The Boys Are Back In Town!

Chip,

Finally!  A Mad Men worth talking about!  I’ll be honest, the first four episodes have felt, at times, like one big hangover.  Count me as one of the viewers who was hoping the party wasn’t over yet.  Boo!  Hiss!

Despite its slow pace this season, one thing I’ve enjoyed is seeing the characters turn out to be something other than the people we thought we knew so well.  Okay, maybe I could have done without more Dick Whitman in California.  But other than that, well done, Matt Weiner, et al.  In that vein, let’s made a quick run through the SCDP partners:

Roger Sterling

Roger was in Pearl Harbor?  Who knew?  And Roger is more loyal than forgiving? Has anyone told Mona? I was blindsided by Roger’s loyalty to his dead GI friends, given that only four episodes ago he was denigrading the Ad Age reporter who lost his leg in Korea and accusing the magazine of being so cheap “they can’t afford a whole reporter.”  You know I’m a huge John Slattery fan, Chip, and I was blown away by his cringe-inducing appearance in the SCDP conference room just after the Japanese visitors accepted their gifts of Johnnie Walker and cantaloupe.  Cantaloupe?  Perhaps to remind them of Joan’s gravity defying feats later?  

Bertram Cooper

Are we seeing more of but hearing less from Bert?  I can’t tell if he’s more involved in the new firm than he was at Sterling Cooper or if he’s just more visible these days because there’s no second floor at SCDP, reducing him to hanging out in the lobby and reading magazines.  Overall though, Bert seems to be the SCDP partner who has surprised me the least so far.  I like Bert, and I wish we’d have a moment this season to rival his all-time classic, “Don, would you say I know something about you?” moment.

Don Draper

So glad he’s back!  I was getting worried after all that moping around the bachelor pad, or should I say cave, and hanging out with Anna Draper in California.  But this week, and even last, he showed it to us in spades.  Well, maybe not when he took Bethany to Benihana, but other than that, pure testosterone…..I was dying when he told the Times reporter, “Never heard of him,” when asked about Ted Chaough at the rival agency.  This is the Don we know and love, and sometimes love to hate, the one who will tell Roger Sterling he’s out of line and for whom Peggy will ride a motorcycle in circles.  And B-T dubs, what about that prank?  The architect of that nefarious plot to put Ted in his place was none other than Don, the same Don who gave Peggy a healthy dressing-down for staging the Ham Brawl of ’64.  And that is different because?  Oh yeah, it's not. 

Lane Price

Oh my.  So Don isn’t the only miserable bachelor around the office…..that New Year’s Eve had to be a low point for both of them.  I loved the flower mixup that led to Lane’s lonely holiday exile in New York. Lane obviously relies on and respects Joan’s authority as office manager, but he can’t quite treat her as a colleague, can he?  Denying her request for vacation time then sending her flowers to apologize.  What confusing times these people live in! I do like Lane’s role at SCDP as a decisionmaker, though.  When he came over to run Sterling Cooper, he was just St. John’s lackey.  We’re seeing something of the man he really is this season.  I just hope he doesn’t shove any more steaks in his crotch.  Ugh.  Which brings up another point…Chip, who do you think got the top bunk in the kids’ room when Don and Lane had their sleepover with the girls who “didn’t go to Barnard”?

Pete Campbell

The kid in the perpetual blue suit is a big boy now!  I think Vincent Kartheiser is a brilliant actor.  I’m impressed every time he makes us want to swat Pete away like a mosquito flying about, yet 30 minutes later we’re cheering the guy on when he shows some moxie.  His handling of the Clearasil matter was nothing short of ruthless.  How’d you like that guy for a son-in-law, Chip?  I was even a little impressed that he kept the petulance to a minimum (on the Pete scale anyway) during that lunch with Ken Cosgrove.  I mean, it’s not every day you get accused of having spread the rumor that Ken was the one who made the John Deere go rogue on Guy’s foot. And quite a bold accusation from young Petey when he called Roger out for objecting to taking Honda as a client, claiming Roger was merely wrapping himself in the flag to disguise Roger’s real beef that if Pete landed a big account, the firm would be less beholden to Roger’s (and the firm’s) cash cow, Lucky Strike.  I thought it was so interesting that this week Pete was the young upstart who didn’t understand Roger’s loyalty to his dead war buddies and was actually eager to do business with Roger’s enemy.  At the end of last week’s show, we had a very different Pete gathering with the other Establishment types, while locking eyes with Peggy through a window, she off for lunch with her new Bohemian and Sapphic friend.  Who is Pete?  He’s the character who has the most complex path ahead of him, I think.  He’s been groomed his whole life to be the next generation East Coast Elite.  Yet, he’s looking at Peggy (wistfully?), the clear implication being that the two of them are contemplating the path not taken.  Is Pete going to hold on to the past, or will he really embrace the counterculture, and not just because it sells product?

What are your thoughts about the SCDP partners, Chip?  And care to get into the women of Mad Men?  Now THAT’S a conversation worth having.

Looking forward to hearing from you.  Till then, I’ll just be applying Pond’s Cold Cream, brushing my hair 100 times, and thinking of new ways to use jewelry as a stop sign.

Peace, Holly

Murder Isn't Part of Your Twelve-Step Program

This week’s Breaking Bad, “Half Measures,” separated the men from the boys.  Roll call!

Jesse Pinkman – MAN
Jesse showed all the o.g. gangsters how it’s done!  He stood up for himself at every turn.  It began fairly benignly with Walt, when he didn’t let Walt get out of going for a beer after work.  Pretty soon he was staring Gus down, when Jesse had everything to lose and nothing to gain, by refusing to make nice with the drug dealers who ordered the hit on Combo because they use children as pawns in their grown-up drugs-and-gangs enterprise.  For the first time, Gus seemed to recognize Jesse as a man with some cahones, rather than a hopeless meth-head boy. However, when Jesse realizes he’s been played, whether by Gus or the guys who killed Combo, he goes all in and heads off to a death that is all but certain to come his way, but for the surprise intervention of Walt. And now? He’s still facing down a death that’s all but certain to come his way.  Jesse will not let it be written on his tombstone, “Here Lies A Man Who Believed in Half Measures.”

