Magic

Chloe now has five songs in the top 200, at 4, 21, 77, 110, and 180. Addison still has three, at 5, 79, and 168. Pretty impressive.

It's interesting to me that Chloe has three songs in the top hundred, at 4, 23, 83 and also has one at 120. Addison has one at 8, one at 89, and one at 200. If I was a producer, I would want to be signing Chloe for sure. I don't remember anyone getting so much interest each week that so many of their previous songs were bought too. Addison is also notable in that department. Both Addison and Chloe are singing songs that seem like their lane. Even though Brooke is charting highest at number 2, she's not going to be singing Amazing Grace type songs as an artist. She is letting herself be diverted like last week in What About Us, to kind of be used in how to present the song with drums etc., which in some ways drowned her out some, but at the least it diverted her again from potentially building her fan base by picking songs of the type that represent her as an artist. It just makes her seem generally good which doesn't build a fanatic fanbase. Same for Keisha who has a very pretty voice but is not defining herself as the artist she wants to be. She just seems generally good and that is not going to really build a fanatical fanbase.

Interestingly, Chloe is still number 1 on iTunes. Addison has dropped to 7 which is still good. But noteworthy that Chloe has remained number 1 and didn't drop immediately.

Chloe's and Addison's performances tonight again made people buy multiple of their past performances and bring them again into the top 200. Noah also has a past performance into the top 200. I agree with Star Aristille about what Miley must be thinking. And it must be doubly hard in that it is the two old boys Blake and Adam who currently have the top two contenders. A few of the others could still come along and win if they pick the right songs and Chloe and Addison stumble in that department. But they are sitting pretty for now, that's for sure.

Interesting that Chloe's performances now have three including this week in the top 200 (TAT 93, Landslide 65). One of Addison's songs (AFM 167) also cracked the top 200. One of Noah's previous songs is also still in the top 200 (ITAT 145). Addison has made it to the top 10 and is now at 9. That was a great song for her. It is going to be interesting how things shake out the next few weeks. Kind of interesting that Miley cut both Chloe and Addison. I wonder if she is kicking herself now. Keisha needs to be making a lane for herself not muddying the waters. If she wants to be country she should make herself stand out in that lane. It's time to bring the fans together, not keep confusing them. The band really can get in the way of hearing these contestants - a LOT. You would think they would have learned to dial it down by now. Even on iTunes the band is sometimes too loud.

I cannot believe Moriah was eliminated. She is fierce and is a real natural. The only consolation is that someone is going to pick her up. There is no doubt about that. Right now I think it is up in the air who will win, there is enough good contestants with different lanes. It will be interesting to see how America votes. ETA, I re-watched a few and I think Miley let Moriah go because she wanted to clear the way for Brooke. They both have a certain fierceness that could split fans. In the end it s best to consolidate the fan base from the start, if you really want to win. There's going to be a lot to choose from this season. Brooke, who I liked from the blinds, still wows me the most now.

Way to tell the Voice doesn't care or want the fan vote. Still iTunes shows something about who the fans liked and all of them that charted are still on Jennifer or Blake's team. Since the coaches/producers won't see any of that info in the taping, it is interesting that the singers who charted highest are still here. Noah's and Chloe's performances pushed up one of their previous songs too. Noah has been the biggest surprise to me. I just didn't expect him to be this good of a performer/singer. The emotions in his voice make me want to hear more. My biggest disappointment is losing Mitchell. I really like a few of his songs but not so much last night, it was too bland. He seems the type that when he has the right song you will notice him, but otherwise he fades into the background kind of fast.

hehe. And I thought Evie and Chance clearly got the bottom five edit by having to share James Arthur. But overall a good final. Always love to see Kelly Clarkson. And there were a lot of fun bits like Sara training the judge's dogs. Howie was funny, for once, in that piece. There were a handful of fun bits with Tyra in them. Including when she was quizzing the judges with AGT facts. Lots of funny bits in that skit. I have never seen so much confetti. Glad I don't have to clean that up. Congratulations to Darci. I hope her family keeps her grounded and she goes on to a great career as a show person. While not my favorite acts of all time this season, this season was the best all around season, I can remember so guess I'll be watching next season too.

