[Jeopardy! Season 36 (2019-2020)]

Did anyone else notice on Monday that "Nobel" Prize was written as "Noble" Prize in Final J? I was surprised — I don't think I've ever seen a typo on Jeopardy before.

[S03.E05: A Show of Unity]

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Was she forced into the marriage by her parents or something? It's hard to believe this guy was able to pull off "charming" long enough to fool her into accepting his proposal. Or was she simply blinded by the idea of becoming a duchess and ignored the warning signs? Because if that's the case I feel much less sorry for her.

I seem to recall in one of the early episodes, Sophie and Victoria are sitting in a carriage and Sophie says something along the lines of, "My mother was always determined to see me become a duchess." So I'm guessing she didn't have much say in the choice of a husband. Which, I agree, makes it easier to feel for her than if she had chosen to marry a monster because she wanted a title.

[S03.E05: A Show of Unity]

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Laurence Fox must be having the time of his life playing Palmerston.  He has become my favorite part of this season.  

He's become my favorite part, too. It seems like both Victoria and Albert are sleepwalking through this season — I find myself waiting for Palmerston to show up and add some spark. The Masterpiece podcast this week is an interview with Fox about playing Palmerston, and he had some interesting things to say about this week's episode, including Lord P's marriage. (And, of course, his voice is lovely.)

I have to admit, I'm also really liking the Duke of Monmouth, even though he's doing everything short of twirling an evil mustache. At least he's interesting! The scene where he accuses Palmerston of "rogering my wife" was hilarious.

[House Hunters International - General Discussion]

California to Paris: Why Paris needs an American sommelier with no actual experience sommelier-ing is beyond me, but as usual, it doesn't pay to ask too many questions about the stories on HHI….

 

The Paris episodes are always my favorite, so I was happy to see a new one. I loved the second apartment with the rooftop views near Notre Dame — that's the one I would've picked too, although really, all three of them were nice. (Although now that I think about it, on visits to Paris I've found the neighborhood around Notre Dame to be a little . . . grimy? Not awful, but maybe not quite as romantic as it might seem.)

 

I was surprised to see that Apt #1 was a repeat from an earlier episode. Has that happened before? In the earlier one, Adrian Leeds's relative (a niece, I think?) bought it. Wonder if she's really moving, or if she just lent her apartment for a fake tour? In any event, I thought it was amusing that the buyer obviously didn't like it, kept complaining about how small it is, and how awful it is to open the front door of a studio and see, gasp!, the bed. As I recall, the niece was funny and seemed very down-to-earth, so I imagine she'd find it amusing to listen to the comments about her home. I know I would.

[S05.E12: The World Council of Churches]

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First, I don't see why they'd think the Paige transition isn't going well. It is going well. She's not behind where she's supposed to be at all.

Sending Henry to this boarding school and knowing he's friends with Stan would be, imo, like in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where they put the wooden rabbit through the gates and only then remember that they're supposed to be inside it. At this point they're just creating an actual American agent, not a 2nd generation Illegal.

 

Paige seems to be coming around now, but things certainly haven't gone smoothly — the first thing she did was divulge their secret to Pastor Tim, a move that could have (and still might) blow the whole thing and put P&E in prison.

As for Henry, a second-gen spy who might be able to get a job in the FBI thanks to a friendship with an agent who's in the dark seems pretty much like the Centre's wet dream.

Not saying the Centre being behind it is necessarily what's happening, but it's an idea. There surely must be some payoff to Henry suddenly having a storyline.

[S05.E12: The World Council of Churches]

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The centre may actually be getting that their 2nd generation spy plan is pretty flawed. That kid in S2 and all the struggles with Paige may have driven that home. It should have. It's notable that NO ONE has brought up Henry spying. He's the right age now to start pushing it. But they haven't. 

 

Is it possible the Centre is actually the force behind Henry's move to a boarding school, in the same way it got Pastor Tim that job offer? They know that Henry's a math whiz, they know about his close relationship with an FBI agent — they surely have to regard turning Henry as a top priority in the 2nd-gen plan. They also know that Paige's transition isn't going so well with P&E at the wheel. If Henry were in boarding school, all they'd have to do is plant a teacher and/or a student to slowly work on turning him, then bring P&E into the picture later.

