I don't think that taking this deal now is such a regression. They come to it from a position of greater power now and can make it on way more favourable terms. This makes all the difference.

Huh? His job security is restored, he has defeated Cutler and Lou, he still has the magic touch as evidenced by his successful pitch to Ted, and his protégé has just demonstrated that his lessons have not been in vain. Have you ever taught anything to anybody? Of course you'll take your share in your students'…

Agree. Reducing Alana to a love interest would be a problem. But I still think the character offers potential for more interesting storylines, and I hope the show will use that, if Alana survives. There is no reason why she would _have_to be reduced to the love interest.

Am I really the only person in the world who kinda likes home-made music? I had a good friend in college who taught herself to play the guitar at the time and started hanging out with a lot of people in bands, and would sometimes take me along. So for a while, I had a social circle where that kind of thing happend a…

I'm a heterosexual women, but that doesn't mean I view other women as a lesser concern to the men in my life.

Yeah, I watched the first season of Hannibal and found it highly masterful and rewarding, but I couldn't bring myself to start the second season, simply because I don't quite have the stomach for it.

Oh, I absolutely agree with you - now. But I didn't think much of him after his first appearance. He's an acquired taste for me.

Agree, but I think both views are compatible. She had more faith in her ability to turn Stan than in her ability to out-run the KGB.

Yes, that was my initial idea was well - he did it out of genuine concern for Nina so that Oleg would help her or at the very least warn her.

I'm pretty optimistic that they will find a somewhat plausible way to bring Nina back, but I'm still counting more on Oleg than Beeman. I really do think that Stan has chosen to bury that part of himself that's in love with her; so much of this episode was dedicated to his inner turmoil (his dream, his walk on the…

It's a possibility, but I'm not sure. Both theories require Arkady to deviate dramatically from established characterization.

Certain strands of Christianity and communism are pretty compatible - have you read More's utopia? But I say this as someone who was raised catholic - I suspect communists are less likely to see the synergies.

Bros before Ho(meland)S(ecurity)? I've been wrecking my brain for potential ulterior motives since the episode aired, because I just can't bring myself to believe that Arkady would be dumb enough to compromise such an important mission just to get in a little "Women! Amirite?".

I think Oleg's envelope money was always a bit of a pipe dream, something Oleg largely did to make himself feel better rather than a plausible exit strategy. Escaping the KGB is not that easy, I imagine. Nina looked at the odds and decided to gamble on Stan coming through for her. A miscalculation, as it turned out,…

Very disappointed in my man Arkady. He wasn't just screwing over Nina but his precious country with that little bit of sabotage. Or was he just not thinking at all?

I think betrayer could refer to "betrayer of humanity" - a "species traitor" if you will. Maybe it was a "deal with the devil"-type situation and sex was part of the ritual. That's usually SOP for female practioners of the dark arts after all. Why would demons who fancy men have less of a predilection for combining…

I've seen it now, thanks! What I found interesting was the "You man! You animal! You man" -part. Potential support for my bestiality-reading?

It was a bit of a flippant way of saying it, but for the record, I do think that objections to Macklemore are legit.

That's a very generous reading. I won't say it's impossible, but I do think it's unlikely.

"or at the very least that he thinks we're post-antisemitism so antisemitic caricatures aren't offensive anymore"