When is a bad writing day a slump? And when is that slump creative despair? And what do you do about it? Michael, Stacie, and Lori, left their individual pits of despair to get together and talk about it and eat their feelings. The 24-layer cake at Carnegie Diner was just the ticket.

Writers hear they need to be "ready to kill their darlings." What is really meant by this violent advice? The gang talk about what it means to them, when they ignore the advice, when they took it, and what the tell tale signs are that something you've written may be getting in the way of your story.

Following up on episode 2.3, Michael leads a discussion of villains. What constitiutes villany? What makes compelling baddies? How do bad guys fall short?

Villains discussed or heard in this episode:

Drexl (Gary Oldman) "True Romance"

Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) "Black Panther" films

Thenardier "Les Misérables" by Victor Hugo

Magneto (Ian McKellen) The X-Men films

The Mayor (Harry Groener) "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

The Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman) "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"

Bill (David Carradine) "Kill Bill"

O'Brien (Richard Burton) "1984" by George Orwell

Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) "The Empire Strikes Back" (et al)

Thanos (Josh Brolin) The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Gestalt "The Rook" by Daniel O'Malley

The Carryx "The Captives War" by James S.A. Corey

The Dark Queen "Ninth House" by Leigh Bardugo

Smiley and Karla "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" by John le Carré

Dr. Hannibal Lechter "Silence of the Lambs" (and nothing else) by Thomas Harris

Also discussed:

"Some Desperate Glory" by Emily Tesh