alaffy

[alaffy]

The Gilded Age, Ep.3x04- Marriage is a Gamble (spoilers)

Really?  *sigh*  Fine.  Here’s a brief, very brief, recap of the episode.

John sells the clock and its patent.  He’s now very wealthy but he’s not sure what to do next as he also doesn’t want to leave the people he considers family. (Also, the amount of money seems a bit…unrealistic.  $600,000.00 would be, what, about 20 million today?  I get the clock is revolutionary but come on.  But I’m guessing this will tie into George’s problem somehow). 

Cook proposes to Lady’s Maid, turns out she has a husband (he’s mentally ill and they no longer live together, but she cares enough about him that she doesn’t feel it’s right to divorce him). 

Ada meets with a Medium, Agnes doesn’t approve.  They fight about money.  Oscar is Oscar. 

J.P. Morgan pulls out of his deal with Goerge and says that Goerge’s ambition will be his ruin.  Does it on Georgia’s wedding day just to be extra dramatic.

Several familiar characters appear for the wedding and Ms. Astor faces scandal because of her daughter’s behavior. 

I wondered last year if Bertha was Irish and it does seem to be the case (by the by, we meet her sister). 

I still plan on writing about Peggy's storyline, but it's going to be later in the season and, most likely, it's own post given the complexities involved. It's still my favorite storyline of the season.

They’re being very vague about how Bertha feels about Marion possibly being Larry’s wife.  She does invite her to the wedding, but bulks at the idea of her filling in as a bridesmaid.  Although that has more to do with the fact that Gladys is marring a Duke and Marion’s current status isn’t as high as the other bridesmaids.  And she does relent and asks her in the end.  She also asks Marion to help when Gladys seems to be getting cold feet.  She said it was because Marion was the closest, but this is Bertha.  She wouldn’t risk her plans to fall apart just because of convenience so she must have had some faith in the girl.  I guess I just kind of feel like, with Larry’s choice of wife, she would be looking for someone she could mold as the next Ms. Russell.  They have the money (although who would say no to more money), but they don’t have the old money connection.  And I’m guessing those with both money and old money connections probably would marry their own daughter to someone else with both money and old money connections or find a duke of their own to marry their daughter to.  I guess this is a round about way of saying; I don’t know if Marion would be her first choice, but they have yet really show an alternative (although they may have suggested one).

As for Gladys, we all knew she would marry him in the end.  There was no drama in this.  I’m a bit conflicted with this storyline.  As I said last week, I was really surprised how quickly we got from the Duke’s first appearance to the marriage, given they took two seasons to set everything up beforehand.  That being said, I also thought that the character of Georgia would be written out after the wedding.  Given the previews, that’s clearly not the case and so now I wonder if they decided to rush through the wedding in order to give the actress something more to do with the character. 

It wasn’t a bad episode, just nothing was unexpected. 

[alaffy]

It's not that people don't understand right from wrong.

It's that moral/ethical concerns aren't what guides most behavior on social media.

People recognize what's principled and kind. But they also recognize what gets rewarded.

The affirmation, the dopamine hit of the likes...is addictive and powerful, and it re-writes our reality if we're not vigilant.

The Algorithm doesn't reward honesty, humility, nuance, or reflection. It rewards certainty, outrage, and loyalty to the in-group. The Algorithm teaches us that certainty is strength, rage is virtue, and loyalty means never hesitating.

We've learned to fear being socially wrong more than we fear being false.

We perform moral clarity instead of living with moral integrity.

We don't stand for values or universal moral principles. We signal alignment.

Ask yourself:

Are you right...or just on the right side?

Are you guided by principles...or by applause/acceptance?

The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.

-George Orwell

The cost of commitment to principles is a social cost, and social media has made most of us unwilling to pay it.

The test of personal integrity isn't whether you're right when it's easy. It's whether you stay true to your principles when it's not.

[alaffy]

The Gilded Age, Ep. 3x03 – Love is Never Easy (Spoilers)

Huh.  

That didn’t go the way I expected. 

And I don’t mean in a “that plot twist shocked me” kind of way, more of a “why are they suddenly steamrolling a storyline they’ve been setting up for two seasons?” 

But before I get into this, let me quickly go through a few storylines.  Something more happens between the cook and the maid (this time could have been used better on other storylines).  John presents his clock, but the results are more of a “we’ll get back to you.”  However, given they were willing to show the meeting with Westinghouse, I’m assuming he’ll get good news.  Oliver seems to be on the upswing.  Ada and Agnes are still having trouble adjusting to their new roles.  Ada also misses her husband and this is going to be a gateway into the spirit world (or fake spirit word).

Peggy is resting up in Newport, where the young doctor, William, calls on her.  He does seem very smitten with her and she with him.  But there’s problems on the horizon.  The Scott family storyline is probably my favorite at the moment.  However, I am (again) going to hold off on discussing this storyline.  I love the history aspect of it and how, as has happened with this show before, it’s showing us pieces of American history that God forbid we ever tech in a classroom because we might actually learn something.  Again, when a British fellow knows more about a country’s own history then a large portion of the population of that country, there is a problem.  Getting off track here, so let me get to my point.  But because of what this storyline is and the intricacies of how this one family fits in society, I just kind of want to wait until most (if not all) of the story is played out.  Hell, I might just do a post specifically on this storyline.

Larry and Marion have a moment and are caught by Bertha’s maid.  The maid lets Bertha know and Bertha's response is unclear.  I mean, it’s clear that she was taken aback by it, as she thought it was no more than a young man’s fancy.  But it’s clear that she has been paying so much attention to landing the Duke that she hadn’t really considered how much time Larry was spending with Marion.  Now, what does this mean?  Well, we could have a storyline where Bertha is against a possible marriage because Marion has no money to speak of.  However…Marion, in a way, is kind of like the Duke.   The Russell’s have all the money in the world, what they need (at least, in Bertha’s mind) is more status.  And Marion does come from a well-respected family.  And given the fact that Marion has shown that she has less of the belief that old world money is better then new world…I mean, I could see Bertha thinking that this would be a good match.

