S02.E08: Confirmations

[funnygirl]

Quote

TMS races to report an unconfirmed story. 

The episode was released early, 9pm EST/6pm PST

Edited November 5, 2021 by funnygirl

[funnygirl]

Bradley's brother showing up at the studio was out of place considering the more pressing matters at hand. And why would Bradley tell him about Mitch when it is 1. still unconfirmed and 2. confidential information?  This was obviously in service to have Laura soften up to Bradley...and then proceed to tell her what to do with her life. Laura is a cold bitch, and I still can't tell if she actually cares about Bradley or if she's trying to manipulate her. 

Mia venting about Mitch was an excellent scene. Side chick, not a victim. 

I'm annoyed that, once again, Alex is separated from the rest of the TMS pack, but I like how she was the one to get confirmation by calling Paola and then passing it on to Mia. I especially liked Alex wanting a moment to talk to Bradley, I felt that was very sincere. Not to mention it was like the fifth time they've interacted this season and, speaking for myself, that's not been nearly enough. 

Two episode left. If the season ends right as Covid slams the US, then why even bother including the pandemic in the show's universe at all?  

 

Edited November 5, 2021 by funnygirl

[Stuffy]

The Bradley/brother scene reminded me of Abby and her mom on ER. I’m still bitter that Maura Tierney didn’t win an Emmy for her work in those scenes. 

[Armchair Critic]

At least this episode was more interesting. Last season I would have felt bad for Alex but now I find her unsympathetic.

[CattyK]

1 hour ago, funnygirl said:

Bradley's brother showing up at the studio was out of place considering the more pressing matters at hand. And why would Bradley tell him about Mitch when it is 1. still unconfirmed and 2. confidential information? 

 

 

I agree, Hal making a scene was completely unnecessary at this point.  It just didn’t fit with the rest of the action in the episode.  Laura’s talk with Bradley was also unnecessary.  That all distracted from the main action and didn’t fit timewise since they only had a two minute break for the commercials.  
Bradley should have asked the security men to take Hal  to an empty office, and gone back to the set.  She’s old enough to have learned that much about dealing with that kind of situation.  

 

[CattyK]

I loved what Mia said in her office about Mitch.  She’s still able to react like a human being, she hasn’t been completely consumed by her job yet.  
chip needs to leave and go back to his fiancée and the less glamorous job before he’s completely destroyed.  
 

I’m wondering how many people Alex is infecting with covid, like Mitch and Paige’s son.   

[coconspirator]

This was easily the best episode of the season for me. It was frantic, emotional, and well acted. I wish the scenes with Bradley’s brother showing up at UBA had been part of a different episode but the acting (and accompanying music with “The Boxer”) was exceptional. This felt like the Emmy submission episode for this season with Jennifer and Karen Pittman being stand outs. 

[BingeyKohan]

Exciting to see the team do some real newsgathering.

Jennifer Aniston must have had it written into her contract most of her up-close scene partners had to be one other person only. Or maybe it was for insurance purposes since she also had to film the Friends reunion and they didn't want to risk it on that set. Hopefully they are setting the pieces in place for season 3 to show us what it actually looks like for Alex and Bradley to settle in as co-anchors.

[Carolina Girl]

Only two episodes left.  Interesting to note that if the internet is correct, Morning Show has not yet been renewed for a Season 3 as of today.  

I had some real Paige love in this episode, when Alex says "do you want to talk" and Paige completely unloads on her for her screwing her husband.    Alex is SO worried about her reputation from the allegation of sleeping with Mitch that she was really figuratively slapped in the face by Paige on her behavior.   "It was only twice" - as if that somehow mitigates what she did.   And Paige pointed out so well - the others may have felt pressured through circumstances to give in, but Alex was under no such compunction.   (Although I can see Alex claiming henceforth that Mitch hinted that he'd have her replaced if she didn't "give in".)

