M.F. Luder

Even if it's a common southern thing (which I don't believe it is), I think it's still inappropriate. Unless in those same southern families, the father and son kiss on the lips, the mother and son, and the mother and daughter. If it's only a father and daughter thing, then to me, there still seems to be some perverse sexual aspect to it. If Glenn doesn't also kiss Hunter on the lips like that, then it seems like it has something to do with the fact that Whitney's a female, which implies that it's somehow influenced by his heterosexuality (at least in my opinion). So, that makes it something that's not purely a parent showing his love to his child.

I also think it's incredibly weird for a grown woman to kiss her father like that, but even if I accept that it's apparently a common practice for some families, I can't accept that it's normal to post a picture of it on social media. Keep that shit behind closed doors. Why wouldn't she just use a nice picture of the two of them smiling together like a normal person? She loves to invite criticism.

I hated everything about the revival. As a longterm fan, I feel like any random fan of the original series could have developed a story arc that was 100 times more coherent than what CC put together. Every decision made for the mythology just broke whatever continuity existed in the original series and did nothing but lessen M&S's personal involvement in the mythology and their connection with each other. If they wanted to give M&S a second chance with a new baby, it would have been way more interesting (IMO) to have them learn that another "Emily" has been created and she needs M&S's protection. That would allow them to fix the mistake of abandoning William. I think anything that brought back something that was crucial to the mythology when the show was good (pre-season 8), and highlighted the personal stakes that M&S have in it would have been much more satisfying. Focusing on William, a character that no one wanted to begin with, and then making him so unlikable just makes no sense.

I didn't mean that 2 parents = healthy family. The healthy was supposed to be another qualifier for what the ideal family is supposed to be.

I thought it was kinda rude for Whitney to downplay the importance of a father to her own father. She should have at least acknowledged that she greatly benefited from having both parents to raise her. She calls not needing a dad "progressive", but I don't think anyone would argue that it's a better situation than a traditional, healthy family. I think it would be better for Whitney to start playing more of an active role in the lives of her friends' kids (Heather and Ashley) and take part in motherhood in that way before she thinks about adopting a kid who would end up traumatized from having to rub cream on their mother's ass.

In her Tedx talk, she said that the reason she gained weight back after losing 100-lbs was because she pictured herself losing another 100-lbs and getting to her goal weight only to have saggy boobs and extra skin. This caused her to immediately binge and stop working out. I think this is the real reason why she doesn't want to get surgery or lose weight on her own.

How was Heather able to make it through a divorce, but still have the moving on skills of a 15 year old? I hope watching this episode helps her let go of any lingering feelings because Buddy made it clear he does not love her. He seems to barely even like her. She's just a source of guilt and disappointment for him at this point

I think the way Whitney talked about the relationship showed her immaturity and complete lack of understanding of how real relationships work. Maybe it's just me, but I am always very wary of guys that go overboard with the lovefest super early into a relationship. But besides that, Whitney saying that "if it doesn't work out with him, I will never recover" and other overdramatic things like that suggests (to me at least) that she has a very fragile sense of herself and despite her claims of being confident, she actually feels like she has very limited options and is too eager to settle for the scraps of love that men are willing to throw at her. And for her to be considering converting to Judaism for the wishy washy relationship she described, it either means that religion doesn't mean much to her, or she's all too willing to change major things about her identity (except being fat, that's the one thing she has to hold on to) for some dude that has only been in her life for months.

Whitney's desire to make Avi feel guilty will never be satisfied because he doesn't care enough about those women to feel any kind of remorse about lying to them. People like him probably get some kind of twisted joy out of having that kind of power over someone else's emotions. The best revenge would have been for all of them to ghost him; his narcissism would make him get angry that all of his women so easily dropped him from their lives. Whitney and Nada harassing him for attention and "closure" just feeds his ego. I really hope this whole situation is just manufactured drama for the show. As immature as Whitney is, I don't think it's believable that a woman her age would be so gungho about a man who barely shows interest in her to the point where she's actually thinking of switching religions. Especially not after she dumped Lennie for not being invested enough. Lennie at least spent time with her.