But, at the same time…suddenly the de Lancy family shows up again.  And they kept mentioning how Larry danced with the daughter once.  And how Bertha and Mr. De Lancy, who happens to be somewhat indebted to George, happen to have an understanding between them.  I just feel like there’s something being set up here. 

Which is why the writers may be trying to wrap up Georgia’s storyline (maybe, depending on what happens at the church).  And the whole thing just kind of left me…kind of disappointed.  Going back to the beginning of the episode, when George makes it clear to the Duke that George’s terms won’t change; I had wondered if George had purposely laid out terms that he knew the Duke wouldn’t accept, so that the Duke would have no choice but to turn them down and the Duke would be on his merry way. 

However, the Duke stays around.  And then Bertha finds out about the whole bank deal.  And then she speaks to Mr. de Lancy.  And de Lancey talks about watching his grandchildren grow up, how he admires Bertha, and how she asks for his card.  (Billy not coming back doesn’t surprise me, they made it clear last episode he didn’t have the spine).   Then, we have the whole issue of George’s plans for the railroad coming into money issues, in which he says they can use the money they were planning to use for the dowery as the Duke is out of the picture.  And then suddenly Bertha is able to talk the Duke into accepting the terms of the money (which, I’m not sure why the Duke wouldn’t have known how the money would be arranged all along.  He doesn’t seem like a stupid man.  No matter what Bertha hinted at, there’s no way a man like George is just going to give the money directly to the Duke and there's no way the Duke, or at least his lawyer, wouldn't have expected it). 

And then George…is replaced by a clone or something at the end.  I fully expected Bertha to tell George that the Duke accepted, only for George to make it clear (as he had throughout the episode) that the Duke had his chance, that he rejected the offer, and that the whole affair was finished (especially as he’s now going to use the money for his new railroad).  But, no, he just kind of accepts everything.  He even tells Georgia (who, by the by, the actress who plays her has some of the best facial acting I’ve ever seen.  That women was given a monologue with her face)…uh, he tells Georgia that they can’t always change the world.  Who the HELL is this man, cause it ain’t the George we’ve seen for two seasons. 

Now, we know there will be drama next episode and maybe this won’t play out the way it seems to be headed.  But, for right now, I just feel as though Georgia is being pushed aside for other plotlines.    

[alaffy]

The Gilded Age, 3x02 – What the Papers Say (Spoilers)

Interesting episode, for the most part.  I am liking the downstairs parts more this season (although it’s early on so that could change).  With there being so many “Upstairs” characters, I think this show works better with them more reacting to what’s going on, or giving context to these matters, rather than getting to far into their personal lives. 

For instance, I think the funniest moment is when Ada is telling the staff about the Temperance pledge.  Which, of course, turns into Ada and Agnes bickering.  Just the looks on the staff faces…I think many of them where reconsidering life choices at that moment. 

I also loved the moment where they all told Armstrong where she could shove her prejudice views.

There’s a few plots I’m going to go through quickly.  Marion admits to Ada that Larry is in love with her, but Marion is clearly…she loves him, but she’s afraid as she has made one mistake to many.  John is still working with Larry.  George is bringing J.P. Morgan into his business venture.  Oscar meets his former lover at a party and lets him know what’s happened in his life.  His lover gives Oscar money to invest in order to build his reputation again.  It turns out that Peggy got sick, in part, to introduce her new love interest; who’s a doctor.

It was also to finally get the Scotts to meet Agnes.  And, ohh, there’s so much I want to discuss about this part except part of what I want to discuss also has to do with something that is brought up in season preview (and is something that may be happening next episode); so, I’m going to table this portion for now except to say I am 100% behind Mr. Scott in this episode (there’s something I wouldn’t have thought I would write during the first season).

Who knew Aroura’s husband was such a c***? Aurora tries again to explain to him that a divorce would COMPLETELY CAST HER OUT OF SOCIETY.  And what does this little bitch do?  Turns up to an event hosted by Aurora with his MISTRESS (who didn’t want to go and clearly needs to evaluate her life choices) in order to shame Aurora.  Which, given Aurora had told Ms. Astor he wasn’t at the event because he was sick,...well Ms. Astor figured out what was going on, hinted to Aurora she knew what was going on, and left the party.   

Of course, the biggest storyline has to do with Bertha and Georgia.  Yes, Georgia ran to Billy’s house; but Billy’s mother informs Bertha.  Billy’s mother hopes that Bertha can forgive this little mistake and allow Billy to speak to George.  But Bertha, well, after being corned by Billy’s mother twice in this episode, tells the mother that if Billy continues she will make sure George makes it so Billy will never find work and that Bertha will disown Georgia (I think that last part is a lie, but she clearly was saying what she could to end this match).  She also is doing it because she knows that George is willing to listen to Billy and that will complicate things with Bertha’s dealing with the Duke.

Meanwhile, it’s clear that George realizes that Georgia’s feelings for Billy are…I think he realizes that her feelings for Billy may not be quite what Georgia thinks it is (Which is why he suggests she keep her options open).  Like, she definitely has an infatuation with Billy and, in time, it could turn into something deeper.  But Georgia doesn’t have time, which is why Georgia is pushing for this marriage even though it’s clear that Billy (and most likely Georgia) is not ready for it.  And let’s be clear, while I have no animosity towards Billy, he clearly was not the right person for Georgia.  Whoever she marries needs to have a spine, at least.  Basically, George doesn’t want his daughter to rush in or be forced into marriage. 

Unfortunately for him (in this case, at least) he’s married to Bertha.  And Bertha has plans.  And he knows Bertha has plans, which is why he knows she’s the one who leaked the engagement story to the papers.  Which is why he asked if there was anything else he didn’t know.  And it’s why it was clear he knew that she was lying when she says that there wasn’t (of course, nobody believed that bullshit). 