Gus Fring – MAN*
*I think.
All along, we’ve been programmed to believe Gus was ruthless, but in a different and far more chilling way than the loose cannons that were Crazy 8 and Tuco. But then, as it begins to crystallize (Get it? Crystallize!) that his warning to Walt last week about making the same mistake twice was probably about Jesse, we see him take a half measure when he orders Jesse to make nice with Combo’s killers.  Then, even more inexplicably, when Jesse gets in Gus’s face about Combo’s killers using children in their street activity, Gus orders them to keep the kids out of it and then orders Jesse to keep the peace. This looks like a couple of half measures not adding up to a whole.  So what about what happens next?  Andrea’s 11-year-old brother Tomas, the gunman and pawn in the Combo assassination, is killed while riding his bike.  Is this Gus’s doing?  Are we seeing a full measure being played out here?  Perhaps Gus is pulling Jesse’s strings to see what he’s really made of?  Or maybe this a Gus headgame to force Walt to prove his loyalty? Or did the two gangbangers who are on Gus’s payroll go full measure and pull this one off themselves? For now, I’m going to go with Gus showing us a full measure, and for that, I list him a man.  I think.

Walter White – BOY, Heisenberg - MAN
From the beginning of this series, Walt has shown us a new kind of passive aggressive. He has no problem cooking meth, lying to his family, or killing his rivals, so long as he’s forced into the situation.  Even if his own actions put him in that situation in the first place.  Walt’s life has been built on half measures.  Even his ostensibly ballsy appearance at Jesse’s showdown at the OK Corral, while appearing at first blush a full measure, was really just another half measure where Walt was reacting to a situation he’d gotten himself (and this time, Jesse) into by taking the earlier half measure of narcing Jesse out to Gus.  Chip, did you notice that Walt looked a bit green behind the gills at the end of the handshake scene? And I must disagree with you that Walt’s intervention in the massacre was a full measure.  In support of my position, I give you Walt’s apples-and-oranges speech. It reveals that Walt’s running in to save Jesse was just a half measure.  As he said in the apples and oranges speech, Walter White can’t justify killing anyone over a turf war, but he can justify murder when the victim was threatening his (or Jesse’s) life. Walt has never been able to take ownership of his bad-guy status, even going so far as to create his other persona, Heisenberg.  One thing I’ll say for Heisenberg -- that dude is no stranger to full measures.  Interestingly, though, we haven’t seen Heisenberg all season, corresponding with the time that Walt’s been “working for the man” aka Gus.  Heisenberg’s re-emergence in the previews of next week’s season finale signaled that those days are over.

Hank Schrader – MAN
Aside from the obvious, I don’t really know what to say about Hank.  On the obvious I’ll defer to you, Chip. Okay, maybe one thing.  Anyone else remember the episode in Season One, perhaps even the premiere, when Skyler gave Walt a handjob?  Remember how shocking that was?  How did they manage to shock us just as much a second time?  I think I need to listen to Gus.  Okay, back to Hank.  His pity party over, and Hank's man enough to live up to his end of the bargain when Marie won their bet.  We’re about to see the old badass Hank rise from the ashes.  As you’ve pointed out in the past, Chip, Hank’s got more of what it takes to be a man than Walt, any day of the week.

Okay, so enough of separating the men from the boys.  Let’s talk about some other interesting points:

To answer your question, Chip, the true difference between letting someone die vs. running them over with your compact SUV and then blowing their brains out with their own gun is less in the facts and more in the lawyer you hire.  Better call Saul!

As an aside, I truly love the cars in this show.  I’d give my eye teeth for that vintage Wagoneer of Skyler’s.  And I love how all our “hiding in plain sight” crew drives cars that are each more hideous than the last – Gus’s station wagon, Walt’s personality disordered Aztec that can’t decide if it’s an SUV or a minivan, and whatever that pathetic thing is Jesse’s got in his post Cap’n days.  And we haven't even had a proper mourning for our beloved RV meth-lab-to-go.  I miss it.

And yes, Chip, it was not lost on me that this was the second crushing by vehicle this season.  However, I do give AMC style points for coming up with a mashup (or should I say "combo") of crushing by vehicle and the Mad Men lawnmower scene.  Oops, they got us again.  What would Gus say?

Is Walt the new Hank?  Last season, Hank finished the job of killing Tuco that Walt started.  This week Walt finished the job of avenging Combo’s death that Jesse started.  When the next round of would-be ax murdering cousins show up, whose blood will they want to spill first, Jesse’s or Walt’s?

I’ve learned that there’s much imagery in the costuming on AMC.  I repeatedly rewound and freeze-framed the back of Jesse’s shoes in his walk to the OK Corral, but I couldn’t make out the word before “paid” on the back of them.  “Get paid,” perhaps?  These shoes are the Jesse Pinkman version of the silver skull boots that opened the season.  Nice touch, wardrobe department.

Chip, were you ROFL when Saul was playing games on his computer while Walt balanced paper clips on Saul’s scales of justice?  Did you find it as funny as I did that Saul's scales don’t balance?  And what else besides selling your co-conspirator up the river is included in Saul’s “premium service package”?  Dare we ask?

Great, great performance by Aaron Paul this week!  When Jesse looked out the window of Hank’s car after the handshake scene, it was obvious he was about to fall off the wagon.  Aaron Paul’s Jesse conveys so much silent emotion.  This was just the latest example from a talented young actor.

Here’s Holly’s conspiracy theory of the week.....  Do you think Mike the Cleaner will end up joining forces with Heisenberg?  He seems to like and respect Walt.  It’s a little hard to believe after that wrenching story about Mike the Cop’s half measure that Mike the Cleaner is really thriving as Gus’s lackey.  I see more man than boy in Mike.  And while it seems that Gus is clearly and unequivocally at the top of the food chain in which Walt is no more than a mid-level player, that’s probably what we would have said about Crazy 8 and Tuco, had we been blogging back then.

