Learn Hardcore Russian: Пожалуй, это самая интересная точка зрения, которую я услышал на этом сеансе. - Perhaps this is the most interesting point of view I’ve heard in this screening.

Пожалуй, это самая интересная точка зрения…
≈ "I’d say this is the most interesting point of view…" /
≈ "This is probably the most interesting point of view…"

Пожалуйста is a different word and means "please" or "you’re welcome".

Why is there a comma after Пожалуй?

Пожалуй here is used as an introductory word/particle, similar to English "Well,", "I’d say,", or "Probably," at the beginning of a sentence.

Russian usually separates such introductory particles with a comma:

Пожалуй, это хорошая идея. – "I’d say this is a good idea."
Наверное, он придёт позже. – "Probably, he’ll come later."

So the comma simply marks Пожалуй as an introductory element.

Why is there no verb есть (the verb "to be") between это and самая интересная точка зрения?

In Russian, in the present tense, the verb быть (to be) is normally omitted in sentences like this.

So the structure is:

это + (есть) + X → in real speech/writing: это X

Your sentence literally has the structure:

это (есть) самая интересная точка зрения…

But есть is dropped in modern Russian in the present tense. You only see есть in special emphatic uses or in older / very formal styles.

In the past and future, the verb быть is used:

Это была самая интересная точка зрения. – past
Это будет самая интересная точка зрения. – future

How is the superlative formed in самая интересная? Why does it look like a normal adjective?

Russian has two common ways to form the superlative of adjectives:

самый + positive adjective
- самый интересный – "the most interesting"
- самая интересная – feminine form
-ейший / -айший suffix (more bookish, less common in everyday speech)
- интереснейший – "most interesting" / "very interesting"

In your sentence we use the first pattern:

самый / самая / самое / самые
- интересный / интересная / интересное / интересные

Самая интересная is feminine singular, because it agrees with точка (зрения), which is grammatically feminine.

Why are самая and интересная feminine, when это is neuter?

The adjectives самая and интересная must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they describe, not with это.

точка is a feminine noun (ending in -а).
The whole phrase точка зрения is treated grammatically as feminine singular.
Therefore: самая интересная точка зрения
– feminine singular nominative.

Это is a separate pronoun that doesn’t control the adjective agreement here. The structure is:

(Пожалуй,) это + [самая интересная точка зрения]

Within the bracketed part, everything agrees with точка.

What case is зрения in точка зрения, and what does this phrase literally mean?

Зрения is in the genitive singular of зрение (sight, vision).

Точка зрения is a fixed expression meaning "point of view". Literally it is:

точка – point
зрения – of vision/sight

So literally: "point of vision", i.e., the point from which you see something → point of view.

Because it’s a standard collocation, you should memorize it as a unit: точка зрения = point of view.

What is которую doing here, and why this particular form?

Которую is a relative pronoun (like English "which/that") introducing a clause that describes точка зрения.

The word it refers to is точка зрения (feminine singular).
In the relative clause, this "which" is the direct object of услышал (heard).

So the noun’s role in the clause is feminine singular accusative → the form of который must match:

Nominative feminine: которая – (subject)
Accusative feminine: которую – (direct object)

In your sentence:

точка зрения, которую я услышал…
= "the point of view which I heard…"

Because я услышал (что?) точку зрения → the relative pronoun stands for that object in accusative: которую.

Why is it услышал and not слышал here?

Слышать / слышать and услышать differ by aspect:

слышать – imperfective: to hear (in general, ongoing ability or process)
услышать – perfective: to hear (as a completed event, to manage to hear)

In this sentence, we’re talking about a specific, completed act of hearing during that session:

…точка зрения, которую я услышал на этом сеансе.
≈ "…the point of view that I (managed to / happened to / did) hear in this session."

If you said:

…которую я слышал на этом сеансе,

it might sound more like "that I was hearing / used to hear / heard (repeatedly)", focusing on the process or repeated exposure, not one distinct event. For a single mention in a session, услышал is the natural choice.

How can I tell the tense and gender of услышал?

Услышал is the past tense of the perfective verb услышать.

Past tense in Russian is formed from the past stem + -л and then agrees with the subject in gender and number:

Masculine singular: услышал
Feminine singular: услышала
Neuter singular: услышало
Plural: услышали

So услышал tells you:

tense: past
aspect: perfective (completed action)
gender/number: masculine singular → subject is он / я (if speaker is male), etc.

Here the subject is я, and we can infer the speaker is male from the form услышал.

Why is it на этом сеансе and not в этом сеансе?

With events, activities, sessions, performances, Russian very often uses на + prepositional:

на уроке – in class
на лекции – at a lecture
на концерте – at a concert
на сеансе – at a session / showing

So на этом сеансе means "at this session" or "in this session" in English terms.

В этом сеансе would sound strange, because в is more for being inside something (a room, building, container) or inside a more "space-like" event. For organized events, на is the default preposition.

What does сеанс usually mean? Is it only for therapy sessions?

Сеанс is a fairly general word meaning "session" or "showing", often for something scheduled or time-limited. Common uses:

сеанс психотерапии – therapy session
киносеанс / сеанс в кино – movie showing
сеанс массажа – massage session
сеанс связи – communication session (e.g. with a spacecraft)

In your sentence, на этом сеансе could be any kind of session: a therapy session, a workshop, a movie discussion, etc. The exact type depends on the wider context.

Could I omit я and just say которую услышал на этом сеансе?

Yes, you can omit я:

Пожалуй, это самая интересная точка зрения, которую услышал на этом сеансе.

Russian often drops subject pronouns when the subject is obvious from the verb ending. Услышал clearly shows masculine singular, so in context it will usually be understood as "I (male) heard".

However, including я:

makes the sentence explicitly personal (emphasizing I heard it)
sounds slightly more neutral and clear, especially in writing

Both versions are grammatically correct; the original with я is just a bit more explicit.

Can Пожалуй go in another position in the sentence?

Yes. As a modal particle, Пожалуй is flexible in position and can move for emphasis or rhythm. For example:

Пожалуй, это самая интересная точка зрения… – neutral, very common.
Это, пожалуй, самая интересная точка зрения… – slight pause after это, similar to "This is, I’d say, the most interesting point of view…"
Это самая интересная, пожалуй, точка зрения… – Пожалуй focuses specifically on самая интересная, but this is less common and can sound a bit stylistic.

All are possible; the original is the most typical and smooth.

Why is there a comma before которую?

The part starting with которую is a relative clause that adds more information about точка зрения:

самая интересная точка зрения, которую я услышал на этом сеансе

In Russian, such clauses are usually separated from the main clause by commas, much like in English:

The point of view that I heard at this session
↔ точка зрения, которую я услышал на этом сеансе

So the comma marks the boundary between the main phrase самая интересная точка зрения and the dependent clause которую я услышал на этом сеансе.

What is the difference between точка зрения and мнение?

Both can translate as "opinion", but they feel slightly different:

мнение – opinion in general, what someone thinks
- У меня другое мнение. – I have a different opinion.
точка зрения – point of view, often implying:
- a certain perspective or angle
- possibly more reasoned / conceptual
- sometimes stylistically a bit more formal

In your sentence:

самая интересная точка зрения
emphasizes that this is the most interesting perspective among those expressed in the session, not just a casual opinion.