S01.E05: Illusions

[mjc570]

21 hours ago, fellini said:

He wouldn't tell his mom why he was fighting.

I didn't understand why he wouldn't just tell her some mean guys were picking on his sister.  I also don't understand why he is in such bad shape about his dad - yes it is an awful place to put your kid (making him keep a secret that affects his mom), but isn't he old enough to feel comfortable talking to his mom?  Have friends with cheating parents?  It made me wonder if there was more to it.  

[blixie]

Quote

what would be the best explanation for the (alleged) murder weapon to be in Billy’s possession,

When the hell did this scene happen?!  Just when I think I've been closely watching. Anyway Robinson's theory is that John groomed Billy too, maybe not for sexual abuse but cowed him to the point where he does what John wants, including hiding the gun or even taking the blame for Erin's murder. My only issue with this again while John is sus, before this episode, he doesn't play as a heavy in anyway, even in a scene of just him/Billy, after Faye, Billy is the character we have mostly inferred from the way he's been shot, less from getting an PoV from him directly. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

5 hours ago, Penman61 said:

Maybe. But Mare returning two kidnapped/sex-slaved girls alive to their families will mitigate that trouble, I should think.

LOL, yeah, how could it not be self defence with that basement there?  And Mare wasn't even armed until the end.  And she got shot!

[SomeTameGazelle]

1 hour ago, raven said:

On re-watch, Billy definitely says that Erin stayed him "at least 3 years ago, maybe more",  Of course that doesn't mean that they couldn't have had sex after she moved out.  I hate that idea, she would have been around 15? 

He was so shifty about it I thought he was lying about how long ago it was to keep anyone from linking him to the timing of DJ's conception. 

[paigow]

2 hours ago, HeyThere83 said:

There was a brief focus on Zabel's coffee cup as he was leaving his mother's house.  I would like to know why. 

When Mare was not suspended, he would buy 2 Wawa coffees on the way in. Now he has to sadly bring his own....

[Lambie]

Poor Zabel. He redeemed himself for not solving the other girl's murder by helping Mare solve this one. 

Such a heavy episode. I liked the scene when Mare met her prostitute connection. Who bought coffee, doing occasional tricks in order to be able to spend more time with her grandchild and zero judgement from Mare. It was a nice, oddly normal touch to have them connect like that. 

 

Quote

49 minutes ago, mjc570 said:

I also don't understand why he is in such bad shape about his dad - yes it is an awful place to put your kid (making him keep a secret that affects his mom), but isn't he old enough to feel comfortable talking to his mom? 

 

 

I'm almost 50 and still don't want to think about my parents having sex. I certainly couldn't handle the idea of my father having sex with another woman when I was that age. I think he was appropriately messed up over it. I'm wondering how these theories will play out about his dad being involved in Erin's death though. 

Edited May 18, 2021 by Lambie
Pasted in the wrong place

[FemmyV]

2 hours ago, bosawks said:

I really thought Colin wasn’t going to make it through the season but I was not prepared for that.

And my prediction for Erin’s killer is whatever will devastate Mare the most…..

Lori? I am not set on one person yet, but only Siobhan would be worse, for Mare.

[Black Knight]

7 hours ago, thesupremediva1 said:

My only gripe is that it was terrible police work for Mare and Colin to go in there unarmed without backup and not leave immediately upon realizing what they were dealing with.

I think their concern was that they would not be able to get a search warrant quickly, or possibly at all, based on what they had (it was a somewhat tenuous lead) and that while they were off trying to get one, he could move, or worse yet, kill whoever was banging on the pipe and run. (Mare probably thought it was only Missy.)

Someone brought up Silence of the Lambs, and the book explains (unlike the movie) why Clarice Starling doesn't just leave to go get backup. It's much the same; she knows Buffalo Bill will kill Catherine. She isn't just being an idiot choosing to move around a dark place with a psycho killer somewhere in it.

Plus, at basically the same time they realized what they were dealing with, he realized they realized. Mare, being more on the ball than Zabel, realized that he realized that they realized. Zabel was a bit slower on that and it cost him his life.

[BrownBear2012]

23 hours ago, filmfan2480 said:

Between the therapy couch scene and the last 10 minutes ... Winslet may have sewn up another SAG/Emmy combo win.  Nominations certainly seem possible.  She's doing great, great work in this series.

