Bastet

That was my absolute favorite (in the sense of keeping my eye-rolling muscles strong) tell, and one that was incredibly common in the early years. Funny flashbacks to those horrible staged "We got the house" calls - thanks, folks. Back in the day, a co-worker was on an early episode of an HGTV show about fixing homes up for sale (Designed to Sell, maybe) and, while I did not like her, I'd been to her house and knew the story. The episode was so fucking fake, it made me notice even some additional things I hadn't already pegged as manufactured on HH. Basically, I've always had a love/hate relationship with this show.

Not at all. Part of what I was yelling at that idiot for buying from a breeder, especially a backyard breeder (seriously, in this the year 2020 - or probably 2019 when this was filmed - I am completely out of patience; if you don't know, it's because you've chosen to ignore it) was that the poor girl probably had Parvo. But then the timeline with the food change (another Pets 101 mistake - when she already had a house full of pets!) became clear and I had some hope. I'm glad that's all it was. I watched this episode at my parents' house, and one of their cats hates orange cats. We have no idea why, but any time one comes through the yard, he goes ballistic. Other cats, he may get all puffed up and defend his territory or he may chill with them, it can go either way. But any and all orange cats? Mortal enemy! The point of this family anecdote? He hissed at the TV when Tigger had his close-up. I loved Selee's owner's attitude; he was tearing up, and wondering how he'd live without her, but so grateful she was going on 16 great years (a terrific lifespan for a dog that size) and that he'd been able to buy her some more good time. Poor Asher (found by the airport and brought to PPP's adoption service) looked so sad. I hope, if he hadn't already found a home, this episode leads to him being sought out for adoption. I'd love for one of the various season-ending specials they do from time to time to focus on how (the why is obvious) the staff opt for a high-volume/low-cost clinic; we know how Dr. Jeff and Petra make it work, but what about the other vets, the techs, and the front office staff? They're making less than what is already not a big salary. Student loans? Cost of living? These things don't go away in the face of the satisfaction that comes from doing good - you still have to pay bills and hopefully have some left for at least a little indulgence. Are they all just happy with a modest living? Do they supplement their income? Do they have savings from a prior career and/or family help? I'm a public interest lawyer (civil rights law - focused on women's rights - through a non-profit), and so many of the possibilities I named had to exist and be created/accepted for me to have the lifestyle I want doing the work I love. You can't just up and decide "I'm going to lead a life of service", and sometimes this show gives the impression it would be a simple thing for any and all vets to run a practice like Dr. Jeff's. I'd like to see a deeper dive into how his staff's circumstances and sacrifices makes that happen.

I don't think switching time slots was a good idea, but only time will tell. There will inevitably be initial drop-off given the people unaware of the change or who already watch something then and will thus be part of the DVR numbers that come later. But that's just at first; it may very well level off or come back up. So it's entirely possible it won't matter. I just question moving such a tent pole series, but I watch so little television these days I do not know the whole landscape the way I used to in order to see the big picture and spot a strategy.

Dungeness crab cakes, roasted asparagus, and an arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette. Yum!

I like that one for the extra ranch dressing being a jug.

Alex just never misses an opportunity to mention James, does he? Grassroots was a surprising TS, as was ubiquitous, but this was a good game. I don't think I've ever heard pocket dialed instead of butt dialed (but came up with it). I've also never heard fall behind rather than fall back for the end of Daylight Saving Time. I thought the Catholic category was going to sink me in the first round, but I knew/guessed all but Jesuit, my only miss that round. I wasn't as good in DJ, but still had a good round, just missing a few hybrids and a couple of operas (including saying Nixon Goes to China instead of Nixon in China). And FJ was an instaget (as a civil rights lawyer, I'd have to turn in my bar card if it hadn't been), so I had a very good game.

Yes. The sad part is I was so pleasantly surprised when the subsequent penalty meant they eventually scored the TD, rather than them having seven downs and still coming away with just a FG. That gave me hope. I should have known.

