Wordsworth

Not sure how it works in England, but everyone has a right to a defense attorney in the US and that attorney is not obligated to believe his client is innocent or to even like his client. He is, however, obligated to defend the client to the best of his ability and that includes poking holes in the testimony of witnesses and bringing up questions of their credibility. This was why the prosecutor warned them about being truthful on the stand. Any lie is going to be exposed and, if done so on the stand, may cause the jury to deem that witness untrustworthy. And, while it was explained above that, in the UK the prosecutor cannot meet with witnesses in the manner in which the Latimers had them congregate, I can see any attorney in the US being concerned about that as it gives the witnesses the opportunity to agree on a story, to collude in a way that may cause the prosecution trouble down the line. Suppose, for example, they all agreed to the same story, even if one or two witnesses may have experienced something else. The defense attorney could conceivably prove those witnesses' testimony as false and the result of collusion. Even the police tend to be suspicious when every witness' version of events matches exactly...it increases the likelihood that they all got together and agreed to the same story. Further, if the defense is going to argue that Joe Miller did not kill Danny, then they are going to have to demonstrate that someone else could have, even if that person is one of Danny's parents. The line of questioning about Mark is not out of bounds. Mark struck Danny...he could have killed him, too. If that casts reasonable doubt in the minds of jurors, the defense attorney has done her job in defending her client. As for Miller's injuries, I agree that there should be some evidence to show that Miller was not injured prior to being attacked by his wife. The defense attorney will argue that any eyewitness testimony by police officers will be biased due to loyalty to Hardy & Miller. Any US defense attorney would do the same. "Oh, so no police officer saw any bruises on Miller? Of course, no one did. They aren't going to say anything that doesn't fit what their buddies said". But, yes, I agree that there should be some argument that Miller did not appear injured on the video, did not ask for a doctor, etc. Finally, we learned that Beth's mother has died. Beth's had a rough few months: her son has died, she finds out her husband is having an affair, she's pregnant, her friend's husband turns out to be the killer and her mother dies. I definitely don't agree that she's right in blaming Ellie for this, but she's got to lash out at someone and, fair or not, she's picked her target. So that's why we're getting these wild suppositions that Ellie knew her husband was the killer, protected him all that time, is part of the defense team that resulted in Danny being exhumed and deliberately caused injuries to him so that his confession would be tossed out. Doesn't make sense to us...but we know the truth, don't we? Marriages are often damaged when a child dies. It's clear that Mark & Beth have a long way to go to repair theirs. As for the Sandbrook Case, I'd have been happy if they'd left it behind, but I do agree that Hardy has got too much on his plate right now. It may have been safer for Claire to have a public meeting place, but Hardy's priority isn't necessarily her safety. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he doesn't care about it, but the only reason he was hiding her was to try to draw Ashworth out. In Ellie's unoccupied house, he could bug the place and watch the doors. A hotel room might have been a better place for that, but Ashworth might have been more suspicious of bugging there than in someone's private home. He clearly believed that Hardy would try to get evidence since he asked specifically if Hardy was going to set up wires and he checked Claire to be sure. On the other hand, we also know Ashworth likes to swipe mail since he grabbed Hardy's medical document in episode 1. So walking into a private home with mail on the threshold is probably somewhat of a temptation. Especially if he's smart enough to realize it's Miller's house. But I also agree that Claire left with him willingly. She talked about how hard it would be to see him because she had an addiction to him. She's one of those women that is so stuck on a bad boy that, even though her life is safer and saner without him, she can't keep herself away from him.

I wonder what realm the Apostle James ruled over...?

I remember the "Cold Case Files" episode myself. I couldn't remember if it mentioned Terry's death at the end or not. I do remember at least one episode of some true crime show that did. Didn't they do that case on "American Justice" or some show like that, too?

Watching Frasier bungle yet another relationship last night got me to thinking. I pointed out to Mr. Wordsworth that Frasier's relationships end because. A) He isn't being himself (pretending to like something he doesn't, for example) B) He is being himself ( when he over-analyzes or obsesses over something stupid) C) Some other character randomly ruins it for him (ala the three dates Sherry ruined in "Three Dates and a Breakup").

