I didn't realize until now that Caroline worked for the DA's office.

I guess the reason I really liked this moment, and really want to defend it, is because I like how it undercuts the usual narrative of the high-achieving female.  Usually the answer to the question "How did she get this far?!?" is either "on her knees" or "through abrasive, sexuality-denying prudery."  Adriana's…

"if it were spelled out any more plainly, it wouldn't even qualify as an implication"

He noted that her sister was already on kid number 3, and specifically asked how she avoided getting pregnant, and I feel like she wanted to disabuse him of the notion that she was more virtuous (or prudish, depending on your point of view) than her sisters.  It was more, "I was a lesbian, so my antics as a typically…

*self-immolates*

Linden/Holder shipping isn't so much "will they or won't they" as it is "they probably shouldn't, so they just might."

I would pay cash money for a series of 8-minute web shorts called "Ben Wyatt and [Patton Oswalt's Parks&Rec Character] argue about stuff."

I've realized that my opinion of these characters can be expressed as the ratio of their ability to put on a good show over the amount of emotional bullshit they bring to the workplace.  Since trawling the bottom throughout season one, Julia has been on the slow ascent since the beginning of season two; Ivy came back…

As much as they enjoy your sarcastic hostility, I would imagine.

"Has anybody on TV ever disliked a surprise party thrown in their honor?"

I've said it once; I'll say it again.  "Jack the Giant-Slayer" is a slayer of giants; "Jack the Giant Slayer" is a very large slayer.

Do Jimmy and Kyle live on the set of a torture porn movie?  It looked like someone had smeared poo all over the walls and windows.

I just squeed like a schoolgirl watching a former neo-nazi criminal kingpin propose to his brother's widow/murderess.  Squeed.  Out loud.

Okay, as slow as that episode was, there were some really beautiful visual bits, like Rose and Anna prancing around that empty room with the light spilling in, or Robert and the Dowager's peanut gallery commentary on Molesley, framed by his drunk dancing legs.

How is Rose's last name "Crawley?"  If Shrimpy is a Crawley, I feel like he'd be higher in the line of succession than Matthew, whom they didn't even know until two people died.

At the pace this show moves through time, season four will likely end with Matthew Crawley Jr. knocking up someone below stairs, followed by the season five premier that opens on Downton Deep Space 9. And Isis will still be alive.

But is it worse than "definately?"

@avclub-b0968cb03f5c51b647bbc197f2975157:disqus , I agree that many of the characters (Robert included) are written inconsistently, but I think that combination of privilege and duty isn't unique to Robert, but bound up in traditional notions of noblesse oblige.  The trust that Robert holds over the estate is much…

I have a feeling that Robert's idea of managing the estate is to make sure that everything is run the way it has always been run since time immemorial, as opposed to a realistic evaluation of the assets and liabilities of the place.  Matthew mentioned that rents are unpaid or too low, probably because Robert would…

@avclub-d7b683529752a4d24d84c4941861a363:disqus, totally.  When we American Catholics talk about Catholicism, it's usually with the amused affection otherwise reserved for camp hazing rituals and your racist-but-there's-nothing-you-can-do-about-it grampa.  Also, when you're 13 you get to pick another name!  How cool…