Lonesome Rhodes

Memo to Bruno Mars: The Funkateers are available. The funk will be brought. Up until the GB BS, this was peak AGT. So much fun. The act was a core representation of a significant piece of Americana. But, then we got the reveal that the GB was scripted (imo). As if there were any chance these guys would not make it through the next round. Ugh. The best part of the next scripted act was that the audience was behaving as if the kid were a young Bieber with that train wreck of the first song. I am reminded of the all time greatest album review in Rolling Stone magazine history. Here it is, in its entirety: "Chase. Flee!" Chase was a legendary horn band best known for the song, "Get it On." This Chase? crickets One would have thought TPTB would be sure to place litter boxes on stage for the cats. The curmudgeon Mel B. is on fire! Good casting. Argentina's Got Talent. And great hair. I guess it is Japanese night. Wes' odyssey was also peak AGT. Easily among the best incorporations of a jidge I've seen. Wes really sold his ardor for Mel B. and she was a great foil. The tricks/stunts were actually pretty neat. Unfortunately, the naked truth is he failed the audition. The Lite Brite was pretty. There was a serious issue with synching (drawing?) the pins. Yet another all tech, little performance act. Astrid (LOVE that name) came with a phenomenal gimmick, but just like with the tech stuff, she didn't do anything special on stage. Mastermind's presentation was on point. Well, this was a memorable ep since there's never been an ep where a single jidge buzzed and voted no as much as Mel B. did in this one. Season 20 has certainly hit its stride.

Season 20 continues with auditions in Pasadena.

This was a Barry Sanders edition of AGT. Sanders is arguably the greatest running back in football history, who was known for making incredible jukes - kind of like a jitterbug. The whole segment with the GB winner had build-ups which did not payoff without first experiencing a spot of bother. I wish I could have bet on Simon interrupting the act and advising a second song. It was absolutely a better choice, but the chances this wasn't the plan all along are super low. I'm glad it all worked out and I believe she will be, and should be, a real contender to make the Finale. The contrivance of the jidges' impatience with the magician was another big fake out. The blind chop stick trick was superlative and the second one was fabulous, as well. The dude certainly does have to work on his presentation. But, to actually fail the audition would have been an abomination. I'm not as sure that this was planned to be a "save" by Mel B. The acrobats were fantastic. They are certainly professionals. The Leo choir is as meh as any such act I have seen. LOVE their story, but they didn't even have to sing tunefully! The dancer's ending of his audition was every bit as awkward as the magicians's. Not a soul in the auditorium understood he had finished for several beats. Not a word about it was spoken. Bob would have been a great Gong Show act. Great zinger he threw at Howie! Unfortunately, he was too obtuse for an AGT audience. The robot dogs presentation was/is terrifying. It was quite upsetting to me as I saw how everyone anthropomorphized (took as human) them. The implications for the future are super profound. The fact that everyone completely excused and/or made excuses and offered explanations for the failure of a robot is also a problem. It's no different than when a juggler drops an object. The act's gotsta go. It's also the newest chapter in the AGT mad dash to embrace technology as entertainment. It's one thing to marvel at the engineering and the "fun" choreo. It's quite another to honor the dehumanizing performance. I await the first robot who comes out and "sings" with perfection. Overall, another interesting ep, with astounding moments, and the customary hijinks.

Auditions from Pasadena continue.

