WatchrTina

Well, I'm enjoying this so far but I'm not gonna lie . . . it's confusing. I actually went back and re-watched the first two episodes, thinking that doing so would help me set the stage and "lock in" this fantasy universe a bit better but, alas, it didn't really help. Yeah, that was awesome. So . . . I guess have have to make peace with the fact that Ben Barnes' character is EEEEEvil. Well darn. I was enjoying the view. Now I have to ignore the pretty and despise him.

I have mixed feelings about this episode. On the one hand I agree with those who say it's a bit mean to ask bakers to do construction. On the other hand, the tasks have to be challenging or else there would be little visual drama. Seeing the failure of one rocking horse makes us appreciate the skill behind the other rocking horse all the more. And putting this task at the beginning when there are more contestants (and thus more variety in skill level) virtually ensures that SOMEONE is going to crash and burn . . . which makes for good TV.

I'm hoping you've found it by now but one thing to keep in mind is that on Netflix it's knows as The Great British Baking Show instead of The Great British Bake Off due to the words "Bake Off" being trademarked in the USA by Pillsbury.

Sam has a new gig! James Nesbitt, Sacha Dhawan, and Sam Heughan To Star In Crime Series 'Suspect'

I'm delighted for Caitriona . . . delighted and surprised. Did we know she was pregnant? If I have heard that info during the past year it slipped right out of my head. So either I have Pandemic brain (a definite possibility) or they kept it quiet. Well, if she wanted to keep it a secret and was successful I say good for her. I wonder if the Pandemic ended up being a blessing in disguise for her by creating a much longer hiatus between filming seasons and allowing her to keep out of the public eye for much longer than usual. Well anyway, hooray for the happy family!

Story in EW on Outlander https://ew.com/tv/sam-heughan-shares-outlander-anniversary-photos-of-caitriona-balfe-napping-with-dead-body/?fbclid=IwAR2GMbnZwZZO5uaqPt5scTnC0ETNj2-_7zkba69oEp0IfIeUQZExVjprPiU&utm_campaign=entertainmentweekly_entertainmentweekly&utm_content=manual&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=61116153e532d9000143d769 "Sam Heughan celebrates Outlander anniversary with photo of Caitríona Balfe napping with a dead body" Okaaaay, they have officially run out of stories to run during the hiatus.

Aaaaaaand another era of late night television has come to an end. I have to say, Conan's show ending during a Pandemic, filmed in a studio they had to borrow, with a final guest (Jack Black) who injured himself during rehearsal so that they had to cut the bit he was rehearsing and just do an interview with Jack wearing an orthopedic boot . . . well that's just pretty much par for the course with Conan, isn't it? Don't get me wrong -- I've always enjoyed him and his show occasionally rose to the level of comedy gold. But it also occasionally teetered on the brink of disaster. Ah well -- farewell Conan. May the road rise to meet you, the wind be always at your back, the sun shine warm upon your face, the winds blow soft upon your fields and -- until we meet again -- may the god of comedy hold you in the palm of his hand.

I'm very glad that they decided to add this final episode to the series so that we could see the killer actually sentenced to multiple lifetimes in prison, thus ensuring that he will never be let out. I'm sure some people would have preferred that he be sentenced to death but I agree with the person in the documentary who said that a death sentence would have been appealed and the surviving victims really wanted closure now. I also loved that there was a camera in his cell showing that his pretense of being frail and needing a wheelchair at his sentencing hearing was all an act. (He climbs around the cell putting tape or something on one of the lights to make the ambience more to his liking.) I'm also glad they added this episode because the previous "final" episode was awful. I could NOT believe they decided to include interviews in that episode with the killer's siblings, who appeared to defend him and who seemed to try to blame his rape-and-murder spree on their having had a bad father. It was interesting that they revisited the murder that had originally sparked Michelle's fascination with true crime and they reported on another attack in the same area around the same time. (Those houses in Oak Park are gorgeous but I'm glad I didn't grow up in an area that has alleys behind the houses because they look decidedly unsafe.) It was interesting too that the Oak Park Police Dept is claiming that the investigation of those decades-old crimes is "ongoing" and therefore they would not respond to the filmmakers questions about them. If Michelle were still alive I wonder if she could have used her fame from this show (or just the dogged determinations she exhibited in the Golden State Killer case) to get the Oak Park Police to cooperate in a renewed examination of those cases. Perhaps the people who worked with her on the Golden State Killer case will continue to pursue the Oak Park cases in her absence (and in her honor); but somehow I doubt that lighting will strike twice.

