#tvrecap

Bridgerton Part 2 arrived like a silk-gloved hand to the throat and said

“what if we gave you a wedding… and then emotionally waterboarded you with grief?”

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Yes, yes. Benedict and Sophie get their glittering fairytale crescendo. The Queen’s Ball. The longing looks. The sweeping violins. The ring. The whole confection.

Benedict and Sophie get the fireworks in Part 2, the Queen’s Ball in full glittering delirium, the slow-burn romance snapping into place like a violin string pulled just to the edge of breaking. Critics are swooning. The chemistry is chemistr-ing. The fairytale lands exactly where it’s supposed to. Fine. Gorgeous. Applause.

But under all that satin and orchestral swelling, there’s a different temperature running through the season. Francesca’s grief isn’t staged like spectacle. It’s pressure. The show doesn’t shove it at you; it just sits in the room like unspoken bad news. And Hannah Dodd plays it with that lethal, porcelain composure where you can see the crack before you hear it. She’s not hijacking the narrative. She’s absorbing it. And I swear the camera knows it. Even in scenes that aren’t hers, it lingers like it’s testing the weight she could carry next. The way she tilts her head just slightly. The brush of a hand across her cheek. The score drops and she doesn’t move and you want to SCREAM. Tumblr is already side-eyeing this. You don’t frame a woman like that unless you’re planning to hand her the hurricane later.

She’s not taking over the ballroom. This half of the season still belongs to Benophie, all sparkle, swoon, and gowns moving slower than my heart during a cliffhanger scene. But the undercurrent is there. The potential. The seed of a story ready to bloom. You can feel it humming in the margins, quiet but insistent, like the first note of a storm you can’t yet see. If next season steps fully into that storm, Hannah Dodd is going to own it.

Benedict and Sophie got the fireworks.

Francesca got the foreshadowing.

And I am already emotionally budgeting for the possibility that next season belongs to her.

💐 Verdict: 9/10 emotionally destabilizing string quartets

🖤 Watch it if: you like your romance sweeping but your character arcs strategic

🕯 Watch it if: you believe the quietest characters are the ones with the loudest futures

I will be seated. With tea. And theories.

I know I said i was done with “The Bachelor” franchise but ABC announced the new suitors for the upcoming season and as I scrolled through their bios, I just cannot help myself.

In total transparency, I only watched the last couple of episodes of Arie’s season because his laugh is worse than Prince Farming’s and anyone with a nickname like, “Kissing Bandit” at the age of 86 is just weird. That being said, I don’t know much about Becca, but I would like to extend my sincere apologies because these guys are doozies.

ALEX

You know that episode of Friends when Ross gets a spray tan and keeps doing it wrong, so he ends up super orange? I feel like that’s what happened when this guy got his teeth whitened. Also, his biography reads, “(he enjoys) taking trips to the beach with his boat.” What does that mean? He grabs his boat and they walk to the beach together? He just puts his boat on the back of his car and takes it to the beach to hang?

BLAKE

What the fuck is a modern romantic? Also, dropping that you “excel” at sports before sharing that your secret talent is swing dancing is basically just coming out of the closet.

CHASE

Speaking of closets, this guy definitely has a few dead bodies hidden in his.

CHRIS

Wants to retire in his 40′s. Lazy is such a turn on.

CHRISTIAN

Why are his sleeves rolled up? Is that a short-sleeved sweater? Is his head the right size? A lot of questions here.

CHRISTON

What in the actual hell is a professional dunker? Seems made up, kind of like the spelling of his name.

CLAY

Of all of the things a person can put in their bio to explain themselves, he thought it was important enough to include that he doesn’t curse. Fuck this guy.

COLTON

If someone used to play a sport, are they required to talk about it? Also how is he a “lifelong football player” if he’s not playing football anymore? That makes no sense. This guy is the Ben Higgins of this season. Calling it now.

CONOR

Whenever I wear a button down shirt, my boobs pop the buttons open; looks like the same thing happened to Conor. And what does it mean that he “had the opportunity to play for the Braves”? They offered it to him and he said no? Pursuing his dream to teach a spin class in Florida felt like a better idea? I can’t really talk shit about someone who talks incessantly about fitness but, I bet he talks incessantly about fitness. Annoying.

DARIUS

He lives in the Valley and refers to himself by the town he is from. No, thank you.

DAVID

“He loves guacamole but hates avocados” -- this guy definitely laughs at his own bad dad jokes.

