Still Missing You, Amber
OK, now that the weekends over, I have sufficient TV material to cover, so I'll jump right into it.
Mad Men 2.08
OK, I know normally my Mad Men reviews go something like "It's amazing, watch." Well this episode was so spectacular, I actually need to recap it. This episode was a case study in the demise of the beautiful housewife who found out her husband is a cheating asshole. Sure she'd suspected as much, but Betty didn't get confirmation until Jimmy Barrett point blank told her. And thus, she fell apart. It started small, standard chair smashing. Then it progressed to "humiliation" over Don using her as a study in marketing - which led to her awesomely telling Don off. "You humiliated me," she said in that quiet voice, but lemme say, she grew a pair. Sure she spent the next 24 hours in that beautiful party dress, rummaging through Don's coats, smelling them; searching for anything that signified an affair. Not finding anything, she just sits blankly on the bed. January Jones was just brilliant, taking the understated Betty to that dark place we saw coming all season. From her indifference/coldness towards her children, to her firmer, though still subdued, stance towards Don, this was coming. Then she confronted Don, makeup free, hair wet. So she bared it all to him, emotionally. And Don lied. But she knew better, and while I believe Don doesn't want to lose this life he built, he has a really shitty way of maintaining it. Finally, Betty seals the whole deal by telling Don to just not come home. Now, when the show comes back, we'll see how long that actually lasted. Betty isn't divorcing Don, I'm fairly certain of that, given the way she acted towards the divorcee last season.
Now to Peggy. Oh that whole "had a baby thing never happened" is starting to fray. Sure, Peggy's sister ratted her out to the priest, but it's his prodding that is getting to her. Does she know that he knows? Does she suspect? Or is she just being haunted by the experience. That shot of her, in the bathtub, blankly looking ahead, was on of my favorite shots. It conveyed a moment when she couldn't hide from herself. Emotionally and literally, she was naked and her true emotions started to seep out. Whether this will affect her more is yet to be seen. She's handled talk of pregnancy and babies so well in the past, perhaps she'll become more sensitive towards the issue. Or maybe she'll confide in the priest, but wouldn't that cement this event in reality. So much for "this never happened".
True Blood 1.02
Sorry, but I'm still on the fence. That licking scene was really creepy, like I would have flipped out, but Sookie was out of it, so I'll give her a pass. I understand her and Bill, I actually do. She hears everyone and everything, but with Bill... silence. Still, she's really naive. For ever Bill, there are dozens of creeper vamps camped out in homes, waiting for humans to ring the bell. Yeah, Sookie, in the future, if you see a car with vampire bumper stickers, do NOT ring the door bell. Just a thought. And I'm still not convinced that Bill isn't tempted to eat Sookie. That was by far my main problem with Twilight. That, to me, is not romantic. If Bill starts waxing on about his primal desires and shit like that, I might have to jump ship. But so far, it seems that he's in for her, and intruiged in her ability. He let her drink his blood, which was gross, but sort of sweet.
Sometimes I wished the show weren't about vampires and just about Sookie. Dealing with a superhuman ability while everyone around you is normally, it's really something for its own program. Like a one character study of Heroes. But I'm beginning to see the necessity of the telepathy. It's drawing Bill and Sookie together. UNLIKE in Twilight, when Edward is drawn to Bella because she's his favorite kind of snack.
All these vampire things lately have gotten me thinking. Buffy and Angel. Vampire and human (Slayer). Maybe it's been a while since I've seen the show, but Angel had a soul, a conscience. He morally couldn't feed on humans, and he didn't. I don't think he was ever tempted to feed on Buffy (Angelus is a totally different story). And Spike had that chip, so even if he wanted to, he couldn't feed on Buffy, and I think the temptation went away because the punishment was waay worse than the reward. So Joss, I like your Vampire/human love waaay more than Twilight and True Blood.
House 5.01
Wow. GREAT EPISODE. I almost cried at the end when Wilson explained to House how he didn't blame him, and how as a friend, Wilson had just enabled the misanthropic doctor's bastard ways. And that line about how Amber shouldn't have been on the bus, and how Wilson shouldn't have been on the bus, that House should have been there alone, really hit me. This was a side of Wilson we hadn't really seen. He'd be talking about enabling House for years, but this death changed everything, and Wilson's leaving, and House isn't his friend. Honestly, I was never really sure that he was. Now House is alone, and at the very end, I think it hit him. Wilson was all he had, he relied on him, even if he didn't know it. He's not going to have someone to stop him, to talk sense into him. Cuddy's there, but she always turned to Wilson. Foreman was right, everyone wanted Wilson to stay for their own interests, not his. With House, it's tough to gauge his responses, because next week he'll be back to quipping and snapping at patients. But there will be subtleties, and I'm curious to see how this all works out. Am I hoping the Wilson/House bromance rekindles? I'm not sure. I kind of love the drama, that Wilson wants to blame House. But he's stuck blaming himself, for letting House take up so much of his life. I think they'll come together again, but it won't be warm and fuzzy, and I think Wilson's going to have a firmer hand with House. And I feel House might actually secretly listen to Wilson's antagonism.
