For Old Blogs That Be Forgot

I've been pretty neglectful of the blog of late, so in these last minutes of 2013 I figured I'd write about the new shows I've picked up for the year. Which is pretty easy, actually, as the only new show I'm watching is The Blacklist, which I've enjoyed for something that's been sort of silly in that overhyped international treachery sort of way that 24 employed so often. James Spader's been fun to watch, and there have been some interesting villains of the week (favorite so far: Robert Sean Leonard as a biotech genius turned mass murderer). I do like that they're taking their time with the standing plot lines (the basis of Reddington's interest in Liz Keen, the potential secret history of her husband, and the identity of the people who are watching the Keen house).

I did try watching Marvel's Agents of SHIELD but couldn't get into it. Not sure if it's because I'm approaching it as an outsider (having not read the comics or seen the movies) or because it's all a bit too ludicrous. Still, I didn't hate it, and hope it sticks if for no other reason to keep networks open to this sort of programming.

I have also seen a couple of episodes of The Crazy Ones and The Millers. I feel like I like the former more than the latter, but haven't quite gotten motivated to follow either.

We did also watched a couple of episodes of Genealogy Roadshow, a PBS series that takes the Antiques Roadshow approach to finding out if everyday people are related to someone famous, or someone involved in a major historical event. I found it a little glib, between the host (who adds nothing but a layer of unctuousness) and the genealogists who don't always explain their findings that well or in enough detail for my taste. This needs a serious retooling before I'd watch it again.

The last new show I'll mention isn't something I watch specifically for me. It's Peg + Cat, a PBS animated show from the Fred Rogers Company that follows a girl (Peg) and her cat as they have math and science-related adventures. It's a very different series than Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and offers some amusement for adults from the catchy songs to witty asides. This may actually be the best new show I've seen in 2013.

Oh, and I did watch the live version of The Sound of Music. Audra McDonald deserved better.

Anyway, happy New Year! Hopefully more posting in 2014.

Bring Out Your Dead, 2013-14

Another year, another attempt to win the Ted Marshall Open TV Dead Pool. Here's my entry, in order of bonus points I get if the show is cancelled/does not air after the end of this season (you get 20 points if the show is cancelled plus whatever bonus points you assign to the show):

10: How I Met Your Mother. Probably the easiest pick in the bunch, as it's been no secret that this is the show's final season.

9: Nikita. Also an easy choice, as this show is also in its last season.

8: Dads. Chosen because I don't think I've read a single positive word about the show. The ratings tend to reflect this, though Fox's Tuesday night seems to be tanking across the board.

7: Sean Saves the World. Also got very little positive press, though its premiere outpaced Parks and Recreation, which makes me sad.

6: Lucky 7. ABC's lottery winner drama was the first show to get cancelled this season, which I think makes this the first time that a show was cancelled before I could write about my entry.

5: Betrayal. The third time is not the charm for ABC's single-word named prime time soaps, as the rating suggest that this show will meet its end well before Revenge or Scandal.

4: Super Fun Night. I went with this as the description sounded ridiculous, although it's not exactly a show meant to appeal to my demo. As it stands reviews have been mixed at best, and ratings for its debut were disappointing given it had Modern Family as a lead-in.

3: We Are Men. This show should be something I'd gravitate to, but I'm wary of sitcoms based around men being manly men, as they all tend to suck and get cancelled. This attempt may go the same way, as its debut landed it in 4th place for its timeslot.

2: Back in the Game. My entries usually get taken out by a sitcom renewal, and this may be the one that gets me this season. I thought the story seemed kind of light, but the show seems to be settling in behind The Middle.

1. Enlisted. A military-based Fox sitcom about brothers serving on the same base while most of their unit is serving abroad. I don't often take mid-season shows, but this one seems like something that would get stuck somewhere to fill time and then get cancelled. On the other hand, I should have trusted my instinct and gone with the Ironside reboot here, as that seems terrible.

In fact, Ironside was one of the three shows that were among the top 10 shows picked by entrants that I did not pick. The other two are Trophy Wife and The Goldebergs, both on ABC's doomed Tuesday. It was an odd night to begin with, trying to balance Marvel's The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with these two sitcoms and Lucky 7. And now the whole night seems to be imploding. Maybe ABC should have held on to the Dancing with the Stars results show?

Catching Up

So with summer gone and the new TV season starting up, a quick look back on what I wasted my time with over the past few months:

Under the Dome - we're about halfway through this, and I'm not particularly impressed. Too exposition-heavy, odd moments of illogic (a meningitis outbreak that can be cured in hours using one dose of antibiotics, no one finds that strange?), and not particularly great acting (though the guy playing James "Junior" Rennie could probably make a career out of playing sociopaths). But it's interesting enough for a summer series, I suppose. It is picking up a bit now that the thing that's apparently causing the dome has been discovered.

Hell's Kitchen/MasterChef - I found the former more watchable this time around if only for the casting of perhaps the most incompetent group of one gender in the show's history (the men, who proved almost incapable of winning a team challenge). The latter is much more watchable this time around, not sure if it's the contestants or the (relative) streamlining of the tryouts. It's not the Walmart product placements or the Glee-themed episode, which pretty much proved that Jane Lynch will appear in anything (as if Celebrity Game Night didn't do that already).

Masterpiece - after working through Mr. Selfridge (kind of not worth it, unless 14 episodes of Jeremy Piven given license to overact is your kind of thing), we got what appears to be the last season of Inspector Lewis (boo) and the first season of Endeavor, a Morse prequel series that I've enjoyed quite a bit. Neither have particularly long runs (3 and 5 episodes respectively, I think), so easy to cover if you're so inclined.

The Killing - you may have noticed that I tailed off of the weekly coverage, thanks in part to a move and in part to the show not really having three characters who have an "up" episode every week. Turns out the show's been cancelled (for good this time), which isn't helping me finish the season. Don't think I'll miss the show per se, but I will miss Joel Kinnaman's performances as Stephen Holder. Here's to hoping he gets the higher profile role he deserves, but soon.

American Ninja Warrior - modeled after a Japanese show, it features a variety of folks (many of whom are either rock climbers or devotees of Parkour/freerunning) trying to conquer obstacle courses in the hopes of conquering the final one (which has never been done). It's not something we'd have tuned into, but the oldest boy found it one rainy weekend afternoon and it quickly became his program of choice. I fear future trips to the park will be ruined as he finds that none of them have a salmon ladder or warped wall. Also problematic is the change from G4 to Esquire Network, as the show went off air for a few weekends, but it appears to be back, for better or worse.

Three Up, Three Down: The Killing, "Head Shots"

Three Up

1. Goldie Willis. He's not in the episode much, but he makes maximum use of his time. He leads Holder and Reddick (who are staking him out) to the retaining pond where all the bodies were discovered and throws a makeshift press conference with his mom at his side. He claims he is not the serial killer (giving the killer the media-friendly nickname of the Pied Piper) and that the cops aren't even telling anyone about Kallie being missing and likely with the actual serial killer. This causes the expected problems with the Seattle police, and indirectly reunites Linden and Holder. Which may not be the best thing for Goldie in the long run (they'll figure out if Goldie's involved well before Reddick ever would), but for now it throws the heat off of him.

2. Sarah Linden. Is back partnering with Holder after Goldie's press conference and a chance to dish back to Reddick what he's been dishing to Holder (and presumably others) about her. She's also able to make some connections that help her and Holder figure out who is making the sex tapes in the motel (more of whom anon). She's not made the leap she most wants - connecting all of this to the Emery killing - but she's back with her partner and making headway.

3. Francis Becker. Emery continues to manipulate things on the cell block - he doesn't obey the junior guard's order to take antibiotics, and is developing a friendship with his chatty block-mate, Hill. None of this is to Becker's liking, so he invites the junior guard home for dinner (they're both working double shifts, Becker's house is closer to the prison, and the junior guard doesn't really want to go home). There Becker's wife and son quickly give a picture of how unpleasant life is at casa Becker, and Becker quickly gets the other guard to admit that Emery didn't take his medicine. Becker then kills two birds with one stone by beating Hill until Emery takes the pill. Hill tries to get Emery to not give in, but he does. So Becker's back in charge, for now at least, though Emery's unlikely to be done challenging authority (he's acknowledged that the system has already bested him, so what does he have to lose?) and Becker's wife is pretty clearly willing to give the younger guard some of what Becker's not been around the house to get (by which I mean sex). So, like Goldie, this may just be a short term win.

Honorable Mention: Bullet. She's still working with Holder on finding Kallie, and is able to give him information that leads to the raid on the motel. She also shows how deeply protective she is of her fellow street kids when she goes with Twitch to the park to score, because she knows what a bad idea that is and that Twitch will need someone there, if just to pick up the pieces. We see more of what's behind Bullet's brave face in this episode, and it shows that there is a difference between her and the other street kids, even if she has to hide that to survive.

Three Down

1. Danette Lutz. The mother of the year campaign kicks into high gear when Linden stops by again to ask Danette if she's seen Kallie, and in revealing that Kallie's been hooking gets the response from Danette that it's a phase and she'll grow out of it (which makes one wonder how Danette conceived Kallie in the first place). Danette also admits that she locked Kallie out of the trailer the night she disappeared, an act which finally seems to work a chink in Danette's armor (something the sex tape didn't even seem to do). The capper is that Danette's boyfriend is none other than the man behind the sex tapes, Joe Mills (who Kallie previously said creeped her out and whom Lyric has provided certain services for in the past). There is like not a single choice Danette has made that's working in her favor.

