Agreed that this episode showed Barrymore's growth into the part—and specifically into the marriage. It's not that she was ever bad, but she and Olyphant needed a few episodes to come together and be married. Here, with the body in the trunk, that happened. They clicked—the sotto-voce fight between Sheila and Joel was…

Film that, and we can finally dump that Watch What Happens Live bullshit and get the post-show-show we actually deserve.

I'm not sure if that's true or not, but the producers certainly wanted us to think that with their editing—all we were allowed to see of Judges Table during that season—and during last night's episode—was Padma going out of her way to rag on a chef who was clearly talented but also happened to be a conventionally…

I realized last night, as I was raging at the screen, why Sudden Death Quickfires are such bullshit:

Go. Hit or miss wanne-be Tarantino, but he's the best thing in it; I occasionally quote his rant on Family Circus.

Do you suppose the show will tackle the issue of whether it's racist for her to prefer to eat white people?

I adore Shirley*, but for a moment there I was convinced she was going to go home, because she played up big the narrative of "I'm inspired by the street food of my childhood" and then did not serve street food. Just…dude…Shirley, come on, you know better than that. If you say the name of a dish, you have to make that…

Overcomplicating things is the only joy I have in my life please don't take it away from me

The show's kind of sending mixed signals, with the whole "don't be too similar" message being contradicted by "Aly is the only other person who laughs at the Winston-in-a-bath episode." I know, I know, a shared sense of humor is not the same thing as being a clone—call back to Multiplicity!—so maybe it's a case of…

I'unno. I take your point about Katsuji being the bigger dickhole—that quick snippet of his bullying her as she went downstairs trying not to cry absolutely validates your argument—

So long as Emily is still on the show, the wrong chef went home.

You know, a couple weeks back on this very site I remarked as to how, when Fake Eleanor informed Chidi of her true (that is, "Fake") nature, he immediately went from being in The Good Place to The Bad Place.

While watching this show, as in reading the series, if you are ever prompted to ask "Why would [character] not realize that [incredibly obvious something or other]?", always remember the underlying message of Handler's writing (which he totally and wisely cribbed from Roald Dahl):

There is no way that this is not the case.

And then everyone's cassettes turn into Queen's Greatest Hits…

I was pretty down after Jim went home—Emily is obviously the Typhoid Mary of this season—if you stand next to her during elimination, you go down—

Except that the show doesn't just measure the immediate good caused by one's actions, but also includes the good that is the inevitable and/or cumulative result of those actions. Or, in the case of the license plate, the bad.

Part of the joy of watching this show is trying to figure out the rules behind the world—one of the most obvious being "What wins/loses you points?" Overall, there seems to be a pretty straightforward utilitarianism at play here ("Did you do good for someone other than yourself?"), but the definition of 'good' is what…

So, wait—you want less mayhem in an episode of Sunny?
Less mayhem. In an episode of Sunny.
You've changed, man—it's like I don't know who you are anymore.

My disappointment in this episode was this: