Wootini

I have to admit that Sweden's entry has grown on my over time as I listen to the album. But the first time I heard it was was like - ACK! My favorites are Finland and Belgium, which usually means that they won't even make it out of the semis. ;) I wouldn't mind if Russia won. Although I also really like France's entry (even if I don't speak French so I don't really know what it's about) :D Worst this year is definitely San Marino with Greece coming a close second.

This show is making my blood pressure boil. It was obnoxious when people were acting stupid just to drive storyline, which I ALWAYS hate in soaps. But now I'm just hella pissed that Jay had his entire life screwed up by that stupid little girl. And there's nothing he can do about it. Now everyone's judging him, and it's making me so angry. I guess I should be grateful that I'm actually emotionally involved in an EE storyline for the first time in ages, but still... Poor Jay. At least people are still acting stupid. I feel like instead of the Pride of Walford, they should give awards for stupidest idiot. My nominees are Phil, Denise and Tina. (Mass dropped out of the running when he actually came to his senses.) Honorable mention to Johnny, who wouldn't have been so dismissive of Sonya's friend if he'd seen him in his gladiator costume at the race! ;)

Oh yeah! I guess Walford now does an annual half marathon? Up to the allotments and back? :D

Oh my God, I don't think anyone on the EE staff has ever run in their lives. I seem to recall they had a race last year that was a joke, but I don't remember how long it was. I feel like it was a marathon that Kush was supposed to run, but I don't really remember it except that it was ridiculous and they just ran around the square and through the park and that was basically it. But I have personally run a half marathon, and let me tell you, it was NOTHING like that. There were THOUSANDS of people. We ran half the length of Manhattan. And when it was over, I was not really in the mood to hang out in a pub drinking and noshing. :D They really should just stick to 5K fun runs or something if they're not going to make the effort to be realistic! :)

Yeah, I was spoiled on Kyle's true identity AGES ago, so it wasn't at all a surprise. Which is kind of a shame, because it would've been a great moment if it was actually a shock. :) I am glad we're moving on with the story finally. As Decider says, now we won't have any more of Martin yelling at Kyle to go away while Stacy cringes behind him. Although I feel like we now are counting down to the scene where Martin walks in on Kyle in the bathroom or something... :-/ The show has been so boring for so long that I was stunned when they finally pulled the trigger on the Claudette stuff. But then they wrapped it up in like, two episodes! I don't understand why they didn't have her lurk around the Square for longer and torment everyone. Hell, even Donna changed her opinion like, three times in one episode! I got whiplash! They need to tell stories at a proper pace. Don't rush them, and don't drag them out too long. Although since I am not privy to a lot of the UK gossip rags, I don't know if maybe there was behind the scenes stuff that prompted the Claudette storyline wrap-up. But at least I can avoid major spoilers (except for the Kyle one!).

I have to say I'm really happy EastEnders didn't go THERE with the Carter storyline. That cliffhanger with Linda and Ollie was terrifying, and I was convinced that because this is EE, we were going to be in for a depressing storyline that would have me crying for at least a week's worth of episodes if not more. So I'm really happy to see that they're not going there, and instead are opting for a story which will give them a lot more drama to play out over a longer period of time. I feel bad for Lee and Nancy, because it looks like Mick wants to murder both of them. O.o

Wow. EE had been in quite a lull (and there are still some stories I could care less about, like Carter family drama, Donna wanting a baby and Ronnie/Jack), but it's like the writers room woke up and realized that things actually needed to HAPPEN on the show to keep people watching! :D This week has been BANANAS! Denise's storyline kind of fizzled out, but at least something happened. But those scenes with Claudette were AMAZING. I never though much of Richard Blackwood beyond being a solid slab of beefcake, but he was REALLY good in those scenes. For the first time in a while I'm actually looking forward to what happens next!

Woof! Finally got caught up! I was sick for a bit, and didn't go into work. I usually watch EE on my commute, so I fell behind for a couple weeks. I think it's hilarious that Abi is trying to get pregnant by any guy who is willing to give her a tumble just to hold on to Ben. Girl, have some self-respect. Ben is GAAAAYYY. You can do better. Well, maybe not. But hey, it's worth a try, right? But just FYI, Lee is NOT an upgrade. He's got just as many issues. I have to say that when Ben started getting extra enthusiastic about the new baby, I thought he was trying to push Abi into confessing she was lying. But now I feel like he's genuinely just trying to stamp down his real feelings for Paul (and other random men) and commit to loser Abi. Ugh. I sort of wish Pam would just suck it up and take Les back. This constant "oh, I don't know, maybe, I still love you but I can't get over how good you looked in a dress" is getting a bit tiring. I did think the single beds was a nice, realistic touch. Of course, as soon as they ARE happy again together, Babe will pull out that half-burnt picture she rescued from the refuse pile to ruin Les' life. Babe is seriously psycho. I mean, she's a great character because she causes all kinds of drama for the other character with her meddling, but oh my God, I can't imagine that actress can walk down the street peacefully anymore! :D How much longer before Phil drinks himself to death? Because I literally can't even with that storyline anymore. He's such a bastard.