But even though I think he knew she was lying, it still took him by surprise by just how far she had gone behind his back.  The fact the Duke came with his lawyer…

So here’s the thing, do I think Bertha mean well?  In that, do I think Bertha is doing this because she truly wants what’s best for her daughter?  I think Bertha has bought into the lie that more status gives a woman more power.  I mean, it certainly gave that to Bertha (although having a husband who clearly sees her as an equal also works in her favor, something I don’t know if she quite has realized).  It also must appear to her to be true when she sees the lives of people like Agnes, Aurora, and Ms. Astor.  On the other hand, we know that Agnes was horribly abused by her husband and Aurora’s life is going into ruin because her husband is an asshole.  So, while Bertha thinks she’s doing the right thing; looking for a man by status and not character could doom Georgia into a terrible life.

However, I also think Bertha has made a miscalculation.  It seems like she has this idea that, like with many of her schemes, George will just go along with it.  But in the previews, George mentions terms.  So, it seems like George isn’t flat out refusing the Duke; but is going to make it clear that he isn’t going to just give his daughter away in marriage until he’s satisfied that it’s something his daughter wants. 

[alaffy]

The Gilded Age, Ep. 3x01 – Who’s in Charge Here? (Spoilers)

I really need to start rewatching shows before the new season (or at least looking at my previous posts).  Although, I had a better time remembering that plots between seasons two and three then I did seasons one and two. 

We’ve had a bit of a time skip by a few months.  Long enough to kind of move a few plots along without moving them too far.  And, not to surprisingly, this episode is all about setting up the new plots.  With this post, I’m just going to do a bit of a run down.

Agnes is having a hard time adjusting to not being in charge of her house.  The servants don’t know who’s in charge.  Uh, Ada.  She has the money.  Next.

Oscar is now broke and no longer works at the bank.  He’s having a hard time understanding that he’s no longer going to be kept (well beyond food, shelter, and clothes) and he actually has to find a way to make money.

Ada no longer believes in alcohol.  Look it’s the whole Temperence movement and I really don’t care.

Marrion and Larry are (sort of) seeing each other.  Marrion wants to wait to take it public because, well, after her last two mistakes she’s afraid of what will happen if this one blows up in her face.  Even though it won’t. 

I guess they decided Aurora needed a storyline.  It turns out her husband (who I always think is her son for some reason) is no longer interested in her.  He’s having an affair and wants a divorce to marry the other woman.  He, being a man and not understanding anything (look, the way the played that scene don’t tell me that wasn’t what the writer was saying), thinks everything will be fine for Aurora.  This is because, according to his plan, he will admit to the affair and she, as the wronged party, will file for divorce.  What he doesn’t get is that it doesn’t matter if he is in the wrong, society will still blame Aurora for somehow failing as a wife.  She will be excluded from everything, and her life will essentially be over.  She refuses to file.

George spends most of his time in the west as he has plans to build railroads all the way to California.  He wants his railroads to be the most expedient, making his the most sought-after when it comes to cargo shipment, and he needs to buy certain lands (and mines) to get this done.  At the end of the episode, he is set to return to New York because of a banking scandal that could cost him a good portion of his fortune.

Peggy is going to have a portion of her book published.  Peggy also spends a portion of the episode sick so that we can see a white doctor refuse to treat her.  At the end of the episode, they send for Peggy’s father as he’s a pharmacist and might know someone who will treat her.  I do like the fact that the servants, when they’re downstairs, are all like “Yeah, no shit the doctor refused her.  Why the hell didn’t they send for the parents in the first place?”  This probably would be more dramatic if we hadn’t seen Peggy in a bunch of scenes in the previews.

The clock story continues!   And it’s actually…interesting?  One big complaint I’ve had about this show is how the downstairs stories (minus Peggy’s parts) have been pretty uninteresting.  But given John’s position now (where he’s both a servant and someone who’s in business with someone from the upstairs); there’s potential here.  For instance, while the servants John works with are all happy for him (except the one who's always moody); others are not.  The coffee scene where it’s clear the Russell servant is uncomfortable having to serve someone who technically is below his station and then afterwards where the other servant (I can’t remember her name) says John is getting above himself.  This could go somewhere. 

Finally, we have Georgia and Bertha.  Georgia has secretly been seeing Billy, while it’s clear that Bertha is making plans for Georgia to marry The Duke.  Georgia isn’t worried because, as soon as George gets back, Billy will meet with him and declare his intentions to marry Georgia.  They just have to hide this all from Bertha.  Yeah, someone should have told Billy’s mom.  This leads to a big argument between Bertha and Georgia and Georgia, in the last few moments of the episode, running away from the house.  I think we are to assume that she’s going to convince Billy to run away with her and elope (as this was suggested earlier in the episode).  But, again, the previews kind of show that it is unlikely this will happen. 

[alaffy]

The Righteous Gemstones, Ep. 4x08 & 4x09 (Spoilers)

The last two episodes feel like a 90-minute finale to me and so I decided to combine them together.  With this post, I’m going to go through each of the storylines of the season (talk a bit about what worked and didn’t work for me) and talk about where we end with our main characters.

I do feel like the strongest storyline in this season was Kelvin’s.  Between the events of episode 6 and 7, we got a clearer understanding of why Kelvin is the way he is.  How these events and these pressures made him regress into this shell.  And, out of all the siblings, he’s the one we really got to see move forward in his life.  He’s found his purpose, he’s more comfortable in his skin, and he’s able to finally progress in life; which is represented by his marriage to Keefe. 

Baby Billy, on the other hand, his whole story is that he wanted to obtain riches to make life better for his family, but that’s driving a wedge between him and his family.  But then, because of a near death situation, he finally realizes that what is really important in life is his family.  Okay.  But we’ve already had that story with Baby Billy, minus the death part.  Specifically, with him running out on his first family.  He seemed to learn his lesson then, why bring it back now?

BJ is healed and Dr. Watson has to go live with another family because….Judy is Dr. Watson and Dr. Watson is Judy, we are all together, goo-goo g’joob.  Judy faces the reality that her inability to deal with her trauma has caused her to form some toxic behaviors.  She’s able to do this because she sees those same traits in another creature of God.  And it’s humorous that it’s because of a monkey, instead of another human.  Still, the whole way BJ is treated at the beginning of the season just kind of dampers the whole plot for me. 

Amber really is just there in this season.  Hell, Tiffy seems to have more of a plot than her.  (Side note, I just love that Baby Billy, when he starts to realize what really matters, has this just random moment with Tiffy lamenting about the potato salad.  I mean, it’s obvious an outtake from the episode where he doesn’t show up for the picnic.  But the fact that it wasn’t in the episode, or referred to at any point, makes it seem like he created this random ass moment out of nowhere). 

Simkins did not need to be brought back for this season at all.  Any random Minister could have criticized Kelvin, so he wasn’t needed for that.  As for his involvement in Jesse’s storyline, it actually made Jesse’s storyline weaker.  See, throughout the series, Jesse’s story has been that he’s trying to be as good as his father; he’s trying to live up to that legacy.  And he’s trying to do the same things as his father has done (like joining The Cloak and Pistol) and it always blows up in his face. 

But the one thing this show has always shown is that he has strengths that Eli doesn’t have.  He is a better Father then Eli.  Also, he…when you see the flashback episodes, it always felt like Eli never knew how deal with any of his children’s issues; that was left to Amiee-Leigh.  Which is why they’re in the predicament they are in today, because he doesn’t know how to handle his children. 

Jesse, on the other hand, tries to deal with his children.  Does he make mistakes?  Sure.  All parents do.  But he does try.  And, actually, he’s quite successful as he is able to do that one thing Eli could never figure out to do; find a way to get his children to get along.  In fact, that’s the very thing Eli points out when he tells Jesse he is proud of him.  We didn’t have to have the duel to get to this point.  Just cut out the scenes with Simkins and the secret society, add more scenes with Gidion and his brother (which would have made that plot stronger), and you still could have had that moment with Eli and Jesse.

Eli is able to come to terms with his wife’s death and moves on with his life.  And that’s a good thing.

Of course, the final plot has to do with Lori and Cory.  It doesn’t work, or at least, it doesn’t give you the emotional impact that it should.  And just to recap this part of the story.  It turns out that Cobb was hurting/killing Lori’s ex’s.  He tries to kill Eli and Baby Billy but Cobb is stopped and killed by Cody. 

Cody, of course, is acting weird and so the siblings decide everyone should go back to the lake house.  It’s there that Cody starts showing some absolutely weird tendencies and acts abusive towards his wife (although there are moments throughout the season where that happens, but to a lesser degree), who tells him that she wants a divorce. 

Later Kelvin is snooping through Cody’s bag and finds the Golden Bible.  Kelvin shows it to his Jesse and Judy.  Cody, knowing they have the Bible, admits the truth.  He’s had the Bible for years and he knew what his father had been doing.  In fact, he had even helped his father because, at first, it was more about scaring the men and he just wanted to get his mom and dad back together (something I’ll get back to in a moment).  And he knows what he’s done was wrong, but it was his dad what else could he do?  (well…)  Anyway, because they know the truth, he tries to kill them (at least, I think that’s his reason.  He’s kind of in his own little world at this point, so who knows his motives).  Anyway, the end up shooting fatally shooting him and, as he’s dying, he asks them to pray for him.  This circles back to that moment from the first episode, where Elijah Gemstone realizes the path that he must walk in order to be closer to God.  And the siblings here start to realize their own path.  Cody dies and some time passes.  But, in the end, Eli and Lori sail off in his boat. 

The thing about squeezing in new characters into an established show, specifically when these new characters are already known to the old characters, is that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.  For instance, with May May in season 3.  Up until that point, we didn’t know that Eli had a sister.  However, learning how the two families didn’t see each other all the time and, more importantly, the events that caused the split between Eli and May May; it makes perfect sense that she’s never brought up.  The two sides of the family are essentially dead to one another. 

But with Lori and Cody, it doesn’t make sense.  Like the families were always close; Cody could almost be seen as something of an older brother figure to the three Gemstone siblings.  Lori and Amiee-Leigh apparently worked together frequently.  I mean sometimes people drift apart.  And given Cody’s secret, I can understand why he might become conflicted seeing the family.  However, unlike with May-May, there wasn’t any bad blood between them; there isn’t any reason why they wouldn’t ever have been brought up.  Which creates questions and contradictions about the show.

For instance, the big argument between Baby Billy and Eli in season one is that Eli wanted keep Amiee-Leigh’s talents all to himself.  Eli denies this, of course, but provides no evidence to show why Billy’s accusation is false.  At the time, it made sense because there’s no reason for us to believe that Eli would have anything to contradict Billy’s statement.  But with the introduction of Lori, we learn that there was a whole other portion of Amiee-Leigh’s career that Eli just wasn’t a part of.  It also would literally be the one thing that anyone in Eli’s situation would have brought up after being accused of not allowing Aimee-Leigh to have a career outside of the one she had with him.  Yes, with any tv show, there has to be some suspension of disbelief; but that suspension can only be taken so far.  And when you have something that is brought in that completely contradicts what you were lead to believe previously, odds are you’re not going to suspend anything. 

But it isn’t just the contradictions to the Gemstone story that I have a problem with; it’s also the twist ending.  Cody says he started helping his dad go after all the men that Lori dated because he had this hope that his parents would get back together.  Okay, let’s take a moment to think about the character of Cody.  Not the one we see at the end of the season, but the one we see in the flashback and throughout the first 8 episodes.  Now this is a man who truly loved both parents and clearly didn’t want to take sides between them.  He is also seen as quite the caretaker in the past (getting his dad home when he was drunk) and present (he’s the one getting his mom takeout and her edibles as well as fixing her window). He also, according to his gravestone, was born in 1976; which means he would have been 25/26 years old when his mother left his father.  This is not a young kid, this is an adult. Taking all of this into account, does this really sound like a person who would have done all of this, or at least started helping his dad, because he wanted his parents back together?  That he would really want his mom back with someone he would have known to be unhinged and unhealthy for her?

