No, not at all. In the one you hope at least some of your audience will get the reference. In the other you hope that no one will.

I think "fiddling while Rome burns" is pretty known, but not that it was Rome's ghettos that went up in the fire, or that CaesarCorp bought up those neighborhoods afterward. (Are we going to get a Daredevil crossover?)

When Price says he knows who was responsible for the hack, I assumed he meant Elliot. Which scared me because that is one fragile guy and I want him to be safe. But I'm thinking now that Price meant Wellick (who is probably the one who actually executed it).

It was a weirdly-mixed metaphor, since "Nearer My God To Thee" inevitably recalls for me the Titanic's house band.

There's a nice Situationist vibe underneath this show. In that world-view revolution inevitably gets rolled up into The Spectacle, and we watch it on television (or on our computers, via someone else's credentials)…

Okay. I thought it was too long to be for oysters and so forth.

I think it's been really consistent. We just haven't seen all the reveals yet.

Stray observations:

Bang: Vodka, Tang, and Vivarin. Crush the Vivarin with whatever's handy. I suppose Adderall would work too, but we didn't have that then, and anyway we were trying to go strictly OTC.

Thank you! Leaves out plenty of detail. Which is good :)

I went looking for it, couldn't find it. I'd love the link if you can grab it. Does it talk about Elliot's dissociation problems?

Thanks for that, I didn't realize.

Loved the episode, can't wait for Elliot and Ghost Dad to have a talk.

Could be. I wonder if he's wearing the same goddamn blue-checked flannel shirt in every episode or not. Seems like he's otherwise always shown in the same clothes, which does not bode well for his physical existence… or else makes him extremely stinky by now.

Heh. My first thought though was the make-up reminded me of the big masterminds in the movie "Hackers", who were these glammed-up, femmed-out underground celebrities… which itself was a weird kind of acknowledgement that a lot of transgender women are seriously skilled with computers…

+1 for Situationist shout-out

I was just disappointed that she showed up on the roof. At first.

I was thinking a straight B myself, although both Angela and Wellick had moments that were riveting. Something about Wellick's anti-homophobia moment didn't work for me—just made him seem childish.

Thank you! Glad to know what to expect w/r/t expected series length.

How long is this show meant to be? I know Esmail said he has a definite end in mind. I'm just wondering if the story is supposed to play out over 2 or 3 or …? seasons. Elliot doesn't seem like a Tragic Hero the way Walter White was… (yer thing about "fatal flaw" got me thinking…)