In The Dark - General Discussion

[dubbel zout]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

As is typical for my Over The Air CW station, the signal crapped out 5 minutes into last night’s episode.

I have cable, and it does this all the time for me, too. It's obviously a CW glitch.

I'm tired of the story. It's dragged out too long for me.

[tangerinepill]

Agree, the "Murphy is going to jail for life" because of the DNA evidence is beyond ridiculous. Josh actually saw Murphy the night Nia was killed, which makes him a witness to the fact that she was badly beaten, which would be both an explanation for her blood being there and also support any sort of self defense argument if indeed Murphy is the one that killed Nia. But they really have no idea which of the crew shot Nia and pinning it on Murphy seems the least likely to me given the fact that Nia was shot and Murphy is blind. In order for Murphy to have shot her she would either have to be directly in front of her (as in they were struggling for the gun) or it would have had to have been a crazy lucky shot. But this isn't even raised by Josh (who is blinded by rage) or Gene (who only really cares about taking down the Chief) or Felix's sister (supposedly really smart plus a former defense attorney) or ANYONE WITH A BRAIN. I know it's just lazy writing and not supposed to matter to us, but it bugs me so much.

And I get that Josh is angry - it was one thing that she used him for information, but getting him fired was truly one of the worst things Murphy has done on this show - but he clearly did not care even a little bit when Murphy thought Jess was dead, about Murphy's feelings or even about Jess being dead. If the show wants me to hate Josh and think of him as the enemy, it's working. But I don't know that I find his single-minded thirst for revenge that believable based on the guy we previously got to know. He wants her to go to jail for life for killing Nia? Putting aside that she didn't kill Nia, Nia was a drug lord who ordered the deaths of countless people. It's not like he cares about justice for Nia, just punishing Murphy. 

[Paloma]

At this point I'm only watching the show because my husband still wants to, but the ridiculousness just keeps piling up. Besides what everyone else here has said, WTF is Josh doing in the interrogation room with Gene--what standing does he have to be there? When Murphy suggested to Gene that he let Josh handcuff her (and he did), I wondered if that would somehow invalidate the arrest or give grounds for appealing any conviction since Josh is not a cop and is (I think) no longer a federal IRS agent.

Also, with Murphy being such a wanted criminal, how convenient that no one in the police station noticed her walking out (even when she asked someone how to get to the nearest exit), despite presumably being seen by at least some cops when she was brought in, handcuffed to a chair, and put in interrogation. Never mind how unbelievable her escape method was. And then she, Felix, and Max (all wanted criminals) plus Pretzel were hanging around the hospital unnoticed by hospital security or any passing cop.

But what really bothers me are the little things, like how did Murphy pay for her cab ride to the hospital and, more important, is anyone giving Pretzel food and water and taking him out to do his business? 

[possibilities]

9 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

As is typical for my Over The Air CW station, the signal crapped out 5 minutes into last night’s episode

My feed did the same, but then it came back, so I missed a minute or so. I really thought it was gone, but I FF just in case and then it was back. I have DirecTV, so it was not your over the air reception.

[sweetandsour]

I just want Darnell to be happy.  I would absolutely watch a spinoff of him and Trey starting over somewhere else.

The gang sure got lucky that Gene was fired.  Otherwise, he could look up the phone number Murphy dialed from the station and track that phone.

[preeya]

In what universe is a "going blind, ex-IRS agent, previous sack buddy with the suspect" allowed to arrest said murder suspect and sit in on an interrogation of said suspect?  Come on show, who does your consulting for "near real" police procedures.  What a crock of shit.

[love2lovebadtv]

On 7/1/2021 at 4:58 PM, tennisgurl said:

Max might be the smartest person on the show, cutting ties with Murphy is going to remove so much unneeded stress from his life. She is so selfish and toxic and she spreads that toxicity to everyone around her. Like when Jess was getting upset in the store about the fact that she is throwing her whole life away partially because of Murphy's terrible ideas, while all Murphy can do is whine about how Max doesn't like her anymore. Its sad how being a codependent enabler has led Jess so far into this mess, and now it looks like its about to get worse. The only reason to be around Murphy is to get to hang out with Pretzel, the shows real star. 

I feel like the dog training place was always basically running just so that Murphy's parents wanted make sure her lazy self had a job, so I guess that's why we never saw much guide dog training. Or because the show just doesn't know how guide dogs work, between this and Josh getting instantly fired without a fight for losing his sight, its bizarre how a show about a blind person seems to know so little about being blind. 

I agree re: Max. Instead of blaming Murphy for sucking him in again, he is taking responsibility and making sure that it doesn't happen. 

I've seen some comments on Reddit from people who think Max is being petty. But I think he's asserting and protecting himself. It makes me wonder if Jess would have been able to do that had they met as adults. 

On 6/27/2021 at 9:29 AM, shapeshifter said:

It's an interesting dichotomy that Gene's speech patterns sound like he's "from the hood" while at the same time he's the only morally uncompromised character on the show. 
--Not that IRL that doesn't happen, but on TV, if it does happen, it's usually the main character, and it usually comes off as unbelievable. 
Gene is also the straight arrow in a police department with its share of crooked cops. 
Gene and Pretzel are the only reason I'm watching this season, and Pretzel seems to have lost screen time
--not that Pretzel ever had many lines. 😉 🦮

Just like IRL, your accent/dialect/speech patterns don't dictate your moral compass. I hadn't thought about that but since you brought it up, I appreciate that about Gene's character. 

On 6/24/2021 at 3:59 PM, tennisgurl said:

Can the feds actually fire Josh for going blind? As other people above have mentioned, that seems like discrimination, they couldn't just give him a desk job where he could still do his work even without sight? Its hard to root against Gene and Josh, who are honestly a lot more likable than the gang, especially Murphy, but they are being set up as the seasons antagonists. For now at least. 

I know it's TV but I wondered about this, too. Were they firing Josh for not disclosing? 

He seemed to fear that he'd be relegated to a boring desk job and maybe that's true. But why did he have to get fired? 

On 6/24/2021 at 12:40 PM, possibilities said:

Josh could have kept his job or sued for discrimination if he proved he could do his job with reasonable accommodations. His refusal to disclose, and get training, and use assistive tech is kind of his own fault here.

Moreover, he was doing a pretty effective job, so they don't have the right to terminate him just for having a disability. It's kind of surprising that this show doesn't know about that, since they've made an effort to get a lot of blind stuff right (though it's also not their first failure in that regard, either).

