I will probably read this
I was "meh" on Kavalier and Clay and on Carter Beats the Devil, so comparing this book to those is not winning me over. But I've got a soft spot for Asimov, Heinlein, et al. so I'll definitely be taking this one out of the library.

The motherfuckery was that every boy under the age of 12 "won."

My nieces hate AV Club now…

The scrabble game really cements the us-vs-them vibe in the room.

Maybe we're being too hard on David. It's easy(er) to stand up and not be a bitch to someone like Gilardi the corporate Nazi fuck. It's a lot harder to stand up and not be a bitch to your mother, especially for someone as family-centric as David.

@Kinopio: I kind of agree with you. David's confrontation and then the prayer circle are two powerful scenes, but the rest of the ep. really failed to grab my attention.

Did David out himself?
So if this episode is about David no longer being a bitch, did he really out himself to his mother? She asks where he goes to church and he says he goes with his friend, the black man. And then Paco congratulates him for no longer being a bitch. I read that as David being pleased for standing…

Fuck you, you have to put a SPOILER ALERT on that shit, man!

Timely yet still relevant humour
"I hope you have an exit strategy!"

SouthofHeaven:

HAH! My bf insisted that "of course" it was Claire who set the fire. It's "so obvious." In your face, boyfriend!

Nate
Nate's not a blank, he's a pleaser. He wants everyone to just get along, man, so he adapts himself to please those around him, to reduce conflict. That's why he seems to be different people all the time.

Brenda vs. Claire
The first time I saw this episode (not a firstie!) I honestly thought Brenda set the fire. She seems fucked up enough to do it, and her conversation with Nate in the house seemed to foreshadow something like that. This time around, I caught the Claire thing. But I still think that it's ambiguous…

This was my first thought, too. I would totally see this movie.

Whoops, sorry, that book is about their case but they choose their names based on kids books that they read. Not sure if those books exist outside of SFU. Never heard of them otherwise.

There was a book published about their case entitled Charlotte Light and Dark. Claire mentions having read it when she learns that Brenda is the subject of the book.

Nate vs. David
When Adele Swanson cries in front of David, he pushes the tissue box towards her. When she cries in front of Nate, he hugs her.

Brenda's motivations
Do you think Brenda had good motivations for getting Nate and David on the bus? I think at this point in the series she's an emotional vampire. I really think she gets off on seeing people suffer emotionally. I mean, she's talking to Nate about his "wounds" and then the proceed to have sex,…

@Arsenio:

Um, I just looked at the Wikipedia entry for Serbian Film. If you don't like pedophilia or necrophilia or rape or any combination thereof, don't read the synopsis. You'll just give yourself that sinking feeling like I just have. It's truly foul.