“He’saloosecannonrippin’upthelawsofsociety,”AidyBryant’sSarahHuckabeeSanderscrooned.“Youcan’tsubpoenahim,he’sgonnaobstruct.”

    Batmanglijhasdrawncomparisonsbetweenthesometimesambivalentreceptionof“TheOA”tothemassivepopularityofsomethinglikeaMarvelmovie.Whydoyouthinkit’ssohardforfanstoacceptagiantsentientoctopusbutatalkingraccoonisn’tasmuchofaproblem?

    “That’sthecommunity,”KalsontoldHuffPostafterward.“Youliterallycan’tgoablockwithoutseeingsomeone,andinmanycasessomeoneyou’veknownallyourlife.”Kalsongrewuphere,intheSquirrelHillneighborhoodofPittsburgh.Sheraisedafamilyhere.Sherunsahealthcenterhere.Shegoestotemplehere.

    It’sbecomeanalltoofamiliarAmericanritual:thelayingofflowersatthesceneofahatecrime.RightnowthereareflowersoutsideagrocerystoreinJeffersontown,Kentucky,whereawhitemanlastweekkilledtwoblackAmericans,MauriceStallardandVickieLeeJones.TherewereflowersforHeatherHeyerininCharlottesville.FlowersforRickyJohnBestandTaliesinMyrddinNamkai-MecheinPortland.ForTimothyCaughmaninNewYork.ForSrinivasKuchibhotlainOlathe,Kansas.ForKhalidJabarainTulsa.ForthenineblackChristianskilledinCharleston.ForthesixSikhsinOakCreek.

    Gosh,youknow,Iexpectthatyoucan’tpleaseeverybody.AbeLincolnsaidthat,right?Youcanpleasesomeofthepeoplesomeofthetimeandallofthepeoplenoneofthetime,toparaphrasethegreatman.Buttherewillcertainlybetheoriesthatpeoplehavethatthatwillnotpayoff.Therewillprobablybesomedanglingmysteriesthatfolkswillhavetocontinuetowaittolearnmoreaboutinthefuture.Butforus,astakenasIhavebeenwitheverybodystudyingthevariousmysteriesandcreatingtheories,ultimately,asIhopepeoplegatheredfromthelastepisode,thisisahumanstory.Thisisastoryaboutprocessingloss.Thatisthecorestorywe’retryingtotell,andthatallofthequirkinessandthesitcomexploration—allofthathadarealpurpose.ItwasaboutWandatryingtoescapefromthatworldandturnawayfromherloss.

    “Youknow,maybeitis,”Sydneyreplies,mulishly.

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    Sowhatwegetinthefirstepisodeissixpeoplegoinginsixdifferentdirectionseventuallycomingtogetherataneventwheretheyfightovernothingwithpeopletheyjustmet.

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    It’saquestionRenaudwonderstohimselfaloud,especiallywhenheadmittedlydoesn’thangoutinWestHollywoodor“thescene.”

    Whodoweadmireandwhy?Whoshouldweadmire?Istherereallyanyonewhowouldpassmusterifwedugintoeverynookandcrannyoftheirlives?Isthereadifferencebetweenahugestinkingdishonestmess--especiallyonesthatinvolvemessysexualmisconduct--andsmallerlapsessuchassteppingonthelittleguytogetaheadorcheatinginaboardgameoronyourtaxes?Orlyingtoprotectyourselfortosavesomeonefrombeinghurt?Aretheregradientlevelsinregardtowhatmakessomeoneagoodpersonorabadperson?Whatarethestandards,thecriteriaforatrue-blueherothesedays,because,seriously,Idon'tknow.Aretherelinesyoucannotcross,andsome,well,that'sjustpolitics.Speakingofpolitics,arethehero/"personofcharacter"linesdifferentforthoseinpolitics,orintheministeringofreligion,orhowaboutateacher--oranyleaderorfigurewelookuptoandtrustinsomewaytoguideus?Dowehavethingstolearnfromthedeeplyflawed?Canwetrustthemtowalkthelinebetweentheirhumanfoiblesandtheirabilitytoforagewisdomforustolearnfromortobeagoodleader?Iwonder.