The last netlet standing has announced their 2012-13 schedule, and it's pretty much what you'd expect from an outfit that targets teens and tweens.
What's back? What's not? Outside of the shows that were cancelled early in their runs, the two noteworthy cancellations were The Secret Circle and Ringer. Neither was especially surprising, though I thought Ringer might pick up a second season. Shows that have done worse were renewed.
What's New? Three new shows for the fall, two midseason debuts, and a fair amount of shuffling:
Monday sees 90210 move to 8 pm, with the final season of Gossip Girl following. Once that show wraps, we'll get The Carrie Diaries, aka Teen Sex and the City, which is about Carrie Bradshaw growing up in the 1980s. Looking forward to the Very Special Episode about her first herpes scare.
Tuesday goes medical with Hart of Dixie at a new day and time, followed by the new show Emily Owens, M.D., which sounds like Grey's Anatomy: The New Class. Honestly, it's about a new intern at a hospital who learns that it's pretty much like high school all over again. So it's Grey's without the angst. Snore.
Wednesday leads with Arrow, a drama about the Green Arrow. Well timed given the success of The Avengers, not sure if the archery guy is the best one to spin into a TV show. That's followed by Supernatural, which seems like a nice fit. Thought this might be the last season but apparently not, no talk of it that I could find.
Thursday returns The Vampire Diaries and follows it with a reboot of Beauty and the Beast. I suppose it's been long enough since the CBS version to give it another shot, and maybe nostalgic moms will watch with their daughters. It's not the worst idea the network's ever had.
Friday starts with a relocated America's Next Top Model, which to me seems like a vote of no confidence between the flagging ratings and the cutting loose of Nigel Barker, J. Alexander, and Jay Manuel. After that it's Nikita, which did reasonably well on Fridays this past season (by CW standards for Friday). I don't know if they're a natural pair, but I'm happy to see that the network isn't trying to put more model-related programming on to play off of ANTM.
Saturday and Sunday continue as nights for the local affiliates to program, probably the smartest thing The CW has ever done.
Elsewhere at midseason you already know about The Carrie Diaries. The other show waiting in the wings is Cult, which is about a journalist whose brother claims that a TV show (also called Cult) is trying to hurt him. When the brother goes missing the journalist goes into action, and finds a production assistant on the show who is willing to help him uncover the darker side of the show and its rabid fans.
Summing up, I suppose it's a good thing that The CW has created thematic elements to each night, and that they're reasonably distinct (with the exception of Friday, whose theme seems to be "we need to put these shows someplace"). I do think that Tuesday may be a repetitive - the main difference in them seems to be that one is set at a hospital - but Monday's stew of gossip and sex seems to work for them, so maybe I'm making something out of this that isn't there. Anyway, nothing I'm really excited about but a seeming decent offering for the network's core viewers.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Upfronts: CBS
You know when you're in a good position? When your fall schedule has as many time changes as new shows. It's good to be the king.
What's back? What's not? While most of the shows CBS cut were known, we now know for certain that CSI: Miami and Unforgettable are done.The former had been rumored for some time, the latter a case of sliding ratings as the year progressed. A Gifted Man was cut as well, which I think was pretty much expected as well. Rules of Engagement is apparently still in limbo.
What's new? Not a great deal, only four new shows on the fall schedule.
Monday leads with How I Met Your Mother, which is followed by one of the new shows, Partners. Based on the lives of its creators, it has best friends - a no-nonsense architect and his more outgoing co-worker who is gay - whose relationship is tested when the straight one gets engaged. Not the most original territory, but based on the time slot I'm guessing CBS has a lot of confidence in it.
Two Broke Girls moves to 9, where it is followed by Mike & Molly, with Hawaii 5-0 wrapping the night.
Tuesday gives us the NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles double whammy, and wraps with the new drama Vegas, which tries to catch on to the Mad Men vibe by being based on the true story of Ralph Lamb, a rancher and sheriff in 1960s Las Vegas who has to use all of his experience to corral the growing crime and sleaze, most notably in taking on a mobster who just relocated from Chicago, played by Michael Chiklis. Pan Am and The Playboy Club are cautionary tales, but I'd like to think that those lessons are now learned and this turns out to be a good show.
Wednesday is all returning shows, Survivor, Criminal Minds, and the original CSI.
Thursday leads with The Big Bang Theory, which is followed by the relocated Two and a Half Men. Person of Interest follows, and at 10 pm we have the new show Elementary, which is apparently ripping off Masterpiece Mystery by giving us a modern day setting for Sherlock Holmes. He's also moved to New York (thanks to a drug-fueled falling out in London), and his Dr. Watson is an addiction specialist (now without license) played by Lucy Liu. This could be great, but it could also crash and burn.
Friday leads with CSI: NY, which is followed by new show Made in Jersey, about a lawyer from a working class background who uses her street smarts to succeed where her colleagues can only rely on their Ivy League pedigrees. Meh. The night ends with Blue Bloods.
Saturday continues the them from Friday with two hours of Crimetime Saturday and an hour of 48 Hours Mystery.
Sunday brings back the usual lineup of 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race, and The Good Wife. At 10 we have The Mentalist, creating yet another solid night of programming.
Elsewhere at midseason you have a drama called Golden Boy about the youngest commissioner in NYPD history and how he got to the top post. On the comedy side there's Friend Me, where friends from Indiana move to LA and take different paths to making friends (one in person, on online). One posts a notice for new friends at a coffee house, with the expected results. There's also a reality show, The Job, where contestants try to get hired by major companies, kind of a hybrid of The Apprentice and Shark Tank.
Summing up, CBS benefits from being out in front. They don't have to roll out as many new shows, and they can move around existing ones to build strength. That being said, they're also taking some risks with the new shows (Elementary and Vegas, for example), which will set them up for years if they're done right.
What's back? What's not? While most of the shows CBS cut were known, we now know for certain that CSI: Miami and Unforgettable are done.The former had been rumored for some time, the latter a case of sliding ratings as the year progressed. A Gifted Man was cut as well, which I think was pretty much expected as well. Rules of Engagement is apparently still in limbo.
What's new? Not a great deal, only four new shows on the fall schedule.
Monday leads with How I Met Your Mother, which is followed by one of the new shows, Partners. Based on the lives of its creators, it has best friends - a no-nonsense architect and his more outgoing co-worker who is gay - whose relationship is tested when the straight one gets engaged. Not the most original territory, but based on the time slot I'm guessing CBS has a lot of confidence in it.
Two Broke Girls moves to 9, where it is followed by Mike & Molly, with Hawaii 5-0 wrapping the night.
Tuesday gives us the NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles double whammy, and wraps with the new drama Vegas, which tries to catch on to the Mad Men vibe by being based on the true story of Ralph Lamb, a rancher and sheriff in 1960s Las Vegas who has to use all of his experience to corral the growing crime and sleaze, most notably in taking on a mobster who just relocated from Chicago, played by Michael Chiklis. Pan Am and The Playboy Club are cautionary tales, but I'd like to think that those lessons are now learned and this turns out to be a good show.
Wednesday is all returning shows, Survivor, Criminal Minds, and the original CSI.
Thursday leads with The Big Bang Theory, which is followed by the relocated Two and a Half Men. Person of Interest follows, and at 10 pm we have the new show Elementary, which is apparently ripping off Masterpiece Mystery by giving us a modern day setting for Sherlock Holmes. He's also moved to New York (thanks to a drug-fueled falling out in London), and his Dr. Watson is an addiction specialist (now without license) played by Lucy Liu. This could be great, but it could also crash and burn.
Friday leads with CSI: NY, which is followed by new show Made in Jersey, about a lawyer from a working class background who uses her street smarts to succeed where her colleagues can only rely on their Ivy League pedigrees. Meh. The night ends with Blue Bloods.
Saturday continues the them from Friday with two hours of Crimetime Saturday and an hour of 48 Hours Mystery.
Sunday brings back the usual lineup of 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race, and The Good Wife. At 10 we have The Mentalist, creating yet another solid night of programming.
Elsewhere at midseason you have a drama called Golden Boy about the youngest commissioner in NYPD history and how he got to the top post. On the comedy side there's Friend Me, where friends from Indiana move to LA and take different paths to making friends (one in person, on online). One posts a notice for new friends at a coffee house, with the expected results. There's also a reality show, The Job, where contestants try to get hired by major companies, kind of a hybrid of The Apprentice and Shark Tank.
Summing up, CBS benefits from being out in front. They don't have to roll out as many new shows, and they can move around existing ones to build strength. That being said, they're also taking some risks with the new shows (Elementary and Vegas, for example), which will set them up for years if they're done right.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Upfronts: ABC
A little retooling with ABC, but not too much.
What's Back? What's Not? ABC brought back two mideason shows - Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23 and Scandal, but not The River or GCB (or, as we're still thankful for, Work It). Pan Am got the expected axe as well, not sure why the network let it linger for as long as it did. There's no Cougar Town, either, but it's hardly surprising as the news has been out for a while that it's likely heading to TBS.
What's New? There appear to be seven new shows on the schedule, evenly mixed between comedy and drama.
Monday brings nothing new, with two hours of Dancing With the Stars (fall) and The Bachelor (spring) leading into Castle. Boring but steady performers, as long as the bottom doesn't drop out of either reality show.
Tuesday leads with the DWTS results show, which leads into relocated Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23 at 9, with Private Practice taking the 10 pm slot. Private Practice seems to have settled in to its slot, but there's talk this might be the show's final season (with only 13 episodes ordered to boot).
Two new sitcoms replace the results show in the spring. The first is How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life), which stars Sarah Chalke as a single mom who moves back in with her parents (played by Elizabeth Perkins and Brad Garrett). Cross-generational hilarity will hopefully ensue. The other show is The Family Tools, about a son who takes over a handyman business from his ailing dad (J.K. Simmons, apparently getting comedy cred for his Farmers Insurance ads), and the family that's waiting for the son to fail based on his shaky employment history. I'm catching a bit of an Arrested Development vibe from the press release, which might be worth something if (a) the show actually shares this vibe, and (b) the actual Arrested Development wasn't coming back (even if just to Netflix).
Interesting sitcom battle brewing on Tuesdays,especially between the two hour blocks here and on Fox.
Wednesday starts with three returning sitcoms - The Middle, Suburgatory, and Modern Family. At 10 pm we have Nashville, an All About Eve-inspired drama where an established country music star waning in popularity (Connie Britton) is set up to tour with an up and coming singer (Hayden Panettiere) in an attempt to use the newcomer's fanbase to reinvigorate her own. The newbie, of course, sees this as her opportunity to grab the spotlight and take her place as a top performer. There's also subplots involving a songwriter and the established singer's father, who is a powerful figure in Tennessee business and politics. This could work out pretty well given the cast (the dad is played by Powers Boothe, who will hopefully be as brooding and menacing as he was on 24). It can't do any worse than the last network show called Nashville.
In between all of this at 9:30 is The Neighbors. A family moves into a gated community in New Jersey that almost never has openings (the last one was 10 years ago). Once they move in, they notice some strange things involving their neighbors, such as they all have pro athlete names. A dinner party reveals the truth: the community is made up of aliens, and the new family is the first real interaction they've had with Earthlings. Wackiness ensues as we learn about the differences (men have the babies!) and, of course, just how similar we all are.
There's high concept, and then there's geostationary orbit concept.
Thursday starts with Last Resort, a Crimson Tide meets Lost affair, where a US submarine is told to fire its nuclear missiles at Pakistan, but both the captain and the XO refuse to fire without confirmation. The sub is then fired upon, and is forced to limp to a remote island, where the crew disembarks and sets up shop while trying to figure out just what is going on.
And Andre Braugher is playing the captain? I'm in.
Grey's Anatomy returns at 9, and Scandal keeps the 10 pm slot it started in.
Should be a solid night, but once again ABC puts a show at the 8 pm hour that doesn't quite sync with the rest of the night (past examples: Flash Forward and My Generation). Third time's the charm?
Friday starts the season with Shark Tank, Primetime: What Would You Do?, and 20/20. In November, 20/20 drops off the schedule, the other two shows move one hour later, and we get sitcoms in the 8 pm hour. The first is Last Man Standing, which I expect will suffer from the move. It's followed by Malibu Country, where the freshly divorced wife (Reba, who now only goes by Reba? Did I miss her ditching her last name?) of a country music legend gathers her family and moves to Southern California to jump start her own musical career, which she put on hold to raise a family. Lily Tomlin plays her mom, and Sara Rue her new Malibu neighbor. Could be family friendly, I suppose.
Saturday brings college football, until there is no more college football, at which point we'll get reruns or dead air or something.
Sunday kick off, as it has since the Clinton administration, with America's Funniest Home Videos. This is followed by Once Upon a Time and Revenge (which seems appropriately sudsy, if a little darker, than Desperate Housewives). The 10 pm hour is taken by the new drama 666 Park Avenue, the street address of an apartment building whose residents can meet their highest (or lowest) goals, ambitions and desires, just so long as they meet the demands of the building's owner (Terry O'Quinn) and his wife (Vanessa Williams). The nature of this arrangement becomes clear when a new couple moves to New York to manage the building. Sounds like a more demonic spin on Fantasy Island, but I'll tune in just to see if O'Quinn can channel the undead John Locke.
Elsewhere at midseason Body of Proof will fit in somewhere. There's also a US version of Mistresses, widow takes on the mob drama Red Widow, and a Da Vinci Code/National Treasure clone called Zero Hour that I admit I will watch because I'm a giant nerd.
Summing up. I imagine ABC will do reasonably well as long as the veteran series hold up. At least a couple of the new dramas seem promising, making up for the sitcoms, which don't sound like much to me.
What's Back? What's Not? ABC brought back two mideason shows - Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23 and Scandal, but not The River or GCB (or, as we're still thankful for, Work It). Pan Am got the expected axe as well, not sure why the network let it linger for as long as it did. There's no Cougar Town, either, but it's hardly surprising as the news has been out for a while that it's likely heading to TBS.
