All Men Must Die - Mad Men, Game of Thrones, The Killing

One of these days I am going to write a blog entry all about the hilarious and genius comedies I've been watching. Today is not that day. Too much ridiculously awesome angst-and-death-filled television lately, including a few stellar season finales. I'm going to try to keep things short and simple, so I can try to talk about as many shows as possible before my brain explodes. (Ed note: it's impossible for the writer to write "short and simple," so here are three TV shows and some stuff at the end.)

Mad Men

Weirdsies

... or the epitomy of visual storytelling. FOR.REAL. I'm pretty sure that with the last two episodes, Mad Men won all of TV.  I'm not sure how you can top these... if not for the Joan, Peggy and Lane storylines alone. And then there's Sally Draper who makes me cry all the time just by being on-screen, and with this last episode, I just devolved into a soupy mess. This girl! More on this later, but first let's go back two episodes to "The Other Woman." For those of you who know me, I loves me a good theme. And Mad Men is nothing if not theme-centric, from the title of every episode to the layers and layers of themey goodness found within - the music, the dialogue, the plot twists... every detail is a puzzle piece putting together the genius that is a Mad Men episode.
In this particularly delicious episode, much is made of going after the Jaguar business. The pitch is basically that Jaguar is like the other woman, something beautiful and expensive and not really within your grasp...  I guess? This is sort of how it's positioned and they land on the tagline "At last, something beautiful you can truly own." WOWZERS! Does this speak volumes of Don's psyche or what? Meanwhile, all of Don's "other women," as we shall call them, are clearly NOT being owned by anyone: Megan is challenging him with her follow-her-dreams escapades, Joan is truly the other woman for a night, but becomes a partner in the firm in the process, and Don's right-hand girl PEGGY LEAVES. You see, Don tried to own her, visually expressed by Don literally throwing money in her face. Peggy has to move on at this point, but she owes so much to Don - oh, the turmoil! Don figuratively throws money at her as well, trying to get her to stay: "there's always a number" he says, but to no avail. When Peggy thrusts out her hand for a businesslike goodbye handshake and instead, Don kisses her hand, that simple gesture encompasses their entire journey together. On the surface it's been all business, but really it's so much more.

*sob*

The more overt storyline in "The Other Woman" is the juxtaposition of the Jaguar pitch with Joan's decision to spend a night with a smarmy Jaguar executive, and it is pure genius. Joan is also the beautiful thing you can own, seemingly. The surprise here is not so much that she went through with it, but the realization that Don's pleas to not go through with it were all for naught, since the deed was already done. No one really owns Joan though... certainly not now that she's partner.
Okay, moving on to the most recent episode, "Commissions and Fees." Oh, Lane. While sitting there on the couch in Don's office, I knew I was wrong about Pete Campbell. I had written earlier that I thought he might be just desolate and out-of-touch with himself enough to end his life. But watching Lane's reaction to Don's discovery of the check he forged, that is true despair.

The pit of despair

Was there any doubt that Lane would be exiting himself from the world? He may have been able to rally, concoct some new scheme, angle, life abroad... but then life just beat the crap out of him over and over, like it does. Joan dismissed him from her office abruptly when he talked of her being in an obscene bikini (kick!); his wife wants to CONGRATULATE him (smack!) for becoming an officer in the Four A's (side real-life note: I know what that is!! I have been involved with that organization in real life!) by BUYING him a JAGUAR and she "WROTE a CHECK" (flying side-kick to the gut!). Thank god those pretty Jaguars are shit though, right? Because it doesn't start when Lane tries to off himself in it and maybe he'll take that as a sign. Nope. Somehow, in his office at SCDP is the more appropriate setting for this final FU to Don and Joan and everyone. No less devastating though. Though his note is a boilerplate resignation letter, I suspect there is a real letter somewhere... to Don? to Joan?
Speaking of devastating... I know I say this all the time, but Sweet Jesus, it's true... I watch every second of Sally Draper on-screen like I'm about to jettison into the atmosphere: edge of my seat, gripping cushions and things, sipping my martini water fast and furious. You can never relax because you never know what's going to happen. Such is the quiet intensity of Mad Men. So this Sally-focused storyline of fighting with Betty (bitch!), showing up on Megan's doorstep, parent-approved school skipping and very non-parent approved having a boy over and going to a museum on said skip day and then, ahem, becoming a woman unexpectedly at the museum had me practically apoplectic.

