Sure, why not? He's a writer, right? Even if they're not POV characters, surely they could be well rounded. The show, as currently constructed, doesn't really allow for that (at least so far), but Pizzolatto is clearly an amazing writer capable of doing amazing things. "Giving his female characters more to do"…

It does not make the show racist or sexist, but it could certainly mean the executives who chose to give it a shot are if the decision is based solely on gender or race.

So should the main characters have been cast as different genders or races?

Municipalities do often try to see that there is some maintenance, outward at least, done on abandoned properties

Actually yeah it didn't occur to me before, but how come none of us are dissecting this dude's tattoos?

At the very least, I think he recognizes something of his philosophy and worldview in the cult and is drawn to it.

Yeah he's swiftly becoming one of my favorite actors and I've seen 10 Things I Hate About You.

Here's the thing: shows don't fall out of the sky fully formed. They involve choices made by writers, directors, producers, and casting agents. The suggestion - if I understand it correctly - is that the decisions made shortchange female and POC characters.

Agreed, though I don't actually doubt Lawnmower Man's story - I think he really was just hired and really doesn't know anything else about the school. But considering the school was abandoned...

It is physical abuse, and yet I agree with the above that the specific actions carry different connotations.

The girl is described as having been "catatonic when we found her," so I think she lived.

Which, now that you put it that way, is pretty fascinating to think about considering how this episode is the clearest example in the series so far of the power and importance of not only telling stories, but repeating them, and making sure they're told the same way each time.

Well let me be clear: I actually enjoy what's being suggested, in that I think the writer is talking directly to the audience; the speech is meant to make the viewer think about their role as observer. But I don't think there's anything within the episode to suggest that Rust is literally speaking to the viewer.

I suspect that "The King in Yellow" refers to an actual human being, though, probably the man with the scarred face or the dude with face 'like spaghetti." Whether the show will make it explicit that the King in Yellow is someone who's read The King in Yellow is what I'm interested in.

The first time they investigate the school, they just accept the groundskeepers' story and move on without actually entering the school. I assume that Rust is revisiting old crime scenes specifically because he suspects he's missed something or hasn't investigated thoroughly enough - as it turns out upon entering the…

His short appearance in The Wolf of Wall Street was incredible.

The way he talked about observers in the 4th dimension made me think that his thoughts on extradimensional horror have...evolved, somewhat.

I'm not buying the "he knows they're in a TV show" hypothesis.

This isn't the first time the narrative they've described breaks from the events we're shown from the past - they lied about the entire biker gang thing, too. Officially, Rust was on a leave of absence, and they received all their information that lead them to Ledoux on the up-and-up.

Maybe not always, but for a while now. The Starbird is apparently an old symbol used for a number of causes (similar to the Republic/Imperial crest) and the version the Alliance winds up using is the version found in the Marek family crest. This is a different version. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Alliance_…