Chuck Season 3, Episode 5 "Chuck Versus First Class"

Well, since I am sure you all ready read my "Chuck Season 3 Primer" and saw me get all wordy about this show, I am going to assume you've watched this awesome episode and you just want me to list all the great things that happened in it with hilarious commentary and then list some stuff I would have like to see changed with even MORE hilarious comments. So that's what I'ma gonna do.

Things that were as awesome as Captain Awesome include:

-Casey being worried about Chuck! Come on that shit was adorable. This was a great Casey episode all around I think.

-Shaw questioning Sarah about where she was on those lost days after her meeting in Prague with Chuck. Shows us that her plan never would have worked, so maybe she can work on forgiving Chuck for not going with her!

-Casey, again! Loves: rules. Hates: insurgents.

-Chuck being totally grossed out to have to touch a dead guy. Super spy or not, he's still our Chuck.

-His line to the Ring operative (um, Stone Cold Steve Austin.) "I sincerely hope that's, not your father."

-Being on the fence about Shaw...I mean is he right about Sarah and Casey babying Chuck and not allowing him to be a real spy? We KNOW he's not right about spy love though...I want those spies to be together and in love dammit!!! (Don't fall in love at the CIA. It is like the Jersey Shore that way.)

-Um, Lieutenant Assistant Manager Casey. There are no words. (My Bodyguard!!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081207/)

-"Unfortunately I did not get to use my nunchucks." That is always a bummer.

-Adam Baldwin said "Bored now." like Vampire Willow! More Whedon alums on this show now! Please! I mean, what is Sean Maher doing these days anyway? He could totally come back and play a "back from the dead" Bryce, because he and Matthew Bomer look exactly alike anyway.

-Chuck telling Hannah about The Buy More and her asking "Is this real? Is it an insane asylum?" These are the very same questions people ask me when I tell them about working at the library.


Questions, Comments, Things that bugged me:

-Don't just instantly bond with every hot girl who happens to be in IT, from Burbank and looking for a job Chuck! You're in love with SARAH, remember?!!

-And he just looked SO happy to see her when she came into The Buy More. GAH!

-Why is The Ring still using CD-ROMS to store information? And after having such weird/cool phones in the last episode!

-Is Bryce for real dead? That makes me sad.

-Chuck missed Paris. That was sad. Is this setting us up for more job related angst? Because I kind of like Chuck being excited about his job for once!

-Team review. Stop reviewing the damn team CIA/NSA/whoever. They are not breaking up.

-I didn't even notice that the flight attendant/Ring operative was Josie Davis, the gawky daughter on Charles in Charge! Shame on me.

-Chuck, don't drink so much on your first mission. That is dumb.

-Um, he didn't get to use his nunchucks!

All in all I think creator Chris Fedak did a great job showing us how Chuck can gain new spy skills while still being the same old relatable Chuck. A hardened spy would never be so excited about seeing Paris, or getting a first class ticket! He is still the same sweet Chuck we have learned to love, but sometimes, he can kick some ass.

Next week: Hannah's at The Buy More. Ugh. I hope she doesn't turn out to be a spy or something.

Chuck Season 3! A Primer!

Well you may have noticed (nor not!) the dearth of Heroes posts around here lately. I can give you a myriad of reasons for my neglectfulness (busyness, I was sick, it was my birthday, every time I try to get someone to watch Heroes with me they are like "um, yeah sure, I guess we can do that, if we have time or whatever.") but to be honest, I just don't feel the need to make time to watch Heroes the way I used to. What show do I feel the need to watch, even during the busiest of weeks? That's right people! CHUCK!!! So in the interest of making sure that everyone is right there with me on the whole "Watching Chuck on NBC every Monday at 8" thing, I decided that a primer on the show would be in order! If you keep this handy while you are watching Chuck, it will be just like watching it with me, which as anyone who knows me will tell you, is a sacred and life-changing experience! So let's get started! Once you read this you can definitely jump into Season 3, already in progress! Watch it tonight!!


Let's meet our characters!

Chuck Bartowski- The titular character of the show, played by Zachary Levi. (Remember him from Less than Perfect?! Me neither! He's adorable in this though. And OMG that show was on for 4 years?!! Wow, I had no idea.) Former student at Stanford, Chuck was kicked out when his roommate and best friend, Bryce Larkin, accused him of cheating. Chuck used his computer skills to get a job as part of the "Nerd Herd" at the Burbank, CA Buy More, where he toiled away until receiving an email from Bryce, which contained the CIA's supercomputer, the Intersect. Now that he has the Intersect in his brain, Chuck can access any information that CIA has. It's a goofy premise, but it works people, just trust me on this. Important bits of backstory that you might miss diving into this season are:

-Bryce accused Chuck of cheating to try and save Chuck from joining to the CIA. He only sent Chuck the Intersect as a last resort.
-Bryce is currently (presumed) dead.
-Chuck's long missing father created the Intersect, which is why it works so well in his son's brain.
-Chuck's college girlfriend, Jill, was part of an evil organization of double agents that Bryce was fighting.
-Chuck's mother died when he was a teenager, and his sister took care of him after that.
-Before the Intersect, Chuck felt like a total failure because he gotten kicked out of Stanford and worked at the Buy More.
-The Buy More is now Chuck's cover job.

Sarah Walker (fake name!)-Sarah is Chuck's CIA handler/sometime fake girlfriend. Oh but she is so much more than that, because she and Chuck are totally in love. I'm not gonna lie, there is A LOT of talk about Chuck and her being in love, but not really being able to make it work because they are spies. Some people (my dad!) think that the show focuses a bit too much on all of that, but I am cool with it because a) they are cute and b) Yvonne Strahovski is so damn good at playing the love story stuff that I can't look away whenever she does. It is her specialty. Well, that, and kicking ass and looking hot. At the beginning of Season 3 it was revealed that she wanted Chuck to leave the CIA and run away with her, but he couldn't bear the thought of leaving his family forever and not taking his chance to do something great with his life and work for the CIA. She was pretty pissed. I mean look at her. I would think most any man would run away with her! Chuck is seriously that sweet and good-hearted though, so it kinda makes her love him more.
- Not much of her backstory is known, other than that she had a con-artist father who taught her many skills that helped her become a spy.
-She used to work with and be in love with Bryce Larkin, so she has a history of falling in love on the job!
-Her cover job is working at a yogurt shop near The Buy More. Beneath this yogurt shop is "The Castle", a sweet CIA lair.
Colonel John Casey- played by Adam Baldwin, the king of "gruff with a heart of gold" characters, Colonel John Casey is Chuck's NSA handler. Things Casey loves: guns, Ronald Reagan, patriots. Things Casey hates: feelings, communism, traitors. Even though sometimes Sarah and Casey drive him insane, he is loyal and deep down inside he knows he luurves them! (He does!) This is a dude you want to have on your side if you ever get pinned down by gunfire anywhere.