Hell fire, was that not everything that is wrong with the Giants (and the 1.3 things right about them) on full display in one game?

The mom in that ad is nuts; I have no idea why you'd want to ruin your own meal by chasing your child around like a psycho over "one more bite".

Poor Mark with the Lizard Day cake; that would never actually happen, and was probably a step too far, even for a tag. This episode was just okay, but I'm glad to have the show back. I like that everyone's quarantine hair looked like varying degrees of shit (well, who can tell the difference with Darlene's?). Danny Trejo's character was so disturbingly accurate in having a mask on but taking it off to talk to Dan - the time when he most needed to have it on - and also that he'd sunk to taking a shit job like serving his neighbors with eviction notices in an effort to save himself financially. LOL at the Booker shout-out. Dan referred to Louise as being in their bubble, which is what I assumed when I saw the clip of her at the house without anyone wearing masks, but then an article said she's yet another person who actually lives there now. But she still has her place (as she should), since she tells Dan if everything goes to hell he can come stay with her. So is she living or visiting? Ben had a couple of great lines: "The mask will hide your general contempt for humanity" and "I lost my business, I've gone through my savings, and I'm sleeping in your childhood bed, but at least I have your sour face to look forward to." Emilio as Chaz Johnson was funny, and thank the gods for Becky telling him not to romanticize the night that resulted in Beverly Rose; I so hope they keep up with the marriage of convenience rather than forcing a romance between those two. Jackie dropping off Dan's lunch where he'll fall, and then telling the girls about his situation was pretty accurate. And Becky and Darlene crying over going backwards was touching. "Well, maybe our kids will do something." That line was heart-wrenching, given how hard Roseanne and Dan worked in the belief that they could improve their kids' lives by at least 50 percent; that used to be possible, but blew up in the '90s, and now Becky and Darlene don't actually have that hope. Nice humor break with the Laverne & Shirley song, but a moving sequence. This was kind of an awkward introduction to a new version of an old show. We'll see how it goes, but I appreciate the effort to incorporate the wide-ranging effect of the pandemic without making that the sole storyline, and hope they get more back in the groove.

I missed the last two episodes and didn't bother to check the archive, so it was nice to tune back in tonight. The Declaration of Independence clue was Toddler Tournament level, and thus had no business in DJ! Sterile was a surprising TS, as was option (the clue framed it in terms of sports, but it's just Contracts 101). MIT and charlatan a bit, too. I ran the first round, and only missed a scattered few in DJ, but I could not come up with FJ to save my life. It was a real V8 head smack moment when Trumbo's name was revealed.

Whether you relocate or exterminate* them, the important thing to do is identify their entry point(s) and seal it/them up. Otherwise, you're going to be battling the invaders in perpetuity, and they can do a good bit of damage in short bit of time. *They make traps that electrocute them; it seems the most humane of the death options. Whatever you do, no poison or those awful glue traps.

Now I'm even more annoyed by the stupid-ass Christmas movies taking over (for "the season", per the commercials - which, seriously, whatever fiction one wishes to create that turns a one-day holiday near the end of December into a season, it doesn't start back in OCTOBER), since the nighttime episodes of the Mon/Tues marathons are back to season one. After football last night, I watched a couple of the final episodes of the series, and remembered how awful they were. Tonight, I've watched a few early season one episodes, and would like continuing to do so next week and beyond, as they're better and I haven't seen them in a long time. Thanks a lot, Lifetime. I looked up an episode guide to see how close to the pilot I came in (it turned out to be episode five), so wound up reading descriptions of earlier episodes. It's interesting that the show started off with a serial killer storyline. One of the gazillion things I hate about most cop shows (and this is actually fairly far down the list, but it's there) is the gods-awful serial killer they almost all resort to, spreading out over episodes (or even seasons) about some diabolical yet brilliant villain they know is guilty but can't catch/make a case against. So I judge shows by how quickly they go to that well. For this one to start off that way makes me glad I didn't originally start watching it until several seasons in. Also, someone upthread mentioned how it's impossible to see Billy Burke's FBI agent character without seeing Phillip Stroh if one also watched The Closer/Major Crimes (he was that franchise's annoying-ass serial killer), and I agree. He's freaking me out.

