absnow54

I was intrigued by the pilot, and after watching the first four episodes, I'm fully invested. I'm really impressed by Rachel, Quinn, and Adam and can't wait to see their stories unfold. I wish I didn't have to wait three weeks for the show to catch up with the online episodes though!

There were rumors of some big arguments between DOR and Jennifer Lawrence during the shoot for Joy, so we'll see. Her camp was pretty quick to deny it, but that might have been to save face through the end of the film's inevitable award season.

I just powered through the first 3 episodes, and I thought it was pretty entertaining. I agree with the recap about how ridiculous Adam is with carrying the main plot. "I was deep in the government computers" was my favorite line. Someone's got to unravel the mystery, I guess. I'm not feeling him and Wiley. I think he has more chemistry with the teacher. I'm surprised by how much I like Chuck. I figured he was going to be the pretty-boy-rich-asshole, but he's shown a lot of maturity, and I find his reluctance as a leader to be really interesting. I also really like Gorde and his moral struggle (although quit leaving your little sister alone on a farm! There could be tigers loose!) and I like whatever he has with Melissa (I have the wikipedia page open, which is the only way I'm getting these names right.) In fact, I really like that Melissa isn't the sanctimonious preacher's daughter, although why is she seemingly the only person in town looking after the kids? I'm on the fence about Ronnie and his impending redemption arc, but I can say that I find his brother to be pretty boring. The show's social media page was trying to start a TeamChuck vs TeamPat war, so I'm guessing he'll have more importance later... Samantha Munro as a lying back stabber looks like it may be fun! What I don't quite understand is what's going on with the power. Do they have electricity or not? Because in the first episode they were using the internet, but by the third episode it looked like all the lights were out. And they can't get calls through, but texting works?

From what I can tell, 90% of the actors were on Derassi, which is why I've been calling this show "Degrassi: Your Parents are Dead"

I was in a relationship for two years before I realized he'd never seen Star Wars, and then, when I made him watch them, the only one he liked was The Phantom Menace. Somehow, we managed to overcome this adversity, but I was convinced it would be a deal breaker.

Thanks! I wasn't sure if it was interactive or not, and it looks like it is!

Has anyone checked out the SNL Exhibition? I guess it only opened up a few days ago. I was thinking about checking it out, but was wondering if it was worth it.

He could have at least performed his Scottish Sword Dance on top of the door, just to make sure Randall was good and flattened.

I think he and Tobias both have a pretty easy attitude about it. Paleyfest was after they wrapped season 1 and they were all making a lot of jokes about those scenes. Sure, it's different now that it's aired, but the actors have been receiving nothing but praise from what I've seen.

Doesn't Dragonfly in Amber open in 1968? We're still in 1740's Scotland, but the time jump technically takes place in book 2 with her returning to the "time jumped" Scotland in book 3. Also, I don't think these are spoilers.

I actually don't mind. I thought Claire's return to the 40's was kind of glossed over because of the 20 year time jump, and I'm hoping that will be explored more, but with a shorter episode order and a longer book than the first, I can see why people would be upset.

I'm grateful that they didn't go with the opium induced pseudo rape, but I think that it was important to see Jamie and Claire overcome the darkness, and I think the levity of that scene as it played on the show was heavily under minded by cutting back to the dungeon. We should have stayed at the abbey with Jamie and Claire through that scene, and her bargain should have been more than "I would die without you."

I don't know. The show had 16 hours to explore the first book and it chose to dedicate an hour to Jamie's flogging and two hours to his rape. There was time to explore the lighter side of things to balance out the darkness, but the show runners were obviously more interested in telling the story they did, and there's nothing wrong with that, it's just going to isolate the general audience. Ron Moore promised he was making this show for the fans of the book, and looking at the contrast between the readers vs non-readers, that's exactly what he did.

Personally, for me, this was the scene that I found most contentious, and I think that most negative reviews are highlighting this scene in particular, and it is for the exact reason you stated. I know the phrase "torture porn" is being thrown around liberally, but I found the blocking of that scene to be frighteningly similar to the sex scenes in the Wedding, and that was incredibly disturbing for a rape scene. I preferred the way the book relayed it second hand and this Mad Max meme encapsulates my feelings on the subject perfectly.

To be fair, I felt the same way while reading the book. The first half was such a fun adventure, and then, suddenly I started to hate every direction it turned. Although, I agree that the pacing of the second half didn't do the story any favors. I'm still not over Claire's abrupt "Frank who?"

I agree. I thought the opening scene implied everything you needed to know. Everything else felt gratuitous. Sam's performance was breath taking, but it was all way too much for me. And I really can't speak much for things that I've never experienced, and I'm eternally grateful that I've never experienced it, but the rape scene played off as really erotic, which made me really uncomfortable. I know the book says that Jamie responded to Randal's touch, but I never thought he got off on it, but I have a hard time reading those passages. I'm looking forward to the return of the time traveling exploration and political intrigue!

For a writer who has written some dubious scenes of sexual consent that are so controversial, people are still debating them twenty years later, DG is really tone deaf when it comes to "educating" people.

Okay, during the campfire scene when everyone is saying what they're doing after graduation, what does Lilly say about her future? It got one of the biggest laughs in our theater, but we missed it because the people next to us were trying to figure out where Guatemala was.

I laughed at the "jalapeno business" joke way more than I should have. My husband and I have been saying it to each other all morning.

I really loved the light hearted interlude of Claire and Murtagh's travelling roadshow. Lord knows we need it for what's about to come. The growing extravagance of their performance was hilarious. I almost wish they cut away to Jamie on the run just to show his reaction to the various Sassenach and Fraser taking Scotland by storm.

I really hope they find a way for Murtagh to survive Culloden, because Ducan Lacroix is the best thing about this show.

Also, the bulk of Han and Leia's love story was in Empire, which Lucas had little part in. I think it helps that Irvin Kirshnir wasn't out to make a kid's movie, and was able to capture a natural relationship progression without being blinded by the Lego opportunities. That's not to take away from Ford and Fisher's contribution, Han and Leia would be nothing without their sparking chemistry, but Hayden Christensen's chemistry void wasn't much competition.

I can't remember if it was explicitly stated, but during The Gathering when Claire is hording food to plan her escape, Gellis asks her if she's with child and Claire shuffles around the confession that she can't have them.

I was thinking the same thing and had to keep reminding myself that Duncan Lacroix wasn't in the credits. I really liked this episode, I thought it was probably the best character study of Jamie yet. I do feel like Claire is getting lost in the shuffle, but I felt the same way during this portion of the book. Every scene I found myself begging for a voice over from her, until she finally did have a voice over in the end and it was completely pointless.

You know, I barely noticed Murtagh and Rupert in the book, but I've missed the clansmen something fierce on the show. They've done a great job giving those characters life, and I can't wait to see them pop up again next week.