March 16, 2019 by Nadiya

Luke Perry: 1966 – 2019

Movies, TV Series
90210, Beverly Hills 90210, Luke Perry, Movies, Riverdale, TV Series
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When I was a child back in the early ’90s, it was all about Beverly Hills, 90210. There were board games, dolls, clothes; no matter where you went, someone was talking about the show. After my mother jumped on the 90210 train when I was in sixth grade, I decided to get on it myself, and I didn’t get off until I finished my freshman year of college in 2000. That was the year the original show went off the air (I didn’t bother with the reboot). From the time the show started until the time it ended, the character that everyone talked about the most was Dylan, played by none other than Luke Perry.

I started watching 90210 when the Dylan-Brenda-Kelly love triangle came to a head, resulting in Dylan choosing Kelly over his long-time love Brenda. It was a choice I never agreed with—even to this day—but nonetheless, Dylan still ended up being one of my favorite characters. He was definitely flawed (a struggling junkie/alcoholic), not to mention brooding, but he was also cute, charming, humble and had a big heart. It was easy to see why he was just about everyone’s favorite character. As a matter of fact, Dylan wasn’t an original member of the show. He was only meant to guest star on one episode, but he made such an impression, Dylan McKay became a permanent part of the series.

He left the show temporarily circa 1995 and came back again sometime around 1998, and his reappearance was all anyone talked about. When he returned, he stayed until the show’s end, and needless to say he stole all the scenes he was in. During and after Beverly Hills, 90210‘s run, I continued to be a fan of Luke Perry’s and I checked out more of his body of work such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the film, not the TV show), The Fifth Element (yes, he was in that movie…check out the first five minutes), Lifebreath (thanks to this film, I refuse to be an organ donor), Oz, The Simpsons, Indiscreet, and Windfall. I have to be honest, Windfall as a whole sucked, but I was really happy to see Luke Perry on TV again. Being even more honest, I was already watching Oz by the time Luke did his stint—I was hooked on that show from the first episode—but when I heard Luke would be guest starring on it, I was psyched. His character’s conclusion on Oz puzzled me for years. As time went on, I didn’t see as much of him, but I never forgot about him. Sadly, I didn’t even realize he played Archie’s father on Riverdale until after he had his stroke. Luke was still a young man, so I hoped he would make it through, but he didn’t.

I remember during a 90210 reunion show, Ian Ziering (the actor that played Steve Sanders) saying that deep down, Luke was a down-to-earth farm boy that loved his family and the simple things in life. I can tell from the outpouring of tweets and Instagram posts that have been released in the last few days that there was definitely truth to that statement. Luke, you will be sorely missed. Thanks so much for helping to shape my childhood.

Coy Luther Perry, III: October 11, 1966 – March 4, 2019

—Written by Nadiya

February 22, 2019 by Nadiya

Jussie Smollett: My Thoughts

Anyone that’s rocked with my blog from the beginning knows how much I love Empire, considering that the very first blog post I published was about the show. One of the things I loved about Empire is that it introduced me to Jussie Smollett aka Jamal Lyon. Jamal instantly became my favorite character on the show, and I looked forward to seeing him each week (still do, to be honest). So when I heard that Jussie was the victim of a hate crime in late Jan., I was horrified. I was especially horrified when I saw the threatening note that Jussie received before his attack:

NOTE: THE FOLLOWING IMAGE IS EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE. IT IS NOT INTENDED FOR WORK OR TO BE VIEWED AROUND CHILDREN.

We’ve all heard the story at this point: first Jussie received the hate letter, and sometime later, he was accosted by two men after leaving a Subway restaurant at 2:00 AM in Chicago. The men poured some type of chemical substance on Jussie that was believed to be bleach, wrapped a noose around his neck and before leaving they shouted, “This is MAGA country!” In all honesty, news of the attack brought me back to when Matthew Shepard was attacked by a gang of homophobic men back in 1998, and subsequently killed. That same day, I rushed to my blog and started writing about how my heart went going out to Jussie, and how I no longer recognized the world I lived in. However, in the midst of writing the article, something gave me pause, and it wasn’t just my aggravating ass sinuses. I decided to fall back for a few days.

When I first saw that picture of Jussie in the hospital, I noted that although his face appeared to be swollen, he only had one scratch under his eye. That was a minimal injury for a man that was attacked by two other men. In spite of that, I still continued to give Jussie the benefit of the doubt, thinking that he may have had other injuries that weren’t caught on camera. Then I saw other people—namely Trump supporters at this point—doubting the story, asking what the heck was Jussie doing out at 2:00 AM, and why would dudes wearing MAGA hats be waiting around in sub-zero temperatures with bleach and a noose? Although some of the other commentary they provided—which I’ll gladly omit from this post—irritated me, I had to admit to myself that they brought up some very valid points. Then, the police made it known that there was no video at all of the attack, despite the incident occurring in a well surveilled area. That started to cause the African-American and LGBTQ community to have doubts as well.

As the tide started to turn on Jussie, more and more inconsistencies began to come to light, such as Jussie initially refusing to turn over his phone records to the police, and then when he finally did, the information was redacted. Then there was the fact that he returned to his hotel room with the noose still wrapped around his neck and that the bleach that was poured on Jussie didn’t freeze, despite it being under 0ºF outside (according to multiple websites on Google, bleach freezes anywhere from 27ºF to 15ºF). I still tried to give Jussie the benefit of the doubt, remembering that he never did anything ratchet or had any real type of drama before all this, and there was no reason for him to create a lie about being assaulted.

Despite that fact, more and more people began to question Jussie’s word, and I was starting to have some doubts myself. There were just too many aspects of this case that weren’t adding up. On top of everything else, it was revealed that Jussie had a past brush with the law back in 2007. He was arrested for a DUI and claimed to be his brother—he even signed his brother’s name on the arrest warrant (R. Kelly, anyone?)! Then the ultimate happened. The actual assailants were arrested. It turns out they weren’t Caucasian racists that were all about making America great again. They were big, buff Nigerian brothers that knew Jussie personally. It turns out one of the brothers worked as an extra on Empire during the second season. To add insult to injury, the men freely admitted that Jussie hired them to attack him, paying them $3,500.00 each. When the cops raided their apartment, the evidence was damning, turning up ropes, bleach and ski masks. If that’s not bad enough, a surveillance video from a store was later brought to light, showing the brothers purchasing MAGA hats, ski masks and rope (I guess they decided not to wear the hats at the last minute).

After this last bit of news came to light, Jussie was indicted by a grand jury and officially made a suspect in his own “attack.” He surrendered himself to Chicago police and if found guilty, he could face up to 3 years in jail. Naturally, the internet found his doggone mugshot and posted it at the speed of damn light. He’s since posted his $10,000.00 bond.

This case makes me angry for many reasons. As I said previously, I wholeheartedly believed Jussie’s story at first. I mean, who would lie about being attacked? Even with the fact that the police weren’t contacted right away and his baffling story about a 2:00 AM Subway run, I still believed what he said could be true. To be honest, weirder things have happened. I hail from South Carolina, where Susan Smith drove her car into a lake to drown her two young children because…reasons. Oh yeah, and she tried to pin the blame on a black man before she was ultimately busted. When I was 12, I remember hearing the tale of Lorena Bobbit, who was so fed up with her husband’s abuse that she waited until the dead of night to slice his dick off. John Bobbit’s junk was later reattached. Just recently, in Jacksonville, FL, a man shot a woman he paid $5.00 and a can of Pringles to because the services he paid for weren’t up to his standards. Dude, you paid five bucks and a can of chips. So yeah, a man (a bachelor at that) going out late at night in colder than cold Chicago for food and getting attacked on the way back home isn’t that farfetched to me. A lot of other people didn’t think so either, seeing the outpouring of support Jussie received when the story first broke.

Now it’s come to light that this was all orchestrated. The letter was created to bring attention, and when it didn’t create the spark that was intended, Jussie allegedly decided to go bigger and better. Now all of us that were supporting him feel like damn fools. A good many Trump supporters have decided to come out of the woodwork to either holler out “See how the left is,” “I told you so,” or to swear up and down that the Make America Great Again slogan isn’t related to anything racist, and this whole thing was a conspiracy that was cooked up the evil, dirty ass Democrats.

What’s even worse is that now when a man or woman is attacked in this country for being black, gay, or both, when it’s reported the authorities and general public will look at it with a degree of skepticism, possibly going as far as to treat the real victim as a suspect.

