Sandman

Geez, you guys, when I said I wanted someone to make Pascal and his wife stop being so creepy, I didn’t mean by bumping one of them off! How badly was Monica testing with audiences that the show runners just jettison the character like that? I guess I should stop complaining about the ridiculous B-plots before they fry Capp completely in the next thunderstorm.

It’s true they haven’t shown much of how the day-to-day functioning of this somewhat truncated society actually works. Except for one coffee shop (or diner), one bar (where everybody knows your name, but for all the wrong reasons) and a Not-Quite Whole Foods, we see only security agents and the techy string-pullers at their jobs. Well, and Gabriela at her nominal job. Which is probably not her actual function.

Pretty sure I remember a sign with the name of the town — Paradise would seem to be, more or less unironically, the settlement’s name.

I'm more and more convinced that this is a game between Gabriela and Sinatra. I think making each other worse is exactly the nature of their relationship. But if the upper surface is livable, then the purpose of Paradise cannot be the survival the human race; I think it can only be to consolidate Sinatra's power. (And I think the commentary on the current political situation in the US is not at all accidental.) James Marsden makes Cal's unhappiness and self-disgust vivid, especially in this episode. The scene where Jeremy was ripping Cal a new one I found heartbreaking. The angrier Jeremy got, the more Cal looked like he was going to be physically sick.

You're probably right. But I find Pascal such a weird presence. They seem to have backed off his micro-managing tendency, but now he's mostly disengaged. Lurker mode, as @FnkyChkn34 says. Such an odd duck. But if it means we don't see any more of his wonko vibe with his wife, you won't see me complain.

Did he, though? To me that read more as “Whatever. Don’t expect me to act like I care. Unless there’s a mess.”

I thought the same. Somehow I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Spencer Treat Clark. I’m all for Violet getting a win (because, come on), but isn’t this the second or third time in a couple of seasons that our heroes prevail by checking routine records that somehow no one else in the universe thought to look into? (Is it called One Chicago because everyone else has to share a brain?) Also, I will admit that Hermann’s line “It’s marzipan-forward!” as he’s surrounded by gagging made me laugh. But how in the name of St. Dymphna, Patron Saint of Ridiculous B-Plots, does Hermann spend umpteen years running a bar (part-time, granted) and know so little about cocktails, marketing, or, well, running a bar??

"Flo Jo, the Wordle is "CLAMP." Let's get going!" Something about Struthers' delivery here just made me howl. ETA: I really like this cast. Everybody's bringing their A game, I think. I also liked that the caregiver offered Charles a dose of reality without demeaning him or failing to recognize both his empathy and his pain. I thought Susan Ruttan in particular did a lovely job -- she's underrated both as a comic and a dramatic actress.

This show spins along on a combination of silliness, sweetness and melancholy that I'm not sure I was expecting. Sometimes there are moments (mainly around the spy stuff going wrong) that make me squirm, but Danson handles the shifts in tone so effortlessly I can't get too worked up about those. ETA: Also: I still can't get used to Stephanie Beatriz's non-Rosa (that is, presumably own) voice as Didi -- though I like Didi more and more with each episode.

It’s not coincidence that he went to Grey about his “treatment” just as Chen was about to bounce his ass out the door, right?

Goodness gracious, I have no sympathy for Bailey. In fact, I’ve been grumbling “Dump her!” at my tv since she fished that burner phone out of the trash. Fillion has more chemistry with Melissa O’Neil than he ever had with Jenna Dewan.

I recently re-watched this one, and I stand by my comment above. That ending is brutal. It occurred to me that the effects of the spell might be broad enough even to mean that the other versions of Peter don’t remember MCU!Peter, either. I decided (for the sake of my heart and/or sanity) that Strange’s spell could not, must not be so comprehensive. Peter needs his brothers, out there in a corner or two of the multiverse, somewhere. Please.

There are two hills I’m prepared to die on: one is that Kevin Costner could have won an Oscar for that crack in his voice in Field of Dreams where Ray says “Hey, Dad…?” The other is that some of the best acting Jimmy Stewart ever did was contained in George’s response to seeing his brother come through the door. I can’t hear him say “Harry! Harry,” without bursting into tears. How can he pack so much love and relief and pain and joy and grace into so few syllables? How?

It feels like the central conflict could be between Gabriela and Sinatra, and everyone else is just a pawn in their game. I have no real in-story evidence to point to (ETA except maybe that each one told someone that she chose them for Paradise); mostly it’s a feeling that’s been growing since Gabriela’s introduction. I was not expecting Jane to be the “biggest m-f’er,” but they have been hitting that one note over and over about how innocent and non-threatening she is. Bye, Billy! Sorry your life sucked so hard. Also, I hope your boss figures it out. Robinson I seem to have the least patience for.

