The Closer

While Mary largely annoys me, I could at least see at times how others might find her wacky enough to be amused by her antics. However, when she was being an asshat to the person working the event that was it for me. It's one thing for the other housewives to have to deal with one another's antics, but being rude to people just doing their jobs is not okay and not acceptable as "entertainment". If Mary returns next season, I'm out.

The women they interviewed that had married Lloyd seemed like decent people who actually did leave him, one at the expense of losing her sons in the process, so I'm not sure why we need to go on about the problem being the women getting involved with Lloyd or acting like it's so simple to just leave an abusive situation involving children. I thought it was a well told story and was one that fully used the 2 hours to tell. It was heartbreaking to see that Lloyd and Marshall returned to Moore's vehicle and fired more rounds. I love that Moore's wife opened up Book Therapy. Hope she can find the peace and love she deserves.

This episode is exactly what I want from these types of shows. I love that Keith called out the disappearing tears of the murderer, his referencing of the age of the murderer's granddaughter, and calling out the way the murderer was making Brittanee a willing participant (including the voice over that stated she did not like pot.) This is not a trivial thing to me and why I prefer Dateline to many of these other types of shows. Keith never lost sight that there was a real victim here and protected her reputation accordingly rather than leaving it out there and letting the public think, "Hey, Brittanee didn't deserve to get murdered but she was a 17 year old girl doing drugs and looking to party..." as if she had an active role in her own death which is exactly the picture the murderer was trying to paint. I also love that they gave Timothy Taylor what the FBI couldn't - a public acknowledgement that he was innocent and wrongly accused. Tara is a strong friend and I liked that Dateline chose to end with the happy memories between the two. Personally, I am not a fan of commenting on people's appearances in general, but particularly when it's friends or family of a murdered victim.

I thought it was odd the father didn't call 911, but he also lives in a world where crime is a non-event. This is why he initially thinks it might be his son playing a prank - the thought of someone breaking into his home would be that unthinkable. He also didn't have the ability to go back and watch the video and had to rely on what he thought he might have seen for a few seconds so he behaved like a the scientist he is, wanting certainty and proof before jumping to conclusions. There are plenty of people in the world who delay calling 911 because they want to be sure, fearing embarrassment that they panicked and got police involved for something silly. I put him in this category. Whether you feel like the son was overly dramatic or unlikeable, imagine what he saw that day and then follow it up with 11 hours of being brutally interrogated and accused of it. What exactly would be a normal way to respond and does the trauma of it ever actually go away? Deyonte had a long criminal history as a juvenile, but when this murder happened he was around 19. He was no longer going to get the slap on the wrist that the had grown up with in the juvenile system and, prior to the murder, he was arrested for robbery and sentenced to 2 years in jail, obviously serving far less than that. Getting caught committing another felony so soon after would surely have earned him some decent prison time. I don't think he planned to kill anyone but 1) he had been to Justin's room already and had the knives on him 2) he runs into Jill and they are both shocked and a struggle ensues 3) Jill tries to escape and he knocks her out. Let's not act as if he ran out at that point that he wouldn't have done a decade of prison time. Instead, he stabs her many times and leaves behind the son's knife. It almost worked.

I guess I expect more from the people who didn't actually commit the murder? These were people who should be focused on their well-being of their granddaughters who were children at the time. Maybe in the days immediately after the loss of their mother wasn't the time to try and take a stand. Of course they don't entertain another notion. The only person they have left in their lives is their father. Right after the murder, their grandparents put them in a position as children to decide which side they were going to be on by controlling how they talked about what had happened, instead of focusing on just supporting them and letting them come to terms with things on their own timeline. Now they want to guilt them over how they won't be around forever. I get people not feeling sorry for the daughters. The one who got most of the airtime was surly but she's a teenager who had lost her mother and was being questioned about something that would cause her to now lose her father. I find compassion to that the only response for me personally.

