Gummo

I liked it. It was a big noisy mess but I liked it. And since nothing the Master says or does can be trusted, the whole thing can be reverse-engineered out of the story at any time. (Yes, it supposedly came from the Matrix, but how long has he had to mess with the Matrix? We don't know how long it's been since he destroyed Gallifrey (or really, how he did it)). So now the Doctor is Kal-El, the mysterious orphan saviour from an unknown place whose innate goodness and powers leads her to roam the universe saving people from evil? Not new, but obviously a myth that works, as Superman has endured for 80 years through all sorts of incarnations. And it gives her wanderings an overarching purpose as she searches for clues to her origins. So, are the companions done? I hope not, I liked Yaz and Graham, though Ryan never had much to do.

Seems to me that with all this pointed talk about how far Graham has come and what an adroit time/space adventurer he's become, that by ironclad TV and movie convention, he's now bound to die an heroic death saving the universe and declaring with his last breath that it was worth it and he wouldn't trade the last months for anything. Not to be cynical or anything.

Well, that didn't make a whole lot of sense, but it was fun.

They made that point quite specifically the BBT episode when they brought adult Georgie in to give his side of the story. So the only 2 things we can know for sure about the 'future' of the Cooper family is that George cheats on Mary at some point and dies when Sheldon is 14. Everything else Sheldon has ever said is very subjective and open to interpretation.

I'm surprising myself by how much I'm enjoying this season so far! Mariano is still the consummate smooth bully, Parvati can still flirt without flirting, Ben is an idiot, Adam is smarmy but smart, Danni -- what the hell was that?? She literally talked herself out of the game, LOL -- and on and on. Tony is still entertainingly insane: the whole ladder episode was a producer's dream. Was it Tyson who said, "I know we signed waivers, but . . . ." - that cracked me up! Not hating EoE as much this time, since it keeps all these old faves on our screens. Still not sure how I feel about the fire tokens, but unlike some other innovations that didn't pan out, they're already having an effect on the game, so at least that's good game design. Can't remember ever seeing Rob flustered before. He blew that challenge big-time.

I've enjoyed this whole season (except for the second half of Orphan 55, which was so friggin' lame) more than any since the pre-Capaldi days! This episode was no exception. Never a big Cybermen fan, but the Lone Cyberman was wonderfully creepy, as was the entire episode.

Late to the party, just want to say that, as a "message" episode, thought this one worked a lot better than Orphan 55. More fun, nice Hitchcock callback with the swarming birds, great guest characters. It's a little weird, alternating arc-heavy episodes with episodes that ignore the arc completely, but I can live with that.

I haven't watched SNL in years so I only knew Officer Debbie as Evie Russell, the Emotional Vampire from What We Do In the Shadows, and loved seeing her! The 99 is back!

A fun episode, though it would be nice to see some change-up in pacing from episode to episode. Not every story needs to be told at breakneck speed with breathless dialogue. After all, it was the 4th doctor's laid-back, easygoing manner that demonstrated his mastery of every situation. I liked that the aliens were clumsy (I loved how they kept bumping into each other during the invasion) and rather stupid. Not every alien race is superior to humans!

Insisting that a "heritage" challenge can only mean your ethnic heritage is too reductive -- for some people, their ethnic heritage may not mean much to them but an ancestor's profession or beliefs or interests may have influenced them more -- i.e., Chelsey. I liked that she and Nancy went in a different direction than merely ethnic heritage -- it was about what does this challenge mean to you and they thought seriously about it and produced nice, meaningful designs.

So, does Sergio hand out a study guide with every 'political statement' -- er, I mean dress -- he sells? And does he insist the client read it out at every public appearance? And who's going to know what those names mean? Would you recognize them offhand? I wouldn't. And what a fun party that would be! "Whose names are those on your dress, dear?" "Oh, six children who died at the border. Are there any more cocktail weenies?" And if he's such a great designer, why does he consistently make that curvy, cute model look so dumpy and sad? Most of that dress could have come straight out of the "Lucy & Desi Go to Cuba" episode. I liked Victoria's outfit but it would be more appropriate for an avant garde challenge. Yes, she should have been safe. I really liked Brittany's -- she embraced her background. DaYoung's was gorgeous. She was so dismissive! That's why I can't help but like her. It doesn't hurt that she's easy on the eyes....

