S03.E02: Shield

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

After a poker game with the contestants leaves Serena the sore winner, Chet decides to teach her how to be the woman that all men want to marry; Quinn makes a connection with one of the contestants after meeting Chet's new swimsuit model girlfriend.

 

[earlbny]

I miss the season 1 Periscopes. I loved watching the whole cast interact with the fans and singing and dancing. The people that run the UnREAL social media don’t like me. I think it’s because I’m either too honest and tell it like it is or too funny. 

 

I watched the episode but kept getting distracted. Damn you Twitter. I’ll have to rewatch it. I did like that the episode was mostly about Everlasting. The fight scene was too over the top. That would never happen on the Bachelor. Every 5 minutes we got a stupid mic drop. I smell chemistry in the air. Rachel and August aka the peace corps man bun dude had a moment. I liked seeing Quinn not on the top of her game. Serena is playing all of them. Jeremy looks good with the weight loss and semi shaved beard. However he still killed 2 people and needs to go.  I guess Rachel is going to hook up with a different guy every season. Not in tonight’s episode but it won’t be long. Quinn banged August yay. Why would that guy bang her? Eww! Once again it was better then S2 but not as good as S1. I agree with the article that said UnREAL is still looking for it’s identity.  I’m still trying to figure this season out. I also have to keep telling myself that UnREAL is a nighttime soap on Lifetime.

P.S I am still waiting for them to address the S2 mess.

Edited March 6, 2018 by earlbny

[voiceover]

I watched again.  What's wrong with me???

So tonight was a standard reversal: "Stop winning and start whining! You'll get your man!"/"No no!! Be true to your Strong Woman Self!"

Aw ffs.  Maybe don't be a gloating superior bitch; maybe don't be a blithering idiot.  I don't think many men like other men who act like she did over that poker game.

Oh Jeremy.  You killed two people.  You don't get to assume the moral high ground.

Did I miss the little backstory from ManBun, about how someone who isn't a U.S. citizen, became a Peace Corps Volunteer?  Unless he became a citizen before becoming a PCV.  The Commonwealth has other versions.  As an RPCV, I've decided to be affronted by this until someone throws in a line explaining it away.

The rest of the ep?  Not worth the affront.

Edited March 6, 2018 by voiceover

[earlbny]

24 minutes ago, voiceover said:

I watched again.  What's wrong with me???

So tonight was a standard reversal: "Stop winning and start whining! You'll get your man!"/"No no!! Be true to your Strong Woman Self!"

Aw ffs.  Maybe don't be a gloating superior bitch; maybe don't be a blithering idiot.  I don't think many men like other men who act like she did over that poker game.

Oh Jeremy.  You killed two people.  You don't get to assume the moral high ground.

Did I miss the little backstory from ManBun, about how someone who isn't a U.S. citizen, became a Peace Corps Volunteer?  Unless he became a citizen before becoming a PCV.  The Commonwealth has other versions.  As an RPCV, I've decided to be affronted by this until someone throws in a line explaining it away.

The rest of the ep?  Not worth the affront.

 I think I missed the man bun backstory as well. They probably had no backstory and figured nobody would notice or just went with the anything is possible on TV.  I doubt the writers looked into the Peace Corps.

[voiceover]

1 hour ago, earlbny said:

 I think I missed the man bun backstory as well. They probably had no backstory and figured nobody would notice or just went with the anything is possible on TV.  I doubt the writers looked into the Peace Corps.

Thanks.  I don't know why I held out hope.

I had a bad fall last week, so = probably not right in the head yet.  Happy that I don't have to come down from my High Horse of Moral Superiority.

I will give cred to this season's casting director.  Those men are smokin'.

[portfino]

There were some elements of this episode and I liked better. I feel that there was a little more about the male contestants. The reveal that Chet has been telling the truth to his younger girlfriend was smart. And I think they've done well by Quinn. Building a character arc for someone who even in S1 (before the Season of which we do not speak) seemed to be at the end of their character arc.

There's still too much on-the nose dialogue. And as much as the show tries to tell me otherwise, I can see why Serena's single. It's not because she's successful. It's because she's obnoxious and boring. Also, still finding Rachel/shrink too earnest.

[dubbel zout]

9 hours ago, voiceover said:

Did I miss the little backstory from ManBun, about how someone who isn't a U.S. citizen, became a Peace Corps Volunteer?

ManBun (hee; much better than his given name, August; no offense to any Augusts out there!) works for an NGO; he has friends in the Peace Corps he was worried about. I fanwanked it that he thought it would be easier for Rachel to get info on Americans than international aid workers.

