I was thinking about our conversation at the end of season 2 about Eli, Matt, and I think this episode really speaks to what I mean when I say I don’t consider Eli a monster and that he has good in him and is capable of good, despite the other things he’s capable of and has done. Without any immediate threats to him…

Co-sign. I think Matt has done a good job with this show generally, but this writeup was a particular standout.

Which one is Matthew? I do think Gideon is in a lot of ways Eli’s true heir.

And it fits perfectly into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song:

And how it perfectly goes on just a little too long.

“There’ll Come a Payday” isn’t an original for the show:

May-May calls Eli her brother, so I assume you are correct. 

God damn, it’s good to have this show back. I don’t even know what elements to highlight; it’s just so fun to see the Gemstones back at their antics and what outside forces are bearing upon them. Great lineup of guest actors, too. Of course Gideon handled the truck drivers; that wasn’t in doubt after the phenomenal…

I’ll just take any excuse to remember that scene, it was so goddamn funny.

I don’t think you’re wrong, although in its defense I will offer that season 3 gave us “You have too many dogs!”

Which is really weird because the Keeley from season 1 is smart enough not to be, or at least to try to manage or mentor Shandy properly, instead of just not doing anything past hiring her.

Yeah, if they don’t want Ted to actually go through with filing some kind of complaint, that would be a good way to go about it. As it is, it plays like the writers don’t even know what a violation of professional ethics Dr. Jacob is committing, which makes the whole thing feel weird and dissonant.

I feel ya on the writer-structure-brain problem here. Or, not really “problem,” but ability to see where the details in the plot are skipped over or where the writers didn’t seem to bother with whether the progression of events made narrative sense. I loved this show in season 1 precisely because it got all the…

they let so many storylines just sort of float in and out of the show’s consciousness, while also not adhering to the moral code the show originally set.

Yeah... my reaction was pretty much exactly yours, ha.

I think he had the limp a couple of episodes ago and it was never explained then, either. No idea if it’s something with Anthony Head’s health or if it was a character choice as a subtle way to show him declining in power.

I was wondering about that too, and I tried to look up franchise valuations in the Premier League, which even by source seem to widely vary. (As in, I saw some sites that listed the top franchises at a little over a billion, and others that listed the top franchise as over six billion. Even on the latter lists,…

*Jane, not to be a pedant, but since Nate’s girlfriend is Jade I thought it would help.

Just my opinion, but I think season 1 was effective because of how well and steadily plotted it was. I’ll grant that it’s more difficult to do that once Ted has finally won the team over, but there was real, organic conflict, with Rebecca trying to sabotage the team and with the players and the community not thinking…

I never got that either. I was a little annoyed by the opening scene because I was so certain it was a fakeout. I guess part of me might have laughed at the thought of trolling the “Tedbecca”(?) fans, but I felt like the fakeout was a waste of time from my perspective.