Gummo

Great, maybe classic, episode. But I just want to point out that Xander isn't a floater.by choice, but because all his allies have been voted out. The floaters that are resented are usually floaters who choose to play that way and flaunt their pivotal position at crucial votes. That's not how Xander's played.

Prajje was robbed! His look was stunning. SailorGirl, yes, this is an underwhelming season. Finally, Katie Klown is GONE. 'Cause nothing says high fashion like mismatched primary color patterns, ruffled clown collars, shapeless sacks and big yellow buttons. Bones' look sucked. He's actually getting worse every week. And the worse he gets, the more cocky he gets. Not a good combination. Really liked Aaron's bathing suit/robe combo and what's-her-name's red thingy. But I think Anna is gonna win it all. Everything she makes looks high fashion and borders on avant garde without quite tipping over. I understood this week's winner. Didn't love it like I love Prajje's but understood why it won.

I agree - the only way a season of "classic" Survivor would work now is if none of the contestants had ever seen Survivor.

Oh, Survivor, all is forgiven! I too used to miss the days when remarks at Tribal could only be directed to Probst, but this was just too much fun. I disagree that last-minute scrambling precludes strategic play -- last-minute scrambling IS strategic play, of the most desperate kind. Xander, Xander, how I underestimated you! Well-played, sir, well-played. And all the more worth it to see Lianna's ego pop like the empty balloon it is. Lianna: "I've come into my own, I'm a bad-ass strong woman player" ... who does everything Shan tells me to do. As for Shan, this episode just about killed any affection I had left for her. It seems the more wrong she is, the more sure of herself she is. That's a trait that bit her in the ass tonight, and will again, I bet. Danny's bittercakes did not go over well with me. This isn't a sporting event, this is Survivor, where everything is designed to play on your last nerve, including the comps, the advantages, the privation, Probst's needling, and yes, even pulling the rug out from under your wins, and then seeing how well you keep your cool and your eye on the prize. DeShawn gets it and props to him for that. I haven't liked him much up 'til now, but he's grown on me tremendously with his roll-with-it attitude. My trajectory on Rickard seems to be the opposite of most -- I hated him in the beginning, but I'm liking him more as the game progresses. Naseer seems to be slowly getting a clue as to his position with his old tribemates, if his huddling with the underdogs at TC means anything. I hope Erika wakes up soon or she will be gone, and she'll deserve it.

So much This.

I usually hate the twists and turns of "new" Survivor but I am finding this season enjoyable (don't ask me why). Maybe Jeff's glee at getting his favorite toy back after a year and a half is contagious? But I swear his evil glee as he talks to the camera is turning him into Survivor's Stewie Griffin. I hope Erika smashes the glass if only because the naked misogyny of the so-called alpha males on her tribe is disgusting. The two biggest guys in the game have been targeting the smallest woman almost since day one and for no other reason than because she's small and a woman. Fuck them. I want to see those satisfied smirks wiped off their faces. Also, she'd go from the goat to a group that can't wait to get rid of her to a hero to the others. A much better position, IMO. Shan is exhausting but I don't hate her, I find her amusing. Actually, I don't hate anyone this season, which is pleasant. Some of'em are damn annoying, though (Tiffany, Danny). Rickard rocked that puzzle. They could've edited these two eppys down into a tight 90 minutes. But I guess they have a certain number of episodes to deliver.

Very happy with the first two episodes! More drama than comedy, but I enjoyed the mix and think all the changes are for the better, especially the return of Josh and the kids. That makes me so happy! I found the scenes of Tray's rehab really affecting, knowing that Tracy Morgan must have gone thru something very much like that after his accident. I'm as unreligious as they come and I found Tray's testimony at church very affecting. Contrasting that with his still having contacts to his old life was a reminder of how complicated life really is, something his girlfriend just couldn't understand. Tray did what he had to do, no matter how much it hurt to lose her. If he had done as she asked, he'd be killed or worse, his kids would be in danger. She wasn't worth that. Interesting that they've added a character impervious to Tray's charm. So, to sum up, it feels like after last season, which felt unfocused and 2nd rate, this show is back on track!

Colin Robinson dead and gone? For good? Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope. Nope!

