And then murders her parents off-screen? That sounds brilliant, and not cheap and hacky at all!

The truly advanced don't quote from Sun Tzu, or Adam Smith, or other basic planning philosophies; they cite situational minutiae, often from obscure sources or their own experiential cost-benefit analyses.

I gave Gotham a couple of shots, but their depiction of a corrupt police force was so silly (and the Lone Good Cop tropes so clumsily handled), especially in direct comparison to PoI, it was one of the primary factors I gave up early.

Just before PoI, I watched PBS' airing of a doc on the full-scale gentrification of Fulton Mall in Brooklyn, interestingly enough.

I've become ever more curious about Martine. Something about the way Buono plays her seems to suggest someone reveling in their power, inside her machinelike efficiency. I would like to see a little backstory, as long as it isn't some typical tale of childhood bunny-murdering or abuse (which I doubt it will be).

Conceptually, the other villainous organizations in PoI are much bigger in scope than HR - but I'd argue they added as much of a sense of paranoia and danger as any element of the show. They were an insidious presence within the environment where two of the primary characters on the show lived and breathed, forcing…

Yes, I'm talking about "Join, or Die", but was actually quoting from Craig Ferguson, who got that tattoo when he became an American citizen (and never misses a chance to show it off). I'm a little jealous, because that was the first of very few images *I* ever wanted a tattoo of, when I first saw it back in…

Join, or Die.

I got it when I became an American. It's from the Pennsylvania Gazette, in 1754, by Benjamin Franklin, calling to unite the Colonies. It goes allll the way up my arm and all the way down to my uh-oh!

Perhaps it's because I'm both a boardgamer as well as a sports fan (and play PC strategy games to boot) - the most enjoyable games, to me, are ones that aren't pure ability, strategy, or luck, but have some balanced combination of those elements. Without even a rudimentary gameplan (at the very least, some…

They definitely do - Louis' "When the Saints" is used a lot, and I know I've heard John Boutte's "Treme" before.

I cannot agree with this enough.

In regular play, I see contestants forget the category title constantly, even when no one's category jumping. In a TOC, it has markedly less effect, but it's still smart to do it - good players can get into a clear rhythm (funnily enough, like Arthur did at the end of DJ!), and if you can potentially prevent or…

Category jumping can be incredibly advantageous - IF you're good enough to pull it off. An important part of the strategy is to give terse category requests to Alex - the titles are vital to getting the clues correct, and even elite players can lose track. This leads to not just a response time advantage, but often…

Wow!

I know this episode didn't really do anything particularly spectacular or fascinating or impactful…but I just really enjoyed it, mostly because of how filled with texture it was. Nearly every little visual or dialogue detail had some distinctive, thought-out wrinkle to it that suggested as much as it told, in that…

Also: at some point, Dominic really needs to wear glasses and sip on some herbal tea.

"What is that supposed to mean? I don't look good? Cause I think I look good."

Why can't she be true?

For reals. I remember when Fringe seemed to have some secret Bat-phone with which they could summon Wire castmembers - Daniels, Bubbles, Prez, Sobotka. Never failed to delight.