This for me was the most entertaining group of finalists for any AGT season I have watched. Even the sob stories were the best, even though there were plenty of them. I have never liked so many act even in the semi finals. I came away respecting so many of these acts versus being kind of bored by now by most of them. And as they went along through the season I respected them, and enjoyed them, more and more. There is something about watching good people trying to achieve their dream that is really inspiring and that really came across this season. This was really a good AGT season. In the end, Darci stood out to me the best. She does have some "it" factor. Look at all the people trying to be ventriloquists shown in her package. Most would never make you interested in watching them as say, a Vegas act. But Darci can talk and sing as a ventriloquist, has great facial expressions and sharp wit, and her wit is only going to get better as she gets older when she is going to be able to get away with saying more things. I am really interested to see what they cook up with Terry for the finale assuming she will get to do a skit with him.

The dancing should be what I remembered but instead it was the judging. First, they judged the first act instead of showing the scores after both had danced. That made it clear what the judges had to score to get the dancers they wanted to move on. And to prove the judging fakery, we have the injured dance team Les Twins, winning their division. Sorry Jennifer, bad luck, for them, but what an insult to K and M that an injured team beats you with scores of almost perfection. Sure. Everyone should get injured then. Think of a different name for this show, like, Jennifer's favs. But this is not a real dance contest. It is a judges manipulation. Who'd want to watch it next season knowing the fakery of how the judges judge this season???

Finally some dancing. Same as always, the judges couldn't make it more obvious who they want to leave.

This format seems so amateurish it is embarrassing to watch at the times it isn't boring. It reminds me of some show like the Bachelor or something with a lot of inane comments like: "Will you pick me????" uggggggggg. The main reason I started watching this show is to see the dancing. I cannot STAND how this show keeps cutting away from the small amount of dancing they are even showing, to show the ASs reactions (or the judges during that section). For a show that is supposed to focus on dancing, they seem to be doing everything they can to show as little dancing as possible. I couldn't care about any contestant, much less any AS at this point with the disjointed, boring, snippets of this or that they have shown so far. It would be a lot more interesting if at this point they at least let the top two dance for each team and let the public vote the top one through. But having the same partner for all the rest of weeks also seems like a loser format given the chemistry, dance style etc. combos possible if they ASs moved around. I liked the early season SYTYCD format a LOT better. It is amazing the when ratings are dropping they can come up with such a poor production format that makes it look like they want to drive viewers away. Don't they realize that fans are set up to want to watch good dancing, growth of the contestants, and the variety of different partners that adds to the drama (which they can still control via editing)? And given some of the injuries of the contestants in the past, who kept dancing, it seemed weird that the few stitches needed near her eyebrow for the one dancer would be enough to make her drop from the competition. It did sure make it seem like she knew she wasn't going to get picked so used the injury to avoid that situation.

Just thinking about the season in retrospect, I am even more disappointed. So many story lines started and not going anywhere after all? Just picking a few, but I think almost ANY could be picked. From the start, I thought I was on the wrong station when the East Berlin interrogation was going on, and it got a LOT of film time, and what did it ever mean. Whether Yuri was ever tied to that or not is unclear to me, much less the overall emphasis on Russia (Peter and the Wolf, the Cossacks etc.) that never seemed to be tied to anything we were told about in the end after all. Varga wasn't a Russian even if he admired Stalin. He had a diverse team and his last destination was Belgium, so what did the Russian angle ever really add up to. Ennis having his mouth and nose glued shut. We are supposed to think Malcolm, the hothead with a gun, took the time to find glue and did that?? Who even does that, much less a spoon of a thinker who has a gun. And what about the creaking upstairs that Gloria heard. And why would Varga and crew be soooooooooo smart to work for years in advance setting up their scheme (giving the loan to Emmitt in the first place years before showing up to collect what they felt was their due) that the IRS guy described, but did not pay taxes, which would bring about the downfall of the new company and waste all those years of planning? And NO to Nikki giving the quote she was assigned by Paul in the bowling alley, to Emmitt!!! NO it is obvious that the most evil one had to be Varga. Emmitt was just a weakling weasel. He didn't deserve to be the reason Nikki died or the quote. And by Mr. Wrench killing Emmitt five years later, or Nikki killing the state trooper, are they walking the better path, as Paul alluded in the bowling alley? What the hell was the bowling after all? It got a lot of film time too, and for nothing reasonable or feasible. I still think in the end each writer spontaneously moved the story down the road and the subsequent writers just tried to deal with what the last writer did by putting in a few Fargo like story lines to keep the season moving along or perhaps move their own agenda along no matter what it did to the overall story. To cap it off, a weak ending that didn't bring closure to almost any storyline that was started this season. Not even Gloria and Nikki getting to share some pie together.

