Not Crap.

Excellent writing, great direction, outstanding acting.
Great show.

Seconded. Idiosyncratic and occasionally mildly self-satisfied, but still pisses all over most other drama. Also it reminds me of my favourite Californian meme-type things. Me gusta.

A TV show that got me hooked on the idea of renting a whole season at once and gorging.

The first season, she is-a so nice.

The third season, she break so great the mind, I seen it live in action, full.

Where-a you at, Season 2? My heart she breaks under the weight of time for you to show you pantaloni brillanti della faccia...



...whoops, sorry, just woke up from a six month-long nap.



Whaaa? Adrianna, è guasto dallo Little Steven?

Did anyone see Sunday July 18th's episode?

Was anyone else just blown away?

You know, if this was 2 or 3 years ago, I would be the first person to say this is one brilliant, engrossing show.

But these last two seasons have been simply terrible. Case in point: the worthless, non-sequitur notion of an "episode" last night.

Maybe this will be revealed some day (the hostage/nutjob/psycho-sexual dream/reality bullshit thing), but that was a true waste of time. The dialogue, story-line, and simple refusal to GET ON WITH IT ALREADY is really bumming me out. These characters have potential, man! They can contend! But the stilted "artschool" bologna with the daughter (the redhead) and the spinning of the wheels between David and his partner are silly.

The wife and I still watch it, just as we still watch Soprano's and that Jeopardy dude kicking everyone's head in.

I'm sure no matter how pissed and disappointed I get I'll still watch it. Gives me something to complain about, I guess.

Ike in Kazoo

Ike wrote:You know, if this was 2 or 3 years ago, I would be the first person to say this is one brilliant, engrossing show.

But these last two seasons have been simply terrible. Case in point: the worthless, non-sequitur notion of an "episode" last night.

Maybe this will be revealed some day (the hostage/nutjob/psycho-sexual dream/reality bullshit thing), but that was a true waste of time. The dialogue, story-line, and simple refusal to GET ON WITH IT ALREADY is really bumming me out. These characters have potential, man! They can contend! But the stilted "artschool" bologna with the daughter (the redhead) and the spinning of the wheels between David and his partner are silly.

The wife and I still watch it, just as we still watch Soprano's and that Jeopardy dude kicking everyone's head in.

I'm sure no matter how pissed and disappointed I get I'll still watch it. Gives me something to complain about, I guess.

Ike in Kazoo

So, not really blown away then.

Hmm. Having just come off fresh from viewing season 2, I found this episode, especially the hostage/nutjob/psycho-sexual dream/reality-bullshit entirely compelling. Was it excessive? Yes. Gratuitous? Perhaps. A forced look into a terrifying situation, presented as the single longest unbroken character scene of the series?

Yes, the show has been a fantastic collection of quirks and ticks, and an excellent multi-faceted illustration: funeral home procedures, the spectrum of healthy unhealthly coping skills and releationships.

But to the "non-sequitor notion" regarding this episode: traumatic events do take place outside of a defined norm. Therefore as much as it was drawn out and/or upsetting that the hostage scenario took forever to complete, it successully illustrated how David's character was completely unprepared for how to deal with this situation, and the overwhelming sense of fear and rage and sadness involved.

You or I might have run the van off of the road, or taken off once the nutjob hopped out to dump the body. David was paralyzed, and once the "this can't be happening" thoughts resolved into "yes this is happening" he was off radar and totally vulnerable. Which in context of his character (obvious type-A) is entirely undefined territory.

This is why I found it valuable, within the context of the show

The Lady, she was very freaked out by it. We had to watch part of one of those girl romatic comedies in order to counterbalance.

Also, I do agree that the Claire school stuff is a little flat, but school, especially a "Fine Arts" schools are at least in part like that.
The Widower Nate has been on a mild plateau for a bit, but I did enjoy the greivers club scene.

Still, not crap.

give me a break. i used to appreciate this show for its ability to portray very universal experiences in an original way. i used to find this show as visually interesting as i did thematically. last night was total crap. it has turned from being shocking via the process of relating to the characters to entirely predictable. all you have to do is imagine the most shocking thing they could do before they do it. of course a kidnapping is going to be dramatic or receiving shit in toy trucks in the mail. what happened to the days when they created drama from seemingly arbitrary events? it's gotten too easy. i left the room for the last ten minutes of it and the jury is out on whether or not i'll ever watch it again.

mel

it was pretty obvious that the dialogue was written by someone else. all of the conversations were forced and awkward, but in a bad way. the daughter saying "why didn't you tell me about this, i could have used this" no way, she wouldn't have gone to that shit. and the talking between david and keith was a farse. the personalities were gone, just a loose representation of the dynamics where the last episode left off. the highjacking was total shit. david obviously would have said "fuck you" when the guy was like "i'll pay you back when we get to an ATM" like anyone with half a brain. and the shit in the classroom was terrible. it's fine that they have new writers, but there has to be someone in charge of blocking scripts that are impossible to act. where is he?

-noah

Love. This. Show.

And Lauren Ambrose - holy shit. She's drop-dead-beautiful!

NOT CRAP.