luvly

My understanding was that the bomb would be able to find Lyra no matter which world she was in because it works by seeking DNA. So they had the weapon they needed to destroy her but didn't have the ammo until Marisa walked in with a lock of Lyras's hair in her locket.

I oscillate between calling her Deadpan Nurse and Snarky Nurse in my head too, so I get it lol. But yeah, that's Ellen. I only know for sure because I watch with the captions on.

Kate didn't call Asta, Ellen did. The clinic had been backlogged since Harry went into hiding.

He said, "Sorry, but you've been found guilty by a vigilante mob of bridge-and-tunnel lunatics." Bridge-and-tunnel is New Yorker/Manhattanite slang for the people who commute there, via bridges and tunnels, for work and/or social events. Basically, locals vs outsiders.

Did anybody else feel like these last two episodes were switched? I made a remark to my friend that the lengthy previouslies on this episode seemed more like the S1 recap you'd expect on a S2 premiere, not S2E2. Harry's resurrection decision in the last episode also makes muuuuch more sense with the additional context of this Flies & Bees/Zaki/"the next Khashoggi" story line.

Not only was Grandma wearing a red dress when she encouraged the punching, the influencer filmed against a red background both times. I hate when shows have characters act nonsensically just to drive the plot. Even if Kristen is an atheist and doesn't believe in any kind of faith or superstition, she saw those girl jab things in their ears after being exposed to the song. I have a really hard time believing she'd then listen to that video, out loud with no earbuds, in the same house as her daughters when she has a perfectly good office right next door.

Since there's supposed to be some clue there with the numbers, I figured I'd list all the episode titles in one place so it's easier to puzzle over:

It felt like they were juggling too many stories in the episode. Lola had 2/3 stories, Mark had 2 stories and Emily had 2/3 stories. We weren't shown nearly enough of Lola's first case for me to have any kind of emotional investment about car theft guy's actions later on, certainly not enough to overlook interrupting an ongoing case to keep abreast of his car chase. Conversely, I really would have liked to know more backstory about Emily's client, the death of her brother and how she's felt the system failed her but it was just used a vehicle to introduce the ethics complaint. Do you mean presented to the court or presented to us, the viewers? Though not explicitly stated, it seemed like this was taking place before the prelim/probable cause hearing was even held because the grand theft of the ring was what took the misdemeanor trespassing charges up to felony burglary. With the "theft" outed as fraud and his own expert claiming there was no intent, he would have been foolish to waste the court's time by waiting until the hearing to drop the charges.

It was (Jonah) Simms, (Garrett) McNeill, (Cheyenne) Thompson, (Justine) Sikowicz, Vasquez, Bradley and (Sandra) Kaluiokalani. There were two other employees standing there when Dina was explaining the whole thing to Jonah and Cheyenne so I guess they're Vasquez and Bradley.

How so? He did exactly what he was supposed to do, give an honest reference. Hell, the cousin of ill repute couldn't even be bothered to ask OA directly, instead he had his dad tell OA that he'd already given Newark PD his info for a reference. You pretty much get what you deserve when you spring that on a person you already know doesn't think very highly of you. The cousin thought he could leverage OA's professional reputation with familial obligation and it turns out he thought wrong.

This show is entirely too new to be treading water already. When Eve showed up, I immediately thought they should have cast that actress as Ainsley. She has such a presence, the kind that makes sense for the up-and-coming journalist/news personality Ainsley is supposed to be, and great chemistry with Bellamy.

It originally went viral because people were making fun of her obvious attempt to fish for compliments on her voice and look like a relatable mom. The premise was that her last stop on the office tour was to swing by the nursery to wake Stormi up from her nap with her rise and shine struggle vocals and then head home. Only she's shown explaining this from outside the nursery door and the next shot is of her walking into the nursery and singing this to Stormi, who's standing up in her crib. So a camera person was already in position inside the nursery to catch this totally candid and authentic mother/daughter moment where Kylie wakes her already up and alert child.

Every time I'm done watching an episode I'm left with the feeling that the writers think Bull is far more likable than he actually is. It started off shaky but I've got to admit that "she really loved that horse" got a smirk out of me. An interesting thing I noticed. What exactly is Marissa's job title? It irked me that, in her absence, things that seem like assistant duties fell to Dani (investigator; former FBI) and then Taylor (cyber expert; former Homeland Security) while the menfolk weren't expected to pick up any slack. I felt insulted for Taylor that the former HSec. analyst got stuck with personal calendar duty while Chunk got to work on his coursework, presumably on the clock, when he used to just be the image consultant.

So am I the only one who needed to watch a couple of light-hearted comedies after this one? That was way darker than I was expecting. I kind of wish Kristen had been the one to present the "fake it til you make it" philosophy to the kid because David isn't well-trained enough to realize that he was basically teaching a budding psychopath how to assimilate and manipulate for personal gain. That Ouija board is definitely going to come back to haunt them.