I didn't recognize the song by title, but when I played it I immediately knew it. I just heard it quite recently, too; probably during my Cold Case re-watch. Great song.

Gus's trajectory was weird. He was originally just intended to be "Alice"'s brother, but then Duff decided to make him a love interest for Rusty (because heaven forbid he ever not be thinking of new ways to give Rusty more airtime), so Gus returns for the trial with the hots for Rusty. And because that was in no one's mind during the original episodes, it makes NO sense. Where in the traumatic process of discovering one sister is dead and the other is beyond his reach did Gus think, "Mm, I've got to get me some of that kid with the punchable face"? But then, okay, their relationship is a really good first love for Rusty; Gus is patient with him, but consistently calls him on his selfishness. Then comes Gus's bullshit false equivalency between Sharon Beck's fetus and Paloma, giving Rusty hell for not wanting to be part of his half sister's life once she exists because he's sad about not being in touch with an actual person he grew up with. And then they're both idiots about the Napa job offer, when the right course of action is obvious. But Rusty finally sees it, and does the most mature thing he's ever done. Boom, done - Gus is off to Napa, and they will inevitably realize the relationship has reached its end. Except, it's not done. No, in season six, we get the utterly stupid storyline where Gus had cheated with Aiden and then they broke up, but now Gus is back sniffing around, culminating in that awful sorry about the whole dead mom thing; hey, wanna go ask your stepdad if I can sleep with you? scene. Fuck off, Gus!

With each re-watch, I find myself saying, "Shut UP, Rusty" earlier and earlier in the series. I don't get thoroughly annoyed until season four, and I always love his relationship with Sharon, but good grief, man!

This is the final episode before his inability to control his anger finally gets dealt with in a meaningful way. Sharon has had to rein him in several times this season, and then everything comes to a head in "Internal Affairs" when Professional Standards reviews his interviews for the past year (which doesn't even show them the half of it) and says there's a pattern that needs to be addressed. Sharon brokers the deal that allows him to remain on active duty so long as he attends twice weekly anger management sessions for a year, and Julio acknowledges he needs help and thanks her. Of course, shortly into that, he goes berserk on Burning Man and gets suspended for five months. I appreciate that he was presented as wrong, faced actual consequences, and was only allowed back because he changed his behavior, unlike on most cop shows (one of the reasons I don't watch most cop shows).

Premeditated. He tries to claim it was an accident, Julio scoffs that, what, he then "accidentally" moved her body to the local sexual predator's house, he says he "improvised" that, and Julio goes off about that was no improv, he'd thrown rocks through the windows so he could see where Bill would leave a key (and thus be able to get in with no forced entry). He denies that, but after learning the rocks were being dusted for prints, that's when he confesses. So it seems that he'd done his homework, and then on a night when his wife opted not to lock Annie's bedroom door, he seized his opportunity (if it had been on a night when it was locked, he couldn't have claimed this was another instance in which she'd wandered off) to go ahead and kill her and plant the body. And, yes, he's a massive piece of shit. Because life with Annie sounded downright miserable, and his wife was never going to allow anyone else to help with her care or admit she was never going to need any less than constant supervision. So LEAVE. But he was so caught up in being the honorable stepdad in contrast to the biological father who'd said "we can't handle this" and split; rather than be yet another husband who took off on a special needs kid, he murdered the child who'd loved him as a father because he thought he could get away with it by framing a guy no one would give a shit about. That scene is great, and so typical of their relationship - they wind up busting each other's chops, but they're on the phone in the first place because Provenza doesn't know who else to ask what to do with these feelings he's catching, and Andy does in the midst of their aggravation with each other give him good advice. He's not a pedophile, as that's someone who is sexually attracted to pre-pubescent children; his victim was 16, and he had no inappropriate feelings for Kayla. Dr. Joe is cautiously optimistic that he's no longer a predator -- but I don't think Tori will be accepting his proposal. I liked the murkiness; of course you're going to hate a guy who's committed rape, especially of a teenage girl, but it's nice seeing the other side of the sex offender registry requirement after the person has done his time explored -- the difficulty in securing employment and housing, and then the high likelihood of being harassed by neighbors and disbelieved by police. Is that okay for any given individual because of the nature of the past crime and the perceived recidivism rate (which is higher than the actual rate) among the whole cohort? Thus, introducing a character like Bill, who is odious in one time and place and sympathetic in another -- where do we stop saying, "oh, boo-hoo, rapist" and start caring about what happens to someone in his position? When he's harassed? Or not until he's framed for murder? It makes us think.

