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CalvinJarrett's Replies
What if like the clock that's right twice a day, they were telling the truth and he was a refugee who was quite successful in his native country. But in jolly old England, the best he can do is babysit? Wouldn't be the first time that sort of thing happens. One is forced to flee to escape political persecution only to experience economic persecution in the country to which s/he emigrates. But I don't think you can make that assumption on the grounds that he is a grown man babysitting children. If he was complicit, unlike Mike (or whatever the guy who cooked them that seafood dinner was named), it was never revealed that he was in on it and, if he was in on it, he got away scot free.
Remember - he was the one who got out of the car and saved Ant from drowning in the lake in front of the house. He, his wife, and daughter would have easily escaped. But it was his heroism (that Paddy knew was within him) that forced him to return to the scene. The most harrowing scene in the whole film was the shot of those supposed parents standing beside the lake not doing a G-d damned thing, basically saying, 'If you don't save him, Ben, he's dead.' I think it would have made a lot more sense for the photo album to be revealed after that scene because it was a foregone conclusion that they weren't;t going to lift a finger once you already knew they were murderers and kidnappers. So, no, I don't think Ben was completely useless or weak.
My pitch is that we just don't know. We know that guy who cooked for them was not okay, but are we to assume that everyone they got to know in that locality is complicit. I'm just saying that there was no evidence provided to show that he was anything other than a babysitter doing his job.
And yet that "stranger from the Borat movie" was the one character who did not kill or attempt to kill anyone else. Prejudice much?
I do agree that the police stop speech was a poor choice. I think the writers/producers were getting too political. However, as a previous poster noted, I think there are now a majority of African Americans in Philadelphia. So it would make sense that in the long history of Native Americans and then White people inhabiting that land/house, it made sense by the early 2020's to illustrate that demographics and attitudes change and where perhaps years ago it was unthinkable (if not illegal) to sell that home to an African American family, times, indeed, change.
My biggest gripe was that they had a live-in housekeeper. There is no reason why two adults with one teenage child need a live-in housekeeper to clean an 1800 square foot home. It showed the owners (regardless of race) to be spoiled and in need of status symbols. There were other ways to show that the house experienced a COVID death just as it had a century before during the Spanish Flu.
Ahh, but that was one of soap's greatest moments: Cecil dying immediately after saying "I do," and Alexis walking away with all of his wealth and control of Colby Co. I doubt he had the potential. That's why the writers opted for him to be a secret villain through his alter ego, Logan Rhinewood. I think they came up with that alter ego because they knew Lloyd Bochner's wooden acting style only allowed for so much range. They could only keep the smoke and mirrors going for so long, and once they signed Joan Collins to play Alexis, Cecil's (and Bochner's) days were numbered.
I too loved her in Season 3. However, there was a more human quality to Alexis in Season 2 that I think people really liked. Think back to her lunch at the St. Denis with District Attorney Dunham (Brian Dennehey) after the unsatisfying result in Blake's murder trial. He presses her for more dirt on Blake that she alluded to in their earlier conversations. As much as she despises Blake for estranging her from her children she can't allow herself to further betray him.
You also see an Alexis who is not filthy rich in Season 2. That's the only time that happens during the whole series. She has to live in the artist studio Blake deeded to her when they were married. Yes, it allows her to 'f' with Krystal and Joseph, but she really has no other place to live (rent free) while in Denver. She must use all her feminine wiles to woo Cecil Colby because she really needs the money and would be perfectly happy to take a backseat to the boardroom brawls and simply play Lady MacBeth and allow Cecil to ruin Blake.
She has a very tender rapport with Steven. She understands him only as a mother can and with her bon vivant lifestyle in Acapulco, she has a sensitivity toward homosexuals and the judgment they faced in the '70's - early '80's.
As I recall, Season 2 was the only time we see Alexis in jeans. Granted, they were designer jeans - Gloria Vanderbilt or Calvin Klein by the look of them. But we never see her dressed as shabbily (save when she was incarcerated on first the belief and then the conviction of the murder of Mark Jennings).
I guess I don't understand your derision for Krystal wearing furs? Didn't Alexis wear plenty of fur? And Dominique Devereaux, for that matter? I think it was just coming to the public's consciousness that raising animals (in particular minks) for their fur was cruel. So I don't think Krystal, Alexis, Dominique, Fallon, etc., could be blamed any more so than say, my own mother in the '80's. A fur coat was a very popular gift to the special lady in your life if you were well-heeled enough in the 1980's.