Sometimes a girl just needs a hot water bottle and her mom,
no matter how much of a crazed bitch she is

THIS.GIRL. Wait, actually.... THIS.SHOW. I don't think there has been another portrayal of a girl in limbo as perfect as Sally Draper. From ordering coffee in the restaurant to holding her own in the girl talk to wearing her kick-ass grown-up go-go boots for her museum date, she so desperately thinks she's ready to be a woman. Until, you know, that womanly thing kicks in (which she handles only slightly better than Sansa Stark - but really, does anyone handle that well?). She runs home to her mom (because that's what kids do when they are overwhelmed) and breaks my heart with every step, because in my head I hear strains of Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon or maybe it was I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman. Either way, it was profound. And Betty actually rises to the occasion, making me cry with her tender words towards Sally, words of comfort but also of the real responsibilities and obligations of being a woman. Commissions and fees, indeed.
One more thing that I love about Mad Men: how bizarre is it to see Don and Glen together? So much has happened with Glen and Sally (and of course earlier with wacko Betty) it's just freaking WEIRD to have him re-introduce himself and then Don lets him drive his car. Moral of all of it: life is just fucked up sometimes, so drive a car.

Sometimes a dude just needs to drive a car

Game of Thrones
*Only read this if you have read the books or if you don't care about spoilery things, sorta, or maybe read anyway because who knows if the TV show will do the same things as the books, right?

I know, I know... I just can't stop talking about how every character on this show is perfectly cast. I keep saying this, but I feel now that these words are somehow misleading... like these people are perfectly cast because they look exactly like how I pictured them in my head. They do, but really, when you see these actors not in character, it is really a testament to their phenomenal acting skills how they truly embody these characters. Usually I like to go on and on about Tyrion or Arya or Joffrey, but the season finale had me realizing that probably one of the most "perfectly cast" characters (read: plays the part impeccably), is that of Varys. So much so that is is shocking to see this actor out of costume. What do you mean Conleth Hill isn't a bald eunuch?!

I wonder if they use Nair on his face?

The finale, "Valar Morghulis," had me wondering if I would be a better viewer had I not read the books. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this show. It's brilliant. However, some of the deviations I am enjoying, but others leave me baffled as to how they make sense or how they will make sense down the line. Of course some I understand sort of have to happen for this medium - they're certainly not going to make us watch Peter Dinklage with half a face and no nose.

Face and nose intact for your viewing pleasure

And I suppose the argument could be made that Dany's book experiences in the House of the Undying would be too lengthy and complicated to put on the screen. [Aside: ooooooo... Dany walks through what looks like The Wall to get to that tent... winter is coming! But more importantly, I see this as a clear sign that My Big Theory - heretofore to be referenced as Lisa's Big Theory of How it All Ends - is right on. I shall not disclose at this time, but I have it written and dated in an journal. I believe I am channeling GRRM's mind with LBToHiAE.)
Deviations I think I like include: Dany's dragons in the House of the Undying (much more compelling!), showing this intimate part of Stannis (almost killing Melisandre! Regret over Renly! Seeing things in the flames!), showing some of Varys' spidery moves (and possibly making this Ros character something substantial) and possibly this accelerated plot of Littlefinger helping Sansa (we'll see on this one).

"I will eat  you!... Later... I guess..."

And now the rant about the White Walkers. (Oh, don't worry, there are other rants in the Other Character section below, but this is a doozy if you ask me.) WHAT the WHAT is going on at the end of this finale with White Walkers walking by a juicy Sam Tarly?! Okay, yes, great scene as far as creepiness factor - and so many of them! But what the hell? At first I thought here is where one comes up and attacks Sam and he kills the WW with the dragonglass. But that so very clearly doesn't happen. And I am here to tell you that there is no White Walker that will walk past a living dude. Nuh-uh. No how. How are they going to explain this next season? Maybe Sam's a gonner? #deviationidonotlike

Other Characters:
Brienne - I really love the storyline in the books of Brienne and Jamie and I hope they keep all of it next season, or at least try to harness some of it. And also she kicked full ass in this finale. Not half, full.
Rob - I don't know... do I care at all about this marriage to a medic or nurse or whatever they call her? Does anyone? I guess not, although I think it was all unnecessary. From a TV standpoint, I suppose it makes sense to show how Rob was just soooo in love that he just haaddddd to break his word with the Freys. But truthfully, I don't think it's that compelling a love story and it seems so out of place in this world. There ain't no stinking medics on these fields! Also, how does she get straight access to the godamn KING all the time? The Frey shitstorm could come without all this.

