tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-112637842024-03-07T13:01:22.111-05:00L O W B R O W M E D I ALowBrowMedia -- a place for the best and worst in comics, film, tv, music, novels, video games and the web.Michael A. Cavagnarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00546477728653299808noreply@blogger.comBlogger200125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-78855057674596310162012-11-12T22:19:00.002-05:002012-11-12T22:19:51.440-05:00THE WALKING DEAD - "Walk With Me"<b>Welcome to a roundtable discussion of this week's episode of <a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead" target="_blank"><i>The Walking Dead</i></a> from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.</b><br />
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<b>This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</b></div>
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<b>Magus: </b>With the larger band of survivors having secured the prison, attention comes back to Andrea and Michonne for more than five minutes increments. This is an episode where a lot happens with the focus once again not on the walkers as the villain of the show. There's the return of the long lost Merle Dixon, we learn that Michonne's other skill is a wicked side-glance that would kill lesser men, and we meet The Governor.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHSSo3Vm1K0WlSfT2JTPZnJ8ks1uq9e4PIq1_CLIfJsfNT8iQp4DmdwSZs9-JMQwObkLaQyUgEg8U-5e0epNjQhssl2O4fvUjh3BLRnbXIZtfTZkRXHvfc4EDeh-gcJFbXNTlOA/s1600/The_Walking_Dead_Walk_With_Me_Michonne_Andrea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHSSo3Vm1K0WlSfT2JTPZnJ8ks1uq9e4PIq1_CLIfJsfNT8iQp4DmdwSZs9-JMQwObkLaQyUgEg8U-5e0epNjQhssl2O4fvUjh3BLRnbXIZtfTZkRXHvfc4EDeh-gcJFbXNTlOA/s640/The_Walking_Dead_Walk_With_Me_Michonne_Andrea.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
We catch up with Andrea and Michonne on the move investigating a helicopter crash out in the middle of nowhere. Their search of the wreckage is interrupted by another group of survivors. Soldiers that have become walkers are dispatched, a survivor is pulled from the wreckage, and Michonne and Andrea are captured in hiding by Merle. One blindfolded car ride later, the ladies are in Woodbury with Andrea being treated for her mystery illness and Michonne deploying her best distrust and aforementioned side-glance. She is not terribly subtle when it comes to this and it's really kind of surprising that The Governor wouldn't off her. However, he is a much more nuanced character than the prisoner Rick offed in the previous episode.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu52XBEs2cP4g6ZFNtKVvzhu2MZQjXHIlQpzSFbOisPlkX3rPkg4bg2e5wmlF8Em0lIqv-qNlsnKkbCwulNN1RfQioRIMdff9wN9DyffMVdH3YUYh1NdGwnbyV9qMskdaX94w_iQ/s1600/The_Walking_Dead_Walk_With_Me_Merle_new_hand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu52XBEs2cP4g6ZFNtKVvzhu2MZQjXHIlQpzSFbOisPlkX3rPkg4bg2e5wmlF8Em0lIqv-qNlsnKkbCwulNN1RfQioRIMdff9wN9DyffMVdH3YUYh1NdGwnbyV9qMskdaX94w_iQ/s640/The_Walking_Dead_Walk_With_Me_Merle_new_hand.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
After a tour of Woodbury, it becomes apparent that The Governor is going to do his best to convince the ladies to stay of their own accord for now. He comes up with reason upon reason they should stick around for the time being and maybe join the community. It's not until later that we see he probably isn't going to let them leave regardless.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6A93Qs4yqBs5HAozcwv8DGnuVQNfg2yZB-GAZWiS2uOQSltE8crCE_T_-rLK5RTqAWJWxyKQ9Hqw4MXsYP-My_Z_totNE5kth3pjS1aU2Jup8zyugbBqFP67B3pok5KTTGFl33A/s1600/The_Walking_Dead_Walk_With_Me_Woodbury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6A93Qs4yqBs5HAozcwv8DGnuVQNfg2yZB-GAZWiS2uOQSltE8crCE_T_-rLK5RTqAWJWxyKQ9Hqw4MXsYP-My_Z_totNE5kth3pjS1aU2Jup8zyugbBqFP67B3pok5KTTGFl33A/s640/The_Walking_Dead_Walk_With_Me_Woodbury.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
The Governor goes out to rendezvous with the reserve unit the surviving helicopter pilot came from. He then has his men in hiding gun them down and take their equipment. The Governor is a man who is willing to do whatever it takes to secure his power and community and then some by eliminating a potential threat to his authority. Unlike Rick's action at the prison, The Governor moves before anyone has a chance to take a swing at him. He sees the soldiers as an immediate threat to his power that needs to be neutralized. Merle is among the men he takes with him, but it's not entirely clear if Merle is completely in. There's the impression that Merle does what he does as repayment for being taken in by the community at a time when he needed help. The ultimate test of this loyalty will probably come when there is the inevitable reunion of him and Daryl.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwGsC8MN_rXpiXpOzpLWlojYj_7zEZmZeYXKhE3it2rFG8f3BFAeDJtAVb6Ar-twbTEdGSkulz_dPF4MzU-uIYVEHqW3cuQWaPfAWQT17lLJxQr4r3DzwvkcmDOIgASCShLZTfA/s1600/The_Walking_Dead_Walk_With_Me_Merle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwGsC8MN_rXpiXpOzpLWlojYj_7zEZmZeYXKhE3it2rFG8f3BFAeDJtAVb6Ar-twbTEdGSkulz_dPF4MzU-uIYVEHqW3cuQWaPfAWQT17lLJxQr4r3DzwvkcmDOIgASCShLZTfA/s640/The_Walking_Dead_Walk_With_Me_Merle.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Upon his return, The Governor informs the people of Woodbury that the soldiers had already been killed by biters (walkers) and that they took the equipment to help fortify the town. There's more side-glance from Michonne as he continues to work on Andrea and it looks like she's ready to sign up. In fairness to her, The Governor has presented a community with little difference to the one put together by Rick and his group. It's behind the scenes where we discover that The Governor has some skeletons (heads) in his closet and a sampling of his madness is revealed.<br />
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<b>Jon:</b> Simply put, this was the best episode of <i>The Walking Dead</i> in well over a year. Getting a little time out from Rick Grimes and the gang was long overdue in my opinion, not to mention starting to finally flesh out other corners of this zombie-filled world.<br />
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As Magus expertly describes above, this episode starts out following Andrea and Michonne as they are taken captive and brought to the idyllic community of Woodbury. How this little town has maintained a Pleasantville-like atmosphere isn't immediately revealed, but the heavily fortified boundary and a strict curfew would not be possible if it weren't for the commands and direction of the mysterious Governor. As "Walk With Me" progresses, the narrative focus shifts to The Governor and his cronies. They're up to something, and while that something isn't clear yet, what is obvious is that he'll be a force to be reckoned with once the ladies decide to leave Woodbury and the inevitable clash between he and Rick later on. Tough times are ahead, for sure.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZS2nutv429ANoDc_tdZZEf_Rqfg8T8VOJMdt8uPds6EW35EW-WNk9wI6INbLwDg826CJ3qlSgcX8WLlQuiphAtylsnQHrs_rYrWUQAGwSFWk8Dp0jJ5iK86g66Bl7bY0p54yDQ/s1600/The_Walking_Dead_Walk_With_Me_Governer_chair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZS2nutv429ANoDc_tdZZEf_Rqfg8T8VOJMdt8uPds6EW35EW-WNk9wI6INbLwDg826CJ3qlSgcX8WLlQuiphAtylsnQHrs_rYrWUQAGwSFWk8Dp0jJ5iK86g66Bl7bY0p54yDQ/s640/The_Walking_Dead_Walk_With_Me_Governer_chair.jpg" width="640" /></a>But, hey not all bad! There's also Merle! Daryl's supercharged racist, redneck brother has returned to us as a poor man's <a href="http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/bruce_campbell_army_of_darkness.jpg" target="_blank">Ash Williams</a> complete with a metal stub and a detachable bayonet. And while I don't know that I'd go as far as to say I missed him, I do welcome his special brand of maliciousness back to the program. You gotta wonder whether or not he'll back away from his allegiance to The Governor when he and Daryl find each other once more, or if he'd be able to sway Daryl to the dark side (at least temporarily).<br />
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Again, this was a fantastic change-of-pace episode and I believe has set the remainder of the season up for some great revelations and bombastic action when all our players finally converge.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #444444;">Previous roundtables for <i>The Walking Dead</i> season 3:</span><span style="color: #274e13;"> </span></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-walking-dead-seed.html" target="_blank">Week 1 - "Seed"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-walking-dead-sick.html" target="_blank">Week 2 - "Sick"</a>Magushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040946798472344342noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-30304423836954682512012-10-28T20:57:00.000-04:002012-10-29T12:00:38.528-04:00THE WALKING DEAD - "Sick"<b>Welcome to a roundtable discussion of this week's episode of <a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead" target="_blank"><i>The Walking Dead</i></a> from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.</b><br />
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<b>This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8BBHVnz4SXbBkdl5WqcfQngAF3Bs266FlqEMSAtPYY1XC93uVaMMqGhux3xs7A9MKoBFoZ0kVjc1sZZwmq9mtq5MKPSK7vmS_haLqIFkkSTFmMUbqDewovwjJVc0QSns3UAuOdw/s1600/The_Walking_Dead_s3_e02_Sick_header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8BBHVnz4SXbBkdl5WqcfQngAF3Bs266FlqEMSAtPYY1XC93uVaMMqGhux3xs7A9MKoBFoZ0kVjc1sZZwmq9mtq5MKPSK7vmS_haLqIFkkSTFmMUbqDewovwjJVc0QSns3UAuOdw/s640/The_Walking_Dead_s3_e02_Sick_header.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<b>Magus: </b>After last week's somewhat disappointing season opener, "Sick" picks up where "Seed" left off with Rick having chopped off a portion of Hershel's leg followed by the discovery of inmates still alive in the prison cafeteria. This pulls the show's attention back to the real threat following the walker apocalypse, human beings. Sure, the walkers are a threat to survival, but they don't plot or betray like humans can. The prisoners give Rick and the survivors their first set of truly hard decisions to make this season and unlike during the second, resolution comes quickly.<br />
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There are the naive power plays on the parts of the prisons that reflect their own ignorance to the severity of their situation. At first Rick and the group wants to kick them out but an agreement is eventually reached and the prison and its supplies are to be split. It's an arrangement that doesn't last long as the prisoner leader decides that he's going to try and take out Rick. It's a decision that doesn't end well for him or another of his fellow inmates. With their number reduced, the remaining two prisoners strike a new deal and are given a cell block of their own.<br />
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The other story of this episode could be a survival horror medical drama as the group works to save Hershel's life as no one is sure if he'll survive losing blood, his leg, and the walker bite. It's touch and go but he eventually makes it through. However, during his downtime,which thankfully is paced nowhere near as painfully as Carl's gunshot wound and recovery, the survivors are portrayed as possessing a great deal of medical knowledge, far more than I think Hershel would have been able to purvey in so short a time. Also during this downtime, the practical questions of what they would have to do without Hershel and his medical knowledge, especially with Lori and her pregnancy.<br />
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It turns out that Carol has become a sort of medic and prepares herself for the possibility of having to perform a C-Section on Lori to deliver the baby without Hershel. In a stroke of brilliance, she comes up with the idea to practice technique on the body of a female walker to get better acquainted with the anatomy. It's an interesting solution to a very practical problem. During Carol's sequence with the walker, we see that someone else is watching the survivors from the other side of the fence.<br />
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Some nice trimming to this episode is Carl proving himself to be worth more than just walker bait as he manages to find the infirmary and bring back medical supplies that ultimately save Hershel's life. Of course Lori is there to chastise him for his recklessness. Lori gets hers in the end as she and Rick have a private one on one where she says things that makes me believe she's been reading the memes about her on the internet. Rick leaves her with some confusing lines, not clarifying just where their marriage stands.<br />
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This episode moved in a much better direction than the opening and I'm happy with how they're stepping up the pace. I was worried Hershel's leg was going to become this season's Sophia, eating up time that could be better spent with the characters. Rick got some time to shine as a strong leader by proving he'll do what it takes to keep the group alive and safe. This episode was much stronger for the characters and hopefully the show will keep moving in this direction.<br />
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<b>Jon:</b> <strike>Sorry, everyone. I'm running behind this week. My two cents will be added on this episode soon though!</strike> (updated: 10/29/12) -- Magus, you nailed it. The real horror of <i>The Walking Dead</i>-verse are the other survivors, not the zombies plaguing the land. And it makes me so happy the show is getting back to that concept, one it didn't ignore last season but surely did not emphasize either. As, as we'll see soon enough, a handful of isolated prisoners are the least of their worries.<br />
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"Sick" was pretty action-laden episode (as Magus described above), and because of that there's only so much I'm able to delve into.<br />
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What we do need to talk about for a few moments, however, is Rick's continued slide into dictator mode. That's probably not the best term to use for it since "dictator" comes along with such negative connotations, but the forceful decisiveness is exactly what this group of survivors needs right now. And, at least for the moment, the others seem content with deferring to his judgement. After the experience on the farm where he tried to let others have a say, one can hardly blame him for wanting to take control when his decisions led to far better results than the others' had.<br />
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All that said, I was still very surprised by just how quick and resolute his decision-making has become. The lead prisoner was certainly going to be a problem, but based on the show's precedent, I figured he'd be causing trouble for another week or two. However, after a hard seven or so months on the run since last season ended and the refocused Rick emerged, that now appears to be a foolish assumption on my part. This version of Rick has no time to let a bad seed flower.<br />
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His ability to make a hard choice definitively finally bled into his marriage with Lori, which at this point, seems all but officially over. If something is to happen to Carl, you gotta wonder if there'd be any way to bring Rick back from the brink. It's the right mode for him to be in in order to survive while out among the walkers, but I fear it'll be a very lonely place for him to stay in.<br />
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Aside from Rick's further journeys into isolation, I also loved the little off-camera adventure Carl had to acquire some medical supplies elsewhere in the prison on his own. Last year, that jaunt of his probably would've eaten up about a third of an episode while just barely avoiding getting bitten at the end, so it's nice to see the show learning where to focus our attention on the plotlines that are actually interesting.<br />
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Since I was behind this time, I've already seen episode number three on the season at this writing and, man... ya'll are in for a treat. Be sure to hit us up later this week; it was my favorite episode of the series in a very long time, so there'll be plenty of great discussion to go around.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #444444;">Previous roundtables for <i>The Walking Dead</i> season 3:</span><span style="color: #274e13;"> </span></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-walking-dead-seed.html" target="_blank">Week 1 - "Seed"</a>Magushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040946798472344342noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-54488480386325666852012-10-21T20:28:00.000-04:002012-10-22T13:55:39.527-04:00THE WALKING DEAD - "Seed"<br />
<b>Welcome to a roundtable discussion of this week's episode of <a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead" target="_blank"><i>The Walking Dead</i></a> from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.</b><br />
<div style="color: #990000;">
<b>This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</b></div>
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<b>Magus: </b>I was fairly underwhelmed by the third season opener of "The Walking Dead". While the episode offered a great deal of action and gore, all of the interesting character development and reactions to Shane's death took place over the winter that was completely glossed over. From the opening, it seems that the survivors have been keeping on by jumping from house to house. Somehow they completely missed the prison we saw just behind them in the previous season's finale. Also, Lori is incredibly pregnant now. Also, T-Dog has more dialogue in the first fifteen minutes than he had in all of seasons one and two.<br />
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When they finally find the prison, they find it occupied by walkers but not so many that they can't formulate a plan and take the prison yard in short order. At this point we also learn that everyone has been taking target practice over the winter as each person delivers one head shot after another. Having cleared the yard they take a night to gather themselves and give the show what it has so desperately needed; a musical number. We are also treated to a scene of Carol's and Daryl's budding romance, or at least the closest thing either of them are capable of doing to resemble romance. There is no rest for the weary though as Rick informs them that the prison could be a veritable treasure chest of supplies and so now plans are made for taking the interior of the prison. After that, Rick goes off to take watch at the perimeter, alone.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">What do you mean all they had was Extra Strength Tylenol?</span></td></tr>
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Before that we learn the fate of Andrea and her mysterious rescuer, Michonne. During the winter they apparently have been doing the same as the other survivors and moving from place to place. However, Andrea has picked up some mysterious illness that is slowly turning her into deadweight and complete bitch to Michonne. But before we can learn too much, we're back at the prison as Rick and a small group take one of the cell blocks. Here we're treated to walkers in riot gear. Considering how difficult they are to take down with weapons, it makes me wonder just how they managed to get bit in the first place, unless they got bit first and then put on the riot gear.<br />
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In any case, with the cell block secured, everyone begins moving in and Carl shows some affections in the direction of Hershel's youngest daughter, Beth. Glen and Maggie, covered in gore, can't seem to keep their hands or mouths off of each other in their cell. As everyone else gets settled in and Lori has a conversation with Hershel about her fears of an undead baby, Rick wanders off to find himself a lone nook where he can be alone. We're back with Michonne as she delivers some much needed mystery medicine to Andrea and the two of them get moving, Michonne's walker pets in tow.<br />
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Now Rick has decided to lead a group into the interior of the prison in search of food and supplies. What follows is a standard maze with flashlight sequence that ends in Glen and Maggie getting separated from the group by walkers and a walker getting a leg up on old Hershel. After some impromptu surgery by rick with a hatchet, it's revealed that the dead aren't the only ones in the prison as we see several inmates behind chain-link.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">God, I miss cable TV.</span></td></tr>
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I know all of this sounds awesome and it was certainly an action-packed episode with lots of walkers and walker slaying, but it feels like we missed a lot of interesting character stuff with the winter having been skipped over. Also, it seems problematic that they were just wandering around in the same area without running into the prison sooner considering how close they were to it. The big thing for me is that the discovery they are all already infected, that they are all walkers just waiting to happen, should change the way these people relate with each other and the larger world. "The Walking Dead" are not the walkers, they are the humans left to live and eventually die. Maybe they'll get around to that this season. Here's hoping.<br />
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<b>Jon: </b>I may be in the minority on this one, but I'm gotta admit that was the most enjoyable episode of <i>The Walking Dead</i> since season 1. Magus, you're 100% correct in your assessments of where the show missed the mark, but I still have to give this episode props for turning in one hell of an upgrade over what we had most of last season. Gone is the farm, home of the long-winded, repetitive conversation. Now as they roam the open road, we check in on the gang on what we later learn is just another unsuccessful home invasion they engage in as they remain just one step in front of the zombie herd. Hopefully this season will give the smaller band of characters more conflict from without and within. Look, I have to admit I don't particularly like any of these characters on a personal level, so I really enjoyed the wordless cold open as much as for not having to listen to them blather on too long about something uninteresting as I did the general bad-assery. <br />
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Okay, that's not true. I like the Maggie/Glenn pairing and root for the two of them to not get mauled by walkers. Plus, I'm very happy the show has allowed Maggie to graduate in it's time jump to bad-ass woman of the group now that Andrea's separated from them. I found her to be far more effective as the ass-kicking female of the team this week than Andrea ever was. But we also saw she's plenty unsure of herself still and scared of these zombies as much as ever.<br />
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Meanwhile, after a steady downward spiral in character choices, I really like the direction Rick is taking. He's not completely in my good graces yet, but I for one respect his tyrannous leadership of the the group that he implemented at the end of season 2. When all they scrounge up to eat is a skimpy owl and two cans of dog food during that abandoned house raid, Rick hurdles the dog food away from Carl. Even as desperate as they are for food, he's not ready to reduce them to eat that food source yet. Impracticable? Sure. But that's the kind of attitude they need to keep their spirits up, not that any of the rest of them really seemed to be inspired by it in the moment. Meanwhile, he's finally listened to America and has completely become fed up with Lori as the rest of us are. Bravo, Rick!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjj1E8brY_flNdrPy7HEcMfKB95aBE6vQW1Xyh8utNZ-aGGB-RgTlFq7JV1ZHo_YoZgT6MHNjKUGjeuJv6j6Zx6qFZTjyFbbhfqy7ONBA5dgpfcnKDpKVIpy7C74QRCohx0_UB3g/s1600/walking_dead_seed_carl_walkers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjj1E8brY_flNdrPy7HEcMfKB95aBE6vQW1Xyh8utNZ-aGGB-RgTlFq7JV1ZHo_YoZgT6MHNjKUGjeuJv6j6Zx6qFZTjyFbbhfqy7ONBA5dgpfcnKDpKVIpy7C74QRCohx0_UB3g/s640/walking_dead_seed_carl_walkers.jpg" width="640" /></a>Speaking of Lori, I enjoyed her conversion with Hershel in the prison cell. Just the mere mention of a zombie baby devouring her from the inside was enough to give me the serious willies for rest of the night. So much so that I didn't even realize how preposterous that scenario would be until a couple of days after the episode premiered. I know it's possible, but it's certainly rare for a newborn to have teeth at birth, not to mention the lack of muscle strength and Freddy Kruger-esque fingernails, necessary to enact the type of damage Lori was freaking out about. But I sympathize with her in this case; she's surrounded by death and Rick no longer appears interested in comforting her any longer, just securing her safety. But she's placed no higher on the safety list than any one else in the group.<br />
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Having not read past the first trade of the comics, I have no idea what's in store with Micchone, but if the massive freakout on my Facebook feed after her introduction at the end of last season was any indication, it's going to be fantastic. How Andrea plays into things with Micchone and when the two of them meet up with the remainder of the group are high on my list.<br />
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So even though there are still plenty of flaws with <i>The Walking Dead</i>, I think we're seeing subtle changes from the new creative team (post-Frank Darabont) that point to some serious improvement over last season. In any event, we'll be here each week recapping the show, so stop back in for a reminder of what happened the previous week before you sit down to watch the new episode each Sunday.<br />
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If you liked our <b><i>The Walking Dead</i></b> review this week, we've also been taking a look at the most recent seasons of <b><a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/search/label/Mad%20Men" target="_blank"><i>Mad Men</i></a></b> and <b><a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/search/label/Breaking%20Bad" target="_blank"><i>Breaking Bad</i></a></b>. Check them out!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS6kUOoBz74" target="_blank">Aw, hell naw!</a></td></tr>
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Magushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040946798472344342noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-63351264762958252902012-09-02T12:00:00.000-04:002012-09-02T12:00:31.503-04:00BREAKING BAD - "Say My Name"<b>Welcome to a roundtable discussion of this week's episode of <i><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad" target="_blank">Breaking Bad</a></i> from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.</b><br />
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<b>This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</b></div>
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<b>Jon: </b>Okay, first things first. This episode will be etched in my memory forever. I've never thought I could be so moved by a television show. But, OMG, you guys! <a href="http://www.thatsnerdalicious.com/bacon/elvis-cookie-sandwich-lunch-time/" target="_blank">Bacon-banana cookies</a>? GOOD LAWRD, those sound delicious! How have I lived life for this long and never been mentally stimulated by such wonderment?!?! Oh, yeah. There was that other thing -- our favorite hitman, Mike, went to the big meth lab in the sky (c'mon, there's a freaking spoiler warning right at the top; don't complain). More about that in a bit.<br />
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Mike and I have talking a lot these past few weeks about just how downright unlikable Walter White has become this season. He's manipulated Jesse for his own gains at every turn. He seems not to have anything beyond superficial remorse for the death of the young 14-year-old dirtbike kid two episodes past.<br />
He's essentially imprisoned Skyler in their home. He made poor Saul cower in fear in his own awesome office! And while blowing up a druglord of the level of Gustavo Fring is easily viewed as a triumph on Walt's part, firing a gut shot at an unsuspecting man in moment of blind fury is hardly anything to gloat over.<br />
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But in my view, his impromptu assassination of Mike Ehrmantraut was not when Walt blossomed into a straight-up villain. No, that happened during the cold open of this very episode, as he brazenly battled wits in a desert showdown with Declan, the Phoenix-based meth dealer we met last week and who was illustrated to be anything but a pushover (all that was missing was a backing score from <a href="http://youtu.be/wV0wPBYDQ6Y" target="_blank">Ennio Morricone</a>). That was not Declan going up against Walter White, however. As he made clear to everyone present, Walt was in full-blown Hiesenberg mode. And what made this edition of his Hiesenberg persona so interesting was he wasn't wearing his patented black porkpie hat, which I believe was a first. In earlier seasons, Walt has don the hat whenever he needed an extra little spark to psych himself up through whatever crazy situation he was diving into. This season he's been wearing it much more frequently, often while doing little more than strolling in or out of the lab to get his cook on. In other words he's basically been master physicist Hiesenberg more often than cancer survivor Walt White lately. And now he's become so comfortable in that guise, he no longer requires the porkpie hat to thrust himself into character. He <i>is </i>Hiesenberg now, pure villain. And with LowBrowMedia's roots being a comic book review site, I'd argue that he's now transformed himself into a supervillain. We've seen what that manic mentality has wrought when Mike pushed him too far. There's no telling what atrocity he commits next. And I sincerely doubt he'll be using that massive machine gun we got a glimpse of in the cold open of the season premiere for good. It shall be interesting what unfolds next.<br />
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Anyway, plenty of other stuff happened in "Say My Name," but I think you'll find Mike C's recap of events below to be plenty thorough in this post and I'd really just like to get back to Mike E. It was a tragic, furious end to an existence predicated upon detailed planning, calculated action and measured patience, but you'll go up in flames if you allow a supernova like Walt soar into your orbit. Admittedly, Mike's ending was a little obvious once Walt peered into Mike's go-bag and found the gun, but that final sequence was so expertly executed, I have no complaints on how events unfolded. It was beautifully filmed, near-perfect send-off for a beloved character. His blunt one-liners and usually stoic demeanor were a welcome presence any time he appeared on screen ever since. Jonathan Banks' performance of the hitman for hire was masterful ever since we were introduced to him at the tail end of season 2, but I'm not sure he had a more powerful moment on the show than when he had to decide between leaving his granddaughter alone on the playground in order to save himself from assured doom.<br />
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RIP, Mr. Ehrmantraut. <i>Breaking Bad</i> won't be the same without you.<br />
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<b>Mike:</b> Now, here's what I thought! I'll more or less keep it sequential:<br />
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- So, that was Walt's big plan? Actually, it was a pretty good one. Using pure ballsy chutzpah, and costing him only 35% of the take, Walt took care of the business end so he can focus on the science and cooking and manipulation and lying. After all, Mike's retirement was impending, and they needed a new business partner. (Little did we know that the aforementioned retirement was going to be so permanent. Well, we had suspicions at least.) And Mike even got a severance package to help keep the Gus Fring Nine out of the DEA office confessional for at least a little while longer. If I were Walt, I'd be careful not to play the "I killed Gus" card too often, or else he's going to find himself with an identical target on his back. He'll probably need some pretty heavy artillery to back himself up in that kind of situation, huh?<br />
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- Walt being so dismissive of Jesse at every turn this episode was just awful. For one thing, Jesse is the closest thing that he has to a friend -- that is to say, he is a good friend to Walt, not the other way around. If you allow a friend's girlfriend to choke to death, guilt them into breaking up with their next girlfriend, force them to kill, and otherwise constantly put their life and livelihood at risk. Jesse, to a dangerous degree, has forgiven Walt every time he has pushed his luck too far. After all, we need to remember that Jesse's family has disowned him, especially after the whole buying his aunt's house out from under them thing. So, his heartfelt, familial respect for "Mr. White" and "Mrs. White" as well is one of the only assets that Walt has to work with these days. But as is typical for Walt, there is a line, and he pushes Jesse right past that like when be brushes aside Jesse's wishes to get out of the meth business one too many times. What could possibly bring them back together? It doesn't take long. It's probably the only thing that could do it, and that's Mike Ehrmantraut needing something.<br />
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- But first, how about that burgeoning meth chef, Todd? I knew that
Walt either can't or won't cook alone. And by all appearances, Todd
seems to be an eager, bright young man who has a good head for the
amphetamine biz. He even refuses to be paid until he gets it right!
Walt is eating this up, and even tries to share his delight with this
new team-up at the dinner table with Skyler. (She leaves the table in the middle of his sentence, huge glass of wine in tow.)
