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Issa is 36 so maybe she wants to maximize her time as a movie lead.

We don't even know that she would do it this way IRL. Remember, Bravo thrives on these kinds of confrontations so of course Leva trying to stage a one-woman intervention against Katherine would be like this. Again, Bravo could have chosen to cut out a lot of these Leva scenes, kept it mostly about Austen and Madison and other trivial relationship stuff, the usual reality show fare. Are they trying to make a big statement about racial justice? I doubt it. They probably like that it just happens to put Kathryn in the middle of these confrontations. For better or worse, Kathryn is the one who generates all the attention to the show, the one who generates most controversy. Like people who slow down to see the wreck on the highway, people are drawn to the crazy and controversial.. If they just made the show about genteel South Carolinians having tea parties, the show would not have lasted this long. They show all these interstitials of gorgeous Charleston scenery but the cast members aren't pretty like the locale -- I don't mean physically pretty. They know from other very popular shows like VPR and RH that you have to have people being awful to each other, petty, taunting, etc. Nice guys definitely finish last in the Bravoverse.

I watched the first couple of seasons when it aired and for this rewatch. But my goal in the rewatch was to see the Dominion War story played out, which I didn't do when it originally aired. So I did start skipping between episodes, mostly relying on the Dominion Wars wiki and the episode descriptions that Hulu has. For me things like Worf and Dax or now Kira and Odo seem like they're giving some of the supporting cast members a chance to be featured in specific episodes. I will say they probably give better stories to these secondary characters than ST or STNG did. But for instance, when I watched Lost, I got over the backstory episodes rather quick and saw it as a way to stall out the main story, to keep the show on the air for longer. Worf and Dax are definitely doing a lot of PDA, on ships, when they return from missions, etc. I don't think they're all off-duty. PDA is fine if they're say at Quark's cafe but on ships or airlocks? In any event, not all these actors deserve more screen time. It's clear in the earlier seasons that they're featuring Nana Visitor than Terry Farrell, for instance. Some of the line readings from many of the cast just feels awkward at times. The actor playing Quark sounds the most natural most of the time. Odo actor is good too. The actor playing Garak really likes to project his line readings, He's good but the way he raises his voice sometimes seem like overacting. But I understand that they are doing over 2 dozen episodes a season and as I noted above, they couldn't sustain the war story line in every episode.

You HAVE to choose a team!!! This is Bravo!

They obviously filmed all these scenes of Leva calling out Kathryn and they chose to air it. So they basically made the season about the fallout from the monkey emoji and the other racist things Kathryn said -- that and the usual Austen and Madison relationship BS. I don't think any of the regular cast would have confronted Kathryn. Maybe that's why Cam and others bailed this season, didn't want to deal with it. The guys are only about good times. They already had to show concern about the pandemic so they can't be expected to deal with another serious topic like racism. Supposedly Leva has been on the periphery of the show in previous years but no way the regular cast was going to take her side vs. Kathryn, no matter how much unpleasant they may find Kathryn. What were the things Leva accused Kathryn of saying, like "do you know where your father is" and something else. That kind of made Craig go "woah." But I don't see the show dumping Kathryn. She generates too much controversy and drama so too useful to let go. In fact if Kathryn told Bravo that she won't do the show any more unless they get rid of Leva, we know which one is going.

There’s a commercial of a couple evading the crashing waves and going around to other spots in a white Volvo. But as they’re spending the day together, close up shots show the female to be a teen, maybe around 15, while the man seems well into his 40s. OK so father and daughter spending the day together? Seems more ambiguous, seems like they’re doing couple-ish things.

I didn't know he said that. I'm not saying they did fix it, just that there's little transparency and the rules seem to be made up as they go along. So they could fix it if it better fits a storyline that they're trying to emphasize, for instance in this episode, it was about Tori offending the rookie women. Yeah with the quiz show scandals in TV history, they can't afford to be caught. But when was the last time a TV show got in trouble for fixing a supposed competition?

