Mad Men Round Up!

I know, I know, I picked a hell of a time to slack off and miss posting. At this point there have been two incredible episodes of Mad since I last posted. I’ll probably skip the Game of Thrones talk, but hit the jump for some spoilery stuff about Mad Men.

Sunday Night Roundup - April 20, 2014

What a great episode of Mad Men! Was a disturbing scene in Game of Thrones! More stuff after the break...

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)

Sunday Night Roundup - April 6, 2014

Since all my favorite shows are on Sunday nights now, in lieu of doing a recap or discussion about each, I’m going to start doing a more general post and take it to the comments.

Last night was the long awaited return of Game of Thrones. Viewers must have been clamoring to see it, because HBO Go crashed. It seems obvious to me that this is probably due to people sharing their HBO Go logins and passwords with their friends. I mean if you had HBO, you’d just watch it live on TV, right? It’s not like there’s commercials or anything, and most people can pause and rewind with their regular cable boxes, right? Or am I overestimating the amount of people that have that service? Anyways, it was a solid episode to kick of the season. Something about it reminded me a little of the first season. Perhaps it was the celebration in the air around King’s Landing, that I can only assume is going to lead to something horribly bloody and/or tragic. I enjoyed the episode as a whole, but the only scenes I felt really excited about were those with the Hound and Arya. That scene in the tavern at the end was totally badass. It was good (if not a little chilling) to see Arya take back Needle and kill a couple of dudes that had it coming. Something about the way she slowly slid her blade in that guy’s neck gave me the heebie jeebies.

I also watched the series premiere of Silicon Valley, a new show from Mike Judge. On the surface I might not have much interest in this series, a comedy about a group of young tech upstarts. But I’ve grown to like Mike Judge over the years, and I’ve been a pretty big fan of some of the talent involved, including stand up comedians (and podcast regulars) TJ Miller and Kumail Nanjiani, as well and Freaks and Geeks alum Martin Starr. So I may have gone in with biased intentions, but I enjoyed a lot and will keep watching. I especially thought the lampooning of super progressive tech companies was funny, with their bike meetings and the “voluntary retreats that are really mandatory.” Thomas Middleditch plays a likeable, sympathetic lead, and TJ Miller is great as the weirdo wannabe guru. I’m just hoping Kumail Nanjiani and Martin Starr, who both played the character they always seem to play (but do it so well!) get more screen time in the upcoming episodes.

I plan on watching Veep this evening, so I’ll update the article or post in the comments if there’s anything to say beyond “it’s still a hilarious show about a bunch of assholes that run the country.”

How I Met the Finale

The How I Met Your Mother finale seemed to be a big deal. The things is, I don't watch it. So I asked Madeline to have a conversation with Dylan about their differing viewpoints. Here we go!

Dylan Barnes and I took time out of our really busy lives to watch the How I Met Your Mother finale last Monday.  Special shout out to our pal, Steve, who made us dinner and let us watch his TV and Angela, who really brought it with the dessert selection.

If you don’t know anything about Dylan, the one thing you should know is that he’s a lover of all things sitcom-related.  The dude loves Friends.  Let’s just leave it there.  We won’t go into details of what the finale entailed (you can read about a million recaps on a million websites), but let’s just say we had differing opinions.  So, I present to you Dylan’s top 5 things he LOVED about the finale and my top 5 things I HATED.

Dylan’s Top 5:

1. It had a similar feel to earlier episodes, which is something that these past couple of seasons have been severely lacking.

2. Barney and Robin were a terrible couple. I don't know whether the writers meant for them to be or if it was just poor writing, but either way I like that they got divorced. It made a lot of sense.

3. The actual scene where Ted and The Mother meet, which is the scene that the show has been leading up to since the beginning, was really nice. It didn't feel overly sappy or cheap. It seemed natural. Like I really believe that that scene had already been written years ago.

4. I actually laughed quite a lot. I usually don't like sitcom finales very much. I loved Friends and I liked some of the Office, but their finales were pretty lame. But yeah, this one was actually funny.

5. Now to the actual ending. I loved it. It made the whole series make sense. Ted's story has clearly been about Robin. If The Mother were still alive and with Ted, she probably would have freaked out at that story, and rightfully so. He's telling his kids in vivid detail how much he was in love with his dear friend Robin for 8 years. That would be awful, and it doesn't make any sense. The finale fixes that. Now it's a widower of 6 years who very much loved his wife asking his children for permission to try to move on from their mother. It's kind of been staring us in the face this whole time, which is also true of The Mother's death. Ever since that episode last season where Ted gives that speech to his future wife in his imagination and that episode where he cries at the thought of a mother not being at her daughter's wedding, there's been this idea that something is going to go wrong with her sometime between now and 2030. If it had been some happy ending where he and The Mother grow old together, that would have made those scenes pointless. No, the ending was bittersweet, and the series is all the better for it.