I keep going back to Todd's comment last week about his relative in
prison for some reason, though. It was probably nothing, but really,
Walt doesn't even know this kid. He's only training him because he has
no partners left. They didn't come up through chemistry class together
like he and Jesse. Todd doesn't have a firmly developed criminal code
like Mike. He's a cipher so far. A cipher with a little notepad that
contains the instructions on how to cook 99% pure blue meth. We'll see
if Todd ends up helping or hurting Walt in the end. For now, though,
he's been extremely useful in at least three situations that I can think
of. <br />
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- I'm loving that every time we listen in to Hank's office bug, he's dealing with the boring minutiae of high-level police work that isn't often glorified -- filling out forms, making fundraiser calls, griping about food. It was too bad that Walt had to pull the weepy brother-in-law act again and remove the tap from the office. At which point he witnesses something that is probably the beginning of the end: Gomie telling Hank that they flipped Mike's lawyer.<br />
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- Losing millions of dollars to the DEA once has got to sting. Twice, though? OUCH!<br />
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<br />
- Jon's covered Mike's death pretty well already. I'll just say this -- Mike was dead the moment he threw his hat in the ring with Walt. At first it was definitely for a better cause, but as time went on, he had to know that he was just digging his own grave. I guess this can be a lesson for all of us. Especially when embarking upon criminal avenues, but also in other situations too, I guess, stay true to your hard-fought and long-held principles or that piece of garbage you aligned yourself with will put a bullet in your gut and leave you to die semi-peacefully along a river.<br />
<br />
- Walt stalking back into the frame and across the screen, gun in hand, towards Mike's car was pathetic but also chilling. These are not the actions of a criminal mastermind. These are the actions of a child who has not gotten their way. There aren't too many drug lords out there who engage in this type of behavior. The reason for that is, they are all either in jail or dead in the desert somewhere.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1kIGU29wl_8FU3lbAOqX-Ci0VPIIkq8g3HcdbsCY1gPqouUrEZM0lHGrIl9Fs8-HV_11oaEC1VENrisUCs189RWYKG3w2cJZZ2KZOoLJCbGgwjhls15uZ4DYjn3GNaKxfMapOMg/s1600/Say_My_Name_Mike_Hiesenberg_creek.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1kIGU29wl_8FU3lbAOqX-Ci0VPIIkq8g3HcdbsCY1gPqouUrEZM0lHGrIl9Fs8-HV_11oaEC1VENrisUCs189RWYKG3w2cJZZ2KZOoLJCbGgwjhls15uZ4DYjn3GNaKxfMapOMg/s640/Say_My_Name_Mike_Hiesenberg_creek.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
- I am fascinated to see Walt's followup to this in next week's finale. Will he take responsibility for what he has done? Probably not. But did he have an actual self-realization at the water's edge? I'm sure he'll find some way to top his actions this week. Either way, we are going to have a really unhappy Jesse on our hands. Perhaps we will see a Jesse/Skyler team-up as a result. Only one way to tell -- see you next week!<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #274e13;">Previous <i>Breaking Bad</i> season 5 roundtables: </span></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/breaking-bad-live-free-or-die.html" target="_blank">Week 1 - "Live Free Or Die"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/breaking-bad-madrigal.html" target="_blank">Week 2 - "Madrigal"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/08/breaking-bad-hazard-pay.html" target="_blank">Week 3 - "Hazard Pay"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/08/breaking-bad-fifty-one-dead-freight.html" target="_blank">Week 4 - "Fifty-One"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/08/breaking-bad-fifty-one-dead-freight.html" target="_blank">Week 5 - "Dead Freight"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/08/breaking-bad-buyout.html" target="_blank">Week 6 - "Buyout"</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-69091599885159503312012-08-28T10:12:00.001-04:002012-08-28T10:12:26.486-04:00BREAKING BAD - "Buyout"<b>Welcome to a roundtable discussion of this week's episode of <i><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad" target="_blank">Breaking Bad</a></i> from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.</b><br />
<div style="color: #990000;">
<b>This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</b></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv4IqWCX-kg1XEXmKI1cQUXwx_mPCeoLDbuU2pfjyRBedyerbOePPGFpwgvv3tMh_Di0R-ARepW3wscA5Rxc8Trh_YIZDzxPGEui7G_1FixrbpRTTseMmo6TkJx-ciY3uNIhbwog/s1600/Buyout_header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv4IqWCX-kg1XEXmKI1cQUXwx_mPCeoLDbuU2pfjyRBedyerbOePPGFpwgvv3tMh_Di0R-ARepW3wscA5Rxc8Trh_YIZDzxPGEui7G_1FixrbpRTTseMmo6TkJx-ciY3uNIhbwog/s640/Buyout_header.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<b>Jon: </b>After the shock that "Dead Freight" ended on last week, it was fitting that we began with a wordless, really creepy scene to open this week's episode of <i>Breaking Bad</i>. The atmosphere surrounding Walt, Mike and Todd as they barrel-ized the poor 14-year-old and his dirtbike was somber and complimented by a excellently crafted piece of droning music to emphasize the dreary business they had to complete. Meanwhile, Jesse is outside the garage having a smoke, presumably still so shaken from the shooting that he's excused from clean-up duty. Eventually Todd joins him, and acts like murdering a kid is no big whoop. He promptly gets clocked in the eye by Jesse and elicited a fist pump from me (fuck you, Landry!). When we come back, Todd's pleading his case to still be a part of the team. It's no surprise that Jesse wants him gone, but for once Mike and Walt agree on something and vote that he stay since he knows too much and they're not too keen on killing anyone else that night. So, we haven't seen the last of psychopath Todd or the kid's taranchula in a jar that he's now claimed, probably as a memento of a productive day (and only a bit incriminating with it still being covered in the kid's prints).<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the next day Mike hilariously spots and loses another tail by Gomey and a DEA grunt. He checks in on the bug still broadcasting from Hank's office and realizes there's still a lot of heat on him, channel's <a href="http://youtu.be/Q37xJtuQ24w" target="_blank">Danny Glover</a>, and decides to arrange a buyout of his share of the methylamine by a rival from the Phoenix area to get out of the business all together with a cool $5 million. He gets Jesse on board with his plan and the two try to talk Walt into joining them, but predictably he stubbornly refuses (more on that below). Mike and Jesse have one of those middle-of-the-desert business meetings <i>Breaking Bad</i> loves so much with this new drug lord. He quickly susses out that they have a third partner who isn't selling his share of the 1,000 gallons of methylamine, which means the infamous blue meth will still be out on the streets. This guy is no pushover and only has an interest in purchasing this stuff to get the blue meth out of circulation, so there's no deal until Jesse and Mike can get Walt to sell as well.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi67c3S8YL1W_j40oeBiRuKf66UIFz-V6RCiLZiMGhGevKsdWCTRGls5MhylZQTdzH1P8fsHHrRLJvCYNgnRhQC8TCeApSXcs-xN0ZooQ6zh6z1ETf5ZyylTT_R6N2pFKfT69KgA/s1600/Buyout_Jesse_Mike_meeting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi67c3S8YL1W_j40oeBiRuKf66UIFz-V6RCiLZiMGhGevKsdWCTRGls5MhylZQTdzH1P8fsHHrRLJvCYNgnRhQC8TCeApSXcs-xN0ZooQ6zh6z1ETf5ZyylTT_R6N2pFKfT69KgA/s640/Buyout_Jesse_Mike_meeting.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Jesse seems to be completely finished with the meth biz at all costs at this point, and goes over to Walt's house in an attempt to change his mind about selling. Now, all this season Walt has been manipulating Jesse into doing what he wants seemingly at will. But not this time. No, he just guilts him into it.<br />
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You see, Walt has been highly distressed by this whole methlymine-selling scenario, reduced to sulking in his living room easy chair with little more than a glass of scotch, a houseful of silence and a lifetime of regrets. And those regrets have manifested themselves into where we are today. Walt is haunted by the buyout he took for Gray Matter decades ago; you know, the company he started with Elliot and Gretchen Schwartz, who we met way back in season one. You might remember them as the billionaire scientists who offered to pay for his chemo treatments? Well, the details are still unclear but we now know Walt left the partnership for personal reasons. The short-term financial gain then pales in comparison to the torment he puts himself through each week by forcing himself to look at Gray Matter's worth each week. Walt doesn't want to make the same mistake again. Plus, it's become more than that now. Since his family is broken (and that was the whole reason he started down this path in the first place), he claims his motivation to continue cooking is not financial. So if he's not in the money business and not in the meth business (per se), what the hell is he doing it all for? In a bold speech, Walt proclaims he's actually in the EMPIRE business, aka the power biz as we discussed <a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/08/breaking-bad-fifty-one-dead-freight.html" target="_blank">last week</a>. He is trying to build an empire that would rival the one he presumes he would have had if he hadn't taken that buyout all those years ago. The man is going to overdose on power quicker than Jane OD'd on their blue meth.<br />
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But then Skyler walks in through the front door, and we're quickly treated to what turned into an awkward dinner of epic proportions. For all the heaviness this episode waded through, this scene was a welcome sight and a great reminder at just how hilarious it can be when it chooses. At the close of the dinner, Walt reveals to Jesse just how bad his home life has become. He knows that's a sad tale but it might not be enough to sway Jesse back to his side, so tells him, "This business is all I have left. And you want to take it away from me." That's probably enough for the good-hearted Jesse, who thinks so highly of Walt still, to get back on his side.<br />
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Later, Walt arrives at the gang's headquarters to swipe his share (if not all) of the methylamine. Mike anticipates this and holds him hostage in the office for the rest of that night. However, Mike has an appointment with Saul and Hank at the DEA and leaves Walt zip-tied to an old-school radiator while he attends it. This gives Vince Gilligan and company another opportunity to flex their creative science muscles as Walt hatches an escape plan by using the live wires from a coffee pot to melt the plastic cuff holding him down. (A quick side note: I usually am all for the utilization of crazy science to help<i> Breaking Bad</i> characters get in and out of their pickles, but this time the lack of common sense in lieu of creating drama bothered me a bit. I'd think placing the wire on the other side of the zip tie against the radiator would be the safer option, preventing him from burning himself. But electrocuting plastic that also will hurt your main character exemplifies just how desperate he was to free himself, so for drama purposes, the higher stakes made sense. The only reason I can come up with as to why this wouldn't have worked is the metal coils would have conducted the electricity and thus become an even greater hazard than the severe burn on Walt's wrist. Obviously, I have no idea if this is the case, and the show made no attempt to explain Walt's decision, so all I'm left with is speculation.) And just like that, Walt is back on the streets causing mayhem once more.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8yYeLsGGAA3-trWJzjmNOB4vBK8mNToSzD4wuMt8nmRb19C6dVB3Y183Uf6evvR32K_l2NVBT14b2tzkF70xioJbmXVlYH-pzhLasVzPNzfi7GV-N5bYe4ZOciGQspAxpKOJWQ/s1600/Buyout_smug_Walt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8yYeLsGGAA3-trWJzjmNOB4vBK8mNToSzD4wuMt8nmRb19C6dVB3Y183Uf6evvR32K_l2NVBT14b2tzkF70xioJbmXVlYH-pzhLasVzPNzfi7GV-N5bYe4ZOciGQspAxpKOJWQ/s640/Buyout_smug_Walt.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
So while we watched Saul work his magic on Hank and Gomey, our newly freed Walt managed to move all the methylamine in addition to talking Jesse into backing him up once all is revealed to Mike. And we'll just have to tune in next week to see if everyone wins, as Walt asserts with Mike's pistol pressed against his temple.<br />
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All relatively straight-forward stuff, don't 'cha think? Speaking of which, that's been one thing I've noticed this year -- there's not much to analyze on this show. Maybe I just got spoiled with <a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/search/label/Mad%20Men" target="_blank"><i>Mad Men</i> a few months ago</a>, but I really expected to be able to delve into <i>BB</i> with more gusto. Obviously this is our first crack at examining the show week by week here at LowBrowMedia, but I've always felt previous seasons were overloaded with talking points. This being the final season may explain that since everything has to start coming to a conclusion, but everyone's motives are basically laid out for us right now and I'm finding it difficult to drum up subjects worthy of great discussion. It's still an excellent show, but perhaps it's not rife for deep analysis as I had led myself to believe it to be.<br />
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So, what say you, Mike (and fellow blue-meth heads)? Is everything merely as it seems, or is your old pal Jon just missing something incredibly obvious in these first eight eps?<br />
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<b>Mike: </b>Well, in answer to your last paragraph, I think a lot of the problem lies in the fact that, although they do have certain things in common, in that they are both extremely high quality shows on the same network, "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad" are two completely different shows. I think the case could be made that "MM" is more of an English major's paradise, pregnant with undercurrent and symbolism, while "BB" is a little more of an open book.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJtbZijCn7ashXxRnR_0xvnFbkyW4pwIgVfDF5OxZ5ChBsANir8hreKOAEATMj2T9oXUFLkPLJnhrtHSFrbH7nwHVGMFqo2f5Ta1Iqgo9sV5cR7jVaok-1FJCIr-fe8xvM3zkjQ/s1600/Buyout_Todd_Walt_Mike.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJtbZijCn7ashXxRnR_0xvnFbkyW4pwIgVfDF5OxZ5ChBsANir8hreKOAEATMj2T9oXUFLkPLJnhrtHSFrbH7nwHVGMFqo2f5Ta1Iqgo9sV5cR7jVaok-1FJCIr-fe8xvM3zkjQ/s640/Buyout_Todd_Walt_Mike.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
That said, as I often say, I hope I never have to choose, at gunpoint, whether "MM" or "BB" is the better show. For as much as I love the unpredictable, black-humored, breakneck crime noir that "BB" has become, I also hesitate to say that I enjoy it more than the pointillist, character-focused short story narrative that is "MM" at its best.<br />
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Which also isn't to say that I don't enjoy writing about both shows! Speaking of, here goes for episode six of this season:<br />
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- I agree, it was a great cold open this week. I knew what was going to happen next, but I still gasped a little bit as the small, cold hand was uncovered in the dirt. That's some pretty great all-purpose acid they've got access to, huh? Disposes of a metal and plastic dirt bike just as cleanly and completely as human remains. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXLfAC_ljgvERC88g4UNyq_VB0Id_AITWj4mwBDDJQG1GIWa_FMEeCXNRukDj2Of16H9W0uf9dYwACNenuLEnILWiYci-XZPYIZTvMynWzpy0-1XOzhSIeR_jS6ZZpdrl2-dNPGA/s1600/Buyout_Jesse_Todd.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXLfAC_ljgvERC88g4UNyq_VB0Id_AITWj4mwBDDJQG1GIWa_FMEeCXNRukDj2Of16H9W0uf9dYwACNenuLEnILWiYci-XZPYIZTvMynWzpy0-1XOzhSIeR_jS6ZZpdrl2-dNPGA/s640/Buyout_Jesse_Todd.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
- Todd, Todd, Todd. What are we going to do with you? Oh, cool. Sure, that works -- we'll just keep you on. Yeah, he deserved that punch from Jesse, and also that neck grab from Mike, but I still maintain that he made the best, most pragmatic, business-positive decision last episode. (What I should probably underscore is that, of course, it really doesn't make it morally right in my book.) But that's not the business they're in. Every stage of this thing, from precursor fluid to blue meth in some poor junkie's bloodstream is based on hurting someone. There are no winners here, as Walt is getting closer and closer to finding out. I mean, he is, right? That's the only way that we can interpret the opening sequence from the season premiere? Right?<br />
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- Okay, a pretty obvious thing I'm going to say anyway: I think this
meth competitor/precursor buyer is going to be nothing but trouble. And
would it have killed Mike to doctor the numbers a bit so that it wasn't
so obvious that Walt was being a stick in the mud? Well, it <u>will</u>
probably end up killing Mike in the end, one way or the other. I hope
it doesn't happen, but I have had a theory since the season premiere
that Mike won't survive this half-season. He had a good run.<br />
<br />
- I agree with Walt. I think a year, maybe a year and a half is a reasonable amount of time before doing any soul-searching.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kLGhRXsPT2VQ4P7kttdHeTsbo26jyA3Fb1DY42v3XoZnZ88DWLCDUITBmaQE9aZjlFqpwn6M5_a_uXKTYkTOd8-DYU4rwBQaQjcTfaDVCB962cA-u8ugE0Dg3EwturqYYbKqcw/s1600/Buyout_Jesse.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kLGhRXsPT2VQ4P7kttdHeTsbo26jyA3Fb1DY42v3XoZnZ88DWLCDUITBmaQE9aZjlFqpwn6M5_a_uXKTYkTOd8-DYU4rwBQaQjcTfaDVCB962cA-u8ugE0Dg3EwturqYYbKqcw/s640/Buyout_Jesse.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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- Some great Skyler stuff this episode, which also continued to make my stomach ache for all the tension in just about every scene she's in. I mean, can't she just chill out for one minute? Yeah, it made for some pretty impressive, and -- again, agreed! -- much-needed comedy during the meeting Jesse again for the first time and dinner party scenes. Was the last time Jesse was even on Skyler's radar when she came over to his house and yelled at him for being Walt's pot dealer in the first season? Either way, I just loved when Jesse was bug-eyed, taking the longest sip of water ever captured on film. And whatever DID happen to truth in advertising? It's interesting to see that, as I've mentioned before, Walt is essentially living a lie in most aspects of his life, which is in turn enabling him to be more truthful in his relationships with Skyler and Jesse, however painful that might be.<br />
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- Speaking of the lines he's feeding Jesse about building his empire, as I've just implied, I think he's being more or less completely truthful for perhaps the first time with Jesse. (It just hit me -- in a reversal of the usual scenario, it's Jesse that needs to convince Walt to do something that he wants.) I wonder when the not-so-subtle shift from simply providing for his family to nascent emperor Walt happened. If I had to hazard a guess, it would probably be around the time the last emperor had half his face blown off and this kind of thing became even a distant possibility.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOIu1h8-VF5eAgM4MWCMKv7fTjE2wDLyFRY9d09MQgjAycVOX-oeUN2p44oYNuPtaKWj8pkTU6dLeSlWhkbqkSEguynV7x87YF0yo5ZTBCRUHmnGSH0TZ3AEPrYsJX_2XEEzHww/s1600/Buyout_awkward_dinner.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOIu1h8-VF5eAgM4MWCMKv7fTjE2wDLyFRY9d09MQgjAycVOX-oeUN2p44oYNuPtaKWj8pkTU6dLeSlWhkbqkSEguynV7x87YF0yo5ZTBCRUHmnGSH0TZ3AEPrYsJX_2XEEzHww/s640/Buyout_awkward_dinner.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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- Jon, if memory serves, I'm pretty sure in the episodes with Gretchen had at least a pretty heavy implication that she left a personal relationship with Walt for one with their business partner, and that was what resulted in him leaving the company. So, of course, it wasn't quite as cut-and-dry as he's making it seem to be here, but just using a bit of the truth to make Jesse second-guess himself. A classic Walter White-brand manipulation!<br />
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- I also loved the interaction between Mike and Walt at the end of the episode, and then Walt's "MacGyver"-esque escape from radiator confinement. Though it was on a much smaller scale than last week, I was left just as breathless after this scene, and winced right along with Walt as he singed his wrist with arcing electricity. After yet another hilarious meeting with Saul, Gomie, and Hank, Mike has 24 hours with the law off his tail, so he can get out of this mess for good. What excellent timing that the now free, and now-precursor possessing Walt has a plan to get everyone their money and also keep everyone happy. What could possibly go wrong?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qu1aD8vhApXG6I8pHqxc_7fC83Ydxz7LlamxNunN7sxtOWPa1kaPviEE90_SfFERi-vGFnPxXRPw5VIGNiqcqy88RF3XuRkfPTFj1zBD-DNUL_Y2ZYtxy5LnxmTRt2nuhof5jA/s1600/Buyout_Walt_wires.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qu1aD8vhApXG6I8pHqxc_7fC83Ydxz7LlamxNunN7sxtOWPa1kaPviEE90_SfFERi-vGFnPxXRPw5VIGNiqcqy88RF3XuRkfPTFj1zBD-DNUL_Y2ZYtxy5LnxmTRt2nuhof5jA/s640/Buyout_Walt_wires.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
- Favorite one-liner of the week: "<span class="st">I've never seen anybody work so hard not to get five million dollars.</span>"<br />
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See you next time!<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #274e13;">Previous <i>Breaking Bad</i> season 5 roundtables: </span></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/breaking-bad-live-free-or-die.html" target="_blank">Week 1 - "Live Free Or Die"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/breaking-bad-madrigal.html" target="_blank">Week 2 - "Madrigal"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/08/breaking-bad-hazard-pay.html" target="_blank">Week 3 - "Hazard Pay"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/08/breaking-bad-fifty-one-dead-freight.html" target="_blank">Week 4 - "Fifty-One"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/08/breaking-bad-fifty-one-dead-freight.html" target="_blank">Week 5 - "Dead Freight"</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-66898369753480391082012-08-20T20:35:00.001-04:002012-08-20T20:35:53.713-04:00BREAKING BAD - "Fifty-One" & "Dead Freight"<b>Welcome to a roundtable discussion of this week's episode of <i><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad" target="_blank">Breaking Bad</a></i> from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.</b><br />
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<b>This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</b></div>
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<b>Mike:</b> First
off, my thoughts about “Fifty-One”:<br />
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- Walt’s trademark Aztek is now history!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, as I was just researching it, I see
that various internet authorities list the Pontiac Aztek as either one of the
100, 50, or 10 worst cars of all time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But because we had such a blast in Walt’s increasingly cruddy vehicle,
it’s easy at least for me to overlook its hideous shape and brand-destroying
reputation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, remember when Walt
got in an auto accident on purpose so that Hank wouldn’t find out about the
drug lab?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In moving on from his clearly cheesy and
uncool vehicle, in his mind he’s putting aside the “old Walt” and living his
life -- what's left of it, at least -- to the fullest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what happened
to being cautious of even having an expensive wine bottle in the trash?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly, the whole leasing angle is one
way to deflect suspicion, but Hank the bloodhound is at the height of his
powers here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The car wash may be
successful, sure, but all it should take is a stray thought or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, this is the guy who suspected
Lydia, correctly, solely on the basis of her mismatched shoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hank hasn’t made a mistake yet in his
investigation of the mysterious Heisenberg, except perhaps being a little too
trusting of his curmudgeon of a brother-in-law, but then again, neither has
Walt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Yet.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpGxJ-U3q3fE3j-ma2iY7a-p1fmtaI85DrmlpQLFsHmqAFRKYnBpWSM271Gh7fECr5lP17KxcJHh2bI0KwMXWq99yoEY_gXCyxB9vQ0B98y1Gt7LrBnultq3mg4zYUHXi2ElryUQ/s1600/Fifty-One_Walt_car.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpGxJ-U3q3fE3j-ma2iY7a-p1fmtaI85DrmlpQLFsHmqAFRKYnBpWSM271Gh7fECr5lP17KxcJHh2bI0KwMXWq99yoEY_gXCyxB9vQ0B98y1Gt7LrBnultq3mg4zYUHXi2ElryUQ/s640/Fifty-One_Walt_car.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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- To go along with that, Walt Jr.’s Charger is back!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this one probably won’t get detonated in
a parking lot, either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d say that
getting the two sports cars is a bold move, and one that more or less shines a
huge spotlight on the fact that Walt doesn’t really care what Skyler thinks
anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, he’s creepily putting
the moves on her every night, and is playing the part of the loving but
put-upon husband with their relatives, but at least for now, she is no longer a
player in this game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll get more into
this in a bit, but I’ve got to say that this week I was thinking a lot about the vial of
poison that Walt has hidden in the walls of his family’s house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If, God forbid, Holly doesn’t somehow
ironically stumble upon it, then I have a feeling a certain person who has
recently taken up indoor chain-smoking will soon be the recipient of a very
special cigarette indeed.</div>
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- Oh, man, Skyler breaking up Walt’s birthday bacon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really hope that I am never the focus of
the level of spousal disgust that our birthday boy received from his
dead-faced, barren-souled wife the morning of his fifty-first birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though he is painting himself as the victim
here to anyone and everyone who notices, with Skyler as the birthday
party-ruining future mental patient, the thing is, it’s more or less
factual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Skyler is at the end of her
rope here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Walt accuses her, and she
agrees, there is no plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of
her and Walt’s little discussion in this episode, she has more or less given
herself over to him, to be used as he wishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The only stipulation is that their children are no longer in the
picture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Walt was as shrewd and
calculating a businessman as he thinks he is, he would see what a great,
pragmatic deal this is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to mention
that Skyler is correct about the danger of either of their children being
allowed anywhere near their house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
least, of course, until the timer ticks down and Walt’s cancer finally does him
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a brilliant, cold as ice,
nightmare-inducing scene this last one was for me.</div>
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- With Hank’s new position as head of the ABQ DEA, it
remains to be seen if he will still be able to indulge himself with his search
for the elusive Heisenberg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The agent
who temporarily replaced Hank’s boss seems to think that it’s case closed, or
if not, it should be soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course,
since Hank will essentially be the boss now, I suppose that he could find some
justification for a task force to be formed if he looked hard enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The return of blue methamphetamine to the
streets is one pretty solid clue that Heisenberg wasn’t Gale Boetticher after
all, but Hank is risking a lot reputation-wise if he puts himself out on a limb with a
huge investigation at this point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
Hank is good at anything, though, it’s pulling at loose strings and seeing what
comes to light, so there will be more to come on this point, I'm sure.</div>
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- A personal note: when this episode was over, I went
upstairs and gave my wife a hug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
plan was for me to watch both episodes the same night, but I just needed a
break.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t sleep too well that
night.</div>
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And here’s what I thought about “Dead Freight”:</div>
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- Anyone else think that Walt’s new watch, though certainly
an extremely thoughtful gift from Jesse, could end up being the thing that does
him in?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he brings it up one more
time with Skylar, that only brings to the forefront yet again how he’s bragging
about people wanting to kill him all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And the eagle-eyed detective Hank definitely took notice in their
meeting at the beginning.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrzEkQIo8S9RHO_Yun5DPcOk4d4PJ3iMANqBhrwGc6pqFz8EDIim1WT4cvmOuT58LCMyCIww4BAyn37Y6PHhzucmSlUXy-k2VD8k3dTPlDN5JfFpzakCSOJVA2TNjk2mCDUl2GwQ/s1600/Dead_Freight_Lydia_cuffs.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrzEkQIo8S9RHO_Yun5DPcOk4d4PJ3iMANqBhrwGc6pqFz8EDIim1WT4cvmOuT58LCMyCIww4BAyn37Y6PHhzucmSlUXy-k2VD8k3dTPlDN5JfFpzakCSOJVA2TNjk2mCDUl2GwQ/s640/Dead_Freight_Lydia_cuffs.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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- I didn’t mention this in the first half of my write-up
this week, but I’m really intrigued by the position that Jesse keeps finding
himself in, between the two powerhouses of Mike and Walt, and often in relation
to the unreliable, radioactive Lydia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When Lydia discovers the GPS unit on the bottom of the precursor barrel,
Jesse buys her story, but Mike sees it as the result of a long-running pattern of
behavior that he now intends to put an end to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Walt could go either way, it turns out, but both men are men bending their
colder instincts as a result of their association with Jesse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And even though it turns out
that Jesse is right after all, I get the distinct impression that the elder
partners in this business relationship would rather that they were done with
Lydia once and for all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
business-wise, that definitely makes more sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s just a liability right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her usefulness, after any train heist inside info is no longer
relevant, is negligible at best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I
think as time goes on, a lot of things are going to have to be decided solely
on the basis of their validity, business-wise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And that’s the smart, if not humane, way to play it.</div>
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- Which is actually a pretty nice segue to what everyone is
surely talking about this week: the ending of this episode!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know that Todd, the young go-getter from
the pest squad, has shown dedication and promise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we didn’t know was that he has the uncanny ability to assess
a situation, and act in the most prudent, efficient manner to take care of that
situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Side note: who else was so
on the edge of their seat from the big heist setpiece of this episode that they
forgot about the enigmatic teaser at the beginning of the episode?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, me, for one.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, as a result of Todd acting on his own
here (or, as, I’m sure, Walt and Jesse are going to be explaining to Mike)
there are going to be some pretty serious consequences.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5sQfldbJyejQAvvEaxbhV4298-4ciDOmZm6iv0kXcuUBnb0tCyGUze8kRzGQ_sVz3jYhU66p9T-pFGMUW_BdjWKTmf3p1rADN-mBSEp2cay7Ebv0pKhB7WUDrLH3os42ylb2Ew/s1600/Dead_Freight_Todd_Walt_Jesse.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5sQfldbJyejQAvvEaxbhV4298-4ciDOmZm6iv0kXcuUBnb0tCyGUze8kRzGQ_sVz3jYhU66p9T-pFGMUW_BdjWKTmf3p1rADN-mBSEp2cay7Ebv0pKhB7WUDrLH3os42ylb2Ew/s640/Dead_Freight_Todd_Walt_Jesse.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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- All of the sudden, Jesse, the idea man, and Walt, the
brilliant strategist who’s always got a plan, are presented for the first time
(post-Fring, at least) with a true x-factor, completely outside of their
control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If some homeless vagrant
wandering the desert disappears, that’s something that might get some media
attention, and then it will blow over, assuming that the body is able to be
disposed of with enough care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this
is an otherwise innocent kid who is, I assume, going to be going missing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are going to be search parties, and
community vigils, and police involvement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is a huge deal.</div>
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- In the coming episodes, we are really going to see the
stuff that our favorite meth crew antiheroes are made of -- what kind of leader
Walt really is, if Jesse is really going to have a conscience, if Mike is going
to tolerate this kind of garbage for one more second before wisely hitting the
bricks out of town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what will
happen to Todd?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, looking at it
from a practical perspective, he made the right call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is literally no other way to handle the situation that
would make sense and maintain the anonymity and tracelessness of their
plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t pay a kid off and get
him to leave town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t kidnap him
or scare him off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, it’s possible
that the kid might have gone on his way and thought nothing of what he may or
may not have just witnessed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in the
meth game, there is no room for that kind of variable.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXsGjeym46yJzwY2npGd7lFNi6munnp0ewchjgNj-Hj2FoYHAsVyk6qXZYnHu-i6QwQoNPd0dGoi90JQOi8rK0k6-3RkA1zh_uirQMZ2H7IQ5XTt_6qucE-Pryjwr-Af4vkTtfrQ/s1600/Dead_Freight_Walt_Todd_Jesse_kid.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXsGjeym46yJzwY2npGd7lFNi6munnp0ewchjgNj-Hj2FoYHAsVyk6qXZYnHu-i6QwQoNPd0dGoi90JQOi8rK0k6-3RkA1zh_uirQMZ2H7IQ5XTt_6qucE-Pryjwr-Af4vkTtfrQ/s640/Dead_Freight_Walt_Todd_Jesse_kid.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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- Jesse isn’t necessarily going to agree with that line of
reasoning, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a crazy
feeling that the next episode is going to pick up seconds after the end of this
one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve got a sick feeling in my
stomach just thinking about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t
wait to see it.</div>
<br />
<b>Jon:</b> Since Mike's already did a wonderful job of laying out all the key events in "Fifty-One" and "Dead Freight," plus we're super late with this recap (totally my fault!), I'm just going to dive right in and talk about the good stuff, of which there was plenty. Together, these two episodes encompass what I love about this show: nuanced character development excised with stage-worthy performances and intense, well-crafted action that keeps you on the edge of your seat.<br />
<br />
Week 4 brought us an hour light on action, but bursting with individual character moments and evolutions. Rian Johnson (<i><a href="http://youtu.be/3cVzHeJ0Z3I" target="_blank">Brick</a></i>, <i><a href="http://youtu.be/WCNKahG1ksg" target="_blank">Looper</a></i> and last year's great <i>Breaking Bad</i> episode "The Fly") returned to the director's chair for"Fifty-One" and his fingerprints are all over it. There are top-notch performances from everyone, but special kudos must go to Anna Gunn for her scenes this time out because this was a Skyler episode. I've never been much of a big fan of her work on the show, but her dead-eyed blankness of late is perfectly rendering Skyler's feelings of dread to the audience. The pool sequence was a highlight for both Gunn and Johnson, and having reached her breaking point, Skyler has at least for the time being given in to much of Walt's demands. But she'll not have the kids near him or the house until things changed and she's declared an open rebellion on him until further notice. And, oh my, has that been fun to watch thus far or what? Gotta love it when she sits in the living room puffing away on cigarette after cigarette and starts ashing in Walt's happy 51st b-day mug.<br />
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Meanwhile, the highlights the following week were all action and suspense, and some of the very best <i>Breaking Bad</i> has ever delivered. The homefront scenes with Walt Jr... er, Flynn were a little on the weak side, but when your antiheroes decide to rob a train in the most fantastic locomotive heist scene in television history later in the episode, you can let that slide a bit.<br />
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I love that Jesse once again is the impetus for another crazy, science-based caper (liquid, bitch!). And Walt's continuous ability to push the envelop into the danger zone was maddening. Really, every moment of that long heist was amazing; total edge-of-your-seat work by all involved. And then that last scene. Man. There's just no way not to be totally devastated by that, is there? But that too was great on many levels. Just another example of why this show is such a must-watch each week.<br />