Eleanor Bartowski-Woodcomb-Chuck's sister, played by Sarah Lancaster. Chuck and Ellie have a really sweet brother/sister relationship! I hope that the writers start using Ellie a little better than they have so far this season, because she has just had to act sort of silly and/or annoyed. Lancaster does a great job when the character really has to open up and be vulnerable, as she did last season when she asked Chuck to find their dad for her wedding. She has no idea about Chuck's secret CIA life and feels that he is just wasting his potential! She is a doctor and is also married to a doctor, a guy who does everything right, and a guy who Chuck has always wanted to live up to:


Captain Awesome! A.K.A. Devon Woodcomb- Captain Awesome really does live up to his name, as he is good looking, a great friend, husband and doctor, while also being pretty tough. Awesome has some idea of Chuck's secret identity as a CIA operative (no idea about the whole Intersect thing) and now sees Chuck through different eyes. The last few episodes involved Awesome in some of Chuck's missions, and it was pretty great to see him so impressed with Chuck and confident in his skills. (Even when Chuck wasn't so confident in himself!) I really love the role reversal that has come about with Awesome finding out about Chuck being in the CIA.


Agent Shaw- Played by Brandon Routh, we don't know much about this character so far, (except for that, according to my boyfriend he was "genetically engineered to impersonate Tom Cruise.") but he is taking charge of the team as they try to take out "The Ring" a CIA shadow operation trying to work within the CIA to take it down. (So much taking down!) He seems a little harsh on Chuck so far, but he was super lonely after he gave a speech about how friends and families suck and then no one invited him to the nice friend and family dinner they all had at the end of last night's episode. Bummer for you Agent Shaw.



Chuck has a few cohorts at the Buy More that are important to know, and we'll go through them too! I have been a little iffy on The Buy More stuff since day one, and this season things have the same kind of hit or miss quality so far. I see the Buy More as completely necessary to the premise of the show, and sometimes the goofy characters can be really hilarious (Jeffster, anyone?!! YES.) But other times you feel like you just want to get back to the A story and out of the Buy More. I actually think the budget cuts for this season, meaning every cast member will not be in every episode, might actually help that this season, because the Buy More stories are going to be cut down a bit. There was already one ep this season with no Buy More, and I think it worked great. HOWEVER, sometimes The Buy More guys are just sublime, absurdist comedy, so let's meet them!

Morgan Grimes-Chuck's bff since grade school, Morgan is our most down to earth Buy More employee. Chuck has been taking care of him and trying to save him from getting beat up since they were kids. Having just gotten a promotion to Assistant Manager, he turns to Chuck more than ever for advice on life! He used to be in love with Ellie, but since her marriage seems to be just as happy with their platonic friendship. Morgan's dream to become a Benihana chef died quickly, when he realized he just didn't have the knife skills.





Jeff and Lester. Apart they are creepy man-children who will never get girlfriends and who think Chuck is some kind of god. Together, they are Jeffster, whose covers of Styx will make your soul soar. Just don't join their Fight Club. You will regret it.












Big Mike-Tough yet fair manager of The Buy More. Doesn't seem to notice or care that Chuck constantly has to leave work to preform spy missions. Is banging Morgan's mom, which is simultaneously good and bad for Morgan. He's getting a good job but bad images out of it. Big Mike can be very graphic.




So now, when someone asks you if you watch Chuck, you can't be all "Well, I've never seen it, I'm not sure I can just jump right in blah blah blah..." You CAN! Stop talking crazy man, and saying blah blah at the end of a sentence! That's weird! Just watch it! Jump right it in! You won't regret it! Mondays! 8pm. Right before....Heroes. (I'm working on the Heroes thing, I swear.)

Heroes is back! And it was kind of alright!

Heroes kicked off the new year with a two hour block of episodes, and some parts of them were actually okay! So instead of just complaining about this show, I am going to point out what I liked about these two episodes, "Upon This Rock" and "Let it Bleed". Then, I'm going to complain.

So, on to the good!

-Claire realized that something is up with Samuel and that he is not all he says he is. I have never seen a character act more obviously nefarious and still be treated as if he seems like a totally nice and normal person. Good job spotting how clearly evil he is Claire! (I'm just going to pretend that she didn''t buy into that whole "creating a beautiful new home with this homeless guy I lured here" thing. Because that would be stupid.)

-Um, I'm glad someone finally told Claire that her bio-Dad is dead.

-Peter's eulogy was really nice and heartfelt, and it almost made me forget the time that Nathan rounded up people with abilities, tortured them and sent them to internment camps. Almost.

-Actual time dedicated to mourning Nathan, who, though a douchebag, still managed to be one of the most interesting characters on the show. Credit really goes to Adrian Pasdar, who gave all of Nathan's thinly written motives and half-assed plans layers that lesser actors could not have managed. Also, that guy could really fill out a suit.

-HRG and Angela admitting that trying to turn Sylar into Nathan was a terrible, terrible plan. It was so terrible I am surprised it wasn't Nathan's idea.

-Claire's awesome "casual superhero in mourning" outfit that she rocked at Nathan's funeral!

-Peter and Claire! Broken up in real life or not, Milo Ventimigila and Hayden Panettiere have great chemistry together! And I am talking "kind of inappropriate for uncle/niece chemistry but still incredibly watchable" here. I have to say that honestly both actors are chemistry machines, and I was happy that the show remembered that these two are the best and most engaging main characters they have. Now if we can just have them in more scenes where they actually talk to each other about feelings and why they are acting totally insane (Listening to the police scanner and trying to foil a 1990's- style office shoot up? You're not Batman Peter!) I could really start getting behind this show again. Seriously people, that is all it would take. Put your two best actors together and have them speak to each other like humans. That's it. Why is that so hard?!!

-Brace yourself here, because you are not even going to believe what I have to say next. Something I liked about these two eps? HIRO and ANDO. I know, I know, that is insane and Hiro is back to being a weird annoying man-child on a "quest" or ten. But there was something kind of fun for a pop culture junkie like me in trying to figure out Hiro's references and what they mean. Plus, Ando is always pretty cute.

