Traveller519

This was a great one! I'm sure because there was no need to shoehorn some Reason for a cast member to head to DC or Erica come rushing back to Jenkintown beyond a pretty standard, "I'm home for the holidays" (Come to think of it, the Thanksgiving episode worked for this reason too). Everyone was in fine form, and true to character. I love that the Schwartz family's Smother was actually the Dad, it provided a nice contrast. Not to mention, the Channukah celebrations fit in quite organically. It's still freaking me out a bit how much Jamie Wiseman looks like Erica. I feel we could be in for some strange revelations there. The new, honest, JTP sans Schwartz is one of the great revelations of the show. "Who's idea was this?"

The show continues to knock it out of the park with the casting of parents. I mean, Danny Trejo barely had to be woken up to play the role, but he still nailed it convincingly. I would have liked to have seen Rosa's sister too, but I get this was about her and her parents' relationship. Props to the show for having Rosa come out of what was obviously a supportive but stern household. It gives her character more agency. Good God, Diane Keaton's brother-in-law is a doofus.

Mannnnn, Diane is like an inch shy of Zoe. She is going to be TALL. I wonder if they'll do a show of her getting recruited for a basketball team stealing some of Jack's thunder. Run, Bow. Run to Rick Fox! Imagine your life! Children are capable of monitoring their own blood sugar for goodness sakes!

Goldbergs, I've been a big fan for a long time, and I'm stoked you made it to 100 episodes. But I think it may be time to consider wrapping up the series. Erica feels like Bev is overbearing before realizing she appreciates he caring. Murray gets upset that the kids don't appreciate him, and they realize how much he does for them, and Barry and Adam copy some of their musical influences. These are all stories that have been done before. In some cases... a lot. One thing I did appreciate was that with the lack of Pops the JTP provided the honest moral compass. Their reactions watching the video, and the confrontation with Barry in the hallway at school were great. But that was a relatively small bright spot in an otherwise listless episode.

Oooo continuity! They've done pretty well with some of these longer arcs, so I'll be interested to see how they handle it. I hope it involves some very competent Holting. He's been fun, but a lite too wacky recently. One of my favorite little things was when they got to the farm and the Cousins Boyle explained what kind of ranching they did, and to not worry about any screams, Amy grabbed for Jake. Not high strung Amy. Just appropriately mortified. And looking for her partner for a bit of support, without saying anything.

After three (four depending on your feelings about the Monopoly episode) very strong episodes this one definitely felt like a filler episode. A casualty of the full episode order. At least we got a bit of Pops and some Ruby brilliance. I've always felt like charity is a very personal experience. Some people prefer to donate time, others money. However you chooser to help is a personal decision. Ultimately I think the show tried to express that, even if it took a very strange road to get there.

I saw Lady Bird at our local Film Festival in September. I certainly remember it being very good. It was emotional and honest, and also had some nice humor to balance the emotion of a coming of age teenager. I think all the parts are well cast and acted and it tells a nice cohesive story in (or about) 1 year of a young person. I quite liked it. All of that said, all the critical fanfare and the awards its already winning have me a little surprised. A 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, and two early season wins are pretty big indicators of an excellent film, and I just don't know if I'm there. In fact, I would put Lady Bird behind Brooklyn for a Saorise Ronan starring vehicle, but that could be because at this stage in my life I identify more with Eilis than Lady Bird (the character). And for 2017 films it would still come in behind Get Out and probably on par with Wind River and Stronger for me. I look forward to watching it again and seeing if there's something to pick up on that I missed the first time around.

Thanks Ms. Blue Jay for the reminder... I was tough in the show, but this was a great live sketch. It was fun to see Chad in a live sketch to mix up the character a bit. Not to mention, when checking in from the shallow end of the pool... Are the lady's wearing those dresses to the SNL Christmas Party?? And if so, h... how... How would one secure an invite to that event?

