Bastet

It was worth it to get Avishar's story about making the neighbors think they were being tear gassed.

This was my favorite episode yet (other than the grossness of Rebel and Grady back together ... for now). "Your clients are sick in America, which means they need money." I love getting into the specifics of Helen's uncovered expenses - even with insurance, you can wind up on a payment plan you can't even live long enough to fulfill, and a hospital that says "no more" right when you need more the most. (Quite the stretch to make me believe Cruz wants to pay for the surgery, but can't - he has $150,000 to spare, and definitely $150,000 to get a defective valve to study.) And I love Helen voting not to settle, and Maddie begging everyone to vote yes because she cannot survive losing her baby if she also loses her mom. Everyone's reaction to watching the Luke (see, I finally did commit his name to memory) video was hilarious, but Cassidy's was pure art. Love her motivation for helping him, too. Rebel playing Benji was fantastic, as was the pleased look on Cruz's face when she did it.

I wish CBS had given them a one-hour slot for the finale, but I think they did well with what they had to work with and I was smiling as the end credits rolled. This series had a nice run, and I wish what wound up being its final season hadn't been so disrupted - by an actor's last-minute departure, a pandemic, and a surprise cancellation with only five episodes left to work with - but it's a success story. Life is going to throw things at you, but with supportive people in your life, there's hope you can get through it and even emerge a better person. They're all better off than when we met them, and they pay it forward by helping others who are messier than they are. I just looked for the text of Bonnie's final share online, because I think it was perfect (but I like that the show didn't end on that, but on an invitation for others to share - showing how all this is going to keep going, we're just not going to be watching it anymore, which is a tone I wish more series finales would take):

I loved everyone’s reaction to Jamie’s return, so it was nice to hear Padma say she’s never seen a group so happy to see a competitor. I LOL at the story behind Avishar’s QF dish, so I was bummed for him this one didn’t work, either. That was a cool challenge – except for the fact I gagged thinking about mutton tartare - and it was nice to hear about Dave’s Killer Bread, which reminds me of Homeboy Industries here in L.A., so I’m going to have to look up its story. As is common, Dawn had the dish I most wanted to eat, but good for Shota, because he needed that immunity – ugh, the look of his chicken in the EC! Jose Andres is a treasure, and I loved the purpose and parameters of the EC. Most of the dishes looked good as they were making them - with the notable exception of Avishar's - but I wasn’t sure about some of them as being well suited to the circumstances. That turned out not to be the problem, but that some of them weren’t as good as they looked. Yikes – rookie mistakes indeed, errors of seasoning and basic cooking techniques. I knew before Padma said so at JT that Maria was safe and it was between Chris and Avishar, and was pretty sure it was going to be Avishar. I've really enjoyed him, but I certainly can't argue with that elimination.

Aired: 05/13/2021

Archive game for me, since I'll be watching something else tonight. So I gave myself a couple of gets for clues I missed, being sure I'd have come up with them had I been able to see the photo hint in the clue (e.g. I'd have recognized Mo Rocca from his picture, but couldn't come up with him based on the text). I only ran pies, sins, and books in the first round, but only missed one each in the other three. In DJ, I ran history, first names, and "light", and only missed five among the others (including only two in opera, which is really good for me!), and FJ was an instaget (my friend wanted that as a graduation present one year, so I got it for her), so a great game for me. Now I just need to get "One Headlight" out of my head.

Not that she couldn't have done the same thing, but a real contestant in Aaron Rodgers's first game as guest host wrote down a Final Jeopardy answer that poked fun at the Packers (specifically, a dumb-ass move that was the head coach's decision, not Rodgers's).

Which is why, when she went nutso after being disqualified from participating in Final Jeopardy, she should have started, as a Bears fan, insulting him rather than claiming a mutual attraction.

