Auntie Anxiety

Ser Davos can be in charge of the fermented crab concession. He'd make a ton of money.

Perhaps if Arya puts on Lord Baelish's face hopefully in Kings Landing, things will stay interesting.

No big observations or thoughts on the plot, but I am not a fan of the green tinged camera work in the shots at Donna's workplace nor the yellow infused ones at Joe's. What's up with that? Is it just my tv?

When the mother said that Phoebe was dead, I wasn't sure if she meant Phoebe was really dead or just "dead" to her.

I recently read an article about this show which pretty much made me decide not to watch anymore. Lots of behind-the-scenes machinations, the monetary reward that is never mentioned, the editing for the narrative de jour (even worse than what I expected even though these reality shows are rife with it). Not sure how much of the article is true or fake, but I've gotten to the point that I don't even care to find out. I'll waste my time with scripted drama rather than scripted "reality" drama from now on (other than the two that seem much less contrived, The Last Alaskans and Life Below Zero).

One of Littlefinger's lessons for Sansa was that you must have a contingency plan for every possible situation. I wonder if LF ever considered the possibility of Jon bending the knee.

Maybe if someone actually consulted him, he could be more helpful. I don't understand it, really. He's one of their best assets and no one bothers to ask him about the future? Or about the past? What was the point of schlepping him around all that time?

Dickon killed a Dothraki who was an inch away from killing Jaime, so I think Jaime ended up having more respect than condescension. With regard to the Littlefinger nickname, I vaguely remember someone joking about it (probably Varys) and explaining the meaning of it early in Season 1 and I don't recall any mention of a series of small islands. I thought it was childhood teasing that stuck, although maybe I made that up?

My guess is that when Leah and Mike met with their lawyers, the strategy was discussed. Going after the child sexual abuse angle and the overall treatment of the children was probably the best approach; there are so many possibilities to uncover--education and schooling, forcing underage children to work, parental neglect, children signing "legal" documents without consulting a lawyer (an attorney who does pro bono or legal aid work), as well as molestation and sexual assault/abuse. And, of course there is the p.r. angle. Only the most hardened person wouldn't be sympathetic to what these poor kids had to live through. How damaging for a child to feel that no one is willing to protect him/her, never feeling safe, being told that you invited the abuse. These kids have to live with the emptiness and anxiety (and a ton of other issues) for their entire lives.

My guess is that the Co$ wouldn't want to report anything that would make the authorities take a longer or deeper look into the organization, and if that includes not doing anything about child abuse, so be it. Too much of that and other shit happening to allow any kind of scrutiny.

I also really respect Leah for her courage. Can't be easy to be Number 1 on the Scientology Most Wanted List. She must have to be careful any time she steps out or gets behind the wheel of her car. Also got to give props to Katie Holmes who wouldn't allow her daughter to be anywhere near this craziness as Suri started growing up. LRH turns my stomach. The most uncharismatic cult leader ever.

Mazel tov, cooksdelight.

Just watched the latest episode with poor man's David Tennant and his partner, Sam. Her desperation over having an alpha man around was annoying. Probably will be the last time the producers screw around with that kind of cold, wet and raw environment. Hypothermia gets real very quickly.

Wait till Brooke and Dave find out that that they left before the Ginger Bros.

Instead of bringing pictures of my family, I'd bring pictures of my other loved ones-pizza, ice cream, chocolate, crusty bread.

Wow, I found that incredibly boring. I'm looking forward to the finale, just to be done with it.

I vaguely remember Littlefinger saying "chaos is a ladder" to either Sansa or Cat's sister when he was at The Eyrie, I think. That was why Littlefinger looked puzzled and taken aback. He wondered how Bran would know those exact words. *I just looked it up. It was Littlefinger talking to Varys in Season 3, talking about how he sees a path to power if/when the realm starts the infighting.

rmontro, you have a right to your opinion and I have respect for you for owning it. It occurred to me today that maybe the Ginger Bros. are being so idiotic because they think it might help them score their own reality tv show. If nothing else, it would be a good excuse for their nonsensical behavior.

Yes, I referred to The Alaskans and Life Below Zero in an earlier post. Those are the two reality shows that don't seem as contrived as most of the others.

As I've been going around doing my household chores, I've been thinking about the "improvements" that TPTB will come up with for the next seasons. Yes, I'm quite good at entertaining myself. They can change the name to "Families Alone" and make it similar to the dreck that is Alaskan Bush People or whatever the hell it's called. Or "Alone (with My Pet)" might be fun.

I've watched enough television to state that these types of competitive reality shows tend to be best in their first few seasons, before the production and the editing crew figure out how to "make it better." Making it better usually translates into making it formulaic; the final outcome is somewhat predetermined and everything else falls by the wayside. In Alone Except Not, we don't see much of the mundane daily chores, stuff that is actually interesting to us couch survivors wondering how WE would go about living in isolation for as long as it takes to win. Even if TPTB return to the original concept, it's probably too late for us diehards.

I agree. It is an interesting real life crime mystery and totally engrossing.

The shows follow the same people year after year, basically in a documentary format. If I had to pick one, it would be The Last Alaskans because it seems very real (no contrived situations, just people living their lives) and it is bittersweet, since the people are among the last to be allowed to live in the preserve. If the Gingers tap out next week, I won't miss them or their junior high school arguments. If I wanted that, I'd step into my own personal Way Back Machine and listen to my two sons fighting in the backseat on a long road trip.

Why would they offer any information whatsoever? So they lied to the audience. Great. I've become increasingly skeptical about all manner of reality tv and I hoped that maybe, possibly, this show was different (although all bets were off for this latest incarnation of Alone, Except Not). Not sure about anyone else, but I'm at the end of the road with reality tv. I'll continue to catch The Last Alaskans and Life Below Zero and that's about it.

I thought it was okay and I'll keep watching even though I'm feeling like I know where this going. Just a guess: that design she keeps imagining is probably the wallpaper that she concentrated on during her childhood while she was getting beaten and/or abused by her parent(s) or other adult. She killed the guy on the beach because she flashed back to her sister getting assaulted and wasn't able to save her. Yeah, maybe I've watched too much tv over the years. Was the actor who played the husband intentionally hired due to being a Kit Harington look-alike? His acting was meh.