Exactly re: happy endings. As we head to the last episodes, seems like the chance for happiness is slim to none for….basically everybody.

Taylor is going to kill Wes, the blond BB player, either accidentally or in self-defense or out of anger. Wes is such a peripheral character. it struck me as odd that he would go out and directly threaten Taylor alone. Plus, like others have said, we already had one suicide attempt.

There are definitely some very homophobic characters, but I would say Eric's dad, Anne and Nate represent a distinct middle ground - people who are willing to at least try when someone they love comes out but who clearly aren't entirely comfortable with it. There's also no racism within the basketball team (although…

This episode really did get at the damage parents do to their kids. Eric's parents are a mess, Kevin has been internalizing all his mom's nastiness even though I thought he might be cooler than that. Even Taylor'a struggle to move forward is packed by his fear about what it will do to his mom.

I agree. Once the criminal case was put on hold, Anne's decision to file a civil suit after Taylor expressed to her that he wanted it to be over was all about Anne, not Taylor. She feels powerless over her inability to get people to listen. Maybe she even feels powerless over Taylor's sexuality. She's doing this to…

Seriously? You don't have to go farther than the comments section of an article on gay marriage or black lives matter to know that people are still extremely, brutally ignorant and hateful.

Yeah, if anything, this episode made me think more that his role is more as the flip side of the institutional coin - on one side, you have Leslie, who does the wrong thing in a cold, calculating way to protect the institution, and on the other side, you have Dan, who does the wrong thing out of compassion and concern…

Nate was literally on screen for 3 seconds. I find it funny and somewhat surprising that so many people got the sense from those 3 seconds that he molested Taylor. I seriously doubt we'll ever see or hear about him again.

Sure, all the After School Specials I ever watched referenced Macbeth with their visual metaphors.

The fact that Becca doesn't understand how someone can feel guilt without doing a bad thing was a very interesting moment to me - not sure how that will play out, but I believe that idea will come up again as the show progresses. It definitely felt like the show was announcing a theme.

I never said Ryan Murphy stole the name AC. But it's annoying that they chose to use it despite the fact that there was another show out there that was already using. It creates viewer confusion and makes it more difficult for viewers of either show to search for info on one without getting a lot of stuff on the…

Oh yeah, that was definitely the key moment. But the gist was - if you care about something/someone, you can feel guilty even if you didn't do anything wrong. It will be interesting to see who that fits best as the season goes on.

I think the show has done a very good job of balancing storylines -and multiple themes - this season. Just because they aren't all directly related to the rape doesn't mean the rape story has been shortchanged or will be. That's still the central focus.

Agreed. As a parent, I completely empathize with Terri and Michael. At the end of the day, my kids are the single most important thing to me and certainly my most important responsibility. I've had conflicts with other kids and parents come up on a much smaller scale, so I have no problem saying that if I was in…

I think he was closeted and figured Taylor was gay and was looking to make a connection. Eric and Taylor are both out now for the first time in their lives, and think this is just the beginning of showing what that is like for them.

I don't think the show is going to make the harasser anyone we know. That's not nearly as important as the way it was covered up (presumably by Leslie, since it happened right around the time she came in).

I share the outrage over the B-. This was not as tumultuous as last week, but it was a superb episode. The writing, acting and directing were all A for me. I mean, seriously. I feel TERRIBLE for Eric, Kevin and Taylor. What kind of show can make that happen?!?

This is what I get for doing this on my phone where I can't see the full thread. I just typed what you typed.

Ryan Murphy did not invent the anthology or using the same actors in different roles. Tim Hutton used a repertory cast in the A&E series Nero Wolfe in the 90s. It's been done since radio. And AC was in production before the OJ story.

I don't think it's clear that there was an intent to hurt Taylor. First off, we really don't know that Eric - or anyone else - had intercourse with him. They may have used something else for penetration. But in any event, if Taylor was a virgin or wasn't ready, it's possible that even non-violent penetration could…