aghst

At some point, they will break up the teams probably. Though they have to let this whole defection thing play out a bit to see how it affects the dynamics of the game.

Luck of the draw on which elimination game? Jonna had no chance in a physical game with Tori, who's bigger and stronger. The first game, Michele seems more athletic, just a little more active than Ameerah. Anyone who's watched these shows, especially the last few seasons when vets were outnumbered should have a clue that vets still won the votes. Maybe these CBS reality "stars" have been paying attention a little bit. They didn't have to make an argument, they just piled on the vets name in the Green team deliberations. The Daily was kind of fun. Not sure why many of the challengers kind of sat in the middle instead of trying to get across as fast as possible as Johnny did. The longer you take, the more tired they're going to get. It didn't seem like nobody was trying to push or knock competitors off their poles, because they were holding on for dear life to their own pole.

Not blaming anyone. It's a question of who's responsible for what airs and what we viewers see. If Bravo wanted, they could have cut out the whole scene of Luke going into Margot's room. They also could have cut out the firing scenes too, even if the production company filmed them. They could have just said for whatever reason, they're replacing those two crew members. Other companies have suppressed similar incidents. The most infamous one is what happened on MTV The Challenge. Some off-camera incident occurred and they banned certain cast members, like permanently, from the show, without official explanation. Bravo could have done something similar. It's all up to them, since they control what gets aired.

Who do you think edits the footage before it airs, the local production company or Bravo? Who has the final say in the edits?

Maybe if they increased their budget, they could have gotten a place with heated floors.

Different production company but ultimately Bravo writes the checks and dictates what they want. And Bravo gets the final edit on what airs. These production companies are under pressure to produce and they see what other BD shows are doing. There is definitely a progression from earlier BD seasons to later ones. Just as we see a progression towards trashy behavior and scenes from the first Southern Charm season to later seasons.

I haven't watched the shows but I just listened to a podcast they did with Jon Favreau, who said that the podcast is like hanging out with them -- apparently they know each other well. But one thing surprised me, Bateman said the podcast is the most successful thing each of them have done. Favreau was praising them, how they didn't go in with some business model, they just kind of did it and it became a smash success. Still they've all done movies and TV for years and the podcast apparently makes them more money than what they've earned on all those other projects? None of them are movie leads but Bateman has headed up some shows.

Yeah they do that all the time it seems. Removing spoiler. So Wendy thinks Prince is dangerous if he became president, an out of control despot who could launch a preemptive attack on China and Russia and gas Des Moines, because he thinks he's right and knows better than anyone else. Let's see, Wendy was married to Chuck Rhoads and worked for Axe all those years. So maybe she at least has experience detecting megalomaniacs. But now she chooses to draw the line? Remember that Chuck also had some roadmap to run for the WH too. And it's not like Axe didn't have delusions of grandeur nor went through life as if no domaine was too big for him. She's going around in clothes which probably cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, with a big SUV and driver but now she wants to save the nation or get Axe to come to the rescue? Wendy isn't the only one who wants to stop plutocrats or fight the power. Chuck is using a reporter to cast himself as some modern day Robin Hood, the only one who's going to make billionaires accountable to the Greater Good. 😆 Or it's the narrative he wants to spin, to extricate himself from his legal troubles. So of the 3 male leads, two of them are lawbreakers and they're the ones being cast as heroes, to stop the third one, who's potentially the worst despot in history. Taylor isn't down with Prince's program either. They are upset because their boutique investment firm is being absorbed into Michael Prince Capital and they won't get to do ESG investing any more. IIRC, last season, they decided that they need to become a billionaire and they rejected people who called her out for giving up their idealism, in pursuit of wealth. So Taylor still wants to make money but they want to make money the "right" way. Since Prince isn't letting them do what they want, they join Wendy to bring back Axe, even though last seen, they didn't particularly love Axe either. Mafee is now a stoner and Dolla Bill is still a creepy asshole, but he loyal to Axe. Then there's Axe. He sent them a secret message through some trades and Wendy goes to the Tower of London to meet him. Taylor also shows up. I forget who else. You know Axe isn't the guy running away from the law that we last saw from him. He's been doing good, like getting weapons to the Ukrainians -- yeah like he was the only one who was going to be able to do that, never mind the US and NATO, the richest countries in the planet. No it took a fugitive to make things happen. Axe is the reason why Ukraine hasn't been conquered already! But now he's going to be the one to stop a megalomaniac from becoming the most powerful man on earth. Maybe that's what it takes, one megalomaniac to stop another megalomaniac. This episode actually featured the Rhoads kids on screen for a couple of scenes. So in 6-plus seasons, they've been on screen for what, 4 minutes? That's why it's hard to take these Billions characters seriously. Not only are Chuck and Wendy accomplished, they're great parents, no resentment from the kids for not giving them enough attention, no complaints that Wendy sees them maybe a couple of times a month. Bobby was also all about his kids in the first couple of seasons. Then he would not let his ex-wife leave the state and take away the kids. But he just decided to let them go and not a peep from them since. That's fine, I don't need to see any kids. But don't pretend that these aren't horrible parents, too self-absorbed in their own BS to really care about their children. You look at Succession and the parent-child relationships are the crux of the series, not because parenting is some great thing they wanted to feature. No it's about these horrible people and a domineering father who manipulates and raises unhappy, damaged children. Yet when he dies abruptly, the children have real emotions, even though they had been at war against him for control of the family wealth and power. That's what makes for interesting characters, even if they're horrible. Billions characters are horrible people but the show doesn't want to own that. They're cool because they're smart and they like to drop all these cultural reference, of which they laid on plenty in this episode. You know, it's quaint if one or two character drops some references like a rock critic. Shows that they're hip, have deep knowledge of music, don't just know the big hits and they make these references in a witty way. But when EVERY character does it, it's absurd, it's just the writers wanting to show off, not writing believable dialogue. In this episode, even a red shirt, the reporter guy, drops a bon mot about BB King was it? Are they only hiring writers from Rolling Stone or something?

