millennium

I find myself perturbed by the title of the episode, "Skipper Harris In Training," as though the episode was about Josh. It wasn't. Not even close. He was just a sidelight eclipsed by the bigger stories of the Wizard's ice peril and the accident aboard the Cape Caution.

I think that's more of a Cape Caution thing, when the crew needs to get to sleep. The only woman I've ever seen working the deck was that one captain's wife several seasons back, I forget her name, she was Dutch or Swedish or German. And she didn't work out as I recall. Generally speaking, women don't have the physical strength to do that job. Most men don't have the physical strength to do that job. Wouldn't it endanger the rest of the crew to put someone physically incapable on the deck?

Let's say Heller was saved. For what? To die of Alzheimer's? Saving him doesn't unring the "as a matter of fact, the United States does negotiate with terrorists" bell. Pyrrhic victory, at best.

Seeing William Devane get blown up was pure gold (from Rosland Capital, comes with a free mini-safe).

Every now and then I hear someone say that the show doesn't need Piper, that it can go on without her. I disagree. Personally, I think this season suffered because the writers backed away from Piper and put her character on equal footing with other inmates. I hope the show refocuses on Piper. And Alex, by association. Somebody in one of these threads hit the nail on the head when they compared Piper to Joel Fleischmann of Northern Exposure. Piper was our ticket in to Litchfield, just as Joel was the reason we tagged along to Cicely, Alaska. Remember what happened when Joel left the show? The show continued and the other characters went about their lives ... but it wasn't as much fun anymore. Primary characters like Joel and Piper function as our surrogates. They go places we can't. They personalize it for us. Would Wonderland be as interesting without Alice? Oz without Dorothy? River Monsters without Jeremy Wade? Larry and Polly were huge time sucks this season, Larry especially. As far as I could tell, his presence in the show this season was just one long set-up for Piper's clever moon metaphor. Though I am glad somebody finally socked him in the jaw. Hope that's the last we see of those two. I could do without Piper's brother too; it's a plotline without an apparent purpose. Soso brought nothing, hope she gets paroled by next season. It would be nice if Crazy Eyes were pushed into the background to give other characters a chance to shine (somehow I doubt this will happen). Let this also be the end of the Dayas of Our Lives soap opera. I enjoyed the Miss Rosa arc this season. I couldn't care less if the Old Rosa actress's bone structure or accent differed from the Young Rosa actress. The storyline was very human. There was no cheap bid for last-minute redemption, no Hail Mary remission. Rosa wasn't made out to be innocent or wronged .. but she was noble. And that's what she took with her in the end, her nobility. P.S. I watch with the captions/subtitles on, and in the final scene, after she hits Vee and the prison jeep fades down the highway and you hear Miss Rosa laughing, this final caption came on the screen: "Miss Rosa: More cow bell."

I haven't seen the early episodes in a very long time (I find that once you know who/what the monster is and how it turns out, there's very little reason to rewatch Supernatural; and yet I can watch X-Files episodes again and again). Was Dean's voice always gravelly? Or is it a more recent affectation? Oh, and additional Unpopular Opinion: I hate the continued farce of Sam and Dean pretending to be FBI agents when we all know they'd probably be busted the very first time they tried it. I realize certain shows ask the audience to suspend disbelief -- "I wonder how Batman and Robin change into their costumes as they're coming down the Batpoles" or "Gee, how does Duncan Macleod fit that sword under his coat?" -- but to ask us to believe that Sam and Dean can pass themselves off as Federal agents in an internet-driven, post-9/11 world is complete bullshit. If this were Police Squad, fine. But otherwise, bullshit.

Thanks for the imagery.

Perhaps to show that Caputo is equally despicable, in different ways. Meet the new boss/ Same as the old boss ...

It was all such a letdown. Figueroa got off too easy (and Caputo's just as bad). Larry and Polly got off too easy. Bennett got off too easy. Vee's minions got off too easy. Vee got off too easy. And I've had enough of Crazy Eyes to last me a lifetime.

Meh. I expected better. Yup. More satisfying (for me anyway) had Vee run into Red's sons at the other end of the tunnel. Red herself set up such an ending when she warned Vee that only her sons knew where the other entrance was, and what with Vee threatening Red's son directly ... It would have required a few tweaks to the script, but it could have worked.

