The scene at the end of "Riceburner" is so painful, because Corrine realizes that Vic is just not the right guy to help.  She's just a little angry at him, but mostly resigned.

I've listened to most of the DVD commentaries and I don't remember it ever being mentioned.

I hear ya.  I love this country, and no matter what anyone thinks about what happened in the last ten years, I'm pretty sure we all agree it needs to be talked about.  I just don't think that making an allegory to one event in one country is the standard for judging drama.  It's incredibly provincial.

WHY YES THESE ARE SPOILERS THANKS FOR ASKING

“Have you ever killed something before?”

Someone, possibly Moore, noted that Rorschach and Nite Owl were the two sides of Batman: the traumatized vigilante and the wealthy guy with all the cool toys.

Why do you keep using "cape killer" when it's always "mask killer" in Watchmen? Just sayin'.

A favorite detail of mine is on the title page of #12: a socket with a splash of blood on it, turning into the bloodstained smiley.

He kicked so much ass as Fidel Castro in Che.  There's a scene early on where they're in the jungle, and he's sitting in a tent looking like he's already in the Presidential Palace.

"If they market the Car Cash brand, they will eventually receive what Marcus calls 'mailbox money,' so they get money whenever anyone opens up a new Car Cash, without doing any work."

Thanks!  And thanks as well to @unicyclistperiscopes:disqus and everyone else here. This is a great experience to go through these episodes again and figure out (with complete sentences and everything) what makes them work.  It wouldn't be half as insightful or enjoyable without all the feedback.

"Horrible but believable" is exactly what that moment felt like.  Sanes played it like she simply had to get out of the office, not like she was making any kind of conscious choice or judgment; that's, for me, what made it work.

One of the ways The Shield plays by the simplest rules of drama, and is therefore so incredibly effective, is that it makes sure that every character wants something.  No one exists simply to be pure good (or pure evil) or to pass judgment on other characters.  Mara wants to make a family with Shane, and that's what…

Agreed on this; that remark was speculative, and literally the last thing I wrote for today's long comments.

Um, I always thought we did a good job on Noel's Buffy/Angel reviews here.  (For that matter, I've always considered those reviews the best writing on this site, either that or Donna's work on NewsRadio.)  The deleted first posts are at unpaidsophistry.blogspot.com.

This.  Exactly this.  Once, Juan had Aceveda in his power, and made him do whatever he wanted, and now Juan has to live with knowing Aceveda can do whatever he wants with him, whenever he wants.  That is power.

Most definitely not the best-handled plot point of the series.

SPOILERS

“. . .the things I can do.”

There's no reason he can't just use this as a template for any kind of media.  Coming in 2014:  Aaron Sorkin's Now How Much Would You Pay?, backstage at the Home Shopping Network as the idealistic staff tries to raise the level of discourse in America using affordable toaster ovens.