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And, Mike, here's where you and I differ a little bit. Yes, Todd may have arrived at the same conclusion the group would've ultimately come to in his split-second decision in the episode's closing moments, but shit, bro -- that's cold! Jesse may have a mild reaction compared to what I was going through after watching that. I can't go as far as you and chalk that little guy up to a mere casualty of the meth biz. I was completely floored when it happened; blood boiling and all. It was the most shocked I'm been by this show since Jane's sudden demise back in season 2. Now, a lot of that had to do with my perception of Jesse Plemmons from <i>FNL</i> (<a href="http://lowbrowjon.tumblr.com/post/29384439564/seriously-landry-what-the-hell" target="_blank">here was my initial reaction</a>), but it was still shocking nonetheless. How the group deals with Todd's actions is going to be fascinating because I have no clue how it will all shake out. Does Todd meet a quick end? Will Jesse turn him in to the authorities? Does Walt protect him, keeping him as his new little henchman? So many possibilities.<br />
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Speaking of possibilities, I don't think I've made any wild predictions for things to come later this season thus far in our recaps, but I'm in the mood to do so in another area this time around. I was especially intrigued by Walt and Lydia's exchange as Jesse and Mike waited up above. I'm probably grasping at straws here, but with his marriage souring by the hour, Walt seems poised to make for a romantic push at some point soon. He got into cooking in order to provide for his family, but that's falling apart and he's clearly more interested in obtaining more power than he is merely profiting from his criminal activities these days. If Skyler is able to keep brushing his advances aside, I could totally see him making a move on Lydia. She'll obviously only have any interest in him in terms of saving her own skin, but if she continues to play the "brilliant chemist" card she flashed in "Dead Freight," I can see Walt taking the next step toward her. Sexual conquest is one of the few power trips Walt hasn't realized as he's descended further into his Heisenberg persona. Like I said, I'm grasping at straws; but a boy can dream, can't he?<br />
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Anyway, we'll be back soon and plan to return to the old schedule for the last handful of eps for the first half of this final season. Til next time...<br />
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<br />
<b><span style="color: #274e13;">Previous <i>Breaking Bad</i> season 5 roundtables: </span></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/breaking-bad-live-free-or-die.html" target="_blank">Week 1 - "Live Free Or Die"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/breaking-bad-madrigal.html" target="_blank">Week 2 - "Madrigal"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/08/breaking-bad-hazard-pay.html" target="_blank">Week 3 - "Hazard Pay"</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-27394575637143418972012-08-12T15:00:00.000-04:002012-08-12T15:00:12.644-04:00CHOKE HOLD by Christa Faust [2011]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCAo08elkhIjrC1GnQml9KEEA2lak8Bu3Q66I52LIR-uyLNFpWHVRri9cTBceedUT4ZP1K2RaedFkSp-YSX05_F5Z4O3W7jvGxUQGxpF3ENXS-qHHSrvOco0Ix7BlM_MQuEVL_iA/s1600/Choke_Hold_Christa_Faust_2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCAo08elkhIjrC1GnQml9KEEA2lak8Bu3Q66I52LIR-uyLNFpWHVRri9cTBceedUT4ZP1K2RaedFkSp-YSX05_F5Z4O3W7jvGxUQGxpF3ENXS-qHHSrvOco0Ix7BlM_MQuEVL_iA/s640/Choke_Hold_Christa_Faust_2011.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><a href="http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi?title=Choke%20Hold" target="_blank">Choke Hold</a></i> is the follow up to 2008's <i><a href="http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi?title=Money%20Shot" target="_blank">Money Shot</a></i> (probably my favorite of the many Hard Case Crime titles I've devoured), in which we met Angel Dare -- an ex-porn star perpetually mixed up in an underworld loaded with shady lowlifes, gruesome violence and rampaging sex. That alone may sound like this is just a piece of hollow trash, but it's anything but. Faust's creation of Angel Dare is nuanced with compelling inner turmoil and surrounded by virtually non-stop action.<br />
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(Before I go any further, I implore you to check out <i>Money Shot</i> first; not only will it make this book more enjoyable, it is unquestionably one of the most-fun page-turners I've consumed in the past five years.)<br />
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We pick up Angel's life a couple of years after the events of the last novel, and she has been forced by those rascally Croatian sex traffickers to escape her dull witness protection existence in the wake of her testimony against them. While working as waitress to secure a high-quality fake ID in an Arizona diner, one night in walks "Thick" Vic Ventura, an old boyfriend and former co-star, for a meet-up with his long-estranged 18-year-old son. Shortly after Angel and Vic briefly reacquaint themselves, a gaggle of seemingly random punks pour into the diner and litter the joint with bullets. Vic is hit in the mayhem, and Angel and his son, Cody, jet him out of there. She and Cody enlist the help of his washed-up MMA champion and current mentor in the further adventures as they enlist the help of a host on unsavory characters and try to out-run various other murderous thugs, European mobsters and no-good wenches.<br />
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This is a bleaker novel than the first, but I don't mean that as a criticism. Gone is the glitzy (at least on the surface) porn world setting of Los Angeles. It's replacement is the underbelly of the mixed martial arts circuit, and the dilapidated Southwest and northern Mexican landscape. Angel is at a lower place throughout this novel than in much of <i>Money Shot</i>, and her surroundings mirror that state. Faust never gives the reader time to pause for long in <i>Choke Hold</i>, as any quiet moments are fastidiously dispensed with by some sort of new and unexpected danger. But those lower-paced scenes give insight to an individual seeped in insecurity and intimacy issues, making lasting relationships hard to come by. By the end, you're left wanting even more Angel Dare. Here's hoping this isn't the last we've seen of her.<br />
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By the way, in case you're unaware, Hard Case Crime is a cool publisher that debuted a few years back. Their titles are a mix of reprints of old, often-obscure pulp novels (from people such as and new releases (like ones from Faust). All are chosen for a reason -- they're really fucking good. However, tough times in the publishing world have led to challenges for the imprint, and they went on hiatus from releasing new books for a while. <i>Choke Hold</i> was among the first released after they had reorganized, and some obvious changes for readers occurred, namely the book is physically larger. Admittedly, I prefer the old mass-market size and format of the books (not to mention the slightly lower cover price), but at least the trade paperback offers a larger display to show off that amazing cover art. All-in-all, they provide a really nice package for a reasonable price. Check out more of them if you dig this one as much as I did.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-73973450677249490522012-08-05T05:33:00.002-04:002012-08-05T05:33:35.996-04:00BREAKING BAD - "Hazard Pay"<b>Welcome to a roundtable discussion of this week's episode of <i><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad" target="_blank">Breaking Bad</a></i> from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.</b><br />
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<b>This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</b></div>
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<b>Jon:</b> Another solid installment of our favorite chefs this time out, but in terms of episode recapping, nothing enormous happened in week 3; mostly this was just table-setting for what I'm sure will be typical <i>Breaking Bad</i> craziness later on this season. What I mean by that is there was lots of minutia on how Walt and Jesse will be cooking their blue meth for the foreseeable future. Great to watch, but not that interesting to talk about, really. The gist of it is they're going to forgo having a traditional laboratory, and instead will employ a roving lab temporarily set up in pest-infested homes with the help of shady Terminx-type dudes. Frankly, it's a pretty ingenious plan and severely reduces the chances of their getting busted, but there does seem that it's only a matter of time before a cockroach or other vermin may contaminates a batch at some point. I'm sure hilarity will ensue if that comes to pass.<br />
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One moment of significance did occur during the cook, when Walt continued with his manipulative ways while the two were waiting for the meth to finish cooking. After seeing how close Jesse and Andrea were becoming again earlier in the episode (a scene that also contained the most awkward stare imaginable between Brock and his poisoner), Walt convinces Jesse under the guise of fatherly advice about commitment to break it off with her to further his own interests, all while making Jesse believe it was his idea in the first place. The cook turns out to be a successful one, and the two seem pleased with themselves after they leave the tented house.<br />
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Getting back into production has generated their cashflow once more, but the total is not to Walt's liking. Mike divvies up the mullah in plain sight of all and, by the end, there is less than half left of what Walt thought he was going to get to take home. He and Jesse's product yield is lower than it was while working out of Gus' lab, plus they have tons of overhead now in paying off Saul, dug mules and "legacy" members (aka the 9 of the 11 guys left Lydia was trying to off last week), which lowers their payday considerably. Walt had not considered either of these factors when their payday arrives. After making his displeasure known, Mike responds with the line of the season thus far: "Just because you shot Jesse James, doesn't make you Jesse James." It looks as though Walt will try to find a way to usurp Mike's authority once he figures out a method of replacing what he brings to the group, which is basically everything aside from the actual product.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8smS6FhZiXWSfBEE66jxQjzFuT99zRDkMGs6lCKmS6jj0HqzD9NLg-7TKTcSIPxyMVBOH86Bbto9YKdI90TvEJ1rxrj1yNLEuJwmlEaZbSR53mO-hSWpLgFM_Ef_NPAeicZWqQ/s1600/Hazard_Pay_Jesse_Walt_money.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8smS6FhZiXWSfBEE66jxQjzFuT99zRDkMGs6lCKmS6jj0HqzD9NLg-7TKTcSIPxyMVBOH86Bbto9YKdI90TvEJ1rxrj1yNLEuJwmlEaZbSR53mO-hSWpLgFM_Ef_NPAeicZWqQ/s640/Hazard_Pay_Jesse_Walt_money.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Meanwhile, on the homefront, Skyler continues to veer off the deep end of sanity. Just when she thinks things can't get any worse than they already are, they do. The culprit this week? Walt's moving back into the house unannounced. This leads to a scene at the car wash at Marie (hey, remember her?) where Skyler officially snaps, screaming "SHUT UP!" repeatedly. This had the rare effect of actually getting Marie to stop talking for 10 seconds. She takes Skyler home to sleep off her panic attack and waits for Walt to return from cooking. When he finally arrives, she's ready to let him have it and get to the bottom of what's going on with her sister. But Walt turns the tables on her quickly. I don't think he actually lied about anything during this exchange. He just dropped a hint here and there, and let Marie's imagination do the rest. Next thing you know, he's out of her line of sight and she'll focus her well-intentioned but ultimately misguided wrath at Skyler instead.<br />
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Of course the big news of the week was introduction of Lance... er, I mean, Landry from <i>Friday Night Lights</i>! Better known in the real world as Jesse Plemmons, he'll be playing Todd, who will... well, I don't know yet, but he'll do something memorable before long. And for those you unfortunate folks that have not treated yourselves to <i>FNL</i>, you are going to be pleased by what he's able to bring to a scene. He's one of the pest-control burglars, capable of spotting and disabling nanny cams. In other words, he could be useful to Walt.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6_LdIWdel9XeNfEw8rjg-kzjfRQLPx0wwR2w59pmqvLMrynVkr0XnSkUXrwYd7w-B6xnTvuHerZkvbr7ZqdoixHUaTWACQPchPLuHqedBVYtlPOgq0MYQoRUuMYquCi-uXVQBw/s1600/Hazard_Pay_Todd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6_LdIWdel9XeNfEw8rjg-kzjfRQLPx0wwR2w59pmqvLMrynVkr0XnSkUXrwYd7w-B6xnTvuHerZkvbr7ZqdoixHUaTWACQPchPLuHqedBVYtlPOgq0MYQoRUuMYquCi-uXVQBw/s640/Hazard_Pay_Todd.jpg" width="640" /></a>For as long as I can remember, I've been drawn to books, movies, shows, etc., where the criminal is, if not the hero of the story, the focus of the it. It's one of the many reasons I enjoy<i> Breaking Bad </i>as much as I do. But one movie I have never gotten around to seeing is <a href="http://youtu.be/AVQ8byG2mY8" target="_blank">Brian De Palma's <i>Scarface</i> with Al Pacino from 1983</a>. And even though I haven't seen it, basically everyone knows it's the story of the rise to power and thunderous collapse of a drug lord. So deep into this week's episode when an increasingly horror-stricken Skyler walks into the living room to find Walt watching the end of the movie with their two children (yes, including their little baby girl), I couldn't help but connect Walt and his big bad machine gun we saw in the season premiere's cold open to a coke-infused drug kingpin Tony Montana blowing the shit out of everything in his sight. Obviously their paths are incredibly different, but each season we've seen Walt come closer to becoming the top dog in the southwestern U.S. meth landscape. Judging by his continued displeasure with his current situation, it stands to reason he'll keep cutting through anyone in his way until he's able to call all the shots. Any guesses as to which person will Walt's little friend be saying hello to in the coming weeks?<br />
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<b>Mike:</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s
my take, in conveniently hyphenated bite-sized bullet thought points!</div>
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- Mike Ehrmantraut, the hardest-working man in “loss
prevention,” is really hustling this entire episode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the thing about him, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He knows exactly what needs to happen, and he’s got a plan as to
how to accomplish that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is, of
course, due to his many years on the job doing things that required some pretty
fancy footwork in order to keep everything running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, if I was in business with him, I would pretty much let him do
his thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walt’s already got a
problem with letting Mike handle the business, simply because he apparently
thinks that he can do better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well,
he’s done fine so far, but only through an incredibly disproportionate dumb-luck-to-smarts ratio. If he takes Mike out, as he’s getting ready to
manipulate Jesse into getting behind by the end of the episode, we’ll just have
to see how smoothly this whole operation will run.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjra1aPb9MClA_9i8Ohfyh1bC3SqNVyYJxCTNQ4BNbWc2wgTESdMJO5PV0XFjIEelZnjHZ2LnlHO5oSkWBRtoZGKuXr0MGXQTU2SxjW5hDBEhVbLuo3VXiah0lpbdmhpY6UAEB47A/s1600/Hazard_Pay_money_split.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjra1aPb9MClA_9i8Ohfyh1bC3SqNVyYJxCTNQ4BNbWc2wgTESdMJO5PV0XFjIEelZnjHZ2LnlHO5oSkWBRtoZGKuXr0MGXQTU2SxjW5hDBEhVbLuo3VXiah0lpbdmhpY6UAEB47A/s640/Hazard_Pay_money_split.jpg" width="640" /></a> - That said, I’ve got to wonder about the whole process of making
the former employees of Gus Fring “whole.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To me at least, it seemed as if it was presented to Walt like an ongoing
concern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t help but wonder if
Walt might have handled the bad financial news better if they looked it as a
loan that needed to pay off, and then profits would be back up to a higher
level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, something like $20 million
in makegoods (by my calculations, there are 12 people on the list including Mike’s
granddaughter, minus the two dead guys from last week, multiplied by $2 million a piece) is nothing to sneeze at.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But at least it’s a goal to move
towards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can imagine that seeing
those stacks of bills get decimated as each piper gets paid has got to hurt.</div>
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- But Walt has to keep the long view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(OR DOES HE?)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just doesn’t make sense that Walt wouldn’t see the wisdom in
Mike’s business sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(OR DOES
IT?)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe, just maybe, Walt doesn’t
really see much of a future for himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But then, if his cancer is back, as I honestly and truthfully do believe
it is, what is he working towards?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
can’t be as “pure,” relatively speaking, as it was when he started out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure we’ll be seeing and hearing more on
this during that big 51<sup>st</sup> birthday celebration that his wife and
sister-in-law are planning for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We’ve all seen how Walt likes to celebrate poolside with his family --
drunk, swaggering, and belligerent.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFt3et7TSYyvzRpq3fLDFE8LzFUu4Lf8DhkkiNNopOAltH1HHBgkaO_B9LixNeWFF9YyHOqcQMwUrM0D2MUuj6oHuYMeYSKT65jxlqkDLMdFLjj8ngPmMfSZZFaNdYmU8P9_1VBg/s1600/Hazard_Pay_Jesse_Walt_yellow_suits.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFt3et7TSYyvzRpq3fLDFE8LzFUu4Lf8DhkkiNNopOAltH1HHBgkaO_B9LixNeWFF9YyHOqcQMwUrM0D2MUuj6oHuYMeYSKT65jxlqkDLMdFLjj8ngPmMfSZZFaNdYmU8P9_1VBg/s640/Hazard_Pay_Jesse_Walt_yellow_suits.jpg" width="640" /></a>- Man, oh, man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Though Walt and Jesse’s plan for using a series of about-to-be-fumigated
houses to cook meth is pretty brilliant, the image that has stuck with me all
week is the fumes being ventilated right near the kids’ swingset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wasn’t Jesse in trouble a few seasons ago
because, essentially, once you use a house to cook meth in, it leaves poisonous
residue, and renders the house unlivable, or at the very least extremely dangerous
to live in?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just another way that Walt infests and kills everything around him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just
think, who could have foreseen that just because he watched a young woman
OD/choke to death, a devastating plane crash would occur which would affect the entire community?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dominoes, I believe, are stacking up and are going to fall
down hard.</div>
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- The series of scenes where Saul took Jesse, Mike, and Walt
to all the prospective meth cooking sites was wonderful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Poor Saul, he’s working so hard for these
guys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would it be so bad to say
“thanks” once in a while? Just look at these knuckleheads, working together for the common good:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8rqdj4JkR2hp2WS-Jv4Z14PG5yE_Nrqm3GSHCL_fCFvji0IDLmRsj_CRiH3cugwDEhXxriLJeCkpiTzLR8-jpdCwwf6AgPRwgd_DWnNUTWsdOTFJd4qHdRkvopv51Hw1RVQlLMg/s1600/Hazard_Pay_Mke_Jesse_Walt_Saul.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8rqdj4JkR2hp2WS-Jv4Z14PG5yE_Nrqm3GSHCL_fCFvji0IDLmRsj_CRiH3cugwDEhXxriLJeCkpiTzLR8-jpdCwwf6AgPRwgd_DWnNUTWsdOTFJd4qHdRkvopv51Hw1RVQlLMg/s640/Hazard_Pay_Mke_Jesse_Walt_Saul.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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- A lot of favorite incidental characters reappared for the
first time this season, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Skinny
Pete shows some business acumen, while Badger seems to have been correctly
nicknamed, if badgers are lumpy, dense, and oafish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Actually, I’m pretty sure they’re not.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still haven’t mentioned the return of Saul’s
bodyguard Huell!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You gotta love all the
noise he makes when he breathes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finally, as Jon mentions above, we’ve got Jesse Plemons joining the cast this week as an
up-and-coming fumigator with an eye for security systems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m really looking forward to seeing what he
adds to the mix.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN388FLih_Zn6lOtZzS6PCvI2cNnnFSJZsTKiH21aZ8zQddgpmPgKXrUeOofKqYPRaCGUUjxYKz4Vwm1kOJ0Z1nXASSbT9999EKYpe9G9I0XUSaB4zTO7VMQnSOB2n7mJsnkEHTQ/s1600/Hazard_Pay_Badger_Skinny_Pete.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN388FLih_Zn6lOtZzS6PCvI2cNnnFSJZsTKiH21aZ8zQddgpmPgKXrUeOofKqYPRaCGUUjxYKz4Vwm1kOJ0Z1nXASSbT9999EKYpe9G9I0XUSaB4zTO7VMQnSOB2n7mJsnkEHTQ/s640/Hazard_Pay_Badger_Skinny_Pete.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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- Also, a lot of movement this week with Jesse's personal relationship, as well as Marie and Skyler butting heads and Walt continuing his truth-telling and gameplaying. I'm not going to get into them too deeply right now, but these are important things that are going to have huge consequences this season. Though this was another one of those table-setting
episodes in a lot of ways, I’m cool with the table-setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can wait.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I know it’ll be worth it when it all blows up in Walt’s face.</div>
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See you next week!</div>
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<b><span style="color: #274e13;">Previous <i>Breaking Bad</i> season 5 roundtables: </span></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/breaking-bad-live-free-or-die.html" target="_blank">Week 1 - "Live Free Or Die"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/breaking-bad-madrigal.html" target="_blank">Week 2 - "Madrigal"</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-3668276301220615012012-07-31T22:38:00.000-04:002012-07-31T22:52:57.172-04:00PARKER: THE SCORE by Darwyn Cooke [2012]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just last week, Darwyn Cooke released his third volume of his adaptation of Richard Stark's classic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_(fictional_criminal)" target="_blank">Parker novels</a>. Like the first two, <i>Parker: The Score</i> is an illuminating and faithful look at the source material while still containing plenty of Cooke's own style.<br />
<br />
The story of <i>The Score</i> is actually one of the simplest in the series. Parker, who is running low on funds, and a large crew of 12 accomplices decide to rob an entire town in North Dakota. They account for as many problems as they can, securing supplies, exit routes and hideouts, all explained in in great detail. However, in the middle of the operation, it doesn't go to plan (as usual) as other variables rise up. But that's the fun part of these stories in the first place. This one is particularly engrossing as the scale is so much grander than knocking off just an armored car, for instance. Plus, everyone finally gets to meet the pleasure that is Alan Grofield, one of the best supporting characters in Parker's world.<br />
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It should be noted that I'm a big fan of these Parker novels. Incidentally, the novel version of <i><a href="http://violentworldofparker.com/?page_id=553" target="_blank">The Score</a></i> from 1964 may be my favorite of all the ones I've read. It's the fifth book in the series of 24 from Richard Stark (one of the many pseudonyms used by the great Donald E. Westlake). Earlier this year I finished the long-hard-to-find 16th entry <i><a href="http://violentworldofparker.com/?page_id=953" target="_blank">Butcher's Moon</a></i>, which is probably the only one that I might rate higher. It's been probably five years since I burned through <i>The Score</i>, so I had been wondering if my stance on it being the best in the series to that point was accurate or not. Fortunately, Cooke's version has reinstated my belief that this is one of the finer entries.<br />
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As for what comes next, I read some time ago that Cooke planned on releasing five volumes of Parker graphic novels. We're now at volume three. The first covered the inaugural appearance of Parker in <i><a href="http://violentworldofparker.com/?page_id=140" target="_blank">The Hunter</a></i>, a revenge yarn of the most fanatical proportions. His second release was <i>Parker: The Outfit</i>, which covered Stark's second and third novels, <i><a href="http://violentworldofparker.com/?page_id=250" target="_blank">The Man With The Getaway Face</a></i> and <i><a href="http://violentworldofparker.com/?page_id=426" target="_blank">The Outfit</a></i>. This was a really brilliant decision of Cooke's part to combine the two since each is a little thin for a standalone comic. Plus, it establishes Parker as a master thief (<i>Getaway Face</i>) and completely hellbent on completing his quest of revenge if he's been wronged (<i>The Outfit</i>). <i>The Score</i> is an exhilarating, bombastic heist on every level -- through planning, the execution and it's largely successful. I can't imagine he skips <i><a href="http://violentworldofparker.com/?page_id=863" target="_blank">Slayground</a></i> entirely (where Parker battles a giant force comprised of a local syndicate operatives and corrupt cops on his own while hiding out in an abandoned amusement park) or <i>Butcher's Moon</i> which starts out as a simple sequel to <i>Slayground</i> only to spin into a grand tale harking back to the ruthlessness originally displayed in <i>The Hunter</i>. Whatever he ends up doing, I'm definitely in.<br />
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<i>I'd like to thank Trent and Nick over at <a href="http://violentworldofparker.com/" target="_blank">The Violent World of Parker</a> for creating an invaluable cache of info on these novels (and a lot of other related material). I've been a fan of their site for a long time and it made writing this review much simpler having something to refer to for these books where many of the details had escaped me. Follow their blog; it's good stuff.</i><br />
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<i><br /></i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-57343544082568283032012-07-29T21:05:00.000-04:002012-07-29T21:05:04.343-04:00BREAKING BAD - "Madrigal"<b>Welcome to a roundtable discussion of this week's episode of <i><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad" target="_blank">Breaking Bad</a></i> from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.</b><br />
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<b>This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</b></div>
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<b>Jon:</b> The second week of season 5 is still dealing with the fallout from last season's finale. We're discovering that Gus spun an incredibly intricate web of an operation and his absence is causing catastrophes for just about everyone in his world aside from Walt and Jesse. But this is one of those episodes of a series that pushes its main characters off to the stage and gives the limelight to a sideline player. This time, the honor finally goes to Mike, Gus's blunt, methodically efficient hitman who I've always found impossible not to love.<br />
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His hatred from Walt continues to be unwavering, this despite an appeal from Walt and Jesse to become an equal partner in their future dealings. As far as our two main characters are concerned, they need him as much as he needs them. But Mike disagrees. Every time he looks at Walt, the scowl we see is the result of hearing tick, tick, tick. To Mike, he is a walking timebomb, and it's only a matter of time until he explodes. Aside from Skyler, Mike's the only one who realizes just how dangerous Walt has become.<br />
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We've never been given much of a backstory for Mike, and we don't yet get a complete one here, but it's becoming clear he was the closest thing Gus had to a right-hand man. When heat starts raining down on Gus's associates in the wake of Hank's investigation, one top executive at a company called Madrigal commits suicide in imaginative fashion at the company's headquarters in Germany instead of speaking with authorities. Turns out Madrigal is the parent company of Los Pollos Hermanos. Clearly this Mr. Shuler had, at minimum, a deep financial connection with Fring's narcotic ring, and judging by the demands of a very freaked-out Lydia later on in the episode, he wasn't the only one at Madrigal with a finger in the blue-meth pie. Speaking of Lydia, she's a stateside Madrigal exec of some importance and attempts to enlist Mike to clean up the loose ends of Los Pollos Hermanos before those threads are traced back to the two of them. He refuses and hands back her list of 11 names to her.<br />
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But this is before Hank and Gomez ask him to come in for a little talk. Overconfident that the DEA duo has nothing substantial on him, he taunts them and appears to have won the battle of one-liners before heading to the interrogation room door. Just then, Hank pulls out his trump card -- a pile of cash to the tune of $2 million in the name of Mike's granddaughter hidden away in one of those Cayman Island bank accounts listed discovered in the picture frame from Gus' office last week. Mike had mentioned a fondness for a granddaughter in a previous season, and we get to meet her in all her Hungry Hippo domination this time around. So it's not completely out of nowhere that he did this and, frankly, it's hard to blame him for allowing little Kaylee to be his lone weak spot. But with Hank and Gomez keying in on it, it tosses him back into the Madrigal shitstorm he was trying to lay low from.<br />
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Turns out Lydia didn't shake the idea of offing the 11 people on her list and lured one of the others in the group to take care of them and adding Mike to the list. But somehow this lady isn't aware that good 'ol Mikey is THE MAN and snuffs out the would-be assassin's plan first. Mike pays a visit to Lydia's home next, and I was completely convinced that that was going to be the last we saw of her. But between her pleading, her being a single mom and the realization that she could help him obtain methylamine, a suddenly scare chemical Walt and Jesse are in need of to cook again. So now Mike is reluctantly back in the fold with Walt against his better judgement.<br />
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Meanwhile, on the sideline, we learn what Walt did with the ricin shot he concocted -- he still has it, and stashed it behind an electric socket faceplate. Only a matter of time until he has a need for it at this point. Concurrently, he makes a placebo vile of salt so a panicked Jesse will calm down once he knows the poison has been disposed of and can't hurt another innocent like he believed had happened with Brock. The two tear apart Jesse's house looking for it in a very intriguingly shot montage, before Walt plants it in the path of the Roomba roaming the floors.<br />
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Jesse had little to do again this week aside from opine for the Crystal Ship's return, although Aaron Paul gave a marvelous performance in the moments after discovering the misplaced "toxic" cigarette as Jesse breaks down and apologizes to Walt for nearly killing him (which obviously he was spot on about) and solidifying his position as the conscious of <i>Breaking Bad</i>. The very existence of this intense friendship is completely due to Walt's manipulations at this point, but it's still hard not to enjoy just how great of a bond the two of them have right now. It won't last since I'm sure Walt will slip up at some point about Brock's poisoning, but that doesn't mean a part of me doesn't like their closeness while it lasts.
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<br />
Not fooled by Walt's duplicitous sweet-talk, however, is Skyler. She's completely frozen by her fear of Walt and the monster he has become, not even able to muster the energy to get out of bed for days. And, my god, Walt even out-creeped himself past last week as he consoled her with unwanted kisses to her shoulder. It's almost impossible to root for him on any level after watching him engage in this behavior. But that also happens to be the most fascinating aspect of this show -- the steady devolution from mild mannered high school chemistry teacher to master crimelord. <br />
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The other moment from "Madrigal" that stuck out was Hank's soon-to-be ex-boss, recalling how Gus had joined his family at his home for meals and wonderful conversations, yet lamented "the whole time he was somebody else completely, right in front of me, right under my nose." Those words are likely going to mirror how Hank feels when he discovers Walt's crimes before the series comes to a close. I have no doubt about that happening, and I expect how he deals with that revelation to be especially riveting when it comes to pass.<br />
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Man. This show just doesn't stop even when it slows down, does it, fellas? Hit me up with your reactions.<br />
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<b>Mike:</b> Okay, then -- here is what I thought of this week’s
“Breaking Bad” in quick, bite-sized format:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXi8IkDpv3GwI8C7vmtwlISh1ZFQrGCPhRBXmSWsr4VSDETb0HN_24w6IBclYwV3rnqET3m3AAyMqEHBXgBZUKNY90huI0Z3PuhRRmd8ZPZ8qS80gizSiUWgBxMU9LNa0OyK7lSg/s1600/Madrigal_exec_taste_test.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXi8IkDpv3GwI8C7vmtwlISh1ZFQrGCPhRBXmSWsr4VSDETb0HN_24w6IBclYwV3rnqET3m3AAyMqEHBXgBZUKNY90huI0Z3PuhRRmd8ZPZ8qS80gizSiUWgBxMU9LNa0OyK7lSg/s640/Madrigal_exec_taste_test.jpg" width="640" /></a>- Hilariously bleak cold open. I’m actually really glad that it wasn’t another flash-forward to
whatever Walt is up to in the future, what with the hair, and the guns, and the
52<sup>nd</sup> birthday. That will
keep. I’ll just say this, then --
“Breaking Bad” seems to have an endless vocabulary in the way of visiting
indignities upon characters, and I love every minute of it. I could really use some chicken nuggets
right now, but I’ll pass on the Franch sauce.</div>
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- This was definitely Mike’s episode. Being that pretty much any scene with Walt
churns my stomach these days, it was a welcome focus. Now, Mike's a paragon of prudence, he’s just as careful as his old boss Gus
was, business-wise, and only works with people that he’s “vetted” and who can
be trusted. Not to mention that they
have been well-compensated in case of any trouble. But since Walt’s little magnetic mishap last episode
simultaneously ruined a bunch of evidence (that was probably going to be
inaccessible anyways) while introducing valuable, game-changing data to the
tune of a dozen or so secret Caymans bank accounts, now that compensation is
gone. And the noose slips a
little bit tighter.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjanHVwcYu5nRt18jG6fVZnKi4tWfv_7ytdNCujmd2PaK7txrNX28P8dRb9e0qRzpNPzgYDUr4ezwIPBeni_07HRzgyLxLVdUstp8cyXs7tIEcA44jGolLoVEUs6xElnYxwl58LHw/s1600/Madrigal_Hank_Mike_interrogation.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjanHVwcYu5nRt18jG6fVZnKi4tWfv_7ytdNCujmd2PaK7txrNX28P8dRb9e0qRzpNPzgYDUr4ezwIPBeni_07HRzgyLxLVdUstp8cyXs7tIEcA44jGolLoVEUs6xElnYxwl58LHw/s640/Madrigal_Hank_Mike_interrogation.jpg" width="640" /></a> - Well, every man has his soft spot, even one so guarded as
Mike Ehrmantraut. His is a little girl
named Kaylee. I think we first saw
Mike’s granddaughter when he bought the balloons that he used to short-circuit
the warehouse way back in the season three finale. And when Hank “Columbos” Mike in the interrogation room -- you
know, the whole, “one more thing…” thing -- thus threatening the monetary
insurance policy for his beloved granddaughter, that’s when Mike starts to go
against his own rules. (No half
measures, remember, Mike? Damn
it!) All of the sudden, he’s getting in
back in bed with Walt, and not killing Lydia when, let’s face it, it’s pretty
much a given that she is going to be trouble.
I hope Mike wises up to his own wisdom sooner or later, or we’re not
going to be seeing him in the back half of this season.</div>
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- Speaking of the mysterious Lydia, I hope I’m not the only
dumbass watching this show who immediately thought that we’re looking at some
sort of ex-trophy wife of Gus’. I mean,
I know we’re also supposed to have drawn a few conclusions from the flashback
to Don Eladio and Gus’ tenderness towards the missing Pollos Hermano. But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have
started a family after that. Anyway,
there were some mysterious children’s toys spotted in his house a while back
that have always stuck in my mind. Now,
whether or not Lydia has a personal connection with Gus, she definitely has a
business one. The Internet consensus seems
to be that some have spotted her in the room with the U.S. drug agents and
Madrigal executives during this episode.
I’m not so sure. One thing I am
sure of, though, is that she is bad news, and is only going to add to Walt,
Jesse and Mike’s woes before she ends up with that promised bullet in her
head. Or worse.</div>
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- And so on to Walt’s continued calculated manipulation of
Jesse. This week, here’s a classic
routine for you: the old “plant the ricin cigarette in the Roomba” gambit. Works every time. As a result, and completely on purpose, Walt breaks Jesse’s heart
yet again. And maybe mine, too, a
little bit. At first, I thought that
Jesse’s emotional outburst was just explosive relief venting, but in actuality
Jesse’s reaction is proof positive that even with everything that’s happened
over the past year or so, “Breaking Bad” time, Jesse still has a good
heart. And that Walt has a black one.</div>
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- When Jesse called Walt “Mr. White” yet again
during his pathetic (in the best possible way) monologue, we’re reminded again,
but for perhaps the first time this season, exactly where Jesse sees himself in
relation to Walt. Sure, Jesse might
respect Mike, and even regard him as a friend, but it pales in comparison to
the nigh paternal regard he holds for Walt.
Until something changes. And
dramatically, it makes sense for that to happen. Knowing Vince Gilligan and staff, it’s probably just going to
happen at the worst possible time.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1gF2YwdBokVUMrr7pIZqhyphenhyphenzn5CAdhgWeGYeXhHr5_WUAiqVrPi4P2KkLYWxtSz5LRGI9MejFYz_ykn8SJT9xndfbDfU2YTk19RlkmpcsC5mA0nGGMHl-5aheE57T3nhLolFIXNA/s1600/Madrigal_Skyler_Walt.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1gF2YwdBokVUMrr7pIZqhyphenhyphenzn5CAdhgWeGYeXhHr5_WUAiqVrPi4P2KkLYWxtSz5LRGI9MejFYz_ykn8SJT9xndfbDfU2YTk19RlkmpcsC5mA0nGGMHl-5aheE57T3nhLolFIXNA/s640/Madrigal_Skyler_Walt.jpg" width="640" /></a> - Man, so gross! Speaking of Walt’s psychopathy, is every episode in this
half of the season going to end with Walt uncomfortably forcing himself on
Skylar, to varying degrees of intimacy? Nah, probably just the first two.
