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One good thing about this episode is that it's a back story but they still advance the present day and main plot. We see what Gemma is going through now and where Mark is in his reintegration as well as Mark coming close to completing Cold Harbor and his work being monitored. When he completes Cold Harbor, something is going to happen to Gemma. But they showed a lot about how they met, a sense of what their lives were like together. Apparently from falling in love to getting alienated because in part they couldn't get pregnant.

Damon Lindelof, one of the show runners of Lost, theorized that Gemma died and Lumon cloned and Cold Harbor is going to fully restore her in the cloned body. He’s aware that the Severance show runners said that it doesn’t have to do with clones but doesn’t believe them. But he hadn’t seen this episode 7, which is mainly about Gemma.

Like I said, she seems to get plenty of projects and is able to pit one bidder against the other. Will be interested to see how popular Season 2 was, whether it was as popular as season 1. But it may not just be money or Apple wouldn't necessarily offer her that much more than other streamers. This show was suppose to be one season and then she was convinced to do another season. The story seems complete -- not that she couldn't probably come up with another season. She may just be artistically interested in going in other directions. Season 2 didn't get as many positive reviews as season 1 so that may also be a factor in both her and Apple's thinking on the question of making more seasons.

I think it's deliberate. It may or may not be malicious. But clearly they wanted to have many scenes about this "controversy" and even the whole cast ganging up on JT. Bravo probably doesn't mind this kind of piling on because it's drama, "good" television. Craig is probably doing what the producers want. They could tell others that they have no tape of JT saying the things Craig is straight up lying about. But they prefer to milk the drama from this he said, he said dispute. In fact I suspect the other cast know JT didn't say those things but they're playing along and piling on because that is the script. JT may or may not be a willing participant in this fake drama. But it's one of the few things which gets him a lot of on-air time. Either he wants that on-air time or maybe he gets sick of being a punching bag by the end of the season. Not sure what he gets out of this show. Maybe he thinks it helps his business somehow, like more social media followers, maybe drives more business to his properties, though I'm not sure why it would.

This episode crystallized that Lumon is evil, not just some weirdo cult with too much power. Either they got Gemma to get severed under false pretenses or they just straight abducted her. I can't conceive of a way in which she signs up for the Lumon Fertility Clinic and then consents to have a chip implanted in her brain. That was probably what happened when she left and she said "I love you to Mark," repeated it so he said it back. Then the police come to their house late at night. So they perpetuated a fraud, telling Mark that she was killed, but instead she ends up in the deepest recesses of Lumon, a severed human guinea pig. Either way, they're clearly keeping her against her will, making her endure these experiments which she doesn't enjoy. Drummond told the other guy -- was it also Dr. Mauer -- that once Cold Harbor was done, she would have to go away. So that could mean they kill her or release her. Somehow, I don't think they will release her, because what they're doing is illegal, false imprisonment, at a minimum. Then again, this is an alternate reality and Lumon supposedly runs that town, region, state.

Yeah do we need any more evidence that it was a fake relationship all along? Shep contacted her, not the other way around, as they first claimed. Shep knew what he was getting into, but he wanted to have this drama for the show. Come on, they're trying to depict him as some naive schoolboy now experiencing genuine heartbreak and his "friends" giving him tough love. What would make him look worse, that he's really heart broken by this fake relationship or that he's faking it to this extent, which is great for the show because every other cast member is weighing in, so they actually have something to talk about. Paige telling Shep to face reality is funny as hell, since she's also in a fake relationship or showmance for the benefit of SC and her main show. That plot is going to unravel next. So they're arguing about what JT said. Hmm, since they FILM all these scenes, you'd think they'd go look at the tape or ask the crew if there's any film of JT saying the things Craig accused him of. Then when Shep won't go along with Craig's lies -- didn't call him out as a liar, just said he never heard JT saying the things Craig accuse him of -- Craig is pissy about it. Shep should have called him a liar and even that would be too civil, since Craig is a lying *** for the purposes of the show at least.

