Pestilentia

I went into this knowing nothing so I had zero idea what to expect. I determined 'satire' pretty quickly but still have no idea what direction it will be taking. Still, it is different enough that I'll give it a few more weeks to settle in to itself. If Winslet signed up for it there must be something there worth watching, and if it keeps me away from true crime that's only a good thing.

SO late to the party and don't really expect discussion, but I was a fair bit bothered by their ability to match adult Julie's fingerprints in the drugstore via the national database. Unless they lifted prints from that child's bedroom or elsewhere in the house and submitted them how would they have even had her fingerprints in any database to match? I know that some parents do fingerprints of children as a preventative matter but was that common in 1980? My own child was 7-8 years old at that time and I don't even remember considering it and I myself have never been fingerprinted. I just feel like that should have been mentioned in passing, as it felt like a bit of a procedural omission to me. Then I thought maybe they did lift them from her home and used that as my basis for getting past it, otherwise it would simply keep niggling at me.

She is Turner, formerly Bertha's lady's maid, now married to Mr. Winterton.

To me that's how I knew it was a scam. That's how good grifters work, they make you feel as if everything was your idea. A bit of mild resistance is tossed out which only further inflames the desire of someone eager to make money hand over fist in a short period of time. Every word that was said to Oscar was only said to inflame his greed even more. If you watch all those scenes again you can see how the things said to Oscar were specifically worded to whip him into a frenzy- he couldn't write that check fast enough. It's a technique as old as time.

I know myself well enough to know that I too can be domineering and controlling because that's how women accomplish things in a man's world. I made certain to give my own daughter the skills to do the same- she can speak up when she needs to and advocate for herself. My question wasn't how such a situation can passively develop. It was more wondering why Bertha hadn't given her own daughter the same tools she herself found it necessary to utilize on a daily basis. She's smart enough to know how to walk the line between keeping Gladys somewhat malleable to her own wishes while providing that child the skills necessary to negotiate the very society she is trying to force her into. Bertha may be many things but short-sighted is not one.

Apparently I was the only one worried about that lynch mob- my heart sank when I saw them. All I could think was "Please don't go there, please don't go there." I saw that ridiculous kiss coming from a mile away yet just knew that smoke was going to start creeping in and they'd become trapped in that handy hayloft. Please stay in New York, Peggy. I adore them as a couple- we very rarely get to see true teamwork in a marriage and they have that one figured out perfectly. That's the way a marriage is supposed to work- supporting one another's goals. And I like Bertha, too- any woman in that day and age who could stand up for herself gets my vote. She has a clear destination in sight and she's going for it. How she managed to raise such a door mouse of a daughter escapes me though, as I find Gladys to be a whole lot of nothing. She has zero personality, extremely bland looks, seems interested in nothing, and is to me the anti-Bertha. What does she do all day? What does she want to do all day? Agnes lost her companion dog. The pet had been in training for many years and was very well behaved, it will be difficult to replace and that is quite annoying. Her outburst with the good Reverend was masterful acting- I could feel her mind awhirl with her own misery and fear. The words just BURST out of her mouth as if they had a life of their own- I was reminded of DeNiro's "What about me?" lament at the end of This Boy's Life. Utter confusion and pain and wrapped up so tightly within their own narcissistic hell that the thought of sitting in a room alone is terrifying. I find it very interesting that in an episode where the Russell's dinner party with The Duke provided us with all of the opulence we watch these shows for yet Agnes entrance to that wedding was the money shot. Baranski knocked it out of the park this episode and I am thrilled that we got that moment of her appearing like an avenging angel then walking into the church looking so magnificent. That was spectacular and that dress was to die for, especially set against that embroidered suspenders lederhosen looking abomination Ada was wearing. That headpiece was ugly- just bad. Haven't you heard? Hell hath no fury.

That's me as well. I am SO glad I didn't read any media about the show at all while watching it- I didn't even know the premise when I started it. "Shippers" have a weird pathology that colors their perception and makes them see things that aren't really there and all that noise in our head can affect our perception, too. So glad I missed that- it never even once occurred to me that Ted and Rebecca would get together. When Ted was choosing reading material at the airport we saw a smidgen of a tabloid headline mentioning something about "Akufo's downfall." I had been meaning to go back and take a better look about what it said but never got to it and the urge faded. It just made sense to me that Sam would end up playing for Nigeria. Akufo was such a jerk I figured that one of a thousand things could have taken him down so I didn't need an explanation.