3 hours ago, portfino said:

There's still too much on-the nose dialogue. And as much as the show tries to tell me otherwise, I can see why Serena's single. It's not because she's successful. It's because she's obnoxious and boring.

I think she has trouble separating how she needs to behave to be successful at work from how to be successful socially. Which doesn't mean she isn't obnoxious and boring, but it's not quite that simple, IMO.

What was the deal with Chet at the end? Is she donating money to his media thing (foundation? endowed chair somewhere? I wasn't quite paying close enough attention there) or is he donating to a charity of her choice? After that exchange, she fed him the three lines Madison had given her (nice callback) and then said, "Men are idiots," as she walked away.

Rachel is the one who bores me these days. She flirts with contestants, maybe she sleeps with them, she fights with Quinn, etc. We've seen all of this before. Do something different with it all.

[earlbny]

I still don't know what to make of Serena. Is she really smart and a master manipulator or dumb? Maybe shes just socially awkward. 

I started watching this show for Rachel and even I am getting bored. I would have loved the spin off idea. Her big arc for this season has not even started yet.

They threw in some Trump jokes tonight. I missed them the 1st time I watched the episode. 

Why would man bun sleep with Quinn?

Jay was MIA this episode. I want to see him get some action.

I want to see Madison knock Quinn off the thrown. I love seeing her off her game.

Edited March 6, 2018 by earlbny

[Pepper Mostly]

Guys, I don't know. I think I'm hate watching already. If I'd had a shot for every time I said, out loud "Oh for fuck sake!", I'd have been hammered by the halfway mark. Rachel is still sleeping in the crew truck? The on set psych has Rachel's number--she's not being honest with herself! Well, thank god there's a man here to point out her flaws. Ditto Jeremy, having to call Rachel out for "manipulating someone into doing something he doesn't want to do!" huffily. Rachel has no fucking mojo? She's reduced to twittering and blithering by one contestant's demurral? Manbun falls for Rachel, of course he does. Quinn grabs him for herself (not because she wants him, but because she wants Rachel to FOCUS) because that's what all us gals do, amirite, ladies? Madison almost puts her foot in it, but Jay stops her. Thank god there 's a man there to set her straight! Quinn can't wrangle her star. Chet steers her in the right direction. Thank god, etc. etc. Quinn is just a bitter, twisted drunk because she didn't get married and have children! Really, show? I thought the show was about women, power and friendship or at least ally-ship. It appears to be a very bad remake of "The Women" without Rosalind Russell.

The Suitress is either an idiot or so utterly tone deaf as to be beyond belief. And hey, did you know that to be a feminist you have to be a shrewish, emasculating, tone deaf witch? No wonder she can't land a man, amirite ladies?

[earlbny]

28 minutes ago, Pepper Mostly said:

Guys, I don't know. I think I'm hate watching already. If I'd had a shot for every time I said, out loud "Oh for fuck sake!", I'd have been hammered by the halfway mark. Rachel is still sleeping in the crew truck? The on set psych has Rachel's number--she's not being honest with herself! Well, thank god there's a man here to point out her flaws. Ditto Jeremy, having to call Rachel out for "manipulating someone into doing something he doesn't want to do!" huffily. Rachel has no fucking mojo? She's reduced to twittering and blithering by one contestant's demurral? Manbun falls for Rachel, of course he does. Quinn grabs him for herself (not because she wants him, but because she wants Rachel to FOCUS) because that's what all us gals do, amirite, ladies? Madison almost puts her foot in it, but Jay stops her. Thank god there 's a man there to set her straight! Quinn can't wrangle her star. Chet steers her in the right direction. Thank god, etc. etc. Quinn is just a bitter, twisted drunk because she didn't get married and have children! Really, show? I thought the show was about women, power and friendship or at least ally-ship. It appears to be a very bad remake of "The Women" without Rosalind Russell.

The Suitress is either an idiot or so utterly tone deaf as to be beyond belief. And hey, did you know that to be a feminist you have to be a shrewish, emasculating, tone deaf witch? No wonder she can't land a man, amirite ladies?

Well said. I don't think I could have said it any better. Rachel looks really good despite sleeping in the crew truck and not showering. This show does not know what it's about. It changes daily. This show tries to hard with social media and one liners. Not enough people watch the show to care. Nobody is talking about this show the next day at the water cooler. I wished they toned down that fight. It was so over the top it became comical. I guess that was the point. I was able to spot that so called OMG final moment a mile away. Next time Rachel and Quinn should tag team the man bun guy.

