I feel like I've gotten pretty good at figuring out where this show is going, but I was completely blindsided by that. I kept thinking that Korra was actually going to kill him and then have to hide out or something. Then THAT happened, and my brain has just been going "HOLYFUCKINGSHIT HOLYFUCKINGSHIT" over and over…

I feel like I've gotten pretty good at figuring out where this show is going, but I was completely blindsided by that. I kept thinking that Korra was actually going to kill him and then have to hide out or something. Then THAT happened, and my brain has just been going "HOLYFUCKINGSHIT HOLYFUCKINGSHIT" over and over…

I said this last week, and this episode only confirmed it for me: Tarrlok is the Long Feng of this series. He's pursuing his own agenda. I just can't see a bender with so much ambition and self-regard sympathizing with the Equalists. Now, USING Equalist unrest to facilitate his own rise to power seems about right. But…

I said this last week, and this episode only confirmed it for me: Tarrlok is the Long Feng of this series. He's pursuing his own agenda. I just can't see a bender with so much ambition and self-regard sympathizing with the Equalists. Now, USING Equalist unrest to facilitate his own rise to power seems about right. But…

Good to know! I'll probably pick it back up once GoT is over.

Good to know! I'll probably pick it back up once GoT is over.

@avclub-a3116fcb0ff78581d441a3de68287e73:disqus It starts at roughly 0:34. It's been too long since I did dictation in music theory class for me to tell you precisely what's going on there, but it gives me hives for some reason.

@avclub-a3116fcb0ff78581d441a3de68287e73:disqus It starts at roughly 0:34. It's been too long since I did dictation in music theory class for me to tell you precisely what's going on there, but it gives me hives for some reason.

@avclub-bbb04f2a70775131fa0397bbdb4c03de:disqus Nope. 1996.

@avclub-bbb04f2a70775131fa0397bbdb4c03de:disqus Nope. 1996.

@avclub-0f8adb83a042059c41c46e2e93506d4b:disqus I had no idea! I should have figured.

@avclub-0f8adb83a042059c41c46e2e93506d4b:disqus I had no idea! I should have figured.

I gotta say that even though I think Shih Tzu is taking this line of criticism a bit far, there's a worthwhile point to be made. I don't think it's a problem that's specific to Whedon, however, and what Firefly does is, at least in my opinion, a pretty harmless effort at adapting the conventions of the Western. If…

I gotta say that even though I think Shih Tzu is taking this line of criticism a bit far, there's a worthwhile point to be made. I don't think it's a problem that's specific to Whedon, however, and what Firefly does is, at least in my opinion, a pretty harmless effort at adapting the conventions of the Western. If…

Going back to the previous thread about how the Civil War is often a major part of the hero's backstory in your conventional Western, I think the anti-authoritarian ethos of the genre—in which government institutions are usually either corrupt or ineffectual—does go back to Southern resistance to federal control in…

Going back to the previous thread about how the Civil War is often a major part of the hero's backstory in your conventional Western, I think the anti-authoritarian ethos of the genre—in which government institutions are usually either corrupt or ineffectual—does go back to Southern resistance to federal control in…

@avclub-2b4398f8c60d5dd9b8e3c786a3745192:disqus It IS uncomfortably close to "Brownshirt Land."

@avclub-2b4398f8c60d5dd9b8e3c786a3745192:disqus It IS uncomfortably close to "Brownshirt Land."

Yes, this. The former Confederacy was romanticized to death as part of the myth of the "lost cause" in the late 19th century, when guys like Zane Grey were defining the conventions of the genre. This was true even in the North, where residual racism was still prevalent. So the Confederate soldier as a tragic figure in…

Yes, this. The former Confederacy was romanticized to death as part of the myth of the "lost cause" in the late 19th century, when guys like Zane Grey were defining the conventions of the genre. This was true even in the North, where residual racism was still prevalent. So the Confederate soldier as a tragic figure in…