2. Twitch. One clean drug test before moving to L.A., but Twitch's PO has some bad news - he failed his last test. That, of course, is a lie, but the PO knows how to rig the system to his own advantage. Which, in this case, is teaching Twitch a lesson by sodomizing him in the back of his car. Clearly, there are issues here, but we don't dwell on them but instead see that Twitch (who is not into dudes) is driven right back to heroin due to this. He later goes out to a park to score and gets beaten by some punks for his trouble. Lyric tells him that she'll nurse him back to health, so if nothing else he still has the love of a girl that he doesn't really deserve.

3. Ray Emery. His attempt at making a connection with Hill, and then taking the pill so Becker will stop beating Hill, shows that he still can feel and connect. The only problem is that it allows others to manipulate you and derail your attempts to manipulate others. Emery will figure out a way to get back at Becker, but for now Emery has to reflect on the fact that all of his beatings and injuries at the hands of his father and various gangs may not have made him the hardened character he tries to be.

Honorable Mention: Mama Dips. The (manager? owner? madame?) of the Queens Motel, she quickly finds herself on the wrong side of the law when Holder is able to connect the motel to the sex tapes and get a warrant. Things get worse when it's found that she has a warning buzzer to the hidden room where the taping took place. She's putting on a brave face for the cops - saying she's the voice on the tapes, and where is the soda she was promised? - but you have to think she's lying to cover for someone who can do her real harm. She is, at least, entertaining about it.

Geroni-no

We weren't even 24 hours clear of Don Draper showing his kids the whorehouse where he grew up when the latest Internet theory about Mad Men hit the ether: Don Draper is D.B. Cooper. And while this is much more cogent than all of the Megan Draper as Sharon Tate nonsense, how likely is it that Don will end the series by going into free-fall over the Pacific Northwest? Let's unpack this theory.

All of the airplane imagery points to this. Yes, airplanes feature prominently in the show. But this is also the period where air travel began to open to the masses, and you see the start of the growth curve in air operations.The 1950s and '60s also saw double digit growth in US commercial aviation. As mentioned on the show, having an airline in one's portfolio, even a regional airline like Mohawk, was second only to a car company in terms of profitability and status. It would be unusual if an airline didn't figure prominently in the show.

Air imagery in other areas worked to drive other plot points. Having Pete's father die in the American Airlines Flight 1 sets up a decade of failure for Pete. Ted Chaough's plane gives him a form of power over Don (remember how nervous Don was during their flight) and furthers Ted's relationship with Peggy when they're socked in during a visit to Ocean Spray. And North American Aviation served as a wedge between Pete and Don due the background check Don would need.

I'm thinking all of this is selection bias. If you want Don to be D. B. Cooper, you're going to start seeing planes everywhere, and give them more significance than intended.

Did this season really mirror the first season? Critical to this theory is that this past season brought characters back to season 1, and as season 2 started with the AA1 crash, this final season would also include a historically pertinent airline-related story line. I think there is something to this season sending characters towards their origin, but with a significant difference:

• Don is cheating on his increasingly restless young wife, but with Megan the cheating isn't serial (as far as we know it's limited to Sylvia), and her restlessness is as much about her career than it is about her marriage.
• Peggy's feeling for Ted are much deeper that what she had for Pete, and has now become incredibly relevant at work as she's the highest ranking creative person in New York (for now, at least)
• Joan has more real power at work as a partner, but has less influence based on the open secret of how she earned her partnership and on her stagnant career path (compare her position to Peggy's).
• Pete's knowledge of Bob's identity has done more to actively hurt him than his knowledge of Don's identity. By not exposing Bob, Pete lost the Chevy account, lost his mother to Bob's partner in crime, and is heading to California in whatever counts for shame in his head.
• Betty looks like her old self, but now has a protector-husband in Henry, enjoys the glamor of being a politician's wife, and is even Sally's preferred parent.
• Duck Phillips is "around," but is unlikely to still be around once a new creative person is installed at SC&P. His initial meeting with Pete makes it clear that his work as a headhunter fits him better than advertising ever did.
• The agency is Sterling Cooper & Partners. And the partners may be making all the difference here. If it were just up to Roger and Bert, they may have found a way to keep Don on board in the wake of the Hershey's pitch. But you throw in Pete (who has never liked Don), Joan (who is likely still angry with Don for firing Jaguar), Cutler (who was suggesting a coup back when Don and Roger were in California), and Ted (whose relationship with Don is, at best, rocky), and Don's ouster is much easier to rationalize.

Where this leaves Don, then, is back before we ever met him, Don Draper the unemployed. And instead of trying to burnish his Draper persona to make it more real, he's opening up about his past and potentially creating something new. What we have in this list (and with Don in his new open about his past persona), is a 2.0 version of the characters and institutions that frame the show.

The shedding of Don Draper. There's the idea that Don has been shedding his assumed identity since Anna's death in season four, and there's something to that. He was up front with Megan about who he was, and he's made references to growing up on a farm and in Pennsylvania. But it could be that the shedding and the death references - from the Royal Hawaiian ad to Don winding up in that pool in the Hollywood hills - were showing Don where he was heading if he did not open up. Which leads to...

The two Don Drapers print ad. My interpretation of the ad, then, is that the Don with his back to us is the Don we've seen up to now, protecting his fake identity and heading the "one way" that path leads (to the cops who are arresting him, or waiting for someone to claim his body after he jumps from his apartment balcony?). The Don that's facing us is looking askance at that Don, and is being led in a different direction by the woman whose hand he's holding. It could be Megan leading Don to California (by way of separation and firing), Sally leading Don to be more open about his past, Betty leading Don to realize his emotional deficits, or even Joan leading Don to realize that his impulsive decisions cause more harm than good (I'd list a Peggy variant here, but Peggy would only wear something that sheer for Ted). The ad, then, rather than showing a Don who is disappearing, is showing a Don who is taking a different path (or is showing Don 1.0 disappearing to allow Don 2.0 to emerge).

But Don looks like D. B. Cooper! And acts like him! Well, they do dress similarly, and both keep their hair slicked, but it's hardly an unusual look for the period. And I really don't think the Cooper sketch looks much like Don at all. As for how the two men act, based on the accounts of the skyjacking both are cool under pressure. But is it enough to get Don to skyjack a plane? It seems like a bridge too far. Also, would Don ever cut his bourbon with soda? In any case, whatever similarities the two men have, I think there's still a major obstacle to this theory.

The Cooper skyjacking took place in 1971. While I don't think it's a stated parameter, Mad Men is about the '60s. It starts in March 1960 and uses historical events to anchor the timeline or directly influence the plot. Jumping into the 1970s would be a disruptive narrative shift out of tone with the rest of the series. It's much more likely that the series would tie its end to something like Altamont, the concert whose violence and disorder is informally considered the end of the '60s. But even if we overlook this, there would still be a lingering question.

Why would Don hijack an airplane? The piece suggests that both Don and Cooper exist in an isolated emotional state, and that both need to do something dramatic just to feel something. That's possible (though it's a complete assumption with regards to Cooper, and suggest a deeper void in Don than we've seen), but it would completely go against Don's nature to disappear in such a public fashion. He's much more likely to take a cue from his Royal Hawaiian poster and disappear into the sea, literally or figuratively. Assuming he's cashed out of his partnership, he'd have enough money to live on if he chose to disappear for good.

We have no idea what sort of Don Draper - if any - we're going to wind up with at the end of Mad Men, but I think the signs point more towards Don 2.0, a synthesis of Dick Whitman and Don Draper whose ultimate disposition will be written in this final season.

Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men, "In Care Of"

Three Up

1. Ted Chaough. Ted finally makes the leap with Peggy, showing up at her place after she comes home from a date, confessing his feelings and winding up in bed. Peggy talks him into going home afterwards (he apparently always goes home when he works late), saying she's willing to wait for Ted as he figures out how to best end things at home. But when he gets in bed with Nan you can see the realization that he can't leave. Ted basically begs Don to let Ted go to California, and while Don says he needs the move as badly as Ted does, but Don later relents and says Ted should go (not that Don has much of a choice, as we'll see). Ted gets a lot of anger from Peggy, but in the end he's doing the right thing, getting out of a situation that he knows will hurt more people than help.

2. Peggy Olsen. Peggy forces the issue with Ted by getting dolled up for a date and then making sure he sees her before she leaves (Peggy adjusting her dress to show more cleavage may be the least Peggy Olsen-thing I've ever seen her do). Her protestations to Ted about not wanting to be "that woman" in his marriage belie the fact that she wants him and is willing to wait for him to become free, and her anger towards Ted when he says he's going to California is palpable. But after Don gets the boot, she winds up in his office going over work. It's not officially her office, but Peggy is staking claim to it and a new level of importance in the New York office. Even if the guy Duck brings is becomes her nominal boss, Peggy's going to be an integral part of the firm going forward.

3. Bob Benson. Bob shows he can give as well as he gets by ending Pete's tenure with Chevy almost as soon as it starts. Knowing that the apparent death of Pete's mom will put Bob under even more pressure, Bob uses the Chevy guys' love of their cars against Pete, whose driving acumen is limited at best. With Pete now shuffling off to California, and Ken unlikely to take Chevy back, Bob is in position to be the top guy on Chevy. On the personal front, he's also managing to be the main man in Joan's life, even if she only refers to Bob as a buddy. Bob's the one carving turkey on Thanksgiving, and he's not letting Roger scare him off. Curious to see how all this plays out; will Duck give his info on Bob to other people at SC&P, and is Bob sincerely interested in Joan?

Honorable Mention: Sally Draper. Things are not going well for Sally at Miss Porter's, as she gets suspended after buying beer for classmates and getting drunk. So she'll be home for Thanksgiving, on top of which she has a summons to give a statement over the burglary case (her phone call with Don over this is, at best, frosty). But things might be in for a change when Sally sees the dilapidated house where Don grew up. As the first thing Don has really told Sally (or any of the kids) about his life, you can begin to see the wheels working in Sally's head, as to why her dad is hiding stuff about his past. Not sure if he'll make a full confession, but it's at least an opening for Sally if she wants to rebuild her relationship with Don.


