Christina Hendricks and the issue of role models

Last week UK Equalities minister Lynne Featherstone further fuelled the fire that role models when it comes to body type and image. In stating that she believed Christina Hendricks (Joan Holloway from Mad Men) was a ‘fabulous role model’ for women I’m not sure she expected all the criticism that was to come from the British media who were claiming that Hendricks ‘perfect’ hourglass figure was just as ridiculous to achieve as a Kate Moss size zero body. This comment appears to be blown out of proportion with media institutions such as The Daily Mail jumping on the bandwagon to slate Featherstone for her remarks and papers such as this claiming that Featherstone is encouraging women to aspire to a size 14. If you actually look at what she said this is not the case, instead she is opposed to the over exposure of air brushing and photo shopping in magazines which could place unnecessary body confidence issues on young women. In regards to Hendricks she simply states that she thinks she is fabulous and that women who have a curvier figure should not just be celebrated as an anomaly in a field of slim models, it should be a normal occurrence. At no point does she say that we should try and change the body type we have, in fact I believe that she is saying that we should celebrate the body type we have and this should be represented in the mainstream media.

Hendricks has come under scrutiny, particularly in the US for being a curvier body type than is the norm in Hollywood; this was most evident at this year’s Golden Globes when a New York Times fashion journalist wrote that ‘you don't put a big girl in a big dress’ in regard to the Christian Siriano dress that she wore. This comment was met with the kind of derision that you would expect and hope for, especially because she really isn’t a ‘big girl’, except maybe by Hollywood standards. The point here being is that Hendricks has already been portrayed in way as the champion of the regular woman, an appointment that I would imagine comes with a lot of pressure and means that her excellent work in Mad Men is often overlooked to deal with issues such as this one. It is a catch 22 problem as her figure is different from what viewers are necessarily use to and that yes this is something that should be applauded but at the same time it would be great if there could be a conversation about Hendricks where weight and body type were not the focus and I think that that is the point that Featherstone was perhaps trying to make in her comments. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t mention her appearance and yes it should be celebrated, it should just not be the continued focus when discussing Hendricks and yes this piece is guilty of what I am complaining about (as are other pieces that I have written), and in fact is this the issue? That there are certain people that you can’t write about without mentioning certain aspects or qualities and is this a gender issue or one that happens to both sexes?

I don’t think that the debate regarding the portrayal of both women and male body ideals will die down and it is definitely a debate that appears to be pretty cyclical, it would be super  though if this debate did end up with a more healthy and obtainable image for people to strive toward. When thinking of the women of Mad Men it is actually Elisabeth Moss who probably has a healthy obtainable body shape if you are looking for someone ‘normal’ with January Jones meeting the slim end of the register. 

Though Jones in a recent interview with Tatler magazine revealed that Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner told them to not work out and to actually eat as women of the sixties didn’t use the gym, another great reason to be working on Mad Men.

Whilst this debate remains endless, I am glad that Christina Hendricks is now a household name on both sides of the Atlantic and that those curious by Featherstones comments may actually go and check out Mad Men and see how terrific she is as Joan. Though next time I write about Christina Hendricks I hope that it is about her portrayal of Joan or the she has won an Emmy on the 29^thof August.

Photos courtesy of JustJared

Mad Men season 4 premiere

With the premiere of Mad Men being this Sunday the publicity machine has gone in to full drive, with late night talk show appearances and a red carpet event for the new season. The red carpet had Mad Men cast and crew from the previous three seasons with the one notable absence being January Jones who was said to have had Mad Men work commitments (which seems a little mean when everyone else gets to party). The women looked lovely as ever, though I wasn't blown away by any of the dress choices, below are costume designer Janie Bryant, Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss:

Jon Hamm looked as fetching as he always does in a suit, he really does look charming all the time and I could totally understand if he lived in the bubble (I also find it astounding that it has taken this long in his career to become the success that he is):

Jon Hamm was on the Jimmy Kimmel show to promote the new season and as ever he came across as charming and friendly telling a great story about his first residence in LA when he moved there to become an actor. Also during the interview there is a short scene from Sundays episode that further raised my anticipation for this new season (didn't think that was possible but evidently it is). There has been a lot of mentions of Jon Hamm in the past week in the entertainment press not just for Mad Men; the trailer for his new film The Town  (directed by Ben Affleck) was released last week, he is staring in the Alan Ginsberg centric film Howl that will hit cinemas in September and it has just been announced that he will be a guest star in a new episode of The Simpsons. Along with his two Emmy nominations this really is an excellent time to be Jon Hamm and he really deserves the glory. Here is his interview on Kimmel:

