SnarkySheep

Yeah, the workplace isn't working for me, either...nobody seems to have any purpose except to hang around and talk to Chip (including Camryn Manheim, who I love). None of the side characters have any storylines; and Chip's only real storyline is the Bible stuff. Leslie's only real storyline is being pregnant. How long can that last? Let's hope the writers start expanding, and FAST.

Just started watching this (too many other existing shows!)... I'm with those who like Jenna Fischer and Oliver Hudson and their acting, but not so much this storyline. First of all, the whole setup smacks of privilege; how many people have a garage that's fancier than many apartments just waiting for such an arrangement? Second, I am really creeped out by Artie (how many times did he mention suicide in the event that his wife would leave him?? Not funny..but MAYBE could get by if it was just once. Numerous times turns him into a strange and inappropriate person...) Third, I am not feeling those kids! The boys, so far, seem really generic; and the girl's "personality" is being a feminist, which apparently equals having no sense of humor and being downright unpleasant to be around. I'll definitely give it a couple more episodes but...

Just started watching this (DVR'd the series but had too many other shows to watch!) This was a bit of a sticking point with me, too. Like when they showed Stella in the hospital, she looked downright ROBUST! She had full, rosy cheeks, and even worse, her thick dark eyebrows prominently in view. Sticking a kerchief on her head doesn't mean none of the other details matter. They did do a better job with the African-American cancer patient (sorry, I forgot her name! the girl who Stella met when she returned to the hospital toward the end). That girl actually looked the part of someone who was seriously ill. Overall, I liked the show, but I had some trouble with the premise. For instance, how could a family hide everything unpleasant and cater to their sick relative for EIGHT YEARS?? Yeah, I know people often try to make their loved ones' final days the best they possibly can, but that's typically when the person has six months or a year left. But if the years passed by and Stella was still hanging in there, you'd think the family would begin to loosen up a bit, right? I dunno, YMMV, but it just seems like a REALLY long period of time for that kind of thing. And while I can see the dad wanting to give Stella a trip to Paris or a dream wedding, why exactly was he paying for the rent on her apartment? Why was Wes incapable of working? Huh. Well, I'll definitely watch a few more episodes before deciding anything permanently.

Oh Lord yes, it absolutely was! But I don't think that's what the teacher was suggesting (at least, not until the Fallopian Follies...bet THAT made for an interesting story in the teachers' lounge...)

Yes...at least that's the only one he mentioned. But, IMO, if it took us practically two entire seasons to learn of that sibling, who's to say they couldn't give Toby a sister? He could just say they're estranged, so he never speaks of her, or something. Various TV shows are always digging up characters' relatives, suddenly on the scene though we've never heard of them before, LOL. (Hey, a girl can imagine, right??)

And Will actually ran out of the building after her - in the midst of his colleague speaking to him about urgent work-related matters, no less. Not only that, but if you stop and think about it, Will has been the first to apologize in every argument he and Natalie have had. Natalie has not been the first to give in, ever, even when the issue was clearly her fault. Natalie told Will she loved him - but honestly, none of her actions ever seem to show it. Will may have his faults, but he is overall a really good guy. He deserves someone better than Natalie, someone who realizes his worth and maybe chases after HIM once in a while. I have always liked Natalie in the past, but the way she's been acting in recent months, not so much. Huh? We learned that the first episode she was introduced. At least she admitted out loud that she has no real friends. Maybe now she can start connecting the dots.

Oh, thanks! I think I missed that...I just saw a gaggle of girls in a room and Mitch and Cam there, LOL

Not that FOL was exactly grounded in reality all the time...but I went to a private (Catholic) school that ended up closing, as did numerous others in the area in 5-10-year period. Let's just say that it's REALLY difficult to save a failing private school, for various reasons, and many are forced to close despite the best efforts of school admin that have been there for YEARS and know what's what. So someone like Blair, coming in blindly, would undoubtedly fail, despite the heap o' money she brought with her.

Cruelty of the "prank" aside, I just kept marvelling at the fact that they had found an actor that looked SO much like Rico Rodriguez! I guess it really is true that we all have doppelgangers out there. As for Mitch and Cam regarding Lily, they were so oblivious that it veered into slapstick already. Why be so offended that a teacher is making suggestions that their daughter speak to another female about issues that concern having female body parts? It had absolutely nothing to do with them being a gay couple, or about their overall parenting ability, which is how they seemed to be taking it. It would be no different if, say, you had a single mom raising an adolescent boy. Of course he would have concerns that she really couldn't address, as she hadn't undergone them herself. And did I hear correctly, or did Mitch and Cam actually say they were GOING OUT FOR DINNER during Lily's party?? Seriously, how clueless would you have to be, leaving a group of tweens in a house alone for any length of time?

Random thought occurred to me during this episode...if Wendie Malick is Katie's mother, and has recently also played Toby's mother on This is Us, does that make Katie and Toby siblings?? I like both characters (and Mama Katie HAS mentioned there are other siblings) so I'm gonna go with it!

I wondered about this myself. I have a rare muscle disorder which causes atrophy in the leg muscles; while I CAN drive, I have to put some effort into it. Plus, I've had this issue for 14 years now, so I've gotten used to all the "life hacks" needed to do everyday things. But Otis literally JUST got out of the hospital, and from what we saw in his PT, had his legs secured and had to hold a rail in order not to fall down. That would imply his legs are NOT capable of pressing the pedals and moving back and forth quickly enough, etc. Heaven forbid! Stella was bad enough, telling Casey that some guy was "cute" when he was asking about his professional qualifications. WTF?? Is this middle school? I guess the writers thought that was funny, but IMO it just made Stella look like a ditzy female incapable of being professional, when she usually isn't that way at all.