Call me cynical. I suspect the new "responsible" Josh is a put-on for the cameras. He has to be aware of all the bad feelings he and his brother have generated over the years. You know what they say about leopards and spots. We'll see how long the "we have to do what's best for the crew" attitude lasts once he starts getting comfortable again.

I think anyone who can reconcile themselves to promoting and profiteering from the sale of heroin has unlimited innate potential to do terrible things to others, including Piper Chapman.

When will hospitals learn to lock the scrubs closet?

This episode certainly puts the kibosh on my observation that Vee's afraid to get her hands dirty. Hopefully someone will stop the holodeck "women's prison" program before Captain Janeway gets seriously hurt.

I liked the philosophy of redemption on Angel: No apologies for the past. What's done is done. We can only try to do better now. It didn't matter who you were, what you did, or how bad it was: the Angel team was willing to give you another chance and to help you along the way, as long as you were serious about changing. I still need to the get the final canonical four-issue arc of the Angel comic book, entitled "The Wolf, the Ram and the Hart." There was also a Lorne special issue that wraps up his story.

The updo. Not a good look for Ms. Natalie. Fun Fact: Connecticut has long had the nickname of "the Nutmeg State."

I'm not sure Vee has the balls to do it herself. Whether in flashbacks or the now, we have never seen her personally take care of the dirty work. She lets her minions take the risk, probably so they'll also take the fall, if things go south. But maybe also because she can't do it herself. Speaking of going South, what exactly do you think Healy was implying when he looked Piper right in the eye and warned her, "Chapman, you're going South. Finding closure with Vause should be the least of your worries."

I see. I don't watch The Bait. I find I'm not very interested in anything those guys have to say outside the wheelhouse. I watch for the man vs. nature aspect of the show, rather than the soap operas that too frequently (in my opinion) impose upon screen time that could be better spent focusing on the job at hand. Of course, when the reality show pap is foisted upon you by the show -- for example, the whole fiasco that is Elliot -- it's hard not to have an opinion about it

Thank you, I must have missed that.

All this conflict about who works when on the Time Bandit ... did I miss something? I don't remember any of this from the episode.

Historically, that's never been a legitimate excuse for bad behavior. Taystee KNEW what was going to happen to Poussey. Her expression a moment before it happened telegraphed that clearly. Good ol' Taystee stood by and said/did nothing while a maniac (and yes, I think Suzanne is a bonafide maniac) kicked the shit out of her best friend, and worse, while that friend was drunk and unable to fight back. I find it interesting that Sophia is virtually the only black woman who hasn't entered Vee's sphere of influence, for either good or bad.

With some folks, crazy's all there is. This is a woman who stalked Piper in a somewhat predatory manner last season and deliberately urinated on the floor outside her bunk. Why she's in minimum security and not confined to a psych ward is beyond me.

The shiv bait and switch was cheap. Cliche. It's good to see Alex in yet another episode. She's my favorite character. She lives in the moment, has a good sense of humor. She's empathetic yet ultimately a pragmatist. Her return to the series, like Pornstache's, is an almost nostalgic reminder of the first season of this show, which I think was much better.

What is truly absent from this series is the fear and madness that gripped Salem in 1692, which at various times has been attributed to land disputes and even the effects of LSD-like ergot growing on the grain. It was a village where the "afflicted" girls functioned like a tween Star Chamber, sending innocents to their death on a whim (or perhaps at their parents' suggestion). We had a scene or two like that early on, but then it went away. Come to think of it, where is George Burroughs? Where is Ann Putnam? Rebecca Nurse? The Parrish family? I know it's not meant to be historically accurate, but historically similar would have been nice. I think the writers have strayed so far afield from the history that they have lost their way. Meanwhile the characters and their motivations are getting murky. The show can't seem to decide whether John Alden is a hero or a bitter, broken man. They can't decide whether Mary is a black-hearted witch or a woman pining away in a loveless marriage. I'm starting to lose interest.

The Wiz's silly strut. "I'm the Wiz!" I laugh every time, no matter how many times I see it.