Is it too soon to bust out the "A wizard did it?"

Oh, thank god Sinatra is a code name! (At first I was thinking someone actually named Billionaire Julianne "Sinatra.") Also: Sinatra as a code name is only marginally less befuddling, frankly. The interwoven timelines are making me think this show is just as silly as Citadel, except with a lot less Stanley Tucci. I am grateful, though, that there is 100% more Sarah Shahi, so that's a bonus. POTUS Bro (heh. Nice! "BROTUS"?) might actually be a better human being than he wants us to think. (Or might have been, perhaps I should say.) "Just read it, Henry; we didn't pick you to have thoughts." Yowch. Oh, my goodness @edhopper: I did not even think of her being Chairman of the Board!

I'm about 90% convinced that Fogelman named Sterling K. Brown's character "Xavier" because of that little franchise James Marsden was in that time. (Oh, Jimmy, why is that even when you're playing a complete asshat, it's so hard not to like you?) I like the cast, even if this genre kinda makes me anxious. We'll see if I make it all the way through.

I believe he also has a brief role as Thufir Hawat (Duke Leto’s Mentat) in Villeneuve’s Dune.

I just started watching, mostly because I've heard good things, and I like the cast -- so nice to see Stephanie Beatriz again! -- and so far it's made me laugh out loud a few times, mostly at the training exercises. Danson's comic timing is great, and most of the jokes are of the "open-hearted, slightly awkward guy doesn't do spy" rather than "old dude doesn't get technology" variety. I'm liking the chemistry between Danson and Richcreek (Julie) whom I know only from Chicago Med. I don't really see how Charles could have been a very closed-off parent, but I'm sure we'll see more of his dynamic with Emily. But I was not expecting the emotional wallop of the reveal about Victoria's memory care. Eep!

It’s just that you’ve seen tv before. I couldn’t help thinking that Zoe must be involved in the Butterfly Clouds deaths somehow. (Clearly there’s something wrong with me.) Did not expect to be as moved as I was by that final scene of Jack Coleman and Flueger.

I’m in Canada, too, and my provider labeled this episode as “The Man From Grozny,” as well as repeating this episode (under its proper title) the following week. Needless to say, it definitely felt like I had missed something as I watched this episode. (I’ve since discovered that the actual “Man From Grozny” episode is still available on demand. Speaking of missing something, no boundaries and poor communication skills? Dr. Landon is a mess! This character is becoming less believable with every episode. And I don’t understand why Pierce didn’t just say “It’s inappropriate for me to continue treating you”? The patient, Alison, is clearly manipulative, absolutely knows who Pierce is, and her veiled threat to harm herself, even if it’s genuine, could have been countered. This seems like a situation that actually should involve Dr. Landon as Chief of Medicine, as opposed to, say, her son’s love life! I’ll admit it was a cute bit having Susan Bay Nimoy say that Oliver reminded her of a young version of her late husband, but I begin to think the show’s writing is just a little too much in love with its own cleverness.

Silly of him to leave it lying around Dom’s bedroom, then, innit. Who knows what could happen? 😃 (…in other words, yep.)

Does anyone else find the direction the show is taking the Sarah Reese character just sad? I was really hoping the show wouldn’t just reprise the ugly way they wrote Reese out of the show. ETA: I think it makes sense for Goodwin to have a completely different look from Lt. Van Buren. She’s in a (very likely) higher paid position, in a charge of a bigger chunk of a different institution; her position is also more overtly social, at least partly about making donors and board members feel looked after. It seems likely that her style would be a little more polished, her competence packaged in a way that’s a little more soignée.

Someone please make Pascal and his wife stop being so creepy. Something about their interactions is wrong, like “I’m taking up firearms so I can learn how to shoot you in the crotch” level of wrong.

Co-signed. I found Gloria’s insistence to the last that she and Dante were the same felt almost like a curse, in the end. I don’t really believe they are the same, but I have no doubt it’ll mess with Torres’s head for some time. (I keep hoping someone will take him aside and say “Dude, she never even liked you!”) I don’t know exactly how Deputy Chief Villain got the goods on Intelligence, but all I could think, as the Deputy Chief sat back on the couch, with his snake-like stare trained on Voight, was “Well, the fat’s in the fire now.” (How are the upper ranks of CPD so stuffed with corrupt maniacs?)