I think you are right, which is why the binge-watch I just did was all the more eye-opening. Today I watched (via YouTube) all the episodes from the final week of Craig Ferguson's late night show, and I was really surprised to see that the person he chose as sole guest for his final show was . . . Jay Leno. I had forgotten that. This was in 2014 and Leno had already left The Tonight Show and been replaced by Jimmy Fallon. Now that I think about it, I can recall how surprised I was, back then, that THAT was who Craig chose as his last guest. One might have expected Craig to be a Letterman loyalist. After all, Dave's production company, Worldwide Pants, produced Craig's show. But based on that final show I think Craig thought that Jay had been treated unfairly in the court of public opinion and he wanted to give Jay another chance to be seen as a nice guy. Which, apparently, is how Craig thought of him. Yeah, now that I've re-watched all those shows I am reminded again how much I like Craig Ferguson -- not just his humor (which I fInd highly entertaining) but also the vibe he gives off of being a basically decent guy who had nearly fucked up his life and career due to drugs and alcohol, but who pulled himself together and became a better person as a result (and who was still funny when he got sober). As I've mentioned before, Craig got barely a minute of air-time in this "Story of Late Night" special and that seems to be due to his just having been a decent guy who worked hard and who never created any negative drama. BTW, the other thing I looked up on the internet is the episode wherein Craig takes his USA citizenship test*. It ends with Craig celebrating his new citizenship by banging on a drum with a Scottish drum-and-bagpipe-and-didgeridoo band. I recall that moment as just about my favorite moment in all of "Late Nite" history. *Edited to say that the episode I'm talking about above is the one where he takes his citizenship OATH. I also recall an episode in which he takes the citizenship TEST but that is a separate, earlier episode.

If anyone is curious here is Craig Ferguson and the late great Robin Williams touching oh-so-carefully on the departure of Conan from The Tonight Show and the return of Jay Leno (at the 24:56 mark of this VERY long compilation of Robin Williams visits.) Craig, in particular, seems to want to avoid the topic.

I have read both of the autobiographies that Craig wrote -- "American on Purpose" and "Riding the Elephant" -- but I can't remember what, if anything, Craig said on this topic. Possibly he said nothing because -- as you say -- he had no interest in taking that job and may have been entirely satisfied with the "Late Late Show" gig. Still, I may just have to flip through those two books again. But if I do so it will be AFTER I finish reading "The Late Shift" -- which is a book by Bill Carter (one of the people interviewed in the CNN special), which chronicles the whole "who will replace Johnny?" saga and Dave's subsequent move to CBS. It is a very strange coincidence that I picked up that book a couple of weeks ago and started reading it before discovering that there was going to be a CNN series focused on the history of late night television.

I keep waiting for this show to mention Craig Ferguson. Wasn't he ALSO an important part of the late night scene during this period? I don't understand why he gets no mention whatsoever. I'm guessing that it's because there was never any drama with him. Unless I'm mistaken, David Letterman's company -- Worldwide Pants -- produced The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Craig and David always had a good relationship. So . . . no drama. Still, you'd think that a documentary devoted to the late-night TV wars would at least mention Craig's contribution to that era of television.

Here's an article about what the author binge-watched to get through the Pandemic (after her doctor-husband started sleeping on their houseboat in order to keep her and their children safe) and NATURALLY just about the first show she binge-watched during her social isolation was . . . Outlander. https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2021/05/27/covid-pandemic-binge-television-sara-shukla?utm_campaign=npr&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=nprnews&fbclid=IwAR3GiUMBRLoWKXEwzaDSyuOIQMhyuaEZbZEKAkhFc-gNGwScD-huiAgGVk4

You're doing the Lord's work! 😄

The comment below could be considered a spoiler about another Joss Whedon show so I'll put it behind spoiler bars:

OMG, the radiant Aeryn Sun (a.k.a. Claudia Black) is IN DA HOUSE!!! Can I get a”Hell Yeah!” from the Farscape fans? I am ridiculously amused by the fact that Stripe (played by 5’8” Claudia Black) is frustrated to find her “self” ensconced in the body of Amalia True (played by the 5’4” Laura Donnelly.) That’s all I have for now. I’ve only watched once and this is clearly an episode that has to be watched two or three times. But color me frustrated that the season is over. I’m glad that we got a BIT of an explanation for the mention of a “Galanthi” in the prior episode but seriously, that was a fairly mean-spirited way to end the season.

