Raw Data: The Flood

These are the unprocessed thoughts and observations for Mad Men episode 3-05 "The Flood". Written by  Matthew Weiner and Tom Smuts, a co-producer this season.  Directed by Chris Manley, the director of photography for 54 episodes of Mad Men and the pilot of Homeland.  Manley also directed "Commissions and Fees" last season (when Lane gets busted).

• Title refers to Ginsberg's father referencing The Great Flood, the one Noah built the ark for.  Or Don's flood of emotion for his son.
• This show is nothing if not there to create characters and show their reactions to both benchmarks in their life and in American history.  You can have an episode on the Kennedy assassination.  You can have an episode about building your kid a playhouse.
• That said, while the previous episode could only be placed in "early spring" (?) and during the presidential primaries, this one is more apparent *.
• Need a weird creepy guy?  Someone call Tom Cruise's cousin, William Mapother.  Better known as Ethan Rom (Other Man) from Lost or Delroy from Justified.  You know you are in for something strange when he shows up on the screen.
• Joan's consolation of Dawn was perfunctory and awkward, while Peggy was sincere with her own secretary
• Following that, the insensitive nature by which SCDP tried to be sensitive.  Closing the office early...after Dawn had already slogged in with a lot of effort**.  And Burt closed the office but didn't close it.  Kind of like those voluntary mandatory things you have at work.
• For that matter, Don treated Don with indifference, telling her to go home more as a duty he felt he had to do than out of genuine compassion.
• Not dissimilar to the awards ceremony which planned to hold the news until the end of the event.  Their solution to "take ten minutes to talk out this terrible event and then resume the program" is even worse than SCDP's waffling on closing the office. 
• Some people on this show do not change, comparing the JFK and MLK assasinations
• Pete becomes indignant at Harry for not being solemn enough.  Pete skipped Roger's daughter's wedding, incredulous that they would still have it following the presidential assasination, and was also offended at remarks overheard ("...the man had enemies.")
• Not that Pete hesitated to make the delivery guy truck through the riots
• Roger sarcastically mocks the MLK assassination "Man knew how to talk, I don't know why but I thought it would solve the whole thing."  About a month after the JFK assasination in "Shut the Door, Have a Seat" Roger wonders if the bar they are in will ever take that Kennedy picture down
• Peggy's JFK photo still appears prominently in her apartment

•  What did Roger mean when he said his weird friend "talked him off a roof" once?  Roger, were you tripping again?
• "Henry's not that important."

Ginsberg's reaction to the MLK shooting was "They had to do it" as in "of course."  His father merely pulls a sweater over his head and goes back to sleep.  Being born in a concentration camp, Ginsberg, and obviously his father too, have less surprised reactions than everyone else.  Perhaps because they come from a such a violent place, specifically violent towards minority groups.

* April 4-8, 1968

** Granted, Joan did try to call her and Dawn said she preferred to work, but there didn't seem to be a sincere thought toward Dawn at al.  Don seemed indifferent handing his Rolodex back to her.

Raw Data: Kissed by Fire

These are the unprocessed thoughts and observations for Game of Thrones episode 3-05 "Kissed by Fire". Written for television by  Bryan Cogman who has the credit on two previous episodes "Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things" and "What is Dead May Never Die".  Directed by Alex Graves, who also did last week's episode which is not uncommon for this show.  You'll often see the same director for two and three episodes at a time.  We're at halftime of Season Three folks...

• Title refers to Ygritte's hair and that whole demographic which requires more anesthesia than your average bear when they go to the dentist
• Regarding the two seemingly superfluous scenes from previous weeks: both paid off in this episode with Tyrion's betrothal and Karstark's vengeance.  
• Jaime continues to soften his character 
• Selmy: It's going to be great when you leave.  Jorah: WTF?
• Hound: Where's my gold? Anguy: Here's an IOU.  Hound: WTF?
• Cersei's an early frontrunner for Schadenfreude of the Week with the hilarious cycle of wedding meddling.  What goes around...
• Lyssa: "I breast feed my kid even though he's like eight."  Celyse: "I keep three fetuses in formaldehyde jars in my bedroom."   
• Stannis is going to attempt what you call "hu-man" interaction with his daughter
• Speaking of Stannis' daughter, how is Game of Thrones the only show on television with tolerable child actors?

Robb erred by beheading Karstark.  While he's winning battles, to say he's having trouble in his backyard is an understatement.  Robb's unbending sense of honor, obviously derived from Ned, gives him little flexibility in dealing with Karstark.  While Ned and Robert were close a lifetime ago, Ned is more like Stannis than any Baratheon.  Unwilling to give an inch.  Here Robb could have taken a page from Cersei and remembered a tame enemy is more useful than a dead one.

Jamie shed some light on the source of his nickname, explaining how and why he killed King Aerys years ago.  He's been softened the last few weeks and for perhaps the first time gave viewers a reason to be upset with Ned Stark (beyond Ned's own naivete).  The guilt trip played on him by Ned, or at least as it was perceived by Jaime, gives a different point of view** to those early days of Robert's reign.  Would the unbending nature of Ned, and now Robb, have allowed them to make a similar choice?

Meanwhile, Sansa remains a hostage in Kings Landing despite the Tyrells best efforts.  Another parallel with Ned, who had his his own ward/hostage Theon Greyjoy.  While Ned raised him properly, and the Lannisters constantly torture Sansa, they are both effectively hostages who are there for leverage and may be executed at any time.

