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Nick Cave and the Bad Wolf
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Feb 8, 2015 21:44
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The football scene would have been great if it was half as long. I cracked up when they started playing the epic battle music over it.
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Feb 8, 2015 21:50
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Amppelix posted:Terrible comedians aren't necessarily bad actors. Isn't it generally accepted wisdom that comedy is harder to pull off than drama, anyway? That's true. And of course Corden isn't writing this. death .cab for qt posted:It was a really boring slog through the same "the doctor is an alien and doesn't quite understand humanity" joke for fifteen minutes while Craig the Nice Guy fumbles his non-relationship. Then it turned into Matt Smith: Alien Sportsman and I had enough. As the review points out, he isn't a "Nice Guy" but actually a nice guy. And I am a sucker for fish out of water comedies and Matt Smith does it really well, so that one joke worked great for me.
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Feb 8, 2015 21:52
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I was once in a Zizzi in Manchester having lunch with my family when my mum said in a whisper, "That's James Corden behind you!" I had no idea who James Corden was, only that he was being loud and determined to be the centre of attention. It wasn't until 'The Lodger' came around several months later that I realised. Anyway, that's my James Corden story. 
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Feb 9, 2015 00:17
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Angela Christine posted:
Dan Leno was gahdamn amazing. You should all Google him. I have that creepy loving portrait to thank for getting me too find out who he was.
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Feb 9, 2015 02:04
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Payndz posted:I was once in a Zizzi in Manchester having lunch with my family when my mum said in a whisper, "That's James Corden behind you!" And now he's hosting a thing in some months. Classic shitfat fucknob success story.
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Feb 9, 2015 03:15
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Doctor Who "The Lodger" Series 5, Episode 11 As Occ made clear, and as I've figured out while trying to get started on this, "The Lodger" is that rare episode that you know is good but can't quite seem to grip reasons as to why besides "it makes me laugh, like this - ha ha ha." It's definitely got the lightest plot we've seen thus far in Series 5, with the mysterious man upstairs and his dastardly hijinks being little more than a backdrop for a fat man and a weirdo to be funny at each other. There's a little bit of "Utopia" in here, I think, or at least the first half, which was almost more of a sketch comedy act than an arc-relevant story, but whereas "Utopia" was the first part of a deeply stupid series finale, "The Lodger" has no illusions as to how inconsequential it is. This makes it much easier to enjoy, and gives Gareth Roberts (who previously wrote the hilarious and shamefully maligned "The Unicorn & The Wasp") space to sneak in a few significant moments here and there. The main criticism I hear from "The Lodger" is that it simplifies the Doctor's character into something too sitcom-ish, which makes even less sense than most obviously wrong Doctor Who opinions - first of all, because we're still not even a full series into Eleven's character, and secondly, because every single moment of Matt Smith out of all 45 is a thing of beauty and a joy for ever. The first twenty minutes of "The Lodger" have some of my favorite bits of the whole show, as the Doctor tries, in his scatterbrained but effective way, to insinuate himself into the life of the nebbish and self-blueballing Craig Owens. Eleven's already shown himself as being hopelessly out of his depth with anything domestic, and that trait holds strong here. He knows the main bullet points of how to get into Craig's good graces, of course - rent, compliments, free food - but is a little vague on the specifics. So we get him absently handing Craig a literal sack of cash, complimenting his parlor with a rushed fervor normally reserved for a coked-up yes-man, and expertly prepares an omelette with salad dressing before forgetting to remember what century he learned the recipe from. The way he seems downright fascinated and giddy with the idea of actually having a room for once, rather than a spacetime-rending infinitely-sized wooden time machine, is adorable. And then there's the physical comedy, of course - the way he hops on and off the bed during his first conversation with Amy, or continually ducks under his ramshackle non-technological scanner instead of just getting out of its way. The football match goes on a little overlong, but I can appreciate how it's basically an excuse for Matt Smith to show off his skills on-camera, since the guy had a back injury that took him out of the sport before he could even join a team. His loss, our gain. The Doctor doesn't mean to show up Craig at every aspect of his life, he just happens to do it by way of being an ageless super-intelligent alien man, leaving Craig himself to deal with the consequences of being around the Doctor when he's not focused on impressing people. Eleven in particular seems to have issues when it comes to playing by anyone else's rules; he's a dream to have around when you need a problem solved or when he's left to gallivant around in his ramshackle ship, but plonk him down into an apartment, particularly one that you own, and as