GRANT

Grant looks like he had his picture taken after a week-long bender. He told an electricity joke in his bio because, wait for it... he’s an electrician. How clever.

GARRETT

Garrett looks like someone I’d want to be friends with, but then I read that he does Chris Farley impressions. So he’s the opposite.

JAKE

If his poems are anything like his bio, they’re terrible. Also, “loves a good dance”. As opposed to what, a bad dance?

JASON

Admittedly likes to sing (loudly I imagine) Disney songs. That’s a big, “No, thank you” from me. Also, is he tall enough to go on this ride?

JEAN BLANC

I wasn’t sure if that was a serious name but then I read that he has an “impressive” cologne collection. I bet he makes people smell him. Ew.

JOE

Joe is my favorite and I want him to be the next Bachelor. I am not a huge fan of the word “ripe”, but we all have our flaws.

JOHN

If you Google, “What are dudes in San Francisco like” John’s bio would be the top search result.

JORDAN

I bet this guy calls himself an Instagram model. And means it. 

KAMIL

What the fuck is a social media participant? Would that make him and nine billion other strangers my colleagues?

LEO

Before I read his bio, I said out loud, “I bet he’s a stuntman or a yoga teacher” and now I’m worried I’ve been in LA too long.

LINCOLN

This guy says work brought him to Santa Monica so he probably bartends at The Bungalow. Also, serious question, why would someone from Nigeria name their kid after Abraham Lincoln?

MIKE

Mike loves state fairs? Like, does he travel to different states for their fairs? How many state fairs has Mike been to? Are fairs different in each state? He’s really going to lose it when they have a state fair to themselves and some unknown singer serenades them by the cotton candy booth.

NICK

There is nothing about this bio that doesn’t bother me. Nick looks like the member of a boy band that everyone hates because he says shit like, “weekend warrior”.  

RICKEY

He looks like he’s wearing a lululemon women’s bomber. Regardless, is he an IT consultant or a business owner? Make up your mind, Rickey. 

RYAN

He mentions the word “banjo” more in this bio than I have in my entire life. I’m not sure how I feel about the instruments he chose to learn. Banjo included.

TRENT

My new life goal is to be on the cover of trashy romance novels. Also, is Florida really a hub for male models?

WILLS

Adults who talk about their love for Harry Potter are about as fun as drowning.

🚨 YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS Season 2 Finale Explained 🚨

The Season 2 finale delivers a shocking showdown with Owen Ashe, a deadly accident, and a cliffhanger that leaves Coop facing even bigger problems heading into Season 3.

💀 Did Ashe really die? 💰 What happens to the missing money? 👀 What does that final twist mean?

Read our full recap and ending explained:

Here we still are, in Coronaland! You know who’s (mercifully) not here? Fictitious characters hurling through space on sci-fi shows! Let’s check in with them because it kinda sucks here. 

This is one of my fav sci-fi series of all time, and this episode marks the emotional culmination of what is potentially the best “somebody got cloned!” arcs of all time. See, our protagonist John Crichton was cloned awhile back, but according to the show they were “both the original” somehow. (shrug!) Both Johns are in love with this BAMF, Aeryn, and John A and her go away on a ship together for Reasons and wind up having a full-on relationship. Then he dies. Tragically. In her arms. She comes back to home base (Moya) where John 1 is, but it’s too difficult and she leaves. OH AND BY THE WAY turns out she’s also pregnant, which John 1 finds out after she’s gone...

Let’s see where all this goes!

My Disclaimer: None of these posts will be in any way comprehensive, because I’m lazy. All of them are probably going to have spoilers of some sort for the entire series…or at least what I remember of it from when I last watched it an eon ago. Exactly what you want in a recap!

And now, on Farscape: Aeryn’s been on the lam trying to sort out her feelings about John A and John 1 for a good long while when out of the blue she turns up back on Moya – and she’s brought trouble! There are some icky dudes chasing her, and now they’re chasing Moya too. Will the crew be able to shake them? I bet they will! 

We catch up with our crew returning to Moya after some sort of mission or other, and look who they find!

It’s Aeryn! She’s there because she’s in a bit of a pickle: She’s dying of heat delirium (it’s a thing!), and the folks who gave it to her are in hot pursuit. She would have been dead already if it weren’t for...

Scorpius! Our favorite half-sabacean half-whatever-he-is! (lol I’m pretending I’m too cool to know but I do know. It’s scarran. He’s half scarran.)

