You know how "Love on Top" sounded like a great lost Whitney Houston single? Or how "Countdown" sounded like a delirious beatwise update of any number of girl-groups? They were plays on classic R&B, as was much of 4. Therefore, "R&B classicism".

Note the "like" in my original post.

If I was joking, you might have a point. Actually, no, you wouldn't.

Avatar was like the makers of Ferngully went for a remake under the ethos of bigger, longer, and more pretentious. Apparently, James Cameron is planning three sequels. No thanks.

A few things:
-I thought I might have just had impatience for Brody's death at this point, but as it happened (in concert with last week's episode) it was a gut-punch.
-Now that we have Brody's death as the endpoint of the season, the focus on his family makes more sense in retrospect. I still believe it was…

Nicely referenced, Mr. Powell.

Confirmation bias, I swear I couldn't remember the term- thank you.

"Here is a confident, sober, serious directing hand; and here is some real hokey, clueless bullshit."

It had to be the good shit; we're talking MILF crack here. Nino Brown's private reserve.

I hope Liv gets her spine back after the winter finale. She's been such a passive non-presence lately.

The Dana thing was such a dead end. What was supposed to be the impact? What was the revelation? That Brody had irreparably fucked up his family's life? That was a given, and the extremely selfish flailing she did- running away with Romeo, leaving home with no notice at all, all without a thought about the rest of…

That's my point exactly. It was gross and childish and way out of bounds.

That line was proof positive that his "love" for Olivia is extremely proprietary and a far cry from respectful.

Fitz has had a cadre of (unlike himself) enormously competent and effective individuals to manage every aspect of his political career up to this point. They've incriminated and involved themselves so thoroughly that their own lives and careers and inextricably bound up with his life and career. That's exactly the…

I said this in the general wrap-up that Todd wrote earlier, but in terms of pure watchability, this season's insanity trumps AHS, Homeland, and just about any drama (or anthology shit-show) running right now. There's a pure batshit alchemy at play here, running concurrently with a thoughtful (though pitch-black)…

Gonna have to disagree there. I thought the first half of Season 2 was headlong and brilliant, and as for the problematic slide into the Langley bombing, I thought the idea with Carrie and Brody was two delusional people clinging to one another for the purpose of personal redemption/respite from demons (or the need…

I find the multiple plot twist, shadow government, romance/intrigue, dental torturer/murderous religious nut clusterfuck nature of Scandal pretty much irresistible at this point. Especially having just watched the deliciously batshit winter finale. Perhaps I should be more objectively critical, but in terms of pure…

Homeland has just begun to right itself and fire on all cylinders again. The only truly regrettable aspects of this last season were the focus on Dana Brody and Carrie's pregnancy, the first mishandled as an A-story and the second mishandled as a soap opera-ish subplot. But it never squandered its viewer's goodwill;…

I should take this opportunity to say HOWEVER: Angela Bassett is absolutely killing it as Marie Leveau, flipping what's thin on the page to a dominant, scenery-chewing phosphorus flare with enough shading and control to never let it slip into total caricature. Bassett and Conroy are really the only reason to watch…

Did they even have names? Distinct personalities? Abilities other than passin' da baby gravy and performing fertility dances? And Queenie's really just a hollow vessel for what seems like is going to be a thoroughly nauseating redemption arc for LaLaurie in these last episodes. It's like Monster's Ball without the…