Monday, April 14, 2014

Sunday Night Roundup - April 13, 2014


Well, this was an eventful Sunday night, wasn’t it? (Mad Men and Game of Thrones spoilers after the jump)
So glad to have Mad Men back in my life, even for another 7 episodes before it abandons me again. This was sort of your standard opening episode of setting all the pieces out to play. As I (and probably most viewers) expected, season 7 finds us in 1969. Nixon has been elected, Megan is driving, Ken Cosgrove is wearing an eyepatch, and Pete Campbell seems to have finally found his zen in Los Angeles. Don is as out of place as we left him last season, on both coasts. He's pulling a “Cyrano” with Freddy Rumsen (always remember: that’s Billy Murray’s brother), I guess because he can’t stand not working, or maybe he’s just trying to keep his pencil sharp for his triumphant return to SC&P.  Whatever his reason, he’s still not quite succeeding like his old self. A solid first episode to the season, but I can’t wait til next week, when I assume we’ll check in with Betty and Sally.




I haven’t read the books, but when I heard “The Purple Wedding” brought up in a conversation about Game of Thrones, it was pretty easy to figure out what it would entail, especially after seeing the massacre that was the Red Wedding. I assumed Joffrey would finally be getting his, but I didn’t know how and didn’t know when. I gathered it would be sometime this season, and by the time last night’s episode aired, I had skimmed over enough of the internet to figure out it would finally be happening. I assumed Joffrey’s death would be ultra violent and satisfying; perhaps beheaded by Arya or Bludgeoned to death by Tyrion. Or maybe even drawn and quartered by the people of King’s Landing. So, I felt a twinge of disappointment when he was merely poisoned, and right now we’re not really sure who did it. His cup changed hands a few times. Or was it the pie? Or something else altogether?

I haven’t watched this weeks episodes of Veep or Silicon Valley yet, but plan on it tonight and will post here or in the comments.

7 comments:

  1. I had no idea what was coming for Game of Thrones! Great episode. Finally, something happens! I had to know how it happened, so I let myself read some spoilers and I didn't regret it.

    Like Game of Thrones last week, I felt like nothing happened on Mad Men's premier. The most interesting thing being Don's puppeting of Freddy, which I found really amusing and a pretty good strategy on Don's part. He can keep sharp and Freddy's giving him intel on what's going on at SD&C. Peggy was making me cringe so hard this episode, she was kind of hard to watch. They really played up her lack of tact. Freddy summed it up when he said "there's a way to say that and then there's how you said it." Also, is Ted openly seeing his secretary in the NY office?

    Silicon Valley! I am really liking this show. At first I was annoyed that Gabe from the Office was playing Gabe again on this show, but by this week's episode, he grew on me. I guess he just does that character so well? It's funny to watch this show and Mad Men back to back with Leon. Both shows revolve around industries we were/are working in. During Mad Men I'm like "yes! the client never knows what's best for them!" and during Silicon Valley Leon's like "nerds 10111110011!" or whatever.

    NL

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  2. Also I was freaking out about Canter's deli on Mad Men when Pete takes Don to lunch in LA. Canter's! I couldn't figure out where they were in the restaurant though. The Kibbitz Room? I've only eaten in there once. We always eat in the main dining room.

    NL

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  3. Yeah, that Gabe from the Office guy is always going to be Gabe from the Office.

    Something I meant say about Mad Men – What was the deal with Rogers daughter? I was picking up major cult vibes. Though a friend pointed out to me that he thinks she’s just been going to therapy, which also seems about right. It certainly didn’t appear that she gave up her worldly possessions. Still, something about it seemed weird to me.

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  4. Yes! Maybe Roger's daughter is taking acid too? Either that or she's joined some kind of new agey cult and she's at the stage where she's supposed to let go of anger and forgive people who wronged her. She sort of had this glassy-dead-behind-the-eyes look going on. It's probably some cult that is perfectly period appropriate for what year is it? 1969/1970?

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  5. Here's another great article with a little insight on the movie that plays briefly on the TV before Don turns it off and heads to bed...

    http://badassdigest.com/2014/04/16/the-annotated-mad-men-lost-horizon-and-the-myth-of-shangri-la/

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  6. Olenna removed a poison vial from Sansa's necklace so it was either her or Margaery.

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  7. Gabe from the Office was in last nights "The Good Wife" (which is a surprisingly good show)

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