If I had to hazard a guess, the last episode will involve Paola's release of Mitch's final interview, which ties it to the ending of last season, when Mitch's Morning Show interview is shelved due to Hannah's death.  

 

[Penman61]

This show's moral and narrative messiness is making me long for the stuffy, cringey clarity of The Newsroom.

[BingeyKohan]

I almost felt like Karen Pittman's monologue in the office was like in a musical where a character breaks into song to express how they're feeling. that's not an insult - I like her and her performance a lot, but her cadence and the writing itself made me think of that.

I guess Juliana Margulies has made the choice or been directed to be as enigmatic as possible? I think she is giving Bradley fairly good advice and comforts her well - but when you're just looking at her face when the character doesn't feel like people are clocking her expressions she seems so cold and aloof.

 

 

[whiporee]

4 hours ago, Carolina Girl said:

"It was only twice"

Did we know about the second time? 

A lot happened, but I thought that was a hot mess. Too many stories -- too much up in the air. 

Now that he's gone. I wish they had stuck with the original premise and not made it a direct "Today" show parallel. I would have liked to have seen Mitch and Alex bounce off each other, and then Bradley gets tossed in to the mix. And I feel bad for Carrell, who signs up for a different show and then had them change it from under him. It would have given Aniston a chance to act instead of just being hysterical the entire time -- a SportsNight or Newsroom type show. 

Instead we got this entertaining giant mess of a show. Fun to watch, like MCU explosions, but not a lot behind any of it. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

18 hours ago, funnygirl said:

I especially liked Alex wanting a moment to talk to Bradley, I felt that was very sincere.

But why did they have everyone listen? That was so weird.

13 hours ago, coconspirator said:

This was easily the best episode of the season for me. It was frantic, emotional, and well acted. I wish the scenes with Bradley’s brother showing up at UBA had been part of a different episode but the acting (and accompanying music with “The Boxer”) was exceptional. This felt like the Emmy submission episode for this season with Jennifer and Karen Pittman being stand outs. 

I love Alex freaking out in the car, what an insane scene.  I hated that they made me think another car accident was coming though.  Too over the top and silly.

How did Chip know about Alex being in Italy before he spoke to the assistant?  

Edited November 5, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, whiporee said:

And I feel bad for Carrell, who signs up for a different show and then had them change it from under him. It would have given Aniston a chance to act instead of just being hysterical the entire time -- a SportsNight or Newsroom type show. 

I understand what you're saying but it's really good range for Carell who was Michael Scott for 7 years.  Maybe he is happy about how difficult it is and what it shows of him? 

[Carolina Girl]

35 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

How did Chip know about Alex being in Italy before he spoke to the assistant?  

He called the bank and pretended to be Alex - he learned that the last charge on her credit card was in Italy two days before.  

[BingeyKohan]

40 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

But why did they have everyone listen? That was so weird. 

I also felt like the amount of co workers who gathered to gawk at Bradley having a very private and painful family moment was weird.

[Ms Blue Jay]

22 minutes ago, Carolina Girl said:

He called the bank and pretended to be Alex - he learned that the last charge on her credit card was in Italy two days before.  

Thanks.

[LADreamr]

3 hours ago, whiporee said:

SportsNight

Is it sad that I still miss it?

[SunnyBeBe]

How is it possible that Bradley, who I presume has a college degree and is over the age of 30, doesn’t understand the benefits of therapy?  She thinks only crazy people attend therapy?   And, she’s  clueless about drug addiction, enabling and co-dependency?  Most people have seen hundreds of stories about it and have read tons about it online.  But, Laura has to instill this secret information to Bradly, because she’s such a martyr and it never occurred to her that her drug addicted, violent brother might be better off in rehab than coddled by his sister.  Is Bradly really that naive?  Please.  And, of course you trust people like brother with confidential information, since they are so sensitive and trustworthy.  🙄
 

It also seemed odd they would want Alex to break the news of Mitch’s death on the air.  She would have been the most impacted and probably the least appropriate person to announce it.  Her hugging Mitch’s son was particularly stupid and I can’t believe Chip didn’t tell her she should remain outside the house and not touch Mitch’s family.  It wouldn’t have been hard to do.  
 

