I was convinced that the girl's name was Madison Sinclair, and thus was so happy Jane had stuck a VM shoutout in the show. Then I realized it was St. Claire. Fuck.

"The name Sinclair is of Norman origin from 'St.-Clair-sur-Epte' and was established in Scotland in 1162 when Henry de St Clair of Roslin was granted lands in Lothian."

I think it's...psychotic.

Her recklessness had real consequences, too. She was Xander ("I say faster pussycat, kill kill!") to Paul's Buffy ("There's only one problem with her revenge scenario: it's gonna get her killed.") And they didn't get there in time to stop it. A lot of protocols that are so fun to tromp all over are there for a reason. Not to sound too much like Paul.

Wow. Jane Espenson remains top of my list of favorite ME alums. Top 3, definitely.

remember her commentary on the Wonderfalls dvds (or did Tim post about it? i can't remember.) about having to smoke those herbal cigarettes and how sick they made her

Those are NASTY. I was in a play that took place in the 50s and since in the 50s there were "no" filters (not true, there were twoish brands with filters back then) they made me cut the filters off. So I would have large leaves sticking to my tongue, and cloves and stuff. Ewwww. Plus they leave quite a stench on a person.

...Allyson, I wish you had a book. I'd like to read it.

I can't get over how beautiful Rachel Nichols is. Stunningly beautiful. Hauntingly beautiful.

I think it's psychotic if the kid's not guilty. I think Rebecca knows psychopaths like few people alive know psychopaths.

This episode was tight! I really really liked this one.

...Allyson, I wish you had a book. I'd like to read it.

I swear, I'm working on it. I'm just having a crisis of faith.

Add me to the "officially in love with Rebecca now" club. Awesome ep. Adults treating kids like the sometimes evil little adults they are always makes me happy.

Ditto for me. Hats off to Jane for making me root for someone to kill a 10-year-old. (Okay, maybe I'm not as hard a sell on that point as the average audience member, but I'm finding that it's glimpses of Rebecca's cruelty and lack of sentiment that are making me bond with her.) Also, THAT was what I was waiting for from Katie Finneran. I had confidence that she would make me love Melody eventually, but it was nice to see that borne out by the episode.

Skipping to avoid spoilers:

Allyson, you already have a book. It's not in book format (yet!) maybe, and it may still not be finished, but from the little I got to read, it's right there.

[Edit: the only thing I have to post in this thread is off-topic. Sigh.]

Nilly,

I can tape 4 eps for you. Do you still need them?

Tamara! Yes, I do, thank you ever so much!

I really liked this episode up until the ending -- I found it a little weak after such a strong episode. I always hate it when characters say something like "well, now that Nora turned Madison in" basically as an aside -- I want to see big things like that happen, not just hear about them after the fact.

Loved the Rebecca/Mel scenes, though, and Rebecca bullying the kid. I found Rebecca likable in this episode, when previously I'd been interested in her motivations but not really into her as a character. There was a sense of playfulness about her when she was bantering with Mel -- a barely-there sense, but one I'd love to see develop.

I want to take Jane Espenson's turn of a phrase out for a night on the town. If it's not too forward--maybe even away for a long weekend, somewhere special...with a jacuzzi. We'll have some champagne. Maybe it will be the start of something.

I've only seen New Girl in Town, and last night's Something Nice, so I know I'm likely missing some character development. Rebecca became much more accessible to me in this episode. Has that been a steady build? I felt for her as she made her awkward attempts to connect to her co-workers on the way in. I don't think Nichols hit a false note, all the way through.

And sure, going after a 10 year old in the way she did, regardless of the fact that the 10 year old was a sociopath, was really rather nutty, but she (Rebecca) finally seemed alive. I like that Rebecca is rather reckless. That helps (to my mind, anyhow) keep her from being a damsel. The boogey man got her long ago, so what would she fear?

I actually didn't expect to watch last night. I figured I'd read the thread today, see what was the what, and make my decision. I'm glad I didn't, and that I got to see it, without being spoiled. I was out 'til a little after 10 o'clock. When I got home, dh said he'd already watched it, and that it was funny. Tim, I think you've roped him in good, and he's working me. The first time he asked if I wanted to watch, I cocked an eyebrow at him. "What was it about?"

"Well, this kid..."

"This kid...what?"

"Um. It was really funny. You should just see it. Do you want to watch? I'll watch, again."

"It was funny?"

"I was going to wait and see if you wanted to watch it, but I went into the living room just as the TiVo tuned into it. Then I saw this kid...I didn't know if maybe the episodes got shuffled, and this was the one I get killed in, so I watched it. I'm tellin' ya, it was funny. I'll watch it again, if you want to see it right now."

"This kid, what?"

"It was really funny, but...well, this kid gets killed. I don't want to spoil you, but it was really funny. I know that's sick, but it was. Do you want to watch it? I'll watch it again."

"You're a sick, sick man."

"No, really. You're gonna laugh, too. Do you want to watch it?"

So, yeah. I did. And it was. Something Nice was a wonderful homage to The Bad Seed. The moment the little girl was first shown on screen, I knew she was the killer, but that's not a bad thing. Some of it was just in her face. Some of what tipped me was how long it took to reveal her (first the dad was shown, then the mom, then finally the kid). Some of it was the expression on Nichols' face, when she saw her.

Wow, I don't know who played Madison, but whoever she is, I think she could eat Dakota Fanning, Davleigh Chase and Patti McCormack in one sitting and ask for seconds.

Nobody puts Baby Patty McCormack in a corner...of a plate. Jennette McCurdy plays Madison and she was great (but step off Patty). She managed to evoke that same sociopathy McCormack's Rhoda Penmark does. It seems to me that most actors playing evil little kids have a hard time disconnecting from their own cuteness. Kudos to McCurdy.

Madison swinging her feet and really enjoying that soda once the coast was clear was a great touch. I know the gang seeing her switch off the crocodile tears, and start enjoying herself was integral to the plot, but the scene was worth it, in and of itself, too. I *knew* the little witch was going to throw herself out of the treehouse. I was afraid she'd miscalculated and was going to die, and leave Rebecca in a real mess.

Is it just me, or physically, does McCurdy sort of resemble Julie Dawn Cole as a child (the actor who played Veruca Salt in the Gene Wilder version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)? I'm trying to Google an image of Cole, but the internets are ferwonky this morning, and giving me no love. The page keeps hanging.

Zeljko Ivanek's (that's his name? Wow. (continued...)