#henry was also pretty much constantly at sea from age 15 on so he had limited time to visit family

[clove-pinks]

As resident dundyologist I have a question to ask if it's not to much trouble. Sunday as far as I am aware was born in Jersey so did he speak jèrriais at all?

Hello! I am always glad to field questions about Henry TD Le Vesconte, to the best of my abilities. I think there's an autocorrect mistake in your ask—do you mean Dundy, not Sunday? Henry TD Le Vesconte was born in Netherton, Devon and his mother was a local girl (so he would have spoken English natively, even if he was bilingual).

His father, Henry "no middle names" Le Vesconte, was baptised in Jersey (Société Jersiaise 1932 bulletin), and there is conflicting information on Ancestry.com and in the Le Vesconte family records in St. John's Newfoundland regarding his birth year and birth place. Even if he was born in Stoke Damerel, Devon (which I think is correct), he had deep Jersey roots.

I don't know if Henry Le Vesconte, father or son, could speak Jèrriais. Circumstantial evidence suggests they could both speak French. There is a letter from Henry TD Le Vesconte to his father dated 17 October 1844 in which he ponders "going for a month or two into France with my old friend Philip Helpman – now a commander" (a fellow Opium War vet, not a known relative of Franklin expedition clerk E.J.H. Helpman). Maybe HTD Le Vesconte was willing to spend months in France without being able to speak the language, certainly other English tourists did, but he had francophone family. An 1836 letter mentions his younger brother Philip spending time in France, and Henry adds, "he talks of going over again in the summer. I should not dislike the trip if they would ask me."

I could swear I came across another reference from HTD Le Vesconte in which he talks about visiting France/speaking French and just spent a dizzying amount of time trying to find it; but this still doesn't answer your question!

tl;dr: I don't know, sorry! All of his archived letters are in English, and I am unsure of his fluency in other languages.

[wrenchbouquet]

Are you feeling any better about the storylines for Team Scorpion, especially Quintis, this season?

Short answer: not really, no

Long answer below the cut

General:

1. Irresponsible mom Paige after fucking Walter the moment they’re able to after getting together vs. being in a relationship with Tim 


Why does Paige just not seem to care about her son’s existence anymore except when it’s convenient for her? Ever since she and Walter got together at the Quintis wedding, it’s like she can’t ditch her son fast enough to go fuck her boyfriend. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that but she’s always been so mindful of her son it’s strange she’s turned into a horny teenager now.) Especially in 4.01, when they literally just got back from three weeks exposed to the elements on that deserted island the first thing Paige did was to dump him on Sly without caring at all if he’s okay? I get that she wants to finally bang Walter, but would it have killed her to spend that first night home with her son making sure he’s not suffering any major physical and/or psychological trauma after a horrific plane crash and being stranded for almost a month? The first time they bothered to include Ralph again was in 4.04 when they went to the churro festival to look at churros they couldn’t afford, but that really doesn’t count as a genuine family outing when ex-wifey tags along too. Then that very night it was back to ditching Ralph god-knows-where so they could run off for a fancy date they could miraculously suddenly afford. 


       * We’re not alone in this, people on FB are commenting too on how Ralph’s appearances are so sporadic especially given how Riley’s promoted to regular cast now. They don’t even know what to do with the kid they currently have (who, while is only 12, is thankfully old enough to take care of himself), but now they want to add a Quintis baby to the mix? You can’t conveniently dump an infant in school like you do Ralph.
            * Yes there are child protection laws that prevents kid actors from working too much, but why can’t they at least have him in the garage more often and give him a more decent arc than being horny for an older girl? Shows like Madam Secretary and Lethal Weapon handle tough cases with sweet (and realistic) family moments every episode, why can’t Scorpion?
        * Ralph “wanting them to be alone” is beyond wrong in itself, that a kid that young only cares about his mom banging her new boyfriend. Though with how much Waige rubbed it into his face on that island that they were desperate for ‘time alone’, it’s not surprising… And as the grownups, it’s not a stretch for a viewer to think that Paige and Walter as the adults would want Ralph to be a kid and think of him rather than vice versa. 


The problem is not that Paige is dating again, not at all. The problem is how she’s behaving now that she’s dating Walter. Remember when she was with Tim? Ralph was invited to every outing- from the date in 3.04 to the dance in 3.07- without any question. Even when Ralph was being a rude little shit to Tim, Tim treated him with nothing but respect and care and even condoned his behavior when Paige was horrified (3.04 “He’s just a kid who loves his mom… Ralph is gonna keep challenging me, and he is right to try and protect you, because you are an amazing woman and he is grateful to have you in his life”). But Walter? That kid all but worships every inch of ground he steps on, but he can barely be bothered to acknowledge the kid’s existence these days unless he’s needed on a case and it’s convenient to the plot.