Photos courtesy of NYMag and JustJared

Emmy nominations snap judgement

The 2010 Emmy nominations have just been announced and there were some excellent surprises and some not so surprising omissions (it's still annoying even if it isn't a surprise). Here is a list of who and what I am happy with being nominated, the snubs that sting and the 'huh' they were nominated thoughts:

What I am happy about:

-Finally Friday Night Lights gets some love with both Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler getting nominations (Actress and Actor in a drama), these are long overdue and well deserved, they really are the heart and soul of this fabulous show. Very glad that 'The Son' has got a writing nomination, one of the best episodes of FNL.
-The final season of Lost being a nomination success; Matthew Fox (Actor in a Drama), Michael Emerson, Terry O'Quinn (Best Supporting in a Drama) and Elizabeth Mitchell (Guest Actress in a Drama) all getting acting nods. The writing and directing of the finale featuring, as well as a nod for Michael Giacchino for his score for 'The End' which made the show and the finale all the more emotional.
-The Pacific getting the most nominations with 24, though it not being included in the acting categories is a disappointment.
-Unsurprisingly Mad Men bagged itself 17 nominations and deservedly so. Those up for the acting gongs are Jon Hamm, January Jones, John Slattery, Christina Hendricks, Elisabeth Moss and Robert Morse (for actor/actress, supporting actor/actress and guest actor). Shame that Vincent Kartheiser and Jared Harris can't be included but I guess I can't be greedy. And whilst I'm surprised that 'The Gypsy and the Hobo' wasn't nominated in the writing category I'm pleased that both 'Guy Walks in to an Advertising Agency' and 'Shut the Door. Have a Seat' are nominated
-The Good Wife also favouring well in the acting categories with the both the women and the men being well represented: Julianna Margulies (Alicia Florrick), Archie Panjabi (Kalinda Sharma), Christine Baranski (Diane Lockhart), Alan Cumming (Eli Gold) and Dylan Baker (Colin Sweeney). I've really enjoyed this new show and after Margulies Golden Globes success it is great to see that her cast mates are also sharing in the award lime light, though it is a shame to see that Chris Noth (Peter Florrick) was overlooked.
-It's also not a surprise that Glee received 19 nominations, some more deserved than others, I was happy for Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) and one of the best father son combos on TV Chris Colfor (Kurt Hummel) and Mike O'Malley (Burt Hummel). Also nominated in the guest actor in a comedy category for Glee was Neil Patrick Harris who has two nominations (the other for How I Met Your Mother), Jon Hamm and Tina Fey both also share in the double nominations, Hamm for Mad Men and 30 Rock, Fey for SNL and 30 Rock.
-The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien getting the nod over Jay Leno, Team Coco all the way, loved the reaction in the room to this one when it was announced as well as the fact that the Emmys will be broadcast on NBC. Though The Daily Show normally wins this one, so it's a win/win really for me.
-Other shows that got some love that I love include; The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Dexter, 30 Rock, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, True Blood, Nurse Jackie and Damages.


What nominations (or lack of nominations) made me go grr and huh?:

-Zach Gilford not getting nominated for the FNL episode 'The Son'. It was a long shot but after hearing Connie Britton and Kyle Chandlers nominations I was hopeful that he would be recognised as well, but alas. At least the episode got the writing nod.
-Tony Shaloub for Monk and Jon Cryer for Two and a Half Men just makes me say why?
-Even though he was presenting the nominations Joel McHale and Community came up with nothing, this was annoying, though he did a good job with the nominations. Loved when he jumped in to pronounce Mariska Hargitay.
-There seems to be a lot of unhappy writers out there about the lack of Parks and Rec nominations which has reminded me that I really need to get that show on DVD. I also need to watch my Breaking Bad DVDs before August 29th.
-Other long shots I would have loved to see but am not surprised by there omissions; Chuck, John Noble in Fringe and The Vampire Diaries. If I had an award show all of these would win.



For a full list of nominations head to the official Emmys site here

All photos courtesy of NBC

Daily dose of Mad Men

More new promotional pictures and video this way, first up the pictures. The group shots have been released and one has a person in that you might not expect. First up the group in a typical shot in a bar, all looking exquisite:

The perhaps surprising inclusion on the other cast shot is Kenny Cosgrove and his hair and what could this mean? Has he got a job at Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce? Does this spell the end for Kinsey, Kurt and Smitty? Peggy, Joan and Betty all look amazing in their dresses with Peggy this time wearing my favourite, her hair also looks less like a helmet in this shot. I'm also a fan of the bare background being just a sheet, further suggesting the re-building motif of this seasons theme. As I've said before I love how Mad Men is similar to Lost in how rife the speculation is pre season especially as so little information is available:

A few black and white portraits have been released as well that if nothing else make the men look pretty dapper:

A couple of John Slattery (Roger Sterling):

Vincent Kartheiser (Pete Campbell):

Jared Harris (Lane Pryce):

Robert Morse (Bert Cooper):

More videos from the AMC promo department include this fabulous one with the women discussing how they feel about where their characters were at the end of last season, their favourite costumes and other related questions to the show, there are some really nice moments between Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss here and it is nice to see them together outside of the characters:

The second video is a 'look at season four' and by a look they just say that they can't reveal too much which is fine by me, the less actual information I have about the new season the better. Matthew Weiner reinforces the idea that he won't do the same material again and the first episode is referred to by Jared Harris (Pryce) that it is like another pilot, enjoy:

Photos and video courtesy of AMC

More Mad Men pictures, video

This blog is definitely Mad Men centric at the moment and with just over two weeks till its return it will be this way until then I would expect. Over at Zap2it they have got some more promo shots from season 4 that once again don't really reveal much of anything but let us speculate on all kinds of things like what year is it? Is Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce a success? Has Betty married Henry? And it allows me to rejoice in the fact that Bobby Draper remains as the same actor this year unlike the previous three seasons. Here are a selection of these photos:

Here is also an excellent video that compiles some of the really awful chat up lines that have been used by many of the characters including the lovely "You should do something with that sour puss, you're very beautiful" and "Are you Amish or something?" (both courtesy of Pete Campbell):

Not too long till Mad Men season 4...

So in the meantime you can go and Mad Men yourself again over on the AMC site, where there are new clothes, hair and accessories to play with, here is my new version and I decided to go for a leisurely look this time around:

This is good fun and reminds me of the paper dolls that I had when I was a kid, whilst on holiday my boyfriend was sweet enough to buy me a Kennedy family paper dolls book, which fits in nicely with the time and fashion of Mad Men. The designer of these Mad Men illustrations Dyna Moe has a great site that I have mentioned before but if you need a reminder it is here and should be checked out.

More Mad Men promotional videos have been released by AMC, including one with one of my favourite creative faces from Mad Men; Janie Bryant and she is showing us a peak at some of the wardrobe of season 4. I got excited by the glimpse that we saw of some of the costumes of season 4 in the last promo video so this is definitely a treat and that truck looks like heaven:

Mad Men: The Rules

The promotional machine for the fourth season of Mad Men has got in to full gear and AMC have released this video discussing the rules of Mad Men. It is a compilation of clips of the last three seasons with talking heads from Matthew Weiner and a lot of the cast, who are all in full costume. The clips are great, especially the series of one liners from Roger Sterling who really does get the best lines, however it is the costumes that have provoked my interest, especially from the women. Peggy is rocking her new hair style which looks much better in these clips than it did in the promo photo and Joan is wearing some rather over the top jewellery, a gift perhaps?

Mad Men season 4 pictures

AMC have released four images from the new season of Mad Men (airing 25th July), the first is one that was first seen in Entertainment Weekly and none of them reveal all too much about anything really, but this doesn't matter, I'm just glad to see some new pictures. Also Peggy is rocking a more voluminous hair do and Don looks super as usual, here they are:

The main assumption that I can draw from these is that they will be taking a lot of meetings over dinner in restaurants which makes a lot of sense after where the season ended with the new company running from a hotel room. I'm very excited for this season and I'm looking forward to more promotional material in the coming month. I am currently rewatching season 3 on blu-ray (which it looks amazing on) whilst listening to the many and extensive commentaries that are available to get me in the mood for season 4 and it is definitely working.

Mad Men season 4 poster

The season 4 poster for Mad Men was released exclusively to Ausiello yesterday and it look pretty great:

The image is striking in it's simplicity and sets up everything that you need to know about the tone and direction that this season will be going in, that it is about starting over. This is both for Don in business and in his private life. Much like Lost when an image is released for Mad Men they are poured over and analysed and I am not disappointed with how this campaign has kicked off. Executive producer Matthew Weiner told Entertainment Weekly recently that this season will have the characters asking "Who am I" and that "It's about stripping away the things that define them. Once they're taken away, they just have to look at who they really are."

This alone makes me glad that July 25th is just over a month a way.

Christina Hendricks: A woman that is loved

The latest issue of Esquire to hit news stands in the US features Mad Men star Christina Hendricks who has been voted by the readers of Esquire as the 'Best Looking Woman in America' receiving 30% of the vote out of the 10,000 women surveyed. Coming  in second and third were actress Megan Fox and model Adrianna Lima. 

