PinkRibbons

I have a $3 (we're cheap) bet with my father over whether she's already pregnant. My argument against is that if she was pregnant, they wouldn't be announcing an upcoming wedding in Spring, they'd be announcing a wedding that took place yesterday. His argument is based on how she apparently looks in a coat she was photographed in. *shakes head* Men.

If I have any complaint about the casting, it's probably George Parkinson. He just gave off too skeevy a vibe for me to really believe Mary would fall for him and his lies. The little we see of him before her death seemed flippantly flirty, and Mary was so sure about her beliefs when it came to men, I find it hard to see this George completely hoodwinking her. Fun fact though, when I first saw the scene after the women come in to see Mary dead, I thought it seemed strange for Grace to tell Mrs. Parkinson that Mary had said that she (Mrs. Parkinson) wouldn't like it at all if she knew who the man was, since we didn't actually see Mary say that to Grace (only that she couldn't say who it was. I didn't know why it was bothering me because of course Mary could have said it off-screen to Grace and we weren't shown. Then I reread (well, re-listened) to the book and in fact, in the book while telling her story Grace outright tells Dr. Jordan that she lied to Mrs. Parkinson about what Mary had said because Grace had her own suspicions about the baby-daddy. The fun part is watching the show knowing this, because in the flashback scenes Grace delivers that line perfectly earnestly. But in the show, she doesn't tell Dr. Jordon she lied, so here is one place you might be truly able to see the flashback as being false, even if just from the delivery of one line. Or maybe Grace was a really good liar in the flashback and what were shown is exactly what it looked like. GAH THE ENIGMA AND THE SUBTLETY.

Yeah, I definitely did not miss the skeevyness of Dr. Jordan. Only thing I will say is he skips town on Mrs. Humphrey when she starts talking about getting him to kill her husband, which puts him basically exactly in James McDermitt's supposed position, with Grace egging that man on. Gotta love that Jordan learned something.

Klaus said that he was the sire of the TVD vampires on that show, but that fact that they believed him unequivocally has always bugged the hell out of me. I mean we as viewers knew it was true because Rebecca confirmed it in a conversation with Elijah, but the TVD cast had no idea. It was completely in Klaus's self-interest to let them think he was their sire, especially at the time he told them that, and I'm still perplexed about why on earth they believed him. (I think this was before they killed Kol, which always made me SO FRUSTRATED because seriously they didn't even consider that there was a decent chance killing him would kill them all?)

That right there is an incredible feat in itself. And I never thought much about it before but Her Majesty has aged REALLY well. Her skin looks amazing. /shallow

I don't hate him but he is easily overdosed. I just hope the whole family isn't voiced by his actor, it's been done.

In the book it's Mary who laughingly says the stuff about Grace crossing water three times while they sit around predicting husbands. I think in the show we are supposed to believe that Jeremiah may have some powers*, but is essentially a showman. At least at the time that Jeremiah was trying to bring Grace away with him, he was definitely planning on being a con artist, since he specifically mentioned he'd rehearse her so that she would do a convincing trance (I would love to know what Grace left out of her story to Dr. Jordan that had Jeremiah mentioning he knew Grace had an aptitude for those kinds of tricks, having seen it for himself.) I especially loved the part of the hypnotism session when he invites anyone to try to bend Grace's arm, because that was pure and utter theatrics sort of suddenly popping up in the middle of a "scientific" procedure. When I choose to believe the trance actually worked, and that the possession idea was literal, I tend to think Jeremiah is actually as surprised as anyone. Like, either he accidentally conducted a successful hypnotism, or it was Mary realizing a prime moment to pop out, or some combination of the two. *My guess is that those kinds of powers are a sort of vague sense of the future. A lot of people claim to know things before they happen (although usually it's just a psychological aftereffect); maybe some of them are tapped into a bit of a sixth sense. Like Grace's mother predicting her own death and later Grace being so sure doom was coming to the Kinnear house.

I don't think that can be a complete admission of guilt much farther than what she outright admitted to; embroidering the story to make it more interesting to Simon. We know Grace had a rage in her heart against Nancy, not least because Nancy allowed her to come innocently into a house with that much scandal hovering over it. Even if Grace is somehow completely innocent of the murders, she doesn't deny that she and Nancy started fighting. She may have felt the story sounded better if the animosity between her and Nancy had started earlier. Plus, it could just have been that in reality Nancy waved and smiled at Mr. Kinnear and indeed completely ignored Grace like Grace said.

I'm almost afraid to ask it, but I wonder what they did to get such realistic screams out of Rebecca Liddiard. I've watched the episode several times now so the effect isn't as strong as the first viewing, but man that first viewing almost made me sick listening to it.