I love that the episode after I posted about everyone acting like idiots, everyone mostly came clean! I couldn't believe Alfie actually told Kat about his tumor, especially with everything else she's got to deal with right now. Although that will probably work in his favor. "Kat, you know how your dad just died on this couch we're sitting on right now? Well, I could also die on this couch right now. But hopefully not. Sorry about not telling you sooner!" :D And I will give Phil a little credit for telling Sharon he was driving. Of course, he's still determined to drink himself to death in the gutter somewhere. Gotta say I'm kind of on Sharon's side in this whole thing. Let him do what he wants! (Although I really think Louise should've just taken the money and run! Left Phil laying on the floor!) But Martin was working my last good nerve. Stacey is clearly in need of SERIOUS help and could put herself or the baby in danger at any moment. This is NOT when you hide your head in the sand, even if that's pretty much Martin's MO for everything. I will give him partial credit as well for being about to tell Sonya the truth when Stacey came outside in the freezing cold rambling on about god and gifts and whatnot. Thank GOD it's out. Now hopefully Martin doesn't go out of his way to convince Sonya to keep quiet so he can handle it on his own. Because I fear that's his next step... :-/ I was excited to see Peggy again (although it was really weirdly shot so it was almost like the actors weren't even on the same set at the same time...), but devastated to learn they're doing to her what they did to Charlie. Let's keep Dot off camera for a while longer, yes? ;-) Oh, and now that Kat has decided to go to Charlie's funeral, I would assume that they'll explain the absence of the other Slater sisters by saying that none of them were going to show up because Kat was there? Ugh.

Yeah, basically, I'm torn between who is driving me more insane right now: You've got Phil, not treating his cirrhosis while simultaneously letting Ian take the fall for Dennis' injuries. Ugh. You've got Alfie, who still can't bring himself to tell Kat he's got a seriously dangerous brain tumor that could probably kill him at any moment. Sigh. And now you've got Martin, who keeps insisting to everyone that Stacey is fine, when he should really just grab Arthur and run while the men in the white coats drag Stacey off to get better. I mean, seriously.

Part of me almost hopes that Charlie's funeral is off-screen. I watch it on the train going to and from work, and I was crying when he died. If I have to watch a funeral, I'll have to make sure I watch at home. :) Especially if they drag the other Slater Sisters back for a cameo. I did think it was a bit rude of them to bring Charlie back just to kill him off, but at least he got the lovely sad end credits music. They gave him THAT at least. ;) (Of course, then he was still laying on the couch in the next episode, so... yeah... not so much with the respect, I guess)

That's an interesting spoiler. I have to say that watching Stacey lose her marbles like this is surprisingly entertaining. When she started acting squirrelly, I initially thought I would have NO patience for it. But it's actually not bad. Unless, of course, they drag this out too long and it starts getting annoying. That's entirely possible, with this show. :D

Yeah, I thought they might actually kill off Dean, but then I realized there's more drama in letting him go to jail. They can prolong the agony for everyone. I don't mind, though, because this way we get to actually watch him punished for his crimes. If he'd just drowned, that would've been too easy. (Gotta say, though, that lake didn't look like it would've been that deep!) :D I was annoyed when Phil was ignoring the doctor about his liver, and then Alfie had to come back and remind me how awful THAT whole "I'm going to ignore my brain tumor" storyline was. And now we've got Stacy acting like a loon? Gah. I just want to slap the crap out of all three of them. BTW, what was up with Stacy insisting to Kush that he's not the babydaddy? Do we think she was lying? Or could she have slept with someone else? (Though I can't imagine who it could be...) They always seem to drag out the more annoying storylines, don't they... :P

I remember when Linda was all squirrelly, Mick said something about Johnny, but I can't remember exactly what. Like he couldn't get a flight, and she shouldn't call off the wedding because of that... I'm only halfway through the Monday episode, so I've been hoping that Johnny is Tina's "surprise" she keeps teasing Mick about at his Stag do. :)

