Mad Upon A Game

Another sunday drama wrap-up.  Only a week to go before one drops out.  Let's start with that one.

Once Upon A Time, "An Apple Red As Blood:

Last week the show ended with Emma kidnaping (a willing) Henry out of Storybrooke.  In this episode, they turn around immediately, thus negating whatever was allegedly happening.  Meanwhile, Regina is having bad dreams as the Emma's presence starts to wear away the curse.

She goes to Gold who won't strike a deal.  He apparently set up the curse to end if Emma dies (which explains why Regina has been holding back, in addition to not wanting to be convicted of murder).  We now know Gold wants the curse to end, but why would he have any say in breaking it?  I thought we were living in a land without magic, so Gold should have no power to change things.  (Regina has Gold's true love locked up in an asylum.  Can't she make a deal?)

Except there's still a little magic left.  After all, Regina killed the Huntsman that way.  I don't like this. I like Storybrooke to be a real (if ridiculous) place in contrast to Fairy Tale Land.  If Regina can do magic here, what's the point?

Rebuffed, Regina calls in Jefferson to find a way to go back.  Huh?  I thought he went down the rabbit hole (or hat hole) back to Wonderland, or Fairyland.  Wherever, it's not Storybrooke.  Guess I was wrong.  Or the writers needed him back.

Anyway, Regina's still got his hat, and they have to go to her secret lair where little bits of magic still work.  Seems to me either you have magic or you don't.  I guess the Huntsman was a case of residual magic (and even that is too much), but new magic?

He can't travel through the hat, but he can reach into it.  So he could really pull a rabbit out, but Regina predictably wants her poison apple.  She bakes what's left (ew, Snow White germs!) into a turnover. Just then, Emma comes over to say she's leaving Storybrooke. You think that'd be enough but Regina wants her permanently gone.  So she hands over the piping hot turnover ("didn't you just make that for yourself?" "that's okay, you can have it.")

Meanwhile, Henry visits August, who's mostly wood now--has Henry can see, but not Emma.  Would the others see it?  August has given up, but not Henry, who returns to Emma to find out she's leaving.  Luckily, she wasn't hungry yet, but is just about the bite into the apple.  Henry can't convince her of the curse, so he takes a bit and falls over.  Henry is a hated character, to most fans were probably gladdened by this.  I have to admit I liked it because it's going to force something.  If nothing else, Emma now knows Regina was trying to poison her.  It looks like the finale might actually point in a new direction.

Game Of Thrones, "The Old Gods And The New":

A good episode, but they all are.  Some deaths, some new characters, what else is new.  No major deaths, but we'll now be in the second half of the season and no one is safe--especially people who haven't read the books, since spoilers are everywhere.

We start with the fun at Winterfell.  As could be predicted from last week, with the castle barely defended, Theon and his skeleton crew take over.  Bran yields like a good leader to protect his people, but Theon still has to kill Rodrik Cassel when he shows disrespect.  He'll pay for that.  The whole project is bonkers, or course, but he needs to prove something to his father and sister, even though the Iron Islanders will easily be pushed back and perhaps destroyed once Robb returns.

Beyond the wall, Jon Snow marches, ready to take on the Wildlings.  They have a battle but he refuses to kill Ygritte. The two march around and maybe these wildlings ain't crazy, even if they're different. With Snow separated from his gang, who knows where he'll end up.  And as he lies with Ygritte for warmth, will he keep his vows?

At Harrenhal, Tywin holds court with useless generals, while Arya takes it all in.  Meanwhile, Littlefinger drops by!  He thinks they may strike a deal with the House Tyrell--hardly old friends, but they've now got a common enemy in Stannis.

Baelish no doubt notices Arya, but gives no indication. As he knows above all, knowledge is power.  He is at present the only man alive to know where to find her, and both sides want her quite a bit.

At King's Landing, Cersei et all watch her daughter Myrcella taking a boat to her new home, as ordered by Tyrion.  Cersei isn't happy, but that's how deals are made.  The "vicious, idiot" (according to Tyrion) King walks back to the castle and gets involved in a riot.  Some of the Court are taken.  Joffrey wants the masses killed, but there aren't enough guards for that.  The King is brought to safety, forcibly, but Sansa is missing.  Three men follow her down an alleyway and attempt to rape and or kill her before the Hound (who's got a thing for her) saves her (by brutally killing the three, of course).  Tyrion is glad she's back--without her they have no leverage to make any deals.  But the Hound notes he didn't do it for Tyrion.  Sansa herself really hates Joffrey now, but even her lady-in-waiting (and Tyrion's spy) knows enough to tell her to trust no one.

