I was pretty frustrated with how the PR for this season foregrounded Superman, but I did still trust the show itself to know who its heroine is. I'm glad to see that trust wasn't misplaced.

I'm really hoping that's the case as far as Facinelli is concerned, because the S1 finale really did seem to be moving Lord towards a redemption story and possibly a romance with Alex. And, you know, call me old-fashioned, but I don't think a guy who kidnaps comatose women, subjects them to unnecessary surgeries…

Ugh, this show's admirable desire to shine a spotlight on the raw deal that black people have gotten in American history keeps being undermined by its simplistic, Great Man take on how history works. You can maybe give Lincoln credit for abolishing slavery - though that ignores the many other people, including…

Dude, those are literally the most bland and personality-free tropes you could list. I mean, martial arts? That hasn't been a valid action genre since the 80s.

That would require the death/survival of Barry's mother to affect whether Kara and Jor-El arrive on Earth. Which either means affecting whether Krypton explodes, or whether their pods make it to this planet. Seems like a bit much for just one woman's existence, especially since her death occurred ten or fifteen…

I believe there's at least one woman who accused him - well before the tape surfaced - of doing exactly what he claims to have done.

He gave a eulogy at Shimon Peres's funeral, which was the first time I'd heard him speak in a while. I was shocked by how bad he sounded, and also had the thought that he could easily die during Hillary's presidency (especially if she gets a second term).

Given his recent comments, he'd probably just repeat the first film's problems with racial casting.

Yeah, I think we're long past the point where it's reasonable to assume that the problem is in Burton's choice of projects. He's the one that's in a rut, not the screenplays.

Well, that was impressively nondescript. Is the entire pitch for this show basically "hey, you watched the other Defenders shows, so you're probably not going to skip this one"?

The Tanach is, in general, critical of all the kings, and indeed of the concept of kingship. It's right there in Samuel's speech to the people when they first demand a king, warning them that they're asking to be exploited financially and used as cannon fodder in useless wars. The stories of all the kings that…

Well, there you're getting into the question of what the award should be recognizing. I mean, last year (or the year before?) they gave it to a teenager, who, while an extremely impressive young woman, still has most of her life ahead of her (as my brother said when he heard about the decision "what if all she wants…

While I loved both "Black Hole Sun" on the pianola and Western-style "Paint it Black" on the soundtrack, I can't help but feel that having both devices together (and in such close succession) is over-egging it a bit. Pick one conceit and stick to it (and, having watched the second episode, I'll risk a minor spoiler…

So long as we have the example of Obama being awarded the Peace Prize for, essentially, not being George W. Bush, there is simply no decision that the prize committee could make that would be more ridiculous and less justifiable. And I can still see the value of giving the award to Santos even though the peace…

That's because who the hell wants to bet against a CW show? If No Tomorrow gets any sort of critical attention, its ratings might not even matter.

Or maybe it's simply the fact that Westerns are an old-fashioned genre. I mean, I get that the show isn't a Western so much as science fiction story set in Western-themed amusement park, but that last element seems like it would be a serious hurdle for anyone under 35. If you had your choice of holodeck experiences,…

Most of my friends who have PhDs got them around the time they turned 30. Spencer is 35, so yes, that's a bit fast, but not impossible, especially if she has connections.

It probably tells you everything you need to know about how engaged I was by this pilot that the most pressing question I had at its end was: why the fuck was Lucy denied tenure? You have to screw up pretty badly to get thrown off the tenure track, especially if your mother basically founded your department. So…

I think the BBC is working on a miniseries adaptation. No idea if it'll be any good (and personally I'm not a fan of the books anyway), but at least it'll be a second shot.

Not only do I keep forgetting the names of the vice-presidential nominees, when I'm reminded of them it usually takes me a few seconds, or maybe even some contextual cues, to recall which one of them is the Democrat and which the Republican. So maybe doing something to set himself apart is exactly what (checks notes)…