Madeline’s Top (Bottom?) 5:

1. The death scene.  They spent 9 years giving hints about the mother, making us love her, introducing us to her.  And then they kill her off with a two second hospital scene and hardly an explanation.

2. The divorce.  Okay, I get that Robin and Barney were not totally a perfect match, but seriously?  They made us watch a whole season of their wedding weekend and then told us they're getting divorced in the first 20 minutes of the episode?  We just saw them get married!

3. The drift.  So, Robin had been drifting away from the group.  When did she come back into Ted's life?  He's still hung up on her after not seeing her for YEARS?  Technically, him and Tracy would have been together longer than he knew Robin before she drifted.  Blah.

4. The sentimentality.  Usually HIMYM can do pretty well on this front, considering its a sitcom.  But all the sentimental moments fell really flat for me.  I didn't like the song choices either!  The only time they got it right was the actual meeting of the mother.  That was ok.  Really, they could've given us some closure when she died.  

5. The ending.  The ending felt really rushed to me.  Mom's dead, kids are over Ted and he rushes off with the blue french horn.  I get the call back, but I felt the build up was all wrong.

Overall, I think my problem is less with the ending (I mean, I get it) and more that the last few seasons strayed from its original purpose.  The show probably went on too long.  This last season was kind of brutal, not that funny and really got away from the real deal.  I mean, by the time Ted "let Robin go" I was so over it.  How am I supposed to root for them in the end?  She already said she didn't love him!  Now she just changes her mind?  I repeat: blah!  Also, I totally turned the channel (with very limited tv options) yesterday from a rerun because the death thing ruined it for me.

Rebuttals:

Dylan: I didn't mind the quick death. I think the show prepared us for it. Also, he's telling this story to his kids who were there when she died, so they probably don't really wanna hear too much more about it. I don't think we really need to hear about it either. It wouldn't actually help the story at all, in my opinion. (Madeline: respectfully disagree)

I can admit the ending was a bit rushed. Like I totally understand if this is what turns people off to the finale. It just should have been longer. I hear that there's about 18 minutes extra that will be on the DVD, but we'll have to wait until then. That apparently includes a scene where Robin songs Let's Go The Mall with the wedding band. Robin Sparkles 5, y'all! (This doesn't have anything to do with my opinion of the finale. I'm going strictly off of what was shown to us.)

I also agree that these last couple of seasons have been kind of the worst. But that's why I liked the finale so much. It felt like a return to form. I was totally over the show and was ready for it to be done and disappoint me, but it actually got me to be excited about rewatching the whole thing.

Also, I don't think he's still hung up on Robin. He really did let her go and was devoted to his wife. I think that's why we never hear about any of her flaws and she seems perfect. She was perfect to Ted. Yeah, I think that his feelings are resurfacing after 6 years of being sad and lonely.

I don't remember the songs, which is a bad sign. Although I'm pretty sure that the song at the very end was the same as when he made it rain and got together with Robin the first time. I'm not 100% on that though.

Final Thoughts:

Madeline: What I will say -- I did like that the group wasn't totally cohesive.  I mean, how many "gangs" do you know that are really together for years and years?  It's not likely... people come in and out of your lives all the time, if you mean for them to or not.  And life gets in the way.  I thought that was at least realistic to some degree.

Dylan:I have a fan theory that I made up. The Mother convinces Robin to come to their wedding. I think that she may have already been sick by then and wanted Robin back in Ted's life so that he can move on after she's gone. Just a theory, but it would make sense. She lost the person she loved more than anyone when Max died and learned to move on. She may have wanted Ted to be able to do that same. But yeah, that may be when Robin started hanging out again. Again, we could have used a bit more information, but I still had a good time and felt satisfied. (Madeline: Damn, the mother has one sad life.  Her first love dies and then she does?  Daaaang. Harsh)

Any fans out there?  What do you think?

Season Six Streaming!

Mad Men season six is now available to watch instantly on Netflix! Do it!