Really, I think Beth is angry at herself. She's angry that her family was able to keep so many secrets from her (Mark's affair, Danny's relationship with Joe, Chloe's boyfriend/the money/the drugs). She believes a mother should know what's going on in the house, so she lashes out at Ellie who she believes should have known. Yes, it's hypocrisy, but Beth is upset and looking for someone to blame. I don't blame her for her initial hostility, but I would have hoped that six months would have given her time to think about it. It reminds me of true crime shows I've seen where a serial killer is arrested (like BTK, etc) and his wife was completely clueless. Inevitably, at least one victim's family member express disbelief that the wife didn't know. But...I mean how many of us have spouses, parents, siblings, children that we trust? How many of us would ever believe our father would murder someone? Our brother? Our son? And it fit with the theme of how Ellie's view of Broadchurch the town was shaken through the entire case. She told Hardy constantly how things like this didn't happen in this town, how she knew this person or that person. As the case went on, she finds out Mark is an adulterer, Jack did jail time, Coates was an alcoholic. The people - the town - she thought she knew didn't exist. It must have been a comfort to go home every night to a husband and sons where everything was safe and where there were no surprises. And in the end she had to learn what Susan Wright had tried to tell her...it is possible to be fooled by those you trust the most. I was a little creeped out by Mark meeting with Tom - who seems to have grown a foot and gone through puberty - in the last six months. Is this a case of Joe Stole My Son So I'm Gonna Steal His? Does he just need to get away from home and spend time with another boy? Is he just afraid Beth will freak out? Whatever happened to Grandma anyway? As to Joe, I get where he's going with this. He felt guilty for killing Danny so he confessed. But several months in jail have given him time to think about how he will be able to live in prison as a man who murdered a child. He said so himself that he cannot spend the rest of his life in prison as a child killer. I don't know much about the British penal system, but the American system is full of offenders against children who are abused by their fellow inmates. Likely Joe got to thinking about his life behind bars. He's willing to take a chance at being found not guilty to avoid that life. I do agree that this Claire business is a bit of a distraction, though. And it's just way too soon for me to have to accept that adorable Mr. Jarvis as a creepy killer.

Y is for Yarnell, as in actor Bruce Yarnell who played Captain Winslow in Episode 11, season 1 "Happiness is a Warm Sergeant".

That's exactly right. Mary wouldn't agree to marry Matthew until he'd been told about Mr. Pamuk. She wasn't excited to tell him which is why she kept putting him off. Then Cora became pregnant. Violet urged Mary to accept the proposal because, if she didn't agree to marry him when she thinks he might be poor, he won't want her to marry him when she thinks he will be rich. That's exactly what happened. When Mary delayed her answer to Matthew again, he assumed she wanted to wait and see what gender Cora's baby was, as that would determine whether Matthew would be the heir. He broke it off and left.

Lord Grantham is now at least in his 50s. He was born at a time when the Earl of Grantham was not only the leading citizen of the area, but a person of great influence. Violet told him earlier this season, "Your papa told the villagers what they wanted". Think back on season 1 when Robert handled Mr. Grigg quite deftly and authoritatively. "This is what's going to happen....", paid the man off and told him not to come back. He had the influence to follow through on his threat to have Grigg thrown in prison. That was first season Robert in a nutshell. The Lord of the Manor, confident in his purpose in life, as he explained to Matthew, to preserve Downton. Most of Robert's life has been spent doing just that and he had every expectation that it would continue. But "Downton Abbey" really isn't about the Earl of Grantham sitting in his domain, doing as his Papa and Grandpapa did. It's about the change that occurred in the early 20th century that began the process of diminishing the centuries-old system. And part of the story is how Lord Grantham finds himself becoming obsolete over a ten-year period. We saw it in season 2 as he was relegated to a mere honorary rank in the army. As Downton was being usurped by the military, his wife and daughters off doing war work, the male servants off fighting while housemaids were recruited to serve meals instead, Robert was flailing with nothing to do, feeling useless. That was, in part, what drew him to Jane Moorsen the maid with the son. After the war, though, he was ready to return to normal. That didn't happen. Times have continued to change. With the working classes finding better jobs outside of service, women having more educational and professional opportunities and the fluctuating mores of the period, he is feeling pushed out. His way of life - his purpose - is being challenged everywhere. Even at his own dinner table. So, we don't see confident Lord Grantham anymore. We are seeing defensive, insecure Robert Crawley.