What's New? There appear to be seven new shows on the schedule, evenly mixed between comedy and drama.
Monday brings nothing new, with two hours of Dancing With the Stars (fall) and The Bachelor (spring) leading into Castle. Boring but steady performers, as long as the bottom doesn't drop out of either reality show.
Tuesday leads with the DWTS results show, which leads into relocated Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23 at 9, with Private Practice taking the 10 pm slot. Private Practice seems to have settled in to its slot, but there's talk this might be the show's final season (with only 13 episodes ordered to boot).
Two new sitcoms replace the results show in the spring. The first is How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life), which stars Sarah Chalke as a single mom who moves back in with her parents (played by Elizabeth Perkins and Brad Garrett). Cross-generational hilarity will hopefully ensue. The other show is The Family Tools, about a son who takes over a handyman business from his ailing dad (J.K. Simmons, apparently getting comedy cred for his Farmers Insurance ads), and the family that's waiting for the son to fail based on his shaky employment history. I'm catching a bit of an Arrested Development vibe from the press release, which might be worth something if (a) the show actually shares this vibe, and (b) the actual Arrested Development wasn't coming back (even if just to Netflix).
Interesting sitcom battle brewing on Tuesdays,especially between the two hour blocks here and on Fox.
Wednesday starts with three returning sitcoms - The Middle, Suburgatory, and Modern Family. At 10 pm we have Nashville, an All About Eve-inspired drama where an established country music star waning in popularity (Connie Britton) is set up to tour with an up and coming singer (Hayden Panettiere) in an attempt to use the newcomer's fanbase to reinvigorate her own. The newbie, of course, sees this as her opportunity to grab the spotlight and take her place as a top performer. There's also subplots involving a songwriter and the established singer's father, who is a powerful figure in Tennessee business and politics. This could work out pretty well given the cast (the dad is played by Powers Boothe, who will hopefully be as brooding and menacing as he was on 24). It can't do any worse than the last network show called Nashville.
In between all of this at 9:30 is The Neighbors. A family moves into a gated community in New Jersey that almost never has openings (the last one was 10 years ago). Once they move in, they notice some strange things involving their neighbors, such as they all have pro athlete names. A dinner party reveals the truth: the community is made up of aliens, and the new family is the first real interaction they've had with Earthlings. Wackiness ensues as we learn about the differences (men have the babies!) and, of course, just how similar we all are.
There's high concept, and then there's geostationary orbit concept.
Thursday starts with Last Resort, a Crimson Tide meets Lost affair, where a US submarine is told to fire its nuclear missiles at Pakistan, but both the captain and the XO refuse to fire without confirmation. The sub is then fired upon, and is forced to limp to a remote island, where the crew disembarks and sets up shop while trying to figure out just what is going on.
And Andre Braugher is playing the captain? I'm in.
Grey's Anatomy returns at 9, and Scandal keeps the 10 pm slot it started in.
Should be a solid night, but once again ABC puts a show at the 8 pm hour that doesn't quite sync with the rest of the night (past examples: Flash Forward and My Generation). Third time's the charm?
Friday starts the season with Shark Tank, Primetime: What Would You Do?, and 20/20. In November, 20/20 drops off the schedule, the other two shows move one hour later, and we get sitcoms in the 8 pm hour. The first is Last Man Standing, which I expect will suffer from the move. It's followed by Malibu Country, where the freshly divorced wife (Reba, who now only goes by Reba? Did I miss her ditching her last name?) of a country music legend gathers her family and moves to Southern California to jump start her own musical career, which she put on hold to raise a family. Lily Tomlin plays her mom, and Sara Rue her new Malibu neighbor. Could be family friendly, I suppose.
Saturday brings college football, until there is no more college football, at which point we'll get reruns or dead air or something.
Sunday kick off, as it has since the Clinton administration, with America's Funniest Home Videos. This is followed by Once Upon a Time and Revenge (which seems appropriately sudsy, if a little darker, than Desperate Housewives). The 10 pm hour is taken by the new drama 666 Park Avenue, the street address of an apartment building whose residents can meet their highest (or lowest) goals, ambitions and desires, just so long as they meet the demands of the building's owner (Terry O'Quinn) and his wife (Vanessa Williams). The nature of this arrangement becomes clear when a new couple moves to New York to manage the building. Sounds like a more demonic spin on Fantasy Island, but I'll tune in just to see if O'Quinn can channel the undead John Locke.
Elsewhere at midseason Body of Proof will fit in somewhere. There's also a US version of Mistresses, widow takes on the mob drama Red Widow, and a Da Vinci Code/National Treasure clone called Zero Hour that I admit I will watch because I'm a giant nerd.
Summing up. I imagine ABC will do reasonably well as long as the veteran series hold up. At least a couple of the new dramas seem promising, making up for the sitcoms, which don't sound like much to me.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Upfronts: Fox
I hate it when two networks present on the same day, especially if one of them is not The CW. You could dispense with them in about an hour over lunch at Zabar's. Seriously, journalists, suck it up and fly our Friday night. Anyway:
What's back? What's not? No huge surprises, among the returning are New Girl, Touch, and The X-Factor are back for new shows. Mobbed is back, which I guess is a surprise as I know anything about it. Most of the cancellations were known in advance, and include House, Alcatraz, Allan Gregory, Breaking In, The Finder, Terra Nova and I Hate My Teenaged Daughter.
What's new? Mostly drama, and some relocated returning shows.
Monday opens with Bones, which leads into new show The Mob Doctor, which is pretty much what it sounds like. A doctor (Jordan Spiro of My Boys) plays a doctor who has to balance her practice with honoring a family debt to a South Side Chicago outfit. That gets replaced at midseason with The Following, which stars Kevin Bacon as an ex-FBI agent brought out of retirement to track a serial killer. The show is also created by Kevin Williamson, for what that's worth. Neither concept is particularly interesting, but if handled correctly both could be done quite well. Bacon's presence will certainly help.
Tuesday will pose a problem for NBC and its plan to focus on the 9 o'clock hour. The opening hour will be reasonably strong with Raising Hope (which then has to hope that mismatched sibling sitcom Ben and Kate will hold on to enough of its lead in). At 9 we get New Girl to start things, and following that is The Mindy Project, created by and starring Mindy Kaling. She plays an OB/GYN who is trying to have it all, and failing in hopefully comedic ways. I have more faith in Kaling to pull of this Bridget Jones-style sitcom than I would with most people. It also seems like a good pairing with New Girl, both in terms of having a strong lead-in and with what I'm think the tone would be like. Maybe NBC will find that these are too female centered and have their shows flourish with guys. Not counting on it.
Wednesday will have The X-Factor (with new judges Demi Lovato and Britney Spears) in the fall and American Idol in the spring. Makes sense, and avoids any direct competition with The Voice.
Thursday will start with results shows for whichever singing program is airing on Wednesday, followed by Glee. Not sure how I feel about the move. The execs at Fox apparently wanted a four show comedy block and preferred to have it on Tuesday. That part of things I understand. Pushing Glee into what might be the most competitive hour of prime time TV I don't. Ratings flagged this season, and the current season's been pretty uneven. The folks at Fox see a chance for creative renewal based on current characters graduating and new ones joining New Directors. I just hope that (a) the show doesn't start to split time between McKinley and the grads, and (b) we aren't forced to spend even more time with people who appeared on The Glee Project.
Friday has Touch leading into the final season of Fringe. While moving to Friday is generally seen as the kiss of death, Fox sees this as an opportunity for Touch to morph into Fringe's model of success through DVR viewing (something like 70 percent of Fringe viewers time shift). From a personal standpoint, I think it's a good idea, as we DVR almost nothing on Fridays, so there's one fewer conflict to deal with.
Hell's Kitchen picks up for Fringe once it's done. Sensible, I suppose, as some of the contestants appear to be from Neptune.
Saturday offers us something called Fox Sports Saturday, which I'm guessing will feature bear bating and foxy boxing.
Sunday returns all of the animation block from last year.
Elsewhere at midseason we have The Goodwill Games, a sitcom about three siblings who reconnect after their dad dies, only to learn that their inheritance will only pay out if they stick to rules set by their dad before he died. Sounds like a laugh fest.
To sum up, I think Fox is in pretty good shape. There are strong shows mixed with the new, and each night has a theme, be it comedy, music, or "OMG, it's Kevin Bacon!"
What's back? What's not? No huge surprises, among the returning are New Girl, Touch, and The X-Factor are back for new shows. Mobbed is back, which I guess is a surprise as I know anything about it. Most of the cancellations were known in advance, and include House, Alcatraz, Allan Gregory, Breaking In, The Finder, Terra Nova and I Hate My Teenaged Daughter.
What's new? Mostly drama, and some relocated returning shows.
Monday opens with Bones, which leads into new show The Mob Doctor, which is pretty much what it sounds like. A doctor (Jordan Spiro of My Boys) plays a doctor who has to balance her practice with honoring a family debt to a South Side Chicago outfit. That gets replaced at midseason with The Following, which stars Kevin Bacon as an ex-FBI agent brought out of retirement to track a serial killer. The show is also created by Kevin Williamson, for what that's worth. Neither concept is particularly interesting, but if handled correctly both could be done quite well. Bacon's presence will certainly help.
Tuesday will pose a problem for NBC and its plan to focus on the 9 o'clock hour. The opening hour will be reasonably strong with Raising Hope (which then has to hope that mismatched sibling sitcom Ben and Kate will hold on to enough of its lead in). At 9 we get New Girl to start things, and following that is The Mindy Project, created by and starring Mindy Kaling. She plays an OB/GYN who is trying to have it all, and failing in hopefully comedic ways. I have more faith in Kaling to pull of this Bridget Jones-style sitcom than I would with most people. It also seems like a good pairing with New Girl, both in terms of having a strong lead-in and with what I'm think the tone would be like. Maybe NBC will find that these are too female centered and have their shows flourish with guys. Not counting on it.
Wednesday will have The X-Factor (with new judges Demi Lovato and Britney Spears) in the fall and American Idol in the spring. Makes sense, and avoids any direct competition with The Voice.
Thursday will start with results shows for whichever singing program is airing on Wednesday, followed by Glee. Not sure how I feel about the move. The execs at Fox apparently wanted a four show comedy block and preferred to have it on Tuesday. That part of things I understand. Pushing Glee into what might be the most competitive hour of prime time TV I don't. Ratings flagged this season, and the current season's been pretty uneven. The folks at Fox see a chance for creative renewal based on current characters graduating and new ones joining New Directors. I just hope that (a) the show doesn't start to split time between McKinley and the grads, and (b) we aren't forced to spend even more time with people who appeared on The Glee Project.
Friday has Touch leading into the final season of Fringe. While moving to Friday is generally seen as the kiss of death, Fox sees this as an opportunity for Touch to morph into Fringe's model of success through DVR viewing (something like 70 percent of Fringe viewers time shift). From a personal standpoint, I think it's a good idea, as we DVR almost nothing on Fridays, so there's one fewer conflict to deal with.
Hell's Kitchen picks up for Fringe once it's done. Sensible, I suppose, as some of the contestants appear to be from Neptune.
Saturday offers us something called Fox Sports Saturday, which I'm guessing will feature bear bating and foxy boxing.
Sunday returns all of the animation block from last year.
Elsewhere at midseason we have The Goodwill Games, a sitcom about three siblings who reconnect after their dad dies, only to learn that their inheritance will only pay out if they stick to rules set by their dad before he died. Sounds like a laugh fest.
To sum up, I think Fox is in pretty good shape. There are strong shows mixed with the new, and each night has a theme, be it comedy, music, or "OMG, it's Kevin Bacon!"
Upfronts: NBC
The TV silly season kicks off in earnest today, as NBC starts off the week of network upfronts where the hope is that advertisers, excited by the announcement of the planned 2012-13 prime time lineup, will snap up ad space. I don't get the sense that there'll be a lot of snapping for the Peacock.
What's back? What's not? The biggest surprises for me were the return of Whitney and the cancellation of Harry's Law. The former is a modest performer at best. which the latter was able to hold its own (if not rule) on Sunday nights. But as is so often the case, a show that performs modestly but pulls in younger viewers will get more of a break than one that skews older.
There are a bunch of reality/competition programs (The Biggest Loser, The Apprentice, Who Do You Think You Are?, The Sing-Off) that are not yet scheduled. But Fashion Star, which has not impressed, is back.
Kind of sad to see that Awake didn't make the cut, as I enjoyed its inventive approach, but hardly unexpected. And given the direction NBC is going in, I'd feel pretty badly if you're involved with Are You There, Chelsea?, Bent, or Best Friends Forever.
What's new? And the reason for feeling badly is that NBC is littering the schedule with comedy, strewing sitcoms over four nights of the week. The odds were in your favor if you could get a sitcom on the network, really. There's also likely some concern about replacing some of the older sitcoms, as we'll see as we go day by day:
Monday opens with The Voice, which has now proven itself enough to the network that they can run it into the ground. After two hours of singing, we turn to the latest J.J. Abrams offering, Revolution, which follows what happens if we all of a sudden no longer had electricity. It sounds a bit like the Emberverse series of sci-fi/fantasy novels by S. M. Stirling, just with less bloodshed and Wiccans, or like The Walking Dead without zombies (to which I'd say: why?). Still, I tend to give Abrams a chance (kind of liked Alcatraz).
Tuesday bring us another hour of The Voice, followed by two new sitcoms, Go On and The New Normal. Depending on your age, these will feel pretty familiar, as Go On is pretty much a reboot of Dear John and The New Normal a rip-off of Modern Family. The former starts Matthew Perry, while the latter comes from Ryan Murphy, who brought us Glee. So there's at least an outside chance that these won't suck. The night ends with Parenthood, which I'd kind of forgotten was still on.
