Lonesome Rhodes

I loved the open with the homage/paean to the Cowboy Way. Then, blammo! The risks and dangers are literally deadly. And they are incredibly random. No sane person would choose such a life. One with crazy passion would, though. Anyway, the juxtaposition within the open was quite powerful, imo. Market equities lost tens of millions of dollars which they invested in developing the Yellowstone and Confederated reservation environs. It seems perfectly rational for them to at least try to claw some of it back. If they can actually make it pay, all the better. So, here we are. I just wish Harvey Korman were around to recreate Hedley as a ME executive. I have a sneaking suspicion that Summer is gonna return with some environmental/climate change juice behind her to help Beth and Kayce save the day. I'd love to see Rainwater somehow bring in Native allies, and federal powers that be, to trump Montana law. I love the possibilities of the Black Ops group. Of course, ugh, Beth will prove to be savvier and tougher than them. Didja notice absolutely perfect weather for all scenes and all locations? Give me a break.

I can't stand Jimmy, but it was quite something to see Rip treat him respectfully, almost like a colleague. I loved that the others still mocked the stew out of him and that he was utterly clueless about his ride taking off. The transfer of the cattle to the pasture was a nice moment, well choreographed, and beautifully photographed. Rip's speech about 30 years out was hard to listen to. Not sure about the environmental impacts he also declared, but it's hard to argue the death of the profession. I found Grant, and the whole murder-for- hire sequence, was much too antiseptic and spare. Did Sheridan try to give us his version of SPECTRE (James Bond syndicate)? it seems to me that Jamie would have executed some legal documents that would be filed to supersede what Beth would file. His lover (Sarah?) would also have been moving other chess pieces to maximize benefit of the hit. Love, love, love, Rainwater and Mo Brings Plenty. The conversation they had as they were contemplating pipeline failure seemed far too portentious. All the other massive threats they've faced, and this is the last stand? There should have been a scene to set this one up. At least Rip was seen to have used his truck to break supersonic records. I wouldn't put it past this show to have had him ride his horse home.

This one may have set the record for insanity in a single ep. Good for Keisha. So now she cares about a loser like Cam and Bringston, generally? She is about to experience enormous change and meet very impactful people. NYC thereafter. Rear view mirror, honey. The whole tennis team resentment deal was absurd. Farce. Did they not do stuff to promote the heck out of the team in the very recent past? Then, the idea that Simone, or anyone, could have put together, solo, that HoF picture display in a matter of hours? Unpossible. She also had time to go to Lando's lair. Riiiight. Cam has zero chance of being a success in the music industry. He quit after two whole rejections?! Laughable. The reason that the overwhelming majority of peeps in entertainment, who did not have family connections made/make it, is by "showing up." It worked for me that way, and for my fellow struggling peers. We actually liked it when most would just falloff (self-selection). We never failed to take advantage of any crumb of a chance to do something when asked. Most of it was way beneath where we wanted to be, and was often at our personal expense. Only then, we got "The Call." Cam has no shot. I saw Hank larger than life while Cam was performing. It was not possible for Cam to not also see him. But, he was surprised when Hank came up to him? Ugh. J. Marx allowing Cam to release the single does make sense, imo. It wasn't gonna work for J, and he owned it. So, free money if Cam somehow sold it. With Hank producing it, it's a reasonable calculus. The massive irony is that after alllll the mess about the shady dude sponsoring the baseball team and how one should never compromise one's principles, Cam is thrilled to sign with Hank again (or is it the evil J. Marx?). Horrid continuity within a single ep! The final match was badly presented. First, Simone was on serve at 5-4. She was not behind. Then, the match point was incredible, as in unpossible. Simone chose to go to the net (huge irony given that her whole deal now was to stay at the baseline). We then saw several volleys. Then, out of nowhere, Simone was back deep and then instantly won with a shot at the net. Physically unpossible as depicted. The drug accusation would go away instantly. She already passed such a test. Oh. The baseball players would ALL have instant eligibility due to the school dropping the sport. J.R. is obviously good enough to attract offers. His career is not over, unless of course, he is a quitter like Cam. I still think we'll see Damon.

