I enjoyed the Burn Notice summer finale, but then again, I always enjoy Burn Notice. And “Guilty as Charged” didn’t provide me with the extra adrenaline rush I typically get from the show’s climactic chapters. Part of that is because the bulk of the episode was devoted to a standalone case-of-the-week plot line, which is typical of a Burn Notice episode, but atypical of one of their finales. Another reason is because the character of John Barrett had just been introduced a few weeks prior, which means he couldn’t get the same mythological buildup as previous Big Bads of the series, like Carla, Victor, and Simon. The result was that he didn’t have the same intimidation factor or pose as understandable a threat to Michael as bad guys past. Moreover, Barrett, for all the evils he’s supposedly responsible for, has never done anything to wrong Michael personally, and so the satisfaction of personalized vengeance was absent as well. I didn’t fear Jesse’s retribution against Michael either, because Jesse has been established as such a good guy over the course of the season that I couldn’t see him actually trying to kill Michael (though the final scene leaves some ambiguity about that).
The standalone story involved the kidnapping of a little girl and Michael’s attempt to rescue her. It was very enjoyable, and had it appeared in a mid-season episode I’d have no issue with it. In typical Burn Notice fashion, Michael’s client decides to ignore his advice and completely screws up the rescue attempt. Why don’t these people ever learn? Just kidding. Obviously I get that each one only makes this mistake once and has no way of learning from the errors of past clients. I thoroughly enjoyed the execution of plan B, however. The kidnapper agrees to trade the girl in exchange for Michael breaking his murderer brother out of prison. I loved the whole notion of the fake prison break, as Michael and friends were able to setup a fake police transport vehicle, with a fake prisoner inside (whose head Fiona shaved and doused with blood to make him look like the brother from a distance), and stage a fake assault and rescue on their own fake van. It was both clever and a lot of fun to watch.
It was tough to see Michael continuing to refuse to look at what he’s done to Jesse. All season long, when confronted with it by Fiona and Madeline, Michael justified it by saying it was in the service of the greater good. Now that Jesse’s found out the truth, Michael still refuses to examine his actions by claiming that his tasks at hand require all his attention. And when he finally meets Jesse face to face, Michael gives what is arguably the lamest apology in the history of the world, if it can even be considered an apology at all. Michael justifies his non-apology by claiming, “I know you’re in no mood for an apology.” The truth is that an admission of wrong-doing and a sincere, well thought out apology might have meant a lot to Jesse.
I don’t believe Michael is acting this way because he’s a bad person. I just think he’s afraid that if he actually stops to confront what he did-bringing all the misery he, himself, has experienced these past 4 years onto someone else-he won’t be able to live with the guilt. So he’s set up many layers of defense mechanisms to prevent himself from facing the truth.
Did Vaughn’s betrayal come as any surprise? I’m surprised Michael didn’t plan for that contingency, given his discovery last week that Vaughn has been lying to him all along about how and when he came into Michael’s life. Vaughn’s betrayal proved not only that Michael can’t trust him, but that Vaughn is clearly willing to sacrifice Michael’s life to get what he wants.
In the climactic scene, Jesse actually does shoot Michael with a sniper rifle, though apparently only to get the henchman who was choking Michael from behind, while intentionally missing Michael’s vital organs. But at the end of the episode, after Michael has veered Barrett’s car off the road, killing him, an unidentified man grabs the suitcase containing the bible and flees, leaving Michael there to bleed to death. My money is definitely on Jesse, and if I’m right, that means Jesse really was willing to let Michael die for his betrayal.
Burn Notice doesn’t come back until November 11th, so we’ll have to wait until then to find out who took the bible, where things stand with Jesse, what Vaughn’s prerogative truly is, and oh yeah, whether Michael lives or dies. Just kidding about that last one. The odds of Michael dying are exactly zero percent. And that refers to a true death, not to a temporary heart failure followed by resuscitation which seems almost mandatory on shows nowadays.
Until November.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
RESCUE ME: “Goodbye”
After a disappointing first half of season 6, Rescue Me has come on strong and is back to being a top-notch character drama. The season’s penultimate episode, “Goodbye,” consisted of three plot lines: Damien’s decision to stay or leave the firehouse, Lou’s inability to leave the job behind despite knowing it will cost him his life, and the age-old triangle of Janet, Tommy, and Sheila. And all three worked like gangbusters for me (the fact that Teddy was nowhere to be found didn’t hurt either; I’ll explain my objections to his role this season at the bottom).
The common thread through these plot lines is well summed up in the episode’s title, as we see various characters unable to say goodbye to dangerous and addictive relationships. For both Lou and Damien, that relationship is with the FDNY and their comrades within. For Sheila and Tommy, that relationship is each other.
Rescue Me has never shied away from giving truly important scenes the proper time to breathe. You’ll seldom see an 11 minute scene on any television show, but that’s what we got from the opening scene of “Goodbye” and it was well worth it. The scene was full of the traditional, hilarious, Tommy Gavin bullshit as he tried to get himself out of an impossible situation; first by intentionally choking on a piece of food to distract everyone from the bomb Mickey was about to drop, and then through his usual stammering and doubletalk.
But the best part of that scene is the way Sheila was able to put all the blame on Tommy after Mickey revealed he had caught the two of them half-naked and squirming on top of each other. Sheila didn’t accomplish this by lying, but by brilliantly framing the truth in just such a way that made her look innocent. “I told him to stop.” When Janet and Mickey ask Tommy if this is true, all he can say is yes. “I told him I had no more feelings for him and to get out.” Again, all Tommy can do is admit it. “He grabbed me and kissed me and I told him I felt nothing, so he threw me onto the couch and ripped my dress off.” Again, technically true. And yet, anyone who saw that scene in the previous episode knows full well Tommy went over there to end things for good, and then Sheila pushed every one of his buttons to manipulate him to her purpose. And since Sheila is much, much smarter than Tommy, she of course got her way. I’m not whitewashing what Tommy did; he has free will as much as anyone else. But Sheila was the true instigator of that encounter, and the way she used “the truth” to her advantage once she was caught, while simultaneously throwing Tommy under the bus, was magnificent.
Sheila was of course able to earn some quick forgiveness from Mickey, and Tommy should consider himself lucky Janet chose to forgive him…or unlucky, depending on how you feel about Janet. The condition for Janet’s forgiveness, he has to truly say goodbye to Sheila once and for all. No more contact. No more nothin’.
Despite that command, Tommy calls Sheila one more time to apologize for all the times he’s let her down (and there have been A LOT). Despite Sheila’s earlier insistence that she’s over Tommy and is ready to move on with Mickey, the phone call makes it abundantly clear who she still has that passion for. “Did you ever really love me?” she asks. Tommy admits he did, but says that at the end of the day, he loved Janet more, though not in so many words. Sheila’s façade cracks as she breaks down crying and tells Tommy that she hates him and he should never call her again. Somehow I doubt this is the last we’ve seen of these two together.
Sometimes, writers can go back to the same well once too often when they can’t figure out how to take characters in new directions. Rescue Me has fallen victim to this on a number of occasions, whether it’s Tommy’s repeated attempts to stay on the wagon, his hot and cold relationship with his estranged wife, or Franco’s multiple failed attempts to find a relationship that means more to him than sex. That being said, I will never feel that way about Tommy and Sheila. When those two are in a room together, there is so much heat, so much anger, so much wounded passion and sizzling chemistry, that the writers can go back to that well as many times as they want and I won’t complain. I always thought Tommy was a fool for choosing the ice queen over a woman with so much fire and passion, even if she is tightrope-walking the borderline of crazy.
Janet has one final test for Tommy, as she presents him with two glasses of liquor posing as a consequence-free last drink, a veritable Trojan horse. Tommy sussed out the trap (I’ll admit I was scared he wouldn’t for a moment) and poured both glasses down the sink. Having said goodbye to two dangerous addictions, Sheila and alcohol, he is ready to make one final go of it with Janet, and she appears willing to give him the chance.
Damien and Lou, however, were less successful in their bids to extricate themselves from dangerous situations. After Lou’s second heart attack on the job, the doctor tells him, in no uncertain terms, that if he doesn’t quit immediately he’s going to die. Lou makes one feeble attempt to bring up retirement with Needles, but when Needles makes an offhanded joke about rookies getting the jitters and wanting to quit, in reference to Damien, Lou backs down and fails to bring it up. I imagine this is a psychologically accurate portrayal of how hard it is for guys in that line of work to let go. Between saving people’s lives, the addiction to danger, and more than anything, the camaraderie that forms between friends in the same firehouse, it is difficult to say goodbye. To someone like Lou, who puts his life on the line every day, the threat of death by heart attack might be less intimidating than the threat of losing the only way of life he's ever known. Having a family, or even a woman in his life to go home to, would certainly make that transition easier; but Lou has never been that lucky. He managed to forego his demise this episode, but if he can’t muster up the courage to quit soon, he won’t have much time left.
Now, Damien. Oh boy. If there was one person I didn’t think was in imminent danger (though in hindsight, I should have), it was Damien. Damien is a confused young man. Last week, we saw how he had to take directions every step of the way from his girlfriend, while he had sex for the first time in his life (side note, if he is in fact dead, thank god he got to do that first). And in “Goodbye,” we see that Damien is just as confused and malleable about his direction in life as he is about sex. After weeks of working on him, Sheila and Mickey convince Damien the job is too dangerous, and that he should turn in his papers. But the truth is it’s too late. Damien loves this job. He’s already begun to feel the camaraderie and the addiction to excitement the other guys no so well. All it takes is a couple of war stories, one actual war story Chief Feinberg, and a great anecdote from Tommy about a practical joke Damien’s old man played on him when they were just starting out, and Damien knows he’s not ready to let this go.
In the episode’s climactic scene, I fully expected Lou to have his third heart attack and die right there. When he can’t breathe, and then a pile of metal coffins literally falls on top of him, he seems to be a goner for sure. But I should’ve given the show more credit than to think it would be that predictable. As the rest of the guys try to help out a clearly still-breathing Lou, Damien calls out from a short distance away, while foolishly clutching his helmet in his hand instead of wearing it on his head, “Come on guys, we gotta go!!!” Just then, debris crashes through the ceiling from the floor above, crushing Damien to the ground. Alive or dead, it’s hard to imagine Sheila truly forgiving Tommy for pulling her son back into the job (after having been the one to bring him in, in the first place). And if Damien is dead, I’d expect nothing short of a tour de force from Callie Thorne in next week’s finale. There’s no telling how Damien’s tragedy will affect those around him. It may drive Tommy back to the bottle. It may knock Sheila completely off the razor’s edge of sanity. And if nothing else, it will hopefully make Lou see the danger of staying on duty when he’s not equipped to handle the job. Even if he doesn’t die himself, it’s an inevitability he’ll get someone else killed. After all, if the guys weren’t helping Lou up, then Damien doesn’t double back to tell them they have to go, and he’s still alive. I’m not going to write off Damien yet, though. Not after one of this season’s earlier episodes ended with Lou lying on the ground after a heart attack, not moving and with his eyes wide open, looking deader than dead, only for me to find out the next week that he was alive and kicking.
