Not only does he not wink to the mark, he doesn't wink to the audience, ever. It really trusts the audience to get the joke. And it leaves the line between what's staged and what's real wonderfully blurred.

@avclub-7d58cc22d9ed7d85decaa81e6cedee22:disqus Oh I'm not really expecting Jeff to work out the logic, it's just about how we subconsciously act on and understand our social norms. I probably identify more with Jeff than Annie on these matters, if you want to know the truth.

Stormfront was one of the first big albums in my life too, don't walk that shit back. To this day I know every single word of "We Didn't Start the Fire." Now let's go get drunk and belt out the "Ya ya yo's" to "Downeaster Alexa."

I'm generally positive on Hannibal, but I can't stand the Freddie character (wasn't aware she was in the original book). What a terrible and unfounded cliche the overaggressive, downright villainous reporter is. Honestly, for how frequently crime films/shows use this trope, can anyone point to a real life example of…

So this may be a little forward…but can I be in your will?

I liked that line a lot, and it reminded me, oddly enough of a book I'm reading by David Graeber, basically an anthropological history of debt. While fiercely opposed to the systemic kinds of debt or culture's created, he talks a bit about good kinds of social debt, like inviting someone over to host a dinner. The…

I'd also chalk it up to Keri Russell looking naturally young while they age her up with a pair of mom jeans.

Definitely. How do you get to that position in the CIA while still assuming there's nothing fishy about someone who looks like Keri Russell coming on to you that aggressively?

Matthew Rhys is a Welsh actor playing a Russian doing an American accent doing a cheesy posh British accent in that scene. Out-fucking-standing.

Agreed. Side note: It's astonishing how effortlessly she can drop 15-20 years from her appearance.

Interesting, I never got any sense that the women in this show were any more hypocritical than the men. And at times it's downright radical in its feminism. I think some of what your perceiving as hypocrisy, I've read as Elizabeth masking her true emotions as a guarded person, which is significantly different. As for…

Yeah I saw the drop coming the second Stan mentioned Heinz. Though, I think it was so obvious I half wonder if Peggy knew exactly what she was doing mentioning it to her boss. Like, here's this great opportunity, but I don't want to feel like a sleaze bringing it up. Oh no, this great new account for me? Sigh, oh well…

Seriously though, not checking the ball on game point is fucking bushleague. Even a  double check is considered good form for game point on certain courts.

The scented candle bit was a great turn. How the hell was that cut?

@avclub-e56ced79d1049a08025835434a572e01:disqus I think you're confused about what an appeal to authority means. It's not that you're kowtowing to any authority, but responding to my argument by just saying that's not how this person on high obviously feels. It's a weak argument, it's actually not an argument at all.…

@avclub-e56ced79d1049a08025835434a572e01:disqus It's cool. I think the argument you're making here is a good example of engaging with the material to respond to criticism in a substantive way, which is what I took issue with in your previous comment. Here you can cite specific examples that demonstrate a pattern…

@avclub-e56ced79d1049a08025835434a572e01:disqus I'm not asking you to have faith in me, but my argument, that's why appeals to authority are fallacies in logic, you're not engaging with any measure of substance. I cited specific scenes and character traits, and you said "Nah, you're not a writer, invalid." I think…

Yeah, that's what I originally thought, but they don't even sound that subtle on re-listen.

Agreed, I think you also have to take into account that Shirley's arc is someone who's children were her whole life and now she's trying to build something else by going to Community college and starting a business. In the course of that she's going to stumble in creating a new balance. I always liked that dynamic.

It's funny, in my head Creed was a Christian rock band with alternative rock production values that enabled the crossover success, but listening to those snippets again it really is straight Christian rock with terrible production. It's baffling how they broke through and any of this passed for regular pop music. Am I…