Wednesday starts with Animal Practice, which is about a gifted but unorthodox veteranarian who works at an animal hospital now run by his ex-girlfriend, who knows business but not animals. Strange premise, I have to say, but I suppose there's an unchecked box somewhere that an animal-based office/rom-com fills. The other show is Guys With Kids, which is the billionth sitcom premised on guys trying to stay guyish while doing girlie things, like raising kids. The press release promises a scene of guys wearing Baby Bjorns to the bar, which seems about right for a show created by Jimmy Fallon.
After the 232rd season of Law & Order: SVU, we get Chicago Fire, also from Dick Wolf. As you might guess, it's about the men and women who staff a fire house in Chicago. Jesse Spencer - Chase from House - stars. Even with the Wolf pedigree I'm dubious, as firefighting shows never really work out (or perhaps I should say network firefighter shows thanks to Rescue Me).
Thursday offers a veteran line-up of 30 Rock, Up All Night, The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Rock Center. It's the last season for 30 Rock (though there was some loose talk by the NBC Entertainment head that it wasn't), could be the last season for The Office as well as the pace picks up on a Dwight-themed spinoff. Unsure why Rock Center gets the plum 10 pm spot here. Guessing it's counter-programming.
Friday starts with what is easily the biggest surprise on their schedule - Whitney. There's nothing about the show that screams renewal - ratings were easily as tepid as the other returning sitcoms, and it has none of the critical appeal of the others - but here it is. It's paired with Community, and while it's great to have that show back at all, it has to hurt to be on Friday and following what I would consider a lesser show. Even worse, Dan Harmon may be leaving, at least in part due to a falling out with Chevy Chase. Personally, I think you keep Harmon and send Chase packing, but it's obviously not that easy.
Grimm returns at 9 - the first of what will be many genre shows on Friday - and Dateline rolls along at 10.
Saturday is reruns and burn-offs. Enjoy.
Sunday is still Football Night in America, at least until January. Once the NFL wraps we get Dateline to start the night, the double whammy of Fashion Star and The Apprentice to take up the 8 and 9 o'clock hours, and then what might be the most interesting new offering at 10, Do No Harm. It's a modern version of the Jekyll and Hyde story, which strikes me as a little dark and serious for Sunday nights (at least on network). Personally, I'd put this show on Thursday, move Rock Center to Tuesdays and put Parenthood here, assuming they could all start at the new days and times. Of course, Do No Harm might suck and leave a big hole on Thursdays. OK, bigger hole.
Elsewhere at midseason I'd keep an eye out for Hannibal, a drama about the famed Carthaginian general and statesman. OK, it's a TV version of the Hannibal Lecter story, but wouldn't it be great if it was a historical drama in the style of Rome? Instead, we get this attempt to grab at Dexter's audience.
Among the midseason sitcoms worth noting are Next Caller, starring Dane Cook as some sort of shock jock who gets paired with (and I quote the press release) a "chipper NPR feminist." Ugh. There's also 1600 Penn, a family sitcom where the dad just happens to be the President. Bill Pullman stars, and I think I'd rather see Houston get vaporized under his watch again than see this.
To sum up, NBC's continued attempt to rebuild doesn't do much for me. Rebuilding around comedy is an idea only as good as the shows, and I don't think they're strong enough, especially if Whitney is one of the shows you're going to war with.
What's back? What's not? The biggest surprises for me were the return of Whitney and the cancellation of Harry's Law. The former is a modest performer at best. which the latter was able to hold its own (if not rule) on Sunday nights. But as is so often the case, a show that performs modestly but pulls in younger viewers will get more of a break than one that skews older.
There are a bunch of reality/competition programs (The Biggest Loser, The Apprentice, Who Do You Think You Are?, The Sing-Off) that are not yet scheduled. But Fashion Star, which has not impressed, is back.
Kind of sad to see that Awake didn't make the cut, as I enjoyed its inventive approach, but hardly unexpected. And given the direction NBC is going in, I'd feel pretty badly if you're involved with Are You There, Chelsea?, Bent, or Best Friends Forever.
What's new? And the reason for feeling badly is that NBC is littering the schedule with comedy, strewing sitcoms over four nights of the week. The odds were in your favor if you could get a sitcom on the network, really. There's also likely some concern about replacing some of the older sitcoms, as we'll see as we go day by day:
Monday opens with The Voice, which has now proven itself enough to the network that they can run it into the ground. After two hours of singing, we turn to the latest J.J. Abrams offering, Revolution, which follows what happens if we all of a sudden no longer had electricity. It sounds a bit like the Emberverse series of sci-fi/fantasy novels by S. M. Stirling, just with less bloodshed and Wiccans, or like The Walking Dead without zombies (to which I'd say: why?). Still, I tend to give Abrams a chance (kind of liked Alcatraz).
Tuesday bring us another hour of The Voice, followed by two new sitcoms, Go On and The New Normal. Depending on your age, these will feel pretty familiar, as Go On is pretty much a reboot of Dear John and The New Normal a rip-off of Modern Family. The former starts Matthew Perry, while the latter comes from Ryan Murphy, who brought us Glee. So there's at least an outside chance that these won't suck. The night ends with Parenthood, which I'd kind of forgotten was still on.
Wednesday starts with Animal Practice, which is about a gifted but unorthodox veteranarian who works at an animal hospital now run by his ex-girlfriend, who knows business but not animals. Strange premise, I have to say, but I suppose there's an unchecked box somewhere that an animal-based office/rom-com fills. The other show is Guys With Kids, which is the billionth sitcom premised on guys trying to stay guyish while doing girlie things, like raising kids. The press release promises a scene of guys wearing Baby Bjorns to the bar, which seems about right for a show created by Jimmy Fallon.
After the 232rd season of Law & Order: SVU, we get Chicago Fire, also from Dick Wolf. As you might guess, it's about the men and women who staff a fire house in Chicago. Jesse Spencer - Chase from House - stars. Even with the Wolf pedigree I'm dubious, as firefighting shows never really work out (or perhaps I should say network firefighter shows thanks to Rescue Me).
Thursday offers a veteran line-up of 30 Rock, Up All Night, The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Rock Center. It's the last season for 30 Rock (though there was some loose talk by the NBC Entertainment head that it wasn't), could be the last season for The Office as well as the pace picks up on a Dwight-themed spinoff. Unsure why Rock Center gets the plum 10 pm spot here. Guessing it's counter-programming.
Friday starts with what is easily the biggest surprise on their schedule - Whitney. There's nothing about the show that screams renewal - ratings were easily as tepid as the other returning sitcoms, and it has none of the critical appeal of the others - but here it is. It's paired with Community, and while it's great to have that show back at all, it has to hurt to be on Friday and following what I would consider a lesser show. Even worse, Dan Harmon may be leaving, at least in part due to a falling out with Chevy Chase. Personally, I think you keep Harmon and send Chase packing, but it's obviously not that easy.
Grimm returns at 9 - the first of what will be many genre shows on Friday - and Dateline rolls along at 10.
Saturday is reruns and burn-offs. Enjoy.
Sunday is still Football Night in America, at least until January. Once the NFL wraps we get Dateline to start the night, the double whammy of Fashion Star and The Apprentice to take up the 8 and 9 o'clock hours, and then what might be the most interesting new offering at 10, Do No Harm. It's a modern version of the Jekyll and Hyde story, which strikes me as a little dark and serious for Sunday nights (at least on network). Personally, I'd put this show on Thursday, move Rock Center to Tuesdays and put Parenthood here, assuming they could all start at the new days and times. Of course, Do No Harm might suck and leave a big hole on Thursdays. OK, bigger hole.
Elsewhere at midseason I'd keep an eye out for Hannibal, a drama about the famed Carthaginian general and statesman. OK, it's a TV version of the Hannibal Lecter story, but wouldn't it be great if it was a historical drama in the style of Rome? Instead, we get this attempt to grab at Dexter's audience.
Among the midseason sitcoms worth noting are Next Caller, starring Dane Cook as some sort of shock jock who gets paired with (and I quote the press release) a "chipper NPR feminist." Ugh. There's also 1600 Penn, a family sitcom where the dad just happens to be the President. Bill Pullman stars, and I think I'd rather see Houston get vaporized under his watch again than see this.
To sum up, NBC's continued attempt to rebuild doesn't do much for me. Rebuilding around comedy is an idea only as good as the shows, and I don't think they're strong enough, especially if Whitney is one of the shows you're going to war with.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men
Three Up
3. Jane Sterling. She's getting a new apartment after asking Roger to move her out of their old place (whose landlord is Roger's mom), with a minimum of fuss. She also accompanies Roger to a business dinner with the folks behind Manischewitz, and may have found her new beau in the owner's son, who takes a shine to her. She does get the new apartment, but when she hooks up with Roger after the dinner she feels that the apartment is tainted. So not a great way to end, but she may still be up more than others in this episode.
2. Michael Ginsburg. Don stops by Ginzo's desk to turn off a light and then sees a folder full of ideas for Snowball, which they're pitching shortly. The quality and quantity of ideas gets Don back to work, but his idea (involving a devil) takes a bit of a back seat to Ginzo's idea (disliked people getting an actual snowball in the face). Don leaves Ginzo's pitch in the cab and his idea is bought. Ginzo learns about this from Harry, and confronts Don about this in the elevator. Don tries to treat him like an underling, but it's clear that Ginzo has the moral highground (and, in this case, the better idea). Ginzo also gets hired to work on the Manischewitz pitch, and while that's purposeful (being Jewish) and more of a set up for Peggy to confront Roger once she learns of the secret work, it's also a further indication that Ginzo is on the rise at SCDP. He just may be his own worst enemy.
1. Sally Draper. A good episode of growth for Sally, as she allows herself to get talked into bringing up Anna Draper to Megan by Betty, who wants to cause a rift to make herself feel better (more on this later). This does lead Sally to be rude towards Megan, who tries to explain Anna and Don as best she can. Sally later gets a talking to from Don that both explains Anna and sets Sally straight on why Betty had her ask Megan about Anna, and how Sally can address the situation like the young adult she claims to be. Sally appears to get this, and in the end she thwarts Betty's plan and gets an A+ on the family tree project that started the whole thing. She also gets a little dig in on Betty over Thanksgiving dinner that's subtle enough that I don't think anyone noticed.
Three Down
3. Don Draper. He's feeling threatened by Ginzo, and while he can pull rank (claiming taking in more than one idea is a sign of weakness, etc.), it doesn't change the fact that he pulled his first late night in ages after seeing the wealth of ideas that Ginzo worked up for Snowball. Don also has to sail some troubled family waters with the whole Anna thing, and while it gives him occasion to snap at both Megan (for addressing the issue at all) and Sally (for being Betty's pawn), he does at least manage to do the right thing (more or less) in both cases. The loss here is that he's not only seeing how the tobacco letter has hurt business, but that he now has a very talented underling who could make Don more like Roger if things don't change.
2. Megan Draper. Professional and personal issues for Megan, as she reads through a part with a friend for Dark Shadows, and when Megan knocks the material for being crap, the friend notes that she can afford to be picky, as she doesn't have to wait tables between gigs. Megan takes offense at the suggestion she's not as committed to acting, but the truth at the core - that she can live off of Don - hits home. That the friend later gets the part and wants to celebrate over Thanksgiving dinner just piles on. The whole Anna Draper issue puts Megan in a tough position relative to Sally and Don, and while she tries gamely to breeze over the issue, Sally accuses Megan of lying (which is even worse when you consider that Sally really relies of Megan to tell the truth, as neither Don nor Betty can be counted on doing so). It apparently works out in the end, but the whole thing shows the thin line Megan has to walk with the kids.
1. Betty Francis. The show opens with Betty putting together her sad looking diet breakfast - half a grapefruit, a piece of toast and some cubes of cheese - and it appears her weekly visits to Weight Watchers may not always go as well as she'd like. They do help her sort out some personal issues, but in her usual way she later addresses them inappropriately. After seeing Megan in her bra and then reading a note Don left Megan that Bobby later used to doodle on, Betty obviously feels pain at no longer being young and thin, or having a husband who would write loving notes when he goes out to buy light bulbs. So she casually mentions Anna to Sally and hopes for the worst. When that doesn't happen, she just feels worse about herself. The coup de grace is Thanksgiving, with her sad little plate of food, each piece of which she apparently needs to chew very thoroughly. We are clearly heading towards a winter of Betty's discontent.
3. Jane Sterling. She's getting a new apartment after asking Roger to move her out of their old place (whose landlord is Roger's mom), with a minimum of fuss. She also accompanies Roger to a business dinner with the folks behind Manischewitz, and may have found her new beau in the owner's son, who takes a shine to her. She does get the new apartment, but when she hooks up with Roger after the dinner she feels that the apartment is tainted. So not a great way to end, but she may still be up more than others in this episode.
2. Michael Ginsburg. Don stops by Ginzo's desk to turn off a light and then sees a folder full of ideas for Snowball, which they're pitching shortly. The quality and quantity of ideas gets Don back to work, but his idea (involving a devil) takes a bit of a back seat to Ginzo's idea (disliked people getting an actual snowball in the face). Don leaves Ginzo's pitch in the cab and his idea is bought. Ginzo learns about this from Harry, and confronts Don about this in the elevator. Don tries to treat him like an underling, but it's clear that Ginzo has the moral highground (and, in this case, the better idea). Ginzo also gets hired to work on the Manischewitz pitch, and while that's purposeful (being Jewish) and more of a set up for Peggy to confront Roger once she learns of the secret work, it's also a further indication that Ginzo is on the rise at SCDP. He just may be his own worst enemy.
1. Sally Draper. A good episode of growth for Sally, as she allows herself to get talked into bringing up Anna Draper to Megan by Betty, who wants to cause a rift to make herself feel better (more on this later). This does lead Sally to be rude towards Megan, who tries to explain Anna and Don as best she can. Sally later gets a talking to from Don that both explains Anna and sets Sally straight on why Betty had her ask Megan about Anna, and how Sally can address the situation like the young adult she claims to be. Sally appears to get this, and in the end she thwarts Betty's plan and gets an A+ on the family tree project that started the whole thing. She also gets a little dig in on Betty over Thanksgiving dinner that's subtle enough that I don't think anyone noticed.
