S01.E10: 7 Swans A Singin’

[Meredith Quill]

4 hours ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

trashy Grandma

From now on I shall be referring to her as Trashma. Perfect!

[PrePreBabylonia]

21 hours ago, Norma Desmond said:

Katja Herbers and Mike Colter are pretty active on Twitter and they interact with everyone that talks to them about the show. I think they are super happy to know the show has fans 🙂

This was a weird episode. I know David is not going to die, so there's not much suspense there.

I don't think sexytimes Grandma is possessed, I think she's always had an evil streak that Leland just helped come to the surface, so to speak.

I agree, Grandma has always been selfish and irresponsible, Leland just pushes her to the next level. Even if she didn't admit the truth to Lexie, it would have been damaging. Nothing like gaslighting your own granddaughter! I suspect that Kristen has seen this for herself, presumably being raised by her. I assumed she just couldn't afford hiring a babysitter but with Andy around, I just don't know why she doesn't stop calling her. Unless Andy is busy job hunting - at what, I don't know. So far I have been surprised at how likeable he is, and with  a strong streak of common sense. I was expecting to really dislike him.

I love this cast, how wonderful that they want to interact with their fans! Don't see that often enough, in my opinion. Although you are always more likely to see it with science fiction/fantasy shows, I believe. My favourite genre.

5 hours ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

While I totally get why this show is on at 10 pm and agree that is an appropriate time for it, it sucks that I can't seem to stay up late enough to watch it live.  Starting about the halfway mark of Young Sheldon, the hubs begins his litany of "Can we watch Evil now?"  Sadly, we have to watch it the next day because we are apparently old.

Anyhow, I thought this was a fun episode.  A couple of quick questions/comments:

1 - What happened to the cat?

2 - Why doesn't Katja/Kristen where dark green more often?  It really is her color.

3 - Between this episode and last season of The Good Fight, it seems like the Kings are really into animation with kitschy music.

I don't know if trashy Grandma is possessed or not, but I think that's part of the appeal with this show.  We never really quite now.  Is Leland a very persuasive narcissist or is he Satan?  Who can tell?  I think, depending where you are in view of religion and such, this show is completely different from viewer to viewer.

Oh, one more thing, this was the first episode where the David/Kristen possible romantic dynamic wasn't pushed and I think the show was better for it.  And Kristen seems happy with her husband and he's a good counterpart for her.  Can the show just let that be?  Let David has his Angelica Schuyler obsession if he wants, but let him and Kristen just be friends and colleagues.

Trashy grandma is probably a better choice than my own nickname - Evil Granny.

I don't mind a little extra chemistry between David and Kristen but I am surprised at how much I like her with Andy, and I think David would have to settle his priestly inclinations first. Plus, we haven't seen how he will interact with her daughters. Be difficult to make headway against Ben the Magnificent!

[Driad]

5 hours ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

2 - Why doesn't Katja/Kristen where dark green more often?  It really is her color.

Green is the anti-red too.  

[cleo]

I think I'm going to bail on this show for a while. I like aspects of it alot, but the things I dislike are getting bigger.

Dislike Leland, and loathe the story with him influencing the grandma. I think what pushed me over the top this ep was the stuff with the daughter. I know too much about kids being lied to, manipulated and hurt, and told to keep it secret. I know this show is far from reality but I don't enjoy watching it, the stuff with the daughter.

Also early on I really have them the benefit of the doubt with the various plot stuff dropped ie the girl in the game, the girl on the halloween mask, the crazy stuff with david's dad. But finally, like others have said, it seems like a lot of this stuff is just being abandoned.

I do enjoy the actors and I generally enjoy their cases, but I will probably read reviews of each ep after it airs and see if I want to watch on a case by case basis.

Influencer really looked Alicia Silverstone.

[meatball77]

You should stick it out, there are only three episodes left of the season.  It's not like it's a 22 episode season.

[marina707]

On 12/13/2019 at 10:18 AM, Trillian said:

it was pretty weird for him to say that he was in third year seminary and then go on to explain to a real priest that that means he’s training to be a priest. That really jumped out at me - hit a discordant note, one might say. 

You can get other theology-related degrees in seminary school, it's not solely training to be a priest (there are a couple in my city and I know a handful of people who have gone), so I didn't mind the clarification.

8 hours ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

Oh, one more thing, this was the first episode where the David/Kristen possible romantic dynamic wasn't pushed and I think the show was better for it.

