That's what I thought during the first 5 or 6 episodes. But the final 2 were a bit of a letdown - wrapping up the entire trial in a rather clunky, unbelievable, and poorly-written way. I think it knocked the grade down to a C in the end.

For something that started with some promise, it sure ended in a fairly disappointing fashion. Not only are the final 'battles' in court fairly absurd (and prosaic), there's nothing in them that is really convincing of the earlier, oft-heard brilliance of Billy's supposed courtroom charm and skills.

Really? I've only read glowing reviews of his work in this - with virtually everyone (correctly so) calling it the highlight of the show.

Thank god, critics are starting to realize that the HBO incarnation of this show is unfunny, self-aggrandizing, self-serious and mostly crap.

We can laugh at High Maintenance for calling extra attention to itself, or we can roll our eyes at Heidi and Anja for doing the same thing. But we can’t really do both.

There is much that is bad in season 1 (melodrama with a capital M, ludicrous and unbelievable character behavior, glaring historical and technical inaccuracies, etc.) with a few excellent moments mixed-in. I found it difficult to get through, yet I managed to do it. Of course, that was three years ago, around the time…

Well, it's hard to beat California for a good outdoor growing climate. Where I live, it's all indoor, tech-y varietiese.

I can't speak from any direct experience of NYC's weed, but it's hard for me to imagine, in the era of post-hydroponics, high-tech cannabinoid research, Cannabis Cups, and online seed sales, that the quality of weed in any major Western urban center is shit.

I don't think I would define Wei's demeanor during Liong’s concert as "stone-faced". He clearly has tears in his eyes during his son's performance, and seemed to be deeply moved. This interpretation is supported by Joon's behavior towards him in the audience - i.e. stroking his back - which shows she understands he's…

Yes, Quarry is great - and Masters of Sex is having their best season since S1, and this is the season they were cut by AV Club.

I think this episode demonstrated that she can behave differently (as is quite typical) around people other than Earn (we had only seen her without him in one small 50 second scene previously).

…and frustration for characters I thought I knew. Why would Van let that woman walk all over her - that's not Van imo.

From what I've researched, the Atlanta Public Schools have a 'zero-tolerance' policy, which means Van can be terminated for a first offense (i.e. failure of a drug test or refusal to take one). She could have retracted what she said to the principal - as an immediate response to her dismissal - but she would have had…

Well said. It's also worth nothing that unions composed of mainly upper or upper-middle class workers (e.g. professional sports unions, Hollywood unions, etc.) seem to be doing fine, so it seems to be another form of working/middle-class disenfranchisement.

So… salient and topical, like, it would be weird for Vanessa to forget that she's subject to such a unique and specific drug test?

Your 'cogent critique', however, offered little support of that conclusion…

I know for 'sensitive' (or safety-related) jobs, drug-testing has become rather standard (and I might have mentioned that in my comment above), but in terms of public-employees in non-security related fields, I've been doing some research.

Actually, I think it is - just a different kind of disenfranchised. I'm pretty sure there isn't drug-testing of elementary school teachers in the suburbs, or upper-management or members of the board of corporation that use it. So I think the vast majority of testing is of ex-felons, parolees, and people in the bottom…

That was a joke, but…oh, never mind.

"… a broadly none-of-your-business-what-I-do country like the US…"