Looking forward to Sunday’s “Full Measure.”

Peace, Holly

COFFEE TALK

Chip, you and I may be the worst bloggers ever.  We need to stop talking amongst ourselves and actually post some of our discussions, don’t you think?  I’ve gone back through some of our emails discussing recent developments on Breaking Bad and posted a few here.  We really need to get out of this slump, though.


AFTER “KAFKAESQUE” (S3, Ep 9)
Holly said:
Have we ever discussed that hermanos means brothers?

Do you think Walt would kill Jesse? Or try to? He's a real cold blooded bastard anymore.

That major puss Ted Beneke is back. But still a bridesmaid, not a bride. Bless his embezzling little heart.

The nail salon.....that was hilarious!

So I guess the war's on like Donkey Kong. About damn time. Walt definitely proved himself a worthy adversary in figuring all that out.

Your thoughts and observations?

Chip said:
I think Walt would entertain thoughts of killing Jesse, but I don't know if he could go through with it. Despite everything, they have a bond. I liked Jesse's development early in the season, but now he seems to be headed back to dipshitdom.

Yes, I was thinking about the puss Ted today. I think I am just jealous. I would not mind warm bathroom floors and spending time with Skyler.

The nail salon was kind of funny. I thought the scene setting up the recovering addicts to want Blue Sky was even funnier.

Overall, I have to say I just did not get into this episode very much. They cannot all have the dramatic audacity of "IFT" or the violent intensity of "One Minute" but this was a particularly slow episode. I can see they are setting some things up, but in the meantime...yawn. It was very Kafkaesque. By that I mean I was as bored watching this as I was learning about Kafka. Literary references alone cannot carry a show. Even Mad Men would get tedious without an occasional office lawn mower incident.

Still, just like a bad day of golf is better than a good day at work, a bad "Bad" is better than just about anything else on TV at the moment.

What was up with Walt's "suicide" attempt in the car? That did not ring true to me.

Did you find Walt's elementary deduction that Brother Chicken was the anonymous caller unsatisfying? Is it even true? He did not exactly confess...just not object.


THEN, AFTER “FLY” (S3, Ep. 10)
Holly said:
Hello McFly!!!!

Chip, will you ever look at a housefly the same way again? Last Sunday's Breaking Bad creeped (crept?) me out. Jesse and Walt locked in that tense menage-a-fly for the better part of an hour was excruciating. I was so worn out about half-way through that I started cheering for the fly. By the time it was over, I had to indulge myself in a Keeping Up with the Kardashians marathon just so I wouldn't feel like I wasted my evening watching TV.

So what was going on here, anyway? Walt was so fanatical about ridding the mega-lab of the "contaminant" that I almost believed his speech to Jesse about the two of them ending up pushing daisies over the fly in the ointment, er, lab. Somehow though, Jesse nailed it (again) with his statement that they cook poison for people who willingly ingest it. Gus seems like a reasonable sort of sociopath - I can't help but think he'd agree with Jesse on this one. So has Walt really lost it? I'm gonna go with the obvious answer - yes.  What say you? Has our beloved Breaking Bad actually fallen so far as to be predictable?

Okay, there were a few things I liked about the episode. The first was Walt's shoe dangling from the ceiling. The second was the lightbulb shower falling from aforementioned ceiling on Mr. Lost-His-Marbles. Then there was Walt locking Jesse out of the lab, leading to the scene where Jesse finds the biggest, baddest hammer on the tool shelf (who does THAT remind you of?) and using it to shut down power to the lab. Priceless. But my favorite had to be the scene where Walt was starting to go under from the roofie-laced coffee and almost confessed to killing Jane, Jesse all the while teetering on the world's most precariously placed ladder to kill a damn fly. Okay, so maybe I did like this episode a little.

What have we learned this week? Hmmm.....(1) Walt's scared shitless of Gus, his recent tough-guy act at the meeting with Gus notwithstanding. (2) Jesse is not going to be Walt's bitch, yo. (3) Walt knows Jesse is skimming. Yikes, this isn't going to end well. (4) We haven't seen the last of Jane's dad, otherwise why do mentions of him keep popping up along the way? Or did he die?  I can't remember now....

And speaking of characters who aren't getting face time on camera, who besides me thinks we haven't seen the last of Gale the eager beaver lab assistant? He's a loose cannon and a lab tech scorned. I can't wait to see where he turns up next.

And speaking of peeps on the wrong side of the law who know their chemistry....Chip, to you have any current theories on who the "outside help" was who helped Gus set up the Taj Ma-lab? I was intrigued a few weeks ago by a friend's suggestion that it might have been Elliott, but now I'm wondering about your favorite alleged dirty lawman the sheriff. Is he capable of understanding how to set up a state-of-the-art meth lab so impressive that even Walt acknowledged its superiority? My brain says no, but my gut says.....maybe. I want to believe this show is still unpredictable.

So Chip, you have any predictions or observations for me to poke holes in? You know I'm here for you.

Peace, Holly

Chip said:
Dearest Holly,
My experience kind of echoes yours. What I thought was going to be a momentary diversion turned into an episode long quest. I used the word "quest" on purpose because for some reason I had Don Quixote come to mind. I think it may have been the sight of Walt and his homemade swatter/lance. It was not as engaging as many episodes have been, but then I did find many indelible images stuck in my head. Walt clearly has some OCD tendencies as evidenced by his meticulous shearing off the bread crust of his peanut butter sandwiches. This seems to take things to a whole new level. Jesse is justifiably concerned that Walt has lost his marbles.

I find it touching that while Jesse thinks the quest is pointless or mad, he still humors Walt. Before it is over, he seems all in for the journey. You asked me once if I thought Walt could hurt Jesse. I still do not know because their is a bond there in spite of themselves. However, I found myself clearly thinking that Jesse would lose his mind on Walt if he found out his complicity in  Jane's death.

To directly answer some of your questions...

