Awfully heavy-handed symbolism at that, Dr. Reasonable. Almost like the dirty footprints at the end of Boardwalk Empire.

The whole point was that they were so focused on Kateb's present day whereabouts that they totally missed the fact that his existence only went back as far as six years. They needed to come at the puzzle from a different angle.

The pilot of The Sopranos alone had more character and thematic depth than the first three episodes of Boardwalk Empire.

Damn straight on Terriers and Detroit 187. I hope both find an audience before it's too late.

I'm just not finding any of these characters to be all that interesting. And this episode was written like it was the third episode of Season Two, when we (hopefully) know and love these people. It was a character-centered episode that didn't seem to have a compelling thing to say about anyone.

The storytelling style reminds me a little bit of Pynchon's Inherent Vice, the way that the characters solve one mystery only to find another behind it.

I thought this one was worse, too. The pilot at least compensated for Arnett and Russell's lack of chemistry by keeping the plot moving and holding the snippy dialogue between them to a minimum. I felt like this episode was one long shrill dialogue scene after another. There were like zero jokes that weren't dialogue…

I can feel it in my bones
Maybe one of this show's executive producers once sat in on a meeting where a bunch of people discussed what a theoretical hour of television entertainment might look and sound like. Perhaps he even watched one at some point. But based on the first two episodes, I find it hard to believe that…

Yeah, this movie is quite something. Great beginning and ending, but the long middle section with characters and actual scenes is kind of awful. A friend commented that one scene reminded him of The Room, and he's not far off.

Can't wait to read that interview, Todd.

"one last chance"
I'm sure viewers will be swarming in with that vote of confidence.

Kale has such a large ego that even when he says rote "quiet as a mouse" statements, he might as well be the first person to say them. He really gets off on being the mysterious, intimidating secret warrior, and that comes through in every word he speaks.

Great post, CaseyO.

I think MooltiPass nailed it.

I don't think it underlined what was going on with Miles and the translator at all. It struck me as more of a "this is your life" kind of moment for Miles. Maybe it reminded him of his own wedding and how it has failed. Maybe it reminded him of the lack of connection in his life. Maybe it caused him to, yes, reflect…

I must have insane amounts of patience because when each episode of this show ends, I'm always like, "It's over already??" Slowness never enters the equation.

I guess what I'm saying is that a real-life version of that character would know if an amateur was tailing him. So for the sake of buying what the show is selling, I'd like to believe that he knew he was being tailed.

It would have been more realistic if Bloom would have just lost him at the escalators, but then we would have been cheated of Kale seeing Will and that good line about the prawns.

Sufe
Upon first listen, I like the shorter folky tunes the most. I'm not a huge fan of Sufjan in epic mode. Maybe this is why Seven Swans is my favorite album of his.

I was wondering about this as well. Seems awfully insensitive, but maybe that's how they roll in Nassau County.