Holy shit, did you read Insomnia? I said, out loud, as I read the final pages, "You're just making shit up as you go along now, aren't you?"

I asked my mother if that was what would happen. To comfort me, she said "No, you'd probably just vaporize." Oddly enough, it did comfort me.

I always thought this season was, along with Season 2, the strongest of the series. I agree that once it made the Fishers calamity magnets the show lost some of its luster, but that manifests itself mostly in the coming seasons (the final season especially). I felt the Lisa plot thread, from hasty marriage to…

So worth it. Todd Haynes directed it in his kaleidoscopic, sensory overload early style (he went on to helm Far From Heaven and I'm Not There), the music is great, and so are the performances- Christian Bale, Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Collette).

The comparison wasn't one of quality but quantity- when a show brings off something it's been building towards since its inception- even a "mindless entertainment"- it can achieve a flawless episode on its own terms. It's not necessarily Shakespeare, mind you, but I'm sure Scandal has a perfect, pulpy, ridiculous and…

Did you see her in Velvet Goldmine? The deliberately on-again-off-again fake British accent alone was worth a Golden Globe.

If Hostages was laughably bad, it would retain some element of pleasure. Believe me, it's just dull, not to mention a frustrating waste of talent.

Scandal is a lot more plot-driven than the other Rimes shows. That and the lightning-fast pacing are the major differences. But there's still a good chance you'd rather pass on it.

I wasn't saying one was better than the other overall. I just think they're very different in tone. As for the 'flawless' thing, it takes a show having been on for years to pull off an episode like "Hitting the Fan" (like "Whitecaps" on The Sopranos or "I'll Take You" on Six Feet Under or "In Care Of" on Mad Men.) S…

They're both hot dorks, which is right in my wheelhouse.

"As you know, Bart, one day your permanent record will disqualify you from all but the hottest and noisiest jobs." R.I.P. Marcia Wallace

They're entirely different shows; the comparison just doesn't track. I'll say this much, though- Scandal has yet to have a completely flawless episode like this one.

Well, fantastic then…

The Good Wife was note-perfect tonight, the best television I've seen since "In Care Of" on Mad Men (last season's finale).

Not sure what to make of this…

Have a drink and don't read my comments if "Just sayin'" bothers you so much. And I wasn't aware you represented anyone's opinion other than your own.

Maybe I was just raised by Southerners, but if it was teenaged me coming home after being M.I.A. for 72 hours I would have had my ass handed to me. Just sayin'.

Yep. The one with the tramp stamp. And excellent teeth.

Yeah, sorry I'm all about it, albeit guiltily. Plus, I think Nev is hot. Sue me.

Season 1 was the most reality-based and charming.  Season 2 is where the absurd yet absurdly watchable thing kicks in and comes to define the show.  Season 3 stumbles fairly hard, especially with George and Izzy (who became intensely unlikable).  Season 4 added Lexie and a bunch of other characters to uneven but…