Good Queen Jane

How about this: The nursing home where Mike's grandmother died calls to tell him they are still holding a box with her papers. Mike goes through the box and finds a letter to him that had been delivered to Granny's address after he had moved out which she had meant to give him but had put away and forgotten about. It is from the State Bar Examiners telling him that, based on his hardship application and his scores on the recent bar exam he had taken, they were waiving the requirement of a law school diploma and that they were pleased to advise him that he was now admitted to the New York Bar. It is dated before his interview with Harvey. So Mike always was licensed to practice law in New York, he just didn't know it. Of course he didn't go to Harvard, but that isn't illegal or unethical. I know that in RL this couldn't happen, but in RL Mike would never be practicing law no matter how much of a special snowflake he is. Once Jessica found out, Mike would be put to work researching and brainstorming, but would never appear in court or meet with a client, which wouldn't make him much different from a RL associate in a big NY law firm.

U.S. Ladies skater Caroline Zhang had major surgery on March 3 to a correct congenital hip dysplasia and femoral acetabular impingement, a condition which led to a labral tear in her right hip. The labral tear in her hip couldn’t be repaired until the first two issues were addressed. Now, if you are like me and missed medical school, you probably aren’t sure what all of the above means. Here is Zhang’s description of the surgery: “Essentially, they cut your pelvis apart and reposition it so that the socket is covering the femoral head again. I'm feeling okay; I had allergic reactions to the dressing they used and to the pain medication, so I'm still in the hospital, but definitely doing better now." Zhang says the recovery time is 9 to 12 months so she will miss next season. However, she also stated that she would like to complete again in the 2016-17 season. Zhang finished 17th in Senior Ladies at last January’s Nationals and she finished 19th at the 2014 Nationals in Boston, so I’m a bit surprised that she is talking about competing in 2016-17. A major surgery like the above could be interpreted as a sign from the Skating Gods that it is time to call it a career. However, maybe the surgery will help her correct her skating problems and she will be among the contenders again (stranger things have happened). She will be 22 in May.

So the mom has an emergency C-section to deliver her premature baby and an hour later she is sitting up cuddling said baby (who wasn't rushed away to an incubator in NICU) and talking to baby daddy. Okay. I wonder what the backstory on the best friend EMT is. She doesn't seem to want to go home much and she gets sad looks on her face a lot. But you would think that she would have mentioned that the one driver was pregnant when she was brought in,

An earthquake! Really? Will there be a plague of locusts in an upcoming episode?

It's twizzles, which is spinning on one foot while traveling across the ice. Twizzles are hard.

Wow! Did Special Snowflake Surgeon TC actually make a mistake that another doctor had to fix? What is this show coming to? I want to see more of Chavez (in all senses). He and Topher are the only grown-ups in this show (although Ragosa is growing on me.)

Juniors Worlds begin this week on Wednesday, March 4, in Estonia. The U.S. has several skaters who could contend for medals, such as Nathan Chen and Andrew Torgashev in Men, Karen Chen in Ladies, and McNamara and Carpenter in Dance. Unfortunately, there is no U.S. TV coverage of this event, although icenetwork will live-stream the event and offer archive video to subscribers. The CBC in Canada is offering TV coverage of the Free Skates, and you also can probably find video of individual performances posted on YouTube not long after an event ends. Below is the broadcast schedule for Junior Worlds. All times listed are EASTERN. Icenetwork.com Live Streaming Wednesday, March 4: 3:30 am – Ladies Short Program 11:45 am – Pairs Short Program Thursday, March 5: 6:45 am – Short Dance 12:00 noon – Pairs Free Skate Friday, March 6: 3:45 am – Men’s Short Program 11:00 am – Ladies Free Skate Saturday, March 7: 6:30 am – Free Dance 11:00 am – Men’s Free Skate For those of you in Canada or who can pick up the CBC in the U.S., the TV broadcast schedule is: Thursday, March 5: 12:00 noon – Pairs Free Skate Friday, March 6: 11:00 am – Ladies Free Skate Saturday, March 7: 6:30 am – Free Dance 11:00 am – Men’s Free Skate 3:00 pm – Pairs/Ladies Free Skate

Another sea change has been the relationship of Fitz and Mellie to their older children, Early on there was no relationship; the kids were shipped off to a boarding school and rarely seen or heard from. Then the son is killed and Mellie has a complete emotional breakdown and the thing that will make Fitz happy is his son being alive. I can understand that the death might cause the First Couple to realize that they love their children but we haven't see any of that displayed toward the surviving two who have once again disappeared off the face of the earth with Cyrus's daughter.