How did they know each other’s astrological signs? As it turned out the additions didn’t handicap teams though Frank and Sam did get most questions right. They should have increased the volume of the shake more. The elimination favored agility and balance, which it rarely does. Did Devin and Leroy get even one triangle completed? What’s his name was right, Frank was going to make a big move because he might not get another chance. I don’t remember Adam’s seasons at all.

Ontario, Canada to Costa Rica. Canadian couple with 11-year old daughter wants to move to CR to escape the snow. Husband found a job managing resort golf courses while wife Wendy would be working from home. They want at least 3 bedrooms for Wendy’s office, be near to drop off daughter Paige for school bus and want a view, for $450k. House 1 is a new condo for $419k. It’s not close to the school bus stop and it only has a shared pool. Wendy doesn’t want to have to drive Paige and pick her up from the school bus stop. House 2 is 3 bedroom with small private pool and within walking distance to bus stop for $439k. But no view. House 3 is above the town with nice ocean views. Only 2 bedrooms and price is $469k. Wendy says she’s afraid of heights so would be nervous driving Paige to and from bus stop, downhill and uphill. They eliminate House 3 because of price. They end up choosing House 2 for proximity to school bus.

LA to London. College sweethearts and engaged Kenny and Jessie both gave up their jobs in California so that she could do a PhD program at Kings College. They will be living on a college stipend and savings so they want to stay under $2600 a month. Kenny thinks they should go for a 1-bedroom while Jessie wants 2 bedrooms because Kenny’s parents will visit. She also wants a big kitchen for Kenny who does the cooking and no carpets because she does the cleaning. They also want to be near a Tube station Richard finds them 3 properties in the Queens Park area, which is west to northwest London. House 1 is a 1 bed, 1 bath place for $2200. Immediately Jessie has a strong reaction vs. the carpet, claiming it’s difficult to keep clean and how she’d have to vacuum every day. She tells Richard that they’re ready to look at an uncarpeted property next! House 2 is 2 bed, 1 bath for $2500. As they enter the property, she starts complaining about carpets in the stairs and hallway leading to the apt, which seems recently renovated and does in fact seem to have wood floors throughout. Jessie says second bedroom is tiny and it’s misleading to call it a 2-bedroom place. House 3 is 2 bed 1 bath but $3000 a month. It’s spacious downstairs for the kitchen and living room. But upstairs is carpeted though the second bedroom is roomy. Jessie notes that there is carpet but doesn’t rant this time. So they eliminate House 3 because of costs. Kenny talks up House 1 because it has the lowest rent. Jessie says they MUST have 2 bedrooms to host Kenny’s parents. Kenny agrees since it’s still under their budget. 3 months later, Kenny has found a job so money pressures have alleviated. Jessie uses that second bedroom as a study because it’s too small for a bed. Kenny’s parents have already visited — so maybe there were definite plans for them to visit and she felt pressure.

Watched Lenox Hill a couple of years ago. Found it compelling telling the story of Ground Zero as covid hit NYC and it was an all-hands situation, with two of the leading brain surgeons in the country triaging covid patients. When I heard about this show, I thought it was odd that Langer and Boockvar would do another series. But it really sounds like they were filming for Emergency NYC (Dr. Macri as well) and then covid hit and the filmmakers shifted gears and made it about dealing with covid and got that series out first. So they probably didn't agree to do more than one show but it became two shows because of the unanticipated crisis which emerged in 2020. First episode of Emergency NYC I found intense, people being rushed to the different hospitals, especially Josh, the gunshot victim. More intense than I recall Lenox Hill being. It was very moving how much these professionals cared. In one of the episodes, a doctor says NYC has humanity which is unique in the country or the world. I don't know if that's the case but clearly the compassion and the way the doctors tried to connect with patients and their loved ones looked unusual after what we witnessed with the pandemic, people being pretty selfish. All the stories are moving but I wonder how much the cameras changed the behavior of those being filmed, particularly the doctors. I have no reason to believe that Langer and Boockvar aren't kind, well-resepected and well-loved by the staff, given their stature. But if an asshole boss did get filmed for a documentary, I would think he or she would restrain themselves, not curse at staff or engage in any kind of bullying, which probably happens even in medicine. All the doctors in the show explain what they're doing, especially before, during and after surgery. Are they doing it for the benefit of their staff, to educate them? Or are they doing it for the cameras, so that viewers can get a better understanding of what they're doing, why some of the procedures are big deals. I liked the dedication shown by Mackenzie and one of the paramedic drivers, the Honduran woman. Both worked well into their pregnancies and both had to have C-sections to deliver their children because there were complications. It seems MacKenzie is all about her daughter, no longer all about the job. But again, it was impressive to see how compassionate and caring they came across, though again with the caveat that cameras can change behavior. Of course the same for Dr. Macri, who admits to feeling burnout, possibly seeing the end of being an ER doctor. But she's always calm and very nice to the people she treats.