He wants asylum for some reason I’m sure he semi-convincingly shares but that we know is really about wormholes and harvesting knowledge from John - I mean look at the guy. Obvious villain. 

Then we’re treated to another delightful and humorous all-in-John’s-head fantasy convo between him and Scorpy. It must have been so fun to film these weird scenes. They always give me a chuckle. 

They get Aeryn into her super-duper anti-heat suit to slow the spread of her delirium, and she and John attempt to have a conversation about...everything. It pretty much goes nowhere. 

But she “can’t.” Do we ever actually find out what the deal was with these people she was hunting while she was off being an assassin? I don’t think so?

Ugh who cares - the sexual tension between these two is so. good. I’ve already forgotten my question. 

Just bone already!

We soon find out that these guys are the heat-delirium culprits, and they’re hot on the trail:

Aren’t they the same race as the diagnosis dude they’re always going to for medical stuff? Why can the translator microbes translate what they’re saying but not the “diagnocian”? This is a Whole Big Thing later in the series, no?

Anyway, we then find out that THIS power-mad terror and her colored contacts are ALSO chasing them. Or are they after Scorpius? 

Oh no, just John. Okay. I think this was just a couple episodes after she basically mind-raped him, yes? Yikes. Wow. I guess...at least that’s different than the typical sexual violence we see on TV? So...yeah. 

Well, now they’ve got to get away from both of these plot thickeners. Which, blah blah blah, they figure out how to do. Everyone lives happily ever after. Or at least another week.

Except bobo Toni Collette. Purple eyes is not pleased with her. And I don’t think she’s long for this world.

After they speed away, Aeryn tells John she wants to stay...

...and he’s basically like: I’m not sure I can be with someone who’s keeping ALL THESE SECRETS. Then he drops on her that he knows she’s pregnant. Or that she WAS pregnant, at least. And we end. on. that. 

The Other Side of the Wormhole

- Looking back, this really was an incredibly compelling “it’s a clone!” arc. They’re typically such an obvious plot contrivance. We always know who the “real” one and who the clone is, and the clone always dies. It was NOT obvious here, and I think there are plenty of people who would argue the dead John may actually be the “original,” to the extent that’s a thing. And because of that, you can’t really fault Aeryn for reacting the way she does. The distance between the characters feels completely earned, if frustrating. Which honestly is a huge feat.

- The idea that Aeryn would be so grateful to Scorpius that she would be totally blinded to his ulterior motives really doesn’t jibe with her previous characterization, though. She’s always been super suspicious by nature. Are they suggesting she’s, like, trauma bonded to Scorpius? If so, they really messed up on her reaction to finding out he is indeed (DUH) there to try to get wormhole knowledge from John.  

- Also not super well-handled? Scorpius claims to have taken the brain connection thingy out of John’s head in this episode, and John’s like “OMG yeah it’s totally out now! Yay!” But it’s later revealed it’s actually still there. Which is pretty much just a cheap trick, from a narrative standpoint. 

- Aeryn has GREAT boots. I think I’m going to go order the chunkiest Doc Martins I can find as soon as I hit post, in her honor. 

The Handmaid’s Tale (S03E08) ‘Unfit’

I’m not sure where this show is going.  June has become the least sympathetic character on the show, and I don’t even find her interesting anymore.  She’s essentially untouchable, (she says so herself,) which takes away any sense of urgency.

The episode opens with lots of Handmaids attending Ofandy’s labor.  )Who is Ofandy?  Why have we never heard of her?  And why is she Ofandy and not…

The Handmaid’s Tale (S03E07): “Under His Eye”

The episode beings with a Salvaging, one of those highly choreographed events with Handmaids pulling the ropes that hang miscreants.  Another happy day in Gilead!

June is walking to the shops with the insufferable Ofmatthew.  She’s being even more insufferable than usual but at Loaves & Fishes is distracted by another Handmaid’s plea for help in picking an avocado, while Alma whisks June off to…

The Handmaid’s Tale S03E06: “Household’

We open with a kind of dreamy, soft focus, slow motion shot of falling snow.  Murmuring voices pray for Nichole’s safe return.  June voiceovers that she hopes Serena will remember why they sent Nichole to Canada.  Or that both of the Waterfords are hit by a truck.  She’s cool either way.

Quite a bit happened in this particularly harrowing episode, most of which takes place in Washington DC, which…