"Two wrongs don't make a right" is something we learn in kindergarten, and it's more, not less, important for cops to follow that rule. Maybe Baylor has never done one good thing in his life. Goldman has done good and bad. Brenda has done good and bad. We don't tally those things when deciding legal culpability for a specific action, and it's a dangerously slippery slope to do so when deciding ethical responsibility. The only reason the sate court judge reluctantly agreed he had to grant the motion for summary judgment in favor of defendants, despite there clearly being issues of fact needing to be tried, was because of the "persons unknown" statement against interest by the plaintiffs - the claim stated Baylor was killed by “person or persons unknown,” which is a statement against interest; they can’t claim the LAPD knew he'd be killed by his fellow gang members and, indeed he was, if they can’t actually establish that he was killed by his fellow gang members. When Gavin asked Brenda about all the additional claims in the federal suit, Brenda responded to each one of them not by saying she didn't do what is alleged or did but didn't intend it to result in death, but by detailing the victim's alleged crimes. She knew what she was doing every time, and it was wrong every time. There is no "Well, it's okay as long as the bad guy is a really, really bad guy" clause. She was brought in to get admissible confessions, because of how many cases had been tossed out due to the misconduct cops engaged in to coerce confessions or plant evidence/offer false testimony when they couldn't. And she did that. But she had a very disturbing pattern of arranging extrajudicial executions when she couldn't. In the end comes the chance to conduct one herself and take out her white whale Philip Stroh. She doesn't, and walks away from him (and ultimately from the job that has become unhealthy for her). Whew, because I could have been in real danger from the blood pressure spike if she'd killed him.

Becky was channeling Bev, being one of those people who stops drinking and proceeds to lecture those who do. Complete with Dan escaping to the garage. "Spoiler alert: She's high on life, and it's going to make you want to drink." I loved the intervention! I laughed at Darlene saying, "So, all your motivation was in the booze?" when Becky says she doesn't want any more double shifts and school is on the back burner. It's probably best thing for Becky to treat sobriety like a full-time job right now, but that was funny. And rich, coming from someone who wants to dart off to an expensive city, with only the plane ticket covered, but this whole Hawaii thing is still Darlene's decision to make and I'm getting really bored with how Ben feels about it. I'm glad she changed her mind just so I don't have to hear about it anymore! As happy as I was to see Estelle Parsons looking good, I was a little disappointed that Bev's trademark passive-aggressive behavior was missing, and they just wrote her as directly insulting throughout.

During last night's game, I was in the grips of some sort of stomach bug, so my performance was quite underwhelming. Today everything is gone other than a reduced appetite (which I could stand to have a for a few days!) and low-grade fever, so I was hoping to do well. I wasn't off to a great start, missing two films, two writers, and even a stupid answer, but as the first round went on I got in my groove and ran the rest. In DJ, I was quite consistent - I missed one in every single category. FJ was an instaget. So I guess I really am feeling better, and have to blame laziness rather than my temperature for not wanting to do anything. Like @shapeshifter, my mind was boggled when no one sussed out Weekend Edition. And I thought the Pony Express clue was overvalued in DJ, since mail and horse were right there in the clue. I didn't know the location of the Menominee tribe, but I knew Oshkosh is a city in Wisconsin. Now I know the origin of its name.

When my vet is out and test results come in, another vet calls me so I have the information and the chance to ask any immediate questions, and then my regular vet follows up on her return if there's any need. Is this a one-vet practice? The good thing is that, since Willow is doing well, if you do want to switch vets because of this pattern of poor communication, you have the time to ask neighbors and look online for recommendations. My vet was located near my old place, and Maddie and Baxter didn't mind the trip (about 15 minutes), but Riley did as she's scared in the car. But we only go once a year, I liked all the vets and techs, etc. so I was reluctant to take a chance on switching. But I went ahead and did some research and interviewing in case I decided to, and found what seemed like a great option just five minutes from my house. When I needed to get Riley in quickly last summer, my preferred vet had no available appointments for over a month and the first available with any vet in the practice was a week away, so I had to go elsewhere (it wasn't an emergency, but it was time sensitive). I was so glad I'd done the legwork already and had a place in mind. The new place had an opening the next day, and I was pleased with the care and responsiveness, so, given the proximity and its importance to Riley, I switched. You may want to similarly have something in your back pocket should you feel the need to switch vets down the road.

I agree. My hands-down favorite part is Helen's "If memory serves" answer, and the exchange that follows continues to be funny, but then at the end we see behind the teenage idiot when she worries that a boy Gary's age really needs a man around, and Todd tells her it depends on the man. He tells her a little of the abuse he grew up with and says, "You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, or drive a car. Hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father."

Congratulations on the improved kidney values, @Scout Finch! I'm glad you finally have the information you need, but, yeah, I'd be looking for a new vet. You should have received a call Monday, not had to seek them out Tuesday and wait until Wednesday to get a call back. Shit happens, but that's an unreasonable lack of communication, and you've said that's a pattern since this vet took over the practice. The most important thing for now is that Willow is doing well, though, so I'm glad you have that peace of mind, especially as you prepare to leave for a few days.

