Thanks for the excellent reviews, Oliver.

Iceage is good but this is great.

Of all the newer casting choices, my favorite is Beric Dondarrion by far.  I'm also glad they established the more antagonistic relationship between Barristan and Jorah.  Certainly this was a slightly more quiet episode than the last, but "comedown"?  Not at all.

I've been disappointed with the show's portrayals of Tormund and Mance, but Beric is perfect.

Which one looks through his pockets for loose change?

New chairman.  There was a silly "death of the chairman" storyline towards the end of the original series, I think.  He doesn't have anywhere near the charisma level of Kaga, but he does a decent job.

Looks like the revived Japanese Iron Chef series is already on its way to cancellation, but would anyone be interested in recaps posted somewhere on this site?  I don't intend on pointing traffic anywhere else.

Thanks, Oliver, for your excellent coverage.  Were it not for your reviews, I'd never have A) realized that Young Justice existed at all and B) sought it out for watching.  It may be too little, too late, but hopefully the talent involved can move on to new projects sooner rather than later.

For fans of the original Iron Chef, on October 26th, 2012, Fuji TV relaunched Iron Chef with a new chairman and three new Iron Chefs.  The biggest change from the first Iron Chef series is youngification: the new chairman, Hiroshi Tamaki, is 33; Iron Chef French Yousuke Suga is 37; Iron Chef Japanese Jun Kurogi is 34.…

There used to be a youtube channel with every single episode of Iron Chef on it.  It was eventually shut down for copyright infringement, but up until that point it was the greatest cultural treasure of all time, or at least, on youtube at that time.  Battle Homard Lobster, all of the intra-Iron Chef battles, Battle…

Episode: C+
Season: A-

This is a rare occasion in which I'm actually rooting for all of the Top Chef finalists.  Here's hoping they both pull out the big guns so it's about deciding who won, not who lost.

Phrasing, boom.

Awesome interview series; the level of candor is thrilling, especially for a show that, despite its problems, left an indelible mark on my memory.  It had such a powerful identity.  Knauf mentions Freaks a lot, but my touchstone when I was watching was Katherine Dunn's Geek Love.

I completely agree.  I'll add that, for me, All-Stars felt weak, chiefly because it…didn't actually feature the real All-Stars.  The average placement of the competitors in their seasons was 4th (which is good, but not really deserving of the moniker).  It was also uneven because the level of competition has changed…

Now I'm daydreaming about adobo-style quail.  I hate all of you.

The season took its sweet time in getting to the point where the contestants' personalities and narratives were fleshed out, but by now I'm just genuinely fond of the finalists.  I almost began to like Josh, too, which is kind of a feat.

Second-best quote of the evening was Padma's "I wanted to take Kristen's tuna and dip it in your sauce" to Brooke, followed by Brooke's awkward laugh.

Hugh's and Tom's blogs add a lot to the viewing of this episode.  According to them, it wasn't just that Sheldon delivered food that was a refraction of stereotypical New American instead of something original; Tom said that he also underseasoned (or failed to bring out the requisite flavors) in all of his dishes.…

Yup, fatty/rich as mentioned above, pretty easy to prepare.  Probably going to do something really simple with sriracha, lime, olive oil, butter, crushed black pepper, and sea salt.