[S05.E04: Henny Penny the Sky Is Falling]

Did anybody else notice that the lakeside cabin where the scientist stayed is the same cabin Alison and Noah lived in on The Affair? As a major house-porn addict, I admit was excited to see it again, but I had to laugh — is there only one cabin in New York that every show uses?

[Speculation Without Spoilers]

Could Rick be playing the long con, a plot that he and Carol have cooked up between them?  His unusual behavior in this episode, the selective editing around his conversations with Carol, his carefully deliberate hostility to Pete ("keep walking"), his insistent pursuit of Jessie and declaration that he's only going out on a limb for her alone, could all be interpreted as a carefully staged setup to the climax - a hammily histrionic performance that seems calculated to provoke the community's backlash.  Maybe he and Carol want him to be dramatically exiled, so he can get outside the walls and, as a notorious outcast from Alexandria, have the street cred to ingratiate himself with the Wolves, or whoever's lurking, and find out their plans.

(Quote from Foose in the Try thread; my response seemed more suited to Speculation.)

 

I would love it if Rick-on-the-crazy-train did turn out to be some sort of con. I've thought from the beginning that Rick might be faking his interest in Jessie for some reason that we haven't yet been clued in on. I just find it impossible to believe that he genuinely became instantly obsessed with her to the point of murder (of Pete) and the possible exile of the CDB family (including his own children). I thought maybe Rick and Deanna have been working together from the outset. She brought the group in because she knows something or other is going on in Alexandria, and she enlisted Rick to help ferret it out. So his antics are basically an act to help bring whatever evil lurks there to the surface....

 

Of course, nothing that interesting is probably going to happen.

[S05.E15: Try]

It's also not hard to imagine the piece of clothing next to her in the shape of a child when she woke up was meant to evoke her lost son. And that the T-shirt with the shot-up bird made her think about…going out hunting, maybe?

That T-shirt with the shot-up bird was Noah's -- he was wearing it when he met up with Daryl and Carol after he escaped from the hospital. So I think when Michonne looked over at the laundry basket, she saw Noah's shirt and was thinking about what happened to him.

 

I was disappointed not to have an appearance by Maggie in this episode, and I'm usually not even a Maggie fan. But last week was such a huge emotional blow for Glen -- it would've been nice if TPTB could've shaved even 30 seconds off the endless Rick/Jessie/Pete ordeal so we could've had one brief conversation between Glen and Maggie, seeing as how we haven't seen them really talk to each other the whole time they've been in Alexandria. I think the biggest frustration for me with this half of the season is not only that they aren't sharing information with one another, as other people have mentioned, but also that we've heard so few private conversations between any of the characters. Has anyone noticed that Rick is losing it? Are they doing anything to help Sasha? Do they feel safe in Alexandria? Are they concerned about Daryl being gone? Is Carol's tuna casserole too dry? I want to know what the characters are thinking! Instead we get more owl drama.

[S05.E13: Forget]

I don't think Rick has any real interest in Jessie, at least not in a romantic sense — I think getting close to her, and to other people, is just part of his plan. Right now he's playing the game, getting to know the ASZers, sizing them up, seeing if this is going to work out or if they're going to have to take over the town. Jessie obviously has an interest in him, even if it's only a friendly interest, so it makes sense that he'd nurture that as a way to get close to an insider. Giving her a peck on the cheek is no big deal, and it definitely seems to me like something he'd do as a way to encourage an emotional connection in case he needs to use her later, not something he'd do because he has plans to give Carl a new mommy.

[S05.E12: Remember]

I think there is nothing off about the slight number of encounters they've had with other residents, IIRC Aaron mentioned that the rest of them would respect their privacy and keep their distance while they settle in.

