I think the obvious reason Dorne & the Tyrells et al were unceremoniously cut from the proceedings was that they don’t play any part in the final act that GRRM outlined, so keeping them around would have just muddied any ability to move set pieces into place for the end. Not saying that they couldn’t have done it much…

Sadly she has to die because she’s sexually depraved, but, c’est la vie.

Good point--who needs a bunch of fancy technology when you can do just fine with some old-fashioned interstellar faster-than-light starships?  

He keeps going!  Now I’m really not sure if you’re being serious or doing a bit.  I apologize if I took you seriously when you were likely playing along with the caricature.  

I mean, if you were trying to be a parody of the phenomenon I’m talking about, I’m not sure if you’d have done anything differently.  But by all means, continue with the chamber of commerce brochure, because it doesn’t sound at all defensive or like you’re trying to convince yourself.   

Bless your little heart—I guess a sense of self-awareness isn’t one of the things NY magically imparts to its residents.

The defensiveness with which this is asserted is interesting. It’s almost like the speaker is trying to convince themselves at least as much as anyone else that there just couldn’t be any reasonable justification for leaving NY.  

And the tiny bags of peanuts!  Who are the advertising wizards that came up with that one?

It it’s good, will this series retroactively make the last ten years of Gervais’ output funny?

It is Newton’s fourth law of motion: for every broad social consensus, there must be a contrarian “well, actually...” take.  It’s why Slate exists.  

Hot take, coming through!

I dunno, man, as much as he’s a parody of himself now, he did some pretty great stuff. The Office was an amazingly great show, and Brent was an amazingly great character.  

Perhaps someone should point to Mr. Kelly that if the parents sold their young daughters to him (and that’s probably true to a certain extent) it necessarily means that he purchased these women from their families.

I think you have that backward--he’s better than everyone, therefore he’s an atheist.  

The mystery of why Gervais isn’t funny any more isn’t exactly difficult to crack: he makes good to great stuff when he works with Stephen Merchant, and forgettable to terrible stuff when he doesn’t. He’s only funny when he has someone there to shape his worst aspects and fit them into the tone of something larger.…

Nobody said he’s playing Holmes (other than the article, and the people involved, anyway). Maybe he’s being cast as the hard-bitten detective who keeps his heart locked away, but can’t help falling in love while he chases a serial killer? That guy was in the book, right?

Jesus (Lizard) that one was a bit of a reach.  

So it’s a Jacob’s Ladder scenario?

Crucified on an onion ring of gold.  

My pet theory is that Members Only was a Russian sent by Slava as revenge for what happened in Pine Barrens.