The finale left us gobsmacked, thrilled and shaken, so my thoughts are pretty random: Geez, every time things seem to be going right for Midge, she self destructs. It may be her most consistent character trait. I was yelling at the TV during her whole routine, NO NO NO STOPPPPP! Even if the audience didn't pick up on the subtext (which would make sense for that time frame), Shy is a prima donna who fires his band every other week, so he was bound to take offense at Midge betraying his confidence (or so it would seem to him). (And I definitely think it was Shy's doing, not Reggie's.) I thought Susie and Tess bonding over committing a felony and torching the house for the insurance was hilarious. IIRC, the tour contract was for $4,500 and the insurance on that dilapidated shack couldn't have been much more, so the insurance company may just pay out without much fuss. At least Susie can make good on her debt to Midge without Midge ever knowing how bad it got. Susie crying may have been one of the most shocking moments of the entire series. So sorry we won't, can't, see Jackie any more. So I guess "Criss-Cross" will take over as sole subtenant? Glad the Maisels-Weissmans subplot is over. Even in a wacky comedy-drama, it stretched credulity to the breaking point. As an avid Village Voice reader for decades, I'm thrilled to see it brought into the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel world. IIRC, it began publishing around 1959-60, so it would have been a brand new liberal weekly then. Rose finding a career as an upscale matchmaker makes perfect sense. OTOH, not sure what's going on with Imogene. I guess she figures Midge's opinions are marriage are 180 degrees out of kilter based on Midge's own marriage, so if she says everything's okay, it's time to prep for independence? Count me in on the pro-Joel votes. He's one of the few characters who's shown real growth over the 3 seasons while staying true to his character as we were first introduced to him. I agree with the poster who said it looks like Midge will be doing regular gigs at his new club as she rebuilds her career, thus bringing the two disparate plotlines together. It reminds me of the Marx Brothers who several times in their vaudeville and stage careers suffered major setbacks and had to start from the bottom (or at least the middle) again. It happens. So except for the Maisels-Weissmans story, I LOVED this season. I'll leave the nitpicking to others.

And back then it wasn't uncommon for upscale homosexuals to go looking for "rough trade" -- laborers, dock workers, less educated, blue collar men -- for sexual rendezvous, and get victimized by them. Brian Epstein, the Beatles' legendary manager, was notorious for his taste for rough trade (in his case, Liverpool dock workers), and suffered accordingly for it. We were all waiting for the 'reveal' about Shy, it was just a matter of how the show was going to do it -- and oh, it was heartbreaking. And Midge is learning there's a much darker, more complicated world out there beyond the Upper West Side. ETA: One of the reasons for trolling for "rough trade" is that it was considered 'safe' in that since they weren't men of your class, there was less chance you'd ever run into them again in embarrassing circumstances. Especially true for an upwardly mobile Englishman like Epstein.

That make so much more sense.

So the theme of this season is chopping up old episodes and throwing them in a blender to produce a flavorless mush that barely resembles classic Modern Family? Wow, that's some ambition. Always wonderful to see Stephen Merchant. Otherwise, the entire extended family has devolved into cruel, selfish douches. Now that's character development for ya. And to make these labored plots work, everyone has to be incredibly stupid. Like, Alex, supposedly the smartest one, doesn't know her family well enough to not use her code while they're around? Also, if you're going to do a classic just-barely-missing-each-other in-and-out-of-rooms style farce, it has to move a lot faster and tighter than this lackadaisical mess. And what a weird waste of Beckham and Cox. The whole thing was just odd. And not in a good way.