Season Seven Soon

I've been missing Mad Men since the minute after the last episode of season six aired. Finally, season seven begins April 13, and in the meantime I'll just watch this trailer over and over.  By the looks of things we're getting closer to the end of the 1960s and maybe into the 1970s. Betty's got the bouffant, Pete's going baldish, and of course Don looks exactly the same. I'm tempted to over analyze; I'm sure there's meaning behind the fact that two characters are smoking, some are holding luggage, and Roger Sterling is the only one sitting down. I'm also convinced it's significant that they're flying TWA, the troubled airline that merged with American in 2001.  But this isn't LOST, and trying to theorize at this point (or any point, really, if Breaking Bad taught me anything) is a little silly. As long as I know Stan Rizzo's fringed jacket is back I'll be happy.

Mad Men returns in 19 days. By my count, that means if you haven't watched yet you only have to watch four or five episodes a day until then to get caught up. Shouldn't be a problem.

I'm Just A Dude Who Loves Girls

Last night, the third season of Girls came to a close. It’s been my favorite season so far, and I can’t believe how quickly these 8 episodes flew by. It seemed like just yesterday we were picking Jessa up from rehab, and here we are today, wondering if she’s murdered a woman or not (cliffhanger!).

It’s been nice watching Hannah and Adam function as a comparatively normal couple this season. It was nice seeing Hannah get that job writing those ads that look like articles in GQ, and it was nice seeing her get the fuck out with some integrity, kind of. Of course it was nice seeing Adam do something with himself, even if it meant keeping Hannah at a distance.

Then there's Shoshanna Shapiro, ("S as in Sam, H as in Hank, A as in Apple, P as in Paltrow...") who has always kind of been my favorite, probably because I identify with her the least so she makes me the least uncomfortable. Her dropping those truth bombs on everyone at the beach house was possibly the highlight of the season for me. Her glassy eyed attempt to get Ray back was sappy and cliche-ridden (“You make me the best version of myself…”) but it’s totally believable coming from Shoshanna, who probably studied every romantic comedy in her collection to put together her appeal to Ray. And though it felt fabricated, it also felt sweetly sincere. Which made Ray’s response all the more heartbreaking, possibly because - and I’ll give full credit to Brandi for pointing this out to me - he thinks he has a chance with Marnie.

Fucking Marnie. She’s been struggling to keep it together, grasping at straws and sometimes straight up manipulating her way into some kind of situation that she feels she has control over. I’ve been wincing along with her failed attempts all season, yet I’m still wincing when her plan to come between Desi and his girlfriend seems to be successful. Fucking Marnie.

So what can we expect from season four? Will we have split settings, with some of the time spent with Hannah in Iowa, while everyone else lives their life in New York? That may seem awkward, but considering how little some of the characters interact with each other this season, it could work just fine (by my count, Hannah and Jessa only cross paths three times this season: when they pick her up from rehab, at the beach house, and when they celebrate Adam’s success in the hotel.) I’m also wondering if that’s the last we’ll see of Adam. With rumors of him joining the cast of Star Wars (which is set to start shooting in May) will he have the time? Personally I’ve loved watching Adam growing from a super intense and kind of creepy weirdo into super intense and pretty lovable weirdo. It seems like he’s finally had enough of Hannah, and judging by the last scene of last nights episode, she’s finally happy to move on without him. I doubt he’ll return in any major way, maybe just for a phone call or two. I love the guy, but I’m okay with seeing him go, especially if it allows my boy Ray to take up a little more screen time.

True Detective and Women

As I briefly mentioned yesterday, I’m obsessing over True Detective the same way everyone with HBO is. I don’t need to tell you why it’s so great, you’ve either already heard or already written it off, I assume. I watched the first five episodes in fairly quick succession, and I was ready to bestow the mantle of “Better Than Breaking Bad” on it, when it was pointed out that some people feel that it’s depiction of women is less than great. It’s always a bad feeling when I find out something I like is found questionable, as if I am guilty by association. Instead of repeating what I’ve read or defending the show, I’ll just link to these two articles. The first by Emily Nussbaum from the New Yorker, the second from Britt Hayes at Screen Crush. I think both make valid points, but I especially like Hayes’ piece. Of course, I would, because it puts me at ease and validates my thoughts that just because women are treated poorly on the show, it doesn’t mean they’re treated poorly by the show. I still wonder though. I mean, I think I know what the makers of True Detective are trying to say, but are there still a  bunch of jerks out there who think the depiction of tough guys and submissive women is cool, and something to aspire to? What do you think?

"This place is like someone's memory of a town, and the memory is fading."