I think you want me to say the hammer scene reminded me of the ax wielding cousins, but it honestly reminded me of Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction when he makes a weapon selection.

I think Gale will make his stormy return by being the one who drops the dime on Jesse's skimming. You are right, this will not end well.

I am not sure Gus needs any help. He has got the cash, so he would just have to pay Gale to set it up.
That's all I got for you now.

Chip

AND AFTER SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME READING STORIES ABOUT STUPID CRIMINALS
Chip said:
There was a story on the news this morning about a couple of idjits trying to steal an ATM machine from a convenience store. Survellience cameras recorded how as they were wheeling it out, one tripped and the machine landed on him! Isn't that a hoot?

Holly said:
They must not have cable.

WHAT DO MEN DO?

Since the season premiere, Walt has suffered one emasculating humiliation after another. He was pepper-sprayed by a highway patrolman, kicked out of his house by his wife and suspended from his job. His awkward romantic advances to his supervisor were rejected. That little whipper-snapper Jesse whipped up a mess of meth using his chemical recipe. The icing on the cake was learning Skyler was now bumping uglies with Ted.

Up to this point, Walt’s response to most of this has been further humiliation. A mousy apology to the policeman. Sneaking back into the house. Quietly eating supper prepared by a wife fresh off her latest afternoon delight.

Thanks to Gus, Walt now officially has his mojo back. Despite trying to lure Walt in with cash and a flashy new lab, it was a simple statement that finally hooked him again. What does a man do? According to Gus, a man provides for his family. He does it when he is not appreciated, respected or even loved. With a few simple words, Gus has taken Walt back to the reason he broke bad in the first place. While I like Jesse, it was a hoot watching Walt dress him down with manly authority in Saul’s office. Jesse calling Walt “bitch” seemed downright effete in comparison. Perhaps he should blow some more of that cash at the titty bar to feel better.

Then we have the seething pot of rage and testosterone known as Hank. He has not been the same since El Paso. He is too much of a man to seek help for his panic attacks or even share with his wife. Like a petulant grade school bully, he tries to make himself feel better by attacking others physically (bar room brawl) or verbally (commenting that his partner’s balls are in his wife’s purse).

What Walt recognizes and Hank does not, is that the strength of a man is sometimes measured by his ability to be gentle. Hank could have some of the pressure removed from his shoulders if he simply told Marie what he was going through. Walt on the other hand is on the verge of cracking Skyler’s armor by virtue of his genuine love for his family. His anguished longing to pick up his baby as she cried slowly transformed into a moment of paternal joy as Skyler let him do just that. That is what men do.

Holly, I have a question though. Do real men have heated bathroom floors?

P.S. On the flip side of the gender coin, I am ecstatic to report that Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks has officially dislodged Megan Fox as the Sexiest Woman Alive according to Esquire Magazine. Amen and Hallelujah. A real woman with curves.

And What Do You Want for Christmas, Sally?

Sorry to have been MIA for so long, Chip.  I'm still trying to recover from the news that Roger Sterling can be my own personal Ken doll.  I love this!  And I would definitely buy Roger and Joan.  If I were inclined to spend $75 per doll on a couple of Barbies, that is.  But I have to wonder who in her -- or his (Kurt from Glee, I'm thinking of you here) -- right mind would buy Barbie and Ken, oops, I mean Betty and Don?  But I repeat myself.  As for Roger, I'm going to take a pass....it's enough for me to know I could have him if I wanted.

Peace, Holly

Do These Come in Inflatible?

Hey Holly,
I stumbled across something you might want to put on your Christmas List. I know how into Mad Men you are, so is this a must-have for you?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/business/media/10adco.html
Chip

EW or EWWW?

I mentioned part of my nightly routine is to fall asleep reading Entertainment Weekly. The March 12, 2010 issue had a list of the “10 Best TV shows Right Now!” Holly, I thought you would like to know that our opinions dovetail nicely in some places with this national publication. Not so much in others. The list goes as follows:

1. The Good Wife – I have not followed this, but I saw a portion of it last week. I have to admit, I was immediately caught up in the drama. I just don’t know if it can truly be called the best.

2. Breaking Bad – This should come as no surprise. We have been saying the same thing for a while. As we anticipate the premiere of the third season, get ready to get your blogface on.

3. LOST – I mentioned this show in my defense of network TV last month. I stand by that opinion as I am completely engrossed with the final season as it is airing now.

4. Friday Night Lights – I have read about how good this show is for years. I love football, but I have just not gotten into it.

5. Fringe – Another show on my list of redeeming features of the networks.

6. Modern Family – I have watched this a couple of times and it is very funny. It just has not made my appointment TV list.

7. Glee – Here is one for you, Holly. You have gushed over this show that I have yet to watch.

8. Southland – I have not watched this, either. It was originally on NBC, but they cancelled it and the cable channel TNT picked it up. It must be pretty good, then.

9. Damages – I have not followed this Glenn Close FX series, but I read it is good.

10. Caprica – Here is our love/hate darling in the top ten.

I am partial to a few other shows that did not make the cut. There are some I like that I am under no illusions are great shows (Sorry, Burn Notice). Yet, there are some that I believe rise above some of this list.

Glaringly absent is the Emmy and Golden Globe winning Mad Men. Is it because it is not on the air right now? I would also include FX’s series Rescue Me, TNT's Men of a Certain Age and HBO's True Blood. These are active series, but not currently airing new episodes. Is that the criteria?

Holly, what do you think? Would you boot some of these and replace them with others? Did you notice a mere 4 out of 10 are cable shows. My list would be more like 6 out of 10.

Here is how my list would look.

1. Mad Men - AMC

2. Breaking Bad - AMC

3. LOST - ABC

4. Fringe - FOX

5. True Blood - HBO

6. Rescue Me - FX

7. Men of a Certain Age - TNT

8. Glee - FOX

9. Better Off Ted - ABC

10. Caprica - SYFY

You Are Getting Very Sleepy

I have to hand it to you, Holly. Your post about Caprica was more entertaining than the show itself. If Battlestar Galatica was this boring, I am glad I missed it after all. I kept dozing off, so I had to change the channel over to NBC every so often to watch a little ice dancing for excitement.

