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Episode Discussion II: The TFGH


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Culture Check: How can we discuss a character's or actor's appearance without objectifying them? How can we express likes or dislikes and still respect an individual's humanity or be mindful that a character represents a person someone else might relate to or identify with?

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Uh, Brook Lynn has a father who might want to dance with her at her wedding, and I think he takes precedence over Dante, definitely, and depending on how he feels, Gregory. 

If Jason weren't covering for stupid Carly, would it change anything to hear what he was doing? The outcome is the same: Jason didn't let anyone know he was alive for two years (or whatever the way-too-short time was). If I were in people's shoes here, the Carly reason would add a giant additional layer of anger, but Jason still was incommunicado. That's what everyone is furious about. In some ways the reason doesn't matter.

12 minutes ago, Bringonthedrama said:

No, Kristina, it's not so weird that your dad is living with his young daughter and her mother. It is very weird, however, that your 1/2 brother and your nephew and are living with your 1/2 sister and your other nephew and niece, as a family. It's even weirder than you and your 1/2 brother are talking about the weirdness of dad's living situation while being oblivious to the weirdness of his living situation.  You could even start with, hey bro, do you remember if you were ever told that your current live-in girlfriend once had an affair with dad, and was pregnant with our sister but she died at birth.  

What's weird is how interrelated everyone is on more than one side, and there's never much acknowledgement of that.

13 minutes ago, Bringonthedrama said:

The Stella-Tracy scenes were awesome. I love the idea of these two women being friends! It was great to see JE show Tracy's vulnerability, acknowledging she has few friends and how different she is from her late mother. 

Same. They're kindred spirits in some ways, and I like that the show is leaning into that instead of making them antagonistic. That's so boring.

Very abrupt commercial cut after Tracy sat down with Stella at the cafe. I wonder what happened.

Previews: Crybaby Heather is nearly as annoying as caterwauling Heather.

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(edited)
43 minutes ago, Bringonthedrama said:

, Kristina, it's not so weird that your dad is living with his young daughter and her mother. It is very weird, however, that your 1/2 brother and your nephew and are living with your 1/2 sister and your other nephew and niece, as a family. It's even weirder than you and your 1/2 brother are talking about the weirdness of dad's living situation while being oblivious to the weirdness of his living situation.  You could even start with, hey bro, do you remember if you were ever told that your current live-in girlfriend once had an affair with dad, and was pregnant with our sister but she died at birth.  

Maybe it's because it's Ava. I'm not sure how Kristina feels about her. Kristina did call Sam out when she and Dante first got together. I remember she said something like "how am I supposed to feel? You're dating my brother." Lol awkward...

Way before they got together, I remember someone on here saying that they might as well be related considering how many relatives they share. 

43 minutes ago, Bringonthedrama said:

 

 

Edited by pinkandsparkly13
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It seems like Sona is done, and they aren't moving towards them reuniting.  A lot of Sona fans are going to be upset.  For me personally, I felt Nina made Sonny tolerable for the first time ever for me.  But that doesn't mean I was a big Sona fan.  He's unstable even when he had an improved personality.  He suffers fits of rage under the best of circumstances.  And Cynthia's Nina is just too classy to be a mob moll.  I feel that's best left to Stompin Carly, who I've always said is the only woman onscreen low enough to be a match for Sonny. 

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9 minutes ago, CeChase said:

I feel [being a mob moll is] best left to Stompin Carly, who I've always said is the only woman onscreen low enough to be a match for Sonny. 

An opinion Carly herself shares, whether she's with Sonny or not.

I didn't mind Nina and Sonny—she lightened him up, which he desperately needed—but now she's just pathetic. She needs to cut her losses sooner rather than later. Plus, it's not as if Sonny has a problem remarrying a former wife, lol. Let the dust from this divorce settle and see what happens.

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38 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Uh, Brook Lynn has a father who might want to dance with her at her wedding, and I think he takes precedence over Dante, definitely, and depending on how he feels, Gregory. 

