Once again it seemed like the lead going into FJ wagered using the "let me pick something to get me to a nice, round number" thinking rather than actual strategy, and deservedly lost for doing so.

Heller's reactions to Jack's impromptu surgery and guard takedown were priceless.

All I could think was, "Why does that dude have such a sissy first name?"

Knowing that 150 years after publication of his On the Origin of Species well into the 21st century that his theories on the common descent of all species, including man, would still be denied by the majority of the world (though accepted by the majority of scientists and atheists) made him especially tired.

Anything that features Megan Hilty and Christian Borle can't be a complete waste.

"Does this semi-auto make my ass look fat?"

Smash!

Rather than serve the booze backstage, The Tonight Show, along with every other U.S. cookie-cutter late-night talk show, should take a page from The Graham Norton Show and serve the booze onstage, as well as bringing out all the guests at once and have them, you know, chat, as opposed to suffering through sequential,…

I've missed this week's Jeopardy!s so I very much appreciate these recaps and especially the wagering details going into FJ.

I only catch this show whenever the AV Club reminds me that it exists.
Good thing it showed up in "What's on Tonight" or I would have missed it.

English and Mulligan?

"…an effort to avoid asking the audience to reconcile a sympathetic character with participation in an odious system…it feels like whitewashing the facts of the setting."

When Vince made his timid $3000 DD bet I though he was purposely setting himself up for a third place finish, a close one if he were right, and a more distant, but still in the running, one if he were wrong.

Not that I doubted you, but I had to confirm that for myself:

"Who is that other John not Updike?"

I got the sense that Julia was fatigued from playing so many games, causing her to miss relatively easy clues, and couldn't think entirely rationally in wagering for FJ, probably thinking something like, "Fuck it, if I'm going to go out, I'm going to go out big."

The ads for this premiere were too slick by half, but actually proved to be accurate at least with respect to Lee Pace's Joe MacMillan.

Agreed that the technical aspects of the show were handled deftly and did not feel at all intimidating, and indeed although important within the context of the show, are secondary to what the characters are doing and why, which Dennis noted in his review.

Keeping Simcoe around proved to be a good decision as far as his driving episodes and plots with his creepy infatuation with Anna and acting as a particularly nasty thorn in the side of Abraham, but I will be disappointed if he survives beyond the season finale as the character hasn't shown very many sides and feels…

Chessman, perfect complement to any tea.