Other than Season 4, every season has mostly been a slow build to an epic finish. Season 1 and 2 were even slower than this. Season 4 was the climax to several season long arcs.

I'm in it for the nuance of Vince Vaughn's acting.

"Mommy, mommy! Santa's through the perimeter!"
"This is it, kids! Take your suicide pills so you won't suffer!"

Well, at least some of them edge out Maxwells Silver Hammer I'd say

Oh hey! Yeah, the series is criminally under-read, and I've been attempting similar things with my friends. And it's sad that he's almost finished, but he really pulled things off with the ending of the Long Price, so yeah, high hopes for this!

Ah right, I suppose that's true. I was thinking more about how he never felt the need to apologise for the prequels despite the overwhelmingly negative reception, wasn't thinking of the alterations.

True, but what is realistic (as far as you can use that word in this context) is not necessarily at all dramatically satisfying or interesting.

I think Lucas failed as hard as the next nerd, but I do at least respect that he stands by his work, as awful as it is.

He'd probably be spending all his time editing an 800 page encyclopaedia of the flora and fungi of Numenor.

Yeah, this humble routine is getting on my nerves. She should at least try to stand by her work. That whole "Hermione and Harry should have been together" thing? What the hell was with that? This thought just happens to occur to her all these years later?

That initiation ceremony where they all got "Damaged" tattoos on their foreheads was pretty intense.

That's always true. But I think as Magic Voice said above that it would have been pretty easy for Dumbledore to have a quick lines about how he loved Grindelwald at some point. It may have caused an uproar but it would have been more honest, assuming she always thought of Dumbledore as gay.

I'll have to take your word for it since I don't remember or have a copy of the book on me.

Hmm. I think that can be so easily interpreted as just being a close friendship that I'm still doubtful. Either way, I feel she should have made it explicit if she didn't want it to seem like she was trying to score liberal brownie points. Maybe I'm being too harsh but there you go

It was? I freely admit to not remembering all that much about the books.

That whole "Dumbledore was gay" thing really bothered me. I think it's great that the character was apparently gay, but she seemed to be doing it to get plaudits after the fact. You gotta put that in the actual books or it isn't worth shit as far as I'm concerned.

Not to mention that some of them were seriously random. Oh, that annoying camera kid who got basilisked? I guess I remember him…

The way she killed most of them offscreen made it seem even more like a cheap afterthought.

If there's one thing I respect in an author, it's false modesty

Well, I personally miss the days of incredibly muscular leading men with incomprehensible delivery, inconsequential or not