Agreed. I wouldn't mind Kristen/Ben if she and her husband ever split up, but I personally don't see any chemistry between her and David (unpopular opinion there, I know!).

[Annber03]

43 minutes ago, marina707 said:

I wouldn't mind Kristen/Ben if she and her husband ever split up, but I personally don't see any chemistry between her and David (unpopular opinion there, I know!).

Honestly, I'm shipping those two more and more as time goes on. They seem to have a lot in common in terms of their beliefs and whatnot, there's the aforementioned bond he's developed with her family, they've got a fun teasing banter of sorts. I can totally see it. 

That said, I do think the quieter moments in particular between David and Kristen do a nice job of showing the potential for something between them, too. I like when they have their little heart to hearts about their respective beliefs. I'd really like to hear them talk more often about their experiences in other parts of the world, 'cause that's an interesting detail they have in common that they could definitely connect over. 

Course, I'm the sort who enjoys multi-shipping in general, and whether the show goes there romantically or not with any of these characters, I'm good either way. So feel free to take my thoughts with a grain of salt 😛. 

[Linderhill]

On 12/13/2019 at 11:29 AM, teddysmom said:

How close to Christmas was it supposed to be?  Aren't they in NYC?

Do the show runners, etc realize that NYC in December does not look like LA in October?  Leaves are off the tree, nothing is that green.  

I'd like to resolve the Leland story line, he's getting to be a pain in the ass. 

At least the girls weren't screaming. Apparently that sound frequency thing is true.  Did not know that.  I know they can't hear their parents, that must be the frequency that can't hear. 

this ⬆️all of it.  Especially the Leland storyline.  I didn't watch Lost or the other show the actor was on so I have no emotional attachment to him and he just annoys me no end.

[HazelEyes4325]

8 minutes ago, Linderhill said:

this ⬆️all of it.  Especially the Leland storyline.  I didn't watch Lost or the other show the actor was on so I have no emotional attachment to him and he just annoys me no end.

Not included in the quote was the verdant New York December...that sort of thing bugs me as well.  It is especially irksome in cases like this where there is no real reason to even have exterior shots.  Lexi and Trashy Grandma didn't have to have their conversation on the swings.  They could have had it in the kitchen, or somewhere inside.  And since this was a Christmas episode, the audience expect NYC in December.  It doesn't have to be snowy, but the trees shouldn't be pre-autumnal either.  At least the scenes with Mike were at night so it wasn't quite as noticeable.

As for Leland, he annoys me as well, but I think he's supposed to.  I mean, I don't think we're supposed to like the guy.  In fact, I think we're supposed to hate him to the point that we see him as evil incarnate. I do kind of like the fact that he's this not-at-all-hot guy and completely unassuming.  It seems that villains, especially supernatural, seem to always have to score high on the sexy scale so it is a nice change to see someone who is very much not like that.

[marina707]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

Honestly, I'm shipping those two more and more as time goes on. They seem to have a lot in common in terms of their beliefs and whatnot, there's the aforementioned bond he's developed with her family, they've got a fun teasing banter of sorts. I can totally see it.

Yeah. I like that they're on the same page as far as the religious aspect, and that her kids clearly adore him. I just find their dynamic much more interesting and I like Ben as a character way more than David, who I find pretty boring. (And...I have a feeling we may possibly have already had this discussion on another site? Or I could just be imagining things!)

[AnimeMania]

I don't think Leland is going anywhere anytime soon. Leland is a name actor and the reason many people decided to give the show a chance. Leland is probably our introduction to the other 59 demons. I imagine the team will start removing the other demons long before they put a stop of Leland. 

[DAthene]

I’m not sure how much of a push Leland has to give to amoral Granny....she heard the tapes Kristen made (and it doesn’t seem like she talked to him about it or she probably would have accused her daughter of tampering with the sound) and still opted to sleep with him.  If she is ok with dating a sociopath, her moral compass is already demagnetized.  
 

I’m glad I’m not the only one who finishes an episode and doesn’t feel like there is real resolution.   

[NoReally]

Am I the only one who thought the confessor priest might be Leland (perhaps disguising his voice)?

I expected something bad to come of that.

[TVForever]

6 minutes ago, NoReally said:

Am I the only one who thought the confessor priest might be Leland (perhaps disguising his voice)?

I expected something bad to come of that.