I had a legally blind acquaintance who worked as an actuary for Prudential, and she could see less than Josh seems to. There are lots of ways to do what Josh needed to do, and as a federal employee, he surely has a union, access to lawyers, and a boss who knows the basics of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Yes! Josh acts like ADA doesn't exist. But I feel for him because he's clearly having a hard time and it seems like he wasn't a regular IRS agent; he was a criminal investigator for the IRS. He hadn't told anyone about his eyesight nor has he accessed anything that he's entitled to. We've seen how much he resisted the cane. A lot of this plot line is unrealistic but I appreciate that the show touches on people who undergo this kind of change at different stages in their lives - during the adolescent years while going through puberty and loss of a parent, in their 30s while on a great career track. I get it. I wonder if that's why Josh is so adamant about taking Murphy down.

On 6/24/2021 at 9:15 AM, dubbel zout said:

I like Gene more than Josh, but it is a bummer we're supposed to think of them as the enemy.

I'm really tired of Murphy bulldozing everyone into doing her bidding whether it's smart or not. There's no way Gene would have known where to look in the woods if Murphy hadn't forced Max to take her there to look for her stupid button.

I know, right? Is it possible to root for both teams? 

Also, Murphy seems to be able to convince people quite a bit. Part of it is that she's smart and perceptive. But I think some people just have a hard time saying no to her and she knows it.

On 7/1/2021 at 9:35 PM, PinkRibbons said:

I've always felt that Murphy was a little too much of a question mark, because we never really been told how she got to where she is. By the time the show starts she's been fully blind for at least a decade, which hasn't stopped other blind people from living full lives. I always wondered if her parents set her up to fail by overly sheltering her.

So actually the scene with her Mom not wanting her to go to jail actually made more sense with my headcanon, because aside from the "your child will be safer in jail" thing never sounding right, her mom is probably thinking that her blind child is not going to be safer in jail with her disability. Murphy panicked without Jess because she's so used to having someone take care of her. I really wonder if she's just a victim of being too sheltered in regards to her disability.

But also they've definitely nerfed her since the pilot - remember how much she avoided using Pretzel? I loved that scene where she got thrown out of a guy's apartment without her cane and only then was everything absolutely terrifying. She used to be more independent and skillful. I mean, wasn't that the whole reason Jess lo-jacked her phone?

It made sense with my head canon, too. I would absolutely not expect Murphy's mom to start spilling her guts to the cops, especially since she doesn't know the full story and doesn't want to get Murphy in more trouble than she's already in. Murphy has some issues but she's not someone a caring mother would want to serve up to the cops. That part rang true to me. 

I do feel like Murphy's parents sheltered her by not giving her any consequences. It's fine to give your teen/adult children a job in a family business. But it seems Murphy was receiving a paycheck without doing any work and even sabotaging some of the organization's efforts. If she didn't want to work at Guiding Hope, it was on her to develop a skill and find a job. By keeping her on the payroll, she never had to do that. 

On 7/1/2021 at 10:01 PM, possibilities said:

That's true. She used to pick up strangers in bars, and she was investigating the murder on her own, taking cabs (or uber, I guess?). She improvised a lot and thought quickly. I think her sudden helplessness is a retcon, as is her weepiness over Max hating her.

I actually think Murphy's character in Season 3 is consistent with Season 1 and 2. 

Jess took care of Murphy, even when it interfered with her own romantic relationship. Murphy did pick up strangers in bars, take Uber, investigate a murder, etc. But doing those things when you know you have a roommate/best friend/doormat who will track you down, forgive you when you're insensitive, and even tell you whether you have your period, is not being independent. Jess tracks down Murphy when she's missing for too long, forgives her when she's insensitive, and even tells Murphy when she has her period. 

Drinking in a bar where she doesn't pay for her drinks and buying morning-after kits while her parents kept her on the payroll at a job where she was frequently absent and disengaged is not being independent either. 

Not having a comfort zone or financial cushion to fall back on, I can understand Murphy feeling helpless. I'm not saying Murphy can't learn to take care of herself. But she hasn't had to yet. So this is realistic and interesting to me. 

As for Max, he's probably the first person to put his foot down and say he's no longer going to interact with Murphy because it's not good for him to go back and forth with Murphy. She's used to people forgiving her, not holding her accountable, and enabling her, so it makes sense to me that she's fixated on Max because he's not doing any of the things she's used to. 

I love that Murphy is realizing she hasn't yet learned how to be alone. Now she can do something about it.  Making steps toward learning how to live alone would be fantastic growth.

[dubbel zout]

On 8/12/2021 at 5:05 PM, Paloma said:

what standing does he have to be there?

Josh is acting as an agent of the police, which gives him certain privileges. (N.B.: I got my JD from Law & Order University.) But he's mainly there because he's mad that Murphy screwed him over and he wants revenge.

[Paloma]

2 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Josh is acting as an agent of the police, which gives him certain privileges.

I missed that course in Law & Order University! But seriously, if he is no longer an IRS employee, how can he act as an agent of the police? Can any detective or other police person just designate any person they want as an agent?

[preeya]

3 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Josh is acting as an agent of the police, which gives him certain privileges. (N.B.: I got my JD from Law & Order University.) But he's mainly there because he's mad that Murphy screwed him over and he wants revenge.

"Acting agent of the police" GMAFB

He's there ONLY because he wants to inflict retribution against Murphy and he can't let go of what she did to him. In addition to the fact that Gene is allowing him to do these things which will likely invalidate everything they think they have on Murphy.  

[possibilities]

As I recall, Gene asked to work with Josh and the chief approved it. I don't know if that's kosher according to real world protocol, but in-show, it's a formally approved arrangement. 

 

[Paloma]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

As I recall, Gene asked to work with Josh and the chief approved it. I don't know if that's kosher according to real world protocol, but in-show, it's a formally approved arrangement. 

Yes, but would that approval survive Josh no longer being employed by the IRS? (Though it's still not clear to me if he was fired after Murphy's phone call ratting him out.)

2 hours ago, preeya said:

Gene is allowing him to do these things which will likely invalidate everything they think they have on Murphy.  

I hope so. I'm not usually a fan of letting people get away with crimes on a technicality, but in this case it would be justified.

[possibilities]

I think the chief approved the collaboration after Josh was fired. In my mind, they were using him as an expert/outside consultant?

[PinkRibbons]

Does anyone else get the feeling that Josh was unreasonably set on arresting Murphy even before she got him fired? Like he comes to her house for sex - as part of her attempt to have a genuine relationship with him, and he just happened to spot a picture of Max. He starts basically interrogating her, refuses to listen to any attempts she tries to makes at communication*, assumes she killed Nia and then has the audacity to demand she give him a phone to call the police on her. Frankly his attitude strikes me as someone who much more than the justice he claims to want really just wants one last big case under his belt.