2. Ralph/Patty is just wrong. 


Patty is in high school, and when this whole crush nonsense started Ralph wasn’t even 12 yet (in 2.22 he said his birthday is 12/11/2005). Young puppy love and crushes I get. But Walter and the rest seeing no problem in how almost obsessive Ralph is becoming, and rather encouraging it? Why is nobody seeing all the potential statutory issues that could come out of this relationship? Yes they are both underage but wow is there a difference between 12 and 15. 


   * Though maybe if the two main couples on the show don’t start and end every. single. day. yapping about how they’re running off to fuck, Ralph wouldn’t think it’s so normal and want to join the club so young…


The geniuses telling Paige it’s not wrong and to let it happen when Ralph is her son and she’s not okay with it is wrong. 
What happened to the strong single mom Paige who stood up to the guys and chewed them out that “this isn’t communal child rearing” (1.07) when they tried to tell her how to raise Ralph then? Letting Ralph turn to the others for genius-related stuff is fine, but when it comes to her 12 year old trying to hook up with a high school girl, that’s when she deserves to take control of how to raise her son. And her caving to peer pressure sets a very bad example. 


3. Cabe’s trial- really?


Of all the federal laws the team breaks and Cabe is the only one arrested for something he really didn’t have a choice about? Where’s Walter and Happy’s trial for marriage and immigration fraud? Where’s Happy’s NTSB investigation for crashing a plane she wasn’t supposed to be flying, not to mention causing an international incident with Russia/Norway?? This picking and choosing of consequence isn’t helping the showrunners case for being well-thought out when it comes to plots and even characterizations. 


4. Continuity
Where’s Heywood? How are Patrick and Ronnie doing?? Why hasn’t Happy mentioned her dad in almost a year, and especially nearing/on her wedding??? Why didn’t Paige use the money Ronnie gave them when the team was too broke to buy food for themselves???? How is the team alive after going from three weeks on a deserted island-Arctic-Africa back to back????? When did we jump to Halloween and what happened between 4.05-4.06 to justify that time jump??????


       * Hell, NCIS mentioned Tony a few episodes ago- they can remember a character who left two seasons ago, but Scorpion can barely remember a member of their main cast (Riley), let alone recurring guest stars from just a few episodes back who had major impacts on the plot/main characters?


What happened to Merrick’s China treason that Homeland was “freaking out” about? Why did Happy only remember her pilot’s license at the very end of 3.23, and not when they were stranded in that Wyoming airfield with “no way” of going to the wedding??
        * It’s almost like she only wants to fuck Toby (honeymoon) than actually bother about marrying him. For happening in the same episode, it’s difficult to to ignore how easily Happy ‘forgot’ her pilot’s license to get to the big wedding she dragged her feet over but when it came to the honeymoon the entire team was joining them on she couldn’t wait to get there no matter how. 


5. Toby’s timeline


S1/2 vs. S3/4 GET A WHITEBOARD AND SOME MARKERS NICKS
    * 1.01: “He got his doctorate at the age of 17”; 1.17: “I had a medical degree from Harvard before most people have their driver’s licenses”; 2.11: the picture of kid Toby was at his high school graduation    * 3.23: “I wore (the wedding tux) to my prom” ← Really? The prom he went to after graduating high school at around 9? He’s wearing the same tux now at 35 that he wore at 9? Really? 
    * Let’s see how they handle 4.13, but if Toby met Amy in Harvard (so before 16, as stated in 1.17) does that mean they were together for literally half their lives? If they were together since their early/mid teens, why (and when) did Toby lose his virginity to that Vegas show girl (2.23: “a showgirl (at the old Tropicana in Vegas) made me a man”)?


Also, what’s with constantly letting Toby down and insulting him just for gags? The poor guy had to lose his pants thrice in just six episodes (3.25-4.05), and by 4.05 especially it wasn’t funny anymore. God forbid Walter was forced into such compromising positions, or either of the girls had to take off their shirts in an episode, everyone would erupt how gross it is. But since it’s Toby getting the brunt of the shitty writing it’s considered fun.


6. Blatantly repeating plots


3.15/4.09 (almost dying in the ocean surrounded by deadly sea creatures); 1.12/4.11 (it’s pretty much the exact same thing- complete with drown-it-to-save-it and the resolution of daddy issues- only it’s a dog now instead of a kid); 4.01/4.12 (Walter hallucinating); 3.23-25/4.10/4.14 (plane crashes). THERE ARE MORE PLOTS OUT THERE PEOPLE GET CREATIVE. Recycling plots this early on isn’t good… 


Quintis:

1. The baby storyline

I’m sorry but I’m not a fan of the baby storyline. It’s no surprise my thoughts on not liking the direction they’ve taken but it’s plain irresponsible to add an innocent child to their mess when they haven’t discussed the huge issues they’ve ignored between just them.  


