dahling

Dr. Now: "I'm checking on Teretha to see if she's made progress and can walk. If she can't, then I will not approve her for the surgery." Teretha proceeds to barely put weight on her feet with the assistance of a team of paramedics. Dr. Now: "Teretha made progress, so I'm approving her for the surgery." Seriously there had to be a lot we didn't see there. Or were they already too deep in filming the show to not do surgery on her? She was a terrible candidate! Gaining weight at home! Getting extra food from the hospital kitchen - what??? Still not walking after a year and 200+ pounds lost??? Very unsatisfying.

She said that when she stood it felt like her back would break from the weight of her stomach. It has nothing to do with the shoes. At 380 lbs I used to try to "exercise" mainly in the form of walking around the block, about 1/2 mile. Around the midpoint I would start to feel that my body would just snap in half right at my lower back from the pressure. Cardio-wise, I was fine. I wasn't gasping for air or huffing and puffing. It's just the immense drag and pressure of all that weight on every part of your body. Shoes don't make a difference.

But Alicia and Luca were partners, not boss/employee. Diane having that conversation with Alicia was misplaced. This episode was better than the last few, but that's damning with faint praise. I did laugh a couple of times. Alicia's giggling and flirting with McSmirky in the office was gross. She is (supposedly) a mature, professional woman. Who is married to the Governor. I mentioned it in last week's thread, but I'm still aghast that this teeny tiny small issue doesn't appear to give McSmirky the slightest bit of pause. Alicia in jail to end the series would almost redeem the last year for me.

It's always good for me to read posts like this to remember how crappy the world can be.

The house they found was labeled in the screen as being in Copperas Cove, Texas, which is nowhere near Houston. It's at least 2.5 hours away by car. There was mention of her family helping them move in. I wonder if she had family in CC. But I was also confused when they picked up and went back so quickly. As Dr. Now said after Gideon failed to lose 50 lbs, Gideon is a great big tall man. He carried that extreme amount of weight very well. The wife did not come off well on the show, but her issues are completely fair. I wonder if Chad's wife was more sympathetic because their adopted baby was still an infant/toddler and the workload was clearly too much for her. It does "look" easier when the child is older (not saying it is).

She is coping, because she's a food addict. That's her only tool, it does make her feel better, at least while it's happening. All the suggestions you have make great sense for someone who isn't in the throes of food addiction. Dottie impressed the hell out of me by being able to do that on top of carrying her own 650 pounds. I topped out at 380 lbs and wouldn't have been able to do that. It's clear she's a loving, conscientious caregiver, within the limits of what she can physically do. My heart broke for her, having to lean against the fridge while she was standing at the stove cooking dinner, or having to lean against the recliner for support as she tube fed her boy. I've been there, although not as heavy, and not with the burden of her challenges with her child. I will be really interested if there is a follow up for her.

I think Dottie is probably the hardest working 650 pounder that I've ever seen on this show. I had nothing but sympathy for her. Yes, she uses her disabled child as an excuse, but I still have so much sympathy for her, as a fellow food addict. I have often said that if I am going to concentrate on losing weight, I need everything else in my life to be running pretty smoothly. It takes so much of my energy just to focus on myself and what I'm eating that I can't handle any outside bumps. All Dottie's energy goes to her kids. It was disappointing that we didn't get to see more of her journey post-surgery. I am glad she got it together and hope she continues to follow the program. She had "butt wings" like Charity. Hopefully she can get those removed after she makes more progress.

... and men treat the wife like a single woman who is freely available to date. No questions are ever asked when she comes on to her colleagues (Matthew Goode) or co-workers (Smirky). No man hesitates...hey, whoah, wait a minute, this is the Governor's wife! Wife! You've all covered very well how bad this show is. One minor additional thing - does it seem like Lucca is acting as if she and Smirky have a previously existing relationship? Not necessarily romantic, but as if they have known each other for 20 years and she knows him in and out? I thought they didn't know each other previous to him being hired by Alicia? But the way she was demanding of him "what did you do to her?" sounded overly familiar. It doesn't make any sense in this show. But what does, these days? Eli pointed out that Alicia and Will had a relationship. Yay. But someone should also remind her that she left Will. She left him for no reason, I remember, because I yelled at her through my TV when she did it. Wasn't that the episode where Grace went AWOL for a few hours and Alicia decided that she was being a bad mother by having a relationship? She left Will, who loved her. Will moved on. Alicia plotted behind his back to steal his clients and leave his firm, which she did. Will told her "you're awful, and you don't even know how awful you are." (Coincidentally, this was probably one of the last compelling episodes of this show.) They were civil but not on great terms when he died. And I can't tell if the show wants us to think she's full of shit, or wants us to believe this storyline of her One True Love who died.