As promised, my issue with Teddy this season. This is a 2-parter, and both have to do with last season’s finale in which he shot Tommy in the gut, and forced everyone in the room to sit there and watch him die, which he did for several minutes. I expected Teddy to be in jail at the start of this season, seeing as how he shot someone to death in a room full of witnesses. But not only is he not in jail, the police don’t even seem to be looking for the shooter. When someone is brought into the emergency room with a gunshot wound, there is a police investigation. It strains all credulity and story logic to think this guy would be running around with nobody looking for him. But making matters worse, and this is part 2, is the fact that nobody in Teddy or Tommy’s life seems to be saying boo about the fact that Teddy shot him to death. Even Tommy seems to be having reasonable conversations with Teddy as if nothing happened. And when I hear Teddy tell Tommy that he loves him and that he only shot him for his own good, and I see that accepted by Tommy and everyone else as the truth, I kind of want to throw my remote at the screen. Or better yet, jump inside the screen and yell, “HELLLOOO???? HE SHOT YOU!!! WITH AN ACTUAL GUN!!! THAT HAD ACTUAL BULLETS IN IT!!! TO DEATH!!!!!!!! DOES ANYBODY CARE????” In short, the more they keep Teddy off the screen in the finale, the way they have these past few weeks, the happier and less distracted I’ll be.
Lighting a candle for Damien.
The common thread through these plot lines is well summed up in the episode’s title, as we see various characters unable to say goodbye to dangerous and addictive relationships. For both Lou and Damien, that relationship is with the FDNY and their comrades within. For Sheila and Tommy, that relationship is each other.
Rescue Me has never shied away from giving truly important scenes the proper time to breathe. You’ll seldom see an 11 minute scene on any television show, but that’s what we got from the opening scene of “Goodbye” and it was well worth it. The scene was full of the traditional, hilarious, Tommy Gavin bullshit as he tried to get himself out of an impossible situation; first by intentionally choking on a piece of food to distract everyone from the bomb Mickey was about to drop, and then through his usual stammering and doubletalk.
But the best part of that scene is the way Sheila was able to put all the blame on Tommy after Mickey revealed he had caught the two of them half-naked and squirming on top of each other. Sheila didn’t accomplish this by lying, but by brilliantly framing the truth in just such a way that made her look innocent. “I told him to stop.” When Janet and Mickey ask Tommy if this is true, all he can say is yes. “I told him I had no more feelings for him and to get out.” Again, all Tommy can do is admit it. “He grabbed me and kissed me and I told him I felt nothing, so he threw me onto the couch and ripped my dress off.” Again, technically true. And yet, anyone who saw that scene in the previous episode knows full well Tommy went over there to end things for good, and then Sheila pushed every one of his buttons to manipulate him to her purpose. And since Sheila is much, much smarter than Tommy, she of course got her way. I’m not whitewashing what Tommy did; he has free will as much as anyone else. But Sheila was the true instigator of that encounter, and the way she used “the truth” to her advantage once she was caught, while simultaneously throwing Tommy under the bus, was magnificent.
Sheila was of course able to earn some quick forgiveness from Mickey, and Tommy should consider himself lucky Janet chose to forgive him…or unlucky, depending on how you feel about Janet. The condition for Janet’s forgiveness, he has to truly say goodbye to Sheila once and for all. No more contact. No more nothin’.
Despite that command, Tommy calls Sheila one more time to apologize for all the times he’s let her down (and there have been A LOT). Despite Sheila’s earlier insistence that she’s over Tommy and is ready to move on with Mickey, the phone call makes it abundantly clear who she still has that passion for. “Did you ever really love me?” she asks. Tommy admits he did, but says that at the end of the day, he loved Janet more, though not in so many words. Sheila’s façade cracks as she breaks down crying and tells Tommy that she hates him and he should never call her again. Somehow I doubt this is the last we’ve seen of these two together.
Sometimes, writers can go back to the same well once too often when they can’t figure out how to take characters in new directions. Rescue Me has fallen victim to this on a number of occasions, whether it’s Tommy’s repeated attempts to stay on the wagon, his hot and cold relationship with his estranged wife, or Franco’s multiple failed attempts to find a relationship that means more to him than sex. That being said, I will never feel that way about Tommy and Sheila. When those two are in a room together, there is so much heat, so much anger, so much wounded passion and sizzling chemistry, that the writers can go back to that well as many times as they want and I won’t complain. I always thought Tommy was a fool for choosing the ice queen over a woman with so much fire and passion, even if she is tightrope-walking the borderline of crazy.
Janet has one final test for Tommy, as she presents him with two glasses of liquor posing as a consequence-free last drink, a veritable Trojan horse. Tommy sussed out the trap (I’ll admit I was scared he wouldn’t for a moment) and poured both glasses down the sink. Having said goodbye to two dangerous addictions, Sheila and alcohol, he is ready to make one final go of it with Janet, and she appears willing to give him the chance.
Damien and Lou, however, were less successful in their bids to extricate themselves from dangerous situations. After Lou’s second heart attack on the job, the doctor tells him, in no uncertain terms, that if he doesn’t quit immediately he’s going to die. Lou makes one feeble attempt to bring up retirement with Needles, but when Needles makes an offhanded joke about rookies getting the jitters and wanting to quit, in reference to Damien, Lou backs down and fails to bring it up. I imagine this is a psychologically accurate portrayal of how hard it is for guys in that line of work to let go. Between saving people’s lives, the addiction to danger, and more than anything, the camaraderie that forms between friends in the same firehouse, it is difficult to say goodbye. To someone like Lou, who puts his life on the line every day, the threat of death by heart attack might be less intimidating than the threat of losing the only way of life he's ever known. Having a family, or even a woman in his life to go home to, would certainly make that transition easier; but Lou has never been that lucky. He managed to forego his demise this episode, but if he can’t muster up the courage to quit soon, he won’t have much time left.
Now, Damien. Oh boy. If there was one person I didn’t think was in imminent danger (though in hindsight, I should have), it was Damien. Damien is a confused young man. Last week, we saw how he had to take directions every step of the way from his girlfriend, while he had sex for the first time in his life (side note, if he is in fact dead, thank god he got to do that first). And in “Goodbye,” we see that Damien is just as confused and malleable about his direction in life as he is about sex. After weeks of working on him, Sheila and Mickey convince Damien the job is too dangerous, and that he should turn in his papers. But the truth is it’s too late. Damien loves this job. He’s already begun to feel the camaraderie and the addiction to excitement the other guys no so well. All it takes is a couple of war stories, one actual war story Chief Feinberg, and a great anecdote from Tommy about a practical joke Damien’s old man played on him when they were just starting out, and Damien knows he’s not ready to let this go.
In the episode’s climactic scene, I fully expected Lou to have his third heart attack and die right there. When he can’t breathe, and then a pile of metal coffins literally falls on top of him, he seems to be a goner for sure. But I should’ve given the show more credit than to think it would be that predictable. As the rest of the guys try to help out a clearly still-breathing Lou, Damien calls out from a short distance away, while foolishly clutching his helmet in his hand instead of wearing it on his head, “Come on guys, we gotta go!!!” Just then, debris crashes through the ceiling from the floor above, crushing Damien to the ground. Alive or dead, it’s hard to imagine Sheila truly forgiving Tommy for pulling her son back into the job (after having been the one to bring him in, in the first place). And if Damien is dead, I’d expect nothing short of a tour de force from Callie Thorne in next week’s finale. There’s no telling how Damien’s tragedy will affect those around him. It may drive Tommy back to the bottle. It may knock Sheila completely off the razor’s edge of sanity. And if nothing else, it will hopefully make Lou see the danger of staying on duty when he’s not equipped to handle the job. Even if he doesn’t die himself, it’s an inevitability he’ll get someone else killed. After all, if the guys weren’t helping Lou up, then Damien doesn’t double back to tell them they have to go, and he’s still alive. I’m not going to write off Damien yet, though. Not after one of this season’s earlier episodes ended with Lou lying on the ground after a heart attack, not moving and with his eyes wide open, looking deader than dead, only for me to find out the next week that he was alive and kicking.
As promised, my issue with Teddy this season. This is a 2-parter, and both have to do with last season’s finale in which he shot Tommy in the gut, and forced everyone in the room to sit there and watch him die, which he did for several minutes. I expected Teddy to be in jail at the start of this season, seeing as how he shot someone to death in a room full of witnesses. But not only is he not in jail, the police don’t even seem to be looking for the shooter. When someone is brought into the emergency room with a gunshot wound, there is a police investigation. It strains all credulity and story logic to think this guy would be running around with nobody looking for him. But making matters worse, and this is part 2, is the fact that nobody in Teddy or Tommy’s life seems to be saying boo about the fact that Teddy shot him to death. Even Tommy seems to be having reasonable conversations with Teddy as if nothing happened. And when I hear Teddy tell Tommy that he loves him and that he only shot him for his own good, and I see that accepted by Tommy and everyone else as the truth, I kind of want to throw my remote at the screen. Or better yet, jump inside the screen and yell, “HELLLOOO???? HE SHOT YOU!!! WITH AN ACTUAL GUN!!! THAT HAD ACTUAL BULLETS IN IT!!! TO DEATH!!!!!!!! DOES ANYBODY CARE????” In short, the more they keep Teddy off the screen in the finale, the way they have these past few weeks, the happier and less distracted I’ll be.
Lighting a candle for Damien.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
RUBICON: "Connecting the Dots"
“Connecting the Dots” was easily my favorite episode of Rubicon to date. Will now realizes he has gotten himself involved in something very dangerous: kill orders, assassins, top-secret C.I.A. files, etc. And for awhile during this ep, it sure seemed like he was gonna do the smart thing and let it drop. But in the end, that’s not how he’s built and not why he entered the business he did.
My favorite moment of the episode, and of the series to date, came after Will had followed Donald Bloom to a restaurant. Though I should say I had an issue with Will’s plan, given that he has a 9-5 job, and obviously wouldn’t be able to do any sort of a thorough all-day tail job. In any event, Will got lucky (or unlucky, depending on how things go) and was able to track him to a restaurant where Bloom had a lunch date with Kale, apparently an ex-lover. The moment where Will spots Kale and Kale spots him right back was truly terrifying. Isn’t this the man responsible for David’s death? Does this mean Will is now going to be targeted? Will panicked and fled. What else could he do?
I also loved the scene right after where a still shaken Will goes to Maggie for information. Will's fear and paranoia are absolutely palpable. James Badge Dale has done a wonderful job with such a taciturn character, able to convey mountains of thought and feeling with nothing more than a look. And poor Maggie has been put right in the middle of something she doesn’t understand. She has Kale grilling her for info on Will, and now vice-versa. It seems she hasn’t chosen a side yet as she’s neglected to inform on either one of them. (Remember, she lied to Kale and didn’t tell him about Will’s problems moving on from David’s death.)
A more fascinating character than Maggie who also seems not to have chosen a side is Kale, himself. Earlier in the season I had assumed he was fully complicit in David’s death. But in his choice not to tell Spangler about the incident with Will, followed by his warning to Will, it seems that Kale may have a genuine concern for our hero’s well being. Moreover, near the end of the episode, we see him spying on Bloom and Spangler. There’s no way of knowing exactly what was going through Kale’s head when he saw them emerge from their secret meeting, but it seems clear that this went on behind his back and that it constitutes some form of betrayal in his mind.
