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They can’t seem to complete the Dailies. Maybe they made them hard so that they don’t have to pay out as much in prizes. How did they all agree that it should just be a men’s elimination day? Only notable thing compared to the first episode was that they made the women wear those orange tights again but let them wear shorts so that we didn’t get a camel toe bonanza again.

The book must elaborate on how that first show struck a chord and built a large audience of entirely women. Elizabeth didn’t talk down to the viewers but she seemed like a strictly professional instructor. That may be a refreshing departure from the way women were used to being talked to but does it lead to such avid fans? One of the women in the focus group said Elizabeth was “capable” and the other one agreed. The waitress at the diner referred to the show about soufflés and rising to the occasion and referring to Elizabeth explaining fear and neurotransmitters. Maybe some women were inspired, gained some confidence in the workplace. Again, maybe the book does a better job of showing how Elizabeth got such a loyal following. In the montage Elizabeth cracks a smile as she holds up a plate that looks like a crown over her head but otherwise, her demeanor seems too flat to connect so intensely with viewers. Mad seems at first like a mini Elizabeth or her mother’s daughter. But as she delves into the family tree project, she sees that Elizabeth isn’t telling her everything about her family. She also doesn’t seem to be too impressed with her mother’s TV show. And as she spends more time with Harriet’s family, especially at the church, she may question more of the things Elizabeth has been telling her. So ironically while her fans may like Elizabeth’s dictums, her daughter may be starting to question some of her ideas. Pretty heady stuff for a seven year old.

Yeah I wondered about that too. They might have come in one of the top 3 places and be told by Phil at the mat that they didn’t complete the first detour and get some long penalty. AL might have blown her top. But they navigated well and did both detours quickly or quicker than other teams so I think they’d have survived either way. If they somehow won the leg or won this season, you’d never hear the end of it from AL. She must have a chip on her shoulder for some reason. But so far that team is outperforming others and she’s the driving force.

This show really had the great fortune to have such a competitive season when Wrexham is trying to get promoted. Notts County is a great foil for the protagonists and both clubs break records trying to win the league. I thought the discussion of the finances was interesting. So Rob and Ryan have spent almost £11 million pounds they said towards the end of their second season owning the club. The bald guy was saying if they get promoted, they will get so many sponsorships that they'll have a huge advantage over other clubs and have a good chance to get promoted again, like 2 years in a row. But they already have big sponsorships. They have to be getting millions, though I guess Ryan owns Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile anyways. His net worth has to be approaching a billion if not more. Also it was pointed out that the club has such a huge profile already that they could sell and more than make their money back. Imagine drawing fans from all over the world, like the top clubs in the PL do. They probably get millions from jersey sales. That Nott's County match was perfect for the show, a real Hollywood ending. I'm not so sure though that this huge interest in the club can be sustained though. I'm sure they'll do a US tour again next summer and draw big crowds. But are the ratings still high? One issue is that they have so many episodes, which is atypical these days. They're already on episode 12 in season 2.

They're all smug. When they pontificate and drop those cultural references, they're too cool for school.

Paul Giamatti has done a new movie with Alexander Payne, the director of Sideways, where Giamatti probably had his most famous role -- "I'm not drinking fucking Merlot!" Movie is called The Holdovers, getting good reviews. Even though he plays a curmudgeonly professor type in this movie, I'm going to guess that Giamatti's character doesn't drop a lot of obscure cultural referencers that you're not going to bother looking up anyways.😊 Giamatti probably wants to cleanse himself of Chuck Rhoads and Billions writing.

I don't think Chuck and Wendy are back together. They just decided to have dinner with the kids. Chuck is presumably still going to the dominatrix and she won't have it any more. As far as the ending, Axe was ALWAYS going to win, fan service. He started the show as an arrogant mustache-twirling villain but they couldn't have him be sidelined, like Chuck successfully prosecuting him. So he kept winning and became as much of a "good guy" as Chuck or anyone else on the show. Taylor had no interest in doing good. Remember, Connerty tried to appeal to her ideals which they supposedly had before working for Axe. They were ambivalent about their first swanky apartment and Connerty tried to play on that but they weren't buying it. So they bought everything else and later rationalized that they needed to get their net worth to $1 billion and then they could quit and go do good. So now they are big into philanthropy. Forget about all the shady things that Axe Capital did when they were a prominent part of AC.

