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That trailer is wizard! I can now fanfic episodes in my head: Pollywogs, Mad Maxes, Pumpkins, Palaces -- what could it all possibly mean?! Can't wait.

About the damned fees again -- afaik, none of the former participants have said how much they were paid, correct? That to me implies their contracts forbid it, or else they'd be squawking all over social media to refute the viewers who claim they did it for the cash. Why would the producers include a nondisclosure clause unless it's something they specifically want to hide? Paying the participants undercuts the premise that everyone signed up with the purest of motives solely to find a spouse, is why. The producer in that interview we keep citing specifically avoided giving a direct answer. An amount that's "almost nothing" and "nominal" to TV producers could be quite a bit to these brides and grooms who seem to make, on average, around $60 a year. Basically I still believe they're paid a fairly nice stipend plus bonuses if they stick it out until the finale.

OMG! To think that Eve's opinion of Steve could get any lower ...

Well. Four episodes in and first impressions have been fully validated. Heather came off as self-contained and independent with a healthy dose of ego and elitism. So far so confirmed. Sonia appeared sweet but tremulous. Nothing to change my mind there. We didn't have occasion to see Derek's combative and defensive side on the first ep, but he seemed immature for his age so I wasn't shocked or anything when it came out. If it counts as change, Nick has gone from reserved and awkward on episode 1 to full on giving me the creeps. I'd be curious to see what he's like with a women he desires and is crazy about, except that he had the same flat affect and stone face around his friends and family so I'm not sure there's any difference to be shown. Nothing much stood out about Tom and Lily personalities and still doesn't.

Agreed. She continues to tap dance around her real feelings. Why even try to maintain the facade at this point? And the same goes for Derek -- he's only claiming he wants to work on his marriage to make himself look honorable and come off as the bigger person. Pah. My guess is that the session with Pastor Calvin (who I like because of his no-bullshit attitude; there was too much mollycoddling going on in previous seasons) went on for quite a while and that he also had some tough words for Derek. But since the "emergency" seemed to be mostly about whether or not Heather wanted to call it quits, it's fair to me that she was the focus of the discussion. Again, how much money are these people getting to make them stick it out when they're so obviously miserable? The producers insist it's a "nominal" fee but I honestly don't see what else is in it for them.

That was an insane flash challenge! It even took me aback and I normally don't give a shit. None of the canvases tapped out but that must have been a hellish 7 hours for them. I guess the teams met about their designs overnight at the house? That could have been an interesting conversation to see, and I wonder if Peck and Nunez participated. I agreed with the criticisms of both works -- that the horses were too static and the warrior/angel pieces weren't well composed individually. Wonder if Dave's going to be the deciding factor every episode? I didn't agree with his decision but it realistically could have gone either way. In general those tattoos were miles better than most we've seen at the beginning of the show. Witchy huntresses? No joke, Dave Robinowitz. From his talking heads to far, I think I might love him.

I thought Sonia looked really cute in the scenes at their new house when she had her hair pulled back in a high ponytail. I like her despite her annoying voice and pocketful of insecurities. As usual with people I think were badly matched on this show, I hope some big-hearted, responsible guy, preferably Latino, sees her on the show and gets in touch.

Has Sonia ever explained to Nick that it's a phobia? It's not just "I don't like." Phobias aren't reasonable (mine is bugs, which clearly makes no sense). Phobias can certainly be overcome but from what we've seen, I don't think Nick gets it at all. I've watched enough episodes of It's Me or the Dog to know that pets can be relationship breakers. Sonia's already insecure (with good reason, IMO) about Nick's feelings for her and this doesn't help. I was surprised that Tom was the one who brought up the financial contract/post-nup. On one hand, it's a reasonable thing to do, but on the other, not so much in line with BEING SO UNMATERIALISTIC, TOM. Easy for me to say since I'm not a producer feverishly scrambling to find willing and suitable candidates for this dumb show, but I think having $40K of credit card debt should disqualify someone. I felt for Heather because I'm exhausted by her marriage, too.

Really? That's confounding to me, but I'm good with disliking her because of it. She's been toeing the crazy-ass conspiracy theory Gary Busey/Randy Quaid line for years anyway.