-Chuck Season 3 extended promo! It premieres Sunday at 9, watch it if you like really good TV! (WATCH IT)

-No Matt Parkman! Again! Yes!

-That incredibly weird and homoerotic picture of Peter and Nathan that Angela was cradling. It was awesome. Way to honor Peter and Nathan's totally inappropriate chemistry by reminding us that those two brothers always seemed to want to make out. Because they looked like they were about to in that picture.

Okay okay, it was still Heroes, and there was still a bunch of stuff that annoyed the crap out of me, such as:

-Mohinder droning on in the beginning. Even locked in a mental hospital this guy won't shut up!

-Pretty much the entire HRG/Blonde lady/Darth Maul storyline, including it's weird shoehorning of the whole "not trying to throw my liberal agenda in your face but torture is bad" thing. I think everyone besides Dick Cheney is pretty much on board with that these days Heroes, but thanks anyways. Also it had all the hallmarks of an annoying as hell storyline, the most annoying being a potentially awesome team-up that is scuttled before it even begins. What will I do with all my HRG/Darth Maul fanfic now?!

-Emma. Oh Emma, please help Samuel lure some slow homeless guy! Samuel seems like a totally nice and not weird guy, so his crazy request should definitely be carried out! Oh wait, the opposite of that is true. Also she didn't get into med school, and I still don't care.

-Claire being all pissed and surprised that HRG and Angela lied to her...again. She should really just be jaded at this point.

-Claire even considering for five minutes quitting college to lug stuffed animals for these weird carnies.

-Lydia and her completely incomprehensible plan to kill Samuel but somehow protect him at the same time. Or whatever she's doing.

-Lydia creepily throwing herself at Sylar to get info from him.

-Lydia saying to Sylar "You want love, but you're afraid you don't deserve it." GAG.

-Samuel explaining the concept of a "gray character" to Sylar, again, by way of pointing out that they're "not good guys, but not all bad either." Now you know I love Sylar, but he's a remorseless serial killer and Samuel is trying to rule the Earth with his power of dirt control. Maybe they're not all bad, but they're pretty close. Sylar's just hot and funny. Samuel's got nothing. Stop trying to make me feel for these guys.

-Emma has a 'siren song'? Oh please.

--They mentioned Wes. I don't care if seeing Peter fly again was actually kind of poignant, because Wes should be forgotten forever. Can't we be reminded of Claire's cool gay friend or even the underwater kissing guy instead?

-Sylar not killing Samuel.

-Sylar not being badass, again, even though that is how he should be.

-Samuel has a lost love. Do.not.care.

Just an FYI for the kids out there, when someone keeps saying to you, over and over, that something is "your choice" and you are "completely free" they do not mean it. That someone is probably a cult leader or a carnie bent on ruling the world with dirt control. Don't trust him! Or her! Just a little free advice there.

Next week: Sylar is all half Nathan and crap or something! Also, Claire is pissed and Peter is tormented! And carnie stuff, as usual. Sigh.

The 10 best things on television this year, that I can recall.

10. Liam. - Sigh. Modern day Dylan McKay, complete with boat building skills and poor-little-rich-boy problems? I'll take it. When is 90210 coming back on again?!!

It's cool everybody, he's 26!

9. The knowledge that if you're dancing to House Music, it isn't cheating. -Now it might seem crazy for me to find something that could be labeled "best" in the "so awful you can only watch silently with your mouth agape" Jersey Shore, but it was pretty damn amazing watching Snooki explain to J-Woww's (Yes those are their names. Feel free to call her Snickers though, everybody does.) boyfriend that since J-Woww was dancing to House Music and not R&B, the fact that she was rubbing herself all over Pauly D. was actually some kind of dance "battling" and not cheating. Or even flirting! The best part? He totally accepted it as true and correct. Thank you Snooki, you have added so much to my life.


8. Dexter's Season 4 Finale "The Getaway"
-In a season that seemed determined to at least rearrange the show's premise a bit, making Dexter less of a monster a more of a family man, the season finale not only gave us hope that Dexter might become something better, it also showed us the price he pays for giving into his "dark passenger". After a beautiful scene with his sister (Jennifer Carpenter) that helps him realize that he actually CAN connect with other people, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) goes home to find that his wife Rita, murdered by the man he just killed. "The Getaway" gave us everything we could ask for in a season finale: great work by the cast, excitement, suspense, tender moments and a shocking twist.

7. Torchwood: Children of Earth America, this is how you do great sci-fi. This 10 hour miniseries left me speechless, a little depressed and hungry for more. After a couple of fun but uneven seasons, creator Russell T. Davies fearlessly made sure that Torchwood would not be remembered as a some goofy Doctor Who spin-off, but as a gut-wrenching, unforgettable series of it's own.


6. JAMES FRANCO ON GENERAL HOSPITAL. - Confession time: I watch soap operas. When I got Soapnet on my cable system, I physically jumped for joy. Sometimes they get so terrible, I can't even watch them for months at a time. But sometimes, amazing things happen on them, and this was one of those times.I don't know how this happened, if it was performance art, a practical joke or a lost bet, but whatever it was, it was awesome.



5. Lost, Season 5 -Time travel? Love triangles? Nuclear bomb detonation? Sign me up. This season Lost got back to what it does best, showing us the humanity (and inhumanity) of these characters while putting them through twisty, turny suspenseful hell. (The actual best thing I saw on TV this year? Kate's hair in this episode.)

4. Jim and Pam's Wedding, The Office -If The Office's "Niagara Falls" didn't bring a tear to your eye, you are not human, man. You must be nothing more than an incredibly realistic looking human style robot or something. I mean Kevin was wearing tissue boxes as shoes! It was great.

3.Chuck, Season 2
-If a smart, adorable show about a nerd whose brain accidentally becomes the CIA's most important super computer doesn't sound like your cup of tea, get a new cup. Chuck has the most like-able cast on television, great music, an only deepening mythology, more laughs per hour than most comedies and more real, raw moments per hour than most dramas. Season 3 is coming in January, and if you're smart, which I think you are, you'll be watching.




2. Modern Family
-Ask anyone who knows me, I cannot say enough good things about this show. It is hilarious, has an amazing cast, including some incredibly gifted child actors, and kinda warms your heart sometimes too! Also, a giant clown named Fizbo threatening to kick a jerk's ass if he doesn't apologize to his boyfriend. Welcome to awesometown people.