I don’t know what the hell Jussie was thinking with this stunt. If he thought the cops were too stupid to figure out what he was doing, he was dead wrong. Creating this attack to gain attention worked, but now he’s getting attention he may not have wanted. His name has now pretty much become synonymous with “liar,” and he’s getting drug by his pretty hair by Black Twitter. Here’s just a few of the memes:

Fox released a statement saying that Jussie was not going to be written off Empire (a rumor was going around saying this attack was staged because Jussie was cut from the show), but the possibility of him being fired from the show later has increased, no doubt. Fox has already released a statement saying that he won’t be featured on the last two episodes of the season. If they cut Jamal from the show, I really don’t know if I’ll continue watching it, considering that he was always my favorite character. Hell, even if he’s not officially written off, he’ll have a mighty hard time filming the series if he’s convicted and ends up in prison. If Jussie gets off or ends up serving a lighter sentence like probation or community service, his career is dead in the water at this point anyway. People will never forgive him for this ruse, and if they—by some miracle—do, they damn sure won’t forget it.

Being completely honest, there’s still a small part of me that hopes that this is all a conspiracy and Jussie was telling the truth all along. If that were the case, I’d happily put my foot in mouth and retract my statement. But common sense and mounting evidence continue to refute that small hope. It’s just been reported that the police recovered text messages between Jussie and one of the brothers, and have an actual check for $3,500.00 in their possession. *Sigh*

I still love Jamal Lyon, and there’s a small part of me that still loves Jussie Smollett as well…but I have to give him a serious side eye for his shenanigans.

—Written by Nadiya

So what do y’all think about this whole Jussie Smollett situation? Do you think he’s innocent or guilty? Do you believe there’s enough evidence to convict him? Do you think this crime has serious repercussions for black and/or gay people? Are you still a fan of his after this? Will you tune into Empire when it returns to TV? Let me know in the comments section!

February 17, 2019 by Nadiya

“Man of Worth” – Recap and Overall Review

Okay, y’all…this review/recap is late as all hell, but it’s finally here. Let’s do the damn thing.

The first thing we see during the titles is some kids in a park circa the 1950’s or ‘60s, playing cowboys and Indians. A Native American man sitting on a bench reading a newspaper watches them for a few seconds, completely disgusted.

The show goes back to 1770 where Claire and Jamie—that’s right, Claire and Jamie, along with Young Ian—finally reach the doggone Mohawk camp. And it only took damn near seven months. Thank God for modern transportation. Anyway, when they enter the village, the Fraser/Murray family makes it known that they come in peace. Ian tries to converse with them, and he spots the hot guy he sold Roger to. Hot Mohawk Guy speaks English, so Ian approaches him and asks if they can possibly get Roger back. Hot Mohawk Guy takes them to his chief, who also speaks English and is more than willing to trade with Claire and Jamie. At first everything’s going smoothly, but the tribesmen spot the stone around Claire’s neck. Remember that stone Claire found near that human skull early on in the season? Turns out that stone really means something, and the chief tells them they have to leave. Claire offers the stone in exchange for Roger, but no soap. The chief refuses, saying they will not trade with the family.

The Fraser/Murray clan leaves and makes camp nearby, trying to figure out a way to get Roger back. While they’re settling down for the night, they’re ambushed by a few rogue Mohawk tribesmen. The woman leading the attack demands the stone. Claire offers to trade the stone for Roger. The woman refuses without a fight. Claire asks why the stone is so important to her and her people, and the woman sits down with the family and explains.

Long ago, there was a Mohawk named Otter Tooth that arrived from the future. He preached to the tribe that the Native American people will be near extinct and white people must die, before they kill the tribesmen. He would paint himself and dance war dances in front of a fire. Some people in the tribe followed his word and would scalp white people, bringing the scalps back to the village. The Mohawk became frightened, believing that Otter Tooth would cause soldiers to come to the village looking for vengeance, eventually bringing about the destruction of the tribe. The chief at the time banished Otter Tooth, but he kept returning, preaching to the tribe not to trust white folks. However, the Mohawk kept turning him away (sounds like almost the same story with the bear guy in the Cherokee tribe). After realizing that Otter Tooth refused to leave them alone, the Mohawk sentenced him to death. Otter Tooth escaped, but the tribe found him and executed him, cutting off his head, so they could no longer hear his warnings about Native American people being forgotten. After executing Otter Tooth, The Mohawk buried his head far away from the camp…but his warnings about how the Native Americans’ bleak future stayed in their minds.

If you know the true story of the man in this GIF, you know there’s all kinds of irony here.

The woman says that whoever has the stone is followed by Otter Tooth’s ghost, and that person has seen the true fate of the Native American people. Claire admits that Otter Tooth’s spirit visited her before, and she promises to give the others the stone if they help them break Roger out of the camp. About an hour or so later, while the tribesmen are having some type of celebration, the woman sneaks the Frasers in the village. Sure enough, just as Brianna predicted, Roger recoils the second he sees Jamie, but Claire calms him down, letting him know that Jamie is her husband, and they’re trying to get him back to Brianna.

Once they leave the hut, one of the guards sees them heading out. The woman pleads with the guard to let them leave, but he fires his rifle instead, alerting the others. Jamie fights the good fight, but they’re outnumbered and eventually get caught. The woman is banished from the tribe for her disloyalty, and the Frasers are forced to leave. Claire begs to have Roger come with them, but the chief refuses, saying there was no fair trade. Jamie tells Ian to ask the chief to have him offered instead. Ian goes to speak with the chief, and when they’re done, Ian tells Jamie to take Roger and go. He’s staying. Jamie is confused, and Ian explain that he offered himself, not his uncle. Ian makes Jamie swear not to return to get him and to leave him there. Claire and Jamie can’t bear leaving him, but they have to. They say goodbye, and Ian apologizes to Roger for what he did. With that, the Fraser clan tearfully leaves Ian at the camp. *Sob*

After the family leaves, it’s announced that Ian must run The Gauntlet. Ah, shit. The Soul Train Line from Hell.

Ian starts running “The Gauntlet,” but unlike a 20^th century historian that’s probably never really fought a day in his life, Ian knows how to fight off and dodge the tribesmen whuppin’ his butt, and he makes it to the other side of The Soul Train Line. The Mohawk happily adopt Ian as one of their own, and he’s overjoyed.

Brianna is back at River Run, speaking with Murtagh, who’s hiding out at the plantation for the time being. First he asks about Brianna’s engagement to Lord John (Murtagh and Jocasta had a little spat about that the day before), but Brianna assures him that it’s just a ruse that will continue until Roger returns. Murtagh then asks what in the heck she was doing at that jailhouse visiting Bonnet, and she tells him about how she decided to forgive Bonnet’s evil behind for what he did, like Jamie advised in his letter. She even says that forgiving Bonnet gave her some peace of mind. Murtagh asks Brianna if she will ever forgive her father, and she tells him that she already has. Before y’all give this heffa a standing ovation, keep reading.

Murtagh and Jocasta have a nightcap later, and they strike up a conversation about The Regulators. Murtagh tells Jocasta that with her influence in the community, she could do a lot to help people from being screwed over with high taxes. This leads to another heated argument where Jocasta accuses Murtagh of always wanting something, and admitting the “fact” that she never liked him. The argument ends with Jocasta throwing her drink in Murtagh’s face, and he appears to have a look on his face as if he has to restrain himself from laying hands on her. The scene cuts to the next day, and we see a glowing Jocasta staring serenely out of the window, with her hair down and a smile on her face. A familiar voice says, “Come back to bed,” and we see Murtagh in the bed, with his silver locks hanging down around his shoulders. Who didn’t see this coming?

Back at Nowhere, USA, Claire asks Jamie how Ian, Sr. and Jenny will take the news of their youngest son being a permanent member of the Mohawk. While Jamie is explaining that Ian has a wild and adventurous spirit, Roger lashes out and starts beating Jamie up! Claire tries to stop Roger from landing blows on her man, but Jamie insists that he get his anger and frustration out. Besides, he kind of deserves it…kind of. On one hand, Jamie did whup Roger’s ass. On the other hand, Jamie went through hell to get him back and had to sacrifice his nephew in the process. Roger wails on Jamie for about a minute and some change before he finally gets tired. Yeah, he’s real tough when the other person’s not fighting back. When Roger finally stops and tries to talk to Jamie, the latter explains that he didn’t even know who Roger was and whupped his behind due to a case of mistaken identity.

Roger asks why Jamie would beat the living snot out of him if he didn’t know who he was, and Claire tells him about Brianna’s assault and how Jamie mistook him for the rapist, who in fact was none other than Stephen Bonnet. Of course, Roger is horrified, given that he worked for Bonnet for sometime, and he admits that he left Brianna the night they were handfast. Jamie demands to know where Roger was when Brianna was assaulted. Roger sees fit to lay hands on Jamie again, and Jamie warns him that that’ll be the last unanswered blow. Roger, knowing personally how Jamie’s fistful of responses feel, backs his happy ass up and tells the Frasers about how Bonnet forced him to go to Philadelphia, which is why it took him so long to get back to Brianna. He also mentions how he found a Craigh Na Dun stone there in the states, and how he was planning on taking Brianna back to their time. Claire informs Roger of Brianna’s pregnancy, and that she’s stuck like Chuck for the time being; it’s not clear if a baby can pass through the stones. Claire also lets Roger know that the baby may possibly be Bonnet’s and not his. Roger says he needs time to think, and Jamie is about to get in his ass for that too, but Claire stops him. She reminds Jamie that if Roger needs time, he should take it, because this is their spoiled rotten daughter they’re talking about.