Edited March 6, 2018 by earlbny

[Pepper Mostly]

Every character is two dimensional and cartoonish. Toothpick chewing tough guy, sensitive firefighter, Wall St. bad boy, manbun wearing hipster who has to sleep out under the stars. Gag. I don't recognize Rachel, at all. She has no ability to bend people to her will or set up situations that will play out to maximum effect. She's reduced to gawping like some sort of tropical fish when a handsome man asks her to do him a favor, because he said the word "Africa". I miss the masterful Rachel of season one. I still remember that scene where she "accidentally" dropped a magazine in the trash for a sharp eyed contestant to find, setting up some fine ass drama. And the acting! Everyone is on 11, all the time. Its exhausting. Nothing feels organic.

[earlbny]

1 hour ago, Pepper Mostly said:

Every character is two dimensional and cartoonish. Toothpick chewing tough guy, sensitive firefighter, Wall St. bad boy, manbun wearing hipster who has to sleep out under the stars. Gag. I don't recognize Rachel, at all. She has no ability to bend people to her will or set up situations that will play out to maximum effect. She's reduced to gawping like some sort of tropical fish when a handsome man asks her to do him a favor, because he said the word "Africa". I miss the masterful Rachel of season one. I still remember that scene where she "accidentally" dropped a magazine in the trash for a sharp eyed contestant to find, setting up some fine ass drama. And the acting! Everyone is on 11, all the time. Its exhausting. Nothing feels organic.

ITA 110%. S1 was organic and slow paced. Everything was done with a purpose. Now everything is turned up to 11. Let everyone catch there breath. Every guy is a stereotype of the person they are playing. I'll admit that Rachel's chemistry was more electric then whatever she had with Coleman.

Edited March 6, 2018 by earlbny

[Joimiaroxeu]

I'm sorry, but "suitress" sounds to me like something a medic would use to fix a busted lip.

An Everlasting tire gauge. Good grief.

Either Quinn blackmailed him or August is a straight up dog dingo.

Quote

It appears to be a very bad remake of "The Women" without Rosalind Russell.

And with men.

Edited March 6, 2018 by Joimiaroxeu

[Pepper Mostly]

36 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

And with men.

Hahahaha! I was thinking of Quinn, Rachel, Madison, Crystal, and whatever-her-name-boring-suitress, but your interpretation works!

[BingeyKohan]

Quinn’s only other layer besides shark is self-pity. Rachel has reluctant-co-conspirator-but-so-good-at-my-job-I-can’t-help-myself, self-doubt, and ‘I’m done!’ Rinse and repeat (or gargle and spit into a bottle) for both of them.

My FFS moment was Jasper asking about Mark Zuckerberg. I feel like that’s so obvious and entry level a question Owen might ask it, not Jasper who’s supposedly of Serena’s world and would pride himself on already knowing the answer. I put this into the same category of laziness as mocking Serena onto a magazine cover that looked like a cheap Town and Country knockoff instead of a Wired or Fast Company. She’s as believable as Anne Hathaway was as a start-up founder in The Intern, I guess. If she were really the female Elon Musk wouldn’t she date the male Amber Heard?

[Pepper Mostly]

How about Manbun? He can't be confined indoors, so he has to sleep in a hammock under the stars! But he agreed to be locked up like a monkey in a zoo for a reality show? No internet, no phone, no contact with the outside world, living in a fishbowl? And he's supposed to be trying to win Serena, but two days in and he's sniffing around Rachel? Jesus. What the hell perfume is she wearing? Eau de Truck?

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

Hahahaha! I was thinking of Quinn, Rachel, Madison, Crystal, and whatever-her-name-boring-suitress, but your interpretation works!

I was thinking that The Women (the movie anyway) didn't have any male characters and here the males are very much visible and part of the action. Anyways, it really got me wondering how the characters would correlate. I'd consider Quinn to be the Joan Crawford and I guess Rachel is the Norma Shearer?

Quote

What the hell perfume is she wearing? Eau de Truck?

Eau de DTF, apparently. But yeah, I'm also wondering what his agenda is if he's not, as they say, in it to win it.

[earlbny]

11 minutes ago, Pepper Mostly said:

How about Manbun? He can't be confined indoors, so he has to sleep in a hammock under the stars! But he agreed to be locked up like a monkey in a zoo for a reality show? No internet, no phone, no contact with the outside world, living in a fishbowl? And he's supposed to be trying to win Serena, but two days in and he's sniffing around Rachel? Jesus. What the hell perfume is she wearing? Eau de Truck?

