Rob Mahoney

It's a country Christmas.

I guess let us know at harpsichordstrapon at gmail.com if you think this priest is a real corporeal person.

Please.

I think overall what you're talking about, Joe, in terms of the subtle, like, just kind of formatting us for these scenes, priming us for some of the emotional beats that we're going to hit.

And, I mean, just the saddest attempted handjob that's ever been committed to film.

Like, to make that an emotional moment, to make it weigh as heavy as it does, is quite a feat.

And I think ultimately, like, where this episode is so successful is in doing exactly that balance of being, like, incredibly crude and crass in its way, but also devastating at the same time.

And, like,

Tapping into Blue Valentine is one way to do that and never actually mentioning the words or making direct reference.

Like, that's a nice bit of artistry, honestly.

I don't think it's you overthinking it at all, Jill.

Like if you just told me as a formula, Blue Valentine plus After Hours plus Eyes Wide Shut, that is literally this episode.

So like, again, it's just, I think structurally speaking, a really smart way to kind of tap into some of these feelings.

And also like,

Especially in terms of the eyes wide shut element specifically, once we get into the party proper, there's a version of those scenes that feels very stuffy, that feels very put on in a way that it obviously is.

But I love like the handheld style that all of this stuff is shot in because it

It takes what is ultimately like a bunch of rich people trying to get bliss out of their minds at a costume party and turns it into that, like turns it into like the photo dump at like morning after kind of feeling of what is ultimately like quite, quite much ado.

Can we talk about Cordelia?

Can we talk about Claire Forlani, please?

Please do.