I don't know. The only people I feel sorry for are the daughters. They lived with marital discord, a drug addicted father and a mother with mental health issues. Then they lost their mom. Their dad was convicted for killing their mom. While I don't blame the grandparents at all for wanting justice (and I believe they were right), telling their granddaughter immediately after their mother's death not to say that it was suicide and drawing a hard line on that with them seems like they were more focused on their needs. Sprinkle in the "I pray for reconciliation but our time is limited", while true, is wielding guilt against them. How about just saying, "Our door will always be open to the girls. We love and miss them very much." The girls are going to have a rough life. Hope they can stay strong and find their way.

As someone who hasn't loved when Dateline has made an innocent person a suspect for 50 minutes in order to tell a compelling story, I'm glad they kept the SODDI defense (lmao) to a vague person and focused on the trail the wife left behind. I love a good mystery, but sometimes there isn't one and, focusing on the police work done to uncover the clues in order to build a case, the most compelling aspect of the story.

That was really good police work. It would have been so easy to have just stopped with either the ex-boyfriend or with the friend who found the jacket, but they kept on going until they got the right person. Unpopular opinion, but I like Andrea. I don't care how she does her makeup and I find her good at asking point blank questions to get the emotions out of people. The "fuck you, dude" is a good example of that. I know most people seem bothered by her, though.

I personally don't think Keith Papini had any knowledge of what took place and I think the divorce is legitimate and not just to protect assets. Starting the GoFund Me makes sense because, among other things, he hired a private investigator. If a loved one went missing, I'd try to raise money too in order to be able to do everything possible to get them home again. Once she came home, I don't find it odd that he would spend the left over money on their debt. For all I know, some of that credit card debt may have come from expenses during the time he was looking for Sherri. Either way, though, if Sherri had been telling the truth and had been kidnapped and tortured, I doubt the donators would care that they used the remaining money that way. It would be easy for the detectives to be skeptical. They could even say that they'll never know when Keith found out (only that they didn't have enough to charge him with a crime), but they seem to really believe it wasn't until that interview a few years after the alleged kidnapping. If you're going to file for divorce to protect your assets, there is no real benefit to not ask for shared custody. I do think if your spouse has been talking to other men and lied about being the victim of a horrible crime, you probably would be really apprehensive about leaving your children in the care of that parent. At the very least, I can't tell you that I'm not worried about what Sherri might do if she has time alone with the children while facing serious charges and a very public outlash. I could argue an alternative version for any one of these points, but all together, I just don't think Keith had any clue what was going on and is as much a victim of Sherri as the rest of the people that gave time and resources to her.

I don't like Noella at all, but going through a divorce, reading about the destruction of embryos and losing a parent is a lot. Not being close to the parent who dies can actually make it harder as you have to let go of any dreams of things being different. It's still a loss, just a different kind of one. Maybe Noella's just "thirsty" and I'm falling for it, but I'd rather be a person who is gullible than someone who will be a judgmental ass to someone who lost a parent in order to prove they can't get one over on me. I hated Shannon coming into this season. Congrats, Gina, on making me love her again. You have become insufferable and your "shit happens" response reveals a really ugly side of you I wish I could unsee. You should be ashamed.

Family dynamics can make things weird and make people behave in illogical ways so I cut Kathy & Kyle a lot of slack regarding family interactions. You can be Paris doing her own crazy stuff in public and still not want your mother on this show. You can have a bad mom and still cry about her. It may be that Kathy doesn't cry every time she talks about her mom, but in this setting she's being asked to be a bit reflective which can trigger that. I lost my mom last year and can imagine crying in 20 years if I'm asked to reflect on my childhood. It doesn't matter how great/awful your mom is. Sometimes people just miss their moms regardless of all that. Families are complicated so it makes it a bit hard for me to critique. However, I do judge Kyle and Dorit for being so soft on their response regarding the dinner with PK & Mauricio. In fact, their softness makes me think that when Ericka says she's keeping score, some of it may be that she is a bit more in the know about things that PK & Mauricio have done and that keeps Kyle & Dorit in check. Or maybe Kyle & Dorit just want to be on record that wives don't know what their husbands do so that they can claim their own innocence in the future if necessary. I actually think Andy is doing a good job of asking Ericka very pointed questions. For me, it's all about what he does going forward because if he brings her back, I won't care how great his questioning was here. I will just be done with the show.

