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Are things going to be as frenetic and high-pressured in the new season? It would be a very difficult way to work if it's always like that.

Sounds similar to Poker Face, at least superficially? The creator has credits on Nurse Jackie, Get Shorty and Grace and Frankie but this appears to be the first time she's created and show running?

Florida to Madrid. A couple both secure jobs at the same school outside of Madrid. They are taking salary cuts but want to travel so don't want to spend too much over the $2000 budget for a 3 BD, 2 BA with terrace ask, though one thinks they will need to spend more. House 1 is in the center, an hour commute away. It's $2400 and only has 2 BD, 2 BA but has a glorious, large, quiet terrace. It would let them live as they did in FL, a lot of the time outdoors. House 2 is out of the center but still near amenities, still about an hour commute. It's $2200 for 3 BD, 2 BA but no terrace. But the space is roomy and they like the style of the home. House 3 is a little further out, making the commute a bit shorter. But it's only 2 BD, 1 BA with a little terrace and it's $1700. But the rooms are small and the style isn't to their liking so they eliminate it right away. They decide on house 2, saving $200 a month but it's still something and they adapt to live without outdoor space. The additional bedroom allows them to host their children as well as some friends from back home. They still retain their home back in FL, so probably not a permanent move. They have traveled a lot together but curiously had never visited Spain before they accepted the job offers and decided to move.

They've done some picnics or dinners in cool locations like on top of a fort overlooking the port in Ischia. That was either BD or BDM. Or they do it on some small island which is all rock and they had to climb up there with folding tables and chairs and umbrella. Those are cool, scenic settings. I think the service would still be better on the yacht since it's by the galley and there's a full bar in the lounge nearby. If guests were staying more than 2 nights, it might be cool to have one meal in such unique settings but it's a lot of work for the crew to set that all up, just for one meal. That is the point though, to make the crew work. It's it's to show their mettle, a sign of their work ethic, it might be one thing but you know it's about trying to stir shit up. If they do some cool shots of the setting, like a long lens of the people and then pull back to show they're in this crazy location, that would be good for the viewers too, to show why they have charters in this part of the Mediterranean or wherever. But lately, they're doing picnics at some small beaches which don't seem particularly special and you can see the guests aren't impressed.

I've seen charter companies for sailing boats and catamarans who will take you out for half or full day, with or without catering. You won't get fancy chef-made meals or unlimited expensive liquor. You don't get water toys or a big yacht with spacious cabins. But you will be able to swim and tan all day, in beautiful surroundings. Split over say a dozen people, it's not so bad.

These guests didn't want to do some of the activities. They went along with them, were good sports about them. That's why it strains credulity that they'd pay tens of thousands and then pay tens of thousands more in tips. Not to mention in this case flying out to Sardinia. They either really want to be on TV or they're being comped for most of the expenses. Maybe not all of them but the stunt casting, like some social media celebrity or something probably are enticed to do the show.

After seeing the atrocities committed in Ukraine, by drafted Russian soldiers, it's hard to see Philip and Elizabeth as just carrying out orders, still decent people caught in circumstances where they have to do bad things. No, they may just have been people victimized by their govt. and they in turn victimized others, probably with little or no regret or real moral doubts. One of the ways countries get their soldiers to kill enemies is to dehumanize them. They may have learned English well enough to explain to their kids that the USSR has their own perspectives on justice, duty, freedom and other lofty concepts but likely they internalized the Soviet propaganda and probably were scared to defy their superiors or run away. They chose not to defect, to go into hiding. Instead they were willing to deceive and kill until almost the end. They knew a lot of the propaganda was false, they witnessed how different things were in America compared to what they've been told and what they knew their fellow Russians were still being told. They hand-waved the prosperity and the better standard of living. Toward the end of the show, they showed the empty shelves at Moscow supermarkets and how they reserved some stores for the elites when food was scarce. Yet to the end they were loyal to mother Russia, which they had to have known was corrupt and lacking in any of the moral authority it claimed. That's why I was somewhat disappointed that the show didn't go all the way to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Would Philip and Elizabeth still be loyal to the end or were they going to go through cognitive dissonance?