The bedroom scene in the beginning of the episode turned me off. The idea of four people in bed was supposed to be titillating, but it came across as just icky to me. Perhaps it is because one of the guys appears to be young enough to be Mrs. Willow’s son. Polly Walker was so good in Rome it pains me to see her stifled in this role.

Grandma Adama did suddenly become a very interesting character in this episode. I could see her offing Mrs. Graystone and then serving her up to Daniel in some kind of Tauron Casserole. We need to give her and Sam their own HBO show called The Taurono’s and turn them loose.

The dancing robot scene was seriously goofy. All the scenes with the Cylon/Zoe/Avatar and the nerdy tech guy are about as disturbing as Demi Moore kissing Whoopi Goldberg near the end of Ghost. Sure…it is supposed to be Patrick Swayze on the inside, but you are still swapping slobber with the exterior. The way the show is going, I am surprised they did not have Zoe simulate an orgasm as the nerd tinkered around her metal loins.

I thought the same thing about Agent Duram’s boss, Holly. I even went to IMdB to find out if it was the same actor. Apparently not, but I did find an interesting Mad Men connection. There is an actor on Caprica named…get this…Sterling Cooper. I shit you not.

As far as Daniel claiming to create Zoe's avatar goes, I think...yawn...oh just wake me up when the robots start shooting, okay?

Caprica - The Cylons Were Right About These People

Well Chip, I managed to make it through another episode of Caprica.  Let’s see, where to start?

Computer geek and Cylon Zoe dancing - why?

Gratuitous menage a quatre at Sister Clarice’s house  - pourquoi?

Grandma who doesn’t care that her grandson skipped school to hang out with his gangster uncle - whaaaaaaaa?

I don’t know who is writing this stuff, but I’m getting more than a little suspicious this show is what happens when the chess club huffs paint.

But on to the plot....with Graystone Industries in a free fall, Daniel Graystone decides to go on the Caprican version of Letterman to talk about Zoe’s death and her apparent involvement with Soldiers of the One.  Amanda Graystone unexpectedly walks onto the set.  Unlike her last PR debacle, in which she announced on TV that Zoe was a terrorist, her presence seemed to save the situation, which Daniel was not handling well.

Sam Adamo, Joseph’s less-conflicted-about-his-evil-side brother, impersonates a driver after gaining backstage access by flashing his Tauron tattoos to a similarly inked stagehand.  He gives Amanda a ride, ostensibly part of a plan to kill her at Joseph’s request, but doesn’t go through with it after Joseph calls off the hit by texting him with a rather antiquated looking cell phone.  (BTW Chip, did you catch the old school cameras the press had during the GDD’s high school locker raid?  I suppose they’re trying to do something purposeful with all this retro tech and wardrobe juxtaposed with the futuristic elements of this show, but at times I’m left wondering if they’re going to get to the point, or if there is no point and it’s just something they’ve picked up from Big Love?)  Initially, I was disappointed that Sam didn’t kill Amanda, but then I realized how much Daniel-brooding we’re being spared as long as she’s alive. Go Amanda!

We also learn in this episode that Ruth, Joseph’s mother-in-law (I incorrectly identified her as his mother previously), is one badass Tauron.  I was shocked, shocked I tell you when she told Joseph that the dead aren’t dead till their deaths were avenged.  Nice parallel between her statement that the dead are in limbo and the holiband’s V World. Up until now, I thought Ruth was just grouchy because she had to pick up around the house.  But clearly she’s got a bigger ax to grind with the Adamo boys. She’s not going to stand for much of Joseph’s conflicted conscience about having Sam off Amanda as retribution for the bombing. Grandma Ruth also wowed me with her advice to young Will, who wants to be a locker room attendant for the Pyramid team but thought he didn’t have a chance at the gig because Joseph and Daniel aren’t friends these days.  Ruth told him sometimes you get the best things from your enemies.  And Ruth was scaring me a little (okay a lot) in that meat cleaver kitchen scene.  Joseph, my man, you’d better sleep with one eye open with this mother-in-law in the house.

I’m struggling to stay interested in the intrigue, if it can be called that, going on with Sister Clarice, Lacy, the bike shop guy, and anyone else in Soldiers of the One.  That story line needs to get moving, STAT. And no more slumber parties, you perverts! The most interesting thing I’ve noticed in the STO storyline lately is how much Agent Duram’s boss (the guy in the suit with the big nose) looks like Henry Francis from Mad Men.  And I think we all know how I feel about Henry Francis.

Zoe 2.0 in V World, good fashion decision.  I was getting tired of your other club dress.

One final point.  Chip, did you notice that Daniel said he created Zoe’s avatar?  Not true - Zoe created her own avatar, which Daniel didn’t know until after her death.  What’s that all about?

Peace, Holly

In Honor of Bryan Batt's Mad Men Departure, 3 Other Characters We Want Brought Back

Sad news....Sal won't be back. Read about it here:

In Honor of Bryan Batt's iMad Men/i Departure, 3 Other Characters We Want Brought Back

Mad Men - Chip and Holly's Somewhat Serious Predictions for Season 4

Chip’s Prognostications, written 11/10/09

:

As far as season 4 goes...

Some interesting dynamics have been set up. Pete and Peggy are going to share a desk! What is going to happen when Trudy brings brownies by one day and somehow finds out Pete can make a baby...just not with her. Roger and Joan working shoulder to shoulder does not bode well for Baby Jane or Dr. Dipshit. How is Burt going to operate in such close quarters with everyone

and their shoes? How soon will Don put that one bed to use with a client?

Sally will get in trouble for scrawling "I love Ringo" on her bedroom wall and for taking the car to see the Beatles land at JFK airport. Hey...grandpa taught her how to drive. Bobby will try to cut his hair to look like Paul. What those kids are watching now is Ed Sullivan.