Meanwhile, it has become clear that Spangler is the mastermind behind the whole conspiracy. After his brilliant tie speech and overall political maneuvering last week, we know this man if a force to be reckoned with. And he seems to be one step ahead of Will all the time, getting to David’s Houston file and shredding it before Will can get his hands on it.
The scene between Will and Ed was a powerful one. When Will sees what this conspiracy is doing to Ed, and we get a glimpse of how the “codes cracked him,” he makes the choice to take Ed out of the equation. He lies and tells Ed they’ve been following a dead end. But based on Ed’s reaction, I’m not convinced this will bring him back from the brink as opposed to, say, driving him to suicide. The unexpected benefit to Will is that Spangler was listening, and now views Will as a non-threat.
What I’m wondering is if Will was simply lying for Ed’s sake, or if he had truly planned to stop, himself. If the latter, it’s possible that Kale’s comment about not wanting to see Will involved in any “mayhem” could have convinced Will to get back in the game. Whatever the case, it was both exciting and creepy to see Will constructing his own “connect the dots” puzzle. He is closer than ever to solving this jigsaw, but also closer than ever to losing his mind.
While I’d still like to know more about Miles and Grant as characters I’m really enjoying Tanya. She’s clearly good at her job and, as Will said, was way ahead of the curve on Geogre Beck. Despite her success with Spangler, Will may be right that she’s not cut out for this business. Even her victory drove her to drinking. I’m guessing the blood test Will ordered for her will measure her blood-alcohol level, rather than just testing for actual drugs.
Ms. Rhumor has finally joined the rest of the cast. It appears she may be the next target for assassination by Donald Bloom on orders from Spangler. Unlike Will, who truly lives this life and understands what he’s getting himself into, Katherine is getting herself involved in something she can’t possibly understand and is hopelessly ill equipped to contend with. I'm glad she's finally starting to mesh with the A-plot, but it's taken a bit too long for that to happen.
As far as the conspiracy itself goes, I’m very interested in the cover-up, but remotely intrigued by the thing being covered up. Go codes for assassinations, shredding of documents by API, Will being recorded and followed-that’s all great stuff. But the second I hear about oil I start to roll my eyes. Why is it always about friggin’ oil? Every show, every movie. If there's a conspiracy, dollars to donuts, it's about oil (re: almost every season of 24).Why can’t it be about a shadow government or cheesecake or something? Really, anything would be preferable to oil at this point.
That being said, this episode has me excited to see how these dots will connect down the home stretch of the season.
My favorite moment of the episode, and of the series to date, came after Will had followed Donald Bloom to a restaurant. Though I should say I had an issue with Will’s plan, given that he has a 9-5 job, and obviously wouldn’t be able to do any sort of a thorough all-day tail job. In any event, Will got lucky (or unlucky, depending on how things go) and was able to track him to a restaurant where Bloom had a lunch date with Kale, apparently an ex-lover. The moment where Will spots Kale and Kale spots him right back was truly terrifying. Isn’t this the man responsible for David’s death? Does this mean Will is now going to be targeted? Will panicked and fled. What else could he do?
I also loved the scene right after where a still shaken Will goes to Maggie for information. Will's fear and paranoia are absolutely palpable. James Badge Dale has done a wonderful job with such a taciturn character, able to convey mountains of thought and feeling with nothing more than a look. And poor Maggie has been put right in the middle of something she doesn’t understand. She has Kale grilling her for info on Will, and now vice-versa. It seems she hasn’t chosen a side yet as she’s neglected to inform on either one of them. (Remember, she lied to Kale and didn’t tell him about Will’s problems moving on from David’s death.)
A more fascinating character than Maggie who also seems not to have chosen a side is Kale, himself. Earlier in the season I had assumed he was fully complicit in David’s death. But in his choice not to tell Spangler about the incident with Will, followed by his warning to Will, it seems that Kale may have a genuine concern for our hero’s well being. Moreover, near the end of the episode, we see him spying on Bloom and Spangler. There’s no way of knowing exactly what was going through Kale’s head when he saw them emerge from their secret meeting, but it seems clear that this went on behind his back and that it constitutes some form of betrayal in his mind.
Meanwhile, it has become clear that Spangler is the mastermind behind the whole conspiracy. After his brilliant tie speech and overall political maneuvering last week, we know this man if a force to be reckoned with. And he seems to be one step ahead of Will all the time, getting to David’s Houston file and shredding it before Will can get his hands on it.
The scene between Will and Ed was a powerful one. When Will sees what this conspiracy is doing to Ed, and we get a glimpse of how the “codes cracked him,” he makes the choice to take Ed out of the equation. He lies and tells Ed they’ve been following a dead end. But based on Ed’s reaction, I’m not convinced this will bring him back from the brink as opposed to, say, driving him to suicide. The unexpected benefit to Will is that Spangler was listening, and now views Will as a non-threat.
What I’m wondering is if Will was simply lying for Ed’s sake, or if he had truly planned to stop, himself. If the latter, it’s possible that Kale’s comment about not wanting to see Will involved in any “mayhem” could have convinced Will to get back in the game. Whatever the case, it was both exciting and creepy to see Will constructing his own “connect the dots” puzzle. He is closer than ever to solving this jigsaw, but also closer than ever to losing his mind.
While I’d still like to know more about Miles and Grant as characters I’m really enjoying Tanya. She’s clearly good at her job and, as Will said, was way ahead of the curve on Geogre Beck. Despite her success with Spangler, Will may be right that she’s not cut out for this business. Even her victory drove her to drinking. I’m guessing the blood test Will ordered for her will measure her blood-alcohol level, rather than just testing for actual drugs.
Ms. Rhumor has finally joined the rest of the cast. It appears she may be the next target for assassination by Donald Bloom on orders from Spangler. Unlike Will, who truly lives this life and understands what he’s getting himself into, Katherine is getting herself involved in something she can’t possibly understand and is hopelessly ill equipped to contend with. I'm glad she's finally starting to mesh with the A-plot, but it's taken a bit too long for that to happen.
As far as the conspiracy itself goes, I’m very interested in the cover-up, but remotely intrigued by the thing being covered up. Go codes for assassinations, shredding of documents by API, Will being recorded and followed-that’s all great stuff. But the second I hear about oil I start to roll my eyes. Why is it always about friggin’ oil? Every show, every movie. If there's a conspiracy, dollars to donuts, it's about oil (re: almost every season of 24).Why can’t it be about a shadow government or cheesecake or something? Really, anything would be preferable to oil at this point.
That being said, this episode has me excited to see how these dots will connect down the home stretch of the season.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
WEEDS: “Felling and Swamping”
I enjoyed this episode much more than the season premiere, in which almost nothing happened. I feel like these 2 episodes should have been condensed into one, with the events of the premiere occupying roughly the first 5 minutes. Either way, the Botwins have successfully fled (for now) and are ready to start their new lives.
I loved the way Nancy was forced to begrudgingly admit being glad Pilar was murdered, even though she qualified the statement by saying she wished Shane hadn't been the one who did it. Let’s face it, Pilar threatened to kill Silas and Shane. And I see no reason to believe she wouldn’t have made good on that threat before Nancy figured out a way to stop her. I don’t have a problem with Shane killing her; it was certainly a form of self defense. It’s Shane’s response I find disturbing. Instead of being tortured, he is bragging about being a murderer-wearing it like a badge of honor. I’m skeptical that Shane is a full-blown sociopath. I predict he will have a delayed guilt reaction some time later in the season.
Poor Silas has had his life ruined again and again by this dysfunctional family. He’d probably be better on his own, now that he has his fake I.D. Even if the Botwins, I mean the “Newmans,” manage to start a whole new life for themselves, how long can it really be before Nancy derails it all over again? It’s just who she is. It’s inevitable.
I enjoyed the bonfire scene of all the Botwins burning their old identities. And I still love the chemistry between Nancy and Andy. I think 5 seasons of teasing us is enough though, it’s time for them to get together.
So now both Esteban and the FBI are looking for Nancy. I still can’t tell if Esteban wants to kill Nancy and take his son from her cold, dead hands, or if he wants both of them back. He has always been on the fence about loving her or wanting her dead, and now that ambivalence seems kicked up another notch.
But “Felling and Swamping,” unlike the premiere, has me looking forward to whatever adventure the Botwins/Newmans have in store for them this year.
I loved the way Nancy was forced to begrudgingly admit being glad Pilar was murdered, even though she qualified the statement by saying she wished Shane hadn't been the one who did it. Let’s face it, Pilar threatened to kill Silas and Shane. And I see no reason to believe she wouldn’t have made good on that threat before Nancy figured out a way to stop her. I don’t have a problem with Shane killing her; it was certainly a form of self defense. It’s Shane’s response I find disturbing. Instead of being tortured, he is bragging about being a murderer-wearing it like a badge of honor. I’m skeptical that Shane is a full-blown sociopath. I predict he will have a delayed guilt reaction some time later in the season.
Poor Silas has had his life ruined again and again by this dysfunctional family. He’d probably be better on his own, now that he has his fake I.D. Even if the Botwins, I mean the “Newmans,” manage to start a whole new life for themselves, how long can it really be before Nancy derails it all over again? It’s just who she is. It’s inevitable.
I enjoyed the bonfire scene of all the Botwins burning their old identities. And I still love the chemistry between Nancy and Andy. I think 5 seasons of teasing us is enough though, it’s time for them to get together.
So now both Esteban and the FBI are looking for Nancy. I still can’t tell if Esteban wants to kill Nancy and take his son from her cold, dead hands, or if he wants both of them back. He has always been on the fence about loving her or wanting her dead, and now that ambivalence seems kicked up another notch.
But “Felling and Swamping,” unlike the premiere, has me looking forward to whatever adventure the Botwins/Newmans have in store for them this year.
HUNG: “Third Base or The Rash”
I enjoyed last night’s Hung, a solid 6, which is pretty much always my reaction to that show. After all the lore of Ray’s legendary days on the diamond, it was great to see him poke one out of the park, even if it was just a set-up.
I loved the scene with Ray fingering Ms. Preggers in the bath tub, and really enjoyed some of those underwater camera angles. It seems like he’s learning to be more of a professional, given the way he was able to push through his torn rotator cuff and finish her off. I will confess that for a few seconds I thought he actually broke his fingers while they were inside her, which would have been epic. It’s unclear to me whether he actually got paid for that. If he didn’t, I suppose I’d have to retract my statement about him learning to be a professional.
I’m glad Mike and Frances were able to work things out. Tanya running across the diamond and climbing over the centerfield fence was the comic highlight of the episode. I’m assuming Frances witnessing that clarified for her what had actually been going on all this time. I don’t really see how Mike can stay on the show as a regular after this episode, given that his plot line has come to a natural conclusion, which is too bad.
I loved Ronnie telling Ray, “People like me rule the fucking world.” I just wish Ray had come back with, “You’re a dermatologist, you don’t rule shit.” (No offense to any dermatologists out there, you're job is very important and we thank you...but if you thought you ruled the world, consider this your bubble being burst) Ronnie can feel his wife slipping away, but I can’t feel too bad for him given that he’s brought it all on himself. He’s treating her like a vessel for him to store a baby in, since it has to be clear to him by now that it’s not what she wants. If this is a deal breaker for him, then he should get a divorce and find someone who can give him the kind of family he wants. Bullying his wife into having his baby is not a reasonable route to take, nor is it an ethical one.