Tani the drone master is precisely the type of act AGT should feature more. Simon was right in this. I'm fine with him not advancing if it means the elevated standard of pickiness on display so far this season continues. Teen singing group was as meh as it gets. The one dude's line during the interview about a nervous bladder was great. Absolutely nothing special happened from that point forward. Football tosser was annoying as heck to me. Lady, you were not deciding the Super Bowl winner. The kid hoofers wore so much gear that it was difficult (purposefully?) to detect the choreography and how in sync they were/were not. The speed of the stunt dudes was breathtaking. I'm pretty sure the spinner was falling out of the second stunt, but covered it very well. It's not the first time, not by a long shot, that this type of acrobatics has been on the telly. Not sure how they will advance their presentation, but they totally earned the chance to do so. Contrived, planned, or genuine, Austin's "No" was refreshing. Simon's refusal to allow him a second bite of the apple was also most welcome. My take is that any number of buskers are Austin's equals and that Simon's feeling is based on solid grounds. This new stringency by the jidges is fantastic! The Coldplay cover artist with the cello mom created a beautiful vibe. His vocal range seems super limited, though. Glad he advanced, nonetheless. Creepy clown magicians were a great gimmick, well done. Best moment, other than buzzing Howie, was Sofia holding on to the string well after her balloon had popped. Clueless, per norm. If Simon ever developed, "America's Got Hair" glam rock TV competition, I'd never miss an ep. Loved everything about this band. It was fun seeing Mel, and Sofia rocking out with her hair flowing every which way, out of control. Knife strippers was unique, so points for that. The repetition of the very same throwing sequence as they disrobed and robed is an early indication there is not a whole lot different. The GB was ridiculous. Gorgeous dancers and delusional dancer who has seen much better days. Awful. I don't get this one. Susan Boyle outro? Really bad choice for the finale. Fun bit with the creepy clowns waving goodbye to Simon as he was leaving the site. Overall, serious improvement in jidging standards, until that last abomination. I'm super glad a hair band is returning.

Season 20 auditions continue.

I'd bet everything I own, and you own, that each GB tonight was pre-determined. The light thingy is super complicated and requires a ton of prep. The GB gives them time to develop the next presentation. It's also the equivalent of a music act entirely lip-synching to a recording being played. Jordan the N'awlins lad had the slurpiest intro I can remember. Why was the mom and child brought out to sit in the audience and not placed just offstage like pretty much all other relatives of acts are? The story about the tragic killing by a murderous truck driver was beyond any reasonable level of pandering and his crocodile tear was phony as can be. Rotten form, show. He does have an interesting Bayou tonality (which he waaaaay exaggerates), but is in no other way special as a singer. SYCO producers and/or execs believe they can market the heck out of their creation. They're correct. Harry Connick, Jr. is probably already booked for the end-of-season revue. The magician was smooth as can be. The substance was weak as can be. It was weird that no jidge expressed disdain or intolerance for Gallagher the parrot's silence. Simon has endlessly inveighed about animal acts who are a bust. Tonight? Nothing but love and understanding. Very odd. Mel B was on a tear all night, yet sat mute as the act imploded. Weird. Contortionist was genuinely next level, but now what? The elderly sword dancers got through? Seriously? The massive dance routine was quite something. It was certainly inventive and to my eyes, pretty much coordinated and on point. The best act of the night. I've always liked Mel B. as a jidge and I love her English accent. I like Heidi, as well, but I am fine with the switcheroo this season. Howie seems less involved and more indifferent. Is it age? Being tired of it all at AGT? Simon was far too benign and way too easy to please. Sofia was the non-entity she was last season. Glad to have AGT back, despite its many faults. It's a diversion from the TV desert of Summer.

So many flip flops with the arcs of this season that it isn't worth trying to square all the circles TPTB drew. Amina ends up making the killer call, and the wise Layla chooses very, very poorly. The lackadaisical approach by KJ and Khalil totally fits with the way football took a backseat to the season's proceedings. The ultimate was Bobby picking his nightmare assistant to lead in the super bowl of super bowl games. It was a classic move for him to not tell him in a phone call, though. I will never, ever, ever, ever, buy a redemption arc for Marqui. That dude was gone. Short of some genuinely miraculous events, he would never allow anything to penetrate the super hard core he developed in his rotten existence. One thing that is true is that KJ failed to led the team to a score at winning time. If he really is all that, it would not have come down to a hail mary. Jordan, being the great coach he is (ahem), would have put out a gimmick defense to defend against a deep ball. We didn't see him do that. Please God, don't allow TPTB to create another spinoff with a fool teen going off to college. It would be fun, however, to learn how they came up with the name "Dinsberg." More later.