Oh my... did anyone else feel like this was completely uninspired? I feel like I've defended SNL for the past few years, but I don't think there was a lot to redeem from beyond Saorise's enthusiasm. Was part of her opening monologue's humor supposed to include preceeding it with Darrell Hammond twice mispronouncing her name during the credits and introduction? If it was, it was uninspired; if not, Hammond should be embarrassed, given she's been in the building for a week, with a whole bit around how to pronounce her name. Office Race was easily the best skit of the night. It actually had a coherent thought through the whole bit. It seems like classroom skits are surpassing game show and talk show skits as the biggest crutch, but I haven't been particularly impressed by them over the past couple weeks. I will give Leslie props, since I've been hard on her this season. She nailed the Update sketch playing a character, and in Welcome to Hell and the monologue she added to the concept without overtaking it. Kate, on the other hand, continues to tread closer and closer to Wiig territory for me. Was it necessary to have her play two parts in the cold open? Also, SNL, I don't think you update joke about Fox News not being able to let Hillary go carries as much punch when you can't let her go yourselves.

It was fun looking back in their lives, along with the little touches like Howard's monochromatic outfits and the pop culture references to 2010. I didn't love the Amy "cameo" in the past, but I suppose it was fair. She definitely did breathe some life into the series shortly thereafter. I wonder if the guys would have been smart enough to have dumped at least half their bitcoin in order to translate it into actual currency. It seemed like they had things they wanted to purchase so hopefully, but I worry they would talk themselves into bitcoin being the wave of the future and continued to hold it. I wonder if Sheldon separately mined bitcoin? He definitely seems like the type who would hold onto it with his perfect idea of the future basically being a computer mainframe, and not really having any use for his money in his present life.

I wasn't expecting to like Chris Martin, but his completely self depricating appearance was rather enjoyable and definitely the most energetic parts of the episode. The earnestness he played the story with was great. "That way people will know you have two shirts" The other plots were pretty middling but I did like seeing Cam and Mitch acting like a couple and having each other's backs. Though they should have been smart enough to recognize there was no camera crew and they hadn't signed a release going into the store. They can't be gullible enough to take reality tv at face value, right?

This trailer feels earned. The whole of the groundwork that the MCU has been laying for the past 10 years means we'll follow these characters on their crazy adventures. Not like another "franchise" that's tried to skip some steps to get there. Only one joke in the whole thing, in the end tag. I wonder if it's going to carry a more serious tone than the past few films. Did anyone else see the YouTube video recently criticizing the MCU films for their general lacking in the scoring front? The close of the trailer felt like a big FU to that video with th Avengers theme swelling to a climax. I loved it!

I live for the competent Scully and Hitchcock episodes! Bathroom mystery or food-related crime? These are the two you want on your team! It's nice when they're not just the punchline, though they frequently make a good punchline. Holt's time in the Nine Nine has really rubbed off on his personality, hasn't it? I can't imagine the Holt of Season 1 going to quite the lengths he did here, but it made for an enjoyable watch. I love watching the man burn with the passion of a thousand suns. It's good to know it's not just long quiet drives watching the trees die that does it for him.

Pete sitting at the update desk with Colin, waxing poetic, needs to become a midweek Web show! That whole thing was delightful... "Dire Wolves are bad ass, you don't need to watch the show to get that" He was in need of a great feature sketch and this one along with the filmed sketch on rap history nailed that. Chance seemed a little nervous early on, but once he settled in, he was gold. That hockey sketch was all him, and he nailed it! Come back soon on double duty! Leslie again couldn't get her lines out during the Wayne Manor sketch, but she was great in the Family Fed skit, maybe because it was more physical, which she always kills. Who was the last of the Harvey clan?I'm assuming a writer. I wouldn't be sad if they sent Kate's Jeff Sessions out to pasture. There's never anything new to it. It's the freaking Gilly of political impressions.

I LOVED the cold open. That really felt like a throwback to the early years. All the guys (and now Amy!) were legitimately stoked to be discussing something kinda nerdy but also incredibly interesting. And they let that fall over into the meat of the show. I'm not a big fan of what Bernadette's character has become, but I'm glad to see Raj back his friend, when Ruchi really hadn't given him any reason to put his blind faith in her.

