u/MulberryEastern5010

I know Ashley said she has other things she wants to do, and I respect that. However, as I've been listening to these last few episodes of The Deck, I can't help thinking of something else that might be motivating her to close it down. Could it possibly be that none of these cases have been solved, or maybe haven't even gotten new bites? Every episode ends with her pleading to the public to call XYZ law enforcement agency, but maybe she doesn't think it's worth it anymore if those agencies come back to her saying there haven't been any calls. Now I don't know what happens behind the scenes. Maybe some of them have been revisited, and for whatever reason, she hasn't felt inclined to provide any updates, but that doesn't sound like Ashley. If something new comes up for a Crime Junkie episode, she does a follow-up. When has that happened on The Deck? If it's happened, and I just can't remember, please let me know.

Again, I respect any of Ashley's reasons for ending The Deck. I just couldn't help wondering if this might be one of them. I could be wrong, for all I know. Just putting it out there.

Let me preface this by saying I have something of a love-hate relationship with Alice Feeney’s books 📚 My favorite of hers is Daisy Darker, but I hated Rock Paper Scissors, His and Hers was on the low end of okay, and Sometimes I Lie was on the high end of okay. I took a bit of a break from her for a while after reading that one, but then I got word about My Husband’s Wife. I’m now almost 60% through the audiobook, for which I appreciate the added sound effects. Reminds me a bit of one of my favorite podcasts, Full Body Chills.

Then there’s the story itself. >!This is where Alice Feeney starts to frustrate me. I have too many questions, and the answers aren’t coming fast enough. More importantly, now that I officially know Birdy is a cop, I hate her even more than I was already beginning to 😡 (Her career was one of the aforementioned many questions I had, so I’m glad to at least have an answer for that one.) She treats Carter like absolute garbage; yes, you’re his boss, yes, you hooked up six months ago, and yes, you’re dying (although seriously, when is your fucking death date?!?!??!? ☠️ And what exactly is your cancer?), but none of those are reasons to treat someone so poorly. I’m also getting a little tired of the “I’m dying, so I have the right to be a bitch, and I can get away with it” trope. I had enough of that earlier this year with Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson. At this point, the only characters I like are Carter and the dog 🐕 Much as I was with Jet Mason, I’m asking myself if Birdy can hurry up and die already 🤦‍♀️!<

I’ve already learned one spoiler, thanks to some ill-timed scrolling, >!that Birdy is Gabriela’s mother!<, so I’m not asking for more. I just want one person to tell me this book is worth finishing so I can find out what happens between the point I’m at now >!where Birdy and Carter have just found a body on the beach!< and when I’ll get to that spoiler.

Let me preface this by saying I have something of a love-hate relationship with Alice Feeney’s books 📚 My favorite of hers is Daisy Darker, but I hated Rock Paper Scissors, His and Hers was on the low end of okay, and Sometimes I Lie was on the high end of okay. I took a bit of a break from her for a while after reading that one, but then I got word about My Husband’s Wife. I’m now almost 60% through the audiobook, for which I appreciate the added sound effects. Reminds me a bit of one of my favorite podcasts, Full Body Chills.

Then there’s the story itself. >!This is where Alice Feeney starts to frustrate me. I have too many questions, and the answers aren’t coming fast enough. More importantly, now that I officially know Birdy is a cop, I hate her even more than I was already beginning to 😡 (Her career was one of the aforementioned many questions I had, so I’m glad to at least have an answer for that one.) She treats Carter like absolute garbage; yes, you’re his boss, yes, you hooked up six months ago, and yes, you’re dying (although seriously, when is your fucking death date?!?!??!? ☠️ And what exactly is your cancer?), but none of those are reasons to treat someone so poorly. I’m also getting a little tired of the “I’m dying, so I have the right to be a bitch, and I can get away with it” trope. I had enough of that earlier this year with Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson. At this point, the only characters I like are Carter and the dog 🐕 Much as I was with Jet Mason, I’m asking myself if Birdy can hurry up and die already 🤦‍♀️!<

I’ve already learned one spoiler, thanks to some ill-timed scrolling, >!that Birdy is Gabriela’s mother!<, so I’m not asking for more. I just want one person to tell me this book is worth finishing so I can find out what happens between the point I’m at now >!where Birdy and Carter have just found a body on the beach!< and when I’ll get to that spoiler.