The scene where she's crying to her parents about Avi was really weird. First, she cries like a 2 year old, with the blubbering, the overdramatization, snot running out of her nose. "This is the worst thing that ever happened to me!!" she says to her mother who just had a stroke. Then the next minute she's laughing because her dad is struggling to find some words to comfort his blubbering 33 year old daughter. I also thought it was kind of insensitive for her to laugh at her dad's example of having to force yourself to overcome your fear to make it to your good friend's funeral. Obviously, he's at the phase of his life where that's a real situation he has dealt with. Whitney should have been more sensitive to that rather than laughing at him because he didn't say a friend's wedding instead. It just seems like she's more focused on making a funny moment for the camera rather than really connecting with her dad at a time when she's "heartbroken" and he's trying to give her fatherly advice. This Avi situation is beyond pathetic. I'm not really convinced any of it is genuine, but if it is, she's missing a huge opportunity to show women what actual self-confidence looks like. Cut Avi off and keep it moving. Learn from it and don't be so willing to conform your life to some man who puts a minimal amount of work into building a relationship with you.

I could be wrong, but I thought he only started to semi-believe them when he realized he was being followed. I don't mean to say that she didn't believe them, maybe that she just didn't want to believe. Kind of like in Elegy where she was seeing the visions of dead people, but didn't want to believe it because of the implication. I don't think that's a regression, I just think it's Scully's character. She defaults to science, but she has seen enough to give credibility to the supernatural. But there's always that reluctance to jump to the supernatural conclusion as a first step.

I get the sense that CC doesn't watch much TV and is completely out of touch with what today's viewer expects from a show that's supposed to be one of the greatest of all times. His reliance on voice overs suggests that he doesn't know how to "show not tell". This episode made me feel like Mulder and Scully have become different characters. To me, it would have been more in character and more interesting if Mulder was the one who believed that Scully's visions were true premonitions and she was the one believing that they were just a result of a seizure/brain anomaly, and maybe she would even start to worry that it was related to the brain tumor she used to have. That would have added emotional drama. And Mulder could be pushing to act on her vision and look for William, and she could be reluctant and not want to get her hopes up, which would have allowed them to explore the emotional implications for finding William after all these years when he's supposedly been living a peaceful life oblivious to his role in this huge conspiracy. Then the episode could end with Scully seeing something that happened in her vision happen in real life, and she would get on board with the plan to find William and save the world. To me, the show just doesn't feel the same when Scully regains consciousness and is immediately trying to convince Mulder that she saw the future. Shouldn't she have taken at least a second to wonder if it was true? The Scully I know would have at least wondered if maybe she did just have a medical emergency. I think my biggest problem with this show since the 2nd movie is that Scully doesn't act like Scully anymore.

Sometimes babies need to be removed from their parents due to neglect and abuse. From all the reviews, this season seems like it will be passable, but nothing of any significance will happen in regard to the resolution to the mythology or M&S relationship. The only thing that will probably get some decent coverage is William, which personally I have never been interested in, but maybe other fans will think it's great. Still, I'm excited for the premiere tomorrow! I've adjusted my expectations for this show, and I will just be happy if M&S stop acting like the depressed, personality-free versions of themselves that they've been for the last few iterations of this show. I'd like to see some of the vibrant, dynamic characteristics that they used to have, and that David and Gillian still have. I just really can't take much more of Scully crying about William.

Was there any proof that the 18 hour car ride actually happened? They probably just filmed it at a local motel. I've seen enough episodes of My 600lb Life to know that there is NO way Whitney could have lasted in that car for 18 hours. 3 hours into it, she'd be screaming "mah leg!".

This show is so devoid of sexuality these days that I'm pretty sure any demonstration of Skinner's crush is going to amount to having a secret photo of her in his wallet. If they want to show that he really likes her, there will be a heart drawn around her face.