*This is one of the stupidest things he does, now I think of it, because if he hadn't launched directly into "I WILL TAKE YOU DOWN" and listened to her, he might have gotten a full confession just listening to Murphy trying to reason away her actions. He acts like Murphy used and abused him (immediately assuming she slept with him for information), but I'm getting the feeling now that it's more like he's using her to fulfill his fantasy of going out with a bang. He never even tried extending some compassion to her before she got him fired, her doing so just made him go from determined to fanatical about putting her away. She hurt his ego and he can't forgive that.

[possibilities]

I knew Jess wouldn't call and not say anything, or even text, and that she wouldn't check into a hotel, especially not under her legal name. 

The dog who plays Pretzel always looks super happy to see "Murphy" when they're reunited after scenes apart.

The sister's gun will  be a problem really fast. 

[PinkRibbons]

The call came from Jess's alias, so it probably was her on the phone, but yeah, she definitely wouldn't be stupid enough to check into a hotel under her own name. I mean even the fixer lady who's recycling identities shouldn't be that incompetent; Jess is still a fugitive actively on the radar. It makes absolutely no sense that she'd resell an identity with the cops on its trail. That's just not how you run a business, it's selling faulty wares. Even if your career is illegal, you don't keep a client base by letting people down.

[possibilities]

31 minutes ago, PinkRibbons said:

 you don't keep a client base by letting people down.

...unless she was trying to set up the person she gave the name to, and her real client was whoever was after that person.

[dubbel zout]

Felix high on ADHA meds was very funny, and I loved Trey's reaction to him.

You'd think Josiah would have been a tad more effusive in his thanks for the gang saving his kids. And giant continuity error: His wife gets shot and Murphy's face is blood-spattered, then when we see her in the car, which is supposed to be only a minute or so later, it's clean. Heh.

Gene being made chief of detectives is the sort of thing that only happens on TV, but at least they lampshades it somewhat by having him say he was massively underqualified. But I like that he rehired the fired detective (and did that bit with the badge) and let her put the cuffs on the corrupt CoD. Gene might be my favorite character.

I'm finding the overall story tedious, but there are enough individual scenes to keep me from not ditching the show completely.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

Felix high on ADHA meds was very funny, and I loved Trey's reaction to him.

You'd think Josiah would have been a tad more effusive in his thanks for the gang saving his kids. And giant continuity error: His wife gets shot and Murphy's face is blood-spattered, then when we see her in the car, which is supposed to be only a minute or so later, it's clean. Heh.

Gene being made chief of detectives is the sort of thing that only happens on TV, but at least they lampshades it somewhat by having him say he was massively underqualified. But I like that he rehired the fired detective (and did that bit with the badge) and let her put the cuffs on the corrupt CoD. Gene might be my favorite character.

I'm finding the overall story tedious, but there are enough individual scenes to keep me from not ditching the show completely.

I quit watching, so I hope you keep watching, @dubbel zout, so I can follow what happened. 🙃

[preeya]

On 8/19/2021 at 5:33 AM, shapeshifter said:

I'm finding the overall story tedious, but there are enough individual scenes to keep me from not ditching the show completely.

Same sentiment here. Gene becoming CoD would definitely NEVER happen IRL. They likely would transfer a seasoned detective from another precinct to take over. The kitchen scene with the wife, kids, drug killers and Josiah was so over the top bogus that it was almost comical. It was really dumb.

Edited August 22, 2021 by preeya

[possibilities]

They just keep piling more and more awful onto Felix. I mean... his father has to reject him, too? 

Didn't anyone think the gun might be REGISTERED in sis's name? Nevermind the sentimental issue of it being a sweet 16 gift.

She will easily testify against them, and she has a credible case since they've been staying with her. 

[love2lovebadtv]

On 7/9/2021 at 3:02 PM, possibilities said:

I liked what that showed about Murphy's conscience though. She feels guilty and afraid that she failed Jess. It was a way to show that she does care, and she is afraid, and it's still in character for her (compared to the usual ways they show women  being scared and feeling guilty-- Murphy would experience it as blame and anger and violence, not groveling and submissiveness).

It's not Jess's fault Murphy dreamed her that way. It showed Murphy does appreciate and feel insecure in their friendship-- she sees Jess as someone who on the one hand always takes care of her, and on the other hand, might leave her because she's not good enough, even when she isn't actually at fault.

Thanks for the reminder of how the whole mess started, with Jess and Felix taking the money. It makes things more even in the group. 

Does Max know that Murphy didn't steal the money? 

I don't find Murphy to be the least bit likeable (which is fine, because I don't need to in order to enjoy the show) and I like Jess but they really seem codependent to me. I think we're seeing Murphy's guilt for how poorly she treated Jess and how much she misses her whenever she's not around.

I hope we also get to see what's driving the way Jess' behavior. And I mean the way she puts her life on hold for Murphy, not her stupid decision to take that money. That was just dumb. But what made her not want to (or feel like she can't) move on with her life and let Murphy deal with the consequences of her decisions? I'd love to see that. 

On 7/15/2021 at 9:59 AM, NoReally said:

This! They could've gotten away with it if Murphy had just kept the guy in the shower a little longer. Nothing we've seen of her suggests that she wouldn't have sex with the guy. 

We've seen Murphy have casual sex for pleasure. We've never seen Murphy have to have sex with someone she didn't like - someone she wasn't comfortable with and who would physically harm her if she couldn't pull off the transaction. The closest she came was Felix and the hotel desk clerk but she actually likes Felix and they care about each other, even if they bicker and started out as enemies. And I don't the hotel desk clerk is someone she disliked or was afraid of. Murphy didn't feel threatened by Felix or the woman. 

On 7/15/2021 at 11:09 AM, dubbel zout said:

I bought it, especially under the circumstances. I think the fact that it was entirely transactional—distract the guy so Trey can steal the money—is what bothered her. Stranger sex for Murphy is usually about her needs and wanting to forget something. This wasn't that. I'm not explaining it that well, but I do see the difference here.

Exactly why I bought it, too. We've never seen Murphy have to be intimate because her life depended on it. It was always about making her feel better. 

On 7/17/2021 at 4:47 PM, CrystalBlue said:

What does the color of his skin have to do with what a dumbass he is?  Total rookie move regardless of race.

Not saying Trey didn't make a rookie move but I can't deny that as a Black man, he has an entirely different experience dealing with cops. 

On 8/14/2021 at 8:28 AM, dubbel zout said:

Josh is acting as an agent of the police, which gives him certain privileges. (N.B.: I got my JD from Law & Order University.) But he's mainly there because he's mad that Murphy screwed him over and he wants revenge.