SusanSunflower, yes, but it was very brief. Mr. Carson & Mrs. Hughes were pondering the thought of Cora coming face-to-face with the "traitor", but it was revealed that Miss O'Brien stayed behind to be the Lady's Maid to the wife of the Governor-General.

Edith: Rosamund warned her what would happen if she left Marigold with the Drewes. She did it anyway. Mr. Drewe was given a story about a friend of hers who died. She offered to give him money to raise the child. He mentioned that he believed his wife was agreeable to having more children. He asked her why she didn't raise the baby herself. Edith said her parents disapproved of the friendship. At that point, Mr. Drewe understood the real problem. That's when he offered to write a letter himself from a dying friend and leave his wife out of it. Flash forward to this season. It's been at least one year since Marigold was left with the Drewes. We do not know if Edith is supplementing their income even though she offered to. Maybe she is. Maybe Mrs. Drewe doesn't know about any extra money. What Mrs. Drewe does know is that her husband's friend wrote a letter and asked him to take care of his baby daughter when he died. That's enough for her. The baby, so far as she knows, has no parents. At first, Edith dropping by every so often probably wasn't a big deal to Mrs. Drewe. For awhile. But, by the time the action picks up this season, Edith is clearly wearing out her welcome. Mrs. Drewe doesn't know Edith is Marigold's mother, doesn't know Edith has any connection at all to the child and may not realize there's money being given for her support as the husbands often dealt with the financial end of things. As we pick up season 5, Mrs. Drewe is becoming worried. Edith stops by at random times, uninvited. When she's there, she holds Marigold on her lap, petting her, cuddling her, paying no attention to the other children, wanting to put her to bed or help with something, acting very much like a desperate person. Her attention to the child is not that of a rich lady taking an interest in her well-being and education, but of a very clingy woman not wanting to let go. Why would it seem strange that Mrs. Drewe would come home, find them nowhere in sight and, for a brief moment, really worry that Edith had kidnapped Marigold? I'm sure she'd wondered at least once or twice if Edith wanted to do just that. So she complains to her husband, fretting that Edith has a crush on him, trying to make sense of this. Drewe tells Edith she's got to tone it down. Edith doesn't. Instead she brings Rosamund around. Drewe tells him his wife is threatening to make them move if she won't stop coming around. Edith shows up at Marigold's naptime and Mrs. Drewe slams the door in her face. We know Mrs. Drewe is being unreasonable because Edith is Marigold's mother, but the problem is that Mrs. Drewe doesn't know that. So Edith shows up, having annoyed the patootie off of Mrs. Drewe already, with some wild story about Marigold being her daughter. Of course, Margie doesn't believe her. As far as she is concerned, Edith is just concocting a fable in order to finally grab Marigold once and for all. It took Mr. Drewe and the birth certificate to convince her. She tore up the birth certificate because she didn't want to accept it. She was angry and distraught, then Edith went right for the baby, exactly what Margie had grown to fear she was after all along. It was not a good situation. Edith should have asked Mr. Drewe to speak to his wife ahead of time so she knew the real story and not just shown up demanding the child. At least, Margie could have had time to process the information and vent to her husband about his deception. Ideally, of course, Edith should have kept her child from the beginning, but, barring that, Drewe should have just gone with her original plan of them raising her as the daughter of a "friend of Edith's" that way Mrs. Drewe would have known from the beginning that Edith would be involved. She went to Cora to complain about how her family had been exploited so that Edith wouldn't have to face her parents with an illegitimate child. And she was right. Bateses/Baxter: I loathe that we are in the middle of another legal controversy for the Bateses. However...."Downton" loves implying that people know more than they do. Miss Baxter knows exactly three things: that somehow Anna was hurt and that Bates feels guilty for not protecting her (she was present when Cora was relating the conversation she overheard part of in the hotel restaurant. Cora swore her to secrecy), that Mrs. Hughes found something in Mr. Bates' pocket and that Mrs. Hughes later denied to Anna that she found anything of substance. Now, it would appear that the show is telling us that Miss Baxter was close enough to Mrs. Hughes to know that an untorn train ticket to London was found. But, at the time, Miss Baxter would not have known that there was anything significant to the ticket in Bates' pocket. For all she knew, it could have been trash. The Bateses, however, apparently found out what Miss Baxter told the police. They also have no way of knowing why Miss Baxter told them what she did. They don't know she was given the job only because Thomas wanted her to spy on people and that he was holding her legal problem over her to get her cooperation. They don't know that she's had legal problems or that the police threatend her so they could find out what she knew. So, yeah, of course they're mad at her. :) Anna/Mrs.Hughes: Ugh, again the show loves for us to think the characters know more than they should. After the fire, Mrs. Hughes came upon Edith and Drewe speaking together, planning to meet to discuss a better way to explain Edith's constant hovering over her child. Who knows how much of the conversation Mrs. Hughes overheard? It looked like she just came up on them. Then Anna & Mrs. Hughes find a photo of baby Marigold under Edith's pillow while picking through her room after the fire. Then Anna sees Mr. Drewe with Marigold on the train. This show often displays how much servants know about the private lives of their employers. They see and hear much even when they are being overlooked. I'm sure Edith's attachment to this child has come up in mixed company. My guess is that Mrs Hughes has figured it out, Anna has suspicions, but...well...it's none of their business.

