He assumes he's being watched—by a bunch of exquisitely hammered people. Also, Liam was at the party IIRC, not just Carl—and who knows what other shenanigans were going on? We saw people smoking pot, and I'd frankly be shocked if there weren't other drugs being ingested. I agree it wasn't as bad as what Fiona did, but…

Yes. As great as shows like Breaking Bad ( and to a lesser degree, True Detective) are, I have a special love for shows like this, The Wire, Deadwood and Boardwalk Empire that manage to juggle a huge number of characters while finding and showing the hidden links between them. Even a flawed show like Oz (or Shameless…

Nah, last night the show went out of its way to show that Ian is bouncing off the walls and acting bizarre even when not on coke or X, as witness his behavior at Gallagher manor while wolfing down food. Also no sniffles or frequent trips to the bathroom for a bump, no constant smoking and drinking beer like it's…

This is an excellent season, and Lip has grown up a good deal, but this ep also exposed him as a huge hypocrite re: Fiona, what with hooking up with his (super solid, just like Mike) roomate's gal and leaving the kids unattended at a drunken, druggy party.

Yeah it crossed my mind.

When watching The Wire's amazing panoply of memorable characters, one is put in mind of John Dryden's praise for the Canterbury pilgrims of Chaucer: "Here is God's plenty." True Detective is good, but beyond Marty and Rust, the characters are stick figures.

I've only read one other review and it agreed with Todd, and the commenters also seem to largely agree that it is good but not great, so I'm not sure what "everyone" you're referring too. I sympathize, though. It is frustrating when it seems clear the emperor has no clothes.

Yeah that's always bothered me as well—though he is fairly young for a top level pol.

Very well put. The show IS compulsively watchable, but doesn't hold up to repeat viewings like great shows do. Solid B seems right.

Anyone else a little irked at how baldly Willimon uses McRaney as George Hearst in the 21st century?

More Deadwood: Al- Trixie- Sol
More Boardwalk: Chalky-Daughter-Narcisse
Shameless: Ian-Mandy-Lip, with incest bonus!
or Lip-Karen-Frank, with incest bonus!

I don't know…the opening credits and general atmosphere of the show indicate to me that Willimon is taking it quite seriously, even if Spacey is just having a ball hamming it up.

Yep. Spacey knows exactly what he's doing. Not so sure about Willimon.

You're right, of course, but the mixture of "real" reality and alternate reality still jarred me.

Point taken.

Autocorrect.Thanks though.

Except when it's undermined by The Washington Herald and Wall Street Telegraph. Those wouldn't be nearly so jarring if I hadn't seen anchors I know very well in other scenes.

I loved it when "Bumbling Joe" eviscerated the alleged intellectual leader of the Republican party in the VP debate.

Calling into a cable news show to spit venom at a rape victim was ridiculous though, and symptomatic of how almost every woman on this show, even the powerful ones, are basket cases.

The whole idea of running based on "I used to be a lush" (as it was established he had no other accomplishments) was pretty ludicrous.