TV is Awesome Podcast - The Leftovers S1E3: Two Boats and a Helicopter

Join Ken and Lisa as they discuss Season One, Episode Three of the Leftovers! Is the good Pastor Matt Jamison being punished or rewarded? What's up with those pigeons? OMG that scene with Nora! And seriously... what the hell is going on with these episode titles?

Click Here to Listen!

TV is Awesome: The Leftovers S1E3 Discussion

Matt being so Matt right here

The Leftovers Discussion S1E2... Penguins and Perfect Strangers

Ken and Lisa discuss Episode 2 and wonder why is the Penguin One? Why is Us Zero? Also, Wayne, more dogs, the bald guy is real... whaaaaaat?

Listen!

The Leftovers Discussion S1E2: Penguin One, Us Zero

TV is Awesome: Once an awesome blog, now an awesome podcast!

Hey there! TV is Awesome has evolved into an awesome podcast! Season 1 is dedicated to Ken and Lisa re-watching The Leftovers and discussing (awesomely) every single thing about it. Upon the re-watch, we've discovered how timely some of the plot lines are in The Leftovers world - lots of parallels to modern times for sure. Listen and enjoy!

 "Episode #1: The Leftovers "Pilot" 

We're Baaaaaacccck.... Stay Tuned For BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! COMING SOON!

The Watching Dead - The Walking Dead is Making My Brain Mushy

Who arranged this playdate?

TVisAwesome is back and better than ever! Man, I love this blog. But my former format, while awwwwesommme and thoroughly rewarding, was a lot of work. A lot. SO now we are entering TVisAwesome version 2.0: same awesome, now in bite-size bits! Sometimes, like this entry, I'll go a little longer. But I envision some fast blast entries just so I can get some things out into the world. Let's see how this goes. (Ed. Note: Now that I have re-read this entry, I see that it is exactly like everything I've ever done. So bite-sized versions will be soon, rather than now. Carry on.)

Oh my god, they're still walking.

I watched the last four episodes of TWD all in a row last night (yeah!). And here is what's clear: while still amazing, wow was it getting sluggish and dare I say, boring? I'll tell you how I know some parts were slooowwww: I WAS FAST FORWARDING THROUGH PARTS OF THE SHOW. I never thought I would say those words. But there I was, with my finger on the button, saying to myself "yup, still walking on the tracks... still walking on the tracks."  Good grief, enough of the character development! Let's move some things along here! Having said this, some of the backstory has been good: Carl is growing before our eyes and we needed to see how his emergence into adulthood would transpire (typical teen angst + pudding, evidently), and the Michonne flashbacks were interesting and... let me check. Nope that's about it. We already know all about Daryl and his history and he's a tough guy with a warn heart yada yada yada. We already know that Beth-girl believes that people are good, or some bullshit. The entire episode about Bob (we don't care about his back story - fast forward) and Maggie and Sasha could literally have been 10 minutes. I guess we learned some new stuff along the way, like peeps going to D.C.,  a gang of ne'er-do-wells roaming around and of course, Terminus.

Bad. This is really, really bad.

But I change my tune when we get to last week's episode: the entire episode was a masterpiece. A devastating masterpiece. Slow? Maybe. But the layers of what's happening in this episode blows away any "let's just live up high somewhere" or "Daryl, y u so ornery" back-and-forth from the previous episodes. This episode painfully exposes where everyone's mindset is now. In a nutshell, the world is shit and there are no easy answers and sometimes the people are scarier than the zombies. Mika is very certain that she can kill walkers but not live people. "Never" she says. Carol says "but what if they're trying to kill you?" Damn fine foreshadowing if I ever saw it... in two ways: poor Mika gets killed in the very way Carol was trying to warn her about, and Carol has to do what Mika said she never would. Excruciatingly well crafted, this episode was riveting and I cried so hard for so long, I could barely see by the end. The opening scene, with it's idyllic kitchen setting and lace curtains, offset by what we learn is Lizzie playing with her friend Iwanto Eatu, was so jarring that I rewound it twice (I was sure I had missed some type of context for this). By the time we get to that actual scene in the show, all bets are off with Lizzie. But  nothing could prepare us for the actual sight of Lizzie, hands dripping with blood, a stabbed and dead Mika behind her, and baby Judith on a blanket. She is one messed up little girl, and we all know what has to happen. I suppose the part Tyrese plays in agreeing with Carol that Lizzie needs to die (because "she can't be around people") somewhat lessens the second blow to him that day: when Carol reveals that it was she who killed his love Karen. As Tyrese says, Carol feels the heaviness of what she did and it will be with her forever. (We know this awareness is a recent development for Carol - that she only feels the full impact of her actions now that she had to kill Lizzie). In one of the best, most poignent scenes of the year, over puzzle pieces and a gun, Tyrese forgives her.