So many other tv couples who have/want to have kids worry about their jobs and how it might affect their family- Deeks/Kensi (NCIS: LA), Henry/Elizabeth (Madam Secretary), Jessica/Neil (The Good Doctor), and JJ/Will (Criminal Minds) just to name a few. And they don’t just worry about it, they actually talk openly and honestly with each other about it more than once. And the couples mentioned above who are in law enforcement/government service acknowledge how unsafe their jobs are and how they’re going to balance kids when the reality is they could get killed at any time. But Quintis? Nope. They literally just came back from being exposed to toxic vapor/nuclear radiation yet again but saw no problem in immediately trying for a baby. You’d think after all their exposure to radiation and dangerous chemicals they’d at least want to get checked up to make sure they’re healthy enough to have a baby, but once again what are consequences on this show especially when it comes to Happy?  They should start trying for a kid after talking it through and making the necessary plans (and sacrifices) and when they’re financially stable, not just because “oh we’re married now time to have a baby”.


       * (And that is not to mention how they were literally too broke to buy a churro at that point in time, but were still irresponsible enough to push for a baby with no regard for how damn expensive babies are.)
        * This team obviously can’t take care of Ralph or Bueller as is, both of whom only appear when they are needed for the plot and conveniently disappear otherwise. Why then are they trying to add yet another child, especially an infant you can’t just toss aside when it’s not needed, to the mix?


2. Happy’s continually disappointing behaviour 

Happy is still showing she doesn’t care too much about Toby/blatant hypocrisy
: 

In 4.01 she was bitching about Collins sitting next to Toby while she was cozy in the back with Sly- anyone who has ever seen an SUV knows that the people sitting in the very back row have to get in first before those sitting in the middle row. If she actually cared about Toby not getting close to Collins, she should have stuck with her husband the whole time instead of jumping to the back first and then bitching about Collins. And then, when Toby was almost killed by Collins yet again, she continued talking to Sly about Megan instead of freaking out that her husband almost died again. 
        * If she was such an experienced ice road trucker, why didn’t she just drive that SUV when they were travelling on ice and get Toby in the front passenger seat away from Collins? 
            * Sidenote: Why is her stupid Portuguese song the only confession from 3.24 they seem to remember? What about her ice road trucking? What about being a side ho for Jake Gyllenhaal, while he was publicly dating Reese Witherspoon? (This isn’t personal bitterness, it’s fact based on the timeline canon told us via Happy.) 


In 4.04 she couldn’t so much as nod when Toby asked if it was a good thing they got together, but the moment she decided she wanted a baby it was all “I want a family because I love you”. If she really loves him then she needs to show it throughout, not only as lip service when she wants something from him. I mean, she went literally their entire wedding without saying ILY to her brand new husband. Sure her speech was sweet and all, but would it have killed her to say those three words anytime before they were about to die in a plane she wasn’t supposed to be flying?


The 4.08 public sex was illegal, and disgusting. Trying to conceive means unprotected sex, and since there probably wouldn’t have been any showering facilities in that hay loft it means that unless they stole wet wipes from Sly, then Happy would’ve spent the whole day with cum running down her legs. And why was everyone so excited about that?? Happy can demand public sex during Sly’s birthday celebrations, but when Toby calls her by a sweet nickname in the garage she treats it like such a violation of their personal lives?! The double standards are startling and unfair. 


4.09 ex-spouses baby naming/“Toby manipulates you” 
was wrong. Happy agreed to think about naming the baby after Walter if they kept it a secret from Toby (which, really, won’t be that hard for the robots considering they kept their marriage a secret for over six years). But god forbid if Toby secretly agrees to something that Happy hates just because he was guilt tripped into it. And when has Toby ever manipulated Happy?? Every step of their relationship he had expressed his feelings loud and clear but always waited for her to make the first physical step. Whereas Happy was the one who led Toby to believe their relationship was healthy and secure when she was secretly married the whole time and never bothered to tell him about it, not to mention her physical abuse and lip service when she wants something from him. Hopefully she won’t name their child a name he really doesn’t want but at this point nothing about her doing that is surprising. 


Yes there was a sweet moment at the end of 4.10, but once again it was when Happy was feeling insecure that it happened. Would it kill them to have a sweet moment initiated by Toby’s insecurities and Happy stepping up to comfort him instead of vice versa? Because if we learnt anything from that episode it’s that Toby has a lot of past baggage too that could very realistically haunt him whenever. Them being the side couple shouldn’t prevent them from having a cute and genuine moment during their journey towards parenthood. If the writers are unable to devote time to show a healthy progression and growth of their relationship and individual characters, why did they pair them up and marry them off so early? 
        * (Also, how convenient is it that she’s still not pregnant when they’re finally having this kid conversation? If they were immediately successful she’d be 3-5 months pregnant by now, a little late to have the “will our kids turn out okay” talk- which goes back to point #1 about responsible parents.)