Three Down
3. Don Draper. He's feeling threatened by Ginzo, and while he can pull rank (claiming taking in more than one idea is a sign of weakness, etc.), it doesn't change the fact that he pulled his first late night in ages after seeing the wealth of ideas that Ginzo worked up for Snowball. Don also has to sail some troubled family waters with the whole Anna thing, and while it gives him occasion to snap at both Megan (for addressing the issue at all) and Sally (for being Betty's pawn), he does at least manage to do the right thing (more or less) in both cases. The loss here is that he's not only seeing how the tobacco letter has hurt business, but that he now has a very talented underling who could make Don more like Roger if things don't change.
2. Megan Draper. Professional and personal issues for Megan, as she reads through a part with a friend for Dark Shadows, and when Megan knocks the material for being crap, the friend notes that she can afford to be picky, as she doesn't have to wait tables between gigs. Megan takes offense at the suggestion she's not as committed to acting, but the truth at the core - that she can live off of Don - hits home. That the friend later gets the part and wants to celebrate over Thanksgiving dinner just piles on. The whole Anna Draper issue puts Megan in a tough position relative to Sally and Don, and while she tries gamely to breeze over the issue, Sally accuses Megan of lying (which is even worse when you consider that Sally really relies of Megan to tell the truth, as neither Don nor Betty can be counted on doing so). It apparently works out in the end, but the whole thing shows the thin line Megan has to walk with the kids.
1. Betty Francis. The show opens with Betty putting together her sad looking diet breakfast - half a grapefruit, a piece of toast and some cubes of cheese - and it appears her weekly visits to Weight Watchers may not always go as well as she'd like. They do help her sort out some personal issues, but in her usual way she later addresses them inappropriately. After seeing Megan in her bra and then reading a note Don left Megan that Bobby later used to doodle on, Betty obviously feels pain at no longer being young and thin, or having a husband who would write loving notes when he goes out to buy light bulbs. So she casually mentions Anna to Sally and hopes for the worst. When that doesn't happen, she just feels worse about herself. The coup de grace is Thanksgiving, with her sad little plate of food, each piece of which she apparently needs to chew very thoroughly. We are clearly heading towards a winter of Betty's discontent.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: The Killing
(Sorry I didn't get to this earlier in the week. Also sorry that I'm offering a blanket apology rather than personally apologizing to the three of you who'll read this.)
Three Up
3. Stan Larsen. After spending most of the season moping around and doing the wrong thing, Stan finally sets himself in the direction of the right thing by getting the public to remember his daughter and get justice done. It's not always pretty - his statement during Richmond's press conference goes off the rails at the end - but between this and throwing Terry out of the house, he's beginning to reassert himself.
2. Darren Richmond. He's back on the campaign trail, and when Gwen's attempt at getting Stan to make a statement via subterfuge (a plea deal she can't deliver, and which Stan wisely passes on until it's in writing), Richmond goes to the Larsen house and has a good conversation about wanting to find the killer and how Stan needs to get people to remember Rosie if they're not doing a good enough job themselves. He also tells Gwen he will tell the truth about what he was doing the night of the murder, which she's not thrilled about, but it never comes to pass that we see. He's not all the way back, but he's getting there.
1. Nicole Jackson. The chief of the Kalimish tribe and head of the Wapi Eagle casino, she's asserted from the start that Rosie, as a minor, couldn't be in the casino. When Linden confronts her later that there's proof she was in the casino, Jackson uses her clout (and the lack of Linden's jurisdiction) to get Linden removed from the casino. She's taking a more direct approach with Holder, and with the backing of Ames and the mayor, she has to feel pretty good that whatever secret she's hiding on the 10th floor of the hotel will remain safe.
Three Down
3. Terry Marek. One of the boys mentions that the cops talked to Terry, and when she can't explain to Stan what they wanted he presses and learns that the boyfriend that just threw her over was Michael Ames. She also mentions that she had a role (if not the sole role) in getting Rosie hooked up with Beau Soleil. This enrages Stan, and he throws her out. She's now more alone than she's been in the entire series.
2. Jack Linden. Jack is clearly enamored with the idea of staying with Holder for the foreseeable future, but then has to make do when he and his mom move into yet another hotel. After getting a list of increasingly paranoid orders from his mom, he hunkers down rather sullenly. We next see him in the room with men claiming to be from Child Protective Services, answering a call about Sarah's neglect (question: did the call come from Jack's dad or Nicole Jackson, and how did whoever call find them?). Jack then sneaks out of the bathroom window, and with Sarah (who faked a call), they run away. Sarah tries to comfort him, but Jack is in the passenger's seat, sad and angry and not wanting to talk to his mother at all. I would not want to be in that kid's head.
1. Stephen Holder. Things start off well for him - he's a gracious host and his book on butterflies gives Linden an idea about checking out the casino and surrounding land. Holder is sent into the casino to sniff out new construction, and gets a lead to check out the 10th floor from a male hooker (his second stop after getting set up with an elderly female hooker). He can't get on to the 10th floor, but gets another break when a maid gives him a matchbook, and when getting off the elevator says she hopes the family got Rosie's backpack back OK. The matchbook has the time and location of a meeting, though it's questionable Holder will show, as he gets picked up casino security and is driven out to the woods, where a cross-section of the local Kalimish start to beat the tar out of him. Even worse, they kick-dial Linden, so not only is Holder possibly getting beat to death, his partner gets to hear it over her phone. Things went south really quickly, didn't they.
Three Up
3. Stan Larsen. After spending most of the season moping around and doing the wrong thing, Stan finally sets himself in the direction of the right thing by getting the public to remember his daughter and get justice done. It's not always pretty - his statement during Richmond's press conference goes off the rails at the end - but between this and throwing Terry out of the house, he's beginning to reassert himself.
2. Darren Richmond. He's back on the campaign trail, and when Gwen's attempt at getting Stan to make a statement via subterfuge (a plea deal she can't deliver, and which Stan wisely passes on until it's in writing), Richmond goes to the Larsen house and has a good conversation about wanting to find the killer and how Stan needs to get people to remember Rosie if they're not doing a good enough job themselves. He also tells Gwen he will tell the truth about what he was doing the night of the murder, which she's not thrilled about, but it never comes to pass that we see. He's not all the way back, but he's getting there.
1. Nicole Jackson. The chief of the Kalimish tribe and head of the Wapi Eagle casino, she's asserted from the start that Rosie, as a minor, couldn't be in the casino. When Linden confronts her later that there's proof she was in the casino, Jackson uses her clout (and the lack of Linden's jurisdiction) to get Linden removed from the casino. She's taking a more direct approach with Holder, and with the backing of Ames and the mayor, she has to feel pretty good that whatever secret she's hiding on the 10th floor of the hotel will remain safe.
Three Down
3. Terry Marek. One of the boys mentions that the cops talked to Terry, and when she can't explain to Stan what they wanted he presses and learns that the boyfriend that just threw her over was Michael Ames. She also mentions that she had a role (if not the sole role) in getting Rosie hooked up with Beau Soleil. This enrages Stan, and he throws her out. She's now more alone than she's been in the entire series.
2. Jack Linden. Jack is clearly enamored with the idea of staying with Holder for the foreseeable future, but then has to make do when he and his mom move into yet another hotel. After getting a list of increasingly paranoid orders from his mom, he hunkers down rather sullenly. We next see him in the room with men claiming to be from Child Protective Services, answering a call about Sarah's neglect (question: did the call come from Jack's dad or Nicole Jackson, and how did whoever call find them?). Jack then sneaks out of the bathroom window, and with Sarah (who faked a call), they run away. Sarah tries to comfort him, but Jack is in the passenger's seat, sad and angry and not wanting to talk to his mother at all. I would not want to be in that kid's head.
1. Stephen Holder. Things start off well for him - he's a gracious host and his book on butterflies gives Linden an idea about checking out the casino and surrounding land. Holder is sent into the casino to sniff out new construction, and gets a lead to check out the 10th floor from a male hooker (his second stop after getting set up with an elderly female hooker). He can't get on to the 10th floor, but gets another break when a maid gives him a matchbook, and when getting off the elevator says she hopes the family got Rosie's backpack back OK. The matchbook has the time and location of a meeting, though it's questionable Holder will show, as he gets picked up casino security and is driven out to the woods, where a cross-section of the local Kalimish start to beat the tar out of him. Even worse, they kick-dial Linden, so not only is Holder possibly getting beat to death, his partner gets to hear it over her phone. Things went south really quickly, didn't they.
Sunday, May 06, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men
Three Up
3. Stan Rizzo. He doesn't have many lines in the episode, but he may have the best one when, after Megan announces she's quitting, he explains why he gets by saying that she works like crazy, sweats out the results, and generally stresses out over something as prosaic as beans. Better to chase a dream than go through the wringer for something like that. His words have an impact, too, as Peggy clearly reacts to what he says.
2. Michael Ginsburg. He kills a pitch to start the episode, has a funny interchange with Megan (and Peggy by interjection) asking if she gets clothes or has to act in her own clothes, and then closes his night by saying that the lame song Ken suggests for his ad is "stabbing me in the heart" (it's certainly not suggestive of the Beatles, which is what they were supposed to be going for).
1. Megan Draper. So she starts the episode lying to get out of work so she can go to a call back for a play. She doesn't get the part, but the experience solidifies her desire to return to acting full time. She tells Peggy this first, and while Peggy's not supportive she does get Megan straightened out enough to tell Don. Don is very understanding, and tells Megan to quit the next day. She does this, and while it's hard for her, she gets through it and is much happier, if a little oblivious to the concerns others have over her departure. She ever tries to get Don to listen to the Beatles, which is about as brave as her quitting.
Three Down
3. Peggy Olsen. She gets caught up in Megan lying to Don about her call back, and then gets stuck with extra work when Megan quits. She then fills in for Megan during a presentation for Cool Whip, and winds up arguing with Don over why Megan left. He more or less blames Peggy and the rest of the staff for being cynical and petty. Peggy does blow the tag line for the ad ("Just taste it!"), but she's mad at Don over his role in having Megan come aboard, but also mad that she's losing someone with obvious talent. She does have a small disagreement with Joan about Megan, nothing to damage their growing relationship but interesting in their differing opinions on Megan's skills and Don't taste in women.
2. Don Draper. Don is very supportive of Megan's quitting, but underestimates the resulting problems, most notably with Peggy. He's also concerned for himself, as seen in the none-too-subtle use of an elevator shaft to suggest the yawning chasm that may be opening up now that Don won't be with Megan pretty much 24/7. Don's Cool Whip pitch and resulting argument with Peggy is ugly, and while he's likely arguing from truth (Megan had voiced a similar opinion of her coworkers in the past), he also doesn't recognize the stresses that came with marrying (and then promoting) Megan. He even has to get marriage advice from Roger, whose suggestion of keeping to a schedule came from his ex-father in law. I'm assuming Roger didn't follow it. Don ends the episode listening to "Tomorrow Never Knows" by the Beatles, and turning it off before the end. His overall apathy towards music is problematic, on top of everything else.
1. Pete Campbell. Having failed in seducing his driver's ed classmate, Pete finds a new object of philandering in Beth, the wife of his train buddy Howard, who has started to use an apartment in the city to cheat. It starts with Pete giving her a ride home, and he tries to cover for Howard, but it's flimsy cover at best. They do it in the living room, and afterwards Beth makes it clear it's a one time thing. Pete doesn't believe in one time things, calling Beth and wangling an invite to their house under the cover of buying insurance. Beth continues to state she doesn't want to get into an affair. He schedules a rendezvous at a hotel, but Beth doesn't show up. At the end of the episode she does draw a heart in window fog for Peter, which gives Peter hope even as Beth tries to resist.
3. Stan Rizzo. He doesn't have many lines in the episode, but he may have the best one when, after Megan announces she's quitting, he explains why he gets by saying that she works like crazy, sweats out the results, and generally stresses out over something as prosaic as beans. Better to chase a dream than go through the wringer for something like that. His words have an impact, too, as Peggy clearly reacts to what he says.
2. Michael Ginsburg. He kills a pitch to start the episode, has a funny interchange with Megan (and Peggy by interjection) asking if she gets clothes or has to act in her own clothes, and then closes his night by saying that the lame song Ken suggests for his ad is "stabbing me in the heart" (it's certainly not suggestive of the Beatles, which is what they were supposed to be going for).
1. Megan Draper. So she starts the episode lying to get out of work so she can go to a call back for a play. She doesn't get the part, but the experience solidifies her desire to return to acting full time. She tells Peggy this first, and while Peggy's not supportive she does get Megan straightened out enough to tell Don. Don is very understanding, and tells Megan to quit the next day. She does this, and while it's hard for her, she gets through it and is much happier, if a little oblivious to the concerns others have over her departure. She ever tries to get Don to listen to the Beatles, which is about as brave as her quitting.
Three Down
3. Peggy Olsen. She gets caught up in Megan lying to Don about her call back, and then gets stuck with extra work when Megan quits. She then fills in for Megan during a presentation for Cool Whip, and winds up arguing with Don over why Megan left. He more or less blames Peggy and the rest of the staff for being cynical and petty. Peggy does blow the tag line for the ad ("Just taste it!"), but she's mad at Don over his role in having Megan come aboard, but also mad that she's losing someone with obvious talent. She does have a small disagreement with Joan about Megan, nothing to damage their growing relationship but interesting in their differing opinions on Megan's skills and Don't taste in women.
2. Don Draper. Don is very supportive of Megan's quitting, but underestimates the resulting problems, most notably with Peggy. He's also concerned for himself, as seen in the none-too-subtle use of an elevator shaft to suggest the yawning chasm that may be opening up now that Don won't be with Megan pretty much 24/7. Don's Cool Whip pitch and resulting argument with Peggy is ugly, and while he's likely arguing from truth (Megan had voiced a similar opinion of her coworkers in the past), he also doesn't recognize the stresses that came with marrying (and then promoting) Megan. He even has to get marriage advice from Roger, whose suggestion of keeping to a schedule came from his ex-father in law. I'm assuming Roger didn't follow it. Don ends the episode listening to "Tomorrow Never Knows" by the Beatles, and turning it off before the end. His overall apathy towards music is problematic, on top of everything else.
