poppy-

I agree, I really like KJ Apa's performance (and his believable American accent). Season 1: horrible murders and intrigue and all Archie's friends tell him "nah, don't help, go play music buddy" Season 2 he is less protected by his friends and has to try to navigate on his own with cunning liars like Hiram and the "FBI Agent" and he reacts like...... a teenager. A gullible teenager who can't really keep up and never has a witty comeback. Who just wants to play music and basketball and hang out with his pretty girlfriend.

Chuck's a straight up villain, despite one cute scene with Josie. I do like the physics of wrestling in Riverdale. The smaller the tougher. Hiram > Archie > Chuck. And did we know Kevin was built like that? A good 15-20 lb of muscle more than Archie? They have some magic cameras and bulky sweaters that made me think he was, like, normal sized. Young people: do all teen guys shave their chests really or is that a CW thing? I'd have assumed CW but y'all do shave parts we didn't when I was in high school.....

It started out Hotline Bling and then veered into Lonely Island.

Today I learned Flaca is not her name, it's just a nickname, and in Spanish it means "skinny". My UO is that this season was too ridiculous and it was insulting to our intelligence. There's a 3 day riot. The prisoners don't rush the drugs, and let Lorna and Nicky play doc to get meds? There's a whole entire infirmary that exists in a different dimension? Women in MINIMUM SECURITY prison who aren't the "lifers" engage in these risk? Maria: if you though 5 years was a tough add to your sentence, don't torture and sexually assault hostages. There are phones but people aren't calling the media? There is an industrial kitchen but they ran out of food in less than 3 days? There's a hole in the fence and the riot gear guards don't think that MIGHT have something to do with the count being off? What else. Judy King has a live TV interview about the hostages without talking to the police first? People locked in portapotties for DAYS aren't dangerously dehydrated? The Governor's hostage negotiator has to ask the prisoner if she can have coffee vs having meals brought in? Piscatella kidnapping a half dozen women in the middle of a prison riot....so they can watch him be cruel to an old lady... what exactly is his endgame there? That whole stripping scene, and the "let you try my finger" orgasm? WHUT. No.

I'll save you the trouble. The prison is run by career German Army officers, not Nazis. The German Army officers are foolish bumblers. 'Dukes of Hazard police force' level of stupid. There is one Nazi character, a member of the Gestapo. He is shown to be cunning and evil. He exist to be the only one smart enough to see through the American's secret codes and tricks and escape plans. But the Germans don't like him, he is a political rival. Plus creepy. So the Germans don't believe him and actively work against him. And round and round they go.

"I was born ready" was an awesome, badass moment. And of the very few times that I was reminded that Red is also Captain Janeway. Her flashback suitor, the one who got her to the US- is that the guy she was married to when we saw her other / later in life flashback? I remember her husband being a bit of a softie, no real match for her.

So nice to see the S1 credits! I don't know how many years it's been but I can still remember the contestants. That's Blake, Ryan, Jamal, Artem, Allan (!! last and only obese dancer, sadly), Kamilah, Snow, Ashle, plus two guys I don't remember. No Nick (not there that day?) and that blonde B-Boy wasn't on the show. It would be wonderful if every year was a showcase of the top dancers.

This episode felt like fanfiction to me , with visiting an AU that makes sense only the the context of the show's mythology and if some events from previous seasons didn't happen. Which is not the precise definition of meta, but it's in the ballpark.

Oh. Wow. But. He had Ruby wearing an actually dead girl RIGHT THERE. Maybe she tricked him into thinking she had a role to play in killing Lillith? Even so, .Ruby could just jump into someone else, right? Or ........maybe the nurse persona was a trick ? I don't know. I mean, in theory, the girl in the trunk would be dead no matter what happened. But the way he did it. Kind of unforgivable.

But, what happened to the girl in the trunk? Did Sam eat her?

Two episodes so far and both made me tear up. But nothing adds up Hannah killing herself. What did the paper say- Hannah has the best ass? They just showed it for a second, so I thought the content wasn't important so much as "teens being judgey". Now I need to go see, if it's what makes Jess freak out on her. She was lousy. In the moment I felt bad for the actress. Now I wonder if it's a plot point, because it was so noticeable. Maybe that's the big secret between her and Justin, ha. I like the watchful quality of Clay. Typical narrator who will grow up to be a writer (except it's not that kind of book?). Although I wonder if the too clever, too wise view we get of Hannah is based on his POV and we'll see a different girl later. I'm kind of enjoying watching 1 a day instead of binging this show.

My friends are all watching this-- women in their 40s / 50s. Parents of almost teens. I know it is based a YA novel, but from the perspective of a parent, it is a scary show so far. (Have only seen episode 1). Saw the selfie coming. Saw the bike injury coming (but how dumb is Clay that he didn't realize the car stalking him was his ONE friend with a growly old car?) Saw the photo sharing coming, naturally. Saw Clay finally losing his patience at the worst possible moment coming. It seems to be a show about kids who aren't bad people doing wretched things.

There is such a casual disdain for pop culture dilettantes. "I'm doing Wild" says 25 identical woman. Townies do Hamilton badly while the one savvy ASP clone in the room looks on disapprovingly. That sharp edge was always, though. I'd just kind of forgotten about it in the hazy memories of la la la. This was exactly what GG always was, warts and all.

That was kinda campy and bad but it's a "setting the stage" episode . How to deal with losing the fan favorite / best singer? Still, stay away from caveman costumes, because that is some sub-Disney show nonsense. We've already known Josh is not a deep thinker but wow, his thought bubbles. Endearingly dim. But Josh is also smart, in some ways. I loved him sidling out of the room to get away from Rebecca and Valencia. I don't know who Brittney Snow is, or the actor who played Sunil. Sunil gave me a kind of Billy Eichner vibe.

I'm ok with rolling with the left-field casting of Heather's parents. I think they just wanted to cast that DJ-voiced man as the dad because everything he says feels like a warm hug. The whole Douche plot and acting was a little too camp for my tastes. Heather's winning was {Heather voice} like, ridiculously predictable. Plus the the poo humor on the 911 call took it to a full unnecessary level of cringe. But the episode is still a win for me. "We can't unscrew each other's friends". True dat, Greg. Bonus: tap dance in sneakers.