I thought it was also a round about way to get him to bathe

Not subtitling the Japanese dialogue completely centers everything on Blackthorne and hinders the development of the Japanese characters. Fair enough that it was the book’s methodology, but I much prefer a version that centers less on Blackthorne and allows the Japanese characters to come to the fore.

Let us all remember/know that Toranaga and Blackthorne are stand-ins for the real Tokugawa and William Adams. Adams was also an English pirate who was competing with the Portugese for trade routes, and was kept from returning to England by Tokugawa. Using Adams known routes of trade and knowledge of building better…

the diving sequence isn’t about how endearing or different he is. it’s about Toranaga tiring him out, then challenging him to a race once he’s created conditions where his own victory is assured. that’s a character beat for Toranaga, not Blackthorne

This was a really enjoyable piece - it’s nice to have criticism about a current show that isn’t just an episode or whole-series review, which don’t always feel like the best format for TV writing.

I pretty much agree except that he isn’t really endearing or lovable. He’s just a bigoted European full of unearned arrogance assuming that these people are savages because they aren’t white, English speaking, protestants. He considers the Portuguese to be only a small step above them.  Yes, he knows a few things they…

Karen Gillian stars in the short film “Eureka”:

That “and/or” thing is a tough one. If I were being tried for criminal charges, I’d certainly want the prosecution to have to be specific in the charges they brought. This makes it sound like the prosecution is saying that her guilt is a foregone conclusion regardless of the specifics. It makes sense from a laymen’s…

My friend thinks the finale of Curb will mimic the finale of Seinfeld as a final F.U. from Larry to everyone who hated it. The repeated references to it this season lend credence...

Yes! Seinfeld finale is hilarious. Larry is definitely setting up Curb to thumb his nose at the Seinfeld finale haters which is the pettiest (and funniest) thing imaginable.

Seinfeld finale was nearly perfect. How else do you end that show?

A common misconception. He is of the Baden-Württemberg Gambolputty de von…

Of the Bavarian Gambolputty de von …

As of this writing Johann Gambolputty de von…

Amazing. Every word you just said is wrong.

Yeah, also even if her argument was, and a court upheld that, her speech was “political in nature” — that’s still not a protected class when dealing with a private entity/employer (except potentially in Washington DC, where political party is apparently a protected class).

So let me get this straight:

Let me break down that $13,000 because it’s funny. Russia accounted for $9,400 of that, and United Arab Emirates accounted for $3,600. Box Office Mojo puts the domestic gross at “—”, which I suppose means zero. However, I found another site that reports the domestic gross as $804.

In case you’re wondering why she’s suing now:

She wasn’t fired, though. Her contract was up & they didn’t renew it.