Alas! I think you've been paying too much attention!

I think that Don doesn't recognize it as disingenuous—he seems to truly believe that that's what he did.

I couldn't agree more!

I was watching by myself at home and for the first time in years, I audibly "wow"ed at the opening credits.

Whoa that was weird to watch. Emma looks like she's aged a decade in these, what? Three years?

You know, I agree.

As someone who cares very deeply for a (recovering?) alcoholic, the Freddie/Don dynamic is precisely what's haunting me about this episode and increasingly, this entire season.

I am in the process of re-reading the series, having devoured it two years ago, so take this with a grain of salt—but I wasn't surprised by that reveal at all last night. I seem to remember some mention of the gold mines being dry in the books.

But people *do* fuck with their undergarments on. And every other way imaginable.

I wouldn't worry about the nihilists—they are always prepared to be disappointed.

This is way funnier than it has any right to be.

I think it's a start. They may accidentally pick up something of quality some day and by then they'll already have developed a proclivity for reading, so they may stick with it and who knows! Maybe they'll learn some things!

Don't you remember how Marty behaved the last time she left him? Who cares about moral high ground when your life, and your children's lives, could potentially be endangered by a man who has a history of completely losing control?

Don't you think that Maggie is emotionally wounded too, though?

That little whisper SLAYED me. Diane is a gem.

I think Kate's crisis is more about how she always identified so deeply as a fun-loving party girl and now she is shocked to find that she is really enjoying becoming a family-centered homebody instead. She's trying to reconcile the two identities.

That's what she gets for going to the Mag Mile.

I always glazed over the term in the books and thought of it simply as "mutations" but it just occurred to me that they should probably be pronounced "mutt-a-shuns" and that is really fucking awful.

I just wanted to say that I've been a pretty big Gaga fan but this album has not resonated with me at all. I couldn't figure out what it was, exactly, what the central problem was until I read your comment—"the only way to understand things is through a thick lens of irony."

(I'm quite late here but I figured why not?) It's great. I'm close to finishing it up right now and I adore it. I'm recommending it to anyone willing/able to stick with long books.