Wow. Look at 3k likes. So Jenna is off the Challenge roster for the foreseeable future. What do they do for money?

So it was wish fulfillment, the nun killed in the forest and eventually the predatory wolf killed by the Deer Lady? She has a certain presence, the way she sped her car into the parking space in front of the diner, walks in, surveys the space — vaguely menacing. But then she sits down and orders two pies like an excited girl having the opportunity for the first time as a grown up to get whatever she wants. Then she orders Bear to come sit with her. Did she deliberately drop the book on the floor so that he would see the hoofs? She would know that he’s heard of her, not be freaked out? Did the old man expect her? Did he kind of know who she was, why she had come?

Wes basically said what is obvious to viewers and should be obvious to all the other challengers, that they should be trying to eliminate the vets first. The secret vote resulted in a lot of ping pong balls (actually they're sized more tennis balls but they're hollow like ping pong balls) for Wes and Bananas. So it seems like at least some of the non-vets have a clue. They don't say where in Croatia but it looks like they shot in the winter, maybe late fall or early spring. They could have a grueling final without the heat.

The first time they enter the UC room, the doctor is telling another vampire that they should put down her familiar, because of quality of life even if he was treated. I was thinking, makes sense, the vampires have compassion. Then "wait what?" Turns out the doctor's prescription for everything was to put them down, kill them. I'm thinking the vampires need to get a different insurance plan or try to find another UC facility. Even Nadja is afraid of Nandor if he finds out? So a familiar being turned by another vampire is like the worst case of infidelity? Nandor will not only kill Gizmo but slay them all and then himself? But he doesn't give off that vibe, even though his past reputation includes being some bloody mass murderer. Most of the time he has that affect of wanting to be liked so much, like the previous episode where he wanted so bad to be friends with the guy he met at the gym -- the "lengths" he went to to try to be accepted by him. But for a second, there was menace in his voice as he demanded to know what the hell was this and pulled out one of the hairy frogs. Again, I predict that it will turn out to be a nothing burger or there will be a reason Nandor doesn't become murderous. Like Gizmo not turning all the way, either because of his Van Helsing genes or reasons.

That may be intentional, have the house hunters keep repeating the usual HHI tropes, to make them come across as contradictory, uninformed, etc. Maybe they think some viewers are mainly in it for the snark so they want to provide some fan service.