Back at River Run, Brianna gives birth to a healthy baby boy, before Claire and Jamie have a chance to get back in town. When the Frasers arrive at River Run two months or so later, Brianna looks for Roger, but he’s nowhere to be found. Oh yeah, and you know how Brianna claimed she forgave Jamie? Yeah, she doesn’t say two words to him when he returns. She doesn’t say two words to him for the rest of the show, actually. Oh, and she doesn’t even ask or care what happened to Ian. Man, this chick irks me.

Sometime later, Claire is thanking Jocasta for taking such good care of Brianna while they were gone, and she allows Jocasta to hold the baby, extending an olive branch. Now, a lot of folks had issues with this scene, and I can understand why. Claire held the baby, and so did Jocasta, but Jamie couldn’t hold his own grandson. Jamie never got to hold Faith or Brianna; if he did hold Willie, it may have only been for a short period of time, considering that he had to pose as the child’s personal butler and not freely admit that he was his father. Now Jamie can’t hold his doggone grandchild. Anyone else get the feeling that Jamie’s being treated like trash this season? The only crappy treatment Jamie received that was slightly understandable was the one-sided ass whuppin’ Roger gave him, and even that went on longer than it should have.

Brianna is clearly upset over Roger, but she pulls herself together enough to go on with life, and yadda-yadda-yadda. However, her depression is short lived, because guess who rides up a few days later? That’s right, Roger. Yay. After they embrace, declare their love for each other and all that good stuff, Roger tells Brianna that he wants to see his son. I liked that part.

Suddenly, Red Coats ride up to the house, and that’s never a good thing. Brianna automatically assumes they’re there for Murtagh, as does everyone else. Jocasta has her right hand house slave hide Murtagh in the slave quarters, because why would a self-respecting white man be in there? Also, I couldn’t help but notice that Jocasta went all out of her way to hide Murtagh, but when poor Rufus was being hunted with pitchforks and torches, she couldn’t wait to serve his rump up. I get that Murtagh’s her man now, but damn. Anyway, the Red Coats enter the house, and it turns out they’re there for Jamie. Thankfully, they’re not there to arrest him or anything like that; they just had to deliver a message from Gov. Tryon. What, the Pony Express hasn’t started yet? It took all that? Jamie reads the message, and reveals that he’s been ordered to lead an investigation into The Regulators. His first task is to bring the fugitive Murtagh Fitzgibbons into custody so he can die by the hangman’s noose. Dun-dun-dun!!!!!

Okay, y’all. This episode was really good. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, and the hour flew by so fast, that when the show cut to black I actually yelled, “That’s the end!?” I really liked that Claire and Jamie finally had some screen time on their own doggone show for the first time in about two or three episodes, but I hated that Ian had to separate himself from his family to get Roger back to Brianna. Then that brat Brianna didn’t even ask about Ian! Oooh, she works my nerve! Also, Brianna claims she forgives her father for what he did, but when he’s actually in front of her, she doesn’t say hi to him, doesn’t hug him, she doesn’t even ask him about the weather. Plus, she didn’t let him hold his grandbaby. WTH?

Uh…your daddy can’t read your mind, boo! Open your spoiled rotten mouth and talk to him! As for Jocasta and Murtagh, they make a cute couple, so I was amused to see them hook up. Maybe now she’ll lighten up a little. I could hope for her to have a bit more enlightenment when it comes to the enslavement of black people, but that’ll be like asking Donald Trump to give up the border wall.

Now onto my review of this season as a whole. Let me start by saying that Outlander hasn’t been the same since season one. The first season grabbed me from jump street and didn’t let go. The only episode that kind of dragged was “The Search,” where Claire sang an old Scottish folk song to the tune of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” over…and over…and over again (for those of y’all that don’t know, that’s why Murtagh whistled the song to Claire when they were reunited). To be honest, “The Search” was still interesting, despite the song grating my nerves after the first three times hearing it. However, the series has been a bit lacking since then. I still enjoy it, but it’s not as good as it once was. The problem with season four—as with seasons two and three—is that it starts off slow then picks up halfway through. A few weeks ago, Sam Heughan posted a clip from The Simpsons on his Twitter page where a judge mentions that Outlander really gets going eight episodes in. That’s not exactly a lie (it’s really five or six episodes in). The first few episodes drag, and as I said before, the first episodes from this season felt like something my US History teacher from my junior year in high school would have us watch…only the stuff she had us watch was much more engaging.

Also, I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. Another thing I hated about this season is that Claire and Jamie have basically become supporting characters in their own doggone story. Claire and Jamie are the ones that got me hooked on the show. I’m here for them, not Roger and Brianna. One of the good things about season three is that when Claire went back in time to reunite with Jamie, the show went back to being all about them. No more Brianna, no more Roger. As a result, the episodes were a lot more interesting and drama filled—good drama, not bratty tantrums. This go around, the writers provided Brianna and Roger with the most interesting storylines, even when Claire and Jamie were the central focus. I wish that focus and energy would be spent on the people we came to see in the first place instead. I don’t want Roger and Brianna’s story to be dull, but don’t trade in Claire and Jamie’s appealing plot points so their bratty ass daughter and future son-in-law can get their moment in the sun.

I was watching Roger and Brianna’s reunion clip on You Tube, and someone commented that if this is the route the show is going to take, the producers are in a world of trouble, because not too many people like Roger and Brianna. I have to agree with that assessment. Personally, I don’t have too much of a problem with Roger—his extreme marriage proposal faux pas aside—but that doggone Brianna…I don’t wanna have to deal with her any more than I have to. Just when she was starting to act like a doggone human being, she turned right around and reverted to the little monster we were introduced to in the season two finale. As I said before, I enjoyed the show more when Claire and Jamie were at the forefront where they belonged, and Roger and Brianna’s appearances were scarce. Let that demon child and her potential baby daddy be doggone supporting characters like Fergus and Marsali. Hell, I’d like more of Fergus and Marsali than Roger and Brianna. They make a better couple, in my opinion.

Last but not least, all the racism that the Frasers have to face this season left a bad taste in my mouth. Yes, I understand that this was the cultural norm for the 1700’s, and yes, I understand that it makes sense for Claire and Jamie to endure new hardships with new adventures. However, the constant racism against black people and Native Americans was infuriating, nonetheless. Hell, if I wanna see racism, I don’t have to look any further than the news or log on to Twitter. Shoot, sometimes all I have to do is walk into a store or go to an open house in a nice neighborhood. I remember when my purebred collie was still alive; people would see me walking her around town—namely the well off neighborhoods—and automatically assume I was a maid. Go figure.

Another thing that bugged me about this season was how blasé Brianna was when it came to slavery. Claire was the second coming of Harriet Beecher Stowe when she arrived at River Run. Brianna was more like Benedict Cumberbatch’s character from 12 Years a Slave; disagreeing with the practice of slavery to an extent and treating the slaves with respect, but completely apathetic to their plight. The sad part is that Brianna had a black roommate in the ’70s. Brianna probably can’t even face that child now, considering that she may have possibly took advantage of some of her ancestors. What’s even sadder is when Jamie and Claire did their part to help a slave last season, folks on the internet had a fit, calling them “white saviors” and accusing Outlander of being tone deaf when it came to race issues. On the flip side, when it comes to Brianna and her “it is what it is” attitude, I’ve heard nothing but radio silence. SMDH.

All in all, this season was aiight. There were some exciting episodes, but there wasn’t enough Claire and Jamie, and there was way too much Roger and Brianna. I got tired of hearing Native American people referred to as “savages” (I get that was a popular term in colonial times, but I don’t have to like it), and I got tired of seeing black people enslaved and the characters in the show just being cool with it. When Outlander gets going, it gets going, but I’m gonna need it to step up a little bit next year. I don’t want to give up on this series. We need more Claire and Jamie, y’all. More Claire and Jamie and less Roger and Brianna. And less racism. Go back to Scotland, y’all.

—Written by Nadiya

So what did you think about the season finale? What are your thoughts on this season as a whole? Did it have too much racism? Are you fine with how race relations are portrayed? Did you miss seeing Claire and Jamie on a regular basis? Do you believe that the show’s focus should shift towards Roger and Brianna? If Roger and Brianna do become the show’s main focus, will you still enjoy the series? What do you think about Ian becoming part of The Mohawk? What do you think about Otter Tooth’s warnings to his people? Do you like Jocasta and Murtagh as a couple? Let me know in the comments section!

