I think that this was a fantastic episode and that this season has been better overall than several previous seasons. I think Mac & Dennis Move to the Suburbs was a top-tier, all-time Sunny classic. This episode and Being Frank are also very good, probably the next tier down. The rest of them have been solid at…

That could also make sense, with each Phase viewed as a season in an Avengers series. The underlying point remains the same.

The only express link that I can remember was the end scene with Baron Strucker examining Loki's scepter (complete with Infinity Stone) and proclaiming the Age of Miracles (while showing an imprisoned Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch).

I agree that the movies have self-contained stories, though I'd say that the stories in the earlier movies are more stand alone than the later movies. The first Captain America and the first Thor were made before the Avengers became a colossal hit. It wasn't clear at the time Cap 1 or Thor 1 were made that there…

I don't know whose double standard you're addressing. I like the Marvel movies and their serial nature. I see their TV series like structure to be a good thing. I'd rather see the whole story of the formation of the Avengers and fight against Thanos told in 10-15 good movies than crammed into 1 or 2.

The mistake is viewing the Marvel movies as movies. The MCU is more like a television series where each episode happens to be a full-length Hollywood movie.

I thought the flag raising ceremony was great, but I thought that the I.V. wine was really, really stupid. They kind of balanced each other out.

I think this was an A+. Easily the best episode of this season, and one of the best of the past several seasons.

It was a good show, but I thought that Hal was too cartoonishly juvenile and that Louis was too cartoonishly shrill.

Certainly not in the theaters. I might watch it on Blue Ray sometime, but I'm still not sure about that. For example, I'm much more of an LOTR fan than I am a Star Wars fan. The second Hobbit movie irritated me so much that I haven't watched the third movie. If I can lose motivation to see a LOTR-related movie,…

The prequels killed my interest in Star Wars. I won't be seeing the new one.

Attack of the Clones would have been much better with the simple twist of making Count Dooku right- have him building a secret army because he's suspicious of Palpatine. Keep the ending the same (the Jedi crushing Dooku). The irony of the Jedi crushing the real opposition to the Sith takeover would have made up for…

Classical? Opera? Country / Folk?

I don't know, season 2 was pretty weak in retrospect. Qarth and the Rob-Talisa romance were pretty damn bad. The whole Halfhand, north of the wall plot was botched. Qarth approached Dorne in lack of quality, and it was given much more prominence. Plus, season 2 was based off ACoK, which was a much stronger book…

Interesting theory, but my comment was more a criticism of how the scene was shot / depicted.

I thought the shot at the docks was ridiculous as well. The boat was right there. What did Doran and the others do, sprint away from the dock as soon as the ship set sail? The ship was almost close enough for Jamie to yell at Ellaria from the deck. The Jamie-Myrcella scene gave the impression that they had been…

Based on that chapter, I was guessing that Theon would end the season as a sacrifice by Stannis to the R'hollor. I did not expect that the siege of Winterfell would be completed this season, and I have no clue what they're going to do with Theon now.

I thought this episode was somewhat underwhelming. For all the claims that it would be shocking, break the internet, etc., I found it pretty pedestrian. I'd say a C+:

I stopped reading Wheel of Time in the middle of book 9, and that whole experience made me stop reading fantasy novels for 15 years. AFFC and ADwD were still better than the nadir of Wheel of Time, but they did give me a similar sinking feeling.

I also remember playing the VB at Sears, but I don't think that I wanted one at the time. I was too busy waiting and hoping for the "Ultra 64" to be released.