Yeah. Vincent should have been told that nobody threatens Dot. Honestly, nobody would ever hurt Dot because you would basically have the entire Square gunning for you. :D I can't believe that's how poor Fat Boy got written out. How lame. Although since we didn't actually see anything, I'd like to think that didn't really happen. Maybe they left it open in case they wanted to bring him back at some point? I can't believe Vincent is taking it all upon himself, though. I mean, Ronnie is just as much to blame, if not more, since she set the whole thing up. She needs to know what she did so SHE can be wracked with guilt. I mean, for as long as Ronnie feels guilt, which isn't particularly long most of the time. Roxy ALMOST redeemed herself by walking out on Dean, but lost any sympathy she garnered by changing her mind at the end. She now deserves whatever she gets. (Although I'm hoping we can get rid of Dean when he likely throws a scene at Mick and Linda's New Year's nuptials!) Ian is a moron. Taking the blame for the car accident? Gah. I mean, I guess it's nice we can look forward to the eventual episode where the truth comes out and Sharon tears Phil a new one, but that could be a ways off. :P Oh, and don't send Bobby to boarding school! That's just handing him a slew of new victims on a silver platter! ;)

Okay, so what is up with Linda looking so rough? I would've thought she was pregnant again, but that would be kind of ridiculous. And I don't know if she's actually sick because the other episode where she went upstairs to the bathroom, she got the paper towels ready and slowly knelt down in front of the toilet which makes me think she was going to MAKE herself throw up. Has she developed an eating disorder trying to lose weight after the baby? I feel like she's been fine up until now, so I'm not sure why she'd start doing it now. Although I suppose she could've been doing it for a while and we're just now seeing it on screen, but she's just been stressed and not looking quite so rough since the baby. Oh, unless she's trying to bulimia her way into her wedding dress... :-/

Yes, mostly because I think Abi is HORRIBLE and I just like to see her suffer. :D

Hadn't thought of that! A psycho since birth! :D Is that a normal reaction by the British police department to send an entire armored swat team into a bar because of a report that a customer might have a gun? Seemed a bit much! O.o And this whole storyline might be more interesting if Phil was sober and could fight back. But I don't feel like Drunk!Phil versus Vincent is going to be that fun to watch...

I knew Roz wasn't going to be a permanent addition to the show as she's a regular on another show, but I guess I was hoping she could just go on assignment overseas so she could pop back periodically to sass Coulson. I certainly wasn't expecting her to get a bullet in the throat before the opening titles! O.o I do agree with those of you who've commented that if they were going to use her death as the spark that sets Coulson off to finally take out Ward, they could've done a better job establishing the relationship. Because of all the crosses and double crosses, their relationship had more ups and downs than a roller coaster. So when this episode started with them sharing takeout burgers, (with wine?!?) I was like, "Wait, they're good again? Or is one of them playing the other? I can't even tell anymore! Oh wait, she's dead. Guess it doesn't matter any more!" I also got nervous as everything was building to the climax with only five or ten minutes left in the episode. I wanted to see the Inhumans using their powers in a big action sequence against the HYDRA baddies, and I didn't want to have to wait until February or March when they came back. So I was glad to discover that this wasn't actually the "Winter Finale." (whoever invented that needs a good punch. Remember when shows would just take a little break after November sweeps and nobody made a big deal out of it?) Next week will be the big blowout. And yeah, I honestly doubt they'll kill off Ward. I think they like him as a villain too much. The problem I'm having is that he's becoming very one-note. There's nothing sympathetic about him at all anymore. He's a complete psychopath. I don't enjoy watching him be the villain anymore. I want him gone. But I assume the best we'll get is that they'll leave him on the Blue Planet for a while. Then he can resurface next season when he escapes with the weird HYDRA alien super villain in tow. Blurgh. Oh, and to answer a question posed upthread, I think Coulson was okay falling into the portal like that because it's like the game, Portal. While you jump down into the portal to travel to the Blue Planet, on the other side, the portal is sideways, so you fall out that way. So Coulson's momentum would just propel him horizontally across the planet's surface, which is what it appeared to do. As long as when he hit that rock he didn't crack his skull. :)

Okay, I'm confused. Sharon's still moping around complaining about how Phil is drunk and violent, but she's the one who gave in and helped kick him off the wagon. So… she really can't complain. Ian had the right idea, telling Phil to just go ahead and drink himself to death. Maybe Sharon should take Dennis and go stay somewhere else for a bit while Phil either gets his act together or dies of alcohol poisoning. I will say that this Dennis is a lot less horrible than the other one. If it had been the other kid, I wouldn't have felt bad about his bike at all. I wouldn't been hoping for Phil to throw him a smack! :D

