Yeah, that might be it too.

"If he opens his mouth later
and Cthulu falls out, I will not be surprised."

It's always the same pattern with this show. The season premiere shows lots of promise, which they kill quickly in the second episode. Then I watch the rest of the season for some reason, and the last episode or two are great again.

Disagree with the slightly disapproving tone of the past two seasons of this show.  Loved them; can't wait for tonight's premiere.

You're right.  I'm shivering in the corner now - should never have brought this up.

Yeah, I've got to agree on Schmidt.  I agree with Erik that it's a daring and admirable risk to put Schmidt in his current situation, but Schmidt was really, really funny before, and now it's going to be more difficult for him to have the same manic energy.

Just had a disturbing thought: Liz M., please please please don't make a contrived "Winston starts to date CeCe" plotline this season.  Love the show, but that'll send it spirling into unfortunate territory.

This was pretty much what I was trying to get at, except written much better and more succinctly than I could manage.  Thanks.

I hope not. :) What's an MRA?

Um… no?  Have I missed reviews from reputable critics that sugests female-ness limits the abilities of women in the arts?  And what's your perspective?

Thanks for all the replies, and their thoughtful tone.  I appreciate that nobody jumped down my throat, even though this is a sensitive issue.
 
I'm still not convinced, though.  The general consensus seems to be that men write from a position of "privilege" (which I think is pretty dubious, but leave that aside), and…

Uh-huh.  That was supposed to be some sort of put-down, right?  Lame.

I hear you.  I might take issue, generally, with simplifying notions of "empowerment" to "requiring that a female character stand alone, or only with her sisters".  More importantly, a revenge-screw seems like fairly normal human behavior, whether or not it's "empowering".  But I see what you're saying - if the movie…

"But it’s here that The Patience Stone is revealed as a story of female empowerment written by a man….."

Yeah, that was my original assumption too - he was a devil or warlock or whatever, and she was backing him up with full knowledge of his evilness (leading either to "inevitable betrayal" or "brief moment of redemption" by O'Quinn).  But last week makes me think that she may not be completely in on it.  I think it's a…

Yeah, that was my original assumption too - he was a devil or warlock or whatever, and she was backing him up with full knowledge of his evilness (leading either to "inevitable betrayal" or "brief moment of redemption" by O'Quinn).  But last week makes me think that she may not be completely in on it.  I think it's a…

Episode was weak, yeah.  I was particularly bored watching the suitcase of mystery change its combination every so often.  While the smoke monster reveal wasn't too bad, it made me laugh that the episode attached so much signifigance to Jane trying to jimmy the thing, then have the suitcase SLOWLY and SPOOOOOKILY…

Episode was weak, yeah.  I was particularly bored watching the suitcase of mystery change its combination every so often.  While the smoke monster reveal wasn't too bad, it made me laugh that the episode attached so much signifigance to Jane trying to jimmy the thing, then have the suitcase SLOWLY and SPOOOOOKILY…

Oh yeah.  Definitely a bad sign.  Going to be worse if the trip behind the wall turns out to be a dream or, while not a dream, doesn't particularly matter.
 
My bet: the thing grabs Jane's leg, she shrieks, bolts, boyfriend doesn't believe her, she inexplicably doesn't quit her job.  Or more likely: the thing grabbing…

Oh yeah.  Definitely a bad sign.  Going to be worse if the trip behind the wall turns out to be a dream or, while not a dream, doesn't particularly matter.
 
My bet: the thing grabs Jane's leg, she shrieks, bolts, boyfriend doesn't believe her, she inexplicably doesn't quit her job.  Or more likely: the thing grabbing…