Thanks for the rewatch and awesome summaries, Eve. I nitpick everything now and tend to forget that I really did enjoy the show when it was airing. YES, please! (But NO to the movies, even with your fetching presence.)

This was during graduate school so classes were small and you couldn't get away with much, but I had one professor (also foreign) who could not stand anyone eating while he was lecturing. He was a nice guy and good teacher but woe betide a student who dared crinkle some plastic opening a snack: "You Americans and your constant eating! This is study time, not dinner time!" (Except his danged class was 6-8 pm.)

Two new shows coming up! Animal ER -- September 10 on Nat Geo Wild at 10 pm Life at Vet U -- October 1 on Animal Planet at 10 pm Kinda somewhat related -- The Million Dollar Duck is a documentary about the National Duck Stamp contest, airing on Animal Planet on 9/14 at 9 pm. It's very gentle and low-key but interesting. This week's Dr. Dee featured Annabelle the dog who had knee surgery. The owner said he wanted to sleep overnight in the kennel room with her, then he built an electric elevator for the stairs in his house because she couldn't climb for several weeks. Ahem. First of all, it's not like the dog could operate the elevator lift by herself, so why not just carry her up and down the stairs? And secondly, I kind of had to agree with his wife that he probably liked the dog better than her!

Hey now! Then you'd miss my birthday. I'm a non-coffee drinker in a coffee world, so all y'all can bite me.

I have quietly withdrawn my support of The Last Ship as well. Textbook example of a show with a specific, limited premise trying to extend beyond that for no good reason and becoming aimless in the process.

When I was a senior in college I gave a copy of one of my old tests to some of the juniors in the program as a study guide. The professor then gave them the same test. Wonder how many years she'd been recycling it.

I find Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard quite beguiling, individually and even more as a couple. I never skip past them on my recordings when they're talk show guests, and I skip through a lot. I even stop my fast-forwarding to watch their commercials!

Seska quickly devolved, I agree. Having her show up again after she left was particularly disagreeable to me.

I liked getting this glimpse into his psyche too, but since he believes he'd be of little use to Zairon without his memories it's somewhat befuddling to me that he even wants to go back. Or that he chose not to retrieve his memory when given the chance. Did he give his reasoning? My recall is not total. Four already cut off android Wendy's head and that didn't work, so maybe he's over it as a fight tactic.

I agree. We saw Heather being politely tactful on her wedding day and family brunch. She was never excited or enthusiastic about Derek but tried to put a good face on it. (However, her eye rolling and impatience during the enforced photo shoot were pretty indicative of her true feelings.) So while she initially tried to stay positive, she quickly went from barely tolerating Derek to active dislike, which she now can't be bothered to hide. To me, she started at 3 and is now at 0 on the respect-o-meter. Not that Derek is blameless, because he's behaved just as badly, but in different ways.

My instinct is that the black goo wasn't spaced and there are drops on the ceiling or a crevice that will later coalesce and cause a ruckus. We'll see! Evil Wil Wheaton seems to be an arms manufacturer, among other things. The goo turns people into aggressive fighting soldiers? And I doubt Rebecca and her successor were created so they could conduct reading circles at elementary schools. Hope all of Three's roars were dubbed, or else Anthony Lemke must have had a very sore throat after filming.

Bish, bash, sexual attractiveness is personal and whatever. While I have definite issues with men like C.K. and John Thaw being portrayed as chick magnets on their shows, I fully buy into Welliver's masculine appeal. Sloped shoulders or not! I don't think he's particularly short, though. FWIW, the Internet gives his height as 6'.

Anticipation? Anticipatory dread, maybe. But I train-wreck-need to see what alarming kitchen misdeeds are next. Can it be worse than people who don't know how to stir, for crissake?

I kind of took the Upside Down name literately and thought it was the underside of our world, hence the tree roots and grayness due to toxic air and sludge filtering down.

Speaking of, I keep hoping that Kat is going to be a guest judge one day. Throw us a bone, show!

The team members were sweetly naïve when asked to make suggestions for further picks. Aw, so adorable thinking that they were actually building a group of people to round each other out and provide support! Suckers. Next week ... bzzzt! You'll be competing against the people on your own team. The better to shit-stir, my dear.