"Cod-empathetic" is a good word for it, I think. I hate the way that New Yorker piece opens, in particular. It's that same maddening style one of his stories might be written in, All in present tense; the "you" apprehending the "he"; episodes broken into sections organized by phrases like "He Appears"… It's like…

Fair enough, my dude. If you're curious, it's Emily Witt's Future Sex, Eurydice's Satyricon USA, Jedediah Purdy's Being America, and J. A. Baker's The Peregrine.

I think it's that he's so hyped, but the one book of his I've read, Tenth of December, left me very underwhelmed. Granted, one book isn't really grounds enough to write someone off wholesale. But add to that the fact that everything I read and hear about him is so full of platitudes about how skillful and…

I was actually talking about portrayals of abortion in television (or fiction more generally), and I think Dunham was too.

I guess it's more about what I'm not reading at this point… My boss lent me George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo, and I have absolutely no desire to pick the thing up. (It's a very foreign feeling to me.) I also have two other books from her I haven't really gotten started on, so maybe the answer's to find some…

This is a good way of putting it. One thing that comes to my mind as representative is the "Inside the Episode" feature on "Close Up," where Dunham characterized the decision to make Mimi-Rose blase about her abortion as a reflection of her passion for reproductive justice. Which… I did think it was remarkable to see…

Quite cute! He seemed very scared by the end, though.

You know, not having a publicist could be part of it. I suspect she doesn't. I suspect too it'd be contrary to her ethic to have one.

You know, I don't think it's that she didn't want the exposure so much as she doesn't know how to use or play it. I keep thinking of all the moments Dunham's put her foot in her mouth trying to articulate some "progressive" stance that ends up being blinkered and short-sighted because she's only half-thought it out or…

Also represents Snow (as the dragon represents Daenerys). (I found the effect kinda silly-looking, though.)

Oh man. I can at least understand wanting to play something like "Hey Ya" on repeat, but why on earth would you want to listen to "I Don't Want to Wait" on blast, multiple times?

Ah, that's a good way of putting it. Pelphrey also does very lovely work in season 3 of Banshee. (Also in season 4, but his s3 storyline's a particular favorite of mine.) I'd also recommend that show for a good Hoon Lee showcase, if anyone's interested in that…

About Ward's murder of Harold never really being recognized: I think it's because barely anyone knew Harold wasn't dead, as another commenter's pointed out. But it does put me in mind of the murder of Jay Karnes' character in Sons of Anarchy, which I'd been sure was going to recur by the story's end as what would…

I was OK with it as someone who's been watching these comment sections for a while; I'm totally unfamiliar with the Legion character and his story, and the comments have been helpful filling in the background I don't have. But I did wonder what folks with no prior knowledge of Legion but this show would make of the…

Michael Shannon as Cable strikes me as a weird choice—-but now that I know it's possible, it's like there can't be any other…

Taking advantage of this article to plug another, on the auto industry in Alabama: https://www.bloomberg.com/n… It's terribly sad, but worth a read. (Especially if anyone finds themselves wondering what unions are good for…)

I doubt it'll be fixing, though, considering who all rejected the bill. Freedom Caucus ultimately had the most sway… That said, this is an interesting wrinkle: http://www.politico.com/sto… The 7:42 update, in particular.

The Farouk version worked pretty well in the early episodes, when he was dimly lit and (I think?) at least partly CGI, or with some sort of effect, at least. But it was downright laughable under clear lighting when he was chasing Syd around the white room.

Oh man, Under the Skin… I haven't gotten the chance to see this episode yet, and now I'm a little nervous to…

I really liked Tom Pelphrey in Banshee. It sucks that Iron Fist will be all that some folks know of him, cause I can't defend his performance here. It's so wooden, at least in the early going.