More evidence that the only people who want beach picnics are the producers. the guests didn’t want to be there. Yacht is way more comfortable and you get bar service and any kind of food you want. that beach didn’t offer better scenery or comfort. But the picnics are about stressing the crew and possibly causing drama between them. as far as Daisy, this is her third season doing pretend charters for a TV show? Why get stressed now? Maybe something else going on with her or overall, Glen, Daisy, Colin and Gary have been together too long and now they no longer are polite with each other. so they have a “bad” charter and Interior gets blamed. TV show wasn’t going to last forever so what does it matter? She could go back to doing real charter. Is she worried about losing this TV gig?

It feels rushed. and the time to choose and execute the dishes seem like an artificial constraint. It’s not broadcasting in real time so why just an hour or 45 minutes? do they have such short time constraints on other cooking competition shows? I guess they think viewers want to see them get stressed out? The one woman was thirsty for the one male capo. Maybe the stress is an aphrodisiac, especially if they win. surprised they don’t show the contestants socializing and hooking up.

Shiv hasn't repeated talking points but from the things she's said, it's clear her politics are different from those of the rest of her family. Also you could see that Willa feels uncomfortable with the Roys backing Mencken. And Jess wondered about what ATN was doing calling for Mencken. So the family is loosely based on the Murdochs and Roman would be like Lachlan Murdoch, who is supposedly conservative. But apparently their social circle is full of coastal elites, more progressive. That seems to be what Succession represents, most of these people are college-educated and live in NY and other big cities. They'd all find Ravenshead and Mencken distasteful, at a minimum.

I can see CT getting top billing because he's much younger and those well-known actors are mostly doing supporting roles now in their careers. Maybe the producers thought CT would draw some younger audiences who watched The Challenge seasons. I would hate to believe it was a vanity project. Being a producer could mean he invested. Or it could be a way to give him more money, being paid as cast and as a producer. He's missed the last couple of seasons of The Challenge while making this movie? So hope he got a good payday.

Wow, no insurance? Or is that what they billed your insurance?

Sure and that was one of Roman's arguments to do what he did, none of it matters, so he can hand wave Shiv warning about giving power to a fascist like Mencken. Certainly doesn't matter to the rich but maybe also doesn't matter to the normal people either, though they're obviously not his concern.

I don’t think Shiv told Tom to influence him on election night. She knew Tom wasn’t going to defy Kendall/Rome unless she got Mattson to promise something to Tom. She had nothing else to say at the moment so she spilled it, maybe make him feel a little bad for telling her she’d be a bad mother or being unreceptive when she apologized for some of the things she said on the balcony. He wouldn’t even make a token gesture of saying I apologize too.

Only interesting thing is ATM loses value because it made this call and they see that the Roys meddled in the election night coverage. Then that may impact the deal negatively for Kendall and Rome.

Seattle to Sunshine Coast So young 27-year old guy originally from Seattle, apparently bumming around New Zealand since college and now moves to Queensland for the surfing. Will support himself by giving stargazing tours, wants a place on the beach for just $1000. First place is a home share with all kinds of rules, like can't have guests sleep over unless he gets approval ahead of time. But it is very close to the beach and is only $700. Second place is inland or what they call the hinterlands. Unfurnished and he needs furniture. Third place is 10 minutes from beach, 7 minutes from posh Noosaville. He has complete privacy for $1000. He goes for the first place, says it's the proximity to the beach but I suspect it's the price difference. How consistent is that stargazing business? Yeah other than the beach, I'm not sure that was the most interesting part of Andalucia. They didn't show too many historic buildings and it's kind of a long ways from Seville and Malaga, two key gateways. But he's working either for the Navy or some other US govt. base on the coast there. I guess they would save some money if he makes good use of that large kitchen in the big home but otherwise, the $900 a month rent difference, as she noted it's almost $10k a year and she wants to shop and travel. But apparently he makes good money so he could afford the higher rent and to keep his wife entertained and happy. She is right, the big home is secluded but maybe they don't really hang out too much at restaurants and cafes or socialize enough to need to be right on the marina. Other than the small kitchen, that apartment was perfect though.

