Act Four: Why I recap what I recap

"The Young Pope," "Victoria" and "Homeland," oh my!   Alyssa Rosenberg on culture and politics   Jude Law as Pope Pius XIII. (Gianni Fiorito/HBO) The winter television season kicks off in earnest this weekend, with the debuts of the first seasons of “Victoria” on PBS and “The Young Pope” on HBO, and the return of “Homeland” to Showtime. Given that “Homeland” is changing conceit a bit, and “Victoria” and “The Young Pope” are new, I’m still trying to sort out what I’ll be reviewing on a weekly basis. And since you all ultimately play a roll in what I do recap, I figured I’d take a moment to explain that decision process to you. Right now, the two shows I’m writing about on a weekly basis are “Game of Thrones” and “Westworld.” What they have in common is that I can find something substantial to write about the ideas that show up in the episode each week, and that you all read them. For a couple of seasons, I did the same for “The Americans,” a show I love and that I think is brilliant and intellectually and emotionally fascinating. But in part because the show is dependent less on plot twists than on emotional absorption, a lot of you seem to be watching the show on some sort of delay, making it difficult to conduct a timely conversation about the episodes. So for the next several weeks, when there’s something in a new show that you’re dying to talk about, tell me about it. Submit questions to the chat. Email me at alyssa.rosenberg@washpost.com. I can be half of a conversation. But I need you to be the other half. ADVERTISEMENT   Congress is getting ruder. It’s about time. A stunt-driven fight over a painting on display in a Capitol Hill office building tunnel is ridiculous — and also a little refreshing. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   The dark side of Donald Trump’s insatiable desire to be liked What it takes to govern and what it takes to win an election aren't always the same thing. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   Unlike ‘House of Cards,’ ‘The Young Pope’ actually understands politics "The Young Pope" is not about Donald Trump. But it's an interesting show if you want to experience total disorientation. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   Meryl Streep slammed mixed martial arts. She doesn’t know what she’s missing. Hollywood is fascinated by boxing, and MMA has its own great dramas. By Sonny Bunch  •  Read more »   In PG-13 movies, audiences see gunshots — but not the pain that follows PG-13 movies are outstripping R-rated movies in depicting shootings. But the gun violence audiences see is sanitized. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Recommended for you   Intersect The corner of the Internet and interesting, in your inbox weekly. Sign Up »         Share Act Four:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Act Four. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2017 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071