I watched it on cbc's website as it aired, and it had all six episodes separately, each about an hour long. They're still on cbc's website for Canadian viewers in case you want to see if you missed anything. I couldn't tell you what went on with the actual airing of it on TV. On another note, I am so pleased beyond words that not only were the writers (both original book and miniseries) female, but so was the director, Mary Harron, who I think did a really amazing job with both the look of the show (gorgeous, down to the last detail) and getting those performances out of the cast. All the awards to this show, the cast and crew. Oh, another thing specifically episode 6. It takes a lot for tv or a movie to genuinely scare and/or disturb me but HOLY CRAP Grace/Mary under that black veil. *shivers*

Sounds like might be netflix having a problem on your end. There are six different episodes.

Kendra (AND OMG THE BEAR) has rocketed to my top five minor characters list. I laughed so hard and yet completely understood why Tina and Tammy were so terrified of her. I only pray one day we see her and Louise in the same room. TEDDY YOU BASTARD STEPPING OUT ON BOB'S BURGERS.

I don't know why, but I've always been partial to believing Grace really was possessed by a Mary Whitney who died so angry she felt she had to take it out on the world. But that's almost entirely gut feeling, because this story is so intentionally enigmatic. We never do find out in the book or the show what she and Jeremiah said to each other when they had a moment alone -- I thought (and I suppose it doesn't hurt that this was what I wanted to think) that at least on the show it was played as Jeremiah being thrown for a loop by Grace. I mean, if he was trying to help her get her pardon, I don't think the "possession" was at all helpful. But then what could she have said that would have helped her case? "I remember now that I struggled against McDermott the whole time and I tried to throw myself in front of Mr. Kinnear and before that to save Nancy and I hit my head and that's why I couldn't give a straight story"? Whatever she might have said, I don't think Jeremiah was expecting it to be what she ended up saying. Incidentally, Sarah Gadon's impression of Rebecca Liddiard (Mary Whitney) was pretty damn amazing. And it wasn't just the accent, she got the manner and cadence down so perfectly -- yet not so perfectly you would think it was one actress dubbing the other. I really hope around Emmy season that both those ladies get nods in the Limited Series categories. Most of the casting was great, but SG was a revelation -- at points in the show she seemed to embody every single one of the personas thrust upon Grace. She drew up a character who was somehow both incredibly deep and completely opaque; a mystery rapped in an enigma wrapped in a ton of petticoats. As for RL, Mary Whitney could have been such a difficult role to play, but she brought so much love and fire and hate and wisdom and naivety to it. You can see how Mary Whitney could have been in Grace's life for such a short time and leave such a lasting impression (with or without any possible possession shenanigans).

I was watching Amy get so impressed at all of Howard's magic tricks, and for a moment I had I suppose a typical thought that man, he should have met her years earlier and they would have been a good couple, but then I realized no, there's actually something else here going on that's really beautiful. Howard has a female friend! He's always had one of the best character growth stories on the show, from sleazeball loser to capable family man. And this just adds another layer to his characterization which is really important. He has a genuinely fond relationship with a woman he isn't married or related to. (I don't feel like Penny really counts as a friend so much as a friend's spouse; she seems to have a fond but not deep tolerance for him). There's no creepy sex-crazed element, no antagonism beyond playful teasing; just a fulfilling relationship with someone who he can work with and who he also has some fun with. Amy gets a kick out of his personality in a way apparently no one else does, and since Howard no longer feels the need to be a creepy perv to any woman he sees, he actually seems to see her as a friend in the way he sees his male friends (although maybe nicer).

Medicated Bob is one of the top 5 Bobs, so I am very much looking forward to this!

I read the book several years ago and the show so far is incredibly true to it, complete with the framing device of Grace's sessions with Dr. Jordan. (Although granted it's been several years, so despite remembering most major plot points, I couldn't really point out where there are small changes.)

I think one of the issues is that at this point, Grace's memories are becoming much more suspect. Like, the closer we come to the murders, the less trusting we can be of her. In this episode we're already seeing flashes of her as told by McDermott, and they are pretty opposite to the way Grace remembers herself. So any inconsistency in Nancy is kind of understandable because of what filter we're seeing her through. That being said, I think Anna Paquin is so far the worst of the cast when it comes to the period dialog. She just can't make it sound natural the way Sarah Gadon can, or even the actor playing Dr. Jordan. And that is really jarring. Anyone else notice the description of this episode didn't match the episode? We didn't see anything about Dr. Jordan and Mrs. Humphrey.