Maybe if I didn't shower for a while and wore the same clothes everyday I could get anyone I wanted. When kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up they don't say astronaut, fireman or policeman anymore now they say the Bachelor.

[Pepper Mostly]

24 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

I'm also wondering what his agenda is if he's not, as they say, in it to win it.

He jumped Quinn's bones pretty quick. Was that the callback to Adam boning the investor's wife while he and Chet watched? Everything is a retread of something that's happened before.

[dubbel zout]

30 minutes ago, Pepper Mostly said:

[ManBun] jumped Quinn's bones pretty quick.

He's desperate to find out about his friends, so maybe he thought this would fast-track things. Heh. (It looked like Quinn was doing all the work, though.)

[earlbny]

He should have went to Serena to find out about his friends. She seems to get anything she wants. He could have also taken a car to go visit them. 

[Pepper Mostly]

Hadn't Rachel already promised to see what she could do? Quinn seducing Manbun makes no sense. She knows Rachel has round heels. Jeremy, Adam, the creepy guy from last season, who knows who else. (not slut shaming! Rachel can have the roundest heels in America, I'm not judging. She can have her fun.) Why would she care if Rachel and Manbun had a fling? Why not just pull Rachel aside and say "Hands off Manbun until shooting is over, then you can do what you want"? Its nonsensical. Are they trying to tell a sexual harassment story, only with the tables turned? Calling it now, Manbun will either threaten to out Quinn for sexual harassment or go to the tabloids. Sigh.

[earlbny]

57 minutes ago, Pepper Mostly said:

Hadn't Rachel already promised to see what she could do? Quinn seducing Manbun makes no sense. She knows Rachel has round heels. Jeremy, Adam, the creepy guy from last season, who knows who else. (not slut shaming! Rachel can have the roundest heels in America, I'm not judging. She can have her fun.) Why would she care if Rachel and Manbun had a fling? Why not just pull Rachel aside and say "Hands off Manbun until shooting is over, then you can do what you want"? Its nonsensical. Are they trying to tell a sexual harassment story, only with the tables turned? Calling it now, Manbun will either threaten to out Quinn for sexual harassment or go to the tabloids. Sigh.

I think you called it. I bet all of us will figure this season out in no time.

Edited March 6, 2018 by earlbny

[Ms Lark]

I don't think we'll ever get back the magic that was season 1. That was "must see TV." Last season and this are more like "when/if I get around to it."

[dmc]

This show is a train wreck but I still watch it...

I wish the world would stop with man buns...how are these still attractive

Chet sucks, Jeremy sucks

Why is Gary constantly on set...

[dubbel zout]

1 hour ago, dmc said:

Why is Gary constantly on set...

Because he went to bat for Quinn to keep the show on the air, and he wants to make sure she delivers. He's also likely rooting for her to fail so that he can fire her and get some other show (one that he owns a bigger piece of, probably) up and running. 

[HunterHunted]

3 hours ago, dmc said:

Why is Gary constantly on set...

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

Because he went to bat for Quinn to keep the show on the air, and he wants to make sure she delivers. He's also likely rooting for her to fail so that he can fire her and get some other show (one that he owns a bigger piece of, probably) up and running. 

 

The question isn't why is Gary constantly on set. The question should be why isn't there an army of people from the network on set. Before season 1, Rachel has a nervous breakdown during the finale and steals a car. She's put on probation. Season 1, Shia withholds Mary's medicine and Mary kills herself; Quinn also brings the barely stable Rachel back. In season 2, the suitor and his best friend almost get killed by the police; the show lets a journalist, who writes an expose of Everlasting, become one of the wifey finalists. She conspires with a former executive producer to expose the show. "Luckily" both of them are killed in a car crash. Jeremy attempts to rape Rachel. Rachel also has a full scale breakdown. If I were Gary, I'd never leave these idiots to their own devices. And while I don't think Gary knows about the murder or the exact circumstances of Mary's suicide, he knows everything else.

All of this insane drama is especially ridiculous when the Bachelor managed to wring insane drama out of a suitor very slowly dumping his fiancee (2 months after he proposed) as she walked through the house.

Edited March 7, 2018 by HunterHunted

[Pepper Mostly]

Its pure soap opera now. And not even fun soap opera that can laugh at itself and let us in on the joke. 

