Eriu

I think Chayton might actually be the Thunder Man that Alex thought he was last season. A powerful leader, completely unstoppable and gets all kinds of ass (his threesome from a couple eps ago). An evil one, certainly, but I can't help but see a comparison. Burton, on the other hand, is totally a Terminator.

And not only that, but if they are too busy worrying about and beating on each other, they don't have the time or desire to mess with him.

Eleanor, Low is fucking crazy. He beheaded his first mate in your bar with a knife. Kill him. Kill him a lot. Hire people to kill him. Entice Vain into it. Whatever. You should have killed him the moment he threatened you in your own bar, but for heaven's sake do it NOW. Rackam, if you really are OK with Anne and Max getting it on, you could have waited till they were done. Hell, even if you just want them to think that you are OK with it, you still should have waited. Though I am excited about seeing him finally do something proactive and not just be kicked around. I'm glad to see that Dufresne realizes that if Flint was able to pull off that kind of ridiculous gambit, then he really is the man you want in charge. I would have tried to negotiate staying on as first mate or whatever, but Flint's brains are the ones you want in charge. Also, glad to see Billy is not dead.

I guess that the precinct showdown will result in everyone bonding enough for this to make sense for NLH to stick around, even after the incredibly ill-advised attack on Kai. Where was Burton during that, by the way? Hanging at home with Grandma and the nurse? Poor Aimee, actually trying to be a cop and do the right thing and getting horribly stuck in the middle with no one else helping her. Carrie beating the shit out of asshole biker and flipping off the cops during a high speed chase was very entertaining, though I'm glad she admitted how pointless it was. Brock just seems so resigned to NLH's antics. Poor guy doesn't even get to go visit his stripper-therapist anymore.

Well fuck, everything just went to shit for everyone didn't it? That was also an incredibly surreal episode, what with all the random flashbacks. In fact, I was kinda hoping that the whole thing would turn out to be some wonky dream, anything to save Nola. I've been down with all the crazy shit the writers have thrown at us, but I think that was a rather big misstep. Sure, the fight was Ah-Maz-Ing, but her death seems, at least at this point, fairly pointless. She came back just for that? Especially after bonding with Carrie last episode? I was terrified to find myself almost shipping Chayton/Aimee when they were talking in the tent. It would be so wrong. But so hot. But so wrong. Brock's lap dance before it got interrupted was the best lap dance ever, especially talking into her boobs. With all the absurd dark comedy of this episode I really thought fat mobster I thought was gonna get stuck in the trap door.

Between her job and Deputy Billy's comments on how she feels he left her behind, I'd certainly assume so.

While Rebecca certainly doesn't seem to have issues with the violence part of her new life, Kai is going to need to instill some better restraint in her, or her impulsiveness is going to come back to bite her. I am VERY excited to see Meaghan Rath show up as the take no shit reservation deputy, Amiee. I really hope she sticks around for a while. I love the actress and the character is definitely looking good too. I also really liked Nola and Carrie bonding over the problematic men of their respective families (and pie). While they could be interesting enemies, I'd much rather them be allies. I'm pretty sure Chayton sent those two guys over meaning to get them killed and really start a war off, especially since he didn't let his brother go on the run. He had to know that nabbing Rebecca AND Kai would be more than a two man job.

I'm glad to see that we took care of Emmett and his wife's murder was wrapped up quickly, but I cant help but think that involving Siobhan and Brock in the less than legal operation can lead anywhere good. Also glad to see that we are jumping straight into the nudity. I, however, did not need the incest subtext between Kai and Rebecca to become straight up text. EWW. Well I knew it wouldn't be long before Chayton came back, but I didn't think it would be the first episode. I'm actually surprised he didn't actually kill the other guy, especially after the attack from behind. Stop having layers, it confuses me! Glad to see Nola back too, she and Chayton are gonna be getting all up in each other's way. I can't see them being able to work together even if they tried. Job took WAY too long to show up. You're the BEST, Job. I knew Deva was going to get snagged breaking into the pot shop, but damn, NLH was faster than I thought. Highly amusing that he's giving her breaking and entering tips. The raid on the marine transport via bow and arrow was very impressive, but marine guys, why didn't you just gun it and run him over? Chief marine guy was the guy that Carrie was boinking earlier, right? Is Carrie hooking up with him in order to get an in to the base? She seemed to be pretty lost with what to do with herself when she talked to NLH, but I can't see that just being a coincidence.