I got my JD there, too! And my undergrad is from Hudson University. 

On 8/15/2021 at 12:04 AM, PinkRibbons said:

Does anyone else get the feeling that Josh was unreasonably set on arresting Murphy even before she got him fired? Like he comes to her house for sex - as part of her attempt to have a genuine relationship with him, and he just happened to spot a picture of Max. He starts basically interrogating her, refuses to listen to any attempts she tries to makes at communication*, assumes she killed Nia and then has the audacity to demand she give him a phone to call the police on her. Frankly his attitude strikes me as someone who much more than the justice he claims to want really just wants one last big case under his belt.

*This is one of the stupidest things he does, now I think of it, because if he hadn't launched directly into "I WILL TAKE YOU DOWN" and listened to her, he might have gotten a full confession just listening to Murphy trying to reason away her actions. He acts like Murphy used and abused him (immediately assuming she slept with him for information), but I'm getting the feeling now that it's more like he's using her to fulfill his fantasy of going out with a bang. He never even tried extending some compassion to her before she got him fired, her doing so just made him go from determined to fanatical about putting her away. She hurt his ego and he can't forgive that.

It felt forced. How on earth would Josh recognize Max in a tiny, goofy photo booth picture? Max's most distinguishing feature is his height and that's not visible in the black-and-white photo. 

[dubbel zout]

I was disappointed Trey ultimately had sex with Murphy. And while Felix's sister is a bit abrasive, everything she's said about Murphy is inarguable.

I'm so bored with this season.

[love2lovebadtv]

7 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

I was disappointed Trey ultimately had sex with Murphy. And while Felix's sister is a bit abrasive, everything she's said about Murphy is inarguable.

I'm so bored with this season.

I really was glad when Trey and Murphy were stopped in their tracks during that train ride. So I was definitely disappointed to see them hook up and also to see Felix get hurt. Honestly, I don't understand how anyone was having sex in that house knowing they're all fugitives. 

I like the actress who plays Leslie but the character she plays is, as you said, abrasive. But I feel like Murphy finally met her match! I'm still enjoying this season but this episode fell short for me. It was mostly sex and looking for Murphy's phone.

[PinkRibbons]

Leslie had a point about Murphy, (although I wish they would have pointed out that for Murphy, her phone is almost an indispensable to her as her cane, and even with no service, being without it is a genuine reason for her to go into an anxiety spiral) but honestly Murphy's dead-on that Leslie is a bitch. The whole thing with the newspapers? How insanely easy would it have been for her and their mother to fib and give them to Felix as his inheritance? That's so inconsiderate it's breathtaking, as is the fact that she acts like it's ridiculous that he gets upset over it.

I liked that Murphy got a dig in about searching for things in the dark. I'm just hating Leslie so much over how inconsiderate she is to Felix that I'm strongly rooting against her. Her saying that Murphy has a need for control? Murphy already has a fraction of the control that a non-disabled person would have over their life. I don't really blame her for wanting as much as possible.

Max has also been getting on my nerves ever since he told Trey that Murphy was just using him. He seems to need to create a narrative for Murphy that vilifies her. She's a sexual user - oh, she's also a chaos-magnet who's too much like his mom! She's not the one who willingly used their business money to launder drug money, Max. And when Murphy broke up with him at the end of last season, she was at least mature enough to say they brought out the worst in each other, which they do. Max wants to put everything wrong with the relationship onto her.

It's really sad that Felix keeps getting the constant signal that he's less-than, but I don't like him and Murphy as a romantic or sexual relationship. She uses sex as a comforting mechanism and he doesn't seem able to separate sex and romance. They do make a sweet pair of friends though, when they actually spend time together not arguing.

[dubbel zout]

Watching the police go after Murphy and the gang is so much more interesting than watching Murphy and the gang do...anything. (Except for Pretzel, who is practically perfect in every way. It's not his fault he got a horrible person to guide.)

 

[possibilities]

The kidnapping was so wrong. They could have told her no and refused to participate in her plans if they disagreed with them, just like if one of the sighted people involved had been making demands they didagred with. Murphy was absoultely right about that. Felix couls have gone to Canada alone if he wanted to, without taking Murphy with him if he felt strongly about it. But it was 100% patronizing condescending bullshit to not confront her directly, and take advantage of her blindness. 

 

[PinkRibbons]

I can't defend Murphy on what she said to Felix, it was shitty af. But he doesn't get to have it both ways - use her blindness to trick her and then abandoning her where she has almost no idea where she is. Also, her attacking his puppy dog crush on her? Grow up dude, you just said her friend is dead.

And how is that a foregone conclusion? Any druglords that might have been after Jess are dead themselves. And how did neither of them clock the fact that the mother was shocked to hear that Jennifer had bought a new identity and the uncle didn't even react?

Oh, and speaking of things that don't get to go both ways: Felix and Max are circumstantial, but Murphy is in for a life sentence? The cops have blood and a button. That's it. She hasn't made a formal confession. They still can't do anything but place her at Nia's gravesite. Plus she majorly helped Gene out by giving him the story about Tyson, and now he's all about forgetting it and arresting her just to get in good with Josh, Murphy's embittered ex whose boner for her arrest is way too personal and a solid reason for the defense to have his findings excluded? (I am also a proud owner of a Law and Order Law Degree, with a minor in Boston Legal.) Okay, the deal wasn't made with an attorney present and that's bad, although without her attorney everything done in that police station seems suspect. They have her on aiding in the improper disposal of a body and escaping police custody, and on that second one I'd avoid prosecuting considering it makes the police look SO. BAD. Like, hilariously so.

I love Darnell. Also are there literally any cops in that precinct with sense.

[dubbel zout]

I felt for Murphy when she realized Felix and Max had weaponized her blindness against her. That was super shitty and unforgivable. I don't blame the guys for being at the end of their ropes with her, but that wasn't the answer.

8 hours ago, PinkRibbons said:

But [Felix] doesn't get to have it both ways - use her blindness to trick her and then abandoning her where she has almost no idea where she is.

Murphy has it both ways, though. I really hate how everyone feels obligated to go along with her just because if she goes by herself she might get into trouble. Maybe that's what has to happen in order for her to stop being so bloody-minded. Take five minutes and really think about what the next logical step is. When someone has to remind you to let the cops get out of the driveway before you go off half-cocked, it's time to take a breath. She does need to be reined in. UGH.

I can't begin to say how disappointed I am that the woman cop slept with Darnell. Serves her right that he gave Trey a head's up. Don't sleep with perps, you ding-dong.

8 hours ago, PinkRibbons said:

I love Darnell.