Edited March 7, 2018 by Pepper Mostly

[ClareWalks]

I don't know Manbun's deal at all. I'm assuming, at this point, that he is supposed to be like Jef from Emily's Bachelorette season - hipster whore with African charity connections. Maybe Manbun's there to promote something like that.

[earlbny]

Spoiler

I don’t know Manbun’s deal either. However I do know that he comes back for season 4. So he’s not going anywhere for a while.

The new showrunner thought that final scene was an OMG moment. They’re also still pretending like the show is critically acclaimed. It was back in 2015. It’s now 2018.  They have a long way to go before they say they are critically acclaimed again.

[HunterHunted]

I loved all of the handwringing over the fight--someone might sue. No one is going to sue. Those contracts make it nearly impossible to sue the network or the other contestants. The real reason you don't want fights is because you might lose a couple of them to serious injuries and blow the whole season. 

Tanya Cooley got raped on camera during The Challege and it took her forever after many venues and many arguments to get a settlement and that's only because one court seemed really predisposed to an argument that if nearly every move the contestants make is controlled by the show, then the contestants are employees. MTV and Viacom were not having that so they settled, thereby saving all of reality TV. 

As Adrienne Maloof, a billionaire, found out on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills found out, they can't sue each other.

There is literally nothing to get really worried about legally. As I said, the biggest concern is that a fight might injure the guys so badly that they can't film anymore. The other concern is that you'd alienate the advertisers and viewers. Furthermore, if the network had advertising sales with one of dipshit's tire and tire gauge competitors, they have blown it by rolling over and agreeing to his demands.

We're almost 30 years into reality television. Maybe the audience doesn't know all of the ins and outs, but we're not naifs. This show does itself and the audience a disservice when it gets up to idiot plotting just to keep the show salacious and shocking.

Edited March 7, 2018 by HunterHunted

[dmc]

13 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

The question isn't why is Gary constantly on set. The question should be why isn't there an army of people from the network on set. Before season 1, Rachel has a nervous breakdown during the finale and steals a car. She's put on probation. Season 1, Shia withholds Mary's medicine and Mary kills herself; Quinn also brings the barely stable Rachel back. In season 2, the suitor and his best friend almost get killed by the police; the show lets a journalist, who writes an expose of Everlasting, become one of the wifey finalists. She conspires with a former executive producer to expose the show. "Luckily" both of them are killed in a car crash. Jeremy attempts to rape Rachel. Rachel also has a full scale breakdown. If I were Gary, I'd never leave these idiots to their own devices. And while I don't think Gary knows about the murder or the exact circumstances of Mary's suicide, he knows everything else.

All of this insane drama is especially ridiculous when the Bachelor managed to wring insane drama out of a suitor very slowly dumping his fiancee (2 months after he proposed) as she walked through the house.

This I don’t think people who are gary’s position would be there- they would send peeps from the network 

12 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

I don't know Manbun's deal at all. I'm assuming, at this point, that he is supposed to be like Jef from Emily's Bachelorette season - hipster whore with African charity connections. Maybe Manbun's there to promote something like that.

Hipster whore YEP

[Pepper Mostly]

11 hours ago, earlbny said:

  Reveal hidden contents

I don’t know Manbun’s deal either. However I do know that he comes back for season 4. So he’s not going anywhere for a while.

The new showrunner thought that final scene was an OMG moment. They’re also still pretending like the show is critically acclaimed. It was back in 2015. It’s now 2018.  They have a long way to go before they say they are critically acclaimed again.

I know, right? Like we didn't see it coming from a mile away. Nothing will touch the real OMG moments from the show--the moment Mary stepped off the roof. Rachel's scene with Adam in the confessional. The moment Rachel turned to Jeremy and told him to make sure he got a shot of Anna'a bloody footprints. I guess that's the reason I'm so upset about how shitty the show is now. It is capable of being so great. And now we have this dreck. 

[NaughtyKitty]

What ever happened to Quinn and Rachel's matching Girl Power tattoos?  I haven't been actively looking for them but I certainly haven't noticed them either.  Why write something permanent into the script if it is a hassle to continue?

[earlbny]

1 hour ago, Pepper Mostly said:

I know, right? Like we didn't see it coming from a mile away. Nothing will touch the real OMG moments from the show--the moment Mary stepped off the roof. Rachel's scene with Adam in the confessional. The moment Rachel turned to Jeremy and told him to make sure he got a shot of Anna'a bloody footprints. I guess that's the reason I'm so upset about how shitty the show is now. It is capable of being so great. And now we have this dreck. 