Other than those things, I liked it. Lol. 

Edited November 6, 2021 by SunnyBeBe

[Armchair Critic]

7 hours ago, whiporee said:

I would have liked to have seen Mitch and Alex bounce off each other, and then Bradley gets tossed in to the mix

They should have shown more of Mitch on the morning show so we could see why he was so charismatic. By starting the show with him being fired I never had much feelings for Mitch so didn't care when he was ostracized and then died.

[Carolina Girl]

4 hours ago, LADreamr said:

Is it sad that I still miss it?

One of the best shows on TV.   If the first episode didn't hook you, you officially have no sense of humor.

Seasons 1 and  2 are on Amazon Prime, if you have it.

[Blakeston]

I thought this was the first episode of the season that was genuinely gripping. The show's strength has always been the inner workings of TMS, so I'm glad they put the focus on that.

That said, there was still a lot that was just mystifying.

• I have to agree with the comment last week that Laura is completely implausible as someone who's ever done morning news. On the air, she comes across more like Maleficent than an actual morning anchor. 
• Paige finds out that the father of her children just died, and she doesn't have any questions, like "how do you know this?", "where did it happen?", or "was it suicide?" (I was kinda hoping she'd reveal that she was the one who told Maggie about Alex sleeping with Mitch. It wouldn't have made most sense, but neither does much else on this show.)
• Chip is enough of a creepy stalker that he knows the year, make and model of Alex's first car? I don't even remember that much about my first car.
• I can't believe Alex didn't get fully called out on how horrible it was to not tell anyone at TMS, especially Chip, where she was. She actually had the audacity to not be able to think of a reason Chip would be mad at her? But of course, instead of emphasizing how badly she betrayed him, he starts accusing her of screwing Mitch again. Those two deserve each other.

[Carolina Girl]

3 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

It also seemed odd they would want Alex to break the news of Mitch’s death on the air.

That was bizarre to me too.  If anyone would have been completely shook up by Mitch's death, it would have been his on-air partner of 15 years.   What the heck did they hope to gain - it was the perfect storm for Alex to have another meltdown - after all, we know she's sweating bullets over the revelations in Maggie's book to begin with and Laura's questioning rattled her.  Plus she just went through breaking the news to Paige Kessler.  Yeah, here's a great idea - let's shove the woman on verge of a nervous breakdown on the air to report on the death of a man she considered her best friend.

Alex made the right call - Bradley did an excellent job and put her in the moment and away from the disgusting scene her brother made.  

[Carolina Girl]

1 minute ago, Blakeston said:

Paige finds out that the father of her children just died, and she doesn't have any questions, like "how do you know this?", "where did it happen?", or "was it suicide?" (I was kinda hoping she'd reveal that she was the one who told Maggie about Alex sleeping with Mitch. It wouldn't have made most sense, but neither does much else on this show.)

I think Paige might have pursued the questions further if Alex hadn't said "do you want to talk" as if she was the caring friend coming with bad news, which Paige saw as the final hypocrisy of Alex.   I like your idea that it was PAIGE who leaked Alex sleeping with Mitch to Maggie.  I don't see Chip doing that to her.  

Your point (and all the others in your post) are really excellent.   There's just too many elements in this show that aren't as sharp or direct to me as the first season was.  

Do we know what the viewership has been?  I know it's hard to gauge since you make your own time to watch it.  Usually I watch an episode twice - first for general  subject matter and the second for the little details I may have missed.  