This was like watching a Monday afternoon of the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy telethon. Cameos from some bigtime acts (Buble/Schon & Journey) interspersed with excellent variety acts (Solange/Rhythm) and choreo/strength acts. There was even a famous assistant host (Biles). It really was a great 90 minutes of TV. The Top 5 were as predictable as can be. AGT avoided a major controversy, imo, with the drone group finishing third. The nice man won and the fabulous dog lost. That's the way the AGT cookie crumbles. All in all, this was a pretty good year. The GBs being handed out like Halloween candy bugged, but in the end, a worthy act was crowned.

Host Terry Crews reveals who America has chosen as the Season 19 winner; special guests perform.

I was referencing the big country dude in the trio. Richard was good.

Boy, did everyone (except the comedian) bring it tonight! Each singer did what they did very well. Of these, I liked the lady from Oakland who started the show, the most. It would be ridiculous if a singer won it, though. The choreo and strength/balancing acts crushed. Lord, how to choose among the bigger group and the group of 4 (Airfootworks)?! The rope act did well, but the limitation of the lady's injury dooms them, imo. Solange was really good. Unfortunately, her card tricks got lost in the pace and the glitter. Roni and Rhythm are an all-time AGT act. They would get my vote. But, I'd be fine with the choreos, strength and balancing group, or Solange winning, as well. The David Alan Grier promo shoot sketch was a mess. Went on way too long. I did enjoy hearing the call letters of the various affiliates being butchered by the indifferent jidges. Finally, a tip o' the cap to the set designers. Their work actually integrated really well and enhanced the presentations. The Director missed some critical shots, notably the final big reveal by Solange. The massive amount of matching white confetti did not help matters. But, once again, AGT production values were pretty much as good as it gets each season.

Me not feelin' Simoney, either. It's quite a thing to me that the one real victim here made an amend that wasn't hers to make and now she is gonna experience a betrayal she'll carry with her the rest of her life. Of course there aren't any guarantees that a given romance will turn out to be "The One." The odds, in fact, are very large it will not be. Yet, Lando's moving on with a Simone, with all the lies and hurt in their "family," is a particular gut punch. Classic "world revolves around me" moments in this ep. The Athletic Council mess was stunning and hogging all (8?) the courts (I know, she didn't arrange it, but she sure told the spoiled brat to get lost) on a perfect weather day well displays her arrogance. She also refused to step back and allow an up and coming member of the team to grow. Blowing off her House? What's the excuse? She's almost certainly cured? Look, the thing here, though, is that her natural need to circle the wagons feeds her worst narcissistic self as endlessly demonstrated through the years. I did enjoy Cam's awakening. He's much the better for it. There's little doubt he did not register his song for copyright, though. He won't see a nickel for it. Gabby's hardcore self is really cool. I hope she doesn't rebound with Cam. She has way too much going for herself. If Cam is right for her, he'll still be right for her in a couple of years. She's perfect for Layla's (or anyone's) burgeoning empire. What a montage! Jordan!!!! But, no baby. Nate and Keisha in NYC. Smells like spin off. Well, it would if the show were actually popular. Then again...the original AA is moving there, yes? Hmmm.

The top 10 acts perform one last time for their chance to win $1 million and be named the most talented act in America.

Can we vote for Sky Elements on Sunday or Monday night when their performance concludes? No need to wait for the actual Finale competition (Tuesday), right? It's a joke that Richard was the singer who made it through. It's great that only one singer made it.