And I would add Jean Smart for supporting actress...she is, as usual, outstanding.

[hoodooznoodooz]

John and Billy Ross are brothers and cousins to Kenny? We think Billy might be the father of Kenny’s grandson?

[Snazzy Daisy]

4 hours ago, blixie said:

When the hell did this scene happen?!  Just when I think I've been closely watching. 

Re Billy’s toolbox, that’s the screenshot from the trailer of the last 3 episodes, we will see it in E06 or E07.

[fellini]

No one talked about Mare tackling the 77 year old man with dementia. That was kinda funny too.

[EtheltoTillie]

2 hours ago, fellini said:

No one talked about Mare tackling the 77 year old man with dementia. That was kinda funny too.

Didn’t she think he was the mysterious prowler?  They showed that “sketch” in her notebook. I think they doubted there was a real prowler at first, given the source of the report, but then she saw someone and could not have know he was an old man with that hoodie on.  Besides it was unfair that they were berating her as if she should have known already about his demented wanderings.  

[Haleth]

Noooo!  Not Zabel!!  That whole sequence was so intense, from the moment he and Mare stepped into that house.  Poor Colin.  Poor Mare.  Poor Katie and Missy.

On the other hand, funniest moment of the series when the grieving widower blurted out his confession.  The look on Helen/Jean's face was perfect, as was Mare laughing hysterically on the way home.

Erin going to live with her uncle was not a good idea at all.  Now he looks shady as hell.  He was pretty vague about when it occurred, 3 years was kind of handwaved but it wouldn't surprise me if it fit the timeline for DJ's birth.

I think the bearded abductor simply shaved.  

Ryan may not have told his mom why he was fighting, but the principal surely got the story from him or other students and told Lori.

Man, everyone in this town is either screwed up or sketchy or both.  Run, Siobhan!  Go to Berkeley!

[bosawks]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

Ryan may not have told his mom why he was fighting, but the principal surely got the story from him or other students and told Lori.

There is an extra who looks on at the beat down in such disgust.

Big chef's kiss to that extra, it's awesome.

[MaggieG]

Noooooo Zabel! I jumped out of my seat when he got shot. Those last few minutes of the episode were super intense.

The young actor who plays Ryan looks like he could be Julianne Nicholson's son. They have the same freckles on their faces. 

It was weird seeing Brianna act like a semi normal person when she was talking to Dylan. Every time we've seen her she's been a "total fucking bitch".

[cardigirl]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

Man, everyone in this town is either screwed up or sketchy or both.  Run, Siobhan!  Go to Berkeley!

Yeah, there are no messed up people at Berkeley for sure. 😉

[TexasGal]

8 hours ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

John and Billy Ross are brothers and cousins to Kenny? We think Billy might be the father of Kenny’s grandson?

I was just thinking about this.  I admittedly watch too many CSI type shows, so this is probably a dumb question, but wouldn't they have realized when they ran the baby's DNA that the mother and father were related if this were the case?

[attica]

What's most important to me in this ep is how great Mare's brushed-gray North Face coat is, and can I buy one?  (Nordstrom is sold out.)

[peachmangosteen]

I really hope Billy (or John) aren't DJ's father. There's enough fucking trauma on this show, please don't add incest.

14 hours ago, HeyThere83 said:

There was a brief focus on Zabel's coffee cup as he was leaving his mother's house.  I would like to know why. 

I wondered about that, too. It's hard to tell what means something and what is just for color or red herrings.

9 hours ago, Black Knight said:

Plus, at basically the same time they realized what they were dealing with, he realized they realized. Mare, being more on the ball than Zabel, realized that he realized that they realized. 

9 minutes ago, TexasGal said:

I was just thinking about this.  I admittedly watch too many CSI type shows, so this is probably a dumb question, but wouldn't they have realized when they ran the baby's DNA that the mother and father were related if this were the case?

Good point. Does anyone know anything about DNA lol? 

[larapu2000]

44 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I really hope Billy (or John) aren't DJ's father. There's enough fucking trauma on this show, please don't add incest.

I wondered about that, too. It's hard to tell what means something and what is just for color or red herrings.

Good point. Does anyone know anything about DNA lol? 

They were running DNA to match it to specific people for paternity, not to make sure Erin was also related to the baby or there were incestual links?  If that makes sense.  

