I've maybe smoked about four or five cigarettes in my life and yet I still kind of pine for those days.

And yet the funny thing is that apart from the despicable Van Slonekar and the little seen Serena Slocum, Tom comes closest to being the biggest jerk in the film, albeit the one character I could most relate to on any level (which probably says something about me), seeing as he's a self-righteous, pompous prig for…

I enjoy this film precisely because I *don't* remotely hail from this world (I saw this film when I was a teen, and prior to attending university, these people or their British equivalents might have been as tangible as alien life-forms). It's fun to poke gentle fun at the world of immense privilege coming from a…

On this occasion I regret not visiting the AV Club more often. I could have had this tandem discussion with you four days ago. ;)

I think that's the key; 'they have privilege but no power'. They were born into a cossetted bubble but their (privileged) circumstances were entirely out of their control. They can enjoy the material and social privileges of their birth but they have very little control over their own destiny, at least at this stage.

Although apart from Tom who has been partly estranged from that world for a time, the other kids either disengage with political discourse, or in the case of the conservative-intellectual (not, despite my own prejudices, a complete oxymoron) Charlie strenuously defend the status-quo.

Von Slonekar's a complete rat but it was also clear that Nick was exploiting the 'Polly Perkins' story to settle some kind of score with a guy he loathed (possibly, and ironically, for social reasons - Nick being only a 'mere' untitled aristocrat, and one who didn't quite possess Von Slonekar's success with the…

As you and Scrawler are probably aware from 'The Dissolve' (what is the reverse for 'TOS' here?) I'm *still* guilty of such cultural presumption…to my shame.

From what you observed, did the debutantes you hung around with or at least brushed shoulders with seem to be enjoying their lifestyle? I'm a social-democrat but I nevertheless like to think there are some people in the unjust world we currently live in whose wealth makes them happy.

Exactly. Some people erroneously believe you have to be a multi-billionaire to be part of the 1%, ignoring the vast majority of the world's seven billion who live in or close to poverty.

I'm a hypocrite too. I'd describe myself as a Social-Democrat who is vaguely pro-Occupy (rather than whole-heartedly supportive) and yet there is something very seductive about this world. Nevertheless, I don't think I would be able to live with myself in view of my political views. Also, for anyone who experiences…

Well that's a great point. Can we have more of Dolorous Edd's Eyore-like pessimistic wit please? But I definitely do not want to see him filling in for the role of Jon's eventual traitor.

Although, as the events of the Red Wedding demonstrated, one can never know in Westeros when one is going to need their 'ornamental hand' or their 'battle hand'.

If I have one beef with the show it's that too many relatively significant characters are omitted. Admittedly, there's too many extraneous characters in the books to keep track of, and the show is right to make no mention of them, but I do like to get a sense in terms of the Nightswatch that there are more than three…

How cool would it be if the season ends with *that* last scene in 'ASOS: Volume 2' with poor Merrett Frey and the return of a certain cast member newbies might have assumed they'd seen the last of following the penultimate episode of last season?

Dany's supporting cast is about to get bigger once she reaches Mereen. And don't tell me that Ser Barristan and Jorah aren't awesome kick-ass characters.

I've got to disagree about the hand versus the hook. At least Jamie could poke someone's eye with the hook at close range. What can he do with that heavy, lumbering hand. It's only value is that it's made by gold to remind everyone, in case they'd somehow forgotten, that he's a Lannister.

But like Jon says, he can't have been very good at his last job to end up in the Watch.

Sansa thought Dontos was a loser and far from her ideal 'saviour' but I didn't get the impression she thought he was a schmuck or a cynical craven so to speak. I believed she was rather touched by his apparent concern but simply disappointed that he wasn't a handsome Loras-type riding her off into the sunset. With…

How many reminders do we need that Littlefinger is a 'dick'? ;) Still one of my favourite characters though, especially after it was revealed who really got Joffrey killed.