A comment on the portrayal of Hermione Lodge: I like it. Hermione is polite and fiercely protective of her daughter. But she is also class conscious (her putdown of Smithers) and more than willing to be crooked in order to keep herself and her daughter in creature comforts. It seems to me that this is not inconsistent…

I think that you need to have patience. I generally disagree with many of your points - though I understand your perspective - because I am enjoying the slow build. However, I admit that I am not spending a lot of time between shows trying to figure out what is going on. I am quite content to let the showrunners…

I'm really invested in what happens to Dolores and I really like Bernard. The rest of the characters, so far, are less emotionally engaging but the mystery behind the story is more than enough to keep me involved. I don't have any real guesses, other than to speculate that Ford is working on some plan to create…

I assume this has already been pointed out by a discerning reader, but Angela did not, at all, attribute her possession to an "imaginary friend" or a nervous breakdown. That was simply her presenting what others were saying - the fact she did not come right out and say "I was possessed by a demon when I was a child"…

You misrepresented the relationship between Chuck and Spyros. They knew each other for much longer and had been friends for six years until 2005, when Chuck meets the young woman at the party (I don't think she is a classmate, since it's the first time Chuck meets her) and she tells him that Spyros raped her. Chuck…

You do realize that this discussion is nonsensical, right? No, I'm not "Caucasian" given that my ancestry is not from the Caucasus region. I'm not sure what you're saying about Hitler. Hitler knew that there were Aryans in Northern India; he adapted the Swastika, which is an ancient Indian symbol. But I'd like to see…

Maybe. But my point is just that this is the kind of role that could easily have been played by someone who was not white. The fact that "white" is the default is one of the reasons that there is so much concern about Hollywood's lack of diversity. Your point about not showing the sexual kinks of the character if he…

I just reviewed the scene and you are right - there is no specific reference in that scene to the idea they were together since childhood. I got that idea because Lara (that's the character's actual name) is the person who says that the money Axe made as a caddy was his spending money for the year. When I saw the…

I'm not sure that I see the problem in casting Damian Lewis as Axelrod, even if Axelrod is supposed to be Jewish. I don' t that this is clear. The only "Axelrod" I know of in real life is David Axelrod and he is Jewish but I don't know if this is "necessarily" a Jewish name. I agree that Axelrod in the show is…

I'm of Indian background and I'm not "white". You can have a whole debate about what "white" means (eg. the Irish were not considered "white" when they first moved to North America). Moreover, the Aryans to whom you are referring are just one minority group in India; not all Indians are Aryans. But my point is that…

In the episode where Axe bought the naming rights from that wealthy family and Dana (that's her name!) was there looking on, wasn't there some allusion to her knowing him when he was so poor he needed to caddy to get spending money for the year? I'll have to look at that again when I have the chance. Malin Akerman is…

I just commented on this. I had not thought of the wire thing, but that makes sense. I agree that getting naked with a client would not seem to be appropriate. However, you could argue that if nudity does not matter much to either of them, then it is not an "intimate" act that crosses the lines of propriety. But I…

I don't think that Axe screws around either and we certainly have had the sense that his wife - can't recall her name at the moment - and he are full and equal partners in their relationship. Haven't they been together since they were kids? I disagree with Class vs. Sass - I get the sense that Wendy is interested in…

I am really enjoying this show but I agree that it needs to make clearer exactly what is at stake. I also agree that showing the actual consequences of what Bobby and his people do would be a good way to underline that their illegal activities really do hurt real people. So far, by keeping this abstract, the show has…

Fair enough, but that doesn't make for good "character-driven" TV. If HBO really is the gold standard of television and we are in a new golden age of TV then expecting some of its shows to treat women as more than walking "tits" is not expecting very much. This is true even if "Ballers" correctly represents the way…

I've been watching this show mostly because I like Dwayne Johnson and I'm hoping the show gets better as it goes along. That being said, I avoided Entourage when it was on and I get the sense that this show is just the football version of the same thing. I have absolutely no interest in professional sports and even…

So the two players who were on the yacht at the end are real football players? Interesting. I take it that calling women "bitches" is considered just normal in this world?

I'm not entirely sure that Bobbi is onboard with Gonzalez's plans for Skye. Her experience of Skye's powers certainly showed her how dangerous they can be. But she also saw that Calderon tried to outright murder Skye with his gun. So, Skye was certainly provoked and I hope that Bobbi takes that into account before she…

Thanks! I don't recall the "two monsters" comment. My recollection was that a Hydra raiding party ended up bringing Skye's Mom to Whitehall. I had the impression the village was attacked and massacred by Hydra. Speaking of monsters, one of my great hopes for the season is that we finally get to see Kyle MacLachlan…

I enjoyed the episode a lot and thought it was a good way to begin the second half of the season. I'm also happy to see that they are not dragging out the reveal of Skye's powers, given the previews for next episode. One thing I am puzzled by: it is evident that Skye's mother was very important to the local Inhuman…