Gloria told the IRS guy that Nikki must have sent the drives and it seems most logical it was her. In a preview scene though, they seemed to show Varga tapping Gloria's (or the police's) phone and already hearing the IRS guy ask if Gloria was working on a case that involved Emmitt. Anyway, a season of many plot holes and themes that started and ended up not getting fleshed out. It was pretty much a lazy writing mess in the end.

I will have to be convinced that this was a good ending, because I didn't like almost any part. This was just like tie a few ends together and get it over. Come on. There is NO MAY Varga and Meemo and crew would have gone into that unknown obvious trap for a measly 2 million It is so ludicrous it isn't even worth discussing, like most of this season. And as soon as Nikki was killed in the way it happened, I knew any saving grace was lost forever. Emmitt is a weak weasel and deserved to die. But why did his car suddenly start after Nikki was killed. Never mind, nothing is even worth debating. Stupid ending, and I'm guessing they couldn't come up with any way to end it better so left it like this. Unsatisfactory, like most of the season. Please keep the writers that had the most likes of their episodes and fire the rest - you too Noah.

haha, there is no doubt most people would WANT him to be invisible. That is a good angle. I am not going to eat rocky road ice cream the rest of the summer, if ever again. It would be funny if sales of rocky road ice cream plummeted after this show.

hmmmm, now I am wondering if Varga actually works for her???? There was something about that "meeting" she had to go to in an hour, and the paperwork that Varga is trying to force Emmitt to sign, along with the fact that they keep dangling widow Goldfarb in and out just enough that they have to make her important enough to make her lies (and outfits, lol) worthwhile. I noticed that too. Her face was whiter and her lipstick was darker. Maybe she really is half dead??

Nikki and Mr. Wrench for the win! She sure wants some revenge. But given the speech from Paul in the bowling alley, I'm not thinking she is going to get out of this one alive. She might "win", but still not live. Thanks for the explanation about why the sprinklers were on, although I don't see why Marvin Stussy didn't turn them off when he saw them on. Couldn't quite tell who was stomping on what in the road in the previews for next week, or who Emmitt was saying when he said "You work for ???" Wondered if the Widow Goldfarb works for Varga and that is the paperwork Varga is so anxious to have Emmitt sign that he caused a few more Stussy murders with the same MO as Ennis and Ray, and a confession to tie them all up, so that the police had to free Emmitt. I thought they were going to ram the truck in the jail first, which seems simpler than what they ended up doing. Some interesting twists, and a few more gross out moments with Varga (who I NEVER want to see eating anything again!), but still mostly seems kind of clumsy and I am not thinking that whatever happens in the next (last) episode is going to have anywhere near the same impact as the last episodes of Seasons 1 and 2. I just hope it doesn't get ethereal again. And that Varga, Meemo, and the dumb chief die (sorry but this is Fargo and someone has to die, so that is who I am picking). And Winnie, haha, somehow gets the right thing across even thought there is a lot of oversharing going on.

I think he will be killed in the coming massacre leaving the way for Gloria to become Chief (this just follows from previous seasons of Fargo), which I see from the episode 9 preview will likely include the widow Goldfarb.

I did actually enjoy the bowling alley scene. My issues are more with how the writing and plot devices this season seem more on the fly, not as well fleshed out, etc. and in some cases go beyond what I expect of is "allowed" in Fargo. Where by allowed I mean more is what I have come to expect from Fargo, or the characteristics of Fargo, than can you do it or not. hahaha, I think this is one of those suspension of belief moments that they are taking to the extreme this season, but are part of Fargo. The confusing thing to me was that while I realize her fellow deputy is not the sharpest tool in the shed, wouldn't he have quit calling her chief by that time? So I thought it was Dec. 31st, her last day of being chief, so he had not yet gotten used to not calling her chief. And if it was Dec. 31 then that caused the bearded Sy hospital scene in 2011 to also confuse me as to the time frame. Thanks to this forum for helping me to keep things straight. With all the beer cans around this seems true, but kind of weird that their target practice mannequin was a human and not like e.g. a deer.