Wow she had a liver transplant? Didn't Dawn supposedly have some special thing inside of her that they were trying to protect her from in the last seasons?

Interview with a reporter about the succession battle for control of the Murdoch media empire. https://www.npr.org/2025/02/25/nx-s1-5307986/inside-the-murdoch-familys-real-life-succession-drama It's amazing how the real life story lines up with the plots in Succession. For instance, Liz Murdoch, one of the daughters, has had a lot of success in TV and film production instead of the family business. But Rupert never considered her a serious candidate to take over control of his empire because he's misogynist. The family trust, which Rupert and Lachlan tried to change so that the control goes solely to Lachlan instead of divided equally among the 4 children, was the result of divorce proceedings with the mother of the children. She feared that Rupert would play the children off against each other so she pushed for the equal distribution of power and wealth in the trust, in return for which she took a lot less in the divorce.

So poor reviews for Captain America Brave New World and mediocre box office. In fact the Deadpool creator is calling for Kevin Feige to step down. Superhero exhaustion? Or maybe the Disney Marvel factory is just doing so much volume, taking so many heat-check 3 pointers that there are going to be a lot of misses?

Now they show Tsarina feeling pressure, even though she handled the previous season by herself. Then she and Jason have a disagreement about the crew meals on the day off, after he was blunt about the dishes she served the night before. I don't know it seems they want to show her having a meltdown. Now they have a love triangle situation with Tsarina and Marina both supposedly interested in Wihan. Would co-workers blatantly pursue someone fancied by a co-worker? This cast hasn't known each other that long but just to avoid drama? Or maybe the point is to increase the drama. At the end of the episode, you hear Tsarina's voice calling Marina a backstabbing bitch. But you don't see her face saying it so they could have looped that in afterwards. Also, how would Tsarina not know Wihan and Marina were going out on a little date? The camera crews must be following them, including when they were on the boat. As far as the other hookups, they don't waste time this season, this is only the second charter and you have 2 or 3 couplings lining up. It's a big deal now that Harry and Brianna supposedly like each other because she's a runway model. Aren't they suppose to be tall, like 5-10 or taller? In any event, she's making up cabins on a boat, unless she wants to be on the show to boost her social media profile or something. Maybe she is that tall because Lara is teasing Brianna about her and Harry having baby giraffes. The producers don't seem to like Erik, the primary charter guest who's a life coach and he's dispensing advice constantly to the other guests. The crew don't seem impressed with him, the stupid things he keeps saying. But how did they pick up him saying he gave the best exit speech when he was off the boat and entering the taxi? Does he still have a microphone on him? Or did they also loop him in afterwards, though why would he participate, considering that he comes across looking ridiculous, with the crew and the other guests rolling their eyes at him.

It is for this kind of show. Once the mystery is revealed, the show is over. And they could easily reveal the mystery within 2 seasons. Obviously it's a choice not to. Now if they wanted to make a show which can organically be sustained for 5 seasons, they write a different kind of story. But that is not the case.

