Traveller519

Mostly a filler episode. But I really enjoyed Howard and Bernadette. I appreciated Bernadette mentioning how "sexy" (like a grehound!) she finds Howard, since it's been a long run of baby-centric plot points, or episodes that take pot shots at what a terrible Husband he was.

Hmmm, so are we getting to the limits of Adam F. Goldberg's family stories and tapping other writers lives now? Interesting. They've probably been doing that along, but this was definitely the first time an end of episode clip wasn't from the Goldberg family archives, or related to a specific story (thinking of the Stephen Colbert ending when Adam's childhood acquaintance was now on the show. Some meta-humor from Erica tonight. "I've been talking about going to college for 4 years" and "Is it April already? Where does the time go? I thought it was just February!" The first one I liked. The latter, seemed like it was trying a little too hard. Bev and Murray have had more chemistry as the show has gone on, which I appreciate. I know Adam said he didn't show them as lovey-dovey early on because that's not who his parents were, but it came off as very segmented on a sitcom.

"USC isn't even the best school in the city!" Haha, nice! Though my favorite part of the two shows was Dre, Junior, and Zoey stumbling on the Dance Party, all looking horrified and backing away, with Dre grabbing Zoey who lingered just a little too long. Excellent silent comedy there! Pops being proud when Bow told him about Junior making out with Megan was both heart warming and funny. He took real pleasure in that.

Hope existing for real in the Real World doesn't seem like something Mack would actually want. As much pain as it has for him, he seems to genuinely accept her being gone. His confession to Elena seemed to reveal as much. He also really distrusts things that aren't real, or of his world. He was all about taking down the LMD. He seems like the kind of noble-enough person who wouldn't placate the good feelings of having "Hope" in his life knowing that she wasn't real.

Different strokes and all, but my preference would have been to have left Bruce nearly completely out of the show. Especially during season 1. I agree that David has developed into quite the actor, and of course getting Alfred as part of the deal is worth it. But the Gotham Central concept would have provided a lot more freedom to do its own thing while dipping its toe in the Bat-legacy. That said, they have done an increasingly good job with the Bruce stories. Selena really works best as a periphery character for me, when she's interacting with the grown-ups on the show. She's not a super good actor, and I find the Bruce and Selena stuff can get pretty tiring and repetitive. Ed is really slipping into the classic Riddler characterization where we all learn that maybe he's not really as smart art cunning as he likes to think he is. Watching him mentally wrestle with that, and try to suppress his inklings of it, was fun. The court of Owls already bores me.

As someone who has Banff squarely in his backyard, I can tell you that this is one area where Holt is wrong. It may have its issues (congestion in the core areas in the summer, cold in the winter, but both of those are easily mitigated), but it's beauty and the surrounding area is undeniable. And with the recent beating our currency has taken, it's pretty affordable! At any rate, I LOVED this episode. The visual comedy was great. I loved that they never mentioned that Amy was using a stenographer's device, it was just there to emphasize her character. Any written joke would have taken away from it. Hitchcock's story made me laugh non-stop. From Terry's comment about the 80s basically being the Purge in New York, to the tattoo, to the finger guns, to the bathroom arrest. Mr. 99 indeed! I also thought that G-hive sounded like G-had the first time I heard it, which I thought would be totally on point for Gina. I'm guessing S'd in the B, was the PG-ing of F'd in the A, for television. Needing to PG the abbreviations was funny in it's own right.

That furniture line was so freaking fantastic. I shot up in my seat, and possibly actually slapped my knee. I love that in the middle of this whole allegory, they're not hesitant to throw some shade. Count me among the many who never wanted a Ward redemption, but are pleasantly intrigued by how well it's been done here. It feels genuine and deserved despite happening in an alternative universe.

I get the feeling that "Action Jack" Barker thrives on these types of Alpha power plays, often to his own detriment. That was basically his whole interacation with Richard, and even Lori, at Pied Piper. He wants to be the man, without having really accomplished anything, but by willing his way into them. I would assume that contract has a lot of contingent salary based on the performance of the EndFrame Hooli box. Seems like a pretty good manufacturing deal they just closed, it would likely be a lot of money to walk away from. Plus now, he can sit in the basement and put all his focus into plotting his next move. I really liked that though they made it seem like he was being sent to the roof, based on expectations, it was in fact, the opposite.

Well John, if your goal was, as you said, to make my sleep more difficult to come by last night, mission accomplished. I do think that, as John alluded to, the reason people have gravitated towards Jared and Ivanka is because while they will freely admit that by-and-large their politics don't align (that's part of democracy, and really, being a human being) they recognize them as at least quasi-stable people in the Clown Car. For many of us, having some confidence that while policies that can eventually be undone can be endured so long as there's someone even keeled enough to slap away his hand from the nuke button, is hope to which we can cling.

