I don't like Kevin as a character, either. I really do think he's the worst. For all of Agustin's bad behavior last season, he was mostly self destructive. He tried to take down Richie and Frank with him, but he's the one who's suffered the most from it.

I'm not saying they are that nefarious, just pointing out that it's not out of the realm for Kevin to act that way.

Heh. I feel stupid arguing "LESS RICHIE!" But, like him, I don't want his character disrespected.

That's why I wouldn't have minded if they left Castillo as a "guest star" like Bakula. Let him re-enter the show when it makes sense and not because they're paying him a weekly salary and need to incorporate him into the script.

And was I happy to see someone talk to Patrick that way. He really needs it.

Consciously baiting Patrick, or setting Patrick up for when he inevitably marries John? So Patrick can buy the "I love YOU, baby, I'm just marrying him for the green card," line.

It's the Tovey factor. (I adored George on Being Human to the point that I wanted to nut punch Mitchell half of the time because he was kind of a dick to George.)

The ease with which Kevin said he has a boyfriend … but that he and Patrick are just co-workers should have really tipped Patrick off, but he buys into Kevin's lies and doesn't want to accept that he's just a fling. It's awkward watching him in those moments, though.

I know he gets more screen time, I just wonder if he's better integrated into the core of the show.

But that's why I think Richie's been tacked on. If he's not with Patrick, his only link to the three main characters, and Patrick's not actively trying to reconcile with him, they needed to force him into the early episodes, since he's a regular. And the way they've done it is through Agustin? Really? Don't get me…

This show loses a lot for me when Richie isn't involved in a storyline. Shoehorning him into scenes just to give Castillo something to do, and his fans a reason to tune in to a placeholder episode, isn't doing the trick.

I would guess Patrick's salary is higher than $50K, though. He's probably more in the $60-$70K range, since he has some experience. He was looking to replace Agustin as roommate last season, so they acknowledged that he couldn't easily afford that apartment, which wasn't that luxurious to begin with, on his own salary.

Thanks. That plays into my thoughts last week about Kevin "slumming" with Patrick. Kevin's a climber and John's the hill because Kevin needs a Dartmouth-educated doctor to complete his escape from his "common" upbringing. A bourgeois kid from Colorado just doesn't have the same oomph.

He also whined about getting migraines, so I'm not expecting Kevin to have Patrick's back when everything goes to hell. But Patrick is also really good at deflecting his own responsibility since he's not fully on board with the idea that he's also having an "affair." He parses language so that Kevin's the one in the…

Yeah, it's clearly not a healthy relationship for either. Dom and Agustin got so quiet and awkward when Patrick said that the relationship between Kevin and John is "really bad" because they see what lies ahead for Patrick, but what do you do in that situation? Lecture him when he knows it's wrong?

Don't know if you saw this article but it puts HBO's stance on the importance of Nielsen overnight ratings into perspective. For obvious reasons, a network like HBO doesn't fit the old Nielsen model, if any still do. So a weak live showing isn't a death knell for HBO shows.

Yeah, true. I'm speaking more hyperbolically and metaphorically when I say "clock him so hard" but should have been more clear.

Thanks for the link. Looking forward to what the show has in store for Richie.

Yeah, I clearly don't expect Patrick to suddenly be a fully realized, self-aware character. I was just pointing out how even when confronted with Richie, alone in his kitchen like they were when he casually called Richie his boyfriend, he still couldn't bring himself to fully admit that he bore the lion's share of the…

Yes. Richie cleans up Agustin's beard to his jawline and trims it to a neat length but at the rugby scene it's still creeping down his neck.