On a related note, I always wondered if Casey knew that Gabby had slept with Jay Halstead, when PD was just kicking off (remember? they started introducing the new characters by having Jay come to Molly's undercover to get rid of the thug extorting money from them). I know it's not entirely the same, as they don't work directly with Halstead, but they DO work with Intelligence fairly often on a variety of things. I think, though, that TPTB kind of pretend that never happened...when new characters/shows are just getting introduced, it often seems like the writers aren't 100% sure who the character really is as a person or what direction the show will head in (e.g. remember when Gabby wanted to be a doctor?) So this is probably another of those things.

I felt bad for a long time, but now I'm not...because I've decided that he's actually still Esposito from Castle. He's undercover as Miguel, so it doesn't matter what happens because it's all just acting. He's really Esposito, so he knows he's got tons of friends and a great life back in New York.

ITA! We actually know more about what Deja's freakin' science fair project than anything in either Tess' or Annie's lives.

Well, personally I see no purpose to them having Dylan stay back. But in having JJ in high school another year, we have a reason for Kenneth to stay on the show.

I too was waiting for some explanation, but we never got it. You sometimes hear about "oops" babies when the mom is undergoing menopause, but not when it's totally OVER. This woman would've been a medical marvel on the news! And yes, I know she said she knew she had gained a lot of weight over the winter...but did she not feel the baby moving inside her? Such a weird storyline.

I wondered on both points myself. And I don't think his family is still in Russia - Otis speaks perfect, native English (and his real name is Brian, which would not be the case if he were born there.) We know his grandma is in Chicago, so presumably he also has parents and other relatives in the area. But of course, we saw nobody but Lily and the firehouse at his bedside.

IMO they did ok, acting-wise, with the birthday episode; but the storyline itself is SO tired. How many different sitcoms have covered the whole "woman is feeling bad about getting older" and "someone gets upset thinking all their friends don't care/forgot about their birthday, but surprise! there's a big party!" storylines? And here, this show threw in both, like, we totally dgaf, just toss in all the recycled storylines and call it a day. On another note, was anyone else surprised the party could fit all those people? I always had the impression that the Monkey Fist office was fairly small...because, y'know, they can't afford more. And whenever they've shown that room before, it's really just the couch and where Rutger sits. But now it's suddenly as big as a banquet hall.

I know they wanted a dramatic cliffhanger to end the season...but, I'm sorry, I call BS that they would be evicted so quickly and with a disabled son. That's the kind of story that would be picked up by local media outlets SO fast. Whether the DiMeos were in the right or wrong, you'd have tons of people signing a petition, contributing to a GoFundMe, etc. Even if nobody knew beforehand, they certainly would the minute the neighbors saw the DiMeos sleeping out on the lawn surrounded by all their worldly possessions. Word would spread like wildfire.

Yeah, but they already did that, remember? That girl a few seasons back, who said Severide was her baby daddy...then Shay did the math and it would have had to be like an 11 month pregnancy, LOL

Yes, they definitely did hook up...that's why Severide was a bit startled when she was introduced as the newest firehouse employee, as she definitely let him believe she was only visiting, it was just a one-time thing, etc.

I found it hard to believe that Voight would really have put ALL of his money into his grandson's trust fund. Even if he did think he might be arrested at any moment and wanted to hide/save it, he also had to have thought that it was a strong possibility he wouldn't get arrested, or might have some emergency beforehand. Since when is Voight not prepared? On a lighter note, anyone catch how Voight recommended "one of my" lawyers? I literally laughed out loud. It makes you wonder how many lawyers the guy's had over the years. I'm also wondering how they will get around the fact that Lindsay's character was brought into things again. On the one hand, I'm glad they did, because it's realistic; but on the other, I highly doubt Sophia Bush is planning to make an appearance, But now that she and Olinsky were supposedly seen together, as he said, it really would just be a matter of time til someone puts it together. Lindsay would be subpoenaed, made to return for questioning, etc. Are they maybe going to claim this happened off screen?

What I couldn't figure out is why it was such a huge deal for Katie to get this ONE particular house for the gala... The part of Connecticut they live in (and pretty much all of Connecticut in general, really) is absolutely teeming with historic houses and landmarks. If one place were unavailable, it would be no problem whatsoever to get another. But no, Katie's like, it's either this house or the YMCA. Sure.

I'm 37 and wouldn't dare have PDAs in front of my dad.... Just like how Anna Kat has now several times addressed her father as Greg...to no comment from her parents. I get that the show likely thinks it's funny. Maybe once, sure; but repeatedly? It just seems like the kid has no boundaries.

As a disabled person, I really liked seeing them show how it's really the "little things" that most people never even think of which are often the biggest obstacles (such as the crack in the sidewalk, or curbs). I also thought it hit home when Dylan asked the movie manager about accessibility at the theater, finding out that what existed was either broken or unavailable...and she already expected his answers. I see this all the time, sadly. However, Aaron didn't exactly meet JJ for the first time on that outing. He knows very well that JJ has a lot of special needs and limitations. While he may not know exactly what they are in any particular scenario, he could at least have ASKED. He pretty much didn't until the very end, which was pretty strange IMO. I would have chalked it up to his being self-absorbed, had Aaron not confessed later that he knows people don't always like him, etc. indicating that there was a fairly good amount of awareness on his part.