So I watched Blue Velvet recently, and I was struck by how well it works as a straightforward thriller, even devoid of any Lynchian weirdness. Not that it's possible to completely separate Lynch's ethos from the rest of the film, which is why there's a nightmarish feel to many of the more mundane scenes.

"Perhaps you could hire a corporate sponsor. Those pumas were rather
freeeesh.''
No, doesn't quite work.
ETA: Especially when Disqus screws around with it like that.

Any sufficiently advanced friendship is indistinguishable from magic.

Perhaps it's not an injustice per se, but it is damned inconsiderate.

"A newt?!"
"… I got better."

Ah, that sounds familiar. Thanks.

Didn't Leela join up with a group of non Time Lord Gallifreyans when she left the TARDIS in Invasion of Time?

While technically true, within the dream they still had to face the eyeball creatures that lived in the pensioners' throats. So while the monster never actually existed in that episode, I felt this one went a step further by having the monster never be there at all.

Oh geez. At no point did I mean to call in to question —-'s statements about himself, and I sincerely apologize if that's how it sounded.
In retrospect, it does sound kind of dickiish, but that was not my intention

True, I guess I should have said sci-fi monster instead.

(To an outsider completely ignorant of your situation) it seems to be having the opposite effect.

Hey now, your conclusion there was pretty much uncalled for. Surely it's possible to disagree, even strongly, while still remaining respectful of each other.

Wasn't this the first monster-free episode since Black Orchid back in '82?

I forgot there was a line that specifically mentions turning off the safe guard. That, plus the precedent set by traveling to the end of the universe, is enough (for me at least) to fill the potential plot hole to the point where I would applaud this episode without reservations.

Good point. It may very well be setting up something that will pay off later in the season.

Great episode, possibly the best in years.
However, was anybody else distracted by the fact that they managed yo land the TARDIS on Gallifrey, seeing as how that shouldn't really be possible? And yes, I realize that impossible is essentially a meaningless word when talking about Doctor Who, but the time lock has always…

*ZING*

Oh, I'm not complaining. Anything that leads to such high quality O'Neal snark is fine by me.

The AV Club turned into an Olive Garden newsblog so gradually I didn't even notice.

Surprisingly, yes.