[blixie]

Quote

but wouldn't they have realized when they ran the baby's DNA that the mother and father were related if this were the case?

No I am pretty sure that's not how it works. Paternity or even maternity can't be sussed out from a single dna sample from a child (and can't prove their related). You'd need both parents DNA to compare, they have Erin's but as of now don't have the father's. Again if the dad is John, but they test Billy (with a partial sample on the beer bottle), like a non exclusionary amount,  it could also be a false positive for Billy as he and John will share a  good amount of DNA.

Edited May 18, 2021 by blixie

[paigow]

1 hour ago, blixie said:

it could also be a false positive for Billy as he and John will share a  good amount of DNA.

Mare will beat Billy with the Championship trophy until he confesses or rats out John

Is the ear condition a genetic mutation, sometimes caused by inbreeding?

Edited May 18, 2021 by paigow

[SnarkEnthusiast]

Well, it’s been 12 hours since I’ve watched and I’m still devastated. I should’ve known as soon as they kissed he was toast but I never saw it coming. Also, I think that was the only time we’ve seen Mare smile outside of mocking her mom for the affair, which was the only light part of the episode. I guess they were telegraphing his apparent secret ineptitude when he confessed to her about not solving the case - it was a nice detail to have them confide in each other if it hadn’t been foreshadowing something so terrible - because they needed to give him a pretext for hesitating to draw his gun because now he’s revealed as Not A Good Detective Actually. And even if you hand wave not requesting backup (so that Zabel could die), there’s no way you would just keep casually chatting to a guy you knew could be actively holding teenagers hostage in his house, let alone without being hyperaware of needing to draw your weapon at any second. But the suspect was white, so maybe it does track. I appreciate the depth they gave Colin in terms of not being a shiny prodigy whiz kid, but I also feel like that last 20 minutes was a very sloppy and half assed attempt to make his death seem plausible within the narrative. More grief porn for Mare! Death for shock value has become a cliche within itself. Everyone on this show is so fucking sad and depressed all the time, we just needed one light. Still bitter we got to see Mare have a meaningless fuck with Guy Pearce, but never hot, emotionally charged sex with Colin. She never smiled like that when the author kissed her, that’s for sure.

I'm also disgruntled Mare now squandered their only date being...well, Mare. I thought she was frankly a bit of an asshole tuning out his earnest attempts at non-work smalltalk and particularly for allowing him to, however temporarily, believe she was exploiting his feelings to monitor the case. At least her reaction to the kiss implied that she was actually starting to reciprocate his feelings.

On 5/17/2021 at 12:13 AM, SnazzyDaisy said:

I love Evan Peters’ 2 very different line deliveries of “holy shit” - when he saw Mare dressed up for their date & when Mare confessed on framing Carrie with drug possession!

I noticed that too! Evan Peters added so many delightful little touches to his performance. Apparently Colin dropping the food during their date was also Evan's improv. I read that he’s headed back to a Ryan Murphy property after this, which I was disappointed to hear, because I’m tired of him playing creepy serial killers (echoing @TwoBitUsherette). Hopefully the positive buzz he’s gotten from this will convince him to consider more softer romantic lead roles. He was really the unexpected stand out of this series and I will miss him bitterly, especially because there were only two more episodes and it’s not like there would be a second season, so cutting his arc short feels especially cruel.

In conclusion:

Quote

 

 

Edited May 18, 2021 by SnarkEnthusiast

[Snazzy Daisy]

3 hours ago, TexasGal said:

but wouldn't they have realized when they ran the baby's DNA that the mother and father were related if this were the case?

DJ’s paternity issue is in doubt, so they did the DNA paternity testing against specific samples from Frank and Dylan. If they use sample from John or Billy, they will find the familial match.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

6 hours ago, Haleth said:

Man, everyone in this town is either screwed up or sketchy or both.  Run, Siobhan!  Go to Berkeley!

 

3 hours ago, cardigirl said:

Yeah, there are no messed up people at Berkeley for sure. 😉

But none of the messed up people in Berkeley are related to her, so that will be a nice change!

