WearyTraveler

Well, where's the party at?

Well, it's not unheard off. Tracing a GPS mobile phone is accurate as long as there are enough cell towers in the area to triangulate the signal. The way it works, at least three cell towers are required (hence the term triangulate) to give an accurate location. In rural areas, there might be two, and sometimes only one cell tower, it depends on how much coverage the carrier (the cell phone company) has in that area. If there are three towers, they can pinpoint your location within a few feet; the less towers, the more inaccurate the location will be. Generally, with two towers, you can pinpoint a location within 1,000 feet, with one tower, it's even worse. Mobile phones have GPS, but because you are with one company, the phone will not send signals to other towers in the area, only to the ones put there by your phone company. In the case of your device, the company that provides it probably has agreements with phone companies and they can use their towers, allowing the company to trace you from more towers than a regular phone would. They do this by putting their receivers in the existing towers of all the cell phone companies. Hope that makes sense.

I wouldn't say the power behind the throne, but Doug certainly was the man Frank went to for those really messy tasks he didn't / couldn't do himself. Like killing Rachel. We have seen Frank commit two murders, but in those occasions, in spite of being a high ranking government official, he didn't have a 24/7 security detail. Now that he is the president he can't simply sneak out, shake off the Secret Service, and push someone into an oncoming train. So, I guess he really does need Doug more than ever. Doug is also the man that gets the dirt on people. He had the time and the abilities to find the skeleton in the closets of all of Frank's rivals. This season, we haven't seen anybody on Frank's staff who could / would do that for him.

Bold and numbers are mine, so I can orderly address these points in your post without having to quote every sentence separately. (1) There are no serial killers on this show. You can say that Frank, Claire and Stamper are sociopaths, as they exhibit many of the traits of the condition, but no one on this show is a serial killer. According to the FBI a serial murder is "The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events.". Since Doug has only killed one person, the term serial does not apply to him. As for the stalking, I'd say it was more prominent last season than this season. (2) I think that when it comes to murder, this is an equal opportunity show. Frank killed Russo in season 1 and Russo was a white male in his early forties (maybe late thirties). I believe the point being made with these killings is different from the types of shows you mention because the goal is not to portray a serial killer, or show murders in every episode. The point is the lengths people will go to for power, which includes destroying people, manipulating people, lying, and in its most extreme form, murder. In this case Doug knew that unless he killed Rachel for good, he was never going to get into Frank's graces ever again. He was supposed to have dealt with that situation last season and he didn't. It almost cost him his life. As long as Rachel is somewhere out there, she can change her mind and destroy Frank. If Doug goes back to Frank without killing Rachel he has two options, he either tells Frank that Rachel is alive, which Frank will not approve; or he lies and says he killed her, which places Doug in a constant risk. The moment Rachel resurfaces again and Frank discovers the lie Doug is done. (3) Yes there are. Men and women, I suppose. (4) Yes. Doug is absolutely vile.

That final shot bit sounds interesting. I too hope it's true!

I don't think anyone puts significant weight on E! Online polls. Internet polls are inherently unreliable and not representative of the entire audience to begin with, and E! polls have been hacked more times than I can remember. That said, I'll go vote a few times (even though the concept of shipping really doesn't appeal to me at all, never has) just 'cause I like you guys and you're asking nicely :D

Ooops! I think you might be missing a word between "the" and "hours"! (although I guess we can deduce the general tone of the missing word ;-) )

I think that's exactly what she was implying. Then I read ScyFy's episode recap and it said: "Dream Doreen returns to ask him why he's got a wild hair about Kyle (and to imply Kyle is Alan's son), and then Winger brings him around." On a side note, the episode recaps on Syfy.com are a hoot. Also, they have some additional content in the Acces Granted link at the top where we can see Claire Wallenburg's emails and private documents/videos (she's the Ilaria lady that cooked coq au vine for Julia and old her about Mademoiselle Durant), including her chicken reipe. LOL! I can't see the videos because I'm outside the US, but if someone here is inclined to watch and let us now if there's anything interesting there, it'd be appreciated. They add more content to this section after the episode airs.

I think a thread by chapter might be too much. Perhaps we should try a thread per book. If we stick to one chapter a week, I think we might avoid discussion overlap. We can always ask whoever is posting to try to keep the discussion on the current chapter.