February 16, 2019 by Nadiya

“Providence” – The Good and the Bad

Hey, y’all! I know y’all think I forgot about you, but I promise I didn’t. The truth of the matter is that thanks to this crazy weather we’ve been having, my sinuses have been kicking my natural black ass, and between that and some other issues (you ladies know about those), I’ve been too tired and doped up on Benadryl and/or pain meds to give y’all the recaps and reviews I promised a few weeks ago. Also, I had to take my mother to Charlotte, NC two weeks ago, so there’s that. By the way, if you’re thinking about investing in an IPhone, you may want to reconsider that choice after viewing the picture below.

This is what you’ll have to deal with when your IPhone/IPad malfunctions, and trust me, it will malfunction. Just sayin’. At least the people working there were sweet.

Anyway, like I said, I already promised you guys that I’d write a review for the “Providence” episode of Outlander, and I’m not the type of person to back out of my promises. However, in order to save some time and get to the nitty gritty (the finale), I’m just going to point my favorite and least favorite aspects of the episode. Y’all ready to get this party started or what?

The Cool Stuff

Brianna Admits One of Her Many Bratty Ways

Brianna decides that forgiveness is the best way to get over what happened to her, and to do that, she plans on going to Wilmington to visit Bonnet in jail. Lord John is against this, so to convince him, Brianna reads Jamie’s letter to her, explaining that vengeance is not the answer. After she finishes, she remarks that when Jamie left, she never told him goodbye. Well, duh! I’m just glad this brat actually acknowledges some of her bad behavior. I would say that maybe she’ll stop making the same mistakes when it comes to her loved ones and act like somebody towards her father, but like I said in the last review, I’m not expecting miracles from this chick.

Murtagh Gets Busted Out of Jail

After Murtagh gets busted along with ratchet ass Stephen Bonnet (which irks me…Murtagh is guilty of protesting ridiculous taxes, Bonnet is a murderer/rapist. Where’s the doggone justice?), Fergus vows to help him escape the noose (that’s right, the dang noose), and Marsali—who’s ride or die—agrees to help him. She even said that if Fergus hadn’t suggested it, she would have (can we trade Brianna for Marsali?). They also agree that they should take Jamie up on his offer and move to Fraser’s Ridge. Sometime later, Marsali parks the getaway wagon (which also doubles as a moving van) a few feet from the jailhouse, while Fergus meets with Murtagh’s men. After they bum rush the guards, they grab Murtagh out of the jail and escape, but not before blowing the doggone place up.

Brianna Visits No Good Bonnet

As previously mentioned, after Brianna reads Jamie letter explaining that forgiveness is the best route to take for her to move on with her life, she decides to visit Bonnet before his execution. Lord John takes Brianna to Wilmington a few days later to see him. Of course, Bonnet acts like a complete asshole (he didn’t even recognize Brianna at first. I guess he’s violated that many women in his lifetime) until Brianna tells him his alleged unborn child will never know anything about him. For the first time in his evil life, Bonnet does something selfless and gives Brianna a ruby to help feed the baby. By the way, all this goes down when—you guessed it—Murtagh’s being broken out of jail. Murtagh notices Brianna there and has some pretty harsh words for Lord John. Despite Lord John and Murtagh’s disdain for one another, when the authorities question Brianna and her “betrothed” about what they saw at the jail, Lord John says that he didn’t notice anything strange. Love that guy. Speaking of which…

Lord John Proves Once Again That He’s the Man

When Brianna arrives at Wilmington, she’s visibly nervous and tells Lord John that she misses her mother (not her dad, of course). Lord John tells her that both Brianna’s parents are doing their best to bring Roger back and to return to her. Brianna tells Lord John that he’s impossible not to like. Yes, we know. I remember when everyone wigged out when they learned Lord John was being introduced to the cast and I wondered what all the fuss was about. Now I know.

Wack Shit!

Jamie and Claire Make a Cameo on Their Own Damn Show

Good news is, we get to see Jamie and Claire in this episode. The bad news is, we see them for less than two minutes, and they’re not even speaking (technically). While Brianna is reading Jamie’s letter, we hear him giving the audience a voice over of the note’s contents, as we watch him, Claire and Ian trek across the wilderness, making their way to Roger. Booooo!

Brianna Tells No Good Bonnet About the Baby

I hated that Brianna told that evil ass Bonnet that she was pregnant. Now, I know what y’all are thinking, “Every man has the right to know about his child.” First off, the baby may not be Bonnet’s (I’m hoping that’s the case), secondly, Bonnet is a horrible human being that has absolutely no morals or values. Telling someone like him that he has a child in the world would probably only stroke his ego and cause him to do something horrendous…like kidnap the baby and raise it himself, which would help create another maladjusted human being. Y’all are probably also thinking: “Isn’t Bonnet about to be hanged, and wasn’t Bonnet still in the jailhouse when it exploded? Either way, he’s dead!” That brings me to my next point…

Bonnet’s Nefarious Ass Probably Escaped

When Fergus and the other men freed Murtagh from his cell, the keys fell out of the lock and dropped…right in front of Bonnet’s open cell (Lord…). Murtagh’s people made sure to get an unconscious guard out of the building before the explosion went off…but only the guard. They left Bonnet’s evil ass right there. However, it appears that Bonnet was able to stretch his foot his out to reach the keys right before the jailhouse blew up. Did he get out before the explosion or did he perish? I guess we’ll find out next season. That’s right, we didn’t get an update during the season finale.

Roger Considers Looking Out for #1 and Euthanizes a Poor Man

I didn’t forget about Roger, y’all! During Roger’s time in the Mohawk camp, he’s made a slave that’s basically named “Dogface” (no BS) due to him failing the test of going through the Soul Train Line from Hell. Dogface isn’t in the best shape thanks to being beat like a man that owed someone money, so the chief has him stay in a hut with another prisoner. The other poor soul is a priest that fell in love with one of the Mohawk women named Johiehon, who’s one of the few nice people in the tribe, to be honest. The priest tells Roger that when he came there to missionary to the Mohawk, they welcomed him with open arms, but after he broke his vows and refused to baptize the child he fathered with Johiehon as a result, he immediately ended up on their shit list. Roger tells the priest to go ahead and baptize the baby, given that the Mohawk know very little when it comes to the rules regarding the Catholic Church. The priest refuses, saying that even if they don’t know, he’d know, and he couldn’t live with taking his vows to God so lightly. The Mohawk give the priest another chance to baptist the baby, but he still refuses. This time, the tribesmen pull a Mr. Blonde and cut the man’s ear off. On top of that, they sentence the priest to die by literally holding his feet to a fire. Even though only his feet will be burned, he’ll die a slow and painful death either by shock or infection.

Roger deems the priest a moron and regales his sad tale of crossing an ocean (he left out the time travel part) to be with the woman he loves, just to get his ass beaten to a bloody pulp by her dad (yep, he pieced together that Jamie is Brianna’s dad!). Roger goes on to tell him that he stumbled across a way to get back home, but he purposefully didn’t take it because of love, and that the priest needs to take on Roger’s newfound philosophy: invest in self-preservation and bump everyone else. Turn your back on love. I have to be honest, it hurt to see Roger talk that way, but after all he’s been through, I can definitely understand why. The priest and Roger try to dig their way out of the hut after the “look out for #1 speech,” but when daylight comes and they see they’ve only made a hole that’s hardly big enough for my 6 lb. cat to squeeze through, the priest decides to accept his fate.

The tribesmen drag the priest off and Roger escapes before the execution gets underway. However, Roger’s “the hell with everyone else” mantra soon dies once he hears the priest’s screams of agony. Roger rushes back to the camp and throws a barrel of alcohol on the fire, setting the priest completely ablaze and putting him out of his misery. Sadly enough, Johiehon is so distraught over the loss of her man that she gives her baby boy a kiss goodbye and joins the priest in the fire. 😭😭

—Written by Nadiya

I know it’s been a while, but what were you favorite and least favorite things about “Providence”? Let me know in the comments section!

January 27, 2019January 27, 2019 by Nadiya

“If Not For Hope” – Recap and Review

No rant today. Just my usual recap. Let’s go!

This ep starts off with Roger in the shower. For a quick second, I figured that he actually did say, “Fuck Brianna,” and decided to go back to a time period that was a tad less violent. However, the hot Mohawk guy shows up in the mirror behind Roger, and we see that he basically just had a hallucination.

Over at massa’s plantation aka River Run, Brianna—who’s now beginning to show her bun in the oven—is sitting in one of the meeting rooms drawing dark and disturbing images. Lizzie sees her drawings and believes she’s possessed, but Brianna assures her that’s not the case. Lizzie starts to blame herself for everything that’s happened, and begs forgiveness. Surprisingly, Brianna forgives her and tells her that what she did was just an honest mistake, which it was, although it caused a ton of trouble. Lizzie goes to walk out the room, but turns back and asks if Brianna will ever forgive Jamie. Of course, Brianna can’t forgive Jamie because of what he said, despite the fact that he apologized the second he said it. *Sigh* So Lizzie can be forgiven, but not your father?