The Christmas Special was very busy. Way too many things happening. I was also tired of being able to predict what was going to happen. For example, as soon as Anna mentions a stepfather, I think, "Oh, no, they're going there." Or as soon as a pair of women's feet and a little child's feet appear outside the car, I started groaning. Mr. Wordsworth, who knows my sounds well, asks me who they are. I answer, "Lord Sinderby's illegitimate child". Just please say that Mr. Green's death has gone away for good. I like Anna & Bates and wish they would have happier lives. And I loved Mr. Carson's proposal. He looked like he was going to cry when she accepted. So the season of marriages & proposals has ended. It began with Mary contemplating how to handle Tony's proposal. Then we saw people in unhappy marriages like the Kuragins and the Flintshires. People pondering whether someone is the right person for them - Tom & Sarah, Tony & Mary followed by Mabel Lane Fox, Isobel & Lord Merton. We saw how secrets caused problems in the Bates and Grantham marriages. We saw a Big Secret that could doom the Sinderby marriage. Atticus & Rose meeting and marrying. Molesley & Baxter discussing rings. And Mr. Carson proposing to Mrs. Hughes caps the theme.

John Drake was the farmer Edith kissed in season 2. Tim Drewe is the farmer who took over his father's place in season 4 and also agreed to take on the pigs, too. Rosamund told Edith that times were changing, but not fast enough for a young woman like her. She also warned Edith of the complications of letting the Drewes raise Marigold. Edith wanted her child near her. She told Drewe it was the baby of a friend of hers, offered to give him money to help. If Drewe'd kept it that way, Mrs. Drewe would have known the baby was connected to Edith. Edith dropping by would have been expected and her deep emotions would have been brushed off as guilt for not being able to raise the baby herself. Drewe, however, suspected Edith was the mother from the beginning. He decided to keep his wife out of it and wrote a letter himself alleging to be from a dying friend. For all Mrs. Drewe knew, the baby was an orphan, the letter was proof enough and the baby was theirs. At multiple steps, Tim could have told Margie that Edith had asked them to take care of the baby, but he didn't. Instead, he brushed off his wife's concerns, then concocted that idiotic and very awkward conversation about replacing Margie's sister with Edith as the godmother. Mrs. Drewe watched the stranger from the big house come by whenever she wanted, petting her little girl, clinging to the child, looking desperate. Even after Tim told Edith to stay away for awhile and give them some space, Edith still showed up. I don't blame Margie for being suspicious. Edith never should have involved the Drewes at all or, at least, insisted Mrs. Drewe know that she had a connection to the child, as well. Agreed with others that Dr. Clarkson was remarkably kind to Thomas. Seriously, does Scotland Yard really spend this much time looking after the death of an unemployed servant two years after the fact?