[ShadowHunter]

3 hours ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

Well, it’s been 12 hours since I’ve watched and I’m still devastated. I should’ve known as soon as they kissed he was toast but I never saw it coming. Also, I think that was the only time we’ve seen Mare smile outside of mocking her mom for the affair, which was the only light part of the episode. I guess they were telegraphing his apparent secret ineptitude when he confessed to her about not solving the case - it was a nice detail to have them confide in each other if it hadn’t been foreshadowing something so terrible - because they needed to give him a pretext for hesitating to draw his gun because now he’s revealed as Not A Good Detective Actually. And even if you hand wave not requesting backup (so that Zabel could die), there’s no way you would just keep casually chatting to a guy you knew could be actively holding teenagers hostage in his house, let alone without being hyperaware of needing to draw your weapon at any second. But the suspect was white, so maybe it does track. I appreciate the depth they gave Colin in terms of not being a shiny prodigy whiz kid, but I also feel like that last 20 minutes was a very sloppy and half assed attempt to make his death seem plausible within the narrative. More grief porn for Mare! Death for shock value has become a cliche within itself. Everyone on this show is so fucking sad and depressed all the time, we just needed one light. Still bitter we got to see Mare have a meaningless fuck with Guy Pearce, but never hot, emotionally charged sex with Colin. She never smiled like that when the author kissed her, that’s for sure.

I'm also disgruntled Mare now squandered their only date being...well, Mare. I thought she was frankly a bit of an asshole tuning out his earnest attempts at non-work smalltalk and particularly for allowing him to, however temporarily, believe she was exploiting his feelings to monitor the case. At least her reaction to the kiss implied that she was actually starting to reciprocate his feelings.

I noticed that too! Evan Peters added so many delightful little touches to his performance. Apparently Colin dropping the food during their date was also Evan's improv. I read that he’s headed back to a Ryan Murphy property after this, which I was disappointed to hear, because I’m tired of him playing creepy serial killers (echoing @TwoBitUsherette). Hopefully the positive buzz he’s gotten from this will convince him to consider more softer romantic lead roles. He was really the unexpected stand out of this series and I will miss him bitterly, especially because there were only two more episodes and it’s not like there would be a second season, so cutting his arc short feels especially cruel.

In conclusion:

 

Please stop reminding me lol. Well at least we can all grief together.  You are right I know Evan will be good at playing Jeffrey Dahmer but still it's Dahmer. I need him to be a romantic lead once. I'd even take erotic thriller for shallow reasons lol.  I feel like Zabel died to add more grief for Mare. Well she can't get too happy or something. Trust me show she has enough grief to last a lifetime.  HBO loves those shocking moments as well. Even though as others said it was a bit obvious he wasn't going to make it. 

 

 

[Snazzy Daisy]

I really hope that Mare and Colin will reunite in blue hair heaven, amen! 😎

 

 

Edited May 18, 2021 by SnazzyDaisy
Changed pics

[raven]

4 hours ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

And even if you hand wave not requesting backup (so that Zabel could die), there’s no way you would just keep casually chatting to a guy you knew could be actively holding teenagers hostage in his house, let alone without being hyperaware of needing to draw your weapon at any second.

They really had no time to request backup.  If they had done so while talking to him, he would have run to get his gun.  If they backed out, same scenario and he probably would have tried to kill the girls.  Mare was aware of the need to draw a gun but Colin was not. 

Though it was a surprise, I'm not upset about Colin's death.  He was someone who really needed more training, more teaming with an experienced partner. 

I guess I'm the only one who didn't feel like Mare was particularly attracted to him.  I think she was surprised by his romantic interest because he was her co-worker.  She viewed him as a co-worker, hence her going on the date to pump him for info.  Maybe that wasn't fair but he was a grown man, not a teenager.  The kiss took her by surprise - she didn't exactly ask for it and there were no signals that I could tell - and she wasn't repelled by it.  I could see her thinking "maybe there's something there" afterwards except he's dead now.  They really didn't have a lot in common except being police officers - note her comment at the dinner about spending time talking about his stutter and then talking about the food.  I don't know, I wasn't getting great romantic vibes between them.

While I think Mare may feel some guilt and whatever normal feelings of loss over a co-worker's death, I don't think she'll be devastated or anything.

Then again, I don't see the show as relentlessly grim.  Zabel died but two young women were rescued from being sex slaves.  One of them was tough enough to survive for a year.  People still have hope and affection for each other.   I can see some positive things in their lives.

 

[BC4ME]

39 minutes ago, raven said:

Then again, I don't see the show as relentlessly grim.  Zabel died but two young women were rescued from being sex slaves.  One of them was tough enough to survive for a year.  People still have hope and affection for each other.   I can see some positive things in their lives.