This seems like a no brainer to me, my boyfriend has a huge crush on her (curves plus red hair equals a big win for him) as do all the guys who I know that watch Mad Men, even I have a crush on her. It also shows that you really don't have to be a stick for guys to like you and that the comments that were made about her at the Golden Globes were as stupid as they seemed then. 

I'm really looking forward to the new season of Mad Men and where they will be taking Joan's character next season considering how things were left in the superb finale, to tide you over until then check out this brilliant scene between Joan and Don from season 3 episode 6 'Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency':

More from Esquire here

Mad Men set for 6 seasons

Some brief Mad Men news this week with an announcement that seemed a little out of the blue; Matt Weiner stated at this weeks National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Vegas that his hit series had reached the half way mark and that he only intends it to last three more seasons. This makes a lot of sense regarding the type of series that Mad Men is and I would find it hard to see the series enter in to the seventies when one of the concerns of this show revolves around the many changes that occurred in the sixties. It is always better for a show to run its natural course rather than to keep churning out stories that are of a sub par level and I think by revealing an ideal amount of seasons that is the desired amount allows for more creative excellence that we have come to expect from this series.

Update: AMC sent out an email which is trying to play down this announcement stating:

"No one wants to see Don Draper wearing a leisure suit. We trust Matthew's vision and that he knows where to take the show. But with that said, M*A*S*H figured how to stretch the Korean War for more than a decade, so stay tuned!"

In other Mad Men news shooting has begun on the fourth season, and paparazzi pictures show John Hamm on set, looking dapper again in his Don Draper attire (along with John Slattery):

Source
Photo Source

Random Mad Men cast and crew video

The cast and crew of Mad Men performing Bye Bye Birdie, some in costume, some in the nude, some in character, some possibly inebriated:

A plug

I'm going to do by best Don Draper pitch:
This weekend saw the launch of a new film website called 'This film is on' which as the title suggests will be a film site primarily, looking at all things film from new releases to classic movies. It also delves into literature and television (which is where I come in). As there are many different contributors opinions range as does the content, which will cover big and small releases, blockbusters and independent cinema as well as any other exciting news that is occurring in the film industry. We are a passionate bunch when it comes to film (and obviously I am when it comes to matters of the small screen) so if you would like to read a site that really does care about the subject that they right about come on over to:

http://thisfilmison.com/

Photo courtesy of AMC

SAG Awards 2010

No major surprises at the SAG awards this year with the TV categories mirrored the Golden Globes; Michael C. Hall, Julianna Margulies, Drew Barrymore, Kevin Bacon, Alec Baldwin, Glee and Mad Men all walking away with the awards, the only difference was Tina Fey winning for 30 Rock instead of Toni Collette for the United States of Tara. The red carpet was less daring than that of last weeks Golden Globes, and it seemed that there were hardly any major missteps (Julie Bowen I'm looking at you), so instead of analysing the awards as I previously did last week I will be looking at my favourite dresses of the evening, which included:

Christina Hendricks who always looks brilliant in red and the rest of the Mad Men cast looking pretty dapper:

  

Tina Fey made up for her dress that got slammed last week in simple purple, though I loved that she got in a dig about 'Fashion Police' to E! televisions Giuliana Rancic when she asked her if she had taken a steamer on her dress the previous week, it was a suitably awkward moment of TV, though not as awkward as last weeks Anna Kendrick interview when Rancic kept yelling at George Clooney who appeared to be ignoring her. Here is Fey with Alec Baldwin who knows how to wear a suit:

Michael C. Hall made reference to wife Jennifer Carpenter's dress in his speech and she did indeed look amazing in this short white dress and I liked that her accessories were black creating the monochrome look :

Other highlights include my favourite Diane Kruger, her dress was reminiscent of Michelle Williams at the 2006 Oscars which is one of my favourite all time red carpet dresses:

The Glee cast were all decked out well, with special mentions to Lea Michele who looked less swamped than she did at the Globes in her beautiful Catherine Malandrino dress:

All photos courtesy of Just Jared and Socialite Life

Golden Globes

The 2010 Golden Globes had a few surprise wins and a few that were not so surprising, I'm going to concentrate on the TV winners as this is a TV blog and the debate about whether Avatar deserved to take home best director and film is one that has raged amongst many of my friends. Even though I would've much rather seen 'The Hurt Locker' take the big prize it is the TV winners that I am much more interested in.
It was another good year for Mad Men which won best drama for the third year in a row, this was much deserved as this third season has been excellent. I also enjoyed this award all the more as it was presented by Zachary Levi and Amy Poehler. It was a shame that Jon Hamm and January Jones didn't take home the acting gongs but they were both beaten by formidable talent of Michael C. Hall and Julianna Margulies. Dexter this season was a return to form and it was brilliant to see Hall awarded for his performance and after last weeks announcement that he was recovering from Hodgkin's lymphoma it was a welcome sight to see that he is on the road to recovery. Fellow cast member John Lithgow won best supporting actor for his role as the Trinity killer, another well deserving winner as even though I would've loved to see Michael Emerson win for Lost, Lithgow really was a tour de force in this creepy serial killer role.

