Interesting connection with the theme of slavery throughout AC this year.

No. What I said is that a child who behaves like Nicky is potentially able to act out in a violent way, even more than once, while seeming perfectly normal or even rather placid otherwise. Since we do not see Gabrielle being hurt, we do not know if Nicky has or has not hurt her, because children who act out in this…

No. This is what I said: "So Nicky was just as likely this week, until Claire's confession, as he was last week and the week before to be the one hurting Gabrielle. You were just too prejudiced and ignorant to see it."

We parents with CHILDREN on the autism spectrum, CHILDREN with developmental disabilities, and CHILDREN with neurological deficits get pretty tired of educating dumb ass xenophobes like you, DMW, who refuse to believe that there are children who act out; and when they do, there is often no good explanation for it,…

Sibling rivalry ain't no joke.

Especially considering some of the commercials!

Great post! I would only add that the long form organization of a television series allows Ridley to build suspense in some unexpected ways. First, he makes us care about the characters, some of whom we never even meet in person. Before we know it, along with Luis, we are all searching desperately for Teo. When Luis…

Hello, Serena. I thought the amount that Raelyn stole from the Hesbys was an interesting benchmark for determining the social status of a character: To the Hesbys, it was chump change, probably no more and not much less than they often paid to have a problem go away. To Raelyn and working class folk, it was a lot…

What (are we to believe) was Claire's motivation for abusing Gabrielle?

First Raelyn says the daughters prefer to stay with a sitter rather than be with Jeanette. Just before Raelyn goes for her drug test, she tells Jeanette her children would like to stay with her. Raelyn gives a mixed message about what she thinks her children prefer: the usual sitter or Jeanette.

I think Raelyn told Jeanette the girls did not want to stay with their aunt, because they prefer their usual babysitter. I do not think Raelyn suggests that she or her daughters prefer foster care over staying with Jeanette.

I think AV Club picks winners and losers by deciding which shows/series get good writer/critics and which get ones that are just so-so, sorry to say. I know for a fact better writer/critics are out there, so why hire weak ones at all? I think AV Club intends to undercut certain programming. I've noticed that…

I had forgotten that Raelyn had a work history with Carson's father. Your post introduces an interesting problem, one common to family businesses: At what point does a family member who takes money from the family business actually "steal" it? Family members who work in a family business get privileges non-family…

Thank you for such a clear and convincing explanation, one that establishes that Carson does, on some level, care for his nieces as if they were his own. Your post raises the interesting question of whether Raelyn would consent to live with Carson and Jeanette if she had the option. Would she allow her daughters to…

But what has kept Carson in the past from offering Raelyn and her daughters sanctuary in his home? I see a storyteller's clue in his name: Car-son or "son" of the father named "car," in the old way of Scandinavian names. Perhaps Carson does not see Jeanette's sister and nieces as worth parenting because they are…

I am so happy that you are among those who are not part of the community of families whose children suffer from autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, and other neurological deficits. If you were, you would understand chapter and verse how children who act out can hurt themselves and others. Even neurotypical children can…

Thank you for the support and establishing that Ridley's audience must have some idea of living conditions in Haiti. What I had in mind in that post was that few of us know what it is like to live in the extreme conditions from which Gabrielle may have been more than eager to escape: I mean her day in Haiti from the…

I did not remember that line. Thanks.

Here's what I like about John Ridley: He does not go for simplicity or the lowest common denominator. Thanks for the heads-up on Russ/Nicholas Sr. I thought I had corrected that.

Has it been established that Nicky is not the biological son of Nicholas and Claire? IVF can help couples who want to do so overcome such obstacles as ED and slow swimmers, etc. Couples who use these methods have children who are theirs biologically, though this type of IVF process is time-consuming and very…