Ned was mentioned as being the second one to dance with BL after her dance with Chase. Chase, Ned, Dante. And Dante said he would slide to number 4 so that Gregory could dance with BL.

It was a well-rounded episode, I thought. Nothing much happened, but it wasn't boring.

I am here for Stella/Tracy. And if Gregory wasn't a dead man walking, I would ship the hell out of him and Tracy. I can't get over how handsome they look together. I just like watching them interact.

Whoever wrote Maxie's dialogue, thank you! 

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6 minutes ago, YaddaYadda said:

Ned was mentioned as being the second one to dance with BL after her dance with Chase. Chase, Ned, Dante. And Dante said he would slide to number 4 so that Gregory could dance with BL.

Oh, I missed that. My bad! 

4 minutes ago, Daisy said:

lol but what did maxie say?

Basically that Nina was being an idiot. Passive-aggressively trying to contact Sonny by congratulating him about Molly being a surrogate was not going to magically solve their relationship problems. (Though, lol, I tried that decades ago in another context. Spoiler: It did not change the fact the dude and I were dunzo.) Ava is not going to put Nina's wants over her own. Nina needs to get back to being the badass editor she was before she decided to subsume herself as Mrs. Sonny Corithos.

 

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1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

If Jason weren't covering for stupid Carly, would it change anything to hear what he was doing? The outcome is the same: Jason didn't let anyone know he was alive for two years (or whatever the way-too-short time was). If I were in people's shoes here, the Carly reason would add a giant additional layer of anger, but Jason still was incommunicado. That's what everyone is furious about. In some ways the reason doesn't matter.

I think it would make a world of difference if Jason had been protecting his ex-wife/son's mother, Sam, from being prosecuted for one of her past crimes, or if he was working in secret as an FBI informant/playing dead to try to free Lucky Spencer from a militant kidnapping in whatever country he's been supposedly doing volunteer work. Even protecting weak Spinelli from jail time would be a more understandable reason. (Spinelli has been unfailing loyal to Jason over the years, has a young daughter with Maxie, and helps Maxie with her two other kids/ their daughter's sibs). 

There is no good reason for Jason to abandon his two sons and let them think he was dead for two years, for Carly's sake. Carly is a) an adult b) guilty and c) would not be leaving Donna alone in the world. Even if Sonny died/got killed at some point, Donna has multiple adult siblings who could serve as her guardian for however long is needed.

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(edited)

You make a good point, @Bringonthedrama (though the Spinelli example is a little shaky, LOL). If he were trying to free Lucky instead of protecting stupid Carly, that's definitely a mitigating factor. But Jason still wouldn't have contacted anyone. In fact, it puts the onus on them to make things right with Jason, when their anger is completely legit. They shouldn't have to feel guilty about it just because the reason for the lack of communication was "good." He was still dead for two years and people suffered because of that.

Regardless, though, Jason won't have to do much to get people to get over their anger toward him. He's St. Jasus, dammit!

Edited by dubbel zout
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2 hours ago, CeChase said:

I feel that's best left to Stompin Carly, who I've always said is the only woman onscreen low enough to be a match for Sonny. 

I cut LW a lot of slack as far as her character is concerned due to Laura picking up the slack in just about every scene she shares with Mo.  Still think that this soap opera would see a marked improvement with both characters vacating Port Charles.  Maura West would be more enjoyable to watch for this viewer paired with Sonny, but Sonny must always come out smelling like a rose.  CW did a good job softening him up but after a couple of weeks after Nixon Falls, the only enjoyable scenes with Nina were her martini sessions with Ava.  As much as I like CW and MW, both characters are situated on the 'bloated' cast side of the island. 