I’m still enjoying the burgeoning flirtation between Ray and Jessica and hope to see something happen on that front. But I still can’t shake the feeling that season 2 Jessica is too drastically different from season 1 Jessica. Don’t get me wrong, I vastly prefer this new incarnation with, you know, a soul. But the shift feels a bit inorganic.
Only 2 episodes to go.
I loved the scene with Ray fingering Ms. Preggers in the bath tub, and really enjoyed some of those underwater camera angles. It seems like he’s learning to be more of a professional, given the way he was able to push through his torn rotator cuff and finish her off. I will confess that for a few seconds I thought he actually broke his fingers while they were inside her, which would have been epic. It’s unclear to me whether he actually got paid for that. If he didn’t, I suppose I’d have to retract my statement about him learning to be a professional.
I’m glad Mike and Frances were able to work things out. Tanya running across the diamond and climbing over the centerfield fence was the comic highlight of the episode. I’m assuming Frances witnessing that clarified for her what had actually been going on all this time. I don’t really see how Mike can stay on the show as a regular after this episode, given that his plot line has come to a natural conclusion, which is too bad.
I loved Ronnie telling Ray, “People like me rule the fucking world.” I just wish Ray had come back with, “You’re a dermatologist, you don’t rule shit.” (No offense to any dermatologists out there, you're job is very important and we thank you...but if you thought you ruled the world, consider this your bubble being burst) Ronnie can feel his wife slipping away, but I can’t feel too bad for him given that he’s brought it all on himself. He’s treating her like a vessel for him to store a baby in, since it has to be clear to him by now that it’s not what she wants. If this is a deal breaker for him, then he should get a divorce and find someone who can give him the kind of family he wants. Bullying his wife into having his baby is not a reasonable route to take, nor is it an ethical one.
I’m still enjoying the burgeoning flirtation between Ray and Jessica and hope to see something happen on that front. But I still can’t shake the feeling that season 2 Jessica is too drastically different from season 1 Jessica. Don’t get me wrong, I vastly prefer this new incarnation with, you know, a soul. But the shift feels a bit inorganic.
Only 2 episodes to go.
Two Consecutive Halfway Decent Episodes of Entourage: Who Knew That Was Still Even Possible?
After hating almost every episode of this show for the past five years, I’ve suddenly become interested (albeit mildly) in the direction the series has taken. While I’m long past being able to laugh at the show’s juvenile and chauvinistic sense of humor, the dramatic plot lines of both Ari and Vince suddenly have legs. The best aspect of Entourage has always been its handling of the business of Hollywood. Ari is caught in a professional quagmire, as everyone he’s ever wronged is coming out of the woodwork to take him down. His marriage, which has always seemed contentious but impregnable, is suddenly in genuine jeopardy as a direct result of his disgusting behavior at work. Ari’s hubris may end up bringing him to his knees. Let’s see if he can fight his way out of it this time.
Vince, who last season had nothing to do but bang a different random girl each episode, suddenly finds himself in a genuine freefall: cocaine, porn stars, terrible business decisions and a seeming death wish. This is Entourage, not Breaking Bad, so of course he’ll pull himself out of this muck eventually. But it may not happen this season. He may seriously damage his career and could easily get his heart squashed by the delectable Sasha Grey, just like he did by Mandy Moore back in season 2.
I continue to be disinterested in both Drama and Turtle’s plot lines, but I’ll take what I can get from this show.
Vince, who last season had nothing to do but bang a different random girl each episode, suddenly finds himself in a genuine freefall: cocaine, porn stars, terrible business decisions and a seeming death wish. This is Entourage, not Breaking Bad, so of course he’ll pull himself out of this muck eventually. But it may not happen this season. He may seriously damage his career and could easily get his heart squashed by the delectable Sasha Grey, just like he did by Mandy Moore back in season 2.
I continue to be disinterested in both Drama and Turtle’s plot lines, but I’ll take what I can get from this show.
WHY I'M DONE WITH THE BIG C
So I’ve watch two episodes of this terrible show and I think I’m done. I first thought the “C” in the title stood for cancer, but it’s become clear that Crap is a much more fitting substitution.
I continue to be amazed at the lauding of Laura Linney’s completely absurd, one-note performance. Every scene she’s in and line she delivers teems with the same phony, self-assured, jubilation. I don’t buy that this woman has cancer. Not for one second. She doesn’t even seem bothered she’s gonna die. Who knew the actual stages of grief were Denial, Anger, Cartwheels, Acceptance? Is she sad? Does she even care? I’d like to see an ounce of nuance rather than Linney making the exact same acting choices in every single scene.
In the show’s second episode, whose title I really don’t care enough to look up, Linney proved that her character, whose name I really don’t care enough to remember, is an absolutely terrible person. What she did to her son in storming onto his school bus and talking about how close they were when he was an infant, in front of all his classmates, was unforgivable. She basically guaranteed in no uncertain terms that his social life will be a living hell for the rest of high school. And she's a high school teacher, so it's not like she doesn't understand the gravity of what she's done to him. If my mom had done that to me, I’d have refused to ever go back to that school. I’m serious. I’d have said, “Put a gun to my head. An actual gun with bullets. And then maybe, maybe, we’ll talk. Because truancy and juvie hall is a far better option right now.” That’s on top of throwing her husband out of the house and only giving him the explanation that he leaves the kitchen cabinets open. The list goes on: burning her son’s clothes, storming out of the therapy session, etc.
I hated the character of Jackie when Nurse Jackie came out. I thought she was an utterly despicable person. But at least the show was up front about it. It didn’t expect me to like her as she cheated on her husband and stole people’s organs. I feel I’m somehow expected to like Laura Linney’s detestable character…CATHY!!! Glad I remembered that, now I can die happy. To be clear, I gave up on Nurse Jackie eventually as well, once I realized she truly had no remorse for anything she’d done. But at least I was able to stick around longer than 2 episodes.
I also hate Cathy’s over-the-top, clichéd brother. He’s the most boring homeless person I’ve ever seen in my life. Save the whales, stop global warming, I only eat garbage and dried shit…blah, blah, blah. I get it already. Tone it down.
I also find the show’s handling of cancer massively offensive. I should say upfront that my dad is the executive editor of the Skin Cancer Foundation, so I happen to know a little bit about this. There are abso-friggin-lutely treatments for melanoma at her stage. No dermatologist would tell a patient who was more than a year away from death that there's no viable plan of attack. I’m not saying those treatments would necessarily work, but they would absolutely be tried by any competent doctor and patient who isn’t crazy. My dad has informed me that in the week since The Big C aired, the foundation’s blogs and message boards have been flooded with posts from actual melanoma patients who are outraged by its representation on this show. The creators clearly just played Pin The Tail On The Donkey in choosing what brand of cancer to give Linney, and then decided it wasn’t worth doing a single second of research about it.
In summation, I am done with this show….FOREVER.
Good night and good luck.
I continue to be amazed at the lauding of Laura Linney’s completely absurd, one-note performance. Every scene she’s in and line she delivers teems with the same phony, self-assured, jubilation. I don’t buy that this woman has cancer. Not for one second. She doesn’t even seem bothered she’s gonna die. Who knew the actual stages of grief were Denial, Anger, Cartwheels, Acceptance? Is she sad? Does she even care? I’d like to see an ounce of nuance rather than Linney making the exact same acting choices in every single scene.
In the show’s second episode, whose title I really don’t care enough to look up, Linney proved that her character, whose name I really don’t care enough to remember, is an absolutely terrible person. What she did to her son in storming onto his school bus and talking about how close they were when he was an infant, in front of all his classmates, was unforgivable. She basically guaranteed in no uncertain terms that his social life will be a living hell for the rest of high school. And she's a high school teacher, so it's not like she doesn't understand the gravity of what she's done to him. If my mom had done that to me, I’d have refused to ever go back to that school. I’m serious. I’d have said, “Put a gun to my head. An actual gun with bullets. And then maybe, maybe, we’ll talk. Because truancy and juvie hall is a far better option right now.” That’s on top of throwing her husband out of the house and only giving him the explanation that he leaves the kitchen cabinets open. The list goes on: burning her son’s clothes, storming out of the therapy session, etc.
I hated the character of Jackie when Nurse Jackie came out. I thought she was an utterly despicable person. But at least the show was up front about it. It didn’t expect me to like her as she cheated on her husband and stole people’s organs. I feel I’m somehow expected to like Laura Linney’s detestable character…CATHY!!! Glad I remembered that, now I can die happy. To be clear, I gave up on Nurse Jackie eventually as well, once I realized she truly had no remorse for anything she’d done. But at least I was able to stick around longer than 2 episodes.
I also hate Cathy’s over-the-top, clichéd brother. He’s the most boring homeless person I’ve ever seen in my life. Save the whales, stop global warming, I only eat garbage and dried shit…blah, blah, blah. I get it already. Tone it down.
I also find the show’s handling of cancer massively offensive. I should say upfront that my dad is the executive editor of the Skin Cancer Foundation, so I happen to know a little bit about this. There are abso-friggin-lutely treatments for melanoma at her stage. No dermatologist would tell a patient who was more than a year away from death that there's no viable plan of attack. I’m not saying those treatments would necessarily work, but they would absolutely be tried by any competent doctor and patient who isn’t crazy. My dad has informed me that in the week since The Big C aired, the foundation’s blogs and message boards have been flooded with posts from actual melanoma patients who are outraged by its representation on this show. The creators clearly just played Pin The Tail On The Donkey in choosing what brand of cancer to give Linney, and then decided it wasn’t worth doing a single second of research about it.
In summation, I am done with this show….FOREVER.
Good night and good luck.
Monday, August 23, 2010
True Blood: "I Smell a Rat"
Eric Northman continues to be the most compelling character on True Blood. Not only does he bring a natural charisma to every scene he’s in, but he has a genuine internal struggle going on. I am still unclear on where his true loyalties lie, and I suspect that’s because Eric, himself, is unclear. He first acts the stalwart protector of Sookie, warning her about Bill and refusing to give him over to Russell at Pam’s request. And yet, the episode closes with Eric heaving her over his shoulder like a sack of bread and locking her in his private dungeon. Is he planning on giving her over to Russell after all? Is he protecting her? Or is he just keeping her within reach while he figures out how to use her as a weapon? My vote goes to option #3. Of course I had to laugh at Sookie’s stupidity when she screamed, “I’m not some prisoner you can just lock up any time you feel like taking off.” She fled from a house where she was protected right into the arms of a serial murderer with a dungeon, and then dared him to use it. Well done, as always, Ms. Stackhouse.
I also enjoyed the scene where Eric leaves his life savings to Pam. We get to see both sides of the character. He genuinely cares about his progeny and wants to make sure she’ll be taken care of. But the very next second he behaves monstrously towards Yvette, calling her a gold digging whore, not that anyone actually cares about Yvette.
Sookie’s scenes with Eric continue to have far more heat than her scenes with her real life newbie husband, Stephen Moyer, a.k.a. Bill. I’m reminded of Joey Tribiani’s maxim in Friends, where he insists that when two actors are sleeping together off stage, they don’t have any heat left for their on-stage performance. Substitute screen for stage and you have yourself a Bill-Sookie romance. There are always a few lines of cringe-worthy dialogue between those two-this week they were, “It is not your blood I love. I love you. Your mind (insert joke here). Your heart. Your soul.” Real subtle writing.
