SouthOfSoap

This was an underwhelming finale to a dissapointing season. Its still better than 90% of nonsense on TV but the drop in quality is still disheartening.

Quick precis: Debbie is a fool - she's watched enough TV to know teen pregnancy is not a happy place lol. Sami is an idiot coming guns blazing in broad daylight. Frank is arrrghhh hate. I liked Bianca - farewell. I don't get the psycho fanclub for Ian and Micky. Sean is right, Fiona needs to grow up. Vee and Kev were lame. Lip is an a'hole and I have no idea why women fall over themselves for him - he doesn't treat them well and he isn't good looking or sexy enough to get away with it (for the superficial ones).

I'll watch next season, can't say with anticipation though - that's a first for this show with me. Showtime are the opposite of every other network, they cancel shows way later than they should - Dexter, Nurse Jackie, Homeland, Californication, House of Lies all have run/ran waaay past their sell by dates. I expect Shameless to last 9/10 seasons based on this.

I'd say the husband is the type of guy who enjoys being cuckolded. It's rare, but it exists. One of the few sexual fetishes that gives me the creeps tbh, but to each their own.

I'd never really thought of that - thanks. I always thought those that are into that like a large side helping of verbal humiliation with their cuckolding. I still kind of think they are trying to "groom" Lip into a 3-way slowly. Lip basically having to spoon the husband on the scooter to visit Ian last week and now this week, him watching in the corner... the ante gets upped everyweek.

I'm all caught up on this season now. This season is off and I can't quite put my finger on the reason why - it's not only the slightly dull storylines - this season feels sparse and a the frenetic energy of earlier seasons is missing.

i wouldn't miss Sami if she died, but think of Chucki as an orphan

I don't understand why Lip and Amanda broke up except to shoehorn Lip into this lame affair with his Professor. What's the deal with her husband? Is he also into Lip - I mean there are open relationships but his laissez faire attitude with it being flaunted in his face is unreal.

Fiona has felt like a non-entity this entire season - the Gus and JimmySteve and Sean ping-pong game with her being so reactive has deadened her a bit.

Kev and Vee deserve better than this nonsense

I'm glad Monica and Ian kept in contact, but Monica/Chloe Webb feels like the most tragic character on the show to me so much so that I can barely look sometimes.

RHOBH:

Wow, Brandi came guns blazing to the reunion but still came off as pathetic as the unfairly sleighted victim. I'm glad Lisa V spared no feeling in telling Brandi what is what. I just wish someone told her that in isolation her actions are forgiveable, but the relentless chain of going too far followed by the sorry-not-sorry routine isn't forgiveable.

I kind of think Lisa R is shellshocked from the naked bitchiness of Brandi and Kim.

Kim is a special kind of nasty though. It's a pity that Kyle's verbal sparring skills are those of a 12 year old girl because she should of taken that wrinkled cow of a sister to task.

Eileen is so classy - she effortlessly glides above this circus.

I won't miss this show, but I'd still watch it if it was renewed.

A spinoff show for Doris would be nice - it's telling that she is the character that I warmed up most to given she was never meant to be a focus point of the show.

The last few episodes feel like the same scenes rehashed again and again fo the most part.

Lisa R: The whole 180 in attitude and game plan since Kim said let's talk about Harry raises my eyebrow - Kim may know nothing, but there is something Lisa doesn't want broadcast on television about him. Also wierd was Eileen and hers' conversation about Harry going full circle in playing a gay man and the subtext seemed more than just referring to Making Love. Maybe because I don't really watch reality tv, I may be looking for things that only exist in scripted shows lol.

Lisa V: She handled Brandi with cool detachment - I think this is what she has been going for the whole season but really only achieved with aplomb in this episode. Good for her.

Kim: I can't with this nonsense. She may bring the drama but she is so disjointed and irrational in her thought processes and actions - she must be hell on earth to live with.

Brandi: The reason these women treat you different is because you have used up all their goodwill and are done with you. Try understand that.

Yolanda: I absolutely loathed Yolanda at the start of the season but she grew on me once she dropped her hokey dime store wisdom and started acting like a human instead of a hallmark card. I'm sorry she is sick again because she seems to actually want to live life.

Kyle: Kyle has a raw deal with her with sisters (the abusive manipulative addict and the fame whore and her litter only acknowledging her existence because they are trying to sell books). However i don't feel sympathy for her because her why-me-victim shtick is manipulative. I like Kyle though, it makes no sense, I know.

Eileen: My absolute favourite. She is head and shoulders above all these other women - in class, in combat. That being said, I don't really like her husband - he reminds me of one of those former high school jocks whose life peaked at 18 but instead of getting nostalgic over a touchdown against Riverdale High, he reminisces about living next door to the Jackson 5. I suspect Eileen doesn't want to be on this show but she can't pass over the salary because they need the cash (gambling debt the internet suggests...)

Adrienne: She is a man, right?

Camille: I don't think I'd enjoy watching her as a full cast member.