4 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

But Jason still wouldn't have contacted anyone. In fact, it puts the onus on them to make things right with Jason, when their anger is completely legit. They shouldn't have to feel guilty about it just because the reason for the lack of communication was "good." He was still dead for two years and people suffered 

Their anger would still be completely legit, for the reasons Jake stated, esp. when he forced Jason to admit he didn't come back to Port Charles or make contact as soon as he could. However, it would make Jason's actions more forgivable. I don't agree that the onus would be on them, when they didn't know because Jason made this decision that impacted several lives without consulting anyone. Jason, and only Jason, should feel guilty even in that situation.  The "I took a job I didn't want because I had no choice" is a complete lie. It would at least be an understandable statement as a stand-in truth for someone's life is in danger or there's a risk of either son losing his mother long-term.  

 

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7 hours ago, YaddaYadda said:

It was a well-rounded episode, I thought. Nothing much happened, but it wasn't boring.

A perfect description of today’s episode.  I was coming in to say that I didn’t think there was much material plot movement (except maybe Sam’s and Kristina’s expressed distrust of Ava) but more exploring relationships between characters which I really enjoyed. That and the longer scenes make it feel like the performers have more of a chance to develop or show chemistry with their scene partners.

When Finn asked Elizabeth how she felt about the Jason situation, was it the first time he’s allowed her to have a POV?  And of course Stella and Tracy, chef’s kiss.

2 hours ago, Cheyanne11 said:

Another female friendship that was upped today was Nina/Maxie.  I love that Maxie can tell it like it is to Nina and Nina, while making not liking it, sees where Maxie is coming from.  More of this.

After the prior HWs’ nearly unwatchable storm of conflict between Molly and Kristina, the two of them have had some similar recent scenes: airing the “dirty laundry” and acknowledging and moving on within the same scene or at least episode. The recent scenes with Diane and Alexis are in the same vein, though they’ve pretty much always had that vibe.

Kudos to the writers for having Dr. Kramer acknowledge patient confidentiality, though a demerit for having Tracy have her wellness exam with an unseen Terry, an oncologist.

Kirsten Storms looks terrific.

  • Like 6
(edited)

I think LW does her level best to sell just about anything they throw at her (like the endless mind-numbing returns to S&C, or Carly and Franco which she should have received government reparations for) and has chemistry with most of her male partners, but while I think the writing is much improved (with people who knew the original Jason/Carly very well) I don't think there is a 'there' there romantically with Laura and Steve and there never has been. Possibly even less so than her and Maurice, which was vaguely functional at best.

If they want to put a legit Jason and Carly revisit over for real (and I'm still not convinced they do) it would require Sarah Brown, and despite my wildest dreams I don't think she's coming back lol.

Edited by jsbt
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(edited)

Okay, first of all, the idea of Nina and Ava being bloat, nah.  If they wrote off both characters I don't see myself sticking.  What's there for me?  Isn't there enough Carly for people already?  I would be out.  I need women in my age group other than Carly, thank you.

As for LW, she's the only Carly I know.  And while I think she's a good actress, she has very little sexual chem with most men on the show.  I saw it with Roho when he was Todd.  I saw it with Ingo in the early days.  And shockingly, I saw it with Sean when AJ was back before Ron got mad at him for being fat.  I actually thought those two were hilarious and had tons of chem.  But I haven't seen any since, I'm sorry.  Maybe it will work with Brennan though.  He's a grey enough character for the likes of Carly.  People seem to think there was a lot of chem.  I think we haven't seen enough to know for sure but I'm open to it. 

Edit for clarity; I don't think Sean was fat, I thought that was one of the most despicable things Ron did and I am not a Ron-writing hater. 

Edited by CeChase
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I don't want to see Jason and Carly together romantically because the only thing that made their dysfunctional relationship tolerable for me was that while Carly monopolized Jason, she could never have the one thing she desperately wanted from him. And she had to watch Robin, Elizabeth and Sam have real relationships with him. It was soapy.

45 minutes ago, CeChase said:

And shockingly, I saw it with Sean when AJ was back before Ron got mad at him for being fat.  I actually thought those two were hilarious and had tons of chem

Agreed. It's too bad Ron was so petty, because Sean is looking very fine over at B&B. 