1. Pete Campbell. Having failed in seducing his driver's ed classmate, Pete finds a new object of philandering in Beth, the wife of his train buddy Howard, who has started to use an apartment in the city to cheat. It starts with Pete giving her a ride home, and he tries to cover for Howard, but it's flimsy cover at best. They do it in the living room, and afterwards Beth makes it clear it's a one time thing. Pete doesn't believe in one time things, calling Beth and wangling an invite to their house under the cover of buying insurance. Beth continues to state she doesn't want to get into an affair. He schedules a rendezvous at a hotel, but Beth doesn't show up. At the end of the episode she does draw a heart in window fog for Peter, which gives Peter hope even as Beth tries to resist.
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: The Killing
Three Up
3. Alexei Giffords. He finally confronts Stan at Rosie's graveside, and is able to give him crap about how Stan got himself kicked out of Kovarski's gang (which I'm not sure is true, though giving Stan money to start his business may be the Kovarski equivalent of a golden parachute) and how Stan should have been capped rather than Alexei's dad. Stan pushes back on why Alexei hasn't made a run at him, to which Alexei notes if it wasn't for Rosie, Stan would be dead by now.
2. Gwen Eaton. Back in DC, she's watching Richmond's first interview with some colleagues, who note that he'll never get back into the race unless he can get rid of the stink caused by the murder charges. After (or I suppose during) a dinner with her dad, in which she learns he wants her to resume her role as his "secret weapon" - something she's been doing for him since she was 14 - she decides her path leads back to Seattle. She shows up at the hospital, and says she's back to get Richmond past the murder charges and into the mayor's office. Darren snubs her at first, but later relents and brings her back on - in strictly a professional capacity. Sure.
1. Darren Richmond. He's back on the trail, and while his assumed confidence isn't always believable - he says he never felt down about being shot - he uses the story about Jamie's grandfather to make a point about getting through adversity - and it's clear he's back in the saddle. To then get Gwen back to clean up the murder mess - and perhaps resume her more personal role at a later time? - is just additional firepower in his quest to take down the mayor.
Three Down
3. The Marek sisters. Terry has an awful breakup scene with Michael Ames, who says he's not leaving his wife and even gets a little physical with her in telling her not to call anymore. At the end of the episode she shares a very awkward look with Stan, perhaps wondering if it's OK to jump him on the rebound while he's still technically married to her sister.
Speaking of Mitch, she winds up spending more time with runaway Tina after she's "locked out" of her room by her boyfriend. They spend an entire day together, and after some rough patches (Mitch pushing Tina too hard to get her to call her mom, and Tina awkwardly making a pass at Mitch, thinking this may still be something kinky) Mitch wakes up the next morning to find Tina is gone and has robbed her. No catharsis for you, Mitch.
On the plus side for us, we do learn the name of Rosie's real dad from a letter in the memory box Mitch has been toting around. He's not someone we've met yet, as fas as we know.
2. The Ames family. Jasper gets riled by the cops when they intimate his dad was sleeping with Rosie while Jasper could get nowhere with him. He later confronts dad in public, leading later to Michael going to the police station to confess to sending a (joke?) blackmail text to his dad from Rosie's phone. Michael is happy to let Jasper spend the night in jail based on a felony charge of using the phone to extort money. Later, the cops talk to Mrs. Adams, who says she lets her husband play in return for having money and status. She also notes that they were out of the country when Rosie was conceived (there goes the theory that Rosie is Michael's daughter). So while we have the dysfunctional family circus here, things look even worse when the chief of the tribe that own the Wapi Eagle casino shows up at a Mayor Adams function at the Ames home. A conspiracy seems to be brewing.
1. Sarah Linden. Every time she seems to make progress in this episode, something sets her back. A decent interview with Stan about Rosie's parentage? Countered by a bad theory that Michael Ames is the father. Linden learns about the blackmail text? Turns out it was a joke. Take your kids to Holder's due to a creepy drawing hung on her fridge the neither she nor Jack put up, fall under the surveillance of some guy smoking in his car. And all along, have Carlson and others pull warrants and give reminders of the last time she buried herself in a case. She's getting closer to the truth, but may not be around to see it
3. Alexei Giffords. He finally confronts Stan at Rosie's graveside, and is able to give him crap about how Stan got himself kicked out of Kovarski's gang (which I'm not sure is true, though giving Stan money to start his business may be the Kovarski equivalent of a golden parachute) and how Stan should have been capped rather than Alexei's dad. Stan pushes back on why Alexei hasn't made a run at him, to which Alexei notes if it wasn't for Rosie, Stan would be dead by now.
2. Gwen Eaton. Back in DC, she's watching Richmond's first interview with some colleagues, who note that he'll never get back into the race unless he can get rid of the stink caused by the murder charges. After (or I suppose during) a dinner with her dad, in which she learns he wants her to resume her role as his "secret weapon" - something she's been doing for him since she was 14 - she decides her path leads back to Seattle. She shows up at the hospital, and says she's back to get Richmond past the murder charges and into the mayor's office. Darren snubs her at first, but later relents and brings her back on - in strictly a professional capacity. Sure.
1. Darren Richmond. He's back on the trail, and while his assumed confidence isn't always believable - he says he never felt down about being shot - he uses the story about Jamie's grandfather to make a point about getting through adversity - and it's clear he's back in the saddle. To then get Gwen back to clean up the murder mess - and perhaps resume her more personal role at a later time? - is just additional firepower in his quest to take down the mayor.
Three Down
3. The Marek sisters. Terry has an awful breakup scene with Michael Ames, who says he's not leaving his wife and even gets a little physical with her in telling her not to call anymore. At the end of the episode she shares a very awkward look with Stan, perhaps wondering if it's OK to jump him on the rebound while he's still technically married to her sister.
Speaking of Mitch, she winds up spending more time with runaway Tina after she's "locked out" of her room by her boyfriend. They spend an entire day together, and after some rough patches (Mitch pushing Tina too hard to get her to call her mom, and Tina awkwardly making a pass at Mitch, thinking this may still be something kinky) Mitch wakes up the next morning to find Tina is gone and has robbed her. No catharsis for you, Mitch.
On the plus side for us, we do learn the name of Rosie's real dad from a letter in the memory box Mitch has been toting around. He's not someone we've met yet, as fas as we know.
2. The Ames family. Jasper gets riled by the cops when they intimate his dad was sleeping with Rosie while Jasper could get nowhere with him. He later confronts dad in public, leading later to Michael going to the police station to confess to sending a (joke?) blackmail text to his dad from Rosie's phone. Michael is happy to let Jasper spend the night in jail based on a felony charge of using the phone to extort money. Later, the cops talk to Mrs. Adams, who says she lets her husband play in return for having money and status. She also notes that they were out of the country when Rosie was conceived (there goes the theory that Rosie is Michael's daughter). So while we have the dysfunctional family circus here, things look even worse when the chief of the tribe that own the Wapi Eagle casino shows up at a Mayor Adams function at the Ames home. A conspiracy seems to be brewing.
1. Sarah Linden. Every time she seems to make progress in this episode, something sets her back. A decent interview with Stan about Rosie's parentage? Countered by a bad theory that Michael Ames is the father. Linden learns about the blackmail text? Turns out it was a joke. Take your kids to Holder's due to a creepy drawing hung on her fridge the neither she nor Jack put up, fall under the surveillance of some guy smoking in his car. And all along, have Carlson and others pull warrants and give reminders of the last time she buried herself in a case. She's getting closer to the truth, but may not be around to see it
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men
Three Up
3. Sally Draper. The episode opens with Sally calling Glen, who is apparently at some sort of boarding school now. Nice to see they're still in touch, both so they have someone to talk to and for future storyline possibilities. The phone call has the added bonus of taking out Pauline (more on that anon). Sally gets to spend time with Don and Megan and Megan's folks, and gets to see Don get an award from the American Cancer Society (and inadvertently freak Don out with her look for the ACS event, in a dress with make-up and knee-high boots). She gets to have Roger as her "date" for the event, which goes well until it really doesn't (also more on that anon). The episode ends as it begins, with Sally talking to Glen, this time saying that the city is "dirty." There are some tough growing up moments for her - she even tries eating fish, which she hates - but all in all she ends up in the positive.
2. Don Draper. While the ACS award is the big event of the episode, Don shows flashes of his prior greatness when he lands the Heinz account over dinner (though Megan did most of the work - the ad idea is hers, and she alerts Don that they're getting fired after she has a chat with the Heinz guy's wife in the bathroom). He also shows a softer side with Megan when her parents have a fight in their apartment. He's not still clear as to the nature of their relationship - and Emile's relationship with his female grad assistant - but he's picking it up and is appropriately consoling to Megan. Don does take a hit at the end, when Ken's father in law has a talk with him noting that all the corporate fat cats who make up the ACS board are happy to give him awards, but will never bring him any business because his anti-tobacco letter makes them scared that he'll do the same thing to them.
1. Roger Sterling. Roger continues on his way back. He's still processing his LSD trip, but it's making him think clearer in a couple of ways. The first is with his relationship with Mona, his first wife. He meets her for drinks to commiserate his failed marriage, but he also recognizes how helpful she was to him with clients, and he asks her for help with some of the ACS crowd. He's also clearer about business, if his attempts to work the room at the ACS event is anything to go by. And while it may not be an example of clearer thinking, he is back on the prowl as well, as he charms his way into getting a blowjob from Megan's mom. Only problem is that it's witnessed by Sally Draper, though she looks too shocked to tell her dad or anyone else about it.
Three Down
3. Pauline Francis. While she's bellowing for Sally to set the table for dinner (and wandering the house cocktail in hand), she trips over the phone cord and breaks her ankle. She winds up needing Sally to call for help, and it's to Sally's benefit that she does so calmly. It's luck for Pauline that Sally didn't call a cab and leave her wallowing in the hallway.
2. Peggy Olsen. Abe calls and sets a firm dinner date for a weeknight, which Peggy takes even though it screws up her schedule. She's now worried that Abe is going to dump her, but Joan says is a man makes this sort of date, he has a proposal. And Abe does, sort of: he wants to move in with her. Peggy, who has dressed and mentally set herself for a marriage proposal, covers her disappointment reasonably well and agrees to move in (though she does answer "I do" when Abe asks if she still wants to eat, a dig that goes way over Abe's head). They later invite Peggy's mom to dinner to tell her about this, which goes as well as expected: she decides to leave before dessert (and takes the dessert back), noting she can't support their living in sin. She's convinced that Abe is going to use Peggy and dump her when he finally decides to settle down. It was actually somewhat subdued for Peggy's mom, I was expecting holy water to make an appearance. Oh, Peggy is also a little jealous about Megan's success with Heinz, but manages to let her happiness for Megan and the firm win out.
1. Emile and Marie Calvet. Megan's parents are not exactly a happy couple. They bicker a lot, with Emile (who is some sort of leftist professor) saying Marie wants him to be miserable until he dies, while she flirts with pretty much any man, which I assume is partially in response to her belief that Emile is having it off with his grad assistant. She's also a bit of a lush, just for good measure. Emile doesn't approve of the money that Don makes or advertising in general, and thinks Megan is settling by working for SCDP. Marie scores the ultimate hit on their marriage, though, when she follows up her flirting (and Roger's reactions) by giving him head at the ACS dinner. For all of Megan's protestations that her parents are always like this and get through things fine, this is clearly not a happy marriage, even for the sort of tortured French Canadian union you'd expect from stereotyping.
3. Sally Draper. The episode opens with Sally calling Glen, who is apparently at some sort of boarding school now. Nice to see they're still in touch, both so they have someone to talk to and for future storyline possibilities. The phone call has the added bonus of taking out Pauline (more on that anon). Sally gets to spend time with Don and Megan and Megan's folks, and gets to see Don get an award from the American Cancer Society (and inadvertently freak Don out with her look for the ACS event, in a dress with make-up and knee-high boots). She gets to have Roger as her "date" for the event, which goes well until it really doesn't (also more on that anon). The episode ends as it begins, with Sally talking to Glen, this time saying that the city is "dirty." There are some tough growing up moments for her - she even tries eating fish, which she hates - but all in all she ends up in the positive.
2. Don Draper. While the ACS award is the big event of the episode, Don shows flashes of his prior greatness when he lands the Heinz account over dinner (though Megan did most of the work - the ad idea is hers, and she alerts Don that they're getting fired after she has a chat with the Heinz guy's wife in the bathroom). He also shows a softer side with Megan when her parents have a fight in their apartment. He's not still clear as to the nature of their relationship - and Emile's relationship with his female grad assistant - but he's picking it up and is appropriately consoling to Megan. Don does take a hit at the end, when Ken's father in law has a talk with him noting that all the corporate fat cats who make up the ACS board are happy to give him awards, but will never bring him any business because his anti-tobacco letter makes them scared that he'll do the same thing to them.
1. Roger Sterling. Roger continues on his way back. He's still processing his LSD trip, but it's making him think clearer in a couple of ways. The first is with his relationship with Mona, his first wife. He meets her for drinks to commiserate his failed marriage, but he also recognizes how helpful she was to him with clients, and he asks her for help with some of the ACS crowd. He's also clearer about business, if his attempts to work the room at the ACS event is anything to go by. And while it may not be an example of clearer thinking, he is back on the prowl as well, as he charms his way into getting a blowjob from Megan's mom. Only problem is that it's witnessed by Sally Draper, though she looks too shocked to tell her dad or anyone else about it.