That was among THE slickest product placements I have ever seen. TPTB did way right by D'Usse cognac. Perfect integration and perfect demo to see it. Jordan has always been a doofus. This time he literally busted his gut by being one. I really do not care for this character at all. Playoffs in progress, one of the QBs is missing, another star is laid up. Then we have the all time distracted QB for the other team. Ay yi yi. So, we have the knight from Beverly choosing to come to Compton and nearly getting killed for his trouble. The reality of the playoff bracket and schedule are super tough. And there is ZERO media interest in what could easily be a national story - especially with the nexus of the adopted Spencer. TMZ would be going nutso about this one which is almost literally right in their backyard. I'd fire the bartender and/or the manager on duty for failing to notify me if the significant talent bailed at the last second. Not even a second thought would be had. Who created and who provided the backing track(s) for Tori? There was no musician. I had the exact same thoughts about the drinker, Cassius, routinely driving in questionable states. This was especially problematic this time if he was slamming that cognac. I think my favorite moment was when Coach Bobby shows up with all good intention of supporting Jordan. Then, Jordan proves for the umpteenth time he is a mo-ron and not ready for prime time as a coach. Bobby lets him know he's a tool and walks out, wondering why God has foisted this jerk on him. Now, as much as I enjoyed that, there is no way Bobby would not be breathing fire about Khalil. No way he would not have pressed Jordan to maybe, just once, prove he can amount to something and fashion a solution to getting Khalil back on the practice field. Finally, I am trying to understand how it was possible to have all things end pretty well without benefit of the grown Amina who knows everything about everything, and without whom, happy endings are not possible.

Gotsta hand it to TPTB. Incredible hoops jumping to get to that "family" reveal at the hospital. Well done. The rest was insanity in service to drawing out draaaaaaaama. Soap Opera 101. The texture of the "hurt' Marqui was pretty great. The parallel with Grandpa Jeremy was not lost on me. Deep, dark, wounds never go away and to have any shot at overcoming such requires searing inventories. Marqui decided the only way to deal was to put out venom. His family are snakes. Nice piece of acting at the restaurant by Terayle Hill giving a moment of sorrow and vulnerability with wet eyes, and transitioning into pure hate. KJ's softening was much too quick (Less than a few hours? Really?) but I was happy to see the first stitches of healing put in for him, Ava and Cassius. Nobody called Mama Laura, the DA emeritus? This was arguably the most ambitious ep of the series. Some seriously important truths about the milieu of this place and time were dealt with. The commonality of humanity was also on display in a major way. It took awhile, but the head-shaking character changes have led to a pretty important place.

Here's another example of Amina's special brand of sociopathic narcissism: She got back from Baltimore and Coop offers her a great breakfast. She begs off. Of itself, no worries. But, Coop makes it clear she is desperate to clear the air. Amina comes back with pat answers devoid of empathy for Coop. Then runs out the door. Here's the thing...we later learn that Amina figured out just how bad her mom was and how she for realz was gonna kill Coop, only for Preach to save Coop. Amina got the lowdown on what a brat (I'm being kind) her mom was to her Grandparents, who loved her and did everything they could to save her from the streets. She knew for a fact that Coop (and Preach) were pretty dang heroic in the whole situation and that they risked their very lives for Amina. She knew this before she stepped foot back in Cali. And she coldly blows Coop off. The hell with her. Later, of course, we get the reconciliation and reveal with appropriate acknowledgement from Amina as to the whole deal. /end rant

She actually went and did it. No, not Coop. Not Breonna. Not Tori. Amina. She officially went beyond all shred of doubt and became Simone (I can't believe I typed that name. Ewwwww). She actually believes that she can dictate to a lad in mortal peril from a notorious gang how he needed to deal with it, and who he must involve, meaning herself. All-time Simone move, that was. Hey, it's not like her mom was a vicious and violent person was was killed as she attempted to murder. Wait. What? She did all that? Hmm. Then, she refuses and chastises an excited and relieved object of her ardor (Khalil) when he finally feels free enough to show her how he really feels. If ever there were an empowering and hopeful moment that was ALL Khalil in his entire life, this was it. And she makes it about herself. She is the worst. I loathe her. I will laugh heartily and at length if this was actually a "Thrill of the chase" deal being taken away and she just wants to dump him. The rest of the ep contained some really good moments. Once again, Layla was tremendous in her empathy and compassion. The meeting at Miss Ocha's house was quite something. There was very real extreme danger overhanging it and the particulars discussed were truly legit. I really wanted to see Ocha's actual decision explained to Coop in the moment. In any event, that was a very powerful scene. I also really liked the callback to KJ getting locker cookies as a football player, and having Tori being the one who made them. Sweet. More customary BS around football, though. First, the announcement that all starters would not play. Unpossible IRL. But, the emphasis on avoiding injury and any other situation that could derail their playoff run was truth. The problem was that the writers created the biggest and heaviest anvil in soap opera history. My guess was that the opponent would purposefully wreck KJ. This was especially likely given how chippy things had been getting (also truth). It ended up a non-contact hammy for a WR. I totally did not understand the AD and Boosters deal. Is it that they were ordering the coach to not first ensure victory? No way in Hades. None. The Jeremy family saga arc is off to a promising start. I notice that the actor portraying KJ's last name is...Jeremy.