Erika announcing she wants a big d is essentially a good indication that her money woes are getting too uncomfortable. Sex is the only thing she has to offer up at this point, and I'm sure she feels if she can get a man in bed she might be able to convert it to a relationship that is advantageous to her finances. She's probably scrolling through her DMs now. This is hand-in-hand with Andy giving her credit for showing up at the reunion and not walking out no matter what was asked. That, Andy, is because she needs the paycheck it's providing and she already knows the fan base is calling for her to be fired. The only shot she has to stay on the show is to offer up her life to you. Perhaps not overly popular, but I don't think they need to dump the majority of women on this even though everyone but Garcelle and Sutton annoyed me. I think if they got rid of Rinna and Erika and brought in someone new (or brought back someone old), the rest would be more tolerable. I felt like Erika's issues derailed the season entirely. Rinna is just performing and not at all real which makes her disposable.

Kyle used to be my favorite - really, her whole family was as I liked Mauricio too and their kids seemed like pretty good kids. I can't imagine how awful she must seem to those who never cared for her to begin with. I feel like I just broke up with a friend. haha Sutton in the interviews is a different woman. She looks fabulous in red and is far more confident than we've ever seen her. She should definitely be brought back. She intrigues me. Side note: I absolutely loved how she never turned her foot issue a big pity party. This episode was the worst episode in the worst season of this series. Turning it into the Ericka Jayne Show was okay for a couple of episodes but for an entire season? It was a snoozefest. Please, Andy, no more of her, ok?

It's understandable. I prioritize food over friendships too! Kyle used to be my favorite of all housewives but she has become so unlikeable. I always thought Kyle was supporting Ericka in order to avoid being the target and just threw Sutton under the bus. After this episode, it makes me wonder if Kyle is thinking about things Mauricio has done over the years and how if those ever blew up in his face, she'd want to be in the clear of those accusations. Maybe what we're seeing is her fear of one day being in similar shoes and wanting the public to believe that wives don't know what their husbands are doing. Sutton looks great in the interviews where she's wearing red. Love her strength and confidence in those, calling out Ericka, mocking the other women blindly supporting Ericka, talking about how she'd be grumpy too if she lost all her money, lmao. A confident, strong Sutton is far greater than a weepy, insecure one that's for sure. Oh, one last thing. After watching this, I'm really positive if Ericka comes back again, I will stop watching. Andy can feel what he feels about her, but no way will she get any more of my time, attention, or money as a result of continued viewership.

Sometimes I really struggle liking Dateline because, in their need to keep the story compelling, it means they need to present it in a way that invariably smears others. You end up with viewers believing others are murderers based on the show’s portrayal of evidence and defending convicted murderers. That gives me pause about supporting shows like this as it must really suck for those who lost loved ones or those who now have the public thinking they got away with murder because a TV show presented evidence to make the show more interesting. There are two takeaways for me in that regards. The military guy who was prosecuting the court martial of Kit believed Cal was going to testify against him. I trust that he’d have a good take on Cal as a witness. I don’t buy that he was going to support Kit. The jury heard the actual case, saw the evidence presented - not a tv show’s version of evidence- and it took only several hours to convict him for murder. The evidence must have been pretty compelling to them. Can juries get it wrong? Sure, but then let’s save those episodes for cases that have been vetted by the Innocence Project. Dateline, please do better. The story here was fascinating enough without you slanting it to keep us guessing and it’s kinda gross.

I’m normally just a lurker, but if attendance is being taken, let the record show I’m against Erika too. So sue me.

Eh, Greg has major issues. It's fine that he is unhappy with Katie. It's fine he wants to leave. I don't disagree with any of that. However, he had been fine all along, even going as far as telling his family that very night that she was the one, but one single conversation that he doesn't like and he torches the earth? Yeah, that's not a guy to be with. He was loving until he wasn't and then he became cold and cruel and bailed. I can only imagine how much worse it might have been had it not been for the cameras. Eesh. Any woman who ends up with him will regret it the moment things don't go his way.

