Mattyboy

Yay for Dad! Yay for Blake being mostly fine after getting what sounds like a largish blood transfusion ! The boys pairing off feels less chaos-producing that trying to manage poly-angular relations (what's one more than a throuple? a quauple?) I imagine Jim has a story to tell.

Wow. Starts with a hint of candied nostalgia, but then turns hard to bitter and ash. Ouch, but powerful words.

Maybe a really teasy one? I feel Joie would like that? We can see what Jamie says

Spinoff? After you've got the Seattle gang sorted?

What a positive chapter! Toby just seems to seed growth everywhere he goes. And interesting dynamic between David and Brian, who seem to be able to get along just fine. There's that weirdness that goes along with being an ex-in-law, but Brian's still David's nephew's father.

Ugh, I missed the entire category of jokes about Rusty touching Matty's ring.

Oh, there will be plenty of both, just not on Matty's fingers. Um, finger at the engagement party something Rusty can show Francine?

no

ooh this is exciting!

Yellow stone? Cat's eye?

Yes, Julie is neglectful in an awful way, but she isn't actively trying to murder Seth or perform exorcisms. So not-worst, in that ugly group. And Craig's Mom is even more not-worse! Moving up right into okay! Marie continues to pile up points in the "best supporting aunt" category.

hehe, I wonder if Deirdre expected Brian to fight. She might not have done that if it occurred to her it was what he'd like. It's a win-win-win day! Brian gets out of support payments! Brian gets Toby! Toby gets Dads! Toby gets a garden! Gordon gets a garden ! Toby gets an orchard (to visit) !

Yeah, I was being harsh because I hate that kind of behaviour. I kind of packed it together with Evie's line that a 15 year old will be comfortable with around naked adults, and/or comfortable speaking up about it. Maybe, but big assumption for a kid you met an hour ago. And, yes, Toby started it, and Evie deserves a bit of credit for taking a step back from the skinny-dipping planning after her first comments.

Fun developments! Looks like Toby has found allies in gardening! Ugh, Gordon's parents immediately putting pressure on Brian and Gordon's relationship. Very realistic, I absolutely know people who behave like that, vandalizing potential and torturing everyone around them. That dumb stereotype about British "reserve" was the old defense against that, and I guess what Drew and Evie have spent their lives rebelling against. It'll be better for Brian if he learns to say no to them, early and often. At least Gordon was clear about what to expect.

I hadn't thought this through, but agree completely. Julie put a lot of emphasis on the parts of the story that "no one else knows," and it's all flavored with narcissism. "Stacy doesn't see things in black-and-white" was a weird line, too. What we've seen of Stacy, she divides the world into enemies-to-attack and pawns-to-manipulate. Some of the history is likely true, but Julie's story has a lot of top-spin. At the end, Julie couldn't offer to do anything for Seth; there wasn't the slightest offer of change or amends, just the tearful recognition that what she's done is in fact pretty hateful. And Blake's been found and is in an ambulance and the cops know, so fingers-crossed his life will take a turn for the better.

Yeah, that's pretty unambiguous, alright. Fair 'nuff. Marie may well have known her niece was going to a "special" school, though, and had opinions about how and why her brother-in-law disappeared (we don't know a name, right?). I feel Marie's very formidable willingness to swing into action kinda suggested that she'd thought-over intervening before and decided it was go-time now.

There's an old quotation I like: "no one wants to think they've lived a foolish life" Yup, I think it's pride, too. She doesn't want to feel like a bad mother. Protecting Stacy makes her feel good. Julie can dump the occasional "I'm neglecting and/or injuring Seth" thought in the closet under the stairs where she doesn't have to look at it. Not sure where she stores "I ran off my husband," or "maybe the kids should have a Dad" thoughts, but she's obviously got a system.

And I hope Craig manages to quit football. Yeah, he scores a lot of touchdowns, but it's not making him happy. We met him in hospital with a concussion so severe he couldn't change his own shirt. His Dad now knows he's gay. Is it still too hard to say to him he's done with football? Coach Abernathy maybe isn't a complete dinosaur (he didn't let Craig practice for a couple of days after the brain injury). But the only ethical justification for letting people play tackle football is that they want to. Craig! Get out while you still can! I hope the talk with Coach A is on-camera for us. There's plenty of "it'll be ok" coach-players talks here on GA and all over this genre. "I'm-quitting-this-game-before-I-get-CTE" ? Not so many. Go get 'em, Craig.

Wow! So much revealed about Julie's thinking. Suddenly a whole lot of stuff comes into focus and becomes comprehensible. But also J'accuse ! Julie knew what she was doing. Seth says "Stacy is spoiled rotten,” “You let her get away with murder. You believe everything she tells you. You always have.” and he gets back “You don’t understand” Yes-but-I-have-my-secret-reasons. That's just great. Julie goes on to say that she knows that Stacy is an unreliable narrator. And yes, she knows it's unfair to Seth. And she flat out says she only does what's best for Stacy. Including getting rid of Seth's father and cutting Seth off from him. And the very best she can do at the end is "I don't hate you." That is one nasty package of shitty parenting choices. I wonder about @weinerdog's thought that Marie knew nothing about this, but maybe, I guess. @Ronyx so much foreshadowing and so many clues, and then it all finally comes together into a coherent, terrible, reveal. Wow.

He might bond with Scott. Jackson acts up a lot, but authentic relationships seem to be really important for him. There's Luke, as well.

The Olympic-rings tattoo Jackson mentions has some conventions attached to it. It's thought to be inappropriate to get one before racing at the Olympics. Phelps has one right at his waistline. Biceps and pecs are also popular spots, they tend to be no more than medium-size.

Race was fun, and nice to see Pete beaten and Oliver befriended. The tattoo was unexpected! Very well played by Luke, it'll annoy Cindy twice, once when she sees it, and again when she embarrasses herself teeing off on those words.

Jamie is an ethical slut. The world needs more Jamie. Slicky's only a toy shovel (and maybe good scrubbing) away. And Rybalt may ride again. @Laura S. Fox I trusted you that this was standard dark-before-the-dawn storytelling. But, um . . . I need to ask . . .

ooh, 1) that was hot! & 2) that's interesting about Otis' early childhood and education (and lack thereof). So many more questions, but now we can see some outlines.

He hasn't appeared on-stage yet, but Jasper's already getting named on GA villain-of-the-week ballots.