Among the most interesting eps yet. Best part was very little retconning. It was good to see the gang menace Khalil faces, but it is always jarring when we see him instantly shrugging that off and acting like he's won life's lottery. I was thinking that the Crips would shoot him during the laser tag match. Silly me. But, him forging such a cool and carefree bond with KJ in the arcade was ridiculous, considering the threat that had just returned literally to his face. The Coop retrospective was true to the character, but it was tough to accept how down she became, forgetting the person and the circumstances now extant. Spence was about as expected. It was weird, though, that he wasn't constantly being approached by the locals. Dude is a friggin' God. Now, if he really had a game on Monday, he would never have had a chance to just hang as he did for a full Saturday as a visiting player and he nevvvvvvver would have done shots. Did both Beverly and SC have a bye week? They would each have played and there was zero mention of such. Maybe it's just me, but it appeared that Daniel was not as blown up (muscular) as he was last season. He looked healthier/better overall, but as an NFL RB, he would have worked like crazy to maintain a bigger physique. Darnel was an absolute hoot! He played the classic fool brilliantly. The lad was majorly insightful and showed loyalty, even as he was complainin' about how lame they all were for so much of the ep. More, more, more, of this please!!!!! Cassius is beginning to bug. He seems to grasp some heavy, and nice, truths, and then chucks it all so the show can have draaaaaaama. I know. Classic soap opera stuff. Yuck. I didn't get why "Flip" was a magic name when it was invoked by Spence in the "showdown" with the Crips. Whatever peace was agreed to ain't worth a fig, though. What's gonna be the collateral damage? TPTB can do most anything they want with that. I feel for Tori. There is no way she wins KJ's heart. None. She's the Icarus of the show.

I'm happy to own it if I am wrong about this...the very last time we saw Bobby with Jordan, he ripped him to shreds, declaring that he was no good. At the top of this ep, he and Jordan are all smiling and lightly teasing. Then, Jordan asks for Khalil to start for the umpteenth time. Bobby is totally cool with that. Rod Serling would be proud of the creation of that new and different dimension. Then, the end when he interrupts Bobby and utterly contradicts him. Beyond any semblance of reality. Mina creates some cray cray quasi-panty raid, the lads show up as directed, in the middle of the night, and she blows it off utterly. Next day, she ducks her responsibility as prez to represent at the pep rally. The HOMECOMING rally. Fiddle dee dee. Rhett took too long to figure out who Scarlet was. Any chance that Khalil and "Jeremy" can extricate themselves without too much more damage? Layla the Oracle is nice and all, and Greta is thoroughly winning in her portrayal. But, c'mon. The confrontation in the hallway was crazy fantastical. The cherry on top was that Amina, the Homecoming Queen, was able to steel herself away - solo - is straight nuts. I laughed out loud when the football official declared the cancellation of Homecoming activities. One thing I really liked was Khalil shouting out praise to Yasi in the locker room. It's tough to squash serious squabbles, and these two worked to make it happen. Good stuff. OK, gotsta end with a football note...the last thing to call when the defense is flying to the QB, is a slow-developing play. A double move is such a play. Yasi would've been killed, figuratively speaking.