So it’s all a nice story, the underdog rookie women pulling off a move to eliminate one of the two vet women who are larger than them. But so many chances for producers shenanigans such as them saying CT and Big T won or maybe the ballast mechanism on Toris cart being tighter. Big T hamming it up as the queen. Tori is right that being bigger is an advantage. But it’s not necessarily the fault of the smaller women. It’s poor casting to have so many physical mismatches in this “fifth national sport.” Or maybe the smaller women don’t accept the invitation to participate knowing they don’t have a realistic chance. Or they don’t care, they get to be on TV and get a trip for a couple of weeks. TJ said one of the most beautiful settings on The Challenge but they don’t show a wide shot of the cliff and the waterfall on the other side. In the crater it seemed like it wasn’t that hard to figure out which squares to target. The higher squares they had to throw over their heads because they couldn’t throw the balls high enough otherwise. When Tori finally got her cart to release the balls, she was walking back to get more balls. Seemed like a preordained elimination. Fessy not happy to be paired with Aneesa again, jus in time for a challenge with a 5 mile run. There’s only been a couple of puzzles or memorization challenges, the first one with the circuits and then the drone challenge to decode the numbers? Nothing other than physical contests in the Crater? I guess they had no choice but to bring Ashley back because of the quarantining requirements that all the players had to go through. So being the first to be eliminated worked out and she’s dying to avoid being a target like she was at the start of the season.

Season 5 to be the last for the series. Issa and other cast members must be getting some lucrative TV opportunities. Or maybe HBO/AT&T was unwilling to increase salaries. I haven't watched any of the movies done by Issa and other cast members. But the impression I get is that they're not as good as the show has been.

Interview with an author on a book about the racist history of the filibuster. Turns out Kathryn's famous ancestor is the father of the Senate filibuster. He mainly came up with the filibuster to push back against the growing abolitionist sentiment in the country and to justify and glorify slavery. https://www.npr.org/2021/01/12/955970922/kill-switch-examines-the-racist-history-of-the-senate-filibuster

They probably aren't that uncommon among Uber drivers, in case they get into an accident or have some problem with a customer. Not too expensive. The one thing they skipped over is Michael finding out Trevor was using the Camry for Uber and how he found him, claiming his phone wasn't working. Neither Uber nor Lyft lets you see where the drivers are. You have to select a destination and then tap confirm, meaning you're committed to paying for the ride. You don't get to select which driver or even see their names, at least not before you confirm. I think Uber lets the driver choose whether to do the pick up and then connects you with that driver. So no way would Michael be able to track Trevor dropping off someone and then him just jumping on like that. Jimmy and Frank did some detective work to track down the gas station and now Michael tracks down Trevor, first fooling Detective Nancy into searching the license plate and then somehow finding Trevor in real time? OK, well it moved the story along, though the blackmail plot didn't last. I guess they had to come up with 10-episodes (or however many episodes there are) worth of content.

Captain dining with the guests has to be a show thing. Lee's not that interesting as a host. You'd think there would be some conversation but he seems like a prop in his uniform. No doubt the Caribbean is scenic but I'm missing them setting up picnic lunches at castles and such. Pony rides on the beach? Guess they had to have something to film besides the usual shots of them on jet skis or going down the slides.

SATC ended its original run in 2004, so it's been about 20 years. The movies came out over 10 years ago? These characters would presumably be retired by now or very close to it. If they were going to marry and have families, it would have been done by now, the kids left the nest? The 3 of them are reportedly getting $1 million each an episode so very good opportunity for older actresses.

I thought he ate something. But the whole break-in scene was kind of pointless. All he did was look around, kind of mark his territory (literally with the toilet) and then once he found the inhaler, he was convinced he found the driver who hit his son, only he thinks it's Michael, not Adam. It's surprising that Jimmy would get hands-on. He's wearing a nice suit and presumably his days of violence are in the past. He has a public profile as a businessman. Would he have killed Michael or Adam if they came home? Or when Michael saw the polaroid that Jimmy left, he was wondering about it and then saw someone at the door and was panicking a bit but it turned out to be Adam. Jimmy was going to have Frank kill Michael but then Adam shows up and they have to reconsider if they want to kill both. Then at the harbor, he was going to kill Michael and then he ends up killing Trevor. Again, nice suit and Frank, his henchman is there. But he does it himself. If he shot Michael at such close range, it would have splattered blood all over himself. Frank can't be the only guy who is in his mob. He was willing to risk war with Desire, with Gina egging him on. So he better have some soldiers. Looks like Carlo is getting involved with Desire so there's going to be potential conflict there too. Tony Soprano got his hands dirty but most of the time it was his underlings who did the killing. And he's pretending to be in "waste management" but otherwise a suburban dad and husband.