I think what would have worked better is, instead of having actively helping his dad in this childish attempt to get his parents back together, we should have had the caretaker Cody we saw in the past.  We could have had a Cody who is perpetually stuck in the middle.  He doesn’t want his parents back together, he tries to keep mom and dad apart; but at the same time, he doesn’t want his dad in legal trouble, so he’s constantly cleaning up after his messes; but those messes are getting worse and worse.  The hellish version of “honor thine parents.”  I think it would have made Cody somewhat more sympathetic (-ish, he’s still helping a person do terrible things, even if he’s not actively participating in them).  At the same time, it wouldn’t change the outcome of Cody’s storyline.  His marriage would still be affected, he’d still go off the rails, and he still would try to kill the siblings because he wants to protect his father’s secret. 

I could go further with the Cody and Lori plotline, but I think I’ll stop here.  I guess at the end, I feel like, while the storyline for season 4 was probably the weakest of all the season’s, the conclusion of the series (specifically where we leave the characters) was satisfying. 

[alaffy]

The Righteous Gemstones, Ep. 4x07 – For Jealousy is the Rage of a Man (Spoilers)

Okay.  The episode wasn’t quite a good as the last episode, but still pretty decent.  The latter half of the season, so far, seems to have gotten the show back on track.  For the most part.

I feel that Gidion’s storyline had pieces missing.  Sure, we saw his relationship with Eli vs. Jesse, his bad preaching skills, and his argument with his brother; but none of these things ever felt connected.  Also, why would his brother believe Gideon was about to make a fool of himself skateboarding?  Gideon was literally a stuntman; chances are he would know how to skate because he had to learn for some movie or show.

I know where supposed to think Dr. Watson’s the one with bad intentions.  But, I mean…it’s Judy.  I think the argument could be made that the monkey knows a danger when it sees it. 

Just going to touch on Lori and Eli’s story here.  Lori confronts Cobb and tells him to stop messing with her relationships.  Cobb seems not surprised that something’s gone wrong.  Then, Eli stop by to tell him the same thing; however, Cobb gives Eli an paper with an advertisement that shows Lori working for an escort service.  Later, at lunch, Eli confronts Lori about the ad.  She’s says it’s fake and that Cobb did this to ruin her.  Yeah, I don’t know about this. I do think the ad is fake, but I'm not convinced it was Cobb who created it. I hate to say it, but I think it’s Cody.  It could explain why Cody seems to have some dark moments with his personality; something we didn’t see him have as a teen.  But, the question remains, why would he be doing this?  Also, what about her previous boyfriends?  What happened to them?

Anyway, between the ad allegation and the fact that Eli has apparently done a background check on Lori, Lori decides maybe the relationship isn’t such a good idea.

Baby Billy decides he’s going to play Teen Jesus.  Oddly enough, this is not the least believable thing about the episode.  Also, his work life is causing problems in his home life.

The main storyline is Kelvin’s this episode. Most of it I’m going to skip as we’ve seen it before.  Kelvin has doubts, Jesse and Judy are concerned but don’t want to admit it.  Finally, they admit it and go help Kelvin.  But the most powerful moment of the episode, and probably one of the most powerful moments of the series, is Kelvin’s testimony. 

First off, you have all these other testimonies.  All of them have some sort of great tragedy in their lives that made them who they are today.  But it isn’t a “this is what I learned from it,” it’s more like their capitalizing on these tragic events to make them seem like a good person.  Kelvin’s testimony, on the other hand, is just that; a testimony.  And though he never frames it as such, it is tragic in its own right.   He started preaching at twelve years old and he’s told he’s special.  He’s also realizing he feels a certain way towards men that some in his circle would see as an affront to God.  He is told to preach the word of a being that, according to many, would see Kelvin as something unworthy.  Can you imagine the thoughts that could have been going through Kelvin’s head?  Obviously, the biggest would be the fear that his own family would reject him.  Of course, even if they didn’t reject them, doesn’t mean that Kelvin would be accepted by the community.  Having a Gay preacher in the church, what if people decided to leave?  What if a lot of people left, causing the collapse of the church?  Would that mean he was responsible for the ruination of his family, thereby proving that he was as much of an affront as people would have believed him to be? 

They really didn’t go into detail here, and I’m just speculating, but…I just remember when I wrote one of my firsts posts about this show.  At the time, because of have socially underdeveloped Kelvin was, I questioned if he knew he was gay.  Well, given the revelations in the last two episodes it turns out he was THAT repressed.  It also explains why, at the beginning of the season, why he still could not come out and say he was Gay; even though everyone knew it. 

But the thing is, Kelvin was created by God.  And if Kelvin was created by God, then God wanted him to be the way he is.  And if Kelvin admitting he is Gay means he will loose the award, so be it.  After all, what is more important to a man of Christ, being who God made you to be or some silly trinket?  And, with that, he walks out. 

Of course, he wins the award.  Yeah, probably wouldn’t have played out that way in the real world, but it’s nice to have hope.    

Also, now that we’re learning so much about Kelvin’s childhood, can we get him some damn therapy?

[alaffy]

The Righteous Gemstones, Ep. 4x06 – Interlude IV (Spoilers)

You had me at Michael Rooker.

This is the best episode of the season by far (at least, of the first 6).  Obviously, we’re going back to the past like we do in all the interlude episodes. 

Technology has been used to de-age Rooker and John Goodman.  It seems to work better with Rooker, Goodman has this extra…sheen that makes it look off. 

This episode is set in 2002.  It looks like not everyone in the community is happy with the Gemstones.  Jesse has knocked up Amber.  We find out how Gideon was named.  We get to see what how close Lori and Cody were to the family. 