Which leads to the motif that started this all, beheading.  One of the first scenes in the series is Ned beheading a deserter ** from The Wall.  In Season Two, Theon makes a hack job of a beheading after he betrays everyone who ever cared for him.  In Season Three, Robb takes it upon himself to execute the sentence.  He doesn't appear to do it because he thinks he should but because he feels he has to.  While he has much better beheading skills than Theon, he seems to have damaged himself *** in the process.

Go back to the Vale in Season One...honor weighs heavily, like a suit of armor, and may leave you vulnerable to those playing by different rules.

Hodor!

* Not a better point of view, or even able to redeem Jaime's later actions.  But different.

** By the way, wouldn't everyone have been better served to pay some heed to this guy before separating his head from his body?  But no, there's no flexibility.  And that's why Robb's army is smaller by half and these guys are shorter by about twelve inches.


*** Looked like he hurt his hand while doing the deed.  A portent for his war effort?  Nah, there's no symbolism in this series.  Pay no attention to the wolf killed by the stag.

Bourdain Returns: Parts Unknown

Anthony Bourdain returned to television after a brief hiatus following his clip show-laden final season of No Reservations on Travel Channel.  A little less than a year ago he announced his move to Sunday nights on CNN in primetime with a plan to expand on the scope of the shows and the locations they shoot.

The format of the show is similar.  There's some background on the location and Tony hangs out with a local chef, a local celebrity/celebrity from the area/cool quirky guy who lives in the area, and includes a home cooked meal.

Having missed the premier due to high demand of the DVR on Sunday and a repeat pre-empted by news coverage of the hunt for the Boston Marathon bomber, the first episode I saw is "Koreatown" (Los Angeles).

Few episodes of No Reservations focus on just a city, let alone a neighborhood.  The closest possibly being "Brooklyn" in the series finale...not exactly small considering it'd be the third largest city in the country if the five boroughs were counted separately.  The smaller area, with the neighborhood's border streets explained in a handy on screen map, allows them to tackle a lot more topics and interesting local sites in an hour.  It even allows Tony to stop by Little Bangladesh (apparently the first in America) within Koreatown within Los Angeles.

His shows are always also about making the show, never more evident in the "Beruit" episode.  Parts Unknown includes Pop Up Video-esque cards on the screen providing background and other facts about shooting the episode, like how the crew used a remote controlled helicopter to obtain a certain aerial shot.

While the episode packs a lot in, there's the three staples mentioned above:

Chef

Roy Choi covers both his time in Koreatown during the 1992 riots, and his current small empire of restaurants rising from the original iterations as a single food truck to four trucks (longest line for one: 600 people) and three brick and mortar restaurants.  Choi talks about the identity of his food, in an urban environment, and how the barb wire, puddles and telephone poles of the city inform his food as much as 

Quirky local celebrity

David Choe, an artist commissioned to do murals for the Facebook offices who took his pay in stock cashed in for $200 million when the company went public.  If you have seen Bourdain's twitter avatar, you've seen Choe's work.

Home cooked meal

Bourdain visits the Choe house for dinner.  Both of Choe's parents are artists, formerly in the real estate business which was obviously hit hard following the riots in 1992.  They launch into a discussion about Han.  Which West Wing fans may be familiar with.  

Sundays being what they are, I can record the repeats (sorry, "encores") on Fridays and have a full ninety minutes of televised worldly macho-ness, watching it after the VICE recordings

Schadenfreude of the week

Basically this whole post explains how "And Now His Watch has Ended" ends, so take care.  This is probably over protection on spoilers but better safe than ruin it for someone.

Nothing like knowing a character is going to bite it after a quick, three episode stint.  It allows the writers make the character as despicable as possible, so when they kick the bucket, it's as glorious and satisfying for the viewers as possible.

The slave trader spent, well, every bit of dialogue he had to disparage Daenaerys.  Thinking she did not understand his language, he called her every name in the book.  As though a slave trader needed to be made less likeable*...  Daenaerys manages a poker face rivaling Amarillo Slim, not betraying for a moment the language the slaver speaks is actually her native tongue.  She then does her best Abraham Lincoln impression by winning her first battle and freeing the slaves.  As for the slaver, he's too excited about the dragon he thinks he's acquired to notice Daenareys commanding the slaves.  Before they can say "Valyrian steel" the slave army marches on their until-ten-seconds-ago-owners and the slaver is the first of one can assume many victims of Daenreys dragons.  It's been 24 episodes and a lot of chopped off heads and limbs, but it's time for the dragons to do their thing.


* There's a new character archetype for you, the slave trader with a heart of gold!  He's only trying to make ends meet to feed his kids

Raw Data: To Have and to Hold

Updated 28 April.

These are the unprocessed thoughts and observations for Mad Men episode 3-04 "To Have and to Hold". Written by  Erin Levy of "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword".  Directed by Michael Uppendahl of "Six Months Leave".