Every episode this season is wilder than the one before and I love it. Lazlo and Colin Robinson have turned into quite the buddy comedy team. Lazlo tossing the people off the boat like a bunch of old paper bags was a good reminder of how little humans actually mean to our vampire crew; there's always a danger of forgetting what monsters they really are. Really enjoyed the old paintings and pictures of Lazlo's seafaring career. The Shadows art department never fails with the "old" pictures. She's half chicken. Well, nobody's perfect. And I had just been lamenting that we hadn't seen enough of the Nadja doll this season -- this episode took care of that! They're missing a huge marketing coup by not offering Nadja dolls -- I think every fan who watches the show would love one. And yes, I'm almost positive we've seen Nadja's reading glasses before, I think when she was using the laptop. Yes, the running mannequin was legitimately creepy and funny at the same time. And the animated Scabby the Rat somehow reminded me of Ghostbusters. I'm glad Nadja's ghost is back where she belongs, in the Nadja doll, making snide asides about all the goofy antics going on around her. Even if Guillermo won't do interviews with her.

This season, each episode is better than the last. Loved the Discworld shoutout (the world resting on 4 elephants on the back of a giant turtle). Lazlo's affection for Sean is just so ... arbitrary. The wasted, powerless vampires were hysterical. I think my jaw hit the floor when that fighter's head went soaring off into the cheap seats. Too many great lines to quote but something about Colin's "I'm just giving him the heliocentric nuts and bolts" just tickled me. So now Nandor is addicted to Big Bang Theory; but he thinks the game came first!

This season's pattern of one serious episode paired with one silly episode makes for a rather choppy viewing experience, so I'm glad they're showing them in pairs. And even the serious episodes have provided plenty of laughs. I love Doug Judy and his relationship with Jake, and their last adventure together didn't disappoint! It's so goofily sweet how important each other's good opinion is to each of them. They really care about each other, in their own demented way. As for the pen, I bet Jake rationalized it as just a pen, what Doug did with it was his business. The whole cast is still killing it, and the jokes are still laugh out loud funny. Glad they're going out on a high note, but sad they're going at all.

We watched it last night and really enjoyed it. It was a throwback to classic Top Gear silliness with some actual car talk thrown in. It was fun to see Clarkson looking so tan knowing he was working so hard on the farm at the same time. James May is looking old, Richard Hammond is looking grizzled. Time waits for no one, I guess.

I think the broadcasts are Wanda's subconscious reaching out for aid. She knows she's in a bad way and everything she's doing is literally hurting herself and hurting others. However the situation is being manipulated by Agatha/Agnes for her own ends (and whatever other villains are lurking in the wings), this is still Wanda's show -- again, literally! -- and on some level, she knows it's unsustainable. The broadcasts are her cry for help. Monica gets that, and that's why she's so adamant that Wanda is a victim who needs help, not a villain who needs to be destroyed. As to whether Vision's pre-Westview memories were destroyed by death, or are being repressed (by Wanda? by Agatha?), I think that question is still open. I think it's the former, i.e., a "natural" result of his death and resurrection, but never having personally revived a vibranium synthezoid, it's just speculation on my part. I haven't read Marvel comics regularly since the 1980s (yes, I'm old!) but my vague memories of Agatha Harkness was that she was a good witch! Of course, the architects of the MCU may have different ideas, or she could be manipulated by someone else, too. I remember seeing the pre-airing commercials for WandaVision and thinking it didn't make any sense and I doubted I would even watch it. Now I wait the week between episodes with bated breath and it's one of the viewing highlights of our week!

I don't remember any other alliance betraying the spirit of the race as blatantly as the Mine 5 during the rappel-"sauerkraut" challenge, when a bunch of teams that would have had to do it over & over again to get it right, or even to figure out what the challenge was, were literally handed the answer by Hung. How that wasn't against the rules and earn a penalty for her and every other team involved I'll never understand. But it was that point that it became clear that this alliance wasn't about helping each other race, it was about avoiding the race altogether. And just to keep this post on-topic episode-wise: Hey, Deangelo, bittercakes much??

But they did that already in Season 1 when they first met Cara and the villagers and fought off the raiders. With Din recruiting Mayfeld, I'm getting more of a scruffy Dirty Dozen vibe. And speaking of the arbitrary way some characters die for good and others come back, I'm still pissed they killed Kuill -- he was a great character. And I bet HE could have rebuilt the Razor Crest from a few scattered atoms!