[Ms Blue Jay]

8 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

It also seemed odd they would want Alex to break the news of Mitch’s death on the air.  She would have been the most impacted and probably the least appropriate person to announce it.  Her hugging Mitch’s son was particularly stupid and I can’t believe Chip didn’t tell her she should remain outside the house and not touch Mitch’s family.  It wouldn’t have been hard to do.  

Agree with all of this

[marceline]

These people all suck. So many mental illnesses and personality disorders, this show is like the DSM-IV brought to life.

Can we please stop with the monologues? Cory in the elevator, Chip on the phone, Mia in her office.... Just stop.

I think that Chip will die from the virus. The moment Alex hugged him when she got off the plane I started contact tracing. He's such a pathetic dumpster fire of a person that it would be so fitting that his love of Alex would end up killing him. But watching her hug Mitch's son for so long felt like watching a horror movie.

I really don't like Stella. She irritates me on every level even down to the part in her hair.

Alex: "Do you want to talk?"
Paige: "Oh bitch you're going to be SO sorry you asked. Stand there while I read you for filth."

I don't care about Bradley at all.

[marceline]

8 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

It also seemed odd they would want Alex to break the news of Mitch’s death on the air.  

No it isn't. Not in this media age. Alex announcing Mitch's death would consume social media and generate a ton of engagement. It would launch a million think pieces and the video would be dissected over and over by people examining her reaction. 

[Maximona]

That whole stuff with Bradley's brother was ridiculous.  Like scenes inserted from some other show.  I felt sorry for the actor who was playing the brother—he was acting his heart out; the segue from singing Simon & Garfunkle to hearing Simon & Garfunkle was nicely done (though why that particular song?), but WTF?  Did the episode not have enough tension already?  

And we're supposed to believe all this happened in the standard 4-minute advertisement break during a morning show?

Also, why does Chip not immediately call UBA with the second confirmation after Alex gets off the phone with Paola?  

And Paige (the wife) needs to hear from Alex (the work girlfriend) that her X is dead?  I.  Don't.  Think. So.

Abysmally bad writing, although I understand this show is more about creating showcases for Jennifer Aniston's hystrionics than about creating substantiative plotlines.

I couldn't figure out if the Chip/Alex fight-in-the-car was being played for drama or comedy.  (Honestly, it worked better as the latter.). If only they could have gotten into a car crash!   

In fact, everybody on this show should die in a car crash!  While they're driving themselves to the ICU on the way to their COVID diagosis.

[sadie]

This season has been awful but this was actually good. I enjoyed season 1 so much because it was focused on the workings of the network/show and this season has just spent too much time elsewhere. Mitch was an awful person but still, dang, dying like that was a shock. I must have missed it but what were in the interviews he did with Paola? Are they going to expose him now as some good guy or ……what? The scene with the producer trying to convince herself she wasn’t a victim, rather a side piece was pretty sad. 
 

The car scene with Alex and Chip was amazing. Them both getting it all out there was so good and actually made me laugh, although I don’t know if the scene was supposed to be funny? The scene with Bradley’s brother (while completely out of place in this episode) was heartbreaking. I say this as someone who lived with a bipolar person and it gave me a bit of PTSD. 
 

This season Just hasn’t been as focused as the first one and it’s suffered for it. The distance of Alex from all the other characters has hurt the quality. 

[Carolina Girl]

1 hour ago, Maximona said:

And we're supposed to believe all this happened in the standard 4-minute advertisement break during a morning show?

That was my problem too.    Especially since they deliver the top of the hour news stories, don't they?  It's not a cut-away to a different anchor.  Maybe there was a segment done by Daniel or loverly lady whose name I cannot remember that they swapped out.  

[jackjill89]

Regarding Alex and the hugging... we were still in such early Covid stages here. Only 6 people had it. It was "just a flu". We didn't have the contact tracing awareness that we do now. At that point we were still hugging. The dominoes fell a few weeks later and then we're shut down a few weeks after that.

Given how crazed Chip was to find Alex, and how messed up Alex is, I can see how neither of them thought about the dangers of hugging. 

