Yeah, you can see the $$$ on screen and that’s part of what pulls me out of the world.

Some bits do pay off. The exodus of Zosia across the world on the basis of her physiognomy I really loved. The gag of the TV speaking direct to Carol on the first day was great. I hope it finds its feet and sticks more landings, cos I love the inspirations and the central character.

Having the gang chorusing “Hi Carol” everywhere is super sit-com style and I think that tonal balance between comedic moments and cosmic horror does not quite work yet. It doesn’t gel as a world. The gags often don’t quite land, and that’s another thing that makes me feel a bit woozy with it.

… and makes me think that if I wanted impressive choreography an Esther Williams musical would deliver much bigger and better.

Likewise, wheeling in Air Force 1 or showing symmetrical traffic exodus is attempted-spectacle that just pulls me out of the story. These are “more is less” moments.

… but where Pluribus falls flat for me so far is in its constant attempts at spectacle.

A synchronized parade of pod people restocking a supermarket does not invoke awe, wonderment, or even leave me non-plussed. It just makes me think about the logistics of filming, pulls me out of the story…

… I mean I’m loving Rhea Seehorn’s acting, the horror at the imposition of cosmic conversion therapy, her bereavement, the despair at the apathy of her fellow survivors.

I kinda hope the fantasy author background comes into play in poking fun at the show’s own SF hokiness and intrinsic absurdity…

There’s also a Radiohead album in this series

The way this song splits into two parallel versions after the cello solo is just incredible

The only real successful example in the UK is the Labour / Co-operative Party pact, almost 100 years old now. Other attempts seem to have a fairly minimal impact and/or fizzle out almost immediately.

If a 5 party split continues that may change. But I suspect we have to plumb further depths first.

IMO it’s extremely unlikely that an electoral alliance will happen because of the logic of FPTP. Hung parliaments do happen and any negotiation on cooperation will only place after that.

There again the last coalition government led to Brexit so not sure about the whole damage limitation thing.

I mean fundamentally it looks like what the SC has done is cleave apart gender and sex, while allowing for a continued conflation between the two to be used towards annihilating the protection of "gender reassignment" altogether.

But of course the sex that is changed as the result of gender reassignment is not the same sex that doesn't change as the result of gender reassignment, and this is because of the need for consistency and clarity.

lol

The Supreme Court also explicitly stipulated that "biological sex" also means "binary".

To avoid having to explain what actually that means in concrete terms, it is "assumed to be self-explanatory".

In other words, supreme quackery.