You can tell most of them were expecting Sammi. They all did the wide open mouth response. Also looks like Sammi had rehearsed all the "beef" she had with each cast mate and she went from each one telling them specifically what she was upset about and their responses also seemed rehearsed. Also, it's not like they all decided to come to the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania just because Mike won a contest -- do lotto tickets really have such prizes? Obviously production leased the house. It was funny too, the women were all looking to claim dibs on the rooms and someone remarked that they didn't have to scrounge for a good room. They showed the original shore house was 3 bedroom, 2 baths and a smush room while this place had 11 bedrooms! So there's no reason for anyone to have to share rooms but it would be easier to film them if several "slept" in the same rooms and had convos. Jenni really seemed thrilled to get the big suite, like the long drive to the middle of nowhere in this gloomy weather and having to play out the fake drama with Angelina was worth it, just to have that cushy suite. Then they kept showing Mike being a bit pissed that he didn't get the big suite since he was the one who won the supposed prize. Jenni and Mike's reactions about the suite may have been the only genuine ones in the whole episode, though Deena teared up a bit when Sammi showed up. Enjoyed Vinny mocking Sammi and Nicole talking about having competing beach boutiques selling cheesy merchandise. Also the Angelina and Snooki convo about them disliking drama and both crying about it. Seems like they always try to egg on Angelina to stir up drama and she does it because it's her job but she doesn't like that role, even though the producers seem to think it's drama or antagonism between Angelina and the other women which drive the season narrative. Like they're starting this one with the confrontation at the reunion, which was about Angelina confronting Jenni for being snarky about her engagement. So they will squash this latest drama, at least temporarily, as the "family" goes on these trips. Then towards the end of the season, they could have more conflict, as cliffhangers leading to the reunion and the next season.

They're not following a literal script. Nor are they directed to be sexually aggressive. But it's more likely the producers gaslighting them, like telling Luke that Margot really likes him, really wants it from him. Or something similar with Laura, like Adam just needs to be brought out of his shell, don't give up. I think producers are under pressure to produce "good footage" and rather than leaving it up to chance, they're going to try to manipulate and get the cast drunk, to increase odds of them acting wild. As someone noted above, it's a whole toxic production environment, with constant pressure to deliver ratings. BD shows have progressively gotten worse as far as drunken drama and hookups. If the producers of one show delivered a season where things were relatively sedate, they might fear for their jobs. They want the shows to generate a lot of social media buzz, including from celebrity fans. Unfortunately, the things which are going to "go viral" are these moments of extreme behavior -- fights, loud arguments, making out, etc. What would happen if there was a BD season where nobody was fired, people didn't fight or argue, they get along all throughout the season and all the work is competently done and the crew go out but have nice evenings and there's no or very little hooking up other than some sedate kisses here and there? Would Bravo bring back most of that cast or bring in more cast who are likely to stir up drama in the very next season? Would the producers be praised and tell them to keep up the good work or would they be dressed down and told they need to produce "good television" which in the Bravo context means confrontations, drunken acting out, melodrama? I think we all know the answers.

She's had those cats for awhile it sounded like. Yeah I didn't think work would be a problem for him either. Seems like they chose Stirling for the cost. It's between Edinburgh and Glasgow and unless they really wanted to get away from the big city after Boston, the main advantage of living there would be lower costs. He talked a lot about the outdoors but sounds like she had little interest in hiking with him.

But they love it when Luke is kissing Margot or when Gary was pawing at Daisy. That is the stuff they air, not edit out of the episode. That is what they're hoping for when they cast the kind of people that they cast, that they act out once inebriated and that kind of acting out is what they believe brings in the viewers.

Washington Post has a brief article about the episode. Bravo didn’t make an official comment nor make any of the crew available to make comments. Instead, Margot, Jason and Luke made brief social media posts. Jason thanked production for breaking the fourth wall to intervene and also filming the scene in which Aesha came to him to report what happened with Margot. Episode was filmed a year ago and the events depicted only became known as it aired.

I missed the part where Ben was staying in the Arconia? Why would a Hollywood star stay there, where a lot of the residents are old, people who've been there decades? At some point, having murders occur in that one building would be too meta. It's like a joke as to how they could have yet another murder there. The building would gain notoriety and there would be some media coverage of this "dark" history, 3 murders in 4 years or whatever. The podcast would have to go from detailing the individual cases to examining if the Arconia is "cursed" or being punished for some reason. Mabel would set aside time to visit regularly with the old guys or maybe FaceTime with them regularly. In fact it's probably better for her to move out and move on with her life, find a career and someone to occupy her time. But sure, this kind of intergenerational bonding is suppose to be special, this trio not only solving cases but looking out for each other. I wonder how Steve Martin and the other show creator decided to make her character so much younger. I can't recall if there were aspects of her backstory that figured a lot into season 1 or was it season 2 when they showed a lot about her growing up and spending time in the building.

