Category: Reviews

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

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

  • The Middleman recap: “The Cursed Tuba Contingency”

    Oom-pah oom-pah-pah, friends! Polka wouldn’t be polka without it. Neither would pep bands. In fact, I’d wager that of all the music in the world, a good .001% would be horrible without the basso profundo of the mighty tuba. What kind of tuba you say? Tenor? Four-valve? The tuba kind.

  • Charlie Jade recap: “Devotion”

    I have mixed feelings about this episode. It’s the best of the season so far, I think. A compelling case can be made for “And Not a Drop to Drink”, as it opens the kimono on inter-dimensional travel, 01’s unique abilities, and the importance of water to the scheme of things. But tonight…it’s something else.

  • Mad Men review: “For Those Who Think Young”

    Fourteen months, thousands of cigarettes, and one beard later, we return to the offices of Sterling-Cooper and its denizens. In the first season of Mad Men, creator Matthew Weiner braced his agency against the rising tide of youth culture. But even against the backdrop of JFK’s generational campaign, 1960 was still dominated by the ways…

  • Burn Notice Recap: “Trust Me”

    Whooo damn, that was fun! Mike asked me to talk to y’all about tonight’s episode while he’s off eatin’ some chicken tikka with his new buddy Wasim, so let me tell you a little about myself. Name’s Davis Cullen. Daddy made his money in oil, but ain’t no way I’m livin’ like that. Up at…