I sat in on an interim hearing of state government related to food deserts and childhood obesity. This problem is acknowledged at a very high level of government. In the not-so-distant past, inadequately nourished children were very thin. Now they are obese. It's not expensive to become obese. The cause of this switch is debatable, but I believe can be directly traced back to the "food pyramid" that many of us grew up on in the 70's and 80's that recommended grains as the basis of a healthy diet. Grains were subsidized by the government and became the cheapest form of calories - they still are. Obesity, heart disease, and diabetes skyrocketed. There are also well documented studies that prove, as much as anything can be proven, that processed, sugary, salty foods are addictive. A rat will walk across an electrified plate to get to froot loops. As a matter of fact, so would I, sometimes. ;)

Just caught the German Schmear house and even though I really liked the exterior, I didn't care at all for what they did to the main living area. The dark gray trim color everywhere was very flat and darkened the space. The way they disguised the brick fireplace with paneled wood in the same color gray gave me instant recall to the glory days of Trading Spaces.

Somehow I didn't realize this was back and this is the first episode I've caught of the new season. "Explicitly R rated" is right. I guess some exec thought it needed to be more sexy or something (is this what the kids call sexy these days?). I'm not a prude, I have 3 kids for goodness sake, but I don't need my TV comedy to be so overtly sexual/crass. I guess calling an all-girl group a "taco fest" is what passes for witty. The show doesn't have the vibe it had last season. Boo. I guess I'm out.

When she was trying to wheedle Dr. Now into letting her eat strawberries on her diet because "strawberries are my addiction," I said to the TV "I'm sure you got to be 600 pounds from eating strawberries." This one wasn't as satisfying as the previous few. I'm glad she was making progress by the end. Anyone else notice that the girlfriend disappeared midway through the episode?

Sara to young cute guy: "I'm probably 20 years older than you are." Young cute guy, surprised: "Wow, you're 38?!" Sara: "...... Yes. Yes I am." Paget Brewster and I are the same age so the whole 80's/age thing with her was especially funny to me.

Leaving aside the issue of "can they evict someone from a condo?", which I honestly don't know the answer to.... I have this strange feeling that we were actually supposed to think the woman downstairs was a "bitch". When in fact, she was very much the wronged party. She lost the peace and enjoyment of her home because of Alicia's business. There is a huge difference between a business that is being run so quietly that no one even knows it's there, and a business that is an active and open nuisance to the neighbors. I was not cheering for Grace in the condo meeting, and kind of couldn't believe the show let her "win" this argument in that way. The music case was another case of mysterious time frames. It's an injunction! No, it's a lawsuit about a contract! He won! Wait, now he's being sued again and has to appear in court immediately to defend the "plagiarism" case. And all of this takes place within a few days while Marissa runs back and forth between Eli and Alicia. I watch and I hate myself for it. It's awful. I almost wonder if they've brought up the Will Gardner voicemail thing again to make us look back fondly on when this show had Will and was actually good.

Will did tell Alicia he loved her, while they were together. They were on the phone and as they were saying goodbye, he casually said "love you", which made Alicia freeze up like the Ice Queen of the North, and then Will tried to play it off like he didn't actually say that, or didn't mean it (can't remember). But he said the words and they both knew he meant them. Yes, he said the words. She has no excuse. She had her chance with him, she threw it away. But it's Eli's fault, I guess. Because it can't be hers.

