Wasn't the pilot a short film that he had shopped around for a while and played in festivals? That would explain it being particularly great, although I don't personally think there's very much of a drop-off between that and the rest of the show—it's all really hilarious, and there's just a sensibility to the show…

I got worried seeing all five of the core AV Club people in one room together. It should be like the State of the Union where one of them has to be in a bunker somewhere else in case something awful were to happen. I'm pretty sure that's why Noel lives in Arkansas in the first place—continuity of government.

"As Smiley pursues his investigation, le Carré explores the office politics of an organization where the employees are allowed to kill each other." Great line, Noel.

I am a huge fan of Joshua Allen's online fiction project Chokeville, and there's a game called Carrick that's part of that and it's another one of those things that is too convoluted to possibly understand, but which is very fun nonetheless. Chokeville's dormancy is the worst thing that has ever happened to me.

Yikes, zero comments? Uh… I watched this! I wouldn't want a lack of comments reflecting poorly on The AV Club's coverage of FRONTLINE, or the general increase in PBS content coverage recently (a change of which I'm a big fan).

Some HBO corporate synergy for The Life & Times of Tim?

Even though it's two months later and no one will probably ever read this, I felt it was important that posterity know that I got GuyWhiteyCorngood's Best Show reference.