Han did touch the tip of his skate down during the second spin. It was brief but with the super slo-mo the technical specialists have, it was noticeable. When the skate touches the ice, they stop counting revolutions, which meant he didn't make three turns for that spin, which means it didn't count and, since the element requires three spins with changes of positions, they didn't complete the element. No points. (I know, I know, but rules are rules.) For whatever reason, the Chinese pair skaters are not good spinners, so they usually do the minimum and sometimes that bites them. In other Pairs news, the Russian news service R-Sport reported Saturday that reigning World Pairs silver medalists Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia won't compete at the 2015 World Championships. Their spot will be taken by Kristina Ashtakova and Andrei Rogonov, who finished 4th at the Russian Nationals and 3rd in the Rostelecom Grand Prix event. According to the report, Russian Skating Federation President Alexander Kogan and the team’s coaches decided months ago that Stolbova and Klimov would end their season before the World Championships. This would allow Stolbova and Klimov to start working on adding a quad throw to their Free Skate for next year, as well as get an early start on next year’s programs. This is a very odd announcement. Isn’t the point of skating all season to get to Worlds? Why would you deny one of your top Pairs teams an opportunity to possibly win a medal at Worlds? Yes, Stolbova and Klimov don’t have a quad throw in their repertoire, but really, only a couple of teams have that move. Stolbova and Klimov could win a medal - maybe even a gold medal - if they skate their programs clean and some of the other teams mess up their jumps or throws. Anything can happen at Worlds, especially in Pairs. There has to be more to the story than Stolbova and Klimov just want to get a head start on next year. Either there is some behind-the-scenes political situation that is keeping them from going to Worlds or “the glare” we saw from Stolbova at Europeans when Klimov fell is an indication that this team is not a happy one and need a break from each other.

It would be interesting if they had both Malcolm Butler and Russell Wilson considering that Butler intercepted Wilson's pass that won the Super Bowl for the Patriots.

Pang and Tong want to skate at Worlds this year since it is in China. They skated at 4CC as a warm up. Hopefully, they will in fact retire after Worlds and go off and have babies. I had such hopes for Adam Rippon after Nationals, but he seems to be following in Jeremy Abbott's footsteps. Adam got a one point deduction for starting late. C'mon, they call your name, you skate to your starting position, and you go. How hard is that?

Steven was the Chief Gladiator and Olivia's bestie in Season One. He left to get married and live a normal life. And the actor playing him is thanking his lucky stars that he did.

Hannah then gives baby Samuel to the temple in service to God. Later God calls directly to Samuel who answers "Here I am, Lord. I come to do your will.". For a believer like April, it is the perfect name.

I couldn't get on until late last night. It's working now. Jason Brown decided to try out his quad for the first time in competition. It didn't work out too well and threw off his Triple Axel too. But it's good that he is at least trying.

But it wasn't the new CEO who was behind the murder and jury tampering; it was the assistant to the dead woman. Or am I remembering it wrong? I have been one of the people wanting the show to go back to Season 1 and the POTW cases. But after watching this episode, it all seemed rather...boring. I guess you really can't go home again. But it was nice to see that there are some aspects of life not connected to Samaritan. I did love Harold talking about the government using a computer to spy on everyone and the judge and lawyers going oookay. Talk about hiding the truth in plain sight!