1. Mad Men, Season 3 Finale, "Shut the Door, Have a Seat" -Part fun and jaunty caper flick, part heart wrenching family drama, there was nothing better this year than the season ender of this great show. As usual, creator Matthew Weiner made sure that everything, from the cast to the clothes, was perfect. This was Don Draper's hour, and Jon Hamm did beautiful work as always. The look of pride and triumph that he has as he surveys that tiny Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce office just made the episode for me. He is ready to value the people he works with, and he is ready to build something that is his. You can tell from the look in his eyes that he can't wait to see how it all turns out, and I can't either.

Melrose Place blew my mind this week!

Well, I didn't have any Melrose Place related dreams this week, but that doesn't mean that a ton of stuff didn't happen! We found out so many things! It was amazing! Most of them made sense even!

-Ella loves Jonah because "He gets me." And she can be herself around him. They are cute. I'm just saying.

-Riley is "scared" and "not ready" to get married.

-Jonah is pissed.

-Ella has super pretty hair.

-The CW's website had like 10 versions of the same two pictures from this episode, and not one of them features Ella's pretty hair.

-Lauren's still whoring.

-Lauren and David are still cute together. (I wonder if that first thing about Lauren will somehow affect this second thing?!)

-Amanda is looking for not something with 'sentimental value', but for a 19 million dollar painting that she believes Syd stole from her.

-Amanda and Michael were sleeping together at some point in the recent past.

--Jonah's movie dreams might be coming true.

-Riley is not ready for any inappropriate post-engagement-break-up sex. (Sorry Auggie!)

-Jonah is. (Good for you Ella!)

-Sydney and Violet actually made up the night Sydney died (Sydney did so much that night!) and were going to be a part of eachother's lives.

-When Vanessa called her a whore, Sydney actually used the line "Takes one to know one" on her. These two should meet Lauren!

-But the most important thing we learned tonight?! Scary-face Brooke Burns/Micheal's wife Vanessa killed Sydney! And not just because Syd was sleeping with her husband, but because Sydney knew that David is Noah's father! WHAT?! Yeah, I did not see that coming. But now I know why they cast a blonde actor as Noah.

-Violet went all crazy and after an intense girl on girl pool fight, actually drowned Vanessa! I hope Noah was sleeping or watching TV or something. That kid is going to need some serious therapy.

-David had a really bad night. He made some bad decisions (letting Violet watch his son/brother, telling her Vanessa killed her mother), but I don't think he could have imagined when he woke up that morning that his girlfriend was going to OD on some kind of made-up drug that a john gave her while she was whoring, and that his neighbor would kill is stepmother/former lover who killed his father's mistress/his former girlfriend. No one can really.

-Amanda saw the whole thing, and then totally covered for Violet, hoping, I guess that she knows where this 19 million dollar painting is. Okay, sure, maybe she does. Still, maybe yell or something when you see someone drowning a lady in your pool.

-No one is ever going to swim in that pool again. Two deaths officially makes it cursed.

-They used such a scary-faced actress for a reason! Because she was a murderer! A lot of casting decisions are coming into focus for me here.

-Micheal's innocent and was just trying to protect his scary-faced wife, who he seems to totally hate. I guess for the sake of the kid or something. I'm just glad we're not losing Michael Mancini!

Melrose Place will be back 'soon' they say! With new cast members! And more fun stuff! I'm ready for it.

What does 'Coming Soon' mean?! Need more 90210 now!

Looking through my notes about 90210 this week, there are no fewer than 7 sad faces! That's a lot of sad faces! It was a sad episode, with lots of drama, miscommunication and general angst. A lot of stuff went down. It was actually a pretty awesome show this week!

I have to say that even thought I kind of felt bad for Annie here, I did not actually make a sad face next to her name (sad faces next to: Teddy, Ivy, Ade, Teddy again, Silver + Dixon, Ivy again.) However, even though I pretty much hate Annie, there was a lot I liked about the whole Annie/Jasper take-down story such as:

-Naomi sincerely apologizing to Annie. That was nice. Even though Annie is pretty terrible, she didn't deserve what Naomi did. (She did kill that bum so...maybe she did?)

-Naomi going all mama bear on Annie when she found out that Jasper was a drug dealer.

-Liam apologizing to Annie, which he really should have, because he did let everyone believe they slept together, which is not cool.

-The whole original gang (minus the more likeable new cast members) got together to talk to Annie! It kind of made me miss Ethan, but what can you do?

-Ade stepping up and admitting that she bought drugs from Jasper, which made Annie believe them AND brought her and Navid a little closer together. (Man, I really miss my favorite teenage almost-marrieds. Adrianna and Navid 4eva!)

-Annie actually believing them! Finally!

-And of course, the kicker. JASPER KNOWS ANNIE RAN OVER HIS UNCLE. What?! How one earth could he know, and why would he date someone who killed his uncle? Oh man this guy is more twisted than we knew. I am sure this will kick off a story of poor Annie being forced to stay with him or something, before it is revealed that she really hit a black bear or something. Or a minotaur.

(She's actually an expert life ruiner Navid, give her a crack at Jasper.

)

But Annie isn't the only one to suffer heartbreak at the incredibly well advertised (Ballerinas in the halls?! What?!) "Winter Wonderland" dance. Poor Teddy and Silver both suffer the heartbreak of miscommunication. Aided by Dixon, coming back to remind us that even though everyone is being pretty nice on this episode (excluding villain Jasper) that he is still the biggest jerk on the show. When he didn't tell Silver that the blonde was Teddy's sister, I actually yelled "Ugh, what a jerk!" to no one in particular. Why does Dixon suck so much? Teddy and Silver are my new Navid and Adrianna, as in I care a weird amount about the progression of their relationship. Way more than I should. Damn you Dixon!!

Speaking of Dixon, I actually really liked the scenes with him and Deb where they talked about his adoption and his trouble feeling like he belonged in the family. It is pretty cool that they touched a little bit on the whole Black kid in a white family thing. I am not so sure I am too excited about the "finding my birth mom" thing, mostly because they did that last season, it was pretty sweet and it made me stop hating Annie for five minutes. I don't think this can happen again.

Well I knew this day would come. And even I have to admit, the Liam/Naomi reunion was super sweet. He even showed her what was under his tarp, (heh) and it wasn't a Jen killing machine or an Annie killing machine! It was a boat! He's so sensitive! Honestly, even though I really like Ivy and I think that Liam and she are super cute together, you got me CW, Naomi and Liam are pretty great too. Liam I guess, is just awesome. And hot. Anyway, if there had been a pic of Naomi and Liam instead of Ivy and Liam on the CW website I would have put it up. That is how much I am ready to buy this couple. They really stretched out their separation pretty well, and gave them a totally nice reunion. Facilitated by Ivy! Love that girl.