We’ve heard a lot of references to Sookie not being able to trust Bill, whether it’s from Eric or from Sookie’s own subconscious. Eric repeatedly asks Bill to tell her the truth. My question is this: Is the big secret Eric’s referring to simply the fact that Bill was sent to Bon Temps to spy on Sookie for Sophie Anne Leclerq? Or is there more to it that we don’t know yet? Because if the former, I have no problem believing that Bill has subsequently developed genuine love for Sookie, or that he would easily be able to convince her of that fact if he simply told her the truth. His actions throughout the series have indicated his willingness to give his life for her. If there’s more to Bill’s “secret” than how he originally came into her life, I’d like to know what it is.
I wasn’t happy with the way a lot of the revelations were handled in this episode, either to us or to the characters. The episode’s very first line, “I’m a fairy? That is so fuckin’ lame,” bugged the hell out of me. After an entire season of buildup and frustrating teases about Sookie’s true nature, I wasn’t pleased that we entered the episode after the actual revelation. The whole scene felt rushed and expositional. “That is so fuckin’ lame,” had a bit of truth to it, though not because of the revelation itself, just because of the perfunctory manner in which it was delivered. I also felt that Jason’s confession to Tara was a bit rushed. “I shot eggs” felt like a statement that should have been left to sit for a moment. A little silence was called for. Instead Jason immediately began demanding a response from her. It felt unnatural.
Crystal and her fucked up family continue to annoy me. I’ve never liked the way I was expected to buy into her connection with Jason immediately, despite knowing nothing about her and the complete lack of discernible chemistry between them. And I’ve liked her less as I’ve gotten to know her. Her family’s backwards thinking epitomizes offensive Southern stereotypes. Lafayette’s declaration, “Dem fuckers is a whole new dimension of trash,” was both hilarious and spot on. I had to cover my eyes a bit when her father said, “You aint gotta love him. You just gotta lie under him and bear his children.” Again…subtle. Though, I did enjoy her transformation into a panther at the end of the episode. I just wish we had gotten there before episode 10. Too much of that plotline has consisted of vague references to what she is. At least we finally know.
I’ve always liked the character of Sam and enjoyed learning about his violent past. It explains both his beating of Crystal’s father and how he was able to buy the bar (though I could’ve sworn we learned in season 2 he got that money from Maryanne. Somebody help me out here?). I like the idea that Sam wasn’t always the great guy he now seems to be, and that he’s on a redemption journey. I hope the writers find something a little more interesting for him to do going forward, as his plot lines have seemed disjointed from the whole all season long. I’d also like to know what happened after his double homicide to turn him into the man we’ve come to know.
I continue to care nothing about Lafayette’s relationship with Jesus. It just strikes me as another outlet for the homo-erotica that has become a week-in,week-out staple of this show. Sometimes, as with Eric & Russell & Talbot, this feels germane to the story. Other times, as with Jesus or Russell’s encounter with the prostitute, the homo-erotica feels like it’s there for its own sake. Lafayette and Jesus’s V-trip was both incomprehensible and interminable. Lafayette’s ancestor was a shaman and Jesus’s grandfather was a sorcerer, do I have that right? I wish they had conveyed that more clearly and succinctly, or even better, not conveyed it at all. In any event, I don’t really care about any of it or see what it has to do with anything else in the show.
Hoyt and Jessica are sweet together, but I tend to believe she’s right that if he knew all she’d done, he wouldn’t want to be with her. And why did he run out of the bar? He asked her to look him in the eyes and tell him she didn’t love him. It seemed to me she wasn’t able to do that.
The scene between Arlene and Jessica is an example of the show dropping the ball on its original thematic goal. I get the sense I was supposed to side with Jessica when she told Arlene she didn’t like skinny, narrow-minded bitches. Yet, the very fact that Jessica unleashed her fangs and threatened Arlene while making this statement pretty much made Arlene’s point for her.
Those are my thoughts on "I Smell a Rat." I’m hoping against hope that the show gets more tightly focused in the season’s two remaining episodes.
I also enjoyed the scene where Eric leaves his life savings to Pam. We get to see both sides of the character. He genuinely cares about his progeny and wants to make sure she’ll be taken care of. But the very next second he behaves monstrously towards Yvette, calling her a gold digging whore, not that anyone actually cares about Yvette.
Sookie’s scenes with Eric continue to have far more heat than her scenes with her real life newbie husband, Stephen Moyer, a.k.a. Bill. I’m reminded of Joey Tribiani’s maxim in Friends, where he insists that when two actors are sleeping together off stage, they don’t have any heat left for their on-stage performance. Substitute screen for stage and you have yourself a Bill-Sookie romance. There are always a few lines of cringe-worthy dialogue between those two-this week they were, “It is not your blood I love. I love you. Your mind (insert joke here). Your heart. Your soul.” Real subtle writing.
We’ve heard a lot of references to Sookie not being able to trust Bill, whether it’s from Eric or from Sookie’s own subconscious. Eric repeatedly asks Bill to tell her the truth. My question is this: Is the big secret Eric’s referring to simply the fact that Bill was sent to Bon Temps to spy on Sookie for Sophie Anne Leclerq? Or is there more to it that we don’t know yet? Because if the former, I have no problem believing that Bill has subsequently developed genuine love for Sookie, or that he would easily be able to convince her of that fact if he simply told her the truth. His actions throughout the series have indicated his willingness to give his life for her. If there’s more to Bill’s “secret” than how he originally came into her life, I’d like to know what it is.
I wasn’t happy with the way a lot of the revelations were handled in this episode, either to us or to the characters. The episode’s very first line, “I’m a fairy? That is so fuckin’ lame,” bugged the hell out of me. After an entire season of buildup and frustrating teases about Sookie’s true nature, I wasn’t pleased that we entered the episode after the actual revelation. The whole scene felt rushed and expositional. “That is so fuckin’ lame,” had a bit of truth to it, though not because of the revelation itself, just because of the perfunctory manner in which it was delivered. I also felt that Jason’s confession to Tara was a bit rushed. “I shot eggs” felt like a statement that should have been left to sit for a moment. A little silence was called for. Instead Jason immediately began demanding a response from her. It felt unnatural.
Crystal and her fucked up family continue to annoy me. I’ve never liked the way I was expected to buy into her connection with Jason immediately, despite knowing nothing about her and the complete lack of discernible chemistry between them. And I’ve liked her less as I’ve gotten to know her. Her family’s backwards thinking epitomizes offensive Southern stereotypes. Lafayette’s declaration, “Dem fuckers is a whole new dimension of trash,” was both hilarious and spot on. I had to cover my eyes a bit when her father said, “You aint gotta love him. You just gotta lie under him and bear his children.” Again…subtle. Though, I did enjoy her transformation into a panther at the end of the episode. I just wish we had gotten there before episode 10. Too much of that plotline has consisted of vague references to what she is. At least we finally know.
I’ve always liked the character of Sam and enjoyed learning about his violent past. It explains both his beating of Crystal’s father and how he was able to buy the bar (though I could’ve sworn we learned in season 2 he got that money from Maryanne. Somebody help me out here?). I like the idea that Sam wasn’t always the great guy he now seems to be, and that he’s on a redemption journey. I hope the writers find something a little more interesting for him to do going forward, as his plot lines have seemed disjointed from the whole all season long. I’d also like to know what happened after his double homicide to turn him into the man we’ve come to know.
I continue to care nothing about Lafayette’s relationship with Jesus. It just strikes me as another outlet for the homo-erotica that has become a week-in,week-out staple of this show. Sometimes, as with Eric & Russell & Talbot, this feels germane to the story. Other times, as with Jesus or Russell’s encounter with the prostitute, the homo-erotica feels like it’s there for its own sake. Lafayette and Jesus’s V-trip was both incomprehensible and interminable. Lafayette’s ancestor was a shaman and Jesus’s grandfather was a sorcerer, do I have that right? I wish they had conveyed that more clearly and succinctly, or even better, not conveyed it at all. In any event, I don’t really care about any of it or see what it has to do with anything else in the show.
Hoyt and Jessica are sweet together, but I tend to believe she’s right that if he knew all she’d done, he wouldn’t want to be with her. And why did he run out of the bar? He asked her to look him in the eyes and tell him she didn’t love him. It seemed to me she wasn’t able to do that.
The scene between Arlene and Jessica is an example of the show dropping the ball on its original thematic goal. I get the sense I was supposed to side with Jessica when she told Arlene she didn’t like skinny, narrow-minded bitches. Yet, the very fact that Jessica unleashed her fangs and threatened Arlene while making this statement pretty much made Arlene’s point for her.
Those are my thoughts on "I Smell a Rat." I’m hoping against hope that the show gets more tightly focused in the season’s two remaining episodes.
True Blood: Overall Feelings About the Show
I loved season 1 of True Blood. But as time has gone on, I have grown increasingly disenchanted with the show, even as its popular reception has improved. Part of that is obviously due to the initial freshness of being immersed in a new fictional universe--a freshness that inevitably wears off.
But it’s more than that.
In season 1, I loved how the show functioned as a social critique. It was a metaphor for the intolerance that continues to exist in our society, with vampires standing in for the oppressed minority, and more specifically for the gay rights movement. The season's villain turned out not to be a vampire, but a vampire-basher. However, the show has largely abandoned this critique, as it has become clearer and clearer that in the world of True Blood, vampires are in fact murderous, dangerous creatures. Those who initially seemed different, such as Jessica and Mr. William Compton, have revealed themselves to be murderers whose demise would almost certainly save human lives. Even the spokeswoman for the movement, Nan Flanagan, has turned out to be a hypocrite who DOES feed on human blood. Not that this is necessarily their fault; after all, the food chain is the food chain. But the notion that vampires can peacefully coexist with humans and pose no threat to them has certainly proven to be a falsehood. As it turns out, we should have been rooting for the Fellowship of the Sun all along.
More troubling than the show’s abandonment of its original thematic intent, is how diffuse the drama has become. The world of True Blood has expanded exponentially, and its writers apparently feel obligated to give equal import and screen time to all its myriad subplots and characters. While some shows pull off such expansions magnificently, with True Blood the result has been that none of the plots seem to build any momentum. How can I sink my teeth into any individual plot line when it’s only given 2 or 3 scenes per episode? In The Wire, for instance, the show’s expansion worked because its various strands of plot were intricately connected and impacted one another. In True Blood, too many of the subplots feel completely isolated from the whole, such as Lafayette’s new romance, Sam’s relationship with his biological family, Jason and his mysterious new love interest, Jessica and Hoyt’s on-again, off-again relationship, and even Tara’s strange odyssey with Franklin--a.k.a. Vampire Paul Raines from "24" (as I continue to think of him).
Another aspect of the show that has expanded exponentially: the stupidity of Sookie Stackhouse. It’s difficult to care about a character who has lost the ability to think. There is a reason that great shows tend to boast brilliant protagonists, or at least protagonists that possess a certain type of brilliance applicable to their milieu: Vic Mackey, Al Swearengen, Walter White, Don Draper, Tony Soprano, etc. Intelligent characters are far more complex and compelling.
