Lazlo

For the record I liked Tara the character, particularly in Season Six. I actually found her a lot more likable than Willow. I think my issue with the Willow/Tara romance was that while I always believe Willow loved Tara I never got the impression Willow respected her as a person, if that makes sense. I'm not just talking about Season Six either where Willow really stepped over the line; there were shades of it in Season Five (like in 'Forever' where Willow gave Dawn that spellbook behind Tara's back.) That's why I thought breaking up with Willow did a world of good for Tara; she became her own woman, able to give some much needed advice to Buffy or playfully mock Spike. To be fair I'm not sure it was great for Willow either to be in a relationship with someone who almost literally worshipped her. I'm as upset as anyone that she was killed off but honestly, I'd have preferred her just becoming friends with Willow. Of course as amensisterfriend pointed out it wasn't as if anyone else was in a perfect relationship either!

Having recently rewatched the entire series I have some more thoughts. - 'Hush' is a very well made episode on a technical level and the Gentlemen are impressive designs but it is emotionally quite hollow and not nearly as effective once the gimmick wears off. An overrated episode and not even in my top picks for Season Four. 'Restless' is much deeper, funnier and, excuse the play on words, has a lot more to say. - Faith was more interesting in Season Four and Season Seven than she was in Season Three. Whether evil but falling apart or outright redemptive I find her more engaging than the simplistic character she was in late Season Three. - I agree with most people about most the Potentials but Amanda was fun and likable and I was seriously upset at her death. - Glory was a lot of fun even if she wasn't always used perfectly. Claire Kramer was clearly having a blast chewing the scenery. - I like Cordelia but I don't think the show suffered too much after she left; even in Season Three the writers were obviously struggling what to do with her. I also think that Charisma Carpenter was probably one of the weaker members of the cast (and yes I liked her on Angel but I still think she was one of the weaker performers there too.) - The Tara/Willow relationship had some serious problematic elements that tend to be glossed over, and in a lot of ways Tara outgrew Willow. Even without the magical addiction plot I think they were better off apart.

Cat Grant is still around in the 'New 52', though she has slipped under the radar a little recently. She's good friends with Clark and ran a blog with him after he quit the Daily Planet for a while (Clarkcatropolis.com).

I wouldn't say the characterisation of women on the show is exceptional but I don't see this at all. For me the scene (via Cat) was very firmly stating that Barbara is an idiot and a loser and her inability to bring anything to the table other than her looks is intended to be seen as pathetic. Leslie is a clever doctor who has helped Gordon out in his cases, Captain Essen is a pragmatic cop but the only authority figure we've seen who is not hopelessly compromised, Cat gave Bruce some valuable (if tough) life lessons and is looking after Ivy (and Barbara really) and Fish managed to unite her fellow prisoners through force of personality, then call her captors bluff. We've had female assassains and corrupt businesswomen too. None of them were defined entirely by their sexuality. Granted Renee has vanished but so have Allen and the Mayor, both of whom were heavy players in early episodes. She'll be back I'm sure even if I can't say I like the character.

While I still can't see male characters doing it I do think the viewers were intended to see Barbara as pathetic here, and side with Selina's snark.

This seems more likely to me than Barbara as a mentor figure. As I said earlier Barbara just doesn't come across as smart enough or strong willed enough to really impress Selina in a serious way.

Is it just me or is Barbara kind of dumb? Obviously it has been clear for ages that she is a mess but her epic failure in mentoring Selina seemed to suggest she doesn't have much in the way of brains either. If she is trying to sell herself as vamp who can manipulate men with ease she probably shouldn't try it on the tween who advised her what to wear only one episode ago and who knows firsthand Barbara has screwed up one relationship.

If the Flash and (Green) Arrow have comic threads in their show subforums, why not Kara Zor-El? This is the topic for Supergirl in the comics, past, present and future. Unfortunately I have to begin with bad news: Kara's solo title will be coming to an end soon thanks to their mini reboot coming in June. Story here. It is a very odd decision since Supergirl (the comic) sells 26,000 copies a month. Those aren't Spider-Man or Batman figures but she outsells such names as Catwoman and Green Arrow (both of whose comics survive). I can only guess DC are waiting to see how the show works out before re-launching her... but that means Supergirl won't have her own comic when her show starts. Which is surreal. At least Justice League United will continue so Kara will be in one published comic, unless they drop her from that. Anyway, anyone else reading Supergirl and/or Justice League United?

Speaking as a huge Supergirl fan I have to agree with this. Kara's whole deal is that she wasn't raised on Earth from infancy. She landed here in her teens having spent her entire life with Kryptonians. She's a completely different sort of survivor to Clark; for Clark his background is a mystery intially. For Kara they are heartbreaking memory. Essentially Kara is more like Princess Leia watching Alderaan getting blown up in front of her. Clark is more like Luke.

That is my issue as well. The thing about Jimmy is that he's young, overenthusiastic and a bit of a klutz. That doesn't have to mean 'comedic bumbler' but a "smart, worldly" thirty something is honestly about as far from Jimmy as you can get.

