Yeah, perhaps I'm letting that amazing last moment cover over the flaws you mentioned. I loved the pasta, though! Thought it was a great touch.

Yeah, I didn't quite realise that until you said it - becomes a sort of manufactured drama. Then I start losing perspective on a show that I really enjoy every week anyway - I think that's what Wad is getting at, below. Absolutely agree with both.

It takes him about 2500 words to talk himself out of his own hype.

Hate to speak heresy, but I think Dr. Melfi's dream in "Employee of the Month" is a cut above "The Test Dream" - even though that is the one everyone remembers from the series. But her dream - with the Roman sentry dog, and the vending machine that threatens to collapse on her - great. And it is one of the Sopranos…

Indeed! It is the paradox of wanting quality and quantity from a show you really enjoy.

Touché.

True, but I'd put it down to the script straining at the seams and the actors having to make good on the demands of the plot. Interestingly, the examples you cited (and the ones I can think of) are all connected to the ongoing humiliation of their characters - a note the show seems to hit way too often.

Yes, completely agree. It makes it jarring, too, when other characters such as her former writing professor or the guy commissioning her book obviously see something in her and give her a chance. I think it is a problem that extends to a few of the other characters as well; and means that the actors have to work extra…

I also get annoyed that these discussions often get railroaded into a discussion of Dunham's nudity. I think it has been used well in the series, but has now become overused. This has nothing to do with her appearance; I have the same complaints about a lot of the gratutious nudity in Game of Thrones.

My problem with this show is that its characterisation is so patchy; and the events that are supposed to illuminate them or add depth don't. The show frequently reaches for the easy and sensational - e.g. Hannah's OCD manifests a dozen episodes into the series, because of a deep anxiety she strangely didn't feel as…