Those were great scenes. S1 was one of the best I’ve ever seen. How does it go from Critically acclaimed & Peabody winning to crap over night. Even though they changed showrunners (3 in 3 seasons) they continue to keep Sarah around and the new ones been around since S1. I wonder if things would be different if it was on a different network? Maybe it was just a one hit wonder.

1 hour ago, NaughtyKitty said:

What ever happened to Quinn and Rachel's matching Girl Power tattoos?  I haven't been actively looking for them but I certainly haven't noticed them either.  Why write something permanent into the script if it is a hassle to continue?

I’ve seen the matching tattoos this season. Rachel and Quinn are mostly wearing long sleeves so it’s hard to see.  I’m glad we don’t see them.  Every time I see them I’m reminded of how bad S2 was.

[Pepper Mostly]

The tattoos are just a sad joke now. "Money Dick Power". This season they seem to be focused on putting Quinn and Rachel in their places--subservient to men, who are being shown to have superior judgment and be more rational. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

I love playing poker, play a lot with guys, and Serena was such an asshole at the poker game.  I think of myself as incredibly feminist, too, so it's not about that.

But everyone's already pointed this out here because we are much smarter than this show assumes.  

Who is that actor who plays Serena?  I know her from somewhere.  If they were going to make her such an asshole, I think they should have picked a more attractive actor to balance things out.  They keep telling us what a great catch she is, LOL.  Show us then.

Funny to see that Constance Zimmer's dialogue is just as A T R O C I O U S as it was during the pilot. 

On 3/6/2018 at 10:04 AM, Pepper Mostly said:

She's reduced to gawping like some sort of tropical fish when a handsome man asks her to do him a favor, because he said the word "Africa". 

LOL.  "Africa".  Who refers to an entire continent as her favourite place?  These writers are so dumb, I'm sorry.

The only good thing on this show is Shiri's acting.  

Edited March 7, 2018 by Ms Blue Jay

[jhlipton]

2 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I love playing poker, play a lot with guys, and Serena was such an asshole at the poker game.  I think of myself as incredibly feminist, too, so it's not about that.

I was really expecting them to have rigged the cards so Se4rena would feel like she was winning, then lose it all at the end.  The craps table would have been even easier to rig.  These are things they would have done in Season 1...

2 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

LOL.  "Africa".  Who refers to an entire continent as her favourite place?  These writers are so dumb, I'm sorry.

I know. Manbun finally said he worked in Congo (and even then, there's two of them: The larger Democratic Republic of the Congo to the southeast (capital: Kinshasa), formerly known as Zaire and sometimes referred to as "Congo-Kinshasa". and the smaller Republic of the Congo to the northwest (capital: Brazzaville) and sometimes referred to as "Congo-Brazzaville"; source Wikipedia!).  Before that, all of Africa was just one giant amorphous blob, from Manbun and Rachel.

[earlbny]

The writers probably don’t think we’re smart. They probably think we believe everything that happens on this show.

We were told that they didn’t have enough time last season to explaine every little detail. Everything was turned up to 11 and felt rushed. I am now thinking ahead to season 4 and wondering how they are going to fit everything into 8 episodes. If they explained the whole thing about the Congo they would not have time for another scene.

[dubbel zout]

Given how many Americans can barely find their home state on a map, I'm not surprised the writers didn't get too specific with Africa or Congo.

[Ms Blue Jay]

23 minutes ago, earlbny said:

The writers probably don’t think we’re smart. They probably think we believe everything that happens on this show.

This comment made me laugh and laugh!

8 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Given how many Americans can barely find their home state on a map, I'm not surprised the writers didn't get too specific with Africa or Congo.

To be honest I do find it dumb and surprising.  When I saw "Mean Girls" in 2004 with a Nigerian friend of mine, she was pretty offended by their depiction of Africa and the way that Cady's character kept saying "I'm from Africa" (LOL!!)  referring to just the continent.  I mean, that was 14 years ago.  So yeah I think it's pretty pathetic.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Ms Blue Jay

[jhlipton]

8 hours ago, earlbny said:

If they explained the whole thing about the Congo they would not have time for another scene.

7 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

To be honest I do find it dumb and surprising.  When I saw "Mean Girls" in 2004 with a Nigerian friend of mine, she was pretty offended by their depiction of Africa and the way that Cady's character kept saying "I'm from Africa" (LOL!!)  referring to just the continent.  I mean, that was 14 years ago.  So yeah I think it's pretty pathetic.

