This has been the best season of Mad Men so far, so I was sad to see it go when I sat down to watch the finale last night. I expected the episode to be monumental like the previous finales, and it was, but not in the same way.
Last year's finale really set the bar as far as finale excitement when the key players started their own agency. I was expecting some big plot to come in and save the company. In fact, when I found out Don was taking his family to Disneyland, I fully expected Don to somehow land the Disney account, especially given the fact that the public first found out about the construction of Disney World in the autumn of 1965, which is the same time period as this episode. And if that wasn't meant to happen, I was sure something else equally as earth-shattering would happen. When Stephanie gave Don that engagement ring, I knew we were in for some trouble.
Don and Megan do seem to genuinely like each other, but I don't know if that's just the effect that California has on Don. He was happiest in California with Anna, and I see his relationship with Megan as an attempt to recreate that version of himself. I was disappointed that Don and Faye's relationship had to end, but it was obvious that one of the main reasons Don went for Megan is because she was so good with his kids, in a way that Don knew both Faye and Betty could never be.
Speaking of Betty, I was so mad at her for firing Carla, and it was just downright cruel of her to not even let Carla say goodbye to the children. It was nice to see Betty get her comeuppance throughout the rest of the episode. The scene between Don and Betty in their old kitchen late in the episode was very interesting. Betty was obviously waiting for Don to arrive, and I think her intention was to seduce him, or at least allow herself to be seduced. It almost seemed like Don was going to take the bait, but he ended up being forthcoming about his engagement, which only wounded Betty further after Henry had already put her in her place earlier in the episode. I actually thought Betty might kill herself after that depressing shot of her alone on Sally's bed, and I still guess that suicide will eventually be a part of Betty's story arc.
Overall, the episode wasn't as hard-hitting as previous season finales, it was a step back. It focused on Don and less on the company, which was fine. The whole season has been about peeling back Don's layers and revealing who Don really is (the first line of the season: "Who is Don Draper?"). With that in mind, the final shot of the season was haunting, with Don lying in bed with his new fiance, who apparently makes him happy "the way [he] always wanted to feel," but still staring out the window, apparently still imagining other possibilities for his life. It was brilliant, but I was hoping that, with the events of this episode, Don had really turned a corner.
I guess I just wanted a little more to hold on to until next summer when the show comes back. I can't wait to watch the whole season over again, and maybe I'll see some things in a new light.
I think my favorite episode of the season was "The Suitcase," the one where Don and Peggy had to stay and work late together and Don ended up getting really drunk and Peggy had to take care of him.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sorry
I'm sorry I haven't blogged in several days. I will catch up tonight with my takes on last night's "Boardwalk Empire" and the season finale of "Mad Men." Then, tomorrow you'll get my view on last night's "Bored to Death" and "Eastbound and Down," as well as tonight's "The Event." Tonight's episode will be most likely be the second to last episode I ever watch of that series, unless things pick up significantly.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
GLEE - "Duets" 10/12/10
Last night's "Glee" was the best episode of the season so far. The season has been uneven at best, with many great musical numbers (of course), but some really awkward character interactions that didn't amount to much. It was obvious that Ryan Murphy really had something to say with last week's religion-themed "Grilled Cheesus" episode, but it came across as too heavy-handed, and nothing stuck out as truly memorable.
"Duets," however, was a return to the glory of the first season and showed us this season's first truly great episode. The tone was happy throughout, which really served the episode well. Layla and I barely stopped smiling for the whole hour (this is the effect one would expect from a show called "Glee," but smiles were notably absent from our viewing experience last week). The thing I loved most about the episode is that by setting up the idea of a duet singing contest at the outset, each character got a chance to showcase his/her talents. There was plot, but very little of it. Now, I'm all for shows with big ideas and ongoing character arcs and the like, but "Glee" definitely did right to take a step back from all of that this week after last week's debacle. Instead of plot this week, more focus was given to the musical numbers and the talent behind them. In fact, the only real plot in this episode was the introduction of Sam into the glee club and the possibility of a romance between he and Quinn. Besides that, the episode was all about establishing who each character was going to pair up with for their duet and then showing those duets.
Also, unless my memory is playing tricks on me, we didn't see Sue Sylvester a single time or even hear her name mentioned. I'm not saying that it is a good idea to leave Sue out as the show moves forward, but her absence did serve the show well by allowing more room for lesser characters like Artie and Mike Chang.
Things I Liked:
"Duets," however, was a return to the glory of the first season and showed us this season's first truly great episode. The tone was happy throughout, which really served the episode well. Layla and I barely stopped smiling for the whole hour (this is the effect one would expect from a show called "Glee," but smiles were notably absent from our viewing experience last week). The thing I loved most about the episode is that by setting up the idea of a duet singing contest at the outset, each character got a chance to showcase his/her talents. There was plot, but very little of it. Now, I'm all for shows with big ideas and ongoing character arcs and the like, but "Glee" definitely did right to take a step back from all of that this week after last week's debacle. Instead of plot this week, more focus was given to the musical numbers and the talent behind them. In fact, the only real plot in this episode was the introduction of Sam into the glee club and the possibility of a romance between he and Quinn. Besides that, the episode was all about establishing who each character was going to pair up with for their duet and then showing those duets.
Also, unless my memory is playing tricks on me, we didn't see Sue Sylvester a single time or even hear her name mentioned. I'm not saying that it is a good idea to leave Sue out as the show moves forward, but her absence did serve the show well by allowing more room for lesser characters like Artie and Mike Chang.
Things I Liked:
- Finn and Rachel's performance of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." This song was the perfect choice for their duet, and their subsequent decision to throw the competition showed remarkable maturity and self-awareness.
- Kurt stole the show once again with his performance of "Le Jazz Hot!" from Victor/Victoria. He played both sides of the "duet" with himself perfectly, and was also very effective, as always, in the scenes with his father.
- Mike and Tina's duet, "Sing," was great. If only every episode had enough room for great performances like this one from the secondary characters.
- In an episode full of great performances, my vote for best duet goes to the duet between Rachel and Kurt which closed out the episode. Again, Rachel showed heretofore unseen maturity in the scene where she talked Kurt into singing with her by actually trying to relate to him through his issues instead of serving her own agenda. These are the two best performers on the show, and watching their duet was the perfect way to close out an almost-perfect (finally) episode. Happy days are here again, indeed.
- I am usually a big fan of Brittany and Santana, but allowing the lesbian tension between the two to actually show itself this episode was a big mistake. Instead of being funny like it should have been, it came across as weird, and I'm not sure if the dynamic between the two can ever recover now that we've actually seen them being intimate. Also, Brittany's seduction of Artie later in the episode only served to further lower my opinion of her as a character.
- Puck is one of my favorite characters, so it was jarring for me to hear, in the episode's opening lines, that he is now in prison. Too convenient and definitely a wasted opportunity for comedy by not showing him committing his crime.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Event (or lack thereof) 10/11/10
Last night was the fourth episode of "The Event," and, like the first three episodes, there were not many actual "events" to be found.
Last week's episode ended with a promising cliffhanger, with all of the "dead" passengers from the plane mysteriously coming back to life all at once. I was genuinely surprised last week when that happened, and I was excited for this week's episode. Sadly, we didn't get to spend much time with the newly-alive passengers except for the inexcusably silly interrogation montage at the beginning of the episode and the subsequent interrogation of Mike, the pilot (Luke from "Gilmore Girls"), which ended up going nowhere.
This episode, like the previous three, was mostly focused on Sean Walker. Jason Ritter seems like a very capable actor, but he really isn't given much to work with here. Most of his lines are: "Where's my girlfriend?" "Do you know anything about who took my girlfriend?" and "I have to find my girlfriend!" Anyway, his girlfriend Leila was able to escape from her kidnappers and get to the safety of the police station. It felt like we were finally getting somewhere, but then the final twist of the episode revealed that the police chief was actually working with Leila's kidnappers, so everything ended up right back where it started.
I really want to like this show. There is a lot of promising talent involved and the pilot episode was very impressive. Since then, though, it has been mostly downhill. The show desperately wants to be LOST (flashbacks and all), but it is trying too hard. There are at least a dozen main characters, and we haven't really gotten to know any of them. The flashbacks are effective as far at giving us exposition. In LOST, however, the flashbacks were able to shed new light on the individual characters and give the audience an understanding of why a particular person acts a certain way, and the flashbacks in "The Event" have (so far) been highly ineffective as far as character development.
The show does have such an interesting premise with the idea of a longstanding government conspiracy involving aliens (or whatever they are), but after they are done establishing the mythology of the show with these initial episodes, I really hope they take a step back and allow the characters some room to grow. I will be watching next week.
Last week's episode ended with a promising cliffhanger, with all of the "dead" passengers from the plane mysteriously coming back to life all at once. I was genuinely surprised last week when that happened, and I was excited for this week's episode. Sadly, we didn't get to spend much time with the newly-alive passengers except for the inexcusably silly interrogation montage at the beginning of the episode and the subsequent interrogation of Mike, the pilot (Luke from "Gilmore Girls"), which ended up going nowhere.
This episode, like the previous three, was mostly focused on Sean Walker. Jason Ritter seems like a very capable actor, but he really isn't given much to work with here. Most of his lines are: "Where's my girlfriend?" "Do you know anything about who took my girlfriend?" and "I have to find my girlfriend!" Anyway, his girlfriend Leila was able to escape from her kidnappers and get to the safety of the police station. It felt like we were finally getting somewhere, but then the final twist of the episode revealed that the police chief was actually working with Leila's kidnappers, so everything ended up right back where it started.
I really want to like this show. There is a lot of promising talent involved and the pilot episode was very impressive. Since then, though, it has been mostly downhill. The show desperately wants to be LOST (flashbacks and all), but it is trying too hard. There are at least a dozen main characters, and we haven't really gotten to know any of them. The flashbacks are effective as far at giving us exposition. In LOST, however, the flashbacks were able to shed new light on the individual characters and give the audience an understanding of why a particular person acts a certain way, and the flashbacks in "The Event" have (so far) been highly ineffective as far as character development.
The show does have such an interesting premise with the idea of a longstanding government conspiracy involving aliens (or whatever they are), but after they are done establishing the mythology of the show with these initial episodes, I really hope they take a step back and allow the characters some room to grow. I will be watching next week.
Welcome
Welcome to my new blog: "Is There Anything Good On?" Through my posts, I seek to answer that timeless question by highlighting the things I like and don't like about the shows that I watch. I watch a LOT of TV. These are the shows that regularly record on my DVR (in no order, and please realize some of these are out of season at the moment)*:
Boardwalk Empire
Bored to Death
Eastbound & Down
The Event
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret
Friday Night Lights
Mad Men
Louie
Top Chef
Jersey Shore
30 Rock
The Office
Parks and Recreation
Glee
Community
Parenthood
Modern Family
Saturday Night Live
True Blood
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
Hung
I try my best to watch each of these shows every time there is a new episode. I will also try my best to blog (a paragraph or two at the very least) about every episode of each. Hopefully this task will inspire me to delete some of the dead weight on this DVR list as the current TV season moves forward.
*I also record the daily episodes of Jeopardy, The Price is Right, and Mad Money, although, of course, I rarely have time to watch those. They are there just in case there is nothing else to watch.
Boardwalk Empire
Bored to Death
Eastbound & Down
The Event
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret
Friday Night Lights
Mad Men
Louie
Top Chef
Jersey Shore
30 Rock
The Office
Parks and Recreation
Glee
Community
Parenthood
Modern Family
Saturday Night Live
True Blood
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
Hung
I try my best to watch each of these shows every time there is a new episode. I will also try my best to blog (a paragraph or two at the very least) about every episode of each. Hopefully this task will inspire me to delete some of the dead weight on this DVR list as the current TV season moves forward.
*I also record the daily episodes of Jeopardy, The Price is Right, and Mad Money, although, of course, I rarely have time to watch those. They are there just in case there is nothing else to watch.
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