                                               

The award for best Comedy/Musical went to Glee which from what I have seen (I am late to this party) also deserved this prize, the comedy was on display when the creator dedicated the award to everyone that had received a wedgie in high school. It was a shame that Jane Lynch was left empty handed in the best supporting category as she is brilliant (I particularly love her in The 40 Year Old Virgin)

The other major TV category for best TV movie/mini series is one where I have more often than not seen most of the nominees, this year was not much different for me, however I did finally get round to watching Grey Gardens last week which I thought was spectacular so I was very pleased to see it pick up the top award as well as Drew Barrymore winning for her portrayal of little Eddie. It really was fascinating and has made me really want to see the original Grey Gardens documentary. Both Barrymore and Lange were excellent so I really didn't mind who won, though I'm thinking that Lange would not have fallen apart with her acceptance speech.

One other award that though it wasn't TV has close TV connections was that of best original score, won by Michael Giacchino for Up. Giacchino is the composer for all things J.J. Abrams, and his Lost scores week in week out are by far the best orchestral TV music that there is so it was wonderful to see him honoured for his Pixar work as well. Another TV face I appreciated seeing being part of a film cast that won was Ed Helms who was in The Hangover, Helms has fast become my favourite cast member in The Office. With him was Bradley Cooper who is another favourite from his TV days in Alias as Will Tippin, who I am glad to see is finally getting recognition.

Overall it was an enjoyable show, not much to say about Ricky Gervais hosting as he was mainly absent and it seems a little odd that they asked him to host any way, I would say that he works much better with presenting one award like he has previously done for the Golden Globes and the Emmys rather that over seeing the whole proceedings, Neil Patrick Harris is definitely my preferred pick for this job.

Golden Globe nominations

For a full list of the TV nominations head to:

http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/12/15/golden-globes-nominations/

For a full list of the film nominations head to:

http://oscar-watch.ew.com/2009/12/15/golden-globe-nominations-announced/



Updated to include the nominations announcements:

What no Lost?! After such a good season it is surprising to see it absent from the Best Drama category, though I'm glad to see Michael Emerson nominated in the Best Supporting category as he really does deserve the many plaudits he has received for his work on this show. This best supporting actor category is a tough one, pitting drama against comedy with other favourites like John Lithgow and William Hurt also vying for this award. I'm also glad to see Neil Patrick Harris in this company as he really is terrific in How I Met Your Mother(and everything else).

I am glad to see Mad Men and Dexter in the best drama category and that Jon Hamm, January Jones and Michael C. Hall are also all nominated.  Other nominees that I'm happy with are both Glenn Close and Rose Byrne for Damages, even if the second season was not as great as the first both performed superbly and I'm looking forward to the third season next month.

Comedy wise it is good (and obvious) that 30 Rock and The Office have been shown some love, but other than these two shows I don't really watch any of the other nominees (though I plan on starting to watch Glee whilst it is on hiatus as I have many good things said about this).

The film nominations also include some favourites of mine, including:

-Joseph Gordon-Levitt for best actor in a comedy/musical for (500) Days of Summer

-(500) Days of Summer and The Hangover in the comedy/musical category

-Meryl Streep getting her annual nomination (twice this year for It's Complicated and Julie and Julia

-The movie I am most looking forward to getting many nominations (Up in the Air)

-Another female director getting nominated for an excellent film (Kathryn Bigelow: The Hurt Locker)

-Where the Wild Things Are being up for best score

-Matt Damon with double nominations for Invictus and The Informant! 

-Emily Blunt getting nominated for The Young Victoria and for Justin Timberlake who announced this inappropriately suggesting that John Krasinski (also presenting) would be getting lucky tonight

One reason why I like to watch the Golden Globes is for both TV/film getting honoured as even though my passion lies in television, I do also love the counter part of film. This award show is also helped by the free flowing booze at the tables which could lead to some funny speeches. It will interesting to see how host Ricky Gervais will do this year as he is often the highlight of most award shows, how will he go down when he is hosting the whole schebang and not just one award?