It’s only a matter of time until she starts coming out of her stupor and
facing up to the very few choices that she has: either wise up and get the hell
out of there, because Walt is radioactive, or take a page from the Carmella
Soprano book of selective cognition and make the best of an awful situation
that is only going to continue to spiral downwards.</div>
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See you next week, a little further down the spiral!</div>
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<b><span style="color: #274e13;">Previous <i>Breaking Bad</i> season 5 roundtables: </span></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/breaking-bad-live-free-or-die.html" target="_blank">Week 1 - "Live Free Or Die"</a><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-62793604025597132242012-07-23T05:36:00.001-04:002012-07-23T05:36:14.927-04:00BREAKING BAD - "Live Free Or Die"<b>Welcome to a roundtable discussion of this week's episode of <i><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad" target="_blank">Breaking Bad</a></i> from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.</b><br />
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<b>This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</b></div>
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<b>Jon: </b>Gatorade me, bitches! Another season of <i>Breaking Bad</i> is upon us, and sadly, it will be the last. At least AMC has split the 5th season into two parts, so it'll be a while until we reach the end, leaving us plenty of time to savor each glorious moment left. The <a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/search/label/Mad%20Men" target="_blank"><i>Mad Men</i> roundtables</a> earlier this year were a lot of fun for us and, judging by the increased spike in the site's traffic, enjoyed by many of you out there as well. Thus, we're planning doing something similar for our favorite meth dealers. Let's get to it.<br />
<br />
Is there another show with better cold opens than <i>Breaking Bad</i>? If this season follows the pattern of the last few, we'll continue to follow these future adventures of one Walter White as Vince Gilligan and company slowly reveal them out for us to parse over. We start out with one of the show's staples -- breakfast -- but it's immediately clear that something is amiss as Walt Jr. is nowhere to be seen anywhere in the vicinity of this plate of eggs and bacon. We quickly learn that Walt isn't there to celebrate his 52nd birthday, but rather to covertly meet up with the black market arms dealer (played by the great Jim Beaver) who sold him that pistol in a hotel room last season. In the clandestine paradise that is a Denny's restroom, he and Walt exchange a fat envelope for a set of keys. These keys open up a new set of wheels for Mr. White, complete with ginormous rifle for who-knows-what. Clearly some length of time has past since current events, as in addition to the return of Walt's hair, he's sporting a thick beard, glasses and is using a fake New Hampshire i.d. This being this show, I'm sure we'll learn things didn't go so hot for Walt and his "current" plans, and he's now forced to take matters into his own hands in predictably extreme measures. Who knows where this will all lead, but I suspect a familiar face will staring down at the other end of that barrel soon enough.<br />
<br />
But just as our appetites were whetted by that little tease of the future as much as the glimpses of a Denny's Grand Slam platter, we're re-winded back to the close of season 4, with Walt assuring Skyler on the phone that the war with Gus is over and that he's won (not that she actually knew that was what the security detail was for, but you get my drift). If there was any doubt left that Walt was behind poor little Brock's poisoning last year, it all evaporated as we watched him clear away all signs of his concoction of the toxin from the house, including the Lily of the Valley plant where the powder was derived from. And just as he's about to enjoy some celebratory booze for a crime well covered up, it dawns on him that even after disposing of the poison evidence, killing Gus and setting Gus' lab aflame that there's one loose end -- the security cameras recording their every move. And only one person left knows where those recordings were kept -- Mike, our favorite hitman.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-EUGGYVLIOSFDCK4G1BJ9O8jfvl-DlZfk9abT8gwaNe5geDz8l20-A64k4KN0P-KCATwwFvCb4O6QRroE1QofnHG7X5u0UmJK7gEV_TXh-2nbNxvNb_Hc2hD2eoeU1ku58TaoQ/s1600/Live_Free_Or_Die_Mike_gunt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-EUGGYVLIOSFDCK4G1BJ9O8jfvl-DlZfk9abT8gwaNe5geDz8l20-A64k4KN0P-KCATwwFvCb4O6QRroE1QofnHG7X5u0UmJK7gEV_TXh-2nbNxvNb_Hc2hD2eoeU1ku58TaoQ/s640/Live_Free_Or_Die_Mike_gunt.jpg" width="640" /></a>If you recall, Mike had been critically wounded during the Don Eladio massacre and was left in Mexico to recover. He's mostly healed now, living a simple life of feeding chicken in a bathrobe. After getting wind that Gus has been blown to bits, his fury overcomes him and nearly takes down Walt at first sight. Unfortunately for Walt, Jesse and Mike (who are essentially the only three left with anything left to worry about in this), during his inspection of the torched meth lab Hank has also realized that there was likely a security footage feed of the inner workings of the room broadcast somewhere. Only the realization that the existence of this footage could ruin them calms him enough to put aside his murderous rage for the time being, listen to Jesse's pleas and reluctantly work with Walt.<br />
<br />
And what's misery for them is a treat for us, as they hatch a plan to eliminate this threat. After establishing they can't just waltz into the precinct and swipe the laptop from the evidence room, an idea emerges from Jesse's infinite wisdom in the "so crazy it just may work" variety -- magnets, yo! And before you assume that a magnet couldn't possibly strike their mark behind two feet of reinforced concrete, keep in mind we live in an age of String Theory and God Particles, so really any cockamamie idea can't be ignored or realized with the power of science behind it. The solution is no mere magnet, however. It's super electro-magnet! With a scheme devised with Old Joe (our favorite junkyard man last seen in season 3) that would make Reed Richards a little jealous, the crew cobbles together a ridiculous amount of batteries to power the junkyard's giant, car-transporting magnet, store it in an old U-Haul truck and park it outside the wall of the evidence room. Let's just say hi-jinks ensue, and it's a safe bet at this point that the hard drive on that laptop is dunzo. (Would it work in real life? <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/07/breaking-bad-magnets-how-do-they-work/" target="_blank">Experts</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/arts/television/breaking-bad-creating-magnetic-attraction.html" target="_blank">seem</a> <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407192,00.asp" target="_blank">skeptical</a>, which is close enough to a "yes" for me.)<br />
<br />
Ah, but things are never that simple, are they? As the police department re-categorizes the items in evidence room, an old framed photo of Gus and his deceased lover is revealed to have been damaged. Normally this wouldn't be much of anything to take note of, but the astute evidence room officer notices that were a series of words and numbers hidden behind it. Methinks this looks an awful lot like some offshore Cayman Island bank accounts that Mr. Fring had his excess cash tucked away. Before long, our old friend Hank will be following that lead back to Walt and company.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM1obbRej1qgRajCk7-tfpJwzURzy-2wvoKHLm2wkQyaS6dt0T_mTDPefmaIUEToIUQ89l_oQ9o1oZvahsfnkmX-Oy99vmWOLG2-XWrb4XgL3yo_QnItJor0PTDfvfN8fukfY1Pg/s1600/Live_Free_Or_Die_Hank2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM1obbRej1qgRajCk7-tfpJwzURzy-2wvoKHLm2wkQyaS6dt0T_mTDPefmaIUEToIUQ89l_oQ9o1oZvahsfnkmX-Oy99vmWOLG2-XWrb4XgL3yo_QnItJor0PTDfvfN8fukfY1Pg/s640/Live_Free_Or_Die_Hank2.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Can you tell I liked this episode? I haven't even mentioned Saul or Skyler yet! But they had plenty to do too (in fact, aside from Marie who didn't appear, Jesse was probably played the least key role this week out of our regulars). Saul drops in on Skyler at the carwash, warning her that the authorities may similarly pay her a visit about Ted. I for one assumed Ted's demise before Huell and Bill Burr last year was the final black comedy moment for the character, but it turns out he survived. Skyler visits him in the hospital, where he appears to have little left to live for considering most of the rest of his life was in shambles before his fall. He still has his kids, however, and pledges to Skyler that he'll never breathe a word of this to the police. It's then that Skyler realizes he's completely horrified by and frightened of her, and basically will do whatever she asks. In a flash, she turns on that same steely, calculated strength Walt channels in this situations over the very real grief she was expressing moments before and simply tells him, "Good."<br />
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Later, Walt pays a visit to Saul at his wonderfully over-the-top office (it still cracks me up every time a scene takes place there), where he learns of the Ted situation including the $600K of his money Skyler used to pay him off. A furious Walt stares down Saul into submission after he attempts to quit their business relationship, a moment that's a little hard to believe the man from season 1 would be capable of. Walt's creepy, subdued anger is also dished out on Skyler in the final scene of the episode, where he tells her, "I forgive you." But even though he tells her this in regards to giving Ted the money without his permission, that it happens during a very awkward embrace is all the more chilling. I mean, I'm pretty sure Fredo Corleone wet himself when he heard that line. Just as Saul cow-tows to Walt's wishes out of fear, Skyler is scared too. After the events of "Face Off" to close out season 4, it's not hard to envision just how far Walt would go again if they were to incur his wrath. They both know Walt is no longer a man of half measures, and should rightfully be terrified of him.<br />
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So I'm not crazy, right? This episode kicked a lot of ass even if it was chock full of exposition and table setting for the remainder of the show's run. Thoughts? Predictions!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6muUARIPN9pSOT6jSuO86HHsdb_EXADoqRaeE0uRht-VgQqGmePCqm6x49fRSbiFNT6mfOMW6ulsWCZEw2_jGQndNuvgu8SFiG63EeClt9eWHq694U5cucWoiUfXX6yXppKe9lg/s1600/Live_Free_Or_Die_Walt_trunk.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6muUARIPN9pSOT6jSuO86HHsdb_EXADoqRaeE0uRht-VgQqGmePCqm6x49fRSbiFNT6mfOMW6ulsWCZEw2_jGQndNuvgu8SFiG63EeClt9eWHq694U5cucWoiUfXX6yXppKe9lg/s640/Live_Free_Or_Die_Walt_trunk.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<b>Mike: </b>It's my son's birthday today, and on top of that, I had Internet accessibility problems, but all excuses aside, it's going to have to be brief and to-the-point this week. So, without any further ado, here are my thoughts on the season premiere of "Breaking Bad," season five:<br />
<br />
- What a cold open! Nice to see Jim Beaver again, and I love his signoff – "Good luck, I guess." Though a little Internet magic, I was reminded that it was Walt's 50th birthday in the pilot episode. Which makes this scene, well, exactly two years in the future – as long as Walt's fake ID birthday is the same as his real one. (Which strikes me as a really bad idea, now that I'm thinking about it.) We don't know the circumstances that Walt is in, though unless Vince Gilligan completely drops the ball we eventually will. He's sick again, he's got his hair back, and a beard, and is very clearly not wearing a wedding ring. He's not up to any good, though he does leave his waitress a very generous tip.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8xXMACFsgtaACsOHgvOZNEEwMpe9VdJNc4Qal4M2stRAW2rdcB0-TxhPM7L5tj-DU7qRBLfjAV1qHWoLteQ9GMzaDynf9ilucCotkYAVMEy7z5onrCR81PPtSCJh7sIsWgegJw/s1600/Live_Free_Or_Die_Walt_Dennys.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8xXMACFsgtaACsOHgvOZNEEwMpe9VdJNc4Qal4M2stRAW2rdcB0-TxhPM7L5tj-DU7qRBLfjAV1qHWoLteQ9GMzaDynf9ilucCotkYAVMEy7z5onrCR81PPtSCJh7sIsWgegJw/s640/Live_Free_Or_Die_Walt_Dennys.jpg" width="640" /></a>I notice the Heisenberg Swagger is not there in this cold open. Walt is hunched over, defeated, not quite the "Mr. Chips" of season one, but also not the promised "Scarface" that I'm sure we'll be seeing this entire season. Events must have taken place to really cut Walt down. He's getting ready for something that even he isn't sure he'll see the other side of. But not to worry -- we're seeing Heisenberg's head get just about as inflated as possible in the "present time" segments of the program. Now, I don't expect a glimpse into the future every episode, because they've already done this in the second season of this fine program. I wouldn't complain if it became a regular feature most weeks, though.<br />
<br />
- I was a little taken aback by how much Jesse is on Walt's side again. I know that in his eyes, he is has been redeemed to a large degree – mainly because he doesn't know what the audience, if they have been paying any attention at all, knows. Especially when you take into account the standoff scene with Mike near the beginning of the episode, Jesse is the only reason that Walt doesn't have a gaping hole in his forehead. (Thinking of that, it also applies to many of the previous seasons as well!)<br />
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- Look, Mike's not going to be able tolerate Walt for long, no matter how much he may have come to respect Jesse as a partner.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcx8FoRUzb5IBTXzPQRGpNMAXBZR3y7QaBIZYXA8Rxap4JzTSpjmcWZ96h1r0im_98lvK1Uk77NUTGakHpb2_5IH7N7cvw0rxjqC_ax_CVL2NssLfcOXVA_3C21L4Qq_a6Jds5bQ/s1600/Live_Free_Or_Die_Mike_Walt.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcx8FoRUzb5IBTXzPQRGpNMAXBZR3y7QaBIZYXA8Rxap4JzTSpjmcWZ96h1r0im_98lvK1Uk77NUTGakHpb2_5IH7N7cvw0rxjqC_ax_CVL2NssLfcOXVA_3C21L4Qq_a6Jds5bQ/s640/Live_Free_Or_Die_Mike_Walt.jpg" width="640" /></a> - I'll say it right now, which isn't to say that it's probably not obvious to even the most casual of "Breaking Bad" viewers: Walt's pride will be his downfall. I could tangibly feel his blood boil as Walt Jr. glorified his uncle's crimefighting skills in the living room scene. It's been proposed (on the Internet only, mind you) that Walt Jr.'s inevitable fate lies on the floor of a squalid meth den, ironically telegraphing the efforts of his father. I don't think that's really going to happen, but it sure would be interesting, to say the least.<br />
<br />
- In only the sequentially most recent instance of Walt's pride getting the better of him, he pushes the electromagnet too far, which perhaps takes care of the little laptop problem, but also unwittingly creates a new arena for Hank and his cohorts to investigate -- that of Gus' illegal holdings in a simultaneously Swiss and Cayman Island bank. If Walt hadn't nudged the power just that much further, he might have been home free, at least for the time being. But as usual, he is his own worst enemy, and that will ultimately be what does him in. I don't know how it's going to happen, but I honestly can't wait to see it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPsZJuwSQO7TQfqltGLhp2dwPOolJjy_OPcuworVyPPi2r1LMAUsdiD_BfecMDo26qCzTY_vlPLdlcdghTPerFk6O4B55l8ChxSLKH3oTS9g4vzWg1vrnNGczM6LTm5WSc1raBTw/s1600/Live_Free_Or_Die_Walt_Skyler.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPsZJuwSQO7TQfqltGLhp2dwPOolJjy_OPcuworVyPPi2r1LMAUsdiD_BfecMDo26qCzTY_vlPLdlcdghTPerFk6O4B55l8ChxSLKH3oTS9g4vzWg1vrnNGczM6LTm5WSc1raBTw/s640/Live_Free_Or_Die_Walt_Skyler.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
- The final image of Walt, embracing his estranged wife clearly against her will and "absolving" her of her wrongdoing, will stick with me for a while. But even more horrifying, and nightmare-inducing, is the Ted Beneke hospital scene. Man, did that guy look awful! And Skylar's cold, no-nonsense response to his promise that he will not breathe a word about her shady financial dealings indicates to me that she's not so different from her husband, at least not where it really counts. I'll really be looking forward to seeing her circle the toilet along with Walt this season.<br />
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- My prediction: it's going to be a real bloodbath!<br />
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See you next week!<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-49939303953931423432012-06-28T10:37:00.000-04:002012-06-28T10:37:01.976-04:00Reel Low: Ironclad [2011]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Well, this post has been sitting in draft form for nearly two months as I became consumed by <i>Mad Men</i> posts, went on vacation and had a crazy excursion through the justice system, which culminated in coming face-to-face with a an eventually convicted child molester. All of that didn't exactly give me a lot of time to contemplate a decent but unessential medieval action flick that had the tendency to take itself a little too seriously at times, yet not enough at others.<br />
<br />
But that's not important. What is important is that the world know <i>Ironclad</i> gets a simple thumbs-up from me. It's been a little too long now for me to write up a proper review without re-watching it, but I liked it. Overall, the movie is a little on the uneven side, but with these actors and mostly well-done scenes of action and bloodshed, I consider it recommendable. It's the story of a small, ill-trained and under-provisioned group of soldiers defending themselves against impossible odds, much in the spirit of <i>Seven Samurai</i>and <i>Zulu</i>. While nowhere near as good a film as those, there's enough good material with this one to hold your attention. This is quite possibly the best medieval siege movie of the last decade. Only the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht8gZM81Ewg" target="_blank">Helm's Deep</a> scenes in <i>The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers</i> come to mind as having exceeded what director/screenwriter Jonathan English did here (and by a wide margin, I should add).<br />
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<i>Ironclad</i> has been criticized for being historically inaccurate. This is generally an odd critique to me for action films inspired by landmark moments of the past. Did you really expect an education from a James Purefoy movie? No, you came for the insane violence and stayed for the great performances of top-billed cast members. Speaking of, Purefoy is predictably solid as the the gruff yet earnest knight templar leading the small band of castle defenders. Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLXFkedr8lA" target="_blank">Brian Cox and Paul Giamatti</a> simply outdo themselves repeatedly in this movie. They're the real reasons to watch this one. Rounding out the cast is the wonderful Derek Jacobi as a timid lord and the serviceable, if unspectacular Kate Mara as his young wife. And for those of you yearning for more <i>Games of Thrones</i> action, Charles Dance (<a href="http://i.lv3.hbo.com/assets/images/series/game-of-thrones/character/s2/tywin-lannister-1024.jpg" target="_blank">Tywin Lannister</a>) does have a small role here as the Archbishop of Canterbury.<br />
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Oh, remember how I said <i>Ironclad is</i> crazy-violent? Check this clip some Dutch dude obviously made from a bootleg copy of the film. (Very <b>SPOILER</b>-ific due to lots of kill-shots.) It's fun stuff.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8QGISazL3OU" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Better than the<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6MDaV6o_00" target="_blank"> real trailer</a>, in my opinion.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-20835444657295214402012-06-26T10:54:00.000-04:002012-06-26T10:54:05.919-04:00MAD MEN Partners' Meeting - "The Phantom"Welcome to the <i>Mad Men</i> Partners' Meeting -- a roundtable discussion of this week's episode from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants. <br />
<span style="color: #990000;">This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNGfj5joQ5rWAG_p_BBLPy0aOK-u7Ov9G3GAdmFTqQIygpnXInLhYn1XQxNU5_6Fr9LrJGau-UN6SynTCFKrr0vu7sqabQGT8oaNzqmRYrOKAVx-lb-qkcQVkqJoEIIEWe0RW0g/s1600/the_phantom_don_bar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNGfj5joQ5rWAG_p_BBLPy0aOK-u7Ov9G3GAdmFTqQIygpnXInLhYn1XQxNU5_6Fr9LrJGau-UN6SynTCFKrr0vu7sqabQGT8oaNzqmRYrOKAVx-lb-qkcQVkqJoEIIEWe0RW0g/s640/the_phantom_don_bar.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men" target="_blank">"The Phantom"</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #f07400; font-size: large;"><a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/06/mad-men-partners-meeting-other-woman.html" target="_blank">Season 5, Episode 12</a></span></b></div>
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<b>airdate: June 10th, 2012</b></div>
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<b>Mark</b>: Damn. Well, Jon and Mike, I guess we have an answer for you regarding
Don’s place on the spectrum of Goodness. With the final scene of season 5,
Weiner seems to suggest that Don is getting back to his old tricks, and that
the flashes of a compassionate, supportive and emotionally available Don Draper
that we got over the last 13 episodes were not signs of an evolved cad but
rather part of a larger routine of selfishness that keeps perpetuating itself
over and over again. There have been suggestions here and there that Don had once
been as loving and present with Betty as we have seen him with Megan, and it
was only when Betty gave up her career in order to embody the picture perfect
housewife stereotype that Don both demands and despises in equal measure that
their relationship started to sour. Megan striking out on her own as an actress
seemed to threaten Don, but when Megan lowered herself to ask Don for a part in
a commercial, her dependence on him was almost a worse fate. Don doesn’t know
what he wants. He wants the dream, the excitement and possibility and glamour promised
by the campaigns he, Peggy, Stan and Ginsberg dream up. But life is always
messy. It’s the same with Peggy as with Megan. Don wants Peggy there, he wants
to mentor her and nurture her creativity, but the minute she challenges him or
threatens to surpass him, she’s a stranger. Now that Megan is “just somebody’s
wife”, she has compromised herself, like Joan with Mr. Jaguar, and tarnished
the perfect veneer that Don craves. This is certainly not the final nail in the
Don-Megan marriage, it’s more like the first trip to the hardware store to buy
nails. And while I hoped Don and Megan would build something nice with those
nails - like a birdhouse or a garden shed - I’m afraid it is going to be just
another coffin, as the saying goes.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFmLsy3UtNWa-_nxejUmza_Jp6eBh1ZkQ9YxMGMuO0pz1u8VLZEihxjMJUMSXtvSFVm36dOdLVnh6ZGAczzfT_0qjYDql58ay_WyH0yKq8sghgKCs5jqT6Go4LgGngWsTHdl6JA/s1600/the_phantom_don_finale.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFmLsy3UtNWa-_nxejUmza_Jp6eBh1ZkQ9YxMGMuO0pz1u8VLZEihxjMJUMSXtvSFVm36dOdLVnh6ZGAczzfT_0qjYDql58ay_WyH0yKq8sghgKCs5jqT6Go4LgGngWsTHdl6JA/s640/the_phantom_don_finale.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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This was all very upsetting, but I have to say I was a
little taken aback with overt nature in which a lot of this stuff was presented
and explored in the script and through Weiner’s direction. Usually this show is
a little more elegant in its treatment of symbolism and subtext. Many times in “The
Phantom” I felt as though I was being hit over the head with Weiner’s laptop, and
as a result the finale was a little dissatisfying for me. It’s fun to speculate
on what is going on under the surface with Don, what impulses and fears are
guiding his actions, and to be able to draw your own conclusion that there is a
void within Don that can’t be filled. It’s not quite as fun to be told point
black that Don has a big, rotting symbolic tooth that he tries to ignore and convince
himself will go away but that is causing him incredible pain. Sounds a lot like
all of those pesky emotions the characters are repressing all the time. Furthermore,
I suppose leaving us on a bit of a lingering note was better than cutting
straight to Don having a threesome with the two girls from the bar, but do we
have to have Don go straight from the commercial set to picking up chicks? The
season has been building Don up very deliberately all season, to knock it all
back down so quickly felt a little uneven. However, I will say that the shot of
him walking off of the soundstage and into a pitch black void of negative space
was a striking image, and half-way subtle in its symbolism. Half-way.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30lzHu0e-gSPCzAN0_pgcfNaU76t9cjp8leT8pK21TFVZzLKy4AWKr_Tsz65eqLRoPIugq1Y7ML2QMtvbhLtrOfFURvy9WI_QqBsjfFTaATrPmo7rTzFbVWqAJqBaWlNuJGUt4g/s1600/the_phantom_don_shadow.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30lzHu0e-gSPCzAN0_pgcfNaU76t9cjp8leT8pK21TFVZzLKy4AWKr_Tsz65eqLRoPIugq1Y7ML2QMtvbhLtrOfFURvy9WI_QqBsjfFTaATrPmo7rTzFbVWqAJqBaWlNuJGUt4g/s640/the_phantom_don_shadow.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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There were some pretty on-the-nose moments, too, in the
story of Pete Campbell, the saddest little boy in the world. The whole thing
with Alexis Bledel and Pete’s train buddy being such an over-the-top monster is
pretty brutal. I don’t doubt that things like this happened in those days, but
having this guy go so far as to force his wife into electroshock therapy so
that he can carry on cheating on her and keeping her as essentially an
indentured servant? Villains are all well and good, even necessary in good fiction,
but maybe they could have given this guy some shading. And Pete’s grand speech
to an amnesiac Bledel about his “friend”, while very well-acted and certainly
moving, was another case of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Men</i>
telling and not showing. Great dialogue, great performances, but let us do some
work as viewers, you know? Am I crazy? This episode just seemed out of
character for a show that pretty much shows everything and tells next to nothing.
Pete getting knocked around never gets less funny/sad, though. It all just
ended on such a note of defeat. Even as Sterling Cooper Draper... Campbell? expands
to a new floor and new possibilities, the partners seem mostly burnt out. Even
Roger’s LSD enlightenment seems to have worn off. Or has it? I know not to come
to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Men</i> to be uplifted, but
whereas previous seasons have gone out with a big push forward (“Shut the Door.
Have a Seat.”), this finale just seemed to signal decay.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7r0c4warwdxwiJNYsoLM40cE8DHIMVDSGIEa3STUH4zuVlEO5e3vwQ4HrYChzuz3tmdn-_BLZ6Y6EQFq0ys213TB5CD25q2jBDp94nsGoXvRgr3FJ_IeDIf1z7oIUvmNo6G9vQ/s1600/the_phantom_partners.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7r0c4warwdxwiJNYsoLM40cE8DHIMVDSGIEa3STUH4zuVlEO5e3vwQ4HrYChzuz3tmdn-_BLZ6Y6EQFq0ys213TB5CD25q2jBDp94nsGoXvRgr3FJ_IeDIf1z7oIUvmNo6G9vQ/s640/the_phantom_partners.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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What do you guys think? Am I being a crabapple? A stick in the mud? A grouchypants? A complete and utter moron who should be taken out into the street and shot? Did I miss something? Did Weiner stick the landing? Am I just grumpy because this finale featured zero Sally Draper? What’s the verdict on the season overall?</div>
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<b>Jon:</b> Mark, you certainly aren't alone in your displeasure of the season 5 finale among <i>Mad Men</i> internet fandom. And I don't blame you for feeling that way, because not a whole lot happened in this episode when it came down to it, which gave me fits when trying to assess it. Usually I try to stay away from the pundits until after having written my peace on the episode in question, but this week I couldn't. "The Phantom" was a tricky bastard to write about. However, I think expressing too much disappointment in it overlooks how much crazy shit went down in the two preceding episodes. I mean, between Joan becoming partner, Peggy's departure the SCDP and Lane's suicide, we haven't exactly been short on monumental shifts in the show's dynamic. Now, that said, big goings on in previous episodes do not make this a good finale. As finales go, it was on the weaksauce side. But I began to appreciate "The Phantom" a bit more when placed it in context of the entire fifth season, and while it's far from a season highlight, it caps off a couple of storylines we've been following over the last 13 episodes.<br />
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In my mind, "The Phantom" serves as a sly intro to season 6 as much as it was a capper to season 5. There are constant hints of Lane's void, from his empty office and conference room chair to Joan's sudden transition into the financial prude (because someone has to bloody do it). I think it was smart to tackle this now; they'd have to address it eventually, and showing us the group mourning and moving on in their individual and collective ways while the audience is still coping with a world without Lane Pryce gets that unpleasant but important business out of the way instead of months from now when the show returns. Also, they're expanding! Man, that gorgeous shot of the five partners gazing out from what will become the second floor of SCDP (or whatever they end up calling it post-Lane), does anything point to a triumphant future more than that? Gets you pumped up for next season already. But before I get too far ahead of myself, there a couple of other matters to wrap up.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5o2qka-ihXc0UP4dov9DioRu72fUxsnoKov4wYGJ1kuomkgTQ2I7ekoPY0oeRQUQduzVz-_E5PFwWmeF0FjRkUFzwn-q_Mr_NqzpQ_6b6uYSCH4_JD1wRBFSkd9a-R1BDMKDnNQ/s1600/the_phantom_beth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5o2qka-ihXc0UP4dov9DioRu72fUxsnoKov4wYGJ1kuomkgTQ2I7ekoPY0oeRQUQduzVz-_E5PFwWmeF0FjRkUFzwn-q_Mr_NqzpQ_6b6uYSCH4_JD1wRBFSkd9a-R1BDMKDnNQ/s640/the_phantom_beth.jpg" width="640" /></a>Plotwise, we get the conclusion to Pete's doomed tryst with Beth and Megan's first acting job since leaving the advertising game. Mark, you totally nailed it by pointing out how overt Weiner and company was with their intentions this time around. And no moment was more explicit than Pete's admission of the chronic unhappiness of his "friend" to Beth in her hospital room, now devoid of any memory of their brief affair, so extreme that he comes to the conclusion that "life with his family was some temporary bandage on a permanent wound." I mean... damn. That's harsh, bro. I too would've preferred the show's usual elegance in delivering such a message, but at least it all let him getting his bitch-ass face decked again this year, not once but twice in a span of two minutes!<br />
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Now let's talk about Megan's latest acting defeat. Things have gotten continuously worse for her prospects at work, and we get a literal explanation from her mother for the episode's title as Megan chases the phantom of her dreams. I was a little surprised she reduced herself to stealing her friend's idea to get Don to pull strings to cast her in a commercial. We've never seen her so petty before. And his initial reaction was the appropriate one to me, but Megan really is just that desperate to take the next step in her career that she'd ask this of him. We know she can turn on the magic in a moment of inspired desperation, like the Heinz dinner when she and Don salvaged the account at the last moment, but really we have no idea if she's actually any good at acting. Every moment we've glimpsed of her acting has been part of a montage, spinning around at a casting call, or a silent film reel. But that reel did its job, because it sold Don. If his marriage to Betty disintegrated when she stopped modelling and became a suburban housewife, one has to wonder if helping Megan jumpstart her acting career will allow their marriage to strengthen or just push them to the same fate. After all, as Megan Calvet, the actress, her double life has now begun. And Don, as Nancy Sinatra reminds us, is no stranger to living twice. Can they make it work? I guess that all depends on whether or not Don decided to take up the two girls at the bar up on their offer in the closing seconds of the episode. Many online people assume he'll steal a few moments away with them, but I'm not yet convinced. Guess we'll have to wait until next season. Hopefully it won't be another 18 months like last time!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharqeH7sAM9ix8hmw6u45SFgRSzrXj0IfeNBrJhzq71mZ6XFOJkGlA31URD6pU6c7D3aV6t4kESIIJisZiFSFvW6W5AXNFatoj4vq1H78ndWROmc2AuuFmnrZTEzU20Ily4W9vlA/s1600/the_phantom_megan_reel_don.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharqeH7sAM9ix8hmw6u45SFgRSzrXj0IfeNBrJhzq71mZ6XFOJkGlA31URD6pU6c7D3aV6t4kESIIJisZiFSFvW6W5AXNFatoj4vq1H78ndWROmc2AuuFmnrZTEzU20Ily4W9vlA/s640/the_phantom_megan_reel_don.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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One final comment -- will this be the last we see of Ms. Olson, smiling in her Richmond hotel room in spite of the fornicating dogs outside her window? I doubt it, but I fear now that she's left SCDP, she could be regulated to guest-character status, much like Betty was this year. Sure, January Jones' real-life pregnancy may have forced Weiner's hand in that matter, but if you're not in Don Draper's inner circle in some capacity, you're not likely to get any screen time on <i>Mad Men</i> (unless I'm forgetting about someone). Anyway, hit us up with your thoughts, Mike!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmppxPInszLcaVXHhqbydnLrxivZF4yqnq8KpnpaiQsSyW6NVFtt2ITOdK5IFWZB2gmYqRG8GoWuNXlPBfjp3EdF9IPi9Ja-YZnYulkFQMFDaHIIoMNuHqIVfuh_cbMVtGyAdAyQ/s1600/the_phantom_don_peggy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmppxPInszLcaVXHhqbydnLrxivZF4yqnq8KpnpaiQsSyW6NVFtt2ITOdK5IFWZB2gmYqRG8GoWuNXlPBfjp3EdF9IPi9Ja-YZnYulkFQMFDaHIIoMNuHqIVfuh_cbMVtGyAdAyQ/s640/the_phantom_don_peggy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Mike:</b> A controversial episode, to be sure! Like you both, I'm definitely questioning my responses a little bit to the finale here. I've heard the "too on-the-nose" criticism about this from a bunch of different outlets, and you know what? Sometimes a toothache is just a "hot tooth". Sometimes seeing a vision everywhere of your brother who killed himself after being rejected by you, immediately following an arguably comparable situation with a co-worker is just... well, you get the idea. In this case, though, could it be that Weiner and company don't trust us to figure it out? Or are we, as fans and armchair critics, just getting too good at picking apart the stories? Or, as a vocal minority have opined, have Weiner and the writing staff simply shifted their style to match the more loud, blatant, and unsubtle '60s? I think that's a terrible theory myself, in that it is essentially stating that they wrote things poorly on purpose. It couldn't be further from the truth, since in my opinion at least, "Mad Men" has been and is still a showcase for some very fine writing.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNxYTmdIYaK4dg93ZdOyu32H6sEcAwsq-_LhtE1hWmDWziF0Kn0aqQ_WQT82p8qAajEYgHzK5LLFahDwDRJQyNv9N0Ihl5XVajgx-HuGN9PjnJSV_IXbnwXhU1fe7rRTdA3MOmFA/s1600/the_phantom_adam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNxYTmdIYaK4dg93ZdOyu32H6sEcAwsq-_LhtE1hWmDWziF0Kn0aqQ_WQT82p8qAajEYgHzK5LLFahDwDRJQyNv9N0Ihl5XVajgx-HuGN9PjnJSV_IXbnwXhU1fe7rRTdA3MOmFA/s640/the_phantom_adam.jpg" width="640" /></a>Yet, consider the opposite for a moment. Is it possible that, despite an otherwise master-class performance this season (and, let's face it -- every season up until this point) they simply dropped the ball on this one and erred on the side of telling and not showing? Sure, it's not outside of the realm of possibility. But if that is the case, what happened to their quality control? Is Matthew Weiner's hubris and white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel so great that nobody else on the staff would say something when his metaphors are getting a little too obvious on a finale, from which he's got to know that critics and viewers, detractors and fans alike, are expecting so much?</div>
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I, too, felt let down and a little disappointed at the end of this episode. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the answers to its puzzles aren't quite as cut-and-dry as they first appeared. My initial response was based on expectations for some kind of huge revelation or turnaround like the third-season finale. When I started to try to understand the episode on its own terms, outside of what I thought I wanted it to be like, I started liking it a whole lot more.</div>
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I'm still in the process of trying to find a way to look at
this episode that still trusts that the series creators know what
they're doing. While I'm probably
giving it a little too much credit, there's actually a lot to like about this episode. There were all sorts of small rewards, nuances and charater revelations about every one of our favorite characters here. The explosive scene between the widow Pryce and Don was, well, dynamite. Even the (possible) final appearance of Peggy was heartwarming and a little sad. The callbacks to previous seasons, what with Adam Whitman's ghostly reappearances, and Pete's outright vocalization about what's been eating him this entire time, well -- I'll be honest, I didn't have a huge problem with those scenes. What I'm trying to say here is, if this was a lesser episode of the fifth season, perhaps it's only in retrospect because of the high points so many of the other episodes reached. </div>
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Much has been made of the HBO dramatic series model (cross-reference: "The Sopranos" and "The Wire", especially) wherein episode 12 of the 13-episode season is where the climax of the season arc hits, and then traditionally the final episode is a denouement of sorts. Since the creator of the show has that sort of pedigree, it's not surprising that, like Jon mentioned above, this finale was more of a lead-in for the next season than an exciting conclusion to the swingin'-from-the-rafters (yeah, I said it) roller-coaster ride that was Lane's final downfall and suicide in the penultimate episode.</div>
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You guys have already covered a lot of what happened in the show, and done a great job picking it apart. What I want to look at mainly is what this last episode is trying to say about Don. This whole season, I was expecting the very worst from him. Despite some quite conspicuous flare-ups of "old Don," what we've seen until this episode is a man trying to be better than his instincts, even going against them in the name of love, and experiencing a lot of joy but also a lot of disappointment as well. What is different between my interpretation of the final scenes in this episode and the consensus opinion seems to be that I don't believe Don has made up his mind yet about what he is going to do. Yes, he is clearly disappointed in Megan's betrayal of his principles that he surely thought she had shared. Yes, when he reached a kind of breaking point like this in his relationship with Betty, that is undoubtedly when the death knell for their relationship was first sounded. But "new Don" has shown us time and time again this season that he has, at the very least, been attempting to learn from his mistakes.</div>
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As Don watched Megan's reel being projected onto the screen, I didn't feel like he was disgusted by her or what she was about to have him do. I definitely sensed his admiration, tempered with more than a touch of sadness. This expression, I propose, is not that of a man who has given up on his wife -- at least, not yet:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbudUQ_tnaYdwpBdi_dVMkFeWwIBpUEzxO9JrERCURz7o28wkITzbBClV0pQK7xcHvv3MGvc3yc_frqoxw28xYFo86YvK_LKDxQUI__hUOnsztWJUBdGdgV2ukYYtFBAilnO-mpg/s1600/the_phantom_don_film.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbudUQ_tnaYdwpBdi_dVMkFeWwIBpUEzxO9JrERCURz7o28wkITzbBClV0pQK7xcHvv3MGvc3yc_frqoxw28xYFo86YvK_LKDxQUI__hUOnsztWJUBdGdgV2ukYYtFBAilnO-mpg/s640/the_phantom_don_film.jpg" width="640" /></a>I mean, were we supposed to think Megan's rejected audition film was awful? I'm going to put myself out there and say that even though it may have lessened his regard for her a bit, Don submitted Megan's film for the audition process because he saw something there. I did, too! And then, it seems, so did the clients, since they ended up picking her for the part after all. Megan's mercenary and disloyal tactics aside, she really looked the part in the tiny fragment of the commercial that we glimpsed.</div>
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Don may or may not have learned from his loss of Peggy and the slip of at least the initial iteration of his relationship with Megan through his fingers. Seasons six and (I hope) seven are going to fill us in on that, I'm sure. As for whether Don stays faithful to his wife when propositioned by an attractive female at the very end, I think that still remains to be seen. As much as others have complained that they were spoon-fed information this episode and even a few before it, this episode's end did not provide a clear answer. I think it goes without saying that Don was feeling a bit lonely, but did that mean that he truly was in fact alone? Was that an innocent yet regretful smirk on his face, or the hum of the ol' charm engine getting started after a brief hibernation? </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwqJCe8LEg3ydZS7yaZ_OG8KCsspRjca_2U8fswlxacRdbGER-d5aVI7TO2m7j61BycUALE5fkActYnlnAWnzZoIczbgDHDkP0woOlISPI5bFzWNGIbc7YeVJcrklpz6d7ffI8Q/s1600/the_phantom_megan_shadow_don.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwqJCe8LEg3ydZS7yaZ_OG8KCsspRjca_2U8fswlxacRdbGER-d5aVI7TO2m7j61BycUALE5fkActYnlnAWnzZoIczbgDHDkP0woOlISPI5bFzWNGIbc7YeVJcrklpz6d7ffI8Q/s640/the_phantom_megan_shadow_don.jpg" width="640" /></a> Dramatically, it probably makes more sense that Don would start to delve into his darker nature again. But as I've said before here, "Mad Men" for me has always been a show that swerves in another direction whenever I think it's going to head a certain way. I'm crossing my fingers that Don doesn't take that path again, because there aren't a whole lot of terribly interesting storylines I can think of down that particular rabbit hole that haven't been explored already. That said, I would certainly relish the opportunity to be proven wrong!</div>
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In conclusion, I'll just say this: to say I loved this season of television would be an understatement. Nobody wants to see the quality of a favorite show go downhill, but I really think that we are all being a little over-sensitive on this one. I'll agree that this was not my favorite episode of the season, but in the greater mosaic of what they're trying to do here, I think it will be an important piece. Of what, only time, and the impending end of the series a few years out, will tell.</div>
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(P.S. Thanks to Jon and Mark for keeping this thing going all season long, even when I flaked out towards the end a little. Great work, everyone involved.) </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>See you in season 6!</b></span></div>
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<b><i>Previously:</i></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-partners-meeting-little-kiss.html">Episodes 1 & 2 - "A Little Kiss"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-tea-leaves.html">Episode 3 - "Tea Leaves"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-mystery-date.html">Episode 4 - "Mystery Date"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-signal-30.html" target="_blank">Episode 5 - "Signal 30"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-far-away.html" target="_blank">Episode 6 - "Far Away Places"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/mad-men-partners-meeting-at-codfish.html" target="_blank">Episode 7 - "At The Codfish Ball"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/mad-men-partners-meeting-lady-lazarus.html" target="_blank">Episode 8 - "Lady Lazarus"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/mad-men-partners-meeting-dark-shadows.html" target="_blank">Episode 9 - "Dark Shadows"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/06/mad-men-partners-meeting-christmas.html" target="_blank">Episode 10 - "Christmas Waltz"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/06/mad-men-partners-meeting-other-woman.html" target="_blank">Episodes 11 & 12 - "The Other Woman" & "Commissions and Fees"</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-88615659429017291962012-06-10T15:20:00.002-04:002012-06-10T15:20:35.503-04:00MAD MEN Partners' Meeting - "The Other Woman" & "Commissions and Fees"Welcome to the <i>Mad Men</i> Partners' Meeting -- a roundtable discussion of this week's episode from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men/episodes/season-5/the-other-woman" target="_blank">"The Other Woman"</a> & <a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men/episodes/season-5/commissions-and-fees" target="_blank">"Commissions and Fees"</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #f07400; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amctv.com/mad-men/" target="_blank">Season 5, Episodes 11 & 12</a></span></b></div>
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<b>airdates: May 27th and June 3rd, 2012</b></div>
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<b>Jon:</b> Hey, hey! Long time no talk. My vaycay was great, thanks for asking. But we have more important items to discuss: the two most recent episodes! Since we've been behind recently, I'm gonna combine the most recent two into a single post to expedite things for Sunday's season finale. Some great items will be overlooked in the name of speed and the greater good of the further adventures of the <b>Partners' Meeting</b>.<br />