The community does feel kind of deserted — I get the feeling there might be a relatively small number of people. Our group hasn’t officially met many of the residents, but we’ve actually seen or heard about quite a few. Here’s what I counted:

1) Deanna Monroe

2) Jessie

3-4) Jessie’s sons, Ron and Sam

5) Jessie’s creepy husband

6-7) Ron’s friend Mikey, and Mikey’s father who’s stingy with his pool table

8) Enid

9-10) Natalie and Bob Miller, elderly cheek-pinchers

11) woman walking dog

12) Aiden

13) Nicholas

14) during the Aiden/Glenn fight, there was a young man in gray who closed the gate

15-17) two women and one man were in the street watching the fight

18) woman with glasses who gathered the guns (and also turned out to watch the fight)

19-20) Aaron and Eric (definitely my favorite Alexandria residents)

21) Deanna’s husband, Reg, assuming he’s still alive

22) another son (or sons) of Deanna — she said her husband and sons, plural, built the wall, but we’ve only seen Aiden so far

23+) there should be a number of young children — Rick and Michone heard children’s voices; Ron said the little kids have school in the morning; Deanna said the families there deserve to raise their kids in safety 

23++) Carol said her job’s making food for the elderly, so there must be other older folks in addition to the Millers

 

We also know there were three men exiled at some point, and four people killed last month during a supply run. And while it's possible there's an army of people we just haven't seen yet, if the group IS around, say, 30 people — many of them children and the elderly — losing seven would be a pretty big blow.

 

 

I keep losing count, but I think our group is, what, 15 now? So it’s possible the Alexandria folks brought in a group that’s around half the size of theirs. It seems like they would have to have some pretty desperate reason to feel like it’s worth taking that risk. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out there have been threats of some sort from the exiles.

[S05.E12: Poina ʻOle (Not Forgotten)]

Good points, Roselle. I agree the writing needs some work, although I suppose that's true for pretty much every (network) TV show these days. I thought the case itself was an interesting one, and the side-plot about Steve's car was humorous, and had a nice twist when the perp was revealed. The kid was a little TOO humble and apologetic, but the scene gave Steve a chance to bring an unexpected softness.

 

I don't understand why they felt the need to bring up Lou's daughter's trauma after all this time, and especially why they'd devote three scenes to it. We barely know her -- why should we care? Chi McBride is a good actor, and they need to give him something more interesting to do than fret over his daughter. I also thought the Steve-Danny banter seemed kind of odd in this episode. There's no reason a 12-year-old can't be left to her own devices for a few minutes -- they were acting like she's 4. And Steve telling Danny he's not doing his duty as a father because he won't run with her? Huh? I don't know, their "teasing" just seemed to have a sharper edge than usual. And that treacly scene at the end of "half-baked-cookie" Steve surveying his friends and agreeing he's fixed broken people? Ugh.

 

One complaint I have with virtually every episode: I wish someone would tell the actors to stop starting their lines with an unnecessary "So." "So. I tracked down our witness." "So. I found the car." "So. We found out where the kidnapper's hiding." I've noticed all of them doing it at some point, but Grace Park is particularly annoying in that regard. I know she's given the rather thankless task of delivering most of the exposition, but still. Kono started three or four sentences with "So" last night (possibly throwing in one "OK. So." for variety). If an actor were saying, "like, ya know" in every sentence, surely someone would point it out to them, so I can't understand why someone doesn't mention the "So" thing. Sigh. It bugs.

[S05.E11: Ua 'aihue (Stolen)]

Funny, I didn't even notice Scott wasn't in this episode until I read about it here. I've never been a big fan of "Danno," so I'm perfectly happy to have the character off doing something else. Apparently I'm in the minority on this, but I don't think they need to explain his absence. It'd become a running joke if one of the characters had to have a throwaway line every time -- "Where's Danny?" "Jury duty." "Hey, what happened to Danny?" "Flu." "What's up with Danny?" "Ingrown toenails." It's much better, in my opinion, to just make him a recurring character -- sometimes he's there, sometimes he's not. Same with Kono. Steve's interactions with Chin and Lou are more than enough to keep me entertained.