As most good science fiction does, it anticipates your questions and comments and comments back on them. Much of what you're talking about here is raised throughout the season.

Niska's role is important, but her time on screen is minor compared to the others in the show.

Having seen this all months ago (not bragging), I'd suggest that it's worth sticking around because I find it better this season than last. There's no John Hurt, but they play with the big ideas better this year than last and expand the scope of those ideas.

Will be watching because Andy Greenwald.

came back to AV Club for this. Wasn't disappointed.

and I contributed by watching … *sigh*

I'm half with you. I don't find the table-setting to be annoying per se, but it seems glaringly slow after the pace of the first handful of episodes this season.

This show is a miracle, but this season feels so rushed. I love it all the same, and they're hitting the Big Ideas expertly.

I agree with you on the action.

The score on this episode was the most annoying part. It was supposed to be a table-setting episode, yet every other scene had "final battle" music on top.

I think that part of it is that I don't think the heavier 'screamo' mode fits them well at all. Every time I've seen them perform it, I felt like they weren't into it.

Love this band. So far this album sounds a bit like S/T 2.0, but IDGAF as long as they come by my city some time soon.

I know this isn't Sputnikmusic, but I'd like to criticize this line: "It’s why, when the record opens with bassist-vocalist Christian Holden quietly reading a poem, Goodness crushes all preconceived notions in a few short stanzas."

I'm thinking along these lines, and it reminds me of the duo of Something to Write Home About and On a Wire.

I agree with the first half, but I'm not sure I agree with the second half. I've played this thing a lot, and I'm not sure it's any more cohesive than Home, which I love.

Housebroken is a lyrical misstep and maybe a sequencing. I think it's one of the better songs on the album, though. Life in Drag disrupts the flow of that album for me. It's a lyrically great song, and I appreciate the idea, but it takes me out of the album. I often end the album when it begins or I start playing from…

As the reviews have noted, this season has been a bit lackluster. I think they could have wrapped up the serial killer/bodymod/satanist plot in 5 episodes, and rounded off the main characters' stories with more care.

Agreed! Between this and the training montage, this episode was a groaner.

We're overdue for Ian McShane's appearance here.

I was thrilled by this episode, but I think I would have been thrilled by most anything. I've been hyping myself up for this season for a while.