Same here. I kept expecting the camera to pan to the priest, revealing that it was Leland. We may have guessed wrong, but I still think there's something there. After all, this is the person David is confessing all his "deepest and darkest" to. 

[ketose]

When Kristen held the laptop up to her ear, I was thinking they were going to use the whole "high frequency only teenagers can hear" thing. That and the concept of subliminal messaging is real, but there's a lot of supernatural Spackle they fill into the gaps to make it possible.

[sempervivum]

1 hour ago, NoReally said:

Am I the only one who thought the confessor priest might be Leland (perhaps disguising his voice)?

Am I the only one who thought the confessor had an Indian accent?

1 hour ago, TVForever said:

Same here. I kept expecting the camera to pan to the priest, revealing that it was Leland. We may have guessed wrong, but I still think there's something there. After all, this is the person David is confessing all his "deepest and darkest" to. 

But Leland seems to already know everything about David's secrets; he's the one who brought up Julia in the very first episode, and he's referred to David's attraction to Kristen several times. The only rationale for the confessor priest being a fake would be to trick David into believing his sins had been absolved, thus leaving him vulnerable to damnation. (Catholics out there will understand this concept).

[kwnyc]

Quote

Am I the only one who thought the confessor had an Indian accent?

I thought it was African, possibly Nigerian. The US has a priest shortage, and they are probably helping Catholic priests immigrate here.

As for the "only teenagers can hear" frequency, that was a plot point in the last season of "Person of Interest." 

I also thought the original Pudsy video is one that kids would have made viral. Silly, youthful fun.

So of course Leland had to co-opt it for his purposes.

Like other commenters, I wondered why the team didn't follow up on this "Mike" the producer. It would have led them to Leland.

And as for David's assassin, it wouldn't surprise me if he was another one of Leland's projects. Maybe not the person in the duffle bag, but another one of his "mentees."

And I think that Kristen and Danny should have believed Lexie that Grandma coached her. Grandma has a worse record than Lexie, and Kristen grew up with her and Danny knows how manipulative she is. I think Granny has a borderline personality herself, and it didn't even take a nudge from Leland to get her to act out all sorts of evil actions.

I don't believe David will die...but these days you can never tell.

And, with all of their callbacks to film and tv tropes and shots, the last shot of David looking at the Christ child put me in mind of the last shot of the ER episode where Carter and Lucy were stabbed by the crazy patient. 

(I have never stopped missing ER, and this is my idea of a good Thursday night/10pm show!)

[SomeTameGazelle]

4 minutes ago, kwnyc said:

And I think that Kristen and Danny should have believed Lexie that Grandma coached her. Grandma has a worse record than Lexie, and Kristen grew up with her and Danny knows how manipulative she is.

Do they really, though? I think we know that Kristen knows her mother can be flaky and irresponsible, and Andy apparently doesn't get along with her, but it also seemed clear that while Kristen hasn't been paying as much attention as she should, Leland has been giving Sheryl bad advice and pushing her beyond the pale. Didn't Sheryl, similar to the "influencer", specifically say something like "I did what you said and told her [blah blah]"?

[HazelEyes4325]

2 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Do they really, though? I think we know that Kristen knows her mother can be flaky and irresponsible, and Andy apparently doesn't get along with her, but it also seemed clear that while Kristen hasn't been paying as much attention as she should, Leland has been giving Sheryl bad advice and pushing her beyond the pale. Didn't Sheryl, similar to the "influencer", specifically say something like "I did what you said and told her [blah blah]"?

I agree about Kristen and Danny believing Trashy Grandma over Lexi.  As the audience, we have more information that Kristen and Danny and we know what happened.  All Kristen and Danny know is that their daughter did something that didn't think she would ever do.  And, now that she was in trouble, trying to blame her grandmother--something they also previously never thought she would--seems more believable.  And let's not forget that Kristen did confront her mother about it and Sheryl's denial was pretty darn believable.

I've been thinking about what exactly is happening between Leland and Sheryl.  I don't know if he has possessed her or if he's just given her a shove in a dark direction she was already heading.  What I do think is that he targeted her because of her connection to Kristen.  Now, if she had said, "Fuck off, loser" when he first approached her, I do think that would have been that and he would have tried to look for another inroad to Kristen.  So, bad on Grandma there.  But, beyond that, I'm not sure.  I think the question is purposefully vague and the writers want us to be grappling with it.