All the way across the known world in Qarth, Daenerys waits for the "Spice King" to see if he'll provide her with ships.  Turns out he won't.  She says she'll give him back his money three-fold, but since she's got no plans and no allies in Westeros, how exactly will she retake the Iron Throne?  She explains she took some old dragon eggs and turned them into dragons, as no one else could do, but she's dealing with merchants, not princes, who look to the bottom line.

When she returns to her quarters, her people have been killed (including Ser Jorah?--I can't believe they'd dispatch him offscreen) and her dragons stolen. To be continued, though I want to know this. Do her dragons remember her, and when they grow up will she be their mother?

Back at Harrenhal Arya steals a war strategy note about Robb.  She's caught by a knight (who was dressed down by Tywin) and so she has to use up the second of her three deaths promised by Jaqen to kill the man before he gets to Tywin.

Robb meets his girlfriend Talisa again and they have a cute conversation before mother Catelyn shows up out of nowhere and reminds him that he's already promised to someone. So what? He's a king.  His advisor brings words of Winterfell.  Robb wants to rush back, but is told others can handle it no problem, you can't leave a war when the enemy's on the run.  Fine, just back Theon alive.

Speaking of whom, Theon is enjoying a night with the delightfully named Osha (as others noted, Theon is covered by Osha), but she's a double agent, who works to get Bran and Rickon out as Theon snoozes. With them gone, his days as king of the manor are numbered.

So the scoreboard is changing fast.  Things are deteriorating for Joffrey (and Cersei) but Tywin may make a useful alliance to give them breathing room.  Meanwhile, Renly's dead, Robb is at least slowed down and Daenery's has plenty of problems of her own.  But still, implacable Stannis is on the march.

Also, no Jaime (in forever), no Jorah, no Stannis, no Davos, no Margaery, no Varys.  If they ever used every character in one episode, there'd be no time for anything to happen.

Mad Men, "Lady Lazarus."

Its seemed like an interim episode.  Of course, nothing ever seems to happen on Mad Men, which is part of the fascination.

Okay, a few things did happen, but they felt unresolved.  Pete, that old devil, finally gets some action, sleeping with the wife of a friend on the train. (At least she's more age-appropriate than the girl in driving school.) She's angry at her husband for cheating on her, but once they've done it, she says it's over.  This being Pete, he believes he's owed more, and tries hopelessly to get her back.  He bemoans his fate to Harry (as always, nice to have Harry around), who can only shrug his shoulders.

The gang is doing a Hard Day's Night knockoff for an ad and need to find a Beatles' sound (because no one gets the Beatles--these guys know, since they couldn't even get the Rolling Stones).

Meanwhile, Megan goes out at night for some unknown reason and Peggy has to cover for her with Don, which she doesn't enjoy at all.  Peggy has it out with Megan, who eventually tells Don where she was--auditioning for an off-Broadway show.  As suggested last week, she wants more, and is sorry she didn't try to acting thing.

Neither Don or Peggy get this.  What could be better than advertising?  (Joan figures she'll just be the classic second wife--the failed actress of a rich husband--but then, Joan, as competent as she is, still represents the last generation.)  But Don tries to be understanding, and tells her she can quit the next day.

The whole Megan-working-with-Don thing has always been troublesome.  This episode shows she's good at it (Heinz last week and Cool Whip this week--she and Don make a perfect team, while Peggy and Don screw it up (Peggy seems to be on a losing streak)) but I don't think it's been good for the show.  I don't see why Don would be happy having his wife at work and home as well, but if he is, do we really want Don to be that happy?  This whole season he seems to be more like Roger, or even Bert, sitting back and letting others take care of things. I know part of the show is how characters slowly change, but do we want this new (yet old) undynamic Don?

Also, though he relents, Don seems quite unhappy about letting his wife do her thing.  Is it that awful?  He doesn't mind her working elsewhere in advertising.  He says goodbye to her at the elevator, and then calls up another. But it's an empty shaft.  Very symbolic (or the entire series, actually), but so weird that I almost thought it was a dream sequence.

When Don goes home, Megan has bought him the latest Beatles' album, Revolver (the American version, with three less songs than the British).  She suggests he check out the last track.  Too bad Roger can't drop by with the LSD.

Don is aware of the Beatles, and even sort of likes them, but he is not hep to the latest sounds--his music is pre-rock.  Then comes the most shocking moment of the season. Don puts the vinyl on the turntable and we start listening to "Tomorrow Never Knows." No one can get the Beatles...except Matt Weiner.



Don Doesn't particularly like it.  And we're done.

The funny thing is we are almost two-thirds of the way in, and I still don't know what this season is about.