I did like this episode of "Fargo" enough to keep watching. But to me the writing seems like the writers are on some type of Improv activity and/or there are more than one writer per episode and one at least is out of sync with the others. e.g. some parts are good and some are not Fargo-like. It almost feels like the instructions to the writers are vague and brief like to fit a few Fargo elements in, such as in this episode Nikki and Mr. Wrench being chased in the woods with a few gruesome attacks thrown in, or killing the innocent bystanders who drove by the convict bus "accident". After they decide which prior Fargo elements to include, then they have to come up with parts of the story, which often seems like it is on the fly to me, to try to tie all of the elements together. But they are losing some Fargo absolutes. For instance, Lester and Peggy would NEVER turn themselves in. They NEVER accepted any wrongdoing. So Emmitt turning himself in, is wrong. And, as many posters have already mentioned, we already have had to suspend belief MANY times just to accept the plot to-date which is Fargo like. But with the "bowling alley" (paraphrasing "so that's what it seems like to you"), Paul Marrane's speeches, and the end of Yuri etc., come on. Unreality is more or less nodded to in Fargo, e.g. the spaceship(s) never land - and we don't deal with who is inside of them. Here we have an entire ethereal section in the bowling alley we have to actually accept and deal with, including the green VW bug get away. This, in combination with the Improv feeling of the writing episode by episode, makes me continue to feel this is a shell of what it has been in the past. The fact that there is nothing better on tv is a slight consolation but there is a fair amount of disappointment too. Interesting that Gloria also met Paul Marrane on her trip to California. But still this time, Paul seemed too all knowing and almost implied that Nikki and Mr. Wrench were going to be dead soon, at least, that is how it seemed to me. And it would occur in some showdown with the evil ones where Nikki needs to convey the message Paul gave her. But no wonder he had kind of a weird vibe in California too. By this point I don't care if Varga et al. is with a Russian mob, I don't care about the Russians at all. I don't care about the Cossacks, either and Yuri and his relationship to the mob of (un)dead who were waiting to talk to him is just too far from the main theme and too sparsely set up for me to give a damn about that either. And I got lost in time with Sy. Suddenly he has a beard in the hospital and the date is shown as 2011, but then in a few scenes Gloria is still "chief" although that is going to end in a few hours so it is only December 2010??? Good for Gloria in moving on and signing her divorce papers. And her reward is that Emmitt happens to come in while she is still "chief" to give himself up. I wish I could like this season more than I do.

He really adds to the season. I think I would enjoy just watching all the clips in a row that have him in it, to re-watch his facial expressions (minimal though they may be) and comments. But I fear he is not long for this season. Varga seems to have placed a target on his back.

Maybe someone found the right Stussy for some reason we don't know yet? It's always interesting how these accidental deaths, like Peggy running into Rye and killing him in Season 2, and Emmit and Ray getting in a shoving match over the framed stamp which tragically, but accidentally leads to the end of Ray, spiral so far out of control. When likely not that much would have happened if Peggy, or Emmit, had from the first called the police and explained what happened. Of course, there wouldn't have been a story then. But, my how things, like boatloads of murders more, start to happen, once these Fargoites start covering up an accidental death. Hah! Good conclusion. I thought the unknown man did something before he went in the room.

Oops right. Do we know that Nikki was on probation for prostitution? I'm not sure if I came to that conclusion because she had her "hooker wig" in the sex tape episode and other supporting clues, or if it came out directly in an episode. Because Sy's comment implies it too.

haha, I have thought Emmit was one of the dumber people on this show. He reminds me of someone who is successful because he has a loyal right hand man in Sy. He has made some of the dumbest leaps of non-thought along the way, even though it is hard to stand out with the dumbness many of the characters seem to have been saddled with. Loved Sy's response to being accused to being in cahoots with Nikki (like some posters also have thought). That I decided to what? Turn on you? Join forces with your leptard brother and his syphilitic floozy so I could turn millions into thousands?” I will laugh at this quote the rest of my life. Really one thing this season has been very good for is quotes. Edited to say that I hope someone is collecting all the good quotes and putting them in the Fargo quote thread.