[Bulldog]

Full disclosure:  I am not Catholic, so somebody please correct me if I'm off base.

On the speculation that the person David confessed to was not a priest (or was perhaps Leland or the assailant who assaulted David) -- I remember many years ago on an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray went to confession and was surprised that there was not a booth, and the priest said that they didn't do it that way anymore.  Instead, the confessional was just a regular room with two chairs where the priest and parishioner talked.   Is the booth no longer a thing?  Or, do different churches do it differently? Or can the parishioner decide which way to confess?  Personally, I would prefer the anonymity of the booth, but that's just me (and I'm sure David would feel the same.)  

[Trillian]

20 hours ago, marina707 said:

You can get other theology-related degrees in seminary school, it's not solely training to be a priest (there are a couple in my city and I know a handful of people who have gone), so I didn't mind the clarification.

Roman Catholic? Generally, only “priests in training” go to Catholic seminary, although others take theology courses and degrees and some seminary courses are taken in secular universities.  “I’m a third year seminarian” would’ve implied priest in training and no Catholic - let alone a priest- would’ve had any doubt what that meant.

57 minutes ago, Bulldog said:

Full disclosure:  I am not Catholic, so somebody please correct me if I'm off base.

On the speculation that the person David confessed to was not a priest (or was perhaps Leland or the assailant who assaulted David) -- I remember many years ago on an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray went to confession and was surprised that there was not a booth, and the priest said that they didn't do it that way anymore.  Instead, the confessional was just a regular room with two chairs where the priest and parishioner talked.   Is the booth no longer a thing?  Or, do different churches do it differently? Or can the parishioner decide which way to confess?  Personally, I would prefer the anonymity of the booth, but that's just me (and I'm sure David would feel the same.)  

Varies by parish, and some parishes offer both. I’m with you in preferring the booth.  Some people really claim to like the face-to-face, though. 

For all the little things, this show doesn’t do Catholicism badly. On re-watch, I was actually quite impressed to notice that the altar in the church where David confessed was actually properly decked out for the liturgical season, with advent wreath and purple drapings. Assuming they filmed it more than three weeks ago, they had to go to some effort to do that. 

[marina707]

6 minutes ago, Trillian said:

Roman Catholic? Generally, only “priests in training” go to Catholic seminary, although others take theology courses and degrees and some seminary courses are taken in secular universities.  “I’m a third year seminarian” would’ve implied priest in training and no Catholic - let alone a priest- would’ve had any doubt what that meant.

No, the ones near me are Baptist/Presbyterian. I was thinking that since David just said "seminary", though, and didn't specify which denomination, it made sense for him to explain further (since he could've been going to a Presbyterian seminary for a Masters in theology or something), but I wasn't even thinking about the fact that if he were another religion, he most likely wouldn't be going to confession in a Catholic church! (I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic schools but am not religious now...guess that's obvious lol.)

[KaveDweller]

Is there anyone else who can't get that annoying song from this episode out of their heads? I have been hearing it all weekend and it's driving me crazy!

[ketose]

6 hours ago, kwnyc said:

I thought it was African, possibly Nigerian. The US has a priest shortage, and they are probably helping Catholic priests immigrate here.

As for the "only teenagers can hear" frequency, that was a plot point in the last season of "Person of Interest." 

I also thought the original Pudsy video is one that kids would have made viral. Silly, youthful fun.

So of course Leland had to co-opt it for his purposes.

Like other commenters, I wondered why the team didn't follow up on this "Mike" the producer. It would have led them to Leland.

And as for David's assassin, it wouldn't surprise me if he was another one of Leland's projects. Maybe not the person in the duffle bag, but another one of his "mentees."

And I think that Kristen and Danny should have believed Lexie that Grandma coached her. Grandma has a worse record than Lexie, and Kristen grew up with her and Danny knows how manipulative she is. I think Granny has a borderline personality herself, and it didn't even take a nudge from Leland to get her to act out all sorts of evil actions.

I don't believe David will die...but these days you can never tell.

And, with all of their callbacks to film and tv tropes and shots, the last shot of David looking at the Christ child put me in mind of the last shot of the ER episode where Carter and Lucy were stabbed by the crazy patient. 

(I have never stopped missing ER, and this is my idea of a good Thursday night/10pm show!)

Speaking of earworms, seeing that makes me think of Battleflag by Lo Fidelity Allstars. That was playing during the scene.

