Please try to enjoy both seasons equally (Week Notes, 13, 2025)

Thank goodness Severance is over (for now). I wish I had an innie who had sat through the new series for me. Episodes seemed to last forever with very little happening beyond a vibe, scored to ambient electronic dronecore.

Severance insisted upon itself.

It had some moments. These were:

• The first couple of times that terrifying kid turned up.
• Brit Lower's hair.
• Zach Cherry's delivery of the line "Gretchen. GRETCHEN." Holy shit.
• Tramell Tillman and the Lumon Choreography & Merriment division channelling the spirt of the This is America video.

Beyond that, it was a real slog. The first series was uncanny, which made the workplace satire creepy and hilarious, but this second helping doubled down and ended up just being weird. But not weird that gets under your skin. Weird that just jumps up and down waving, and shouting "Look! I can be conceptual!" (points at a goat).

I will say that the final scene was satisfying. It would have been a great place to stop, but a new series has been ordered :-/

Why England Lose

I had a more positive time with Why England Lose. This is from 2009, and it's essentially Freakonomics does football. I'd love to read an update but the general concepts hold up well 16 years later. It explores the maths of football much more broadly than its titular problem, but if you want a tldr answer for why England lose: statistically, economically, they're doing pretty well, considering.

Happy ALCS distribution to all who celebrate

The ALCS paid out this week. Writers get a shitty deal a lot of the time, but the ALCS offers some redress. They collect money on behalf of UK writers for the use of work around the world, take a small management fee, and then wire you some royalties. Mine is modest but enough to buy some treats. Most of it is compensation for all the free labour I gave to academic publishing. If you've got any writing credits and you're not registered it's well worth your time to sign up.