Yeah, that whole episode was a bum note for me, because it really failed to understand the nature of abortion politics in the US.

Also - if any state's delegation deadlocks, then that state's vote doesn't count, and you need a majority of *all* the states to win. So if Selina wins 25 and O'Brian wins 24, and the last state is deadlocked, neither of them wins, and the Veep elected by the Senate becomes president. It's a remarkably terrible…

Yeah, certainly, but people have talked about calculated ambiguity. But there's not really any ambiguity at this point beyond the unwillingness to actually say party names.

Not how it works. The Senate elects the Vice President, choosing between James and O'Brian's running mate. At the same time, the House elects the president, choosing between Meyer and O'Brian, with each state getting one vote. If neither of them can get 26 states by January 20 (which is possible, either by a 25-25…

So Selina's definitely a Democrat at this point, right? Her states were blue, and she was winning all the obviously Democratic states, and O'Brian all the obviously Republican ones. I mean, this is what we'd all assumed anyway, and they're obviously not going to state it outright, but it's pretty clear, no?

He was King of Northern England for 300 years, I believe.

SPOILERS (sort of) but Norrell himself later starts pronouncing it that way.

Not how it works - Senate would choose between the top vote getters for VP - Selina wouldn't be eligible.

They already had the convention, so it can't possibly be the primaries.

I like how Doug Ellin talks just like Onion Joe Biden.

Good God, that script is not even a parody. It's basically just an actual Entourage script. The horror.

But, I mean, Empire Records really is terrible.

Stannis was incommunicado too! He holed up in his chambers and refused to see anyone but Melisandre.

I mean, Melisandre knows the leeches are a scam. She believes the sacrifice is real.

He's the Hand of the King, and Stannis wasn't offering him any guidance. Ned condemned Gregor Clegane and ordered Tywin Lannister to report to King's Landing without Robert's knowledge or approval. Tyrion did all sorts of things without the knowledge or approval of the Queen Regent. Hell, Tywin did all sorts of things…

The leeches were a scam, though. It was always the sacrifice that had real power.

I think there's also a sense that he has no other options. He consistently rejected this idea for as long as there were other possible ways of winning, but turns to it when he sees no other way.

Huh? Aegon exists in the books, and the Martells are going to back him. In the show, the Martells very well may back Dany, I don't know.

How is negotiating treason? Especially since Stannis himself was giving no indication of what to do next. He was trying to save everyone's life and lands, and the deal he proposed would have been a pretty decent one for Stannis. The deal couldn't have gone through without Stannis's approval, so no harm was done.

He was negotiating peace on Stannis's behalf as his Hand, during a time when Stannis was not functional. The deal wouldn't and couldn't have gone through without Stannis's approval.