Can't stay here anymore

The struggle of finding normalcy in this screwed up world is an ongoing theme with TWD, and ever more so this season. What I find interesting this season is how the show continues to demonstrate that pre-zombie normalcy (this idyllic little house, the house where Daryl and Beth were (normal for Daryl), the funeral parlor, a place up high for Sasha, even the great set up at the prison) is ultimately unattainable. Which I get. But for some reason, it's almost like the desire for normalcy is pitted against the desire to be with other people. Like it's one or the other, and somehow the people win out. Sasha voices this most clearly: "what the hell are we doing out here? Let's just find someplace up high and find food and forage, etc." Why is that a crazy idea? The show itself seems kind of inconsistent in what it thinks, too. In the most insane debate, Bob says he needs to go with Maggie because "she's all alone," leaving Sasha... literally all alone. Um, what? In the end, I don't think the show is necessarily thinking some of these discussions through, and they're probably not trying to convey some big life lesson. They're just trying to get these peeps to Terminus. That's where the good stuff is gonna happen. I bet.

Other Stuff:
- I was just thinking of what it's gonna be like when everyone gets to Terminus. Rick told Carol she couldn't be with the group because he couldn't let her near his kids. Well, there's some irony now.
- I appreciated this Lizzie storyline for being a pick-up from the comic, although not directly (in comic, it's actually Carl who steps up and takes out psycho kid). It's pretty genius how they get some comic stuff into the TV show in different contexts and with different characters and have it make an impact.

- where's that baby? Yeah, yeah... she's probably in a backpack on Tyrese's back, but this was a long scene with no baby and I swear Tyrese turns and I couldn't see anything. Anyway, how lucky is everyone that Judith is a dream baby without colic, or hunger pains, or ear infections, etc.
- One overall thing that's been bugging me this season: While the gang was still at the prison, a really big deal was made about Daryl, Michonne and others going far and wide to scavenge, report back, etc. After the prison, with a weak Rick so you know they didn't go far, how the heck had no one been to that cafe place? how has no one seen Terminus signs before? what kind of trackers are these people? Where did they go all those months? I mean, besides the vet hospital, I guess.

Mad Men: Poor Sally (Pt. One Million) and Peggy Got a Cat

Add to the list of Things Sally Will Never Unsee

*sigh* *deep sigh* I mean, will there ever be an episode of MM with Sally where I don't hold my breath the entire episode and then something horrible happens to her and I end up saying "Poor Sally" for days and days?  (Rhetorical. We all know the answer.) And although I am serious when I say this happens every time, it doesn't lessen the shock and disgust we all felt when Sally saw Don with Sylvia. My mind was putting all the pieces together as she was entering the kitchen and just when I was thinking "oh, I hope they're not doing it when Sally..." BOOM! OF COURSE THEY WERE DOING IT WHEN SALLY WALKS IN. I felt a lot like Don looked following that scene. Let's pause and recap Poor Sally's experiences to date: Glen Bishop, gets caught masturbating at sleepover, grandfather lets her drive then dies, mom and dad divorce, new stepdad Henry, new stepmom Megan, often responsible for younger brothers, gets period while playing hooky with Glen Bishop, nasty stepgrandmother Pauline is mean and freaks her out by talking about nurses getting murdered, sees other stepgrandmother Marie and Roger getting it on at a restaurant, has random run-in with thief who plays mindgames about knowing her father (while home alone with brothers). AND THESE ARE ONLY THE ONES I REMEMBER!

Please give this girl an Emmy RIGHT FREAKING NOW!

