GiandujaPie

Not a bad episode but I don't like how they just jump right to trial. Where were all the discussions about trial strategy/prep, pre-trial motions, etc... Looking forward to next week's ER reunion!

Re: Nicholas Ross/Arthur Knight I remember watching the original episode and I did watch the update from last month from the beginning as my husband didn't remember much of it. The timeline of his many crimes/frauds/identities was confusing to me. I also wonder at how he was able to dupe Nafsika, the vegan woman, into hiring him for so much money. She claims he came with glowing reviews on whatever website she found him on, but if he was a fraud, where did those reviews/references come from? Was the website not a reputable one and it's easy to fake those references? Seems pretty reckless to pay someone so much money based off online references/reviews from a website that doesn't seem to have any way to verify if they are authentic. His current wife Miranda has not been charged but now that he's changed his story and admits to being Nicholas Rossi and not Arthur Knight, what does she have to say for herself? If she hasn't left him or disavowed him, seems to me that is pretty strong indication that she was in on the whole scam to begin with.

I don't think it was ridiculous that Jessie was curious about her biological father. Yes, she knew her mother used a sperm bank (or she was told that) but it's natural to still be curious, especially when she was told that her injury was likely a result of genetics. I've always thought that single women who used sperm donors would always have to have an awkward conversation with their kids as they got older and should be prepared. So when Jessie's mom wasn't prepared, I figured that she had to be lying about how she was conceived. And it seems odd that in the many years that she's had Jessie, the mom never met another man and married so that she could give Jessie at least a stepfather? If I were Andrea, I'd be suspicious that it was because she still harbored feelings for my husband and the fact that she never moved away. I didn't catch that Kara and Andrea were not friends due to Kara pulling away - I thought it was Andrea that had a suspicion and that's why they were not friends. My husband and I have done one of those DNA tests and they do tell you by name who you are likely related to. Even if the test didn't explicitly tell Jessie and Will that they were half-siblings, it would have told them how much % they share and they could extrapolate the relationship based on that. They almost kissed a couple times so I'm surprised that they didn't have a more visceral reaction to finding out they were actually brother/sister.

From what I remember, the judge suppressed as evidence a text from Blaze where he said something about going too far for a story. I don't think it would have mattered anyway. Even if Blaze met up with Sam as part of some "story", it wouldn't justify what Sam did to him and for the lies he told.

Is the actress playing Vo leaving the show? I hope not!

I have met and seen Rob Riggle in real life at the celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe and he is delightful in real life. 🙂 He's very friendly and personable and always willing to stop and take pictures with fans. I took one with him several years ago! Actually this was the first time I've seen him play a character who wasn't obnoxiously loud, gregarious and funny. Usually he plays characters like Gil Thorpe, his character in Modern Family, or the cop in The Hangover. He was a little more low-key in this episode.

My dog's ears would perk up every time Jer did her cat noises. 🤣

So glad they passed Natasha on to the finale! My heart broke for her when she started to cry when time ran out. She has consistently been a better baker and decorator than Courtney so she deserved to go to the finale. I loved most of the stuffies they made as decorations for their dessert. Rafi's little bear was super cute although I thought he said the bear would be laying down. The white elephant was done all wrong. When I've done it, you don't get to open a new gift and then decide if you want to keep it or swap with someone. You either steal from an already open gift and give up your chance to open a new one or you take a chance and open a new one. The way they did it, there was very little risk involved. And it made no sense that person 1 got another chance to steal from someone at the end. And my DVR has been recording all the episodes too, even though it's supposed to only record new episodes. It's annoying to have to check to make sure I don't actually miss an episode.

Wes should have just left Mark when he took that other guy hostage and refused to leave. He didn't have to shoot him, just go and grab the other guy and leave Mark. I admit I got a little confused as to whether the whole kidnapping thing was a setup. Were the Devlins complicit in the kidnapping and it got out of hand? Or was it that they deliberately provoked a kidnapping by going deep into territory they were warned against and hoping that the Russian mercenary would kidnap them? I couldn't believe the FBI and police didn't forbid Emmy from posting about what was going on, or take away her access to her social media sites. And then at the end, why was Amanda not hanging out with them at the bar? Not even a throwaway line about how she couldn't get a sitter?

I agree that it never made sense for Maggie to take guardianship/custody of Ella when she had relatives who were more suitable and were actually willing to step up. Maggie's life is unstable due to her job and it's dangerous. Not to say that FBI agents/law enforcement shouldn't ever have kids, but it should be a factor when deciding on legal custody/guardianship between 2 equally qualified households, especially as she is a single parent. If she had a spouse or partner who could provide stability when she's on a dangerous case that would be different. However, despite all that, I hope Maggie and the uncle find a good way to transition Ella into the uncle's household fulltime otherwise I think Ella will just think that Maggie doesn't want her anymore which would be traumatizing IMO. As to the case, not sure why it was this group of FBI agents tracking down the serial killer. Seems like this should have been a BAU case to begin with. They were able to connect all the victims, this should have been a Criminal Minds episode. LOL

Too bad about Andre. He mostly made delicious desserts but I knew that once the field started to winnow, his lack of decorating skills would be his downfall. I think Steven was saved by his slightly better decorating skills. I'm hoping Jer starts doing better. On the show she says she's from Carson City NV and I saw that in some of her photos they showed during her introduction that she works at Edgewood golf course which is where a celebrity golf tournament is held every summer at Lake Tahoe. I've eaten at the restaurants at the golf course/hotel many times and the food and desserts are really good. Tahoe is not like Vegas and there aren't really that many good restaurants so the restaurants at Edgewood really stand out IMO. According to her Instagram, she's now moved on to Palm Springs. But I'm still rooting for her even though I think she's making too many mistakes to get far.

What was the new development at the end? I was trying to figure out why this case was being covered when the crime occurred a long time ago.

That's why it didn't make sense for her to refuse to testify and for going out of the way to "protect" her.

I still didn't understand why the judge's drug addiction would have been relevant if she took the stand to testify for the prosecution. I kept thinking that it was going to be because the defendant was also her drug dealer/supplier but that never turned out to be, so not sure why this information would need to come out when she was on the stand. If this information was going to be used to impeach her credibility, then that means the information is already known to people outside of her immediate circle. The actor who plays the mayor, Bruce Altman, has had many memorable roles in the Law and Order universe. My personal favorite is Tuxedo Hill on Criminal Intent. Liam Aiken was also on a memorable Criminal Intent episode as a genius boy who lied and told his father that he wasn't getting into a school for child prodigies and so his father killed the social worker writing the evaluation and recommendation. And I loved the actor as a little kid in StepMom.

Is she going to be Scola's new partner?