Thirteen. She had the other main arc of the episode. She's dying, and it'll be slow, and tragic, and painful, and bad. And now, everyone knows. She's taking more charge, stepping up to the plate. She always said that not knowing made her do things she normally wouldn't do, but I think knowing is having the same effect. Though she's a bit snippy, especially with that patient - the lackey. Thirteen wants to make something of her life, before it ends. And she wishes everyone took that view, and who better to press your new doctrine on than a dying woman? Not the most tactful move, but she's probably going to be more forward and involved than she normally is.
Cameron reminded everyone she exists and was married and had a nice heart-to-heart with Wilson. I really hope we see more of her, and more of Chase, who did surgery, then vanished. Seriously, you're paying these actors as full time cast members, and you're putting them in the show as after thoughts.
Fringe 1.02
I enjoyed this episode much more than the pilot. There was a creepy mystery, pseudo-science, and "the pattern". If JJ and co wanted to prove the show is really a procedural, they succeeded, because this felt very self contained. Sure there was that ending shot of the other cloneboys, but I kind of hope that was an ambiguous ending, like "they're still out there", but not necessarily a future plot point. Hm, I swore I had more thoughts on the show, which is why I started this post, but I guess I don't. Well, that's not a great sign, is it? I'm curious what's up with Massive Dynamic, offering (I don't even know the characters' names yet) the blond Sydney Bristow a job. Why they are doing this is unclear, but this agent isn't really working for anyone, she's not trusting MD, and she's not fully trusting her team.
Quick question: Do we know why the Doc was committed? I get the crazy, now, but was that present before or caused by spending 30 years in a mental hospital. Perhaps he was getting really close to something (hiding his stuff all around the city, sounds fishy) and William Bell needed him out of the way. Because MD is up to some shady things.
Anybody catch the symbol present in the episode. The pilot showed the leaf in the identification gadget in MD, what was here. The producers said there's something to the order the images appear in the show. Didn't catch it, I'm sure it's out there, somewhere.
Mad Men 2.08
OK, I know normally my Mad Men reviews go something like "It's amazing, watch." Well this episode was so spectacular, I actually need to recap it. This episode was a case study in the demise of the beautiful housewife who found out her husband is a cheating asshole. Sure she'd suspected as much, but Betty didn't get confirmation until Jimmy Barrett point blank told her. And thus, she fell apart. It started small, standard chair smashing. Then it progressed to "humiliation" over Don using her as a study in marketing - which led to her awesomely telling Don off. "You humiliated me," she said in that quiet voice, but lemme say, she grew a pair. Sure she spent the next 24 hours in that beautiful party dress, rummaging through Don's coats, smelling them; searching for anything that signified an affair. Not finding anything, she just sits blankly on the bed. January Jones was just brilliant, taking the understated Betty to that dark place we saw coming all season. From her indifference/coldness towards her children, to her firmer, though still subdued, stance towards Don, this was coming. Then she confronted Don, makeup free, hair wet. So she bared it all to him, emotionally. And Don lied. But she knew better, and while I believe Don doesn't want to lose this life he built, he has a really shitty way of maintaining it. Finally, Betty seals the whole deal by telling Don to just not come home. Now, when the show comes back, we'll see how long that actually lasted. Betty isn't divorcing Don, I'm fairly certain of that, given the way she acted towards the divorcee last season.
Now to Peggy. Oh that whole "had a baby thing never happened" is starting to fray. Sure, Peggy's sister ratted her out to the priest, but it's his prodding that is getting to her. Does she know that he knows? Does she suspect? Or is she just being haunted by the experience. That shot of her, in the bathtub, blankly looking ahead, was on of my favorite shots. It conveyed a moment when she couldn't hide from herself. Emotionally and literally, she was naked and her true emotions started to seep out. Whether this will affect her more is yet to be seen. She's handled talk of pregnancy and babies so well in the past, perhaps she'll become more sensitive towards the issue. Or maybe she'll confide in the priest, but wouldn't that cement this event in reality. So much for "this never happened".
