Faulkner

Saw a bit of Friday’s show. An absolute trainwreck. She looked completely out of it.

From Medellín, Colombia  
 

From Paris  
 

So many slutty Tiktoks set to this song:

From Hong Kong  
 

@DRW50 John Mulaney is hosting next week (with The Strokes as musical guest).

47 minutes ago, ChitHappens said:

May as well given Thiem a bye.

Given Kei’s recent level, I agree. In general, that’s a solid draw.

I haven’t seen Sabalenka in Ostrava, but to beat Jen Brady in straights on a hard court? Maybe she’s righting the ship? Of course, I didn’t see Jen’s level.

Pouille has COVID:

I think also, because they were rushed, the story climaxes of the past week didn’t feel that earned. As other people pointed out, it would have been more satisfying if other people around the Quad had found out about the affair and were wrestling with that knowledge over a few weeks at least. And we know that the Dina story didn’t have a proper conclusion due to COVID, but that’s simply unfortunate. Doesn’t change that the story could have packed more of a punch if they had a more thought-out lead-up. We have a very low bar for Y&R if we’re praising it for actually serving conflict and drama, when the three other shows have at least topped that bar on a more regular basis (even if the stories they’re telling aren’t actually that good).

The keeping it up is the thing. An ok week is fine, and the Abbott-focused episode on Monday was strong, but we’ve all been soap viewers long enough to know how fleeting these sparks can be. B&B had an “ok” week recently, and that went to sh!t. Hell, some people praised the hell out of JG’s early material in his current tenure, and we see where things have landed. There are a lot of fundamental issues with the show that need to be addressed. I get that they were under the gun to deal with ongoing ratings concerns, which may have contributed to the Quad infidelity story peaking so quickly to a well-acted yet less-than-satisfying reveal. (The show really hasn’t gotten me that invested in seeing what happens to Elena and Nate after all of this. Devon and Amanda, maybe somewhat, given the Devon/Hilary history.) But will they fix their pacing problems overall? Problems with character development? Those issues take longer to figure out, and perhaps there were encouraging signs this week. But I don’t fault viewers for being skeptical and a bit impatient.

Pretty interesting Vienna draw:

Adam Munson, ATWT. I’ve blocked out a lot of 2000s ATWT, but didn’t they have him turn into an insta-psycho who attacked Gwen and was “killed off” in a cover-up story similar to what Y&R later did with JT? Just not at all the character I remembered Craig Lawlor playing.

From Guangzhou, China  
 

Via Entertainment Tonight.