Amina is running headlong into she-who-must-not-be-named territory. Miss All That/Grown Up is a straight child. It was fine that she felt genuine sadness when KJ "broke up" with her. They had established a fun friendship and this change would likely end that - especially if Khalil becomes the BF. But, she finally gets Khalil trying to understand, and she runs away. I can't stand her. I thought Chelsea nailed the beginning portion of the break-up scene with Bre-Z. scene. She went from the cold calculation side as she outlined reality, and perfectly transitioned to pure emotion as the break-up was becoming very real. Bre-Z's eyes were dry the whole time, and though not her fault, her words were nonsense -and not because emotion was taking over...it never did. Greta was again on it. She really seemed invested. I hated the phone message to Jordan, but that, too, is on the writers. Lending Cassius her ears was pretty much the best Layla I've seen. There was a real sense of earned wisdom and the connection with him was tremendous. I was so happy for Tori when it seemed she had won KJ. Then, like a maroon (Hi, Bugs), she got an attitude and gave back her victory. That girl would not have lost her mind like that. But, it's AA. Finally, I was gratified, and pleased, to see Khalil admit his fear of never measuring up, which was caused by his dirt bag dad. That was one of the realist things evah on this series. I'm betting this resonated deeply with a ton of young guys. This moment was a fulfillment of the promise of this show. Good on all concerned.

It's almost impossible to make Greta look like a mess, but that outfit at the party is the fugliest thing I've seen her in. Yikes! Yet, she got off one of the best lines while wearing it in either AA series: "Yeah, we are." Tremendous. (and true). I was floored at how weak Marqui's threat was. After all the incredibly dark and fierce posturing, he makes like Keenan Wynn in Dr. Strangelove. "You'll have to answer to the Coca-Cola company." Marqui comes with "foster home?" I can't. Beyond lame. Absurd. We got a marvelous "Mars and Venus" piece from Patience and Coop. Coop was reacting like a guy as she instantly saw the opportunity and how amazing it was. Patience was all into implied feelings. Great, and real, moment. So, just before Jordan was gonna tell GW how sorry he was (with Laura there) guess what he did? He played with his hair. I couldn't even make that up. But it happened. LMFAO. I also loved Bobby cutting Jordan to the core as he departed, telling him he still hasn't proven a dang thing as a coach. I appreciate when a meany maintains his ill will. It's not usual. Cassius and Tori are still my favs this season. It's great how they don't hide their ability to see right through KJ. Despite the moronic "lost Uncle" arc, this was a pretty fun ep.

Coop, the lawyer, did a B&E into a public high school. She heard a pretty good speech, though. Marqui is a real deal menace. I remain surprised they are introducing such a genuine threat in the middle of a romantic triangle. Kahlil has almost no shot at the straight and narrow. But on a TV show... Tori making such a brazen move on KJ was a bit too much. It's within the realm, but she wasn't even gonna be there, and she figured out the storage room deal at Crenshaw? She's still my favorite character, though. Will Preach volunteer to blow Marqui's alibi apart? Cassius' near 180 in attitude with KJ is also not ringing true. Neither does both football teams' winning bigly on the field. Surely, the BHS principal is not a happy camper, right? Man, we have to swallow a lot of nonsense and retconning. At least the grown woman made her decision (all in with Khalil). Until she doesn't. Maybe she could have an affair with a teacher, too? Did she glad hand or talk up any voter in the time before she was to become a pumpkin? There was to be no speech, and the popular rapper made his appearance, wowing the electorate. Genius campaigner, she is.

KJ checks his phone and sees it's time. Time for Pete, Liz, Seymour, Alice, Jason, Bernie, and my all-time crush, Helen. It's time to head a few miles across memory lane (La Cienega) to Whitman High and Room 222! It was no coincidence that 2:22 was displayed on KJ's phone. Major, major props for that callback. Jordan is being a damn fool. "Stealing" a son away from a Crips OG/leader? The show bit off way more than it can chew for this arc. Elle was dead wrong to reach out as she did to Layla. And then to trek out to Beverly unannounced to try to contact her in person?! So much for following 12 Step canon. Where was her sponsor Olivia? She should have been screaming at her to not approach Layla unless it was to make a sincere amend - and make it only if it would not hurt Layla (or others). Liv would know that there was a very great risk of hurting Layla and should have laid down the law. No contacting Layla!!!! At least for now. At this point, it matters not. Tra la tra la tra la. No harm, no foul. Ugh. Don't get me started on Coop pulling what she did. Cassius took this job for a horrible reason. He did it for himself. He needed the kids. No bueno. As a coach, refusing to adopt (steal) something that others have used which is something as old as football, is a fool's ego run amok. KJ didn't turn to Tori for any of the messed up family and team dynamics? This, after mom was being a pain, and then not even taking his calls? Similarly, where was Amina? She's all grown, right? She would know how to help Khalil. She's not afraid of gangs, or nothing. /sarc Coach Bobby, once again, is playing it 100% as most any coach would. He's let Khalil know he is on his radar, but he tamped down expectations. This is a guy I could play for. I am curious to see what the Beverly Principal's gonna do. The championship jersey being intentionally swiped from the trophy case and seeing the spirit that was ignited? Whoa.

