When I was 15, my mother left my father for a 25-year-old drug addict and arsehole. I didn't blame my mother for the divorce (my father is a difficult and rather unaffectionate man), but when I had a massive fight with the boyfriend, she told me she didn't want me around the old family home any more (I was living with…

In Russia, they just released a beautiful hardback collection of Prokudin-Gorskii's photographs under the title Tsvetnaia imperiia (Empire of Colour): if you can order books from Russia, I would strongly recommend you pick up a copy.

Given Sugar's experience with Adventure Time, it would be surprising if she doesn't have Steven age. One of the best decisions Adventure Time ever made was to have Finn naturally mature: it allowed them to retroactively cast the earlier and wackier seasons as the perspective of a much more juvenile character while…

I suppose the difference is that the characters on Seinfeld are designed to be fundamentally horrible, whereas the writers for BBT seem to think that their characters are legitimately nice, admirable people whom the audience should adore. However, in any realistic appraisal, they are terrible human beings.

I don't know why it took me to this season to realise this, but all the characters on this show are arseholes. Worse still, the writers seem to think these arseholes are the definition of nice, likeable people.

Sir Anthony Jay, the Tory writer, certainly claimed that his intent was to demonstrate Public Choice theory. Some have run with this theory, claiming that the show is Thatcherite propaganda. But I think they over-egg the case somewhat. Firstly, there is the fact that none of these arguments ever discuss the fact that…

The greatest neutral political satire is, without doubt, the British show Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister, which is all the more impressive because, unlike The Simpsons, it revolves entirely around political satire. The show repeatedly takes pot shots at the hallowed ideals and policies of both the British right and…

I always thought it was about sharing obnoxious, ill-informed, and redundant opinions with obnoxious, ill-informed, and redundant people. I am not sure if the new look prevents this.

One of Marvel's superhero flicks. Mindless action, simple plot, and just boring enough to coax me into a doze without being too objectionable.

Thank you!

Peridot opens her conversation with Yellow Diamond with the words "Peridot reporting in." Yellow Diamond laconically replies "Which Peridot?" There is a slight cringe from Peridot before she gives her number and continues with her report. This immediately sets up what is going to happen (Peridot's rejection of Yellow…

Yes, you're right, forgot about Obergefell v. Hodges.

True, although I still wonder what was running through the minds of the (presumably) British staff at CN UK. Doctor Who, an extremely popular British show ostensibly aimed at a younger crowd, has been showing gay and bi relationships since it was rebooted.

Odd that they would censor the UK version (same-sex marriage has been legal since 2014 in England, Wales, and Scotland), and not the US one, where gay marriage rights remain contested in some states. Still, a pathetic and cowardly decision on behalf of Cartoon Network, and one which runs counter to everything for…

I do think Ruby gets some characterisation beyond that which is mentioned in this review. The short conversation she has with the other Rubies indicates some traits: while the others argue about where they are going to punch the rebels, our Ruby intervenes and reminds them of why they are here (to fuse in case of…

"Without falling into the trap of maudlin melodrama…"

It seems that the four finale episodes have all been connected by the theme of self-delusion and its consequences. Betty deluded herself into believing she could handle Magic Man's madness but 'forgot her floaties' and was driven mad herself. LSP believed that the world owed her a comfortable life until her own…

Everyone has delusions about themselves and everyone goes through periods of crisis when those delusions are stripped away until all that remains is a cesspool of self-doubt, shame, and recrimination. Teenagers, like LSP, are particularly vulnerable to this as they mature - they begin to realise that the relationship…

I was thinking post-Tridentine Catholic baroque rather than Luther. The interplay of light and shadow was positively Caravaggio-esque, a wonderful example of televisual chiaroscuro.

Any bets for major character deaths in the finale?