Think Mother! meets Alien, but in a swamp. I went in with pretty low expectations, having suffered through the entire Southern Reach trilogy waiting for something to actually happen. (I didn’t dislike the books, exactly, but I’ll be damned if I can think of anything very specific that happened.) On balance, I’d say…

Thanks for beating some life into the new, improved AVClub.

Trump's approaching the podium. Happy now?!!!

The opening auction sequence of Hostel 2 was great. Granted, my expectations walking in were low…I'd seen so many panicky media pieces about "torture porn" that I felt obligated to see one of the things…and the last reaction I'd expected was to be laughing along with a smart bit of satire.

Since when do creative types go all cannibal?

Do you know Courtney Barnett? "Pickles from the Jar" mentions the town, so I just thought, you know….

James Beard's Beard on Bread. I don't cook much, but I'll make an exception for bread. And there's a wisdom to his writing that's reassuring. He's worth reading, even if you don't play along in the kitchen.

Good point about the rabbit-eating scene. I do like her character…mostly…but a little reflection wouldn't hurt. (I'm also watching The Sopranos , where guilt is around every corner, so it's odd seeing GoT characters engage in vengeance, with zero guilt or remorse.)

Easily the Gamiest of Thrones moment…the rest was uncharacteristically talky.

I'm not so sure. She has a glint in her eye when she does the killing…like when she pushed Needle through that guy's neck…she watched with a curious glee. Arya comes off increasingly as a sadist, and revels in it, unlike The Hound, for whom killing has become a tiresome necessity. (Sorry if this has been covered…

I'm inclined to be OK with that. For a while she was the most sympathetic character, but in this episode she turned full-on psychopath. (Maybe The Hound should take her out: he's regaining his humanity just as she's losing hers.)

When I was in high school I had something similar; in my case, it was a family-style dinner at the Kutztown Folk Festival, in Kutztown, Pennsylvania…right in the middle of Amish country. Dinner was served at massive picnic tables, and you were seated next to whomever happened along after you. Once the table was filled…

Hey, Spoilerboy…I'm only in season 4!

I'm thinking this is more of a Paulie thing….

I'd agree with you, but only if you swap out Stranger Things for Arrival. That was one overrated film.

I first heard that intro when my girlfriend…a cheerleader from rival BeCa High…played it to me late one night over the phone. She'd just picked up the album, and when she mentioned Price's name, I'd insisted. (And for the record, 'Dragon's Lair' was both expensive to play, and pretty much sucked.)

For a moment I thought it was just me. 1207 comments tell me it's not.

Repetition is certainly a thing with him this season. But I'm torn: while the scene with the grandmother is certainly extreme (I felt like a dog having his face stuffed in his own mess), I can't help but think that if he'd toned it down a bit, he'd be committing a sort of Misogyny Lite.

Ah, the great Canadian Target experiment…I forgot about that. Sad about the mall. Maybe they'll get lucky and Dawn of the Dead will be adapted for series television.

Isn't this part of what distinguishes parody from satire?