Right on— that's something I loved too, that Atwood acknowledges both the folly of a dystopian society and the massive human cost. The epilogue makes Gilead feel so small and ridiculous, and it's incredibly powerful how it reduces the heartbreaking story we've just read to a historical footnote. When I first read the…

Fair enough. I'm totally willing to cede that point in the "Sting is a ponce" debate as long as we're on the same big-picture idea.

"Wrapped Around Your Finger" rhymes "knowledge" with "college" and "Charybdis" with "apprentice," is all I'm saying.

It's incredibly vague, which I love— we're so deep in Offred's head, and she doesn't really know how far Gilead extends or how powerful it is. We don't know how frail Gilead is, but it feels omnipotent to those oppressed by it. I like the decision to leave it ambiguous, because it means that the reader has to focus…

Yeah, I'm hesitant— it's a short, deeply internal book that draws a lot of its power from the narrator being isolated and not having any human connections. I'm really not sure how well it's going to work with a ten-hour runtime.

You say Sting (solo), but "Wrapped Around Your Finger" has the worst lyrics in human history and it's a Police number.

I really love Elvis Costello but I can appreciate why people wouldn't. Also, there was that one thing.

And Nancy Cartwright nudity, which is just fucking weird.

Thanks for typing this up, because I've been on the fence about watching it for the same reasons. The original series is self-contained and fantastic and I'm really hesitant about a work that revisits it.

Man, this sounds awesome and seems like a great fit for the man. Verhoeven going historical brings Flesh+Blood to mind. That is a grimy, gnarly film that is pretty unafraid of the worst implications of its setting.

Absolutely. Elle was one of my favorites last year and I can't believe it's a real movie that got made— it walks such a tricky line and I don't think anyone but Verhoeven could have pulled off that tone. That's true of all of his movies: no one but him could make them. So glad Elle seems to be his ticket back.

I can't wait for the last-act reveal that it was him, Austin. It was him all along, Austin.

Well now I know I'm living in a long long dream.

I think having a mixed-race couple have a white baby would be a little more controversial, when you think about it.

You can't jizz on hospitality! I won't allow it!

What are we supposed to believe, that this is some kind of magical anime?

Man, as much of a fucking dork as I am you'd think my phone would recognize Madoka.

Why should he go to prison for a crime someone else noticed?

Ugh Jesus Christ AV Club, the final episode of Madoka Magica is actually super-uplifting and the one episode of that show after the third-episode twist that isn't incredibly dark. Get your nerd jokes right.

But we need to leave room in anime dubbing for Johnny Yong Bosch to be in everything and do only one voice, badly!