I'll admit, I was so distracted by the Frankie double (triple?) cross that they got me with The Illusionist faking his death. In hindsight, duh, of course it was an illusion. Red really should snap him up. What in the gaslighting hell was up him blaming Liz for all this, though? You know a great way to keep her from asking questions and poking around? Not crashing into her life and literally demanding she work with you in the first place. Red is like a burglar who sues the homeowner for shooting him in the foot.

I'm kinda over the trend of science/lab nerds wanting to become badass field agents. Landing those kinds of positions in federal agencies takes a lot of work, education and dedication to that field and it's ridiculous to act like they've been secretly yearning to tackle and shoot people. As OTT as they eventually made Abby over on the mothership, I like that they always made it clear that she loved science and didn't consider her self less than just because her job was less physical.

It came off to me like he wasn't allowed to. I figured something was up when he wouldn't give Maggie a yes or no answer but said "I've moved on" twice. By the time they got to the check I was like yup it's hush money and was surprised they jumped to payment for the bomb, especially since he said "I've moved on" for the third freaking time in that scene. It was such obvious NDA talk that they should have twigged on to by then but, of course, they had to save the confirmation that he was "paid for his silence" until the end so they could have the cliched scene of somebody dropping the act and showing their true self. The evidence (footage confirming alibi) + the prosecutorial misconduct of withholding exculpatory evidence + conviction and sentence served sounds like an overturned verdict to me. I was surprised she even said "I chose to withhold it because..." to two FBI agents. That was...cocky.

Is it weird that one of my favorite things is that Jo was sleeping in an orange tank top and blue & white pajama bottoms? So often, TV characters (especially women) are shown sleeping in pajama sets or random tops and bottoms that still go together color-wise. It felt real that she was probably sleeping in an old tank top that she didn't like as much anymore, didn't fit well anymore, maybe had a hole or a bleach stain somewhere, etc. The show continues to impress me by having characters act like actual people.

She's in solid (d) territory to me. The secretive/liar part is usually about maintaining the "good girl" persona they've been told is so important. It's mostly used to hide the fact that they've engaged in some sort of sexual activity, but I've also seen people do it to hide the fact that they're now deeply neurotic about sex and their lack of experience. She may actually consider the little bit of all the bases but no homerun action she's experienced to be her version of wild, hence why she buries it like it's shameful behavior. She clearly had trouble sustaining this relationship with Keith and, according to her mom, her past relationships didn't fare any better. In my opinion, Iris isn't really all that proud of her virginity; she's super insecure about it and probably struggling with natural desires vs. feeling that it's dirty. Her problem is that, rather than embracing the vulnerability that comes with addressing her particular clusterfuck of sexual issues, she chose to double down instead. You hit the nail right on the head for me. I find that so much of what she does makes sense when you view it through the "What if he doesn't like the real Deonna?" comment she made when Pastor Cal visited them. She plays it cool and the editing played into that, but there were times you could tell there was a real closeness and camaraderie there between her and Greg.

I'm so glad you said this because it touches on something that's been rattling around in my brain for awhile re: Iris' seemingly level-headed mother. IIRC, Iris said her parents split when she was young, I want to say when she was around 4 years old. Parents generally try to keep their daughters from becoming sexually active too young, but in my experience single mothers (particularly black single mothers) place a lot of importance on making sure their daughters don't turn out "fast" and/or get knocked up as a teen. I can't tell you the number of HS friends I had whose single moms imposed all kinds of rules and regulations designed to keep them virgins: no boy/girl parties, no sleepovers if the friend has brothers, group dates only until they're 18, meeting the boy's parents before they were officially allowed to date, dating privileges revoked if their GPA fell below 3.0 (regardless of the reason), only talking to him on the landline in full view of everyone (it was the late 90s/early 00s), can't ride alone in a car with a boy, can only see PG movies together in the theater (ticket stub proof required) and leaning on religious purity culture even if they weren't necessarily all that religious themselves. In the long run, they mostly ended up with daughters who (a) became secretive and/or fantastic liars, (b) went wild to the nth degree when they went off to college, (c) had difficulty forming and sustaining adult romantic relationships or (d) some combination of all 3. This is all speculative of course, but being a little bit older than Iris, I've seen this "virgin by any means necessary" dynamic play out amongst my peers so many times, with no thought given to the long-ranging effects, that I would not be surprised if that's what happened with her.

"I's married." "So Matt, like truly... how you doin?" I know they're small things but these are the little bits of Deonna's personality that peek through that I wish they'd shown more of. I don't think she's nearly as cold as she seemed, nor is Greg nearly as needy/obedient, but their storyline had to be her walls so all the fun stuff got cut. I can't stand Frankenstein editing. Amber's face was never shown during the part when she lists all of Matt's positives because she didn't say it during her deliberations ie. after she spilled the tea. She said it earlier, when she wasn't crying, and they couldn't splice it in so they used a VO. I'm so curious as when she found out the full truth about Matt, especially when Raven really told her what he saw vs. the reenactment we got last week. In my experience, people go from denial and woe-is-me pity to anger when they realize the cheating is sexual and their SO could be putting their health at risk. Remember back when the experts visited and she told them Matt acts different when the cameras aren't around? His cold demeanor as the end backed that up in spades. Chapter closed, indeed.