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(edited)
10 hours ago, mbluecpa said:

When Finn asked Elizabeth how she felt about the Jason situation, was it the first time he’s allowed her to have a POV?  

I'm guessing you don't pay much attention to their scenes because Finn regularly "allows" Elizabeth to have a POV. When they first starting sharing scenes, it was her POV that he generally took advice from and was inspired by. During the whole ridiculous story about her parents that stupidly brought his dead wife into it, Finn literally had three scenes that were about his POV on the whole his wife cheating on him, Elizabeth playing any part in. Every other scene of his revolved around Elizabeth's feelings, Elizabeth's point of view. When they were working their way back to each other, his main concern was two-fold, how it would effect Violet, and how Elizabeth felt. During the off and on poorly paced lawsuit, Finn relied on Elizabeth's advice and support to see him through.

Finally, just a few weeks ago after he found Jake with the vape pen and they had a discussion, afterward, he asked Elizabeth if he had overstepped. They talked about it, and then their other kids. In fact, Elizabeth has discussed her feelings, concerns, etc with her kids often with Finn. And he has discussed his about Violet, his father, and Chase with her.

IOW, Finn and Eliazabeth have had, from the beginning, an open line of communication where they both each have points of view. Where they both tell each other what they think and what they feel. On occasion, both have missed the mark, but they have course-corrected, discussed it, and come back stronger. 

@CeChase Oh, I'm so sorry, you never got to see the absolute awesome that was Sarah Joy Brown as Carly. She was my favorite character then. You should watch her on YouTube.

Edited by driver18
  • Like 5
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I’m ready for them to dump their entire 30s set and replace them. Michael/Willow are already a boring, old married couple, Chase/BL somehow also managed to be one and haven’t even gotten married yet, and Cody/Sasha are a big old dud. 6 characters in the prime age group and they are all bland. Maxie is the only one whose gotten better writing and a personality but I think she’s firmly in supporting character territory now.

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(edited)
14 hours ago, Cheyanne11 said:

Bright spot of the day, by a landslide, were the Tracy/Stella scenes.  I am here for this friendship.

Another female friendship that was upped today was Nina/Maxie.  I love that Maxie can tell it like it is to Nina and Nina, while making not liking it, sees where Maxie is coming from.  More of this.

Loved all of this.  And Maxie’s styling is greatly improved.  I hope it lasts, I’ve thought hair and makeup got their shit together before and then a few days later poor Kirsten was back to looking grey.

10 hours ago, jsbt said:

think LW does her level best to sell just about anything they throw at her

She really does.  She is the definition of a company (wo)man.  She really puts in the work, even when the material is crap.

3 hours ago, CeChase said:

And shockingly, I saw it with Sean when AJ was back before Ron got mad at him for being fat.  I actually thought those two were hilarious and had tons of chem. 

I had forgotten all about that!  They were hilarious!  I still remember Carly trying to do the walk of shame out of AJ’s room at the Q mansion and Monica catching her.  Hee!!

Tamara Braun was my favorite Carly.  Of course, only Sarah Brown’s Carly ever had a romantic relationship with Jason if you can call it that.  But Tamara and her vulnerability could pull it off.  I just can’t see it with Laura’s Carly.

Edited by mostlylurking
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1 hour ago, ffwbe said:

I’m ready for them to dump their entire 30s set and replace them. Michael/Willow are already a boring, old married couple, Chase/BL somehow also managed to be one and haven’t even gotten married yet, and Cody/Sasha are a big old dud. 6 characters in the prime age group and they are all bland. Maxie is the only one whose gotten better writing and a personality but I think she’s firmly in supporting character territory now.

I kind of wish they would bring Lulu back because Laura should have at least one of her children on the canvas.  I think Lulu could be recast and it wouldn’t be a big deal.  The two actresses who played her were fine, but not irreplaceable.  On the other hand the one and only Lucky will always be Jonathan Jackson for me, nothing against the other two but JJ just had that certain something.