These episodes manage to get an hour's worth of material into a half hour of show! I don't even know where to begin! I think Amy see's more value in getting Buddy elected than she feels personal desire to bolt his stupid ass. But I can't see her hanging around in Nevada too long for the sake of the show. - "Hung up on by Amy Brookheimer, well there's a new low" When Selina turns it on, she can certainly turn it on. It's amazing how quickly she had the hostile reporter eating out of her hand. - "He is intimately involved in every aspect of his business. That said, he had no idea what was going on, and he fired a number five, and a couple sixes." May Dan and Jonah continue to fuck up each other's lives from now until eternity, like some sort of perpetual motion device of terror.

January Jones! Her performance of various states of mental stability and lucidity as Melissa have been great. I hope her character never quite regains full "normalcy" as it makes her character among the most dynamic of the group. Speaking of performances. I am so glad Erica has much more to do in this segment. She's a good central voice to the group, but had long been on the periphery. As much as I liked Lewis, with him gone, she's able to do more. She bought into the ridiculousness of the holiday celebration and was giving it her all throughout. One of my favorite moments. [Para-phrasing] -"Ah yes the eyeroll, the non-verbal sign that you agree with someone" - *Whole head eyeroll from Gail]

They came back as strong as they have in a long time! This wasn't just easing back in (a la, Veep last week) they went full force. The business decisions for Pied Piper made sense, and played out much better than the trailers made it look like it would. The humor was still there and in full force too, both verbal and physical (Russ with both doors on the Lamborghini open, then having to close the passenger one as he left was a subtle, personal fave). As outrageous as the Gavin scene was it really played up the out-of-touch billionaire aspect of his character that's been his hallmark. Stewing over the flight map, then applying "scientific process" to the flight time with the Head of Security, on the ruse of Jack costing the shareholders' money was excellent. He'll definitely be less relevant to the overall direction of both Pied Piper and Piperchat (theoretically), but I enjoy watching his follies. Something that could be interesting to watch. Remember that the framework was "ahead of its time" perhaps there will be a triggering event that causes the masses to begin embracing it, and it begins to take off with legitmate users. I believe that would still be the intellectual property of the previous, non-Richard, company. That could present some interesting dynamics as Richard pursues his own thing.

The Founder had been on my list for a while. I love a good business movie. I appreciate that these movies don't shy away from what assholes their subjects can be. The Steve Jobs Movies and The Social Network definitely come to mind. The McDonald brothers are made out to be sympathetic characters, but I also enjoy how the movie built the frustration between Ray's goals and Dick's control freak nature. The brothers basically painted themselves into a corner. They didn't recognize the growing business that Krock was building in the background while believing they had the power because of their contract. And I genuinely believe that Ray wanted to work with them. He loved their concept and (at least the movie portrays) was diligent to their model early on. But Dick's refusal to renegotiate probably cost them in the long run. He really set up the us vs. them mentality between the parties. I found this article on the McDonald's IPO from Investopedia. http://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/120215/if-you-had-invested-right-after-mcdonalds-ipo.asp If my math holds up. If each of Mac and Dick had invested half of their $1m take home into McDonald's IPO, that investment would now be worth nearly $2 billion to each of their estates having paid $52,877,500 in dividends (which seems low - I think Investopedia's number is off on that, since they say up thread the shares are currently paying $60,000/year in dividends versus the $243,900 LTD dividends to close the article. Even with hikes, that number likely would have been exceeded over just the past 10 years.) The movie definitely dragged in the middle, Laura Dern and Linda Cardellini's characters were pretty shallow. Thankfully his assistant was well constructed. I did enjoy seeing Nick Offerman do something different thoguh.

*Heard from the next room, "That wasn't the point, you miserable witch!" Besides being a great laugh, that was well done for a show-don't-tell method of letting us know that Radcliffe was a) Still alive, b) within earshot of a normal conversation in the next room and c) experiencing remorse. Which set up his and Daisy's talk in the third act. I enjoyed how they contrasted that talk, with Radcliffe's waxing on about how a sentance can change one person forever with a very visible self-evaluation from May, and some more crack's in the framework armor from Fitz. If there's one thing this show has been consistent in, it's that the world, and life, isn't as simple as Radcliffe like's to convince himself it is. Daisy shot down the Lincoln offer pretty quick. I wonder if she'll rethink that if she's forced to confront Trip, who sacrificed himself for her, or maybe Cal, who is working under Fitz, and developed the super-serum for Hydra.

*Pump* This was a great episode *Pump Pump* That's the one! (Totally doesn't work in the context of the pumping, but I Had to get it in there!) Every plot hit for me. I loved Fillion acting all incredulous at the end to quickly come down when they put the laptop in front of him. I know he's capable of much more. But Fillion as Network Sitcom guest star has been tremendous.

I can highly recommend Silicon Valley, @MarMar . Though I would start with the first season. Since it's only a half hour and brief runs, it's pretty easy to get through. But the first two seasons have definitely been the strongest.

I really enjoyed how that episode played out. The chemistry between the two girls at the end was spectacular. I enjoyed Max taking the proposal without her usual snark. It kind of confirmed how much Randy really meant to her. And Caroline's "You stole an engagement ring!" to realizing what had happened when Randy showed up and her friend-gasm made my heart smile. It really seemed like they realized it could be one of the last scenes they would shoot together, so they went for it. Only thing I didn't dig was the contrivance to keep them in the diner.

I was more invested with the cast of Silicon Valley, so I watched this one the whole way through, but something still felt off to me. It doesn't have the same organic conversation feel of the podcast, and while I agree with you, @MarMar, it its miles ahead of your standard talk show, the format still feels a little stiff. I think there are two issues I noticed: The commercials - I don't think you're going to be able to do anything with this on AMC outside of shooting the whole thing as one conversation and splicing the commercials in where it's most feasible. The audience and internet questions - I know Chris said he wanted to incorporate the after-show and Comic-Con panel style to the show, but I think it's easily the weakest part of the show. Questions from the audience are usually pretty weak and superficial (Elijah was very good at not making them seem that way), and the guests quickly go into a state of preparedness when those types of questions come up.

Yes, I definitely don't think a lot of the role was that much of a stretch for Williams. Trying just a little too hard to seem something she's not (Rose: empathetic, Williams: Average, run-of-the-mill person) and complicit with their family's misconducts, while trying to appear as though she isn't. Though I will admit that "light-switch" to evil Rose with the keys was well done, as was the scene on the bed.

The episode was really well done from the perspecitve that, final scene aside, it wasn't really about the new beginnings and hope for the future, that Hannah has been trying to find. There was finality to it, which seems appropriate for a shows finale, and like life not all things are good, nor all things bad. There was no big reconciliation with Shosh, and the struggle with maintaining a friendship with Marnie was real, which her mother hit home on. It was heavy. Thank god for the pants gag for some brevity!

Hal Holbrook! Hair issues aside, happy to see him popping up randomly these days, at 92! Even making the trip to Hawaii would be a chore for a lot of people by that point in their life. Never mind filming an action set-piece. I felt for Adam. He genuinely seemed like he enjoyed a lot about the job prior to the incident. I'm sure it felt somewhat freeing. While it was fun watching him problem solve with Jerry, I hope they resist the temptation to rope him in with Five-0 like they did with Catherine. It's more interesting to have these characters who can pursue stories outside the team.

As a non-resident, I think John. The SNL and LWT weekly recaps are about all the Trump administration news I can really stand to bear. I'm glad that Jon gets his digs in, and gets out. The French Election stuff was news to me, and quite interesting, which is when I find the show is at its best. What should be the most worrying thing, though, is how nations have become NIMBY populists. It's a lot easier to say that another country should stop acting a certain way. But when the nativism issues are front and center, in our own countries its been easy to get the populations riled up to back them. Fortunately the recent Dutch elections appear to have been at least something of a rebuff of this trend in Europe, but they haven't had the very public terror incidents that France has.

I'll be cautiously optimistic that some better narrative develops. This was an inevitable "Where are they now" show, given how last season ended. And it felt a little disjointed having to touch on so many places. Though I think they managed to get everyone except Amy, Kent, and Jonah to interact with Selina. And Amy was the only one who was truly out on her own. Richard was fantastic, if less adorably dumb, than in the past. When Andrew was proposing speaking engagements, "That's likely going to be an issue in the future." And when the specifics of the engagement (well, Specifics for Andrew), "Oh that will definitely be an issue" Ben remains the beating heart of the show for me though. His honest confession to Selina that staging a Presidential run (and seeing through the Omaha ruse) was a raw moment, but still had his famous one-liners in the chamber. I want good things for Ben!

Whoever had to sit through a high school play this week and turned around and rage-wrote their sweet revenge, Kudos! And good on the cast who were like a bunch of theater kids (as we saw in the cast party skit earlier this year) be good sports. Speaking of the cast, good on them for looking for other avenues if this is how Lorne's going to play them. Again with Baldwin and McCarthy, and throw in Dratch? Screen-time is hard enough to come by in a cast of this size, and now they're recycling bits that don't even include the cast.

When you're too bland to play the bland white boy character replacing freaking Paul Walker, you're pretty damn bland. "Rule Number three *smash... there are no rules" *thud *crickets Scott Eastwood aside, it was the standard fun fare we've come to expect from the series. As predictable as the motivational speech at the beginning of the movie was, the soccer mom's payoff was worth it. Tyrese is dumb as hell, but Roman's interactions still make me laugh, and Michelle Rodriguez carried a lot more weight than normal, which was nice. Oh how I wish Mother Shaw had been one of the two arial assault Shaws. I thought they treated her character well. I'm really glad they acknowledged the God's Eye (Satan's Bunghole). I was thinking, "don't you guys have that?" right before Romance mentioned it. As crazy as this universe is, they at least are willing to play by the rules they've created.