In our favorite place, Nowhere, USA, Jamie is searching for Roger with Claire and Ian. To say that there’s tension between the Frasers is an understatement. They’re barely talking, unless it’s to discuss the situation with Roger. Jamie asks Claire if she knows anything about the Mohawk. Claire says that she only knows what she’s seen in movies, and with films, it’s hard to tell fact from fiction (the constant debate regarding Bohemian Rhapsody is proof of that). Jamie remarks that if you don’t have both sides of the story, it is hard to tell what’s made up and what’s real. Claire catches the subtle shade. Jamie goes on to say if anyone made a movie about him, he’d probably be portrayed as a vicious brute. Claire says that’s one side of the story. *Sigh*

Ian tries to get the Cherokee to lead them to the Mohawk tribe, but they refuse, as they have no business up there with them. Since Ian knows a little bit of the Mohawk language and the man he sold Roger to speaks English, they decide to go on without a guide. When the family stops to make camp, Ian asks Claire to try to patch things up with Jamie. Claire claims she’s not mad at Jamie, but she’s worried about Brianna and she’s upset about the situation. Ian tells Claire that he hates to see the both of them suffering so much.

In Wilmington, Fergus is looking for Bonnet and a job, and having no luck in either case. When he gets back home, Murtagh is there, speaking with another regulator. Marsali isn’t very comfortable with Murtagh being there—to say the least—and she’s especially not comfortable with the tasks he’s assigned Fergus with. Fergus reminds Marsali that Murtagh would do the same for him if he had the chance. As for being refused work every five minutes, it’s starting to make Fergus feel like half a man. He remarks that Jamie doesn’t treat him as if he’s disabled, but the folks in town act like he’s a useless cripple since he only has one hand. Later that night, Marsali wakes Murtagh up (and the way she wakes him up is doggone hilarious), and asks him to please allow Fergus to join the Regulators. Even though what they’re doing is dangerous, and Fergus could possibly be killed, Marsali wants Fergus to feel like a man again. She either wants a full man, or none at all.

At River Run, Jocasta’s planned a dinner in a few days and she makes arrangements to have Phaedra (the house slave) fit Brianna for a new dress, since she’s the guest of honor. However, Brianna turns down Phaedra’s assistance. It’s not because Phaedra is working for free against her will (much like the federal workers before the shutdown finally ended), but it’s due to the fact that Brianna isn’t in the mood for partying. Brianna opts to draw a picture of Phaedra instead, given that’s she a beautiful girl. Anyway, Jocasta later speaks with Brianna and tells her that being around other people will be good for her. Besides, she already had Phaedra alter one of her old dresses, since Brianna refused to have a new one made. Brianna says that she’s happier being by herself drawing. Jocasta regales her with a story about how her sister (Jamie’s mother and Brianna’s grandmother) married way past her “prime,” but when she did, she married for love. The story makes Brianna feel a bit better, and she agrees that being around other people may make things easier. With that, Jocasta tells her to get her pregnant ass upstairs and try her dress on.

The night of the party comes, and Ms. Brianna looks stunning in her retro fitted dress. All the fellas think so too, because the minute Brianna comes downstairs, they’re all staring at her with drool leaking from their open mouths. I wish I had a bucket of water for their thirsty asses.

It’s not lost on Brianna that the majority of the guests at that party are men—single men. The few women that are there are either the men’s mothers or sisters. What really irked me though, is when the guests inquire Brianna about her hobbies and interests, she mentions that she likes to draw and that she finished a picture of Phaedra just the other day. Of course, Ms. Forbes, one of the guests, assumes that she drew a picture of Phaedra from Greek mythology. That damn Jocasta even went along with that lie. Another guest, Judge Alderdyce, correctly guesses that she’s talking about Phaedra the house slave. The first thing out Judge Alderdyce’s mother’s mouth was, “Why ever would you want to draw a picture of that?” That? That!? THAT!?

Brianna actually looked appalled and the thirsty men continued to be thirsty. However, their thirst turned to disappointment when the last guest arrived…Lord John Grey.

Back at Fergus’s place, Murtagh asks him to join The Regulators. Although Fergus is more than happy that Murtagh even considered him to fight by his side, Fergus rejects the offer, telling him that his place is with Marsali and Germain. Marsali is in the next room listening in, and when she hears Fergus’s answer, she’s delighted. Yes, she wanted Murtagh to allow Fergus to be a Regulator, but hearing Fergus say that he’s more of a man being near his wife and child gives her reassurance that he is still a whole man, and that he’s happy with his family regardless. She tries to hold in her joy when she enters the room they’re in and announces that the ship they were looking for just arrived at port. Bonnet’s ship. Before Fergus and Murtagh leave, Marsali stops the latter to say thank you. Someone on social media mentioned that Marsali is so much more mature than her mother. I wholeheartedly agree.

Back at River Run, the thirst continues to be real. Brianna suggests they all play a psychological game she learned a while back, and of course, the men jump at the chance. She tells them all to close their eyes and imagine they’re in a secluded forest with one other person and an animal, and she’ll tell them what the person and animal represent. After they’ve all done the exercise, Brianna asks Judge Alderdyce what he saw. The judge says he was walking with Christ and saw a squirrel that continually pops up in his mother’s garden. Brianna deduces that the judge feels the need to confess something and he’s keeping a secret from his mother. The judge’s mother is quick to say that she and her son have no secrets. Right. Let me tell y’all something…my mom is my best friend, but she doesn’t know every little detail about me. Let’s just be real.

Judge Alderdyce excuses himself for a moment, and Brianna asks Lord John what he saw. Lord John says that he saw Jamie.

Brianna wonders aloud why Jamie is the person Lord John imagined he’d be with, and he tells her that Jamie personally asked him to check on her. When Brianna asks why, John answers that Jamie only told him that Brianna would soon be embarking on a long journey. Brianna inquires if Jamie gave any other details, and Lord John tries to put her mind at ease by telling her Jamie would not divulge any personal info of hers unless she wanted him to. John adds that Jamie is an honorable man, and Brianna quickly retorts, “Don’t talk to me about my father’s honor!” Brianna is such a damn brat. If these men knew I what I know, they’d run.

Brianna tries to excuse herself for a moment, but faints. Lord John sees to her and helps her to another room. Lizzie comes in genuinely concerned, but unfortunately spills the beans about Brianna’s pregnancy. Naturally, Lord John doesn’t pass any judgement, and Brianna tells the tale of how she and Roger were handfast, hooked up, and how he was sold to the Mohawk. John then gives Brianna a letter Jamie wanted her to read. Of course, Brianna doesn’t read it. Jocasta comes in to see about Brianna, and once they have some time alone, she asks if the party was a setup. Jocasta admits it was (shocking!), and she tells Brianna that she has to get married soon, now that she has a baby on the way. Brianna insists that she get married for love like her grandmother did, but Jocasta tells her that if doesn’t make a move soon, the baby will be born a fatherless bastard. It’s one thing to be born out of wedlock in 2019, or even 1981 (me!) or 1971, but in 1769? That’s a no-no.

At a tavern in Wilmington, Fergus, Murtagh and a few more of the Regulators spy on Bonnet’s ship mates. After a few moments, guess who comes boppin’ up? Stephen Doggone Bonnet himself, getting victim #2 ready. Bonnet heads upstairs at to undo his fly and get ready for the deed, but before he can, Murtagh appears with his gun drawn. Bonnet swears up and down Murtagh has the wrong room, and my boy gives him the perfect response, “Yes. I’m looking for a gentleman. You’re no gentleman.” Then he knocks the hell out of Bonnet’s evil ass. I love it.

Murtagh and Fergus are about to load Bonnet’s nasty ass in the wagon to take him away, but the authorities notice them. Murtagh tells Fergus to get back to his family and punches him in the stomach to make it look like he was assaulting him. When the cops arrive, they recognize Murtagh from his wanted posters. Murtagh makes sure they realize he has Stephen Bonnet, a wanted murderer. The cops take both of them away. Dammit.

Later that night, at River Run, Brianna is up wondering if she should read Jamie’s letter or not, and true to form, she decides not to. She gets up to get something to eat and/or drink and hears the sound of panting coming from another room. She walks into the direction the noise is coming from, and guess what she sees! It’s Lord John and Judge Alderdyce gettin’ their freak on!!

I figured that when Brianna mentioned that Judge Alderdyce had a secret his mother didn’t know, him being gay was the hidden truth. Once Brianna notices the two men having some private time, she runs back to her room. The next morning, Phaedra happily wakes Brianna up to let her know that Mr. Forbes (one of the suitors) has staked his claim to Brianna and he’s already asked Jocasta for her blessing. Naturally, Jocasta has no problem with it. Brianna tells Phaedra to let Jocasta know that she went out for her morning walk and will be back. She also tells Lizzie to have Lord John meet her outside. Once she and Lord John are on the grounds alone together, she asks Lord John to marry her.

