I didn't enjoy Hateful Eight, but it did have a lot of subtext that reflected on modern America, and all the history that preceded it. A lot of reviewers have commended him for the effort. There was a bit too much subtext for my taste; it was pretty on the nose in places.

Yes, it was indeed the wife.

No, it's not unrealistic — because Richard is in charge. Those things would happen with an experienced CEO, but Richard is an engineer and has no experience running a company. His bad judgement is also compounded by Raviga taking a hands-off approach, which a real VC wouldn't do with in such a situation.

That bit of speculation was not far-fetched at all. The episode was called Meinertzhagen's Haversack, which is a reference to the Haversack Ruse, which involves confusing the enemy by intentionally leaking the fake information in a way that looks unintentional. I.e., misdirection.

It's absolutely fitting that Hugh Jackman's character looks sleazy, because he *is* sleazy. He's clearly some kind of white-thrash gun nut, and the occupation of weapons designer would be the logical progression for someone of his kind.

I enjoyed the fact that the entire party scene and its Hawaiian theme exists in the episode solely so that they can make that one joke about aloha meaning both hello and goodbye.

The film was originally censored in the US — it features a scene where a native American disembowels a pregnant woman and takes the fetus. Anyone know if this new release is uncut?

ATMOM would be At the Mountains of Madness, a story by H. P. Lovecraft about geologists finding a lost civilization on Antarctica. And ancient mythological monsters.

ATMOM = At the Mountains of Madness, a story by H. P. Lovecraft about geologists finding a lost civilization on Antarctica. And ancient mythological monsters. (Sorry, meant to reply to the other commenter.)

He did throw up right after eating lutefisk, a dish liable to make you throw up. The show didn't seem to be going for anything more ominous than that.

The tent scene clearly shows the silhouette/impression of a reindeer's head and antlers pushing against the side of the tent. And the dad goes outside and checks, and tells the girl that there are reindeer standing calmly outside, which means that there would not be any polar bears around, or they would have fled.

It's clearly based on Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen, Svalbard. There are Norwegian signs (though sometimes misspelled), and on two occasions the sheriff speaks some mangled Norwegian (they obviously didn't bother paying a voice coach).

I don't know if I agree with that. His novels tend to end on a bleak, ambiguous note, providing catharsis but not a happy resolution; Martian Time-Slip and A Scanner Darkly come to mind, both of which complete the arcs of their protagonists in a satisfactory way.

Could it simply be a reference to the fact that Elon Musk is from South Africa?

Re the tent, she does say "there's a snake outside", but moments before we actually see — twice, once before she wakes and then after she sits up — a very clear silhouette of a reindeer's antler and snout pressing against the tent (which doesn't really make sense since it's dark outside and the inside of the tent is…

I see. I actually have no idea what you're talking about, since it's been some time since I read the book. According to Google, again, he is a mechanical magician.

According to Google, a butter clown is a kind of python. Good luck!

Shadowland is actually quite excellent, but it takes a while to get there. The first half or two thirds of the book is a coming of age story set at a boarding school, and things don't really start to gel until they leave for the countryside to spend with at the uncle's estate, at which point the meaning of the…

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the "2001: A Space Odyssey" references. Last episode, the elevator monolith. This episode, the silent panning between two people talking secretly behind glass, referencing HAL's observing the astronauts in 2001.

It's "Narvik", presumably after the town in Northern Norway (also located within the Arctic Circle). Could mean it's related to the Spanish Flu (scientists have apparently exhumed graves on an island near Narvik known to be of Flu victims) or even the Black Death.