I’d argue that it’s because we only understand Rick’s relationship with Tony at the end that the story is as sad as it is. It aligns us with Rick’s emotional state in that we only appreciate Tony after he’s gone.  You’re not wrong that Rick’s precise motivations are a mystery throughout and that the episode depends on…

Excellent unpacking.  I too found the ending deeply sad.

“I really hope the show doesn’t lean on ‘Summer sucks’ as a quick source of humor”

Summer has often been portrayed as highly competent and adaptable. She’s easily one of my favorite characters on the show, and I don’t agree that she’s the butt of its jokes any more regularly than, say, Morty himself. She’s certainly no Jerry.

The infection that allowed it to control Will in season 2 got trapped in our world when the big gate closed, but it wasn’t until the Russians reopened it in this season that the mind in the Upside-Down could reconnect to it and use it to start building an army and subsequently a giant rat- and people-goo flesh puppet…

I think that both the border policy read and the reference back to Sink’s kiss scene are *extremely* far stretches here.

Yeah, that was definitely in the preview.  Guess we’ll see it next season.

That’s just typical CW superhero show writing.

Right. The scorpions were set up as a big anti-dragon threat (they’d killed one already, after all) functioning as a deterrent to a dragon siege on the city. And now Dany just flies Drogon through the whole fleet and over all the walls and blows them all away? Where’s the clever tactical revelation? The reveal is just…

That’s exactly what was happening.  They were just letting us know a year had passed.  I don’t know why everyone has such a problem with this.

I just watched it and am genuinely upset about Tara and Enid. I guess this kind of thing is a necessary trade off for TWD actually having a good season for the first time in so many years, but couldn’t we just do happy civilization stuff a little longer?

I am so happy that this show is back.

In any case, whether or not we believe there is likely other life out there, we have a responsibility to act as if our own and the world it arose on are completely unique. Assuming that the human species is and will ever be the only sentient life in the universe gives our present political and environmental…

Yes!  She suddenly reacted and ducked the knife being thrown from behind her.  Is she faking being deaf or something?  Whatever happened there did not read at all.

I wasn’t really looking forward to this since the Doom Patrol detour in Titans was one of the weakest parts of that show, but it really was an enjoyable episode. Part of me wanted to watch it again as soon as it ended. I think the music played a key role in tying it all together and establishing a style that already…

There was a lot in this episode that I found muddled, logically or mechanically. It made it really hard for me to feel invested in a story whose gimmick (the time loop) I usually find entertaining.

Wow.  I remember that episode with the football stadium, but I did not realize she was doing something unique there.  I dunno; I think this show has lost me a bit.  I don’t care enough anymore to try to understand when it does confusing things.  Like the climax tonight--I watched that twice and still don’t know…

How is Nora replacing past iterations of herself rather than having to avoid them like in prior time travel episodes we’ve seen?  This is wildly inconsistent.

I’m 9 minutes into the episode right now, and I’m thinking about turning it off. It’s 2019. Can we never see a plot that’s blatantly about how much of a mistake it is for someone to pretend to be someone they’re not to impress a romantic interest ever again?

I loved the shit out of the “intolerant left” line. It struck me as a combination of self-deprecation and reappropriating that right-wing insult in the best way, like someone going around proudly punching nazis and proclaiming themselves to be the intolerant left.  Beautiful.