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AWIL is aces - easily one of my favourite films of all time. Yeah the effects and clothes are a bit dated now, but it really stands up in all other respects.

One tiny nitpick is another minor plothole caused by the writers moving the plot around. As I understand it, [spoiler]Tywin and Jaime's bargaining over the fate of Tyrion isn't in the books. And the situation as presented on the TV show begs the question of why wouldn't Jaime call Tywin and Cersie's bluff and stand as Tyrion's champion anyway, knowing full well he'd be killed? Tywin would then be forced to intervene.[/spoiler] Or am I missing something?

I think that he just [spoiler]doesn't want to die, and knows he will if he fights.[/spoiler]

Obviously. My point is is that he knows [spoiler]he would lose, and so would Cersei and Tywin, who wouldn't let him go through with it. And if Jaime was willing to risk his life to save Brienne, why wouldn't he put his life on the line for his own brother?[/spoiler]

Gave the Day Of The Dead party episode a watch, and the following episode, and have to admit I warmed to the characters a great deal through the party shenanigans. Jeff in particular seems way more likeable in the context of grudgingly helping his classmates out when the chips are down.

I wouldn't say I'm completely turned around on it yet, but the line "I never saw Beastmaster, I just wanted to be cool" has certainly helped its case massively. Have a couple more lined up to try!

Good stuff - look forward to hearing what you think.

Jeff growing up is basically the arc of the whole show, but the show just isn't interested in presenting Hollywoodised moral lessons and character arcs in a perfectly clean way. He, and indeed all the other characters, still screw up and do horrible things to the other members of the group from time to time, and any one of them can play the villain role in any given episode. That's not to say the show can't be moving - it frequently is - but when it gets sentimental it feels earned rather than false or lazy.

The complexity of the characters - all of whom are deeply flawed in their own ways - helps to keep things interesting and surprising, but is perhaps one of the contributing factors to the show never capturing a mainstream audience.

Yeah that's one of my fav episodes, and about where I started to think it wasn't just good, it was genius.

It's the first episode I saw where I started to grasp just how intricate and clever the structure and plotting was going to get. Also; Abed as Batman.

That was another superb episode - possibly the best so far this season. Oberyn is just awesome, isn't he? [spoiler]That scene between him and Tyrion was incredibly moving and triumphant - "I'll be your champion" almost brought a tear to the eye[/spoiler]. Some really affecting scenes and a dramatic, though slightly predictable, twist ending. Lots and lots of [spoiler]character deaths this season, but unlike previous seasons they all had it coming! I fear for the Hound. That wound seems ominous, Brienne is on their trail, and Arya's mentor figures don't tend to have a very good life expectancy.[/spoiler]

Interesting developments with Melisandre and Celsyse Baratheon. I'm expecting an imminent reversal of fortunes for Stannis, but it appears there's huge potential for a spanner in the works. [spoiler]There's definitely some shit going to go down regarding Shireen - after all, Gendry is out of the picture, and king's blood is in short supply...[/spoiler]

One tiny nitpick is another minor plothole caused by the writers moving the plot around. As I understand it, [spoiler]Tywin and Jaime's bargaining over the fate of Tyrion isn't in the books. And the situation as presented on the TV show begs the question of why wouldn't Jaime call Tywin and Cersie's bluff and stand as Tyrion's champion anyway, knowing full well he'd be killed? Tywin would then be forced to intervene[/spoiler]. Or am I missing something?

You could also nitpick about all the coincidences and people bumping into each other, but hey - it's a TV show. I'm more than prepared to give it some leeway.

No episode next week - booo!

Here's a sobering thought - when Episode VII comes out next year, it will have been 16 years since The Phantom Menace - the same amount of time as between the release of Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace .

I would just disregard everything we learn about the jedi knights in the prequels as it makes no sense anyway and  also makes them seem a bit rubbish. Didn't like the way it made them like an order of monks - I always pictured them as a loosely affiliated band of rangers with no centralised hierarchy, like wandering samurai, unseen guardians of peace etc. Every Jedi would be quite different from each other, only banding together in times of great peril, like the 'Clone Wars'.

The original films seem to suggest that the Jedi were already somewhat mythical during Anakin and Ben Kenobi's youth as it's referred to as 'an ancient religion'.

I imagine that you could have lived your entire life in the Star Wars universe never meeting one, and doubting they even exist.

I could never work out whether Constantine was supposed to scouse or cockney. Didn't different writers write him as each?

