Between work and my non-blogging life, it's hard to find time to write really long posts the way I used to.
So for the foreseeable future, this is is how I'll be writing about shows: in short bursts, maybe once a week, taking a few shows at a time. It's not fair to something like Mad Men, which could yield 1,000 words an episode, but that's the way it has to be. It's that or I shut things down here, and I enjoy this too much not to do it.
With that out of the way, let's talk about:
- Mad Men Lovely to have you back, Mr. Draper, even if you're more messed up than ever. Like I said above, I don't time to go into the episode in any great detail (if that's what you're looking for, I suggest reading Alan Sepinwall or Matt Zoller Seitz, both of whom are excellent). I will mention a few things I liked: Don's strange new bachelor life; Betty's new mother-in-law seeing right through her ("Those children are terrified of her."); Peggy and Joe's "John and Marsha" routine; Peggy and Pete's ham scam; Don's angry pitch to the bathing suit company. Also, I admire Matthew Weiner for skipping over some giant 1964 cultural touchstones (Beatlemania, the Lyndon Johnson "daisy" ad). Setting the story 11 months later will probably make sense, story-wise, in the long run, but it's also nice to see this show not taking the obvious route.
- True Blood I've had the same complaint all season: you can't give us vampire kings and Vikings fighting werewolves and expect us to be interested in things like Jason Stackhouse: Wannabe Cop and The Adventures of Sam's Cartoonish Scumbag Family. The world of the werewolves, the class was between them and vampires (a definite blue vs. white collar vibe there), and -- most of all -- Denis O'Hare's King Russell -- have all been fascinating this season. But whenever the show goes back to Bon Temps, things die down. Obvious solution: bring the king to Bon Temps. Which I'm sure is exactly what the show has planned. Cool.
- Doctor Who By the time I started hearing good things about the BBC's Doctor Who reboot a few years back, the show was already into its fourth season. So I'm used to watching it in big chunks, on DVD. When season five began a few months ago, my girlfriend and I watched the first episode, then decided we'd wait until we could see the whole season in one big chunk. Several spoiler-avoiding weeks later, we're halfway through the new doctor's first year. And so far, it's been great. I doubt anyone will ever top David Tennant, but newcomer Matt Smith is at least making the character his own. Can't wait to see how the rest comes together.
Tom Coombe
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