[cardigirl]

3 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

If the parents of the bully had done their job, their child wouldn't have been a bully.  Given that those parents raised a bully, that leads me to believe that those parents are uncaring assholes.

If the school had done their job, Lexie wouldn't have been bullied. 

Kristen and her husband aren't involved in their children's lives.   They opted out.  That put Lexie in the position of solving her problem with the bully.   She solved that problem by going to grandma for advice.

A bullied person doesn't want power.  A bullied person wants to go about their daily life without living in fear.  No one should have to avoid doing things they would like to do just to avoid a bully.  And no one should have to wait it out until the bully gets tired of bullying.   Sometimes bullies don't move on, sometimes they continue to bully the same person over and over again until something is done about it.  Bullies exist to control and dominate others.  They get off on making people fear them.  They get off on making people miserable.

Often times, others will join in on the bullying just so that they feel like they are part of something.  A form of acceptance.

Joining in doesn't mean it's the answer. Escalation leads to escalation. School shootings anyone? Is that an answer to bullying? 

 Actually Kristen and her husband are involved,  but so, unfortunately, is Grandma, who is now influenced by Leland, and Grandma is who Lexie went to first. Hitting the girl in the face with a rock in her fist was the answer?  I don't think so.  You hurt me so I have the right to hurt you.  Hmmmm, I don't think that's the answer she was looking for.

Bullies exist often because they are afraid, or because they cannot cope with a bad situation, so they take their stress and anger out in a poor fashion.  Sometimes standing up to them may stop the bullying behavior, sometimes it escalates it, but retaliation is generally met with more retaliation. 

What do you say about the young man who was being led to a mass shooting? Or the woman with the website?  They too were being led to acts of bad behavior. 

A bullied person feels fear and loathing and wants the bullying to stop. They're not sure how to deal with it. Often they become bullies themselves. Grandma certainly put Lexie on that path.  

[HazelEyes4325]

I actually don't have a problem with how Kristen and Danny handled the situation with Lexi.  I mean, if this were the real world, I think they should have said something like, "Violence is never okay and you shouldn't have done that, but you also need to tell us about what's going on with this bullying."  But, this show has about 44 minutes to tell a story and I don't think the bullying is anything more than a device to show that Trashy Grandma has turned to the dark side and possibly a route to lead Lexi to the dark side as well.  However, my gut feeling is that we won't hear another mention of Lexi's bully on this show.

[kwnyc]

Quote

However, my gut feeling is that we won't hear another mention of Lexi's bully on this show.

But Leland now "in the house," with Grandma taking his suggestions, and Lexie acting on them. I HOPE she decides to come clean to her Mom or Dad in the next part of the season. (Which would also lead to the discovery that Granny is still banging the Devil, or his surrogate.)

[HazelEyes4325]

22 minutes ago, kwnyc said:

But Leland now "in the house," with Grandma taking his suggestions, and Lexie acting on them. I HOPE she decides to come clean to her Mom or Dad in the next part of the season. (Which would also lead to the discovery that Granny is still banging the Devil, or his surrogate.)

I'm not sure that the girls know that Trashy Grandma is still seeing Leland.  On the one hand, Sheryl should be smart enough to not let her granddaughters know if she doesn't want Kristen to know.  On the other, she's laying the groundwork of teaching the girls "not to snitch" on her.  And, you know, shes banging him in her daughter's office, so she's not that careful....

Another point--Sheryl has already planted doubt in Kristen and Danny's mind about anything that Lexie says from here on out.  I think, if Kristen and Danny were to believe anything, it would have to come from one of the other the L's.  Lexie's credibility is essentially shot at this point, which was probably Sheryl's intent.

[msrachelj]

On 12/13/2019 at 8:33 AM, teddysmom said:

That's the definition of about 50% of "influencers". 

I think that may be the older version of the lyrics, I remember learning it that way ( a LONG time ago). 

More like 90%!

 

Trash Ma!it’s perfect she looks like she lives in a bad trailer park. It always intrigues me when you see the child  of some low class person who has educated herself. The actress who plays trash ma is almost 70 years old. I want the name of her plastic surgeon

[SomeTameGazelle]

21 hours ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

Kristen and Danny

Kristen's husband is called Andy, isn't he?

[HazelEyes4325]

1 hour ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Kristen's husband is called Andy, isn't he?