The drugs were hidden. The police found them when they searched the house, the perps didn't. I'm going to guess one of two scenarios: 1) The killers had just murdered Matt when the meth-head showed up. They left just as the meth-head went in. Meth-head, upon seeing the scene, took off immediately. 2) Meth-head came in and bought drugs from Matt, then he left, but not before noticing the real killers pulling up to the house. The real killers didn't want the drugs in Matt's house because the motive isn't drugs. You're in a minority of two :-) I like the performances of the actors portraying the parents. Huffman is making me dislike Barb a whole lot, so kudos to her. TH is doing an excellent job too. I have to say the meth-heads are a let down. I don't like the characters, they are so stupid, it makes me want to shake them. And I don't understand the music choices during their scenes. It's the kind of music TV shows and movies use when they want the audience to "feel" how amazing, one-of-a-kind, the love of the OTP is, and I really don't care for meth-heads, as great as their love might be. That said, I think whoever is financing blondie right now might be connected to Matt's murder and that's how blondie's boyfriend knew about Matt and ended up in his house. Maybe when they make this connection on the show, those characters will be more interesting. As of now, they are just a couple of stupid meth-heads who'd do anything for a fix. I feel for the Mexican family. As bad as racism against blacks is in the USA, I think, in some ways, Mexicans have it worse. At least black people can claim American citizenship, while Mexicans (and even Mexican Americans born in the USA), are always treated as foreigners, strangers, illegals, etc. If I heard correctly, I think the thing that got the young boy in trouble was his admission that he knew the guy who rented the car from him was in a gang. That means (I think) that they can charge him with facilitating a crime and accessory (because he should know that the guy from a gang would want to use an untraceable car for a crime). Since the crime was murder, it's a big deal to facilitate murder. That said, I think the police threw the book at this kid way too hard, and the reason might be some kind of racial bias. Sadly, I think we're heading for this boy starting as an innocent and then turning into someone terrible because of what he's being put through in the juvenile system; thus making the racial stereotypes about Mexicans a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I'd be interested in a re-read too. However, I must confess that I'm a greedy reader, and I find it hard to stop at an agreed point. I've read the books twice, both times in the space of one week, so, full disclosure, if we start a re-read I might just run ahead and then lose my interest to post, but I'll give it a try if you guys want.

Well, I find that if I'm going to suspend disbelief for immortality, I may as well go all the way :)

Well, Manderly's role in the books goes beyond Frey pies (he only made pies out of two Freys, IIRC), but I can see how people mostly remember that because it's such a powerful image. Manderly was sabotaging the Boltons and the Freys in other ways too; and I think that's the part of the role that Sansa might play. I know this is HBO and all, but I don't think they'll have any of the "good" guys resorting to cannibalism.

I never said she would use her sexuality. I just said she might instruct the soldiers she has to act a certain way; for that matter, Littlefinger could be the one giving the orders. They could show up there pretending to be on the Bolton's side, to lend their support, while behind their backs they kill Bolton soldiers and incite the birth of the "ghost of Winterfell". Sansa doesn't have to reveal her identity; she could work with Littlefinger, fully in on the plan, and perhaps contributing to strategies for the execution of said plan. She can tell LF where the secret passages are, she could reveal her identity to the servants that are still loyal to her family and have them work for her too. She can reveal to a select few that Fake Arya is not Arya at all, and since Bran is confirmed to not be in this season, she could be the catalyst to Theon's redemption (instead of Theon hearing Bran's voice in the forest). We know that in the books the Boltons get sabotaged from within. This is necessary to weaken the Boltons before the Battle of Winterfell. It seems to me that in the books, the Boltons' descent has started, they are losing Freys to Manderly's pies and Manderly's men and they are losing their own men and resources to the harshness of Winter, the lack of food, Ramsey's cruelty, and the "ghost of Winterfell" (this last one affects morale). The show will have to do something to weaken the Boltons as well, but they have not cast the role of Manderly, and the storyline at the Wall is significantly behind that of the situation at Winterfell, which means that perhaps Mance doesn't make it down there to wreack havoc in the Bolton lines. So, it makes sense, to me, that they would use Sansa as a vehicle to get some of these things done.