The boat payment comment was meant to be flippant. Michael was willing to put up with the arrangement but of course he didn't want to be blackmailed. Yet he wasn't going to kill or hire some hit man to kill Trevor. But when the opportunity presented itself, Michael basically gave Jimmy the permission to kill. It's a milestone in Micheal breaking bad. His attempts to cover up the incident has gotten Kofi and now Trevor killed. He's suppose to be a good judge but he offered to fix Carlo's case for Jimmy. He's gone a long way down the road from just trying to keep Adam and himself safe. It's cost the lives of others. Michael took a picture of the screen from the video feed with his phone before he deleted the video.

I don't think anyone in the cast wants to socialize with Kathryn. They do so on camera because the show requires it. But it seems unlikely they go out of their way to seek out her company when the cameras are not rolling.

Part 6: Michael comes up with some fake story and gets Detective Nancy to identify the car at the gas station which was behind Adam. Just as with Walter White, Michael keeps digging deeper and deeper when he's already in the hole. Jimmy Baxter, with the fancy suit, decides to break into Michael's home and look around, sees the inhaler that they found bits of at the crash site. So he thinks Michael killed Rocco and leaves him a little calling card, a Polaroid of Django. Also pisses in the toilet with the seat down. Michael finally figures out who's blackmailing him, a no good son who stole his father's Camry and uses it to Uber people around. Michael spends some time with Edward, the father of Trevor, the blackmailer. Then the next thing you know it, Michael is riding in Trevor's stolen Camry as an Uber customer though he just jumps in the car, says his phone wasn't working. He leaves a burner phone in the back seat and then later calls Trevor to set up a meeting. Trevor was going to use the blackmail money for a boat so what does Michael do, finance the boat for him and offer to make payments as long as Trevor doesn't drop the dime on him. Trevor says Michael should really come out on his boat with him some time and then Jimmy and Frank confront him. Jimmy has a gun while Frank the henchman just knocks Trevor into a rudder and knocks him out. Jimmy is about to end Michael right then and there but then Michael blurts out that Carlo is going to be arrested for murdering Kofi. Lee had found out Carlo killed Kofi and got DNA evidence. Michael says he can make sure he gets the case and have Carlo go free. Finally, Walter White is in the house! Adam and Fia are getting close. She has a VW bug which has been immaculately restored. OK unique looking car but in a crash with a typical modern SUV, she's instant roadkill. Jimmy and his gifts to his children! But who knew gangsters would raise hipsters? Fia tells Adam that the newspaper stories about her father aren't true, that he's a self-made man and he's kind. But when the subject turns to Carlo, her older brother, she screams. OK so Carlo is a POS but Jimmy's a saint, the one who kills poor Trevor without a second thought? Yes Trevor has a very short visit in this show and basically Michael gave Jimmy the OK to kill Trevor. No more boat payments!

OK I know Starfleet isn't a military organization and people have to live for months or years at a time in space, on duty on a ship or on the space station. But they seem so casual often. You always see them with some hot beverage -- apparently replicator can do Earl Grey well -- even while on duty, like while piloting the runabout. And of course the conversations are casual. Chief was talking to one of his colleagues about his relationship issues with Keiko. And then I just watched an ep, skipping around to find Dominion-specific episodes, and Worf and Dax are a thing? And they're making out in public spaces! But everyone is often holding a mug -- in the future, mugs look like 20th century mugs.

Because Kathryn is the star of the show. So if you want to get air time, you have to get into it with Kathryn. Her wreck of a life is what the show has chosen to highlight so she's always going to be feuding with someone. Leva isn't going to stay on the show too long if she minds her business and the show is just showing her at her restaurants, at home with her kids, etc. She has to interact with the other cast. Maybe they'll try to make more out of the shouting match with Austen but he's going to have his hands full being called out as a pussy and so on. Lot of mansplaining this episode. Where are Shep and Craig to put little Craigie in his place?