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First up, a look at "The Other Woman." This episode's focus was on three of the most important ladies in Don Draper's life - Megan, Peggy and Joan - and SCDP's continued pursuit of the Jaguar account. All along their angle was to sell the Jaguar brand as the equivalent of a man's mistress. Which leads us to first to discuss Joan, who despite always being one of the strongest female characters on the show, if not all of television, is routinely reduced to a slab of flesh. Part of this is because she has never been shy at using her looks to command what she wants; it works more often than not, but the events of this episode are an explicit reminder of the cost of that tactic. One of the key decision-makers on the British luxury brand's side proves himself to be an even sleazier car magnate than what the other characters on the show led the audience to believe (and they didn't exactly mince words on this topic), and all but demands to Pete and Ken during a dinner that if he doesn't get a night with Joan then SCDP won't have a prayer of getting the account. She immediate shuts down Pete's shameless broach of the subject, but ultimately Lane's suggestion of demanding partnership and 5% of the account's profits as a reward for the dirty deed end up being enough to sway her. But I think the real reason Joan agrees to sleep with the Jag-off is because she is led to believe that all the other partners are on board with this decision, even Lane and Roger, her "champions" at the office. Who can blame her if she begins to believe she really is just a pretty face and a set of dynamite curves tasked with being a divorced single mother at time when that was considered downright immoral by society. There must have seemed as if she really didn't have a better option. Of course, what she doesn't know is Don was one dissenting voice who was so disturbed by the idea that he left the room after Pete brought it up, which only allowed them to vote without his counter-point to dissuade them from going forward with the distasteful proposition. Majority rules, after all. When Don finds out that she was planning on going through with it, he rushes to her apartment to tell her she's better than that. He thinks he's made it to her before she met with the dealership owner, but after some crafty editing, we learn before the close of the episode that Joan had only just returned from her rendezvous with the creepazoid before Don arrived. After his speech, she says, "You're a good one, aren't you?" which was just beyond heartbreaking. (More on Don in a bit.) Ultimately, SCDP gets the Jaguar account the next day and a shocked Don learns that Joan, in fact, did her part in reeling them in.<br />
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Meanwhile, Megan has continued with her acting plans while the grumbling Don remains reluctantly supportive. That is until Megan reveals that her new possible gig will take her to Boston for a couple of months of rehearsal if she lands it. Don is absolutely furious. Not only is his bride no longer working side-by-side with him, now the very real possibility of her leaving town to pursue her dreams has arrived as well, and that is more than he's able to handle. They have a spat over it, but the issue remains unresolved since Megan has yet to actually land the part. But, much like Joan, Megan can do little more than turn around for the male casting trio for her role in the play, and she is passed over for it; one of the other cutlets looked better on display, I suppose.<br />
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Then there's Peggy, who's continuously fought against being just a pretty face, a pawn in the workplace or even seen as a woman working in a man's world. She's always just tried to be an equal through intelligence and hard work. So while she took charge of all SCDP's creative business while Don and his team obsessed over nothing but Jaguar, you can understand her frustration when Don (frustrated by the Joan and Megan developments) treats her inhumanely by tossing money at her face during an argument. That was her final straw. And a couple of meetings with good ol' Freddy Rumsen and a SCDP competitor later, she gave her notice to Don, and there was nothing he could do in that moment to win her back. He lost her days before.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzwAB44DpadCtttQNSmuHXKx8x0EP8rw36QTTWPBz7j3gn8BOHkTIPHrpYFoaRdn0g2VTpfKAKVyoldS3UGKelqLv3G5_hoCdDXYbMNzsqMj1yMTCyTMOCpvsJ82V6csK6R_6Jg/s1600/the_other_woman_peggy_don.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzwAB44DpadCtttQNSmuHXKx8x0EP8rw36QTTWPBz7j3gn8BOHkTIPHrpYFoaRdn0g2VTpfKAKVyoldS3UGKelqLv3G5_hoCdDXYbMNzsqMj1yMTCyTMOCpvsJ82V6csK6R_6Jg/s640/the_other_woman_peggy_don.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
So, is Don one of the good ones as Joan attests? In her experience, absolutely. He's worlds above the other partners and just about any other man she's been in the company of that we've been privy to on the show. And we've seen him be amazing to lots of characters. But Don continues to treat Megan and Peggy atrociously whenever that infamous Draper temper flares up. So... I guess he is sometimes? It's such a hard question to answer, which is why it's so fascinating to contemplate.<br />
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And it's a subject that was similarly broached in "Commissions and Fees." While checking the books to see how Jaguar's unique payment request would effect business, Bert Cooper discovers Lane's forged check from <a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/06/mad-men-partners-meeting-christmas.html" target="_blank">"Christmas Waltz."</a> However, since Don's name is on it, he accuses Don of having given Lane a bonus behind everyone's back and being "the good little boy while the adults run this business." And he may have a point, because even though Don cleans up the Lane mess a heartbeat later, he does so in about the most decent way possible by giving Lane an opportunity to devise a story for his resignation. Unfortunately things unravel quickly from that point for Lane, and he ultimately decides to hang himself in his office over the weekend. Continuing with the Don is a good guy evidence, he refuses to let Lane hang there any longer once he learns the body has yet to be moved, enlisting Pete and Roger to help him cut him down. The easy thing would have been to leave him there as Pete, Ken and Harry decided to do (hard to blame Joan or Bert for it though). And he also treated Glen surprisingly well considering the day he had, not only giving the youngster a ride back to school but letting the boy drive the car there himself.<br />
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I don't know. Maybe I'm looking too hard for reasons to like Don right now after all the sadness the Joan and Lane stories brought and the prospect of no more Peggy in our lives. He's obviously a complicated man who cannot be easily classified as a villain or a hero in any traditional sense. There does seem to be more good in him now than we've seen in some time, perhaps ever, and I think it's worth putting a spotlight on that for a moment.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDHJlGQs0o_aTjTYZ-18JtPoxGqZkD1RhYn9H1opzrDeyJg3evi5Nr166fMUv6NjFkzU378vmMi6i1VkDfdRxt5T4GCruacd4A5ZAQ4rPgQvAeCNAlfSI3CM7HOlnYeRKiu7EUQg/s1600/commissions_and_fees_lane's_office.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDHJlGQs0o_aTjTYZ-18JtPoxGqZkD1RhYn9H1opzrDeyJg3evi5Nr166fMUv6NjFkzU378vmMi6i1VkDfdRxt5T4GCruacd4A5ZAQ4rPgQvAeCNAlfSI3CM7HOlnYeRKiu7EUQg/s640/commissions_and_fees_lane's_office.jpg" width="640" /></a>Shifting back to Lane for a sec... ugh, that was so depressing. I guess I don't have a lot to say about his suicide. Ever since Joan rejected his advances after the fight with Pete, things have been going downhill for him, and life wasn't particularly rosy for him before that to boot. Once we saw him reduced to embezzlement, it was a good guess his time at SCDP was likely coming to a close and<br />
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So many questions are lingering now. Will Joan hold any form of resentment against Pete, Roger and Bert for what they pushed her into? Don't see how you could blame her if she did. How does SCDP deal with Lane's suicide? Practically speaking, Joan will be able to slide into his duties rather seamlessly (there's been a running joke much of this season that she really did all he was responsible for), but this is not Mrs. Blankenship were talking about. The man was a partner and killed himself in his office; there will be constant reminders for all of those characters. Will it drive someone like Pete to change their outlook on what they have in life? And have we seen the last of Peggy Olson? She could easily join the ranks of Kinsey, Rumsen and Sal, the former key members of this group of ad men barely ever seen again after stepping outside their inner circle. Like Joan replacing Lane, Ginsberg could fill the void she'll leave, but at what cost? His volatility may get the better of him. These may not be addressed in the finale, but I'm sure they'll continue to be relevant down the line.<br />
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Man. These last two episodes were big downers, but had so much great material packed in. I haven't even talked about really major stuff with Sally, some interesting tidbits on Betty, or even my homeboy Glen! Mark, any thoughts on those characters or were you as consumed with Joan, Peggy and Lane as I was?<br />
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<b>Mark</b>: Hey, Jon! Glad you had a good vacation. Geez, where to begin? Well, you know I always have something to say about Sally. It doesn't take much for this kid to break my heart, so you can imagine my reaction to her in this episode. Things are never easy for Sally, so it was appropriate that she would experience her first period while playing hooky at the Natural History Museum with Glen. This show is so adept at portraying the rollercoaster of confusion that is adolescence, and Kiernan Shipka is turning out to be quite a thoughtful actress. I thought the whole subplot, from Sally's reticent crush on Glen "Holden Caulfield" Bishop to her panicked dash back home to Betty, was handled very well. It was also touching to see Betty have a rare moment of selflessness and compassion for her daughter in a moment when Sally desperately needed her mother to put these scary things into perspective. Betty's speech about the life-affirming nature of menstruation was an uncharacteristically upbeat moment for <i>Mad Men</i>. For once this show wasn't convincing me that life is a meaningless nightmare.<br />
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And God knows I needed it these last two weeks, as this sweet story was surrounded by the destruction or near-moral-destruction of one of my favorite characters (Joan) and the one I most wanted to pat on the back and tell to calm the fuck down and smell the roses (Lane). First off, Lane. I agree, Jon, this was so depressing, and even though it was laced with some traditional <i>Mad Men</i> gallows humor, the death of Lane Pryce hit me hard. I feel like it is something that is going to irrevocably change the landscape of this show. Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything else like this that has hit the SCDP crew so close to their own turf. Even though his reasons were not made clear to the rest of the partners, and I doubt Don will make them clear, I think each character will see what they want in themselves through Lane's suicide and won't be able to help being changed by it for better or worse. I've read elsewhere the theory that Lane gave too much and never claimed anything for himself. I don't know if I agree with that, at least not in the literal sense. I think the problem with Lane is that he allowed himself to be a shadow that the rest of the world passed through. He sat on the sidelines of his own life, and like Pete he daydreamed about being Don Draper, a big bold American bad-ass, until he got backed into a desperate corner, and the only way out was to swallow his pride and take a long look at himself and where he was. And Lane couldn't do that. He couldn't admit to himself that he needed help or that he made a mistake, and he certainly couldn't bear the humiliation of Don (being relatively compassionate, in a Don way) calling him on his actions. Don gave Lane the option of starting over, but that's where Lane and Don differ. That's why Don is the ultimate ad man. He is able to believe in some pie-in-the-sky ideal so strongly that it becomes a reality. Lane hated himself to the very core. He could never be Don Draper, because Dick Whitman would always be there eating away at him from the inside.<br />
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Lane snapping his glasses in half right before doing the deed was such a powerful physicalization of that self-hatred. Now the gallows humor I was talking about. I did love Lane as a character, but he is one of those Coen Brothers-esque heroes where its kind of fun and cathartic to see him be endless shit upon as a result of his own stupidity and bad luck. When Lane's wife surprised him with that Jaguar. Damn it. Jared Harris totally nailed the sinking dread of the situation. And after hearing so much about Jaguar's being substandard vehicles, I have to admit I did not see the punchline coming of Lane being unable to start the car and asphyxiate himself with the exhaust. It feels a little weird to say that was a great moment, but it was thematically on-point, it was totally appropriate for the character, and the subtext of the Jaguar-as-mistress being unreliable in a show filled with desperately unhappy philanderers was not lost on me. Just good writing.<br />
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I would say poor Joan, but I almost feel like I should be saying poor Don. Sure, Don is essentially our main character, but it almost seems like Don is suffering more for Joan's (and Lane's) decisions than they are. As gross as the SCDP partners were for entertaining the sleazebag Jaguar guy's offer... Well, let's face it, Pete is the gross one, although for as much as the others protested they didn't exactly stop it from happening. I feel like Lane was at least looking out for Joan in his own fucked-up way by suggesting that she get some financial leverage in the negotiation, and ultimately Joan made her own decision. I worry that this is one of those things that <i>Mad Men</i> characters carry around all of their lives that poison them slowly, but as a single divorced mother in the mid-1960s Joan is a stigmatized, ostracized figure. And with Greg off playing GI Joe in the Mekong Delta, Joan only has herself on which to rely when the bills start rolling in and the fridge goes on the fritz. It is horrible and depressing, such is the Gospel According to Weiner<i></i>, to have to compromise yourself and give up pieces of your soul each and every day in order to stay afloat, and this was an extreme illustration of that in <i>Mad Men</i>'s short-story mold. I'm glad to see Joan claiming some more power for herself, but at what cost? I just hope that some day down the line Joan doesn't have to suffer the indignity of being reminded of how she got to where she is by some pigheaded and petty SCDP shithead (I'm looking at you, Pete.)<br />
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This whole thing really gives some mileage to Don's downward spiral. Jon, it's interesting to try to pin Don down as being either a good or bad person. He's a complicated guy, definitely flawed and hypocritical, but not evil. Like anyone, I think Don is a good person when he wants to be. It's not easy to be good. It's downright impossible to be good all the time. I think Don is a good person who has been scarred by his experiences. He was discarded as a child and taught to disappear if things aren't going his way. There is an emptiness to him, a fluidity to his identity and how he perceives the world that others don't share. He's a bit of a sociopath in that way. We've joked before about Don being capable of murder. He does have a psycho tinge to him in his ability to disappear or change on a dime when things get too real, but more and more I feel like Don is just a kid who is trying to embody a childish ideal. And in accordance, he definitely acts childish. He is overflowing with respect and admiration for Joan, but when she compromises his idealized vision of her, he is crestfallen. I believe he is genuinely hurt and saddened that Joan was taken advantage of, but I also think there is an element of him feeling let down by her. The same with Peggy. He gets wrapped up in his own stuff and treats Peggy like garbage, and completely disrespects her by throwing money in her face. And when she stops taking it and seeks a new opportunity, he begs her to stay, in a touching scene that has just enough of a dash of "abusive boyfriend swearing he'll never do it again" to make it that special brand of "<i>Mad Men complicated</i>". Don't get me wrong, I absolutely believe that Don respects Peggy and cherishes their professional chemistry and history, but I also think it is important to him that he always remain the mentor and she remain the adoring pupil. But I think Don can be a great person in the moments that he chooses to be kind, which you're right, Jon, these moments seem to be more plentiful these days (credit to Megan, whom I didn't get to discuss much), whether it's paying some respect to Lane's body or taking it easy on the scared and stranded Glen. But Don always gets something out of it. In his night drive with Glen, Don was able to escape from the complications and compromises of living in the world and experience the optimism of childhood. As confusing and scary as adolescence can be, it's amazing how all of those fears can be washed away (at least temporarily) by something as simple as a grown-up letting you take the wheel.<br />
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Again, this may just be me not wanting to let go of Peggy, but I don't see this as her exit from the show. I think this is just the next chapter in Peggy's evolution as a young woman in the career world, which has provided such a nice spine for the show. It was great to see her step into a whole new world of possibilities as the Kinks tore down a few more shreds of the good-old-boy business tactics of SCDP. Maybe I'm selfish, but I don't want Peggy to stray to far from us.<br />
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<b><i>Previously:</i></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-partners-meeting-little-kiss.html">Episodes 1&2 - "A Little Kiss"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-tea-leaves.html">Episode 3 - "Tea Leaves"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-mystery-date.html">Episode 4 - "Mystery Date"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-signal-30.html" target="_blank">Episode 5 - "Signal 30"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-far-away.html" target="_blank">Episode 6 - "Far Away Places"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/mad-men-partners-meeting-at-codfish.html" target="_blank">Episode 7 - "At The Codfish Ball"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/mad-men-partners-meeting-lady-lazarus.html" target="_blank">Episode 8 - "Lady Lazarus"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/mad-men-partners-meeting-dark-shadows.html" target="_blank">Episode 9 - "Dark Shadows"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/06/mad-men-partners-meeting-christmas.html" target="_blank">Episode 10 - "Christmas Waltz"</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-18278140753212647582012-06-05T23:23:00.001-04:002012-06-05T23:23:55.235-04:00MAD MEN Partners' Meeting - "Christmas Waltz"Welcome to the <i>Mad Men</i> Partners' Meeting -- a roundtable discussion of this week's episode from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</span>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men" target="_blank">"Christmas Waltz"</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #f07400; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amctv.com/mad-men/videos/inside-episode-510-mad-men-christmas-waltz" target="_blank">Season 5, Episode 10</a></span></b></div>
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<b>airdate: May 20th, 2012</b></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;">*** Welcome faithful Partners' Meeting readers! Family vacations and just general life events and such have taken ahold of the LBM crew over the past couple of weeks, so we very late with this Mad Men review. But have no fears; we'll be catching up and be back in the grove soon. ***</span></div>
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<b>Jon:</b> Full disclosure -- by the time the final version of this post sees the light of day, I should be maxing and relaxing along <a href="http://youtu.be/x4e53wnInX4" target="_blank">the Myrtle Beach strip, Kenny Powers style</a>. In other words, I wrote this too fast and only about 14 hours after finishing my section for "Dark Shadows," so I apologize for being less than thorough this time. But enough of that. Let's get this party started!<br />
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Okay, in my mind, three major things happened this week: Lane decided to do a little embezzling, Harry hung out with the Krishnas, and Don and Joan basically went on a date.<br />
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First, let's discuss Lane. Turns out my <i>Revolver</i> analysis from a few weeks back was more on the nose than I could have known, because the Taxman is after our favorite British ex-pat for eight large. Trouble is, Mr. Pryce doesn't have anywhere near that sort of mullah on hand, so he hatches a plan to give everyone at the company Christmas bonuses, his being -- wouldn'tcha know -- $8,000. But first, he's gotta convince the other partners to dish it out asap. They agree to the bonus, but not to pay it out immediately, which is too late for Lane. The man is in such dire straights he forges Don's signature and cuts himself a bonus early to take care of the tax hounds. Things seem to be okay for him until the episode's closing scene, when we learn Mohawk Airlines is pulling all of their advertising to stem the financial bleeding from a mechanics' strike, depleting SCDP of expected funds. Surprisingly, the partners decide to give the staff a bonus as planned; however, the senior and junior partners will be biting the bullet and forfeiting theirs. Happy Christmas, Lane! You're in exactly the same pickle you were in the opening moments of the episode. I kid, but I adore Lane, and this is simply awful to watch. Things have continued to spiral out of his control at every turn despite real effort to right the ship on his part (even if it is by shady methods). This could get ugly fast.<br />
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Speaking of characters we haven't seen anything substantial from in a while, Harry actually got a plotline! And got to reacquaint himself with old friend of the show Paul Kinsey, who we haven't seen since the formation of SCDP left everyone but the core characters on the outside looking in. The years have not been kind to Kinsey, who fell down the advertising firm ladder until he found himself working at<i> the</i> A&P. And now even that's looking up, as he's immersed himself in what has to be an early branch of the Hare Krishnas in New York City (this is Christmas of 1966 after all). At first, Paul seems to want to recruit Harry to his new-found religion, but then when they're chowing down a diner, we learn the real reason he made contact with Harry again -- Kinsey wants Harry to use his television contacts to pass along his unsolicited <i>Star Trek</i> spec script into Gene Roddenberry's hands, as if Harry Crane actually had such powers. (Btw, anyone else think it's a shame that Kinsey wasn't better friends with Ken, the sci-fi scribe? He might have been able to provide legit criticism and encouragement for that script, as opposed to the weak television industry connections that Harry could only offer even if he wanted to help him.) Anyway, Harry knows it's an awful script. But so does Kinsey's creepy, but still hawt Juliette Lewis-esque ladyfriend, Lakshmi, who seduces Harry to keep him from being able to help Paul succeed with his writing dreams. But Harry actually does Kinsey a solid and gives him a ticket to LA with some seed money. He's probably doomed to fail out there, but at least he's not under the thumb of Lakshmi and the Hare Krishnas.<br />
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Now to the happy stuff! I know I'm glossing over a lot here in terms how Don and Joan set off on their little date in the first place, but how AMAZING were Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks in "Christmas Waltz"? I never suspected the two of them had chemistry like that. Hendricks in particular exuded more sex in the episode than I've ever seen from her (which is saying something). Every line out of her mouth was jaw dropping. And Hamm just looked like he was having the time of his life every time the two of them were in the same room together. I know I was writing early in the season about how great Don and Megan were for each other, but damn... I never got a glimpse of this before. I'm not sure there's going to be anything going on with these two just yet, but I know this is what I'll be rooting for on the show until further notice.<br />
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Okay, I should really be packing for my trip now. I'm going to have to talk about Joanie and Don more when I come back in two weeks, assuming they give us something to discuss. What say you, good readers? Am I asking for post-hook results of <i>Moonlighting</i> and <i>Who's The Boss?</i> here, or could it work?<br />
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<b><i>Previously:</i></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-partners-meeting-little-kiss.html">Episodes 1&2 - "A Little Kiss"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-tea-leaves.html">Episode 3 - "Tea Leaves"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-mystery-date.html">Episode 4 - "Mystery Date"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-signal-30.html" target="_blank">Episode 5 - "Signal 30"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-far-away.html" target="_blank">Episode 6 - "Far Away Places"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/mad-men-partners-meeting-at-codfish.html" target="_blank">Episode 7 - "At The Codfish Ball"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/mad-men-partners-meeting-lady-lazarus.html" target="_blank">Episode 8 - "Lady Lazarus"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/mad-men-partners-meeting-dark-shadows.html" target="_blank">Episode 9 - "Dark Shadows"</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-63207287128552892582012-05-23T12:10:00.000-04:002012-05-23T12:10:31.315-04:00MAD MEN Partners' Meeting - "Dark Shadows"Welcome to the <i>Mad Men</i> Partners' Meeting -- a roundtable discussion of this week's episode from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men" target="_blank">"Dark Shadows"</a></span></b></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amctv.com/mad-men/videos/inside-episode-509-mad-men-dark-shadows" style="color: #f07400;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Season 5, Episode 9</span></a></b></div>
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<b>airdate: May 13th, 2012</b></div>
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<b>Mark</b>: Oh, Betty. Despite Ms. Francis doing the epically shitty thing of using her daughter as a pawn against her ex-husband, I think some of that season one sympathy that she instilled in me is creeping its way back in. Who, like Betty, wouldn’t be a little peeved to witness Don and Megan’s swinging Manhattan pad and genuine affection for each other when all they had to go back home to was a dark, empty house and a distant daddy-husband? You know you don’t mess with Sally if you want to stay in my good graces, but damned if I didn’t feel for Betty that her greatest source of pleasure in her life currently is a meticulously portioned glob of sweet potatoes. I’m definitely sensitive to weight issues, so maybe that has something to do with it. But I also know how deeply it hurts to be jilted, and although she does not process her feelings in anywhere near a healthy way, there is something to Betty’s anger and disappointment over Megan somehow having access to a sensitive, loving Don Draper that Betty herself never knew. Don’t get me wrong, Betty can be such a dope. After all, she is thankful because “I have everything I want, and no one has anything better”. It’s important to her that everyone else be on a lower rung. That line actually made me laugh out loud and exclaim “What a Betty thing to say!” Yes, I’m an obnoxious TV watcher sometimes. Well, anyway, chalk another one up for Sally’s dying innocence. Sorry, Sal, not even the grown-ups have it figured out. Good luck!<br />
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Now that Megan has flown the Sterling Coop to pursue guest spots on <i>Dark Shadows</i> (in theaters now!), Don has no choice but to reengage with his work. And he’s a little rusty. Not only does his cartoon devil pitch lack that Don Draper feeling, it looks downright quaint next to Ginsberg’s literally in-your-face Snoball campaign. It was painful to hear Don have to justify – TWICE – that his devil ad will work if you hear the scary devil voice in your head. When it comes down to it, Don predicates his idea entirely on the fact that kids like cartoon devils, which to paraphrase Roger Sterling, sounds like a client’s idea if I’ve ever heard one. Like Betty, Don feels jilted and passed up, in this case by the changing world of advertising. He has been checked out for a while (Ginsberg condescendingly congratulates Don on being able to write after not doing it for so long), and is jealous of the new kid on the block. Shades of Betty and Megan. And like Betty, Don takes the petty route and ditches Ginsberg’s mock-up in the cab ride to the presentation, and he sells the client on his cartoon devil after Ginsberg’s work was unanimously chosen as the stronger pitch by the SCDP partners. Maybe Don and Betty are more alike than we thought, and as genuinely supportive as Don is of Megan’s choice to pursue acting, maybe Don can only go so far. As Joan reminded us, Don was once this smitten with Betty back when she was a bright-eyed model plucked from a casting call. As Roger says (I’m quoting him a lot today), it’s every man for himself, and who’s to say Don won’t jump ship the minute he tires of his worldview being challenged? Megan, Ginsberg and the entire world aren’t going to stop moving forward, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Don just ripped the needle off the record in frustration and walked away from it all. Don vacillates between being with and behind the times, but ultimately I’m afraid he just can’t handle all those sitars and tape loops. By the way, I missed the last couple of weeks, but I can’t believe this show was able to license “Tomorrow Never Knows”. How expensive must that have been? <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">Gratuitous side-boob image brought to you by the good people of LowBrowMedia.</span></i></td></tr>
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Continuing the theme of “Everybody’s Selfish!” is Mr. Pete Campbell and his dogged pursuit of Beth. This is more from last week’s episode, since I didn’t have a chance to weigh in, but gosh... It’s the same with Betty. Weiner and pals have a special talent of making their characters act like utter scumbags but having them still somehow be sympathetic. Pete’s motivations come from the most selfish and petty of places, all from his thwarted sense of superiority and unfulfilled need to be seen as important and to guide the narrative of his life, but damn his depression is palpable. He is the saddest little fuck I’ve ever seen, and his need to turn the tables on Beth in order to correct some misplaced idea that women shouldn’t have the ability to guide the course of action if a man believes things should go another way is just mindblowing. Wait a minute, Pete! That tiny speck of ground you have to stand on is crumbling! Watch out below! <br />
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I also appreciated that the fog of dread that has been hanging over this entire series became literal this week, in the form of the poisonous smog which apparently was a real thing and killed 169 people in 1966. I feel like that’s the kind of metaphor that causes Matthew Weiner to literally drool. After that and the incredibly ominous open elevator shaft from two weeks ago, I’m really starting to feel the cold hand of death hanging over this show. Or perhaps it’s the cold hand of Satan gripping his ice cold Snoball treat!<br />
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<b>Jon:</b> Ask and you shall receive! <a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/mad-men-partners-meeting-lady-lazarus.html" target="_blank">Last week</a> I petitioned for some overdue Betty action and, man alive, did I get it this time. She's been busy trying to lose some of that excess weight we were introduced to earlier this season by engaging in some serious portion-controlled meals and attending some therapy sessions (also known as Weight Watchers). Things seem to be on the upswing for her, but the combination of getting glimpses of Don's swanky new apartment, his new wife's banging physique and their lovey-dovey correspondence prove to be too much, and she immediately regresses into the childlike behavior that drove her into this mess in the first place. But as awful as it was of her to spill some of Don's secret past to Sally, it was probably the most fun thing I've seen her do since she was gunning down birds with a ciggy hanging out of the side of her mouth. As much as her character drives me bonkers, "Dark Shadows" was a wonderful reminder how necessary Betty is to the show. She makes almost everything around her more interesting. A lot of trouble was caused this week, as she accelerated a lot of things into motion involving Don and Megan, as well as Don and Sally for the final episodes of season 5.<br />
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In addition to Betty's return, there were a couple of important shifts with other characters that occurred this week, namely the rest of the Drapers -- Megan, Sally and Don -- and young, enigmatic Michael Ginsberg.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zSP6f0Gxp2cX8NGwiQfDvQsRKYLwQT8Gg45eufKhOq_GBTDKxGCxYpHJ-t-ogkSxAtH-YS7UQ8QLKVoXxf5e9g8WTeiR3K39iuEcepd8Pq5TQgCA4qzW9sMLwnkEAG0sCwd4gA/s1600/dark_shadows_megan_sally.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zSP6f0Gxp2cX8NGwiQfDvQsRKYLwQT8Gg45eufKhOq_GBTDKxGCxYpHJ-t-ogkSxAtH-YS7UQ8QLKVoXxf5e9g8WTeiR3K39iuEcepd8Pq5TQgCA4qzW9sMLwnkEAG0sCwd4gA/s640/dark_shadows_megan_sally.jpg" width="640" /></a>Megan continues to buy into her father's disappointment in her life, with this week bringing us a peek at a similar sentiment from her acting friend we last saw at the "Zou Bisou Bisou" party. As her lovely ginger friend points out, Megan's pretty far away from the struggling actress reduced to reading for a cheesy gothic soap opera. At this point, I'm wondering if she'll leave Don to pursue her stage dreams just to struggle for the point of struggling, or if he'll become completely disenchanted with her before she has the chance.<br />
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But cute redheaded actresses aren't the only ones giving Megan a hard time this week, as Sally cuts deep at her with Betty's claws. The revelation of her father's dark secrets hurt Sally immensely, shattering her idealistic view she's allowed herself to build of him as an absentee parent, an image very unlike what Sally's cultivated for Betty. Soon enough, she'll be free of any simple vision of either one of her parents. But Sally's further ascent into adolescence does stop there. This week has shown us she is an absolute master at manipulating every adult in her proximity. She circles around each of Betty, Don and Megan with amazing tact, and one can only marvel at what she'll be able to pull off next season.<br />
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After having spent most of the season avoiding work at such an astonishing rate Roger has probably been the more productive SCDP employee this season, Don finally heads back into full workaholic mode. Bert's chastization from a few weeks back has finally become undeniable, so Don spends part of the weekend alone in the office brainstorming on the pitch for a new client. Really though, this is little more than a residual effect of Megan's decision to leave the advertising industry, as Don's physical and creative wanderings around the office seem a result of escaping his homelife now that it's no longer intertwined with his work.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNY2VztX0FV7ZbcKlvFHQKclPqsDX1e_R5KiMu-1Ej96fUZQc8UqQ16mJaZ6H3WBEv8J8m1NkAw-KTwG4Jg3HPEsgCuuNwo8x7YRvRkdHtrI_3bqzMXvLVMsybVhY_Ab8kKvelNg/s1600/dark_shadows_don_ginsberg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNY2VztX0FV7ZbcKlvFHQKclPqsDX1e_R5KiMu-1Ej96fUZQc8UqQ16mJaZ6H3WBEv8J8m1NkAw-KTwG4Jg3HPEsgCuuNwo8x7YRvRkdHtrI_3bqzMXvLVMsybVhY_Ab8kKvelNg/s640/dark_shadows_don_ginsberg.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
And this new-found immersion in work brings him head to head with rising creative supernova Michael Ginsberg. A few weeks ago, Mark mentioned that we weren't talking enough about Ginsberg, and he was completely right. Season 5 has been peppering tidbits of information on the newest copywriter almost every week, but I never felt I had enough to really sink my teeth into with him until now. As great at their jobs as we've seen Peggy and Don be, Ginsberg has a wild, unpredictable streak that allows for his work to possibly reach another level of greatness. He's incredibly young and knows he's supremely talented, a difficult combination to harness. When he learns Don never brought his Snoball idea to the client -- one that was clearly superior to his boss's idea -- he goes berserk, partly because he knows Don did it intentionally and also because he has no filter. Ginsberg confronts Don in the elevator the following morning. As much as my hearts goes out to the kid for calling him out, Don so effectively swats him away that I'm immediately sent back into his corner. Ginsberg will receive his due accolades if he swallows a smidgen of pride. It just may not be within the offices of SCDP.<br />
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The only other major event that happened this week was Roger hooked up with Jane in her new apartment basically because he decided he wanted to. Not sure if anything significant will come of that, but it gobbled up enough of the episode that it's worth mentioning.<br />
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On a closing note (and also because it actually worked last time with Betty), I'm calling for the return of Lane. I miss that crazy British bastard! Did Pete mess up his face so much, he's gone into hiding? I need to know. And also please more sideboob. See you all again in a few days!<br />
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<b><i>Previously:</i></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-partners-meeting-little-kiss.html">Episodes 1&2 - "A Little Kiss"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-tea-leaves.html">Episode 3 - "Tea Leaves"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-mystery-date.html">Episode 4 - "Mystery Date"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-signal-30.html" target="_blank">Episode 5 - "Signal 30"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-far-away.html" target="_blank">Episode 6 - "Far Away Places"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/mad-men-partners-meeting-at-codfish.html" target="_blank">Episode 7 - "At The Codfish Ball"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/mad-men-partners-meeting-lady-lazarus.html" target="_blank">Episode 8 - "Lady Lazarus"</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000; font-style: italic;">Peggy wasn't a big player this week, but we couldn't bring ourselves to leave </span><i><span style="color: #990000;">this shot</span></i><i><span style="color: #990000;"> on the cutting room floor.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-1281514032958462552012-05-14T10:30:00.000-04:002012-05-15T01:57:41.885-04:00MAD MEN Partners' Meeting - "Lady Lazarus"Welcome to the <i>Mad Men</i> Partners' Meeting -- a roundtable discussion of this week's episode from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men" target="_blank">"Lady Lazarus"</a></span></b></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amctv.com/mad-men/videos/inside-episode-508-mad-men-lady-lazarus" style="color: #f07400;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Season 5, Episode 8</span></a></b></div>
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<b>airdate: May 6th, 2012</b></div>
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<b>Jon</b>: Welcome back, everybody. This week brought us an episode I really enjoyed for a bunch of different reasons, but kinda feels like it'll be one of those that becomes more obvious what it was doing once we wrap of season 5. That makes it a little tricky to review, but we'll attempt it anyway.<br />
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We begin with Pete's insurance salesman friend from the train, Howard, who hasn't been brought up much in our discussions here, but has consistently affirmed my initial suspicions of his being a complete ass-clown in his brief appearances this season. He's so repugnant in his boasts of infidelity, even Pete, who's hardly offended by such behavior, is disgusted by him. Later in the episode we're introduced to Howard's wife, Beth -- played by Rory Gilmore! -- who is stranded at the train station. Pete gives her a ride home, and during their car ride, Pete all but confirms her suspicions regarding her husband's whereabouts. Pete follows her into the house, in part out of concern for her well being but mostly because he seems to want to lie about his lying to her, which rather abruptly escalates into a tryst in Howard's living room. He instantly becomes smitten with her, but for her it was one and done. But if we've learned anything on <i>Mad Men</i> over the years, it's Peter Campbell wants what he doesn't already, or can't, have. Unfortunately for him, Beth may be even less emotionally developed than Betty. Despite all his pursuits of her thereafter -- a midday phone call, a surprise visit to her home, a hotel room reservation -- she does little more than brush him off each time only to tease him enough in the process to goad him into trying again. Judging by her final message at the close of the episode, I doubt we've seen the last of Beth or Pete's chasing after her.<br />
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But the biggest event this week was Megan's departure from Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce to go back to an actress full time. Picking up where Mike left off last week, it really is a shame Megan doesn't enjoy working in advertising the way the rest of the folks at SCDP do. She's absolutely brilliant at it, as we saw during the Heinz dinner in "At The Codfish Ball." But that's probably because she's an exceptional actress when she has to be, and as we were shown by her father's scolding and her obvious unfulfillment after that wonderful Heinz deal closure, this is not what she wants to do with her life. I don't think she's playing a part when it comes to her and Don. I think they both genuinely love each other. That said, Don was certainly more enthralled to have her eating clients alive by his side, so we'll see if he falls into the same indifference with Megan as he did with Betty, which Joan kindly reminds us of. At the end of the day Don wants her to be happy (or at least he tells Roger as much), so maybe he just needs a little time to process it. But would anyone be surprised that this is what drives them apart?<br />
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Ultimately, this is just the latest example from this season of Don's resistance to change with those turbulent 60s swirling around him. While Megan has spent her first days away from SCDP cooking barefoot while enjoying the latest and most experimental album yet from The Beatles, Don has been trying to find an acceptable Beatles knock-off group so they can make their latest client happy. (Sidenote - I take a bit of issue with the inclusion of The Zombies with the other bands mentioned, only because their wonderful album <i><a href="http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/8959-odessey-and-oracle/" target="_blank">Odessey and Oracle</a></i> is hardly one-hit wonder fodder. But, to be fair, that album wouldn't see release for nearly another year after the events of "Lady Lazarus." So because <a href="http://youtu.be/f5IRI4oHKNU" target="_blank">"She's Not There"</a> and <a href="http://youtu.be/ezSMbQKQEJI" target="_blank">"Tell Her No"</a> were their only hits of note to that point, they must have seemed as just another group riding the Fab Four's coattails in the summer of 1966. Also, AMC seems to be doing okay with that whole zombie thing lately, so maybe they were name-dropped for promo-spot purposes.) In the middle of the episode, a perplexed Don asks Megan, "When did music become so important?" From her point of view it's always been important, but Don has only ever seen it as an advertising tool, not an art form.<br />
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For me, the best part of this episode was the prevalence of music, particularly the inclusion of my favorite Beatles album, <i><a href="http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13434-revolver/" target="_blank">Revolver</a></i>. I'm a massive Beatles nerd, becoming obsessed with them in junior high when all the <i>Anthology</i> stuff was coming out, and proceeded to get my hands on all their albums while devouring a number of biographies. That the earlier part of "Lady Lazarus" was spent by Stan, Ginsberg and Ken finding a song to replicate their <i>A Hard Day's Night</i> era sound, The Beatles themselves had already abandoned the sound that made them famous before becoming stale, which would eventually elevate them to the iconic experimental and inventive songwriters we now recognize them as.<br />
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It's curious that Megan would direct Don to listen to <a href="http://youtu.be/spjcPS4ekOA" target="_blank">"Tomorrow Never Knows"</a> first. Not only is it the final track on side two, it's probably the least likely cut off the album he'd enjoy (that or George Harrison's "Love To You," a droning sitar number). Obviously he didn't have the patience to finish it.<br />
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I gave <i>Revolver</i> a listen this week while thinking how it relates in terms to the current state of <i>Mad Men</i> was quite enlightening. Roger would likely enjoy "Doctor Robert," a song about a Dr. Feelgood who has a pill for whatever ails you; Lane would appreciate "Taxman," Harrison's tongue-in-cheek critique on the British tax system; I suspect Ginsberg would be drawn to "Eleanor Rigby," a sublime tale of a lonely woman who's funeral had no attendees, save for the priest; and Pete, at least this week, would identify with "Got To Get You Into My Life." But the song that has really been hard to ignore is <a href="http://youtu.be/J6iAykoKLog" target="_blank">"For Know One,"</a> Paul McCartney's somber ballad that with lyrics such as <i>And in her eyes you see nothing/No sign of love behind her tears/Cried for no one/A love that should have lasted years</i> could be a harbinger for Draper marriage.<br />
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Because <i>Mad Men</i> never sticks any of the characters directly in a monumental event of the time <i>Forest Gump</i>-style, it's easy to forget exactly how much the world is changing around them. But subtle examples are sprinkled in, like the evolution of The Beatles from a mere pop group to the most influential rock and roll band ever. Of our main characters, Peggy and Megan have always been driving toward change and embracing the new, Pete and Joan generally seem to welcome it but are just old enough not to completely abandon the previous generation's ways, and Don and Roger (and the rest of the old coots) have actively resisted these newfangled ideas for the most part. Roger's LSD trip may allow him to be ride this wave of change to a safe harbor of success, but Don seems poised to be headed down a path of diminishing success at the office and a divorce from his young bride all stemming from either his inability to adapt to his surroundings or his mere stubbornness to pine for the good 'ol days. He's going to have set his dreams higher than indoor plumbing if he's going to be able to morph into yet another version of Donald Draper. If he doesn't, then he's likely to have quite a bit of hardship in the coming years.<br />
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<u>Random thoughts...</u><br />
-- Catty Joan is back! I missed her.