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2 hours ago, ffwbe said:

I’m ready for them to dump their entire 30s set and replace them. Michael/Willow are already a boring, old married couple, Chase/BL somehow also managed to be one and haven’t even gotten married yet, and Cody/Sasha are a big old dud. 6 characters in the prime age group and they are all bland. Maxie is the only one whose gotten better writing and a personality but I think she’s firmly in supporting character territory now.

Michael and Willow could be interesting if the show would just embrace Michael as the budget Adam Chandler the character should be and have Willow come to the realization she exchanged one cult for another. Disagreeing over Nina would be a good start - Willow realizes Harmony was not that great of a mother and Nina is the monster Michael thinks she is.

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49 minutes ago, lilabennet said:

If he gained 5-10 lbs then he may stop looking so hollowed out in the face, but I think he is so focused on his body that he isn't willing to consider that his diet and workout routine is too extreme.

I agree thaat he's more interested in his body, but I also suspect he's had fillers put into his face- that weird bumpy high cheekbone thing.

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There comes an age where if you’re aging naturally something’s gotta give.  You might need to gain a LITTLE weight in order to keep your face looking fuller.  Steve it’s definitely more concerned with his body than his face, which is weird because as an actor your face is what’s on display the most, especially when you’re on tv every single day.

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5 hours ago, ffwbe said:

I’m ready for them to dump their entire 30s set and replace them. Michael/Willow are already a boring, old married couple, Chase/BL somehow also managed to be one and haven’t even gotten married yet, and Cody/Sasha are a big old dud. 6 characters in the prime age group and they are all bland. Maxie is the only one whose gotten better writing and a personality but I think she’s firmly in supporting character territory now.

Should've been done long ago. I am starting to think Maxie has a second life to her, and I would give BLQ a chance either with a recast or if Setton is willing to play actual soap opera material again, but almost all of the rest can go. Assuming we're not counting Dante, who I think is fine. And Cody I like as a roving horny stud, but not with Sasha.

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(edited)

I'm pretty sure Tracy won't miss having chicken parm for her birthday dinner, Olivia. Did you even ask her first? Highly unlikely. And do you know what flavor of cake she'd prefer? Ugh. Tracy would probably enjoy the mashed potatoes, though. With a nice rib-eye steak. Who doesn't like mashed potatoes? Though shepherd's pie has mashed potatoes and is delicious.

Really condescending of Olivia to think that Sasha couldn't come up with something Sam and everyone might eat. But nice bit of self-knowledge to know they're probably sick of Olivia's "usual recipes." Her repertoire is super limited.

LOL at the randos in Bobbie's who effusively applauded Curtis walking in. They have no idea who he is! I'd join in halfheartedly because everyone was clapping so I wouldn't like a jerk, but that's it. And kind of gross Curtis had to walk again to realize he'll always be who he is.

Are cold hands and feet symptoms of depression? If so, I've been unknowingly depressed for my entire life. My hands and feet are always cold.

I like how they wrote the Tracy/Terry scenes. Tracy was defensive and Terry didn't try to downplay that, she was supportive of Tracy's actions.

Once again Portia exhibits her spectacularly bad professionalism by not being able or willing to separate her personal feelings from her medical obligations.

I'm glad the new writers realized Joss being a doctor was a bad idea. She'd be more terrible than Lainey, world's worst therapist. (I still love you, Kent Masters King!)

Previews: Wagger tells Drew "that could get you sent back to Pentonville." Exit story?

Edited by dubbel zout
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5 hours ago, ffwbe said:

I’m ready for them to dump their entire 30s set and replace them. Michael/Willow are already a boring, old married couple, Chase/BL somehow also managed to be one and haven’t even gotten married yet, and Cody/Sasha are a big old dud. 6 characters in the prime age group and they are all bland. Maxie is the only one whose gotten better writing and a personality but I think she’s firmly in supporting character territory now.

i've been saying this for a while. like the worst thing they have done was made everyone in this set married, about to be married and have kids. that's such a no no. 

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Wow, Portia. Tell us how you really feel.  (At least the background players got to turn around and stare at her.)