This episode focuses on two things. First is the marriage of Lori and Cobb.  Which, long story short, the marriage is at an end.  But, instead of looking at what went wrong in the marriage, Cobb decides it’s the Gemstones fault.  Also, Cody is trapped in the middle of the parents.  Speaking of which, I really like Cody here.  Good kid.

 The second thing is what really happened the night we saw in Kelvin’s dream. Kevlin is, in fact, repressing things.  He might even have the most tragic backstory of all the siblings of the show.  Because the Kelvin we see here is not the Kelvin we see in the series.  It’s always been assumed that Kelvin is the way he is because he’s the baby of the family, that he was always spoiled.  That clearly not the case. Because the Kelvin we see here is, yeah he’s a kid, but he’s also quite wise for his years.  Like he gets things.  He even seems to understand that he’s more into men, even if he doesn’t really share that with the family.

But then we have the incident.  Lori has, at this point, left Cobb and Cobb is pissed.  He’s even more upset when Cody chooses to spend a night with the Gemstone kids, then with Cobb.  Cobb, who has started drinking heavily, comes up with an idea.  So, Cobb knows that the three adults are going to be out of the house (Cody told Cobb this when he told him he was going to be at the Gemstones).  So, Cobb decides that he’s going to ransack the Gemstone house.  Well, it’s clear he’s still conflicted about it.  At the very least, he wanted to make sure his son wasn’t there at the time.  That’s obvious with the phone call about needing Cody to pick him up because his truck broke down.  But I do kind of wonder that, if Cobb knew that Kelvin was still in the house, if he still would have broken in.  The reason why I say this is because it seemed like he was still having reservations about his plan until he was told (or thought he was told) that everyone was out of the house.  And while it could be argued that he’s just glad his son’s not in the house, it also doesn’t make sense.  It’s been established by this point that Cody is very much one who takes care of his Dad, to the point that Cobb knew that all he had to do was tell Cody that he needed Cody to pick him up and Cody would rush out to do it.  Which means, if Cobb only wanted Cody out of the house and he knew he could easily get Cody out of the house, then there would be no reason to be hesitant about the plan.  However, if he wanted all of the kids out of the house…well, there was no guarantee that they would all be willing to go with Cody. 

Anyway, as we know, not everyone left the house.  Kelvin decided he wanted a bit of me time (i.e. time to snoop in Judy’s room).  And here’s where the dream and reality start to differ.  Kelvin is awake at the time of the break in.  He goes downstairs and witnesses Cobb (although he doesn’t know it’s Cobb).  He then decides to hide under his bed and, of course, Cobb comes into his room.  Cobb hears a noise and looks under the bed (like we see in the dream).  Kelvin starts screaming, but so does Cobb.

At this point, we cut to the rest of the kids trying to find Cobb at the bridge.  Of course, he isn’t there.  Meanwhile, the three adults come home to the destruction.  The first thought is of the kids.  They find Kelvin under his bed.  Gone is that composed little boy from the beginning of the episode and he is just sobbing and crawling towards his mother and…We’ve seen this throughout the series, this thing of Kelvin needing safety and comfort, the childlike behavior.  It’s because those things were stolen from him in a moment.  He’s not spoiled (well, no more than his siblings), he was so traumatized by this event he regressed. 

And the thing about this is that it’s one of those things that makes me want to watch the whole series again.  I mean, I don’t really expect that when they wrote the first season it was with the thought that one day it would be revealed that Kelvin would have a backstory like this (although it is always possible it was something they had planned for some time).  Still, it would be interesting to see how well this story holds up with the earlier episodes.

But to finish this post, it's clear that Lori suspects that Cobb was involved with the break in.  However, when she talks to Cody, he lies and says that he saw his dad when he didn’t.  And she believes her son.  The interesting thing about that, though, is that the Gemstone kids where with him at the time; which would make one assume that it would come out that he was lying fairly quickly.  Except, as we saw at the beginning of the episode, there were other people in the community that were unhappy with the Gemstones at the time; so it is possible that, once Cody mentioned he saw his dad, it just wasn’t brought up again and so the Gemstone kids never knew he lied. 

But did Lori ever find out the truth?  Also, it seems like at some point there was a split between the two families.  Not because of any rift between them (at least not one the Gemstones were aware of), just that they drifted apart.  Is this why they stopped seeing each other?  As for Cody…he seems to have picked up some behaviors from his father (the way he treats his wife) and he clearly wasn’t that way when he was younger.  Is he helping his Dad or is his dad even the one causing the problem (could be it’s Cody who set the car on fire?).

As for the Bible, why do I have a feeling that Simkins is somehow going to be related to Grieves?  Or, if not related, he’s going to somehow find out about where the Bible truly came from and try to destroy the Gemstones?    

[alaffy]

The Righteous Gemstones, 4x05 –  You Shall Remember (Spoilers)

Okay.  Still had some problems with the episode, but it’s starting to get interesting.  Too bad we’re halfway through the season.

I’m just going to get the one part of this I really disliked out of the way and then focus on the individual stories.    It’s really simple.  This is the episode where Eli gets tired of the kids shit, the kids fight with each other, and everyone goes their separate ways.  It’s been done before.  It’s been done for the past three seasons.  This is the fourth, and last, season; why are we doing the same thing over? 

 The whole BJ and Judy plot here…again, I really haven’t enjoyed this storyline.  I think it’s just that the humor of the show and the situation they’re in…it just seems tonally off.  Although I can’t deny that I’m slightly interested in where they’re going with Dr. Watson.

Baby Billy is has created Teenjus.  And he’s doing cocaine.  He says he’s trying to set up generational wealth for his kids, but he also…yeah, I don’t think he learned his lesson when it comes to being a good father.

