David E Kelley and ice cream cake

as much as I'm loving all the like clicks and comments on Jim's pic of a generic Carvel ice cream cake, (wouldn't it be a hoot if someone actually wrote, "ugh..that looks awful?")  let's talk turkey and save those clicks and comments for something more substantial, something more meaty than a food photo.

(Although I do want to thank everyone who took the time to read "The Phone Call Revisited" despite its length.  Your feedback meant a lot, especially from those of you who can relate and who feel the need to talk with a deceased loved one)

The vignette was emotional to write, and it took a lot more time to do it than  it would to write a Valentine's Day message on a store-bought cake, but, I understand, as  one is easier to digest than the other.

Let's talk TV..

"This is Us" was particularly good last night, but only a fellow TV geek would notice Toby's list in the parking lot of potential middle names for new daughter Hayley. 

 Sure, we all guessed he'd eventually settle on "Rose" after meeting the man who owned the parking space, but Toby's note pad listed tons of names that tied into that OTHER tear-jerker, the 80's-90's version of "This is Us."

The episode was directed by Ken Olin, whom I'm assuming is no longer "30something" but Toby's list had names like Roxy, (Ken's daughter") and Patti(his wife--"Patricia Wettig, "Nancy" from that show)  and a few others, but the examples have already left my brain.

I noticed the archaic name "Maxine"..and will assume that's the matriarch in Ken's family???

Although I found it amusing that Randall was taken aback a little upon learning his new niece was given the old-lady name of "Frances", especially because the writer of last night's episode was Vera Herbert, and" Vera", you're not exactly Hadyn or Dakota yourself, are you?

"Black-ish" and "mixed-ish" had outstanding episodes once again--those writers never pen a false note.  Or an unfunny one.

And are we, Jim and I,  the only couch potatoes who couldn't take our eyes off the screen--or sleep afterwards--from watching "Big Sky?"

How could something be so clever and so disturbing at the same time?

(Which, by the way, would be a flattering and awesome way to describe my blog)

SPOILER ALERT:  Will we ever find out if John Carrroll Lynch was faking it?  Maybe in the future,   like Jerry Seinfeld did when Elaine Benes revealed some hurtful truths about his bedroom skills?

THE REAL SPOILER ALERT:  ("Bad Ronald" is not working alone. As a grammar nerd, I know you're not supposed to use quotation marks for emphasis, but I bet David E. Kelley remembers that obscure made-for-TV movie too, where Scott Jacoby's character hid creepily in the walls of the family home he was stalking, and that's how THIS creepy Ronald got his name)

I'm guessing Ronald's cohort is the guy who is the self-proclaimed gun fan, the one giving Jerri refuge.

We have to wait until April for a plausible explanation as to how Ronald got that tanker undetected, but if David E. Kelley can convince us that a corpse can drive a Tesla, he can do anything.

And he has.