Three Down
3. Pauline Francis. While she's bellowing for Sally to set the table for dinner (and wandering the house cocktail in hand), she trips over the phone cord and breaks her ankle. She winds up needing Sally to call for help, and it's to Sally's benefit that she does so calmly. It's luck for Pauline that Sally didn't call a cab and leave her wallowing in the hallway.
2. Peggy Olsen. Abe calls and sets a firm dinner date for a weeknight, which Peggy takes even though it screws up her schedule. She's now worried that Abe is going to dump her, but Joan says is a man makes this sort of date, he has a proposal. And Abe does, sort of: he wants to move in with her. Peggy, who has dressed and mentally set herself for a marriage proposal, covers her disappointment reasonably well and agrees to move in (though she does answer "I do" when Abe asks if she still wants to eat, a dig that goes way over Abe's head). They later invite Peggy's mom to dinner to tell her about this, which goes as well as expected: she decides to leave before dessert (and takes the dessert back), noting she can't support their living in sin. She's convinced that Abe is going to use Peggy and dump her when he finally decides to settle down. It was actually somewhat subdued for Peggy's mom, I was expecting holy water to make an appearance. Oh, Peggy is also a little jealous about Megan's success with Heinz, but manages to let her happiness for Megan and the firm win out.
1. Emile and Marie Calvet. Megan's parents are not exactly a happy couple. They bicker a lot, with Emile (who is some sort of leftist professor) saying Marie wants him to be miserable until he dies, while she flirts with pretty much any man, which I assume is partially in response to her belief that Emile is having it off with his grad assistant. She's also a bit of a lush, just for good measure. Emile doesn't approve of the money that Don makes or advertising in general, and thinks Megan is settling by working for SCDP. Marie scores the ultimate hit on their marriage, though, when she follows up her flirting (and Roger's reactions) by giving him head at the ACS dinner. For all of Megan's protestations that her parents are always like this and get through things fine, this is clearly not a happy marriage, even for the sort of tortured French Canadian union you'd expect from stereotyping.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: The Killing
Three Up
3. Mitch Larsen. Not sure she's actually a winner, but she's at least made steps towards winning. After seeing the same girl on the road and at her motel, Mitch buys her a meal and gets a chance to get into her life a bit. The girl, roughly the same age as Rosie, kind of connects, but is still wary enough about Mitch's questions to keep her distance. She eventually takes off with her no good boyfriend, leaving Mitch alone again. Mitch looks sad at being abandoned again, but also looks like she's beginning to understand where she is now that Rosie is gone.
2. Alexei Giffords. Also not a complete win, as his mom gives him up to the cops, but after playing the hard guy he begins to give Linden and Holder information - until they have to let him go and a Janek-provided lawyer takes him to Janek. But he eventually comes to them and gives them information they need - that Rosie was scared of someone in a Town Car and that she learned (though we don't know how) that Stan was not her real father.
1. Darren Richmond. This was looking like a big loss for Darren, given his nightmare of Belko shooting him and his inadvertent wetting himself. But then Jamie shows up after meeting with a contact (and apparent former girlfriend) in the DA's office, who lets Jamie know about the faked toll booth photo. This changes Richmond's tune dramatically, as he swings from despair to a plan to destroy the mayor in about five minutes.
Three Down
3. Tracey Marek. She's mostly been in the background keeping a handle on the kids, but her role in the Larsen household comes into question when her parents stop by. They're concerned about Mitch, but her dad also notes that her staying at the Larsen household is unseemly, and he's worried she'll end up alone as the men in her life tend to be transient. It doesn't help when, later on, Stan comes into her room and they kiss. Before they can get too into it her phone rings, but the new complexity of her situation hits Tracey hard. Not so hard that she can't keep the Beau Soleil appointment the phone call was apparently about, but whatever she may have been feeling about Stan is now front and center.
2. Sarah Linden. Parental issues come to the fore again, as she tries to help Jack through being sick via phone, which leads to a visit from his dad (he's actually in the room when she gets back, he's lucky she didn't shoot him). He's concerned about Linden caring more about Rosie than her own son, and there's a hint of truth to his accusation. Linden also has work issues, as she continues to run into roadblocks set up by Captain Carlson. There's also a weird blackout at her place before Holder and Alexei show up, which sets her on edge. The professional end of things pick up at the end, but there are troubles looming.
1. Stan Larsen. Let's see, Stan gets grilled by his in-laws about Mitch's absence and then tries to give possible suspect names to Linden when he sees Alexei in an interrogation room. A meeting with a lawyer suggests that Stan's going to do time, and when he gets home he seeks comfort from Tracey. So even when he tries to do good, bad results. He'll be lucky to just get some jail time at this point.
3. Mitch Larsen. Not sure she's actually a winner, but she's at least made steps towards winning. After seeing the same girl on the road and at her motel, Mitch buys her a meal and gets a chance to get into her life a bit. The girl, roughly the same age as Rosie, kind of connects, but is still wary enough about Mitch's questions to keep her distance. She eventually takes off with her no good boyfriend, leaving Mitch alone again. Mitch looks sad at being abandoned again, but also looks like she's beginning to understand where she is now that Rosie is gone.
2. Alexei Giffords. Also not a complete win, as his mom gives him up to the cops, but after playing the hard guy he begins to give Linden and Holder information - until they have to let him go and a Janek-provided lawyer takes him to Janek. But he eventually comes to them and gives them information they need - that Rosie was scared of someone in a Town Car and that she learned (though we don't know how) that Stan was not her real father.
1. Darren Richmond. This was looking like a big loss for Darren, given his nightmare of Belko shooting him and his inadvertent wetting himself. But then Jamie shows up after meeting with a contact (and apparent former girlfriend) in the DA's office, who lets Jamie know about the faked toll booth photo. This changes Richmond's tune dramatically, as he swings from despair to a plan to destroy the mayor in about five minutes.
Three Down
3. Tracey Marek. She's mostly been in the background keeping a handle on the kids, but her role in the Larsen household comes into question when her parents stop by. They're concerned about Mitch, but her dad also notes that her staying at the Larsen household is unseemly, and he's worried she'll end up alone as the men in her life tend to be transient. It doesn't help when, later on, Stan comes into her room and they kiss. Before they can get too into it her phone rings, but the new complexity of her situation hits Tracey hard. Not so hard that she can't keep the Beau Soleil appointment the phone call was apparently about, but whatever she may have been feeling about Stan is now front and center.
2. Sarah Linden. Parental issues come to the fore again, as she tries to help Jack through being sick via phone, which leads to a visit from his dad (he's actually in the room when she gets back, he's lucky she didn't shoot him). He's concerned about Linden caring more about Rosie than her own son, and there's a hint of truth to his accusation. Linden also has work issues, as she continues to run into roadblocks set up by Captain Carlson. There's also a weird blackout at her place before Holder and Alexei show up, which sets her on edge. The professional end of things pick up at the end, but there are troubles looming.
1. Stan Larsen. Let's see, Stan gets grilled by his in-laws about Mitch's absence and then tries to give possible suspect names to Linden when he sees Alexei in an interrogation room. A meeting with a lawyer suggests that Stan's going to do time, and when he gets home he seeks comfort from Tracey. So even when he tries to do good, bad results. He'll be lucky to just get some jail time at this point.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men
Three Up
3. Ken Cosgrove. He wasn't in much of the episode, but for what he was in he managed to keep the Heinz reps calm after Peggy lit into them for their indecision. Good work to keep them as clients at all.
2. Roger Sterling. Odd to have him as a winner, what with his marriage ending and all, but he's clearly comfortable with it, even when Jane says it'll be expensive. That's helped by the LSD trip he went on with Jane and some of her friends. It should not surprise that triumphant music comes forth every time he opens a liquor bottle.
1. Bert Cooper. At first it just appears that he gets a couple of throw-away lines, as usual for Bert, but he picks up the win at the end of the episode when he calls Don out for his shirking. For all of the discussion of Don's hands-off attitude by other characters, it's Bert that manages to say something and get Don to actually think about it.
Three Down
3. Peggy Olsen. With all of the weird days on tap, her's might actually be the weirdest. She starts the day getting into a fight with Abe, who can't put up with her permanent focus on work and her general lack of attention to their relationship. She then has a bad meeting with Heinz, who reject her latest pitch, which causes her to go on the attack and then get pulled from the account. She goes to the movies to cool off, where she shares a joint with a strange guy and gives him a handjob in return. She goes back to work, sleeps late, gets an odd phone call from Don, and has an odd conversation with Ginsburg about his being born in a concentration camp, which both think is impossible. She ends up calling Abe to come over because she's ostensibly spooked by Ginsburg's story, but she really just needs him there.
2. Megan Draper. We finally get to see where the fault lines are in the Draper marriage, as Megan broods over being pulled out of the Heinz presentation so she can go on a trip upstate with Don to a Howard Johnson's. Things come to a head with her disdain for orange sherbet, which sparks an argument with Don over her role as wife and as work subordinate. The fight ends with Megan making a reference to Don's real family, which causes him to take off on her. She then gets herself to a bus station and home, where the fight continues when Don returns. She then gets chased around the apartment until Don catches her, and they sort of reconcile, but it's clear that Megan is still disturbed by the ease with which Don was able to leave her at the HoJos.
1. Don Draper. The honeymoon is over. His fight with Megan exposes how much he has not considered the difficult position she's in, and leaving her at the HoJos further shows the continuing turmoil he's in over his real family. His fears of losing Megan - seen both in his waiting for her and in the end of their fight at their apartment - also show that he's in a vulnerable position personally. Then on top of that he gets upbraided by Bert, and rightfully so. To then have Roger pop his head into the conference room to say it'll be a great day - followed by the parade of creative types - is just the icing on the cake.
3. Ken Cosgrove. He wasn't in much of the episode, but for what he was in he managed to keep the Heinz reps calm after Peggy lit into them for their indecision. Good work to keep them as clients at all.
2. Roger Sterling. Odd to have him as a winner, what with his marriage ending and all, but he's clearly comfortable with it, even when Jane says it'll be expensive. That's helped by the LSD trip he went on with Jane and some of her friends. It should not surprise that triumphant music comes forth every time he opens a liquor bottle.
1. Bert Cooper. At first it just appears that he gets a couple of throw-away lines, as usual for Bert, but he picks up the win at the end of the episode when he calls Don out for his shirking. For all of the discussion of Don's hands-off attitude by other characters, it's Bert that manages to say something and get Don to actually think about it.
Three Down
3. Peggy Olsen. With all of the weird days on tap, her's might actually be the weirdest. She starts the day getting into a fight with Abe, who can't put up with her permanent focus on work and her general lack of attention to their relationship. She then has a bad meeting with Heinz, who reject her latest pitch, which causes her to go on the attack and then get pulled from the account. She goes to the movies to cool off, where she shares a joint with a strange guy and gives him a handjob in return. She goes back to work, sleeps late, gets an odd phone call from Don, and has an odd conversation with Ginsburg about his being born in a concentration camp, which both think is impossible. She ends up calling Abe to come over because she's ostensibly spooked by Ginsburg's story, but she really just needs him there.
2. Megan Draper. We finally get to see where the fault lines are in the Draper marriage, as Megan broods over being pulled out of the Heinz presentation so she can go on a trip upstate with Don to a Howard Johnson's. Things come to a head with her disdain for orange sherbet, which sparks an argument with Don over her role as wife and as work subordinate. The fight ends with Megan making a reference to Don's real family, which causes him to take off on her. She then gets herself to a bus station and home, where the fight continues when Don returns. She then gets chased around the apartment until Don catches her, and they sort of reconcile, but it's clear that Megan is still disturbed by the ease with which Don was able to leave her at the HoJos.
1. Don Draper. The honeymoon is over. His fight with Megan exposes how much he has not considered the difficult position she's in, and leaving her at the HoJos further shows the continuing turmoil he's in over his real family. His fears of losing Megan - seen both in his waiting for her and in the end of their fight at their apartment - also show that he's in a vulnerable position personally. Then on top of that he gets upbraided by Bert, and rightfully so. To then have Roger pop his head into the conference room to say it'll be a great day - followed by the parade of creative types - is just the icing on the cake.
Monday, April 16, 2012
The Pact
One thing I forgot to mention yesterday about Ken Cosgrove - he and Peggy apparently have a pact that if he leaves SCDP he'll take Peggy with him (which is why they were so awkward in the diner at the start of the episode). I don't think we knew that before. Interesting to think that they'd leave, but it makes sense. Ken isn't going to get past Pete, and Peggy is fed up with Don enough that leaving would be a blessing. It'll be fun if it ever goes into action.
Three Up, Three Down: The Killing
Three Up
3. Steven Holder. He's back to the Holder we recognize, giving Linden crap while taking it in return. He also manages to do some police work, as he helps make connections leading to Alexei Giffords, the anime-tatted bicycling partner of Rosie Larsen.
2. Sarah Linden. She makes the greater connections, using her personal experience of the foster system and relationship with her own case worker, Regi, to get the background on Alexei that connects him to the Larsens by his dad, Piotr, who may have been killed by Stan so he could get out of the mob. On the down side, Linden is getting sued by her ex-husband for joint custody of Jack, contending that she's a negligent parent. And by what we've seen, that may not be that far from the truth.
1. Janek Kovarsky. He gets Belko's body from the morgue and arranges for the funeral, scooping Stan and giving him a chance to mock Stan for his life choices. Later, when Stan figures out that Janek used his trucks to move Beau Soleil, he goes after Janek, only to get further humiliated. Janek continues to get his pound of flesh out of Stan.
Three Down
3. Stan Larsen. He's less stupid in this episode, but he's still getting humiliated by Janek. Home life isn't any better, as he's having issues with Tommy and Mitch is still gone. His business appears to be infiltrated by Janek, as the widow of the man he allegedly whacked stops by to tell him he got what he deserved.
2. Tommy Larsen. He's been reluctant to go to school, and when forced to do so he locks his brother in the trunk of the car and loses it with aunt Terri, screaming at her that she's not his mother and to go home. We then learn that he's getting picked on at school and teased about Rosie. This leads Stan to give Tommy his version of the It Gets Better speech by telling Tommy the kids teasing him about Rosie are stupid, and that the next time he's getting pushed around he needs to punch the biggest kid on the bridge of the nose. For Stan, this is a positive parenting step.
