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  • Taylor Swift stands in a yard with a wooden fence in the background, her hands on her hips as she wears shorts and a hat, looking back toward the camera
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    Taylor Swift’s ‘All Too Well’: The Imagery of Heartbreak

    I originally planned to write about Taylor Swift’s 2012 album RED—looking back at why I love it, and looking forward to the rerecording due in November. But then I started writing, and writing, and writing about one specific song from that album instead—‘All Too Well’. So this is a slight deviation from the original plan. […] More

  • Falcon and the Winter Soldier poster conspiracy
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    The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: Inside the Cold, Hard Truth of Conspiracy Thrillers

    Higgins: Oh, you…you poor, dumb son of a bitch. You’ve done more damage than you know. Joe Turner: I hope so. – Three Days of the Condor (1975, dir. Sidney Pollack) Conspiracies should leave you cold. They should take place in buildings made of glass and metal, with characterless minimalism decorating the lobbies, and indistinguishable […] More

  • Jamie kisses Dani's hand
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    Understanding the (Lack of) Gothic Romance in Bly Manor and Rebecca

    There are moments of real beauty in Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Bly Manor. “The Altar of the Dead” (Episode 5), which focussed on T’Nia Miller’s Hannah Grose, was a particular highlight, exploring her interiority with depth and feeling. And I was genuinely moved by the scene outside the manor, as they held a bonfire […] More

  • A robot kneels hunched over on a banner for Westworld
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    Free Will is Not Free: Choosing to Be Better in Westworld

    Westworld is defined by its plot twists. Some of them are brilliant—Sunday’s ‘The Mother of Exiles’ felt both surprising and inevitable, which is always a hallmark of great twists. Others, like the goddamn hats of Season 2, are not so well executed. Nevertheless, Westworld commits. It commits hard to its world building and pretentiousness and […] More

  • Jack looks at his hands as he kneels by the river
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    Lost’s True Constant Was Sentimentality, and That’s a Good Thing

    Let’s start right at the end: Jack’s in the back room of the church. On the stained glass window over his shoulder, we can see six religious symbols—one for Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Jack takes a deep breath, and he finally musters the courage to look inside his father’s casket. There’s nothing […] More

  • The Roy family pose in front of a mantleplace, above which is a large painting, only a small part of which can be seen in Succession
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    The Most Savage Insults in Succession’s First Season

    Favorites takes a lighter approach to the material we normally cover. Each week, we will take you through a list of favorites—whether it’s moments, scenes, episodes, characters, lines of dialogue, whatever!—in bite-sized articles perfect for your lunch break, a dull commute, or anywhere you need to take a Moment of Zen. So, sit back and […] More

  • Legasov and Shcherbina watch helicopters attempt to put out the fire at the Chernobyl power plant
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    The Cost of Lies in HBO’s Chernobyl

    Charkov: Why worry about something that isn’t going to happen? Legasov: “Why worry about something that isn’t going to happen.” That’s perfect. They should put that on our money. Chernobyl, “Vichnaya Pamyat” There is nothing subtle about Chernobyl‘s interest in truth and lies. The question “What is the cost of lies?” echoes throughout the show, […] More

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    The Haunting of Hill House: Nell

    One of the most chilling and talked-about series to hit our screens this year is The Haunting of Hill House. Our writers have decided to turn over a few rocks and do some digging with in-depth profiles of the main characters in the show. Who knows what they might discover? So, draw the curtains, turn […] More

  • Jonah Hill and Emma Stone sit side by side in Netflix's Maniac
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    ‘The pattern is the pattern’: Sentiment as therapy in Netflix’s Maniac

    Owen Milgrim (Jonah Hill) has schizophrenia, and one effect of that is seeing a non-existent brother. This brother assures him that he’s meant for greatness, and that he’s “going to save the world,” if only Owen could trust him. To be sure, Netflix’s Maniac portrays a simplistic, cartoonish version of a complicated disorder, but that’s […] More

  • Dolores looks wistfully off into the distance
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    Questioning the nature of our (televisual) reality: Westworld and consciousness

    “Questioning the nature of our (televisual) reality: Westworld and consciousness” is a guest article by Hannah Searson who previously wrote “Hysteria in Twin Peaks” and “Ghosts, Sympathy and bearing witness in Twin Peaks The Return.” We hope you enjoy! “Consciousness isn’t a journey upward, but a journey inward. Not a pyramid, but a maze”, or […] More