I thought last season was essentially a train wreck. The last couple seasons you had one or two great episodes, but the writing was just bad for good portions. It's evident when the bankers/producers exert more control (in order to wring more $ out of it), and I think that happened.

Last night was nicely done - if a bit grotesque for some people's taste. But it's staying true to the comic, so those folks probably shouldn't be surprised. For me it was more about a few questions:

- did it justify the cliffhanger (no)
- did it move the story forward in a meaningful way that has the potential to set up good storytelling for the remainder of the season (yes)
- was it overacted (not really, no)
- did the writers incorporate deus ex machina, or did anyone make an obviously stupid decision in order to manufacture tension (no)

That last point is where the series got really, really bad last season. Going into the show last night I told a buddy that they have roughly 4 episodes to prove they learned from last season's mistakes, or I'd drop the series, too. So far so good...