BuzzFeed: "The Midseason Finale Of Mad Men Is One Giant Leap Forward"

Don’t be fooled: Matthew Weiner’s period drama has always been about the future. Warning: contains spoilers for “Waterloo.”

At BuzzFeed, you can read my latest feature, "The Midseason Finale Of Mad Men Is One Giant Leap Forward," in which I review the midseason finale of AMC's Mad Men ("Waterloo"), which represents a giant leap forward for the characters and for the show itself.

For a show about the past, Mad Men has always been about the desperate pressing of the future against the figurative glass. In looking back to the 1960s, the show has held up a tarnished mirror to our own society, our own failings, our own future. A moon landing is full of promise; an old man lives just long enough to see the impossible made possible. Old ways — and the literal old guard — slip away. Companies perish and new ones are formed. Alliances, once fractured, are renewed.

This dance is eternal, the combustive pressure between the past and the future, between cynicism and hope. That embrace that occurs towards the end of the episode, between Don (Jon Hamm) and Peggy (Elisabeth Moss), is more than just a hug: it’s a willing and proud acceptance of a new order.

The midseason finale of Mad Men (“Waterloo”), written by Carly Wray and Matthew Weiner and directed by Weiner, potentially revealed the series’ endgame as the countdown to the show’s finale began. (Unfortunately for us, Mad Men’s seven final episodes won’t air until sometime in 2015.) It is a superlative piece of television that captures the hope and beauty (and awe) of the 1969 moon landing and juxtaposes against the potential collapse of Sterling Cooper and Partners, as the struggle between disintegration and cohesion takes place behind the scenes.
Much discussion is made of how people react to the future, whether it’s with cynicism (Sally, initially) or fear (Ginsberg, alarmed to the point of insanity by the IMB 360 computer), resignation (Kevin Rahm’s Ted Chaough) or acceptance. Influenced by a cute boy, Sally (Kiernan Shipka) initially recoils against the possibilities that the future offers, seeing only a cynical view of the cost of the moon landing, rather than what it means for mankind, sitting on the shoulders of giants. The cost of all things weighs heavily on the show; the characters after all are always selling something: a product, the false lure of a happy life, the emblems of happy hearths and childhoods. (Christina Hendricks’ Joan even sold herself at one point.) And the moon landing was an expensive, if seismic, moment in the history of humankind: As we’re reminded, it cost $25 billion, though that seems a small amount for such a monumental leap forward.

Continue reading at BuzzFeed...

Fighting the Hydra: Thoughts on the Semi-Season Finale of Chuck

I've been candid over the years about my love for Chuck, supporting it and nurturing it and standing up for it whenever renewal seemed like a distant proposition rather than a sure thing. But I've also been upfront about my thoughts about this creatively uneven season, which seemed to veer from strong episodes to really weak ones on a weekly basis.

Last night's episode ("Chuck Versus the Push Mix"), written by Rafe Judkins and Lauren LeFranc and directed by Peter Lauer, was originally intended to be the season finale for Season Four of Chuck, back when the season had only gotten a thirteen-episode commitment, but as with last season, an eleventh hour order of additional episodes meant that the semi-season finale wrapped up several storylines but wouldn't be the end to the season.

Which brings us to the here and now, as I have to take an unpopular stand and say that I didn't enjoy this episode as much as others seemed to. In fact, I'll admit that I'm puzzled by the rave reviews that this episode received, both in advance and post-air. There were some fantastic moments in the mix (I did love the final minutes with Chuck's silent proposal), but it felt stitched together from some sub-par parts and the final act, with its host of happy endings, didn't feel entirely earned to me, but rather tacked on cheaply, an emotional ploy to satisfy in case this was a season (or series) ender.

So what did I really think of "Chuck Versus the Push Mix"? Let's discuss.

First, I have to say that I'm extremely glad that this marks the end of the Volkoff storyline, which intrigued at first and then just grated on my nerves. No disrespect to Timothy Dalton, who was in fine form here, but the character never gelled into something three-dimensional. He was yet another maniacal super-villain with delusions of grandeur and an inability to pick up on the fact, after twenty years, that Mary Bartowski was just not into him.

I'm still not clear as to what Alexei Volkoff wanted, what his MO was, or what his grand scheme was for world domination or whatever. Or why he was so dangerous that it took Mary Bartowski twenty years to catch him, or why she had to walk out on her family in order to do so. There must have been countless times when Mary should have been able to enact her endgame and grab Volkoff, so I'm still confused why it took this long and why it involved Sarah Walker going undercover in his organization to finally pull off the capture of the century.