Same. I want only good things for him. I also want good things for Trey, as long as he detaches himself from Murphy. Nothing good comes from being involved with her in any way. 

[possibilities]

It's frustrating that everyone is so stupid. Even cop shows, which are generally more about adrenaline than due process, know you need to read people their rights, allow them to have a lawyer, etc. And Murphy, and FELIX WHO APPARENTLY WENT TO LAW SCHOOL WTF, and F's sister who IS a lawyer, all seem to be completely forgetting about lawyers anywhere in any of this. 

Murphy is reckless, but it's not like the rest of them are what I'd call prudent, either. They've all given up on Jess pretty easily, and no one has tried to question the woman who actually helped Jess escape, and Murphy is the only one who seems to suspect the family of the missing Jennifer Walker, which is weird as hell since it's so obvious and also family members are usually the first suspects.

I do kind of get why the police are so incompetent, though. Gene is grossly unqualified and he knows it. He SAID SO when they tried to promote him. He was a trainee under the Chloe's dad who murdered Murphy's friend in S1 (why can't I remember his name?), and Gene was never actually given any real training because they were always trying to cloud the issue and break the rules. So Gene's in over his head. It doesn't excuse him for being completely incompetent, but it's in character also that he's fucking things up a lot, and bro-ing out over loyalty to Josh, because that's how he was with Corrupt Training Officer, too-- until he suddenly realized what was happening., which was kind of too late. And he hasn't had any better guidance since then, either.

The entire department is iffy, because the chief was corrupt as hell, and deliberately buried cases and hid evidence and generally fucked things up on purpose, which sadly I have no trouble suspending disbelief about.

But Murphy seems to be on the one hand the most reckless and self-absorbed, but also the smartest and bravest of the bunch, so it's kind of interesting to see the dudes be all emo and give up while the women are the ones doing the real investigating, ass-kicking, and persisting. I think Jess is also brave and loyal-- perhaps co-dependently but at least she owns it and doesn't claim it gives her a right to lie and manipulate Murphy the way Felix does. Jess is less self-absorbed and reckless than Murphy, but she's not taking the coward's way out or giving up. She is after all the one who shot Nia. It's like they're using all the tropes, just flipping who gets assigned to each one.

Murphy was cruel to Felix but he just kidnapped her, tried to stuff her in a trunk and sneak her across the border, he was lying to her and taking advantage of her blindness. It's hard to feel too sorry for him in that moment. I actually thought she was insulting him on purpose and crossing a line in order to get him to leave since she had already been telling him to go and he had been refusing. I was actually surprised when she panicked and wanted him to stay. He's compulsively been giving in to her even when he doesn't want to, and then not owning his choices but framing it as though he HAD TO, which is bullshit, "nice guy" behavior and not really friendship or love.

It's also condescending that he and Max are SOOOO convinced that Jess is dead, and thinking Murphy is just stupid not to realize it. I can accept they fear the worst and even that they think it's true. But the condescending and dismissive way they deal with her about it reeks of sexism. They not only disagree, but they have so little doubt about it that they feel justified in KIDNAPPING HER and telling themselves it's FOR HER OWN GOOD, rather than admitting it to her face what they think, or admitting to themselves that they just don't want to keep trying to find Jess at least partly because they're scared. If they want to give up, they have a plausible excuse and should take the consequences of that, rather than just resorting to paternalistic self-justification.

For me, it's not even about who is right or wrong about what happened to Jess. People can reasonably have different hunches about that and make different choices about what to do in this situation. But their complete lack of humility about it, and the way they go immediately to patronizing and lying and abduction? No.

One thing this show gets right is that your feelings are not an excuse for abusive behavior. People keep acting like shit and getting called on it. They are still too enmeshed and dysfunctional to stop doing it, but the show keeps pointing that out.

 

edited to finish my sentence. no idea why it posted before that happened the first time.

Edited September 3, 2021 by possibilities

[NeenerNeener]

4 hours ago, possibilities said:

(why can't I remember his name?)

It was Dean, wasn't it? "Gene and Dean" as buddy cops.

[CrystalBlue]

Pretzel!  Did you see him run onto the bed into his dog bed when Imagination Jess appeared?  So cute!

Leslie is seriously such a bitch.  (Even though she lets them stay longer.)  What in hell does Max see in her anyway?

I was seriously pissed off when Felix threw Murphy's two luggage bags onto the wet ground of the underground car park.  (Why was the place leaking?)  That was cruel and inexcusable to leave a blind woman and her dog stranded like that.

The opening scene of the next episode better be Felix driving the stupid station wagon, returning to the parking garage to rescue Murphy and Pretzel.  And her wet luggage.

Edited September 5, 2021 by CrystalBlue

[love2lovebadtv]

On 9/2/2021 at 3:38 PM, possibilities said:

It's frustrating that everyone is so stupid. Even cop shows, which are generally more about adrenaline than due process, know you need to read people their rights, allow them to have a lawyer, etc. And Murphy, and FELIX WHO APPARENTLY WENT TO LAW SCHOOL WTF, and F's sister who IS a lawyer, all seem to be completely forgetting about lawyers anywhere in any of this. 

Murphy is reckless, but it's not like the rest of them are what I'd call prudent, either. They've all given up on Jess pretty easily, and no one has tried to question the woman who actually helped Jess escape, and Murphy is the only one who seems to suspect the family of the missing Jennifer Walker, which is weird as hell since it's so obvious and also family members are usually the first suspects.

I do kind of get why the police are so incompetent, though. Gene is grossly unqualified and he knows it. He SAID SO when they tried to promote him. He was a trainee under the Chloe's dad who murdered Murphy's friend in S1 (why can't I remember his name?), and Gene was never actually given any real training because they were always trying to cloud the issue and break the rules. So Gene's in over his head. It doesn't excuse him for being completely incompetent, but it's in character also that he's fucking things up a lot, and bro-ing out over loyalty to Josh, because that's how he was with Corrupt Training Officer, too-- until he suddenly realized what was happening., which was kind of too late. And he hasn't had any better guidance since then, either.

The entire department is iffy, because the chief was corrupt as hell, and deliberately buried cases and hid evidence and generally fucked things up on purpose, which sadly I have no trouble suspending disbelief about.

But Murphy seems to be on the one hand the most reckless and self-absorbed, but also the smartest and bravest of the bunch, so it's kind of interesting to see the dudes be all emo and give up while the women are the ones doing the real investigating, ass-kicking, and persisting. I think Jess is also brave and loyal-- perhaps co-dependently but at least she owns it and doesn't claim it gives her a right to lie and manipulate Murphy the way Felix does. Jess is less self-absorbed and reckless than Murphy, but she's not taking the coward's way out or giving up. She is after all the one who shot Nia. It's like they're using all the tropes, just flipping who gets assigned to each one.