This provides the broadcast schedule for Four Continents, which starts on Wednesday in Seoul, Korea. As usual, icenetwork.com will provide live stream of the event, although some of it will be in the wee hours of the morning, especially if you are in the Eastern or Central time zones. They also will have video of the events on demand. Universal Sports TV will broadcast the short programs and the Pairs Free Skate and Free Dance on tape delay. NBC will air the Ladies and Men’s Free Skate, but not until February 21. Here is a list of the live streaming and broadcast times for Four Continents. All times listed are EASTERN: Icenetwork Live Streaming Wednesday, February 11: 9:30 pm - Short Dance Thursday, February 12: 12:10 am - Pairs Short Program 3:15 am - Men’s Short Program 11:30 pm - Free Dance Friday, February 13: 3:00 am - Ladies Short Program Saturday, February 14: 12:30 am - Pairs Free Skate 3:30 am - Men’s Free Skate 10:30 pm - Ladies Free Skate Universal Sports TV Thursday, February 12: 2:00 pm - Short Dance 3:00 pm - Pairs Short Program 4:00 pm - Men’s Short Program Friday, February 13: 2:00 pm - Free Dance 3:00 pm - Ladies Short Program Saturday, February 14: 10:00 am - Pairs Free Skate NBC Saturday, February 21: 3:00 - 5:00 pm - Ladies and Men’s Free Skate As always, check your local listings for the times in your area and for any changes. The draw at Four Continents is a weighted draw, meaning that the “not ready for prime time” skaters draw for the early groups and the ranked skaters draw for the later groups.

Poor neighbor lady! First she has to deal with people coming at all hours of the night pounding and screaming at Olivia's door, then having to deal with Secret Service agents outside her door whenever the President drops by, and then she dies a horrible death so Olivia can be taken. Actually, I think she is behind the kidnapping so she can get a nice, quiet tenant in Olivia's apartment.

The European Championships begin tomorrow (Wednesday) in Stockholm. Like Four Continents, the list of competitors is long, since every country can send up to three entries of skaters who have gotten the minimum qualifying scores in their discipline. To see the list of entries, go to:http://www.isuresults.com/events/fsevent00051597.htm Just click on the discipline to see the list of participants. Icenetwork will live stream the competition from Europeans, and Universal Sports will show most of the events on tape delay. NBC will show the Ladies and Men’s Final from Europeans but not until Saturday, Feb. 7. Here is the live streaming schedule for Europeans on Icenetwork (ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN): Wednesday, January 28 5:00 am - Men’s Short Program 11:55 am - Short Dance Thursday, January 29 5:00 am - Ladies Short Program 12:30 pm - Free Dance Friday, January 30 8:00 am - Pairs Short Program 12:00 noon - Men’s Free Skate Saturday, January 31 6:00 am - Ladies Free Skate Sunday, Feb. 1 4:30 am - Pairs Free Skate Now, if you are like me and not willing to get up at the crack of dawn to watch the “not ready for prime time” skaters, you can see the last groups and other highlights on Universal Sports TV (it’s a weighted draw at Europeans with the highest ranked skaters drawing for positions in the last groups). The schedule for Universal Sports is below (again, ALL TIMES LISTED ARE EASTERN). Wednesday, January 28 8:00-9:00 pm - Men’s Short Program 9:00-10:00 pm - Short Dance Thursday, January 29 8:00-9:00 pm - Ladies Short Program 9:00-10:00 pm - Free Dance Friday, January 30 8:00-9:00 pm - Pairs Short Program Sunday, Feb. 1 5:00-6:00 pm - Pairs Free Skate Also, don’t forget that NBC will be showing the Skating Spectacular from Greensboro on Saturday, January 31, from 2:30 - 4:00 pm. Plenty of skating to watch this week, so warm up your computer, TV or DVR!

NBC will air two show previewing the 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships this Saturday and Sunday. Not sure if these are two different shows or the same show being aired twice. Regardless, at least NBC is giving the Nationals some attention. The preview shows will be broadcast: Saturday, Jan. 17, 5-6 pm Sunday, Jan. 18, 3-4 pm NBC will also be showing the Championship finals live. Saturday January 24 will be Pairs and Dance at 3-6 pm and Ladies from 8-11 pm. Men will be on Sunday January 25 from 4-6 pm. NBC will be showing the exhibition taped delayed on Saturday January 31 from 2:30 -4 pm. Times listed above are EASTERN. Check your local listing for the times in your area. I'm off to Greensboro on Monday. I'm sitting with a group of folks wearing blue sparkly scarves, the better to find us on TV. If you're there, stop by and say hello.