Jesse’s story is mostly wrapped up in Eli’s, Kelvin’s, and Vance’s story.  Yes, Vance has more of a role in this episode.  First off, it does seem like Jesse did know about what his followers did to the Church (at least, he doesn’t seem surprised about it).  And that causes another fight between the two of them.  But what’s really interesting happens at the beginning of the episode.  It seems like the Simkins are having a lot of issues.  Vance’s brother comes to the church to get his “cut” of the money.  Vance and his brother start to argue, and we find out several important things.  It seems like the siblings no longer run the church together (in fact, it seems like the sister has nothing to do with Vance at all).  The Church is going bankrupt.  Also, according to the brother, it seems like Vance’s whole fight with the Gemstones is because he’s obsessed with getting their approval.  But then the brother accuses Vance of being in the closet and Vance becomes extremely angry and violent as he’s truly believes that Homosexuality is a sin. 

Which leads us to Kalvin’s storyline.  Kalvin has been nominated for that big award and, of course, this is all going to his head.  And, yeah, he’s about to have one heavy dose of reality.  Anyway, he’s all excited because in a few days all of the nominees are going to take part in a big discussion and he sees it as a way to promote his PRISM program (well, promote himself as the founder of this new program).  But then the fight between the siblings happen and Jesse, through a bunch of insensitive jokes, makes it clear that he thinks that Kelvin has only been nominated to check boxes.  Kelvin just believes that Jesse is jealous. 

The thing is…look, we know that Jesse is jealous; but he’s also right.  Skipping to the end of the episode and given how Jesse reacted to the discussion, I think he knew (at least subconsciously) that the discussion was going to go down that way.  That the group nominated Kelvin to make it look like they were inclusive, only so they could tear him down (and the lifestyles of anyone they deemed unworthy) in front of an audience.  He’s the perfect patsy, because he’s so…there is an innocence in his immaturity. This is not a good thing.  In his mind, he’s been nominated so it must mean he’s been accepted.  And therefore, he doesn’t have a way to defend himself or his beliefs when he’s basically walked into a trap.  This, right now, it probably the storyline I’m most interested in. 

That being said, Eli’s storyline did take somewhat of an interesting turn.  Well, not with Eli and the kids, but we seem to have a bit more of our mystery creeping in.  According to Jesse’s followers, it seems like Lori has been dating a lot of men.  A lot of men, who suddenly go missing or wind up dead.  Also, according to Baby Billy Lori asked him if she could be part of the Amiee-Leigh celebration because she needed the money.  So, it sounds like she’s fleecing Eli.  Except…

Cut to the end of the episode.  She and Eli are at her house, watching a movie, when a brick is thrown through the window.  On the brick is written the word “Sinners.”  Also, Eli’s truck is now ablaze.  At which point, Lori says she needs to tell Eli about her ex-husband…         

[alaffy]

The Righteous Gemstones, Ep. 4x04 -  He Goeth Before You Into Galilee (Spoilers)

Mixed emotions about this episode.  There is a lot about this episode that isn’t funny.

-The whole break up Eli and Miss Lori isn’t funny.  Guess the kids didn’t accept he needed to move on.

-The German nanny stereotype isn’t funny.

-The whole let’s ignore that BJ is having a hard time isn’t funny (mostly because of how often that shit really happens).  Although BJ is becoming quite assertive.

-The whole Judy’s going to tell Eli that Lori tried to rape her is just sick.  Also, “this is the same way you acted when your mama died?”  So, this isn’t the first time she’s accused Lori of rape? (I know that’s probably not what the writers intended, but context matters).

-Most of the sex talk was immature even for this show.

I did, however, enjoy that last ten minutes of the episode.  Keefe dressing up as Amiee-Leigh and getting into the bed with Lori and Eli was hilarious.  As was the trio walking into the room to find Lori and Eli 69ing.  But, again, I just feel like this show has run out of steam.

[alaffy]

The Righteous Gemstones, Ep. 4x03 – To Grieve Like the Rest of Men Who Have No Hope (Spoilers)

What the hell was that speech, Keefe?!  And why…. 

I have to admit, I’m not really enjoying this season so far (ok, the circling of men thing was kind of funny).  It just seems like we’re rehashing too much here.  And because it’s rehashing so much, it feels like it’s taking awhile to set up whatever this season is about.

And I’m going to be blunt, the whole BJ having an accident and being stuck in a wheelchair…look, I doubt I’ll be able to skip over this plotline, but I will be avoiding it as much as possible (at least for now).  Even for this family and this show…it just rubs me the wrong way.

So, things still not going well for Jesse.  His Prayer Pods are a bust.  Kelvin is being nominated for Christ Man of the Year (or whatever it was called); something that’s a big deal in the Church community that Jesse’s never been nominated for.  And Vance Simkins feud with Jesse is ramping up as Simkins keeps putting his churches near Gemstone churches.   Jesse tells Gideon that he’s going to do the right thing and visit the Gemstone churches so that people won’t flock to the Simkins church.  He also says to his minions they won’t do what they would have done in the old days and burn Simkins church.  However, we do see his minions do that at the end of the episode.  Jesse isn’t with them at the time so we don’t know if he knows what they’ve done.

We also have an interesting moment at the beginning of the episode (no, not the Keefe moment).  It turns out that, in 2002, someone broke into the compound, smashed up the place, and stole the gold-plated bible that was introduced in episode one.  Furthermore, it seems like Kelvin witnessed the break-in, but does he remember?

The other main story, of course, is about Eli and Miss Lori.  We’re introduced to Lori’s son, Cody, who immediately realizes something strange going on with Eli and Lori.  Of course, he calls them out at a family dinner.  The two admit to seeing each other.  Cody says something strange (she can’t fall in love. Again?).  He storms out. 

Eli’s kids handle this like Eli’s kids, except…I was afraid this was something they would drag out through the season (and they still might).  However, Eli breaks down.  He tells them how he would give anything for Amiee-Leigh to still be there with them, but she’s not and he’s so very lonely.  And just seeing their father in this state just kind of, for once, made them think of someone besides themselves and…well, let’s just say they seem to realize that Eli needs this in his life.

