Re Mercedes - these people have all been a big group of friends for the past several years, so even though they may not have had a great deal of on-screen special moments, it's not unrealistic to assume that they cared deeply about each other. Everyone who loses a friend deserves to grieve.

Maybe they finally realized how freaking boring she is.

Agree, but Romy has had a good career since, so while she's underused on Glee, she's certainly doing well for herself elsewhere.

I completely disagree. This was catharsis for a cast and crew who had lost a member of their family, as well as the one true memorial for fans of Cory and Finn. They were respectful to Cory, showed tremendous restraint, and still made a good point about remembering someone's life, and not just the way they died. 
Grief,…

Britney/Heather Morris wasn't in the episode because she was too heavily pregnant to make it to filming.

Re: Diana Agron - she had no beef with anybody. She had scheduling conflicts and couldn't make it, so they didn't write her into the episode. It's a stupid and unfair rumour that some school yard squabble kept her from memorialising her friend. 
She was also present for the real memorial and funeral.

I feel incapable of judging this episode from a critical standpoint, only from an emotional standpoint. It had me ugly-crying from Seasons of Love onward, and from that perspective, it was perfect catharsis.

For all of its flaws, The Walking Dead is endlessly entertaining and addictive. It's the only show I can think of to have so many of my good friends hooked, which is great because it's also the only show they're willing to actually "discuss" with me. I don't know what it is about TWD that encourages enough dedication…

My brain just fell out my ass.

It's their first episode in, and there's a chunk of them. I'm sure as the season progresses, they'll  fall into the background a little more. They had to introduce them.

She does strike me as a better Update person than Cecily, but I'll wait and see how it goes with C finds her stride before I judge.

They are, and it started strong. They should have cut it down by at least one group through. It was too long and predictable.

I'm feeling a little bad for Nasim. It seems the more time goes by, the more she falls into the background, which is too bad because she's a great performer.

Kate McKinnon is always a standout for me. I *tentatively* see her becoming the next Kristin Wigg.

I only half-watched this. I'll probably half-watch the entire season, save for the Finn episode, which is going to have me drowning a box of chocolates in my tears.

It's still lukewarm as always. I've never seen Girls, but I thought that was the best sketch of the evening. They made great use of the new girl (who does a fantastic Lena Dunham impression), and Tina's character actually made me laugh out loud a few times, which I consider a major win for SNL.

Me too. I think it makes a difference that we know she's the mother, so we're all also more inclined to like her. There's no more trepidation about becoming a shipper because we know this is the one that works out.

I think the real benefit to 'The Mother' is that she's not Robin in any way. So far I haven't seen any similarities between them. This is a woman who appeals to the things that make Ted unique and lovable, not his more douchey traits. She is like the personification of his inner dork, and she seems to get along well…

My money is on Koala Bear. An evil koala bear.

And it helps that they're perfectly adorable together.