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Husband and I watch The Boys. It's certainly ... different. Could do without the level of gore but it definitely keeps surprising me, which I love in any kind of story, so I keep watching.

Welcome back anyway, VBS!!!

There is some disagreement as to whether it's still an actual pandemic or not. Covid is not going away, any more than AIDS has. At some point we'll just have to learn to live with it.

I haven't seen any of those movies except the first one (which wasn't bad), but my husband gave me a synopsis of the third one, and I fully agree with you. Bleh. When a story is over, please -- just -- STOP! Likewise for Planet of the Apes.

Well, yes and no. I'm nearsighted (have been since I was 11), so I need glasses in order to see far away, and I wear bifocals for watching TV or driving or going for a walk -- but in my opinion (and that of my late father) bifocals are no &@%$# good for reading, so I take them off when I'm reading. They're even worse for using a computer, because of the way you have to tilt your head way back in order to see the screen through the "near" part -- I actually did that for a while, till I started getting a stabbing pain in the top of my head. So I went to the eye doctor and got a pair of computer glasses -- like reading glasses, only for a bit further away. I wore those pretty much all the time around the house (except for reading), because they were also good when I was cooking, etc. At some point I must have stopped using them, and now I have no idea where they are, so I need to get another pair. In the meantime, I don't wear glasses when I'm on the computer (and have lousy posture from getting my face closer to the screen).

You just pretend to hate pun, do you? Look at that masterpiece, you definitely don't beat around the bush with that one. I am stumped and pining for more!

They say I'm not empathetic , but I will totally do this.

I'm glad you enjoyed it because it was a totally different experience for me. I hope you don't mind that I'm about to thrash it. I remember giving it a 2/10 rating when talking with my brother. The plot sucks, the characters are flats, and all previous actors are included for the sake of nostalgia but supported by a below-mediocre plot with an impossible amount of suspension of disbelief needed. The villain is one-dimensional and makes multiple stupid decisions; nothing supports his smart-villainous-strategic impression that the movie tries to sell him. There are way too many recreations of the classic scenes that feel forced, the magic is gone, but they keep beating on the dead horse. Yeah, of course, there is an altruistic character that takes care of her own need but at the split second decides to help the protags and is willing to sacrifice everything. Of course, there is nothing to see; it's just a black market full of man-eating dinosaurs. There are barely any consequences and risks before and after the heroes decide to pay a visit. Yes, of course, one can always miraculously escape from everything, I said, everything without barely a scratch. Yes, we should support the redeeming character who doesn't think way beyond in front of his eyes about creating something devastating, and of course, it's effortless to solve the problem. And a little fire and combustion is the answer to all of the issues. Gah! I could write two pages essay and was very tempted to.

Does anyone watch The Boyz? I like the first season; the subsequent seasons are fine. I lost interest here and there, but still find the series quite refreshing. Tried to watch the new Quantum Leap, as I love the classic. It's not the same and far inferior six episodes in. Better Call Saul finale season is one of the best TV Series and comparable to Breaking Bad.

No, if you are living in society and have the potential to harm others. Covid vaccine is new, but vaccine science itself is not. There is something called herd immunity. Look back at our history dealing with pandemics and vaccines. Three years is too long, don't make it longer.

I am a late bloomer compared to others I know. I only need to start wearing reading glasses, but still in a confusing transition period. Sometimes it gives me headaches, and sometimes not wearing it gives me headaches. I hereby declare: 1. I should be more grateful that I didn't need glasses in my younger days because having that thing perched on my nose is not so fun. Luckily I bought cheap ones (the power will increase, right?) because I ripped four frames in a very short time. This leads me to the conclusion that Clark Kent and many superheroes in disguise are not real. I ripped my glass off the way they did. I just found out you were supposed to pull it in the front direction first, before sideway. How am I supposed to get change and save the world if I have to take off my glasses in slow motion?? 2. Most of the indoor things I love have something to do with reading—computers, forums, games, and books. Now I just have to endure headaches, use gargantuan-sized fonts, or squint harder. 3. It doesn't make me look hotter or smarter, or nerdier. Again, movies lie, people. What about you, do you guys wear glasses?

Here is my little rascal enjoying the morning

Imgur hates me again What, you don't fancy sautéed cat?

I like your interpretation. Other than the convenient identical corpse, Irene seems like a fairly harmless person, albeit without a shred of altruism. If Moriarty supplied the corpse without telling Irene ahead of time, and she (being in dire straits at the moment) merely said thank you, she can't really be blamed (though Lestrade might want to pin an "accessory after the fact" charge on her). So I am now free to like Irene somewhat (though not to admire her, as I do her Victorian counterpart). Thank you! Good point. Though I suppose she might have been able to fake it somehow, if she realized that Sherlock was checking it.