He lived somewhere else; his clients weren't going to head over to Lanford to shop. The bike shop was doing decent business when Dan bought it, the guy just wanted to retire. Economic conditions in Lanford started to change shortly afterward, and by the end of season four, Roseanne was out of a job because Rodbell's adjusted to the downturn by changing its in-store diner to a bargain bin and Dan had to close down the shop because there were no longer enough people with disposable income to spend on a bike. It was a risky decision at the time, as any business is, but it wasn't a stupid one.

That's totally routine to me. And if two of us are sitting on the couch eating ice cream during movie night, it's just two spoons and the carton of ice cream. That now I'm hungry!

Oh, thanks a lot, you two - now I have that jingle in my head! "Say goodbye a little longer, something something a little longer, give your breath long-lasting freshness with Big Re-ed."

Public Enema

The spring ahead TS was quite surprising since Alyse's wrong answer took them halfway there. I only ran historic happenings and time in the first round, but I only missed one each in three others and two in I'll Fight You; I don't like boxing, wrestling, MMA, etc. so I thought I was going to bomb that category, but I came up with all but two. So I had a decent first round. In DJ, I ran mountaintop, science, and Latin Overlappin' (loved that category!) and only missed one each in the rest, and FJ came to me very quickly, so this was a great start to the week for me.

I thought the same thing, but then I did a Google search for "huevos rancheros with beef" and several recipes popped up! Ground beef, sliced steak, beef sausage ... apparently people do this. It's still very odd to not note it on the menu! If that is how it's served there, why would they describe the traditional ingredients, yet not even mention the addition of an unexpected "bonus"? That circles me back around to thinking maybe it was a mistake. I feel for you, because I doubt I'd be able to adjust, either. But if you're going to stay, I hope you find a way to do that.

(From the current season thread) Ken Jennings averaged a 6.0 Nielsen rating, Mike Richards averaged 5.9, Aaron Rodgers and Katie Couric averaged 5.5, and Dr. Oz and Anderson Cooper averaged 5.1. But, overall, the ratings are not out of line with a typical season average over the past five years or so (viewership had spiked for the episodes that aired after Alex's death). We may see a leveling off back to the low end of typical rather than a continued decline, regardless of who guest hosts.

I love that one of the CU guys cannot think of "Behind Closed Doors" without thinking of the "Nightmare From Hee-Haw" episode of Designing Women. Same! Oh, dear. I don't know this one, so I watched the video - well, the minute and a half I could hang in there - and I'll second this: Also seconding all three comments about the utter bullshit that is the too low ranking of "Workin' Man Blues".

Louise manages a restaurant (and would qualify for unemployment during the COVID-induced job loss), has no dependents, has a nice but by no means extravagant apartment, and was able to take time off to go on the road (presumably the tour money split among the band would be less than she earns at the restaurant). She isn't close to sitting on an empire, but unless she's a total moron with her money, she is able to pay her bills each month and maintain a little cushion of savings.

I only found Grease just okay - I loved the music, but not the storylines - and Grease 2 rather stupendously bad. So imagine my surprise when my best friend, who'd loved the original, fell even harder for the sequel, and kept trying to get me to go see it again with her. No! I did finally try it again as an adult, but it was still not for me, and I don't think I'd enjoy it any more now in my cranky middle age. Ooh, with Wendy Hiller. I haven't thought about that movie in eons. I'm not generally enamored of romantic dramas (or comedies), but it's so very well written.

I suspect it's the latter. We've heard comments from several different people about his attitude, and seen plenty to explain why they - especially the women since he chefsplains (TM Dawn) differently to them than the men - wouldn't want to work with him. Nelson, in saying he's fine with being paired up with the Gabriel no one else wanted, said he knows everyone or most of them (I don't remember which) thinks Gabriel is arrogant, but he's good with him. So, while that could mean they find him arrogant in general, and don't particularly care for him - and, indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if many of them aren't exactly itching to spend time with Gabriel socially once it's safe to do so - I get the sense they were fine with him during their communal time back at the hotel, and liked and respected other aspects of his personality, they just didn't appreciate his way of interacting with them in the competitions.