Beadie

Doesn't Ernie look a lot like Gus? I'm probably reading too much into it, but maybe there is a connection there.

Only if you want a lesson on how to extremely self consciously beat a polygraph Well, shit, Sarah - I watched this all for YOU! :-( Lemme fill you in on what you missed : Mindnumbing fuckery ensued. I'm still mad at myself for watching. So many points of aggravation I can't even remember them all. One minute Beard is insisting Nicole's watch stopped when she got killed at 9:59 and the next he is depending on an 'eye witness' who is in accord with the original timeline. What a hot mess.

What's Cersei going to do? I was going to suggest hosting 'Project Walk of Shame', but no clothes are involved there.

Cried again reading this. Can't believe how much meaning and life they put into one episode. Best cast on TV.

The Americans is so good at giving its episodes meaningful titles, so when I saw that this episode was called "The Rat," I was sort of disappointed. I mean, I guess Martha is a "rat" in a certain sense, but it's sort of dull and obvious . . . Isn't Phillip the rat, not Martha? He is the one that spilled secrets to an FBI employee.

I think Eva got the money somehow. She sure does not look like she mucks out a lot of stalls.<br /><br />And that's fine- I loved the ending. Never wanted to see Boyd and Raylan in some final shootout. Frenemies to the end!

Did anyone else notice the cinematography being completely different this episode? The whole look of the show was different. Or was it the channel somehow broadcasting differently? It looked more soap opera.<br /><br />I missed the first two episodes so I was afraid all of the episodes this season had been this way. I'm glad to see it may be just a glitch with this episode. It is really horrible looking.

Let go and let The Wire is a great motto. I know it was jarring and lots of new people come in, but you can handle it. I like your analogy with Justified, it seems apt. Gotta add new ingredients to the stew.

I loved the montage at the end of the season finale. Can't pick a particular moment from it, but the collection of clips just summed up all the situations and ironies so well. Also loved all of the scenes with Lester and Shardeen, watching that relationship develop. Also D'Angelo's conversation with the police when he agrees to flip was so honest and wrenching. Made it that much harder to see him later realize he had no way out and end up having to take the hard time.

It did take a few episodes to get to the can't turn it off stage, but after that I remember a week of being pretty useless at work. You will know you are really hooked when you say things like 'oh you know Omar, that stick-up boy' and your non-Wire friends think you have lost your mind. You are right about Omar. Wonderfully original character. Simon trusts his audience, and you can trust him not to screw it up.

I re-watched after Christmas, starting a 4 or 5 episodes into Season 1, and am very glad to experience it fresh with new viewers. Glad you reminded me of how the incident with Prez happened. Really fun reading your comments about the characters, looking forward to what is to come.