Too much puppy dog, not enough direwolf

JON SNOW - I am very very concerned that JON SNOW (all caps, all the time - he's that important) is not being portrayed here with Qhorin Halfhand as phenomenally awesome and honorable and conflicted and dutiful as he should be. But maybe that's just me and I think he should be backlit in every scene so as to show him in glowing light always. Maybe.
Sansa - Joffrey is to wed another! Happy day! oh, no... not here, deary. Sansa is just damned no matter what she does. So it is so very interesting that Littlefinger tells her he has a plan to take her back to Winterfell. Very interesting indeed. I am excited to see how this plays out, but I am hoping that some very pivotal scenes from the book remain intact.
Theon - I... I just... I just can't even hardly look at him I hate him so much, but wow do they do a good job of humanizing him. And portraying his inner struggles while his outward ineptitude shines on. He fancies himself a tough warrior, but the war horns are breaking him before the battle even begins. He's a poor thing, really. I will have much more to say on him in the future.
Bran/Rickon/Hodor/Osha - So, I guess Osha is going to sort of take on the book characters of Jojen and Meera Reed? Interesting. I'm not sure I hate that entirely, but I would like to perhaps see them down the road... maybe sometime in Season 3? I think we might need them.
Xaro Xhoan Daxos - I've been thinking this for awhile, but was anyone else unnerved whenever someone said his last name and it sounded like "ducksauce?" Just me? Okay, carry on then.
Arya/Jaqen H'ghar - perfect, perfect, perfect. Valar Morghulis.

Say it again

The Killing

And if you think those two other shows are depressing... these people haven't seen the sun for two seasons.

That freaking keycard

First, I love The Killing. I do. Love, love, love. Readers here will know how much I love The Killing. Smart characters, smart writing, a magnificent story and just unbelievably terrific acting. Twists and turns and puzzle pieces galore! However, I need to say here publicly that I almost put my fist through my beautiful TV at the end of Sunday's episode, "Bulldog." Like, almost lost my mind with that funky ass twisteroo at the end. I hate so much that that smarmy mayor was able to recode the keycard back to Richmond's office. At least that's what I think happened. At first I was like "okay, so now I kinda get how people were frustrated last year" (not really, but more sympathetic maybe). But immediately after that, I thought, "God, I LOVE this show for making me think! and love things! and hate things! Really, really hate things." I think that she showed the keycard in the elevator so that she would have proof that it existed if it went missing, like all of the other Rosie Larsen evidence (now that FBI will have tapes?). But that gave the casino bitch time to contact people and have stuff rearranged.... arggghhh!

I have some consolation that things will get wrapped up in next week's episode, at least where Rosie Larsen is concerned. But I do have fear that the Mayor will get re-elected and the show will then be focused on Holder and Linden trying to take him down (still). The ideal for me would be that the Rosie case is solved, Richmond gets elected, Linden gets reinstated and boom, there's another case to solve. Yanick is dead (whoa!), so maybe this isn't so far fetched. But I will miss Stan and the boys. We shall see...
Maybe next week I will talk about how much I want Holder and Linden to get together. Two terribly broken pieces should make a whole awesome, right?

Additional Unrelated Things:
Revenge - Now THAT'S a finale: the plane crashed! Victoria is dead! Emily's mom is alive! Charlotte may have killed herself! Amanda is back! ...and PREGNANT! Daniel and Emily are splitsville... will Danielle and Ashley get it on now? Seriously, this show is one of the most entertaining shows on right now. And even if it's not deep or brilliant on par with MM or GoT, it is still very clever and keeps you (me!) guessing. Can't wait for this to start again!

Some new shows that are awesome and need people to watch: Girls, VEEP, Network... all on HBO.

Fall TV - okay, THIS is just awesome and is the one show so far that I am anxiously awaiting. I anticipate watching this until my eyes bleed. Yes, I know it's June.

