I think the “pea-shooter” was a gun disguised as a pen, a gag wonderfully set up by “gadgets that never work” discussion. 

Matthew Macfadyen keeps getting me with his sincere line readings whenever Tom stops trying to climb the ladder and just be a human being with Shiv, hoping she’ll reciprocate. Tonight it was, “Don’t do that. You’ll regret it. Can you just allow me to show you kindness?” Or something to that effect. He was so genuine.…

It kinda feels like the show is gearing up for a ‘Greg comes out on top’ scenario which i hope is not the case.

the fact that as an audience member I felt just as emotionally bewildered by Logan was amazing writing/performances by the entire gang in that scene. The manipulation is next level. The irony in Shiv unconvincingly claiming she trusts her gut, when Logan has done everything in his power to constantly make these kids…

I have a lot (too many) thoughts on this, as an Ivy English professor. As much as the current academic climate is insisting on how the humanities (perhaps particularly literature) is on its way out entirely, we’re insignificant, nobody cares, etc - every single fictional depiction of academia seems to be set in an…

While I do think the last episode was completely necessary for the beats of this episode, this episode reminded me what was so great about the first season. We often have these shows be about people fighting their inner darkness while the central aspect of our three main characters is that they are all decent people…

Still one of the best looking series on television. That remarkable tracking shot to the boxing club when the ring came into view, two pugilists going after it, the lighting and shadows, I thought it looked like a George Bellows painting come to life which I don’t think was an accident.

The companion podcast had an interesting bit where Druckman said that when they play-tested the original game and surveyed the testers, the non-parents split about 50/50 on whether Joel was the villain in that sequence at the hospital. The parents, though, were all-in with Joel. 

I liked Marlene’s speech at the end, although it’s a bit ironic since she didn’t ask Ellie either what she wanted (although she’s not wrong that Ellie would probably go through with it). Marlene misjudges Joel until the very end, to her doom.

There better be some serious consequences in season two (and please, no spoilers in reply, not even a confirmation, which is a spoiler in itself).

I suspect it’s largely because most novelists, especially ‘literary’ novelists like this, have more experience with English literature departments than bio-research laboratories.

One of the main points of the Roman/Kyle relationship was the inversion of the usual trope: shitty nerd relentlessly bullies upbeat but decent vapid pretty boy.

So... for me this show is really f’n good. If you took everything I liked about TWD, everything I’d hoped The Strain was going to be, then improved the production values and for the most part writing. But...then like got like legit actors, thats pretty much The Last Of Us for me. Never played the game, don't care if…

Shes good friends with both SMG and Charisma.

Just wanted to note how sweet it is that Prinze seems so proud of his wife. Shouldn’t be unusual, but it makes me happy. 

Allison Williams did.

The whole “Nepo Baby” discourse around celebs strikes me as a distillation of American attitudes about everything: “There’s something that’s been happening for a long time in a very visible forum, and I don’t like it!...But don’t you dare apply the argument I’m making to anything about to my own life! Those…

I don’t understand how a writer doesn’t get people liking the bad guy. It really wasn’t until recently that certain people in the Breaking Bad fandom will admit Walt is the villain, this is an incredibly common thing.

There are no 600 pound actors with any kind of profile in the industry, and like he said, the issues with casting someone who actually weighed 600 pounds would be prohibitive. Aranofsky also has to make his investor’s money back, therefore you need a known name to put on the poster. I don’t have a problem with them…

Before the show went to shit I remember those two were super elitist,  basically going on about how if you like the show your an intellectual idiot and unworthy of any respect and got really mean to the showrunners.  This was around season 4 for the record.  I'm somehow not shocked they are the type of fans to hate…