1. The Darren Richmond Campaign. Darren plans to end his campaign, losing the will to continue when the mayor comes in and gets to act all supercilious. Jamie is trying to help Darren, both politically and personally, but fails at both when Darren tells him to get a life outside of the campaign and, when Darren says he needs to get out of the hospital, Jamie tries to haul him out of bed but gets crushed by him instead. Finally, Gwen has to go over Darren's morning routine with Jamie, which makes her realize what she's lost by quitting the campaign and moving to DC. It looks like they're going back on the attack next episode, but for now they're about as low as they can be.
3. Steven Holder. He's back to the Holder we recognize, giving Linden crap while taking it in return. He also manages to do some police work, as he helps make connections leading to Alexei Giffords, the anime-tatted bicycling partner of Rosie Larsen.
2. Sarah Linden. She makes the greater connections, using her personal experience of the foster system and relationship with her own case worker, Regi, to get the background on Alexei that connects him to the Larsens by his dad, Piotr, who may have been killed by Stan so he could get out of the mob. On the down side, Linden is getting sued by her ex-husband for joint custody of Jack, contending that she's a negligent parent. And by what we've seen, that may not be that far from the truth.
1. Janek Kovarsky. He gets Belko's body from the morgue and arranges for the funeral, scooping Stan and giving him a chance to mock Stan for his life choices. Later, when Stan figures out that Janek used his trucks to move Beau Soleil, he goes after Janek, only to get further humiliated. Janek continues to get his pound of flesh out of Stan.
Three Down
3. Stan Larsen. He's less stupid in this episode, but he's still getting humiliated by Janek. Home life isn't any better, as he's having issues with Tommy and Mitch is still gone. His business appears to be infiltrated by Janek, as the widow of the man he allegedly whacked stops by to tell him he got what he deserved.
2. Tommy Larsen. He's been reluctant to go to school, and when forced to do so he locks his brother in the trunk of the car and loses it with aunt Terri, screaming at her that she's not his mother and to go home. We then learn that he's getting picked on at school and teased about Rosie. This leads Stan to give Tommy his version of the It Gets Better speech by telling Tommy the kids teasing him about Rosie are stupid, and that the next time he's getting pushed around he needs to punch the biggest kid on the bridge of the nose. For Stan, this is a positive parenting step.
1. The Darren Richmond Campaign. Darren plans to end his campaign, losing the will to continue when the mayor comes in and gets to act all supercilious. Jamie is trying to help Darren, both politically and personally, but fails at both when Darren tells him to get a life outside of the campaign and, when Darren says he needs to get out of the hospital, Jamie tries to haul him out of bed but gets crushed by him instead. Finally, Gwen has to go over Darren's morning routine with Jamie, which makes her realize what she's lost by quitting the campaign and moving to DC. It looks like they're going back on the attack next episode, but for now they're about as low as they can be.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men
Three Up
3. Trudy Campbell. She's apparently past her post-partum depression, as she plans a dinner party and even gets Don to show up, much to everyone's surprise (and glee). She makes a gracious hostess, and even has a spot of fun when the kitchen sink blows due to Pete's incorrect, though temporarily successful, repair of a drip (though she was clearly unaware of how Don's quick and more permanent fix would cut Pete off at the testicles). And she even gets to show off the baby!
2. Roger Sterling. After weeks of having nothing to do, Roger gives Lane some unsolicited but useful advice on how to handle a dinner with a new-found friend who intends to bring Jaguar to SCDP as a new account. When Lane can't seal the deal, Roger comes to the fore when the new friend says he wants to have a little fun after a second dinner. Roger's knowledge of a local high-class house of ill repute just about seals the deal... until the friend's wife discovers the next morning that her husband has chewing gum on his nether region. Roger also gets to chew out Ken on his secret writing career, using his past experience as an account exec (and more recent past as a failed author) to tell Ken that if he's doing his job right, he doesn't need the writing. And Roger gets a couple decent one-liners, so a nice week for him, finally.
1. Don Draper. OK, it's a bad sign that Don can't excuse his way out of a dinner party against Trudy Campbell. But when he actually shows he's treated like royalty, as Pete and Ken know it's a big deal that he's there. Don also gets to drink as much as he wants, make Peter look like a boob due to his lack of home repair skills, and have sex with Megan in the car on the way home. Not a bad night. Later, while at the classy whorehouse, Don earns the approbation of the madam when he talks about growing up in one that was much less classy and doesn't stray. He gets to further put Pete in his place by noting that Pete has much to lose if he fools around on Trudy, but mostly gets attitude from Pete, due to the irony of one of advertising's greatest swordsmen giving disapproving looks and advice regarding infidelity. It's kind of a fair cop, but Don saves it by noting that if he'd met Megan first, he would never have gone the way he did.
(Though Megan was probably a gawky Quebecois pre-teen when Don met Betty.)
Three Down
3. Ken Cosgrove. Ken runs into Peggy at the diner near the office, and he's trying to sneak a stranger by her. She browbeats him at the diner and later at the office, and he finally admits that the man works for a publisher, and they were talking about printing a collection of short stories Ken has been writing under an assumed name. Turns out he's now writing sci-fantasy stories. The meeting didn't go well. Later, at Pete's party, we see Don and Megan try to dance around not knowing Ken's wife's name. He does get chewed out by Roger about the writing as the episode is closing (Pete apparently mentioned it to Roger), and he admits to Peggy that his writing career is over. But at the end, we see Ken writing a new story, under a new pen name.
2. Lane Pryce. At the start of the episode Lane is grousing about having to go to a pub to watch soccer with a bunch of ex-pats he doesn't know. Turns out they're going to watch the World Cup final where England defeated Germany, and Lane's mood is much improved. It's here he meets the man who has the Jaguar account to move, and they develop a bit of a friendship. But that takes a serious hit at the dinner where Lane is trying to get information about the account. Turns out Lane doesn't get his friend's hint about finding some fun, which indirectly leads to the loss of the account. Lane is furious about this, and the response of the other partners - laughing, due to the circumstances of the loss - makes him even madder. The one saving grace is that when Pete dismisses Lane as unnecessary, Lane challenges Pete to a fight to avenge the insult. And Lane gives Pete a good pasting, which is always a good thing.
Lane does feel badly about the fight, but manages to make himself feel even worse when he makes a pass at Joan after she brings him some ice. She handles it quite gracefully, giving Lane a little dignity back. Still, not a good week for Lane.
1. Pete Campbell. Nothing goes right for Pete. His kitchen handiwork goes kaboom, and he's upstaged by Don when trying to fix it. He gets his ass kicked by Lane, and has no one in the office to commiserate with (the best he can do is telling Don in an elevator ride that he has nothing, a reference back to their discussion after the whorehouse visit (where Pete indulged, but only when the woman goes all "you're my king" on him). But the worst thing, from Pete's perspective, is that the high school senior he's been chatting up in driver's ed (he's finally getting his license now that he lives in the suburbs) throws him over for some jock who missed the first couple of classes. Pete seems to realize then that he's no longer the young ad exec who can get the girl and succeed in the office. He's marooned in the 'burbs and isolated at work. From his perspective, he really doesn't have anything.
3. Trudy Campbell. She's apparently past her post-partum depression, as she plans a dinner party and even gets Don to show up, much to everyone's surprise (and glee). She makes a gracious hostess, and even has a spot of fun when the kitchen sink blows due to Pete's incorrect, though temporarily successful, repair of a drip (though she was clearly unaware of how Don's quick and more permanent fix would cut Pete off at the testicles). And she even gets to show off the baby!
2. Roger Sterling. After weeks of having nothing to do, Roger gives Lane some unsolicited but useful advice on how to handle a dinner with a new-found friend who intends to bring Jaguar to SCDP as a new account. When Lane can't seal the deal, Roger comes to the fore when the new friend says he wants to have a little fun after a second dinner. Roger's knowledge of a local high-class house of ill repute just about seals the deal... until the friend's wife discovers the next morning that her husband has chewing gum on his nether region. Roger also gets to chew out Ken on his secret writing career, using his past experience as an account exec (and more recent past as a failed author) to tell Ken that if he's doing his job right, he doesn't need the writing. And Roger gets a couple decent one-liners, so a nice week for him, finally.
1. Don Draper. OK, it's a bad sign that Don can't excuse his way out of a dinner party against Trudy Campbell. But when he actually shows he's treated like royalty, as Pete and Ken know it's a big deal that he's there. Don also gets to drink as much as he wants, make Peter look like a boob due to his lack of home repair skills, and have sex with Megan in the car on the way home. Not a bad night. Later, while at the classy whorehouse, Don earns the approbation of the madam when he talks about growing up in one that was much less classy and doesn't stray. He gets to further put Pete in his place by noting that Pete has much to lose if he fools around on Trudy, but mostly gets attitude from Pete, due to the irony of one of advertising's greatest swordsmen giving disapproving looks and advice regarding infidelity. It's kind of a fair cop, but Don saves it by noting that if he'd met Megan first, he would never have gone the way he did.
(Though Megan was probably a gawky Quebecois pre-teen when Don met Betty.)
Three Down
3. Ken Cosgrove. Ken runs into Peggy at the diner near the office, and he's trying to sneak a stranger by her. She browbeats him at the diner and later at the office, and he finally admits that the man works for a publisher, and they were talking about printing a collection of short stories Ken has been writing under an assumed name. Turns out he's now writing sci-fantasy stories. The meeting didn't go well. Later, at Pete's party, we see Don and Megan try to dance around not knowing Ken's wife's name. He does get chewed out by Roger about the writing as the episode is closing (Pete apparently mentioned it to Roger), and he admits to Peggy that his writing career is over. But at the end, we see Ken writing a new story, under a new pen name.
2. Lane Pryce. At the start of the episode Lane is grousing about having to go to a pub to watch soccer with a bunch of ex-pats he doesn't know. Turns out they're going to watch the World Cup final where England defeated Germany, and Lane's mood is much improved. It's here he meets the man who has the Jaguar account to move, and they develop a bit of a friendship. But that takes a serious hit at the dinner where Lane is trying to get information about the account. Turns out Lane doesn't get his friend's hint about finding some fun, which indirectly leads to the loss of the account. Lane is furious about this, and the response of the other partners - laughing, due to the circumstances of the loss - makes him even madder. The one saving grace is that when Pete dismisses Lane as unnecessary, Lane challenges Pete to a fight to avenge the insult. And Lane gives Pete a good pasting, which is always a good thing.
Lane does feel badly about the fight, but manages to make himself feel even worse when he makes a pass at Joan after she brings him some ice. She handles it quite gracefully, giving Lane a little dignity back. Still, not a good week for Lane.
1. Pete Campbell. Nothing goes right for Pete. His kitchen handiwork goes kaboom, and he's upstaged by Don when trying to fix it. He gets his ass kicked by Lane, and has no one in the office to commiserate with (the best he can do is telling Don in an elevator ride that he has nothing, a reference back to their discussion after the whorehouse visit (where Pete indulged, but only when the woman goes all "you're my king" on him). But the worst thing, from Pete's perspective, is that the high school senior he's been chatting up in driver's ed (he's finally getting his license now that he lives in the suburbs) throws him over for some jock who missed the first couple of classes. Pete seems to realize then that he's no longer the young ad exec who can get the girl and succeed in the office. He's marooned in the 'burbs and isolated at work. From his perspective, he really doesn't have anything.
Monday, April 09, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: The Killing
Three Up
3. Jack Linden. After getting dragged all over Seattle in the last couple of episodes, he and Sarah have finally landed somewhere they can cook, and he shows some independence as he continues watching a meal Sarah started before getting a work call. He also adds a bit of background to the investigation when he talks about the anime character whose tattoo is on a mystery guy in one of Rosie's movies. He also gets to tweak Sarah when he notes that she bought him the anime book at some point in the past, and that it's full of sex and violence. Nice parenting!
2. Janek Kovarsky. Stan brings the Polish mobster back into the case when he asks him to kill Rosie's killer. Janek manages to get under Stan's skin by making contact with his sons, but then gets Stan back into his graces by providing him with details about Rosie's death that the cops didn't tell Stan. Janek also says that the Beau Soleil thing is a dead end, as they only used Russian women, But we learn later that Janek is involved with Beau Soleil, and may have used Stan's employees to torch the building that housed the Beau Soleil servers just before a warrant was to be executed.
1. Sarah Linden. Not only has she managed to find something that passes for a home for Jack, but she makes some decent progress on the case, between the anime tattoo, the footage that links Larsen's moving company to the Beau Soleil arson, and discovering Holder's double cross with Rosie's backpack. She even manages to talk Holder off of a Seattle highway, apparently restarting their partnership.
Three Down
3. Darren Richmond. He's working hard to get back to normal - he's stopped taking morphine, wants to start rehab immediately, and swears he felt the warmth of the sun on his legs. He's even planning to attend an event at the end of the week to get back into the election, spurred in no small part by a mayoral press conference. But he comes back to earth when a doctor's test leads him to report sensation when he's not being touched, followed by a nurse he's been flirting with being able to change his catheder without him feeling it. When he finally stabs himself with a campaign pin, only to find he doesn't feel it, he realizes the road back to the campaign is much, much longer than he wants.
2. Steven Holder. So much for whatever "up" he had from last week. He's in a downward spiral this entire episode, starting with blowing off a N.A. meeting, followed by having his son reject a ride to school because his mom doesn't want him taking rides from dad. After beating up a dealer and stealing meth from him, Holder has sex with one of the former junkies from his N.A. group and, realizing he's hit bottom, winds up walking out into traffic on a Seattle highway. Linden talks him back in and gives up Rosie's backpack, so hopefully he's going to build back up after coming way down.