So let's review, because you might need to refer back to this 'soon' (whenever that is!) when 90210 returns!

-Annie knows Jasper is a drug dealer.

-Jasper knows Annie is a bum killer.

-Adrianna is clean and getting back into everyone's good graces.

-Silver and Teddy like each other, but Silver thinks Teddy is a player and Dixon decided to prey on that and kiss her. Cause he's a jerk.

-Teddy is sweet.

-Dixon is jerk.

-Naomi and Liam are back together.

-Liam is making a boat, not a killing machine.

-Liam is hot.

-Ivy is heartbroken. Or at least sad.

-Navid is still taking the hard line when it comes to forgiving Ade, but he's softening a little. Maybe.

-Ryan Matthews is drinking at work, I guess because Jen is a horrible person. Or because he is an idiot.

-West Beverly High School spends an inordinate amount of money on their dances.

-I love snow cones. Great refreshment idea Dance Committee!

See you 'soon'!

Heroes-The last two episodes until 2010!

At this point, it is pretty rare for me to be able to understand any character's motivations at all. I spend most of my Heroes watching time cringing and spouting out better solutions to these people's problems, or trying to explain their stupidity away, saying things like "Well I guess I can understand where Peter is coming from, I mean he just found out his brother is dead and all..." Also, I can never bring myself to watch it on time, obviously.

Let's just start with "Thanksgiving":

-Everyone on this show needs an interior decorator. Do all the Heroes have to live in the most drab, depressing places imaginable?

-Oooh it's that blonde woman who likes Bennet again! If this show needs anything, it's definitely MORE characters.

-Awkward Thanksgivings all around. Sandra brings her boyfriend. H.R.G stalks the blonde; invites her to the worst Thanksgiving ever. Claire threatens to quit school. Over at the Petrelli's, Angela lies, threatens and generally stomps around like a child before admitting that Nathan is both dead and Sylar, then Sylar eats all the pie. Seriously.

-At the Carny Thanksgiving, Hiro time travels to when Samuel killed Joseph, showing Lydia, instead of time traveling to when Samuel took Charlie and saving her. Okay. Sure. Not exactly what I would do in that situation, but really, who am I to judge?

-Claire stole the compass and then she and Gretchen went on a ROAD TRIP! You are an idiot Claire.

"The Fifth Stage" marked the last episode of Adrian Pasdar (one of the few actors on this show to combine being hot with being a good actor) as Nathan Petrelli. He and Peter had a scene which was supposed to be gut wrenching but just seemed completely ridiculous because of what had come before. (Namely, Peter running around trying to make Sylar become his dead brother, taking away all his powers and then not killing him. I know we want to keep Zach Quinto on the show, but man, the reasons for not killing Sylar are getting ridic.) Then he fell off a building for what seemed like ever,became Sylar and walked away. So, good plan Peter. Real good plan.

Meanwhile, Nathan's bio-daughter, who has no idea that he's dead and seems completely unconcerned with her bio-family at this point anyway, was conned and joined the Carnival with Samuel. I don't think it could have been more clear that Claire was being snowed, and I can only hope Gretchen's decision to weirdly accept Claire's terrible choice just means she is driving straight to H.R.G.'s and getting his help.

H.R.G. and that blonde woman worked on finding Claire and on their own relationship issues. I like H.R.G. being with someone who actually likes him and is nice to him. I am sure the writers are working on that as we speak, and it will be all ruined in January.

The closing montage reminded me of that lame Emma woman, and let me know that apparenly Hiro, Ando and Mohinder are running around in a jungle or something. Even though last we saw Hiro he was trying to save Charlie, the last we saw Ando he was about to marry Hiro's sister and the last we saw of Mohinder he was in a straitjacket in a padded room, I'm not even wondering why or how. I just don't care.

Heroes will return in January. At least I think it will.

-

90210-The Destruction of Jen!

So, I missed the last episode and half of 90210 before this one, and there were a few important plot points there including:

Navid's okay!!

-Annie's parents don't want her to see Jasper.

-Adrianna is a mess.

-Ivy and Liam are "casual"

-Silver and Kelly's mom died.

-Jasper pushed Navid down the stairs for telling Dixon he's a drug dealer!!!!

So we're starting there, with the whole, yay! Navid is okay! And of course he has memory loss so he doesn't know how he ended up at the bottom of the stair. I am willing to bet he also doesn't know why he was wearing those weird male jazz shoes either.

He is sort of a drama queen about the whole thing, and he shoots down Adrianna TWICE, once when she actually tries to explain to him why she kissed Teddy. (basically, she was engaging in self-sabotage.) Navid is harsh man. But he has had a tough couple of months, so I'm willing to give him a break.

I don't know where Kelly is during this whole thing, but Naomi and Silver have such good friend chemistry! I loved Naomi trying to be goofy and make Silver feel a little better. It was sweet. Still, Kelly should probably be there for her sister, since her mom just died and everything.

In other Silver news: her and Teddy kissed! They are so totally going to be in love and all that stuff. Adrianna is going to be really mad if Teddy breaks his "no relationship code" for Silver! Also, Silver and Dixon made up, and Dixon behaved generally decently in this episode, though it is still mind boggling that all these people had no problem being friends with Liam even though they believed he slept with Annie but all of them pretty much hated Annie for the same thing. If Annie weren't so awful I would have to charge a little misogyny, but Annie is terrible so maybe people were just looking for an excuse to be mean to her or something.

Speaking of Liam: Here is a dreamy picture of him:

Oh. So what about the absolute super BEST part of the episode?!! The greatest part? All of our favorite characters (plus Dixon) banded together to TAKE JEN DOWN. I was a little disappointed that since were getting all of these Ocean's 11 references that we didn't get to see a little more of the planning, but it was still a sweet payoff in the end. Not only did Naomi find out about Jen sleeping with Liam just to get back at her, Ryan Matthews, idiot of the year, finally wised up and realized that Jen was a teenager-schtupping, sister-money-stealing, gold-digging biatch! It was a beautiful sight.

I really shouldn't be taking this much joy from the take-down of a fictional character, but man, I really hate Jen. I do feel very bad for Naomi, pretty much finding out that she has no one in her family that she can count on, but I guess that is still better than being scammed by her awful sister. I even felt kinda bad when Ivy kissed Liam in front of her, even though I am an Ivy + Liam 4eva kind of girl. I mean she called Annie right away to apologize, which you have to admit, is pretty stand up. I hope they don't completely destroy Ivy's character or any potential Ivy and Liam have just to get him and Naomi back together though.