• Unable to place the episode on the calendar.  The only clue I remember is hearing Bobby Kennedy mentioned on the radio (so before June, but that was obvious anyways), but it was too tough to hear on a first watch.  Maybe on the second.
• Pete is always a day late and a dollar short on "being Don Draper," his life's work.  He offers his bachelor pad for Don's use, but Don's already moved out and back into the city again.  Too slow, Pete.
• Two people Don has a lot in common with: Tony Soprano and Barack Obama. 
• Likely in the penultimate season of Mad Men, Don is becoming less sympathetic.  Not unlike Tony Soprano's arc from the start of Season 6: Part I to the finale. More coming on this...including Matt Weiner's role in Tony's end of series spiral
• Barack Obama is an introvert. Not a backslapper who prefers to surround himself and draw energy from people.  While they both can turn on the showmanship when it's needed (as introverts do for people/work they love), neither are super excited to spend time with other people
• Interesting Dawn points out how messed up the SCDP is.  For us not familiar with the era, we were taking their behavior as the standard, but it is apparently outside the norm.  And midway through the fourth hour of the season is the first mention of Lane?  These are decidedly unsentimental men, but still...
• "Project K"?  What a code.  The CIA will be knocking at your door to get more unbreakable ciphers out of you, Pete.
• Going behind Heinz Beans' back is only made worse by doing it in Pete's skeezy apartment and proposing they get a hotel room.
• Let's hear it for Stan's jacket with fringe.  Really,  let's just cheer for Stan every week.  And Scarlett's boots, which Don would not let his daughter wear last season.
• The show's Nixon man, Burt Cooper, is about to be a pig in slop.
• Was Joan married before Greg?
• Harry Crane had a rare good moment to help the company.  Then he squandered it by blowing it on something petty (his secretary) instead of using it as leverage for a partnership.  Great job to go about asking in the worst way possible, interrupting a partners meeting for an issue so trivial Joan would never have brought up in the first place.  Harry managed to impress Sterling (and Cooper) for the first time since he demanded a raise.  ($200. Say yes.)  But his moment to ask for a partnership came and went when Burt Cooper threatened to tie him up and lock him down in the building for the weekend when they were raiding clients from the old Sterling Cooper.    That was his maximum leverage, until he has another offer to play against SCDP.
• A second Sopranos tie in?  The last season was heavily focused on the Iraq War, and while this will no doubt focus on Vietnam, I wonder if it will have a similar approach.  They are selling Dow and Dow is selling the war, or at least profiting from it.  I don't have it yet, but there's something there...Don is against the war though.  Let's see him march.

Despite besting him head to head at the old Sterling Cooper in Season Three, Ken has never been Pete when it comes to landing accounts meaning he doesn't put it above everything else in his life.  Conversely, Pete has never been Ken either, considering that Ken has other pursuits like his writing.

Ken never would have encouraged Joan as Pete did at the end of season five.  He even went so far as to say he doesn't want to be a partner because he sees what in involves..  He was always hesitant to reach out to his father in law, of Dow Chemical, for business.  This while Pete not only asked his father-in-law for a gimme account with Clearasil, he had no qualms parlaying it into a larger deal at the expense of his relationship with Trudy's dad.

Given Ken's reservations and Pete's overly ambitious nature when it comes to landing accounts, it's no surprise Pete pushes for going behind Heinz Beans'  back while Ken is kept in the dark, all the way until he loses the account.  "Nothing like being known for your loyalty" makes it even more cutting.  For the same reason a pious person falls harder and farther than a regular person from their indiscretions, SCDP's liaison feels so much worse than if someone else had done it.  Why is it so much worse when a trustworthy person goes back on their word once, compared to an untrustworthy person goes back on it repeatedly?

There is a great interview with Aaron Staton, the actor who plays Ken, here.  

Raw Data: And Now His Watch is Ended

These are the unprocessed thoughts and observations for Game of Thrones episode 3-04 "And Now His Watch is Ended". Written by  Benioff & Weiss (under the interesting credit of "Written for television by"), series creators and executive producers.  Directed by Alex Graves, executive producer and oft-director of The West Wing

• Currently on page 528 of A Storm of Swords
• Episode title refers to the words said at the funeral of a Night's Watch brother.  Effectively his "End of Watch" or EOW
• Nothing new in the credits, but is there another opening credits a viewer watches so diligently?
• Doctors agree, episodes without Jon Snow are 98 percent less angst-y
• A viewer is not surprised a group of murderers and thieves turns to murder and thievery.  Less a mutiny by the Night's Watch and more of a riot.
• Old man strength transcends realms and Mormont has it in spades.  He's like one of those giants on PCP you see on police dash cameras.
• Deadwood often was described as a 'mud and blood' western.  Game of Thrones is a 'mud and blood' medieval epic.
• A viewer is confounded by the Theon storyline.  Tortured without being asked questions, then broken out and returned the same day?
• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime) spoke on Conan recently of all the mud they threw him around in in this episode.  Basically one guy's job was to water the mud, non-stop.
• Nothings puts a smile on Joffrey's face like talking about people's violent deaths.  He and Todd Bowden would get along swimmingly
• The Dowager Countess of Highgarden's contempt for her own family, their words and their sigil continues, this time even coupled with some admiration for the departed King Robert.  Tired of roses, she reminds me of someone who got a gift once and people continued to give her such a gift assuming she found them pleasant, when in reality it's only inertia.  A lady at a place I once worked had several dozen toy cows on her desk due to such inertia
• An old trope present in Game of Thrones is obscuring the faces of bad guys while showing the good ones.  The Lannister guards, Daenerys' army and even the Ironmen all wear helmets that partially or totally keep their faces hidden.  Think Imperial stormtroopers versus rebel soldiers.
• The Night's Watch brother who observed it's mostly about shoveling...hilarious
• Varys' view of Littlefinger in the past has been of a worthy adversary, but presently he seems more alarmed than intrigued by Littlefinger's growing power

Speaking of worthy adversaries, much of the focus this week was on the Tyrells and their (Margaery's) growing influence in King's Landing, providing a foil to Cersei and the Lannisters.  But mainly Cersei.  Her influence has a half life each day between now and the royal wedding, and she needs to make a play.