Three Down

 1. Pete Campbell. Pete, now on the Chevy account, learns just before a trip out to Detroit that his mother has gone missing at sea, falling overboard during a cruise with Manolo, whom she married on board. Pete and Bud have a chance to pay for an investigation that will almost certainly see Manolo found guilty, though they apparently have a price at which they'll let things lie. Pete uses this to continue his threats towards Bob, which Bob deftly turns around by having Pete try to drive a Camaro in front of the Chevy guys. Pete promptly backs into a display and is off the account. In the end Pete winds up going out to California to set up SC&P's Los Angeles office, either free of his burdens or abandoning his family depending on your point of view.

2. Megan Draper. After an entire season where she tries to get Don back, she finally gives up trying after he tells her they're not moving to California. He doesn't explain it well, and his attempt to soften the blow by trying redefine their union as "bicoastal" doesn't cut it. So she's lost her husband and her job, and is moving to L.A. mostly on the hope of getting work.

3. Roger Sterling. There are some good moments for Roger - he gets invited to Joan's for Thanksgiving, giving him some time with their son, but he's only there because his daughter has frozen him out as he won't put any more money in her husband's trucking business. He also gets to have it out with Bob over Joan, but his attempts to intimidate Bob don't quite work as Bob winds up at Joan's for Thanksgiving as well. And he also has to be in on Don's ouster, choosing the business over friendship (though their friendship has never really fully come back from the falling out a few seasons ago).

Honorable Mention: Dorothy Campbell. She may have loved the sea, but she probably loved being not dead better. Or at least assumed dead; I would love it if she turned up next season after wandering around Martinique for six months or so with no idea of who she is or what happened.

One ?

1. Don Draper. So how is it that you can wind up in the drunk tank, lose your wife, and lose your job, and not have it turn out to be a down episode? It happens when the things that lead to these setbacks may, in the long run, be the best thing for you. Not so much the drunk tank - as much as it gives Don another clue that he needs to cut of the sauce, it also opens him up to being discovered for who he really is - but the rest of it.  During a pitch to Hershey's that is going quite well, Don comes clean with them about his personal story (which he wove into his pitch), telling all assembled about his actual childhood. This goes over about as well as you'd expect, and in its immediate aftermath is when Don tells Ted he can go to California (an act that causes him to lose Megan). In some respect, Don sacrifices himself to prevent Ted from going down the same road that Don's traveled.

When Don loses his job, it's ironic that he gets Fred Rumsoned for something he did when not drunk (he had that drink beforehand, but I don't believe he was actually drunk for the pitch). And as mad as Don was for being ousted, it does help give him the freedom that someone like Pete only thinks he's getting.

And when we see Don bring the kids to the house where he grew up, and we see Sally look at Don in a way that's questioning and a little understanding, we begin to see that for all of the trouble opening up has caused Don, it's also starting to give him back his family. It will be interesting to see how far his opening up will take him.

Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men, "The Quality of Mercy"

Three Up

1. Sally Draper. Turns out that part of Sally's processing of catching Don with Sylvia Rosen is that she now wants to go to boarding school, apparently an extension of her blowing off weekends in the city. Betty takes her to an interview and overnight at Miss Porter's School, where Sally is saddled with two students who demand smokes or booze to ensure they say good things about Sally. She has neither, but is able to call in Glenn Bishop and a friend of his, and they bring booze and weed. There's a bump in the road when Glenn's pal Rollo tries to move in on Sally, but she gets Glenn to intercede, which he does buy beating Rollo about the head and torso (which makes Sally very happy, not sure if it's because she likes Glenn or likes that she can manipulate him). In any case, it turns out that Sally's in if she wants, and in the end Betty even lets Sally try a cigarette, which leads Sally to note that Don has never given her anything. So even with the win, there's still a pretty big hole there.

2. Pete Campbell. Pete finally gets his shot at Chevy, taking over for Ken after his latest injury at the hands of the GM guys in Detroit. Problem is that he's saddled with Bob Benson, but Pete has a stroke of genius: he calls Duck to see if he can find a spot for Bob at another firm (and with good timing, as Pete's mom is still seeing Manolo). Duck passes on some interesting info on Bob, which Pete (using his experience with Don as a guide) uses to keep Bob around, but out of Pete's business (so to speak). He also gets Manolo out of the picture. He's still Pete at times, but it's a good week for him, relatively.

3. Betty Francis. Her phone call to Don about Sally shows some of the flirty aftermath of Don and Betty's hook up, which is a nice softening of Betty's usual bitchiness. She's very good with the woman at Miss Porter's School, and when she learns that Sally is in is reasonably proud (though she wants more details from Sally). Betty is surprised when Sally says Don has never given her anything, but I think there's some part of her that's happy to hear that Sally's giving attitude in equal amounts.

Honorable Mention: Ken Cosgrove. Odd to be considered a winner when you've been shot in the face, but getting out of traveling to Detroit while staying on the account in New York makes this an overall win (especially if Ken gets to keep that eye that's under the patch).

Three Down

1. Ted Chaough. Ted's interest in Peggy is obvious to pretty much everyone, as she can do no wrong when pitching ideas. They also take in Rosemary's Baby together, though an awkward encounter with Don and Megan (who are at the same theater) leads to an even more awkward explanation of why Ted and Peggy are at the movie (they claim it's for an ad, which is true enough for cover). When Ted plans to spend three times the approved budget on a TV ad (putting the firm's money on the line, as he's not yet run the extra cost by the client), Don gets involved by making a (not particularly) oblique reference to Ted and Peggy when trying to explain the extra money. When Don comes up with a different reason, it spares Ted (and gets him more money), but in the end Ted is furious with Don for outing him and Peggy. Oh, and Ted also gets to yell at Don when it turns out the firm is going to go with Sunkist, forcing them to drop Ocean Spray (Harry Crane is involved, but the money is also too good to pass up).

2. Don Draper. Don's been guilt drinking, and actually agrees to stay home when Megan notes his deplorable condition. That's when he hears from Harry about Sunkist, which Don tells Harry to cancel, but changes his mind when he begins to see how Ted is around Peggy. This winds up being Don's main issue for the episode, cock-blocking Ted by bringing in Sunkist and ratting Ted out about the over-budget TV ad. In the end he tells Ted off and says he's not thinking clearly, but it's clear that Don's actions are not coming solely from concern for the firm. As bad as Ted takes it Peggy takes it worse, as she sees it as Don's continuing war with Ted and his continued meddling with Peggy. If you want to be charitable, you could argue that Don is doing this to keep Ted from making the same mistakes Don has made, but I don't think Don would act like that. In the end, Don winds up curled up on his office couch, probably reflecting on how screwed up things are for him at home and at work.

3. Bob Benson. Bob gets assigned to Pete as part of his Chevy team, and while Pete tells him to keep his distance it looks like Bob will do the Bob thing. Or at least he would if Duck hadn't discovered that Bob's story - education, work, family - is all crap. The best that Duck can tell is that Bob is from West Virgina, was a manservant to a wheel at Brown Brothers Harriman, and has managed to get work only at places dumb enough to not ask many questions (hello, SC&P!). But Bob gets to stay on after Pete confronts him, and even with conditions it's a better deal than getting turfed out.  It's a setback in Bob's plan to do whatever it is he's planning to do.

Honorable Mention: Megan Draper. Remember when Betty said the worst way to get Don is to show that you love him? Megan tries very hard to get Don healthy and interested, but by the end of the episode Don is sitting in the dark living room, drinking and watching TV, rather than come to bed with Megan. She's getting closer to prove Betty right with every passing week.

Three Up, Three Down: The Killing, "Seventeen"

Three Up

1. Sarah Linden. Linden is back on the job, signed up by her old partner to help with the investigation into all of the bodies she found in that pond. She spends the episode looking for Kallie Leeds, and manages to do so without noticeably falling down the rat hole. Her search comes to fruition when a video of Kallie turns up in the stash of kiddie porn found at Goldie's place during a raid. While there's no guarantee she's still alive, the footage at least gives hope that Kallie is still alive.

Ray Emery

2. Steven Holder. Holder and Reddick are assigned to finding identities for the 17 bodies, but Holder focuses on finding Bullet. When he does she gives him the tip that Kallie may be locked up at Goldie's. The raid turns up Goldie and a stash of child porn, including the recording with Kallie mentioned earlier.  But there is a looming problem for Holder - he may be falling down the rat hole instead of Linden, spending all of his time at the office and forgetting that he should do something on Valentine's Day for his girlfriend.

3. James Skinner. Skinner is heading up the investigation, and appears to be cool, composed and solidly professional. He's mindful of how bringing Linden in on the case may be problematic, both based on her history and on their history (though he was apparently unaware that his wife knew he and Linden were shagging). Problem: while watching Holder and Reddick interrogate Goldie, Skinner seems intent in pinning the 17 murders on him. Which suggests he may have been similarly intent on sending up Ray Emery.

Honorable Mention: Carl Reddick. It says as much about the show as it does Reddick that he gets mention for mostly doing his job.  We do get more insight as to why he's a good partner for Holder - their good cop/bad cop rap is polished, and Reddick does seem attuned to Holder's personal gaps (the Valentine's Day reminder, for example). Still, he's a 9 to 5er who may not see the eventual reunion of Linden and Holden coming.

Three Down

1. Goldie. So after attacking Bullet, Goldie gets busted after she rats him out for holding someone in his apartment that she believes is Kallie. It's not, but he's busted with child porn, so he's pretty much screwed, even without taking into account that he may get put on the hook for the 17 murders. He does make Holder and Reddick's stake out, and thus manages not to lead them to anything that would get him into more trouble, at least until the recording with Kallie turns up. Things are going to get worse for him, no question.


2. Bullet. Still hurting after being raped by Goldie, she pulls herself together to some extent, and then manages to point Holder in Goldie's direction saying she thinks he's got Kallie locked up in his apartment. It winds up being a different girl, but it does help Bullett get some revenge. It also may lead some of the other kids to think Bullet might be a rat. On the plus side, Bullet does get to have a couple of tender moments with Lyric, but both are tainted. One is cut short when Twitch shows up and says he's going out to see where the bodies were found, the other comes when they get to the pond, and see all of the locations where bodies were found marked off and lit. It's then that it hits home for Bullet and Lyric that their "dates" may have deadly consequences.

3. Ray Emery. I'm not sure what's going on with Ray. He manages to get someone to sneak in a razor blade for him (hidden in a bar of soap, so suggests it's a guard or other prison functionary), but when it appears he's going to use it against Becker (after goading him with a story about how Ray maimed Becker's brother in a prison riot a few years before), but doesn't get the chance. Ray finally uses the blade to remove a tattoo from his chest that commemorates the birth of his son. Not sure if that was the original intent, but for all of the talk about his son this episode, he may figure it's better to cut his son loose to protect him than to use the blade to hurt Becker for no obvious end.

Honorable Mention: Coroner. So he's got to examine 17 bodies (or at least perform some exams and review the others), assemble dental records for the victims that still had teeth, deal with parents who are hanging out in the hallway waiting to see if one of the victims is their daughter, and deal with Linden popping in asking questions looking to link the 17 dead with Emery's wife. Pretty sure this guy does not get paid enough.

Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men, "Favors"

Three Up

1. Betty Francis. Betty wins the week without appearing after the third minute of the episode. She forbids Sally from staying in a hotel on a Model UN trip. This leads Sally and a friend to stay with Don and Megan, and the repercussions of that, as we'll see, are a potential long-term boon for Betty.

2. Peggy Olsen. We don't often see Peggy played for comedy, but this week suggests that it should happen more often. On the home front, Peggy has a rat in her apartment, and when it appears it's in a trap but alive she calls Rizzo for help, even offering sex for his services (she even hints at a three-way with Rizzo and the woman who's with him when she calls). She eventually gets a cat. At work, she's still navigating her relationship with Ted, but more importantly has a very uncomfortable conversation with Pete's mom, who mistakes her for Trudy and then lets out that she's having sex with her nurse. Peggy's reactions, and the scene where she tells Pete, are priceless. She even offers Pete kindness by saying she doesn't pity him, and that she does know him best (even if part of that is kind of date rapey). Anyway, some needed relief given some of the other stuff.

3. Mitchell Rosen. His act of protest - sending his draft card back to the government - sees him classified as 1A, which is a bad thing when you've also dropped out of school. He's pretty lucky that his mom's lover works with a guy who was taught to fly by a brigadier general in the Air National Guard. Mitchell was pretty dismissive of Don when the first met - looking like The Man as Don does - but he's at least big enough to thank Don and offer a handshake (even if Al had to prompt him).

Honorable Mention: Roger Sterling. Not much of Roger in the episode, but he can juggle three oranges like nobody's business. 

Three Down

1. Sally Draper. So the only thing worse than seeing your parents have sex is seeing one of your parents having sex with someone not their wife. That's what happens when Sally sneaks into the Rosen's apartment to get a note her friend slid under the door telling Mitchell that Sally likes him. She does not take this well, and winds up locking herself in her room. Don offers a weak explanation - that Sylvia needed consoling given Mitchell's stiuation - that Sally doesn't buy at all. Between this and seeing Megan's mom fellating Roger, Sally should just stay in the burbs.

2. Don Draper. While he does a great service for Mitchell - regardless of his motivations - the great service he's doing for Sylvia when they get caught by Sally negates pretty much everything. He's lost Sally, possibly for good.  His burying the hatchet with Ted - dumping Sunkist for Ted's promise to talk to his flight teacher about Mitchell getting an Air National Guard spot - is also tainted, as Don doesn't even know they were in competition. His ham-handed discussion of how to get out of Vietnam during a dinner with GM didn't help, either. He'd have been the clear loser of the night if he hadn't scarred Sally for life.

3. Pete Campbell. While his job continues to be a problem - he sees the Sunkist versus Ocean Spray problem as being another personal attack on his standing in the firm - it's family that hits him hard this episode, what with his mother having sex with her nurse and then, when confronted, saying that Pete was always sour and unlovable, even as a child. And to wrap things up, when he talks with Bob Benson about how the nurse he referred is taking advantage, Bob gives a monologue about how it can't be wrong when someone finds a true love, and then presses his knee against Pete's. Pete doesn't recoil in terror as you might expect, but it's another blow.

Honorable Mention: Dorothy Campbell. Not only is she going to lose her lover, her insistence that she can manage herself as she has carfare and her address on paper is undercut by the fact that she can't remember her handbag. And with her outburst about Peter, she's pretty much destined for one of New York's less savory nursing homes.

Three Up, Three Down: The Killing, "That You Fear the Most"

Three Up

1, Steven Holder. Holder manages to hold on to the Kwon case, which pisses his partner off, especially when Holder seems interested in actually investigating the case and not just closing it. Holder still has the sense that there's a case here with a connection to the Emery case, even though Linden tries to keep the two unlinked. He's also run across a possible connection to the now-missing Kallie. We also get to meet Holder's girlfriend, and they have a nice chemistry. That bodes poorly, knowing this show.

2. Twitch. Lyric's boyfriend/pimp, he's an aspiring model/actor who is planning to leave for LA once his parole is over. His control over Lyric is pretty obvious, as she does what he says in terms of working or not working, even when he blows all of their money on an "investment" of hair dye (to give him a more model-like look, I guess). It's easy to see why Bullet doesn't like Twitch, as he's a manipulative git whose interest in Lyric is pretty much limited to what he can get out of her.

3. Regi Darnell. A short but effective appearance, as she discovers Linden reviewing the Emery case and tells her off. She sort of accepts that Linden is going to be Linden about this, but she's also very clear that she has no words to dissuade or support Linden at this point. You get the sense that Regi is close to being done with Linden, and that may be for the best for Regi and her wife.

Honorable Mention: Francis Becker. The senior guard at the unit holding Ray Emery, he gets to dress down an underling for allowing Emery to use the phone (which he uses to call Linden's old partner, inviting him to the hanging), sit outside of Emery's cell to read him the manual on hangings, and then move a new, chatty inmate (who apparently knows Emery) across the hall from Emery. All ball busting all the time, which I think is how Becker likes his work.

Three Down

1. Bullet. Kallie's disappearance has hit Bullet hard, and she spends most of the episode trying to track her down. She has a short and unproductive interaction with Kallie's mom (who doesn't care that her daughter is missing), and gets the business from Holder when she goes to the cops to see if Kallie was run in. Twitch suggests Kallie is with Goldie, a local low-life who Bullet had a run in with earlier. When she breaks into his place, Goldie jumps her and holds her at knife point and rapes her. Awful.

2. Ray Emery. Things start out well for him - he cons the younger guard into getting him phone time, and he seems to be enjoying the reading from the hanging manual. But when Linden shows up and displays one of Emery's son's paintings of the wood, he suddenly terminates their interview and is brooding for the rest of the episode (which isn't surprising given the ending). That he gets a new motor-mouth blockmate isn't helping.

3. Sarah Linden. Linden's doubts about Emery's guilt build, thanks to a visit to the crime scene and with Holder. She also visits her old partner, who says to let it go (the ex-partner's wife also tells her to never come by again, suggesting Linden and her partner were involved). Linden's visit to Emery, where she shows him his son's picture of trees, leads her to visit the son and discover he's drawing the trees again. This leads her to the actual trees, and in the trees a body of water that's apparently a dumping ground for bodies (all of whom I assume were nearly decapitated and have a finger broken post-mortem). Linden has already lost her boyfriend over this case (perhaps smart to get out early), and is poised to lose everyone and everything by getting back into the case that broke her.

Honorable Mention: Pastor Mike. He runs the shelter where most of the kids in the episode get food and occasionally stay over. He has what might be the most thankless job in the world, keeping track of street kids while trying to keep pimps and abusive family and exes away. It'll get worse during his inevitable period as a suspect.

Three Up, Three Down: The Killing, "The Jungle"

Another season of rain and murder!

Three Up

1. Steven Holder. It's been a year since the Larsen case wrapped, and in that time Holder's gone 7 for 7 with murder cases. His personal life seems to be back in order, too. So when his instincts tell him that the dead teenaged prostitute who just cropped up needs further investigation, he keeps with the case even after his new partner fobs it off on another similarly useless cop. Holder makes a connection to a case Linden mentioned during the Larsen case (the one with the boy who was locked in a closet with the victim - his mother - for a week). He visits Linden to see if there's something to this, but she says that killer is in prison, so no connection. It'll be interesting to see how much this new case (or cases) screws up the progress Holder's made over the last year.

2. Sarah Linden. Speaking of progress, Linden is now working for whatever branch of state government runs the ferries between the mainland and the Puget Sound islands. She now lives on one of them, apparently with a co-worker/boyfriend. She also seems to have her personal life back in order, running every day and keeping busy with a good, if low paying, job. But under that surface the old Linden still lurks, as we see when she retrieves the old case file that Holder asks for after he's gone, and when her toast at Regi's wedding becomes less about the couple and more about being true to herself. Her borderline, not always in control self. It's particularly Linden-like when, after discovering a sick cow during a run, she goes home, gets her gun, and puts the cow out of its misery, ignoring her boyfriend's question about the case file along the way. If the guy is smart, he'll start sleeping on the dock.