We will hear about Vietnam through Dr. Dipshit via Joan. He may exit for an entire season giving her and Roger an opportunity to reignite their affair.

Then season 5 brings home the Doc a literally broken man for Joan to take care of.

If Peggy is feminism in the workplace (*and bedroom and smoky pot-filled offices*), I wonder if Betty is going to develop into feminism in the political arena. Having her hitch her wagon to the Governor's aide certainly opens that door.

Betty will find out what a dick Henry is and want her old Dick back, though. It will be too late, though, because Don is going to meet his match in a promiscuous woman he can't control. He will be too tied up in closing that deal to notice Betty coming back around. It won't stop him from popping Henry a good one in the nose for something. I don't know what, but Henry's

nose is just asking to be popped.

Lee Garner, Jr. is going to get caught puffing something besides a Lucky Strike and Sal will be vindicated and brought back in the fold. Isn't it interesting that we all miss Sal and want him back, but in reality people were content to let "those people" hang out in their leather pants down at the park?

I just hope we will see more of Don and Roger sitting at a bar and having drinks like before. I have missed that.

Holly’s Predictions for Season 4, written 1/26/10

:

Midwinter musings on missing my favorite show.

A mere seven months till our beloved Mad Men addiction returns!

Suffering the harsh reality of what we all know - that Don Draper is a fickle lover - I have attempted to fill my time with the secondary treats of Breaking Bad, Burn Notice, and Life on Mars. But who are we kidding, nobody does it better than the boys at Sterling Cooper Draper Price! I even miss that smarmy bastard Pete. A little. God help me. All the boys get prettier at closing time at the Pierre....

So I was thinking we could self-medicate, er, fill the void in our hearts (and souls) with a little talk of what might happen next season. A little Mad Men cybersex, if you will. Just remember kids, no pictures. I'll start -

Trudy is pregnant! To quote my friend Gigi, aka Joan of the South, "praise God from whom all blessings flow"! Can you see the personal/financial/mojo crisis this will unleash in peat moss Pete?! I can only imagine....the wistful looks at Peggy, knowing it never will be. Peggy's wistful looks back, knowing she is not the "marrying kind" to a guy like Pete. The fights with Trudy's dad over paying for the nursery, and if the gods are smiling on us, a German nanny!

Sal auditions as a hand model (am I the only one who has ever noticed how much they show closeups of Bryan Batt's gorgeous, well manicured yet overly jeweled hands?) for a Lucky Strike ad campaign that SCDP is doing, entering the Pierre a dejected gay man whose only marketable skills are modeling his big, gay hands and exiting a dejected but rehired gay man whose only skills are "knob polishing" Lee Garner, Jr. with his big, gay hands. Sal's back in the house, bitches!

Roger's daughter Margaret, who never wanted to marry that oily beauhunk in the first place (what is his name anyway, Brooks? Davis?), hooks up with Don on the roof of the Pierre after stopping by the new SCDP "offices" to hit Daddy up for some pocket change. Don, meantime, is flashing back to his childhood, interspersed with images of the one who got away, Rachel Menken, and that magical night with the guard dogs on top of her daddy's department store. Margaret is young, firm, and hot, as the preppy sort goes, but a goy is no match for the burning memory of his Jewess temptress. Is it too much that we ask for a return to Zion?

Roger and Joan have some witty repartee. Oh God, please. That's really all we care about.

Duck finds out about SCDP and tries to join up, pitching himself to Don as a worthy opponent who is better fer you than agin' you. To quote Chip, nee Paul Kinsey, "Dear Lord, hear our prayers....."

Betty realizes she has traded hot, in-his-prime zombie for geriatric, plastic/politico zombie. She should have gone for a roll in the hay with the boy from New Haven who didn't know how to ride a horse back in Season 2....

Sally puts an Old Fashioned in Baby Gene's bottle on Karla's day off. Fortunately, no ill effects follow, as fetal alcohol syndrome had already dashed the kid's chances of being a high feeder in the evolutionary food chain. At least he has his looks....

That's all I have for now.

A basket of kisses,

Holly

Mad Men Things We Love to Say

Chip’s Best Quotes of the Show

:

First runner up...

Peggy [to Pete]: "Stop barging in here and infecting me with your anxiety."

Second runner up...

Joan: "That's life. One minute, you're on top of the world. The next, some secretary is running over your foot with a lawn mower."

Honorable mention...

Kinsey: "He might lose his foot." Roger: "Right when he got it in the door."

And the winner...

"I'm Peggy Olson and I wanna smoke some marijuana."

Holly’s Favorite Quotes

:

Pete: "Hell's bells, Trudy!"

Roger: "I want you to know, you're the best lay I ever had."

Joan: "That may be the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

Midwife: "His name is Dick, for a wish his mother should have lived to see."

Honorable mention:

Dead Daddy: "You're a house cat, you're very important, and you have very little to do."

Mad Men Links We Like

Finding Mad Men in Manhattan:

http://www.worldhum.com/travel-blog/item/finding-mad-men-in-manhattan-20090910/

Finding your way around Ossining:

http://www.lohud.com/flash/madmen/

How to take the Hudson Line between Grand Central to Ossining, just like Don Draper:

http://www.stationstops.com/mta/metro_north/hudson_line/ossining.outbound.weekday.station.schedule.html

A Basket of Kisses, a Mad Men blog worth visiting:

http://www.lippsisters.com/

AMC TV’s official Mad Men site:

http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/

Before We Were Bloggers

We began discussing Mad Men during Season 3 (originally aired August - November 2009) in a series of emails. Below are a few of our comments from the last two episodes (312 and 313), before we began this blog. We look forward to discussing Season 4 this fall!

READ TOP TO BOTTOM FOR CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

Holly’s thoughts, written 11/3/09, after Episode 312/The Grownups

There is some thought in the cyberworld that this episode was originally the finale but they scrapped the real episode 12, made this one 12, and reshot the finale (which means the finale is actually 14, not 13). Wonder if there will be a "lost" episode when Season 3's DVD comes out?! If you look at on demand, the description of Episode 312 (this week) is different from what actually happened. Also, the title of the finale is supposed to be "Close the Door. Have a Seat." Lane said that to Pete before he told him that "Kenny and his haircut" got the head of accounts job. Interesting.

