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Only show I watch is TAR and I barely remember the 3 TAR people. BB and Survivor seem to be younger, more athletic and the TAR or LI casts. The LI girls twerking at the bar probably didn't help the other challengers take them seriously. Oh and I guess the pandemic is over, they're going out in public, unless they rented the bar or club for the night. Would be interesting if some challengers are unable to compete because they test positive or have some noticeable symptoms which hurt their ability to compete. I don't even think there are formal alliances but based on this first episode, it doesn't matter, only two people decide who to send into the Arena with the last place team. Will it remain that way or will everyone get a vote, in which case alliances will matter? I don't even know if that politicking even worked. Tyson said the guy owned him but not really, unless they vote or the TAR guy wins some daily challenges. For this Daily Challenge, it looked good at first but later teams had an advantage and just went for it, repelled faster. The elimination was an old standard on the Challenges but this group is not used to it so they probably didn't knot it up real well. We will see how the random team assignment works. If everyone gets a vote, then alliances will become more of a factor. The threshold for making the Final seems low, just win one Daily Challenge and avoid being eliminated. The previews for the season showed a lot of action, lot of climbing and running, swimming, etc. with wide shots. So they're not limited to a specific area, so maybe more endurance challenges even before the Final, which tend to be heavily endurance. Maybe it reflects a bigger production budget. Could make for more telegenic Daily Challenges. But why only $500k on a CBS show when MTV has already had $1 million prizes for several seasons?

Kailah guessed the crossword and survived the mini elimination. So much for the karma that Nia wanted. Did they really have to eat 3 pounds or eat down to 3 pounds on the scale? Because it's a lot even if it was palatable food. If they ate 2 or 3 pounds of food in that sitting and kept it down, they might have framed running and swimming afterwards. And it's especially tougher for the women, who are smaller and lighter than the men. But I think the big lead that Wes and Jonna got over their competitors before they reached the food/vomit challenge made a big difference. Jonna should keep coming back, though I suspect they'd gang up on her and try to get her eliminated early, just like MJ was this season. Finals are always for the most cardiovascularly fit people. But there may be enough eliminations where you have a big mismatch in size and weigh class. I think the issue with sleeping on the yacht would be not being able to sleep well, not necessarily getting sea sick. Or else all the food they ate on board would have come up.

Nia's accusations of Kailah copying off her might have a bit more weight if Kailah didn't finish the puzzle well before her.

Interesting, ex-pat clients. Is she expanding her clientele or replacing them with ex-pats? Maybe if it's the latter, they really are trying to move over there. Kids once they go off to college won't have to deal with that room. If they keep their home in the US, they can keep living at the larger home until they leave home. Hell selling their home in CA, even up in the mountains, would probably net them double their $400k budget or maybe more. But she did mention cheap tuition if the kids had residency status so maybe they will all have to live in France for a couple of years.

It's one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. There's a lot of history with museums devoted to Impressionist and modernist painters like Picasso because they'd all spent a lot of time there. There are also mountain villages nearby. Besides natural beauty and history, there's glamor for those who want it. Billionaire yachts anchored off the coast, Monaco nearby, Cannes Film Festival. Nice is a gateway to this and a lot more. Italy is a short drive away, then you can visit the island of Corsica or go west towards Provence. With all the money there, they've cleaned up all these coastal towns and cities. Nice for instance had a new modern tram put in as well as new large squares built in the last 20 years.

I also wonder how an American CPA would have French clients. First, does she have a work visa? She has French relatives but does she have citizenship or rights to work? Second, I don’t think other countries have complicated tax returns like the US. Maybe if she has business clients? Does she speak French well enough to communicate with clients as well as understand French tax laws? She mentions one of the main reasons they may be moving, which is that EU residents can attend universities throughout the EU with very low tuition like a couple hundred Euros. So that may be why two adults and two older teens — the son is already taller than either of them in one of the photos — are going to cram into a 2 bedroom apartment with 1 bathroom for a few years, to establish residency and learn enough French. This would be a second home for a few years until both kids go to university. It’s a beautiful part of France but they could have chosen places with lower cost housing, though she did have relatives in the Nice area. They presumably moved from LA to Big Bear for lower costs as well as a certain lifestyle.

