I'm a little confused about scoring.  I thought I had 14 points (Tina with 5 for two immunities and the initial Candice vote, Aras with 4 for two immunities, Hayden with three for the three vote outs, and Ciera with two for the two votes in Week 1).  If we weren't counting the initial vote-outs, I thought I would be…

I seem to recall a Rob Has a Podcast episode last season where Russell made the case that people like Brandon and some other players claim they are emulating his game but most of their actions are not game-related.  I didn't see Russell's first season, but I would agree that though he could be quite obnoxious, Russell…

@avclub-60834bec2156664276da2026a904fc81:disqus Isn't luck an integral part of Survivor though?  Russell made the only play he possibly could and Tyson was dumb enough to fall for it.

I mostly find the complaints about this episode to be on point, but I cannot agree that the antagonist being one dimensional is a problem.  It makes me wonder if Buffy would have the reputation it does if it had been around in the era of week to week recaps.  Most of those episodes have one dimensional villains - the…

Yes, maybe it's because I recently went to Salem, MA and viewed the memorial there, but it does rankle a bit to see a historical atrocity justified.  As Zack said, this is such a trope in horror fiction that you kind of just have to roll with it.  At the same time, it's probably good to note it anyway.

@JudgeReinhold:disqus Also, maybe not the best when you can refer to "the black female" without any other distinguishing traits for nine seasons straight.

@avclub-eee6e49e09ab1c283e2d7689d45a7b4b:disqus I recall that too.  Someone said that they thought he should be more sensitive since he probably had experienced discrimination and Colton responded that everyone around him was totally fine with his orientation.

And here I am several days later, finally reading this with Jay stuck in my head.

Awesome!  Was away for a couple weeks, but I am really looking forward to this.  Downloading….now!

My dream Grantland podcast is a Pappademas/Greenwald team-up.  Not sure what the disconnect is between Wesley Morris's solid writing and horrible podcasting, but it makes that podcast a bit difficult to get through sometimes.

@avclub-34fd0bc151761f2495a7470c6d9f6187:disqus I agree on the unfunny quipping.  When they stick to talking pop culture, I enjoy the podcast, but when they try to be funny it is death.  In my opinion, Ryan is much worse than Greenwald on this front.  Although oddly, I hate Greenwald's Grantland writing (though I…

Sounds like we are on the same wavelength @avclub-a8b7dcb4c84372a803ad65fb1fa84462:disqus .  In Conversation is the most guest dependent podcast I listen to.  Garlin's affability only work when they have something to react against.  This is why he makes a good foil for Larry David and it also made the Maron episode a…

Going for the early pick of Tina, Hayden, Aras, and Ciera.

Thanks @JudgeReinhold:disqus !

Yeah, Colton + Redemption Island has me preemptively dreading this season.  On the other hand, the additional swap with your family member twist could be interesting.  I guess we'll see.

Yep.  I noticed that too. Looks like this is his fourth one.

As much as I loved Lost, it would do this sometimes.  In the good episodes like this, you got 40 minutes of solid character development, then a few minutes dedicated to the ongoing arc.  Other times, you found out how someone got their tattoos.

Mostly agree.  We should also all marvel at the fact that an episode featuring a dog pretending to artificially inseminate a sister with her brother's stolen semen can be considered lighthearted.

Yes, I found Stephen's contention that Skyler and Jesse must equal Walt in stature to be perplexing.  I can understand someone wanting that, but it feels in no way necessary to having a great show.  To take one of your points a bit further - Who on The Sopranos was the equal "good" counterweight to Tony?  The only one…

@avclub-68ed797b8372d94e15f9cce7ff19a2dc:disqus Yes!  A lot of the arguments that Stephen makes here strike me as the kind of things that someone who has already decided they don't like the show would make.  Skyler does get to be funny, but you might not remember that if you already decided that she is written…