Man, I'm enjoying reading your take on the show!

I mourn you, Nail Gun from the First Scene of the Season.

Well, that salesman earned that bump like a motherfucker.

I have determined that the central thesis of the entire show is this: America is broken.

Give the man a cigar!

I had another Wire dream. This time, I was at some Indian function with Omar, and I was defending him to my mom, who thought he was a terrible person, and in this world there were only good people and bad people, and if I asked Joss Whedon, he would agree. And I told her she was fucking stupid.

I just realized that I really love this season, yet there's no wiretapping at all! Hell, there's barely an investigation! Major Crimes is a shell of its former self.

Poor Bubbles! Ack.

I'm still getting used to Kima's new hair. It looks nice, but it's so different from her hairstyle the last three seasons.

I didn't realize Ruth's Chris Steak House was that superfancy. I mean, it's a chain. That whole scene was just so...sad. I mean, those kids were completely out of their element. It was just beyond their imagination, this restaurant. They have such a narrow view of the world; they don't know anything else.

I just realized that Prop Joe is basically running Baltimore at this point.

Oh, Randy. Funding your candy trade through gambling! Hee.

NO MICHAEL NO. I was whimpering when he turned to Marlo, of all people, to solve his problem. And Marlo's been after him all season to come to him. Oh my God, this is not going to end well.

I didn't realize Ruth's Chris Steak House was that superfancy.

It isn't really.

No, but if you're used to buying lake trout and orange soda out a window, it is.

GRRM updates with news about the "A Game of Thrones" series:

The latest news on HBO front is that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have turned in the second draft of the pilot script for A GAME OF THRONES, and their rewrite is presently being read and evaluated by the powers-that-be at HBO. In other words, it's the normal process, which is long and often slow. So far, the reports are good, and HBO seems to like what they're seeing... but no, there's no greenlight yet, A GAME OF THRONES remains a script in development, not a series in production.

The one hard bit of news is that HBO has reached agreement with the BBC for them to come in as a partner on the series... IF it goes ahead. That's very cool news, and I'm excited and pleased to have the BBC involved... but even so, we're still in the crossed fingers stage here, not the shooting-off-fireworks stage.

Does Generation Kill start next month?

After this episode, there are only three more episodes to inflict pain and suffering on these poor children. But I see it has already begun because holy crap, Detective Walker! BROKE DONUT'S FINGERS OW OW OW OW OW WHAT THE FUCK.

And, man, Herc and Bubbles. I know Herc hasn't been great with Bubbs, but it's a little annoying that it's not really his fault he's not coming when Bubbs needs him! It's just television contrivance. Bubbs just happens to call him when he's busy. TWICE. Perhaps a better man would have dropped everything. Bubbs's revenge was amusing, though; I wasn't sure what he was doing at first.

God, Namond's mom sucks so hard. So very hard.

It's weird. Prez's storyline feels like every TV movie about inspiring teachers ever made, but...I don't care.

Little Kevin, what the hell! What the hell, Marlo! HAVE YOU NO RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE AT ALL? And now Bodie's got that shit on his conscience, and Poot is all, whatevs. And brings up Wallace. Which is interesting because I recently read the Wikipedia recap of that scene and was reminded that while Bodie hesitated and only shot once, Poot was the one who finished him off and didn't seem to have any trouble with it. Bodie's really not as hard as all that, but Poot, who's usually the butt of a joke, actually is, even though it doesn't come out as much. And I am so with Bodie on this. Marlow is a cold motherfucker. And despite what he said about Randy's not being a threat, I'm afraid of what he might end up doing. He offed Little Kevin on the mere suspicion that he told the cops some shit. He basically knows Randy's a snitch. And now so do a bunch of other people. Aaaah.

And then there's Partlow and Bug's dad (Sidenote: Wikipedia refers to him as "Bug's dad." How do we know he's just Bug's dad and not Michael's dad too?). I don't know whether we're supposed to take the allegations of molestation as truth (although that would certainly explain Michael's feelings toward him), but holy shit. That was a beatdown. That was...a BEATDOWN. It was so surprising and confusing because Partlow normally just shoots people, and I wasn't sure whether he intended to just "send him a message" so he'd leave or actually kill him. Because I didn't think Michael would have wanted him to kill him. But then there was nothing left but a bloody, bloody pulp. Even in the dark, the face looked almost unrecognizable. Hell, even Snoop was all WTF.

And Michael was all...yeah, that's the way to take care of business. Eee. It's all in the game.

How do we know he's just Bug's dad and not Michael's dad too?

Michael's always called him "Bug's dad." I figure Michael knows who his dad is.

That was...a BEATDOWN

Yeah, you think maybe there's a reason Chris identifies with Michael so much?

it's a little annoying that it's not really his fault he's not coming when Bubbs needs him!

Fuck that. Herc should have dropped everything. He didn't come because he doesn't care.

Also, S5 on DVD Aug 12.

Amazon has all three seasons of Deadwood on DVD for $90 today.