Other thoughts:

-Silver looked like a waiter in her outfit. (I was going to change that to 'waitress, and then I thought, no, it's definitely 'waiter.')

-I love the HUGE plate of food Naomi took at the horse race, and how she plopped a giant lobster on top.

-Best line, Ivy to Teddy, re: her and Liam "Don't Tweet about it, pretty boy."

-Worst line, Jasper to Annie re: her parents hating him "It sends me into a dark place."

-I love that Silver and Naomi were listening to Hall and Oates.

-I totally called that Teddy wouldn't be able to go to Jackie's funeral because it reminded him of his own mom's.

-Jackie Taylor's funeral was offscreen?!!

-Another awesome music choice, PJ Harvey for Adrianna's "wake up and find out everything has gone to hell while you were in a drug induced haze" scene.

-Teddy, Dixon, Ivy and the waiter/actor really should have celebrated their victory over Jen in another location, away from Naomi, whose entire world had just been busted open. AND she didn't really have a secret admirer!

-Dixon covered for Annie! I hate these two slightly less when they don't hate each other.

-NAVID REMEMBERS WHO THREW HIM DOWN THE STAIRS! Next take-down? Jasper perhaps?

Next week:

Ooh! A dance!

I dreamed a dream of Melrose Place.

Last night I dreamed that visiting L.A. from Western Mass, I met David and he totally became my boyfriend (with apologies to my real boyfriend, who would never wear that horrible weird vest thing over a t-shirt that David is rocking in the above photo), but we were having some issues because I wanted to do some "touristy" things around L.A. but he was stuck dealing with his crazy roommates (Lauren and also Serena from Gossip Girl). THEN people were protesting outside the window, and it turned out they were people from Western Mass protesting about how much L.A. sucks and how WMASS is so much better. So David went down there and they ended up knocking him over and sort of beating him up by rolling all over him weirdly. It was strange, but I think it showed me one thing, Melrose Place must be getting better, because my subconscious is still totally interested!

So what happened on the actual show you might ask? Well:

David and Lauren (Still no nooky there, because of her whoring) worked together to get Michael arrested for Sydney's murder. It certainly looks like he's the culprit at this point, but I am sure there could be a TWIST!! I am liking David and Lauren together by the way. Maybe he, of all people, can totally accept her hooker ways and they can make a real go of it!

Ella got Jonah a job as an IT guy at WPK, then promptly used him for her own means. But that backfired when he discovered that she hadn't fought for him to get the music video credit in some episode I didn't watch, and so he fired her as his agent, manager AND friend. Harsh dude.

Riley's on Jonah's list as well (as usual) because she stuck her nose in where it didn't belong and consequently a psycho dude broke Jonah's very expensive camera.

Riley really did not explain herself very well in this situation though. Instead of saying "I kind of got between Violet and her brother" she should have said "This crazy guy forced his way into our apartment and smashed your stuff!" Both are true, and that second one is sure to keep your fiance from being mad at you.

"What did Riley stick her nose into anyway?" You might be asking. Well, let me just tell you this, it is pretty epic. Get ready. Are you ready? Okay... Violet has a BROTHER/LOVER. Yup. That's right. She has an adopted brother who is also her lover. Eww. Also, he's a meth-head. This dude is going to be so pissed when he finds out about her Auggie obsession.

This Violet development also shows us that pretty much everything she has said so far to everyone has been true. (From Oregon, stole $ to run away from a messed up upbringing, was looking for her birth-mother for years.) So that is kind of an interesting development. The brother/lover did seem to mention that becoming lovers instead of siblings was her idea, but he also seemed crazy, so it is hard to take him at his word.


Amanda is on a search for some object that she gave Sydney that is very important to her. So important in fact, that even though she is a multimillionaire she is going to live in the apartment complex she lived in 10 years ago to intimidate it's residents into giving her information on said precious object. Poor Ella. No one wants to live that close to their crazy, evil boss.

Best line of the night: Michael, re: Amanda and Sydney becoming friends again "Did you see each other at a support group for women who faked their own deaths?"

Worst part of the episode (for those afraid of Brooke Burns only): Seeing Michael trying to get it on with his freaky-faced wife.

Next week:
WHOA! Jonah and Ella hooking up?! Jonah and Riley breaking up?! How did I suddenly become so interested in Jonah?!!!

Melrose Place- "Cahuenga". Yup, that's what it's named. "Cahuenga". Really.

I can't even talk about these terrible episode titles anymore, so I'm just going to try to move on here.

Picture this. You are an attractive twenty-something living in LA. You move into an apartment building. For some reason, the owner of this apartment building, an attractive forty-something, seems verrry interested in all of the residents of the complex. Then, she's horribly murdered. Suddenly, all these other people who used to live there come out of the woodwork, and a good portion of these people actually profess the desire to make your life hellish. What's your plan here? Mojitos by the pool? Or, I don't know, maybe you should MOVE?

I think the contrast of the old Melrose Placers to the new ones is quite funny actually. I mean all of the old people seem pretty much insane at this point. They are girlfriend murdering, young people sexing, life destroying maniacs! They make art thieves, hookers, and teachers turned models seem like the sanest most normal people in the world. Even Auggie, who has actually killed someone, seems measurably more sane than say, Jane when she showed up and just started blackmailing people willy-nilly.

I don't know if I want the young people to become more crazy (and therefore less boring) or the old people to become less crazy (and therefore more logical). Maybe a little of both?

So what even happened last night? Well:

Amanda Woodward returned! She's here, she's blonde, and she's bitchy!! And Riley pissed her off by not using a fake bio (which was a ridiculous plan because someone could just google her and find out the truth...but okay.),so she RUINED HER. Watch out Melrose Place kids, this lady has no problem taking away your teaching job. Riley and Jonah celebrate before Amanda Woodward RUINS them.

She also fired Caleb (cute gay boss of Ella), has some kind of weird interest in Ella so she sent some hot lesbian chick to try and seduce her away as a test, and tried to force Ella to do the Riley ruining, which Ella would not, because she is not twisted and evil from too much Botox. YET.

We did finally get some girl on girl action from the "supposedly bisexual but usually just pining for Jonah" Ella, so score another one for Amanda Woodward!

Amanda is looking for something that Dead Sydney has hidden from her, so maybe that accounts for her interest in Ella, as Ella and Sydney were once friends, before they were bitter, bitter enemies.

I have to agree with Amanda on one thing, the amount of PR these people were doing for this dude's denim line did seem to be a bit much.