Trifecta - The Killing, Game of Thrones, Mad Men

Last night, TV was SO AWESOME that my brain almost exploded. Three of the best TV dramas ever were on, two with season premieres. Of course I am talking about the season premieres of Game of Thrones and The Killing (back to back eps!), while the third episode into the new season of Mad Men was also on last night. Let's just say there was some hyperventilating happening at about 8:45. All of these shows were deeply engrossing in their own, super fabulous ways. And while they are probably three of the most different shows possible, one unifying theme (besides strong characters in general) has to be the boatload of mom issues on these shows: missing Mitch, powerhungry-powerless-powercrazy Cersei and thyroid complications for Betty.
Where to start? To fully bask in my joy, I will start in order of viewing...

The Killing

Due to a DVR glitch (*shakes fist in general direction of Comcast*), I had to wait until the 10PM viewing of The Game of Thrones, so I watched the first hour of The Killing, then took a GOT break, then came back to TK. This required more switching of gears than you would think.
The genius of this show is that dialogue is used sparingly and the weight of meaning and communication relies very heavily on facial expressions, or lack thereof. Because of this, the acting on this show is just incredible (sings: ...innnnncredibbbbbbble...). Also, EVERY.WORD.IS.LOADED. I spend a fair amount of time rewinding to make sure I have heard every word correctly. Last night's episode picked up pretty much right where we left off at the season finale.

~~ rant break ~~  Last year The Killing, after an absolutely phenomenal season, took a beating from reviewers and bloggers in regards to the fact that their season finale did not reveal the killer of Rosie. I found all of these negative comments to be preposterous. Besides the fact that the season finale had a terrific twistaroo in the last few seconds to set up season 2 with Linden realizing that some of the evidence against xx had been faked and/or planted possibly by her own partner (Holder) AND some seriously crazy shizzle happening with family friend Belko, no one ever promised that we were going to find her killer in season 1. Isn't it much more exciting to have a twist where the guy who you think all along has done it, hasn't? The Killing is such a far cry from your traditional murder mystery in just about every way, that I almost can't explain this backlash. Why would anyone think The Killing would be typical? I love this show so much and find it so brilliant, that I actually feel differently about Stephen King now, who publicly came out and criticized the show's finale. ~~ rant end~~

Stan emoting through his eyes, and stuff

As far as the gut-wrenching, slammed-by-a-truck emotional impact every episode had last year, this year is slightly different, if only because Moms (Mitch Larsen played by Michele Forbes) has disappeared and she was just heartbreaking in every scene. Picking up the emotional load are the sons, sis-in-law and hubby, although they had their fair share last year as well. Brent Sexton as Stan Larsen (hubby/dad) is probably the greatest emotional actor on TV. He comes off gruff with his boys who are so lost in this impossible situation, but you can see him breaking just underneath the surface. He just doesn't know any other way to deal with it. In the Most Opposite Statement Ever, Stan says, "the less we talk about this stuff the better" to sis-in-law Terry, who is basically taking care of the boys and is desperate for acknowledgement that the boys need to talk. You can see his turmoil on his face, when he wants to be comforting but just doesn't know how. Of all his emotions, anger is winning out, so that's what you get. His scene with Belko in the police interview room, when Belko is proudly telling Stan that "he got him" (meaning: shot primary Rosie murder suspect Congressman Richmond after killing his own sexual deviant mom) is just pure, amazing, dig-down-deep acting. His face conveys sadness, confusion, guilt, love, disillusionment... so perfectly that Belko exclaims "don't look at me like that!" repeatedly and ends with "that's not fair." It's not. Nothing in this crazy world of The Killing is fair. So, this is why after Belko kills himself in police custody, the police not providing security for the Larsens, and the police not getting the right guy for murdering his daughter, Stan goes to his mobster friends and puts a hit on the real killer. Will the mob find the right guy before Holder and Linden? dun-dun-duuuuuuuh...

Linden is talking to the wrong guy

Speaking of confusion, guilt and disillusionment, we start off with Linden figuring out there's been some shady police shenanigans messing up her Rosie Larsen case. When she finds out the photo from the tollbooth, the most crucial piece of evidence against Richmond, is fake (!), she has no other choice but to think that her partner (who tracked down the photo) is dirty and goes to her Lieutenant with this info. My reaction: "NOOOOOOOOO! NOT HOLDER!! AAAARRRGH...". But we believe along with Linden, because that's what the evidence is pointing to. As we follow Linden in her continuing investigation, all expressionless and snapping gum, do we know everything she is feeling, thinking? No, but we know that she is always thinking, those wheels are always turning. And emotions? She has them, but you'll barely know it. (Aside: her tiny, mini-explosion of emotion towards her son Jack (<-this poor dude) with "you are my son and you belong with me" and subsequent vending machine confession of "I love you" to Jack are kind of painful, but sum up her entire character.)