1. Stan Larsen. Poor, dumb Stan. He's gone back to Janek for help, not realizing that Janek is going to use Stan to protect his own interests. Stan is also told by Terry that he's incapable of taking care of the boys on his own, which past experience suggests is pretty much true. And it turns out that he likely has Janek-connected arsonists - and perhaps Rosie's actual killer - working for him. And unlike Holder, who seems to have realized what direction he was heading in, Stan seems poised to lumber right into whatever ending Janek has planned for him. Or just randomly doing something stupid that'll put him back in the jug.
On the other hand...
While we were led to believe that Don's evening of infidelity and murder on last night's Mad Men were fever-induced, I do think there's an alternative theory. In this case, Megan came back to the apartment, discovered the dead woman under the bed, and used her lingerie ninja cleaning skills to dispose of the body and remove any evidence of the struggle. She feeds him the fever dream line, he buys into it as most likely, and she keeps her work in reserve for when their marriage inevitably blows up.
Megan could even offer out this service to others, kind of as a French-Canadian Winston Wolfe. I'd suggest she contact Joan Harris, but it looks like the Viet Cong is going to take care of her problem.
Megan could even offer out this service to others, kind of as a French-Canadian Winston Wolfe. I'd suggest she contact Joan Harris, but it looks like the Viet Cong is going to take care of her problem.
Sunday, April 08, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men
Three Up
3. Michael Ginsburg. He shows his genius during a pitch to a shoe company, but almost blows it when he goes into a long discourse about the darkness of the Cinderella story, which results in the company keeping SCDP on but changing the campaign from what was presented to the Cinderella thing, which Don doesn't like as it's cliche. Don dresses down Michael afterwards, and Ken has to clue Michael in on the fact that he almost got fired, but all in all Michael gets to show his creative genius in a couple of different ways. He just needs to learn when to turn it off.
2. Sally Draper. She's stuck with her step-grandmother while Betty and Henry are stranded due to an airplane mechanics strike. She doesn't like her discipline (which isn't all that bad, really), and wants her to tell her about the Chicago nurse killings that are all over the papers, but grandma refuses. When Sally sneaks the paper into bed she freaks out and can't sleep until given one of grandmother's little helpers. She's still zonked under the couch when Betty and Henry return. Nice to see Sally forge some sort of maternally-based relationship, even if does include serial killing and abusing prescription drugs. That is actually a step up from Betty's approach.
1. Don Draper. He starts off the episode with a cold, which kind of sucks, but he then he runs into a freelancer that he had an affair with and she's clearly interested in restarting a relationship, to to extent that she finds out where he lives. She goads him into having sex, and when she suggests their affair will continue, regardless of Don't protestations, he strangles her. But wait! It appears that the entire sequence with her (after their initial meeting) was some sort of fever dream, and when Megan says she was worried about him for being sick, his reply that she has nothing to worry about goes deeper than she knows. It's an odd kind of win, but given how widely he played the field when married to Betty, it's a win.
Three Down
3. Roger Sterling. The anti-roll continues for Roger, as he completely forgets to put Michael on to some emergency work for Mohawk, who is unaffected by the strike and picking up more business covering for other airlines. So he has to buy off Peggy to do the work (she gets $400 out of him, thanks in no small part to the liquid courage coursing through her veins). He's worse with almost nothing to do than he was when he actually had nothing to do.
2. Peggy Olsen. She starts off on a roll getting the $400 off of Roger, and then builds on it when she finds Dawn sleeping in an office (it was too late to get the subway home, and cabs won't go into her neighborhood). Peggy invites Dawn to stay the night, and they have an interesting conversation about being different in the office, and everything goes well... until Peggy take a too-long look at her purse before going to bed, giving Dawn the obvious cue that Peggy has some concern that Dawn will steal from her. Dawn is gone before Peggy gets up, leaving her alone with her unexpected racism.
1. Joan Harris. Glenn is home from Vietnam, but the happy return is short-lived, cut off when he announces that he has to go back in 10 days and do a year-long tour. Joan is upset by the news but is working through it when she learns from her mother in law that Glenn volunteered to return. When arguing about it afterwards, Glenn notes that he's needed in Vietnam, where he gets to command a number of doctors and other medical personnel. With the suggestion that his family isn't enough, Joan says he's free to go - right now. Glenn threatens to never return if he walks out the door now, to which Joan just shrugs. He goes, and she knows it's over (and will be permanently when he is inevitably killed over there). She puts on a strong face, and even gets to bring up his rape of her during their fight, but in the end, in bed with her mom and Kevin, it's clear she's unsure if she's up for single motherhood.
Monday, April 02, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: The Killing
Not sure how well this concept is going to work for this show, which so rarely has three characters you could define as "up." But I'll do the best I can.
Three Up
3. Jamie Wright. In the wake of Richmond's shooting he manages to keep the campaign going and even gets to take a swing at one of the mayor's aides. He's doing his best to keep everything together. Still, he's not very up given how things are working out.
2. Stephen Holder. As cocky as he is for making the Richmond collar and getting promoted to homicide, he quickly figures out that things don't add up in the Larsen case, especially when the sudden appearance of Rosie's backpack outside of the Larsen house doesn't prompt significant inquiry. He then reasserts his badass self by taking the backpack, though what he'll do with it is up to question as he's been told that he was basically set up to steer the case towards Richmond.
1. Sarah Linden. She's the first to twig on to the idea that there's some sort of conspiracy at play, and makes quick connections to Holder's former boss in Narcotics and a representative of the mayor. She also pieces together some information from Gwen to check out Richmond's favored kayaking area. Still, for the new progress she has no idea who to trust or even if she and Jack are safe. Her personal life is certainly not at the top of the positive scale.
Three Down
3. The Larsen family. You could probably populate this entire section with Larsens. Stan has seen Mitch walk and his right hand man kill himself. The boys are feeling the absence of their mother keenly, and don't even feel safe in their own home. And Terry has to move in after whoever was paying her rent cuts her off, though she covers by taking a maternal role.
2, Belko Royce. He's got one dead (his mom) and one gravely injured (Richmond), and when he tells Stan that he shot Richmond for Stan and Rosie, Stan's sad, pitying looks tells Belko he's lost the trust of the man he looks up to the most. That, coupled with the fact that he's not going home soon, despite Holder's comments to the contrary, leads Belko to grab a cop's gun and kill himself.
1. Darren Richmond. He's been shot, paralyzed, will have a colostomy bag for the rest of his life, and to top it all off, Linden has figured out what Richmond was doing the night of Rosie's murder - trying to kill himself due to the guilt he feels over his wife's death. So while he's been cleared, he now has to live with the aftermath of his shooting and the potential of his suicide attempt going public.
Three Up
3. Jamie Wright. In the wake of Richmond's shooting he manages to keep the campaign going and even gets to take a swing at one of the mayor's aides. He's doing his best to keep everything together. Still, he's not very up given how things are working out.
2. Stephen Holder. As cocky as he is for making the Richmond collar and getting promoted to homicide, he quickly figures out that things don't add up in the Larsen case, especially when the sudden appearance of Rosie's backpack outside of the Larsen house doesn't prompt significant inquiry. He then reasserts his badass self by taking the backpack, though what he'll do with it is up to question as he's been told that he was basically set up to steer the case towards Richmond.
1. Sarah Linden. She's the first to twig on to the idea that there's some sort of conspiracy at play, and makes quick connections to Holder's former boss in Narcotics and a representative of the mayor. She also pieces together some information from Gwen to check out Richmond's favored kayaking area. Still, for the new progress she has no idea who to trust or even if she and Jack are safe. Her personal life is certainly not at the top of the positive scale.
Three Down
3. The Larsen family. You could probably populate this entire section with Larsens. Stan has seen Mitch walk and his right hand man kill himself. The boys are feeling the absence of their mother keenly, and don't even feel safe in their own home. And Terry has to move in after whoever was paying her rent cuts her off, though she covers by taking a maternal role.
2, Belko Royce. He's got one dead (his mom) and one gravely injured (Richmond), and when he tells Stan that he shot Richmond for Stan and Rosie, Stan's sad, pitying looks tells Belko he's lost the trust of the man he looks up to the most. That, coupled with the fact that he's not going home soon, despite Holder's comments to the contrary, leads Belko to grab a cop's gun and kill himself.
1. Darren Richmond. He's been shot, paralyzed, will have a colostomy bag for the rest of his life, and to top it all off, Linden has figured out what Richmond was doing the night of Rosie's murder - trying to kill himself due to the guilt he feels over his wife's death. So while he's been cleared, he now has to live with the aftermath of his shooting and the potential of his suicide attempt going public.
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men
Three Up
3. Don Draper. In tonight's episode, he got to learn that Betty called him about her malady and didn't tell her husband, got to mess with a teenage girl's head and mock Harry Crane when trying to sign the Rolling Stones to do a Heinz ad, is still married to Megan, and didn't have to do any actual work. Not a bad outing. He also has the result of the firm's EOE "ad" working for him. She's named Dawn, which kind of cracks people up.
2. Michael Ginsberg. He's the newest copywriter at SCDP, brought in to work the Mowhawk account. His initial meeting with Peggy doesn't go well - he's spends most of it channeling Woody Allen, but with more crazy. He almost talks himself out of meeting Don, but has a good enough portfolio for Peggy to give him a chance to meet Don. In that meeting, Michael is normal, almost charming, or at least is when Peggy lets him talk (as she keeps interrupting to hold off his neuroses). He also lives with his (I'm assuming) widowed dad, who sings what I assume is a Hebrew blessing over his son when told he got the job. I think I'm going to like these two.
1. Pete Campbell. The episode doesn't start well for him - Roger moved a meeting regarding Mohawk out of Pete's new office and into his own - but Pete gets the last laugh when he assembles the SCDP staff to announce Mohawk's return. That he gets to do so and intimate that Roger will be working under him on the account is icing on the cake.
Three Down
3. Harry Crane. He accompanies Don to sign the Rolling Stones, and gets in to see them. He even gets them to sign on to sing an ad for Heinz. Except that the group he actually signs are The Tradewinds. This might not be such a bad deal in a decade, as it looks like they'll become the band Styx (assuming Wikipedia is right about their early years and I'm making the correct logical leap). Crane then pounds sliders (he's got the munchies after smoking a joint with a teenaged girl) and complains about not getting food when he brings dinner home for the family. Don gets to mock some more, but more gently than last week. Pretty much the usual sad sack Harry as usual.
2. Roger Sterling. He's all set to handle the Mohawk account and even have his own creative staffer to handle the writing, but then gets presented as the "day to day" guy on the account by Pete. This makes him feel even more ineffectual than usual, as he notes to Don over a drink. I do like that these two are friends (of a sort) again. Don better get used to hearing this type of complaint, though.
1. Betty Francis. Betty has gained a significant amount of weight since we last left her, and it's due to something she's carrying. Sadly for her, it's not a baby. It's a lump on her thyroid, which is discovered when she goes to get a prescription for diet pills at the suggestion of her mother in law. Thankfully, the lump is benign, but this does suggest that her weight gain is psychological. From the last scene, where she's sharing ice cream sundaes with Sally, it seems that food is the lone place she's finding happiness in her current situation, even though Henry clearly loves her. Henry also learns of her call to Don from Don, when he calls to check up on her diagnosis. That's probably mitigating some of those feelings.
3. Don Draper. In tonight's episode, he got to learn that Betty called him about her malady and didn't tell her husband, got to mess with a teenage girl's head and mock Harry Crane when trying to sign the Rolling Stones to do a Heinz ad, is still married to Megan, and didn't have to do any actual work. Not a bad outing. He also has the result of the firm's EOE "ad" working for him. She's named Dawn, which kind of cracks people up.
2. Michael Ginsberg. He's the newest copywriter at SCDP, brought in to work the Mowhawk account. His initial meeting with Peggy doesn't go well - he's spends most of it channeling Woody Allen, but with more crazy. He almost talks himself out of meeting Don, but has a good enough portfolio for Peggy to give him a chance to meet Don. In that meeting, Michael is normal, almost charming, or at least is when Peggy lets him talk (as she keeps interrupting to hold off his neuroses). He also lives with his (I'm assuming) widowed dad, who sings what I assume is a Hebrew blessing over his son when told he got the job. I think I'm going to like these two.
1. Pete Campbell. The episode doesn't start well for him - Roger moved a meeting regarding Mohawk out of Pete's new office and into his own - but Pete gets the last laugh when he assembles the SCDP staff to announce Mohawk's return. That he gets to do so and intimate that Roger will be working under him on the account is icing on the cake.
Three Down
3. Harry Crane. He accompanies Don to sign the Rolling Stones, and gets in to see them. He even gets them to sign on to sing an ad for Heinz. Except that the group he actually signs are The Tradewinds. This might not be such a bad deal in a decade, as it looks like they'll become the band Styx (assuming Wikipedia is right about their early years and I'm making the correct logical leap). Crane then pounds sliders (he's got the munchies after smoking a joint with a teenaged girl) and complains about not getting food when he brings dinner home for the family. Don gets to mock some more, but more gently than last week. Pretty much the usual sad sack Harry as usual.
2. Roger Sterling. He's all set to handle the Mohawk account and even have his own creative staffer to handle the writing, but then gets presented as the "day to day" guy on the account by Pete. This makes him feel even more ineffectual than usual, as he notes to Don over a drink. I do like that these two are friends (of a sort) again. Don better get used to hearing this type of complaint, though.
1. Betty Francis. Betty has gained a significant amount of weight since we last left her, and it's due to something she's carrying. Sadly for her, it's not a baby. It's a lump on her thyroid, which is discovered when she goes to get a prescription for diet pills at the suggestion of her mother in law. Thankfully, the lump is benign, but this does suggest that her weight gain is psychological. From the last scene, where she's sharing ice cream sundaes with Sally, it seems that food is the lone place she's finding happiness in her current situation, even though Henry clearly loves her. Henry also learns of her call to Don from Don, when he calls to check up on her diagnosis. That's probably mitigating some of those feelings.
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