I'm a dyed-in-the-wool antiquarian when it comes to film, literature and music, but TV is the one medium I think is currently ( post Oz/Sopranos) better than ever.

I can't speak for him, and don't know that I'd agree about ALL shows, but Breaking Bad is obviously very melodramatic. Nothing wrong with that, of course.

Yeah Frank is a cockroach. I predict the upcoming last scene of Boardwalk Empire will feature Frank sharing a drink with a 120 year old Mickey Doyle.

I've no problem with Campbell, but come on: there were plenty of great writers before him, probably many since that haven't read him, and it's quite possible to go disastrously wrong under his influence.

I liked the finale quite a bit, including the ending with Frank and Carl, but I've got to agree with you about the tag. JJS wasn't my favorite character, but I liked him well enough, and his apparent death carried real weight. Now, not so much.

Excellent season, certainly best yet, but are outstanding fourth acts really so rare? Off the top of my head, The Wire, Boardwalk Empire (pending the coming final season) and Breaking Bad arguably peaked the fourth time round.

You're right and I love the show, but what addict fails to realize is that the show was exposing Lip's hypocrisy, as I commented in that ep thread. Considering how alcohol has ravaged the Gallagher family, the cavalier attitude is very unwise.

I can't fathom how you find this season more cartoonish than the first two, but otherwise I understand your problems with the show but find the virtues far outweigh them for me.

Karen treated him at least as poorly as he did her. Her father messed her up, but Karen was the devil nevertheless.

I don't understand people like your wife (or BOARDWALK SPOILER people who had the same reaction when Jimmy Darmody died) at all.

"Ah SHIT! Guess I better call the cops. Hand me my phone, would you?"

I'm of two minds. I enjoy Frank a lot, but they did such a good job of painting him into a corner that I feel they really should have ended him. The "moved up the list" device was nonsensical, and I've often thought things like that hold the show back from greatness. But Breaking Bad strained credibility several times…

It was the birth of her child. She understandably wants help—whereas Mickey understandably feels like he was more-or-less raped and is not convinced the child is his.

Laying in bed with the covers pulled up and a depressed expression—it looked just like how the show portrayed Monica when she crashed, as well as what my ex-wife would do.

Joan Cusack's reaction to that was brilliant: a combination of shock, pity and sudden understanding. I thought this was a very strong Frank episode, between that and his talks with Emily, which went a long way toward showing why it took Fiona so long to write Frank off—it reminded me of the season 2 scene where he…

Re: Ian not seeming too manic, the preview for the finale indicates the depressive crash is immanent.

Seems pretty clear to me he viewed it as punishment for falling in with a gang of monk- murdering, nun-raping pagan pirates rather than Christian extremism, so I don't see it going the way you describe, interesting though it could be.

Yeah, but this show already has enough screwball comedy without Norma desperately trying to cover up for a son who actually isn't doing anything wrong.

Seriously, what is up with dude's eyes? My sister calls him "guy-liner."

She's back next week, per the preview.