NicoleMN6

1) I laughed when Stan used the Polaroid camera to make sure he didn't miss putting anything back in its place at Martha's apartment. My uncle was an FBI agent in the 1970s-1980s, and that's a trick he told us about years later, after he had retired. Too bad for Polaroid (and Kodak) that FBI agents can probably use their phones for that now. 2) Martha is SO SMART to come up with that "married man" line. Brilliant. (And more true than she knows!) 3) Oleg signed Nina's death warrant... once his dad saw that Oleg loved her enough to give up on his beloved Amerikanski lifestyle, he had to make sure Nina didn't make it out alive. Sigh.

This show is so much better than the book! (Really has very little to do with the book, aside from the title and having one of the show characters be an attractive young oboist.) I play oboe and read the book after watching the first season and was very disappointed. It's great to see the perspective of the conductor, the other musicians, the board members and fans (Jason Schwartzman's podcaster). Looking forward to Season 3... in 2017?

I have to call total bullshit on the assistant's passport situation. No way would Michael have not realized that he needed a new passport, as he was making all the maestro's travel arrangements. And even if he really is that stupid, he would have been able to get an emergency one done within 24 hours in New York City. So, presuming that this was at least a 10-day tour, he could have caught up with the orchestra after the first concert easily. But, to paraphrase a saying from the TWoP days -- or was it Mighty Big TV? -- contrivance was getting a Coke from the fridge.

Why did Lucious even want Empire to be a public company? Seems like he would be the type to prefer to have all the control, rather than have to worry about a board of directors, shareholders, etc. The CEO of a public company also doesn't get to name his successor, like he seems to think he's entitled to do.

I'm getting tired of Jason Brown. He was a breath of fresh air in 2014, but without a quad, he's just not competitive internationally. It's like being a female skater without a triple-triple. If he doesn't get one in the next year, I would rather he retire and do show skating, making room for the U.S. men who have quads but need more major competition experience to get over their nerves and start establishing themselves on the international scene.