• Margaery has almost fully asserted control of Joffrey from his mother.  The fickle masses not long ago threw a cow pie at Joffrey and now cheer for him and his wife-to-be on the balcony, albeit mainly for Margaery.  They like Margaery and may grow to tolerate/like Joffrey by association.
• The approach she took last week, when Joff explained the crossbow more closely resembled how a babysitter may ask a child to show his toys than a lady showing interest in her betrothed
• As the Northman pointed out to Jaime, Tywin and his wealth are very much a crutch for his children.  In this episode, Cersei runs to her father with her concerns about Margaery controlling Joffrey, but is only greeted with scorn for her own inability to control her son
• In the same conversation, Tywin pointedly told her she is not as smart as she believes herself to be.  The second time Cersei's been told this in Season Three.
• The more the Tyrells want to be friends and share trust, the less one should befriend and trust them.  Margery knows full well her own brother's, er, preferences, and chose not to share them with Sansa when she proposed their betrothal.  Then again, anything is better than having any association with the psychopath-in-chief.  
• The "porridge plague" seemed like test to gauge Sansa's gullibility.
• Margaery is protected in ways Sansa never was
• The Tyrells are schemers who know how to position themselves.  They are willing and able to play a game the Starks did not like nor understand
• Physically, Loras is there too.  Doubtful Margaery is going to be stripped and have a crossbow pointed at her in the throne room.
• Love of the people.  The Lady Di of Westeros has all the common people behind her and they already would not stand for any shabby treatment directed toward her

Happy 50th Conan!

Conan O'Brien turns 50 today.  The fifth host of The Tonight Show (sandwiched between the Grover Cleveland-like fourth and sixth hosts, Jay Leno) and current host of Conan has been on television for twenty years.   Late Night along with The West Wing were the only shows I watched with any regularity for four years of college.

Late Night with Conan O'Brien debuted in 1993 when a little known Simpsons and Saturday Night Live writer followed David Letterman as host, and he's been on television since, save for a few brief interludes such as being legally prohibited from being funny on telelevision. 

Conan's absurd, surreal humor still works with young viewers, despite hitting the half century mark today.  If you like Conan you've probably said things to the effect of "I don't know why it's funny, but it is."  Like any sketch comedy or variety show, the gags sound strange and borderline disturbing when you explain them in a vacuum.  ("It's the masturbating bear!")  They may "appeal to young men who watch a lot of pornography" * as one Leno viewer said.  But when watched in the context of the show night after night in a college dorm, it's plain to you why you keep watching, well, night after night.

* The link is fine, folks.  It's a clip of Conan, undercover and in character, leading a focus group to critique his own show

Maybe he will be better known for the raw deal on The Tonight Show and the outpouring of support, mainly from comedians (basically, everyone but Seinfeld) and young viewers on social media than he ever will be as the face of TBS.  There's no point in rehashing Team Coco and all that goes with it.  That can be found in a plethora of places, mainly The War for Late Night by Bill Carter.  In short, Conan was effectively Indian giver-ed Tonight due to NBC's fear of paying and competing against Leno, on the paper thin basis of a ratings failure despite a completely failed lead-in (by Leno).  The baseball equivalent would be cutting your star for not producing RBI** even though no one is ever on base.

** Like Nielsens, an antiquated statistic

So, a few things to enjoy about Conan:

As an interviewer
Of the current late night hosts, Conan's interviews are only rivaled by Stephen Colbert*** .  He's able to take on more seriously fun interviews as well.  Just recently, Conan led a discussion with his fellow Simpsons writers, as well a panel of the Breaking Bad cast showing he can deviate from the longtime talk show format on different topics.  His web site dedicates a whole section called Serious Jibber Jabber for longer interviews.

*** Deserves its own post

Taped pieces
Conan's at his best when he's out with people, riffing on whatever situation, sometimes incredibly uncomfortable, he happens to be in.  He does it with a self deprecating and good natured attitude, essentially the polar opposite of Daily Show correspondents.  A couple favorites include Conan selling his 1992 Ford Taurus, Conan visiting Ireland, and Conan's current Clueless Gamer bit.

Conan's also an incredibly sincere person.  Conan's settlement with NBC ranged in the tens of millions of dollars, but no one can say he's there for the money or to weirdly collect cars that require a crank to start.  In his relatively early days at NBC, looking to compensate Conan for reaching a particular milestone, they asked what they could give him as a bonus...a Porsche? A boat?  All Conan wanted was a vintage NBC microphone which they managed to dig out of basement storage.  He still has that microphone and I think that says a lot about his own values and career goals and probably explains a lot about how and why The Tonight Show fiasco went the way it did.

When he signed off from Tonight he left with these words which everyone should read and take to heart:

And all I ask is one thing...and this is...I'm asking this particularly of young people that watch...please do not be cynical.  I hate cynicism. For the record, it's my least favorite quality.  It doesn't lead anywhere.  Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get.  


But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen.  I'm telling you.  Amazing things will happen.  I'm telling you.  It's just true.  

In Support of The Wire: Season Five

Includes several mentions, blacked out, of The Wire: Season Five

I remember a lot of complaints about The Wire: Season Five when it was airing.  While I think at least some of that was typical "I watched it back when it was good" feeling of longtime fans, as the show was finally starting to pick up steam in the mainstream.