What a rich ep. So many ongoing arcs being wrapped and the outlines of the future without Bringston. Netta was brilliant in the kiss-off scene. I honestly believed she was personally going through what Keisha was experiencing. So authentic. So real. The choice of having Cam grasp her face and give her a light kiss as he announced he was done was another excellent moment (from both actors). Simone. Ugh. It's par for the course, but to honor her for escalating the traffic stop (team bus) is outrageous! The situation was handled and was defused. But, noooooo! Our girl haaaaad to go against the express orders of her coach and rile it all up. And she is a Rosa Parks?! The incident was awful. The cops merit criminal convictions and jail. No question. But, there is no point in agitating jerks like them and potentially giving them an excuse (in their small minds) to mess with and hurt the detainees. This is a huge misstep by TPTB. I LOLed when I saw the citation at the bottom of Simone's HOF plaque: "Three-time conference player of the week." OMG, watch out ATP! Now, the concept of an HBCU athletics HOF is wonderful. There is an HBCU alum HOF (National Black College Alumni) in Atlanta. The focus is much more broad, but it is allll about the proud legacies of the schools. The Athletics inductees are bigtime. A deep irony to me is that one of the very first things they established was, wait for it...an annual HBCU tennis challenge! I wanna be on the Bringston Board. Better than a Six Flags roller coaster park! Nice (not) that Amara got it done in two days and we never saw her. Very bad form, show. Why was Eva wrong to ask Lando to stay away from Simone? She was direct (communication!) and her affect was not confrontational. She expressed her fear and was hoping to avoid an obvious potential betrayal, a la J.R. and Keisha. Good on ya, Eva. Now, run. Run far away from Lando. Good to see Nate being less than a saint. She was dead wrong to shutout Ryan from her application process and the results. The snooping was a new low. That final scene where it looked for all the world that a proposal was forthcoming went too far. Much too elaborate and evocative of a marriage proposal than a friendship enhancement. Nice to see the game and the bottle of wine being used as props twice. Saved cash. Did we see "family breakfast" on campus before?

Solo singers underwhelmed (shocking, I know). The country trio were excellent in harmony, but boy, was the big guy's solo at the end awful! Screeching, he was. The sand magician is a wannabe quick-change artist? The execution of the "light bulb" choreography was pretty bad. Were that his first audition, I doubt he would have got three votes. Rhythm was flat out amazing. Again. The "small" things were what really stunned me. The leg crossing as he was looking away from Loni was incredible. How on earth was that taught? Fine by me if they take it all. The comedian does a great job of adding mirth with all manner of body contortions. He's really working it. Too bad his material doesn't pay off in hearty laughter. The Simon-with-his-Howie-picture bit was genuinely funny (again with added movement). But, nothing else drew more than a smile for me. Kelsey the rope artist and the athletic dance group hit their marks very well, indeed. I'd vote both of them in over any singer(s). Solange is incredibly fortunate that she was given the final spot. If production had buried her at, say, 35 minutes into the first hour, she'd be forgotten. Her routine was nowhere near as fantastic as she was in the quarterfinal. Not really her fault, but it is what it is. Her act requires unreal detail and planning. the compressed schedule is too much for her to overcome, I believe. The drone art simply does not belong on this series. I am not pleased that the jidges made sure to add the super important emotional and humanizing to what is basically a computer program. They know darn well that is the secret to garnering Ameriker's votes. Boy, did they lay it on thick. Simon overcome? Absurd.

I was gonna comment on the lack of Nate, as well. Not even a mention. Super weird. J.R. has it coming, imo. It's also quite foreseeable that a House war could break out. Are we done with the Freshman who Simone took under her wing? I'm glad Loni gets to go out as a intelligent and fierce woman. One had to wonder since she was never there when things were falling apart earlier/pre-diagnosis. Having said that, it is beyond any sense of credulity that she would have been so wholly ignorant of Simone not being coached. Ya think that maybe Loni would have asked Thea if said coach could stop by and address her team sometime? How about asking for just one practice session from Simone to see any progress being made? Simone never left Atlanta that entire time. Any chance Simone asks one of the young gentlemen to inseminate one of her frozen eggs? Or, maybe Nate would ask to use one in order to become a mom?

Contestants vie for a place in the Finals.

Glad to see the magician Dorenbos again. The three chosen to advance made AGT sense. The pimp spot certainly did not hurt the little girl singer. The Semifinal is gonna be very tough. Here's hoping the acts are all at their best.