Which brings us to Point #2: I understand that Sarah Walker is a superspy and is as dangerous as sin, but how was she able to accomplish in what seemed like under a week what Frost was unable to do in two decades? (Yes, two decades.) Here is where things started to fall apart for me, because I couldn't accept last week that Alexei would willingly allow her into his organization, even with the "rogue agent" status she had created for herself, knowing that she was Chuck's girlfriend and wouldn't flip that easily on her country, especially for the reasons she gave. (And, yes, Alexei has proven that he's far from rational, but this stretched credulity a bit.)

In the past, I've been willing to suspend my disbelief when it came to Chuck because the show was firing on all cylinders and it's easy to overlook some niggling things when they're couched in awesomeness. But I've been finding it increasingly hard to do so here, especially in the last two weeks as the Volkoff final act ramped up. There are some things that are easily swept under the rug and there are others that, once introduced, can't be erased from my mind as easily.

That Volkoff's entire network--his most important, powerful, and prized possession--should be concealed behind a door whose security can so easily be breached caused me to sit up. Compounding this are the lasers that even a schlemiel like Morgan can outmaneuver. Without use of the Intersect. The Chuck gang already utilized the laser gag to full effect back in Season 3 ("Chuck Versus the Three Words"), as Chuck had to evade some lasers with cat-like precision, thanks to the Intersect-derived abilities. But to have Morgan do so, so easily, thanks to some yoga (!?!) poses? Suspension of disbelief out the window.

(Likewise, the fact that Chuck did a general internet search for "The Contessa" early on, that he and Morgan were able to climb onto the Contessa with such ease, and that they were able to saunter around the ship without a single guard noticing, all got on my nerves.)

Yes, it was fitting that Alexei should be undone by his jealousy and by Chuck's smarts, utilizing the "ghost" of Orion to get Alexei out in the open and use the authorization code words that Chuck needed to transfer his Hydra network, and it showed some moxie on Chuck's part, but at this point I just wanted the Volkoff storyline to be over. Now that Mary had flip-flopped so many times between good and evil, between Volkhoff confidante and CIA agent, I just wanted this arc to be over already, something I've rarely ever felt with Chuck before.

In watching this week's episode, I found that I was willing myself to like it but that I was failing. And I've never had to "will" myself to like Chuck in the past, as the show has abounded with clever writing, fine acting, and genre-busting fun. Elements that in the past have worked with such precision (Jeffster) seemed thrown in here for no real purpose. While some have raved about the "Push It" sequence with Jeffster at the hospital, I found it a complete turn-off, an over the top scenario that further tested my patience, even as the patients themselves (not to mention the nurses) seemed not bothered in the least.

I'm glad that Ellie and Awesome had their baby (following the world's most easy labor and delivery) and it will be interesting to see just how the writers deal with having a baby in the mix on the show. For the most part, Ellie and Devon have been largely tangential to the plot this season, and I'm still hoping that Chris Fedak and Co. can find a way to bring these disparate elements together.

Which brings us to the very end of the episode, which I thought was actually the best handled sequence in the entire installment, as we wrapped up all of the storylines (Casey is okay! Alex isn't going anywhere! Volkoff is defeated! Ellie has her baby!) and put the focus back onto the Chuck/Sarah courtship. Throughout the season, Chuck has sought to engineer the perfect situation for his marriage proposal but has been foiled by nerves, the CIA, and Sarah herself. Which is why it was perhaps so perfect that the ideal moment was the one right at hand: in the hospital corridor, sitting on a bench together, as a custodian waxed the floor.

Sometimes the best moments are the smallest ones, and the silence of Chuck's proposal played out magically, allowing us to infuse the scene with our own emotions and sense of fulfillment rather than let the dialogue do the talking. After a season of talking about proposals and false starts, it was a canny way to make Chuck's actual offer seem dramatic, engaging, and romantic, and Sarah's acceptance all the more heartfelt and genuine.

But that small moment wasn't enough for me following what was largely a lazy episode that was full of narrative holes and forced emotion. And, yes, I even surprised myself with how little I enjoyed it. I'm hoping the writers, given the next batch of episodes, can find a way to win me back, because I don't want to wax nostalgic about Chuck: I want to enjoy it again.

What did you think of this week's episode? And of the last thirteen episodes as a whole? Head to the comments section to discuss and debate.

Next week on Chuck ("Chuck Versus the Seduction Impossible"), John Casey, Chuck Bartowski, and Sarah Walker are sent to Morocco to rescue Roan Montgomery (guest star John Larroquette); Morgan Grimes plans to meet Alex's mother; Mary spends some time with her family.