I didn't read "Black Swan", but I'm currently into Taleb's follow-up, "Anti-Fragile".

Gawping at farm animals is the last vestige of humanity in all of us.

That's a clever and bold strategy, given the homefield advantage Rick and Morgan have in their hometown.

I like the attitude behind those episodes that there's a place among the greater serialized narrative for bits of random visual storytelling. The wandering zombie, the sign for Erin, and the hitchhiker may not relate directly to the main cast and their immediate problems, but their characterization is the better for…

That's a sharp reading of the hitchhiker scene - connecting it with the final Rick and Michonne scene - which I didn't pick up on at the time. Now, when I re-watch the episode I'll probably appreciate it more, something that's usually the hallmark of Mad Men or Breaking Bad episodes.

That short exchange baffled me. Given what we know about Abed, why would he go out of his way to avoid calling it a quadrident? That seems like the kind of unwieldy but apt word he'd take to. The "shhhh" afterwards seemed even more out-of-character, like a lazy retort Max would use on Happy Endings.

I had the same initial reaction to the 'ruse' joke, but I think the "good thing you said it" followed by a short silent beat from Jeff redeems it.

> That ending makes me think they probably ran out of time and money and came up with whatever they could do on the set that day.

The Office is back on Mar. 28th with an episode titled "The Farm"*

I can believe that she'd long harbored a fantasy about marrying Jeff and that being addressed as "Mrs. Winger" would unexpectedly trigger a desire to inhabit that fantasy, if only for that day. She's also play-acted other people before ("Mixology Certification") as a method of self-exploration.

@avclub-323ca7b091beb1b26cc7a2612f1475d5:disqus Chang's birthday salute to himself (creepily transitioning into an extended keytar solo dedicated to the twin sister he consumed in utero) was - to me - his season 3 highlight.
 
Honorable mentions: 
- twirling a double-ended stun baton like Darth Maul's lightsaber, "So it…

When Tom became obsessed with Twilight in that episode it opened my eyes to how dumb P&R was capable of being.

She's self-satisfied (similar to Frankie in that respect) but not nasty by any means. If anything, she represents the compassionate aspect of being a know-it-all by doing what she thinks will help those around her, whereas Frankie just lets the moths fly into his light.

Wouldn't Schmidt have invited him? They're supposed to be on a joint quest to pry CeCe out of an arranged marriage (before Schmidt slays Robby).

I don't think "looks like" is enough of an equivalence relation to allow application of the transitive property.

I don't think ghosts/visions should be in the business of guiding TV characters into convenient situations. It's a pseudo-mystical crutch that Lost frequently fell back on when its writers couldn't figure out a better, plausible way to move the plot. It's already a stretch of the imagination that Rick would even see…

I think the show wants to convey that she herself hates that she loves him.

I can see how her actions could come off that way, but I can only disagree that they're unrealistic. I don't see her as a perfectly accommodating wife, but I could see myself going through the same emotional beats if put in her shoes. That makes her plausible, human, and sympathetic to me.

When Emily's trial was brewing, Dr. Banks' wife asked him if any legal trouble could come down on him, and he completely dismissed her concern: he's only an expert witness, and once the trial is over the issue is settled "absolutely". I think she was completely justified in getting pissed over how, post-trial, he went…

It wasn't just a lesbian affair, it was a doctor-patient affair. I think the latter quality was the one actually played up as perverse.