So why am I continuing to watch? Because I've invested too much time and energy in the show to quit now, and because despite my issues with it, I still usually find it an entertaining hour of television. However, I may not post long responses every week.
But it’s more than that.
In season 1, I loved how the show functioned as a social critique. It was a metaphor for the intolerance that continues to exist in our society, with vampires standing in for the oppressed minority, and more specifically for the gay rights movement. The season's villain turned out not to be a vampire, but a vampire-basher. However, the show has largely abandoned this critique, as it has become clearer and clearer that in the world of True Blood, vampires are in fact murderous, dangerous creatures. Those who initially seemed different, such as Jessica and Mr. William Compton, have revealed themselves to be murderers whose demise would almost certainly save human lives. Even the spokeswoman for the movement, Nan Flanagan, has turned out to be a hypocrite who DOES feed on human blood. Not that this is necessarily their fault; after all, the food chain is the food chain. But the notion that vampires can peacefully coexist with humans and pose no threat to them has certainly proven to be a falsehood. As it turns out, we should have been rooting for the Fellowship of the Sun all along.
More troubling than the show’s abandonment of its original thematic intent, is how diffuse the drama has become. The world of True Blood has expanded exponentially, and its writers apparently feel obligated to give equal import and screen time to all its myriad subplots and characters. While some shows pull off such expansions magnificently, with True Blood the result has been that none of the plots seem to build any momentum. How can I sink my teeth into any individual plot line when it’s only given 2 or 3 scenes per episode? In The Wire, for instance, the show’s expansion worked because its various strands of plot were intricately connected and impacted one another. In True Blood, too many of the subplots feel completely isolated from the whole, such as Lafayette’s new romance, Sam’s relationship with his biological family, Jason and his mysterious new love interest, Jessica and Hoyt’s on-again, off-again relationship, and even Tara’s strange odyssey with Franklin--a.k.a. Vampire Paul Raines from "24" (as I continue to think of him).
Another aspect of the show that has expanded exponentially: the stupidity of Sookie Stackhouse. It’s difficult to care about a character who has lost the ability to think. There is a reason that great shows tend to boast brilliant protagonists, or at least protagonists that possess a certain type of brilliance applicable to their milieu: Vic Mackey, Al Swearengen, Walter White, Don Draper, Tony Soprano, etc. Intelligent characters are far more complex and compelling.
So why am I continuing to watch? Because I've invested too much time and energy in the show to quit now, and because despite my issues with it, I still usually find it an entertaining hour of television. However, I may not post long responses every week.
Mad Men: "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword"
This week’s Mad Men gave us a Don Draper on top of his game, rather than the disintegrating mess we’ve come to know in recent weeks. While this clearly is not an indication that Don has permanently pulled himself out of the muck, it was nice to see that his strategic genius is still intact, even as other aspects of his life remain in the toilet.
The episode’s title, “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword,” refers to a book that is omnipresent throughout the episode, in spirit if not literally. The book was written by Ruth Benedict during World War II about Japanese culture, in order to help America figure out how to approach its enemy (and it should be noted that many parts of the book have subsequently been discredited). The book draws the distinction between “guilt cultures” and “shame cultures.” In guilt cultures, individuals are taught to feel badly when they do something wrong, whereas in shame cultures, individuals are taught to feel humiliation when they fail to meet societal expectations. While Benedict’s book classifies Japan as a shame culture and America as a guilt culture, it is clear throughout this episode that shame is a defining characteristic of both societies.
The A-plot of “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” features Don at his brilliant best, and begins when Pete announces that SCDP is being given the opportunity to compete for the Honda motorcycle account. Roger tries to put the kabosh on this deal before it even gets started. He still holds a massive grudge over the friends he lost in the war, and even though the rest of the world has moved on, he isn’t ready to. It’s ironic that at the beginning of the scene Roger is the one arguing for tolerance, as he touts the importance of The Civil Rights Act, while Bert and Pete show their racist colors; yet, when it comes to the Japanese, he unabashedly refers to them as Pete’s “little yellow friends.” Roger spouts, “Lucky Strike is great, meeting adjourned,” his point being that he’s responsible for SCDP's livelihood, so the other partners should relent to his position on Honda, a sentiment Pete will later throw back in his face.
Once Roger vacates the room, the rest of the partners decide to proceed without telling him. Pete tells the group he’s been advised to read “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” to better understand Japanese culture, and Don demands they get a copy to put on everyone’s desk for the Honda execs to see when they arrive. The book is massively offensive to Japanese culture and would have proven a disaster had they not been removed before the meeting.
Don tries to immerse himself in Japanese culture by taking Bethany to Benihana’s, where of course every customer in sight is white. There, he runs into a rival, Ted Chaough, who works for CGC. In the episode’s opening scene we learn that Chaough is drafting accounts off of SCDP, acquiring first Jai alai and then Clearisil, and is now unfairly being touted as Don’s equal in the New York Times. At Benihana’s, Chaough tells Don that CGC is competing for Honda as well, and that unfortunately for Don, “The best man’s going to win.” Chaough’s threat effectively doubles the stakes for Don and SCDP to land this account. Another firm, JWT, is also competing, but they don’t really factor into the episode.
The meeting with Honda turns into an unmitigated fiasco. It begins pleasantly enough, with Joan showing the Japanese execs, who communicate via a translator, around SCDP. There are some humorous moments on this tour, such as when the translator is unable to describe SCDP’s “creative lounge” in Japanese and simply says “I don’t know what this room if for.” And I couldn’t help but laugh at the executives’ overt ogling of Joan. The meeting, itself, seems to go well at first, despite Pete awkwardly foisting wrapped gifts upon the execs. Pete behaves like a child in asking them to open their presents right there in the office. When Bert denies him the privilege, Pete simply tells them what’s inside each box: a cantaloupe and 2 bottles of Johnny Walker Red. A cantaloupe? Really, Pete? I couldn’t help but think of the Seinfeld episode where George kept giving the Japanese businessmen oranges because he thought it was considered an exotic delicacy. And of course, as soon as Pete told them what the gifts were, the cantaloupe got passed down to the translator while the bosses took the liquor.
Despite Pete’s goofy enthusiasm, the meeting is progressing nicely until Roger walks in and torpedoes the whole deal. This scene was so mortifying and brutal that I had to watch it with my hand over my eyes, through a slit in my fingers (the same way I watched Legally Blonde 2, but for completely different reasons). Roger taunts them with lines like, “They won’t know it’s over until you drop the big one…twice.” Roger’s vicious tirade concludes with him telling them that SCDP doesn’t need any of their “Jap Crap.” He then storms out of the room. As I didn’t see the translator communicate any of this, it’s tough to tell exactly what they understood. But either way, Roger’s tone was angry and nasty and the impact wasn’t good. Once Roger is gone, the translator informs the SCDP partners there will be a competition between the three vying ad agencies, in which they each get three thousand dollars to prove themselves with a presentation. But for all intents and purposes, SCDP appears to be out of the running.
Don and Pete confront Roger in his office and Pete accuses Roger of sabotaging the deal to maintain his own importance to the firm (since Roger is responsible for Lucky Strike, which accounts for much more than half of SCDP’s entire income). This accusation shames Roger in front of Don-an example of the role of shame in American culture. Even though Roger’s biggest motivation is the one he stated, resentment over his lost comrades in the war, there’s no denying the truth behind’s Pete’s words. “He’s right,” Don tells him, Roger enjoys being the most important cog in the wheel and fears obsolescence.
Bert is able to convince Roger to apologize and to agree to go along with any accounts the firm is able to acquire, though it appears too late to have a real shot at Honda. As a talk with Joan later reveals, Roger still isn’t ready to move on, but he’s at least able to accept that the rest of the world has.
With a presentation for Honda on the books, Don doesn’t want to waste the opportunity regardless of how miniscule the odds appear to be. He first suggests that SCDP go over the allotted three thousand dollar budget and out of pocket to create a full blown commercial that will knock the socks off of Honda. But Lane, a man with his finger always on the financial pulse of operations, points out that SCDP doesn’t have the money to create a commercial on spec, and that doing so would virtually bankrupt the agency.
Don’s ingenuity is able to turn Lane’s piece of seemingly negative info into an advantage. Knowing that ted Chaough is always in his rearview mirror, Don plans to “make a left turn right off a cliff.” Since CGC is the same size as SCDP, that means they can’t afford to make a commercial on spec either; but because CGC is still in the running for the account, they might be willing to take the chance thinking the risk will be worth the reward. Don fools Chaough into thinking SCDP is making an expensive commercial. He has Joan bring in CGC’s director and offer him a job directing the Honda commercial, which will of course be shot at the same time he’s doing a Clearasil commercial for CGC. This means he has to turn down the job. The director immediately reports the news to CGC. Don even goes so far as to rent studio time at the same time and place that CGC is shooting their Clearasil commercial, and has Peggy wheel a Honda motorcycle into the studio in full view of the CGC executives. CGC is kept out of the studio and all they hear is the revving of the motorcycle inside, thinking an expensive commercial is being filmed. Inside, in the episode’s funniest moment, Peggy is driving the motorcycle around in a circle inside the completely empty studio set, with absolutely nothing being filmed. This convinces CGC to go for it and blow their budget for the whole year on an expensive commercial.
But Don’s plan isn’t done yet. After CGC shows Honda their elaborate commercial, Don walks into the conference room for SCDP’s pitch all by himself, and using what he read in the book, literally shames them into choosing SCDP. He tells them he wants no part of the competition because Honda didn’t follow their own rules by fielding a pitch that went way over the allotted budget. He writes them a check for the three thousand dollars SCDP was given for the pitch and walks out.
“A man is shamed by being openly ridiculed and rejected, it requires an audience,” Don tells Pete earlier in the episode, a quote from the "Chrysanthemum and the Sword." Don puts this theory into practice by making the Honda execs feel dishonored, not only in front of each other, but in front of Don, and by extension all of SCDP, if not the entire advertising community (in doing so, Don also sets himself apart as a man of principle and honor). In shame cultures, honor is restored by making the socially expected decision. It turns out Honda wasn’t looking to take their motorcycle account from their old ad company at all, but was looking for a company to handle their upcoming line of automobiles. To restore their honor, Honda has no choice but to give their account to Draper over Chaough. In one fell swoop, Don manages to land what we in 2010 know will go on to be a massive account, while simultaneously bankrupting a rival company.
Don’s intricate plane to snag Honda and destroy CGC was reminiscent of his mutli-part plan to extricate himself from Sterling Cooper in the season 3 finale, “Shut the door, have a seat.” As fun as it was to see Don back in top form, it was a rather abrupt change from the Don we’ve seen in recent weeks, who was blowing up in pitch meetings and striking out with women. The biggest question coming into tonight’s episode was whether Don would continue to sink even lower, or if he had hit rock bottom and would now start to turn things around. The question after last night’s episode now becomes, “Was this a Don who has truly turned things around or merely Matt Weiner’s way of showing us that even while Don is failing at all other aspects of his life, in the workplace he’s still Don Draper?” I would be severely disappointed if it was the former (which would mean Don’s turnaround largely happened off screen), but have too much respect for Weiner and company to think this is the case. My vote goes to the latter and I think last night’s subplot featuring Sally Draper was evidence of that, as Don still hasn’t figured out how to relate to or even be around his kids.