 

[SunnyBeBe]

Since Alex saw Mitch knowing he was in quarantine and that  there was a lockdown in Italy, it would seem she was better informed than the average American who hadn’t traveled internationally, that the virus was dangerous.  Even if it was just a bad flu, she should have used some precaution.   When at Mitch’s gate, he told her he was in quarantine, but she said she didn’t care. I think this sums up Alex. She only cares about herself really. Oh, perhaps her daughter at times, but she’s still very selfish, imo.  
 

I’ve only watched this episode once, but can someone please tell me why Alex was upset with Chip?  The messages he left her were appropriate for a person who disappears from their job with no way to contact them.  That degree of histrionics just annoys me.  Must they push her blow up meter to 10 in every episode?  

[marceline]

2 hours ago, jackjill89 said:

Regarding Alex and the hugging... we were still in such early Covid stages here. Only 6 people had it. It was "just a flu". We didn't have the contact tracing awareness that we do now. At that point we were still hugging. The dominoes fell a few weeks later and then we're shut down a few weeks after that.

Given how crazed Chip was to find Alex, and how messed up Alex is, I can see how neither of them thought about the dangers of hugging. 

I think people are forgetting how things were at the very beginning of the pandemic. From what I can tell we're still at the point before COVID landed in the US. Which is part of the reason I found Yanko's beatdown of the guy who harassed Stella to be anachronistic. (Remember Yanko?)

People were still hugging and not social distancing because we just didn't know what we were going to get hit with. I don't blame them for hugging but it's painful to watch when we know what the future holds.

[Ms Blue Jay]

3 hours ago, jackjill89 said:

Regarding Alex and the hugging... we were still in such early Covid stages here. Only 6 people had it. It was "just a flu". We didn't have the contact tracing awareness that we do now. At that point we were still hugging. The dominoes fell a few weeks later and then we're shut down a few weeks after that.

Given how crazed Chip was to find Alex, and how messed up Alex is, I can see how neither of them thought about the dangers of hugging. 

What month is this supposed to be?  It reminds me of when Sophie Trudeau (wife of Canada's Prime Minister) gave Idris Elba COVID by hugging him.  At that point, until everyone announced that they actually got COVID, nobody cared about touching.

I give a lot of credit to Idris and Tom Hanks for announcing their diagnosis.  Until then a lot of people did not take COVID seriously (and some people still don't) but they absolutely did everything they could by being transparent.

Edited November 6, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[marceline]

13 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

What month is this supposed to be? 

It's pre-South Carolina and Super Tuesday so its before Biden won the primary.

Politics aside, I was planing to attend a Biden rally and there was a Bernie rally a few miles away. When both events got canceled that's when I knew shit would get real. So I'm guessing this was March 2020.

Edited November 7, 2021 by marceline

[Blakeston]

By March 2020, I think most people would have been freaked out by the prospect of being around someone who'd been exposed to COVID.

I took a business trip the first weekend of March, and there were quite a few people wearing masks on the train. (There would have been more if Fauci hadn't told people that they shouldn't wear masks unless they're medical personnel.)

A lot of people just saw it as an Asian/European problem - but if they knew that someone had just been to Europe, and had been in very close contact with someone who was supposed to be quarantining, I think it would have been a different story. Unless they were COVID deniers, of course, but I don't think many of these characters would be.

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

32 minutes ago, marceline said:

It's pre-South Carolina and Super Tuesday so its before Biden won the primary.

Politics aside, I was planing to attend a Biden rally and there was a Bernie rally a few miles away. When both events got canceled that when I knew shit would get real. So I'm guessing this was March 2020.

Thank you!