I’m so bad at keeping up with this. Rest assured, I am watching just as much TV as usual, the stuff I’m watching just isn’t easy and fun to write or talk about. Except True Detective, which is a goddamn masterpiece. Unfortunately I didn’t start watching until it was a few weeks in, or else I would have probably wanted to post about it. I’m sure there will be a True Detective post eventually.

I’m not making any promises, but I’m going to try and post a little more, especially with Game of Thrones, Veep and Mad Men(!) returning. I think I’ll do it a little different, and probably just write a few thoughts and supply some links to recaps and articles from other sites. It’s all about the comments section anyways, right?

So is anyone out there? What have you been watching?

Thoughts on the Walking Dead mid-season finale...

Spoilers abound! Hit the jump for some short thoughts that I pretty much just copy and pasted from an email.

Too Many Shows!

Ironically, I saw this tonight while I was trying to clear space on my DVR.

I'm Back

Dang. I certainly dropped the ball, huh? Truth is, towards the end of September work got real busy, which makes me not want to do as much at home. Then along came October, which means most of my media consumption focused on horror movies, and the TV I did watch didn’t get written about. During that time I set up a Letterboxd account to keep track of what I movies I watched. It’s pretty helpful because my memory is going south, and while I can usually remember what I’ve seen and if I liked it, I can rarely remember what I liked (or hated) about it. Anyways, because of all the movies I’ve watched, I fell behind on the TV I planned on watching.

You’ve seen my post on the first episode of Walking Dead. You could probably tell I wasn’t too impressed, and that first episode just didn’t keep me interested to stay on top of the series. I will catch up eventually. From what I’ve heard it’s getting better, so I guess I’ll catch up soon.

I’ve watched the first five episodes of Boardwalk Empire. Now that it’s out from Breaking Bad’s Sunday night shadow, it’s back on the top of my list. The fifth hour, titled “Erlkönig” was particularly great, and extremely beautifully shot. I may still do a post for that.

American Horror Story: Coven has also stepped firmly to the top of my list. It’s so creepy, pulpy, sleazy and gross, but in all the right ways. Plus the cast is pretty stunning. Jessica Lange, Angela Bassett and Kathy Bates all play great, strong, interesting characters, and watching them interact with each other is great every time. I haven’t seen the latest ep, but I may try and start with weekly writeups, especially if anyone else is watching.

The last thing I’ll say is I really miss Mad Men. Now that the story of Walter White is complete, I’m reminded how much I want to see Don Draper’s story continue. I’m pretty unhappy with AMC’s decision to split the season in two (the same way they did with the last season of Breaking Bad), but what am I going to do, not watch it? I think this article is what really got me thinking about Mad Men again. It reminds me of the good times speculating on the secrets of LOST. Anyways, I’m not sure if Mad Men is a better show than Breaking Bad, but I may find it more interesting. That’s easy to say now that Breaking Bad has wrapped up and there’s still a lot of story to tell with Mad Men, so take that statement with a grain of salt.

The Walking Dead 4.1 "30 Days Without An Accident"

Now that Breaking Bad is over, I have a big hole in my heart and Sunday night TV schedule. So it’s a bit unfair for Walking Dead. I don’t think anything is ready to live up to the expectations, let alone a show that I struggled to stay interested in during its last season.  

The previous season of Walking Dead left me feeling a bit indifferent to the series. Season 3 felt like such a slog to get through. As a reader of the comics I knew the Governor was a bad dude (though I feel he was a much worse dude in the books) so it was tedious watching the story line develop, and when all was said and done I just didn’t care enough about any of the characters, who mostly went undeveloped save for fluctuations in their mental stability.

So I was actually pleasantly surprised to find our survivors somewhat leveled-out, living a closer-to-normal communal life in the prison. It seems to be re-fortified, they’re starting to farm and there’s a council to provide a little governance. Honestly,I find this setting much more interesting than a bunch of scared folks hiding out in a dark prison, facing attack after attack from walkers and humans alike. It gives us some stakes. Something for them to lose other than human life, and, let’s be honest, the show is pretty willy-nilly about when it decides to give any importance to the death of a human being.

It’s also strange to see smiles from the likes of Michonne, Daryl, and Rick. I’m not sure which was stranger, Michonne riding a horse through the gates with a smile and armful of comics for Carl, or Carol calling Daryl “Pookie.” Of course, outside the walls the world hasn’t got much better. Rick runs into a woman with an accent (was she Irish?) who he forces to carry a Chipotle burrito back to her camp in order to answer 3 riddles. Of course, she’s gone off the deep end, and she was going to feed Rick to her husband (or baby?) who is kept under some burlap.