At first I thought you were disagreeing that Lara Pulver's Irene Adler was psychologically aberrant, but I see that you actually want to ramp her up from my diagnosis. I'm not well-versed enough in the distinctions between sociopathy and psychopathy, though I would consider the level of antisocial behaviors to be on a spectrum. In my opinion, Adler is a sociopath in a mutually advantageous arrangement with a psychopath--Moriarty. Irene is his handmaiden, very definitely his subordinate. She works for him. She gets him juicy information on the powerful men she sees to be used for his own nefarious purposes and in return she gets the protection which he can offer her from her powerful enemies. Her phone is her protection, for what's on it, but I'd wager Moriarty has duplicates of all that information. He protects her as long as she is a useful tool to him. Once she stops being useful or compromises his own operation . . she gets turned into shoes . . or allowed to be captured and beheaded by the Taliban who whoever. She was in that spot at the end of the episode because Moriarty had withdrawn his protection. At Christmas, when the dead doppelganger turned up in the morgue, Adler was still useful to M, still supplying information, and principally, still in communication with Sherlock Holmes. Irene had infiltrated herself with Sherlock . . on her boss's order. He lets her pretend that she's got autonomy but the fact that she's working with him shows that she's not a free agent. So when she needed to 'disappear', a convenient body that looked just like her was provided for the purpose. Don't we think it's more likely that Jim provided that body? I do. He made all the arrangements and got her out of London because she was still a useful asset. Frankly, this Adler isn't that smart to be an international criminal mastermind. She picked a pretty simple code for her phone in the end. Her feelings for Sherlock where her undoing in the end. If she were a true psychopath, she wouldn't have any feelings. She could fake some, but her pulse wouldn't have risen. The way it was explained to me is: Sociopaths are made, through early trauma but psychopaths are born that way. Their brains and limbic systems do not function like normal people's. They have no conscience, which is also shared by sociopaths, but they also do not experience any physical reactions to stress. They have no fear. Sociopaths can still experience being upset, they can be afraid or panic if things are not going according to their plans. They are slightly more human. Adler is a bad girl but she's a rank amateur when you stack her against psychos like Moriarty or CAM. She can dominate weak and needy men for money and thrills but she is the dominated one in the relationship with Moriarty. Hence that's why Sherlock saved her from being decapitated in Karachi. She'll get in with bad types again, so a smarter tactical move would have been to let her get executed. But Sherl likes her, despite the risk to himself. Which proves that he's not a psychopath, either. Moriarty blew out his own brains just to screw with Sherlock. We really didn't see that coming, but real psychos aren't attached to anything, even their own continued existences.

@Tigeronherbike I'm pretty sure that a comment worth making is still worth making (with the exception of anything starting with "Hey, look out for the .... !!!!). People are still commenting on Shakespeare's works, aren't they? Or if you'd like a more recent example, the original Star Trek? Just ran across this on a totally different forum: The prior posts in that thread were dated in April 2013, and the apologetic post wasn't made till September 2013 -- five whole months later! Ironically, it was that "late" post that contained the information I was looking for.

No, I just mean he's irresistible! 😍

You're referring to his little comments such as "I'll make you into shoes"? Sounded like she was already in pretty deep with him by then, though, and regardless of whose idea that connection had originally been, there must have been a point where she made the yes/no choice to throw in with him.

Moriarty is pretty persuasive, tho.

Minimally! Consider that she was very "conveniently" able to find a corpse that matched her physical characteristics (other than her face) well enough to fool the Great Observer. My best (and only) guess is that she had encountered such a woman at some point in the past and had somehow kept her available ever since, just in case she ever needed to be "dead" -- at which point the nameless, faceless woman was sacrificed for Irene's convenience. Sounds more like a psychopath to me. In any case, as you say, not at all the honorable lady that ACD's Irene was.

Welcome, Tiger! A Scandal in Belgravia is possibly my favorite episode of the series. Some stiff competition from The Reichenbach Fall, but the character of The Woman has always fascinated me. They may have only had a brief encounter, but Irene Adler stood above all others in the Great Detective's memory, not just of her sex but of anyone, save friend Watson, as the only person who bested him with her wits. Twice. This gets respect from Sherlock because it never happens. She was a worthy adversary that humbled him a bit, and whether or not he was attracted to her in a physical sense like ordinary men, he was definitely attracted to her other qualities--resourcefulness, honor, great artistic skill, cleverness and the bravery to take on hostile forces in a man's world. Conan Doyle's Adler, unlike the modern day one is an honorable lady. Modern-day Irene is more in the line of a sociopath, I think. Sherlock has surprised her by breaking through her defenses and making her experience emotions like an ordinary woman. They are well-matched. I think the best descriptor for this relationship is 'friendly antagonists'. They are matching wits almost for fun--it's a game, and neither means the other harm. Sherlock has to rescue Irene because she decorates his mind palace and saves him from being Bored. It's not the suburban white picket fence and 2 kids kind of love but it is the kind of regard of which these two singular minds are capable.

Irene wins, of course: Sherlock rescues her!

Yay, somebody new to discuss things with -- welcome to Sherlock Forum, Tiger! I once posted something on an old thread (on another forum), thinking that even though the original poster might no longer care, there were presumably other people currently wondering the same thing. Then a moderator came on, chewed me out for daring to post on a neglected thread, then locked the thread so I couldn't even defend myself. WE'RE NOT LIKE THAT HERE!!! A forum is not a chat room -- every forum conversation takes place over time, and if the amount of time occasionally happens to be years, so what? I agree that those emotions seem to have triggered his activity -- but are you saying they triggered it directly, or that the emotions gave him an incentive (to impress Irene / get even) which then triggered the activity?

Welcome to the forum, Tiger! And no, of course you're not too late, au contraire, we're happy that you jumped right in. Back on topic, yeah, highly emotionally charged, that relationship - but I think pride is also an important part of that mix. For both, actually.

Too late to the debate? This is the one episode that shows Sherlock to be significantly less aware of his own feelings than he may believe - decoding the MoD email in under a minute and finding within seconds the code to Irene's phone, which has eluded him for days. The power of desire and jealousy respectively? Combined with an incredibly competitive spirit - isn't that why Mycroft is his arch nemesis? I think Mycroft captures it when he says Sherlock used to want to be a pirate. Sherlock probably finds more excitement, competition and as a result attraction? in Irene than in most encounters in his life. So in response to her move to belittle him, he hands over the code to her phone. Chess. Then adds 'Sorry about dinner'. Mate. But eventually he cools down? Sees that her last words to him were the only sincere ones - and btw why did he need to take her pulse? Why did he care to know what she felt? And whatever he feels for her - fascination, competitive spirit, attraction, God forbid - love? - preserving her is important enough. For a little hop somewhere south of Karachi...