I'm going to make my prediction now that none of the people in jail for Matt's murder will be the actual culprit. It will end up being some white dude involved with Matt and his wife in the drug business.

He wants a big place in history. Much like FDR with the New Deal, he wants AmericaWorks to become his legacy. He doesn't want to be just another president in a long list to be memorized by students in years to come. He wants to be one of THE presidents that people remember on their own. He wants to transform the system, not for the good of the people, but to ensure he gets a place of honor in History.

I don't think that would be a problem. Although females draw the short end of the stick most of the time in this world, we have some women with agency such as the Mormont women. Sansa is coming to Winterfell, presumably with knights and fighters from the Vale. She can instruct them to kill Bolton men and spur the legend of the ghost of Winterfell just as easily as Mance and his women did. She doesn't really have to do things herself, she can have others do them for her.

I don't think the writers/creators are portraying homophobia and prejudices against mental illness as characteristics of the entire black community. Neither are they saying these problems are exclusive to the black community. Let's take Homophobia. Andre, Hakeem, Vernon, Delphine, Cookie, Tiana, and the guys at Ghetto Ass Studios all seem to have absolutely no problem with Jamal's sexual orientation; so, it seems that the writers/creators are saying some people in the black community have a problem with this, not all people in the community. Regarding Mental Illness, Vernon is a big Andre supporter, Jamal and Hakeem seem to love and support their brother, and Cookie was getting more information and educating herself on his son's illness (despite her original reaction). To me, that seems to be another indication that what the writers/creators are trying to say is that some people in the black community stigmatize and/or live in denial when it comes to mental illness, but not all people do. As for the show implying that these views are exclusive to the black community, I think it's too big of a leap. There are barely any white characters on this show, so, it's difficult for the writers/creators to represent the white community's views with regards to these issues. Unless they start adding white characters with the sole purpose of trying to convey an accurate representation of reality, there's not much that can be done (and I hope they don't do something like that). I don't think we should assume that because there are no white people with prejudices against mental illness on the show that the writers/creators are saying that this issue is exclusive to the black community. They simply don't need a bunch of white characters, and so, we don't see the views of the white folk on this show. I'm perfectly fine with that.

Ok, so maybe she takes on bits of Mance and Manderly's roles.

The only thing that's coming is winter (he, he!) I'm leaning toward Sansa having the Manderly role and I think it might not be a big deviation from her final destiny in the books. Maybe in the books Lady Stoneheart somehow finds out that Sansa is in the Vale and sends Brienne there to get her to Winterfell and that's why we'll see her going there on the show.

Is that a movie or a series?

I think you're absolutely right, Muffyn!

Whatever is going on behind the scenes, I feel compelled to agree with the poster above who mentioned the lack of professionalism. I don't have any favorite characters / actors in this show (wait! Christine Baranski is awesome, so I guess if I had to pick one, it'd be her). I never liked nurse Carol on ER, but I liked Margoulis' acting in the pilot and on season one enough to continue watching, not mind-blowingly good, or anything, but good enough. The first time I saw Punjabi was on this show and I never thought she was super talented either (although that might have been more the character than the actress - I've never liked the over sexualized, kick ass female trope, with the dove eyes, and the sexy voice). So, I'll precede my next comment by saying I don't have a horse on this race. I do think it's very unprofessional that two characters have to be written separated, to the detriment of the organic development of the show because the actors don't get along. Take Dexter, for example, Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter got married and then divorced (because he cheated on her with a recurring guest star) during the run of the series and they shared scenes until the very last episode, without their personal lives, good or bad, affecting the storylines on screen. They even had to make out a couple of times, after they had already divorced, and they handled it brilliantly (that particular storyline, sucked really hard, but the actors handled it very well). I think it's ridiculous that two professional actors, who have both been praised for their work by their industry peers (through nominations and actual awards), can't find a way to put their differences aside and do their jobs. Or, if the problem is someone else, other than the actresses (producers, pissed off network executive, whatever) that they would let their personal feelings dominate them so much as to affect a show that used to bring with it great ratings and media buzz. It's absurd.

I saw this last week and have been waiting for you guys to catch up for SO long!

Yes. They were pretty consistent with Alicia's voice. When the scene was in her head, she spoke in her normal voice. When the scene was in the real world, her voice was a raspy whisper because of the laryngitis.