The biggest travesty for this year's Oscar race is that The Handmaiden isn't eligible due to ongoing tensions between Park Chan-Wook and the South Korean government that led to it not even being submitted. That film should be a major contender this year but instead it will be largely forgotten.

Good, more Banana Split Blizzard for me.

A Visit from the Goon Squad is one of my favorites—can't recommend it enough.

It suffers a bit from "every character has a tragic backstory" syndrome, but otherwise it's a fun and quick read. Love the chapter intros too.

Leave it to The Americans to give us both this year's most shocking death AND its most shocking survival. Other shows should be taking notes (looking at you, Game of Thrones…).

Mine is Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, half because it was an incredible experience akin to going to the symphony—just pure cinema at its best—and half because of the woman next to me who HATED it. When the dinosaurs appeared in the "beginning of the world" montage, she sighed melodramatically and said,…

Is there anything they can do with Martha at this point to keep her alive? I would love to see her actually go to Russia and see how they handle an exfiltration in a case like hers (having never been to Russia and not entering into any of this intentionally) but then they'd run into the Nina in s3 problem—fighting to…

No President Pullman? What an egregious oversight.

I think Philip's feelings towards Martha are more complicated than guilt. I don't know if he loves her, but he certainly has a connection to her that goes beyond professional responsibility. She seems to represent that normalcy that he secretly wishes for, someone who wants to runaway with him (versus Elizabeth…

I'll give you that it was unrealistic for Mesa Verde to go with Kim, but saying she lost "fair and square" is ignoring the conscious manipulation on Chuck's part. Maybe there's technically nothing wrong with that but he was still sinking to Jimmy's level in his own way.

But that's my point—there was nothing inherently shady about the meeting, but Chuck was being just as manipulative as Jimmy. In his mind he was just retaining a client, as you say, but he had already fully acknowledged that Kim had done all the work and it was clear that his impetus wasn't so much business as it was…

Agree to disagree on Mesa Verde, but great point about his attitude towards Jimmy. As if the psychosomatic illness weren't enough evidence of his delusion…

I love all the people in the comments defending Chuck for "doing the right thing" by getting Jimmy to confess (even though it's for purely selfish reasons) while completely ignoring the dirty trick he pulled to snatch Mesa Verde from Kim. He knew she should have the account—he acknowledged to her face that she did all…

Sure he's not breaking as many rules or cutting as many corners as Jimmy, but giving Chuck the moral high ground is a stretch. He fully screwed Kim over with his speech to Mesa Verde, knowing full well that she had done all the work. He knows exactly what he's doing when he manipulates people into doing or saying what…

1994's Little Women was a Very Important Movie for childhood me, but I do love Sarah Polley and the idea of an all-female team behind it. Still, no 90s Christian Bale…

Christian Bale in the 90s>>>>>>>>>>>literally every other 90s heartthrob

So glad we got a bit of a break in the craziness that's been this season so far. I don't think my anxiety could take another episode like last week's, so an hour of tension felt like a breath of fresh air. That said, I'd be willing to bet next week is straight up gonna kill me.

My guess is she started as a mark but Elizabeth genuinely likes her and desperately needs a friend right now, which could prove dangerous for both of them going forward.

Still a bit early to say for sure but I'm hoping Mike buying a round for the bar was part of a larger plan. My first thought was that he's trying to drum up an alibi by making sure everyone in the bar sees him there because he's about to do something maybe a little bit drastic. I guess we'll have to wait and see how…