 

And both of those girls are off drugs now. Although Missy hasn't been off them long.

[Ms Blue Jay]

5 hours ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

Well, it’s been 12 hours since I’ve watched and I’m still devastated.

Fantastic post.  Loved all of it.  Sorry, though.

[Tippi]

Colin's death is still on my mind, too.  I can't get over the idea of how devastated his mother will be.  I wonder if they will have any more scenes with her?

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, raven said:

Then again, I don't see the show as relentlessly grim.  Zabel died but two young women were rescued from being sex slaves.  One of them was tough enough to survive for a year.  People still have hope and affection for each other.   I can see some positive things in their lives.

I feel like they are trying to balance it a bit and somewhat succeeding imo, but there is just SO much misery and trauma. I guess I should have known that going in though lol. 

[blixie]

Quote

I guess I'm the only one who didn't feel like Mare was particularly attracted to him. 

Aw I think she was intrigued by him from the drunken confession, I think she felt some kind of way about his admiration of her both in the work and clearly that it went beyond that, I think her common sense made her feel like what she told him at the dock, she already has so much shit going on, can she reasonable add: dating my erstwhile younger coworker? I think he made her smile, more than once, certainly more than Richard, and even if there was never a romance, I think she would have loved to have continued to mentor/partner with him. Anyways: SOB. 

Edited May 19, 2021 by blixie

[Dminches]

I guess I am in the minority of people who haven’t lost any sleep over Zabel getting killed.  It is sad and all but a good guy always gets killed and he wasn’t a key person in Mare’s life and this show is about her.

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

I definitely sympathize with the people who are upset!  I've stopped watching so many shows, and never looked back, after a favourite character of mine was killed off, or hell, even a minor one who died in a way that made me uncomfortable.  It just seems overboard, even for this show.  Most cop/detective shows have that character to balance out the main cop character.

Edited May 19, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[ElectricBoogaloo]

10 hours ago, raven said:

I guess I'm the only one who didn't feel like Mare was particularly attracted to him.  I think she was surprised by his romantic interest because he was her co-worker.  She viewed him as a co-worker, hence her going on the date to pump him for info.  Maybe that wasn't fair but he was a grown man, not a teenager.  The kiss took her by surprise - she didn't exactly ask for it and there were no signals that I could tell - and she wasn't repelled by it.  I could see her thinking "maybe there's something there" afterwards except he's dead now.  They really didn't have a lot in common except being police officers - note her comment at the dinner about spending time talking about his stutter and then talking about the food.  I don't know, I wasn't getting great romantic vibes between them.

 

6 hours ago, blixie said:

Aw I think she was intrigued by him from the drunken confession, I think she felt some kind of way about his admiration of her both in the work and clearly that it went beyond that, I think her common sense made her feel like what she told him at the dock, she already has so much shit going on, can she reasonable add: dating my erstwhile younger coworker? I think he made her smile, more than once, certainly more than Richard, and even if there was never a romance, I think she would have loved to have continued to mentor/partner with him.

I think she initially saw him as a potential pain in her ass which then got downgraded to "someone I have to babysit" and then she finally (however begrudgingly at first) realized saw him as someone who was not that bad.

I didn't see her being particularly interested in dating him, but sometimes it's nice to know that someone is interested in you. The other thing that I think she found appealing about him is that he wasn't someone who she had known all her life and who already knew everything about her. I think she grew to like him as a person and as a coworker but that on a practical level, she knew she really wasn't in the right time or place in her life to date someone like him (as opposed to just casually seeing the writer) so it wasn't a real option in her mind.

[paigow]

Generally, "lives with Mom" is a dating red flag...but not in Delco

[txvoodoo]

On 5/17/2021 at 1:31 PM, SG429 said:

Interesting that they chose to leave the real name of this Delaware County school on the wall, while adding the Easttown branding. I'm sure they've got some photoshoppy trick to change Tinicum to Easttown if they wanted.

Nice catch.

That location makes sense to me, considering that they kept featuring the Commodore Barry Bridge in this episode, which is about 5 miles from that school.  I'm from Delco (though I haven't lived there in 30 yrs) so I keep getting distracted by landmarks!