That was a fantastic video and now I am feeling all kinds of smug because I actually noticed the pronounced swagger that Laura Donnelly used to walk up those stairs and I wondered about it. NOW I understand that she was doing what is necessary to walk up stairs in a long skirt without using your hands (or tripping).

It would be interesting to learn how one winds up in the role of "intimacy co-ordinator." Do you think they hire people who have worked in porn because they have experience making sex look sexy on camera? Or do you think they hire an older, comforting, maternal type who hands out bathrobes and modesty pouches as needed and makes the actors very comfortable that no bits will be shown on camera that were not contracted to be shown.

As far as I can tell, Amalia can see flashes of the future. It's been implied that Amalia is something "other" -- someTHING that took over the body of a suicidal Londoner at the moment of her death. It's still unclear to me if the entity-that-is-animating-Amalia's-body is an alien or a time-traveler (or both.) I don't think she knows her opponents' moves in advance. I think she has supernatural fighting skills (rather like Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and therefore she is able to kick the asses of the men who attack her. I also think that she is sad and lonely due to her having ended up inhabiting that body and that makes her ruthless and unflinching when provoked to a fight. She's not afraid to die. I don't think we know that yet. We saw Maladie being loaded into a carriage bound for the insane asylum when the sparkly supernatural rain happened so I think we're supposed to assume that Maladie is a Touched human, but she's particularly dangerous because she is fookin NUTS (and her touch seems to be that she gets stronger each time she is injured -- as if each blow she receives charges a battery inside her.) I *THINK* the guy you are talking about (IN the carriage) is an underworld crime boss and he's mad at Amalia because . . . no, I've already forgotten what his beef is. I think at some point Amalia wanted to talk to him to find out if he knew anything about any Touched being kidnapped before they could make their way to the safe haven she created, and her inquiring about that offended him in some way. As for the brute who walks on water, I think he works for the people who are REALLY behind the disappearances of the Touched, which I think is that cabal of British men we see plotting together at a table during one episode (with those cylinders that are red on one foot and green on the other and they seem to turn them over depending on what they are saying . . . or maybe it signifies their turn to talk.) I think of those guys as the embodiment of the established Patriarchy -- men who are offended by the emergence of a brood of super-powered Touched people in society -- people who are not only NOT upper class (for the most part), they are mostly women. How DARE they have powers! The sheer effrontery! Wheelchair lady's brother is an example of a rare upper-class, male, Touched individual -- one who is hiding his gift because he can see what being openly Touched brings down on you (and -- I suspect -- because he does not trust his wheel-chair bound sister, presumably for good reason, even though she is outwardly a patron of the Touched.) As for James Norton's butt (a.k.a. Hugo Swan's bare arse), I support any excuse for its being on camera. (Okay that's just a joke but I AM glad that the casual flashes of nudity are not limited to the women, though clearly we've seen a LOT more bare female breasts than bare male butts in this show.) She's one of the Touched that has been given shelter. Her "gift" (curse really) is that when she tries to speak English (which she clearly understands) it comes out in other languages all mixed together. (This must also be true when she attempts to write, hence her attempt to communicate with drawings instead.) This would be unfortunate enough were she just trying to have a regular conversation but, alas, she alone was able to realize that Mary's song was actually a message of great importance having to do with the source of Amalia's "otherness". Specifically it seems to hint at the location of others who are like Amalia -- shattering news which causes Amalia to break down in tears. Are the other "Others" trapped in that big, underground ball of blue glowing light that SOMEONE is excavating? Are they somewhere else? We don't know but I presume that is what we will learn during the last two episodes. Mundi (the cop) and Mary (she of the magical voice that could only be heard by those with the gift) were engaged to be married but Mary broke it off, presumably because she discovered that Mundi was gay (or perhaps she sensed it all along and finally decided to acknowledge what they both knew to be true.) He apparently had hooked up with Hugo Swan at some point and then Hugo used that information to blackmail him but now, with Mary dead, it appears that Mundi is past caring about his homosexuality being revealed -- or at least he's figured out that Swan has more to lose than he does so he tells Swan to take his threats and fuck off.