Really? I don't think it "suggested" a thing. It's a simple as the child reminding Rebecca of herself as a child, no more no less. Me too. And people say "fan service" like it's a dirty word while I think series finales need to use more of it. A well planned and executed series finale seems to be lightning in a bottle, having been achieved 2-3 times tops in the entire history of television series. It's now clear that we are not going to get it every time- showrunners' minds have moved on, their head is already into the next project. As fans we have enjoyed the stories, characters, and writing for the duration of the season- if we're still here at finale time it's because we enjoy it. So why is is a dirty word to play the finale for the fans and give them a happy ending and a bit of closure? Sure Roy and Jaime were ridiculous, but people are ridiculous at times. Sure Rebecca running into Dutch guy was unrealistic and trite but it made me SO happy that she might be happy. Sure Beard marrying Jane was weird but most relationships have a side order of dysfunction lurking around within their depths. My point is I see zero downside to wrapping things up in a neat little bow for the fans. I guess I am not a sophisticated television viewer- if I want sophisticated writing I will look to literature, not a television series. If I do happen to run across a spectacularly constructed series finale it is a wonderful surprise but not something I expect, not these days. I have been terribly disappointed so many times that "Just OK" is a clear win. I think there was a lot of wisdom in this show and that was its gift to me, and I loved the closure that this finale provided. If there were bobbles that's life and does not negate the impact that the series as a whole provided me.

100% agree- she did it because she could. The last time she repeated "I just don't think you'd be good at it" to Kendall she pulled a smirk like nobody's business. I know that face- I've made that face. That is the face you make when you stick it to someone purely to piss them off and you enjoy doing it. Once she knew she wasn't getting it and Kendall lied to her face about killing the kid the fun was over and she was making certain that Kendall didn't get a damn thing that day. Purely sibling jealousy- I'm surprised she didn't toss in a "Neener neener" to emphasize her utter delight in screwing him over. As far as Shiv wanting to be a mother or raise her child better than she was raised? I have never ever seen Shiv act the least bit maternal- she rarely even looked at her DOG. Having never had a competent parent in her life she has zero frame of reference for parenting and no apparent interest in learning. I think that child is doomed to be as emotionally bereft as the rest of them- it hasn't a chance. Raised by narcissists, indeed.

Well, it was "Meh" bordering on "Just OK" for me. Lots of rehashing arguments between the sibs we've heard 100 times already, empty promises coming out of everyone's mouths, and narcissism on parade with remaining 'parents' Caroline and (step) Peter being just awful trying to pitch a smarmy deal at the worst possible moment. It was just awful people doing awful things. Don't know what I expected but I did not find this satisfying at all.

All a puppet would have to do is show up every day. Mattson has a stable full of minions to cover the day to day- he'd just install one of them as an assistant. And why are we worried about Greg's actual capabilities anyway? Any CEO chosen to pass muster in order to close a deal could easily be replaced after the smoke clears.

Anyone disregarding Greg because he is "unqualified"- what show have you been watching? The kids are ALL supremely unqualified, that's the point of the show. The world is run by bumbling idiots, Greg will fit right in.

I took "It's a yes" to mean that he had pitched an American CEO to Mencken (we saw that pitch, remember?) and Mencken seemed interested, so "they" are Mencken & company. She inferred that she herself might be that American CEO but that's all Shiv's hubris IMO, he has zero intention of working with her.

15 minutes ago I don't think Roman was "spoiling for a fight" at all, he was looking to be beaten senseless in order to escape his emotional pain..

It's a thing. At least it is a thing in the context of a loved one being terminal and the dying process involves months of suffering and stress. By the time they do die it is 100% a relief that their suffering is past and you've cried all you can cry. Of course that was not the case with Roman and his cavalier attitude toward his own grief is what did him in. As far as entering the mob and provoking violence- physical pain is a whole lot easier to handle than emotional pain. I felt as if he was hoping to be beaten to a pulp or even killed in order to escape the emotions that were dominating him, but falling and being near trampled to death works for a weasel. Kieran Culkin absolutely killed this- he made a snarky weasel sympathetic by showing us that he is no more than a child who wants his Daddy back- it was gut wrenching. I'm seeing here that he will be entering 'Lead Actor" territory at the Emmy's this year- I don't watch many other series and have no idea who he will be up against but if he doesn't win it is a travesty. That pain looked real and he dug deep. That was just an amazing "performance" so much so that I don't even like that word to describe it- that was an amazing depiction of grief. Loved the wives/mistresses club, Rava was right to remove the kids, and if Mattson wins this and needs a puppet then Greg is going to be that person. And of course Ewan is the only sensible person in that entire church as far as understanding that Logan Roy was not a "good man" like Shiv needs to think, or a "bad man" like various others like to describe him, but a shade of gray like all the rest of us fallible humans. Money and power corrupt nearly everyone who gets this type of access to it and he was no different- he was fallible and that's the lesson all of these kids need to take away from all of this- that *they* are fallible, too. Greed is going to be the downfall of our species and not even the Roy children can escape that.