Quote

On 16 March 2020, Elba said he had tested positive for COVID-19 amidst the pandemic.[97] His wife also tested positive for the virus.[98] During his quarantine period, he noted that he has suffered from asthma all his life, thus placing him in the high risk category of the disease.[99] On 31 March, Elba announced both he and his wife had reached the fortnight quarantine period.[100]

 

[bilgistic]

I feel like the only person on Earth who doesn't love Jennifer Aniston. Her Oscar-reel submission on the tarmac was just...subpar? I started feeling bad for her character, but then when the audio purposely dropped out and Jennifer started with her same mannerisms--hands over mouth, shaking her hands, hand on stomach, "ooooh", blowing air out forcefully--it's Rachel Green all over again. She was good in Cake and Dumplin' (amazing, highly underrated movie), but otherwise, she rarely shows any range.

*runs off stage left*

[LADreamr]

15 hours ago, Carolina Girl said:

Seasons 1 and  2 are on Amazon Prime, if you have it.

Sweet!  I didn't know that. Thanks!!

[Maximona]

1 hour ago, bilgistic said:

I feel like the only person on Earth who doesn't love Jennifer Aniston.

You're not.  😊

I don't hate her or anything.

But I've never understood why she has a career.  (Note:  I never watched Friends because I don't do laugh tracks.)

[pennben]

She has a career because she was excellent in Friends. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

2 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I feel like the only person on Earth who doesn't love Jennifer Aniston. 

I love her, but there are many, many, many, many people who don't.  People are constantly discounting her as an actor, I assume because of her hair and her marriage to Brad Pitt, which you notice, NEVER hurts Brad in the same way in the public eye.

8 minutes ago, pennben said:

She has a career because she was excellent in Friends. 

Excellent, and extremely well loved, she is a television icon.

[juno]

Every single episode this season. Every. Single. Episode. Screaming, yelling, fighting, blaming?

Is this all that this show is about now?

So two seasons from now they are still going to be blaming, yelling, accusing each other of the events in the first season. This shows wants to be defined entirely about the events of the first season and the showrunners refuse to move on and establish a new story. It would be great to use the horrible events of the first season and move on to a story that incorporates those events.

I can't even discuss anymore what a low life weasle that chip has become. Quit your job and go get another one. Geez.

Laura, Bradley and Alex. Yes, the universe revolves around you. It does. Work, don't work, yell at your bosses, manipulate each other and your co-workers, lie and yell at everyone and your co-workers and bosses will smile and let you keep working and love you.

The one and I mean one member of the cast that I am starting to enjoy more and more is Mia. Professional, trying to put on a show and hold in her personal feeling. I really enjoyed watching her.

This show has an amazing cast but it has absolutely no direction.

[Carolina Girl]

5 hours ago, LADreamr said:

Sweet!  I didn't know that. Thanks!!

Don’t thank me too fast.  Now apparently you have to purchase them by episode or season.  I hate it when Amazon does that.  They were free not that long ago.  

[SunnyBeBe]

To me, Chip is  trying to do his job?  Alex doesn’t make it very easy.  He should realize not to let her push his buttons.  I wonder what they pay him. 
 

I was in a shuttle bus at Ft. Lauderdale Airport in late Jan. 2020 and was freaking out that I would contract regular flu.  I was just hearing about covid at the time.  

Edited November 7, 2021 by SunnyBeBe

[jackjill89]

7 hours ago, marceline said:

I think people are forgetting how things were at the very beginning of the pandemic. From what I can tell we're still at the point before COVID landed in the US. Which is part of the reason I found Yanko's beatdown of the guy who harassed Stella to be anachronistic. (Remember Yanko?)

People were still hugging and not social distancing because we just didn't know what we were going to get hit with. I don't blame them for hugging but it's painful to watch when we know what the future holds.

Exactly. Everything changed on Wednesday, March 11, 2020. NBA cancelled the rest of the season and Tom Hanks he announced he had Covid. By Friday, my school shut down a week early for spring break. By the end of March the state shut down and we never went back to school. 

I remember how before that people were still thinking it would stay away. There were some people wearing masks and gloves at stores, on transportation, but for much of the US, it wasn't reality yet. 