I had a hard time getting used to him calling the other agent "Thompson". I'm starting to think rival spy. Maybe Russian? She was very eager to get Peggy to move into her building, it would certainly make keeping an eye on her easier. Plus, as you said, why hire Lyndsy Fonseca for a spy show if she isn't going to kick some ass at some point?

Ya know, my roommate brought that up and I could see it, but I really like the Freindship dynamic that the two of them have. Plus, even though they are probably about the same age, she was practically his step-mom for years, so I think that hookup would be a little too awkward for me.

I guess she decided it was time to settle down. He's a good looking guy and one of the Khan's most trusted warriors. There are certainly worse choices.

IMDB is a great help with that. Pictures and name spellings.

I've never figured out what was going on there either. It certainly wasn't jealously, she obviously enjoys picking out concubines for her husband. Some kind of wierd sixth sense that indicated to her that Mei was trouble? I'm not sure why Mei getting rid of the other cobncubine secured her place either. This obviously wasn't a "you just missed out" and more of a "I really don't like you" from the Empress. Interestingly though, she didn't seem to put out when she found out that Mei made it in anyway though. The whole thing felt that it could have used a bit more explanation.

Especially since the first episode was badly lacking, the writers have done a damn good job making up for it. Kokachin isn't actually Kokachin and for the first time in the series is actually interesting. Empress Chabi shooting down the incredibly desperate Mei, but not going for the kill. I'm assuming out of curiosity, not compassion. And Khutulun getting her fight/flirt on with Byamba ( who is her second cousin, right?) .

What do you want to see and what do you expect to see in season 2? Ya know, I'm kinda hoping Alvey gets screwed over with the gym. I'd be perfectly fine with Lisa suing for her portion and then Christina getting half of whatever is left. Alvey doesn't seem particularly interested in the business side of the gym anyway and I think that the three of them having to deal with each other in a business capacity could be a lot of fun (for us viewers anyway). This would depend on Christina really getting clean and staying that way. Baring that, I'd like to see Lisa take Jay's advice and become a kick ass manager and being incredibly successful while not getting back together with either Alvey or Ryan. I think they are definitely setting up some conflict between Jay and Ryan. They fight in the same weight class, eventually they will end up fighting each other. I'm hoping that Jay will continue to act like a adult and I'm pretty certain that Ryan will slip back into his old habits. We already saw that he's not fully changed when he trashed the gym. I don't think that any additional fame and success will help stay on the straight and narrow. Nate should be back fighting by next season, but he's gonna have to deal with his sexuality, which in such a tough guy environment, will not be an easy thing to do. Lisa and Jay probably won't have any problem with it, but I don't think Alvey will handle it too well. That's if Nate himself can admit to it. I'm hoping that we get more women next year. Lisa was great and even Christina was pretty well written. There's no reason we couldn't have female fighter, and that could open up some interesting storylines. Lisa could also stand to have some female friends as well, I wouldn't mind seeing the investor lady from early in the season come back. An actually love interest for Jay and not just a revolving roster of random chicks could be interesting as well.

For all things season 1 I admit it, I came for Frank Grillo and stayed for the AWESOME that is Lisa's character. She managed to be smart and take-no-shit, while not being too perfect or sanctimonious. I'm extremely happy that they didn't have her hook back up with Ryan, even after she and Alvey broke up. Jay drove me absolutely nuts at the beginning of the season and was one of my favorites (right behind Lisa) by the end. Yes, he's immature and impulsive but genuinely cares about people and is trying to grow up and change who he is. He's also ridiculously charismatic and funny, and appears to be a damn good fighter when he actually applies himself. I think storyline of Jay trying to hunt down the gang bangers who beat up Nate was pretty pointless. They served their purpose of keeping Nate sidelined and didn't have much point after that. Even after Jay tracked them down, he ended up deciding not to do anything. It just felt like a waste of time.