I have a neighbor with a persimmon tree (the fuyus), so I get a nice supply from her every season.

There were rumors Wyle was a real jackass to Stringfield when she returned, and unlike the rumors which were later confirmed about how Wyle treated Kellie Martin, as far as I know the actors have never spoken about that situation. So if there was ill will off camera, that may be another reason why that Carter/Susan storyline was so awkwardly and poorly done.

Your brain probably did you a favor and repressed the memory of her.

You just paste in the YouTube link and it will automatically embed. Are you talking about this "did you bring condoms" one that has been previously discussed, or do they have a new one? (I couldn't find another one, but it could be on TV but not yet posted to YouTube.)

I figured he took it off her, as part of his plan to make it look like she left him (and took the kids away from him); I think showing the cops "look, she left her wedding ring behind as a message" was always the plan -- it just was supposed to happen after he'd also gotten rid of her purse, phone, and possibly car, too. I don't know much beyond what was in the documentary, so I don't know if he has addressed this in interviews (and he's not a reliable narrator, anyway), but my guess is he thought it would be him making the missing persons report, that night - saying he got home from work and his family was gone with no note, but his wife left her wedding ring behind, and she's not answering his calls and no one else has seen or heard from her either and now it's late and he's getting worried.

He wouldn't have got two years in prison if this was an 18-year-old having sex with a 16-year-old who was willing but legally incapable of consent and it was her parents who initiated the complaint; if prosecuted at all, realistically that would have been charged as a misdemeanor (it's a "wobbler" offense, which gets charged differently depending on circumstances). He slipped a 16-year-old a couple of drinks and brought her back to his place is how it was phrased (something like that; I'm going from memory) and when Provenza marvels that Bill could turn his life around enough to have a healthy relationship, Dr. Joe says he's older now (as I recall, he's about 30), and people's attractions can change with negative reinforcement, although it's hard to do. So any time it's discussed, it plays to me like this was a guy in his early twenties who behaved in a predatory way towards his teenage victim. If it had "just" been an age difference case, I think Dr. Joe would have noted that in talking about how it's possible for things to be different now.

I watched a bit of "Leap of Faith" in the lag between games, and came upon the scene where Sharon tells Rusty - who says he's not that guy in the park anymore - that he never was; circumstances brought him there, that's not who he was. It's crucial she reiterate that, because she and Dr. Joe only have him to the point where he knows that, but still only feels it as “mostly true". That shifts to the scene where Bill's girlfriend is notified, and I appreciate the way she's written - in most shows, she'd be a willful idiot, ignoring red flags and endangering her daughter in order to keep a man. But here there wasn't anything she missed, and when she learns about his past crime, she's shocked and horrified, but not in denial - she's only worried about her daughter, and welcomes the experts interviewing the girl when Sharon cautions her they need to talk to her to find out if anything has happened. But doesn't the daughter seem a bit old to be making those paper hearts? (I can't remember, since I only saw those two scenes today, how old she is, but they come across more childish than she looks to be.)