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Author: R.A. Porter

  • Burn Notice recap: “Bad Blood”

    I’m Jimmy Glynn. Mike asked me to talk to you rats about tonight’s episode. There was a wicked awesome monsoon in Phoenix earlier that knocked out satellite coverage, so this is a little later than usual.

    The Recap

    Mike takes Carla’s crossword puzzle and tracks down his new wrangler, Victor. He looks like a fruit in a flowered shirt, but he pulls a .22 on Mike pretty damn quick. He hands Mike a cellphone and tells him he needs to keep it with him all the time.

    Mike knows while he’s working with Victor, things are gonna be dicey for his ma, so he sends Sam to stay with her. When Sam gets there, he thinks some mook’s setting up cameras, but it’s just a friend of the family helping Madeline out with her VCR. A mook who needs help from Mike. That’s where I come in.

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  • Charlie Jade recap: “Identity”

    What makes you who you are?

    Does your identity come from what you do? Where you come from? Something else? I met a girl one night, a friend of a friend of a friend, and asked her what she did. She told me she “tried to do one thing a day to bring her joy.” Now, the pragmatist in me wanted to kick her out of my car. But the guy looking to get lucky said, “that’s a beautiful answer.” Did she answer my question?

    Tonight’s episode asks that question several times.

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  • The Middleman recap: “The Obsolescent Cryogenic Meltdown”

    Crack wise all you want about my Eisenhower jacket Dubby. But I wear it because it’s named after a man who led soldiers through harsh times against the darkest of evils. This jacket says something about…about me. The man I choose to be.

    Middleman 2008 is all about honor and duty and pride and sacrifice. He watches westerns and believes in true love. He drinks milk and eschews obscenities. He’s a throwback to a simpler time. But that’s not the job, that’s the man. So when Middleman 1969 – a suave and slimy Kevin Sorbo – is thawed out to face off against his arch-nemesis, there’s more than a little tension the Middleranks.

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  • Mad Men review: “The Benefactor”


    Matt Weiner is a stickler for historical verisimilitude. Whether it’s the shade of a woman’s hair, the length of her skirt, or the night CBS aired an episode of The Defenders. “The Benefactor” aired in the spring of 1962, and its three regular sponsors pulled their ads for the night. The episode was controversial at the time as it presented an unequivocal argument for the legalization of abortion, and it set the show on a course to presenting more issues of import.

    For Harry Crane – the always wonderful Rich Sommer, it meant a $25 raise and promotion to the head of the new Television Department at Sterling-Cooper.

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  • Burn Notice recap: “Scatter Point”


    My name’s Joseph. You’ll have to forgive me if this recapitulation of tonight’s episode does not meet your normal plebian tastes. Michael Westen asked for the best and I can give no less.

    The Recap

    Michael and Fiona continue to surveil the mail drop where Carla’s post office box is located. A long, boring process with which I am happy not to be involved. An older woman collects the mail and Michael follows her to a nondescript building with no visible security. Ordering a pizza, Michael has the delivery driver behave erratically to explore a theory. The building is watched by a covert team. Later that evening, Michael mounts a webcam on a nearby building to monitor the comings and goings of the security team.

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  • The Middleman recap: “The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation”


    Tonight sees the return of Tyler, Wendy Watson‘s soulmate from “The Sino-Mexican Revelation”. He’s been getting some fuzzy memories back slowly, then received a paycheck for $14.73 from his 90 minutes working at The Booty Chest, the pirate-themed sports bar with the scantily-clad waitresses. He went by and found out he’d been flirting with a waitress…

    …Lacey Thornfield.

    Things aren’t shiny for Wendy.

    Who You Gonna Call?

    While scanning various frequencies, Ida picks up a call from nearby Reitman University. Seems a call came in from a sorority regarding ghosts.

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  • Charlie Jade recap: “Betrayal”

    See, I told y’all stuff was gonna happen, right? Holy hellfire! While this episode has some very nice character moments slipped in, it’s really all about story. A lot gets pushed forward, some ideas that had been dropped for weeks get brought back to the forefront where they belong, and we say goodbye to at least one old friend. Despite all the spackle the new writers had to use to hide the gaps between the old way and the new, this episode crackles.

    Before we jump in, don’t forget to check out our exclusive interview with head writer Alex Epstein.

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  • Mad Men review: “Flight 1”

    On February 20, 1962 at 14:47 UTC, the Mercury spaceship Friendship 7 containing Col. John Glenn set off from Cape Canaveral. This was the first American orbital flight, coming after several delays while the Atlas rockets were tested and ready for safe use. The five-hour mission was a complete success and the newly minted hero splashed down at 19:43 UTC.

    On March 1, Col. Glenn was honored with a ticker tape parade in Manhattan.

    But tonight’s episode wasn’t about heroic moments in American history. It was about obligations and expectations. On March 1, while John Glenn was enjoying his parade, American Airlines Flight 1 crashed into Jamaica Bay shortly after takeoff from Idlewild Airport (now JFK.) All 95 souls aboard were lost, and in the world of Mad Men, one of those souls was Pete Campbell‘s father.

    For the remainder of the episode, Pete tries to figure out how to behave, how to act, and what to do.

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  • Burn Notice Recap: “Comrades”

    Sergei Yablonovic. I am a friend of your Michael Westen and won’t tell you anything. They have beaten me, but I have told them nothing. But you, you all have the faces of traitors! What did you tell them?!

    The Recap

    I apologize. Michael’s brother Nate tells me I should speak to you after all.

    Reading through the file Michael received from his Pakistani friend, he discovers Carla’s cover in Kurdistan was as an irrigation consultant. He assumes she might be using the same cover in Miami and sends Sam to investigate. Sam spends $1300 wining and dining Harvey Gunderson until he finally waves a badge and says he’s with the DEA. One quick threat to call the USDA and have Harvey kicked out of his cushy positions and a list of names of irrigation experts in Florida is handed over. That gives Michael a P.O. Box.

    Meanwhile, Michael becomes involved in more pressing matters. His brother Nate returns from Fort Lauderdale and brings his brother in on a job, rescuing a kidnapped Ukrainian girl from human smugglers. The girl’s sister Katya needs the help before she gets herself killed attacking the gangster, Ivan, again.

    However, in order to find the girls Michael and Sam must coerce information from Ivan. That’s where I come in. With only three days to discover where the traffickers keep the girls before they are killed, Sam realizes he will not break Ivan quickly enough. So I am asked to go inside as another prisoner to gain Ivan’s trust. I do that the only way I know how: by fighting.

    The first snippet of information I manage to get from Ivan tells us where to find Takarov, who runs all operations in Florida. Fiona and Sam discover that the top floor of Romanov’s, which serves an excellent borscht, is heat shielded, so they arrange for Fiona to sneak in. Unfortunately, it is only a software pirating operation. So we step up the pressure on Ivan.

    I convince him we need to escape and try to warn Takarov. I crack a few of Nate’s ribs, pretend to kill him and Sam, and drive off with Ivan. We go to the safe house and I send Ivan along to tell Takarov the girls have been safely moved. Then Fiona, Sam, and I free the girls. Ivan did not live long enough to enjoy his new freedom.

    Character Counts

    Tonight saw the return of Nate Westen, played by Seth Peterson. Seth had originally read for the role of Michael and impressed Matt Nix, but didn’t quite fit what he was looking for in his burned spy. He did strike Nix as the perfect annoying little brother, though, and this role was created for him.

    That said, I’ve got to be honest; until last year’s season finale, I could not stand Nate. Then it finally hit me that he was playing his role perfectly. I was supposed to be annoyed by him. On re-watching the first season, I really appreciated his performance a lot more.

    Tonight we get some nice small moments between, and about, the relationship between the brothers. Nate’s got incredible respect for his brother, even if he doesn’t always like him and Michael finally sees how his own actions and behavior impact his brother, even if it does take a little prompting from Madeline. Seems Nate didn’t really get into big trouble until big brother left home.

    The growth between these two, slow and in spurts, feels natural and it’s a pleasure to watch.

    Chin Bits

    As much fun as Sam had this episode, he didn’t have a whole lot of killer lines. He was central to both stories, abusing his liver with Harvey Gunderson and running the interrogation of Ivan, so I suspect Nix and episode co-writer Jason Ning felt they didn’t need to give The Chin any zingers. I’d tend to agree. The glint in Bruce Campbell‘s eyes at the entire notion of interrogating someone was more than enough for me. He looked like a kid in a candy store.

    That said, we did get one awesome exchange where The Chin was the butt of the zinger. After causing a scene in Romanov’s so Fiona could slip upstairs, she got him out of the Russian goon’s grip with elan:

    Fiona: Take your hands off my father! He has dementia! Do you understand? Can’t you see his mind is gone? He doesn’t even know what he’s saying…
    Sam: Daddy?
    Fiona: Bet you never thought you’d hear me call you that.

    Important Lessons in Spycraft

    • Jobs in agriculture make convenient covers. The downside is you might have to become a chick pea expert
    • You can tell a lot about a tail by the moves they use
    • Torture’s like getting groceries with a flame thrower. Getting information is about creating a new reality
    • No makeup can simulate blood and bruises up close
    • The way a person fights can tell you a lot about where they’re from
    • One of the hardest things to do in a fight is make it look like you’re trying to kill someone without doing permanent damage

    Parting Thoughts

    Ah, Harvey Gunderson. Let’s review his titles, shall we?

    • Secretary/Treasurer Agricultural Association of South Florida
    • President Miami Water Resources Board
    • Vice President Board of Soil Scientists

    The always brilliant Larry Miller guests as the perfect foil for Sam. But I’m actually a little saddened by this, now that I have time to think about it. There’s just no reason to bring Harvey Gunderson back on the show. That means, no more Larry Miller. Damn.

    A good, solid episode that pushed forward on all fronts: Michael got more information on Carla, even if it is just a location to stake out; Michael and Nate had their bonding moment; and Sam gave Fi a nice compliment when he suggested she extract Ivan by herself. Plus, Fi tasered herself to take out Ivan. That’s hardcore.

    What did everyone else think?

    R.A. Porter is an aspiring television writer who currently toils away in the software mines. He can be found at his personal blog and stalked on Twitter.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Charlie Jade Headwriter Alex Epstein

    charliejade

    It’s no mystery that I’m a huge Charlie Jade fan. I don’t write those insanely long and detailed recaps on a show relegated to the 2am time slot for fame and fortune, that’s for sure. What is a little surprising is how I came to know and love the show.

    Like many others, I’m an aspiring screenwriter. In some ways it’s harder to break in today because there are more competitors for the few available slots; however, we have resources that weren’t available even five or ten years ago. There are dozens of accomplished writers blogging about their experiences as staff writers, writers’ assistants, and show runners. Some write from decades of experience and some give us play-by-play as they learn on the job. One of the longest-blogging writers out there is Alex Epstein, who keeps an ongoing conversation with fans, newbie writers, and others at Complications Ensue. I’ve been reading Alex’s blog for at least two years now and also own his book “Crafty TV Writing”. If you want to write for television, I highly recommend it.

    Once I started reading Alex on craft, I realized this was a guy who not only could teach me a lot, but who had similar sensibilities to mine. Odds were high that stuff he did, I’d like. And having seen a decent-sized chunk of his work now, I can tell you my instinct was right. Alex frequently discusses Charlie Jade, even using it to demonstrate how to break and beat a story in “Crafty TV Writing”. I’ve got to tell you, when I read about Charlie hopping dimensions, I knew this was a show for me.

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