Well if that's the case, they haven't depicted it yet. Caleb seems to be living in a nice place, not luxurious but comfortable. And he's a construction worker. Of course we saw William in this huge golf course. The people walking on the High Line to work didn't seem like they were deprived. Christina is a game designer/writer who hasn't had any big success yet. She has to have a room mate but if she needs, she can get a ride share to New Jersey. They don't show ravages of climate change or anything like that. Sure they could suppress information. Supposedly a not-insignificant number of people die on cruises and it's not that highly publicized. We're not talking about people getting sick but unexplained deaths or people going missing. But rich people were going to WW, not middle class who saved up for a cruise these days. And a lot of Delos executives got executed at Ford's little party in season 1 IIRC. Very hard to believe that survivors of the victims wouldn't make noise and get some media coverage. I'm actually skeptical that WW would be that big a draw anyways. Maybe some people go for the novelty one time but to be repeat visitors, just so they can fuck and shoot robots? Imagine if people went to brothels regularly these days. If it got out, some people would be shunned. It's not something one talks about. WW is not dissimilar from a brothel, place to go meet certain needs or let your id go unrestrained. Only way Delos draws that rich clientele is with very strict confidentiality, like maybe high-end escort services these days. But it's not a huge client base that these businesses have.

Regardless of where they build it, you would think Delos would have tanked as a company after word of the massacres got out. It's not like they can suppress it, because hundreds or thousands of people went to WW and never returned.

Thing about Christina in a NYC park is that it's not very theme park like. Why would people choose to pay a lot of money to visit such place? Someone says at one point that it's been almost 150 years since the first world war so that would place them around 2050 or 2060. That is probably what Manhattan would look like 30-40 years from now. Then again, I question why Delos would re-open any theme parks after the massacres there. They said the original WW was near the Chinese coast. But in this episode, Maeve and Caleb pass by NYC or some other modern city skyline in the distance on their train towards the Golden Age park. I think to fill up 10 episodes a season, they have to keep several subplots going -- like other shows. They may try to merge all these subplots or separate timelines at some point, to make it all coherent but they've struggled to do that in the series. Remember how big robot heaven was in season 2? Nobody mentions it any more now. WW is destroyed along with all the looms which make robots. All that infrastructure gone but now they make new robots in the outside world and these are upgraded models, not so easily taken over by Maeve's mind control trick. Point is, all that's happened previously mean nothing, new quests or goals arise. The only thing that endures is that anyone can be a host and hosts are killed off but they can be re-manufactured just like that -- Clementine wasn't out of action too long. Also the previous plot about humans trying to dump their consciousness into a host, that seems gone as well. There will be hosts of key human beings but there won't be a human consciousness in there any more. So what exactly is at stake? Hale either takes over or not? Would it be tragic if William finally died? Or Caleb is killed and replaced by host, his daughter and wife as well? Or if humans win and crush Hale and all the hosts, would it be triumphant? Well the hosts had their own consciousness so why shouldn't their deaths be almost or equally tragic as deaths of humans?

It's a story line concocted for the show. They had him go to a micro brewer and select different components like different kinds of hops and so on. Bet rest of the time when they're off camera, nobody is thinking about or drinking it. Guess the show didn't lead to big sales because it's probably not distributed outside of a few local bars and restaurants? Is it even available at stores?