Mad Men- Shut the Door. Have a Seat

Spoilers for the Mad Men season 3 finale ahead:

First off I want to say what an enjoyable and thoroughly satisfying season finale that was especially after the last few melancholic episodes that seemed to suggest that all our characters were doomed to ending the series in a much worse position to where they started the year. Instead a rebirth was offered, with loss of a personal and professional means being acknowledged and then the hope of something new and better being attainable. There was varying degrees of this, with Don having the most upheaval in his professional and personal life, finally succumbing to the end of his marriage but also being revived with his career in advertising. Relationships were both severed and repaired in this final hour of season 3.

The end definitely seems nigh on the Draper marriage, Betty demanding a divorce which at first is something that Don won't even acknowledge as a possible option especially when he finds out about Henry. This news causes him to have a drunken and violent outburst, calling Betty a whore and an awful mother, it is in this moment that he can either continue this path and become like his father who was a violent drunk or that he can realise that this really is the end. Luckily he opts to let Betty go and in a heartbreaking scene Betty and Don break the news to the kids that Don will be moving out, this scene is all the more painful when Bobby thinks it is because he lost his Dads cuff links and Sally (the wonderful Kiernan Shipka) blames her mother. These children really have been through some tough times this season and it will be interesting to see how they will react next season to their parents divorce and to the introduction of Henry will go. It was quite telling that the final scene that we saw them in they were watching TV with Carla, the only two stable influences in their lives.  

Business wise, Don is informed by Conrad Hilton that Sterling Cooper is being sold off again which becomes the catalyst to the start the company anew, with this piece of news he then had to go to all those he wanted to be in business with and sell not only his idea but himself as a commodity as well as pitching to each person why he also needed them. With Bert he reinforced the idea that with his age he would be seen as being nothing but dead weight to a new buyer, Roger was a harder sell after a year of practically ignoring him he was told that "You're no good at relationships because you don't value them." This sentiment seemed to be the case but when Don has to fight for his colleagues it appears that this is not true. Though with Peggy it is a lesson that he has to learn after he barks at her and them expects her to follow him "like a poodle", she rejects him which seems to be a perfectly reasonable reaction considering how he has treated her all season. Next up is Pete who is pretending that he is sick from work as he has an interview, he too after feeling rejected from the company that he has worked so hard for needs validation from Don who he has been trying to impress since season 1. Lance Pryce is another person they must win over, which seems at first to be a non-event until he finds out that PPL are also being sold and his hard work has been completely ignored. Possibly the best scene in the episode (this is a tough proclamation in an episode of many fantastic scenes) though is when Don goes to Peggy's apartment and lays it all out, why he has been harsh to her, why this is unfair and why he needs her. Scenes between these characters are always pretty charged and this just demonstrates why Don and Peggy are so intertwined as characters and ends with the line that affirms Peggy's worth to Don when he states "I will spend the rest of my life trying to hire you."

The moment in this caper that actually had me cheering at the screen was the moment I, like many viewers realised that Joan would be joining the team as she is the only one who knows the Sterling Cooper system inside out. It was really quite fantastic to see all the pieces fall in to place, the only omission being Sal, though with Lucky Strike being their biggest client it will be hard to get him back as part of the team. Also what will become of the members of Sterling Cooper that were left behind? If there is no place for them it will be a shame but I guess you can't take everyone with you. It will be interesting to see what happens between Joan and Roger, and with Pete and Peggy having to work in such close quarters, though I have really started to like  the marriage dynamic between Pete and Trudy, and she does bring sandwiches and cake which is a good point scorer.

With this new family having been created it will be interesting what will happen next season, to get rid of the central location of a show can be tricky (after SD-6 got destroyed in Alias it was seen as both a blessing and a curse) however it will give the show an exciting edge as they further progress in to the 1960s. I for one can't wait until season 4 and knowing that it is so far off is tough, I will probably have to binge on seasons 1 and 2 again and watch Revolutionary Road again.

For an excellent interview with Matthew Weiner about the season finale head over to The Daily Beast  for what will be the only information we will get about the series for a while I would imagine.

Mad Men-The Grown Ups

"What is going on?!" (Betty Draper)

Spoilers for episode 3.12

Instead of leaving the Kennedy assassination to the final episode it occurred in this penultimate episode of the season, by doing this it means that next week will be all about character and with the fallout of the events in The Grown Ups which showed many of the characters at a cross roads in their personal and professional lives.