bad as roommates can get without involving a bathtub and a saxophone. His complete obliviousness to social graces, hobby for tinkering, and effortless competence is a blight on poor Craig, who's played in a squeaky, endearing sort of way by James Corden. There's a certain echo of Rory (who is still dead) in Craig's personality - a nice, harmless, level-headed guy whose main fault is an inability to speak up for himself - but whereas Rory (who's dead) was meek because his relationship with Amy taught him to pick his battles, Craig just naturally shies away from anything outside of his comfort zone. Signing on the Doctor as a flatmate was probably the most daring thing he'd ever done, and we get to see the hilarious consequences unfold even as he grows more and more frazzled by it. Craig's sometimes-tiresome romantic tension with Sophie (a basically inoffensive performance from Daisy Haggard) ties into his distaste for risk, and rapidly becomes so obvious that even Eleven, who's shown himself to be thermodynamically dense at picking up on romance, starts making snide jabs at him for it. There's a bit of an inversion between these two pairs - Amy and Rory (Rory, who's dead), and Craig and Sophie. We have a good-hearted provincial guy and an adventurous girl, and those opposing feelings set them at odds with each other. But whereas Amy and Rory (dead) clearly established that they cared about each other, and that what doubt remained evaporated over the course of two episodes, Craig and Sophie are so reluctant to admit their feelings for each other that it takes the threat of planetary obliteration to goad them into it. These parallels seem to be deliberate, as the Doctor starts poking at Craig in an attempt to move him closer to Sophie - an attempt to repair one relationship after so thoroughly destroying the other. That whole problem was solved a little more explosively than I'm sure he would have liked, but hey, can't argue with the results. What's more, this is one of the few times we see the Doctor make a good friend in someone who's not at all interested in jetting around with him afterwards. Craig becomes intimately knowledgeable about him in that priceless headbutt scene - and oh God, everything about that bit was perfect, especially Corden staggering away from the Doctor with his finger pointed and his jaw hanging open both times, able to do little more than just gasp in shock until his brain lines back up with his mouth - and, as Occ mentioned, forks over the flat keys in a sweet inversion of the Doctor's usual TARDIS key handouts, as an open invitation to return when he likes. What keeps "The Lodger" from falling apart is that conclusion, and how it uses the usual wheezy sitcom cliches to resolve its sci-fi threats; the romantic tension between Craig and Sophie is enough to literally make the evil spaceship self-destruct, and the Doctor's constant one-upping of Craig is turned on its head, showing that, for all his plainness and lack of ambition, Craig is still perfectly content where he is, in contrast with the Doctor, who's always running and rarely satisfied. The success of Craig's and Sophie's relationship is also a vindication of sorts for the Doctor, an affirmation that he's not a complete screwup after the events of "Cold Blood," at least until Amy's offhand "can't you find me a fella?" reminds about (ex-)Rory. "The Lodger" is an episode I place in the same class as "The Runaway Bride," one full of moments I can rewatch over and over again even if the full product is a bit on the insubstantial side. The actual plot has almost nothing worth mentioning (aside from the appearance of the second victim, who bizarrely and inexplicably looks as though she's on her way from a mugging or worse), the characters are mostly rote, and the scenes have little to tie them together besides "the Doctor is amazing, Craig doesn't know how to deal." But the performances and writing are lively enough to entertain regardless, which is a welcome relief after the interminable boredom of the Silurian two-parter and the herky-jerky moodiness of "Vincent and the Doctor." But, we're at the finale, and when Moffat's in the writer's chair then you know things are going to get complicated. "The Lodger" was a nice palette cleanser for whatever's to come; let's hope the lizard-people fell through a crack and look to the future instead. See you then. Oxxidation fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Feb 9, 2015 |
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Feb 9, 2015 03:18
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Toxxupation posted:Doctor Who So given Oxxidation's review, how many (dead) Rorys out of 5 do you rank it?
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Feb 9, 2015 03:36
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RodShaft posted:Dan Leno was gahdamn amazing. You should all Google him. I have that creepy loving portrait to thank for getting me too find out who he was. Peter Ackroyd's novel about a fictionalized version of him, Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem, is also amazing.
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Feb 9, 2015 05:05
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Angela Christine posted:
Seriously, I think that thing is what most people walked away from the episode with. I think my favorite line from the episode was the bit about "Why do I feel the need to tell you all of my plans?" On the nose? Sure, but it was still funny.
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Feb 9, 2015 05:34
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I vaguely recall the main thread being absolutely convinced that that bizarre portrait was important to the season arc somehow. We used to be so sane. 