And again, I can totally see Alex not thinking about it -- she's so singular minded and it was all on her and Maggie's book. 

[Blakeston]

I think it's one thing for someone in the US in March 2020 to think, "I'm not concerned about COVID because there aren't many cases here yet."

And it's another thing for someone to actually go to a COVID hotspot, spend the night with someone quarantining after exposure to a COVID victim, and then come back and hug children and think nothing of it.

At the very least, Alex should be letting people know her situation, and letting them decide.

[wendyg]

One thing that made me respect Aniston is that when she did THE GOOD GIRL - and this was years into FRIENDS - she hired an acting coach, recognizing that she was going to have to unlearn Rachel's habits.

I think this is in the period when Italy was blowing up with covid, but people still thought of it as a China issue. In London in February 2020 a lot of our favorite Chinese restaurants lost a lot of customers who felt unsafe there; we ate there anyway on the basis that Chinese people might be the most safety-conscious. Meanwhile, in my neighborhood people brought covid back from half-term ski trips to Italy. My suspicion is that hugs got blamed when the real problem was shared air over a period of time; it wasn't until that summer that people really began focusing on ventilation and open spaces (and even now that message hasn't been nearly clear enough in the UK). Iran hit the news soon afterwards, and the UK shut down on March 23. People I knew started withdrawing from public stuff a couple of weeks earlier than that.

The Morning Show is shot in New York. Wikipedia saith that the first confirmed case in NY was March 1. The situation blew up over the course of that month and by April 4 there were 12,000-plus new cases a day. So I would agree with those who say the consciousness just isn't there yet. Wikipedia has first confirmed Italian case on January 31, clusters in Lombardy and Veneto (where was Mitch staying?) began February 21, first deaths Feb 22, beginning of March virus everywhere in Italy. I'm thinking therefore the show is at late February and covid will blow up in NYC in the next episode and the season finale.

I figured the woman who was lying on the couch and said she felt dizzy could have been harboring covid, but not clear where she'd have gotten it. The show is playing games with us, asking us to guess who's going to get sick: Alex and the glass of water; Alex's hug with the kid; much more dangerous,  her time in the closed car with Chip. Etc.

(Ironically given his later attitudes, if you listened to Joe Rogan's March 10, 2020 podcast you knew what the story was going to be; he hosted epidemiologist Michael Osterholm that day, who opened with: This is just beginning, this will be many months, transmits very easily through the air, infectious period before you get sick, best estimate 10-15x worse than seasonal flu in illness and fatalities, conservatively possibly over 480,000 deaths over next 3-7 months. Two weeks before, no known cases; cited Italy, which went from normal life to total shutdown in 2-3 weeks. I went to one last small group event across London on March 11 and then shut down.)

 

[txhorns79]

On 11/5/2021 at 11:56 PM, Blakeston said:

I can't believe Alex didn't get fully called out on how horrible it was to not tell anyone at TMS, especially Chip, where she was. She actually had the audacity to not be able to think of a reason Chip would be mad at her? But of course, instead of emphasizing how badly she betrayed him, he starts accusing her of screwing Mitch again. Those two deserve each other.

Alex is essentially an entitled monster.  I fully believe she is incapable of seeing anything or anyone beyond how she will be affected by it or them.  It certainly says something that Chip seemed to be living his best life after she cut him loose, and things have fallen apart for him again now that he is back in her orbit.    

[Packerbrewerbadger]

On 11/6/2021 at 1:21 PM, bilgistic said:

again. She was good in Cake and Dumplin' (amazing, highly underrated movie), but

Dumplin’ is an outstanding movie, I loved it! Anniston is not the main character but does a good job in an important but  supporting role.

My mother's funeral was March 3 , 2020 in Wisconsin and we were so  fortunate to be able to have a normal one but I remember wondering if I should be hugging people.  Little over a week later everything was shut down.