Yeah, probably.  I think I gleaned Danny off another post here and he hasn't been on the show long enough for me to remember his name, especially when I still can't remember the individual names of the 4 L's!

[rhys]

Yep it's Andy. I was wondering who Danny was!

[Katy M]

On 12/13/2019 at 8:49 AM, Madding crowd said:

Another creepy episode! I love how crazy this show is that it didn’t seem all that strange for Leland to have a person in a duffle bag in his office. Subliminal voices scare me for some reason so I thought it was excellent use of a ‘influencer’.  I wonder what Leland’s goal is unless it’s general mayhem. 

Can’t wait for the show to return. And I think it’s ok to tell someone to stand up to a bully, but hitting another child in the face with a rock is not.

I agree on both counts.  Years ago I started reading a scary book and it started out with subliminal advertising, so I knew where it was headed and I was like nope and didn't finish it.  And, yeah, big difference between hit her back and hit her back with a rock.  

 

On 12/14/2019 at 6:18 PM, SomeTameGazelle said:

he a capella choral arrangement they were singing was actually lovely. The unison Jingle Bells without the melody was also pretty.

I thought it was very pretty.  They got some good singers for this episode.

Did I mishear?  I kept thinking they were saying college, but it seemed like a high school to me?

[raven]

Oh Ben, never stop being magnificent!  I love the little asides, like at the beginning when Kristen is talking about the mass laughing and dancing and Ben says "half these things you talk about sound made up".  LOL!

Kristen, have you never heard of Bloody Mary?  Don't repeat things three times in front of the mirror.

That weird cartoon reminded me of the equally weird cartoon from Channel Zero.

I thought maybe there was a doppel-Granny giving the evil advice but then decided no, it's just one possessed/messed up Trashy Granny.   But we have David receiving ghost messages and ghosts giving wi-pokes or whatever - I know, probably not ghosts but it's fun to speculate.

I laughed at Kristen's kid wailing "the voices in my head" because she didn't look scared.  I mean, child actor and all, it was just so OTT.  Like this show.

I like Andy but maybe if he had told Kristen that her mom doesn't respect her wishes about keeping Leland off her property she might side eye her a bit.

That was violent attack on David!

I like this show.  It's odd and entertaining and creepy.

[Annber03]

3 minutes ago, raven said:

Kristen, have you never heard of Bloody Mary?  Don't repeat things three times in front of the mirror.

I was thinking that very same thing! I was waiting for something to pop up in the mirror :p.

[mythoughtis]

On 12/14/2019 at 8:26 PM, meatball77 said:

You should stick it out, there are only three episodes left of the season.  It's not like it's a 22 episode season.

Unfortunately they’ve renewed this. 

[Katy M]

17 minutes ago, mythoughtis said:

Unfortunately they’ve renewed this. 

Oh good.  I feel like the show is starting to hit its stride.

[kwnyc]

I've also been wondering about what Peter Scolari's role will be; Boris McGiver seems to be gone from the cast. Scolari's character has more leeway in going with and interacting with the team (esp. since the Holy Father has heard of David!)

I wonder if they have, or will, share their knowledge of Leland with them. I expect that could happen with David seriously injured.

[Catfi9ht]

I really liked the main story with the subliminal frequency in this episode. It started out as something potentially supernatural then everything was explained and revealed in a believable manner. I realize that's how the show has been advertised, but I don't think they've done a good job with these types of plot points until this episode.

However, there are some weird things that are overlooked by these characters that seem obvious when they're shown on screen. 

1. It was obvious Leland created the Pudgy's Christmas video (or whatever it was called) because the decapitated unicorns in the video were identical to the unicorns on the diaries he gave to Kristen's daughters.
2. Why did Kristen get mad at her oldest daughter for potentially watching a makeup video but not for watching Pudgy's Christmas, a video about Santa getting high and smoking a bong?
3. The team not tracking down "Mike" (or following the influencer after they talked to her) as others have pointed out.

Noise aside, I think Kristen's daughters are well-behaved, especially for having an irresponsible Grandma and a Dad who's only occasionally around. After Kristen took away the VR sets, they didn't get them back out and use them even though they knew where they were. When they wanted to play the instruments their Dad gave them, they stopped when they were told "no". Lexi told the truth when confronted about hitting the girl, and I'm sure there are more examples that I'm forgetting at the moment. I'm glad this show isn't resorting to using bratty kid tropes to create conflict. I suspect Lexi will start to shy away from Grandma and Kristen will finally figure out what her mother did.