If the episode’s A-plot had a much lighter vibe than Mad Men’s recent outings, the emotional core of this episode rested squarely with Sally Draper in the B-plot. Poor, poor Sally Draper. You have such terrible parents. Ever since Sally’s grandfather died, the only person with whom she had a true connection, she has been struggling to find someone to relate to. Don has one of his rare weekends with his kids at the start of the episode, but instead of spending time with them, he abandons them to go on a date with Bethany. Nurse Phoebe, acting as babysitter, asks Don, “which one is it?” in reference to which restaurant he’s going to. But Don momentarily misinterprets this as “which girl are you going out with?” Sally angrily adds, “You’re going out with a girl, aren’t you?” This tells us that Don makes a regular habit of leaving his kids to go on dates on the weekends he’s supposed to spend with them. He later confesses to Faye Miller that he has no idea how to be around them and always wants them to leave as quickly as possible.
While Don is out, Sally sneaks into the bathroom and cuts off most of her hair, leaving her head a disheveled mess. This is a cry for attention from her father. She tells Phoebe that her dad likes women with short hair. Sally then tries to ask Phoebe about sex; if her parents won’t have a real conversation with her, maybe this nice nurse will. But Sally strikes out again. Phoebe simply tells her, “you don’t need to know right know, so stop changing the subject.”
When Don gets home and learns what happened, Phoebe (before being handed her severance), tells Don he’ll have to take Sally to the beauty parlor. The next day we learn Don didn’t even take the time to do that, despite his knowledge that doing so would have mitigated the lambasting he takes from Betty. That’s how badly Don wants to NOT spend time with his children. And poor Sally now has to face her increasingly detestable mother. Out of the frying pan and into the fire is the expression. When Betty sees her daughter’s hair, she slaps her across the face. And this is no small slap. It is hard, it is vicious, and it most definitely hurt like hell. Remember in season 1 when Betty was, you know, likeable? Don really did a number on her, didn’t he? Betty has never been a good mother to Sally, but once she found out her husband’s true identity, she began treating her daughter like an extension of Don (whom she now views as a gutter rat).
Henry makes a good point, though, that Don isn’t being a much better father, than Betty is a mother. Don’s weekends with his kids should be “sacrosanct,” as Henry puts it. He shouldn’t be spending them by taking out women. Of course, I’d take neglectful over vicious and abusive any day of the week. Henry once again proves he’s the only decent adult in Sally’s life by convincing Betty to apologize to Sally and to forego punishment. I’m thinking that Henry must be having some serious regrets about whom he chose to marry.
Sally’s next act that draws her mother’s wrath is far more disturbing than cutting her hair. On a sleepover, Sally begins masturbating to "The Man from Uncle," while her friend sleeps right next to her on the couch. In fairness to Sally, she did check to make sure her friend was asleep first. Unfortunately, her friend’s mother catches her and, outraged, takes her straight home and reports it to Betty. Betty, who we know is obsessed with giving off the outward appearance of the perfect family, feels mortified and shamed, more proof that shame is universal and not limited to the East. “You especially don’t do them [masturbating] in public,” Betty yells. Again, for Betty it’s all about image, not about the internal confusion her daughter is experiencing. Betty is thrown into such a rage that she threatens to cut Sally’s fingers off. At that moment, it was impossible not to think of the flashback scene in The Sopranos episode, “Down Neck,” when Livia Soprano threatens to stick a fork in Tony’s eye. For those who haven’t seen The Sopranos...Livia Soprano…not a mother you want to be compared to. Henry, again proving his intelligence and decency, is able to convince Betty to take Sally to a therapist.
In a contentious scene, Betty calls Don to inform him what happened, and puts all the blame at his feet for the endless line of women he’s been dating. Don reminds Betty that she’s the one that took another man into her bed in Sally’s own house. Betty’s defense is that she’s married, making it completely different. It should be noted that one of the staples of “guilt cultures” is a condemnation of sexuality except in the context of marriage. It’s no coincidence that after the phone call, Don, who was in the middle of reading “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword,” flings it across the room in anger.
In a scene right out of The Sopranos finale, “Made in America,” Betty visits with a prospective shrink for Sally, and instead begins talking about her own problems, similar to the way Tony began whining about his own problems in a visit to his son’s therapist. We learn the role that shame played in shaping the monster that Betty has become. When her mother caught her brother with a skin magazine, she posted it to his door to humiliate and shame him from ever doing it again.
As soon as Betty starts talking, Dr. Edna realizes that Sally’s problem isn’t sexual disturbance, but rather, a disturbed mother. Dr. Edna puts Sally on the books for four visits a week (4 visits a week? Seriously? Is she a serial killer or something?). While Dr. Edna marks it down, Betty stares longingly at a pristine dollhouse in the office. This represents the outward appearance of “the perfect home” Betty has always longed for.
I thought the ominous music that played when Sally walked into the therapist’s office and the door closed behind her was an odd choice. This can’t be a negative for Sally. It can only be positive or neutral, since there’s no doubt that without it, Sally will be completely emotionally annihilated by her mother. Hopefully, Dr. Edna will finally give Sally someone to talk to and forge a connection with. Though I must admit, there is a fear in the back of my mind that just as Sally begins to connect with Edna and make progress, Betty will cruelly yank her out of Sally’s life.
Pretty much all episodes of Mad Men range from very good to great, and I’d say this one falls somewhere in between. Mad Men’s trademark humor was on display throughout and Sally’s plotline provided a wonderful emotional sidebar. But because the A-plot had a much lighter tone than recent episodes, and Don, himself, seemed to be much less of a mess, the episode didn’t pack the same emotional wallop as, say, “Christmas Comes But Once a Year,” this season’s best episode.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
-Looks like Don and Faye Miller will definitely happen. The scene between them was wonderful. Don complains to her, “Why does everyone need to talk about everything,” and she responds with, ““I don’t know, but they do. And no matter what happens, when they’re done talking, they feel better.” Don immediately takes this advice to heart and, in a very un-Draper move, begins unloading his personal problems on Faye. She reveals her wedding ring is just a “stop sign” to keep away unwanted advances. This relationship is happening.
-Lane has become a magnificent addition to the show even in episodes where he barely appears. I loved him yelling, “Where’s my other half?”, making fun of Honda’s greed at wanting a new ad agency, when their current one has helped them corner 50% of the motorcycle market. Even better was his mocking of Honda’s tiny car, “The nice thing is it has windows, so you can see your brains splatter against it when it crashes.”
-Scenes between Roger and Joanie are always wonderful. In last night’s episode, she helps Roger accept that the world has moved on from WWII, while telling him to keep his mouth shut about the horrors of war, knowing full well her husband might soon be headed to Vietnam.
-Don’s new secretary continues to be hilariously incompetent. Fighting over the package with Pete was great. And I loved the moment when she announced “Mr. Sterling and Mr. Cooper” about 5 seconds after they had already arrived in Don’s office. Don’s gotta be missing Alison, doesn’t he? It can’t be too long before a new secretary is in order.
The episode’s title, “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword,” refers to a book that is omnipresent throughout the episode, in spirit if not literally. The book was written by Ruth Benedict during World War II about Japanese culture, in order to help America figure out how to approach its enemy (and it should be noted that many parts of the book have subsequently been discredited). The book draws the distinction between “guilt cultures” and “shame cultures.” In guilt cultures, individuals are taught to feel badly when they do something wrong, whereas in shame cultures, individuals are taught to feel humiliation when they fail to meet societal expectations. While Benedict’s book classifies Japan as a shame culture and America as a guilt culture, it is clear throughout this episode that shame is a defining characteristic of both societies.
The A-plot of “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” features Don at his brilliant best, and begins when Pete announces that SCDP is being given the opportunity to compete for the Honda motorcycle account. Roger tries to put the kabosh on this deal before it even gets started. He still holds a massive grudge over the friends he lost in the war, and even though the rest of the world has moved on, he isn’t ready to. It’s ironic that at the beginning of the scene Roger is the one arguing for tolerance, as he touts the importance of The Civil Rights Act, while Bert and Pete show their racist colors; yet, when it comes to the Japanese, he unabashedly refers to them as Pete’s “little yellow friends.” Roger spouts, “Lucky Strike is great, meeting adjourned,” his point being that he’s responsible for SCDP's livelihood, so the other partners should relent to his position on Honda, a sentiment Pete will later throw back in his face.
Once Roger vacates the room, the rest of the partners decide to proceed without telling him. Pete tells the group he’s been advised to read “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” to better understand Japanese culture, and Don demands they get a copy to put on everyone’s desk for the Honda execs to see when they arrive. The book is massively offensive to Japanese culture and would have proven a disaster had they not been removed before the meeting.
Don tries to immerse himself in Japanese culture by taking Bethany to Benihana’s, where of course every customer in sight is white. There, he runs into a rival, Ted Chaough, who works for CGC. In the episode’s opening scene we learn that Chaough is drafting accounts off of SCDP, acquiring first Jai alai and then Clearisil, and is now unfairly being touted as Don’s equal in the New York Times. At Benihana’s, Chaough tells Don that CGC is competing for Honda as well, and that unfortunately for Don, “The best man’s going to win.” Chaough’s threat effectively doubles the stakes for Don and SCDP to land this account. Another firm, JWT, is also competing, but they don’t really factor into the episode.
The meeting with Honda turns into an unmitigated fiasco. It begins pleasantly enough, with Joan showing the Japanese execs, who communicate via a translator, around SCDP. There are some humorous moments on this tour, such as when the translator is unable to describe SCDP’s “creative lounge” in Japanese and simply says “I don’t know what this room if for.” And I couldn’t help but laugh at the executives’ overt ogling of Joan. The meeting, itself, seems to go well at first, despite Pete awkwardly foisting wrapped gifts upon the execs. Pete behaves like a child in asking them to open their presents right there in the office. When Bert denies him the privilege, Pete simply tells them what’s inside each box: a cantaloupe and 2 bottles of Johnny Walker Red. A cantaloupe? Really, Pete? I couldn’t help but think of the Seinfeld episode where George kept giving the Japanese businessmen oranges because he thought it was considered an exotic delicacy. And of course, as soon as Pete told them what the gifts were, the cantaloupe got passed down to the translator while the bosses took the liquor.
Despite Pete’s goofy enthusiasm, the meeting is progressing nicely until Roger walks in and torpedoes the whole deal. This scene was so mortifying and brutal that I had to watch it with my hand over my eyes, through a slit in my fingers (the same way I watched Legally Blonde 2, but for completely different reasons). Roger taunts them with lines like, “They won’t know it’s over until you drop the big one…twice.” Roger’s vicious tirade concludes with him telling them that SCDP doesn’t need any of their “Jap Crap.” He then storms out of the room. As I didn’t see the translator communicate any of this, it’s tough to tell exactly what they understood. But either way, Roger’s tone was angry and nasty and the impact wasn’t good. Once Roger is gone, the translator informs the SCDP partners there will be a competition between the three vying ad agencies, in which they each get three thousand dollars to prove themselves with a presentation. But for all intents and purposes, SCDP appears to be out of the running.