Thanks, all. That makes it a little better.

But didn't he take it back to the ship, rather than just dropping it? I'll have to watch again.

Whew, just finished the episode. Lots to love, a couple of things to eyeroll over. First, 3 eyerolls: Mando has always been ridiculously cavalier about leaving the Kid unattended, even knowing that there are bounty hunters and Imperial goons from all over the galaxy out searching for him. This time it went from neglectful to criminally stupid. "Kid, I don't know how long that force field will be up and despite the fact that I know you're always weak as an Navarroian kitten after you've done some Force hocus-pocus, I'm going to go fly off and fight the bad guys." Uh huh, good thinking there, Dad. And the klunkiest thing in the episode had to be Mando leaving his jetpack in the Razor Crest for No. Damn. Reason. Even a single throwaway line like, "Damn, my jetpack needs to be recharged" could have taken care of that blatant setup, but they couldn't even be bothered to do that. Lastly, why do Stormtroopers even WEAR armor? It doesn't stop any kind of ray, projectile or force. One shot and they die. What's the point of Stormtrooper armor!!? Now to the good stuff: Boba Fett! Now I'm no SW fanatic, not knowing more than the original trilogy plus a couple of the others, but c'mon! Boba Fett! The ONLY good thing about the SW Holiday Special (unless you count Bea Arthur singing the word "Friend" 18,000 times)! Boba Fett, who we've been teased with for decades! Finally! And he did NOT disappoint. What a badass fighter! I loved his weapon (wait, that sounds way too dirty). The return of the assassin, what-'s-her-name! Cool! And as deadly as ever. Much as I HATED it, the destruction of the Razor Crest was brilliant. I can't believe how upset I was. It was worse than destroying the Enterprise (because there's always a replacement Enterprise). But it looks like Mando won't be doing any flying anytime soon, since his jetpack was in the ship.... Mando, gunslinger-like, or maybe more like the Dirty Dozen, gathering his posse together to go against the bad guys. But Mayfeld? That was a left-field choice. Can't wait to see his reaction to being sprung by his captor. I'm expecting some saved-by-the-cavalry action in the last episode when everything's hopeless, involving Bo Katan, maybe Ahsoka, and whatever mysterious Jedi *cough Luke? cough* received Grogu's message. Which means things are only going to get worse next episode....

Easy to see why this season sat on the shelf for two years. The alliance may have been a good strategy but it's made for one of the dullest seasons ever. Also, the Race is all challenges now, no flight drama, no train or bus drama, no running-out-of-money drama, very little self driving; it seems to get more spoon fed every season. TAR used to be about racing around the world, now it's just an oversized obstacle course.

Well, you know that scene at the end where Moff Gideon was looking over those rows of dormant soldiers? That scene was actually a pilot for a spinoff called Clone Storage Wars.

Next episode December 18th! Trailer:

Spears disguised as flagpoles sure confused people on The Amazing Race!

Speaking as someone who knows NONE of the backstory outside of the original trilogy and two-thirds of the second trilogy, I LOVED this episode. Action, atmosphere, new characters (for us SW pseudovirgins) and a new destination for Mando and ... Grogu. *rolls that around on the tongue* Grogu, Grogu, Grogu.... sure, why not? So Ahsoka is the second person to tell Mando "you are as a father to him" -- IIRC, the Armourer was the first. He seems very reluctant to accept what's obvious to everyone else. Having lost his parents so violently and so young, I guess he's afraid to let anyone close. Another reason why he had no problem accepting the restriction of never removing his armor -- it's a physical manifestation of his emotional armor. When he was talking to Ahsoka, I could almost hear Mando thinking, "And I thought I belonged to a weird religious sect of warriors -- we're downright normal compared to THESE people!" So Grogu has already had Force training -- for his race, he's still a toddler who can't even talk -- how young do they start!? Still waiting for that tracker on the Razor Crest to come into play....

Oh, I don't think that poor kid owed Baby Yoda anything, including his cookies. But Baby, being the selfish -- and insatiably hungry! -- toddler he is, just took'em. Isn't it about time for Mando to give the kid a name? How much longer can he call him "Kid"? Even "Junior" would be an improvement.

I think the theme song is more about how Sheldon sees himself.