So S02.E01, they found a way to keep the Freddy character on. She's now a celebrity, someone who survived the murderous plans of Baba. I forget how she avoided being arrested for the things she egged on Baba to do. She's having flashbacks of her and Baba. Is that suppose to means she's sentimental about him, even though she's always smirking like she doesn't care whatever misfortune befalls to others? Now she may be inspiring some murderer -- probably going to be a serial killer, not stopping at the jogging dad -- and she seems happy about it or at least not repulsed. She liked finding the wedding band of the guy she met at speed dating and fucked and she liked receiving the severed finger on which the band fits. She's not scared when the power went out in her flat nor when she saw the severed finger. In fact, she grabs a knife, ready for some action. Lola of course holds a grudge because she thinks Freddy got away with murder, literally. Jackson is still the happy detective, still game for whatever Freddy is playing at. The actress playing Freddy is pretty but they really overdo it showing closeups of her face, just to show all the smirking she does. She likes to draw snake eyes and in one brief flash, they turn one of her drawings into the eyes of a nocturnal predator, like in the opening sequence. If Freddy is going to be Lola and Jackson's main quarry, how long can they keep the show going?

Who's in charge, Hale or Robot William? In any event, they're going for stealth takeover of the US govt or at least start with taking out key politicians or taking control of them. So what happened during the war? They got rid of that giant globe thing or Maeve and Caleb helped do that, to be liberated from some computer overlord. Now the hosts originally designed by Ford and Delos are executing a world domination plan, but even though the VP and the Assistant Undersecretary threatened Robot William and Delos, there won't be any frontal assault on the US govt or humans. The govt was stupid enough to come in light instead of heavy. In every other movie and show, when the Feds come after you, it's with a SWAT team, aircraft, etc. Hale is vindictive, going to keep William alive by freezing him but making him see them take over the world. Hale is the merged AIs of Wyatt, Dolores and the original Charlotte Hale? But why even bother trying a stealth takeover? She has little regard for humans, ordered Anastasia to be taken out to the barn with other livestock. Why not unleash a virus to wipe out human kind? Then what, they rule the world. So the hosts can live with each other in peace? Because the only robot who seems to be against them is Maeve and Host MIB took out Clementine (a regular cast member but always the red shirt) and replaced with Clementine now playing for the bad guys. The Golden Age World also doesn't make sense. They no longer need to collect data on the rich and powerful. Those flies make them do whatever they want or they can just keep killing key figures and replacing them with hosts. The Host MIB was looking for Maeve and she and Caleb just happen to go and get themselves entry tickets to this new world. So it's like a video game level, they have to fight through Golden Age World or Park and then what, return to NYC or wherever to finally take on Hale? For the purposes of the show though, I suspect it's to fill out the season with some episodes in this setting. That's really the only suspense, whether they can stop Hale's plans. And I still don't get why Maeve would GAF either way. Because if the robots win, so what? They got their revenge but is it some great satisfaction to them? I guess Hale enjoys torturing William physically and mentally? Maybe Christina figures in the plot to stop Hale, because really, Maeve and Caleb fighting off Hale and her minions by themselves belies belief.

Season 2 premiers on Showtime tonight. 6 episodes. Probably already available on Showtime Anytime app.

If he started calling her kiddo after monitoring her calls with Chase, I would think Angela/Em would be freaked out. Why doesn't he start calling her Em? I wouldn't be surprised if she turned out to be Hamzad's daughter. I don't know if the story line works exactly but maybe when Abby ran away with Chase, she was already pregnant with Hamzad's child who turned out to be Angela/Emily.

She had no way of knowing Chase would be rich. Probably wasn't sure where he was taking her. Maybe she just didn't want to leave a long message. Probably expected to be able to call him later, even though Chase said he'd destroy her phone after she made that call.

That could be. But I bet they invested a lot of time and money to set this first season up so maybe they think they could make more money with an additional season, especially after how well the show was received. Yeah it may not result in the best storytelling but we'll see how the rest of season 1 goes.

Andy Greenwald says The Old Man has been renewed for season 2. He expresses surprise, because this felt like a limited series and didn't think Bridges would sign up for another season at his age.