How little does Duck ("Mr. Herman") care about Peggy?! He unplugs the TV so they can have their throw-down but then has to call his kids (who we know from last season don't even like him) when he finds out Kennedy died. What a contrast. Wonder if he will go look for Chauncey, too?

How long till Paul turns on Peggy with the intelligence about her "nooner"? Is he smart enough to figure it out?

Trudy needs her own storyline. I wouldn't mind seeing more of Mona, either - she really is a lioness.

Is there anything hotter than Roger and Joan? They can create more sparks on the phone than most people can in a sex scene! Once Dr. Cutup ships off to Vietnam, these two will have lots of time for chats. Here's hoping Jane continues to be a heavy drinker.

I want Sal back!

Henry is sticking around. Apparently Rockefeller is prominent in the '64 elections. Crap. He is so boring. The only thing that would make him interesting is if he and Betty couple swapped with Roger and Joan.

Who thinks Jane will commit suicide? Who wishes Jane would commit suicide? What was that comment from Roger about when she locked herself in the bathroom?

Has anyone noticed that Don's hookups he cares about are always brunette (Midge, Rachel, psychoteacher), but he had to be dragged into the fling with the blonde stewardess. Wants his mommy but doesn't want Betty?

What was the hot/cold thing about? That has been going on somewhat all season. Also references to ice cream. Enough already.

Wonder if Carla will keep the Drapers together (for the children or some such rationale) by letting Betty know she is on to her tricks with Henry?

Is there anything funnier than Peggy telling her roommate, "I'm glad you decided to be picky, finally."

Did anyone notice in the first scene that Pete's secretary (name?) was doing the sophisticated mink collar coat with the kiddie mittens while she was mothering Pete? Nice costuming and setup to highlight the theme of the episode, "The Grownups."

Chip’s response, written 11/4/09 (Ep. 312/The Grownups)

I agree that Roger and Joan have chemistry, but he never seemed worthy of her either. Why doesn't Don go after that? Blondes, brunettes, peshaw. Everyone knows redheads are the hottest. Seriously, they do seem to have a history at times.

"Who are you supposed to be?" asked the person when Don took the kids Trick or Treating. Kind of the theme for the season. Ironically, anyone of any real import now knows his secret. His boss, his wife. Now that he has come clean with Bets, she does not want anything to do with him. It has more to do with the deception than the actual facts. If she follows through with the divorce, he will want what he can't have...her. Just like mommy. I also think their separation will really mess with Sally. She is one troubled girl. Definite future LSD user.

Psycho teacher seems far more likely to commit suicide than Jane. That would really give Don some grist for his angst mill. I don't think Jane is capable of suicide. She might try to overdose on baby aspirin. She just needs to run off to Vietnam with Dr. Dipshit.

What I don't get is why Roger did not boink his old dog food lover when he had the chance. Not only was it a sentimental screw, it also meant an account for the firm. Was he really being loyal to Jane, or was that his best revenge for how she dumped him before?

Bets hooking up with this politician is about as creepy/believable as it was for Gabby on Desperate Housewives to hook up with "Roger" on that show. If there is anyone personifying Holly's notion of hot/cold it is her. I still can't get over her hot overseas trip turning to ice the minute they get home. I would love to see Don pop Henry right in his Pete Townsend nose. He could take him down without even taking off his hat.

Sal and Joan must unite to storm the castle. Surely something will happen to kick the Brits out leaving the door open for their return. Girrrl power!

I thought it was even funnier when Peggy's roommate found out that Duck was not married and she asked, "Well, then why are you with him?"

I'm worried. Are there any other straight men into this show? I just watch for the literary references and random lawnmower gore. At least I do not have any comments about the wardrobe.

And Holly’s response back, written 11/4/09 (Ep. 312)

Psycho teacher will never take the easy way out and kill herself. Also she has that nutty brother to take care of. One of the blogs I read suggested "Shut the Door. Have a Seat." might be her convening a parent/teacher conference with Betty re the affair. I doubt it - Betty already doesn't care so I don't know why the writers would bother. I can see the nutty brother putting an almighty beatdown on Don for breaking his sister's heart. That might be cool. Don does seem to get his butt kicked on a regular basis.

Don't know if Joan is too good for Roger or not. We saw another side of him twice now -- he clearly loved Horse Meat and got his heart ground into dog food, and he seems to have some sort of connection with Mona, however bad their marriage must have been. I wonder if he would behave for Joanie. Did he ever cheat on her? Were the twins after the Roger/Joan era? And yes, redheads are the hottest.

With respect to why he didn't get busy with Horse Meat, I think it might have been because he could. He loved flirting with her in Burt's office (that was a GREAT scene, btw) but once she put her agenda on the table, he was peace out. Or maybe he's just not into age appropriate women. I don't think he would throw down for an account. He doesn't care about the firm anymore. He only goes to work to eat ice cream sundaes and get away from Jane. He doesn't get to have fun pitching to clients with Don like the old days because no one is getting any joy out of being jai'ali boy and Connie Hilton's b!tch.

Did you see the cobra over Pete's shoulder when Lane was giving him the bad news? Nice touch.

Someone pointed out that Sally will be 18 when Woodstock happens. I think you are right about her future with LSD, Chip.

If we must continue to see Betty on a regular basis, she needs to do something interesting like go Valley of the Dolls on us and get a nice seconal/vicodin/"vitamin shot" thing going on.

I think someone will buy S-Coop this week and Sal will already be working for them.

What did Duck's tattoo say?!

I go back and forth on whether Betty is really mad about the deception - it is not news to her that Don is a liar - or if that is just the moral high ground she is claiming because her real problem is that she is from society and ended up married to Dick Whitman. I wonder sometimes if that is what she sees in Henry (as well as a father figure because she is a daddy's girl without a daddy).