I'm all caught up from the last few episodes now

Eileen: She was so calm and clear headed when she confronted these nueortic petty shrews, she pretty much owned them and she made it look effortless and easy. She really is quite amazing.

Kim: Not much more to say on this toxic energy vampire that hasn't been mentioned in this thread. She is highly manipulative - she kept a low profile in the last episode deflecting the attention to Brandi. Now she can go get wasted with nobody paying attention to her. It wouldn't surprise me if BTS she planted the seeds of antagonism in Brandi's insecure head intentionally to fight with the others.

Kyle: Sometimes her beauty is striking, sometimes she gets lost in the crowd. I really want to like Kyle but I find her so self absorbed - Yolanda was sick in bed and all she could talk about was herself. It really makes loose sympathy for her. She is so reactive to her sister (years of mental abuse no doubt from Kim), it makes her look so weak and pitiful.

Lisa V: I have warmed up to her over the season. I can totally see why she wants nothing to do with most these women. She is more emotional than say Eileen, so she has to be vigilant to remain detached. I think she was thawing until Brandi slapped her.

Brandi: This woman is either in serious need of therapy and/or pulls this nonsense in a misguided attempt to remain relevant on the show. Either way I cannot stand her - she is vile.

Yolanda: I feel sorry for her and kind of liked her in Amsterdam. It was a very different Yolanda to the one we have seen most of this season. She acted like an adult as opposed to a treacle wisdom giver.

Lisa R: I'm dissapointed in her. I totally understand why she caved in, but I hate that she let Eileen down. I think part of her caving in is because she knows addiction issues are her Achilles heel and she got in too deep with Kim because of it. Now she just wants to step back.

It's interesting to see how the more sane women on this show try to detach away from the crazy ones, but they can't because well... the show.

I started watching RHOBH for Lips and Eileen this season. I don't really like this show - it's not my cup of tea but I'm quite the Eileen fan so I persist. I find much of this show to be fake, if not at least scripted.

I'd never heard of Lisa Vanderpump before this show so I had to do some internet research about her because I really don't understand why all the other housewives are so desperate for her friendship. I still don't really get it to be honest. Lisa dresses impeccably but her house with its themepark architecture and tacky decor betrays her desire to be seen as classy. Her husband is kinda gross and I don't get their marriage at all. She does seem very shrewd though to use the show as a promotion vehicle for her business. The star unveiling ceremony in Palm Springs was a big lol for me - they credited her "humanitarian" activities - do these C-listers really have their heads so stuck up their arses? That being said, Lisa is probably my "favourite" housewife after Lips and Eileen.

Brandi is vile. She is socially awkward and inappropriate, crass, transparent, insecure and desperate. I also had to google her a lot about her divorce because I also had never heard of her before - she needs to be in serious therapy.

Kim seems like a non-entity second tier housewife - I don't know what she was like in previous seasons, but she really means little in this season. Her daughter seemed like the unhappiest bride I had ever seen in my life while the man she was marrying was the happiest - strange.

Kyle could be nice but she is so insecure about everything and everyone except her husband. Googling her too, the only thing she really should be insecure about is her marriage...

My absolute worst is Yolanda. I cannot stand this woman with her greeting card wisdom that she doles out every chance she can get - she really thinks she is this fountain of insight that makes me want to lose my lunch everytime she opens her mouth. She goes on and on and on about family yet while her mother is dying, she takes time to on holiday in Spain - what a [!@#$%^&*] hypocrite - who does this? I can't believe she is married to the great David Foster, who comes across as Liberace's more flamboyant brother. She is also so insecure and "needs" friendship from these women - these women are not your friends, they are your cast members.

I like Lisa Rinna but she is clearly playing a role here. She plays it well, but I don't think it is the real Lisa Rinna. Eileen is interesting, she is more open than Lisa R. about who she really is, but I want to learn more - I feel like she has hardly been on.

Are the other RH shows as fake as this one?

Finally got around to watching it and for broadcast television, it was really good. Viola clearly stole the show but everything kept my interest.

The danger of such a show is that it collapses under its heavy mythology into a massive plot hole (there were quite a few minor ones in the pilot, but no deal breakers), but I'm more than happy to go for the ride for now.

I'm also not surprised this show got more eyeballs than Shonda's other shows - I gave up on Gray's 65 seasons ago and Scandal seemed too ABC (i.e. the romance couplings swamp out a decent story) for me to check out.

I totally forgot about this show! I enjoyed the first season, but I guess it wasn't very memorable for me lol

So Ian went off the rails because of Mickey? Fair enough but I was hoping for something more, given this is Shameless...

Those Lip and Fiona scenes were intense - I don't get how the emmys etc. can continue to ignore the acting performances on this show.

Caught up on last week's episode - I thought it was the best one yet.

Also that sex scene between the gigolo and Augustin's boyfriend - wow. Not surprised he dropped the camera

I don't think there was anything "generic Ken doll type" about Mike. He IS just too good for Fiona and his head case brother.

I'm not sure why you feel your latter statement negates the former.

I really love Joan Cusack/Sheila - it doesn't matter how irrelevant the character is to the other characters, the show wouldn't feel the same without her so I'm glad she is still there.