Yeah that's the part I don't get. Some connected Afghanis got rich, siphoning money off the billions in US aid which went to the country over the years. But why would all these agencies that Krueger threatened to inform about Harper's failure to apprehend Chase care what an Afghani wants? Krueger is also a UK international from her accent. So again, why would American agencies care what she has to say about a high-level official in the FBI like Harper? But apparently Hamzad is loaded and can make things happen, like force Harper to get on a jet to Afghanistan in an hour? Chase also turns out to be some mogu, though he seems to have spent most of his time in some isolated cabin in the mountains. It's interesting, the picture on Marcia Dixon's passport looks like Chase's late wife yet Zooey can pass for her because she's an older woman with similar length dark hair. Dan mentions Corsair Finance once and that's enough for Zoe to threaten to send an email announcing a divorce. OK, usually, the company owned by the founder or executive is usually partitioned from family finances. Even if she expressed intention to divorce, the proceedings would take at least months if not years. So it wouldn't wreak havoc like Zooey says it would. But I guess it's a plot device to give Zooey a bigger role and some agency, rather than being the hapless abductee who's complying meekly with what Chase wants from her. Because while it would take him some time, he could kill her and dispose of her, though he did introduce her to some of his employees. That apartment isn't exactly keeping a low profile for someone on the run. As for the rest, in the flashback, the GRU agent whom Chase abducts has the same name as the guy in charge of the mining company Chase wants to invest in? Maybe I misheard it and the name is similar but not the same? The apparition of Abby, Dan's deceased wife, says that Hamzad killed the agent and it turned Hamzad into a monster from that point and Chase and she had to become monsters themselves to get away from him. Julian, the assassin, told Harper that there's a mole who warned Chase to get away, so that puts Angela/Emily in danger, from both Chase and Hamzad, since she went on the plane against Chase's wishes. But Chase has a plan to take out Hamzad now so that will be something to pull off.

They do a lot of world building because they like to reboot, like S4 appears to be. Some people get off on the puzzles, easter eggs, etc. It's something that started with Lost and some shows have tried to engage with the online community, to stir up all the sleuths and so forth. Yes WW builds beautiful sets and places scenes in incredible settings. It has layers of puzzles. But does it actually do plot and character development? Does it tell an interesting story? WW characters have mostly failed to connect with viewers in the same way GoT characters did -- because WW was suppose to be HBO's hope for the next blockbuster series after GoT. You have incredibly traumatic events depicted, trauma that every human should identify and emphasize with. But the trauma happened to robots. Do human viewers care? It's not that movies and shows about robots can't connect with audiences. Blade Runner and Humans does a better job of showing the humanity of non-human characters than WW has. The impression WW has left so far is that it offers nice visuals and chances for people to solve or figure out what happens in the narrative. So it makes some people think. But has it made people feel?

Season 2 trailer. Premiers August 1.

Ashley was right though, Kathryn is basically an egg donor.

They want to milk the drama in some cases. Though what's his name got the boot quickly when he screwed up night watch.

Kids are doing better but now the parents are crumbling. Paul’s innocuous friendship with Gabby becomes a thing. Nice wide shots of the London skyline. Still doesn’t feel like London but i guess those of us who visit never see residential neighborhoods. Would think driving everywhere would be a hassle with the parking and traffic.

They’re also airing it on Bravo after BDM.

It's such an obvious thing that you think maybe it was a simplistic story line from producers, like rich, overachieving girl can't stand slacker Craig, latches onto young doctor, then gets burned. Just makes no sense for her to humiliate herself on a TV show, since she comes from money, just like it was puzzling that Thomas was on the show when he came across really bad and he certainly wasn't doing it for the money. Maybe narcissim would explain it. And if Naomi was playing a stupid role that producers set out for her, maybe she thinks she's nothing like the way she's portrayed on TV. Well generally, reality TV show cast members would say their shows really don't depict their true selves. But it's a dumb role, to come off materialistic and a social climber. Unless she doesn't get why those things are not a good look?