Jamie's barely contained anger when Beth just kept slurping her drink and refusing to be goaded into begging him to come back or accepting more than her fair share of responsibility was chilling. At this point, I'm sure the unspoken part of him being like "I asked for someone just like her", is "...so I could break her". He absolutely intended to use his 4-day break to make Beth feel desperate for his return and it backfired beautifully. He only spun it as trying save their marriage before it was too late when he realized she wasn't pining for him. You ain't slick, Jamie. I don't know if that talk with her friend got through to her or what, but Amber is too through with Matt. He really did himself in with that faux profound speech to the rest of the group. Amber's body language was truly a sight to behold. Not much to talk about with Keith & Iris, he's just biding his time. I'll give it to Iris on the tequila though, not only is it annoying when grown adults try to pressure other adults into drinking but tequila? On an empty stomach? No, ma'am. "I feel like Moses" did get an unexpected laugh out of me too. I always find myself smiling when Greg & Deonna are on. They've both said that they wanted someone who pushed them and they seem to be doing that for each other, but not in an unhealthy J&E way. I haven't seen either of them force or belittle the other into doing something, so if they like it, I love it. IMO, Deonna's voice is just another version of code switching. Sadly, I know plenty of women that have adopted a higher or softer speaking voice so as not to seem too "challenging" in the workplace. ETA: Deonna's neck is def a genetic thing, it runs in my family too. Young, old, skinny, fat; the neck rings do not discriminate. Actually, that's a lie. More women than men seem to have them in my family. Hmm...😒

Tbh, I think Greg and Deonna are probably much closer than we're seeing. Two things that stood out to me: (1) their little "no regerts" inside joke as they walked to the restaurant is the kind of real-life intimacy you see with lasting couples instead of the fireworks magic that TV/movies try to sell and (2) Greg being hit right in the feels over Deonna wanting to wait until their real anniversary to eat their cake. They're going to be alright. Also, "put on my pajamas", my ass; they definitely did the dirty that night. Deonna didn't take off any of her jewelery, neither of them drained the tub or picked up those little LED votives and the champagne, flutes, strawberries and whipped cream were still out on the nightstand. That was them wrapping up the scene so the camera man could leave and they could properly celebrate their monthiversary.

Assorted thoughts: The last scene with Dylan and Nebraska Cop was so contrived. Nebraska was barely to the door when Dylan noticed the phone; honk the horn and he'll turn around. The idea of Dylan parking the car, following him through the main door and then whatever length of hallway that led to his apartment door without once calling out to him (or NB noticing) is funny in a way I'm sure they didn't intend. I don't think NB is in cahoots with the killer but I feel like we're going to find out later that one of his loved ones was one of the killer's first victims. Maybe before he really developed an MO, so technically authorities don't consider it connected. Sadly, I do think NB is meant to be Lizzie's new love interest, the sparring match all but confirmed it. The only thing missing was the deep, yet awkward gaze into each other's eyes after one of them pins the other. I'm meh on the breakup. I wasn't fond of her needling him about his work the past couple of episodes because she's always known that he's involved in some clandestine stuff and it felt out of character for her to be like "What if you're a bad guy?" I appreciated Dylan's dose of reality re: the circumstances of Julian's death in the future and that Lizzie didn't issue an ultimatum.

I'm about 85% sure the B-story is a setup for the Odin plot because (a) Emily Swallow is a bit of a HITG and (b) Gregson kind of mirrored Odin/Odker's actions. He saw a red flag, knew about Dwyer's disciplinary record and knew stepping in and confirming his suspicions would alter Dwyer's future irrevocably ("I file a complaint, that's it for him. He's gone."). He ended up being right, but the evidence was sparse enough that he could have been wrong. Kinda reminds me of Odin saying he'd send them an 80/20 call. Interestingly enough, I didn't like this plot the first time I watched the episode because it felt like a really poorly written way to address MeToo and the Elementary writers are usually pretty good. Gregson seemed to be jumping the gun to me because it didn't really seem like there was anything in their first conversation that would lead him to believe that Novacek was leaving for any other reason than getting a higher paying job in the private sector. Their second scene together at least confirmed his suspicion but it still felt a little underbaked to me. Upon rewatch though, I noticed the dry way she says "I believe that's your shield, sir" to Dwyer in the bullpen scene, the side-eye and half-hearted applause for him a couple of seconds later and her fidgeting with her left hand when telling Gregson she'd put in her papers. There were a lot visual cues I missed because I wasn't looking for them. Though I suppose that might have been the point.