Murphy was cruel to Felix but he just kidnapped her, tried to stuff her in a trunk and sneak her across the border, he was lying to her and taking advantage of her blindness. It's hard to feel too sorry for him in that moment. I actually thought she was insulting him on purpose and crossing a line in order to get him to leave since she had already been telling him to go and he had been refusing. I was actually surprised when she panicked and wanted him to stay. He's compulsively been giving in to her even when he doesn't want to, and then not owning his choices but framing it as though he HAD TO, which is bullshit, "nice guy" behavior and not really friendship or love.

It's also condescending that he and Max are SOOOO convinced that Jess is dead, and thinking Murphy is just stupid not to realize it. I can accept they fear the worst and even that they think it's true. But the condescending and dismissive way they deal with her about it reeks of sexism. They not only disagree, but they have so little doubt about it that they feel justified in KIDNAPPING HER and telling themselves it's FOR HER OWN GOOD, rather than admitting it to her face what they think, or admitting to themselves that they just don't want to keep trying to find Jess at least partly because they're scared. If they want to give up, they have a plausible excuse and should take the consequences of that, rather than just resorting to paternalistic self-justification.

For me, it's not even about who is right or wrong about what happened to Jess. People can reasonably have different hunches about that and make different choices about what to do in this situation. But their complete lack of humility about it, and the way they go immediately to patronizing and lying and abduction? No.

I definitely feel like this show has too many moronic cops, lawyers, and law school grads. But I guess it's necessary for the plot.  Even Trey seems like an incompetent criminal - so far, he's given up extra money to the Canadian(?) cops, lost his phone, and left an identifiable, registered gun at the scene of a crime. I think Gene is great (though I'm conflicted because I want the gang to be safe and not in jail) but he's unqualified for the role. Any reason he couldn't have just been given his regular job back, convinced the new/qualified chief to rehire the former detective (can't remember her name, the one a couple of people thought was the chief's wife), and continue to work the case. I'd even throw in Josh as a consultant on the case or whatever. But Chief is such a stretch!

I don't know that Max and Felix are being condescending in thinking Jess is dead and Murphy is wrong for thinking she's not. While either of them could be right at this point, Murphy is acting, in part, out of guilt and need. She needs Jess to be alive. She was quite dependent on Jess and feels guilty for how she treated her - hence, the flashbacks. I don't know that the guys' opinions are based on gender so much as they are based on not having the same kind of relationship with Jess that Murphy has. As you mentioned, Murphy has shown that she's intuitive. But she's also rude.

The kidnapping was awful! I'm not condoning it AT ALL.  I also don't feel like Max and Felix immediately resorted to kidnapping. I don't feel like Max or Felix (before Murphy told him off) could leave Murphy in Illinois. She wanted to stay there and look for Jess, even if it prevented Felix from sorting out his own situation. 

On 9/2/2021 at 3:01 AM, PinkRibbons said:

I can't defend Murphy on what she said to Felix, it was shitty af. But he doesn't get to have it both ways - use her blindness to trick her and then abandoning her where she has almost no idea where she is. Also, her attacking his puppy dog crush on her? Grow up dude, you just said her friend is dead.

And how is that a foregone conclusion? Any druglords that might have been after Jess are dead themselves. And how did neither of them clock the fact that the mother was shocked to hear that Jennifer had bought a new identity and the uncle didn't even react?

Oh, and speaking of things that don't get to go both ways: Felix and Max are circumstantial, but Murphy is in for a life sentence? The cops have blood and a button. That's it. She hasn't made a formal confession. They still can't do anything but place her at Nia's gravesite. Plus she majorly helped Gene out by giving him the story about Tyson, and now he's all about forgetting it and arresting her just to get in good with Josh, Murphy's embittered ex whose boner for her arrest is way too personal and a solid reason for the defense to have his findings excluded? (I am also a proud owner of a Law and Order Law Degree, with a minor in Boston Legal.) Okay, the deal wasn't made with an attorney present and that's bad, although without her attorney everything done in that police station seems suspect. They have her on aiding in the improper disposal of a body and escaping police custody, and on that second one I'd avoid prosecuting considering it makes the police look SO. BAD. Like, hilariously so.

I love Darnell. Also are there literally any cops in that precinct with sense.

 

On 9/1/2021 at 11:13 PM, possibilities said:

The kidnapping was so wrong. They could have told her no and refused to participate in her plans if they disagreed with them, just like if one of the sighted people involved had been making demands they disagreed with. Murphy was absolutely right about that. Felix could have gone to Canada alone if he wanted to, without taking Murphy with him if he felt strongly about it. But it was 100% patronizing condescending bullshit to not confront her directly, and take advantage of her blindness. 

 

The kidnapping was terrible. I became sad watching it, like the episode where Jess never came to the bus station and Murphy was all alone. 

I think Max - and then Felix - didn't see any other way to get Murphy to do what they thought was the right thing. I feel like they have told Murphy no and then she insists she's going alone. Knowing she's a fugitive and watching her bump into furniture before she even leaves the house makes it tough for him to do what he thinks is right for him - going to Canada. 

They say hurt people hurt people. And boy did Murphy and Felix hurt each other!

On 8/27/2021 at 10:56 PM, PinkRibbons said:

Leslie had a point about Murphy, (although I wish they would have pointed out that for Murphy, her phone is almost an indispensable to her as her cane, and even with no service, being without it is a genuine reason for her to go into an anxiety spiral) but honestly Murphy's dead-on that Leslie is a bitch. The whole thing with the newspapers? How insanely easy would it have been for her and their mother to fib and give them to Felix as his inheritance? That's so inconsiderate it's breathtaking, as is the fact that she acts like it's ridiculous that he gets upset over it.

I liked that Murphy got a dig in about searching for things in the dark. I'm just hating Leslie so much over how inconsiderate she is to Felix that I'm strongly rooting against her. Her saying that Murphy has a need for control? Murphy already has a fraction of the control that a non-disabled person would have over their life. I don't really blame her for wanting as much as possible.

Max has also been getting on my nerves ever since he told Trey that Murphy was just using him. He seems to need to create a narrative for Murphy that vilifies her. She's a sexual user - oh, she's also a chaos-magnet who's too much like his mom! She's not the one who willingly used their business money to launder drug money, Max. And when Murphy broke up with him at the end of last season, she was at least mature enough to say they brought out the worst in each other, which they do. Max wants to put everything wrong with the relationship onto her.