I've just re-watched the first three episodes and I'm very glad I did. This show is DENSE! I love a good SciFi/Fantasy/Steampunk/GirlPower show and I LOVED "Buffy" and "Angel" and "Firefly" (and I even liked "The Dollhouse") but . . . damn, you REALLY have to pay attention in this Whedon-verse. I watched twice and paid close attention and I'm still a bit befuddled. Like, is that creepy doctor lobotomizing the touched women he captures at the fake safe-haven, and then sending them to work in the "mine" helping to dig out the big, glowing orb? I think lobotomy was a known thing at this time but are we to assume that lobotomy doesn't just make people docile, it also negates their "gift" if they are touched? If so, . . . damn. That's dark. But then, I've seen "The Cabin In The Woods" so I know just how dark and other-worldly Joss Whedon is willing to go (not to mention his fondness for a cabal of men who are "in the know" and wiling to sacrifice innocent victims for the "greater good.")

I am also watching The Nevers and I just watched a featurette on HBO-Max that shows the behind-the-scenes work by Laura Donnelly as she films a fight, in a LAKE, with a HUGE MAN, who has the advantage of being able to WALK ON WATER. (I promise that sentence makes sense in the context of this fantasy show.) I'm going to post the link below and hope it works. I am very much enjoying Laura's work on this project. https://play.hbomax.com/page/urn:hbo:page:GYICTeweHCZSmpAEAAAC1:type:extra

Well, this episode was not as much fun as prior episodes, for obvious reasons. Any fan of the show (Outlander) knows the significance of the Battle of Culloden, even if -- prior to the show -- they were not familiar with it. It's sad to think of the near-destruction of the Highlander way of life exemplified by the Battle of Culloden. But we know, with the benefit of hind-sight, that although the Clan political system was broken, the Highlander culture did not die. It went underground, was transplanted to America and, eventually experienced a resurgence in Scotland, as evidenced by the events featured on this show. Tulach Ard!

In this time of trouble and strife I am particularly grateful for any show that makes me laugh, and Sam and Graham consistently make me laugh. This episode was no exception. (The wee dram of Laphroaig -- Sam's favorite scotch whiskey -- that I was sipping during the episode may have also had an impact.) I was a bit confused to hear that the MacDonalds had a beef with the MacLeods because the feud that I was the familiar with was the MacDonalds and the Campbells, which began with the Glencoe Massacre. Hmmmmm. Seems like those MacDonalds were just a cranky bunch. And since I'm a big fan of Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod (of "Highlander" fame), I'm gonna assume the MacDonalds were at fault in both cases. (I like Burger King better in any case.) This is a fun show. I'm glad Sam & Graham agreed to do it. And I LOVE that they re-visited the wool-waulking scene from Outlander. I suspect those may have been some of the same women as they used in the show because I heard that they hired a traditional wool-waulking group -- who were preserving the songs -- to play the women in the episode.

Just weighing in to say I love this show and I love these two actors. And good for Graham for conquering his fear of heights to go abseiling. But I could not help cracking up at Sam's TOTAL lack of sympathy. I just love the interaction between those two.

My first reaction is that someone putting "some of his soul" in an intimate object sounds very Harry Potter and then my second reaction is "Well of COURSE" it sounds familiar. All the major stories/myths have been repeated over and over again down through time, first in oral history and then in literature. I'll bet stories of someone parking part of their soul in an intimate object exists in the oldest religions. It probably informs the Christian practice of believing certain religious relics are imbued with supernatural power. I seem to recall from my Star Wars fandom participation that there is a book called "The Hero's Journey" that examines the classic/universal nature of heroic stories. Apparently that book informed the writing of Star Wars. I also recall freaking out a little bit in my freshman year of college when my humanities professor declared that the "story" of Noah-and-the-flood in the bible is a reworking of the Mesopotamian myth of Utnapishtim. And now to bring this post back on topic . . . I think the universality of human mythologies is what inspired Neil Gaiman to sit down and write this book. Meanwhile -- back on the topic of THIS episode -- I'm not sure I agree with either hypotheses posted above that Shadow's promised "other half" is either Laura or Cordelia. Neither of those outcomes really make sense to me. I'm hoping we're in for a surprise as to who that "other half" is. And can I just say we BETTER get a final season! If the powers that be just leave Shadow impaled on a tree limb and sealed up inside the world tree I'm going to be SO PISSED.