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-- Pete may not be as down as he was at the close of "Signal 30" a couple of episodes ago, but he's still an incredibly depressed individual. If the internet rumor mill about a death during this season of <i>Mad Men</i> turns out to be true, I'd say he's our most likely suspect. He just purchased some extra life insurance after all...<br />
-- Ginsberg really works up a sweat during presentations. That was intense!<br />
-- Poor Peggy. When will she learn that staying late at the office alone is little more than a surefire way to get mixed up in her coworkers' relationships?<br />
-- I'm a little surprised I'm saying this, but I'm kinda going through a little Betty withdraw. It's been six weeks.<br />
-- Speaking of absent cast members, I know he's been causing havoc as David Robert Jones over on <i>Fringe </i>this year, but Jared Harris has been missed as well. Would it kill him to use some of that mad scientist tech to transport back to 1960s Earth Prime so I can have a little Lane action?<br />
-- Man, life outside of Bayside High is hard. Mr. Belding is even fatter than when he on <i>Always Sunny</i> a few years a go, Screech is a complete disaster of a human, and <a href="http://gawker.com/5909357/oh-god-lisa-turtle-what-are-you-doing" target="_blank">Lisa Turtle looks like this now</a>.<br />
-- I never liked Vincent Kartheiser much when I was introduced to him as Connor on <i>Angel</i>, but now having to watch him be miserable with Alison Brie and actually get mad at Alexis Bledel for being a little difficult, he's gotta be among the greatest actors of our time. (I kid... mostly.)
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<b> Mike: </b>Really laughing at that last one, Jon. (But also, I gotta agree! And nice work on the Beatles song character analogies.) You know, now that I said that, there's actually a lot I agree with in your write-up above. I think you were spot-on when you said that the significance of this episode won't really be revealed until we get a better idea of where the story is going this season, for any of the plot threads that it follows. I've got to say that at least initially, I didn't find a lot that I needed to write about for this episode. It was reasonably entertaining, and moved the pieces around on the chessboard a bit, but it's still difficult to see where all of this is going.<br />
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To take it from the top, then, Pete's initial success with Alexis Bledel's underappreciated cuckquean (per Google, a female cuckold) housewife was a striking scene, fraught with undercurrent that I hope I never really come to understand in my personal life. Now, we've got a now rather well-established cheater in Pete cheating with the cheated-on, while her husband is in the city cheating on her. On a show where Don Draper has become the poster child for marriage fidelity, I've been trying to figure out who else has been faithful. (Maybe Ken? Is Bert even married? Oh yeah, I forgot about his wartime groin injury.) C'mon, Mad Men and Women, you need to learn to keep it in your pants! If only the cheating wasn't so fun to watch, at least most of the time.<br />
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Now, Bledel's character Beth clearly doesn't have Pete's best interests at heart, but on the other hand, her husband Howard is a complete piece of insufferable trash. Even poor, blind Pete can probably tell that the situation he's putting himself in will never end well. But he still buys the champagne and rents the hotel room anyways. I'll say this for him: in his seemingly endless search for -- what is it, anyways? stability? love? fulfillment? -- he's persistent. And that will probably be what does him in, in the end. Now, it could very well be that this unrequited romance is just another bump on the road for poor old Pete, but it doesn't take a Master's degree in following TV storylines to start to see a throughline over these episodes. And unless there's a major course correction in his life, I'm not so sure that things will ever be any better for him.<br />
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Along these same lines, I got a little chill when Pete was talking with Howard about his family history, and the early, accidental death of Pete's father came up. I had completely forgotten about that. With any further lack of caution and his increasingly more frequent affairs, or at least attempts at them, Pete stands a pretty good chance of losing his family. The Campbell family and his in-laws already can barely stand him, as far as I can tell. Will Pete be able to even muster up the strength to get out of bed in the morning if he loses the two, possibly only, real fans of his that he has? I suspect we are going to find out this season, one way or the other. I'd wager that Pete simply doesn't have the strength that Don did, to bounce back after his first family fell apart. Even a man like Don, skilled in personal reinvention, almost didn't.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuAooCUVar6menfrpV_cG4L7dCRqQN6W_8PgbRWAKO3wx3dV6DYeBRD7OIsLXZIOsNO3HSiehF-8ZDnZSxnFl1Vfn0-v9U0135gjeYyi8KPDHAfiElLqKmVUVIevv_k3froC0EDg/s1600/lady_lazarus_ginsberg_peggy_stan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuAooCUVar6menfrpV_cG4L7dCRqQN6W_8PgbRWAKO3wx3dV6DYeBRD7OIsLXZIOsNO3HSiehF-8ZDnZSxnFl1Vfn0-v9U0135gjeYyi8KPDHAfiElLqKmVUVIevv_k3froC0EDg/s640/lady_lazarus_ginsberg_peggy_stan.jpg" width="640" /></a>The other big happening in this episode is Megan finally giving voice to her desire to leave the advertising field, not to mention SCDP, in favor of her acting career. It happened so quickly -- a tearful goodbye to the other copywriters, a lunch with "the girls," and she's not even coming back for her box of stuff afterwards. After Megan's initial truth-bending about her audition callback, Don is surprisingly understanding, and I am choosing to believe he is sincere in this. He's seen what having unfulfilled passions has done to Betty, and he understandably doesn't want his new wife to go down that road. And perhaps even a little selfishly, he doesn't want to go through all of that again himself. What this means for his recent career upswing, in conjunction with a Megan who has just found her copywriting and client-wrangling feet, remains to be seen. But I think the looks on Don's face speak a thousand words:<br />
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Don and Megan's perhaps overly cutesy, but effective, Cool-Whip routine owned the room. But after Megan's ill-timed departure, and Don and Peggy's disastrous (and stomach-churningly hilarious) second Cool-Whip demonstration:<br />
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Don and Peggy's exchange after this, in front of the awkward lab personnel, was particularly revealing as well. Has anyone ever spoken to Don like that and not been fired? The problem was, Peggy was right -- Don was mad at Megan, not her. (Though seriously, Peggy, you really did blow the whole thing.) The Cool-Whip contract will probably survive. The strain on Don's marriage is a whole different story. It wasn't that long ago that Don was saying that he only liked going to work so that he could be with Megan all day. All of his recent success could reasonably be attributed to the synergy of both Don and Megan working together. So, which Don will emerge from the rubble of this latest development? That remains to be seen, and I'll be tuning in next week, for sure, to find out.<br />
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<b><i>Previously:</i></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-partners-meeting-little-kiss.html">Episodes 1&2 - "A Little Kiss"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-tea-leaves.html">Episode 3 - "Tea Leaves"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-mystery-date.html">Episode 4 - "Mystery Date"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-signal-30.html" target="_blank">Episode 5 - "Signal 30"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-far-away.html" target="_blank">Episode 6 - "Far Away Places"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/mad-men-partners-meeting-at-codfish.html" target="_blank">Episode 7 - "At The Codfish Ball"</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-4074621941151031542012-05-06T13:02:00.000-04:002012-05-08T11:25:15.240-04:00MAD MEN Partners' Meeting - "At The Codfish Ball"Welcome to the <i>Mad Men</i> Partners' Meeting -- a roundtable discussion of this week's episode from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</span><br />
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<div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men" style="color: #01163d; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"At The Codfish Ball"</span></b></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amctv.com/mad-men/videos/inside-episode-507-mad-men-at-the-codfish-ball" style="color: #f07400;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Season 5, Episode 7</span></a></b></div>
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<b>airdate: April 29th, 2012</b></div>
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<b>Jon</b>: Welcome back to another installment of the <b>Partners' Meeting</b> where someday you can spread your legs and fly away.<br />
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This week we start our trip to the codfish ball (whatever that is) by checking in on my homeboy Glen, who is now even extra worldly with a hint of a crustache and post-breakup scars marking his soul. Sally has continued to keep in touch with him via phone since they last parted ways, talking about what pre-teens talk about, which is pretty much nothing. But since she must take the phone from across the hall into her bedroom in order to gab comfortably in private, the outstretched phone cord leads to a sloshed Grandma Pauline to trip over it and be even more unfit than usual to care for Sally and Bobby. However, Grandma Pauline's misfortune is Sally's gain, and now she gets to spend a few days with her father.<br />
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But it's not just Don she has the pleasure to join this week as Megan's intellectual French-Canadian parents have come to New York for a visit. Their marriage is hanging on by a thread, with her hitting on a suprisingly unsuspecting Don at every opportunity while Megan's father seeks solace in a phone call from his publisher's rejection from his latest grad student tryst. The kids arrive downtown in time for dinner, but Sally doesn't like the fish the rest are having, so Megan makes her some spaghetti. The next day at the office, Megan finally cracks the Heinz account after being inspired by her and her family's past with spaghetti and applies it to baked beans. During the usual SCDP dinner courting of the visiting Heinz executive and his wife before their morning pitch, Megan learns that they're about to lose their account after all the lackluster work we've seen over the course of the season (bean ballet, anyone?). She warns Don about it and then prods him to make the new pitch here and now before he flips out and they're fired on the spot. It was vintage Don Draper, enhanced by Megan's presence, and it worked. Everyone's ecstatic over this grand success. Except for Megan, who is horrified to learn from Peggy that this is as good as this job gets.<br />
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Meanwhile, Peggy's relationship with Abe takes a turn for the more serious with a big decision. Unfortunately for him, Joan has psyched Peggy up for a marriage proposal, not the "let's move in together" one he nervously offers. She accepts with concealed disappointment, then invites her mother over for a meal at their new abode to break the news of them shacking up in sin. That goes predictably awful, so badly in fact that they don't even get any cake out of the deal.<br />
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But they weren't the only ones left cakeless. The other big event of the episode was Don receiving an award from the American Cancer Society for his previous work at a hoity-toity dinner, accompanied by Megan and her parents. Sally asks her daddy to be included and he agrees, so long as she leaves the make-up and go-go boots at home. She may finally be allowed to sit at the grown-up's table, but she's still his little girl, after all. Roger, who has been telling everyone under the sun about how great his LSD experience was, is her date and adds to the masquerade by treating her like a Mona in training by bouncing business party etiquette off her and handing out a Shirley Temple when she's showing signs of needing to taper off. All of these moves are incredibly charming to Megan's mother, who finally has a willing partner in Roger to flirt with. Those flirtations quickly escalate to something far more adult than Sally was prepared for after she walks in on them. By the time a dazed Sally makes her way back to the table, she's forever finished with those Shirley Temples and later that night tells Glen that the city is simply dirty. Whether or not she meant dirty in a good or bad way is yet to be seen, but she's officially primed for a new level of trouble to get into.<br />
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Just before that, we also learn why Megan isn't excited as everyone else for her big Heinz win. Her father taught her that "giving up" and selling your soul is the worst offense possible in this world, because Karl Marx said so. She's viewed as being handed all of her successes, even the ones she's illegitimately earned, for no other reason than because she's married Don. Apparently being a secretary by day and a struggling actress by night is the path to a more righteous existence. Has she given up or has she found what makes her happy? Her father certainly has shamed her into thinking she's failing at life, but who is he to talk? She and Don may not be together forever, but when they're on, they're amazing together. But I think Megan's rearing is the latest clue these two won't be able to make it work in the end.<br />
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And with my final observation about this week, I'd like to point out how wonderful the score of the episode was in "At The Codfish Ball." Outside of something overt like "Bye-Bye, Birdie" and this season's use of "Zou Bisou Bisou" being integral to the plot and unlike the bell-ringing that the inclusion of "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" induced last week, the music on <i>Mad Men</i> (and most other shows, really) is often something that rarely makes itself known while residing in the background. But there were multiple times this week where a classical riff from a clarinet (or was it an oboe?) and a piano struck me. It's not necessarily important to the episode, but is indicative of the show's subtle qualities I appreciate from week to week and it was especially nicely done this week to counteract the silence of the characters in those moments.<br />
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Enough about boring background music. What say you, Mike?<br />
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<b>Mike: </b>I’m not as good at recapping events like my
cohorts Jon and Mark here, but I do want to look at a bunch of stuff in this
episode that really resonated with me.
So, here goes: Not to put too
fine a point on it, but Sally Draper really fucking scares me.</div>
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No -- not her, so much as what she could become, so much of
which is completely out of her control.
For an entire episode which could actually be summed up as “how to screw
your daughter up, sometimes without even knowing it or meaning to,” we saw time
and time again how circumstances have created the Peggy and Megan that we know
and love, and also got some terrifying glimpses of what might be going on
inside Sally’s head.<br />
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It’s a credit to the young actress Kiernan Shipka that her
portrayal of Sally is so well-rounded.
We can see the all-but-seething discontent with her life in that huge
mansion in upstate New York somewhere, the only respite being her flirtatious,
precocious conversations with good ol’ creepy Glenn who, lest we forget, in
times past had shared in an emotional affair with Sally’s own mother. Now, Sally has what really in all truth
seems like a loving, caring father in Don, especially the seemingly more
well-adjusted “Season Five Don,” but he’s also kept at a distance because she
does not live with him. Her everyday
life is filled with what seems like an absentee mother and father figure, two
ciphers as brothers, and a domineering (but plucky) stepgrandmother whose
respect she still has yet to earn. With
this living situation, alongside the serial killings and the brewing
cultural-societal tumult of the ‘60s, it’s no wonder that she’s starting to
feel a lot of pressure that she might not even be able to give a name to yet.</div>
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That said, we also see another side of Sally in this episode
that I also buy into -- the girl who loves shopping with her cool young stepmom
and showing off her short-skirted dress, who wants her daddy to think she looks
pretty in it, and who wants to go watch that same guy, the apple of her eye,
win a prestigious award with all of the other adults. Too bad everyone but Sally’s aforementioned dad and stepmom are
determined to behave like children all night.
If it’s not Megan’s constantly warring parents, it’s Roger taking full
advantage of his newly hippified, freethinking outlook on life and also, as
coincidence may hold, full advantage of Megan’s mom too.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Full disclosure time: I have a gorgeous, funny, brilliant,
insane and creative two-and-a-half-year-old daughter who’s got me eating out of
the palm of her hand. (I’ve got an
infant son, too, but I’ve only just begun to fear for his future.) Like I hope most parents do of their own
children, I think the world my daughter, and simultaneously balance the thought
that I can’t believe how lucky we are to have her with the desperate desire for
the sacred and sweet relief of her 8:00pm bedtime. Maybe those of you out there who are parents can relate.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Anyway, when I see Sally, through virtually no fault of her
own, embarking upon the process of losing faith in humanity at such a young
age, it terrifies me to think that as much as I would like to protect my own
daughter from such experiences, there isn’t any honest way to guarantee her
safety. And does it really do you any
good to have faith in humanity in the first place? Well, this probably isn’t the right place for that
discussion. I guess, at the very least,
I would like my kids to have the opportunity to give humanity the chance to prove
itself. And for a child of her
temperament, and who has gone through the things that she has, I’m afraid that
poor Sally Draper may have already cast her vote.<br />
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In other developments this episode, we also saw Peggy seek
out a truthful relationship with her mother, who hasn’t been around for a
while, at least not onscreen. From the
outset, I knew the whole dinner thing was not going to go well, and I spent
some tense moments waiting for what was surely to be the elder Mrs. Olson’s
reaction to Abe and Peggy shacking up.
It takes a pretty nuanced hand to show a child you still love them while
perhaps not completely agreeing with the path they have chosen in life, and
Peggy’s mother has none of it. As a
young father, I (perhaps naively) have a hard time believing that I will ever
find myself in that kind of situation with my children, but should that ever be
the case, I hope I handle it a whole lot better than Mrs. Olson did.</div>
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Finally, I wanted to mention that this may have been the
episode where Megan finally won me over for good. I’ve been so focused on watching the warning signs in Don’s
behavior and predicting what tragic turns her and Don’s relationship might
(still) take that I might have missed all the good there, too. Especially in comparison to Megan's parents! Simply put, the copywriting and advertising
magic that the Don and Megan team create in this episode really show that she’s
not just some arm candy who humped herself out of a secretary job and into the
creative field. She, like Peggy before
her, has really got some talent in the ad arena, and it’s beginning to bear fruit. I really enjoyed the masterful interplay
between Don and Megan as they used every trick in the book to snare a
client. I saw a lot of mutual respect
and depth in their relationship, with both Don and Megan knowing when it was
time to act and when it was time to step back and let the instincts of the
other partner take control. It was a
thing of beauty to see unfold, and I hope there’s more of this kind of success
for them in store.</div>
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Now, last episode, Burt criticized Don for being on “love
leave” in recent times and urged him not-so-gently to get his shit
together. Could it be, though, that
this very same love will be the key to his creative resurgence? Or will Megan’s burgeoning talent begin to
outshine Don’s, resulting in an ugly display of bruised pride? I’m really hoping for the former, to be
honest, but as usual I’m intrigued to see what comes next.<br />
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<br />
<b>Jon</b>: Hey, I'm back! Aren't you excited? Anyway, while trying to find that wonderful piece of piano and clarinet/oboe music I mentioned above (btw, I'm still looking), I figured out what this episode's title is in reference to. Turns out there's a Shirley Temple number in 1936's <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_January_(1936_film)" target="_blank">Captain January</a></i> called, you guessed it, "At The Codfish Ball." So to know one's surprise, Sally's nibbling on that giant fish while at a "ball" wasn't to be taken literally. Obviously Roger's line about cutting her off from her glass of Shirley Temple had another layer to it. Here's the song if you're curious:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Zpqt3zgdYUw" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<b><i>Previously:</i></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-partners-meeting-little-kiss.html">Episodes 1&2 - "A Little Kiss"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-tea-leaves.html">Episode 3 - "Tea Leaves"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-mystery-date.html">Episode 4 - "Mystery Date"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-signal-30.html" target="_blank">Episode 5 - "Signal 30"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-far-away.html" target="_blank">Episode 6 - "Far Away Places"</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-91024538346866943302012-05-05T03:40:00.000-04:002012-05-09T02:05:23.305-04:00Reel Low: The Avengers [2012]<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4IyvoGzuujyP4_Vq8n_7_1v8f0hYb0gylukQukRgUDM3EZpHXJZwmac6LxDnh7Syd2aoyW9cryCBEOADxH9Tn8mr8mq48yQ4oYafsC4WuYRhA_eymKL4t1LtgTC-f0mSRxiMhGQ/s1600/mondos_avengers_variant_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4IyvoGzuujyP4_Vq8n_7_1v8f0hYb0gylukQukRgUDM3EZpHXJZwmac6LxDnh7Syd2aoyW9cryCBEOADxH9Tn8mr8mq48yQ4oYafsC4WuYRhA_eymKL4t1LtgTC-f0mSRxiMhGQ/s640/mondos_avengers_variant_poster.jpg" width="426"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">"The Avengers" by</span> <a href="http://www.mondotees.com/" target="_blank">Mondo</a><span style="color: #990000;"> (variant)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Oh, my god, that was fun!<br>
<br>
I got out of the theater a few hours ago, and I'm absolutely going bonkers over how much I enjoyed <i>The Avengers</i> right now. So much better than I'd let myself believe it could be. If you've watched the five prequel movies to <i>The Avengers</i>, you will very likely love it every bit as much as I did.<br>
<br>
The Marvel movieverse has taken an interesting path to bring their comics world to a mass audience, mixing plot and character points from various storylines and universes that worked best with their casting decisions, today's CGI and the best possible costume design for the screen. Personally, I've enjoyed all of the films from Marvel Studios that have served as precursors to The Avengers to varying degrees -- loved most of <i>Iron Man</i> and <i>Captain America</i> but both failed to deliver outstanding villains, thought they spent too much time on Earth in <i>Thor</i>, forgot to add in the heroic side of the big green machine in <i>The Incredible Hulk</i>, and with its abundance of characters <i>Iron Man 2</i> now looks like little more than a two-hour reminder that <i>The Avengers</i> was coming in a couple of years (despite its good parts). But even those missteps were worth it to make sure similar pitfalls didn't strike for the grand reveal of this superhero team.<br>
<br>
All the best elements from these five movies were woven together masterfully by writer/director Joss Whedon, and then enhanced at nearly every conceivable opportunity. For any fan of <i>Buffy The Vampire Slayer</i> out there (the TV show, not that abomination of a movie), it'll come as no surprise that he was able to bring an engaging and exciting story to the screen, brimming with intelligence and humor while this collection of misfits toys save the world. And with all that he still manages to tug at your heartstrings at times. Essentially this is a "get the band back together" flick with a bevy of characters, but Whedon brought the perfect balance of screentime to all of our main six protagonists and the big bad, while still leaving some choice moments for Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, Maria Hill and even Pepper Potts. While I would certainly have loved to have seen more of certain characters (Hulk!!!), I also don't think a single one of them was shortchanged. And that balance extends to the battle sequences, the quiet moments and the absolutely laugh-out-loud banter. Perhaps most impressive was how he enabled the (relative) newbies of Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow and Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye to fully realize their characters in an action ensemble film, and more-so with Chris Evans, who in my opinion came to embody Steve Rogers with even greater command than in his own movie! And any fanboy who doubted Whedon's ability to direct action before watching this film should find some crow to chow down on, because I think it's pretty safe to say <i>The Avengers</i> is filled with the most exciting string of one-on-one action sequences ever assembled.<br>
<br>
Look, there are things to nitpick here -- I really think they should have been forced Johansson to use at least a hint of a Russian accent, for example -- but these are little more than the extreme grumblings of a uber Marvel fanboy. These are things I think even the most hardcore Marvel zombie can let slide.<br>
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<br>
On the plus side, there are so many wonderful moments for us True Believers, and not just the now-standard Stan Lee appearance. While not at the frequency of past movies, there were still plenty of Easter eggs for the comic fan to appreciate, from Dr. Banner wearing a purple shirt beneath his suit to a reference to life-model decoys to the guy that shows up in the first post-credit scene (and there is a second one, so keep your butt in the seat until the end!).
<br>
<br>
<i>The Avengers</i> was so good, <i>Iron Man 2</i> may have just become better because of its obnoxious prequel shoehorning. Well, probably not, but I at least want to re-watch it for the first time since leaving the multiplex in 2010 to make sure. Jokes aside, it triumphs as the best pure superhero film to date, finally showing all those normal folk out there these comic book stories and characters are smart, addictive, inventive, enthralling, heart-breaking, poignant, and -- above all else -- fun. In other words, they're just as great as any other fantastic work of fiction. Assemble your friends to the theater. You'll have blast.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/05/reel-low-avengers-2012.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-47656808256765941802012-04-30T10:05:00.000-04:002012-05-08T11:25:45.474-04:00MAD MEN Partners' Meeting - "Far Away Places"Welcome to the <i>Mad Men</i> Partners' Meeting -- a roundtable discussion of this week's episode from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</span><br />
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<div style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men" style="color: #01163d; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"Far Away Places"</span></b></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men/episodes/season-5/far-away-places" style="color: #f07400;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Season 5, Episode 6</span></a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>airdate: April 22nd, 2012</b></div>
<br />
<b>Jon:</b> Mark, I completely agree with your assessment of <a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-signal-30.html" target="_blank">"Signal 30"</a> last week being the best installment of the season thus far. Because of that, I was expecting "Far Away Places" to feel a little flat in comparison. But that wasn't the case at all, as there were plenty of great moments once again. This was a week filled with high-level stress, experimentation and fear culminating in big changes for a trio of our principal characters as they went off to new, very different destinations.<br />
<br />
Forgive me if I've forgotten a past episode that has done this before, but I'm fairly certain this is the first time Matthew Weiner and company have played with how time operates within the structure of an episode. Sure, they've given us flashbacks and dream sequences before, but I believe showing us the diversions of three characters took from a seemingly random suggestion of playing hookie between Roger and Don one morning and rewinding to that moment each time to that point to follow a different character's day was entirely new. And what makes "Far Away Places" all the more impressive is each are entirely different vignettes and yet are somehow complimentary when strung together.<br />
<br />
First up was Peggy, who had a rough start to a trying day when the boyfriend fails to understand the pressure she's under at work. And that stress is only exacerbated by Don's removal of Megan before the team can review the latest beans pitch for Heinz. With Don headed to upstate New York, Peggy is left to take the lead of the meeting with the Heinz executives, and well... she simply lacks that Draper magic touch we've come to know in previous seasons in presentations like this. I don't remember Don criticizing the client after the <a href="http://youtu.be/suRDUFpsHus" target="_blank">Carousel speech</a>, which this was pretty clearly modeled after. Following the disastrous pitch, Peggy takes off for an afternoon matinee (an idea she spurned the boyfriend on that morning) to blow off some steam. There, she smokes a joint with a stranger and, for good measure, dishes out a handy. She then returns to the office, sobers up and eventually calls up the boyfriend in an attempt to salvage whatever it is they have left together. Typical day for anyone, really.<br />
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Next comes Roger's day, where he was forced to attend a dinner party thrown by friends of his trophy wife, Jane, after Don swooped away with his plan to go on a business daytrip to a Howard Johnson hotel. Roger's unhappiness with his marriage has been hinted at all season and explicitly expressed by Don to Pete in the cab last week, and feelings between the two (or lack thereof) came to a head in "Far Away Places." Now, this turned out to be a far different dinner party than we saw at the Campbell's house last week. Jane's friends were a collection of snooty, outwardly drab intellectuals who "businessman" Roger who discusses Frank Lloyd Rice in order to fit in, much to their dismay. But no sooner was Mr. Sterling was ready to hit the road when a plate of sugarcubes laced with lysergic acid diethylamide, better known as LSD, was placed before him. (Btw, if you only associate acid with hippies, <a href="http://badassdigest.com/2012/04/22/when-lsd-was-legal-and-cary-grant-was-tripping/" target="_blank">Badass Digest wrote a great piece this week on the drug before it was outlawed</a>. In fact, B.A.D. has posted fantastic <i>Mad Men</i>-related articles each week based on the historical aspects of each episode's background plot threads this year.) Aided by some wonderfully fun camerawork, Roger's trip was fascinating and, at times, hilarious to watch. And because I adore <i>Pet Sounds</i>, I was so, so, so, so happy to be reminded of <a href="http://youtu.be/VyhU2mVyFAk" target="_blank">"I Just Wasn't Made For These Times"</a> as soon as Timothy Leary's wife (or was Roger joking?) hit play on the reel-to-reel as it resonated marvelously with the episode. Ultimately, Jane and Roger get alone in the truth together, reveal their respective boredom and unfulfillment with their marriage to one another, and agree to separate. It was probably the most pleasant breakup in television history. And at that point, he no longer needed his note to get home because it was a beautiful day indeed for him.<br />
<br />
While Roger ended "Far Away Places" on cloud nine after starting out miserable as ever, Don went on exactly the opposite trek. After hijacking Roger's hookie plan as an excuse for he and Megan to escape the office for the day. He's giddy as can be at the prospect of showing off HoJo's orange sherbet to her. However, she's still trying to earn her place at SCDP, so the idea of blowing off her share of the work for an important meeting with Heinz to eat dessert on the other side of the state is not a top priority of hers. She tries to express this to Don, but his insistence to recreate their California excursion from close of last season only elicits a childlike tantrum from Megan in order to get his attention. This reaction forces Don to engage in his own overreaction, leaving Megan standing alone watching his car pull away. I have no doubt the Don of past seasons really would have left her there, but a short while later on the highway, he realizes his mistake and returns to the hotel. But... dun-dun DUN! Megan's long gone, save for her discarded sunglasses in the parking lot with word from the HoJo staff that she hitched a ride with some random dudes. Guilt consumes Don, not just for his parts in that argument, but maybe you've noticed every episode has had talk of a serial killer this year? Yeah, he's fearing the worst while spending the night in the the hotel's restaurant desperately hoping for her return. (Man, how did people then do <i>anything</i> without cellphones?) Eventually Don drives back to their apartment, where he finds Megan. (Surprise! She wasn't murdered.) They reconcile, but I think it's safe to say the honeymoon is officially over.<br />
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So, we have Peggy and Megan lashing out, Roger finally free of his languid marriage, and the veneer of the Draper marriage cracking a bit more. Brian Wilson might as well have been talking about these characters when he composed that Beach Boys' song the Sterlings tripped to. Not too shabby of a week, eh? I didn't even bring up Ginsberg's Martian story or how frickin' awesome Bert is. Will he swoop in again soon with yet another an amazing one-liner, or was this week his "she was an astronaut" of season 5? Tell me what you thought, brothers!<br />
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<strong>Mark:</strong> Damn, Jon. I think saying the honeymoon is over is the understatement of the century. After that extremely disturbing display of Don chasing Megan through the apartment and knocking her to the ground like a serial killer, it's clear that those fucked up power dynamics we were talking about back in the season premiere are growing more wildly out of control. Sure, they seem to have reconciled for now, but that reconciliation was like putting a band aid on a severed limb. I hate to say it, Jon, but I think the "Don's a changed man" theory is officially kaput. I think he's been keeping things pretty well in line, but if his tranquility is shaken so easily by one fight, causing him to instantly revert to Don Draper Classic and leave Megan in the lurch at the HoJos, then I think things don't bode well for these two. You can only have creepy-sexy underwear fights for so long. Eventually the new car smell wears off and you're left to sort out the fact that you have two profoundly different worldviews. Then it's just a hop, skip and a jump to chasing your significant other around like Jason Voorhees.<br />
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It is interesting that serial killers have been mentioned so often this season. Perhaps it's a metaphor for the creeping dread these characters feel as they become increasingly confused and disoriented with where the world is headed. Don is stuck in the past and disconnected from how his business and society at large are changing, and he's trying to force Megan into the role of the subservient wife who shouldn't have any use for work when he wants to rush off to Howard Johnsons to recreate their Disneyland trip. At work, Don has been a mentor to Peggy, and he certainly trusts her ability, but I don't think he left her alone to run the Heinz pitch because he believes in her. The Heinz rep was a dickhead, but still Peggy isn't ready to do this on her own. She needs more experience and guidance before she'll be able to pull off her own Carousel pitch, but Don just doesn't care anymore. The fact that he had to be called on this by shoeless Bert Cooper was just a nice surprise. Don's dazed moment in the boardroom as he watched the young faces of SCDP literally pass him by was a great closer. This season's (nay, series) recurring theme of time passing people by was made literal in many ways in this episode. Time was all over the place in "Far Away Places", mostly because everyone seemed to be getting high (What, no shrooms for Don and Megan? That would have tied the episode together, and I hear they go great with orange sherbet and clams). Between Don and Peggy's blackout naps and Roger's disappearing cigarette, the loose sense of time gave the whole affair a druggy vibe. Drug experiences are hard to capture on screen, though, and honestly I didn't care for a lot of the Roger moments, except for his two-tone hair which was a nice visual metaphor for the duality of Mr. Sterling.<br />
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With Joan and Greg calling it quits and now Jane and Roger having the most existential break-up imaginable (I thought you were supposed to impulsively get married when you're under the influence?), could it be that Weiner and co. are setting the table for the big Draper divorce? Eh, I don't want to get ahead of myself, but Don and Megan have a lot of tests coming their way and I think they're both too immature to handle them.<br />
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I love Peggy. She's so earnest, and Elisabeth Moss' line reading of "It was the beans that brought them together on that cool summer night" delighted me to no end. I hope she and her Trotskyite fella can work it out. To be honest, I liked the non-linear structure of the episode. It played into the definition of <em>Mad Men</em> as being a televisual short story collection, and it continued this season's streak of interesting technical exercises. But I have to be real, I was slightly disappointed that Peggy's story was cut short a third of the way into the show. Part of me didn't want it to end after that superb scene between Peggy and Ginsberg in the darkened office. Beautifully shot, beautifully acted. After his reaction to the Richard Speck pictures a couple of episodes ago, I knew something was up with Michael, and my mind went to the obvious: he was in some way effected by the holocaust. Then I thought maybe the timeline didn't match up. But the fact that he was born and orphaned in a concentration camp just blew my mind, and the way he presented that information to Peggy through his story of being a Martian was the perfect blend of disorienting and deeply sad. Come on, Jon and Mike, you guys have been strangely silent on Ginsberg. I love this guy. Am I alone? <br />
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Overall, I liked this episode a lot. It took some chances, provided some great period detail and in its own weird way kicked the story of this season into gear. Mike will be back next week, so we'll see the rest of you then!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3CFKpGJkCB3tRYKdtBsbHwrl6sBYxdWyMwCgo8V4uRfTo2RePAMx-KNKBwQ4aVcAnxZB6THZQzNsvVRjrZlMCRRhfsA_1KEg2q2aV_jWLQ8EYka8XmsgxHmqt0Csb1oD_ro_ag/s1600/far_away_places_ginsberg_martian_story.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3CFKpGJkCB3tRYKdtBsbHwrl6sBYxdWyMwCgo8V4uRfTo2RePAMx-KNKBwQ4aVcAnxZB6THZQzNsvVRjrZlMCRRhfsA_1KEg2q2aV_jWLQ8EYka8XmsgxHmqt0Csb1oD_ro_ag/s640/far_away_places_ginsberg_martian_story.jpg" width="640" /></a><b><i>Previously:</i></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-partners-meeting-little-kiss.html">Episodes 1&2 - "A Little Kiss"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-tea-leaves.html">Episode 3 - "Tea Leaves"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-mystery-date.html">Episode 4 - "Mystery Date"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-signal-30.html" target="_blank">Episode 5 - "Signal 30"</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-77575833973348792102012-04-24T01:21:00.000-04:002012-04-26T20:57:40.717-04:00MAD MEN Partners' Meeting - "Signal 30"Welcome to the <i>Mad Men</i> Partners' Meeting -- a roundtable discussion of this week's episode from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men" style="color: #01163d; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"Signal 30"</span></b></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men/episodes/season-5/signal-30" style="color: #f07400;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Season 5, Episode 5</span></a></b></div>
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<b>airdate: April 15th, 2012</b><br />
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<b>Jon:</b> DING-DING-DING! Obviously the big moment of the week was the board room duel between two previously unlikely participants, but we'll have plenty on that in a bit. While last week's "Mystery Date" focused on many of the ladies on the show, "Signal 30" was all about the fellas, as many of them flirted with or completely wallowed in their unhappiness and dashed dreams.<br />
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The big exception to this was Don who continued to ride high, while also doing his best at being the ultimate party pooper this season. He's reluctantly dragged back to suburbia by Megan and cunning of Trudy (man, did she out-Don Don, or what?) for an evening at the Campbell's abode, home of a lovely piece of furniture also known as the seven-foot stereo. He assumes he's going to hate it, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't as bad as he expected it to be. However, when you literally get to take off your shirt and tie while turning into Superman and receiving an uproarious round of applause when the damsels are safe from disaster, that'll probably exceed some expectations. The kitchen sink Pete previous thought he had fixed exploding into a geyser was the highlight of the party (at least it was for everyone aside from Pete, who was left feeling completely inadequate - but more on that later). The Megan/Don pairing knows no bounds right now, with her constant pushes him to being more outgoing finding success and his deepening contentment with their marriage becoming more obvious. Unlike the rest of his coworkers, his unhappy past seems further behind him than ever, even addressing Pete's inquiries about his forming philandering ways with, "I wouldn't have, if I had what I have now." We've never seen him this emotionally stable before, and because of that, I'm now convinced their relationship will come crashing down by the end of the season (this is a show that opens each week with the image of a man in a suit falling from a skyscraper window after all). It still feels like Don's changed to me, so it may come with a betrayal of some kind on Megan's part, instead of his.<br />
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Anyway, back to the theme of the week -- emasculation.<br />
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This season has made Roger's presence at the firm less useful by the day completely obvious, but even when he's trying earnestly to coach up Lane for securing his first prospective big cat client, his tactics yet again fail and he has nothing to show for it. However, plenty of this blame falls to Lane, who despite being handed the Jaguar account on a silver platter via a chance social connection, can't close the deal. We've seen this sort of behavior time and time again from Lane. His ability to mishandle a simple situation knows no bounds -- he can't just return a misplaced wallet to the cabbie, he has to track down the owner himself and have lurid phone calls with his wife; he can't just have sex with a Playboy bunny, he's going to fall in love with her; he can't just go to dinner, he's gotta get blasted out of his mind and rub his steak on his nether region. He is who he is. Lane's new-found British friend senses this as well, and waits for the SCDP cavalry to come in and show him the good time he's looking for. And, boy, do they ever.<br />
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The foursome's subsequent trip to a nearby "classy" brothel gives some interesting insight into the current state of mind of Don but more so Pete. Don stays faithful to Megan as he sits on the sidelines (further supporting my "changed man" theory), essentially just coming along for the ride for the sake of closing the Jaguar deal. However, Pete thrusts himself into a hooker's bedroom, but does not consummate the transaction before ensuring she'll be able to deliver with a role-play suitable for his needs. The winner? "You're my King." Boom. Done. After dropping off the belligerently delighted client who has assured them his business is theirs, Pete's sulks with Don in the cab and it's clear his professional success and sexual dalliances still left him unfulfilled. The next day during a Partners' Meeting, Lane furiously barges into the board room to announce that deal was off after our Jaguar magnate's activities from the previous night were discovered rather hilariously by his wife. One smart-ass comment from Pete undercutting Lane's value to SCDP shortly thereafter, and Lane challenges him to a duel.<br />
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Sure, it's exciting for us as viewers, but how did the two most timid members of SCDP culminate to this extreme result?<br />
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Pete may be the star of company these days, but he's out of place among the other partners in their basic attitudes of the world, shaped by such trying life experiences as having fought in a war not to mention going through all that without the benefits of a silver spoon at birth (aside from Roger, of course). His attitude has always reeked of the upper-crust privilege his family squandered away decades ago, but his missteps in the office tended to keep that in check to a degree. Now that he's batting near 1.000 in every deal, those reservations are gone. He's lashed out impetuously at just about everyone recently, but he finally met his match in Lane. Of course, this wasn't the first time Mr. Campbell has been called out to defend his smarmy quips, as Roger proposed the two step outside a few episodes ago. It was, however, the first time he ran into a challenge he couldn't backtrack his way out of with a seething Lane Pryce staring him down, refusing any other course of action.<br />
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As much of a low blow as Pete's cruel statement was, it garnered Lane's reaction because he knew it to be true. He really can't provide any additional value to SCDP, and even he admits his current role is would be better administered by Joan. Lane's list of items to feel inadequate over has grown quite lengthy since we've come to know him, and they likely reached an all-time high at the outset of that meeting.<br />
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The convergence of these two frustrated men results in the Board Room Brawl, each awkward fighter dishing out and taking blows from the other. Ultimately, it resulted in a TKO by Lane, and utter embarrassment for Pete. I suspect the combination of Lane's rage with some training from Her Majesty's Armed Forces long ago gave him the edge over the clearly ill-prepared youngster.<br />
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Now, the boxing match and the sink incident weren't the only occurrences send Pete into his latest fit of self-loathing. He'd also been lusting after young Jenny who's taking the same driver's ed course at the local high school he is. He's buoyed by her initial signs of interest, but when another classmate of hers (a guy literally called Handsome) walks into the room one evening mistaking Pete for the instructor, it's yet another blow. For all his success and achievement, Pete's still just a dude watching the cool guy in class fingerbang the girl he's crushing on during a high school movie.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPO8yFntQgf0W_3o8VonZFi5kfQjRHQXFMZaWCknia-I5Kbr5zbC-Rzy9VYqH3MkLK29GjQBmM84zvR1JMb4WTOanPwB-JlUjlza09Ng4WoJtJlQ0XY0DNcGK8x91om9Gs6UTQQ/s1600/signal_30_pete.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPO8yFntQgf0W_3o8VonZFi5kfQjRHQXFMZaWCknia-I5Kbr5zbC-Rzy9VYqH3MkLK29GjQBmM84zvR1JMb4WTOanPwB-JlUjlza09Ng4WoJtJlQ0XY0DNcGK8x91om9Gs6UTQQ/s640/signal_30_pete.jpg" width="640" /></a>Essentially, he and Don have swapped places from the outset of the series. Pete has the beautiful wife, a cute little munchkin, a house in the suburbs and is absolutely thriving at his work, yet none of it is enough for him, as he claims to Don he has nothing as they descend down the elevator together. For the first time, I've begun to wonder if getting that office window a couple of weeks ago has pushed him one step closer to becoming that faceless man we've watched drop down to the street each week during the opening credits.<br />
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Okay, wow. I wrote a lot this week. I went on for so long on all the above, I didn't even mention Ken Cosgrove! (Who probably got more screentime this week than over the past three seasons combined.) I suspect the subtle notes of his story in "Signal 30" will lead to a big shake-up at SCDP in the coming weeks, possibly involving Peggy. And I'll also leave it to you boys to discuss Joan and Lane's moment. But this was a crazy-good episode! What else did I fail to mention?<br />
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<b>Mike: </b>Man, I tell you what -- I was over the moon for this episode. Going back years and years to when Jon first let me borrow all of his "Angel" DVDs, I have wanted to see Vincent Kartheiser get his ass handed to him onscreen, and this week's episode delivered in full. But it wasn't just that which really hit the spot this time. For me, this was the first week in the new "Mad Men" season where I felt the old Must See TV magic. Don't get me wrong, I've really enjoyed season five thus far, but with this one, the entire team was firing on all cylinders. The whole episode, I was alternately on the edge of my seat, not believing that they're actually going to go through with this, wondering at the character development, and pausing it to catch my breath and exchange bewildered glances with my wife. What a show! What an era of TV we live in!<br />
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<i>(SIDE NOTE: It didn't hurt that we watched this as part of a double-bill with the penultimate episode of "Ringer." Which, if you haven't ever watched it, don't bother. But the second-to-last episode of that series, though not far from the exact opposite of the definition of "great TV," finally delivered on all the trashy, loopy, soapy promise of the series. Unfortunately, the finale went right back down to depressing underachievement. We'll always have episode 21! But I digress.)</i><br />
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Jon's done a great job above of outlining Pete Campbell's plight, and I'm totally on board with the idea that he and Don have, at least up to this point in the season, exchanged places in their lives. Will this last? Well, in my experience at least, "Mad Men" rarely goes to expected places and directions. Ever since the brazen, joyful season three finale, I've been wary of even trying to predict what might come next.<br />
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As regards Pete, here's a little secret about me: I'm a sucker for the "Mad Men" writers' room when it comes to character allegiances. I'm buying what they're selling. What I mean is to say is, my feelings towards pretty much all the characters more or less depend on what's going on in each episode. My wholesale suspension of disbelief with shows I trust is probably more of a fault than an asset, but I'm always in the moment and not thinking about what something might mean or its implications. This episode, though, I swung back and forth a few times.<br />
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Now, I think most people would generally say it's up for debate as to whether Pete Campbell is a flawed but sympathetic character, or an irredeemable jerk. You know, despite that extremely punchable mug, you've got to admit, ol' Pete has his moments. Maybe not good ones, though. Just ask Peggy, Trudy, or any of the various co-workers, relatives and in-laws he's let down over the years, in big ways and small. In this case, I felt for him a little bit as he sniffled his way down in the elevator with Don, but that doesn't excuse his years of privileged, loutish behavior. Nor do I imagine anyone really would stand up for Pete's side of things in this most recent bout of Lane vs. Pete.<br />
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(And I gotta say, I just love the looks on Peggy and Joan's faces when they get a glimpse of the post-duel carnage in the conference room.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyQykoDYvWTb8VTePXDfcE-w6TJ7bxt6HSm6vKXx12j5AZ-C0OEDQRdGm-tD61huhkABgWkUSH2wICowj8jEK0aKA34Q6G1lsR977Wo5c3wb9piob2HOq7MW2H_1FNLheFZpsCQ/s1600/signal_30_joan_peggy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyQykoDYvWTb8VTePXDfcE-w6TJ7bxt6HSm6vKXx12j5AZ-C0OEDQRdGm-tD61huhkABgWkUSH2wICowj8jEK0aKA34Q6G1lsR977Wo5c3wb9piob2HOq7MW2H_1FNLheFZpsCQ/s640/signal_30_joan_peggy.jpg" width="640" /></a>Speaking of allegiances, though, one character I've never wavered on at all is Lane. Despite the occasional straying from his wife, he seems like a solid enough chap. And even though what Pete said in his incident-sparking comment was partially correct -- probably Lane's most crucial contribution to SCDP thus far has been his complacence in their plot to get rid of their former British overlords -- it's Lane's day-to-day efforts that are keeping the lights on in the office, as it were, and which enable the other three elder partners to go about their business in the ways in which they are accustomed. Bert and Roger are used to their idiosyncratic methods, which are productive but certainly not cost-effective or particularly reliable in theirs or anyone else's hands, and even Don has in recent times moved much closer to their side of things than Pete's ethos of unsung toil and hard work. It takes someone like Lane to count the beans and make sure that everything is as it should be every Monday morning without fail. This kind of position doesn't come with a lot of glory, though, and that seems to have been weighing on Lane, especially with the loss of the Jaguar account which he had been counting on as one for the "win" column. After the fisticuffs at the partners' meeting, this is the state in which Joan finds Lane.<br />
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And then he makes the classic sad-sack's error, which is to mistake the kindness of another for a romantic approach. It is to Joan's credit that she opens the office door again, to erase any impropriety and make her intentions very clear, but then sticks around to finish their conversation. I don't see this as the beginning of any love affair. I really don't even see this as being a stumbling block for Lane and Joan's cordial, even warm, working relationship. In the twisted world of office politics at SCDP, Joan probably simply chalked this one up in her head to the cost of being a woman who appears as she does, and who holds the power and position that she does. Only time, and maybe next week's episode, will tell if I'm correct.<br />
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One final note before I have to go. I know there's still a lot left unsaid here about Ken Cosgrove and his secret literary career, but all I could think of when hearing about his various short stories was, "I'd love to read some of them!" Like Jon said, there are definitely some side elements here that will be boiling over into the larger SCDP picture, and sooner rather than later. It's just too bad that Ken's too-adoring wife was the cause of "Ben Hargrove"'s literary end. I hope he doesn't hold it against her too much, especially since he starts right over again that night under a new pen name. Go, Ken!<br />
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Any way you slice it, guys, I'm more on board after "Signal 30" than ever. If anything was missing in previous episodes (which I'm really not saying at all!), this one was a masterpiece. Can't wait for the next one.<br />
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<b>Jon (again)</b>: I decided I really wanted to talk about Ken Cosgrove after all, so I'm back! I've already watched "Far Away Places," so I'll be mum on those details here, but Ken's character took a backseat in favor of others, so I'd like to spitball about him before I forget what I found so intriguing about him in "Signal 30."<br />
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Mike, I'm glad you agree with my speculations about Ken playing a part in the future drama at the firm. Apparently Ken and Peggy have an agreement to take the other with them if and when they depart SCDP (is this the first we heard about the pact? I don't recall it). It seems very plausible to me that he'll eventually find enough success with his writing career that he'll feel confident enough to leave his day job and focus on writing entirely, or at least find employment at another business that Peggy would also be a fit for.<br />
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But Peggy isn't the only one who learns of his writing career this week, as his wife spills the beans on it at casa de Campbell to the group. Ken's summary of his robot and the bridge story is a pretty clear indictment of his role as an account man, taking directions without choice devoid of any possible better judgement. (Btw, don't you think there should be a blog of Ken's short sci-fi stories on AMC's website for us curious fans?!) But Ken's clearly not a robot deep down, he just plays one at the office. If his comments to Megan are taken at face value, Lane may not be the only one Pete has to look out for after ratting Ken out to Roger.<br />
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By the close of the episode we see that Ken will continue to spend his free moments with pen and paper in hand, composing away under a presumably new pseudonym (although I think Peggy is the only one who knows what it is, so perhaps not). If he doesn't, he has firsthand knowledge of what turning into an unappreciated author looks like -- Roger. From the little we've seen of Cynthia, I gather she's a sweetheart and Ken appears to be a pretty genuine guy all-around as well. Right now, he looks like the only character on the show capable of finding happiness, and that won't come as long as he remains at SCDP.<br />
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<strong>Mark</strong>: Hey, guys. Sorry I’m late! I’m currently in the process of setting up my own little suburban (see: Greenpoint, Brooklyn) love shack, suitable for drunken dinner parties and sink-related heroics. Note to prospective DIY interior designers: everything is expensive, but you can’t put a price on a gigantic sectional couch. Ours will comfortably seat two Wilt Chamberlains end-to-end. You’re all invited to our housewarming party, and we won’t take no for an answer.<br />
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Hoo boy! I’m calling it: Best episode of the season so far. This was <em>Mad Men</em> at its absolutely best. A lot of people complain about its deliberate pace and relative lack of plot, but when this show is firing on all cylinders its like reading the best short story collection that has ever graced an English Lit syllabus. With amazing performances all around and assured direction from John “Roger Sterling” Slattery himself, “Signal 30” was a bonafide series classic. Maybe I just don’t recall offhand from past seasons, but it seems like this year the show is taking some new stylistic chances with scene transitions. I loved the match cut from the tapping foot of Pete’s high-school object of obsession to the dripping faucet as he lay in bed, the dripping water and the unattainable girl both taunting the poor, pathetic, angry little shithead. It’s funny. I was talking about Pete and Trudy a few entries ago as perhaps the only functional couple on the show, and this was already in light of Pete’s past infidelities. Maybe I spoke too soon. Jon and Mike, you guys are right, Pete’s dream of being Don Draper is finally coming true, he just didn’t realize what that life entailed.<br />
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Call me crazy, but I feel for Pete. He is a terrible guy in so many ways, from the huge (multiple infidelities, outright rape, denying his child with Peggy) to the mundane (did you see the way he strutted out of the office a couple weeks ago? What a dope!) . But I can’t help but “read” the character as a complete blank who is trying to approximate what he has been told or has observed as being the ideal adult life. How can you be mad at someone who is essentially a non-entity, even if he constantly behaves like a total creep? Okay, maybe my argument is flawed, but hear me out. Pete looks up to Don and seeks to emulate him, but the young Mr. Campbell has no soul. Don is no great shakes as a person, but he has a level of self-awareness that Pete will never possess. Whereas Pete’s blankness makes him ideal for his job, he can be an adaptable worker bee as he brings no prejudices, preconceived notions or any personality at all really to business in the way stubborn Roger does (accidental alliteration!), but it causes a profound loneliness and alienation in his personal life. The guy has seemingly got it all, the perfect wife, the perfect baby (look at that smile!), a high-paying job, and now with a window office, but there is an all-consuming black hole at his core. Sure, he blames the emptiness he feels on everybody but himself and acts out in the most petty, destructive way possible, but I still find it profoundly sad and relatable to watch Pete continually bang his head against the wall. Which is not to say I didn’t enjoy seeing the little pipsqueak get his face rearranged by Lane, the brawling dandy. Don’t get me started on Lane. Fair enough, Mike, Lane is the unsung hero of SCDP. He keeps the lights on, which is an important but distinctly unsexy job. He doesn’t get the accolades or the wide berth that the cool kids get. He’s the whipping boy, who like Pete is trying to assume the secretly empty role of the swaggering All-American hero. Jared Harris has a way of smiling and laughing nervously as Lane that is incredibly heartbreaking. It’s the laugh of the world’s saddest nerd, who longs to be in anyone else’s skin.<br />
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With Pete and Lane, and Roger too, it’s becoming more clear that this season is paying off the threat of obsolescence that has been hanging over the world of <em>Mad Men</em> since the beginning. However, it’s starting to go deeper than just the wide-ranging social upheaval of the 1960s and manifest itself in a more personal way. Pete for instance is starting to realize that he is no longer as young as he thinks he is. He’s no longer a viable candidate for the affections of his nubile Driver’s Ed classmate, if he ever was, and as much as he tries to push against it he has a family that depends on him. He can’t handle this, and being the asshole he is he rushes off to indulge his gross, empty power fantasy at a high-class brothel. The life that Pete never understood how to live is closing in on him, and as he weeps in front of Don for the possibilities he never took advantage of that are increasingly lost to him now, I’m compelled simultaneously to give him another sock in the nose and weep right alongside him. I’ve known Pete Campbells, I’ve felt like a Pete Campbell at times in my life, and I want to wring his neck for saying “I have nothing” in the face of all the privilege and good fortune that has been handed to him. But I think sometimes in the back of all of our minds, there is a dripping faucet that we can’t fix.<br />
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I don’t know if I have much to add about Ken Cosgrove, other than he seems like a swell, well-adjusted guy. I’ll say this, as someone who labors over every sentence I’m able to sputter out, I’m a little jealous of Ken’s ability to let go and write so prolifically and with such ease, but I think he primarily exists in the show as sort of a control group. He is the one guy who will keep his head down and make it through unscathed by <em>Mad Men</em>’s special brand of personal torment. Sounds like fun! See ya next time!</div>
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<b><i>Previously:</i></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-partners-meeting-little-kiss.html">Episodes 1&2 - "A Little Kiss"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-tea-leaves.html">Episode 3 - "Tea Leaves"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-mystery-date.html">Episode 4 - "Mystery Date"</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-67173866985112540872012-04-19T12:21:00.000-04:002012-07-29T14:15:51.592-04:00A Few Words On Cormac McCarthy's BLOOD MERIDIAN<div class="separator tr_bq" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You don't need to take it from me that this Western novel from Cormac McCarthy is a masterpiece - there's plenty of other places online that have <a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/harold-bloom-on-blood-meridian,29214/" target="_blank">made the same claim</a> and with far more veracity since it's publication in 1985 than I will here. I'm merely writing this post to encourage those of you who know nothing of it or do and have yet to embark on it to seek it out. <i>Blood Meridian</i> is without question one of the finest works of art I've ever come across in any medium.<br>
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If you've read McCarthy's work before (<i><a href="http://turinhurinson.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/book-review-the-border-trilogy/" target="_blank">The Border Trilogy</a></i>) or watched a film adaptation of one of his novels (<i><a href="http://youtu.be/aCjnUJjWb38" target="_blank">No Country For Old Men</a></i>, <a href="http://youtu.be/hbLgszfXTAY" target="_blank"><i>The Road</i></a>), you have an idea of what to expect -- it's a tragic, beautiful, bleak, dense and hauntingly violent story. I've only read two of his novels, but McCarthy's prose has an unique ability to make me feel alive in a way no other author I've been exposed to is able to do. And <i>Blood Meridian</i> accomplishes this feat with far more regularity than when I took on <i>The Road</i>.<br>
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Someday I'll re-read this one (something I rarely even consider with most books these days), partly because I'm sure its finer points will have escaped me and also because something this magnificent must be experienced again. I wonder if I'll have a drastically different opinion of it when that time comes, kinda like how some scholars say a 20-year-old will interpret <i>War & Peace</i> vastly differently than a 50-year-old would (and some of those attest that you shouldn't even attempt that one until reaching a more advanced age). I can't imagine at 31 I've read this one too soon, but if I have, it was worth spoiling it.<br>
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So, again, I advocate all of you to open this one up. There have been recent rumblings about an attempt to film it, but I frankly don't see how it'd be done effectively, even by the great Nicolas Winding Refn (so says <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Meridian" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> which means it must be true despite lacking a source), let alone that <a href="http://www.ifc.com/fix/2011/01/james-franco-to-direct-blood-m" target="_blank">James Franco</a> directorial rumor.<br>
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<span style="color: #990000;">After the jump, my favorite passage from the book. Read at your own choosing.</span><br>
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/few-words-on-cormac-mccarthys-blood.html#more">Read more »</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-7083181053080079832012-04-16T20:49:00.000-04:002012-04-27T01:52:54.227-04:00MAD MEN Partners' Meeting - "Mystery Date"Welcome to the <b><i>Mad Men</i> Partners' Meeting</b> -- a roundtable discussion of this week's episode from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"Mystery Date"</span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men/episodes/season-5/mystery-date" target="_blank">Season 5, Episode 4</a></span></b></div>
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<b>airdate: April 8th, 2012</b></div>
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<strong>Mark:</strong> You know, despite its title and the amount of time it spends focusing on Don, Roger, Pete and all the other mixed-up dudes in the ad biz, I feel more and more that <em>Mad Men </em>is secretly (or not so secretly) a show about women. Actually, maybe the title is appropriate along those lines, as I believe that Weiner and the other writers do some of their most powerful work when they explore what it means to be a woman in a Mad Mad Mad Man's world.<br />
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For the last couple of seasons, Joan has been reaping the whirlwind of female oppression in the <em>Mad Men </em>universe. She hitched her wagon to Dr. Greg even though he was a petty, useless little rapist, because she was told she needed stability and couldn’t have it on her own. Greg was going to be a doctor and provide for Joan, but he couldn’t cut the mustard. After a series of professional humiliations, being the scumbag he is, Greg asserted his dominance on Joan to make himself feel like a man. I thought <em>Mad Men</em> would go the rest of its run without having Joan or Greg reference the rape in Don’s office, so needless to say I was very satisfied to witness Joan throwing Greg out on his ass. Greg turning his back on his family (sure, it’s not really his kid, but he doesn’t know that!) so that he can voluntarily run off to play the big man in Vietnam was really the last straw, and I am relieved and excited for Joan that she took a stand. The final overhead shot of her lying on the bed with the baby and her ridiculous mother was equal parts funny, sad and unnerving. I’m worried for Joan. She’s still living in the patriarchal shell game of 1960s America, but change is on its way, and she is free to take control of her own life when she’s ready. I couldn’t help but be reminded of one of the final shots of the <em>Kill Bill </em>saga, another graceful overhead shot, of Uma Thurman weeping/laughing with joy having completed her bloody journey.<br />
