dancingdays, I didn't say he wouldn't still be in the show. As a viewer, I'm just holding out creative optimism about how they might go about it.

I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate Enlightened.

CFAmick, in fairness, Boardwalk and Californ are very diff't kinds of shows, and stars of shows almost always direct an episode here or there. And some Showtime dramas, like Dexter, have very qualified directors like John Dahl. Hard to make a blanket statement one way or the other in that regard. But I do think that,…

I agree.

Hey, I love the show, and LOVE Bates, but it was a divisive cliffhanger for sure.

I was going to talk about them getting Zeppelin, and also using a Beatles cover. Made the whole episode feel very un-obscure, which makes you wonder if he did in fact just die.

Bates, unless I'm mis-remembering, is a fairly famous professor and author.

I don't know that the proverbial suits affect the final product of their shows. Showtime, like HBO, seems to give a lot of creative freedom, they just typically still don't get the Martin Scorseses and Judd Apatows producing shows for them.

Oh god, don't even get me started on Becca marrying Tyler, much as I love Scott Michael Foster. Hank seemed to talk him down from that though.

Pretty sure Bates-y takes care of the bills.

Thanks Roamsy. I suppose I would have been a half grade higher had the ending been different or if I didn't loathe the Carrie character as much as I do and find it to be a waste of Natalie Zea.

I agree about the shooting, and I can see where it's hard to care about the characters. Sad thing is, I really did care about seeing Hank's life falling back into place, so that ending still sits weird with me. As I said, very sad, but also enraging.

Fixed.

Bummer about the way they've promoted he and the show's return, but that still doesn't mean he might not be there in some other form. Hell, Tony Soprano appeared mostly asleep or in dream state for much of Season 6 of Sopranos.

Kali's character was, as you know, a huge disappointment to me. Maybe Meagan just wasn't that Good and they cut some of her material?

I think that's a fair point, re: the cliffhanger just kind of leaving you cold, especially since they really worked hard to make Hank and Karen reuniting believable and wanted this season.

For whatever it's worth, I just didn't think it was very funny this week, which seemed to be the review's main concern as well. It's been an up and down season, oddly parallel to the Knicks' season. But that's another story.

Agreed.

Well, if you really want to be accurate, that actually has happened, but your point is understood, and I think most men are who read this site are fairly sensitive to and aware of it.

Vanilla? OK, this is getting gross.