[Affogato]

18 hours ago, Tippi said:

Colin's death is still on my mind, too.  I can't get over the idea of how devastated his mother will be.  I wonder if they will have any more scenes with her?

I can’t imagine not. I bet she lays into Mare, verbally if Mare is lucky. 
 

the reveal of the affair at the funeral reception—foreshadowing. 

Edited May 19, 2021 by Affogato

[paigow]

9 minutes ago, Affogato said:

I can’t imagine not. I bet she lays into Mare, verbally if Mare is lucky. 

Mare will lie and give Zabel the credit publicly.. died a hero,,,

But she will force Chief Roger Murtagh [he must be too old for this shit] into early retirement and take his job.

Edited May 19, 2021 by paigow

[buttercupia]

just fyi, Dylan doesn't need that money for the baby's ear surgery. His mom likely didn't need it either. Erin and baby would be eligible for PA's medicaid program.  DJ would be eligible on his own since Dylan isn't the father. the baby would be a foster situation while staying with them. hell, even if Dylan had been the father, they'd both be eligible. (I administer medicaid and other similar programs in PA.)

[roughing it]

On 5/18/2021 at 3:08 PM, raven said:

I guess I'm the only one who didn't feel like Mare was particularly attracted to him.  I think she was surprised by his romantic interest because he was her co-worker.  She viewed him as a co-worker, hence her going on the date to pump him for info. 

 

On 5/18/2021 at 3:08 PM, raven said:

They really didn't have a lot in common except being police officers - note her comment at the dinner about spending time talking about his stutter and then talking about the food.  I don't know, I wasn't getting great romantic vibes between them.

I agree.  While Colin crushed on Mare, I felt that Mare regarded him more as a younger brother.  When Colin asked to talk about something other than the case....crickets.... because Mare didn't know what else to talk about with him.

[Dessert]

1 hour ago, roughing it said:

 

I agree.  While Colin crushed on Mare, I felt that Mare regarded him more as a younger brother.  When Colin asked to talk about something other than the case....crickets.... because Mare didn't know what else to talk about with him.

I think he was growing on her. They were fairly honest with each other - mainly at his insistence. At the end, they were confiding things that they didn’t share with others. The look on her face after the kiss suggested mild surprise - not giddiness, but a slight re-evaluation.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Here’s a screenshot of Erin’s journal page. She spoke fondly of Deacon Mark. Maybe he’s the only one who was always there for her, hence the late night phone call to pick her up from the Sharp’s Wood.

 

 

Edited May 19, 2021 by SnazzyDaisy

[paigow]

5 minutes ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Here’s a screenshot of Erin’s journal page. She spoke fondly of Deacon Mark. Maybe he’s the only one who was always there for her, hence the late night phone call to pick her up from the Sharp’s Wood.

 

 

Another illusion! Perpetrated by Sleazy Deacy Marky

[Snazzy Daisy]

21 minutes ago, paigow said:

Another illusion! Perpetrated by Sleazy Deacy Marky

Hey, be nice... he’s a fragile creature!

He cried like a little boy after being bullied and beaten by a bunch of teenagers! 😂

[paigow]

1 hour ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Hey, be nice... he’s a fragile creature!

He cried like a little boy after being bullied and beaten by a bunch of teenagers! 😂

Too bad Ryan was not there with his Vibranium cafeteria tray...

[blixie]

Quote

not giddiness, but a slight re-evaluation.

Yes and while he was still a DelCo boy, I think, like someone mentioned up thread,  she did appreciate spending time with someone who didn't constantly remind her of every bit of baggage she carries in Easttown, that it was nice to be seen with "fresh" eyes, and to maybe remember how she saw herself before life bulldozed her. Colin I think successfully pushed back against her gruffness in a good natured way w/o needling her like her boss, kids, mom, ex, friends, and cousin do. I saw her reaction as I don't know what this kid sees in me, but it doesn't suck that he does.

[meep.meep]

On 5/18/2021 at 8:44 AM, paigow said:

Mare will beat Billy with the Championship trophy until he confesses or rats out John

Is the ear condition a genetic mutation, sometimes caused by inbreeding?

No - the ear condition is common in babies that age.  You need the surgery to keep them from having hearing loss.  My kid had it.

I think she's going to trophy whip Dylan first.

In an Irish Catholic community this small, shouldn't there be a bunch of people with the same name?  All we've got is the turtle named after Kevin.