Why would Burt just give up the painting? Sweety tore out the page with his name. And why wouldn't he have security in that posh estate he has? Now Mansell would have shot up the place if he wanted that painting badly enough but without security, all he had to do was threaten Burt. Also, what are those entries, just names of people. They don't seem have detailed entries of whatever leverage that judge had on them. So Cruz just stone-cold killed his nemesis, whom he decided was a stone-cold killer. I don't recall if he was implying that he couldn't get the goods to put him away or didn't even bother, decided to be judge, jury and executioner. Gave Raylan pause but OTOH, Raylan has a lot of notches on his belt himself, way more than the average number of men the average cop drops. Didn't Winona or someone said he was angry? Carolyn thinks she deserves to be judge, not her colleague, who's political. So in the name of justice, she's going to break bad or at least pull some extra-legal moves to become a judge, an avatar of upholding the rule of law? So at the all-hands meeting that Raylan walked into at police HQ, I had an epiphany. All the cops were in uniform or professional but boring suits. And here was Raylan in jeans, some Western shirt and jacket. No stetson or bolos but still he stood out. In the OG series, more than once people remarked on his style. I didn't think much of it, a Marshall who likes cowboy hats but isn't really a cowboy. Still, if you came across a group of cops and they're all in uniform or suits and you had this guy deliberately dressing differently, you would think he's not like them. More importantly, does he prioritize the right things as a LEO or does he spend too much time in front of a mirror? Does he play nice with his colleagues or sets himself and sees himself apart? If you were a young black male being pulled over, would you be more scared of a cop in uniform or Raylan Givens coming up on your car with that hat and one arm near his holster? I guess Leonard decided to give "color" to the character and there's some lore about why he dresses this way -- I've forgotten it if they ever explained it in the show.

I thought Tzarina did well with the Cuban dish, considering that she never made it before and had to wait for the ship to return to port to get the chicken. The guests wanted comfort food since that is what the mother of the primary used to make it for him and they were having the dinner in memoriam to her. She could have done some fancy plating, like mold it into a tiny cylinder and use garnish to make it pretty I suppose. (In one episode of The Bear, a fancy restaurant decides to get a guest some deep-dish pizza because they overheard her saying she didn't get to try it so they get some from a pizza joint but then cut it into circles and they garnish it to pretty it up. So they wanted to rebrand it, not just as some standard pizza slice but something that they put their stamp on. I would have just preferred a pizza slice.) However, the goal in this case was to give provide the familiar to the guest, to make him remember something his dear mother used to give him. Oh and they got a big tip, though part of it was this arm-wrestling contest which came out of nowhere, unless I missed some exchange where Jason and the primary talked about arm wrestling. But I still think tips are made up.

Sarah. Someone posted that she may be going back to The Netherlands? But it's a small country so how many agents could they have and how many episodes could they base there? I think you can get from the two most distant points in the country in a couple of hours. Alas, I've only been to Amsterdam -- and Keukenhof. Really have to see some other Dutch cities.

Has he said anything about the strike? I'm sure the HBO show isn't provide that much income for him but it probably helped drive traffic to his big gigs.

Seemed like Margot was more offended that Laura said they should have given Luke another chance than her saying she would have welcomed Luke crawling into bed with her naked while she was passed out drunk. But Jason heard only the part about how she would have welcomed it, that is, not care about the boundaries that he had said must be respected. Laura asked for another chance, just be let off with a warning. That wasn't going to work, Jason and the producers wanted a double termination this episode. Maybe because they had the replacements already lined up and the replacements, at least from the previews they showed, are going to bring a lot more drama themselves.

Ally's turning 50, not taking it well. Death stare at Luke for telling people at the fish and chips place that it was her 50th birthday. Then she abruptly quits a job when she finds out she was hired because they'd been accused of ageism. Jim also has a birthday, turning 80 and doesn't want to put on his last pair of shoes, isn't ready for the shoes he'll be buried in. Luke passes the theoretical portion of the driving test but the practical part he still needs more work. But he's getting a car because of impending parenthood. So the nosy car saleswoman advises them to get a big boot. But the milestone that Luke is struggling with isn't really about driving, it's about fatherhood. Ava also is crossing a milestone, though an unplanned one. First kiss, first girlfriend and oh, coming out. This family has a lot of stuff going on. Paul was cursing his son out when he was just a kid. Should have saved it for when they're about to become young adults.