So Amanda's return was pretty good I would say, and next week she's gonna RUIN everybody's life, just for kicks.

I guess other, non-Amanda things happened too, including:

David decided he was totally into Lauren (the hooker) so he created Fall in her apartment and got her chili from her hometown. I don't really know where his sudden intense romantic interest in her came from, but they did have some intense making out before she decided that she "just couldn't". (She hates being reminded of work at home!) I kind of like these two together I have to say!

Everyone turned on Auggie in a matter of minutes after he was arrested in Mexico for Sydney's murder (hey, he did flee to Mexico), besides David, who thinks it was Michael and seems to have found evidence of that, and Violet, who is crazy and always sleeps with Auggie whenever he is upset about anything. She's probably the real killer, right?!

Because of that whole RUINING thing, Jonah has to get a job now that Riley is unemployed. I do love that they actually had an argument about which one of them should get a job. I've got a bright idea guys, why don't you both get jobs, like normal people!

The show comes back Dec 1, and Amanda introduces herself to the rest of the gang and promptly RUINS them all. Or at least starts making plans to do so.

My 100th Blog post is about Heroes! That's kind of sad really...

So I watched the last two episodes of Heroes one right after another last night. Kind of like a movie. Or a some kind of torture. "Shadowboxing" was so terrible that I don't even want to talk about it. I'll just list the ways it was awful.

-It had Parkman and Sylar arguing constantly, even though they are the same person. And Matt actually said to Sylar, who is let's not forget a remorseless serial killer "This is ridiculous. Just give me back my body." An ineffectual argument from an ineffectual man.

-They faked it like they totally killed Matt! It made me happy for like five minutes, until I realized it wasn't his firing I'd been reading about all week...then it made me angry because you shouldn't give someone something beautiful and then snatch it away.

-They made me root SO HARD for a character who randomly murdered some nice old man who was trying to help him. I actually yelled "In your face Parkman!!!" at that point. Heroes is making me a sick, sick person.

-It had Emma in it, and she admitted the reason that she quit medical school (death of her nephew), got over her fears about it and pretty much decided to become a doctor. So her story's over now, right?

-Peter's powers are making him weak. Remember when he used to be awesome?

-Claire's lesbian roommate left. She was pretty likeable and it lamely isolates Claire AGAIN. I wonder if Hayden Panettiere gets bored of playing the exact same story line over and over over.

-Clarie met the Carny, and of course, kind of liked what he had to say.

-Claire was forced to hear another person's boring monologue about how evil her father is. Did you guys know that HRG operates in world where everything is just shades of gray? SHADES OF GRAY! ARE YOU GETTING IT YET?

-Emma and Peter work in a hospital where they just throw sick children into supply closets! Someone report that place!

-Peter and Emma's romance seems to be progressing. Ugh.

Three great things happened:

-The Haitian came back, and we learned that his name is Rene (maybe we already knew that...LOVE him though!)

-There was a cute HRG/Claire-Bear scene (Sniff. Those two always get me)

-And...Peter took his shrine to himself down! Why? I don't know! Maybe because he can't use powers very well anymore? Or because he wants to invite Emma over for dinner and even he has to admit that the shrine thing is pretty weird? Because he wants to ponder the one clipping not about himself, which happens to be about Samuel? (Newspaper clippings are inordinately important to Peter Petrelli's life.) I don't know why he did it, but I'm pretty glad he did. "Hero Paramedic Takes Down Creepy Shrine to Himself!" Now that's a clipping worth saving Peter.

Okay then, on to "Brother's Keeper" which I have to admit was a much better episode. It wasn't what I would call good, but for Heroes, it was kind of compelling. Kind of.

So the last episode started at the end of the one two weeks ago, and I guess Hiro's been sitting around the carnival pouting about Charlie and staring at her nametag for god knows how long at this point. The timelines of this episode make absolutely no sense to me. I know we haven't seen Mohinder in awhile, but I still don't think it has been long enough for him to get a new teaching job, develop an amazing rapport with his students AND get a new hot girlfriend that he has made a home with, all the while giving up on researching people with abilities, even though he has one now. (The fact that he is super strong was never mentioned or acknowledged in any way.) I mean Mohinder got a new job and a new woman before Nathan's body could even begin to decay!

So basically Hiro has to go back in time to stop Mohinder from burning a film that is evidence that Samuel can "increase his power one thousand fold" when surrounded by a certain number of other people who have powers. Or something like that. Samuel of course didn't even know about this until Mohinder came strolling into the carnival like an idiot, letting him know about how he could become powerful beyond all belief and basically rule the world. Why would you give anyone, anyone, that kind of information? Sometimes it physically hurts me how stupid Mohinder is. Samuel's brother Joseph agrees with me on this one, and tells Mohinder to get the heck out of the carnival. Of course Samuel heard, probably killed his brother, went and killed Mohinder. So Hiro gets the film, saves Mohinder, and then in a particularly sadistic turn on Hiro's part, hides Mohinder in a mental institiution (complete with padded cell and straighjacket!) to keep Mohinder from hindering Samuel's plan and not saving Charlie. Or something. It really seems like these two could have figured out a way to work together against Samuel but, blah blah blah, they are stupid, you know the rest.

So we learned some good things there, like all of this is Mohinder's fault, why Samuel is trying to gather the heroes and who probably killed Joseph. (Samuel). So that was good.

Also good? The brothers Petrelli, together again! From the almost inappropriate reunion hug to the final "Tell me it isn't true" moment, something about the chemistry of these two actors really makes all the scenes they are in together really pop! I mean contrast Peter and Nathan scenes to any scene with Peter and and any of his love interests and you'll see what I mean.

Pasdar and Ventigmiglia are good together! Also, they are super hot, so everyone wins!

Besides smoking hot dudes with chemistry, this episode also brought us a few refreshing things including:

-People talking about their issues/weird things that are happening to them etc., instead of just acting cagey and then doing something rash. (Nathan told Peter about waking up in the carnival, Tracy confided to Claire about her out of control powers.)

-Cute bonding between Tracy and Claire! (First time I've liked any of Ali Larter's characters in forever!)

-The Haitian! I mean, Rene!

-Tracy AND Claire going to see HRG independently! (I just don't want him to be lonely.)

-Disgustingly funny severed foot jokes!

-Forward motion of the plot! Nathan and Peter find out Nathan is a) dead and b) Sylar. Sylar got out of Matt Parkman's head!

-Maybe less Parkman now that Sylar isn't in his head anymore?