Lord John refuses, and Brianna—whose audacity knows no bounds—-threatens to tell other people about what she saw the night before. She even throws Jamie’s name in the mix, threatening to tell him what she knows and Lord John easily calls her bluff, telling her that Jamie and Claire are already well aware of his alternative lifestyle. After more threats and harsh words (one of which sounded like a veiled threat of marital rape if Brianna did force Lord John’s hand), Brianna and Lord John calm down and begin to speak to each other like civilized adults with some home training. Brianna admits that she really wouldn’t have said anything, and in turn, Lord John admits that although he sees Jamie when he closes his eyes, he sees Claire as well, and the love they have for each other. With tears in her eyes, Brianna confesses that she was raped and isn’t 100% sure who the father of her child is. If and when Roger comes back, he may not want to be with her anymore. Brianna doesn’t want to marry Mr. Forbes, but she will for the sake of her baby, since it looks like she no longer has a choice in the matter.

Brianna comes back to the house, and is all ready to give Mr. Forbes an answer. However, Lord John enters and announces that he and Brianna are engaged. Mr. Forbes leaves the house, clearly disappointed, but Jocasta is overjoyed. It may not be the man she wanted for her grandniece, but it’s a man nonetheless. Later, Brianna and Lord John are talking while on the porch. Brianna admits that in this world, she’s said and done things she never thought she would or could. Lord John tells her that sometimes people do bad things for a good reason, and that Jamie may know something about that. Slipping back into brat mode, Brianna doesn’t wanna hear that, and says that she’s not sure what’s worse: dwelling on the past or facing the future. Lord John then tells Brianna about William, and how much he loves him, even though he’s not biologically his. Oooh, I bet this child’ll have a shit fit when she finds out who William’s father really is. Anyway, Lord John assures Brianna that Roger will love the baby no matter what. It’s only then that Brianna finally does the mature thing and reads Jamie’s letter.

Back in the Neverending Forest, Rollo approaches Ian with a big ass bone. Ian is eventually able to pry the bone from Rollo’s mouth, and when Claire examines it, she states the obvious…it’s human. Hell, I honestly believe it was a femur, also known as a thigh bone, for those of y’all that cut anatomy class. Rollo leads them to the body where the bone was found and Ian recognizes him as the man that was already captured by the Mohawk when he sold Roger to them. They go off in different directions and search for Roger’s body, but they don’t find anything. They end up giving the man a proper burial, and when Ian states that he feels so bad for him, Jamie says, “Well, one thing…he was someone’s son.”

Claire—like her bratty daughter—finally has the power to forgive Jamie. She enters his tent later and apologizes for not telling him the truth about Brianna’s attacker. She goes on to say that after Frank died, Brianna and Claire kept secrets just to themselves, which is why she didn’t tell Jamie what was going on. Jamie tells Claire that Brianna doesn’t need him, and that he can’t be a father to her. After all, Brianna said that Frank would never say the things Jamie said to her. Jamie goes on to say that he’s jealous of Frank because Brianna thinks he’s a better man. He even says that he was starting to think that Claire saw Frank as a better man, too. Claire comforts him by telling him that Brianna says things out of anger just like he does, and that Frank was far from perfect. They embrace and y’all can guess what happened next. This scene made me cry. I hate seeing Jamie so miserable.

Somewhere in upstate New York (let’s say Syracuse!), Roger finally arrives at The Mohawk encampment. The second he arrives, the men untie him and form a Soul Train line where they actually take turns beating him. Seriously. Even I can’t make this shit up. And that’s the end.

This episode was enjoyable, but I can’t help but notice that Jamie and Claire are being pushed further and further into the background whereas Brianna and Roger are being brought into the forefront. For the last few weeks—including the following episode, which I will review soon—we’ve seen Brianna and Roger have the most screen time as well as the most interesting storylines. Outlander is supposed to be Claire and Jamie’s story. I miss the plot centering around them. This season, they’ve become supporting characters in their own doggone show! As for Ms. Brianna, she showed a bit of improvement, but she’s still not on my good side as of yet. That won’t happen until she actually faces her father, and tells him, “I forgive you, and I’m sorry for the hurtful things I said.” I would add that she needs to call him “Da,” as he asked, but at this point, we can’t expect miracles. Even if she does that, I still have to give her the side eye for being so complacent with having slaves wait on her hand and foot. I’ll give her a point for being offended when Jude Alderdyce’s clueless mama referred to Phaedra as “that,” but that’s all I can give her credit for. Hell, Brianna’s even gotten comfortable with ordering Lizzie around at this point. As for Roger, I really feel bad for the poor man. This trip back in time has been pure hell on him! The 18th century truly blows!

Despite my feelings regarding Roger and Brianna being the main focus of the series as of late, I did like this episode. The party had me in stitches, considering that Jocasta brought together some of the most least desirable men in North Carolina to ask for Brianna’s hand in marriage. What really had me rollin’ was that the oldest, least attractive one was the thirstiest of them all (Lieutenant Wolf, in case you’re wondering). Ain’t nobody comin’ to see you, Otis!

It was good to see Lord John again, and aside from that uncharacteristic threat he gave Brianna, he further proved why he’s such a beloved addition to the Outlander arc. Ironically enough, he was the only handsome “suitor” invited to the party (even the writers touched on this), but we all know he wasn’t interested for a multitude of reasons. I’m glad that Claire and Jamie made up. It’s just a shame that they had all of 15 minutes of screen time. Sadly enough, they got even less screen time in the next ep. More on that later.

I apologize for being late posting these again. All last week and most of this week, I was under the weather, so I didn’t write as much as I wanted. I’m going to crank out this next episode recap/review as quickly as I can, as well as the season finale. That’s right, we’ll soon face the season known as “Droughtlander.” If that means a break from Brianna though, I’m all for it.

—Written by Nadiya

So what did y’all think about “If Not For Hope”? Do you think Brianna is still being a brat? Did you ever feel like she was being bratty? Did you think she was okay with having the slaves wait on her at Jocasta’s house? Do you feel bad for Roger’s plight? Do you think he’ll still accept the baby if it isn’t is? What do you think about Jamie and Claire no longer being the central characters this season? Do you miss seeing them, or are you okay with Brianna and Roger taking the spotlight? Let me know in the comments section!

January 12, 2019 by Nadiya

“The Heart’s Deep Core” – Recap and Rant

That’s right…this is one of those posts. Buckle up.

Picking up where we left off last week, Jamie finds Brianna in the yard, and she notices his hand is bandaged. When she asks what happened, Jamie shrugs it off and confesses that Claire told him what happened to her. Jamie offers an invitation for Brianna to join him for a walk, and while they’re together, Jamie tells Brianna that she’ll have to get married soon. Brianna says that she only loves Roger, although she doubts he’ll want her after all is said and done. Jamie sweetly tells her that if Roger is worth his salt, he will still want her, and if not, he doesn’t deserve her in the first place.

Brianna goes on to blame herself for what happened, and no matter how hard Jamie tries to tell her that the rape wasn’t her fault, she refuses to listen. True, victims of sexual assault usually blame themselves, but this is also a symptom of Brianna’s big mouth, her having an answer for everything, and her thinking she knows everything. Yeah, I’m a bit pissed at Brianna right now. You may have gathered as much from the main photo. I’ll explain. Read on.

When Jamie sees that Brianna won’t listen to good old fashioned reason, he decides to use some faux slut shaming that even had me fooled at first. Brianna tries to slap him (the one time that I actually justified it in this episode), but Jamie sees the blow coming a mile away, grabs her arm and puts her in a headlock. Jamie tells her that if he wanted to, he could snap her neck, and asks if there’s any way she can fight him off. Brianna has to admit that she can’t, and Jamie asks, “Well, how do you think you could’ve fought him?” Brianna sees Jamie’s point, and she reveals that she knows about what he went through with Black Jack in Wentworth Prison. She also asks him what he wanted to gain from killing Jack Randall. Jamie says he wanted to regain his honor. Brianna admits she wants to kill Bonnet, but Jamie reminds her that she’s never killed a human being before. Brianna says that she feels like if she kills him, she’ll forget. Jamie tells her that unfortunately, she’ll never forget, but eventually, she’ll heal.

Somewhere far away, Roger is held captive by the Mohawk tribe alongside a nameless man that’s a bit worse for wear. Roger isn’t in much better shape than the other hostage, considering that he looks like Martin after he went toe to toe with Tommy “Hit Man” Hearns, but he’s still alive, thank God.

Roger, who’s a very smart and resourceful young man, is making sure to take note of the landmarks around him, keep track of the days of the week and the direction they’re traveling in. That way, he can make his way back when he escapes, which he informs his fellow captive he will most definitely do.