3. Jack Holder. He's back for Regi's wedding, and may have his life most in order, as he's living with his dad in Chicago and doing well at school, Still, he misses his mother, and asks her why she's still in Seattle when she could move to Chicago and see him more often. She doesn't have a good answer for that, shockingly.

Honorable Mention: Regi Darnell. She's married! To another woman! Hopefully their honeymoon won't be cut short by Regi having to intervene with Linden again. At least she won't have to be Jack's de facto foster parent.

Three Down

1. Ashley. Our victim, who did not go gentle into that goodnight. I don't think we ever got a last name for her, which is sadder still. Look for her rings (which were not present when her body was recovered) to play a significant role in the near future (more anon).

2. Ray Emery. The husband of the woman who was killed and father of the son locked in a closet with her corpse, Emery is now 30 days from execution, and doesn't look to be fighting it. In fact, his assault on a prison chaplain seems to be part of a plan to make his execution as notable as possible (he also wants a hanging rather than an injection, which is apparently an option in Washington). So I'm not sure he's a loser here - he seems to be getting what he wants - but he's pretty clearly going to die. Unless his letter to Linden (I'm assuming the Department of Corrections envelope she received is from him) helps stoke her belief that there was something off about his case...

3. Kallie Leeds. Kallie is one of a group of homeless teens that apparently included Ashley. Except she's not exactly homeless; her mom lives in the area, and she's able to go home, but her mother clearly doesn't want her there (she tells Kallie to her face that her birth was the worst thing to ever happen to her). So she's functionall homeless, and spends most of her time with Bullet, an abrasive (and very butch) girl of about the same age. Kallie doesn't have Bullet's problems - her mouth gets her in trouble, and she's got feelings for another girl who is with an older homeless teen - but the ride she takes at the end of the episode may very well be her last (based on the similarities between the way the first and last shots of the episode).

Honorable Mention: that cow. Linden comes across a (apparently abandoned) cattle shed during a run, and for all of the skeletons lying around manages to find one sick cow, which she later puts down. I'm just wondering how that cow managed to hang on when all of the other ones are long since dead. On the other hand, maybe I don't want to know.

Up Fronts, Rated

OK, I usually rank the up fronts right after they're done, but haven't felt compelled this year as no one blew me away with their excellence/crapulence. Still, might as well get it over with.

5. Fox. To be honest, I'm finding it hard to make distinct differences between everyone who isn't CBS. Fox has at least one show I'm interested in checking out (Brooklyn Nine Nine), but most of the new shows don't do much for me. They've also dedicated 1.5 nights a week to The X-Factor and American Idol, neither of which are doing the network any favors. More info on the return of 24 could have moved Fox out of the basement.

4. The CW. As with everything related to the netlet, this is kind of on the curve. I think their new shows (and programming in general) is aimed at the people they want, but that sort of focus doesn't really lead to growth.

3. ABC. They'd be lower if it wasn't for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And I'm not even a comic book fanboy. Also concerned that Monday might finally show signs of aging.

2. NBC. I'm a little surprised they're here, as I wasn't particularly overwhelmed with their new shows. Maybe I'm just sending them good vibes for renewing Community and Hannibal. And really, if I were to rewrite this a couple of hours from now I might have a completely different lineup here.

1. CBS. I'm not over the moon with their new shows, but the combination of known talent and strong returning shows puts them in the best position to succeed.

So there it is, for what it's worth.

Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men, "A Tale of Two Cities"

Three Up

1. Jim Cutler. With Don and Roger in L.A., and after an exchange with Ginsburg that's insubordinate at best, Cutler suggests to Chaough that's it time to get rid of some of the SCDP people and bring back some CGCers. Ted is resistant, but Cutler sets his sights on Bob Benson, sticking him with a meeting that winds up with the firm on review. As a "reward," Cutler puts Bob on Chevy, who have finally bought into the firm's plans for the new car. And in the end, Cutler gets to announce a name change to Sterling Cooper and Partners, which makes him look magnanimous for taking his name off of the firm.

2. Joan Harris. When a friend sets her up on a date, it turns out to have a very different purpose than what she thought - it's with an executive at Avon who is looking to boost sales. Joan handles the shift from the personal to the professional well, and tells Peggy about the potential client. Peggy goes to Ted, who puts Pete on it, cutting out Joan. But Joan snags it back by changing the meeting with Avon and not telling Pete. Peggy thinks that's a bad idea, and Pete things it's a horrible idea, between being cut out and how this violates the "fundamental rules" of accounts. Some quick subterfuge by Peggy gets Joan out of trouble, but puts her squarely on the hook for landing Avon as a client. It's a chance Joan's willing to take to finally get some stake in the firm that isn't based on her physical features.

3. Ted Chaough. Ted's against Cutler's "coup," looking to move forward rather than be divisive. His trip to Detroit bears fruit when Chevy accepts the firm's campaign strategy for their new car, which Ted even gets to see (if in clay only). This plays into Cutler's plans, but Ted either doesn't see that or is happy enough to have made progress to not care. He backs Joan over Pete on Avon based on the apparent connection Joan has with the Avon exec, and while that might subvert the normal order of things, it's likely the right move in a pragmatic sense.

Honorable Mention: the Ford Mustang. As much ire as it causes Don and Roger, the Mustang they get as a rental is pretty sweet. And underscores that whatever Chevy comes up with isn't going to match up.

Three Down

1. Pete Cambpell. The marginalization of Pete continues, between getting squeezed out on Avon to having the squeeze made permanent by Ted to not having his name on the firm. And when he's not blustering about these indignities, he's being smarmy and condescending (such as when he dismisses Joan from meeting with Avon before she cuts him out). And when no one but him seems to care that the merger has changed the business, he apparently decides that if you can't beat them, join them, by taking a joint off of Rizzo and taking a toke. It appears to be eye-opening to Pete from the first, but I'm going to be he's the type who gets paranoid high.

2. Don Draper. Don's cynicism over politics (he's less moved by the violence in Chicago than most, though he does seem sufficiently chagrined by it) and disdain for the rental (he's hoping no one from GM is in town) bleeds over to the meeting with Carnation, where his pitch to advertise their Instant Breakfast alongside cereal doesn't appear to gain traction. Harry takes him and Roger to a party where Don smokes hash, which makes him cotton-mouthed, prone to hallucination, and almost dead when he winds up in the pool. So kind of a bust of a week for Don, though he seems to be making some rapproachment with Megan.

3. Michael Ginsburg. The lack of a peace plank sets Ginzo off, most notably on Cutler, whom he calls a fascist (among other, even more charged things). Cutler does remind Ginzo that he seems OK with getting paid with money from Dow and other companies who produce war materiel, which apparently hits home later, as Ginzo has a full-blown freak out before meeting with Manischewitz. Benson is able to talk him down by using a lot of power of positive thinking-type jargon and a reminder of just who their client is. Ginzo was lucky not to be fired, and will likely walk that line (due to his personal connection to what war does to people) and the line of being in business with pro-war elements for some time.

Honorable Mention: hashish. As peaceful as the people smoking it seem to be, the hallucinations and near-death experience it gives Don isn't exactly an advertisement for its use. It makes the LSD trips we've seen before (and see in this episode in the persona of Lotus) seem benign by comparison. 

Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men, "The Better Half"

In honor of this week's title, it's an all couples version of Three Up, Three Down.

Three Up

1. Henry and Betty Francis. At some fundraiser another member of the New York GOP propositions Betty (who is now all the way back to her old form, and then some), and Henry gets all turned on by this. But her enjoyment at being the future Mrs. Senator Henry Francis doesn't stop her from having a roll in the hay with Don while both are visiting Bobby at camp. She has a pretty interesting post-coital talk with Don, revealing that she's more or less over their history and that she feels badly for Megan, as the worst way to hold on to Don is to love him (which hits Don pretty hard, as he'd never made that connection). In the end, Betty is back with Henry and in wife mode and keeping Don at length, though one wonders how long that will last.

2. Bob Benson and Joan Harris.  The trip to the hospital has created some sort of friendship here, as Bob is now in her life enough to have a beach trip with Joan and Kevin. But it does get dicey when Roger drops in unannounced with a present for Kevin (the result of a disastrous day out with his grandson, more of which anon). Bob also learns from Joan about Pete's need of a nurse for his mother, and is able to give him a reference to a nurse who got his father back to health. They're on their way to making a cute couple, though after Joan tells Roger that he's not Kevin's father in any sense other than biological, Bob may want to get his resume in order.

3. Duck Phillips and Pete Campbell. And speaking of resumes, old friend Duck Phillips is back, now working as a headhunter. Pete's seeing him based on a conversation with Harry, coupled with Pete's concern of his position at the new firm. Duck sees this and talks about Pete's lack of position, but also hits on how the lack of clarity in Pete's personal life will prevent clarity in his work life (Duck claims a similar issue was his own downfall, though Pete does helpfully mention gin). It's a nice scene, and you can see Pete start to get things in order with getting his mother a nurse who she hopefully won't run off.

Honorable Mention. Harry Crane and his delusions. Harry still thinks he'll be a partner when all is said and done. He's holding on to that thought pretty tenaciously, not that it's going to get him anywhere.
 
Three Down

1. All of the men in her life and Peggy Olsen. Peggy's become the pawn in Don and Ted's battle at work, and while she's trying to stay out of it she's got Don telling her to pick a side and Ted trying to woo her. Home life isn't giving her a respite, as Abe got stabbed coming off the subway and refuses to cooperate with police, saying to Peggy that the muggers don't have a choice. He's also disappointed that Peggy would so readily take the cop's side. Later, though, after a broken window incident, Abe relents that moving to this part of the city may have been premature. He agrees to put the place back on the market. But before they can move out (and maybe even the same night?), Peggy accidentally stabs Abe with her kitchen knife on a pole when she thinks someone is breaking in. It's on the ambulance trip that Abe decides that he can't abide with Peggy's advertising work, that it stands against everything he believes and he can't get past that. This frees Peggy for Ted, but it turns out that their previous conversation about putting their kiss behind them has worked, as he treats her in a very professional matter. That he and Don are all congratulatory with each other over progress with Fleischman's only underscores how physically depleted Peggy looks at the end.