Meanwhile, on a supply run, we get a fun scene where zombies come crashing through the ceiling and explode, or chase survivors around, or dangle by their intestines. Some really gross things happen (many of which don’t really make sense biologically, but questioning the realism of this show would make my head explode.) We get some hints at an alcoholism subplot with the ex-Army medic, and Beth’s possible love interest gets bit. I saw that coming, but maybe not quite so soon.

The only bit of mystery we get from this episode comes from young Patrick, who wanders into a shower and starts bleeding from his face. Probably from banana peel smoking or Mollys or butt-chugging, or whatever the kids these days are into. Or maybe the virus is mutating!

As if it’s not obvious, I’m still having trouble caring about this show. It’s nice that’s it’s not constantly bleak so far. I’m excited to see how the communal living develops. Honestly the only characters I care about and find interesting are Hershel, Maggie, Glenn, and now Beth. I’d be happy if the rest of the series was about the remnants of the Greene family on their homestead with the occasional walker wandering through the background. I’m sure that’s not what I’ll get, though, but we’ll see if they can offer up anything else to keep me interested.

Breaking Bad Series Finale - "Felina"

Well, I sure didn’t predict that. I was expecting a curve ball. Instead I got a finale that was so nicely wrapped up and straight forward I feel like I should feel disappointed. But I’m satisfied. I feel like every question was answered, and pretty much everyone got what they deserved.

More after the jump.

Breaking Bad 5.15 "The Granite State"

It's gonna be a crazy week both at work and at home, and I have to travel for work for a few days, so I probably won't really post.

Walter White sure was a sad sack for most of that episode though.

Boardwalk Empire 4.1 "Resignation"

Another placeholder. Don't miss the Breaking Bad one below.

Breaking Bad 5.14 Ozymandias

What is there to say that hasn’t already been said,  tweeted or otherwise posted on the internet about “Ozymandias,” the third to last episode of Breaking Bad. I feel like using the words “intense” and “holy shit” come off as rhetoric, as everyone, including myself, seems to have a hard time talking about any episode of Breaking Bad, let alone this episode of Breaking Bad, without using those words.

But holy shit, that was intense.

More after the jump.

Better Call Saul *UPDATED* (with a few thoughts)

Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad spinoff, is happening.

What do you think of that?

The thing is I love Breaking Bad, Bob Odenkirk is one of my all-time favorites, and the I love watching Saul Goodman in the world of Breaking Bad. He's always good for just the right amount of levity. I'm just not so sure I'll be interested in watching his adventures outside the confines of BB.

I also am curious to know what kind of format they'll be going for. Will it be a full hour like most of AMC's shows? Will it be more like a sitcom? Will it be serialized or will each episode be self contained? I think I'd be pretty into it if it was done like a sketch show, with a couple wacky cases per episode. It would also be nice if Huel, Bill Burr and maybe Mike were included, every once in awhile.

I’m glad Odenkirk will have steady work (though he’s also got a sketch show called “The Birthday Boys” premeiring on IFC soon) but I don’t know if I’m ready to see him playing the same character for any length of time.

Unless of course, that character is Brian Wilson Willips Brighton.

And just for fun, here's a longer sketch featuring Willips.

Breaking Bad -To'hajiilee (and a few other things)

Before I get to the Breaking Bad stuff, is anyone else watching this season of Boardwalk Empire as it airs? The first episode was last night, and it was great, but I won’t worry about recapping and discussing if no one else is watching yet. But if at least one person speaks up, I’m down.

Wow. That was a lot handle. I watched last night's episode with five other people, and there was a lot of leg shaking, face covering, and head shaking last night, not to mention a plethora of "oh shit oh shit oh shit"s going on.

The recap I linked to as a placeholder is great, so check it out if you want a more in depth summary. Despite it's pretty stupid name, Bad Ass Digest offers a lot of really great articles on TV, movies, and other pop culture stuff. They're usually my go-to for Breaking Bad recaps and discussion, as well as "genre" movie reviews.

While we're on the subject of Breaking Bad coverage, and actually TV talk in general, I'm also really into Dan Feinberg and Alan Sepinwall's Firewall & Iceberg Podcast. These guys know their TV, and while they can have some pretty annoying banter, they often offer some really good insight to the shows. If you subscribe in iTunes and look at the podcast info, they tell you the timestamp of each show they talk about, which is nice. That way you can skip past the stuff you don’t care about and get right to the good stuff.

A few thoughts on To'hajiilee, after the jump.