Let me preface this by saying I have something of a love-hate relationship with Alice Feeney’s books 📚 My favorite of hers is Daisy Darker, but I hated Rock Paper Scissors, His and Hers was on the low end of okay, and Sometimes I Lie was on the high end of okay. I took a bit of a break from her for a while after reading that one, but then I got word about My Husband’s Wife. I’m now almost 60% through the audiobook, for which I appreciate the added sound effects. Reminds me a bit of one of my favorite podcasts, Full Body Chills.

Then there’s the story itself. >!This is where Alice Feeney starts to frustrate me. I have too many questions, and the answers aren’t coming fast enough. More importantly, now that I officially know Birdy is a cop, I hate her even more than I was already beginning to 😡 (Her career was one of the aforementioned many questions I had, so I’m glad to at least have an answer for that one.) She treats Carter like absolute garbage; yes, you’re his boss, yes, you hooked up six months ago, and yes, you’re dying (although seriously, when is your fucking death date?!?!??!? ☠️ And what exactly is your cancer?), but none of those are reasons to treat someone so poorly. I’m also getting a little tired of the “I’m dying, so I have the right to be a bitch, and I can get away with it” trope. I had enough of that earlier this year with Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson. At this point, the only characters I like are Carter and the dog 🐕 Much as I was with Jet Mason, I’m asking myself if Birdy can hurry up and die already 🤦‍♀️!<

I’ve already learned one spoiler, thanks to some ill-timed scrolling, >!that Birdy is Gabriela’s mother!<, so I’m not asking for more. I just want one person to tell me this book is worth finishing so I can find out what happens between the point I’m at now >!where Birdy and Carter have just found a body on the beach!< and when I’ll get to that spoiler.

I'm a big fan of the YouTuber The Awards Contender (aka Brian Rowe). I currently have his video "Best Actor Rankings of the 2010s" playing right now. That's one of my favorite series of his, the rankings of each category by decade. It got me thinking, how would he rank the winners of each category in the 2020s so far? Let me preface this by saying that I will do my very best to keep my personal preferences out of these; there are quite a few of these movies that I haven't even seen yet! I'm doing this based on how I've gotten to "know" Brian in the couple of years that I've been watching his videos. With that in mind, here we go:

Best Actor

1. Anthony Hopkins - The Father (2020)
2. Adrian Brody - The Brutalist (2024)
3. Brendan Fraser - The Whale (2022)
4. Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer (2023)
5. Michael B. Jordan - Sinners (2025)
6. Will Smith - King Richard (2021)

Best Actress

1. Emma Stone - Poor Things (2023)
2. Jessie Buckley - Hamnet (2025)
3. Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
4. Mikey Madison - Anora (2024)
5. Jessica Chastain - The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
6. Frances McDormand - Nomadland (2020)

Best Supporting Actor

1. Ke Huy Quan - Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
2. Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah (2020)
3. Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain (2024)
4. Sean Penn - One Battle After Another (2025)
5. Troy Kotsur - CODA (2021)
6. Robert Downey, Jr. - Oppenheimer (2023)

Best Supporting Actress

1. Ariana DeBose - West Side Story (2021)
2. Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers (2023)
3. Youn Yuh-Jung - Minari (2020)
4. Zoe Saldana - Emilia Perez (2024)
5. Amy Madigan - Weapons (2025)
6. Jamie Lee Curtis - Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Don't read too much into this, whatever you do. I could be way off, and I probably am. The only way we'll know for sure is sometime after 2030 when Brian is able to rank the entire decade's performances accordingly. When that happens, if you all want to come back here and tell me how wrong I was, I'll gladly hear you out. Either that, or I'll take the ego boost for how close I got. 😄