Miss me with the possible when you can't deliver. All-time line. Speaks to the show itself, eh? Coach Bobby was entirely correct about Jordan's insubordination. I was surprised he didn't call time out when he saw Khalil entering the game. He's got a long way to go if he wants to be a good football coach. A loooooong way. But, he's the boss and if he is not followed, they're no good (Takes me back to a big scene in The Caine Mutiny). The retconning of Jordan as a weak, ignorant, and unsuccessful football dude is just too much. I'll stop writing about it, but it's a massive and unnecessary contrivance. It is unpossible that the Crips would not be putting hard and intense pressure on Khalil to forget about this student and athlete stuff. They simply can't abide being second choice less their reputation and internal morale (such as it is) suffers. This dynamic would add a lot to Khalil's arc as he really is being rather heroic. Then again, Crips issues would not allow for the Amina crush. Coop would sit on her super hard. Bobby was also spot on with his observation about Billy Baker's disregard for base realities. What Jordan does not get, however, is that his dad would not praise him for being right. The ends do not, and can not, justify the means. Fighting internally for Khalil? That's the best of Billy. Good on Jordan for realz. Not buying KJ's 180 on accepting team over self. I could see him doing it for show, but a true tectonic shift in a life in one day? Puhlease. Tori rules. Interesting to see that Beverly's scoreboard is green, just like Crenshaw's. I do like the thinking behind putting the final score and brutal article on the wall, though.

This one gave me mental whiplash. This version of Jordan is just not believable. He became a major stud QB. Now, he questions every last thing about his place in football. Sure, he has a difficult boss. But, that boss cannot take away his very real accomplishments and acumen. Layla just demonstrated perfectly the wisdom of not advertising a pregnancy until some weeks have passed. What does Liv do? Jumps the gun and leaves that monumental 411 in a voice message?! Huh? Liv also utterly blew up Elle's anonymity. Hard to find a bigger sin in AA recovery. The self-introduction Cassius and KJ chose at their first day at practice was darn near perfect. Everything they said was dead on in a football culture. Of course, the show has them disavow all of it. Ay yi yi. Kahlil is the sweetest guy Amina knows. Riiiight. The lad was rebuked and challenged at the beach by his Crip brothers. Any chance he would not have doubled or tripled down on being hard and tough? No. Instead, we get a contrite guy who makes a sincere apology to an interloping authority figure from Beverly? Coop's panic was the best part of the ep. It was organic and it was not overplayed. The big question for me is if the Prof will become a lover for her. I'd bet a lot on "yes." Is Elle gonna be the device to bring back Layla the impresaria? Not sure why the weasel Principal was given such a spotlight tonight. A good hint, though, is how he dissed the football team again. If there were Boosters there, and IRL there would have been a significant number, he would never have pulled such a stunt at a Baker dedication. Unpossible. Yasi was a fun element this week. He made some rather fine points, too. I like Tori. Soon enough, she'll be subsumed by relationship angst. But, for now, she's pretty savvy and confident - despite (or maybe due to?) athletics basically being taken from her. Where was the head coach during the practices? THAT guy would never, ever, evahhhhh, miss official practices. Back-to-back absences? What song was Coop spitting out when she was dealing with her panic attack?

Of all the places TPTB could have used as KJ's home, they chose one of the all-time most notorious spots for gangs - Oakland. One guess as to which famous football player was a banger in Oakland before becoming the hero of heroes? That would be Orenthal James Simpson. KJ reminds me of Damon in "Homecoming." He's no Spencer. His way has nothing to do with the less than hopeful sacrifices necessary. He's also nowhere near as built out as he needs to be. I'm super confused about Jordan. Was he not the hottest NFL QB prospect in CFB? He was assured to be a Top 5 lottery pick. Of course, he really wasn't, but the show insisted that he be declared such. So, the second coming of John Elway he was. Now, why was he wearing very loose fitting clothes the entire ep? Looked to me like our hero has developed a gut. The one thing I really liked in this new iteration is Cassius. He's the new Billy Baker. What law school is Coop in? She sure has boatloads of free time to lollygag around. I have no time for Amina. Of course, TPTB have set her up to be point on the various tensions of trying to live in a Spencer world, or the thug world. Yawn. (Not to minimize the VERY real tensions in SoCal and elsewhere). This continuation is desperate for cameos from the original. There is so little that is compelling from the add-ons.