Still... talk about unnecessary characters  - we don't need reformed Heather on the canvas.   Though that would be a great lawsuit for Alexis. Sue the device manufacturer and the Bureau of Prisons for not recognizing or ignoring her health issues. 

 

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1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

Tracy would probably enjoy the mashed potatoes, though. With a nice rib-eye steak. Who doesn't like mashed potatoes? Though shepherd's pie has mashed potatoes and is delicious.

🙋🏼‍♀️ Me. Lol I have never liked mashed potatoes very much. I have to have gravy to eat them, but even then I'm not a big fan. And I love potatoes in general. Ha 

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1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

Are cold hands and feet symptoms of depression?

I think they're a sign of hypo or hyper thyroidism which also includes depression.  I think that might have been where Terri was going with that.

Speaking of Terri, she's the co chief of staff but she's also a pedo oncologist, so why is she doing a physical exam on Tracy?  Wouldn't that be a GP?  

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What would be sending Drew back to prison?  First of all, I wouldn't want that to be his exit story, that poor SOB getting run over by Carly and bad judgement.  Though I'd say getting involved with Carly in the first place is proof enough of bad judgement.   And also, I don't think Cam is exiting right now.  I'm not totally sure of that, but I don't think so.  But what could this be about?  Something about Carly and Jason I bet.  

18 minutes ago, perkie1968 said:

I think they're a sign of hypo or hyper thyroidism which also includes depression.  I think that might have been where Terri was going with that.

Speaking of Terri, she's the co chief of staff but she's also a pedo oncologist, so why is she doing a physical exam on Tracy?  Wouldn't that be a GP?  

The least they could have done was a throwaway line about Tracy insisting on being seen by the co-CoS because she's a board member or something.

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(edited)

What I like the most about the new writing team is that they are finding the drama in the characters, rather than in silly plot devices. Tracy, and her birthday loneliness.  Maxie and her fondness for the Nina who used to be.  Gregory, who has entered into the anger stage of his grief.  Even the Heather story---once upon a time it would have been solely about "is she or isn't she", waiting for the shoe to drop.  But here, it's about two respected professionals disagreeing on her care, each for a legitimate reason.  

People are fascinating, and life is drama, and I'm glad these writers realize that.

Edited by JMO
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5 hours ago, mostlylurking said:

Tamara Braun was my favorite Carly.  Of course, only Sarah Brown’s Carly ever had a romantic relationship with Jason if you can call it that.  But Tamara and her vulnerability could pull it off.  I just can’t see it with Laura’s Carly.

For having seen Tamara and SB trying to get it on on the other soap, he would have to give a lot more to the pairing because it was really one directional and they moved away for the pairing quite quickly.

49 minutes ago, CeChase said:

Why is Laura trying to get a cop-killer released?  I would think that would be a bad move for a mayor?   I think Portia is right. 

I don't think that's what she's doing - she only remarked on how Heather seemed different. Kevin, otoh, did seem to be heading there. You would think his experience with Ryan would make him more cautious. 

If Heather wasn't technically responsible for the hook killings, she was still in prison for other crimes, right? I don't think they committed themselves as to when Heather got the hip implant and when it went bad. Or did they and I missed it?

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3 minutes ago, tessaray said:

I don't think that's what she's doing - she only remarked on how Heather seemed different. Kevin, otoh, did seem to be heading there. You would think his experience with Ryan would make him more cautious. 

If Heather wasn't technically responsible for the hook killings, she was still in prison for other crimes, right? I don't think they committed themselves as to when Heather got the hip implant and when it went bad. Or did they and I missed it?

Hmmm...I am watching it on Hulu later.  I've been suspicious about Kevin for a while.  Not that he's actually Ryan.  But that something's gone wrong in his head since Ryan was killed.  I don't know.  

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Culture Check: How can we discuss a character's or actor's appearance without objectifying them? How can we express likes or dislikes and still respect an individual's humanity or be mindful that a character represents a person someone else might relate to or identify with?

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