-Everyone, including Mohinder himself, seems to be able to acknowledge that he is an idiot and only bad things happen whenever he inserts himself into any situation. I mean his girlfriend's prediction that he would go all crazy over his father's research came true in a matter of hours!

So at the end of this episode, I was kind of intrigued and excited about what might happen next week! There IS a casting spoiler I would like to discuss that kind of takes the wind out of my sails and squanders the tiny bit of goodwill that I now have towards this show but...that'll have to wait.

Next week:
Where's Sylar? Inside his Sylar/Nathan body or what?

A Window in Your Heart: Mad Men, Season 3, Episode 13, Shut the Door, Have a Seat.

There was so much awesome in this episode I don't even know where to start. The episode almost felt like two, one with an incredibly depressing and dramatic tone, and one with a fun, jaunty tone. My favorite part was most definitely the creation of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce which was like watching the best caper/ heist movie I can think of starring my favorite actors in the world. It was that good. Highlights include:

-Don got out of his contract, cut and ran, yet got everyone awesome to go hobo with him!

-The way Roger snapped his hand up when Don asked if they should vote. He doesn't even need dialogue. John Slattery is a genius.

-Roger: "Join or die?! That's your pitch?"

-Roger on Jane:"The most interest that girl has ever had in a book depository."

-Bert on Jane: "You sold your birthright so you could marry that trollop!"

-Pete in his pajamas. That is the nightmare man. You are faking sick and your bosses come to your house! I kind of loved Pete again that scene. Oh show, why do you want me to love all these horrible people so much? I don't know why, but I do.

-Trudy as Pete was losing his temper "Oh Peter, can I speak to you for a moment?" Despite their obvious problems, I always feel like Trudy and Pete really do match each other well. She knows his rhythms and how to respond to them.

-Peggy to Don: "I don't want to make a career of being kicked when you fail." Even though I really wanted Peggy to come with him, I was also really proud of her for standing up to Don. I'm pretty sure he was as well.

-Pete, completely freaked out that Harry isn't supposed to be in on the plan, yelling so obviously as they walk in "Hey everybody! Harry Crane is here!"

-Harry Crane (Luckiest bastard in the world by the way. They wanted him? Hopefully Joan will be running media within the month.): "Are you kidding?" Roger, in that perfect deadpan: Yes. Yes we are. Happy Birthday."

-Bert Cooper threatening to tie Harry up and throw him in a closet for the weekend. That guy is so great.

-Roger making the call! Of course we knew it was Joan!

-Joan striding in triumphantly and saving the day. Don: "Joan. Of course."

-Roger and Joan sniping at each other like an old married couple. "I can't read your writing. What does that even say?!" "It's very clear, it says 'correspondence." ROGER AND JOAN 4EVA people! 4eva.

-Don awesomely breaking down the door to the art department. How can you not love his guy?!! Oh right, there's that whole total liar thing.

-Don showing up, hat in hand, to make things right with Peggy. It was great to see him admit to her how important she was, and how much he valued her work. "I will spend the rest of my life trying to hire you." It was great for him to tell her that he sees her as an extension of himself because it shows you how important she is to him. They really are so much alike, and they are both amazingat their jobs because work is the only thing either of them feels safe putting all of themselves into. Don needs Peggy as a mirror, but I think she needs him just as much.

-Pryce's look of jubilation as he was fired from PPL. "Very good! Happy Christmas!"

-Joan helping Don get a new place. "Furnished?" "Yes." "I'm sorry." My friend Eric said it best, she's so discreet, she's like a spy. Love Joan. So glad she's going to back with the gang next season!

The fun of the creation of a new agency by all the old players we love (except Sal! Sadness.) was a stark contrast to Don's home-life scenes. Watching Don and Betty tell Sally and Bobby that they were going to separate was gut-wrenching. I thought both child actors did an incredible job there, and was especially impressed with Jared S. Gilmore as Bobby, who we haven't seen a ton of this season. The way he threw his arms around Don and begged him not to go brought even ice queen Betty to tears. It was like we were watching Sally be forced to grow up right there on screen. I think Kiernan Shipka has been great this season and I loved her line to her parents "You say things and you don't mean them and you can't do that!" Both Don and Betty would do well to learn that lesson.

One of the incredible things about Jon Hamm's performance as Don Draper as that even when you are completely repulsed by the character, you are inexplicably drawn to him, and in my opinion, rooting for him. Even though Don has lied to her for their entire marriage and cheated on her constantly, I still found myself completely outraged and saddened by Betty's treatment of him. Maybe it is because she dangled the hope of the two of them finally getting to live an honest life together in front of him for awhile. Maybe it's because she's "built herself a life raft" in the form of Henry Francis. (Can't believe Roger knew about that! I loved his, "I was going to tell you. No I wasn't.") Maybe it's because Don is right about one thing, she is a snob, and when she learned about Don's lies about his life, she couldn't abide living with the son of a whore when she had the chance to live with a real man of wealth and power. I don't know, but when Don told Betty he was going to take the kids because "God knows they'll better off" I really wanted that to happen! And when he called her and told he wouldn't fight her, I couldn't help but feel a little sense of defeat.

I think the fact that the writers have been giving us glimpses of Don's absolutely horrific childhood is one of the reasons he remains sympathetic. The scene where Don remembers himself as little Dick Whitman seeing his father killed leads him to realize something that Archie never could: You can't handle this world all on your own. It's taken Don Draper a long time to realize that he actually needs people, (Roger: You're no good at relationships because you don't think they're important.") and though he used this realization to fix things at work, it was too late for his marriage.

I am left wondering where this leaves Don and Betty for next season. After this episode and the interview creator Matthew Weiner gave in The Daily Beast this week it seems pretty clear that there will be no getting back together for the Drapers. But will Henry really be the knight in shining armor he claims to be? And if he's not, will we get to see that play out next season at all? Their entire relationship, from him hitting on her while she is heavily pregnant to his proposal after having spent no more than a few hours total with her has been very strange, and I can only assume that he isn't exactly all he claims to be. Unfortunately for Betty, she seems to be attracted to men with that quality.

In the end, it's Don Draper's show, and I guess that's why we can't help rooting for him despite some of the awful things he's done and said. The look of pride and triumph that he had as he surveys the tiny Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce office just made the episode for me. He is ready to value the people he works with, and he is ready to build something that is his. You can tell from the look in his eyes that he can't wait to see how it all turns out, and I can't either. August can't come soon enough.

Great Mad Men Spoof by Sidecar

I especially love the beginning! You know I hate those previews!
Milk Men - A Mad Men Parody

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