What I wanted to concentrate on regarding this episode is how despite a vast change in technology since 1963; mobile phones, the internet, digital cameras, the actions of people when an historical event like this occurs is still pretty much the same. Everyone gathers together, phone networks can't handle all the calls and so they crash, people have photographs of events happening and live cameras will capture moments that you don't expect that will played over and over even years after the fact. The parallel between this and 9/11 are overt in the sense that no-one was expecting either and how people try and take in as much information as to why something like this occurred  by watching television. It also seems that the Kennedy assassination was probably the first major news event that occurred when most people had a television making the use of the TV reports in this episode even more relevant.

Where this episode will lead us for the finale is anybody's guess as every week surprises me and after both the final episodes of seasons 1 and 2 I have no idea in what direction Matthew Weiner will take us; will Betty leave Don for Henry? Will Pete leave Sterling Cooper and join Duck? Is Sterling Cooper going to be sold again and if so where does this leave our ad men and women? Will we see Joan and Sal (I really hope so)?

Mad Men- The Gypsy and the Hobo

Holy wow, what an episode, spoilers ahead for season 3 episode 11

This season of Mad Men has really kicked in to hyper drive and it is hard to anticipate what is going to happen in the final two episodes of the series after this humdinger. I was really expecting the confrontation between Betty and Don regarding what she had discovered in his desk drawer to not occur so soon, so it was a shock when it did happen, but the fact that it did happen so soon did not take away from the tension of the scenes, from when Don walked in to a seemingly empty house until Miss Farrell slinked away in to the night I was on the edge of my seat. And the fact that Miss Farrell was sat in the car just a few feet away from the Draper house made these scenes even more on edge, would she come to the house wondering where Don was? In the end she waited for who knows how long before going home, painfully aware that whatever had occurred in the house meant the end for their tryst, no romantic getaways for them. Although somewhat to my annoyance when Don did ring her to explain his absence he only said that it was over for now, suggesting that the door could still be open for their affair.

Prior to Betty confronting Don we saw her at her fathers house, sitting at his desk taking command of her situation, asking the family lawyer for some advice regarding the situation she is now in with Don after finding his secret box and to her dismay (and mine) all he offered her was a reason to stay with Don, he is a good provider and divorce is hard to get if you are a woman in the 1960s unless adultery can be proven so she should just try and make do with staying married to Don. This answer thankfully does not stop Betty from confronting Don with what she knows and thankfully she does not give up or give in as we might have expected her to, Betty Draper is strong willed, and though there have been many moments where I have wanted to shake her to stop being so passive it was wonderful to see her take control with Don.

The role reversal that occurred from when Betty thrust the desk keys on to the table and Don realised that she knew the truth was wonderful to watch, with Don being reduced to a figure who looks like he is about to lose everything (much like he did last season when we saw Anna Draper call him out on he was at the car dealership). Jon Hamm is a joy to watch normally but in these scenes he really surpassed himself, from stumbling in to the kitchen realising that his 'perfect' life is over, when he dropped his cigarette on the floor and struggled to pick it up it became apparent that his cool exterior had really been shattered by Betty and what she had found out. Betty was definitely the commander in this conversation, knowing that her husband is good at selling anything she called him out on this, also noting that he has been lying to her every day. When baby Gene started crying and Betty went to attend I really thought that Don might do a runner, with so many doors to escape in to, however we see him pick up the box of evidence of his previous life and go in to the hallway.

Don takes the box to the bedroom, this is where he spills the secrets from his past life that he has tried so hard to conceal from everyone in his new life (though as Betty notes if he had really wanted to keep it secret then why would he leave it in their house). I was half expecting him to fudge some of these details with the only lie he really tells is saying that the army made a mistake about who he was, when in fact he was the one who enabled this mistake by switching dog tags, though this is a lie I can let him tell, would Betty really want to know that about him. Although he also says that he asked for a divorce from Anna when he first met Betty, this she calls him out on as the divorce decree was only three months before they were married, I guess he said this to make the whole thing appear to be romantic. He reveals everything else though, why he helped Anna, where he came from, that he is the son of a prostitute and that he was from a family that was very poor. He finally cracks emotionally when Betty asks her about Adam, and he even reveals that Adam killed himself and he contributed to this by sending him away so not to ruin his Don Draper life, this break in Don endears him to Betty and to me as recently his actions have seemed more deplorable than normal and it is good to see his emotional side rather than his charm and arrogance. As I have said already Hamm is amazing in these scenes but props must also be given once again to January Jones who in these scenes also goes through a transformation of emotions and performs incredibly with her co-star.

I hope that after this reveal that the Draper marriage will get stronger, now that Betty knows the real Don can they make a success of what they have beyond the exterior which seems to be perfect whereas it is actually deeply flawed. Though with Miss Farrell around the corner will she rear her head before the season is out?