What is Hank's business suppose to be? I don't believe Moss would have waited for Barry all these years. He guessed that once Cousineau surfaced, Barry would as well and go for Gene, who actually wants to prevent the film, doesn't seem as scared any more. He could have hired a lawyer to try to stop the film without coming out of hiding. Somehow I suspect he hasn't had a full epiphany as he claims against a narcissistic life. He has to revert to old Gene to bring the funny again, right? Same thing, Hank is all serious now that he's a big success? He was funnier when he was striving for success or envying the success others had, like he wanted the Ecuadorians' stash house and he was playing wannabe gangster. Is that what Hader is saying, that life of crime and never being held accountable leads to a drab life, a kind of hell? He may be more into theology than Barry listening to those podcasts.

Yeah I'm not sure that ATN calling a particular state or the election has that much weight. But they imply that Mencken winning the GOP nomination and now the general were both long shots until ATN pushed the thumb on the scale. I know in real life, certain networks making projections was controversial, especially to some parts of the electorate. But no way is the Wisconsin results not going to be contested for months. There may not be provisions for re-voting but no way they're just going to let one side deliberately take ballots and burn them and accept incomplete results. But the point was to show how even Kendall lets Roman get away with it. He had qualms, after the way Sophie was treated, but Shiv lying about calling Nate seemed to have made him throw in with Roman. Roman has acted out impulsively and emotionally before, that's not something new, like the way he bickered with Mattson in Norway. Or rashly firing Gerri. However, he was emotional yet unusually assertive or seemed very sure what he wanted to do. Is it mainly transactional for Roman, that is Mencken will block Mattson's acquisition of Waystar or is he also a bit of a true believer? He hand waves the burning of the ballots and jokes about his side shooting Shiv's side if they should win the election. About the only funny lines were Connor reciting the list of countries he could be ambassador to, though Willa seemed to look grim about it. IRL, those ambassadorships would go to major donors or backers, not rival candidates. OK so thinking about it more, I guess Tom forcing Greg to do coke with him was meant to be funny. Or telling Greg that he was back to being Greg on Election Night and bodega sushi wasn't good enough. But it was apparently good enough for Greg that he got wasabi in Dawson's eyes and then tried to rise them out with La Croix, which is just a hint of lemony. The stuff with the touchscreens didn't really go anywhere.

I don't know about Utrecht but in Amsterdam, those tall houses, both on and off canals, have hooks near the roof line. They use that to pull up furniture by pulleys and get them in through the windows. The reason why houses were tall and narrow was that they were taxed on the width but not the height of the homes. Hence why you have those steep staircases, not even spiral ones but they're more like ladders in many ways that staircases.

But I think the joke is that Tom doesn't really know wine, he is just a snob about it. He was willing to have prison wine, fermented in the toilet. I'd give up drinking before that.

Regardless of whether he'd be disbarred, I think most of us would like more seasons of this, before the cast turns too hold. The sooner they turn it around and produce additional seasons, the better. So if they can have good season arcs with Perry unable to practice law part or all of the season, lets see them next year, since there should be no more pandemic delays. But now we have this writer's strike. What are the chances they'd have written some scripts or even an outline already? And even with scripts in hand, a lot of trades will honor the WGA picket lines. So we may have to wait around 2 years again. Already, HBO wasn't showcasing this show as much as the first season, since they put it on Mondays. But season 2 got higher average review scores than season 1 so maybe they hire a big name or two as guest stars like Tatiana Maslany. Hope Davis was great this season but she's not necessarily a big ratings draw.