True Blood 1.02
Sorry, but I'm still on the fence. That licking scene was really creepy, like I would have flipped out, but Sookie was out of it, so I'll give her a pass. I understand her and Bill, I actually do. She hears everyone and everything, but with Bill... silence. Still, she's really naive. For ever Bill, there are dozens of creeper vamps camped out in homes, waiting for humans to ring the bell. Yeah, Sookie, in the future, if you see a car with vampire bumper stickers, do NOT ring the door bell. Just a thought. And I'm still not convinced that Bill isn't tempted to eat Sookie. That was by far my main problem with Twilight. That, to me, is not romantic. If Bill starts waxing on about his primal desires and shit like that, I might have to jump ship. But so far, it seems that he's in for her, and intruiged in her ability. He let her drink his blood, which was gross, but sort of sweet.
Sometimes I wished the show weren't about vampires and just about Sookie. Dealing with a superhuman ability while everyone around you is normally, it's really something for its own program. Like a one character study of Heroes. But I'm beginning to see the necessity of the telepathy. It's drawing Bill and Sookie together. UNLIKE in Twilight, when Edward is drawn to Bella because she's his favorite kind of snack.
All these vampire things lately have gotten me thinking. Buffy and Angel. Vampire and human (Slayer). Maybe it's been a while since I've seen the show, but Angel had a soul, a conscience. He morally couldn't feed on humans, and he didn't. I don't think he was ever tempted to feed on Buffy (Angelus is a totally different story). And Spike had that chip, so even if he wanted to, he couldn't feed on Buffy, and I think the temptation went away because the punishment was waay worse than the reward. So Joss, I like your Vampire/human love waaay more than Twilight and True Blood.
House 5.01
Wow. GREAT EPISODE. I almost cried at the end when Wilson explained to House how he didn't blame him, and how as a friend, Wilson had just enabled the misanthropic doctor's bastard ways. And that line about how Amber shouldn't have been on the bus, and how Wilson shouldn't have been on the bus, that House should have been there alone, really hit me. This was a side of Wilson we hadn't really seen. He'd be talking about enabling House for years, but this death changed everything, and Wilson's leaving, and House isn't his friend. Honestly, I was never really sure that he was. Now House is alone, and at the very end, I think it hit him. Wilson was all he had, he relied on him, even if he didn't know it. He's not going to have someone to stop him, to talk sense into him. Cuddy's there, but she always turned to Wilson. Foreman was right, everyone wanted Wilson to stay for their own interests, not his. With House, it's tough to gauge his responses, because next week he'll be back to quipping and snapping at patients. But there will be subtleties, and I'm curious to see how this all works out. Am I hoping the Wilson/House bromance rekindles? I'm not sure. I kind of love the drama, that Wilson wants to blame House. But he's stuck blaming himself, for letting House take up so much of his life. I think they'll come together again, but it won't be warm and fuzzy, and I think Wilson's going to have a firmer hand with House. And I feel House might actually secretly listen to Wilson's antagonism.
Thirteen. She had the other main arc of the episode. She's dying, and it'll be slow, and tragic, and painful, and bad. And now, everyone knows. She's taking more charge, stepping up to the plate. She always said that not knowing made her do things she normally wouldn't do, but I think knowing is having the same effect. Though she's a bit snippy, especially with that patient - the lackey. Thirteen wants to make something of her life, before it ends. And she wishes everyone took that view, and who better to press your new doctrine on than a dying woman? Not the most tactful move, but she's probably going to be more forward and involved than she normally is.
Cameron reminded everyone she exists and was married and had a nice heart-to-heart with Wilson. I really hope we see more of her, and more of Chase, who did surgery, then vanished. Seriously, you're paying these actors as full time cast members, and you're putting them in the show as after thoughts.
Fringe 1.02
I enjoyed this episode much more than the pilot. There was a creepy mystery, pseudo-science, and "the pattern". If JJ and co wanted to prove the show is really a procedural, they succeeded, because this felt very self contained. Sure there was that ending shot of the other cloneboys, but I kind of hope that was an ambiguous ending, like "they're still out there", but not necessarily a future plot point. Hm, I swore I had more thoughts on the show, which is why I started this post, but I guess I don't. Well, that's not a great sign, is it? I'm curious what's up with Massive Dynamic, offering (I don't even know the characters' names yet) the blond Sydney Bristow a job. Why they are doing this is unclear, but this agent isn't really working for anyone, she's not trusting MD, and she's not fully trusting her team.
Quick question: Do we know why the Doc was committed? I get the crazy, now, but was that present before or caused by spending 30 years in a mental hospital. Perhaps he was getting really close to something (hiding his stuff all around the city, sounds fishy) and William Bell needed him out of the way. Because MD is up to some shady things.
Anybody catch the symbol present in the episode. The pilot showed the leaf in the identification gadget in MD, what was here. The producers said there's something to the order the images appear in the show. Didn't catch it, I'm sure it's out there, somewhere.