2. Don and Megan Draper. While Don is off in the woods getting it on with his ex-wife, Megan is trying to deal with playing two different characters on her soap (sisters) and getting little support from Don, who is more than happy to blow off Megan's problems (and her dinner) to watch TV. She glumly accepts this and turns to co-star Arlene for help. They chat a bit about Megan's concerns, but between the wine and Megan's helplessness, Arline takes it as a signal and kisses Megan. Megan, of course, doesn't play that way, and now has to worry that Arlene will cause trouble by talking about this with her husband, the soap's head writer. Arlene seems fairly put out by this, but puts on a brave face when she leaves. Megan does have a good heart to heart with Don about her concerns for their marriage and how she's trying to recapture what brought them together. Don agrees that they need to try to reconnect, though it's hard to tell how much of this is Don taking Betty's comment to heart and how much of it is Don being Don. 

3. Roger Sterling and all the women in his life. Roger opens the show by looking after his grandson. He ends it by having his daughter say he can only see his grandson under Mona's supervision, as the boy (4 years old) is having nightmares after seeing Planet of the Apes with Pop-Pop. This is what leads Roger to get a present for Kevin, but finding Bob Benson at Joan's, and then hearing from her that Glenn is Kevin's father, regardless of the biology, puts Roger in a difficult, but not wholly unfamiliar, place.

Honorable Mention. Bobby 2 and Bobby 5. Bobby Draper is Bobby 5 (due to the plethora of Bobbys at camp, I assume). He says hi to Bobby 2 across the restaurant, but doesn't get much of a reaction from him. I don't think Bobby 2 is that into you, Bobby 5.

Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men, "The Crash"

Three Up

1. Betty Francis. A short but effective appearance by Betty, as the revelation that the kids were alone in Don's apartment while it was being robbed lets her lay into him for neglecting the kids, into Megan for putting Sally in charge, and New York in general for being dirty. She got to throw in that Henry is running for office into the mix, too. And on top of it all, her "reducing" campaign is working. So she gets to look good while feeling good about how everyone/thing she hates has failed her. All she needs now is to shoot at some birds to cap things off.


2. Henry Francis. He's not in the episode much, but he does get to be the only adult in the room when Don comes back and finds out about the robbery. Most of the reason this posting is so late is that I couldn't figure out who, if anyone, should have finished here. I didn't think Rizzo should be higher than third (and wasn't going to be more than an honorable mention except for the lack of positives in the episode). So Henry gets this by pretty much being written to form and not appearing in most of the episode.

3. Stan Rizzo - he finally makes the pass at Peggy we've been waiting for, but she rebuffs him. Turns out he's lost a cousin in Vietnam, and his behavior over the season (drinking, drugs, etc.) is likely related. Peggy gives him some good advice about feeling the loss so you can move on, which Stan will follow... well, not now, as he's busy nailing Gleason's hippy dippy daughter (while Cutler watches like a creep). I suppose that's a win?

Honorable Mention: Whoever taught Aaron Staton to tap. Pretty impressive footwork by the hugely put-upon Ken Cosgrove.

Three Down

1. Don Draper. Don may want to stay away from drugs, as the "vitamin complex" and stimulant shot sends him right into flashback territory, which shows us how young Don became a man thanks to the ministrations of a particularly caring prostitute. Turns out he incorporated the woman into an early ad campaign, which wraps up what Don's been working on all weekend - a pitch to Sylvia to take him back. The other Creative staff don't twig on to this until he runs out of the office, though they have no idea what he's been working on if not Chevy.

His crazy, muttering self gets home only to find Megan, Betty, Henry, the kids, and representatives from the NYPD there. They explain the robberies, Betty gets to yell a lot, and Don passes out. That's probably for the best, as it allows him enough time to either forget or rethink his pitch to Sylvia. The pair wind up sharing a very long and silent elevator ride on Monday, so that's apparently over for good. But the final blow comes when Don meets with Ted and Cutler to say that he's done with Chevy - he'll review work as needed as Creative Director, but he's not going to deal with Chevy's day to day nonsense. He compares the agency when working on a car account to a whorehouse, which just puts a bow on things.

2. Ted Chaough. Ted's feeling the pressure from Chevy, who keep rejecting ideas and have come up with a multi-year timetable for the campaign that includes wanting more ideas on Tuesday. So with the prospect of a working weekend, Ted then finds out that Gleason has passed away, which ruins him. He does get some consolation from Peggy (nothing randy), but he's feeling adrift, as Gleason was the negative force that kept Ted in check. And once Don says he's not going to play Chevy's game, Ted's well and truly cut off.

3. Sally Draper. With the kids visiting on the weekend where Don has to work, Sally winds up minding Bobby and Gene when Megan has to go to a play so her agent can introduce her to producers, etc. Sally's done this before (and gets cool clothes out of the deal, which Betty dislikes), but what she's not encountered before is a large African-American woman who is rifling the cabinets. The woman says she's Sally's grandmother, which confuses Sally but she at least plays along (though her call to the police does get the woman to leave, after taking all of Don's watches and other stuff). Turns out the woman was a thief, and while everyone shows appropriate concerns for the kids, Sally realizes that the thief seemed to know a lot about Don, more than Sally does. This is the first time she's realized this, which makes Don's apology and reassurance that Sally did everything right kind of hollow.

Honorable Mention: The Gleason family. They lose their dad and then the daughter, Wendy, winds up at the agency for the weekend, reading the I Ching and hooking up with Rizzo. She may have been better off in the West Village.

Upfronts; The CW

Last but not least (except for ratings) is The CW, which has become the traditional cap to network upfronts. Hey, whatever gets you out to JFK or Newark on time.

Who Stays? Who Goes?

No surprises here, as the notable cuts - 90210, Gossip Girl, Cult and Emily Owens M.D. were either expected to end or were dropped from the schedule early on. Supernatural is back for a ninth season - no word on it being a final season. Nikita, though, will be back at some point to wrap things up over six episodes.


What's Coming?

Monday - Hart of Dixie and Beauty and the Beast move to Monday, the younger female option to Dancing With the Stars and Castle on ABC.

Tuesday - Opens with The Originals, which follows the original vampire family as its patriarch tries to uncover a plot to destroy him that may involve other family members. It's a spin-off of Vampire Diaries, as you might imagine. It's followed by a relocated Supernatural.

Wednesday - Arrow stays here to open the night, followed by The Tomorrow People, an adaptation of a British show about genetically-advanced teens who develop powers like telekinesis, transportation, and so on. Sounds like a younger version of Heroes, but hopefully without the dopey and melodramatic opening voice overs.

Thursday - Starts with The Vampire Diaries and ends with Reign, which follows a teenaged Mary, Queen of Scots, as she travels with her ladies in waiting to France to see the prince she's been arranged to marry. I never quite thought of The CW as a home for period drama, but a little Tudors-lite bodice ripping may be a nice change of pace.

Friday - The Carrie Diaries move here and gets paired with America's Next Top Model. I'm less surprised by the pairing than the night, but looking at the numbers The Carrie Diaries never quite caught on, so Friday it is, though I'd imagine the target demo for the show will be at the mall (time to count the DVR viewers!).

No specific date is given for the 20th cycle of ANTM, but I'm seeing summer 2013 everywhere, so I'm assuming it'll run into the fall. Same judges, etc. as the last time, but the models will include men for the first time. It's a nice wrinkle, though I wonder if they should have interspersed regular and themed cycles to goose ratings and not create an expectation for themed cycles (this being the fourth one in a row).

Kicking around for mid-season are Star Crossed (a teen-centered aliens openly live on Earth drama that's reminiscent of Alien Nation and District 9), The 100 (a group of juvenile delinquents is sent from a space station to repopulate a nuclear disaster-ravaged Earth), and The CW's annual horrific attempt at a reality show, Famous in 12 (an everyday family has 12 weeks to become famous, or at least CW-level famous). 

The Verdict?

I suppose The CW has met their goal of bringing in new programming that will appeal to its desired demo of younger females. How wrong can you go with more vampires and young princesses? Friday is worrisome, but Friday is the one night where having slightly lower ratings is expected. I don't think any of the new shows will be the next Gossip Girl, but I don't think they'll be the next Emily Owens, either.

Upfronts: CBS

Another year, another CBS upfront where they get to show it's good to be number one.

Who Stays? Who Goes? As you'd expect from a network that's doing well, there aren't that many cuts that weren't already known. The most surprising is Vegas, whose late spring hiatus led to a drop in viewers from which it never recovered. The Eye also finally put Rules of Engagement out of our misery and retired CSI:NY one year too late.

What's Coming?

Monday - we get the largest collection of new shows  on Monday, with How I Met Your Mother (in its last season) at 8 and Two Broke Girls at 9. In the 8:30 slot we get We Are Men, the latest attempt at a guy-centered sitcom, this time located at an apartment complex that caters to short-term renters (kind of a live-action version of Kirk Van Houten's life at the Bachelor Arms). Tony Shalhoub, Kal Penn and Chris O'Donnell are some of the tenants, not that a well-known cast has helped similar shows long since cancelled.

At 9:30 there's Mom, which stars Anna Faris as a recovering addict with two kids who winds up living with her recovering alcoholic mom, played by Allison Janney. This feels a lot like ABC's Back in the Game. I'm hoping Chuck Lorre's involvement will help elevate this.