Of course, the reason why the show might be allowing the kids to begrudgingly accept this is because things may not be what they seem.  There is a scene at the end where…let’s backtrack a bit.  Jesse and family have gone to one of the local Gemstone Churches to convince the congregation to stay with them.  And Jesse is basically preaching about not getting tempted by something because it’s shiny and new or because it seems to be offering something you need, because those things could be hiding a false truth.  The thing is, as Jesse is preaching about this, the show cuts to Lori sneaking into Amiee-Leigh’s old studio and trying on her glasses.  Added to the strange comment that Cody made before (and Keefe’s “devil” speech at the beginning), what’s really is going on here?

[alaffy]

The Righteous Gemstone, Ep. 4x02 – You Hurled Me Into the Depth, Into the Very Heart of the Seas (Spoilers)

Like what happened with season 2 and 3, we’re having a catch-up episode; finding out what’s going on since we last saw the family.  I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t a fan of this episode.

Probably had something to do with Baby Billy swinging his dick around in full view of his niece and nephews.  In the first five minutes of the episode.  Also, I think it’s just the joke of the three spoiled kids is just running too thin at this point.

Anyway, it’s getting to be that time of year where they have the annual telethon in honor of Amiee-Leigh’s birthday.  This year, the grand finale involves the three siblings flying in jet packs.  But Jesse isn’t too good with his. 

Jesse has become some sort of an inventor in the family, creating Prayer Pods that he hopes to place in places like malls and airports.  Literally places where you pay to pray.  Also, it seems like the middle son Pontius has gotten worse.  Also, Jesse is jealous that Gideon is being mentored by Eli.

Judy is upset with the fact that BJ has taken up Pole Dancing as exercise, as he’s around a lot of fit women.  Other then that, and Eli’s story, she really isn’t involved much here.

Kelvin and Keefe are running a more…inclusive part of the church.  It’s called Prism and, uh, he may have rewritten The Bible?  Yet, while Kelvin feels great that he’s found something successful for the church (in that it makes money), he doesn’t completely practice what he preaches.  He’s in a relationship with Keefe, but that relationship is not public.  They literally reference Siegfried and Roy here. 

Eli is retired and living on a boat and trying to figure out where to go next in life.  He’s even thinking about skipping the annual telethon they have during Amiee-Leigh’s birthday.  They kids…convince him to come.  And I am not going further into that scene.

But, as they are practicing for the telethon, Eli finds out that there will be a special guest at this event.  It’s Amiee-Leigh’s best friend, who totally always been there though we’ve never heard of her, Miss Lori.  And Eli and Lori start hanging out and bonding.

And, let’s just skip to the end of the episode, Eli starts to realize that he has feelings for Lori; but isn’t sure he’s ready to act on them.  But, as she about to leave, he chases after her and kisses her.  At the same time, Jesse (who, again, has been having trouble controlling his jet pack throughout the episode) suddenly can control it and is able to fly higher than his brother and sister.  Does this mean it’s time for Jesse to take control of the Church?  For really, reals this time.  Or will this be the beginning of the downfall Jesse really needs to learn some fucking humility, just like his ancestor in the first episode.  Well, the show is about to end; so maybe? 

[alaffy]

The Righteous Gemstones, 4x01 – Prelude (Spoilers)

The final season.  Personally, I think this is the right choice.  When writing about season 3, it was getting clear that we were getting to the point where it was time to wrap things up.  Watching these characters is fun, but without being able to progress their characters too far without extremely changing the show, they were starting to get a little stale.

This post will be quick.  The first episode, as the title hints at, is a flashback episode that shows how the Gemstone family got into preaching.  No main characters of this episode appear here.  And, ah, not going to lie; the story is pretty basic.  Well-acted, but it was obvious where it was going from the first scene.

So, we start with a man (Gemstone) who’s quite the thief.  And, uh, he kills a Preacher, named Able Grieves, in order to rob him.  However, just after he kills the Preacher, Confederate Soldiers stop at the church.  Seems like Grieves was going to be conscripted as their new Chaplin.  As it pays well, Gemstone pretends he is Grieves and starts a long con of being a Preacher.

And then one day, as the Unit is traveling, they are ambushed by Union Soldiers.  Gemstone and 11 others are taken prisoner.  All of them are set to be executed, except the Union Soldiers find the gold-plated Bible that Gemstone stole from Grieves.  The Union refuses to kill a Man of the Cloth, so they will set him free…right after they kill the others.  They allow Gemstones to pray with the other Confederate Soldiers.  As Gemstone is praying, he comes to a realization.  God is saving him, but it’s not a reward.  You see, the 11 other men are good men (or, at least, they don’t go murdering Preachers and conning people by pretending to be a Preacher); but Gemstone…the point is, these men will go to heaven, whereas Gemstone needs to stay on Earth to learn a lesson. 

After the men are executed, and the Union soldiers leave, Gemstone gathers the bodies into a cart.  He takes the bodies to a Confederate Outpost in order for them to be properly buried.  At the end of the episode, we see that Gemstone is starting to take this religious persona much more seriously. 

Obviously, this story will be important to the season in the long run; but it’s not much to write about.

[alaffy]

earnestly I think the spread of the paradigm that someone is either abuser or abused, either privileged or oppressed, either exploiter or exploited, and that this is a mathematically calculable measure of ideological purity, has done more to damage basic capacity for left wing organising than just about anything else in the modern era bar active surveillance and union busting

[alaffy]

So, JK Rowling has sworn up and down that she isn't Transphobic, that she just wants to "protect women."

So explain this shit. Who's she "protecting" here? Like just be honest and say you hate people who are different than you.

[alaffy]

quick reminder that my own lesbian-nonbinary-ass genuinely supports the hell outta each and every one of you. regardless if i know you or not, im happy to be living in this shithole of a life in the same world with you.

and im proud of you, i know in my heart just how beautiful, amazing, talented, smart, and worthy you are and i hope you can see that too🏳️‍🌈🌈