I watched that at a University cinema in a pretty evenly mixed audience. I've never been in a crowd that responded both so viscerally, and so differently, based on their gender.

The crawling out of the TV scene in 'The Ring'.

I think that's a fair point, but I do think that kind of criticism has to be made in the round. With two more episodes left, you still haven't seen the whole design of the narrative. At this stage, you can only really criticise how it's been handled so far, or question why it's been handled in that way.

Yeah, this is pretty much exactly the issue with the conflict between them. Nicely surmised.

I think you were dead on with that. I know a lot of people read it the other way, but you're right. Shades doesn't brag. He just does.

We're definitely supposed to be with Shades on this though, right?

Yeah, this was the point where I started actively rooting for Shades to succeed, which I wouldn't have predicted, to the show's credit.

The more they peel back Diamondback's motivation the more I wish he was just an agent of chaos with no connection to Luke. That would make lines like 'Bye, Felicia!' much more fun.

I mean, you can't deny that's a dynamite, fool-proof plan.

I honestly think that, so far, all three shows would've been served much better with 10 episodes, maximum.

This episode is the weakest, in my opinion, but the following two are a solid rebound. I hated the first half of the finale, loved the second, however that balances out.

I thought this episode was the weakest of the season - mostly because I feel like Colter's performance wasn't strong enough to overcome the weaker writing. I find him to be a bit too stiff, overall, but you can really feel it on the ropier dialogue. Still not a fan of the whole 'Diamondback is his secret brother!'…

That's an interesting thought. I feel like, up against a Mariah/Shades empire the smart money would be on a live and let live approach.

Aaaah, gotcha. Thanks!

I wasn't so into the Luke on the run stuff (not that Rosario isn't doing her best with the material as she always does), but I did love the tinge of real life context with CRISPR.

C'mon now. I'm not even a huge fan of Colter in this and I'm really, truly, a big fan of this show. Second half and all.

Shades is the Wesley that Wesley aspires to be. Which makes him significantly more threatening than… basically everyone.

The more I read your perspective the more I agree. The set up is what is lacking.

It's a pretty genius reference really. Tells you a whole bunch about the character, and what you can expect from him, straight off the bat.

I've seen him described by the producers as the Littlefinger of the show, and that description is proving to be pretty accurate, I'd say.