I spent the entire episode feeling rather lost, wondering who was going to staff their Bed & Breakfast. I have a friend who ran one for 10 years, and she described it as a job that took 14 hour days, 7 days a week. Like many of you, I also wondered about bathroom and sleeping arrangements, and why you would want an open kitchen floorplan? My soul recoiled when Jo announced that the house "reads Victorian, but I want it to be Farmhouse!". It didn't just "read" Victorian, it WAS a Victorian house. Now it's neither. Jo did a great job with a MCM house last year, but other than that has not bothered to stretch herself at all. It would have been lovely for her to restore this house in Victorian style. Coming hear and reading that the home is a vacation rental rather than a B&B was a relief, in that I just couldn't figure out how the B&B was going to work. But then there's the location. I played around and located the house at around 347 S. Madison in McGregor, and the neighborhood seems mixed use, with some homes, but mostly light industrial/commercial. There does seem to be a small park of sorts across the street, but the location in general doesn't seem very desirable. Hopefully this link to the Google street view will work. https://www.google.com/maps/@31.4385161,-97.4067963,3a,75y,244.03h,77.6t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1seSI8io06yTJ0GzFrZeyDig!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1 Is Jo a great baker? Because I watched her bake a pan of pretty deplorable Christmas cookies last night. Why a bakery? That's a tough business to make a go of, and requires a lot of time invested, which I don't think they have.

This deserves more attention. The size of the ads? Was she sending Grace to the Yellow Pages? To let her fingers do the walking? I don't even know if this line was meant to convey that Alicia still mentally lives in 1991, or just stupid writing.

I grew up in the Northwest and up to the point I was 22 years old had never heard "y'all" used except 1) on Hee-Haw, or 2) ironically. I guffawed out loud the first time I heard it after I moved to Texas - we were being seated in a restaurant. I am still embarrassed about that. Now I accept that it's just the way some people in this part of the country speak. I have been known to use it from time to time. When in Rome, you know. On topic: I never even noticed any of Chip's vocal tics until I read this forum. They don't bother me. I like this show.

You should not come to Texas, then. For your own sanity.

As a fat person (and former VERY fat person), I can't imagine agreeing to what was presented on screen.

In short: Tony is a giant shithead for making fun of the fat cook who answered the door.

Thank goodness Tony doesn't have to dance with that fat cook! It's so funny that he made that "whew" gesture to the camera after she turned her back. Even if the fat cook was watching the show last night, maybe with her family around her, I'm sure that wasn't embarrassing for her. Because fat people are just blobs. Not quite human, you see. Even if they get upset, it's their fault, because they should have some damn self control. /sarcasm I'm now extremely happy that Tony is stuck with yet another dud. At least it's not a fat chick. That's clearly the worst.

Well, the grownups came home and took care of the elephant in the room (Dom), must to the dismay of the teenagers they left in charge. Here's how it's gone for a month and a half: Bobby and Giada: "Dom, you sucked this week but we flove you. You have to be better next week or you're going home." Next week: Dom sucks and someone more deserving goes home. Repeat, repeat, repeat. I don't find him charming. I don't find his food compelling. He should have gone home week 3, and every week since. Bobby and Giada's enthrallment with him was mystifying, and makes the show hard to watch. I did enjoy seeing Damaris again. Halloween. Pumpkin. Halloween. Pumpkin. I guess Eddie just doesn't have a pumpkin recipe in his repertoire. That was so painful, and I hated the "eat ginger to calm a sore stomach" story, because I don't want to hear about upset stomachs while I'm thinking about cooking. Were we supposed to think his pork chop was medicinal?

Jumping straight to "sexism" isn't normally my thing, but Giada swooning that Dom had a special quality "for a man on Food Network" and then eliminating Rosa, was squicky. Dom hates the camera and hates people, sure let's keep him around. And I'm bitter because I liked Rosa. She was funny and self-aware and not like anybody else who's been on this show. This show ranks up there with Celebrity Apprentice for shows I can't quit, but really should. But never will.

What was going on with the editing the last 10 minutes? I've erased it off the DVR, but they came back from commercial break around 52:00 to get feedback from the pastry chefs, and there was this loud, distracting, very weirdly inappropriate background music playing over the segment - the kind of background music you usually hear on a cooking show when there's no dialogue and someone is just chopping/mixing/whatever. Then the segment abruptly ended after what seemed like 1 minute and then ANOTHER long commercial break and they didn't even start the elimination discussion til about 56:00. Then it was all choppy, as has been discussed upthread, and nothing followed the normal pattern and then suddenly #Matthew was gone. I'm not sure whether to call #shenaningans or #ineptitude.