It's really sad that Felix keeps getting the constant signal that he's less-than, but I don't like him and Murphy as a romantic or sexual relationship. She uses sex as a comforting mechanism and he doesn't seem able to separate sex and romance. They do make a sweet pair of friends though, when they actually spend time together not arguing.

I don't understand why Leslie and her mother couldn't even let Felix have the newspapers that would have meant so much to him. I doubt they would have missed them. Sheesh, give the guy a break and tell him his Dad loved him and left his newspapers!

I do like that Leslie stood up to Murphy, though. Murphy is rude and people don't call her on it. Also, Murphy is especially rude to someone who is letting her, a fugitive, stay in her place without contributing a single thing except chaos. Max is her lover. Felix is her brother. Trey is a gracious guest who realizes it's time for him to leave. Murphy is a rude guest who acts like Leslie owes her something, including feeding her dog. 

I'm so sorry Felix fell for Murphy. Doesn't she have enough people who are into her? I think Felix wants a relationship. I think he'll be back for Murphy, despite the risk. 

And I know people hate Max but he has his own issues and the Murphy narrative he created helps him separate himself from her. Under different circumstances, he probably would have continued to interact with different women as a way to ease his pain. The problem is, he wasn't expecting to see her again. 

[possibilities]

You're a fugitive, Trey. Why are you answering the door without knowing who's knocking? Wouldn't Darnell have a key? Or announce himself if he forgot his key?

I liked that they established that Murphy's mother botched raising her. It explains a lot about how Murphy turned out. I'm not excusing Murphy, but it's still wrong that they never allowed her to be independent-- or even to go to freaking school for gods sake. That over-protective smothering is a real thing that doesn't work. Contrast with Chloe, who had a horrible person for a parent, but he didn't totally infantlize Chloe and she was a more functional person even at half Murphy's age.

I love how deliriously HAPPY the dog looks all the time. It's out of character for the plot, but makes me feel better about having a dog in a show where the plot is so high stress. That dog's spirit clearly has not been killed by being a working actor.

 

[PinkRibbons]

A lot of this episode was Fuck Yeah Murphy, starting from making her way after Felix kidnapped and abandoned her to jumping out from under the cops' noses again. The ineptitude of the cops on this show actually makes one finding her while on the way to do something unrelated that is incredibly stupid and unprofessional almost make sense.

Also Murphy's mother can never again high-road her for any reason at all, she sold her out to the cops. Yeah, death row (which is what the crazy-ass law on this show seems to be sending Murphy to) is better than being dead? How is that her decision to make? Plus, Sam will definitely kill Murphy if they get locked up together thanks to Felix, so good going Mom.

As someone who was homeschooled I feel I should pipe up that wanting to keep your children under draconian guard is actually not the goal for almost anyone. My own mother encouraged me to get outside into the world while the other kids my age were in school. My best friend and I developed a reputation for being those weird kids getting child tickets to the movies in the middle of a weekday, mapped out the neighborhood on our bikes. We learned how to budget our own money at the local farmer's market, which we walked to ourselves. Our adults were relatively assured of where we were at any particular moment, (no cell phones back then) but we were trusted to have decent judgement, and when you're trusted like that you tend to want to live up to it. I think the worst we ever did was check out smutty books from the library.

Edited September 9, 2021 by PinkRibbons

[possibilities]

I agree homeschooling is not always a bad thing, and can be a great thing. But it did seem like Murphy's mother was "trying to keep her safe" which under the circumstances seems highly suspect and like a crap excuse because she didn't believe Murphy could manage to function in the world and/or she enjoyed keeping her daughter under her constant thumb. It's one of the more debilitating disability stereotypes that we're inherently and forever in need of supervision and "protection" that doesn't actually protect us, but is designed to make the "protector" feel heroic and powerful and also sometimes sorry for themselves at our expense.

[dubbel zout]

Gene, Murphy slipped through your fingers—again—because you didn't cover all the exits. FFS, it's not that difficult. I hate how they're acting as if Murphy is some master criminal when it's really their own stupidity (and plot necessity) that keeps the search ongoing.

I don't feel sorry for anyone anymore except Pretzel, who is not getting fed properly. People food is not an acceptable substitute for dog food, Murphy!

[tennisgurl]

Murphy keeps slipping past you guys because you are all incompetent morons, Gene. Its hilarious how they keep acting like Murphy is some diabolical mastermind when the only reason she is getting away constantly is because everyone in this show is an idiot. Its hard to really root for anyone now, every character is a dumbass, a jackass, or a combination of both. Except for Pretzel, who is still the goodest boy. I do admit that I am actually rooting for Murphy a bit more this season, mainly because she is slightly more competent than most of the idiots on this show, and because I am sick of everyone blaming her for everything that ever goes wrong. The amount of vendettas people have for her for things out of her control or act like she has forced them to make stupid choices is ridiculous. Not that Murphy isn't frequently an asshole and an idiot as well, but at least she isn't always blaming everyone else for her choices. 

Ouch, I also might just be feeling generous towards her because her own mom sold her out to the cops who are desperate to lock her up for their own petty reasons.  

[possibilities]

Max was selling drugs out of his food truck. Jess and Felix stole Max's drug money. Jess shot Nia to prevent Nia from killing Murphy. Murphy is not even close to the cause of all their woes. I'm not saying she's not complicit, up to her neck, and basically comfortable being obnoxious. But the way everybody else forgets how they got where they are, and enjoy pretending Murphy is the cause, is more than bullshit, it's actually a complete insult to reality.

Murphy is relentlessly loyal to the people she's decided she loves, and puts her own safety on the line to do things like find out who killed her friend (season 1's entire premise) and then to find her other friend (this season). She will fuck, lie, steal, scam, do whatever she pleases to get what she wants, and was lazy and rebellious before all this started. But the way Felix and Max try to convince themselves that Murphy is worse than they are, is... well, it would be laughable if it wasn't so foul.

 

Edited September 9, 2021 by possibilities

[love2lovebadtv]

On 9/8/2021 at 10:14 PM, possibilities said:

You're a fugitive, Trey. Why are you answering the door without knowing who's knocking? Wouldn't Darnell have a key? Or announce himself if he forgot his key?

I liked that they established that Murphy's mother botched raising her. It explains a lot about how Murphy turned out. I'm not excusing Murphy, but it's still wrong that they never allowed her to be independent-- or even to go to freaking school for gods sake. That over-protective smothering is a real thing that doesn't work. Contrast with Chloe, who had a horrible person for a parent, but he didn't totally infantilize Chloe and she was a more functional person even at half Murphy's age.