It was for the show, they were going to get these people together, get them drunk, hope for some shouting matches at least. They probably didn't anticipate the wind but the show probably paid for the caterer, made it look like Madison arranged it all. But you had people arrive in different groups so they could film their convos. Of course Austen was going to go. If he wants that paycheck he does what he's told.

At the start, this was suppose to be Southern Charm, you know the gentility of the well-heeled? Ply them with wine and stir up old antagonisms, shouting match ensues, profit! At least there was a jet stream on Capers Island. Which, what they showed of it wasn't too charming, unless one is going for the wild, undeveloped nature vibe. I suspect they catered a party out there because they couldn't find other indoor venues for this TV get together. Austen gets mad at Leva but he didn't get mad at Craig for meddling in his relationship with Madison? If it wasn't a fake setup for the show, he should be beating up Craig for being such a meddling bitch. He also probably has displaced anger from Madison belittling him. She told him you come in with this big dick energy but you don't have it (a big dick?). In the previews, she's calling him a beta and a pussy. Come on, she's either a very horrible person or it's classic producers egging her on, giving her things to say. Then you have Kathryn and the girls. The Gwynn's boss must want publicity for her store so she's going to play out some melodrama on the show. Danni is suppose to be Kathryn's BFF but why? They must be almost 10 years apart in age. Doubtful she and Kathryn spend a lot of time off camera. She didn't seem to know Kathryn was dating someone for awhile. Yeah people are right to be skeptical of Kathryn dating a black man. There was some other reality show cast member who got in trouble for saying something racist on social media and her retort was how she'd slept with black men.

I'm guessing it was filmed before the pandemic. Otherwise they wouldn't have crowded into that tiny elevator. Oslo doesn't seem to be the place where you'd save a lot of money. Norway is suppose to be one of the most expensive places in which to live. I don't know what the square footage of the apts. but the prices weren't bad. Not a bad location in Paris. Not as expensive as the Marais, which most Paris episodes seem to feature. BTW, if anyone want to see some gorgeous photography of Paris, check out Emily in Paris. The show itself is so-so but they capture some beautiful cinematography. I wonder what kind of events they're holding. Is he giving seminars or some motivational schtick? Or maybe he wanted a large house with all those beds so he can rent out the rooms for Airbnb for people visiting for his events.

The drone challenge was dumb. They didn't get to practice flying and they have to fly blind because most of the partners gave bad instructions. So yet another physical elimination, that seems like most of the eliminations have been physical. At least the Hall Challenge is out of the way. I mean visually interesting but again, a big mismatch in size and weight. And they're changing the rules as they go along. TJ wouldn't tell him which gender elimination it was. Maybe they withheld the information to see which way Tori and Devin would vote so that they can set up this villain story line for Fessy. Was Fessy putting his hand into Nelson's face while they were piled up?

Ashling and Eddie were on WWHL. Ashling said Elizabeth just wasn't getting the job done. Because of miscommunication from Elizabeth, Ashling changed 6 or 7 bedsheets when she only needed to do one. She also said Francesca told Elizabeth to write things down on a note pad but she didn't comply. Says Elizabeth is 30 and she is almost 26. Andy referred to Izzy recently coming out as lesbian on social media. Eddie said she is brave.

Why are all the crew so bothered that Elizabeth and James may have hooked up? Bravo encourages this kind of thing. Izzy referenced James' j--- in the hot tub and didn't want to have them hookup in the bunk below hers. Ashling and Rachel were both disapproving, but why? James was flirting with everyone so maybe they liked the attention. When the guests were asking for several different things, it seemed like they might not go with whatever was scheduled, like riding horses on the beach or whatever. Shopping would not make for good TV and they probably wouldn't be able to take camera crew into the shops. That's why the charter agendas is probably controlled by production, so that they could film what they want, not leave it to the guests, in case the guests go where cameras can't go or they want to just relax on deck, not do anything but drink and eat. They can't have a normal dinner, it always has to be theme dinners or else it might get boring to show them dining and going "Ummm, so good" repeatedly. They also have to do food porn because standard food, without much presentation, wouldn't go over well on TV. These guests like the theatrics though, getting excited every time a champagne bottle was uncorked. They even requested to have them opened in their presence so they could see. There was these guests who kept sabering champagne bottles on another season of one of these BD shows. They were horrible guests too, but they must have loved them slicing the bottles off the champagnes with a big knife.