At 10, we start the season with Hostages, starring Toni Collette as a surgeon whose family is taken hostage by a rogue FBI agent (Dylan McDermott) who wants Collette to assassinate the President when she operates on him. I expect the show will involve more of whatever conspiracy that's behind the kidnapping, otherwise they're going to have to push the surgery back a few seasons.

This will be replaced at midseason by Intelligence, which follows the exploits of a secret agent whose been implanted with a chip that allows him access to the Web, etc. I feel like this has been done before, or maybe it was an old April Fool's joke from Google. Anyway, can't say I'm interested.

Tuesday - NCIS leads to NCIS: LA and then to the relocated Person of Interest. Not sure it's wise to put so many highly-rated shows on one evening. On the other hand, there's not really a night that really needs the help from any of these shows (though they could have moved Person of Interest to Monday and let one of the new dramas go here to soak up the ratings).

Wednesday - unchanged with Survivor, Criminal Minds and CSI.

Thursday - Opens with The Big Bang Theory and closes with a relocated Two and a Half Men and Elementary. In the middle at 8:30 there's The Millers, starring Will Arnett as a recently divorced TV newsman whose dad (Beau Bridges) takes this news as a sign that he should divorce his wife of 43 years (played by Margo Martindale). Mom moves in with Arnett's character, Dad with his daughter and her family. Hijinks apparently ensue, not sure if the high-profile cast will tempt me to see if hijinks actually happen.

The other new sitcom is The Crazy Ones, which sees Robin Williams return to situation comedy as the boss of an ad agency whose success is due to his almost uncontrollable genius. Providing what control she can is his daughter, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. As these things go she's the focused and organized one, and she, with the help of the agency's best and brightest (which includes James Wolk, Mad Men's Bob Benson) keep her dad in line. I actually like the chances for this one, as the timing is right with 30 Rock and The Office going away, the casting will draw early viewers, and it's the most original attempt at ripping off Mad Men to date.

Friday - Undercover Boss and Blue Bloods remain, with Hawaii 5-0  moving in between them.

Satuday - reruns and 48 Hours

Sunday - unchanged with 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race, The Good Wife and The Mentalist. I do wonder when CBS will finally give in and schedule the NFL overrun.

The lone new midseason show is Reckless, which is like Hart of Dixie, except for grownups. A lawyer from Chicago moves to Charleston and gets involved with the city attorney, a local guy, just as a scandal in the police department pits them against each other professionally (and may have More Sinister Implications, as you'd expect). 

The Verdict?

CBS is going to stay on top, and will do so even if all of their new shows tank. Which they won't. I'm slightly more bullish on the new sitcoms here than at the other networks, though that may be from all the familiar names more than anything else. The dramas all fall in that Revenge/Scandal/Single Name Suggesting Serious Import mold that I'm not that interested in. But I assume at least one of them will be good enough - and get enough viewers thanks to its lead-in - to stick.

Upfronts: ABC

How do you spell ABC? M-E-H. That describes the network's overall ratings (stuck in third with NBC closing) and the general offerings, which tend not to fail miserably but also don't wow.  And with one or two exceptions, we're getting more of the same for 2013-14.

Who Stays? Who Goes? There's nothing tremendously surprising for ABC in the shows they brought back and those they cut loose. Based on premise alone I'd slated The Neighbors for cancellation, but the aliens next door sitcom found a place in and among ABC's other (higher-rated) shows and is coming back. Two of last year's borderline renewals - Body of Proof and Happy Endings - met the axe this time around. Otherwise, the shows you expect to be back are back and those that aren't aren't.

What's Coming?

Monday - Dancing with the Stars expands to two hours, and will apparently combine performance and results. Curious to see how that works out, as it could be a guide for other mature reality shows whose sagging ratings may have something to do with padded episodes covering multiple nights. It's followed by Castle. And while it's not listed, you have to expect at some point during the season The Bachelor will show up in here.

Tuesday - all new, and led by what might be ABC's most notable new show, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  It's Marvel's first TV show, and set in the same universe as its movies (Avengers, Iron Man, etc.), expect some synergy (if not actual appearances by the movies' stars). It's about an elite organization whose members battle the most dangerous criminals. Joss Whedon is involved, which just doubles the amount of fanboy hysterics.

Not sure if this is scheduled too early. It's a good time to draw in the younger eyes, but may not be able to be adult enough for those fans.

Then comes two sitcoms, The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife. The former is set in the 1980s and is about the titular family and their wacky antics, as seen through the eyes of 11-year old Adam and his video camera. As far as I can tell it's not related to the radio-turned-TV show of the same name, and the premise makes me miss Everybody Hates Chris. Trophy Wife is about a woman who meets a guy at a karaoke bar and winds up married to him a year later. She then has to figure out how to be a stepmom while under the watchful eye of two ex-wives. There are some notable names in the cast (Bradley Whitford, Marcia Gay Harden), but the set-up doesn't do much for me.

The night ends with Lucky 7, a drama about a group of gas station employees who play the lottery together, their lives, and how their lives would change if they ever win. They'd better win by October sweeps, otherwise I don't know what keeps this show going.

Wednesday - The Middle and Modern Family are at 8 and 9. In the first half hour we get Back in the Game, where a single mom and her son moves in with her dad (James Caan!). Both dad and daughter are former athletes who never reached their potential, and the son is basically inept at sports. Caan's character winds up coaching his Little League team, so there won't be any vicarious living through the kid, nosiree.

The other half hour is Super Fun Night, where a trio of party girls have a standing night out (the Super Fun Night of the title) disrupted when one of them gets a promotion and a new boyfriend, who can get them into an even more hip/exclusive/expensive bar. So is every episode some sort of two dates/one night scenario, where the one woman bounces between her guy and her friends? I don't quite get it, though I am of an age and gender where I'm not supposed to get it.

The night ends with Nashville.

Thursday - opens with Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, where Lewis Carroll gets the Once Upon a Time treatment. Alice is, like the real Alice, a girl in Victorian England, but in this case she has actually been to Wonderland, and the authorities want to drug her up so she'll forget her hallucinations. But a couple of Wonderland creatures show up and they escape down the rabbit hole and on to new adventures. I suppose if you're into the parent show you might be into this one. Fair warning: John Lithgow will be on hand to chew the scenery - literally and otherwise - as the White Rabbit.

Grey's Anatomy and Scandal close things out.

Friday - It's an all-returning lineup, with Last Man Standing, a relocated The Neighbors, Shark Tank and 20/20.

Saturday - college football in the fall, reruns or other crap in the spring.

Sunday - things are familiar up to 10 pm, with America's Funniest Home Videos, Once Upon a Time, and Revenge. The last show of the night is Betrayal, about a man and woman who enter into an affair only to have the man wind up defending a murder suspect who is being prosecuted by the woman's husband. I think the suspect is also the defense attorney's brother in law, the description is a little confusing. But it seems like it'll fit in here as well as anything else.

Of all the possible midseason shows, the only one that caught my eye was Resurrection, where a young boy suddenly wakes up in rural China, thousands of miles away and 30 years after dying in Arcadia, Missouri. He's returned home by an Immigration agent, and while the expected questions come, the boy also remembers details about his death that only he'd know as the decedent, which makes things extra awkward, I'm sure. I could see this as part of a revamped supernatural Tuesday.

The Verdict?

This seems like a line-up created to keep ABC in third place. They might get a bump if the dramas take off, but the sitcoms are a pretty dull bunch, which is a problem. The network should be using Modern Family to develop and launch other shows into other nights, but they need to come up with something that can develop and audience and keep it when it moves. Suburgatory might have been able to do that, but it's been handled in such a way that it's not going to happen.

The best hope here is that S.H.I.E.L.D. blows up and gives the network a foothold on Tuesday that they can exploit. Otherwise, ABC will probably be in the same place - or worse - this time next year.

Up Fronts: Fox

It's not been a great year for Fox, what with American Idol ratings falling and not much of the new stuff catching on with viewers. So how are they going to try to recapture the Fox Attitude?

Who's Staying? Who's Going? - Odds are if you like a Fox show it's going to be on air again, which is interesting given that Fox is slumping. About the only surprise on the cancellation list is The Cleveland Show.

What's Coming?

Monday - the year will start with Bones, followed by Sleepy Hollow, a contemporary take on the Ichabod Crane tale, except that Crane is resurrected and brought to the present day to help solve a mystery dating back to his own time so as to save humanity. Wait, what?

Mid-season brings Almost Human (think Robocop meets Blade Runner, with JJ Abrams lending his name), leading into the second season of The Following, which I've enjoyed, even if I find it hard to buy into all of the successes that Joe Carroll and his plucky band of psychopaths have had against the FBI.

Tuesday - Brings two new sitcoms. One is Dads, where a pair of video game creators (Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi) have to deal with taking in their dads (Marin Mull and Peter Riegert). Generic, but will hopefully use the cast to good effect. The other new sitcom, and possibly the most promising new show, is Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a police comedy starring Andy Samberg as the hotshot detective and Andre Braugher as his new captain. They had me at Andre.

New Girl and The Mindy Project finish the night.

Wednesday - gives us The X Factor in the fall and the Randy Jacksonless American Idol in the spring. I wonder how much longer Fox is going to try to make The X Factor a thing.

Thursday - results shows for the two singing shows lead into Glee in the fall and new show Rake in at midseason. Rake stars Greg Kinnear as a defense attorney who lives on the edge and takes on the unwinnable cases, addicted to the challenge as much as he's addicted to anything else. I assume there will be no singing.

Friday - leads with Junior Masterchef, a version of Masterchef for kids. American Juniors was apparently not enough of an object lesson on why this is a bad idea. It's followed by reruns of Sleepy Hollow (because, huh?). Later in the fall, Bones moves here along with Raising Hope and new comedy Enlisted, a military comedy set at an Army base in Florida.