The Thanksgiving episodes are usually pretty strong, and they do a good job of mixing them up. Virginia Kemp struggling in the kitchen then all bandaged up was fun visuals, though based on her past appearances, I firmly believe that she would be able to handle cooking a full Thanksgiving with no issues! Pops was great as usual, "You and I are interested by different things" "Please send the Turkey to the foyer!"

They've definitely done this type of episode before, where everyone has some secret they're trying to not get out to their partner/the greater family. That said, I think they actually write these kind of well. Definitely not to the level of Fraser, but along with good wordplay, these plots are right in the writers' wheelhouse where we know the truth and can see it unravelling, but it does so with a few laugjs along the way. And at least we have everyone interacting, unlike last season where it seemed like oaths between the families rarely overlapped. Jay actually being nice to Phil unprompted by any major event was nice to see too

Way back in Season 1. Charles got the award when he took the bullet for Rosa at the end of initial episode order. Sgt. Peanut Butter was only featured in the Cold Open which was the medal presentation. Charles was already being shown up there.

"Your continual referral to yourself in the third person finally has consequences" "Terry knows" The set up to that whole plot was better than the payoff of Terry needing to be liked, but at least it didn't feel quite to tacked on as last week. Crafting the Vultures Catfish was too good, as was the messaging him. "oh God it's a penis!"

This one got pretty dark, but did have its pretty good moments. "There, we just had a whole conversation about black stuff and didn't bring up slavery once" Pops (in a Laurence Fishburne guest starring spot) running away with the TV, posing as a repaiman (I wonder if that was filmed for another episode) Ruby's tales I was hoping Michael K Williams was going to walk through that diner door

Carol pulling the "Dual Simba" in the background while Tandy and Gail argued was hilarious and delightful. Todd collecting his Thermos was a close second for my favorite visual too. It's good the children are all here now as the ladies had been pregnant for a while, and I'm glad they didn't go the super dramatic route this time after Erica's pregnancy, as unlikely as it would have been. That said, there's going to be some work to not have it be all parenting all the time.

Ironically enough I couldn't watch SNL last night because I went to see Sasheer doing stand up in my city. She was really good. Then watching Leslie flub the whole "woke with Tamika" sketch I couldn't help but think how much better that would be with Sasheer doing a millennial bent on it and not, y'know crashing lines the whole way through. Leslie is great in her Update bits and the filmed pieces (the Kyle and Leslie skit was good again and I liked her as Donna Brazile) , but at this point in her tenure, there is no reason she should be this incompetent in live sketches, which are what the show is centered around. The Dolphin bit was probably my favorite of the night, but it suffered from not having a proper ending, which is odd for a Kate and Aidy sketch. Usually they close with a good hook. Update was great, and the video game sketch was fun.

I completely agree, @Rinaldo. The poker story was well crafted, structured, and executed. The other plots were pretty uninspired, and victims of a 22 episode season writing drought coming off three strong episodes to start the season. Terry and Holt are the best characters for elevating the others. So, when they're both tied up in the A plot, the other plots noticibly suffered, especially with Amy and Rosa in different plots and no Gina. Damn if Andre Braugher doesn't continue to be fantastic, though. In this episode you had his mentor character, the side of the character that is susceptible to his vices, and the calm collected cop, reading the situation. And it all flowed seemlessly without being overly showy. It's really a shame that his Emmy Window appears to have closed in the same fashion Nick Offerman's did. It's true the character hasn't especially evolved, but he does it so damn well.

Black-ish , do not let Lawrence Fishburne leave the lot! He is a treasure on the show. Very light on the sarcasm and humor this week, but his grandfatherly love for Jack read well with the sensitive treatment of Diane's story. Not to mention his fun interactions with Dre.

As a resident of a North American city that I know submitted a bid. I really hope our mayor didn't do the "Hey Alexa..." bit This is the second week in a row that has had some moments of genuine joy expressed on Jon's face. Last week when he was playing with the seagull and just about everything that had to do with "The Inspectors" Poor USPIS, they got taken for a ride a couple years back on Brooklyn 99 and really taken to task here. I'm sure the job they do does sometimes have interesting results, but who cleaning all that Guacamole our of the mass spectrometer you guys?