Don and Pete confront Roger in his office and Pete accuses Roger of sabotaging the deal to maintain his own importance to the firm (since Roger is responsible for Lucky Strike, which accounts for much more than half of SCDP’s entire income). This accusation shames Roger in front of Don-an example of the role of shame in American culture. Even though Roger’s biggest motivation is the one he stated, resentment over his lost comrades in the war, there’s no denying the truth behind’s Pete’s words. “He’s right,” Don tells him, Roger enjoys being the most important cog in the wheel and fears obsolescence.
Bert is able to convince Roger to apologize and to agree to go along with any accounts the firm is able to acquire, though it appears too late to have a real shot at Honda. As a talk with Joan later reveals, Roger still isn’t ready to move on, but he’s at least able to accept that the rest of the world has.
With a presentation for Honda on the books, Don doesn’t want to waste the opportunity regardless of how miniscule the odds appear to be. He first suggests that SCDP go over the allotted three thousand dollar budget and out of pocket to create a full blown commercial that will knock the socks off of Honda. But Lane, a man with his finger always on the financial pulse of operations, points out that SCDP doesn’t have the money to create a commercial on spec, and that doing so would virtually bankrupt the agency.
Don’s ingenuity is able to turn Lane’s piece of seemingly negative info into an advantage. Knowing that ted Chaough is always in his rearview mirror, Don plans to “make a left turn right off a cliff.” Since CGC is the same size as SCDP, that means they can’t afford to make a commercial on spec either; but because CGC is still in the running for the account, they might be willing to take the chance thinking the risk will be worth the reward. Don fools Chaough into thinking SCDP is making an expensive commercial. He has Joan bring in CGC’s director and offer him a job directing the Honda commercial, which will of course be shot at the same time he’s doing a Clearasil commercial for CGC. This means he has to turn down the job. The director immediately reports the news to CGC. Don even goes so far as to rent studio time at the same time and place that CGC is shooting their Clearasil commercial, and has Peggy wheel a Honda motorcycle into the studio in full view of the CGC executives. CGC is kept out of the studio and all they hear is the revving of the motorcycle inside, thinking an expensive commercial is being filmed. Inside, in the episode’s funniest moment, Peggy is driving the motorcycle around in a circle inside the completely empty studio set, with absolutely nothing being filmed. This convinces CGC to go for it and blow their budget for the whole year on an expensive commercial.
But Don’s plan isn’t done yet. After CGC shows Honda their elaborate commercial, Don walks into the conference room for SCDP’s pitch all by himself, and using what he read in the book, literally shames them into choosing SCDP. He tells them he wants no part of the competition because Honda didn’t follow their own rules by fielding a pitch that went way over the allotted budget. He writes them a check for the three thousand dollars SCDP was given for the pitch and walks out.
“A man is shamed by being openly ridiculed and rejected, it requires an audience,” Don tells Pete earlier in the episode, a quote from the "Chrysanthemum and the Sword." Don puts this theory into practice by making the Honda execs feel dishonored, not only in front of each other, but in front of Don, and by extension all of SCDP, if not the entire advertising community (in doing so, Don also sets himself apart as a man of principle and honor). In shame cultures, honor is restored by making the socially expected decision. It turns out Honda wasn’t looking to take their motorcycle account from their old ad company at all, but was looking for a company to handle their upcoming line of automobiles. To restore their honor, Honda has no choice but to give their account to Draper over Chaough. In one fell swoop, Don manages to land what we in 2010 know will go on to be a massive account, while simultaneously bankrupting a rival company.
Don’s intricate plane to snag Honda and destroy CGC was reminiscent of his mutli-part plan to extricate himself from Sterling Cooper in the season 3 finale, “Shut the door, have a seat.” As fun as it was to see Don back in top form, it was a rather abrupt change from the Don we’ve seen in recent weeks, who was blowing up in pitch meetings and striking out with women. The biggest question coming into tonight’s episode was whether Don would continue to sink even lower, or if he had hit rock bottom and would now start to turn things around. The question after last night’s episode now becomes, “Was this a Don who has truly turned things around or merely Matt Weiner’s way of showing us that even while Don is failing at all other aspects of his life, in the workplace he’s still Don Draper?” I would be severely disappointed if it was the former (which would mean Don’s turnaround largely happened off screen), but have too much respect for Weiner and company to think this is the case. My vote goes to the latter and I think last night’s subplot featuring Sally Draper was evidence of that, as Don still hasn’t figured out how to relate to or even be around his kids.
If the episode’s A-plot had a much lighter vibe than Mad Men’s recent outings, the emotional core of this episode rested squarely with Sally Draper in the B-plot. Poor, poor Sally Draper. You have such terrible parents. Ever since Sally’s grandfather died, the only person with whom she had a true connection, she has been struggling to find someone to relate to. Don has one of his rare weekends with his kids at the start of the episode, but instead of spending time with them, he abandons them to go on a date with Bethany. Nurse Phoebe, acting as babysitter, asks Don, “which one is it?” in reference to which restaurant he’s going to. But Don momentarily misinterprets this as “which girl are you going out with?” Sally angrily adds, “You’re going out with a girl, aren’t you?” This tells us that Don makes a regular habit of leaving his kids to go on dates on the weekends he’s supposed to spend with them. He later confesses to Faye Miller that he has no idea how to be around them and always wants them to leave as quickly as possible.
While Don is out, Sally sneaks into the bathroom and cuts off most of her hair, leaving her head a disheveled mess. This is a cry for attention from her father. She tells Phoebe that her dad likes women with short hair. Sally then tries to ask Phoebe about sex; if her parents won’t have a real conversation with her, maybe this nice nurse will. But Sally strikes out again. Phoebe simply tells her, “you don’t need to know right know, so stop changing the subject.”
When Don gets home and learns what happened, Phoebe (before being handed her severance), tells Don he’ll have to take Sally to the beauty parlor. The next day we learn Don didn’t even take the time to do that, despite his knowledge that doing so would have mitigated the lambasting he takes from Betty. That’s how badly Don wants to NOT spend time with his children. And poor Sally now has to face her increasingly detestable mother. Out of the frying pan and into the fire is the expression. When Betty sees her daughter’s hair, she slaps her across the face. And this is no small slap. It is hard, it is vicious, and it most definitely hurt like hell. Remember in season 1 when Betty was, you know, likeable? Don really did a number on her, didn’t he? Betty has never been a good mother to Sally, but once she found out her husband’s true identity, she began treating her daughter like an extension of Don (whom she now views as a gutter rat).
Henry makes a good point, though, that Don isn’t being a much better father, than Betty is a mother. Don’s weekends with his kids should be “sacrosanct,” as Henry puts it. He shouldn’t be spending them by taking out women. Of course, I’d take neglectful over vicious and abusive any day of the week. Henry once again proves he’s the only decent adult in Sally’s life by convincing Betty to apologize to Sally and to forego punishment. I’m thinking that Henry must be having some serious regrets about whom he chose to marry.
Sally’s next act that draws her mother’s wrath is far more disturbing than cutting her hair. On a sleepover, Sally begins masturbating to "The Man from Uncle," while her friend sleeps right next to her on the couch. In fairness to Sally, she did check to make sure her friend was asleep first. Unfortunately, her friend’s mother catches her and, outraged, takes her straight home and reports it to Betty. Betty, who we know is obsessed with giving off the outward appearance of the perfect family, feels mortified and shamed, more proof that shame is universal and not limited to the East. “You especially don’t do them [masturbating] in public,” Betty yells. Again, for Betty it’s all about image, not about the internal confusion her daughter is experiencing. Betty is thrown into such a rage that she threatens to cut Sally’s fingers off. At that moment, it was impossible not to think of the flashback scene in The Sopranos episode, “Down Neck,” when Livia Soprano threatens to stick a fork in Tony’s eye. For those who haven’t seen The Sopranos...Livia Soprano…not a mother you want to be compared to. Henry, again proving his intelligence and decency, is able to convince Betty to take Sally to a therapist.
In a contentious scene, Betty calls Don to inform him what happened, and puts all the blame at his feet for the endless line of women he’s been dating. Don reminds Betty that she’s the one that took another man into her bed in Sally’s own house. Betty’s defense is that she’s married, making it completely different. It should be noted that one of the staples of “guilt cultures” is a condemnation of sexuality except in the context of marriage. It’s no coincidence that after the phone call, Don, who was in the middle of reading “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword,” flings it across the room in anger.
In a scene right out of The Sopranos finale, “Made in America,” Betty visits with a prospective shrink for Sally, and instead begins talking about her own problems, similar to the way Tony began whining about his own problems in a visit to his son’s therapist. We learn the role that shame played in shaping the monster that Betty has become. When her mother caught her brother with a skin magazine, she posted it to his door to humiliate and shame him from ever doing it again.
As soon as Betty starts talking, Dr. Edna realizes that Sally’s problem isn’t sexual disturbance, but rather, a disturbed mother. Dr. Edna puts Sally on the books for four visits a week (4 visits a week? Seriously? Is she a serial killer or something?). While Dr. Edna marks it down, Betty stares longingly at a pristine dollhouse in the office. This represents the outward appearance of “the perfect home” Betty has always longed for.
I thought the ominous music that played when Sally walked into the therapist’s office and the door closed behind her was an odd choice. This can’t be a negative for Sally. It can only be positive or neutral, since there’s no doubt that without it, Sally will be completely emotionally annihilated by her mother. Hopefully, Dr. Edna will finally give Sally someone to talk to and forge a connection with. Though I must admit, there is a fear in the back of my mind that just as Sally begins to connect with Edna and make progress, Betty will cruelly yank her out of Sally’s life.
Pretty much all episodes of Mad Men range from very good to great, and I’d say this one falls somewhere in between. Mad Men’s trademark humor was on display throughout and Sally’s plotline provided a wonderful emotional sidebar. But because the A-plot had a much lighter tone than recent episodes, and Don, himself, seemed to be much less of a mess, the episode didn’t pack the same emotional wallop as, say, “Christmas Comes But Once a Year,” this season’s best episode.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
-Looks like Don and Faye Miller will definitely happen. The scene between them was wonderful. Don complains to her, “Why does everyone need to talk about everything,” and she responds with, ““I don’t know, but they do. And no matter what happens, when they’re done talking, they feel better.” Don immediately takes this advice to heart and, in a very un-Draper move, begins unloading his personal problems on Faye. She reveals her wedding ring is just a “stop sign” to keep away unwanted advances. This relationship is happening.
-Lane has become a magnificent addition to the show even in episodes where he barely appears. I loved him yelling, “Where’s my other half?”, making fun of Honda’s greed at wanting a new ad agency, when their current one has helped them corner 50% of the motorcycle market. Even better was his mocking of Honda’s tiny car, “The nice thing is it has windows, so you can see your brains splatter against it when it crashes.”
-Scenes between Roger and Joanie are always wonderful. In last night’s episode, she helps Roger accept that the world has moved on from WWII, while telling him to keep his mouth shut about the horrors of war, knowing full well her husband might soon be headed to Vietnam.
-Don’s new secretary continues to be hilariously incompetent. Fighting over the package with Pete was great. And I loved the moment when she announced “Mr. Sterling and Mr. Cooper” about 5 seconds after they had already arrived in Don’s office. Don’s gotta be missing Alison, doesn’t he? It can’t be too long before a new secretary is in order.
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