Monday, June 11, 2012

Mad Men: Finale

Suicide and vacuousness have been themes this season culminating in the loss of Lane Pryce.  His absence is felt everywhere.   Especially in the board meeting, where we see Joan taking over his responsibilities in her blue suit.  Her office clothes are becoming more and more like menswear, and yet still deeply feminine.  It makes her look strong, and she is taking her role of partner serious.  I cannot wait to see how Tom and Lorenzo interpret this fuller.

Melancholy, doom, and gloom have been mentioned throughout this episode especially with Pete Campbell by both his wife and his mistress.  Where does this leave him in life?  What will make him happy? Maybe next season when he has his apartment in the city he will be happy.

Later in the episode Megan is very depressed over her lack of work as an actress, even her husband won't give her a commercial.  She proceeds to get very drunk and tell Don her deepest darkest thoughts.  All while her mom goes off to have a romp with Roger Sterling.

Don is haunted through the episode by his dead brother.  He finally interacts with him while at the dentist and under the influence of nitrous.  Drugs have definitely infiltrated the world of Mad Men.  Roger is obviously on LSD at the end of the episode.

This episode was the first time in a long time we've heard Don Draper order an old fashioned.  Does this mean he has returned to his old ways?  By giving Megan what she wants, can he take what he wants from life?  Matt Weiner has a lot to tackle next season, and we are all looking forward to it.



True Blood: Season Premiere

True Blood is back!  I am not as excited as I was last year, or the year before.  But still I will blog about it as much as my schedule allows. :)


The writer's had a lot to tackle in this first episode of the season.  All of this content makes it difficult to tackle for any blogger.  I'll do my best, and I may focus on the characters and story lines I care about most.

The over arching theme of the episode was people returning whether they were wanted or not.  Tara returned in the end, but she was not the version they expected.  Terry had an old Marine friend, Patrick, played by Scott Foley return; and he was significantly unwanted.

Russell Edgington has returned, and it is best for the series.  He makes such a great villain.

Even people we have never seen before such as Erik's sister has returned, and it was a very gross introduction to her.

Unfortunately for Jason Stackhouse, Rev. Newland has returned but as a gay vampire expressing his undying love for him.  Jason handled it more kindly than expected.

Erik and Bill find themselves in very deep trouble with the Vampire administration, and they leave Jessica to become Queen of Louisiana.  It is amusing to see her trying to form her identity still, and to make choices any young woman would make even as a vampire.  She is impulsive and demanding, so it'll be interesting to see if Jason is able to win her over.

We were left without one return, and it was of Jesus.  He will probably come back later on in the season, and it will be interesting to see how LaFayette is further changed by the magic inside him.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Mad Men: Commissions and Fees

I have watched last week's episode multiple times.  It is one of the best episode's of the season.  Christina Hendricks acting was exquisite, and it should be her episode that she submits for her Emmy nomination.

I am not going to lie.  I wanted to put up this post earlier, but I had a beer festival this weekend, and I needed my sleep on Sunday night.  I ended up watching Mad Men after work.  I did stay up late enough to see Don fire Lane, and to have Roger set up the Dow meeting.  I really loved the scene with Ken and Roger.  It's obvious Ken isn't aware how much Roger dislikes Pete, and I cannot wait to see how this new combination plays out.

Roger and Don get the meeting at Dow, and Don blows them out of the water.  One of the best speeches he's given this season.  As a someone who manages vendors for a living, I would be reevaluating my current firm.

Poor Sally Draper, she has a mother that acts like a child.  The one time a young girl needs her mother, she runs to her.  Betty is surprisingly compassionate, and I was actually quite shocked by her reaction.  But it is only because it reinforced Sally's need of her, Betty is at all times self serving.  Sally didn't want Megan, Sally wanted her mother.  Betty was totally undeserving of this, considering her juvenile reaction to Sally's attitude.  Sadly, Betty is not confident in her role as Sally's mother to know that she'll always need her.

The consequences of Lane's embezzlement have finally caught up with him.  The whole time he was writing that check, I thought about how he should just ask for it.  But he made his bed, and Don sternly made him lie in it.  When he arrived home to find his wife had bought him a car, this irony is something that happens in real life.  Even though you think you've hit bottom, you can still go lower.  Even his first attempt at suicide didn't work.  Unfortunately, Lane did find a way to kill himself at the office.  He chose the permanent solution to a temporary situation.  Everything in life is temporary, and he could have started over. Don knows this.

Joan found Lane in his office, but Don is the one who knew a man couldn't be left like that.  I wonder how Don is going to handle Lane's choice in this situation.  From the previews, you can usually never tell what's going to happen next.  But it looks like some letters arrive possibly revealing the indiscretions of the firm.  I really hope Lane didn't do that before he committed suicide, I wouldn't think he was that vengeful.  But oh what a revenge that would be.