Sandman

I thought Morales did a fairly good job with the material. I found Gabriel’s lack of affect was spooky, and I begin to imagine it’s deliberate. I will be unsurprised if we learn that “Gabriel” isn’t alive in any real sense anymore, and the character isn’t just a fanatic, but some sort of cybernetic avatar/meat suit for the AI. (This is pure speculation, of course, and no kind of spoiler.) The Entity is being set up as a force of absolute order and predictability, but Ethan is not “the living embodiment of Destiny” as Hunley once breathlessly called him — he is the Entity’s opposite: the servant of choice, randomness, individuality. Ain’t nobody had to fridge Ilsa, though. That was just dumb. The fact that she took the katana — the only weapon available in that moment — didn’t bother me as much as the fact that her signature Thigh-Spin of Doom move didn’t work on Gabriel, and she kept trying it anyway! We know you learn from your mistakes, Ilsa! Also, the increasing nihilism of the series (which the ever more comically ridiculous stunt sequences only emphasize) is grating on me more and more.

The car chase in Rome was a comic set piece, so beyond over-the-top it was hilarious. By the time Grace was yelling "Baby, baby, baby, baby..." like a bad 80s song, I got the giggles.

Show, just stop. STOP. STAAAAAAAHHHP. We've already had one unstoppable, indestructible, non-carcerable redhead too many. At this point, I don't care if she and Oscar get tossed in the LaBrea Tar Pits or thrown into the fires of Mount Doom. Just someone, anyone, please make them go away. For good. Okay, so now I have two wishes for that genie that Nathan found.

I’d say there was a greater chance that Torres might do away with himself out of shame, except I’m sure he’d consider it a mortal sin. From the set of her jaw, just for a moment I thought Burgess would refuse to surrender her badge.

Does Reid have something on Nina?

Yikes. The invisible hand just smacked the crap out of Dr. Charles.

Is there room at your table? I could bring snacks. Like popcorn we could throw at the screen when they do dumb stuff.

I think we’ve seen Lopez’s in only one other episode (I’m recalling the one where her passel of brothers are all acting like fools — but I may be wrong), but I remember liking the actress a lot, and hoping we would see more of the character. I even liked the parallel-besties friendship with Harper’s mom. Maybe broadcast standards are monolingual? Or S&P folks make assumptions about the language spread in tv audiences? ETA: I don’t need any more Elijah in my life either. And if the indestructible redhead were to have an unfortunate but conclusive encounter with a rogue helicopter, a falling piano, a spontaneous gravitational anomaly, or some other suitably cartoonish end, I would feel bad briefly, and mostly for the piano. Michael Trucco’s storyline would have been much more meaningful if we’d gotten any inkling that Del Monte had a family before now.

“Hot damn! This is going to be so much fun!” I knew Mama Lopez was the real deal. Skip Tracer Randy, on the other hand, I do not need to hear from ever again.

I agree. I like them both. I think Barnet’s doing nice job. (Still haven’t figured out why his colleagues call Dr. Frost “John” as opposed to “Jon” but maybe he doesn’t want to be “Jonathan” anymore.) I fear we haven’t seen the last of Jessalyn Gilsig’s character, however.

I would bet my last dime that Goodwin’s thought as she was hugging Dennis was “These men and their glass egos, oh, my Lord.”

Hopefully, but I don’t like Nina’s chances, honestly.

Her judgment seems breathtakingly poor this episode.

Kim and Dante have got to know that they’re part of what Reid has on the team, right? They must. I really felt for Dante, even though I thought he was being a complete dunderhead about Gloria. It’s painful watching him unravel. I can’t help feeling that Nina’s the one who will be destroyed between Voight and Reid in their big, bullet-y pissing contest.

I would even go so far as to say Meredith wasn’t offended, exactly: it read to me more that she was frustrated with the committee for not seeing a demonstrable flaw in his research parameters. The whole interaction was written to make it clear that Koracick was not only waltzing in as the worst arrogant sort of Johnny-come-lately, but he didn’t understand the scope of research he was trying to muscle in on. Meredith’s irritation was understandable, but I can’t help thinking that her character would have been better served if Koracick weren’t written as such a cartoon villain. But then I remembered what show I was watching.