Personally, I liked it and disagree that the show sunk to an unwatchable quality reserved for lesser shows.  Here's why:

Season Five started with one hand behind it's back.  While Season One and Season Four* included thirteen episodes, and Season Two and Season Three included twelve, HBO renewed The Wire for only ten episodes in Season Five.  While "-30-", the season/series finale ran over 90 minutes, this is still provided only about 80 or 87 percent of the storytelling time previous seasons had, leading to some compressed plotting particularly noticeable as McNulty's serial killer takes shape.  For the show that perfected the contemporary novelistic season plotting, this is a major blow.

Not only did Season Five tell a compressed season five story, but it had the responsibility of wrapping up storylines from previous seasons.  Some were still able to be done with a single scene as with Namond's Geography Bee.

But the serial killer storyline was completely unbelievable!

More unbelievable than a police commander effectively legalizing drugs?  I do not believe the point of the serial killer was to create a serial killer but to illustrate the state of journalism and comment on anonymous sourcing.  At least there are real life instances they can point to for that one (including reporting on a serial killer sniper in the DC area). 

For some reason, critics are able to suspend their disbelief in cases where Simon uses dramatic license, like in Season Two when the state attorney's office lets Frank Sobotka out of their sight and vulnerable to violence (because they aren't as familiar with procedures within the state's attorney's office) but scream bloody murder if the screen doesn't reflect every day of their life in journalism, exactly.

 "You have to listen to the notes she's not playing" **

I think Lisa Simpson sums up the season in that single sentence.  We've spent four seasons watching bureaucratic and institutional dysfunction, not to mention out and out corruption, in the police force, labor unions, political arenas and public schools.  Why is this the first we're hearing about it?  Why is this the first we are seeing the incompetence demonstrated and explained?  David Simon, the show's creator and executive producer, posits the answer by adding the newsroom storyline: the state of journalism is a mess and fails to focus on important aspects of real life because they are populated by journalists with little experience and led by those who prefer to focus on winning awards.  They go about winning awards by following a proven formula of reporting, not unlike Season Four showing the fundamental flaws of "teaching to the test" when the kids are preparing for their standardized testing.

 

The best novels and televisions shows "show and don't tell" but it's even more difficult to show the absence of a positive, which if I viewed the show correctly (and there is a correct way)*** was the goal.  While the systemic problems shown in the other storylines continue, the newspaper has other priorities than shed on a light on these, never more apparent when they decided to de-prioritize reporting Prop Joe's murder.  It is a subtle, quick moment which encapsulates the entire newsroom storyline.

* Season Four's finale "Final Grades" ran 78 minutes because they needed 18 more minutes in that season to finish stabbing us in the heart/crotch

** From "Lisa the Simpson" where Lisa comments on how to listen to jazz

*** Simon later clarified what he was saying.  It's pretty interesting no matter what you think about it.  Also his thoughts on blogging and oh my god I started a tv blog!

Raw Data: The Collaborators

These are the unprocessed thoughts and observations for Mad Men episode 5-03 "The Collaborators".

• Hearing news of the Tet Offensive from the radio and the good doctor put this in early 1968 still.
• A cursory Internet search using the Carson clip as a reference put it specifically at January 31, 1968
•  Pete could just as easily been getting those keys out of a bowl...
• Man Men, one of those shows which lives in grayscale, seems to have placed all the black/white-ness of its characters into Herb, the car salesman with no redeeming qualities
• Don's childhood flashback, moving in with Uncle Mac, with his pregnant de facto step-mother/guardian fits in the timeline between the flashbacks in "Shut the Door, Have a Seat" where Archie bites it and "Babylon", featuring Adam's birth
• Don's step mom and Catelyn Stark would have a lot to discuss
• Roger seemed to walk a line of indifference following the Jaguar meeting, more noting to Don "well, that happened" than taking a stance on either side
• Pete still wants to be Don, but can't help but ascend no further than "poor man's Don"
• How old is Sylvia?  Is she Don's contemporary?
• While Peggy outgrew her old role under Don, the next interesting step will be how she reacts when coming in direct conflict with thim
• Compare and contrast Peggy's reactions to the prank this week versus the drawing by Joey the freelancer

Raw Data: Walk of Punishment

These are the unprocessed thoughts and observations for Game of Thrones episode 3-03 "Walk of Punishment".

• Currently at page 341 of A Storm of Swords.
• "I'm a monster!" - Buster Bluth
• This week more than made up for last week's lack of GoT's trademark gratuitious nudity and incredibly graphic chopping of cats, er, limbs  Wooooo!
• For the second week in a row, the episode includes a seemingly superfluous scene.  This time it shows Talisa with two young Lannisters, captives of the Starks.
• Not every scene can be a winner, but it's rough knowing there's so much to do, coupling that with every excruciatingly boring minute at or beyond The Wall
• Hot Pie declining to continue with hijinks, but instead work peaceably as a baker brings to mind Clyde chastising the boys on South Park for constantly getting into their own hijinks when hijinks are so easily avoidable 
• The worst end-of-episode-tone to music-over-credits transition since the DVD version of "Take This Sabbath Day"
• This week's episode follow up will focus mainly on a single, telling, scene.  This scene says so much so quickly through the medium of television that it deserves its own analysis

Early in "Walk of Punishment" Lord Tywin holds a Small Council meeting.  Grand Maester Pycell is apparently restored to his position.  Varys makes his first appearance in season three and Littlefinger and Tyrion are also present.