Well, darn. I was actually hoping Vincent was going to turn out to be an actual copper. And I swear that has absolutely nothing to do with my wanting to see Richard Blackwood in uniform. Honest! ;) I really wasn't looking forward to Phil hulking out locked in a bedroom demanding alcohol, so when Sharon served him up a bottle of gin at the end of the episode, I'm hoping she's just going to help him drink himself to death. I mean, obviously he won't, but it would be so much more interesting to watch her give in to his demands and let him self destruct on his own so he can hit rock bottom that much faster. Then he'll get his act together and come back on the wagon. But I'd much rather watch this than him begging her for drink and Sharon crying about how horrible he's being. And I REALLY don't want Vincent or one of his cronies to off Fatboy. I need him to just go on the run or something. Maybe the cops can put him in witness protection. I'm sure the UK has some kind of a version of that, right? :D

Yeah, you'd think the Mitchells would know better. ;) Of course, they had to get the story moving, I suppose. When Fatboy was snooping, I thought that would be the end of him. I know the actor is leaving the show, and I was afraid that they were going to have Vincent or one of his cronies bump him off instead of letting Arthur leave the Square for a "happy" ending. But if that cliffhanger is real and that's Vincent's secret, then everything changes. Black is white, up is down… dogs and cats living together… :D

Oh, on PBS in NYC, we're only to planning Pauline and Joe's wedding. Although I guess it's not a spoiler that it falls apart in spectacular fashion. It IS EastEnders after all. I was very pleased to find out that Charlie is alive. I kind of figured they wouldn't destroy Ronnie and Vincent's characters with them killing Charlie, so I figured it was probably a misdirect. I also appreciate that EastEnders knows sometimes how to draw something out for better effect. If they'd revealed this a week or so after he'd gone, it wouldn't have been as much of a surprise. I can already tell that mopey alcoholic Phil is going to get on my nerves. I will give them some minor props for Ronnie's "arrest." I was super bored with the whole thing, having her dragged off while Dean comforted a teary Roxy, but then it turns out they're not cops. TWIST! Now they've kind of got my attention. ;)

Yeah, this show is so much more enjoyable than the past few regular seasons of PR. I think it's because while these kids are still using the show as a platform to compete and show off their skills, there's also some learning going on, and genuine enthusiasm because they're so young. The adults on the parent show are jaded, and have been struggling to get their design careers off the ground and are more interested in showing off and being "on" for the cameras. When these kids go extreme, it feels more natural. That's just how kids are. They're not necessarily preening for the cameras or creating drama to get more camera time. They seem genuinely excited to be there and have this opportunity. When an adult contestant says they're happy for the opportunity, it rarely sounds genuine. I'm still learning names, though. I thought Jesse's was terrific, and I think he's going to go far. He's talented and focused. I think it's going to come down to him versus the girl who did the muppet bath mat dress. She is also clearly talented and also has a good head on her shoulders. The hippy California girl grates a bit, but I did like what she made, even if we've seen that technique a million times before. It still looked good. (Even if I probably would've cut the muslin underneath the skirt a little shorter so it wasn't as visible behind the mop fringe. I didn't mind Ysabele going home. That outfit was a hot mess. The sponge top was okay, but the white straps were kind of boring, the judges were right about that. And her skirt was just horrible. Even if she didn't get the Gilligan's Island reference, Tim was spot on. And when it was so short in the back, adding that fabric to preserve the model's modesty just made it look worse. Matt's skirt was a mess, but I actually liked what he did with the mosaic on the top. And from the front, the tube skirt photographed well and looked interesting. The model just couldn't walk in it and it was falling apart in the back. But overall, despite execution flaws, it had more visual interest. Also, I'm totally going to hell because at the end when they revealed "We have four tops," I said to my husband: "I don't think there's a single top in that room." :D

Okay, I will give some props to Mick for standing up to Shirley and basically being "You seriously wonder why I don't like Dean? HE RAPED MY WIFE." It kills me that Shirley still seems blind to the entire thing. As much as it pains me, I want Dean to attack Roxy so Shirley will finally see her son for the sociopath he is. Ugh, I hate Dean. And it's so awkward that he's new to the Square in the PBS shows currently airing in NYC and not yet that awful. Well, I mean, he did drug Stacey, so that was pretty much setting up his ugly personality right from the start, I guess. It just taints everything he does on the PBS episodes. Even when he's being cute and playful with Pat, I just think "Ugh. You're disgusting."