Tom deserves to be forgotten. I agree Bianca had a great idea but she came across a lot less impressive this week - her pricing was way, way off which indicates either a serve lack of research or delusions of grandeur. Her variety seemed really overambitious as well and I was impressed by the way she handled her team (and in fact I wasn't impressed with her PMship in the New York task either.) Her polish papered over some serious cracks. That said again the idea was good but it is easy to see why she lost.

I think that's going way too far to be honest. Yes her plan clearly showed naivite and inexperience - fatally so - but she also showed clear evidence of creativity, ambition and drive and I think a willingness to learn from her mistakes. She isn't ready yet but I think she will be.

Roisin’s plan was fatally naive – as to be fair, she fully realised on ‘You’re Fired’ – but it’s hard to get over the feeling that Lord Sugar never liked her; that she was too polished and soft spoken. As I’ve said before she seemed to have a very hard time winning praise from him throughout the series and it adds a sour taste to his ‘with regret’. I'm guessing she burst into tears in the taxi so hard they couldn't get a workable interview. Still she's smart and creative and I think she's a lot more realistic about what she can do now. I wish her well.

Eh... that's going too far IMO. Roisin's proven herself pretty creative actually and while she isn't a particularly great leader we've seen a lot worse. I can believe her as an entrepreneur, even if she'll need a thicker skin. Her real problem isn't she hasn't invented a curved nailfile. She also doesn't seem to have a particular London, or even UK base which could hurt her.(even Mark who has been in Britain for two years seems more firmly based there.)

I hated the end of Doppelgangland. I know everyone loves Vamp Willow and I know it would have been hard on the characters to stake her but sending her back home was a complete abdication of moral responsibility - for all they knew they were dooming hundreds of future victims which was apparently okay since they live in an alternate history.

I'm re-watching the early seasons and I like Cordelia a lot. I do think they went a bit too far pushing the 'Cordelia is secretly a genius' angle ("I do well on standardized tests", getting into Columbia, etc.). Aside from the fact that that was part of Buffy's thing and so repeating it felt redundant, Cordelia was more interesting and more vulnerable when it seemed like she was more of a Xander-like regular person behind the chic outfits. Likewise she went too far into sainthood later on on Angel.

It is not just you. He definitely plays favourites too. Sorry to say it but I think Roisin is getting fired early next week, more or less regardless of how her interview goes. I can't see Lord Sugar investing in the crowded, risky ready meals market with an accountant who however creative is unlikely to have much if any experience in the secor. I'm sorry to say this because I like her a lot and think she'd win under the old format but right now I'd rate Daniel(!) as having better chances. I also get the feeling that for whatever reason she just isn't personally popular in the boardroom, except maybe with Karren.

She was a project leader fairly early on and has been a major factor in numerous victories as ideas girl, for which it has to be said she hardly ever seems to get credit in the boardroom. Should she have forced through on becoming PM here? Well perhaps, but I can't help but feel Sugar's issues are more with her calm, nonconfrontational style than any actual lack of energy or angency as such and its hard to go against the grain. This wasn't a great week for Roisin but i do think the backlash against her is a bit much. Edit: There's also the fact that she isn't a Londoner, or even resident in London (her BBC page lists her location as Dublin). That might not be a total dealbreaker but I think it probably would factor in in choosing a PM.

Me too. I was a little creeped out by the idea Stan's Christmas wish supervising angel who died might have been a reference to her.

Hmm. I sort of follow your logic there, though I don't really agree. The Apprentice is very popular in Ireland but those fans still represent only a tiny, tiny fraction of the people talking about the show online (and quite a lot of those people would have been rooting for Pamela.) Honestly I think being Irish probably works against her in the popularity stakes - not because of some anti-Irish sentiment but because it is harder to make her fit into a a mental box; she's young educated and middle class, but younng educated, middle class Irish women are practically invisible in British pop culture.

I won't deny she's popular with us Irish types (and especially among some of us; she is very much the same age and background as myself) but i don't quite get this. Do you really mean she's more popular with an audience, the vast majority of whom are British, because she's Irish? I have a bit of trouble believing that.

I have to agree with Nick, Katie and Mark absolutely knew the paper skeleton was a gamble but fully went with anyway. I never liked Mark so his swing around didn't surprise me but her's did. I think Katie's very strong and probably will win but she wasn't all that trustworthy or likable this week.

The weird thing is she was portrayed as a completely different kind of mess when we we originally heard of her back in Season 3 - more of a Jillian from Family Guy type hot airhead, which is why Francine's parents left her everything. Bah Bah: Because Gwen is moron. She needs lots of help! She fail math in school! Imagine Chinese girl can't do math? Stan: It's embarrassing when children don't adhere to stereotypes. Bah Bah: Francine is our smart daughter. We never have to worry about her. Plus she marry okay. So somewhere along the way they obviously changed from 'Gwen is an idiot' to 'Gwen is a screwup'.

That actually happened in the Irish version of the show once. In the 2009 series one candidate was fired and outright refused to set foot on YF. The host set up a cardboard cut out of her in the spot the firee would usually sit.

I agree. Very understandable why Ella Jade wasn't on You're Fired and she has my sympathies but that meltdown in the boardroom was something else. I have a grudging respect for Sarah after her appeance on YF.