73 Yards is one of those episodes, I feel, that is not suited to everyone's tastes. Luckily for me, it was suited perfectly to mine!

I've always been a fan of episodes that don't condescend you by explaining themselves fully, but instead leave room for the viewer to speculate and form their own relationship to the text, and 73 Yards does this excellently. The tension is kept high throughout the episode as the mystery of The Woman remains unresolved, and as Ruby continues to be abandoned by everyone around her. Even when Ruby herself grows accustomed to the spectre, I found myself tensing whenever I spotted her. The ending, to my mind, was perfect - a broken loop and an unbroken circle, with all of the big questions still hanging in the air.

There were a few burrs in the overall experience: the rather ham-fisted allegory of the 'Mad Jack' presidency, some wonky pacing, and the fact that we are meant to believe that Ruby has aged twenty years just by putting on a pair of glasses... but overall, those are minor details. The focus of the episode was that of a rather personal horror and isolation, and the agony of unanswered questions, and that landed perfectly. Bravo!