I always thought that both deaths were what they seemed to be on the surface: an accident and a suicide. I get the reasons why one might suspect Adam, but personally it just seems odd to me that he wouldn't have chosen a suicide message that said something like "I'm sorry" or "Forgive me, I can't live with this guilt" if the point is to make people think it's a suicide. And, what would be the point in binding her hands and feet? If you want people to believe it's a suicide, that's an odd way to go about it. If he did it because she was fighting him, why doesn't he have a single scratch on him? Why didn't he just remove the binding around her hands and feet as part of "cutting her down" so no one would ever know? Furthermore, if Dina hadn't been at the hospital and if they didn't have it on video, we'd all think she was the one who did it. There was an eye witness saying Dina was at the house that night. Dina sent Rebecca a text that night saying she wanted to talk to Rebecca about what happened with Max which Rebecca never responded to (not sure if that was in the Dateline episode but it was reported in the news.) The theory then would have been that Dina showed up to confront Rebecca over Max's death, and in her grief-stricken rage, killed Rebecca. She then had Adam help her stage it as a suicide and they cleaned the scene before calling 911 that morning. However, Dina had a solid alibi. So that leaves Adam, and because it's now just him acting alone and because Rebecca was naked, the new theory is that it was a sexual assault? That's not the theory that they would have floated if Dina had remained involved so I'm a bit skeptical to just buy it now. I'm not really keen to jump to Adam as the next suspect in line solely because he didn't have the luck of having a better alibi than Dina. Again, I understand those that find Adam skeevy, but he has no criminal history so I'm having a hard time believing he'd suddenly use his dying nephew as a chance to randomly become a rapist/murderer. I think it's far more likely that Rebecca heard that message about Max's condition worsening and, feeling distraught and grief-stricken and shame (not that it was her fault, but that does not prevent people from feeling these things when a child lays dying in a hospital), she impulsively acted and ended her own life. That seems far more plausible to me than Adam murdering Rebecca.

Kam's natural voice, rather than the overly affected speech she typically uses, could be heard during the massage when she was talking with LeeAnne. Not that I doubted she's been playing a character most of the time on this show, but it was nice to hear her normal speech pattern for a change.

Carol is a complete and utter ass who is guilty of the very things she complains about. This isn’t about Bethenney vs Carol. It’s possible to think both are ridiculous, but Carol has put herself on a mighty high horse proclaiming someone else is acting negatively towards her while the same type of comments by her are just merely about holding people accountable. That level of mental gymnastics in order to maintain victim status is quite impressive (if not totally insane.) I can’t even get started on her complaints about someone else’s idea about women empowerment when Carol’s idea of women empowerment is bringing women together so they can all take aim at the woman she no longer likes. Way to show what women can accomplish when they come together! Hate Bethenney all you want and call her out on her awful behavior. I’ve got no issue with that, but let’s not pretend that Carol is any less of an insufferable asshat herself.

Carol seems to be trying way too hard to appear to be younger and it's actually making her both an ass and far more haggard looking. Being her friend doesn't really seem like much of a prize to me at this point so I'm not even sure what Bethenny really thinks she's lost here.