Squad of high motivated soldiers [spoiler]land in enemy territory, infiltrate the castle whilst killing a variety of enemy guards.  They fight off far superior numbers and find their target despite being in unfamiliar environment.  But then...oh no, they've got a couple of dogs!  Run away![/spoiler]

To be fair, by that point [spoiler]Yara had already abandoned 'Reek'[/spoiler] as a lost cause... It was more the execution I had a problem with - the disconnect between [spoiler]"I hope they can run fast" and the sudden cut to the Ironborn rather comically jogging to the boat made me laugh out loud. If they had instead cut a more dynamic shot of the Ironborn running for their lives and sold Yara's resignation a bit more it would have been fine.[/spoiler]

I think we all know where the fallout of the trial is going: [spoiler]The Red Viper vs The Mountain: Cage Match[/spoiler]. This would be the logical solution to both [spoiler]Tyrion's predicament (as Jaime is in no fit state to fight for him) and Oberyn's objective of getting his revenge - I mean, Tywin has basically already offered The Mountain to him on a plate (and is probably arrogant enough to presume that Oberyn wouldn't stand a chance)[/spoiler]....

Some very strong cases made there! Thanks for the episode recommendations Radiator, I had a check and while it's not on Netflix (I'm sure that's where we watched it before?!) the Xbox video service lets you buy individual episodes so I've picked up the ones you mentioned. Will get them watched this week and see how I get on!

From the responses here it definitely sounds like it at least deserves a second chance.

"A lot of people have a problem with Jeff (Joel McHale) at first - a few people I know stopped watching purely because of him, including my girlfriend, and it took me a little while to warm to him, but if it helps try to think of him as a young Bill Murray (who the character of Jeff is very much based on). Sorry to hear you have such a negative association with him - I actually have a lot of time for him - in his defence he seems like a thoroughly decent guy IRL and by all accounts was instrumental in keeping Community going during its rough patches."

The thing with that presenting turn I saw him in was that he seemed to not want to be there at all and had this sort of 'check out these sad nerds' kind of approach to interviewing the game devs. Just acting really disinterested and ending every segment with 'well that was boring' sort of segues. It came across as disrespectful and rubbed me the wrong way.

From what you've said about him and about the game references in the show I'm wondering now if the whole thing was him doing a schtick that was just falling really flat and not coming across well. Sounds like that might be part of his persona and it was just poorly judged for that kind of show. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now!

Yes, that is definitely just his persona, and his cynicism, incredulity at and unwillingness to join in with all of the childish mayhem going on around him is a key dynamic of the show. He's clearly got a lot of time for nerdy stuff in real life as he's clearly hugely fond and proud of Community, which you really have to be a bit nerdy to enjoy.

Pillows v Blankets two-parter, videogame episode guest-starring Gus Fring, courtroom drama with Michael Ironside, videogame episode, the Xmas Glee pastiche with 'Baby Boomer Santa' and Troy and Abed's Jehovah's Witness rap, John Goodman as the evil Vice-dean who is 'going through some stuff at the moment', the Hearts of Darkness' homage, the one where they all get 'sectioned' and then have to break back into Greendale Oceans 11 style... Season 3 is chock-full of classic episodes as far as I'm concerned.

I think many found it went too weird or 'jumped the shark', and that's fair enough, but I pretty much love it all. Even the weaker episodes have some ingenious gags.

Love the little bat-ears, reminds me simultaneously of DKR and Adam West, in a good way, and the batmobile looks top-notch.

Say what you want about Zach Snyder (and I say he makes pretty crummy films) but he's definitely got some skill with visuals.

And because I know you're a big gamer, there's an entire episode set inside a videogame to look forward to, that lovingly and expertly plays with all the tropes and quirks of the medium.

[S01E7: Introduction to Statistics]

Keef - I would persevere with it. While many people click with it straight off the bat, I had a similar story to you. I bought the first season on DVD and the first few episodes initially failed to grab me. The DVD sat unwatched on my shelf for months, and to be honest it was only the good press the show was getting (and lots of nods from people I respect like Graham Linehan) that forced me to give it another chance. I was so glad I did, as it turned out to be my favourite TV show of all time. While season 1 takes a while to find its feet, season 2 is perhaps the most consistently brilliant and inventive season of comedy I've ever seen.

I know that someone saying 'you need to watch 10 episodes before it gets good' is likely to induce groans but I only evangelise Community so much because it is so wonderful, and I feel like you're someone that would really get it Keef.

A lot of people have a problem with Jeff (Joel McHale) at first - a few people I know stopped watching purely because of him, including my girlfriend, and it took me a little while to warm to him, but if it helps try to think of him as a young Bill Murray (who the character of Jeff is very much based on). Sorry to hear you have such a negative association with him - I actually have a lot of time for him - in his defence he seems like a thoroughly decent guy IRL and by all accounts was instrumental in keeping Community going during its rough patches.

My advice would be: skip straight to S01E7: Introduction to Statistics (the 'Halloween'/Día de Muertos episode), S01E21: Contemporary American Poultry (the Goodfellas pardoy) and S01E23: Modern Warfare (the classic paintball episode). If you really don't find anything to enjoy (including Chevy Chase having a drug-induced dancefloor meltdown while dressed as The Beastmaster), then perhaps its just not the show for you.