U.S. Ladies skater Polina Edmunds has told NBC Sports what many people have speculated on is true: she has growing pains. “Puberty is upon me,” Edmunds admitted in an interview with NBC as a run-up to Nationals. The sixteen-year-old skater has spent the last several months adapting to physical changes and adjusting her balance and coordination. She says, though, she has been skating mostly clean programs in practice. Edmunds also has another source of growing pains: learning how to be a top-ranked skater in the Senior ranks. Last year at this time, Edmunds had just completed the Junior Grand Prix series and was projected to maybe finish in the top 5 at Boston Nationals. Next thing she knew, she was standing on the second step of the podium and getting a ticket for a plane flight to Sochi three weeks later. There really wasn’t a lot of time to think about all that was going on. This year, Edmunds received her two Senior Grand Prix assignments in the summer and competed with a lot of high expectations from skating fans. “I was very nervous,” Edmunds declared, but then corrected herself. “Well, not very, but it is a very competitive sport and I had really difficult elements.” She also said that, as a newcomer, the judges were going to be a little more strict with her. Edmunds added she’s working on becoming more mentally strong, but that the expectations many placed on her for this season were not more than she could handle. Edmunds is okay with going through puberty now, however. “I’m happy that I went through these changes [puberty] right now, versus later in the next four years,” Edmunds said. “Now I can really grow with my skating.”

I have always enjoyed this show. It is well written, well acted and brings up interesting moral dilemmas that turned out to be real. But after last night's episode, I am hopelessly in love with this show. And after the third simulation ("It's a simulation, so why not?" "Playfully witty signoff."), I want to have its babies.

The dancing knights in armor production scene means that I will forgive almost anything else. But I found much to like. The songs were much better than I expected. A really fun show.

I didn't believe for a moment that Neal was dead and that lessened the emotional impact of the scenes of Peter and Mozzie grieving (although I did get a bit teary-eyed when Mozzie called Peter by name rather than The Suit ). I kept waiting for the long con to be revealed, which took me out of the moment. I mean, did no one wonder how the EMTs got there when Neal was supposedly left alone in a hidden basement? But the scenes after the one year gap made me feel that all was good for the characters I had come to know and care about, and these days, if the series finale doesn't leave me screaming bad words (I'm looking at you, Lost and Burn Notice), that's enough for me.

Would NBC or Bravo or even Spike please, please, please show this. Those of us in the hinterlands who watched Smash deserve to see the final product.

The Grand Prix Final for both Seniors and Juniors begins tomorrow - Thursday, December 11 - in Barcelona. The Final is always an interesting competition because the top ranked skaters from the Grand Prix season will be facing off against each other, most for the first time this season. Icenetwork will provide live streaming of all the events from both the Junior and Senior competition. Universal Sports will broadcast some of the Senior programs, and NBC and the CBC will show some of the events...eventually. For some reason, both NBC and the CBC are showing their Grand Prix Final telecast on a one week delay. Here are the live streaming and broadcast times for the Grand Prix Final. All times listed are EASTERN. As always, be sure to check your local schedule to confirm the times in your area. Icenetwork Live Streaming Thursday, 12/11: 8:00 am - Junior Ladies Short Program 9:05 am - Junior Short Dance 10:20 am - Junior Men’s Short Program 11:25 am - Junior Pairs Short Program 2:15 pm - Senior Pairs Short Program 3:30 pm - Senior Ladies Short Program Friday, 12/12: 8:30 am - Junior Ladies Free Skate 9:40 am - Junior Free Dance 11:00 am - Junior Men’s Free Skate 12:15 pm - Junior Pairs Free Skate 1:45 pm - Senior Short Dance 3:00 pm - Senior Men’s Short Program Saturday, 12/13: 10:00 am - Senior Pairs Free Skate 11:25 am - Senior Ladies Free Skate 1:25 pm - Senior Free Dance 2:45 pm - Senior Men’s Free Skate Universal Sports TV Friday, 12/12: 8:00 pm - Senior Men and Ladies Short Programs Saturday, 12/13: 4:00 pm - Senior Pairs Free Skate 5:30 pm - Senior Free Dance NBC Sunday, 12/21: 4 - 6 pm - Senior Men and Ladies Free Skate, Highlights CBC Saturday, 12/20: 4 - 6 pm - Senior Men and Pairs Free Skate, Highlights