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Feb 9, 2015 06:08
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Oh I was out of town so this is late. ForToxx  BlueGhostie
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Feb 9, 2015 06:41
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Toxxupation posted:
that was my favourite bit.
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Feb 9, 2015 07:19
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Random Stranger posted:Seriously, I think that thing is what most people walked away from the episode with. I honestly have never even noticed it until Toxx mentioned it.
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Feb 9, 2015 07:24
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The much mailigned
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Feb 9, 2015 07:37
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The Lodger With this lighthearted episode we get broadly positive guesses, though we also have 5 F's, putting it in joint 3rd for this season for F guesses. A Glenn_Beckett Regy Rusty cargohills Organza Quiz BSam Random Stranger Burkion Rochallor Hewlett Not a Twat Pinwiz11 Stobbit Bobulus Blasmeister Xenoborg mind the walrus umalt Grouchio And More Practical Demon egon_beeblebrox Fungah! PurpleJesus ThNextGreenLantern Bunnita surc Colonel Cool DetoxP Roach Warehouse Arsenic Lupin John Charity Spring LabyaMynora adhuin Captain Capitalism Hannibal Smith AndwhatIseeisme WeirdSandwich Ohtsam MikeJF thexerox123 Noxville Proposition Joe Jsor RodShaft B thrawn527 Jakiri FreezingInferno Daedleh Gandalf21 fatherboxx jng2058 Stumiester DoctorWhat ??? Attitude Indicator Keisse J cool kids inc. Squalitude Prison Warden Mo0 Stormgale idonotlikepeas Party Boat radmonger Sinestro docbeard Big Mean Jerk SirSamVimes Jet Jaguar Fucknag ThePlague-Daemon Kevino07 Legoman727 BeefyTaco Senor Tron Anonymouse Mook ActionZero 30.5 Days GonSmithe Howe_sam FewtureMD C M_Gargantua Senerio Juvenalian.Satyr Paul.Power Smello 2house2fly f#a# Jurgan NeuroticLich Irony Be My Shield D ewe2 Go RV! F Tiggum death .cab for qt Andrew_1985 hcreight Sighence Now we're entering the home stretch can Rochellor hold on? Will Sighence manage to finish last? Will Mo0 guess one right? Rochallor 7 Hewlett 8 John Charity Spring 8 MikeJF 8 Stobbit 9 Docbeard 9 Kevino07 9 Noxville 9 Proposition Joe 9 Daedleh 10 jng2058 10 DoctorWhat 10 Attitude Indicator 10 Fungah! 10 Bunnita 10 DetoxP 10 SirSamVimes 10 thexerox123 10 GonSmithe 10 Cargohills 11 Organza 11 BSam 11 Not a Twat 11 Pinwiz11 11 Blasmeister 11 Xenoborg 11 Mind the walrus 11 Paul Power 11 PurpleJesus 11 Big Mean Jerk 11 Hannibal Smith 11 Anonymouse Mook 11 Howe_sam 11 Random Stranger 12 Practical Demon 12 Radmonger 12 BeefyTaco 12 WeirdSandwich 12 ActionZero 12 Regy Rusty 13 Gandalf21 13 stumeister 13 Bobulus 13 ??? 13 Keisse J 13 Squalitude 13 ThNextGreenLantern 13 Jet Jaguar 13 Legoman727 13 Ohtsam 13 thrawn257 14 cool kids inc. 14 Smello 14 2house2fly 14 Colonel Cool 14 LabyaMynora 14 adhuin 14 FewtureMD 14 Glenn_Beckett 15 FreezingInferno 15 And More 15 Prison Warden 15 Stormgale 15 egon_beeblebrox 15 f#a# 15 Jurgan 15 Arsenic Lupin 15 ThePlague-Daemon 15 Captain Capitalism 15 AndwhatIseeisme 15 Senor Tron 15 hcreight 15 fatherboxx 16 M Gargantua 16 Senario 16 ewe2 16 umalt 16 Grouchio 16 Andrew_1985 16 30.5 Days 16 Jsor 16 Burkion 17 Fucknag 17 Irony Be My Shield 17 Jakari 19 Party Boat 19 surc 19 Tiggum 20 Juvenalian Satyr 20 MoO 20 Roach Warehouse 20 Go RV! 20 RodShaft 20 NeuroticLich 20 idonotlikepeas 21 Sinestro 22 death .cab for qt 23 Sighence 24
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Feb 9, 2015 14:27
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Oxxidation posted:The actual plot has almost nothing worth mentioning (aside from the appearance of the second victim, who bizarrely and inexplicably looks as though she's on her way from a mugging or worse), She looked like an abused prostitute. I can't think of any better candidate for "wanting to get away." Realizing that made me wonder if the other victims had some subtle sign of escapism.
