Best line: "That little cocoa puff is cuckoo for you." (Thank you, Sheila Shay.)

Last decade of the Cold War, after which "Russians" got replaced with "Libyans" (see: Back to the Future), which isn't nearly as cool.

And doesn't she get driven around in a limo everywhere? Have we ever seen her behind the wheel? If not, there's a driver somewhere dozing off next to a big pile of cigarette butts and wondering where the hell that bossy bitch is.

And didn't kid-Jack seem older all of a sudden?Is that the same kid that played him in previous flashbacks? He had the humorless, plodding, and mildly constipated personality of the adult-version and I swear I remember him being more fun than that in all those beach frolicking scenes before this.

@Kumagoro:disqus  and K. Thrace — I'm starting to suspect you guys might be right. That gun in the chair, the isolated location (no servants around), etc. do seem to point to a deliberate move on Victoria's part. It just never got telegraphed to us ahead of time by events, or close-ups of her "plotting evil"…

@avclub-cec8c70309e4d41583748680d75b86bb:disqus Yes, that was the right point for them to make, that Maggie is fully capable of avenging herself and that it was preferable for her to do so. I also like Steven Yuen's point that Glenn is a young man and young men don't always jump to the most well-thought out positions…

The left hand of the boat-corpse is shown wearing a wedding ring. Take from that what you will.

A brutal hand-to-hand by women of a certain age in form-fitting dresses in a room full of furniture would quickly reduce the characters/actors to either a Dynasty parody or a comedy outtake. Part of Victoria's magic is her stillness, her (mostly) imperviousness, and her physical dignity. She glides. She doesn't…

Re: the password. Wasn't that symbol supposed to mean double infinity?

Speaking of martyrdom, I finally hollered, "Climb down off the cross, Robert!" when Grantham muttered for about the 7th or 8th time that someone or other was "against" him on the economic future of the estate.

You are so right. I Britta'd.

Matthew was great in the jazz club. I thought he'd faint dead away from the shock of the place and, instead, I almost fainted when he grabbed Rose's hand without missing a beat and said, "Let's dance."

I just re-watched her in The Invisible and was reminded how much I love her in that movie. It's a rare image of a violent woman in search of redemption, a reversal of the usual conventions, and she pulls it off beautifully. I listened to the commentary, too, and the director said Margarita was born in Russia. Um, cool…

Big Head Todd?

All this time I thought they were keeping Bates walking around in proverbial circles in the prison yard because Fellowes couldn't think of anything else to do with the character but, goddamn, he came roaring back. Among the many laugh-out-loud moments in this delightful 2 hours, Bates gets to sneer the perfect…

After all the secretly-recorded video evidence that has swirled around Victoria and all her dropping-like-flies friends for the last 2 years, you'd think that she would have some inkling that she was always surrounded by bugs and act accordingly. Wouldn't you think? If I was her, I'd never open my fucking mouth and…

Yes! That patented Ackles combo of socially awkward and macho gravitas was perfectly deployed in the bar scene. He reminds me a bit of Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, actually. His physical screwball comedy can turn on a dime and suddenly become formidable violence.

In response to your comment about the arsenal above. In the post-9/11 world, that trunk could get them sent to Gitmo, for sure. Last season, they had to mothball the Impala because they were on the FBI radar and had to lie low for a while. I presume that the heat is off now, so they can go back to parking the shiny…

@avclub-cb0e59b8f769a8698b9f7154dd8809b5:disqus  and @avclub-2f2b7ca7553ba4230cad836ea1125578:disqus - OK, you guys are right on this Mary thing. My memory flew the coop. I had visions of her being in the life first and then I imagined, I guess, her passing that legacy on to him, which I guess she technically did…

Dean's never been known for his clear perspective or logic when it comes to Dad. Understandable, actually, for the life he was raised in.