Hey now, Lost can't blame its second season on the strike. It started in 2004, so it would have been past season 3 by that point.

A bit late obviously, but if Frank's visions are supposed to be quasi-psychic/magical, wouldn't it make sense that they would only work out in the world, as it were? I mean, it probably was internet paranoia like the review says, but my explanation is enough of a fig leaf to let me ignore any potential silliness.

Care to elaborate? I definitely feel where you're coming from with the story, which feels like it never adds up to anything. But the mechanical changes feel like more of a lateral move to me; aside from the online stuff, I could see someone preferring either game. Is the online what you're talking about?

"draped in the stars and stripes of a more innocent era"

I don't know how easy it is, but kexp.org. You won't lack for new things to listen to, and fortunately there's a running playlist because you might hear something once and never again.

Throw in the other half just to be sure. Or just because.

Well, I never seriously thought Cohle was a killer, so I wasn't really looking for proof that he's not. I think Rust is the closest thing to a POV character on the show, which maybe some people have trouble accepting because he's so weird. Or maybe they assume that his weirdness implies something else…

The abyss is gazing at him.

There's definitely that element to it. I don't think he is a killer, but I think a big part and even perhaps the majority of his drive to catch the killer is fascination rather than some sort of moral impulse or whatever. Notice the "Why the antlers" to Ledoux and his seeming adoption of Ledoux's belief in eternal…

Right there with ya. Everything thematically points that way; Rust's monologues put the idea of metaphysical evil front and center in the show's world, and the theme of magic reinforces that, since magic is a force that cannot be truly understood, but only appeased and controlled at great cost. And then, of course,…

I dunno, if anything I think it shows the different considerations that go into shorter-form works. You have the chance to lay out the whole thing up front, so you can conceivably have a better start. But the limitations other people are bringing up are the other side of that; you don't have room to wander, so you…

Dammit.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that House of Cards is adapted from a British original that told the same story as season one in 4 episodes. If true, it's difficult to argue that it moves its plot along to the expense of everything else.

Try running away from those thistly guys; go far enough and they'll separate themselves. Also, once you get whatever's in that little clearing you don't have to worry about them anymore. You can just walk right on by without aggroing them.

The Melvins song was from 2006 as well. I wouldn't even have been thinking of it either, if it hadn't been for the BDP playing earlier. I was like, "Why are they using such an old song?" Took me a few seconds to remember the time period.

My top five are probably Bebop (which you've seen), Evangelion, Paranoia Agent, Berserk, and Revolutionary Girl Utena. All the other recommendations sound good; I think the only one I didn't enjoy at all was Baccano. Stuff that I didn't see mentioned: Giant Robo (OVAs), Irresponsible Captain Tylor, the first two…

One not mentioned on that list is Revolutionary Girl Utena, which is a pretty good antidote to your specific complaints re: Space Dandy and an excellent series in general. Also, your avatar reminds me that I described it to a friend as the closest thing to a Japanese Buffy, or at least the first two seasons.

It's the genre mashup, I think; the future can be whatever, but we know more or less what that place and time was like. So having the hook of an entire episode be beatboxing, graffiti, or mass intake of psychedelics colors the entire series more than it would Bebop.

I suspect both Raylan and Boyd will end badly, but I don't think it will be because they are caught off guard. It has been just as much a running theme of the show to contrast those two with the other characters, and Raylan spelled it out to Beardo in episode 2 of this season: he always expects someone to be coming…

"Little Johnny Jewel" — the single version, not live — is probably my favorite Television solo. It sounds like nothing else that I've ever heard. And then Robert Quine in "Blank Generation" has two that are less than ten seconds each and still belong on any list.