No, agreed! The ambiguity is nice, and having a definitive answer isn't something I need in order to feel 'seen'/represented or have a deepened affinity with a character (years of being a queer/trans media consumer have prepared me for this very well- though it's nice to not *have to* rely on subtext).

I, personally, really didn't like the read of Onion as neuroatypical for a long time- it seemed lazy and less interesting than 'small child who is kind of imbued with a kind of elemental, faerie evil'.

Yeah, he's totally the kind of kid you want to hate from a 'UGH WHAT A BUZZKILL' perspective, but then you realise that his being stubborn as dirt about priorities and really unwilling to just run with the whole mysterious-human-weapon-girl-is-now-a-part-of-the-gang thing are all actually quite understandable and…

I'm guessing the reason why the cashier was totally blasé was because (semi-)rural Indiana. I've heard bored kids get up to some wild stuff in the Corn Belt.

Nah, that part about the spray-painting felt plausible to me- while doing stuff like that should be viewed as contemptible, the power of 'so-and-so is a slut' being aired in a public forum is nothing to trifle with, even now. I mean, just look at how the cops treated her when she said Barb went missing and it came out…

But… Nathan's, though. Not only is that a fixture of a grimy East Coast boardwalk (btw, isn't Beach City based on Rehoboth Beach?), NOBODY I know orders the fish or hot dogs or the clams (yech); it's all about the fries. The hot dogs are just a marketing thing as far as I know.

I bought that as an emotional reaction, even given how much show!Sam's whole character arc is based on growing out of being a timid sadsack. The whole cliché of family dynamics never, ever changing exists for a reason- it can be really, really hard to break out of old habits around the people you've known the longest.

That's ridiculous. We all know Charlie can't read/write well enough for that kind of tweet.

In Cicero, though? *Literally* the town Capone built?

How anyone can grow up in Cicero, of all places- and '50s-'80s Cicero, to boot- and not understand what the cost of doing business is in a place like that is just mind-boggling. It's a really blunt but *highly* effective moment of characterisation for Chuck to make him that guy who can grow up in Cicero and have such…

I'm kinda pissed about that, actually. Partly because it's kinda pat characterisation, partly because OH GREAT, NOW I HAVE TO LIKE THIS DOUCHE AND HIS HAMLINDIGO BLUE

Eh, a psychosomatic condition can have really intense, palpable physical effects- they may be triggered by mental illness rather than some underlying physical condition, but if you're convinced that you're allergic to electromagnetic waves, you're going to experience discomfort or pain when you *perceive* that you're…

While I was reading my way down this comment thread, I kept thinking of this every time people talked about the Chuck/Jimmy dynamic. That, and: