>And why oh why does the second page of that thread

Yes, we've had some discussion about that kind of thing. Once a thread sinks down the list it becomes hard to view in flat mode. Going past the first page takes you to strange and sometimes interesting places. You either have to view it in threaded mode, a post at a time or add a post and bring it to the top again. I'm sure someone worked out an explanation but I can't remember it.