Can something good happen to this girl?! And even with listing all of these not-awesome, potentially life-altering experiences, I think this episode with Don is the final straw for our Poor Sally. Her relationship with Betty never really was and now her beloved Dad is a liar and a cheat. I don't think Sally recovers from this, really. I've written about Poor Sally at length in previous entries, so I will just leave it at this... beatnik or hippie? Cuz it's one or the other next season.  (Aside: I'm no psychiatrist, but if I was I would say these awesome things. I bet.)

Let's talk Don Draper. This season has certainly been a seemingly long, strange journey with us seeing Don uncharacteristically not in control due to lots of mind altering events, both pharmacological and just life. In previous episodes, Don was in altered states due to B12 shots (ha!) and some damn powerful hashish business. Oh, and that almost drowning thing. Arguably the most powerful mindbending that has happened, however, has been delving into his own memories. It started with a cough and then we were privy to how Don was raised in a brothel and through multiple scenes, we are left to think that Don's attitude toward sex is... what? I think up until this point, Don's attitudes, shaped so young, were tied into power, money and not anything to do with love really. However, it's no coincidence that Don is uncovering memories of the prostitute who cared for him while he was sick then slept with him now that he is so into Sylvia. His first and probably true association of sex is that of caring and motherly love. And who is a more overtly caring mom than Sylvia? Sylvia keeps saying that no one was supposed to fall in love during their affair, but I think Don is in love with Sylvia and probably for the first time in his life. I'm not sure that Don ever loved Betty or Megan (even in trippy, hashish-induced, near-death experiences... you'll recall that he was envisioning Megan as a "second chance" not necessarily his love. Also, he already messed up that second chance.).

I felt like this after that scene, too

The question now is, does Don have the self-awareness at this point to realize that what Sally witnessed directly parallels his own young life experiences? Will he acknowledge that Sally probably needs to talk about this? I want to say that based on Don's reaction post-event, i.e. pacing in lobby, not sure what to do or where to go, he will have a new understanding and sympathy for Sally. But my sad, realistic bet is it all gets swept under the rug, as usual. We all know, though, that things swept under rugs don't always stay there.

Speaking of which, Peggy's discussion with
Pete's mom threw her and all of us back to

Problem solved

Seasons 1&2 ("think of your baby together") and simultaneously reminded us all of Peggy and Pete's painful history (painful for her, I don't know what for him) and just how far Peggy has come since then, mostly due to Don telling Peggy to sweep the baby and subsequent hospitalization under rug ("this never happened"). This sets us up for one of those quintessential Mad Men scenes, where it seems like nothing is happening, but SO MUCH IS HAPPENING: Peggy, Pete and Ted stuck in a bar, flight grounded due to weather. The chemistry between Ted and Peggy was so palpable that even Pete could see it. Then Ted leaves and it gives Pete and Peggy some bonding time where they talk about Pete's mom, among other things, and then Pete acknowledges that Peggy really knows him and Peggy acknowledges the same. Not in any sexual way, just the kind of way where two people share a history. But by the time Ted comes back, wether or not he thinks something is happening between Pete and Peggy I don't know, but he definitely feels like a third wheel at the table. We find out later that this is probably when Ted decides to check out of the Peggy chemistry class and devote time to his homelife. This is a typical Peggy scene this season. This whole season has seemingly been about the mad men in her life letting her down, leaving her on her own, shutting her out... scurrying away, if you will. Don keeps shutting doors on her, Ted rebuffs her when she says her and Abe broke up (or more hilariously "he was stabbed" and they broke up), Abe leaves (obvi), even Stan Rizzo says no to helping her deal with rats in her apartment. But when we see our industrious Peggy Olson has solved the actual rat problem by getting a cat, we are certain that she will deal with her other rat problem with as much ingenuity and confidence in being by herself.