I agree that Blake was the villain (and protagonist) or Season 1. It was a very fine line for a character to walk and a testament to John Forsythe's skill as an actor. But if I'm not mistaken, wasn't Cecil Colby (Lloyd Bochner) in Season 1, and didn't he try to imperial Denver Carrington and indeed woo Fallon? Or was that in Season 2? If memory serves, Cecil Colby was a villain in Season 1, but he was a weak one, and that is why he was replaced by Alexis. I do remember his dying words when he knew he was not long for this world was that he was giving all of his money and power to Alexis, and he was sure she would be able to ruin Blake with it (far better than he ever could).
I can answer your question as to why everyone raves about Season 2 in four words: Alexis Morel Carrington Colby.
Hahahahahahahaha!!
No, but I've seen it referenced a lot on this site, so I'll have to check it out. Thanks, DoctorThirteen.
One dictator or the other? Is it your position that Zelensky is a dictator?
I think he knew spineless Republican senators like Susan Collins would vote Gaetz in, but they would appear extremely weak in doing so. Collins et. al. wouldn't like that. Trump saved what little integrity they have left by not forcing them to vote on a Gaetz confirmation. Selecting Bondi makes Trump look reasonable. Compared to Gaetz, Bondi has practically no baggage. That should make for a smooth confirmation hearing with no senators appearing as rubber stamps for Trump. I'm reminded of that scene in Defending Your Life where Meryl Streep's lawyer, the prosecutor, and the judges return to watch more heroic moments from her life just for fun; the decision for her to advance to the next realm is a foregone conclusion. If you accept the initial premise that Trump and Gaetz conspired to do this from the get-go, you see that it's a win-win situation for all involved. Just not necessarily for the American people.
I think it was intentional, but I had a very hard time hearing the dialogue between the actors during the black-and-white commercial breaks. Otherwise, I enjoyed the TV broadcast style they chose. I just wish they ended it when the show ended (and the live audience departed) and shit-canned the tacked-on ending-after-the-ending.
Giving up land of a sovereign nation to the unprovoked aggressor that invaded it is not a negotiation. Biden has always maintained that Ukraine should be in control of its own destiny. If that means that Zelensky and the people of Ukraine wish to cede land to Russia in order to end the war, fine. If they do not, this is Biden's way of supplying the funds for Ukraine to defend itself and gain an advantage for as long as they are able after he leaves office. Biden is smart enough to know that Trump is going to cut off military and financial aid to Ukraine as soon as he takes office - notwithstanding the U.S.'s position in this war since early 2022, NATO's wishes, and the effect such an abandonment will have on NATO countries.
I think Pam Bondi was Trump's pick for AG from the get-go. He cooked up a deal with Matt Gaetz to withdraw a pre-determined number of days after appointing him. Gaetz was never going to be Attorney General, and I don't think he ever wanted to be AG. It was all political theater. This was Trump's way of showing Republican senators (like Susan Collins): "Be thankful for my mercy, and you better just rush Bondi in as AG." Gaetz will be compensated in some other way down the line; he was a good little Trumpian soldier during the transition period.
I agree with you maximmm. The entire 'Jack engaging with the hooded Grove cult' angle should have been eliminated. They should have made Jack's relationship with June more explicit and provided evidence that the affair began while his wife was still alive. That would explain Madeline's haunting him through Lily/Abraxis. The writer(s) seemed hellbent to pay homage to Rosemary's Baby, and they made it so Jack makes a deal with the devil to better his career/fame at the expense of his wife (like the John Cassavetes character in the former film). To me, that was biting off more than they could chew and it made for a muddled, unsatisfying ending. It was almost like that movie was saying, "Oh yeah? You think that was something. Just stay tuned another 12 minutes; we're really going to knock your socks off." Now that I wrote that I realize maybe the movie was just that smart! Maybe they were satirizing the formula of late night television where the host promises more and more excitement if you just make it through the commercial break - even when the audience has already seen the most interesting part(s)?
Hypnosis is only so powerful. It is a stretch that any hypnotist no matter how skilled could elicit the same gruesome illusion from so many people at once as Carmichael Hague did on stage. However, I recognize that scene was integral to the plot in order to demonstrate that Lily/Abraxis was NOT a hypnotic effect.
I didn't like Oppenheimer at all, so I felt Late Night with the Devil advanced Dastmalchian's career. I loved the 1970's late-nite show setting. I thought Dastmalchian played his part well. I wish the film ended 15 minutes earlier than it had, but that was a scripting decision - nothing to do with his performance. I also thought that the actress who played Lily and the actor who played Carmichael Hague were excellent.