Great catch! Didn't notice, but the nod to similar vicious behavior definitely resonates.

Right! It feels like it's too horrible and tawdry to be true. But folks all knew she did it. She and Hedda really made those phone calls, and she actively campaigned against her and then celebrated it! That is some stone cold S#!t!! Like, Bancroft and Paige had to have realized that she used them to treat Davis like…

It's always easy to comment from the outside like Joan's well-meaning, but probably ignorant friends. They don't want to believe she was a monster to her kids. And there are times a wife won't know the husband is an abuser, so who can say for certain about the one around for part of the kid's lives?

Thank you! People want to remember her fondly because they want to watch her films without feeling bad. See Amy Schumer's hysterical defense of Bill Cosby on her show.

Children of abusive parents often have Incredibly complicated relationships with them, and I agree blaming the daughter for not going full on estrangement is as ignorant as it is cruel.

Yes, and I swear I read somewhere that a neighbor and an acquaintance of Joan's verified that Christina's tales of abuse were true.

Didn't some neighbors come forward and verify Christina's claims of abuse?

Yes yes yes!!!!

Joan was the Master of the back-handed, petty/catty "compliments" and comments this episode!

The best are the Australians. They inhabit our verbal habits so we'll there are some I forget are not American until I see them in an interview.
With Brits, they usually give themselves away with one or two words in a performance- I can always tell something is off.

Oh and how about the cheap shots ato G Paige too on the phone, sooooo nasty despite the fact that she is essentially calling for a favor!

Yes, yes yes! I didn't realize I had been holding my breath and holding in my stomach in so, so tightly until she breathed out and I did too as the tears began to roll down my face! Sarandon is a motherf-ing Baller for me after this episode!!!!

Not just reflecting on memories though. Teenage girls are Brutal as F…. People don't think girls can be as intense and mean as the often are. So while even Rick could be sentimental about Pencilvester, Summer went into girl-cut-throat mode fast!

Are you getting the 3rd season premiere episode, because when I went to the website at 10pm yesterday, it was at the end of the first season, I fell asleep halfway thru the second season waiting to see if they were gonna play it at the end of the second. Just went to the website now, and it's playing early first…

I was wondering if he was rolling the dice that Eleven could hold her own and protect the other boys since he had no other real choice and desperately needed time to get Will. Yes it was sooooo cold I felt a little betrayed by him. But the scenes of him with his daughter rather than feeling emotionally manipulative,…

First, thanks so so much for your committed and thorough recap-reviews! Even early on when I disagreed with some of your comments (and longed for you to give the show the benefit of the doubt), I could feel the love there!! Second, thanks for highlighting so effectively the running themes and ideas permeating the show…