"Frenchy, that wise, wise sage" - Peggy Olson

And now, the Bob Benson discussion. Even though the big news from this episode is that Bob Benson revealed himself to be gay, the real news is there is no news! Bob Benson continues to be as mysterious as ever! So Bob hits on (of all people!) Pete Campbell in a subtle, not-so-subtle way. This does not necessarily explain everything. While I feel other people are sort of saying "Oh, that's it, that explains why he's such a mystery," I just can't get on board with that. I'm still as mystified as ever. I guess that argument is that Bob is gay and doesn't talk about his personal life for fear of retribution? But that was never the enigma of Bob Benson... he is definitely not lacking in confidence (thanks in part to those trusty self-help albums!). It has always been about how he seems to be everywhere all the time just when people need him, often with coffee. Bob seems to know how to read people, and wether that's in order to get ahead, or wether he's a genuinely helpful nice guy or a secret spy, we still don't know and his being gay (or not) doesn't answer any of that. Yet. Could it be that Bob is picking up on something with Pete that he thinks revealing that he his gay could somehow help him advance in the company?

ooooo.... mysterious... or not. I don't know.

I mean, it seems out of character for Bob to make such a bold reveal without having some sort of indication, right? Or not. Like I said, Bob seems to be a confident guy not afraid to take chances, so perhaps this is Bob Benson completely embracing his homosexuality and is confident in showing it.  Pete is clearly not on board with this, though I am not sure Bob is convinced of this based on his facial expression leaving Pete's office. But as with everything else Bob Benson, does that facial expression say "oh crap, but I'm going to hide it" or "he'll be mine?" It's a mystery........

Other Things:
- In writing this entry, I'm reminded of Don's "this never happened mantra" (he has used that more than a few times) and I have a sudden, horrible fear: is Mad Men going to end like Lost??!?!?!?  Oh My God... I can't even...
- Looking back at what I am writing about Sylvia, the motherly love sex thing works, however, I am reminded that the most powerful relationships Don has had with women, namely Anna Draper and Peggy have been decidedly non-sexual. Are these Don's most powerful relationships with women?
- Need to talk about Ted more. He has his own issues going on with Don Draper. I feel a great synergy between how Ted feels now and how Peggy felt for a long time, until she walked away. Sooner or later, Ted will understand that he treats everyone that way. He's not really special. But for now it makes for some great lines: "Imagine if every time Ginger Rogers jumped in the air, Fred Astaire punched her in the face."

Mad Men S6 Ep7 Man with a Plan - Don Draper, Dickier Than Ever and I Don't Mean Whitman

Part (most?) of the appeal of our beloved Don Draper is that he is kind of a dick. We marvel at how he gets away with being such a jerk to so many people. In a lot of ways, we root for him because he IS able to be the ass we all want to be in certain situations. We're able to root for him because his jerkiness is mitigated by charm, intellect, wit and sometimes even a genuine emotion or two. However, last night Don was at his all time dick high, and though he tried, he certainly didn't have enough of those other things to temper it. We've seen glimpses before, of course, where Don's jerkiness outweighs his charm, but somehow he always wins in the end. And we love a winner! These cracks in his jerk armor seemed to be a bit larger last night, and the witty, charming, intellectual repair kit wasn't working. But does this mean we love him less? As with all things Mad Men, it's complicated...

Through both Ted and Sylvia's characters, we are seeing how Don's relying on his old jerk tricks aren't really working anymore. Well, at least not all the time these days. At first, Ted is seduced by Don's alpha-male actions and tries to go toe-to-toe with him in both drinking and brainstorming. Don seemingly wins that round, as Ted eventually defers to Don's thoughts on the Fleichman's margarine account and then stumbles out to the creatives and tries to have a political discussion while glaringly hammered. Feeling defeated and deflated, he finds comfort in the words of partner Frank, who tells him from his hospital bed, "go in there and act like you own half the place." He does waaaaaay more than that by actually piloting a Mowhawk plane to meet the bigwigs at Mowhawk, with a sweating, nervous, practically peeing-in-his-pants Don in the passenger seat. As Don says to Ted when he suggests he start thinking about his presentation, "why bother? It doesn't matter what I say, you'll still be the guy who flew us there." Round two: Ted! ding! ding!

The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades.