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Like Joan, many characters this week were second-guessing the motives of those around them. As the news breaks of the Richard Speck murders in Chicago, a tense undercurrent of paranoia starts to run through the episode. On a side note, I have to say I’m really loving Michael Ginsberg. He’s a hot shot, and he went over Don’s head to a client (a definite no-no), but this guy’s got layers right off the bat. Maybe he’s just a normal person, compared to the callused copywriters of Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Pryce, for not wanting to see the gruesome pictures Joyce brings of the slain nurses, but this deliberate contrast seems to hint at something in Michael’s past. What happened to him? Or are Weiner and co. just trying to show that Michael comes from a place that the relatively-privileged SCDP-ers are disconnected from, a place where violence is very real. Anyway, he seemed extremely uncomfortable and brought that energy to his mesmerizing Cinderella pitch. Great performance from Ben Feldman. Michael Ginsberg understands women. Maybe I just have Richard Speck on the brain, but could Michael be a secret murderer just like Don? Just kidding, but more on that below.<br />
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Anyway, Peggy has Richard Speck on the brain too. After bilking Roger for $400 when he needs someone to pull an all-nighter on the Mohawk Airlines image campaign, Peggy finds herself alone in the dark office. She hears a pounding sound, and when she goes to investigate, the normally bright and welcoming corridors of SCDP suddenly look very creepy. The sound ends up not being a murderer, just Dawn. She can’t get a cab uptown because of the riots in Harlem. It’s interesting to note that Peggy initially thinks Dawn won’t ride the subway because she’s scared of a Richard Speck copycat. This is a parallel to the situation with Ginsberg. The riots present a very real, immediate threat to Dawn, not to mention her day-to-day of just being who she is. She doesn’t have time to get wound up about the murders that happened hundreds of miles away. Peggy, still feeling pretty proud of herself for putting one over on Roger, invites Dawn to stay at her apartment and tries to connect with her as a fellow female trying to make it in a man’s world. Unfortunately, Peggy is too caught up in her own narrative and never really listens to Dawn, who unsurprisingly doesn’t seem to care about being a copywriter. And in a few agonizing seconds as Peggy hesitates to leave her purse alone in the living room with Dawn, it seems like the door has been closed on any friendship that may develop between them. Peggy started out questioning the motives of the people around her, and ended up questioning herself.<br />
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I’ve made some tongue-in-cheek pronouncements about Sally’s importance to the series, but I’m really kind of serious about that. The ongoing slaughter of Sally’s innocence has been one of the most compelling aspects of the show for me. And just as she found herself drawn to the coverage of JFK’s assassination, poor little Sally can’t help but seek to satisfy her morbid curiosity about the Speck murders. Locked in the house with Grandma Pauline on a long, hot summer day, Sally too learns the hard lesson that she is in danger, in this case from men simply because she is a woman. Puberty is going to be brutal for Sally. While it was nice to see Pauline humanized a little bit and taking it easy on the young Ms. Draper, I sure hope Sally doesn’t think Secanol is the cure for what ails her.<br />
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I won’t say too much about Don’s storyline. This show has a problem with corny dream sequences, but I think this one was probably the least problematic of the series for me. I thought it captured the logic of dreams very well, and Madchen Amick continually showing up evoked the anxiety within a dream when you just can’t stop something from happening no matter how you try. Don attempting to wrestle with and kill his own predatory side was interesting, and gives credence to Jon’s theory that he is a changed man, but... I don’t know, it’s also starting to feel that the writers are just sidelining Don as a character quite a bit this season. I’ll reserve judgment on that one.<br />
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So what do you guys think? Are you happy Joan got rid of Greg? Will it stick?<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Mike:</span> Okay, first off, let's talk about the elephant in the room. A lot of people have been looking at me strangely in the streets and hallways this week because of the -- let's be honest -- wholly prescient comments I made in our last installment about Don becoming a Tony Soprano-esque murderer. I don't have any connections at AMC in the script department or any special knowledge of the upcoming season, but if there's one thing I know, it's Don Draper. It was only a matter of time until he took another step towards becoming the next Hannibal Lecter or Dexter Morgan. C'mon, guys, you just need to watch the show a little bit closer. It's all there, you just need to start paying attention, like I clearly have been.<br />
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BUT SERIOUSLY THOUGH, I thought it was pretty funny that, even though a post-coital Don squeezing the life out "Twin Peaks" alumna Madchen Amick was just a fever dream at best, there was definitely a part of me that wouldn't have been all that surprised to see the next scene be in a morgue or arraignment room. Don't get me wrong. I'm definitely rooting for Don (and company) to come out on top by the end of season seven. That said, this dream of his once again, for me, underscores again the bleak pragmatism of the Don Draper persona. To become the man he is today, and to remain that man in public and in private, Don has had to step over a lot of bodies, both in the figurative sense as well as literally in the case of the man whose name and life he stole. We've seen a more relaxed and personable Don this season and last (he even did some journaling!) but it's little grace notes like this dream and his behavior after the ill-fated birthday party that remind us that his other side is still in existence.<br />
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I like what you're saying, Mark, about "Mad Men" and its women. Yes, we are ostensibly tuning in each week to see what kind of hijinks Don is going to be pulling this episode. But the stories of the show's women, when the focus is turned there, can be just as compelling. If I had to pick just one for some reason, I've always identified more profoundly with eternal (but scrappy) underdog Peggy than with Joan, and it's not just because my office sexpot days are over. This week, I enjoyed the delicious tension ("Should I take my purse full of Roger's money off the coffee table or not, because it might look like I'm a racist? Because, you know, it does kind of mean that I am one if I do!") between Dawn and Peggy during the impromptu sleepover, and I hope to see more interaction between the two nascent friends as the season continues.<br />
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On the other side of town, we witness some pretty explosive events in Joan's life that, I'm sure, will only serve to pave the way towards her inevitable return to the SCDP offices. Her decision to sever ties with (as the Internet has deigned to name him) "Dr. Rapenstein" can only be described as brave. She still has a potential benefactor in Roger, who after all has been throwing a lot of money around lately and, even more importantly, is almost definitely the father of her child. In kicking Greg out, though, how much closer did she come to becoming just like her mother, who she can barely stand even in small doses and is on the verge of kicking out herself?<br />
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I enjoyed the throughline of the serial killer news story as it ran through the various environments and ecosystems of the show, too. From once again giving Megan an excuse to be disgusted with her workmates, to Don's dream which surely had at least something to do with his hearing about the elements of the story, to Sally cracking the stony exterior of Grandma Pauline, that huge butcher knife, and certainly not the last pill that young Ms. Draper will ever pop... what a great bunch of scenes.<br />
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Meanwhile at SCDP, Mike Ginsberg is busy letting Don down and proving that he's maybe not the golden boy that everyone thought he might be, Roger is losing his touch, and was Lane even in this one? Anyways, allergies and work pressures are going to make me cut this one short this week, but all in all I thought "Mystery Date" was a pretty darn fine episode.<br />
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<b>Jon:</b> I dug this week a lot too, Mike, even though I felt it was rather obvious from its beginnings that Don's murderous tirade was little more than a fever-induced dream. But there were plenty of other juicy bits throughout "Mystery Date" that more than made up for it.<br />
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The Joan/Greg breakup was unpleasant to watch, but wholly necessary. However, I fear things may get worse for Joanie before they turn around -- Roger may be that kiddo's pop but he's not going to be admitting that any time soon (if ever), reinserting herself back into life at SCDP likely won't go as well as she expects, and her mother is probably going to be around to bother me as much as Joan. But I also expect Greg to come back in a box before the divorce is able to be finalized, thus saving her from the dire straights I expect in the coming weeks.<br />
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As far as the Mad Wo-Men (betcha no one's ever thought of that one before!), yes, yes and yes. I've long loved our principal ladies (aside from Betty, as I brought up last time). To illustrate this, I will now tell a brief tale that you'll have to take my word on, but I swear it's a true story. Being a single fella in these modern times, I've had myself an online dating profile or two over the years. Having listed <i>Mad Men</i> as one of my favorite shows in some of those, one interested party asked me during a wonderfully awkward email exchange which character I related to most on the show, or maybe it was some other similarly pompous English major-esque inquiry, but I'm pretty sure this potential mystery date just wanted to know which misogynist I would compare myself to. But I was super bored that day and decided to answer her question honestly -- for my own curiosity more than hers. After a bit of deliberation, like Mike, I too realized it was Peggy Olsen that I best fit the mold of, being that she's forging her way through the workplace to find herself in the world, among other things (this was a few seasons ago before she'd established herself as an ace copywriter). So while Don's exploits generally take center stage week after week for me, I rarely am disappointed to share time with Ms. Blankenship and company.<br />
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And this was a particularly great week for the ladies to step into the spotlight since Don was hallucinating and bedridden for much of the hour. In his absence we were still treated to his two most prominent protegees displaying his power-play techniques. Peggy railroaded Roger's weak resolve as well as his wallet in record time during their negotiation, and while nowhere near as successful, Sally did her best to outwit Grandma Pauline by utilizing a couple of different tactics.<br />
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Speaking of which, Sally and Pauline impromptu sleepover was my favorite part of the week. I'm probably in the minority on this one, and it's the one tidbit I forgot to mention last week, but I've always liked the elder Mrs. Francis. Going back to last season, she sees through everyone's bullshit and is not shy about calling it out to those who need to hear it. Her frank conversation with Betty in "Tea Leaves" was marvelous. This week, she continued that stern manner with Sally only to have the Draper charm pulled on her, getting her to admit that perhaps she was a bit harsh. From there, the two begin to come to an understanding, if not a full-fledged bonding. Can't wait to see what she teaches Sally next time.<br />
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Now, I know I essentially dismissed Don's segment briskly at the start of my recap here, but I suspect there was something to be gained from it for future episodes. The dream was clearly a manifestation of his true nature, and it'll be interesting to see if he'll actually try to change that behavior to keep his marriage with Megan intact or if this is merely a sign of things to come. Personally, I'd like them to stay together happily for a while, but expect it's all but inevitable that their relationship will ultimately collapse. Any way, there's still plenty of time until that happens! See you guys back here next week.<br />
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<b><i>Previously:</i></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-partners-meeting-little-kiss.html" target="_blank">Episodes 1&2 - "A Little Kiss"</a><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/mad-men-partners-meeting-tea-leaves.html" target="_blank">Episode 3 - "Tea Leaves"</a>Mark C. Bisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01830538479427051223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-80862790582865052562012-04-08T03:05:00.000-04:002012-04-08T12:06:38.625-04:00MAD MEN Partners' Meeting - "Tea Leaves"Welcome to the <b><i>Mad Men</i> Partners' Meeting</b> -- a roundtable discussion of this week's episode from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"Tea Leaves"</span></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men/episodes/season-5/tea-leaves" target="_blank">Season 5, Episode 3</a></span></b></div>
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<b>airdate: April 1st, 2012</b></div>
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<strong>Mark</strong>: The times they are a-changin’ on <em>Mad Men</em>, and as the 60s are starting to become the <strong><em>real</em></strong> 60s, our favorite WASPy white folks at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce are starting to feel the pinch. Don has brought in a new African-American secretary named... uh, Dawn, an ambitious Jewish copywriter named Michael Ginsberg is gunning for Peggy’s spot as the firm’s rising star, Pete is pushing Roger further into the scrap heap over the Mohawk Airlines deal, and Megan Draper and the rest of the young folks are grooving to the crazy sound of the Rolling Stones. Roger and Don are struggling to understand what happened as the world continues to evolve beyond them, and they are bitterly coming to grips with the fact that they are no longer the coolest guys in the room.<br />
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That fear of being passed by and the subsequent search for meaning is an overarching theme of the episode, and it is especially prevalent in the main storyline. Betty has put on a bit of weight since we last saw her (January Jones was pregnant for the first half of the season, and her extra pounds are augmented here by an awkward neck prosthesis and an even more awkward body double). She is encouraged by her awful mother-in-law to get prescription diet pills from her doctor, but the doctor ends up finding a tumor on Betty’s thyroid. With her death possibly imminent, Betty reflects on her place in the world as she waits for the biopsy results <em>Cleo from 5 to 7</em>-style, and she finds her suffocating, unexpected life of quiet desperation lacking. This is a heavily Betty-centric episode, so your enjoyment of this week’s <em>Mad Men</em> installment really comes down to how you feel about her.<br />
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In the earlier seasons of the show, I found Betty to be an extremely sympathetic and deeply sad character. A jet-setting model who suddenly found herself as a suburban housewife with two kids, Betty’s struggle to cope with absolutely no coping skills was touching. No matter how awful she was to Sally (who, let’s not forget, is the fulcrum on which the entire show pivots), she was also being taken advantage of by Don, he was eavesdropping on her therapy sessions by proxy, and she was carrying on a very creepy and very sad friendship with that little weirdo Glen down the street. She was a confused child. But at some point, my sympathy dried up and Betty became just awful. Jones has always been a limited actress. I feel like detached, depressive sullenness is right in her wheelhouse, and any note that she is asked to play beyond that exceeds her grasp, but I also think the writers aren’t doing her any favors. But really, who wouldn’t want to give up and have a second ice cream sundae if they were in Betty’s shoes? She’s shut off from the world in a giant, musty Addams Family house with only a horrible ghoul of a mother-in-law around to remind her that her expiration date is approaching, and she’s doomed if she doesn’t do all she can to preserve her only value, her attractiveness to her husband. That’s a pretty sympathetic situation, but I don’t know. I can’t relate to Betty anymore. Something has changed. Ultimately, her tumor is benign, but she is still deeply depressed and wearing that depression with Bugles and hot fudge. Not sure what’s going to happen there, but at least Sally got some ice cream and sparklers. Phew!<br />
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If I’m not making myself clear, I didn’t really like this episode. It was a step down from the premiere, which I thought was very strong and entertaining. This episode was stylistically strange. I didn't care for the overtly symbolic dream sequence, and there were a few jarring dissolves that didn’t quite work for me and a few moments I felt were too on the nose. The civility between Don and Betty was interesting, as was the fact that Don was so gutted by the possibility of losing his ex-wife, and the ways in which Don and Betty’s new spouses react to that continuing connection will be fun to observe. But the phone call between Don and Betty where she asks him to tell her everything would be okay seemed very un-<em>Mad Men</em> to me.<br />
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Shit, I’ve spent a lot of time talking about Betty. I’m eager to hear what you guys think, so I’ll wrap it up. I liked Don’s interaction with the backstage teenybopper, which was pitched somewhere between a concerned parent, an old man envious of her youth and a market research coordinator, but I thought the rest of the business with the Rolling Stones was a little too goofy. At least Don didn't have sex with her. Harry doesn’t want to go home. He’s definitely headed for Divorce Town, USA. Lowbrow has its roots in the great state of Pennsylvania, so I was glad to hear Pittsburgh get a shout-out from the Heinz guy. Of course he is painted as an out-of-touch boob who thinks the Rolling Stones will shill for baked beans, but I’ll take what I can get. Anyway, we’re the new Portland now, so Pittsburgh gets the last laugh.<br />
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What did you think, Jon/Mike? Where do you stand on Betty? Did you like “Harry and Don go to White Castle”? How about Ginsberg? As long as he doesn’t get in Peggy’s way, I actually like this guy a lot. And I thought it was hilarious that he and Roger bonded over wanting to throw things out of the window.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Mike:</span> Betty, Betty, Betty. Look, I dunno, man. I'm going to spend this whole time talking about her, too. But where to begin? As I courageously and iconoclastically stated in last week's installment, I'm kind of a fan. I like Skylar on "Breaking Bad" way less than I like Betty Hofstadt Draper Francis, even though both can be a real shrew. I want Betty to be happy, despite the fact that she is selfish, and has made a lot of bad decisions, and has undoubtedly poisoned her own children as a result. It's not completely her fault, but she's got at least one failed marriage under her belt, and her looks ain't what they used to be (thanks to some real-life circumstances and a little help from Peggy's season one fat suit). Things could go either way for her at this point.<br />
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[Side note: Mark keeps insisting, with maybe his tongue in his cheek and maybe not, that Sally's going to be important, that she's important even now. Well, I think Kiernan Shipka's portrayal of her is great, and I hope Sally the character can pull through with minimal permanent damage, but I keep coming back to feeling that she, even more so than little Gene or Bobby, is going to reap what her parents have sown.]<br />
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Now, with "Mad Men," we're ostensibly supposed to be rooting for Don. It's his animated representation, after all, that has been committing suicide in the credits each week for five seasons now. He's no Tony Soprano-level sociopath -- while he has shadings of it, and if he ever does end up committing murder onscreen (for, I'm sure, an excellent reason and with nothing but the best of intentions) I wouldn't be all <span style="font-style: italic;">that</span> surprised.<br />
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This week, though, it's Betty's episode, and everything that Don does is either focused on, or filtered by, his feelings over whatever relationship remains between them. His cruel, cold side (let's go ahead and call it his "Don Draper" construct), who maintains absolute control of the meeting room, who can be so terrifying to me when he rears his ugly head, takes a backseat this week to some genuinely warm feelings and sentiment toward his ex-wife. Is Dick Whitman actually the one who shares empathy with others, who is starting to really concern Peggy with his kindness and patience in the office, and who is genuinely worried about Betty's physical well-being? Or does this cognitive dissonance theory of mine just sound incredibly stupid?<br />
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Anyway, a while back when Betty and Don traveled to Italy and a magical time was had by all, I thought that there might have been some hope, however slim, for sustaining their marriage. But as it turns out, that's been over for a while now. Both Don and Betty have moved on, with their children still providing a lasting tie between them. As that distance from their sustained everyday struggle produces a kind of memorial fondness, and as they fall back into familiar patterns of relying on each other for support, I'm forced to ask the question: is this really over?<br />
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(Yeah, I think it is, mostly.)<br />
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I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree with you, Mark, about the scene where Betty begs Don to reassure her. When he calls her "Birdie," and she asks him to say that everything was going to be okay like he used to do, it broke my heart a little bit. Am I just a big romantic at heart? Has Matthew Weiner lost his touch? Nah. It's interesting, really, to see how unguarded both Don and Betty can be with each other now that there is relatively little at stake, at least relationship-wise, between them. In a lot of ways, Megan Draper and Henry Francis will always be on the outside of these matters. Henry's palpable frustration at the end of the episode was telling. Though he keeps up a front of negligible civility with Don, as far as this New York State governor's advisor is concerned, the less of that guy in their lives, the better. Don will always be a threat to whatever the perceived stability is in that big, drafty mansion of theirs. For that matter, though, I don't think that what Don and Megan have is actually all that stable or permanent, either.<br />
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Okay, I've successfully avoided talking about everything else that went on in this episode, but the above is what stuck with me the most. Yeah, I'm pretty certain that this will not end up being my favorite episode of the new season. That said, I trust Weiner et al, and they've more than proven that they're capable long-form storytellers of the highest caliber. Wait and see, guys. This is gonna be a good one.<br />
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<b>Jon:</b> Sorry for lagging so behind on this article this week, fellas. I'm still basking in the sheer awesome that was the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOHFODnnZik" target="_blank"><i>Spartacus</i> finale</a> a few days before.<br />
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I'm totally with you guys on not being particularly wild about this episode. And you know why? Too much Betty for my taste. She was entirely absent from the two-hour debut last week, so she was due a bit of screen time to keep us up to date with where she's at, but I'd be happy if she was off spending these episodes at a party with Sal Romano, Freddie Rumsen, Duck Phillips, that douche who got his foot hacked apart by the lawnmower, and the other members of <i>Mad Men</i>'s past now lost to the abyss of disregarded characters.<br />
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Okay, I admit that was a little overboard and somewhat exaggerated, but I've never been a big fan of Betty's. Her immediate reaction after learning her tumor was benign says it all to me: "I may be cancer-free, but I'm still fat. Pass the Bugles." Perhaps I'm nothing more than a heartless bastard, but knowing that she's emotionally equipped as a third-grader to deal with the trials and tragedies of adulthood has engendered giant swaths of disinterest from me. Plus, now that she's on the periphery of the lives of the actual centerpieces of the show (Don and Sally*), I suspect her character will continue to fail to excite me until she snaps herself out of this funk.<br />
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<i>* Is Sally Draper really the nexus of </i>Mad Men<i> as Mark asserts? I'm highly skeptical, but I've yet to derive a convincing counterpoint, so I'll roll with it for now.</i>
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<br />
Since you two covered just about everything there is to analyse about Mrs. Francis in episode 3, I'll branch out into an area I believe will be one of the more intriguing aspects of season 5 going forward - the unlikely alliance of Roger and Peggy in the coming weeks.<br />
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Mark, I think you're spot on with Ginsberg. He's great in his manic honesty, but the moment near the end of the hour with his father illustrates the potential that he'll be more than just SCDP's Jewish Stan, magically pulling resumes from his sleeves from his stupendous blazer on command. Speaking of Stan, I believe his warning Peggy to stick to hiring mediocre talent will prove to be prophetic, because although none of us wants to see Ginsberg get in Peggy's way, it seems crystal clear to me these two are headed for a major collision in a few weeks, assuming she doesn't find a way to oust him before it gets to that stage.<br />
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Of course, Roger is already embroiled in an ultra-competitive workplace showdown. Pete once again proves himself as being far more valuable than Roger in this post-Lucky Strike world, and has become increasingly brazen in rubbing Roger's nose in it to boot. After the embarrassing Mohawk presentation, a defeated Roger asks Don when will it all get back to normal -- a line that speaks to his (and his compadres, for that matter) reluctance to see the cultural upheaval of the times swirling around him has already become the norm as much as he intends it for he and Don's immediate troubles -- and it's hard to say for sure if this conflict with Mr. Campbell is a dead end or merely a speed bump for him. My guess is Roger's still got some fight left. Whether or not he's still a contender is yet to be seen.<br />
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And even if this Roger/Peggy partnership fails to come to fruition, I think the similarities between their storylines will still be ripe for dissection.<br />
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A few other bits that crossed my mind this week:<br />
-- Ah, White Castle. Home to cinematic potheads since 1966.
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-- "Who was it?" "Nobody." Harsh, bro. Even <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2012/03/mad-men-romney-clown-george-mitt" target="_blank">that clown Romney</a> wouldn't have gone that far.<br />
-- Mark, I was also relieved Don didn't sleep with the Stones' groupie, which is probably a first. When she stole his tie, I was swept in a mild panic. I'm usually all for his philandering as it's often coupled with some brash decision-making in other areas in his life. Nothing of the sort this time around on either front.<br />
-- <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqIkO96YYm0" target="_blank">David Letterman</a> would have a field day with Don/Dawn.
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-- Judging by Betty's dream/nightmare this week, I think we can ascertain that Matthew Weiner played a large role in those <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8hUcqtRNWs" target="_blank">similarly forced sequences</a> during his time with <i>The Sopranos</i>. He did not learn his lesson.<br />
-- Mike, Skyler White and Betty Francis may be shrews, but they ain't got shit on AMC's queen biotch, Lori Grimes.<br />
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<b><i>Previously:</i></b><br />
<a href="http://lowbrowmedia.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-partners-meeting-little-kiss.html" target="_blank">Episodes 1&2 - "A Little Kiss"</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11263784.post-3410911595909207382012-03-31T21:25:00.000-04:002012-03-31T21:25:09.195-04:00MAD MEN Partners' Meeting - "A Little Kiss"<div>
Welcome the inaugural installment of a new feature here at LBM, the <b><i>Mad Men</i> Partners' Meeting</b> -- a roundtable discussion of this week's episode from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"A Little Kiss"</span></b></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amctv.com/mad-men/videos/episode-501-502-mad-men" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Season 5, Episodes 1 & 2</span></a></b></div>
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<b>airdate: March 25th, 2012</b></div>
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<b>Jon:</b> Ah, yes... the long-awaited premiere of season 5. Eighteen months have passed since season 4 wrapped up, which you'd think would be plenty of time for things at our favorite Madison Avenue advertising agency to alter radically from where we last left them.<br />
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However, much to my surprise, things are basically the same with most of the folk of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce as we left them. Business is "stable" at SCDP, aka money isn't a colossal concern but, as Lane reiterates throughout "A Little Kiss," they're not hiring for any new positions at this time. Relationship-wise, Don and Megan are now married and beaming at the outset of the episode, complete with a (I think) pleased Sally fixated on them at every moment; Peggy is still with her activist/journalist boyfriend from last season; Joan's rapey jerk of a hubby has yet to return from Vietnam, but sadly she's still technically with him; poutyface Pete has the audacity to be all pouty with Trudy (who I keep waiting to break scene and <a href="http://i52.tinypic.com/2wd55aq.gif" target="_blank">laugh with Abed</a> every time she's onscreen), but they too appear stable-ish at the moment; Roger and Jane probably won't last much longer because Roger is Roger, but they're hitched too; Lane has visions of striking up another affair but continues to abide by his wife's nagging; Kenny Cosgrove is still with the grown-up version of the girl who played <a href="http://images03.olx.com/ui/11/24/47/1300911913_180411747_4-Adventure-What-Fear-Have-You-Joshua-Oleynik-Larisa-Oleynik-For-Sale.jpg" target="_blank">Alex Mack</a>; Harry remains married and pathetically embarrassing as ever; and, shocker, Stan's still single and rushing off to the bean ballet. Oh, and Bert appears to need nothing more than office space to pace about in his socks. We don't get to see what Betty's been up to this episode, but I'm sure it'll be something to allow us to despise her in new ways.<br />
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Meanwhile, most of the differences here at the outset of season 5 are relatively minor but enough to mix up the dynamic at SCDP a bit, namely Joan has given birth to a baby boy and has been on maternity leave for a number of weeks, and Megan has now graduated from her secretary post to a junior copywriter at the firm.<br />
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Undoubtedly, this episode belonged to Jessica Pare's <a href="http://cheatsheet.tumblr.com/post/19956481064/what-was-that-sultry-song-megan-sang" target="_blank">Megan Draper</a>, who took an amazing leap from just the intriguing, yet ultimately random girl with the crazy teeth Don decided to propose to rather impulsively at the close of season 4 to a fully rounded character who while revealing her great joys and sorrows allowed us to examine Don's in new ways as well. Which leads me to the crux of the "A Little Kiss" and perhaps some insight to one of the major themes of season 5: is Don Draper a new man?<br />
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Following the disastrous meeting with the executives from Heinz where Don failed to save the pitch as we've become accustomed to, a distraught Peggy has this exchange with Stan:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"I don't recognize that man. He's kind. And patient."<br />"And it galls you."<br />"No, it concerns me."</span></blockquote>
Of course, this happy version of Don doesn't last long. But even after his fury over the party subsides, he does seem to possess a sort of peacefulness when he's with Megan that has alluded him for any length of time with Betty and his many conquests we've been privy to. There lies the possibility he's entered a new stage in his life.<br />
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So what say you? Am I way off-base with my Don theory? Were you as mesmerized by Megan as I was? <i>Is</i> Pete going bald?<br />
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<b>Mark:</b> Jon, I don’t think you’re <i>completely</i> off-base with your Don theory. He certainly seems more at ease with himself this year, and the fact that he is able to be so open with Megan about his past speaks volumes about his emotional development and the overall health of their marriage (at least relative to Don’s marriage to Betty). By the way, how great is this show at trickling out exposition? Megan knowing that Don is actually Dick Whitman is quite a bombshell, but Weiner and the other writers let that information pass breezily in the midst of a conversation. That kind of stuff requires you to do some work as a viewer, but that naturalism makes the <i>Mad Men</i> viewing experience such a treat. Anyway, Don is definitely still closed off in his way, but at least now when he is mortified by his surprise birthday party and the unwanted attention it brings, he is able to stick it out and sulk off to bed at the end of the night. I can see the Don of earlier seasons instead slipping out of the party and disappearing for a week with one of his bohemian conquests, leaving Megan in the lurch.<br />
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Don also seems more comfortable and happy around his kids. I’m always thoroughly pleased to see scenes where Sally Draper is at ease, and isn’t being blithely ignored, treated like garbage or forced to endure some other emotional torment from her horrible mother or sometimes-distant father. Sally is intense, and her curiosity about Megan may cross boundaries in an accidentally-creepy kid way in the coming weeks, but Don and Megan’s warmth towards her was nice to see. Happiness is hard to come by in <i>Mad Men</i>, and I will discuss my worries about Don and Megan below, but damn I just hope Sally ends up okay, and maybe Megan could be a good female role model for her. Or maybe not. Oh, Sally, you never had a chance.<br />
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Let me tell you why I’m not quite ready to sign off on Mr. and Mrs. Draper, Jon. There are some crazy power games going on between these two. Megan must have known that Don would be uncomfortable with the hilariously square party and her "Zou bisou bisou” routine, but I think she did it to playfully challenge his repression. But after the party, when she and Don had their Dick Whitman discussion, she seemed to be outright using her knowledge as a weapon. Likewise, Don paws at Megan during seemingly every private moment, coolly commanding her to unbutton her shirt for him in one scene, partly out of attraction but maybe also as a way of putting her in her place. They do seem to generally have an open dialogue and emotional honesty with each other that never in a million years existed between Don and Betty, but just as easily they can put up walls or resort to weirdly sexual antagonism like that whole “You can’t have this!” underwear display/wrestling match. Maybe they’re perfect for each other, but there’s a tinge of creepiness for me. Maybe they have so much in common that they are just going to destroy each other.<br />
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As a child of acrimoniously divorced parents, this show is not helping me with my fears about marriage. With the utterly miserable and vicious Roger and Jane serving as a possible outcome for Don and Megan’s marriage once the passion cools off, the vibrant and intelligent Joan stuck in her prison cell, and stupid, bored Harry and Lane lusting after various fantasies, it’s getting to be that Pete Campbell is somehow the most well-adjusted of the lot. Whereas Pete once seemed like an alien trying to approximate human behavior (in an intentional and compelling way, that’s not a knock against Vincent Kartheiser’s great performance), he and Trudy seem to be coming into their own as the show’s most successful marital team. Again, relatively-speaking. Who knows when Pete’s complaints about marriage on the train ride to work will start coming from a real place, and won’t just be used to pacify that dipshit he plays cards with.<br />
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Pete is very easy to root for in his push against Roger, who for all his supposedly charming and debonair qualities is really just an epic piece of shit. Pete, like Roger, is as blue-blooded as it gets, but he has shown a remarkable ability to engage with the times, and his rise at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, and the increasing obsolescence of Roger and Bert (at the company, anyway – Bert is still a bizarrely singular, cockroach-like dude), nicely coincides with the big wave of change that Roger’s old-school-business-dickhead “want ad” is bringing to the company’s door. <i>Mad Men</i> has kind of tip-toed around race so far. I’m looking forward to that being in the forefront this year.<br />
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<br />
What do you think, Mike? Are Don and Megan a little creepy, or am I an ineffective couples therapist? Am I nuts, or does the whole show really hinge on Sally Draper? What stuck out to you?<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Mike:</span> You know what? I think you guys are being a little too sunny, in your not-really-altogether-that-sunny evaluation of this season's iteration of Don Draper. Yeah, he does seem a bit more at ease with his kids, and I'm feeling the heat of Don's lust for his new wife Megan -- but the cracks are showing. Megan's got the entry-level copywriting job that Peggy had to sweat blood for, but she doesn't think her co-workers at SDCP like her (and she doesn't think she likes them, either.) We're not led to believe that she's earned the position through legitimate channels, right? Either way, Don doesn't have much interest in his job anymore except to use it as a platform to make time with his wife. He drops the ball in the meeting with the Heinz people, placating Peggy with words that may be true-ish, but seriously, Don! The look on Peggy's face said it all -- the man has lost his edge. He's come through for her dozens of times before, charming the customer into accepting far weaker copy material. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that this won't end well for Peggy and Don.<br />
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Or, Megan and Don. Just watch how easily he falls back into his earlier pattern of stony, ice-cold detachment with Megan as he drunkenly reclines in bed after the disastrous birthday party. His cruelty in that scene, and Megan's burgeoning understanding of exactly the kind of man he can be, were painful to observe. And let's face it, guys: Don gave up a sure thing with Faye, the delightful market researcher who captured all of our hearts last season, for a fling with a sexy young secretary that kind of turned into a permanent gig. If that doesn't come back to bite him then I'd be surprised. (That said, I'm often surprised by "Mad Men.")<br />
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So, yes -- from outside appearances, Don may seem to have made some personal progress, but he's just "this" far away from joining the good-ol'-boys' club of the senior SDCP partners. Along that same vein, I found it fascinating how Don and Pete have essentially switched places in their lives. While Don now resides in a hip, fashionable metropolitan apartment and lives the life of a well-to-do city dweller, Pete and Trudy have moved to what appears to be a modest country homestead. (I actually thought, for just a moment at first sight, that Pete's kitchen was Don's old one from his days with Betty and the kids.) The miserable train ride in from the outskirts leaves Pete plenty of time to bitterly lament how he's the only SDCP partner who's still hungry. His frustration is palpable. His pathetic meeting with the other partners about his business needs ended with disinterest and a few grumbled platitudes from the older men.<br />
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(But what was it, then, that moved Roger, who still far surpasses Don in his disconnection -- forget about Bert, who's in another league entirely -- to take action and move Pete into Harry's office? I'm not entirely sure.)<br />
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Now, young Sally Draper, as Mark alludes to above, is the lynchpin of it all. Well, not really, but I think she is a good thermometer for how the selfishness of both of her parents are going to affect all of the Draper kids -- even little Eugene, who Don admitted in a tragic scene last season was born out of desperation, and thinks that another man is his father. I actually thought that the scene at the beginning with the kids was great, a rare moment of happiness in a show that doesn't often present that kind of thing undiluted by pathos.<br />
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And I may be all on my lonesome in "Mad Men" fandom here, but I was a little disappointed that we didn't see much (any) of Betty in this episode. (I understand that January Jones was on a much-needed maternity break at the time.) I'm really hoping to see more of Don and Betty interacting this season, because I for one found their shared scenes in season four to be electric. Ms. Jones gets some bad press as an actress for reasons I won't get into here, and a lot of it deservedly so, but she has been an important part of the series up to this point, and I don't want to see that particular thread dropped.<br />
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There's a so much more that I could talk about here: douchey Hollywood Harry, the hilarious way that race politics barges its way into the SDCP reception area, the delightful relationship between Lane and Joan that I must have forgotten about over the long break, Roger throwing money at everything (except for his unacknowledged son) while poor Lane, for his part, seems to be experiencing a bit of a shortfall.<br />
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This was a table-setting episode in every sense of the word except, you know, the negative one. I think we needed one, after an almost two-year hiatus, and I absolutely can't wait to see where we go from here. Welcome back, "Mad Men"!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664946067564438266noreply@blogger.com1