TONY: According to this book, if you took the entire history of earth and laid it against the Empire State Building, the amount of time human beings have been here would be a postage stamp on the top floor. Do you realize how completely insignificant that makes us?

CHRISTOPHER: I don't feel that way.

Burned kids, Katrina victims, cancer patients: someone at Sopraneys HQ has theodicy on the mind. Since the problem of evil is one of my personal hobbyhorses -- look for a literature dissertation that touches on the subject c. 2012 -- I dug the episode despite its strange cinematics and uncharacteristic thematic overtness. Jaimee dug it too. I have no idea how it played among normal folks.

Shankar was remarking to me the other day that this could be the best season ever. I have to agree, we're in the same ballpark as season one, if not quite all the way there. Judging from the preview (always a danger) the next episode looks good too. I guess now that an end is finally in sight the writers can stop spinning their wheels and actually advance the plot.