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Feb 9, 2015 14:46
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On combined position front, Jng is still no.1
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Feb 9, 2015 14:48
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I'm going to snatch last place from Sighence entirely by accident, get hosed Sighence, I'm worse than you and I'm not even trying 
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Feb 9, 2015 22:01
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death .cab for qt posted:I'm going to snatch last place from Sighence entirely by accident, get hosed Sighence, I'm worse than you and I'm not even trying I'm gonna be the worst in a completely different fashion without even trying owned everyone
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Feb 9, 2015 23:24
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I feel like people who think this episode is somehow more sitcom-y than other doctor who episodes either don't watch other doctor who, or don't watch sitcoms. Yes, it takes place on earth, and the doctor is staying in one general area. Other than that, this is basically just Matt Smith being a goof like he has most of the time until now. And... uh, "nice guy with relationship drama" is pretty much the entire reason Rory got on the TARDIS.
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Feb 10, 2015 00:20
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I watch both pretty extensively, surc, and I feel like the characterization is pretty sitcom-y, and Rory's is not. I don't think this guy is a Nice Guy in the full Ross and Rachel way, it just has the will-they/won't-they of every one-off sitcom couple. I think my B indicates it doesn't ruin the episode for me, but it's there.
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Feb 10, 2015 00:28
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I think it's fair to say the way the Doctor comes in and lives Craig's life "better" than Craig does comes off as very sitcom'ish. The football and then the later scene at the call center are both incredibly broad. I was originally going to score this one an A for the game, but decided I was handing out too many A's
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Feb 10, 2015 01:12
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Sorry, kids, this one's being pushed back 'til tomorrow. We're not going to deviate from the two-a-week schedule, though. I have mechanisms in place to ensure that.
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Feb 10, 2015 01:33
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Oxxidation posted:Sorry, kids, this one's being pushed back 'til tomorrow. We're not going to deviate from the two-a-week schedule, though. I have mechanisms in place to ensure that. ...by that you mean a really long stick to poke Toxx, right?
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Feb 10, 2015 02:26
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Oxxidation posted:Sorry, kids, this one's being pushed back 'til tomorrow. We're not going to deviate from the two-a-week schedule, though. I have mechanisms in place to ensure that. You've got blackmail photos of him playing Gods Eater Burst, don't you
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Feb 10, 2015 02:34
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actually it's Senran Kagura
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Feb 10, 2015 03:21
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Mo0 posted:You've got blackmail photos of him playing Gods Eater Burst, don't you Man, don't even joke about that
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Feb 10, 2015 04:07
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death .cab for qt posted:I'm going to snatch last place from Sighence entirely by accident, get hosed Sighence, I'm worse than you and I'm not even trying You're not worse than me yet, buster. 
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Feb 10, 2015 04:36
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A testimonial from the other thread:Soothing Vapors posted:Oh god, I'm going to buy my first Big FInish. What have you done to me Oxxidation
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Feb 10, 2015 05:11
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Please don't trigger me
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Feb 10, 2015 06:15
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I'm all caught up on the thread... And apparently at the best possible moment, too.
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Feb 10, 2015 09:01
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The Lodger was the episode that convinced me to start following the show, I sure was glad I gave it a second chance after I caught glimpses of the silurian 2parter
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Feb 10, 2015 10:13
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Mo0 posted:You've got blackmail photos of him wearing The Coat, don't you The assimilation has already begun. ONE OF US ONE OF US etc. etc.
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Feb 10, 2015 15:59
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Yo dogs better call Saul is p fuckin good
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Feb 10, 2015 17:25
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Oxxidation posted:Sorry, kids, this one's being pushed back 'til tomorrow. Toxxupation posted:Yo dogs better call Saul is p fuckin good  I see.
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Feb 10, 2015 17:34
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Toxxupation posted:Yo dogs better call Saul is p fuckin good It is
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Feb 10, 2015 17:43
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MikeJF posted:
Dude it's breaking bad!
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Feb 10, 2015 17:55
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Toxxupation posted:Dude it's breaking bad! We're not paying you to watch Breaking Bad II, we're paying you to -- well, I guess we're not paying you but get back to work anyway
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Feb 10, 2015 17:59
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| # ? Jun 11, 2024 23:17 |
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Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine I'd be so close to the top with the guessing game - if he ends up loving the finale as much as I did, I can at least maintain my position there.
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Feb 10, 2015 18:26
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