Interestingly, Tywin holds the meeting in a new location, with a set up of table and chairs.  It is not clear if this is different to intentionally throw off the small council members, but it is difficult to imagine Tywin doing anything that does not have a purpose.  The table is smaller than the previous one with a chair at the head next to a standing Tywin and five chairs together on the same long side of the table, Last Supper style.  Everyone hesitates upon seeing the new arrangement, but their reactions are all wonderfully in character. It turns into a literal 'game of thrones'.

Littlefinger
Lord Baelish, an ambitious climber who has made quite a career and name for himself despite relatively humble beginnings, is the first to react.  He's made his name by being available to please the Crown.  When Robert wanted to spend money he didn't push back, talking about responsible budgeting, but instead found a way to make the money appear, for tournaments or whatever the king pleased.  Betting on the Lannisters, he's done as much as anyone to solidify their position at King's Landing.  (And didn't you just cringe last week when Tyrion mused aloud just "Who would trust Littlefinger?")  To continue being there to raise his hand and do the Crown's bidding, Littlfinger brusquely cuts in front of Varys and makes his way to the chair closest to Tywin, even angling it toward him.

Varys
Varys makes his living by flying under the radar.  Everyone in King's Landing knows he's not to be trusted, yet he seems to also make everyone think is a friend to them, giving them the true truth his spies find.  Varys takes the safe second/middle seat.


Pycelle
Varys knows he need not move as purposefully as Littlefinger, as Pycelle isn't going to beat him out of a seat.  Pycelle, who it is clearly known to us know that he is in the court of certain Lannisters, must maintain the illusion that he is infirmed, and takes the next available seat so ever slowly.

Cersei
Cersei has been queen for seventeen or so years at this point.  She is used to people waiting on her, and having her way.  Not only that, but we know that she does not believe rules apply to her, as evidence by her relationship with Jaime , how the Lannisters gain and hold power and her penchant for ripping up documents, as though to invalidate them.  Arriving late, Cersei finds all the chairs occupied save the two fartheest from her father.  Rather than operate within the constraints of the current paradigm, Cersei creates a wholly new arrangement by picking up a chair and moving it to the empty side of the table, flanking her father and sitting as close as Littlfinger.  Tywin is clearly pleased by her relatively unconventional approach and the thought bubble above his head says "That's my daughter for you..."

Tyrion
Tyrion no doubt would've taken another approach even without Cersei moving her chair.  Still a bit perturbed at the way he's been treated since "Blackwater" and no doubt unhappy sharing a table with someone who tried to kill him, someone he previously jailed and deposed from his position and someone who denies him his lawful inheritance, Tyrion knows he is capable of making an impact on the Council and announces his arrival as such.  He manages to accomplish both a better seat and pissing everyone off by hilariously, slowly, loudly and incredibly passive aggressively dragging his chair to the opposite head from his father.  In doing so he simultaneously annoys everyone, makes them wait for him (not unlike Cersei's tardiness) and has a bit of fun at everyone's expense.  But what can he do?  He's but four feet tall and the chair is so large!

As for Tyrion's new job as Master of Coin, it is unclear whether this is a promotion and honor, an insult, or a way to keep a leash on him (or some combination of the three).  Cersei's apparent joy at the prospect probably means this is bad for Tyrion.  He's going to be stuck with the blame for fixing the treasury which was run into the ground under Littlefinger who got praise and promotions.  Sounds like a certain former OPM director.  No doubt Tyrion will find a way to make it work to his advantage in a heretofore unrealized manner.  Step one is to establish a Night's Watch-type order to protect the realm from bond vigilantes.

Veep: Utter incompetence

"What?  You work at the White House?!  Oh my God, can I blow you?!"

 Veep returns Sunday night on HBO.

Regardless of where you live, expectations of any Washington-centric show include political machinations featuring members of Congress, lobbyists, and other movers and shakers making deals over steaks, cigars or cocktails.  It's a glamorous display of power, effectuality and uber competence.

Not so much.

If you live in Washington, DC the show has a built in appeal to you because you know DC has as many clowns, charlatans, and b.s. artists as anywhere.  Everyone alternately scrambles or procrastinates to get through the day just as you would in an office park in Scranton, PA.  Which is why Veep is so good...the ubiquitous nature of incompetence in the everyday workplace.  It provides the Office of the Vice President as the backdrop for a typical workplace comedy.  Yet the jokes are specific enough to politics and government the show is far from generic.  Perhaps these are not unique to DC, but some of these characters just scream Washington adding to the hilarity.

Dan - Climber, ascends professionally more due to networking than competence
Gary - Kool aid drinker. It'd be obnoxious if he wasn't so sincere
Jonah - constantly reminding everyone where he works

This doesn't even include the verbal japes the staff take at their own jobs when they refer to making "the medium bucks", using "creative" as a euphemism for "cheap" when it comes to budgeting and the utter contempt most others have for the types listed above.


Besides her staff deftly avoiding most implications of competence, the Veep's office also manages to rebuff any myth of having power and effectiveness in Washington.   Vice President Selena's image of herself as the second most power person in the world does not exactly line up with reality.  This is not unlike Michael Gary Scott's view of himself as a model businessman, comedian and all around best friend to everyone.  Selena's reaction when she discovers this misalignment is however much angrier than that of the Dunder Mifflin regional manager.  Rather than wrap her foot in bubble wrap and sulk, or double down by parading out self created characters to help make his original point (or oftentimes the exact opposite point he tried to make), she instead borderline abuses her staff to turn around their current political mess and get back into the country's/political ally's good graces and live up to her ambition.