Holder and.. wait, aren't those
corroborating witnesses back there?

As for Holder, he is smarter than your average crackhead bear. He begins to suspect some similar dirty cop shenanigans and submits a different backpack into evidence (to a very specific forensics dude very specifically determined by the Lieutenant) than Rosie's very bloodied pack that showed up on the Larsen's doorstep (...from the real killer who we now know is still out there but now the police can't help or admit to it because that would make them look stupid.... *gasp* *inhale*). When the info comes back that the only prints were Rosie's, we know along with Holder that some crazy shizzle is happening and he is soooooo in the middle of it. We already know that his friend and confidant Gil, who supplied him with the photo, is a bad dude from earlier scenes that show him talking to the opposing candidate for Congress' team. Holder only finds out when he tells Gil what happened with the backpack and then it's out: Holder was specifically chosen for this case because he was a crackhead who needed a chance and who was going to believe him if dirty secrets got out? Gil says "you wanted the badge more than you cared that you were taking shortcuts."
When Holder figures out how messed up everything is, he goes to see Linden who still suspects him of being the dirty one. Frustrating for us to watch, as Holder begs Linden to talk to him while Linden quietly waits on the other side of the door. Holder waits in the hallway, twirling his new Detective badge, then ultimately leaves the badge in the hallway as he walks away.  This better get cleared up fast, because I need Holder and Linden on the same team. I think the world does. Well, my world.

Other stuff:
- Duck is the new Lieutenant! (Mad Men peeps will get this.)
- This Seattle hospital is the worst. A Congressman gets shot on live TV and it's the biggest story in the city and the doctors and nurses are all "whatever. he can't walk. whatever." They should definately have taken Richmond to Seattle Grace.
- Sooooo... the other candidate running for Congress is the one planting all the evidence within the police department to get Richmond arrested? how is this going to play out now that we know Richmond is not guilty?
- What, if anything is going to happen with Stan and Terry? I think it will be horrible, but I think it might be inevitable. They are both so lonely and sad and overwhelmed. I feel sick just even writing about it here.
- Linden... someone's watching you watching other people... snap, snap, snap goes the camera

Game of Thrones

Switching gears to some medieval fantasy awesomeness, Game of Thrones came back with a jam-packed premiere - woot! I'm not sure how they pack an hour of TV into, like, 14 minutes... at least it only feels like 14 minutes. Must be some R'holler Lord of Light magic for sure.
First, I have to say that the casting on this show is amazing... everyone looks pretty much like I picture them in my head from the books. My one exception is Stannis, who I expected to be bigger, broader, and sterner. I didn't think he looked this way particularly last night, but in previews for next week, he looks more the part.

I wish she had killed him instead

Fraking Joffrey. The most hateful character in the history of ever. He is played so perfectly by Jack Gleeson that I wonder if he regularly gets slapped walking down the street. In the opening scenes, we see what the boy king is all about: his right-hand man "Dog" slaying opponents for sport, then it's  nearly death by wine for drunkard ex-knight Dontos when he commands that he get "more than his fill." Sansa and Dog to his rescue on that one, when he instead makes Dontos his fool, but we know Sansa will pay for that. Later, we see Joffrey talking to his moms, Queen Bitch Cersei and he confronts her about the "disgusting rumors" he's hearing about her and his Uncle Jamie. She denies of course, but Joffrey then demands to know about any of his father's bastards that may be hanging around. He asks in the most loathsome, vile, Joffrey way possible which results in The Slap Heard 'Round the Seven Kingdoms from Cersei. Like Tyrion's slap last season, it was cathartic (see epic 10-minute slapping session here). But last season, Joffrey wasn't king, he was just a sneering, sniveling, privileged, overindulged kid. Last night's slap was riveting, not only because it was his mom doing the slapping, but because Joffrey is now King Douchebag and in that instant you're not sure if he will have her killed on the spot or not. He says as much (that he has the power to kill her) and Cersei's face shows that while she loves her child, she has groomed a monster. We then see scenes of babes and children being ripped out of mother's arms and stabbed on the spot by the king's knights - Joffrey is having all of his father's bastards killed. Just one is not found: Gentry is on his way to the wall.