The other stories in this episode of Roger and his former (first?) love Annabelle and of Joan and her not so hot doctor husband Greg were also pretty fabulous. First it was nice to see both Joan and Roger with plenty of screen time, even with the two of them reconnecting over the phone with Joan asking Roger to help her find a job that is not back at Sterling Cooper (boo, I really miss her round the office), the chemistry between these two even crackles on scenes on the phone and I hope that this isn't the last we see of these two together this season.

Joan in this episode was being the supportive wife that Dr Rapey really does not deserve, she helped prep him for his interview, giving him great advice and support that he neither listened too nor used in his interview that he says he crashed and burned in (though would you really want someone so introspective as your psychiatrist?). Though what followed this whining had me cheering at the screen, with Joan picking up a vase of flowers and smashing it over his head (the gif for this can be found here). Greg after this buys Joan flowers to apologise for how he has been and then reveals that he has joined the army, will this be how we get rid of Greg when he hopefully gets sent to Vietnam?

The Roger and Annabelle story revealed that Roger was once a man that had been ditched in favour of another and that this event was an important one in the making of who he has become and it was interesting to see him turn down is former lover because he is married. I don't really take this to be the reason though I do think that in this early stage of his marriage to Jane he does not want to return to his usual adulterous ways but he also does it out of some place of revenge, revenge for having his heart broken over twenty years ago. Annabelle declares that Roger was the one, he states that she isn't but is Jane really the one for him? I would like to think not, that his perfect match is Joan, a woman who really is his equal, but is she too strong willed for him, would he just like a continuing flow of Janes until his ad man lifestyle gets the better of him?

The funniest line of the episode came from Peggy during the focus group regarding the dog food that Annabelle's company was trying to re-market, when the group started complaining that the food was made of horse meat Annabelle demanded that it was turned off, Peggy responded to this with: "I can't turn it off. It's actually happening." I wonder how many of these characters wish they could turn off what is actually happening to them?

Mad Men- 'The colour blue'. What do you see?

Spoilers for episode 3.10 'The Colour Blue':

Wow, this episode has opened up many possibilities for what could happen at the end of the season and the central theme appeared to be have things actually are versus how people perceive things to be. This topic is first broached with Don in bed with Miss Farrell (a story line that bothers me but seems important in the overall nature with Don and how he behaves with women), she recounts how one of her students asked whether the blue that he saw was the same blue that everybody saw. Don waxes lyrical stating "The truth is people see things differently, but they don't really want to." This sentiment applies to much of the programme with the whole nature of advertising being about creating something that is something that everyone is wanting, desire is key to selling to the masses. This sentiment also applies to many of the characters, you could really pick any one of them to reveal how they see things differently but don't want to state this, it could also be a sentiment for how characters feel that they should be perceived even if that perception is false.

This leads to the central point of action in this episode, where an act of carelessness leads Betty to discover what Don really keeps in his desk drawer and how this will blow her perception of who he is out of the water. The moments preceding her finding the key and as the audience and Betty both waited for Don to come home were some of the most tense that I have seen this show produce, what would she do when he got home? Well he never did come home, so Betty defeated returned the key to the dressing gown pocket and put the box back in the drawer and retired to bed. Now the scenes between these two will be fuelled by more than just the audience knowledge of who Don is but also with the bits of information Betty has learned from his Dick/ Don box. The final scene at the Sterling Cooper party was one where most of the room perceive Don as a man with everything; a great job, a beautiful and loving wife, and a boss who really likes and respects him, the truth of this is obviously completely different, he is a man who despite 'having it all' is still not satisfied and still does not know who he really is.

I must say also after my previous piece on January Jones that once again her performance as Betty Draper was fantastic, from before her finding the key to pretending that she was only feeling unwell to the anxiety that she demonstrated whilst preparing her self in the bathroom before the party, to her look of resolve yet disdain at the Sterling Cooper party toward Don and the wonderful words that were used to describe him.

Other actions that got set in motion, Sterling Cooper is up for sale and only Lane Pryce is aware of this, will he reveal this information to Roger or Bert so he can stay in New York (despite his wife longing to return to London) as he has done such a good job there or will he remain silent. Will this sale mean that Joan and Sal will both come back? I do really hope so as both have been missed (even though Sal has only be gone for this episode).

The Paul and Peggy scenes were also a treat and it was great to see that Paul finally 'got' Peggy and that she is talented, hopefully we will get to see them working together in a more positive way in future episodes.Also on the point of Peggy it will be great to see if she has had any further contact with Duck and what this might mean for her future, though I really want to see some more scenes with her and Pete and whether there will be any more fall out from her baby revelation at the end of last season.

Overall that was a brilliant episode and I'm really excited as to where this season is heading.