Breaking Bad - S03E01 - No Mas

This season opener 'No Mas' is a direct continuation from the last season, as opposed to a new beginning. New beginnings are certainly being suggested at, but they aren't here yet. This was an unusual - but by no means bad - plotting move, as cable dramas tend to wrap up a seasonal storyline and start anew, with some character threads running over as well as maybe a cliffhanger or two. The newly introduced plot that stands out this episode was delivered through the teaser - so characteristically it was packed with ambiguity. Similarly to last seasons 'pool and teddy bear' teasers, the sequence had a distinct visual style. In a yellowish tinge, two tough guys who look like twins ritualistically crawl all the way through a Mexican village up to a small temple. In the room contains a sketch of Walt wearing sunglasses and his awesome hat. What follows asserts them as definite contenders for big bad's this season. That said, I hardly think Gilligan would reveal everything so plainly without having an array of mind-fucks and plot-twists planned for the teasers following the opener. The obviousness of the scary Mexican brother-guy's coming after Walt to kill him just invites me to question it. Hey, maybe they're finding Walt to help him. Probably a stretch to make predictions with so little information - nonetheless, I'm excited to analyse the next teaser sequence and I found this one very unsettling.

I will be back next episode for a more in-depth review as things between Walt and Skylar should escalate and we can see where this season is taking Jesse.

Mad Men - S03E08 - Souvenir

Another fantastic episode. Pete acting childish, and Don and Betty taking a break from the domestic space to remember just how terrible everyday life is. Sopranos director of photography turned director Phil Abraham turns in another controlled and beautiful episode.

I find Pete absolutely fascinating, especially when we see him outside the office. Pete is at home during the summer while Trudy is away. The mother/son Trudy and Pete have has always been evident to me, especially in the way she treats him like a child, and obviously in the way he has consistently acted like a child. However, in this episode it occurred to me just how much of a willing doormat Trudy is to Pete, and how much he needs her. I had never really thought of it like that before. Pete was clearly bored and didn't know what to do with himself while Trudy was away. When he ran into the German nanny I don't think he was trying to blackmail her into having sex with him. I believe, to begin with, he was genuinely trying to help her. That, and trying to fulfill a strong manly role that he usually doesn't - probably because it was easy to solve this time. Of course, what eventuated was absolutely wrong and Pete is horrible for doing it. I think that is quite characteristic of Pete, to not have a calculated and thought-out manipulation. It just sort of occurs to him and he chooses to proceed in an unsavory way. When Trudy returned and Pete was guilty, eventuating in him crying, we are led to believe she knows what happened while she was away. They pretend it didn't happen on the surface, but come to a resolution by the end of the episode. Pete doesn't want to be left alone and Trudy is fine with the role she plays - their relationship has actually strengthened. However, Pete still dealt with it in an extremely childish way. He never vocally admits what he did and then sort of makes it Trudy's fault by telling her she shouldn't have left him alone. He is a child and Trudy seems okay with that.

But on the other side of the episode, Don and Betty's relationship falls deeper into marital decay. Don takes a brief trip to Rome on Hilton business and Betty joins him. We see another side to Betty, as a sophisticated and cool Italian speaking woman. Out of the domestic space, we can see her potential and just what her life is doing to her character. I mean, a holiday is always a holiday - everyday life will never compare - but still, it highlights to Betty just how unhappy she is. We see this become clear when she rejects a souvenir Don gives her from Rome. It was great to see them happy for a little while, but nothing positive eventuated from it. Nothing was solved and Don doesn't seem to want to do anything about it.

Mad Men - S02E07: The Gold Violin

Ken's story, The Gold Violin, represents this episode perfectly on a thematic level: Beautiful to look at, but there is no music.

There is Salvatore's marriage; functional, and there is mutual understanding, they look after one another - Sal operates on a level that most men of his time did not yet, and didn't for a long time; when Kitty is upset, Sal is completely understanding and knows exactly what to do, he even loves here, though not in the same way she loves him. This is all great but there is no music, or magic, due to his hidden sexual identity.

Don gets hired as the the public face of Sterling & Cooper, a new tux and Cadillac follow; these things are great, but what can they really do. As well as the Draper family, their picnic looks so perfect, but everything is founded on a lie, and operating under repression. When Don is confronted by Jimmy, the tux and Cadillac didn't help him one bit did they? I absolutely loved that scene - Don was nearly in tears, and I finally understand the point of Jimmy Barrett on Mad Men. I wonder if Betty knew that Don had been confronted by Jimmy about his affair - that would have made it feel much more awkward and real. As Don and Betty are driving home in the Cadillac in silence, Betty vomits - a cocktail of truth and champagne. Don has all of these nice things, but it is the vomit he is deserving of, and he knows it. Another interesting aspect - confirmed by Jimmy's observation, "Look at us. Over here on the kids table" - are the similarities between Jimmy and Betty. Both are somewhat 'childish' and immature, they both use their talents to get people to like or respect them; Jimmy's humour and Betty's beauty - even though Jimmy knows they don't really respect him -, and both have controlling and dominant spouses who regularly cheat on them.

While Don was at the car dealership he had a flashback to when he was a car salesman (humble new identity beginnings), as Don Draper at that point too. A woman came to visit him and told him that he wasn't Don Draper. Perhaps she was the recipient of 'Meditations of an Emergency' from the season opener.

