This episode is such a great example of how this show fundamentally understands what it is to not be okay. The charity, humanity and empathy extended to all our characters is really astounding.

Maybe they think they can snag a few more agribusiness discoveries that way? You're right, it's the only piece that doesn't quite fit.

Anyone else's bullshit meter go off when Claudia said that the superwheat was derived from a stolen Kazakh variety? Definitely sounded like the Center was trying to save face after sending Phil and Liz on a wild goose chase for pests.

Oh god, I forgot we have that fresh (beautiful, terrible) hell to look forward to tomorrow.

Even worse if you start on Sunday night with The Leftovers! THREE DAYS OF FEELS

I'm worried that Pasha's going to kill himself, and that's what ultimately drives at least one of his parents back to Russia. It's going to wreck Philip, and maybe Elizabeth too (after having read all about the 'psychic damage' they've done to their own kid, and now someone else's).

That hit me during the episode too, and it immediately made me think of the generational aftermath of slavery. What idiots we were to think everything would just fix itself within a few years of Reconstruction.

So, so many things to say about this episode (I feel like if I start talking I'll never stop) but what's floating to the top for me right now is how much this episode is about fucking mediocre men delighting in small amounts of power. The barista, the interrogator, the judge.

Full Circle Alert!

Agreed. I've always liked season 2's credits more than season 1's.

I wonder if Oleg's mom was in Philip's dad's gulag.

So this was a great episode and all, but it made me google scleroderma for the first time and now I have a new irrational fear.

Loved the story of the woodcutter and the crane - something about that story (merchant eager to exploit the powers of a creature that, observed too closely, disappears) that Melanie needed to hear, twice.

Saw Scott Lawrence as David's therapist and was immediately reminded of his role on Rectify. Paulie, Georgia exists within the Marvel universe!

"Two separate, yet equally important groups."

"…when a TV show is naturally not smarter than the viewer but it does everything to look smarter than the viewer"

I didn't like having Chloe in the final scene either, but chose to see it as a way to show Daniel thinking about possibility, and new life.

"Burr, I trust you about as far as I could throw you, and I can't throw things very far - I have slaves who do that for me."

Quick reminder that Queen Latifah also brought the house down as Mama Morton in Chicago in 2002. The woman is an immense talent and no stranger to Broadway adaptations.
Also, I would like one Emerald City green geometric dress please, to go.

@olivececile:disqus , when I first saw that ep and Britta told Jeff that he needed to bang that kid's mom (at the EXACT moment that I thought the same thing)…I knew this show and I were destined to be together.