Miss Bunting: Glad she's gone. She served her purpose to remind Branson of who he was. But Robert's talk with him made him realize that he can appreciate both worlds. Like he told Sarah in the beginning, "I believe in people, not types". Sarah Bunting was just as guilty as those aristocrats she hates of lumping groups of people together. She never gave the Crawleys a chance. She judged them before she knew Branson, judged them before she got to know him better and still judged them after he told her he loved them. Even when he was giving her the brush-off, Bunting couldn't believe he didn't despise the family. I cheered when he told her that his wife and his daughter come from them, too. When you insult his late wife's family, you aren't going to win points. I disagree that she's being presented as evil because she hates the aristocracy, but because she chooses to hate. Edith: Rosamund warned Edith in the beginning what would happened if she went through with the inane plan to involve the Drewes. She gave her a list of items and nearly all of them have come true. Edith told Mr. Drewe some story about a friend of hers, but he clearly understood the real problem and offered to keep his wife out of it. That was his mistake. This would have been much easier if he'd just given Margie Edith's story about a friend of hers. At least then it would have been a plausible reason for continuing to come by the house. To Margie's knowledge, this child was the daughter of a friend of Tim's. The letter asking the family to take her is proof enough and why would you need adoption papers if the parents are dead, right? But because Tim decided to keep her out of the loop, she doesn't understand why this woman from the big house continues to come by constantly, setting her little daughter the lap, petting the child and acting very much like she's going to grab the child at any moment and run out the door. Mrs. Drewe isn't being paranoid or over-reacting...I'm sure that's very much what Edith wants to do. I'm betting Edith grabs that little girl the minute she's in the house. She simpers about wanting to put her to bed and do other things for her. She shows up telling them she has to see the child. She acts like a desperate woman. To Mrs. Drewe, there is no foster situation; no adoption arrangement with Edith; no indication that this child belongs to any other living person. So why shouldn't Margie be suspicous? Why shouldn't she worry that Edith kidnapped Marigold? She didn't know Tim was home when she found them out back (remember she told Edith she should have left as soon as Tim got home). All she knew was that she came home, already unhappy at the amount of time clingy Edith is spending with the child, and didn't find them inside. For a moment, she certainly did believe Edith capable of taking the girl. That scene where Tim and Edith mangled the whole stupid "godmother" situation just made it worse. It pits Margie against her husband, Marigold against her adoptive siblings and the Drewe family subject to constant random visits whenever Edith just has to see the child. If she's not having an affair with Tim, the only other thing could be that she just wants to pet on the child until she gets another project. In Margie's eyes, the child is having her daily life interrupted by a dilettente that will get bored with her. Rosamund's visit only cemented the problem for her. Not only is Edith not staying away, but now she's bringing random visitors around. The whole thing was mishandled from the beginning. As a parent of a stepchild who was moved from place to place by a transient mother when he was young and who I strongly suspect has some form of R.A.D. because of it, I feel for poor Marigold. In the real world, she will remember those people and, if not them, she will remember the feelings of being suddenly moved from the Drewe's cozy cottage to a large nursery where her "parents" and "siblings" are nowhere in sight, put under the care of a paid servant. And as sorry as I feel for Edith whose choices and the dictates of society led her to this, poor Mrs. Drewe is being treated badly. I don't envy her when the baby is yanked from her and for the other children who will certainly ask questions when their little sister is taken away. Mr. Bricker: He was so adorable. But so out of line. Of course, Cora appreciated him and his flattery, especially while her husband was ignoring her and dismissing her opinions. But nothing she did encouraged him to come into her bedroom uninvited to hit on her. He did that himself. And the rest: Please, God, please, just stop this whole Greene business. Would Scotland Yard really care who might've pushed an unemployed servant in front of a bus on a busy street? After two years?? Anna didn't kill him. Bates didn't kill him. Just move on. I love Bates & Anna. They don't deserve all this. Rose & Atticus: How cute. The Russians: No people group is entirely sympathetic or entirely evil. I can loathe their anti-semitism while feeling sorry for them being thrown out of their homes, their country, separated from their families and being forced to eke out a living in foreign lands.