Ken is invited by Salvatore for dinner with him and his wife. Salvatore was eyeing him all night, and probably invited him over so he could be close to another man. Also, I think his attraction has grown after reading his work and the comment Ken made about Cooper's new Rothko painting - this leads me to my next topic.

The new girl, Jane, charms the hesitant guys to go with her to check out Bert Cooper's new Rothko painting - Sal is surprised and impressed with her confidence. Jane also easily fends off Ken's advances on her. We are seeing that Joan may have a contender - I assume Joan started out in a similar way, and she did hire the girl... I think Joan simply feels threatened by her - so she fires Jane after finding out about them going into Cooper's office. Jane conveniently stops by Roger's office on her way out to say 'goodbye'. I believe she stopped in there knowing she could get her job back from Roger. Roger is either trying to get back at Joan, or wants to get into Jane's pants - hey, probably both.

Mad Men won four Creative Arts Emmys, Outstanding Main Title Design, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" won for Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series, and Outstanding Cinematography for a One-Hour Series. "Shoot" won for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series. They are up for five at the Primetime Emmy Awards, so let's hope they come back with a few.

Mad Men - S02E06: Maidenform

I love that we get some focus on Duck this episode, he always seemed a very empty, boring, and underdeveloped character - It seems I was right, at least, about the empty part.

A heavy theme in Maidenform is about how the characters see themselves, and how they think they are perceived by others. Pete takes advantage of his position and sleeps with a vulnerable model - they go back to her place where her elderly mother is in the other room - creepy. When Pete returns home he gives himself a smug and satisfied look in the mirror - he is so proud of what he has done, he actually likes what he sees in the mirror - such a despicably childish character.

Betty bumps into Arthur at the war memorial day service and is embarrassed for him to know she has children. I think Betty wants to be desired on a more extreme and child-like level - Arthur is the second 'young' character to draw these kind of feelings from her. Off her exchange with Arthur she buys a bikini at the auction. When Don sees her wearing it at home he humiliates her by telling her he doesn't like it, it attracts attention, and it is desperate - Betty replies with "I didn't know that", before covering herself up. Don selfishly wants his wife to be one thing and somebody like Bobby to be the complete opposite. As Don keeps repressing and talking down to Betty, I wonder when she will suddenly crack, instead of half-rebelling - It will be a long time coming.

Roger organises a lunch between Don and Duck to resolve their issues together - However, Don says he doesn't have a problem with Duck. Don goes to see Duck in his office and Duck thanks him for keeping him with the company and asks Don to accept his apology - he acknowledges that he would be expendable anywhere else. Don accepts. Duck's ex-wife comes to drop his son and daughter, and their dog Chauncey off with him for the night but shows up early: she says he usually isn't good in the afternoons (due to alcohol) - Duck quickly dismisses it. Later, the children tell Duck that their mother is remarrying, and that Chauncey is being left with him - this upsets Duck. Many people have said that Duck did not like Chauncey - but I think he loved Chauncey. When the kids tell him he is being dumped with the dog he says that their mother can't make them do that, and that he learnt to live without Chauncey so they could have some consistency. Also, he is constantly communicating with Chauncey which I doubt he would do unless he cared for him. After all of these feelings of regret and remembrances of the past, Duck's professional and personal problems push him to have a drink - after struggling to stay sober for a while. His drinking probably ended his relationship with his family, and nearly destroyed his career at another job. While just about to take a drink from the bottle, he sees Chauncey staring at him - he cannot stand to see Chauncey looking at him, to be reminded of everything that he has lost, and what a vapid shell of a man he has become. He takes Chauncey down to the door and sends him out onto the streets of New York - so he can drink without being reminded of his past. Duck walks back up to the office with a furious expression on his face, as Chauncey waits at the door - barks - then turns and wanders off into the streets. Duck has chosen slow suicide as opposed to something immediate which I am sure he would have done otherwise.

Peggy finally takes some advice from Bobby and Joan. So far she has gotten herself very far, career wise, but things start to go downhill when she misses out on an opportunity at work, due to her not being told about a meeting at a bar - and not at all fitting in, even if she had attended. Peggy goes to Joan for assistance at work, but Joan tells her she doesn't understand the business in which Peggy is in - though, she is the master of her own turf. Joan advises Peggy to start expressing her femininity on the job to get ahead. Bobby advised her of this once before, and finally she does it - Peggy finds out about the guys going to a men's bar for a job related event she was left out of, and decides to dress up for it. The guys are surprised to see her there and dressed up. They warmly welcome her,Len gets her on his lap, asks her what she wants for Christmas, and tells her she has the best seat in the house. Peggy is quite taken aback by this but begins smiling shortly until she catches Pete's eye. Pete is upset that she is acting in this way - much like when she dances for him in the first season, and he says "I don't like you like this". Perhaps he doesn't like her reducing herself to this level. But, I think it is a parallel (one of the very, very many) with Betty and Don; Pete does not like Peggy being different to what he has pinned her down to as in his own mind - maybe there is also some jealously in there.

I think Don telling Bobby not to talk, parallels the scene at the end of the episode with his daughter, "I'm not going to talk. I don't want you to cut yourself". Don may realise this is the way he is treating the women in his life, he may be conscious of the fact he treats them the way he did. He tells her to leave - just like Duck got rid of Chauncey - he cannot handle his daughter being proud of him, and also cannot stand his daughter reminding him of how he treats the women in his life.

Kudos, Matthew Weiner. I have only touched on the complexities and nuances of this episode - fire up some discussion below if you wish.