Jon Snow, you beautiful bastard

To the Wall! At the Wall, our Jon Snow (*swoon*) is no longer even at the Wall, as a group of the Night's Watch have started an expedition beyond the wall to see what's happening with the wildlings and see if more intel can be discovered on those pesky undead wights. They stop by ol' Craster's - nasty wildling Craster who makes his daughters his wives on an infinite loop. "What happens to the boys?" asks Jon Snow. Oh, wise, clever, amazing Jon Snow!  (No matter what that bitch Ygritte says... but I digress into unseen territory - sorry!) We don't get an answer to that $100,000 question in this episode. There is much made of Jon Snow's good looks here, but just somewhat more importantly we learn of Mance Rayder, a former wearer of the black who abandoned his vows, now calls himself King of the Wildlings and is gathering an army to march South of the Wall.
South of the Wall, all hell has broken loose. Joffrey's kingship is being challenged by several players: Stannis Baratheon, Robert's oldest brother, who sends out word to all corners of the world the truth that Joffrey is not a Baratheon but a product of Cersei-Jamie incest (along with sis Myrcella and lil bro Tommen); Renly Baratheon, Robert's youngest brother who believes himself most kingly and beloved by the people; Robb Stark, son of Ned Stark, who declares himself King of the North and seeks vengeance against Joffrey and the Lannisters for the death of his father at their hands.
Speaking of hands... THE BEST PART OF EVERYTHING: Tyrion Lannister returns to court in place of his father as The Hand to the King. This dude. Tyrion and his whipsmart cleverness returns in fine form: "Don't get up. More ravishing than ever, dear sister. War agrees with you." The truth is I could fill this whole blog entry with just Tyrion quotes and rhapsodize about this character endlessly.  For now, and for your sanity, I will post the video below of the best Tyrion scene ever and say that Peter Dinklage plays this part to perfection. Perfection! I smile every time he is on the screen because he is just that awesome. And, things are going Tyrion's way, so I can.

Tyrion being the freaking MAN

The red comet means only one thing: Dragons. We find Daenerys and her dragons struggling in some far-flung desert, miles away from anything. Her horse given to her from Drogo, symbolically collapses and instead of collapsing, Daenerys finds the strength to give strength to her followers (encouraged, of course, by her right hand man Jorah who gives her her strength, you see? lots of stregnth talk here.) and gives instructions for her guards to go in all directions to find civilization. I'm pretty sure dragons and people alike eat the horse, but we didn't see that.
So much else to talk about, but as things evolve, I will delve more into various factions of characters. Here's some of the other stuff I didn't even get to:
- Robb Stark has Jamie Lannister captive, knows about the incest, knows about him pushing Bran off the wall, is sending word to the Lannisters with a list of demands for Jamie, and is preparing to send mom Catherine to treat with Renly to see if they can all be friends. Let's just say Robb's busy.

Call him what he is: Kingslayer

- Bran is seeing things in his dreams as his direwolf, or we are to assume
- Great use of direwolves in this episode: Although I don't think we saw Jon Snow's Ghost, we see Bran's direwolf Summer in the weirwood, and we see Robb's direwolf Grey Wind menacingly in the cage with Jamie.
- We are introduced to new characters Melisandre and Davos, both loyal to Stannis. Melisandre says Stannis has been chosen by the Lord of Light to be the King of the World, so he abandons his old gods. Davos shares others views that this is not right, but keeps quiet, as he is a loyal subject of Stannis. We find out Melisandre has legit powers when someone tries to poison her and there is no effect. In other news, I heart Davos Seaworthy.
- I didn't even talk about Littlefinger and that very cool albeit not very character-like chiding with Cersei. Littlefinger says knowledge is power, Cersei instructs her men to slice his throat and stops them just before it happens demonstrating that indeed, power is power... for however briefly you may have it. - Much to P's chagrin (he has not read books), I groaned every time I saw freaking Theon Greyjoy on the screen. I can't help it - it's visceral.
I feel like this episode is somewhat of the calm before the storm... or rather, the gathering before the war. You get the sense that even though some things seem positive, things are changing minute to minute.

