It's hard not to see the gender dynamic when you look at the bigger picture and see that in both fiction and real life, the stalkery pursuers tend to be men and the prey tend to be women. I just can't view the Perotti/Elsbeth storyline as an isolated case separate from all that.

I'm not opposed to the pairing, but I want the writers to take their time and make this a slow burn. I feel like they've already gotten ahead of themselves by dialing up the flirting from 0 to 10 this season. I want better buildup and I want Finn to be developed as something more than Obligatory Love Interest.

Ye gods, yes, I'm so fed up with the Kalinda bedroom scenes. After the news broke that Archie Panjabi was leaving the show, I'd hoped that the writers would finally do her character some justice and set the stage for a great sendoff, but they just wound up reverting to their old tricks: Kalinda seduces a mark, gets…

I loved how Eli and Johnny exchanged a look and just instinctively knew to bolt when Alicia declared to Peter that, in fact, Finn would be publicly endorsing her after all. And the fight that followed was spectacularly entertaining.

Well, my argument is the performance of conventional femininity isn't necessary if queer men want to be acknowledged as respectable, successful, and worthy by the wider homophobic/misogynistic culture. I think drag can actually work against them since society frowns on all things feminine and girly.

Considering this entire thread was started because of a scene in which a black woman was shown "removing all the elements white supremacy tells her she has to wear," I don't understand why you're taking offence at my choosing to focus on black women specifically. And the intention of my original post was to suggest…

Necessary to meet social standards, and thus minimize exposure to discrimination/achieve the kind of success they might not be able to otherwise. I'm not saying all black women strive to meet these standards; I'm well aware that there are many who reject white/mainstream conceptions of beauty and worth.

I'm no expert in queer theory or black identity politics, but I'll take a stab here. Maybe the problem with the "drag" comparison lies in the fact that black women have to conform to the standards of socially sanctioned femininity/beauty to, as the review notes, be respected, successful, and generally just have their…

Didn't Peter ask Eli in this episode if the Hot Campaign Guy had a scar on his face from a prior accident? I wasn't imagining that, right? That seemed like a blatant show of jealousy/insecurity on Peter's part, because he knows just how attractive the guy is. I doubt the writers will have Alicia diddling her campaign…

I guess I'm not very observant, but I didn't notice any issues with Margulies' weight/appearance until people here started pointing it out. Now a voice saying "Too thin!" pops into my head every time I see her onscreen, and I hate it. Ugh.

I couldn't agree more. And unlike the ex-husband or Blake or Irish mob lawyer, I actually buy Lemond Bishop as a legitimate threat, which makes his dealings with Kalinda so much more compelling to watch.

I was a bit surprised to see that Cary was bailed out of jail so soon. I figured the writers would keep him incarcerated a little longer and milk the suspense. But judging by next week's preview Cary definitely isn't in the clear yet; I'm morbidly curious to find out just how much more suffering the writers can…

I don't care if it's Alicia he's hooking up with or some other character; as long as I get to see Matthew Goode getting hot and heavy with someone without his clothes on, I'm good.

I don't know about that. I remember in one of the earlier seasons, a minor character (possibly a Democratic operative, I can't be sure) made the observation that with Alicia, Peter is Kennedy. Without her, he's just a dumb john who overpaid for a prostitute. Now, granted, I think this was said before Peter was elected…

That hasn't stopped people on this show before…

I recently merged my Disqus and AV Club accounts. The benefit of this was that I could finally upload a user pic. The downside? I lost a follower and my upvote count somehow got slashed in half. Bizarre.

The rational, sensible part of me knows that it's waaaay too soon for Alicia to be hooking up with any suitors, and with all the turmoil surrounding Will's death and her impending showdown with Peter, a new lay is going to be far down her list of priorities. But the shallow, prurient part of me that's crushed on…

My gut reaction is to go with King-Size Homer for sheer hilarity and absurdity. Homer in a muumuu is fucking classic, and his inadvertent undermining of Lisa's attempts to defend him always makes me crack up ("Ohhhh, that's raspberry!").

I swear to Christ, not a single review of this show goes by without someone bringing up the good ol' "but what about the men?!" argument.

for once a show killed off the bland boring guy to further a bunch of women's emotional development.