Oh, and I don't think anyone else has mentioned this, but I assumed the guy who stabbed David also sent him the pictures and was the person stalking him outside the church earlier in the episode.

Finally, I thought the clothes Kristen gave David was a weird gift choice; it seemed too intimate. I also thought the same thing about the the earrings Kristen received.

 

[Katy M]

25 minutes ago, Catfi9ht said:

Finally, I thought the clothes Kristen gave David was a weird gift choice; it seemed too intimate. I also thought the same thing about the the earrings Kristen received.

I've always thought jewelry from someone other than a family member or significant other is kind of strange, honestly.  But, at least it was from both of them.  It would have been worse had they jsut been from David.

[Annber03]

Exactly. Plus, it was a spontaneous gift idea, 'cause they felt bad they hadn't given her anything. Earrings just seemed a quick, easy choice more than anything :p. I presume as they get to know her better they'll have an easier time next year with gift ideas for her :D. 

[Anela]

I thought the earrings were too much, but the magnificent Ben is always fixing things for her family, apparently, and her girls appear to love him, so they might already feel like family. 

[HazelEyes4325]

On 12/20/2019 at 9:47 AM, Annber03 said:

Exactly. Plus, it was a spontaneous gift idea, 'cause they felt bad they hadn't given her anything. Earrings just seemed a quick, easy choice more than anything :p. I presume as they get to know her better they'll have an easier time next year with gift ideas for her :D. 

Also, didn't someone (was it the influencer?) comment on the earrings?  I have a feeling the the earrings will figure into the story further down the line.

[Annber03]

That, too, yes! Good point.

On a similar note, so I was reading up on the dancing mania thing that Kristen talked about at one point this episode, and first off, what a bizarre story, but second, this part of the Wiki article about it struck me as kinda interesting:

Quote

Participants demonstrated odd reactions to the color red; in A History of Madness in Sixteenth-Century Germany, Midelfort notes they "could not perceive the color red at all", and Bartholomew reports "it was said that dancers could not stand... the color red, often becoming violent on seeing [it]".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_mania

I find that especially intriguing when you consider that the girls' uniforms at that school had red in them. And I believe the influencer had some red in her video, and Kristen's mom had a red dress on when she was advising Lexie to hit the girl who'd hurt her. Grace may have told Kristen to avoid that particular color for...a week, wasn't it?...but then again, just because she gave a specific time period doesn't mean the danger's passed after that time period, or that she's being honest about how long the danger will last, or whatever. 

I dunno. Just something to possibly mull over. 

Edited December 25, 2019 by Annber03

[ketose]

I object to this show's bias against the color red.

[Annber03]

LOL, seriously, I'd be completely screwed if I were on this show, 'cause red is my favorite color and I've got a lot of stuff that's in that color :p. 

[savagepoodles]

On 12/20/2019 at 10:04 AM, Catfi9ht said:

Finally, I thought the clothes Kristen gave David was a weird gift choice; it seemed too intimate. I also thought the same thing about the the earrings Kristen received.

 

I thought the only real "gift" was the scarf. Wasn't the hoodie the one he had given her to wear the night that they got back from visiting his father?  I think I remember her throwing it in the hamper to wash it before she returned it and this was just a silly way to give it back to him along with the real gift?

[Catfi9ht]

On 12/27/2019 at 1:48 AM, savagepoodles said:

I thought the only real "gift" was the scarf. Wasn't the hoodie the one he had given her to wear the night that they got back from visiting his father?  I think I remember her throwing it in the hamper to wash it before she returned it and this was just a silly way to give it back to him along with the real gift?

I thought the hoodie was black and the sweater in the box was red. I'm not into this show enough to rewatch so I could be mistaken.

[sempervivum]

9 hours ago, Catfi9ht said:

I thought the hoodie was black and the sweater in the box was red. I'm not into this show enough to rewatch so I could be mistaken.

I rewatched so you didn't have to ! It is indeed the same hoody, and (interestingly) it's a striated black/red combo. 

[Catfi9ht]

3 hours ago, sempervivum said:

I rewatched so you didn't have to ! It is indeed the same hoody, and (interestingly) it's a striated black/red combo. 

I appreciate your diligence sir/madam. You are a rogue and a scholar.😄