Saturday - sports and reruns

Sunday - Animation Domination, unchanged.

As for unscheduled stuff, the big announcement is the return of 24 for a special 12 episode run. Not much info besides that, but bringing Jack back will boost ratings. The only other unscheduled show that looks interesting is Gang Related, about cops taking on gangs in Los Angeles, but that's mostly from a casting perspective (Terry O'Quinn and RZA, together at last).

The Verdict?

Fox has a really good looking Tuesday, and Monday could work out for them once Sleepy Hollow gets out of the way. Sunday should be fine, too. They've got a burgeoning hole in the middle of the week with the reality shows, especially if they can't figure out a way to shore up AI). A more consistent and coherent Glee wouldn't hurt either. And while Friday nights are typically low risk, I have no idea what they're trying to do there. They'd better hope some of their returning shows stay strong or even build.

Up Fronts: NBC

It's that time of year again, when the broadcast networks put their 2013-14 schedules into shape in the hopes of selling lots of ad time. First up this week is NBC.

Who's Staying? Who's Going? If you liked a first season show on NBC this season, I hope you didn't like it too much. Only two new shows made it to a second season, Revolution and Chicago Fire (which is getting a spin-off). Perhaps the only surprising cancellation was Rock Center with Brian Williams, which wasn't doing all that well but gave the network a chance to fill time with some news-entertainment synergy.

As for what's staying, I have to give the network kudos for renewing Community. It seemed like a goner after Dan Harmon left and the season premiere was bumped from October to February, but between the critical support, small but intense fanbase, and the retirement of 30 Rock and The Office, there's a sensibility in keeping it around.

The other surprise renewal for me was Parenthood, though being on the same night as The Voice must have helped.

What's Coming?

You schedule for the week starting in the fall:

Monday - The Voice takes two hours and leads into The Blacklist, about a long-time figure on the FBI's Most Wanted List (played by James Spader), who turns himself in with an offer to catch a terrorist, with one condition: he will only work with newly-trained FBI profiler Liz Keen.

To me this sounds like a combo of 24 (rogue government agent, super bad guys) and The Following (the one on one relationship between criminal and agent with a heavy dose of mystery), which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I do wonder how quickly they'll catch the terrorist and this will become a bad guy of the week procedural. Depends how long Spader's blacklist really is.

Tuesday - All returners, with The Biggest Loser, The Voice results show, and Chicago Fire. At midseason we jettison The Biggest Loser for two sitcoms. The Family Guide is told in flashback form (Jason Bateman filling in for Bob Saget), recapping from a son's perspective how his parent's divorce let the members of the family discover who they really are. The parents are a pair of eccentrics played by J.K. Simmons (he's blind but still does all the dad stuff, with Bateman's 11 year-old character as his wingman) and Parker Posey. Curious, but the description makes it sound like it's trying too hard.

The other show is About a Boy, which is based on the Nick Hornby book and ensuing movie. It might as well be called One and a Half Men.

Wednesday - Revolution starts the night (which I think is a mistake, it's not strong enough to start an evening, and the earlier hour will likely dial back the action), followed by Law & Order: SVU, and finishes with Ironsides, a remake of the Raymond Burr original about a paralyzed police detective (played now by Blair Underwood) who, with the help of a hand-selected team, takes on the tough cases and puts the bad guys away.

I'll admit to loving the original show (I love old cop shows), but am leery of how this will go given the fate of other remakes in the recent past. I'm also wondering how well the show will work outside of the backdrop of the 1960s, where having a woman and an African-American in detective roles was pretty rare.

Thursday - opens with Parks and Rec, and then comes the onslaught of family sitcoms. We have:

* Welcome to the Family, where two recent high school grads find out they're expecting. One family is white, the other Hispanic. Cross-cultural hilarity ensues. I'd like to call it a remake of Condo but I think I'm the only person who remembers that show. It would explain why networks keep trying to make a sitcom with this premise. Too bad, too, as I like the cast.
* Sean Saves the World, where Sean Hayes plays a divorced gay dad who has his teenaged daughter move in full-time. Life-work balance hilarity ensues. There's also a pushy mom played by Linda Lavin. Snore.
* The Michael J. Fox Show has its namesake playing a news anchor set to return to work after taking time off to be with family and fight Parkinson's Disease. Work-life-incurable neurological illness hilarity ensues.

I'm hoping Fox's show pans out, for obvious reasons.

The night ends with Parenthood, which confirms that NBC isn't looking to rebuild its Thursday night ratings juggernaut. It seems like a fine show - I've seen an episode or two - but carrying Thursday night is beyond its powers.

Friday - it's fantasy night on NBC, starting with Dateline and Grimm and leading to the new 10 pm show, Dracula. Which, as you might imagine, is about a vampire. In this case, Drac has moved to London in the late 19th century to find the people who made him undead and make them pay. He's also into science and stuff, apparently.

At midseason the blood sucker moves aside for Crossbones, which stars John Malkovich as Blackbeard. This is really going to be awesome or horrific. Or awesomely horrific. Too bad it's been put in the sci-fi/fantasy ghetto.

Saturday - repeats

Sunday - football, then at midseason we get American Dream Builders (aka Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 2.0), Believe (a show about a kid with all sorts of supernatural mental powers and the group that protects her from those looking to exploit her powers), and Crisis (the kids of various DC power brokers are kidnapped while on a school trip, forcing their parents to cross wits with the mastermind of the kidnapping).

Unscheduled at this point are Community (which I assume will fill in for whatever Thursday night show first gets the axe), Chicago Fire spin-off Chicago P.D. (which, in Dick Wolf style, will eventually spawn Chicago EMT, Chicago Health Inspector and Chicago Sealer of Weights and Measures), a very generic-sounding dude sticom (The Undateables), a very generic-sounding medical drama (The Night Shift), a cross between Millionaire and Big Brother (The Million Second Quiz), and a show that might as well be called Master Top Chef (Food Fighters).

The Verdict?

It's not horrible, especially by recent NBC standards. Sunday (during football season), Monday and Tuesday look like they'll do well, though I'm worried NBC is running The Voice into the ground. The problem day for me is Wednesday, especially if Thursday and Friday trade in ratings for critical/genre success. I like Revolution but don't think it's at the point where it can lead off a night.

It's also hard to say without having seen any of them, but it feels like NBC is still trying the "broader" sitcom approach, albeit not quite as broad as, say, Animal Hospital. Michael J. Fox's show is the wild card here, I think.

Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men, "Man With a Plan"

Three Up

1. Ted Chaough. We're mid-merger, and Ted gets to both show Pete Campbell up by giving up a seat in a meeting to a secretary and leads a very non-Don meeting about a new account. This leads to some friction with Don, but they smooth it over with some drinks and Don doing his thing. They maybe smooth things over too much as Ted passes out. He does get his back when he flies Don up to a meeting with Mohawk and is obviously more comfortable with traveling by single-engine plane. He also has a good chat with Gleason that helps to get Ted less concerned about understanding Don. It's not a big win, but it goes a long way to helping Ted find his way.

2. Joan Harris. She spends most of the episode feeling twinges and getting sick, and it turns out that she has an ovarian cyst. This makes her worry about what would happen to her son if she were to die. She also has a couple of nice Joan moments, one where she puts Ted's secretary in her place and the other when she saves the job of...

3. Bob Benson. Bob's smarminess apparently has a level of compassion, as he takes it upon himself to see Joan to the hospital to get checked out. He then drops by Joan's apartment the next day with a present for Kevin and to check in. Joan's mom likes what she sees, but Joan thinks he's too young. We'll see if Joan comes around to her mom's point of view.

Honorable Mention: Bud Campbell. As part of the subplot with Pete and Bud's mom, Bud gets to give Pete a ration for both not keeping tabs on their mom (who is clearly losing her mind and has pushed Bud's wife to the edge) and for not coming to him for SCDP's IPO underwriting. Bud gets to push mom on to Peter and put in first dibs on the IPO of the merged firm.


Three Down

1. Pete Campbell. Pete sees trouble at work with the merger, as not having a seat at the partners' meeting represents to him a looming lack of position. This isn't helped when Don and Ted go to take the meeting at Mohawk without him. They do that because of Pete's new personal problem - his mom. She shows up at the apartment thinking it belongs to Pete's dad (who is dead), and is clearly in the early stages of mental decline. He tries to have her stay with him at the apartment, but it's problematic, as her attempt to make tea leads to a fire that Pete has to respond to, which is how he misses the Mohawk meeting. Things just keep getting better for Pete.


2. Don Draper. He overhears a fight at the Rosen's (it sounds like Arnie is getting a job at the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota is mentioned), which is followed shortly by a call from Sylvia. They meet at a hotel, and then Don goes into creepy dominant mode, from ordering Sylvia to crawl around and find his shoes (which she does not do, exactly) to sending her a dress just so she can get undressed for him. But as much as Sylvia seems to want him, a dream leads her to break it off, which visibly upsets Don and leads to a certain despair at his domestic situation (a conversation with Megan fades to nothing, for example).

3. Sylvia Rosen. Marital troubles are compounded when she starts to play into Don's games, and it's pretty clear that she'd have stayed in that hotel room doing naked cartwheels if Don ordered it. Which is why it's surprising that a dream leads her to end the affair entirely. Not that there weren't signs of this before; it could just be that Sylvia's conscience needed time (and creepiness) to get her to that point. She may be unhappy with her husband, but she'll apparently take that over the disaster that would come from having to continue the facade (though I think Sylvia versus Megan would be a pretty epic fight).

Honorable Mention: Burt Peterson. Canned twice by Sterling Cooper, it was pretty entertaining to see both Roger getting so much pleasure at firing him twice and Burt getting all in a snit again (albeit less physical than the first one).