Some people need killin'. Beth be one of them. The moment of the series, imo, was when she had told John in the barn that they had won, only to have that super ceded with a final message of revenge. This is when it was proven beyond all question that she was wholly subsumed by evil. Her odds of ending well are monstrous. Kayce is most definitely the one who took the Hero's Journey. He pretty much finished it well. He even managed to drag Monica along that same trail. Her former self was a horrid mess. But, through Kayce's patient love and mentorship, she chose to open her eyes that character has not a thing to do with identity. I was happy for her that she got to witness the overwhelmingly profound negotiation between hubby and Rainwater. It affirmed the best of her culture and her choice to live her vows of fidelity as a wife and a mother. This all was truly a Great Escape for both of them. The murderous fight between Beth and Jamie was a joke. How many pauses for conversation were there? Beth figured out pretty quick that Jamie would beat her if the fight were prolonged. She would have done most anything to end him ASAP. But noooooo...she had to rehash. Jamie was just as guilty. What farce. The forensics would easily and certainly put Beth's story to lies. The lack of blood on the floor from the time the cops arrived was also a joke. Rip did not have the time to clean it all up. Traces of it would be discovered all over and the amount would be discerned. It's insanity to buy the unspoken acceptance that she will get away with it all. This whole mess was catnip for the sensationalistic media. If Rip is such a fantastic leader, how did he not know that a huge and pristine ranch in Montana was on the market? How did that fact never come up in all the build-up? I dearly loved the display of tough love, cowboy-style, being honored. Idiot Jimmie finally figured it out and he was loving life. He earned respect and he now knows he is worth a spit. No man can ask for more, imo. Leave it to Rainwater to put the final bow on this series: "The Creator did it." For all the power and might on display from minute one, this story demonstrated the ultimate futility of man. I genuinely love the circle of the sanctity of the land closing back, for at least awhile. It was a great touch that its long-suffering keepers are again its stewards. As I've said before, I have much respect for Costner's original vision for this show. I'll never know if this was the ending he ultimately wanted, but it absolutely worked.

I agree. I should have been more clear. Beth/John took out huge mortgages through the years, the last one partly as a maneuver to transfer ownership/management. That debt would transfer to whomever buys/acquires the property (Probably Rainwater). And that's why Beth never thought of the $1 solution. Nobody would take on that debt. It's all a Sheridan construct and I'm sure it's not kosher in several aspects.

I'm pretty sure John made Beth Executor and made her swear that everything left, if anything, would go to Tate. The haste was due to the Guv's plans to seize everything he could, with the Assembly's approval, by removing any protections JD may have managed to wrangle. It was a matter of days, IIRC. Market Equities was not playing, either. They were already building out some land (not sure who most recently owned said land).

I loved this ep. Sure, the beauty shots and the shows/sales didn't do much for the story, but it was a fitting goodbye to that life. I adore Travis. His code is better than John Dutton's ever was. He made his deal with the Devil and he does not apologize, same as John. Very much like Beth, he does have a very limited redeeming side. I hope the "solution" closes the circle of the Dutton's and the Confederated Tribes. This would be a phenomenal way for the series to go out. Jamie's "solution" is entirely unworkable because he could never claim jurisdiction away from the Helena P.D. and from Kayce's badge. More importantly, he would never have the stones to actually carry out the various deceptions. He'd also be impeached so fast that even Beth's Bentley couldn't match it. Teeter's verbal assault on the bar dude was epic. It was all kinds of wrong, but it actually was right. Atta girl. I'm pretty darn sure that there is no actual way for the Dutton sibs and Tate to walk away with any real assets/cash. The gargantuan debt remains, whomever ends up with it. But, I'm perfectly willing to suspend disbelief. This final hurrah was magnificent, and in its many flaws, beautiful.