Mr. Wordsworth would prefer that Molesley take over as Butler after Mr. Carson dies and the manor falls apart after that. Because it's Molesley. I don't think he'd live that long because Thomas would kill him.

I hadn't seen the episode, but knew how it ended because of the love other "Chopped" fans have for Madison & Lance. I watched it with Mr. Wordsworth who wasn't too impressed with Lance's Christian proclamations because Mr. Wordsworth has seen too often people talk the talk but never really seen them do anything that exemplifies Christian behavior. I just watched and smiled as he grudgingly kept watching. Then Lance offered to buy Yoanne a ticket, I turned and watched Mr. Wordsworth wipe his eyes and sniffle.

I, too, have thoughts of George dying in WWII. Morbid, huh? I envision a woman's voiceover at the end going through the manor house, telling us what happened to everyone. At the end, it's Edith...last one standing. So here it is: The Dowager Countess dies in 1930 after a long, cantankerous life. Her son, Robert, follows two years later because people didn't always live long healthy lives. Cora remains a widow for the next 12 years, seeing the end of the war with all its heartaches, dying in 1946. Isobel Crawley preceeded her in death in 1939. Mary died in 1954, leaving behind no husband or children as her only child, George, was killed in 1940 evacuating from Dunkirk. Rose lives it up until 1971. Edith is the last to die in 1980. Tom is killed in a riot outside a factory in the U.S. in 1937 when too many people show up for a job during those lean Depression years. Sybbie is raised by his relatives. She dies in 1966, never seeing her English family again. Mr. Carson dies in 1933; Mrs. Hughes in 1941. Mrs. Patmore succumbs to a heart attack brought on by hypertension in 1931. Daisy dies in 1957, six months after Mr. Mason finally kicks off and leaves her his farm. Anna outlives her husband by 20 years, dying in 1959. Bates himself dies of pneumonia in 1939. Thomas dies in 1950. Mr. Molesley in 1942.

It was the end of the second round and Cara/Kara wasn't being particularly gracious and Alex said something along the lines of, "Confidence is good, but I personally appreciate a certain amount of humility". There've been arrogant chefs on this show before but that was probably the first time a judge told a contestant to take it down a couple of notches.

I don't know that the show is necessarily fixed as the article linked in the earlier post above wonders. But I do agree that the judges' decisions are somewhat arbitrary. And I totally believe that, if you have an arrogant chef, the judges will judge that contestant more harshly than the others, which may be what causes so many of them to be chopped in the final round. The only really arrogant winner that stands out to me was that awful Cara/Kara person who won a redemption round. Her blank-eyed condescension even brought Alex down on her. But, most people should know that reality shows are edited for content and anyone who goes on it must be prepared for their comments to be aired, cut, showed out of order and the like. And I also agree that someone who goes on "Chopped" at this point should know that they might be asked to cook something they don't like.