I wonder if Trudy's daddy has enough money to set Pete up in his own shop? Or to buy SC? Supposedly the big shakeup in the ad industry in the 60s was youth vs old guard. Pete has more vision than anyone at SC realizes, even if he can't relate to people as well as Ken. I loved that scene of him reading Ebony an episode or two after the Admiral TV debacle. He knows where to find Joan. He knows that short sleeves/bowtie in TV (what's his name?! I can't think of it) is on to something big. He just needs to go down to the park and pry Sal away from the Village People. He might even take Peggy, even though he resents her, because she would be working for him. Hmmmm......

Sally, bring me an old fashioned!

Holly’s Take on Season 3 Finale, written11/10/09 (Ep. 313/"Shut the Door. Have a Seat.")

I am woman, hear me roar!

How about all our little feminists last night? If Don Draper got kicked in the business one more time by a budding bra burner, he might not have been alive to eat that cake Trudy baked for our heroes (mere days after her great "Peter, may I speak with you a moment?" admonition). I thought Peggy and Betty gave Don the works, but it was little Sally who delivered the near-fatal blow (notice the parallels between the beatdown Don took from the women in his life and a mare finishing off no-good Archibald - karma's a b!tch). And let's not forget our beloved Joanie -- when you want to pull off the impossible, no one like a Bonwit Teller shopgirl who has already proven her mettle through amazing feats such as triaging lawnmower victims and helping Pete Campbell wander the Bavarian Forest.

And how about my man Burt Cooper? Don't mess with that bad boy or you will find yourself locked in a storage closet till Monday! He will remind you of the nobody you really are and have a sundae before Roger has poured himself a refreshing breakfast beverage. ("Have another. It's 9:30 for God's sakes!")

Who wants that plane to Reno to have mechanical failure somewhere over the Rockies? Why did poor Baby Gene have to go? I'll bet he's jealous of Sally and Bobby getting to stay home with Carla, the "fun mommy" at the Draper residence.

Speaking of our future juvenile delinquents, could Sally and Bobby watch more TV? How many channels did they have in 1963, and were they really that interesting? Maybe I was just dim as a child, but I recall banging my head against the wall as a preferable antidote to the boredom of the broadcasts of the Big 3 back in my early years.

Poor Paul Kinsey, never a bridesmaid, never a bride. Even Peggy gets to smoke MJ with the big boys these days, while Paul is left back at the office to, ahem, do whatever it is he does when he's trying to get creative.

Which leads me to ask, is Aristotle or Plato or what's-his-face the janitor going to be cleaning up after hours at the Pierre? And what happened to Hollis, Pete's friend from the elevator? He wasn't in the elevator toward the end of the show. Did I see him in the background setting up shop for the crew at the Pierre, or was that too many old fashioneds having their way with me?

Very good. Happy Christmas!

More from Holly on Season 3 Finale, written 11/9/09 (Ep. 313)

I don't mind to lose Betty and the boys, but if Sally and Carla are gone for good I am so NOT going to be ready to set out the chip-and-dip and call it a party just because Roger and Don are coming over. As I said last week, I am ready for Betty to go Jacqueline Susann on us with a nice "mother's little helper" addiction! Does anyone else remember that in Susann's book "Once is Not Enough" the main character's name was January Wayne, a little girl lost with a daddy fixation? Unfortunately, I think Susann didn't really hit the big time till the 70s, so maybe not..... But it would be a good way to keep Sally and Carla in our lives. And I kind of like the Cindy McCain ice princess parallels to Betty Draper and Henry, the aide to the politically ambitious governor. And don't even get me started on Betty in the psych ward.....I have a dream!

Chip’s take on the Season 3 Finale, written 11/10/09 (Ep. 313)

I believe my point about how these characters are archetypes played out nicely in the finale. Don represents "America" in the most general sense. Perhaps American business. Slick, powerful, seductive, but his success has come with a few skeletons in his closet. In him we are seeing a time of great transition in America. With the Civil Rights movement, political assassinations and the rise of feminism, Don's and our world is changing forever. He alternately fights it and concedes it.

Peggy represents "feminism" in the clearest sense. Being in the secretarial pool is not good enough for her. She has made inroads through the years (*with great assistance from her surrogate father Don*) and now has reached a point in which she is ready to challenge being taken advantage of at worst and taken for granted at best. "*Can you get me some coffee, Peggy?" "No.*" Don comes to realize he cannot ignore this little voice and cannot do without her contributions. However, his "heartfelt" confession that he would spend the rest of his life trying to hire her still smacks of his smooth pitchman closing on what he can't have. It works on Peggy still, but not Bets.

I was noticing the parallels with Don and his father in a slightly different way. No matter how "no-good" Archibald was, I think Don still respected his stance on going his own way when others were taking the weaker easy route. Don is leaving the "Co-op" (*or huge, safe corporation*) also and going on his own. The prize pig does not want to work for a sausage factory. This again coincides with a father leaving his son. Here is where their paths diverge, though. This memory stirs Don to climb in bed with (Sally?) and to hold Bobby tight when breaking the news of the divorce. For all his faults, Don is truly trying to overcome being Dick Whitman. The episode begins with Don losing another "father" in Connie Hilton. Or is Connie trying to prod him into becoming the man he could be.

I don't know what kind of feminism Joan represents, but I am just glad Her Hotness is back. I am still waiting for rape payback for Dr. Dipshit.

For all his beatnik posturing, Kinsey is not the voice of a new generation. It's Pete, by gosh. He is ahead of the curve (*aeronautics! Negroes! teenagers!*) and now even Don realizes it. Better subscribe to Jet magazine by the time the new firm has a lobby again. I have come to really like this character that I wanted Don to throw out the window in Season 1. Hells bells!

The most entertaining character of the night was Mr. Cooper. Old school still has a thing or two to teach the little whipper snappers. I kind of wish Harry had said "No" just so he would have been locked up in the storeroom for the weekend. You don't get to be able to demand people take off their shoes in your office by not being able to push people's buttons.