I love how deliriously HAPPY the dog looks all the time. It's out of character for the plot, but makes me feel better about having a dog in a show where the plot is so high stress. That dog's spirit clearly has not been killed by being a working actor.

 

I think Murphy and Chloe are apples and oranges aside from losing their eyesight during their adolescent years. Murphy's mom made it sound like she had behavior problems before she went blind. I think her parents adopted her at an early age but her background could have a lot to do with how her parents treated her. 

I do think Murphy's parents - especially her mom - are quite overprotective and it can be difficult not to be when you have a child who has challenging issues (not referring to her blindness because that happened later).

On 9/9/2021 at 3:36 PM, possibilities said:

Max was selling drugs out of his food truck. Jess and Felix stole Max's drug money. Jess shot Nia to prevent Nia from killing Murphy. Murphy is not even close to the cause of all their woes. I'm not saying she's not complicit, up to her neck, and basically comfortable being obnoxious. But the way everybody else forgets how they got where they are, and enjoy pretending Murphy is the cause, is more than bullshit, it's actually a complete insult to reality.

Murphy is relentlessly loyal to the people she's decided she loves, and puts her own safety on the line to do things like find out who killed her friend (season 1's entire premise) and then to find her other friend (this season). She will fuck, lie, steal, scam, do whatever she pleases to get what she wants, and was lazy and rebellious before all this started. But the way Felix and Max try to convince themselves that Murphy is worse than they are, is... well, it would be laughable if it wasn't so foul.

Max was a criminal long before this show started. Jess and Felix had to know there'd be consequences to taking that money. But I can't help but think Murphy is lost without Jess and feels guilty about the way she treated her. 

On 9/9/2021 at 11:15 AM, dubbel zout said:

Gene, Murphy slipped through your fingers—again—because you didn't cover all the exits. FFS, it's not that difficult. I hate how they're acting as if Murphy is some master criminal when it's really their own stupidity (and plot necessity) that keeps the search ongoing.

I don't feel sorry for anyone anymore except Pretzel, who is not getting fed properly. People food is not an acceptable substitute for dog food, Murphy!

I barely even see Murphy feed Pretzel people food. I'm always wondering, when does that poor dog eat? 

Edited September 12, 2021 by love2lovebadtv

[dubbel zout]

Wasn't Murphy in a car accident as a teenager, and that's how she lost her sight? I imagine she was a handful before that, though, definitely.

16 hours ago, love2lovebadtv said:

I barely even see Murphy feed Pretzel people food. I'm always wondering, when does that poor dog eat? 

Well, that bitch Leslie refused to feed Pretzel, so Murphy is reduced to sharing her meals with him. /sarcasm

[CrystalBlue]

5 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Wasn't Murphy in a car accident as a teenager, and that's how she lost her sight? I imagine she was a handful before that, though, definitely.

Well, that bitch Leslie refused to feed Pretzel, so Murphy is reduced to sharing her meals with him. /sarcasm

That's right.  In addition to being a passive-aggressive (?) inheritance-stealing lying bitch to humans, including her own brother, she cares not a whit about a dog.

I think Leslie let's them stay so she'll have people to beat up on verbally, that is when she's not in the sack with Max, who she knows still carries a torch for Murphy.

[PinkRibbons]

23 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Wasn't Murphy in a car accident as a teenager, and that's how she lost her sight? I imagine she was a handful before that, though, definitely.

No, that's Chloe's backstory. Murphy had a degenerative eye condition, and she spent years waiting to go fully blind, which she did in her teens. Before that she was a foster child, having been given up by her biological parent(s) early in her life. Not quite sure when she was adopted, but from what she said to Trey it sounds like she was in the system a while, at least long enough to remember it.

[dubbel zout]

Thanks for the correction, @PinkRibbons. I forgot that Murphy had been a foster child, so no wonder she had issues. Still, that and her blindness doesn't excuse her behavior.

[possibilities]

I know I'm the only person who still likes the show, but I didn't really like this week's episode. I don't know why Trey trusted the cop and deleted that message. THAT is what made me think he's stupid. 

[Paloma]

10 hours ago, possibilities said:

I know I'm the only person who still likes the show, but I didn't really like this week's episode. I don't know why Trey trusted the cop and deleted that message.

I've been almost hating the show this season, because of the unlikable characters and unrealistic events, but this episode may be the worst. Trey deleting the message after an hour (or at all) is hard to believe for someone who is not at all naive, since he has been willingly involved for some time (years?) in a serious criminal enterprise with a dangerous drug lord. But completely unbelievable and really annoying is that Murphy is apparently solving a decade-old crime because of a friendship bracelet that she discovered through another hard-to-believe series of events (kidnapping Sarah when she just happened to show up at Darnell's place where Murphy and Trey were hiding, forcing her to find the missing girl's brother by calling rehab places and then obtaining a court order in the middle of the night, etc.). It seems like the writers are trying to justify all of Murphy's mean, rude, and manipulative behavior toward others by showing that her stubbornness is leading to the truth and possibly saving the missing girl as well as Jess. But it really bothers me that she will likely suffer no consequences for her bad and even criminal behavior.

[Boofish]

I like Tre so I convinced myself that he deleted those messages out of love and loyalty to Darnell. 

Can we get a spin-off with Gene as a detective and Tre and Darnell working as his informants? I would totally watch that as those 3, along with Pretzel are now the only likeable characters on the show.

12 hours ago, possibilities said:

I know I'm the only person who still likes the show, but I didn't really like this week's episode. I don't know why Trey trusted the cop and deleted that message. THAT is what made me think he's stupid. 

I still enjoy the show as well. I don't mind all the suspension from reality because that is the entire reason I watch television.

[TM101]

Wake me up when something actually happens this season.

My God, is this season terribly boring and dragged out. Am I the only one who feels nothing has actually happened since like episode 3?

[possibilities]

I really thought we'd see Jess's point of view, throughout the season. I guess they decided the "is she dead?" question is more important than telling Jess's story. I wonder if the actress is unavailable. I would have liked being able to see what Jess was experiencing, and whether she was trying to get back to Murphy or whether she decided she would take the opportunity to escape their dynamic permanently. I'm hoping she's not actually dead. One thing I've liked about this show is that both she and Murphy have agency and are not just damsel in distress tropes. I don't like that they've stopped showing Jess trying to save herself, in favor of trying to elevate Murphy's heroism in a one sided way.

[dubbel zout]

17 hours ago, TM101 said:

Wake me up when something actually happens this season.

Seriously. I tried to watch this ep from my DVR, and I was out about three minutes after it started. I can't watch everyone haplessly flail around for yet another hour. If there is a season 4, I don't know that I'll watch. The show has run out of steam for me.