I don't recall what was said on the show, but the meat guy (Bernard Howell) is currently in a Washington state prison and his scheduled release date is in 2036. I really lean towards the co-worker, Jim. Of course it's speculation and it's not like there isn't good reason to suspect Howell, but the woman Howell killed was walking or bicycling on a trail. He slit her throat and she died from a blunt force blow to the head and strangulation. He got caught when he randomly stopped and asked some guy he didn't know to help him move the body that was in the passenger seat of his truck wrapped in a sleeping bag. When the police showed up, Howell said he found the body on the trail and was only trying to "help" the family by saving them $5000 for funeral costs. While he denied killing her, he did admit to having sex with her. Hard to say if all that was the result of drugs or mental illness, but it seems like a totally different scenario (and crime scene) than the disappearance of Nancy Moyer. It's hard for me to get over the hurdle that an innocent co-worker (one who wants to date the missing person, none-the-less!) would learn that Nancy was missing and just not say anything to anyone about how he had been to her house that weekend. So, he calls her up to ask her out on a date and then withholds information about what he knows? He only decides to bring it up after the police have interviewed him and he realizes they have his phone messages asking her out and that they are looking at him as a potential suspect. My guess is he called her, got no response back, waited outside her house, saw her get out and go inside, and he went to the door. Not sure whether he immediately killed her or she let him in willingly (hence, the second wine glass), but I do think she was killed that night and that he had all weekend to clean up the crime scene and move her body. It's too bad they couldn't ever get probable cause to search his vehicle.

Personally, I think there is a big difference between social fraternities and those that are professional, academic, or service oriented in nature. That's why I think the parents not taking a stand to ban all fraternities incredibly smart from a strategic perspective because if they did that, the conversation would then become about whether or not fraternities have value. That's not a debate that can ever be won and is pointless to have. Instead, they're keeping the conversation focused on holding the fraternities accountable and requiring the universities to be transparent regarding sanctions. Doing that, along with telling very specific details & showing video of the last moments, is how you will get it shut down. I have little hope that these fraternities will just have a "come to Jesus" moment on their own. However, what these parents are doing is effectively telling other parents they need to be afraid of their kid pledging. You do that, you'll start getting some parents directing their kid to not pledge a fraternity if they want to stay in college. They're also changing the way kids growing up today will come to see fraternities. (It's not a show on MTV. It's not Animal House. It's people losing control of their bowels and dying while other people take photos.) When Greek life becomes afraid for their own survival, that's when you'll start seeing real change. Just watching this show leads to a pretty natural response of "they should just get rid of fraternities" which shows how powerful these stories are. I'm sure it must be hard as hell for the parents to tell them, but I truly do think they're saving lives by doing so.

In general, I've liked the season excluding both Hildi episodes. I didn't really need one Hildi episode, never mind two, and never mind two homeowners that were un-fun and un-grateful. Maybe Trading Spaces thought their reactions would be entertainment? How is it fun to watch people complain about the process and then f-bomb the results? This episode was pretty much the opposite of what I want to see. In the early seasons of Trading Spaces this kind of episode might work as some form of entertainment, but if they really want a successful reboot, cut it out with the stunt casting of guest designers, boot Hildi from the show, and try to create rooms with interesting new designs that both homeowners love. That's the magic recipe. This show didn't have any of it.

You can add me to your party of going against the grain. I get that Tex was out of touch in a rich, white guy kind of fashion and don't feel particularly warm towards him as a person and found some of his behavior tacky and distasteful. Shooting someone through a seat from behind in the evening isn't exactly the best way to guarantee a kill shot. The person actually driving the vehicle didn't know how to get to the hospital and it sounded like, thanks to Tex, they at least ended up at some hospital - and for that matter, Diane was still conscious and able to speak when they arrived. And god help me if anyone I love dies under mysterious circumstances given my natural snarky nature if the emails they showed during the trial between Tex & Diane are proof of anything. And, when the doctor asked the wife what happened, she said her husband had shot her but it was an accident. If there had been such major issues in their marriage the way the prosecution made it sound, you'd think she might have at least expressed some hesitation or doubt about that. It seems that in Diane's mind it wasn't conceivable that Tex would intentionally shoot her. I thought Tex was stupid and careless and pretty pompous but I find it shocking that they convicted him on felony murder charges. Part of what made this so controversial, though, is that the jury said he's innocent of intentional, premeditated murder but that he killed her in the act of trying to assault her which wasn't even an argument put forth and doesn't really make sense in this case outside of it being a middle ground between those wanting malice murder and those wanting manslaughter. Only, it isn't actual a middle ground which would mean that some jurors might have ended up with a verdict they didn't really intend, but we'll have to see if anyone comes forward and says as much before that can be fully known.