Well it's the same physical person. Different personas of the same person though. With people debating whether Helena "raped" Mark by pretending to be Helly, maybe this question comes up when Gretchen bangs Innie Dylan. In that case, it would be a non-severed person banging one of the severed personas. Otherwise same body. Whereas with Helena and Mark, it was a severed Outie pretending to be the Innie. I don't want to get too deep into that philosophical debate. What happens if a person has sex with one personality of a person suffering from multiple-personality disorder thinking he or she was being intimate with another personality of that person? Is that a similar criminal or moral offense?

It better be the brother's butt. It was hairy. Not real hirsute but definitely hairy and not a woman's ass.

Lochy stared at Saxon’s bare butt a little too long. Timothy “only made $10 million” from the shady deal that he’s worried about. Time zone difference is inconvenient but didn’t he choose to bring the whole family to Thailand? Piper doesn’t even like this kind of resort, she’s so spiritual — though she’s taking advantage of the amenities. Saxon adds racist stereotypes to his repertoire, the Thai massage happy endings and there being a lot of lady boys. Victoria thinks she’s too good for actresses and non Tar Heels, blows off Kate. Resort has all that bling? Gaitok may get in trouble for letting the robbers in. Will Mook give him a chance? Doesn’t seem like she’s going to, maybe concern for him being okay gets him out of the friend zone? He may not want to have heard Tim’s conversation. Rick is on a mission though he gave half-hearted try to be civil with “Gary.”

Once they reveal what exactly happened in the wilderness and how the survivors resumed their lives, the show is over. They could really do that in two seasons if they wanted to. But they're vamping with side plots and filler episodes to keep the show going for at least 5 seasons. I think these show runners are the first time they created and ran a show. They want to make money, keep the show on the air as long as possible. Showtime needs multiple seasons to keep people interested in subscribing. They caught lightning in a bottle with season 1. But they don't have a good plan other than to produce enough seasons and episode to make some money. So they're just delaying the revelation of what happened, after which most if not all people would stop watching and go on to something else. But here's the problem, some of us have already stopped watching and gone on to other shows. There are A LOT of shows out there and more coming out all the time. If they are unnaturally slow-rolling the story-telling, people are going to tune out.

Well the story this season is that Craig is busy with his businesses and is all about domestic life with Paige. So instead of going out drinking with Austen and Shep he only wants to be in his backyard, skimming that pool. How is he gaining weight if he's living a more healthy, purposeful life? Maybe because this narrative was as fake as his relationship, as many of the relationships are on this show?

Producers probably let Shep know that he needs to create some drama, probably encouraged her to make contact with Sienna. It wouldn't be the first time this show based a whole season on some social media event, like that video of Austen and Madison arguing when she supposedly caught him with two other women. They played that stupid video over and over again that season.

Which "achievement" impressed Shep (and probably Bravo) the most, her degree or her beauty pageant win?

He wanted to film it? You mean the producers wanted to film it. She watched earlier seasons and became suspicious? What about him being around twice her age and trawling for her on Raya? Though if she put herself on Raya, it’s not like she was looking for men around her age. If she was as professionally and academically as accomplished as she’s suppose to be, why is she on Raya, which sounds like it’s for women looking for wealthy and famous men.

In the media thread, someone posted the truth. Whitney and Shep contacted Sienna, not her contacting them, as they claimed on the show. Basically they scouted her to pursue this fake heartbreak story line. Probably Bravo told them that they have to come up with some interesting stories or else they wouldn't shoot another season. So they pursued her to make her a fake love interest. But why? What's in it for Shep? Does he really need this show? Maybe after 9-10 seasons, it's significant money to him, even though he's financially independent from his family wealth. Craig really needs the show to continue since his side businesses all derive from his exposure on the show. So he's been harvesting his fake relationship too. At least they're about to end that charade as well. https://tenor.com/vNvz.gif

Yeah she seems suspect. Even if they contacted her, not her contacting them, she agreed to come on the show and pretend to be dating Shep. A bachelor's degree, in some Caribbean school, means nothing. If she gets a medical degree, even at a Caribbean school, then its something. Otherwise, puffing up her resume.