I think it was just "une aventure" (an adventure).

He is terrifying, yes. But after the scene with the nice-guy high school buddy and the bitter uninvited guest one, I'm thinking that part of fictional Pennsylvania just turns out a lot of creeps.

Parts of it seemed almost intentionally unpleasant, like the dinner with the high school buddy et al. This wasn't the first episode this season that I didn't like at all, either.

Or if they do care, they're actually rooting for him to spiral into addiction and mental illness.

Apparently he had some troubles with drugs and booze after a bad divorce, and fell out of favor with directors and producers. I'm hoping this is the start of a comeback.

Brendan Fraser is amazing as the creepiest prison guard on earth. He's my favorite thing about season 3 so far too. I'm not sure where the show is going with the hallucinations of him, though. And given that he does seem to be a hallucination, who actually stabbed Noah?

I knew in advance that this would be a Noah-only episode, but I was still surprised by just how dull it was (until the last few minutes). I expected to be more annoyed and less bored than I was. Hoping for better next episode.

True, plus for people who became fans/supporters relatively early, it was hard not to think of Tommy as this adorable underage kid who could be forgiven almost anything because he was still just a baby. That perception stuck around long after he was finally old enough to know better.

I think the alcoholism would have happened anyway, but yeah. And Peter, of all people, really didn't deserve to be treated that way. He's a wonderful person.

Excellent interview, Gwen. Thanks.

This. Absolutely this. Paul wanted it both ways in the worst way. And he got it both ways to some extent, which is the amazing thing.

I totally get wondering why no one ever punched them (or at least Paul and Tommy) in the face, but it's hard to overstate how charismatic Paul was back then. (And probably still is.) A lot of otherwise smart, self-respecting people were willing to let him get away with anything because he was, well, Paul.

"Wrecked" is an understatement.

—Nice friends.
—Thanks, I made them myself.

Fuck that.

Can I put in a plug for "The Sure Thing"? Not as Repo Man's equal, of course, but as candidate for best teen movie of the 80s.

Online lyric sites, really? LOL. I worked for one of Soul Asylum's labels, knew them, and saw them more times than I can count, but hey, I'm sure LyricsFreak.com knows better.

Not to mention that the line in "Closer to the Stars" is "Yesterday you were too young/Tomorrow you will be too old to ignore the things you've done." Ignore, not regret.

Having seen the Replacements about 20 times and Soul Asylum something on the order of 50 times, I can tell you that in their heyday (c. 1986-1989, pun intended), Soul Asylum blew the Mats away live.

Indeed.