Koppleman said that the finale was for the fans. So fan service happy ending for all. Even Prince calmed down and seem to be in peace with the end of his "mission" which they never explain what it is. Prince with that angry face after he threw the printer through the glass, that's a face he's never shown before. He's always been moderate in his emotions, even-keeled. They broke all kinds of laws but all ended well except for Prince's billions. But what about MPC clients? You figure there will be tons of lawsuits and Prince said he's going to sue them all. Well he might have a good case against all the former Axe Cap employees who were in on the collusion while working for MPC. Well he fired Wendy, Wags and Taylor but they have fiduciary responsibilities. So they would be defendants in suits by MPC clients who got screwed by market manipulation. But who cares, all the old gang is back together and everything is peaceful. It's odd, when the show started out, Axe was clearly a villain. And he still is, market manipulation to not just win but destroy someone else. So they re-used the same gimmick about Prince and Scooter giving up their phones for hours so that MPC is gutted. They did that with the Killer Mike episode already. Then Axe tells them $100 million is like a billion in Indiana. Way to sneer not just at the Flyover states but it's a callback to when Axe crushed another rival who was left with "only" $150 million and how that was like poverty in NYC because he wouldn't be able to afford trainers for his daughter's horses or whatever. Not only is Axe some financial genius who surgically kills Prince's money but saves everyone else's money and makes them even 3 times richer! But he's got some special political insight and the governor chick accepts his political strategy advice!

Look like Ron wants to get back on the show. It's not just about making amends and then leaving for good. They don't get to choose who's on the show if they want that paycheck. So Sammi is going to have to have some conversation with Ron too because it seems like the producers want him back on. Snookie showed some awareness, like Jenni didn't really mean it, Angelina must be on her period too, she's an empath. Did they get to eat the pizza baked on the wood pans? You're suppose to put DiGiornos directly on the rack.

They tell us that she's from some very conservative background but how do we really know? Christian or not, a young woman being called out like that in public might lose her composure. We see her get emotional among a group yet it really doesn't seem to upset her to be slut-shamed and be called a hypocrite so publicly. Even Madison, no matter how mean girl she is, seemed to relish this shaming. This show is called Southern Charm, which implies some gentility. But this is Bravo and we knew after the first season that they would likely try to have big, melodramatic confrontations, which weren't such a thing in the first season. So this scene seems like them sticking to the formula more than anything else.

Alexander Payne reunites with Paul Giamatti (previously worked on Sideways). Getting strong reviews. I would guess that the curmudgeonly character is still way more interesting than Chuck Rhoads.

There are nuts who will take it way further than canceling a person. She's not dependent on right-wing media. Her work appears elsewhere. She's rich either way, so she doesn't depend on her work for financial security. So no it's about personal safety, safety of her parents and other family.

Madison is trying to do the show a service, by having scandal, which did wonders for VPR. Last season it was supposedly Naomi and Whitney. This season it's Taylor and Austen and then Taylor and Whitney. All these alleged hookups happen off screen and the viewers are suppose to believe it and be scandalized but interested. When you see these alleged hookup couples, you see no chemistry, no sign that anything ever happened between them.

Her elderly father was assaulted after a home invasion by some partisan nut. An incident she alluded to on this episode. So if she is scared, she may have some valid reasons.

It would be punishing the kid to have her name associated with her emotional state during birth. Even Elizabeth wouldn't subject her to that.

You mean Danny and Amy. Or Lisa and Veg? Lisa was terrified that Veg would propose to her a couple of episodes. Now she's glad that Veggie came back and she doesn't care that Danny came over to see her? If Lisa and Danny got together, the premise of the show would end and they'd just be a couple who are both insomniacs so they do things together at night. So they left it alive for another season but will this show get renewed? Lisa is likable enough but her identity as a mother was touched on the first episode or two and dropped, no more scenes with the daughter. Do they have another trick beyond the fact that they spend a lot of time virtually at night when others have gone to bed?