If he had said Rwanda, I think most people know what happened there (or at least that something did happen there!). 

[bluepencil]

Quote

Who is that actor who plays Serena?  I know her from somewhere.  

Caitlin FitzGerald. If you watched "Masters of Sex" on HBO, she played Libby Masters, Bill's long-suffering wife. 

[BingeyKohan]

5 hours ago, bluepencil said:

Caitlin FitzGerald. If you watched "Masters of Sex" on HBO, she played Libby Masters, Bill's long-suffering wife. 

And if you're in the NYC area, a random local PSA where the subway cars where completely filled with tennis balls. Or apples. I can't remember which - probably apples and it was promoting a food drive, or access to healthy food choices. That's what I always think of when I see her.

[earlbny]

8 hours ago, BingeyKohan said:

And if you're in the NYC area, a random local PSA where the subway cars where completely filled with tennis balls. Or apples. I can't remember which - probably apples and it was promoting a food drive, or access to healthy food choices. That's what I always think of when I see her.

I remember that. I think it was apples.

[earlbny]

You bring up some good points. ITA that it's always been a soap. S1 was just a really good soap.

I love seeing Quinn off her game. You could not pay me enough money to bang her. Eww.

I have friends who are happily single and want no part of having a man/woman in their lives.

That poker game was stupid. I don't find the suitress all that attractive. Rachel is hotter IMO. Some of her scenes are like watching paint dry.

As for the the never-ending contestant/crew sex. It will probably get worse in S4. It would not surprise me if this show turned into one big orgy. Everybody knows sex sells. Why can't the crew get their lives in order and focus on there jobs?

[lezlers]

On 3/6/2018 at 9:04 AM, Pepper Mostly said:

Every character is two dimensional and cartoonish. Toothpick chewing tough guy, sensitive firefighter, Wall St. bad boy, manbun wearing hipster who has to sleep out under the stars. Gag. I don't recognize Rachel, at all. She has no ability to bend people to her will or set up situations that will play out to maximum effect. She's reduced to gawping like some sort of tropical fish when a handsome man asks her to do him a favor, because he said the word "Africa". I miss the masterful Rachel of season one. I still remember that scene where she "accidentally" dropped a magazine in the trash for a sharp eyed contestant to find, setting up some fine ass drama. And the acting! Everyone is on 11, all the time. Its exhausting. Nothing feels organic.

I actually like that all of the contestants are two dimensional.  They've done it with the female contestants the past couple of seasons so it's nice to see them do with the men.   The thing that bugs me the most is Rachel sleeping in the truck.  WHY?  Is it because she's so committed she can't even leave the set, ever?  They can't throw their prime asset a room in the mansion to stay in?  I think her drooling over manbun was more to point out that she's struggling to hold on to the self enlightenment she had achieved when they were on hiatus.  They knocked us over the head with their celibacy anvil so her drooling over Manbun is symbolic of her struggle to not slip back into the person she becomes on set that she doesn't want to be.  We did see a glimpse of the old Rachel with her manufacturing that fight.  I'm guessing we'll be seeing more of her as the season progresses.

On 3/6/2018 at 11:17 AM, earlbny said:

Maybe if I didn't shower for a while and wore the same clothes everyday I could get anyone I wanted. When kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up they don't say astronaut, fireman or policeman anymore now they say the Bachelor.

Well that's depressing as hell.  How do kids even know what the bachelor is? 

On 3/6/2018 at 12:27 PM, Pepper Mostly said:

Hadn't Rachel already promised to see what she could do? Quinn seducing Manbun makes no sense. She knows Rachel has round heels. Jeremy, Adam, the creepy guy from last season, who knows who else. (not slut shaming! Rachel can have the roundest heels in America, I'm not judging. She can have her fun.) Why would she care if Rachel and Manbun had a fling? Why not just pull Rachel aside and say "Hands off Manbun until shooting is over, then you can do what you want"? Its nonsensical. Are they trying to tell a sexual harassment story, only with the tables turned? Calling it now, Manbun will either threaten to out Quinn for sexual harassment or go to the tabloids. Sigh.

Wasn't she pissed at Rachel for something right before that?  I assumed she was doing it to get back at Rachel or trying to circumvent Rachel getting distracted by yet another fling on set.  Also a little bit of "yeah, I've still got it." 

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 3/8/2018 at 10:43 AM, bluepencil said:

Caitlin FitzGerald. If you watched "Masters of Sex" on HBO, she played Libby Masters, Bill's long-suffering wife. 