No and he's not complicated either. His stories are rarely surprising and generally play out the way we're being told. This is why Vera Bates inexplicably poisoned herself instead of being offed by Miss O'Brien to keep her from tarnishing Her Ladyship's family or anything else more likely than a grown woman eating a pie full of rat poison on purpose. The show tells us what's going on until it's decided a specific storyline is over with. Then it's done. So Bates didn't kill his wife. He also didn't kill Green. Neither did Anna. Neither did Mrs. Hughes. They're just not going to be the killers. That's not how this show works. Tony Gillingham was a great guy until the plot required him not to be. I'd be on board with him killing Green. If only because it can't be anyone else we know. Now, moving on. Rude Miss Bunting. The aristocracy knew how to treat rude guests. Robert is just feeling powerless as his world changes around him. He was raised to be a gentleman and run Downton for the benefit of the community. Now, everything he knows is ending. Mr. Carson is of the same overall generation and mindset. So, he will act the same way. Of course, he should totally understand why Mr. Molesley is upset about issues of precedent. But, it's Molesley, after all. But Miss Bunting's got to go. In 1924, she might have felt the war was a waste, but there was no way for her to know how pointless it had been. The English believed they'd help save Europe from German aggression. For the moment, they'd succeeded. She wouldn't know for 15 more years how little they accomplished. The last person to make Branson question his place was Edna Braithwhite. Bunting's cut from a slightly more educated no less annoying cloth. Those poor Drewe children. I'm hoping she isn't the reason the Drewe boy got the Geography Ribbon. Edith, Edith, Edith. Was anything more clunky than that terrible scene in the last episode where Drewe pretends poor Marigold is a burden on the household and tries to get Edith to usurp Margie's sister as godmother? Clearly, he and Edith hadn't planned this out much ahead of time. Edith could've come there and said, "Look, I'm sorry I've been such a pain, but, I've been unlucky in love and, as a result, have had to focus on other things. Among them, I've become quite interested in the welfare of women. I'd like to help your family so that you can give your girls an even shake in the world" Or something! As it is, Drewe is just going to have to tell Margie, "I should've told you sooner. Lady Edith came to me with some story about a friend who died and asked me to take in the baby because her parents didn't like the friend. I thought there was something fishy about it, but didn't say anything at the time. I didn't think it was a big enough deal, so made up a story about a friend of mine dying instead. I shouldn't have done that. I didn't realize she was going to be a nuisance. She's clearly feeling guilty about not being able to raise the baby herself." Or something! And I'll take Mr. Bricker if Cora won't. What a charming man! As for Anna & Bates. The shows keeps implying that Baxter knows something. She doesn't. This is what Baxter knows: * She knows that Cora overheard part of a conversation at the dreadful hotel restaurant between Anna & Bates regarding Anna having been hurt and Bates feeling guilty for not being able to protect her. She was sworn to silence about that conversation. She has no idea how Anna was hurt or that it was by Green. She has no way of knowing that Bates or Anna had any cause to want harm to come to Green. (Digression: The only people who we know of who know Anna was raped are Anna, Mrs. Hughes, Mr. Bates and Mary. We don't know what story Anna told Mrs. Hughes the night of the concert, but Mrs. Hughes clearly figured out Green was the attacker as early as the next morning. Mr. Bates immediately accused Green of the crime when he found out what happened, but both Mrs. Hughes and Anna denied that it was him. We've seen nothing to indicate that either of them admitted the truth to him. Mary appears to be the only person who was told by Anna that it was Green.) * Baxter saw Mrs. Hughes pull the train ticket out of Bates' overcoat. She may or may not have seen what it was, but could not have understood the significance. Because, after all, what I noted above: she does not know what happened between Green & Anna & Bates. Who cares that Mrs. Hughes pulled a piece of paper out of Bates' overcoat? * She knows Mrs. Hughes told Anna that she found nothing of significance in Bates' pockets. She knows Mrs. Hughes found something, but, for all she knows, it was just trash. Miss Baxter has nothing to tell anyone about the death of Green because she doesn't understand what she knows. So I'm not getting why the show seems to be indicating that she knows more than she does. All she knows is that Anna was hurt, Bates feels guilty and Mrs. Hughes found a small paper something in Bates' coat. The end.

First episode, we enter the scene with dread. Then we cheer because there is Clancy Brown. Then we mourn because he'd dead five minutes later. Who knew that wasn't the end?

LOL! Mr. Wordsworth and I love it when we see someone tosses a skillet with a big, fat chunk of beef into the oven. Those ovens must be pre-heated to 200 degrees because they almost never get anything done.

The other day, I made crescent rolls and Mr. Wordsworth found a bit of the can wrapper stuck to one of the rolls. He made a point of doing a Chris Santos and holding the bit of wrapper out to me. We laughed.

I told my then-fiance that, if he spent two months' salary on an engagement ring, I would hurt him. Spending that kind of money that could be used as a down payment on a house or just a nice honeymoon on a ring seems silly to me. YMMV. My engagement ring is a Black Friday K-Mart special. I still have no idea how much it costs. But I'm perfectly happy with it. Maybe Anna is happy with hers, too. In the end, that's all that's important.

Or perhaps those people simply don't believe that certain issues embraced by others within their population segment really are in their best interests....

My, but Richard Kline has aged very well. http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photos/richardklinenow.jpg