She was feeling bad, maybe sorry for herself because Shep was cheating on her. So she turns to Whitney? Even thirsty JT would be less cringey, at least closer in age. This seems as ridiculous as the Naomi and Whitney thing they were trying to sell last season. Remember how unconvincing those scenes of them together were? Whitney came up with the idea but he's so much older than the rest of the cast that you wouldn't think they'd gravitate to each other. Shep maybe but nobody else.

BTW JT was really thirsty about Taylor this episode wasn't he? She's the ultimate catch according to him. He wouldn't throw her back to the sea. He's not talking about fishing.

I was wondering why they concentrated on that girl if she wasn't Mad. Clever transition to her new life. Elizabeth seems like the kind who would think that she's too good to watch TV let alone star in it. But 7 years later she gets this TV job offer and presumably she hasn't had any breakthroughs in the research since building up that lab. Was that Dwight Schrute who demanded that the producer find a young fuckable hostess for the show? I don't think that's a '50s phrasing, not that they wouldn't use curse words -- though less likely in a workplace setting -- but as an adjective. Not a peep from the dog this time but 7 years later, it's still around. Elizabeth was so in love with Calvin that he sticks around as this idealized version being supportive of her through all the trying times. Maybe Ghost Calvin will also stop speaking after one episode. So Harriet is another very able woman who has been unable to pursue her avocation because of the times. Elizabeth and Harriet's stories are meant to be linked. But beyond the timeline of this mini series, unless they make some big time jumps, they would have more opportunities in a decade or two when the Civil Rights movement takes off as well as Women's liberation, with women joining the workforce becoming a mega trend. Elizabeth might be able to find work as a chemist by the late '60s or so and Harriet might have been able to have a significant role in the Civil Rights movement.

The town is just south of the Palermo airport. There are a lot of coastal towns along that western coast. There are a few villages in Sicily offering those €1 homes, though you have to agree to invest a certain amount to renovate them. But she wanted to be close to the coast and be more or less move-in ready.

I don't know any evangelical people in real life. Taylor doesn't seem like one, at least the way they're portrayed as very conservative. She supposedly mixes with non believers -- I thought that in itself is kind of verboten. Certainly we haven't seen her talking up her faith on the show. We're only told that she is from a conservative Christian family. But she seems to be part of the hook up culture that this show depicts, wealthy single people living their best life or whatever. Calling out religious hypocrisy is always going to please people but is it even true in this case? Are these people anything like the way they come across on this show? Producers must have been hoping for this kind of battle. Like any other event, this dinner is not some organic event, it's staged for the show. Still, even someone supposedly uncouth like Madison would stick her nose into someone else's business to slut-shame another cast member? This kind of verbal putdown is Bravo gold, which is why it's hard to believe it's true. Lot of the scenes in this show are like something out of GQ or Vogue. They dress up and they're very specific about what they're drinking, like they not only dress fashionably but they're expert in what's trendy to eat and drink, like those lifestyle magazines. Only thing they're not doing is dropping brand names or labels, asking each other what they're wearing, as in which designer. Show seems more meta the last couple of season with the cast commenting on each other's fashion choices. This episode, Shep tried to get advice from Taylor over FaceTime on what he should wear to this event. Yes not surprising that this show is a triumph of style over substance.

Hmm, we've seen that before, having to go against "bad asses" or something like that in an elimination. IIRC, some challengers got an easier bad ass to go against in some of the eliminations and got a break relative to the ones they were competing against to avoid going home.

After 5 legs, they may be one of the main targets of the upcoming U-turn, because AL has perhaps rubbed some of the other racers the wrong way as well as perform very well. But long term, are they really among the best threats to win it all? Steve was struggling going up that ramp to do the Indian dance task, which AL killed in. If there are more legs featuring running or jogging for distance or uphills, they could be severely handicapped.

I don't recall that. I thought it was first to the U-turn board so that the dual tasks come up right after. Unless they collect the votes on the next leg and then it comes into effect the leg after that.

Presumably when they bring in the vets or "legends" they will have a chance at the prize money. So the champion may not be a first-time winner. Also only one winner? So the Final won't be some overly physical task, just running and puzzle-solving, like the time Cara Maria won over Zach I think it was.