Ohhhhhhh my god thank you.  Now that I know her name, I found out I know her as the oldest child from the movie "It's Complicated" (I love this movie and have seen it many times).  Also she was Epperly on "Gossip Girl".  Blair and Dan's boss at W Magazine.

Edited March 12, 2018 by Ms Blue Jay

[AllyB]

On 3/6/2018 at 5:17 PM, earlbny said:

Maybe if I didn't shower for a while and wore the same clothes everyday I could get anyone I wanted.

All I could think by the end of this episode was how bad Rachel must smell. She's not just wearing the same clothes every day. She's sleeping in them too. And the clothes she is wearing are sooooo much thicker and warmer than what everyone else has on. She must be sweating heavily all the time. She wouldn't even just have that bad smell we all sometimes get at the end of a physically strenuous day but the absolute reek of old, stale sweat building up day after day. It would take one unbelievably long shower to rid her body of the stink and her clothes probably need to be burned. It's just really, really horrible. 

[aradia22]

Are you serious? No fall out? No angry exit interview with the jockey? I mean, they probably wouldn't air it, but still...

So Rachel is celibate and super horny around all these jacked dudes? Fascinating... I hope this episode has more to do with Everlasting.(The one thing I'll say is it's interesting that the voice lecturing on Essential Honesty is male.)

LOL that Rachel is into "Africa" (the whole continent?) and man-bun doesn't even question it

She's been in the garbage and the control room? Serena is a better spy than Madison. And also... WHY IS NO ONE WATCHING HER? This would be more believable if Serena was a cop and not a tech wiz. How has Everlasting run so many seasons when it seems like they have no control over anything?

I don't get the Serena character at all. Is she supposed to be a country club girl? Or was she only running in those Sunday brunch circles because of her wealth so she's more of a Silicon Valley nerd who happens to be somewhat attractive? She knew how to flirt with all the guys on night one. But she lacks the self awareness to not be an ass during poker? What is this character? The problem wasn't that she won the game. The problem was that she played like the worst person ever. And how would a woman who read The Rules not know anything about regressive ideas about attracting guys? Forget that. Just sane humans know how to behave politely to strangers. She doesn't need Chet and Madison. She just needs to act like a normal person. The two options are not bimbo and ballbuster. This is the feminist commentary I came back to season 3 for?

Guy and Preston were way too aggressive to each other.

Is Crystal an idiot? She just expects Quinn to plan a party for her? I thought she was going to pull a Madison and kiss up realizing that Quinn is the brains of the operation.

God, who cares about sobriety? Jeremy is STILL the worst. I can't believe he's putting it on Rachel that he killed two people.

One big issue is that the show is not that interested in the Suitor/Suitress. Adam worked because they kept throwing him together with Rachel. But when no one is getting together with Rachel, the show seems to stop caring about the main focus of each season. Their characterizations' are so flat and contradictory.

Nighttime karaoke date? I get that Everlasting is not a perfect recreation of The Bachelor but this show seems terrible.

OK, "you have a Russian soul" made me snort laugh. This show can be funny. I wish it would do that more often. Also, I don't believe that hot male ballerina is also into Rachel. Does she give off magical pheromones or something?

Wait, that was the big plan? Sing in Russian? Oh, yeah. Big man. Not a poodle. But he did have a decent voice. I'll give him that.

Jasper carrying Serena off in the rain would be a romantic moment. Do they just edit out all the garbage from the show and only keep the romance then? Confused. I knew what Everlasting was in season 1. I don't know what show they're making now.

Oh, come off it, Rachel. How many people watching Everlasting and think it's real? This show fails on commentary because it's trying to fit its arguments into plotlines instead of the other way around. 

I know it's all a big set up but I hope Serena ends up with Owen. Like Ruby last season, he seems like the only sane option.

I liked Serena's black dress. It felt like her but sparkly. Not sure why they didn't put her in that on the first night when she rejected the mermaid dress.

LOL, poor Dan. It's nice to have some comic relief but I kind of hope he gets his moment at some point.

Ugh, god. Celibacy doesn't mean you can't use a vibrator, Rachel. Get it together.

I'm not saying it was a great life decision for her or in general but I liked Quinn heading off Rachel and having sex with August herself. At least someone's getting some and Rachel's not going to fall for another dude and derail the season. The celibacy is actually kind of good for her (at least in terms of not screwing up the writing on UnREAL).