Andy Greenwald

But that... The big shift in the episode that made it click for them was that they were going to tell Patricia's story with a boogeyman and flashback.

And then they realized not to do that.

And...

That unlocked everything in the episode because it connected it to the forward momentum.

It's a smart choice after back-to-back episodes, one of which was a giant flashback and one of which was about an ancient evil.

But then the execution to make Patricia in real time complaining about her takeout order and then running screaming out of her house from a masked killer with a knife, make that feel both like tonally and emotionally amazing.

and narratively consistent with Tom and Matthew Reese's really affecting performance, him

weeping over the fate of his deceased wife.

How do you do that in a way that, but they do.

It does not feel like whiplash to go between those storylines.

I'm glad it didn't happen in this episode.

The show has the confidence and fearlessness of something.

Like, they're not afraid to resolve stories.

Because there's a belief that they carry, rightfully so, that there is more story to mine.

Yeah, she sucks.

Sometimes, the other lesson I think from successful rooms is sometimes all of the work that you do is in pursuit of the simplest solution.

And you can feel, in the same way you can, top chef, judge, can taste when dough has been overworked,

You can tell when a show has been big brained too much.

And I'm glad you mentioned the Tom scene.

I circled that.