The End

Likewise, at the start of the hotel interlude with Sylvia, Don exerts himself as the super-supreme-alpha-male by saying things like "find my shoes... crawl on your hands and knees until you find them if you have to" and "in this room you serve my fantasies" and then forbids her to leave the room. (Much more on this difficult scene below in Other Things section.) Clearly, Don is desperate to assert himself in this facet of his life, since work stuff is keeping him off-kilter: New guy Ted already didn't wait 40 minutes for him for a meeting (!) and just cut him down some pegs in that plane. At first, Sylvia seems into this, this escape from reality where she doesn't have to think about her husband or worry about her son in a burning France. But soon enough - what, a day? 2? 3? who knows - she decides enough is enough and they have to get back to reality. She ends it. Not just the hotel fantasy but the whole affair. WHO EVER ENDS ANYTHING WITH DON DRAPER?  Oh wait, Peggy...

Is Peggy the greatest character ever? I think maybe. I mean, besides knowing the origin of margarine, Peggy is having none of Don's old tricks either. She was piiiissssssed when Ted was stumbling around drunk, knowing it was all part of Don's game. In a truly fantastic scene with Peggy and Don, when Peggy tries to question why no one talked to her about the merger, Don tries to cut her down by sarcastically saying "right, the whole merger was so we could have you complaining here in the office again." But Peggy don't play that anymore. She firmly tells Don that she hoped Ted would rub off on him and not the other way around.  Don ain't the big man anymore, and he's stuck in a time when he was. He's stuck in a time when women would do his bidding and he ruled the office. Ted, by contrast, gives up his seat for secretaries in meetings and says things like "groovy." Oh, and fully appreciates all that Peggy is and has to give, whereas Don is nothing but negative to her these days. "Move forward" says Peggy to Don, and we slow clap in admiration.

Meghan seems to be the only one these days who is still looking at Don with starry eyes. Based on their couch scene, however, that seems about to change for her. For us, it's already happened.

Other Things:

- I think the timing of this episode is both really, really unfortunate and also somewhat apropos. After obsessively watching the news regarding the 3 young women who were held in captivity in Ohio for 10 years, I was kind of horrified and sickened at watching Don succeed in mental manipulation of Sylvia in the hotel room. Yes, I get Sylvia was into it and Don's actions towards Sylvia in the hotel room were not violent, just escapism, but the parallels are too close. At one time this may have been just more of Don being Don - seeing how far he can go - but after the truly horrifying real-world event of someone keeping women captive, it was very difficult to hear Don making commands and watching Sylvia succumb to staying in the room from just his words. I am wondering now if without the Ohio events this scene would have been shocking for Don's character or just a bit of a stretch for him. But for me, the events in Ohio lent some very serious gravitas to these scenes that were probably originally written to be a bit off-putting, but sexy and interesting. Originally, these scenes were meant to show Don asserting himself in an extreme way in this facet of his life, and yes it was portrayed as escapism. But with Ohio top-of-mind, it's scary to see that Don's "escapism" is being a horrible, domineering, narcissistic asshole who wants to control Sylvia as his possession. (Pit this against Meghan's idea of escapism which is to go back to Hawaii and you see what I mean.)  So in this respect, perhaps because of timing, we are seeing something the writers didn't intend, but is there nonetheless. I don't think I'm the only one that made this connection.  (True confession: I'm pretty sure that while this has left a bad taste in my mouth, I will still be rooting for Don Draper. Somehow he will find a way. It's complicated!)

More cowbell!

- Ginsberg is my cowbell... MORE GINSBERG! I want to see Ginsberg interact with more people in the office. What happened to inter-office relationships? We need more of these! With Ginsberg!

- Bob saves Joan! Yay! That's why he's there!

- Pete is heading for a serious breakdown. And I am getting so sick of his whiny ass.

Reach out of the darkness

- The closing credits with the newscaster talking about Bobby Kennedy being shot juxtaposed with the strains of Reach Out of The Darkness: "I think it's so groovy now that people are finally getting together" is BEYOND GENIUS! This is a Chaotic Time with a capital "C" - for Don, for the office, for everyone. How does anyone find a sense of safety or control in all of this?

Let me know your thoughts on this episode! What's Don's next move - dumping Meghan? Or just finding a new conquest? Did you have the same thoughts relating Sylvia in the hotel to the events in Ohio? What do you think of Peggy? Ted? Bob? Hit the comments!