Mad Men

Switching gears again into a different kind of unrest, Roger sums up the whole episode with "When are things going to get back to normal?"  HA, oh Roger! Normal is gone, whatever that was. You're getting old, you gotta get hip to the times of 1966. Nothing is going to be the way it was, silly.
As part of the overarching theme of old vs. young/new, there's a pivotal scene where Roger is experiencing a downward spiral in his struggle to be relevant in his own ad agency ("I'm tired of holding on to the ledge") as a result of Pete's public coup of a client, and then Don tries to give him some perspective with the real downer that "Betty has cancer." Really? Well, maybe. Roger replies: "oh, real life. I gave up on that."

Betty gets the "good" news

Oh, Betty. Betty's back, and there's more of her to love (*air quotes*). Mostly to cover January Jone's real-life pregnancy, the character of Betty has put some weight on. We knew things weren't perfect in the Francis household, based on Betty herself saying so at the end of last season. But what is this? The doctor finds a lump on her thyroid and we see her weight gain as a symptom of possible cancer, whereas up until that moment, it was just a symptom of ennui (<-- also the name of my new emo band). When she finally hears the results that the lump was benign and says "I love to be put through the ringer and find out I'm just fat," you would think she would be more relieved, but she seems almost disappointed. Did anyone else notice that Betty was seemingly more relaxed, more affectionate and generally less toxic in this new body? Yes, a lot had to do with this life threatening news, but I'm feeling that the moral of this story should be "eat ice-cream, doubles if you want, and just enjoy what life has to offer, especially your kids." But this is just not going to happen with Betty Francis. Despite her husband proclaiming, and actually demonstrating, his love for her no matter her size, she will not believe it. I predict a trip back to the doc for diet pills and we will have a raging, pill-popping Betty she-devil to deal with in the very near future. And then Sally will run away and become the youngest hippie in history.

Betty's Sundae is the name of this pic and my band

How very appropriate that as Betty is looking for Mother's Little Helpers (sorta), Don is being sent to see the Rolling Stones about a possible ad campaign based on the client's teenage daughter's listening choices. This is a new Don, as an old Don would have told the client "not gonna happen." But new Don has a 20 something wife and is trying to... what? fit in? renew? go with the flow? Or maybe it's just Don realizing he is NOT in the know anymore with what resonates with people these days, thus the interrogation of the teen backstage at the show.  His age shows there, though, when the girl says "You guys don't want us to have any fun just because you never did," and he replies "No, we're just worried about you" as if he is talking to Sally.

Are you the secretary? And she still hires him!

In the other great sub-story line supporting the big themes of change and evolution, two words: Michael Ginsburg. I LOVE this dude. The addition of the Michael Ginsburg character represents so much: will he be the Pete to Peggy's Roger? will he in fact outshine Peggy as seemingly everyone is telling her? if nothing else, he represents a sign of the changing times, and specifically evolution in diverse personnel as he will be the first Jewish person on staff, and this quickly on the heels of the hiring of Dawn, Don's secretary and the first black person hired at SCDP.  But above all that, this dude is fantastic and rivals Roger for best one liners (something Roger will resent immediately). Who doesn't love a guy who says his stomach sometimes sounds like the F word when it growls? When he says "I have no hobbies, no girlfriend, no friends" I simultaneously wanted to yell "Danger! Danger, Peggy Olsen!" and "awwww...". He is different and a bit irreverent and definitely not conformist, so he is about to shake up the place. A little more shaking up is a good thing... maybe some French duets in the hallways?

Tell that stomach to watch it's mouth

Other stuff:
- Don called Betty "Birdie"... I swear I have never heard him say that before, but I Googled it and I guess it's a thing (I recall other nicknames such as Betts, but not this one). In any case, on the one hand it was kind of shocking to hear him using such a personal nickname when talking to her, given all of their history. On the other hand, it was endearing and heartfelt and comforting to her in her time of need.
- Sally didn't finish her sundae. Probably because of the horrible eating disorder she has as a result of Betty's cruel mothering, specifically that awful scene at the dinner table. I don't think any of us forget that.
- What up, Harry Crane? Dude is 10x more cringeworthy this season, which is fantastic.
- The look on Don's face when backstage and one of the girls says "advertising? like Bewitched?" is absolutely priceless
- Megan, getting washed over with advertising. I love that skill.

So much to talk about here! What are your thoughts on all of it? I am trying like heck to figure out this commenting problem, so give it a try and see if it works. If not, email me and I can post for you!