Help me out here, then, with a historical analogy. If my ideas aren't "insurgent", how many years did it take for Mao's "permanent revolution" to become the status quo? Then I'll have a better idea how long today's crypto-Marxists will have to be in power before I can count myself as a rebel.

Believe me, I've been on both ends of flame wars since I've been on the 'net. And they always start with little ad hominem jabs before escalating into uglier slurs. So I'm not being "over-sensitive". I'm drawing my line in the sand before figurative fists start figuratively flying.

Okay, I see my error now. When I wrote about an abstract "zeitgeist" you seem to have thought I was insulting you, personally. Yes, another reason I need to steer clear of discussing politics on this forum. For me, politics is just ideas. But for other people, politics actually is "personal".

"Corporate shill", is it? You had to make it personal, eh?

Okay, I've exercised my minimum of political discussion for this episode. Just count me as proudly-opposed-to-the-zeitgeist and I'll consider this exchange closed.

That is good news. Actually, the stunt looked a lot worse in the previews than it did in the actual episode. So I was afraid for the stunt-man's very life at first.

I usually avoid talking about politics on the AVClub. But your invocation of the Republican bogie man compels me to let know this: corporations have always been defined as "legal persons". The Supreme Court didn't "rule" corporate entities into personhood; they were building on a long-standing precedent.

I haven't read BNW for a few years and your comments about Savage's mom bring me this realization — Savage is an outsider everywhere simply for having been *born* instead of having come from the artificial womb. Sure, the outlanders disdain him because of he doesn't know who his father was. But the larger culture also…

Isn't there a theme of inescapability in tragedies caused by the tragic character's character flaw(s)? If so, I have a question: will Draper still qualify as a "tragic figure" if he ends up better off because of everything he's experienced?

Aldous Huxley ("Brave New World") would likely disagree with you about how benign a "synthetic womb" would be. Making reproduction an industrial process would have significant social ramifications, likely turning humans into parts as interchangeable as cogs in a machine. Huxley even imagined that sex itself would…

Alison was nowhere near Aynsley — but she was right by the on/off switch where she hesitated before pulling her hand away. That moment of hesitation showed that Alison was aware of having a choice to act or not act and she chose to take no action.

How did Leakie and Bowles come to the conclusion that Sarah has been the instigator of trouble among the clones? She didn't become aware of Clone Club until after Beth, Katja, Alison, et al. had already found each other.

The stunt work that went into Vic's collapse after being drugged was scary. If he'd hit the table the wrong way he'd have never gotten up again.

Poor Harry and his bad timing issues: a day late for the partnership buyout and a generation too early for personal computers.

Chris Partlow was scary enough, but Snoop would blind-side you.

Congress is going to ban cigarette advertising on television within a year. So Lou is a dinosaur whose world is about to end.

The scene where Harry bursts into the meeting just to find out he has completely missed the partnership boat was like a moment from Laugh-In.

But we know that the Machine has developed its own sense of morality from its interactions with Root. Before becoming the Machine chose her as the "analog", Root was impulsively murderous. But since the Machine allowed her to leave the mental facility, Root only kills when necessary. Hey, baby steps.

From the beginning Finch was always leery about building a "back door" into the Machine which could have allowed any committed hacker to ultimately control it. Finch doesn't even trust himself with that much power.

From the beginning Finch was always leery about building a "back door" into the Machine which could have allowed any committed hacker to ultimately control it. Finch doesn't even trust himself with that much power.