Just as I was thinking this would be a Mayim-lite episode entirely, they pull out that great scene with her and Johnny. It was a neat bit of acting, the two conversations at once, and the two of them are a favorite unexpected pairing of mine. (There's something kind of sweet about watching them knowing the actors have known each other since they were fourteen. And it's documented on film. I almost want a side by side comparison of those scenes now, no joke, just to see how they have and haven't changed.) I did however expect and really wish that the conversation would delve into Amy's professional background, as she's in a field similar to Leonard's mother. I mean, granted she works more with dead people parts while Beverly writes horrible books about a live son she terrorized, but I'd actually like to hear Amy's thoughts on Beverly as a professional peer. (Back in the day I used to hope she was studying Leonard to write a book completely refuting anything Beverly ever wrote about him.) Just a somewhat topical aside; my father didn't care either way what gender my sister was going to be since he never wanted kids in the first place and only agreed to them to get my mother to marry him, but apparently he actively rooted for me to be a girl too because it would cost him less on clothing. Flashforward 30 years or so when my sister was pregnant with my father's first grandchild, and he'd decided he wanted it to be a girl because now he thinks having girls was awesome. (And seriously, he lives a sweet life. The man deeply enjoys being fussed over and henpecked.) Hilariously he was the only one in the family rooting for a girl because my sister went into labor without any name she liked for a girl, so having a boy was a huge relief. (And in the end, Papa is still crazy about the baby with no reservations.)

Yeah, they like to completely obliterate her figure. And she herself insists on not using hair extensions to fill out her hair, so it always looks thinner and limper than Penny and Bernadette's hair. This whole episode we saw Amy being the one thing the other female characters for the most part aren't: a scientist who applies her work to the world around her. (Bernadette at this point is basically just there to make jokes about harmful drugs and germ strains.) I would love it if she brought her sciencey side to the wedding (ngl, as soon as I heard about wedding dates I shouted "Pi DAY!" but then I looked it up and March 14 2018 is a Wednesday). I'm thinking numbers and/or equations embroidered on her wedding dress (especially of course 73), or make the lace of her veil look like fluffy brains. You can tell how much Amy loves her work and I want to see that reflected in her wedding.

This week's issue of Entertainment Weekly did a Blossom Cast Reunion, which got me thinking about the inevitable casting of Amy's family for the wedding. I thought it was very strange that they suddenly mentioned Amy's father in the first episode of the season after never saying a word about him before. (I tend to subscribe to the conspiracy theory that Amy and Howard share an absentee father.) Now I'm wondering if they're setting up bringing Ted Wass (Blossom's TV dad) in to play Mayim's dad again. I'd love if they could bring in the rest of the original Blossom cast as family members, but it's a shame that Amy canonically had no female friends until Bernadette and Penny, because if they brought on Jenna von Oÿ (Six on Blossom, and who I would frankly give my left foot to see together with Mayim again on screen) as family she'd most likely be playing an antagonistic role to Amy, like some awful cousin of hers.

It's official, Simon Helberg enters a scene and the funny goes up at least 50%. Solid episode. Nowadays it's interesting how much career-switching people do throughout their lives; it used to be you got an education and a job and that was it. Fact is it's becoming more necessary to start over again and again -- retraining, taking a different track with the training you do have. The show isn't outright addressing that kind of upheaval, but it's a timely subject. (Although honestly Leonard -- if you lost your job at Caltech, you'd go teach High School Science. Huge pay cut, but schools would fall over themselves for someone with his credentials.)

FWIW, many women identify as pro-choice and then state that their choice for themselves is to never even consider an abortion as an option (barring medical issues, usually). You can support other people's choices while making a different one for yourself. So whether Bernie is pro-choice or pro-life doesn't really matter to me. It seems that as far as she's concerned she pregnant and healthy and so she's having another baby, and that's her choice.

Poor Amy. Isn't it bad enough that she already shares her birthday with Halley? I'm actually looking forward to the new baby storyline. This kind of slip up with kids accidentally not being spaced out enough is actually a lot more common than we think, and I don't think I've seen it done before on TV. I'll bet a lot of people here can name someone they know of who got pregnant again a little too soon after giving birth. Like my mom's friend whose kids were ten months apart in age, and who later said that those first few years she wanted to hang herself every day (it got better).

For what it's worth, this past May I wished my parents a happy 33rd anniversary and am 90% sure neither of them remembered it until I brought it up. They forget their anniversary so often it's something of a running joke in our family. Penny and Leonard have such a nice comfortableness to their relationship. I don't see what's wrong with it, honestly. I've been on the Shamy boat since day one and was squeeing through the ceiling, but I also bust a gut laughing at Howard and Bernie reacting to the news of such a quick second child. Simon Helberg is such a treasure! My sister has a baby that I think must be about the same age as Halley (almost 8 months now) and she's told me more than once that her worst nightmare is getting pregnant again too soon. Even though my nephew is an astoundingly awesome baby, the "fourth trimester" was really hard on my sister and her boyfriend. Having to face it again so soon is a daunting prospect.