The actors playing Fiona and Lip probably gave their best performances yet in this episode. Powerful stuff.

thanks for the gesture but this board doesn't allow scans of recent articles

Up until now, I always saw Mike as a generic Ken doll type, but hot dang, he was oozing sex in those scenes.

This was the best episode for me thus far even though Richie rubs me the wrong way (he gives off the vibe of "you should feel priveleged that I have chosen to spend some time with you" but I'm probably the only one there...) and I think the actors only had ok chemistry. It was a great episode to get some insight into who Patrick is as a person - it definitely made me more sympathetic to his character. I loved that I could recognise most of the places they went to even though I have only visited SF once.

There is obviously a lot that we don't know about what happened to Ian in his time away and he doesn't want to talk about it either. I'm sure the show will fill the holes in how he went off the rails from the army to sparkles. Hopefully it makes sense.

Imagine if everyone had a great friend like Vee

The ending was great but I suppose it's asking for too much for Frank to be dead?

I'm still watching this. It's ok - I'm waiting for the show to flip the switch. The potential is definitely there for this to be great.

As for the comparisons to Girls - I think that is for 2 reasons:

1. The show is paired with it in scheduling and HBO does that with shows they deem similarish even if they are not, so that invites comparison.

2. Everything gets compared to Girls - critics are doing the same thing with Broad City which is nothing like Girls.

I like Girls alot, just not sure how it became a yardstick show. The comparisons to Girls has less to do with Looking and more to do with Girls.

Fair enough--and I largely agree with that.

My issue is two fold. He repeatedly said how he understood why many found Asylum (which worked for me, but I get it) too disturbing, Tim Minear was downgraded from showrunner, Murphy back in and he promised repeatedly how this season would be about fun and camp. That's fine, but while I think it's fair for a show like this to go into poor taste (as horror often does) and for shocks, but he also in his Ent Weekly weekly recaps stressed how important and powerful he thought his whole racism message was. So I do think he aims for more.

I haven't read any of his interviews, so can't comment too much because I may misinterpret what he said. I do agree with you that Asylum was the better season - it was the least camp of all the seasons, played up the darkness of the setting as a strength and an undercurrent of abandonment in all its forms was present in its tone.

My issue with that is then why was it the season Murphy decided to focus so much on slave torture and race issues? From the start he said he wanted this season to be lighter and more fun, but...

I'm not sure anything can be read into his using race issues and slave torture, other than it being a backdrop for "shocking" the audience. Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett were this season's Nazi and holocaust survivor. I don't think he was highlighting injustice or trying make a point/deliver a message. Is it poor taste? Definitely. Gratuitous? Oh yes. Offensive? That depends on the viewer. If one views it in a vaccuum, it's means nothing and should be taken as such. Just like everything else on this show, everything is resolved via death anyway (using horror licence as a justification) so what point could there be other than escapist nonsense? To try read anything deeper, is to give the show more credit than it deserves or it aims to be. It's all meaningless fluff and if one can accept that without being offended, it can be fun (but one may need a shower afterwards regardless...)

Lip's rough adjustment to college life SL is capturing my attention the most (maybe because my own adjustment from school to university was bumpy at first too).

Fiona frustrates me - it was so predictable that she would bone the brother.

Frank still doesn't generate any sympathy from me.

Sheila's DNF profile has me rotfl

Debbie's story is stupid.

I just watched the first 3 episodes back to back. There isn't much going on, it's more like a pastiche of gay characters.

Jonathan Groff's portrayal irks me though (could be the writing though). He is clearly meant to be insecure and type-A, but acting easy going to try compensate for that. Only Groff alternates between the two states rather than display the simultaneous farce. We've all met that person in real life a million times, so shouldn't be too much of a stretch to nail, but Groff fails at it. It's a shame because he did really great work on season 2 of Boss.

I think I like Murray Bartlett's character best. His fag hag is great too.

Russell Tovey is ick (I expect to be pelted with tomatoes for that comment)

Was the title based on the Stevie song? I always liked that song.

She performed the song in the opening scene as well.

I liked this season and the finale for what it is worth - escapist popcorn. In Season 1 and 2, virtually every character's storyline resolved through death - at least some got to live in this season!

I thought there was some substance to Season 2, but this felt more like season 1 in being less serious.

Only three episodes left before I can move on to the fourth season! The season premiere is free on Showtime's website, so hopefully I can view it before it goes off. Don't know where/how I'll see the rest of the season.

It's also on youtube. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet though.

I like this show for what it is - escapist fun. I learnt never to get invested in actual storylines because the only way 95% of the storylines get resolved is through death. One may argue it is the horror genre, so that is to be expected, but it also rather uncreative and dare I say lazy.

I loved season 2 but it was about 3 episodes too long. After Sister Mary Eunice died, the rest was just a really long epilogue.

A big difference this season for me thematically is that the setting is not a character. In season 1, we had death house and season 2 had Briarcliffe. Is season 3 meant to be New Orleans? That's too diluted to build a mythology around imo.