Veep spawns from a much darker place than The Office though.  The shows' plotting diverges them further.  Michael may be down and depressed about his 30 year mortgage only to be welcomed back warmly to an office later that day while Selena and her team will be nearly out of the weeds, only to have the facade they've constructed come crashing down on them at the end of the episode, often putting them in an even worse position than they started.

And if you're interested, there's another show in the pipeline featuring the vice president. 

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was up for a Golden Globe and took home the Emmy for the Best Actress in a Comedy.  The show itself was nominated for an Emmy for Best Comedy Series.  It airs Sunday at 10 p.m. Eastern on HBO, repeats throughout the week and is on HBO Go.

VICE: Not light viewing

Some shows you put on in the background while you're cooking.  Some shows you put on to zone out for a while, or kill some time or forget about your problems.  VICE is not that show.

VICE is a news magazine and web site, originally founded in Canada in 1994, now operates in 34 countries around the world.  They recently launched a television show on HBO by the same name.  The subject matter is about as heavy as it gets.  To start, "Episode 1" includes two segments: one on political assassination in the Philippines and one on Taliban suicide bombers.  Interesting and heavy enough subjects on their own, then you learn it's not one or two political assassinations in the Philippines, but in the hundreds, including a massacre of dozens while attempting to file for election...and the suicide bombers in question are children.


The summary page at HBO provides links to advocacy and human rights groups for the subjects of the episode, such as Child Soldiers International, Culture of Resistance and Amnesty International.

After a few taking a few breaths to find composure in a manner not unlike the end of Breaking Bad's "Dead Freight", quickly put on whatever comedy you can find on your DVR ("Get Conan on!").  Do not watch VICE without something lighter to follow it up with and do not make it the last thing you do before bed.

VICE's executive producers include HBO colleague Bill Maher and Fareed Zakaria.  It airs Fridays at 11 p.m. Eastern on HBO, following Real Time with Bill Maher and can be found in repeats throughout the week on the HBO channels and on HBO Go.

Dewey Crowe?

Justified fans may think Harlan County, KY denizen Dewey Crowe or his kin were on the loose in the District of Columbia after reading about these failed bank robberies

The words on his robbery note were spelled incorrectly, authorities said, and he was unable to articulate his demands. So the confused teller at the downtown Washington bank turned the man away, saying she couldn’t help.

Full story from The Washington Post

In Support of Sansa Stark: Be nice to her!

Speaking of Game of Thrones...

So this fan comes up to [Sophie Turner who plays Arya Stark and Masie Williams who plays Sansa Stark]  and says to Williams, “You’re my favorite,” and then says to Turner, “You’re my least favorite.”

The hatred toward this character seems misdirected.  Perhaps much of it comes from those who read the A Song of Fire and Ice books and cannot separate in their mind.  The saga features (as far as I can tell through page 199 of A Storm of Swords) a less sympathetic, more actively destructive Sansa.

King's Landing is not Harrenhal, to compare to Arya's journey.  But while Sansa would not last five seconds traveling through the mud and blood to get back North, Arya would be finished even quicker at King's Landing.  Sansa is savvy enough to play along with everyone in order to survive and even fool a casual observer into thinking she's bought into the Lannister court.  And not everyone has the poise to deal with a drunk, bleeding Hound in the wee hours of the Battle of Blackwater Bay.

This doesn't even start with the torment by Joffrey's hand, saved only by his Hand.  The visceral joy of Tyrion-Joffrey slaps will live in GIF infamy, but few Season Two lines were more satisfying than Sansa goading Joffrey on in "Blackwater".

Sansa: Will you slay him yourself?
Joffrey: If Stannis is fool enough to come near me!
S: So you'll be outside the gates, fighting in the vanguard?
J: A king doesn't discuss battleplans with stupid girls!
S: I'm sorry Your Grace, you're right.  I'm stupid. Of course you'll be in the vanguard.  They say my brother Robb always goes where the fighting is thickets and he's only a pretender. 

Maybe she'll get some help from the seemingly friendly Tyrells, but I doubt it.  Remember Sansa, D.T.A.


There are plenty of female fan favorites on Game of Thrones, but Sansa is far more domestic than Arya, Cersei, Catelyn, and of course Brienne.  Perhaps this follows the trend of fan-hate for television wives like Skylar White.  Another time...

Raw Data: Dark Wings, Dark Words

These are the unprocessed thoughts and observations for Game of Thrones episode 3-02 "Dark Wings, Dark Words".

• For reference for you book readers, I'm on page 199 of A Storm of Swords
• A rare seemingly superfluous scene involved Tyrion and Shae, which no doubt means it will come into play in a major way down the line
• Of Robb's lieutenant bannermen, if Umber and Karstark are Pacino, then Bolton is Deniro. 
• It is only Tuesday but congrats to Theon Greyjoy for wining "Schadenfreude of the Week"
• How does one spell 'schadenfreude' correctly, while butchering 'lieutentant'?
• Joffrey had a beat when he was talking about Renley and making his "perversion" punishable by death.  The beat made me think there's a possibility he has a Larry Craig thing going.  I can't imagine the little psychopath is able to feel love or attraction beyond basic mating instinct
• Speaking of psychopathy, I wonder if there is a way to play psychologist and apply the Hare Psychopathy Test, the PCL-R, to Joffrey [notes idea for future post]
• My guess is Cersei would test higher as a psychopath.  Joffrey is "merely" anti-social
• It was so nice to introduce us to the Dowager Countess of the Tyrells
• In the same vein, we met the Katniss Everdeen of the Reeds
• Jamie showed a moment of sincerity when he said "we don't choose who we love"
• No heads chopped off?  Not even a limb?  And complete lack of nudity.  This is, without a doubt and with zero hyperbole, the most shocking thing that has happened in the show's entire run to date.

