dane.

Standard-issue tear jerking aside, I kind of see this as a Filler Episode. It was entertaining enough if you're interested in Rebecca and Jack's (especially Jack's) backstory, but it didn't really advance the narrative of where and how the Pearsons are all going to end up. I did like Marilyn's cat quite a bit and I learned that David Crosby has a second career playing her bereaved boyfriend so, to paraphrase Carl Spackler, it had that going for it. Which was nice.

I was mildly surprised that Jonah came back home after setting up shop at the motel. I know I'm more black-and-white in my own outlook on life than I should be, and Jonah's still a minor, but given how bad things are between him and Wendy, how (apparently) passive Marty is about the situation, and the fact that Jonah has access to a free room, I'd have gone off the grid (other than maybe texting Charlotte, since they seem to be getting along) at least until the parental units forced the issue.

I was watching the pilot episode and was almost certain that I had seen it before. Turns out that in a way, I have - it's a remake of an Israeli series called "On The Spectrum", and when I say remake, it's pretty much word-for-word. I really enjoyed the original but not enough that I'm going to be able to re-watch it in English with different people playing the same characters. I'll probably throw this one on when I've got nothing else to watch or I want to multi-task. The characters and plot are enjoyable enough (and why wouldn't they be - it's like comparing MacDonald's to Burger King; any difference is too nuanced for my palate to detect), so I'm not going to just bail. Also. I'm mildly curious to see if TPTB do anything differently this time.

And the Egg is a smoker. And smoke is what killed Saint Jack! Has Toby no sensitivity?? No wonder their marriage is doomed... Speaking of Jacks, Future Blind Jack seems to have done well for himself. My GF thought they were on vacation at a resort when we first saw that palatial estate. I'm interested to find out how he apparently amassed that much wealth. And kudos to FBJ for being able to grill food with little to no eyesight - I can't even plug the charging cord into my phone's port unless I'm wearing my contacts, and even then I have to squint to make sure it isn't upside down. Deja: "We're gonna have a problem with that." Unswayed and unmoved by Randall's flowery Pearson Soliloquy© ™, The Power Of Teenage Love prevails.

Went right over my head since I've never watched Big Bang. However, I did wonder if "Peter Backpack" was a reference to Jan Brady's fictional boyfriend, "George Glass". If it wasn't, it was some unoriginal writing. Like, theft-level unoriginal. Just going on the record again for this season that Cheyenne Jackson (Max) has a more-than-passing resemblance to Joel McHale. I like that they're breaking the 4th wall and doing the physical comedy. Last season it seemed to call attention to the fact that they weren't doing either as well as the British version, but enough time has passed since I watched the original that the shortcomings don't seem as glaring now. Yes, they are. Fluffy paws:

I guess Nick can pull it together and act like a socially competent member of society - dare I say, even flirt - with the right stimulus. Also, going on record again that he's my favorite character because Dunne looks like Marc Maron, who I also like a lot and who I could see bringing the neuroses (though not the gravitas) to this role. And the over/under for how much longer Sally's marriage lasts is.... REO Speedwagon last week, Blue Suede (yeah, I had to look it up) this week. Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga, Ooga-Chaka OY VEY....What's next week - "Yummy Yummy Yummy I Got Love In My Tummy"?