Later, Claire and Brianna get together one night to discuss her options. Claire tells her that if she decides to have an abortion, it’ll have to be surgical, since there’s no Plan B herbs she can give her. She goes on to remind Brianna that if she takes the surgical route, it’s gonna be painful and risky. No, really?

However, if Brianna wants to keep the baby, she’s gonna have to go back through the stones soon. There’s no guarantee she and the baby can go back through the stones together, or there’s the possibility that Brianna ends up in one time period and the baby goes to another. The abortion will also have to be soon, if that’s what Brianna wants. Brianna makes peace with the fact that she’ll have to decide something quick, and hugs her mother.

Brianna spends the next few days enjoying her family. During this time, she finds out that Ian has a little crush on her (gross…Brianna is quick to tell Jamie that in her time, we don’t date our doggone cousins, but nonetheless, she enjoys having a cousin), has more warm family dinners and a conversation with Claire about what they miss most about the future. They mention hamburgers, aspirin and listening to music whenever you want to, which I can totally relate to, but then they mentioned the main thing I would’ve missed if were them…toilets. We can add maxi pads, toilet tissue and running water to that mix.

Then it all goes to hell.

Brianna has a dream that Roger has come back for her, and she tells him that she’s pregnant, but she doesn’t know if he’s the father. The dream quickly becomes a nightmare when Roger becomes Bonnet, who immediately tries to violate her again. Lizzie wakes Brianna up and tries to put her mind at ease by telling her that the man will never hurt her again. Jamie whupped the dude’s ass, and he’s not coming back. Brianna asks how Lizzie knows what “the man” looks like, and even though they don’t show her confessing that she fingered the wrong person, we all know the real deal.

Now we’ve come to the part where Brianna starts pissin’ me off. While the family’s having breakfast, Brianna comes in and asks where Roger is. Of course, Jamie and Claire are confused, considering that they were under the assumption that Roger traveled back to Scotland and returned to 1971. Brianna tells them that Lizzie let the cat out of the bag and that it was Roger that got his ass beat. By the way, I noticed that Brianna called Jamie by his name when she mentioned the beating, and not “Da,” and continues using his name for the rest of the episode. Jamie honestly tells them that he didn’t know it was Roger and if he ravished her like she said, he needed a good beating. Brianna blurts out that she was handfast to Roger and she wanted to have sex with him. After Jamie hears that, he jumps to the conclusion that Brianna lied about everything after she found out that she got pregnant. True, this isn’t Jamie’s finest moment, but I see how he figured that was the case considering that a) getting pregnant out of wedlock was a serious taboo back in the 1700’s, b) Brianna never mentioned that she lost her virginity and got raped in the same night and c) Brianna purposely failed to mention that the real rapist was Stephen Bonnet. With that being said, Brianna gets in her feelings and builds up enough gall to slap her father, and this time, she succeeds.

This is when Brianna finally comes out and says that she was raped, but it was by a different man. Jamie immediately apologizes for what he said, but Brianna isn’t big on forgiveness, which is ironic seeing how doggone bratty she is. Jamie gives his word as her father that he’ll make things right and find Roger, but Brianna has to rub more salt in the wound and say that her father would’ve never spoken to her the way he just did (meaning Frank), and Jamie’s nothing but a savage. Ugh. Ian asks who the real rapist was, and that’s when Claire reveals the real Lallybroch ring, proving the assailant was Bonnet. ‘Bout damn time. Only problem is it’s too little, too late. When Brianna demands to know where Roger is, Ian says that he sold him to the Mohawk tribe. Brianna, who feels the need to put her hands on everyone, delivers a slap to Ian this time, which causes his nose to bleed. Lizzie apologizes for fingering the wrong man, and Brianna curtly answers, “You should be.” Yes, it’s mostly Lizzie’s fault this clusterfuck happened, but it’s always irked me when people say “I’m sorry,” and “you should be” is the answer they get, especially if the person giving that answer has a questionable personality their damn self.

Jamie sees red and knocks a chair over, and that’s when Brianna has the nerve to holler out, “No! No! You do not get to be more angry than me!”

Okay…so Jamie finally gets to see his estranged daughter after 20 some odd years, and finds out she was raped by none other than the man that he helped escape the noose, who also later robbed his wife and killed one of his closest friends. To insult to injury, he beat up the wrong man thinking he was the rapist because Lizzie misidentified him, but it turns out that the poor dude was Jamie’s son-in-law and the potential father of Jamie’s unborn grandchild, just trying to get back to his woman. On top of all that, this mishap has caused the relationship Jamie has with his daughter to sour before it really even starts. Yeah, Jamie absolutely has no right to be as mad as Brianna. *sarcasm* And to think, the folks behind the scenes thought that line was gold. Brianna asks how they can possible get Roger back, and Claire informs her that the Mohawk reside in upstate New York. That’s a 400 mile distance from Fraser’s Ridge.

Meanwhile, in Nowhere, USA, Roger is still on the road with the tribe. The poor dude that was also sold to them died, and seeing how the dead body is no longer profitable to anyone, the Mohawk literally drag him away. Before forcing Roger to keep up behind their horses, they make sure to mention that they’re going to ride even faster than they did yesterday. Damn.

That night, Ian explains that he received a necklace after delivering Roger to the Mohawk. Of course, Brianna the Brat has to throw in the fact that it was his price for allowing them to take Roger. Uh…he thought he was a rapist. Not condoning slavery and/or kidnapping at all, but in the same vein, I can see why Ian wouldn’t have too much sympathy for someone that sexually assaulted his family…considering that he himself was sexually assaulted. Anyway, Ian goes on to explain that he can use the necklace to bring Roger back. Jamie promises to trade all he has to get Roger, but of course, Brianna doesn’t want the two of them to go, considering all the damage they’ve done. Blah, blah, blah. Claire pulls Brianna aside and asks her what she wants to do, given her situation. Brianna says she’s decided to keep the baby, given there’s a 50/50 chance it’s Roger’s. Even if the baby’s not Roger’s, she’ll still love it regardless. That’s really sweet. I’m still not liking you right now though, Bratty Brianna.

Claire tells her that she’ll be there for her through everything, but Brianna tells her mom that she’s not going to be there, because she needs her to go with Jamie and Ian. Claire insists on staying with Brianna, but Brianna the Brat hollers out, “After everything those two have done, can you look me in the face and tell me you trust their judgement?”

Claire still refuses to leave her spoiled ass child alone—with good reason—but Brianna says that if Roger sees Jamie and Ian coming for him, he won’t see them as rescuers, but as people that want to harm him again. I have to admit, that makes a lot of sense, and although Claire seems to agree, she still doesn’t want to leave Brianna by herself, regardless of Lizzie being there. Jamie suggests taking her to Jocasta’s plantation. Murtagh offers to take her there so they can save time, and Brianna agrees. She then goes on to tell everyone that they’re all going and they’re going to bring Roger back to her. Before she walks off, Jamie tells Claire he had no way of knowing it was really Roger he whupped, considering that he was told the young man went back to his time. Also, he brings up the extremely good point of Claire knowing who hurt Brianna, but not saying anything to him. Claire reminds him that he told her that he hit a tree, and Jamie reminds her that she said that, he just didn’t correct her. Semantics. Claire storms off, apparently on a bit of high horse herself. Before y’all think that I’m making Jamie and Ian exempt from any blame, I’m not. They both did wrong. However, it’s not all on Jamie and Ian. Everyone has plenty of responsibility for this mess, Claire and Brianna included.

Now, you’d think with this foolery going on, we’d stop with the secrets and lies. Oh, no. Jamie asks Murtagh to find Stephen Bonnet on the low after he drops Brianna off. He wants Bonnet delivered to him in secret. Y’all can pretty much guess why Jamie wants him. Stephen Bonnet robbed the woman Jamie loves and raped his daughter, not to mention he brutally murdered a good friend of his. He gon’ have to die.

Once again, I understand the motive, but we really need to stop with all the damn secrecy.

That next morning, Brianna says goodbye to Claire…and only Claire. Ian offers his hand to Brianna in marriage in an attempt to fix the situation he had a part in (and I’m sure the fact that he has a bit of crush on her—for whatever reason—played a hand in the proposal as well), but Jamie tells him to get off his doggone knee. Jamie promises to bring Roger back, and Brianna coldly tells him that she’ll hold him to that. *Sigh* What, you couldn’t even wave goodbye to your dad? I mean damn, he’s doing all he can to make up for what he did! They all ride off, and in a few hours, Murtagh, Lizzie and Brianna arrive at River Run. Brianna doesn’t seem to mind the slaves that much. Truth be told, she doesn’t seem to mind the slaves at all. Claire got sick to her stomach the second she saw them singing Negro spirituals in the fields. Lord, this child irks me. Murtagh and Jocasta greet each other and exchange stories of their earlier years in Scotland before getting to the real meat and potatoes of his visit. He tells her that he’s brought Claire and Jamie’s daughter to live there with her for a while, and Brianna finally makes herself known, and doesn’t bother beating around the bush about why she’s there. Jocasta greets her with open arms and welcomes her to the home, regardless of the circumstances. Brianna remains somewhat cold. Not surprising at this point.