All in all, everyone raised a lot of money for Relay for Life because they spent the whole episode walking (minus Bran!).  To Riverrun. To the Wall.  To the Fist. To an undoubtedly miserable marriage to the king...

Raw Data: The Doorway

Welcome back Mad Men!  We all started watching you late in the game (at least a season in), binging on DVDs, watching one episode after another.  Now your season premiere is one of the most eagerly anticipated television events of the year.  Before I become biased by the reviews and analysis out there no more than 12 hours after the episode ends, here's some initial thoughts on episodes 6-01 and 6-02, "The Doorway". 

• Knowing Mad Men had two seasons left, I wondered if they would progress the series enough to make the 1970s as cool as they made the 1960s. 
• Speaking of, did you see Pete's sideburns?
• Mad Men season premieres have a built in game for us fans to figure out what year it is.  Time jumps between seasons have varied.  The first timeframe hints are Christmas lights and a Christmas song when Don is in Hawaii so either very late or very early in the year.  Second is a mention of President Johnson, so pre-Jan 20, 1969.  Third is a mention of Oakland and Houston facing off for the Super Bowl* berth.  That cements us at December 1967-January 1968.  I hear some stuff happened in 1968.
• Matthew Weiner provides as little to no exposition as possible, or providing it in passing like the bombshell in last season's premiere when Megan casually refers to Dick Whitman, letting us figuring things out in due time.  Betty and Henry fostering some sort of ward, as I'll refer to her, is one of a few "and who is that?" moments. 
• How did PFC Dinkens identify Don as a lieutenant?  
•  PFC Dinkins sidling up to Don at the bar made me think of the Green Beret at the wedding in The Deer Hunter, despite their opposite dispositions
• Betty looked like Henry's mom at the end.  I need to grab some screenshots.  Gross.
• Don's Carousel made another appearance, and depending how you look at it, he's feeling very similar or very different to how he did at the end of Season One
• Peggy handled the client push back in a much better and different manner than she did with Heinz
• Sally refers to her mom as "Betty" to Henry and Betty doesn't bat an eye 
• WHAT was Betty talking about with Henry?!
• A quick pan the office wall following Don entering shows it remains SCDP and not some other version including "Campbell"
• Maybe the stairs symbolize the success of the company? I wonder if we'll see more shots and scenes take place there.
• Megan does not seem to be taking the acting seriously, possibly because of her safety net, if it was a precarious time for her to go on vacation, casting-wise
• Last year's cliffhanger manages to hold off until the very end, when we're not even thinking about it anymore
• The shot of Don in his hat with the snow was almost as cool a shot as him on the film set at the end of last season's finale.
• The references to death came early and often in what I will take as painting a backdrop for further escalation in Vietnam and the Tet Offensive, until I'm told otherwise.  Even more so than last season ("you could be dead by Christmas")
• Episode opens with CPR (the guy kind of looks like Don laying there)
• PFC Dinkins talks about married guys being more likely to survive war
• Betty's ward: "My mom is dead"
• Roger's mom dies and we attend her memorial
• Roger's shoe shiner, Giorgio, dies
• Don to Doorman "You died!"
• Morbid joke about the doctor finishing surgery early
• "What's it like to have someone's life in your hands?"
• Reference to suicide in A Star is Born
• Also involving a concept which Don acted out at the end of "The Mountain King" when he walked into the ocean
• Don's sketch includes a tie that looks conspicuously like a noose
• Which we know he's fond of doodling
• 
  

 * Did they call in the Super Bowl then? Unofficially perhaps?  I can't imagine they got something wrong like that given their attention to detail, so I will assume yes.

Being Biden

The White House recently launched its “Being Biden” page where Vice President Joe Biden narrates official White House photos of him visiting different places including St. Peter’s Basilica, the University of Delaware women’s basketball locker room and a wild game dinner in Leipsic, DE.  You can find it here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/being-biden

If this isn’t the premise of a new sitcom, I don’t know what it is:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Naval Observatory Studios announced today they are filming a pilot for the show Being Biden, pitched to CBS as a four camera sitcom focusing on the post-public life of Vice President Joe Biden.  Biden retires to a ranch house in Leipsic, DE where he says he wants to enjoy a quiet, simple retirement but can't help but be drawn in to the zany adventures of his neighbors, his bowling team and his wife's students. He's constantly drawn into these sticky situations but Joe always manages to be better for it all at the end of the day, all while helping his friends succeed despite his penchant for imparting sometimes confusing and misbegotten wisdom on his compatriots. 

Joe's wife Jill can only shake her head at his misadventures and attempts at everyday tasks such as attempting (and comically failing) to make and enjoy a midnight snack of pancakes. CBS green lit a pilot which it will showcase at the May 2013 upfronts. There is much speculation they will give it the prime timeslot following Big Bang Theory on Thursdays at 8:30.