I thought this episode was much better than the first one. Far more coherent, and a lot less bouncing around. I think sticking to the two major plot lines (Kublai vs his brother and Marco learning how to navigate the court) made things much easier to follow. It's becoming rather obvious that Kublai wanted Marco to stick around as he has an excellent way with words and isn't (at least yet) entangled in any court politics, which makes him rather naively honest. I was happy to see that we got a better sense of the women on the show as well. Forget Kublai and his brother, I vote for the Empress as Great Khan. Though, yes, I could have lived without the naked Kung Fu.

Was it ever. Some seriously sweeping vistas in the this show. I also agree that it was kinda hard to follow. I know its the pilot, but there were a lot of concepts and characters to follow all at once. I think it might have been better if they'd just stuck to Marco and his father traveling to China for the first episode and ended with Marco getting left behind as tribute. We didnt see much of anything between Marco and his father, so that betrayal didn't pack much punch. I could have lived without the brothel scene, but as this isn't on broadcast or basic cable, I guess they felt that they had to prove their sexy-sexyness. It would have been nice to get equal opportunity nakedness, but outside of Spartacus, that usually seems to be too much to ask for.

Yeah, looking back on the episode, there wasn't much of a...sense of urgency, I guess? Both fighters won, Christina and Lisa's plots were both sad, yet invetiable. I do think it did a good job of setting up what to expect for next year though. What's Lisa going to do now? Jay and Ryan will most likely fight, or at least build up to it and Nate will have to deal with his sexuality. On the other hand, while I like Christina, I'm not sure that I care where her storyline is going. We don't have much of an idea of who she actually is, at least not outside of how she affects Alvey and the boys. I'd like to see her come into her own (espeically as there are so few women on this show), but I can't say that i'd be too upset if she was written off either.

Jay, perhaps worrying your mom with your fight and then throwing a huge ass party with all kinds of drugs available is not the best plan for keeping her sober. And yup, there she goes. No one should be surprised, since she never really wanted it in the first place. God damn, I love Lisa. Takes control of her life in calm reasonable ways. She's way to good for both Ryan and Alvey. And then even fucked up and mourning her relationship with Alvey, she still has the presence of mind to turn down Ryan. I now officially predict that at some point in the future of this show, Jay and Ryan will end up fighting each other. Well, there's our confirmation about Nate. No one's gonna handle this well, including Nate.

SERIOUSLY. I'm hoping she tells both of them to take a hike, sues Alvey for her portion of the gym, and then she and Alvey have to deal with each other next season while not being together. Or better yet, Christina gets half the gym, Lisa gets a portion and all three of them have to deal with each other next season. Would serve Alvey right.

I think the last time we saw Alvey at his therapist, he said something to the guy about deciding to stop his meds because he wanted to experience the "real highs and lows of life" and not an artificial middle ground. So I'm thinking some kind of manic-depression, maybe? Oddly, the therapist didn't seem too worried about this, other than to ask if Lisa knew about Alvey's plans.

"Everyone's a whore Grace, we just sell different parts of ourselves" -Tommy, demonstrating a rather equalitarian view of things.

Episode description: Arthur is not taking his new role as the Fredo of the family very well. Then again it was a bit of a dick move for Tommy to leave him out of the loop. Getting Arthur the bar was a nice move, however. Jesus, those war flashbacks are hideous. No wonder they all came back so screwed up. So in the first episode, Aunt Polly smacks John around for leaving his gun where Finn can play with it, but in this one everyone is totally cool with him tagging along on the raid to go after the Lees. Even giving him a big ass cleaver. What is Kimber's obsession with making people pick things up? I realize that it's some kind of power-play, but still, its pretty specific. I'm glad Tommy didn't leave Grace to be raped, but geez, could he have come up with a more insulting reason?

That's very true. And I suppose that it couldn't be ignored completely as it would have been a big plot hole and parole officer would have had to find out about it after the fight, anyway.