Well played, Stephen Foster. Well played.

I'm not sure I buy that. Tara isn't a 'love to hate' character, I think we're really meant to sympathize with her. And while I do at times (really, her mother is IMPOSSIBLE), at other times I find her choices really strange. More than any of the other characters, she and Sookie fall victim to the "idiot plot"…

Ah, the pictures you put in my mind! SloMo, you are too much. I'll be your fruitfly any day.

True, but even if Alan Ball's intention was to conflate vampire rights with gay rights, it's not a great fit and therefore any attempts to make the connection dramatically are fleeting and forgettable. After all, a vampire can be made, but you can't manufacture a sexual orientation (no matter what the fundies say).

@ Silly Buns

It's not so much that Bill doesn't fit in the show as that he and Sookie don't really fit together. If the show was following the books closely, they'd be on the outs just about now, with Eric ready to move in. However the show is taking a more menacing tack with Eric, what with the torture of Lafayette, throwing…

I didn't have a why-didn't-they reaction to this episode at all (for once). The story really moved, and of course there was Eric aplenty (Mmm… Alex Skarsgard). Not to mention the pure comedy gold of the look on Bill's face when Jason hugs him.

You crack me up, Slomo. Goodnight, dear.

I would characterize Jason's going apeshit when Gabe disses his sister as a reflex, not an example of his taking control of his life. And hey! I've got:

Evan and Randi were right for those roles, but I think part of the reason Evan did so well in it was precisely because he didn't have to relate to his partner face to face. Watching him in subsequent performances, IMO he failed more for lack of conviction than for lack of technique. I got the impression that he…

Well said! I always loved the Initiative for the whole new dynamic it introduced into the show. The reveal was far more intriguing than the Adam storyline it led to, but I'll always remember the experience of watching Riley and his buds get into their secret elevator with the retinal scan etc. and walking out into…

C'mon, the zombie dance with Kayla and Jason was AWESOME, and easily one of my favorite performances of the season. I think the only reason we didn't get to see it again last night was because of there wouldn't have been sufficient time to get them into and out of the zombie make-up.

Silly, silly Slomo. 'Of Mice and Men' isn't about Lenny, it's about George and the choices he makes. And Xander wasn't a dullard, he just didn't have supernatural abilities (but he always brought the funny).
Dumb characters can be dramatic as long as they're not passive, by which I mean they have some sort of moral…

Jason is not a compelling character precisely because he is so passive and dumb. He has no intellect and no convictions (no body fat does not a character make). He's nothing but a pinball bouncing off one thing or another. On the one hand, he's not a total vampire-hater because he befriended Eddie and regrets his…

Lurky, BINGO and SYC etc. have a point. As someone who came to the Whedonverse late and bassackwards, I experienced BtVS for the first time on DVD. The pain of bad episodes is dulled considerably by that compression, to the point that I don't hate Beer Bad nearly as much as other fans. There are some genuinely…