Philly to Utrecht, a family of four, one teen boy and a girl around 10. Wife? (they have different last names) will give up her job but husband has his own company so he needs office space in addition to 3 bedrooms and 2 baths for $2800 budget. Wife says that they were planning this move when the pandemic came and they had to delay their plans. They both want to be near the city center. They lived in Philly and they went and explored different neighborhoods so that was a big bonding thing for the family. The realtor -- not Sarah, not Floor -- says that there's a housing crisis in Utrecht, especially in the center. First home, the only one in the center, is a 3 BD, 1.5 BATH home with a small fridge and small living space. It's the most expensive at $3000 Second home, out in the country, is very roomy, much bigger space than they had back in the US. But it's 20 minutes to city center and while a great value given the size (3 BD, 2.5 BA, office space). Third home is a bit closer in the suburbs, 10 minutes out of city center, $2500 for 3 BD, 1.5 BATHs. But it's small. This one they eliminate first despite the price. They go for the city center one, the smaller and more expensive one. In the three months later, the kids are happily adopting, bicycling to school. They said they fell in love with Utrecht. Good reasons why but maybe one they saw the prices they should have looked around a bit? There was no particular reason they chose Utrecht or the NL in general. Husband can work from anywhere with Internet access so they could have chosen a place with more competitive housing. Also, if they're moving right after some of the travel restrictions have lifted, that is when inflation hit and people flush with cash was bidding up prices of real estate and everything else. At least that was the in the case in the US. I think Europeans also got financial support, maybe not as lucrative but still got money. Historically these are competitive real estate market because these cities are densely populated and there is never enough housing stock. Maybe this isn't a permanent move, since they're renting. They don't mention if they are keeping a home back in the US. Then again, to move two young children, that's not something to be done for a 1 or 2 year sabbatical or adventure abroad, is it? Maybe they got a digital nomad visa for the husband. Maybe in a year or two, the wife gets restless and wants to return to work.

New Hampshire to Lisbon - Sadie on her first job out of college gets to work remotely for a finance company. It's just a job to her but it lets her work in Europe, travel there. She wants to spend $800 for an apartment. Her mother, a teacher, comes on the house hunting trip. I forget her name but she injects her personality into this episode, repeatedly hinting, not so subtly, that Sadie has to make provisions for her to visit, so maybe a second bedroom or at least a sofa bed. Sadie doesn't seem to enthusiastic about mom visiting other than maybe occasionally and for short periods. She sees a $1100 apt, 2 bedrooms, with beautiful azuelos tiles and other decor that makes it look like Europe to her. Mom is all on board. But Sadie remarks on the budget, as her first job out of college limits financial options for her, especially since she wants to travel throughout Europe. Second choice is a 1 bedroom on budget at $800 but it's under the roof so she mentions she could get concussions. Diminutive mom says not a problem for her! Third choice is a modern apt, missing any of the Portuguese/European character Sadie talks repeatedly about -- producers trained her well. It's $1000. In the end she chooses #2, on budget. It was down to #1 and #2. Apparently mom wasn't willing to chip in and pay for #1 or Sadie wasn't going to let her? Not if it means having an extra room that encourages more frequent and longer visits from mom than she'd like? Another factor she cites is that her choice is in a more residential area, so more quiet from late night revelers. Thing about Europeans, particularly Spaniards and probably true of the Portuguese, is that their evenings don't even start until at least 8 PM and often run much later. A lot of restaurants don't open before then for dinner. In the 3 months after, she says she's happy -- do they ever say they're not happy with their choice or their move? No sign of mom. I might have missed it if Sadie said mom has visited or plans to visit.

Yes was dead weight, losing to Troy. He stayed high and Emily had to carry him this far. Also there were enough swimming portions in several Dailies to get them tHis far. So looks like a lot of endurance sections, running, going up mountains, cycling and then eating challenge to mess them up more.

Or Kendall was deflecting, rather than having to do something about Ravenshead, he tried to turn it around on Rava with “where were you, why weren’t you with Sophie?” And Rava wasn’t having it, realized Ken wasn’t going to take any responsibility, probably one reason they divorced.