Not quite all. Let us also note the underratedness of The Ladykillers.

Was that the punishment for asking for an album by describing a moment from the video?

"the cable network’s just picked up Insecure and Insecure for a third and fourth season, respectively."

I thought his admission that he may be running out of stories to tell was, uh, telling. I don't dislike this season as much as you do (I guess?) but in general, a lot of the "arty" touches (the robot animation, the bowling alley, the whole LA episode) seem less like oddball, left-field expansions of a theme, and more…

By the end of the episode, I assumed it was supposed to take place after the conversation on the stairs. So I assume we'll find out why he's looking through them, beyond just being an asshole opening other people's presents because he can.

I think the show has been pretty upfront that those are Sy and Emmet's obvious motivations, and I don't think it precludes something is up with Goldfarb. The fact that Winnie went and asked her in the restaurant scene whether she could answer a few questions (and that it was shot and edited in a way to suggest this…

Not sure whether I'm proud or ashamed to have noticed this, but during the LA flashback a few weeks ago, there was one of the "starburst" signs/insignia things from the Lebowski bowling alley on the exterior wall of the hotel.

Yeah…on the other hand, it took a little suspense out of the question of Nicki's fate. That said, I was surprised nonetheless when…I can't remember his name…turned out to be in Ray's house.

I'll use this as my place to say that I like to imagine that David Thewlis' character Johnny, from Naked, wandered his way out of the last frame of that movie and, through god-only-knows-what mixture of events and confrontations in the years since, is now working for a shady, mysterious corporation (or maybe none at…

You know, I can't think of a plausible reason why she would be, or why they would go about the whole scheme that way…but they clearly did the "beat someone so the marks won't show" thing that criminal enterprises do to underlings, which indicates that her being alive wasn't an oversight.

Sy's expression after his dressing-down from Emmit suggests that he may start thinking the same thing.

So I'm not the only one switching those characters' names in my head. And for reasons I can't quite pinpoint, it's because "Ray" seems like it should be the name of the more successful and worldly one, and "Emmit" should be the less etc.

Although I liked this episode (for its general effectiveness, if not its unpleasant-stuff-happening-ness) better than any other this year, writerly affectation has been a persistent problem the whole season.

oh-wee-oh-wee-oh!

But if they "switch," how do you know the difference between switching and the whole PatW thing simply being an arbitrary cutesy/Artistic touch that doesn't actually add or mean anything?

Nah, I think you've succinctly expressed my own problem with it. I've been tempted to beat myself up for being a philistine because of impatience with the slowness of the narrative, but I increasingly think the real problem isn't slowness, per se, but the "touches" that Hawley et al seem to know they're going to be…

Is there a way to hit the "up" button so that I register agreement with the general sentiment about quality while indicating uncertainty about the levels of irony involved?

I wonder, how common a name is Stussy up north? Seems so far that they just wanted to have a Lebowski-style mixup that draws the cop into the orbit of what's going on over in Minnesota there.

I agree, though I'll keep watching. The "unfathomable pinheadery" line that everyone seems to love strikes me as emblematic of the problem.

What I like about the character so far is the vibe that she isn't entirely sure herself how loyal she is to Ray. I'm not sure she's running a con on him OR irreversibly in love. I think she has genuine affection for him—and will turn on (or at least abandon) him when/if that's the more advantageous move. It's love,…