Back in Nowhere, USA, the Mohawk stop for water at a nearby waterfall (when I say waterfall, it’s less like Niagara Falls and more like a trickle of water escaping a crack in a rock). After they allow Roger to slurp a sip, they go back to dragging him behind the horses. Roger’s been walking behind these men for at least a week and a half, so he’s pretty tired. He starts to lag, but the men don’t stop moving for him. Roger eventually falls behind—literally—and rolls off a cliff, hanging by the rope tied around his wrist. He screams in pain as the Mohawk try to pull him up, but his hand slips out the knot. Once Roger hits the ground, he gets on his feet and tries his best to run away. One of the Mohawk shoot at him, but the other member of the tribe stops him. After all, another dead man won’t be any good to them. Roger gets a good distance away, and hides behind a rock to stay out of sight. As the Mohawk pass him, Roger goes off in another direction.

As he’s making his way through the forest, Roger hears the sound of bees buzzing. The sound gets louder and louder, and when Roger reaches the source, he doesn’t find a bee hive. He finds another Craigh Na Dun type stone (how many of these things are there?).

Roger begins to cry. Ever since he traveled to the 1700’s, he’s had his life threatened, his ass beat, his heart broken, his freedom stolen, and he witnessed a seven year old child being thrown overboard to her death and her mother following behind. I think it’s safe to say the 18th century sucks. He takes the two gemstones he acquired from evil ass Bonnet out of his pocket and slowly reaches a hand out towards the stone, contemplating returning to a simpler time where things make sense, and indoor plumbing is plentiful. Fade to black.

Now it’s time for me to go in. Brianna, I was just starting to like you. Yeah, you still had a small bit of brattiness in you, but Frank and Claire (mainly Frank) spoiled your ass rotten growing up, so I guess it’s hard to shed that. However, your behavior this episode was abhorrent. Yes, I understand you were raped the same night you lost your virginity to your true love, and my heart goes out to you for that. I also understand that you’re living with the ghastly possibility that you’re pregnant with a child that may be the product of that rape. You also have my deepest sympathy for that. But the sympathy ends there. You should have told Jamie and Claire from get go who was responsible for this heinous act. No, Jamie shouldn’t have gone half cocked and whupped Roger’s ass, Lizzie should’ve gotten clear confirmation before fingering Roger as the rapist, and they shouldn’t have kept it quiet, but that doesn’t make you exempt. You and Claire should’ve told the damn truth about who was responsible. You call Jamie a savage and disown him because he was looking out for you, when you didn’t tell him the entire story? Girl, bye. Like it or not, Jamie is your doggone daddy. Show some damn respect.

This brings me to another point: you love to say and do horrible things to your parents when you get in your little feelings. This includes Frank, and he was your favorite out of the three! When Claire fessed up about your true parentage, you dropped an F bomb at her, implied she was a bored, ho-ish housewife that cheated on her husband with some random dude and made up a story to dress up the ugly “truth” (hmm…you ever stop to think that maybe you and Jamie aren’t that different?) and wished that she died instead of Frank! When Frank told you that he wanted to divorce your mother, you stormed away from him and didn’t even bother to say that you loved him after he said it to you. Sadly enough, he died a few hours later. Bet you wish you could take that shit back. When Jamie left, you couldn’t get your head out of your ass to tell him goodbye, knowing he could run into danger trying to get Roger back. Roger was right; you’re still a damn child, and you’ll never learn. Grow the hell up.

As for the epic beating and Mohawk trading fiasco, I don’t agree with it, but I can definitely see where Jamie and Ian were coming from. Believe it or not, Miss Brianna, you’re not the only person in the family that’s been sexually assaulted. Jamie is a rape victim. Ian is a rape victim. Hell, Claire was almost raped dozens of times throughout the show. Jamie and Ian have both been through that hurt and anguish, and will deal with it for the rest of their lives. They couldn’t have felt too good with the knowledge that now you have to deal with the same hurt and anguish. With that being said, when Lizzie told them that the man that hurt you was nearby—near your home—naturally, they wanted to protect you and make the man that committed this crime suffer. Yeah, I get they whupped your boyfriend, but can you at least see why they did it, even if it can’t be condoned? I mean, you mentioned killing Bonnet your damn self. You don’t think your father felt the same way? Oh, and Claire…baby, I’m gonna need you to get off your high horse, too. You could’ve said something to Jamie once you found out who the real assailant was. I can’t stress that enough. And stop letting Brianna believe that she’s running things. She don’t run shit. “Mama, you’re going! You’re all going!” Child, please. And to think…I heard she acts even worse in the books.

Brianna, I’m gonna need you to do better. I really am. Not saying Jamie’s perfect, I’m not saying what he did was right, but he did it to look out for you. He doesn’t deserve your cold shoulder, your slaps to the face(my mother would knock my ass into next week if I put my hands on her), your little cuss words or dirty looks. You have the right to be mad, but not disrespectful to your father in his house. And you don’t have the right to dictate how someone else should feel about this royal mess…a royal mess that you could’ve possibly prevented. You’re about to be somebody’s mama now, so I suggest you start acting your age and not your shoe size. I hope to see some improvement in your attitude over the next three weeks. But until then, you’re canceled. Kick rocks.

—Written by Nadiya

So what did you think about “The Heart’s Deep Core”? Is Brianna being a brat? Do you agree with her? Did you understand why Jamie and Ian did what they did or do you think they were just all the way wrong? Is Brianna your least favorite character or one of your all time favorites? If you’re a book reader, do you believe that her behavior was worse in the book? Do you think Jamie doesn’t have the right to be more angry than Brianna? What about her disowning Jamie? Do you agree or disagree? Do you think I went in on her too harshly? Let me know in the comments section!

January 7, 2019January 12, 2019 by Nadiya

Congrats To Rami Malek and Darren Criss!

What’s up, y’all? The 2019 Golden Globe Awards aired last night (Sunday Jan. 6, 2019), and two of the big winners were Darren Criss and Rami Malek for their respective roles in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace and Bohemian Rhapsody. Darren took home the award for Best Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie, whereas Rami aka Elliot (I told y’all, he’ll always be Elliot to me) walked away with the Best Actor in a Motion Picture statue. Bohemian Rhapsody also won Best Motion Picture Drama over A Star Is Born. The Twitter backlash was real (but not as bad as the nonsense Bruno Mars went through last year after his Grammys sweep. Don’t get me started on that bullshit).

I have to be honest…I’m a bit disappointed that neither Black Panther, BlacKKKlansman or If Beale Street Could Talk didn’t win, but I loved Bohemian Rhapsody, and I love me some Elliot, so I can’t complain.

All my loyal readers know that these wins have a special place in my heart because last year, I absolutely adored both these projects. Watching The Assassination of Gianni Versace on FX was the perfect way to start 2018 and seeing Bohemian Rhapsody in theatres was a great way to bring the year to a close. Despite all the backlash I’ve heard regarding the series (some people didn’t care for the story being told backwards, apparently) and the film (I’m sure y’all have heard all the flack Bohemian Rhapsody is getting for not being historically accurate, which is a subject I plan to touch on later), these actors did bang up jobs and deserved their just due. They didn’t just portray these real life characters, they pretty much embodied these men and drew the audience into their worlds.

My mother and I were having one of our mother-daughter days when we went to see Bohemian Rhapsody, and halfway through the film, my mom told me that her heart was beating super fast. I told her to take deep breaths and let me know if it got any worse. After the movie ended, I asked her how she was feeling, and she said she was better, and then added, “I think I got excited from the movie.” There were moments during The Assassination of Gianni Versace that I would find myself sitting on the edge of my seat, fighting back tears, screaming at the TV screen, or or staring in awe at Andrew Cunanan being absolutely fierce at a high school party. If Rami and Darenn didn’t kill it, I don’t know who did.

Congrats to these fellas and all the other winners. Now I have to wait on pins and needles for the Bohemian Rhapsody Blu-Ray and the last season of Mr. Robot!

—Written by Nadiya

So what did y’all think about The Golden Globes? Did you watch it last night (I have to be honest, I didn’t, but I kept track of what was happening via social media)? Are you happy that Rami Malek and Darren Criss won? Were you disappointed that A Star Is Born lost? Who were your favorite winners of the night? Which movies or TV shows did you want to win? Did any of your favorites win? Let me know in the comments section!

Insights from a Southern Girl

My personal take all things concerning entertainment.

Category / TV Series

Luke Perry: 1966 – 2019

Jussie Smollett: My Thoughts

“Man of Worth” – Recap and Overall Review

“Providence” – The Good and the Bad

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