"I went to a place to eat. It said 'breakfast at any time.' So I ordered french toast during the Renaissance". --Steven Wright ... If you are a devotee of time travel, check out this song...

Monday, September 20, 2010

Mad Men 4.9: "Business of Sadists and Masochists"

Miss Blankenship had the best line in Mad Men 4.9 tonight - our gang's in a "business of sadists and masochists" - and the very close second is a line from Don about her.   It was the most comedy - hilarious at times - I can recall ever on Mad Men, and the episode managed to still work in a lot of serious, poignant punch as well.

Blankenship draws the ultimate blank right at her desk - that is, she drops dead - just a few minutes after Sally has shown up at the door.   Don asks Dr. Faye to take Sally back to his apartment - where the two were in bed just this morning - and when Faye objects, Don gets off that second best line:  "I would have my secretary do it, but she's dead."  That line felt so good, maybe it's actually the best.

This was also the best Sally show so far, with a really outstanding performance by Kiernan Shipka.  Sally wants to get away from Betty, colder than ice, and getting more despicable as a mother with every episode.    Who can blame Sally for wanting to live with Don.   I would have liked to have seen Don say yes to Sally, and maybe that will happen by the end of this season.

Meanwhile, the other big story in tonight's show, not funny at all, but winning, is between Joan and Roger.   The two love each other, no doubt, but at this point only Roger is willing to admit that.   He sends a pair of masseuses of to Joan's home as a present, and has dinner with her the next night.   As they're walking back to Joan's apartment - through a neighborhood Joan says she's not that comfortable with any more - the two are accosted by a stick-up man.   In the aftermath, robbed only their possessions, Joan passionately kisses Roger.  She's in shock because of the gunpoint robbery, and her true feelings come out.   I was glad to see them together.

So this rare episode with some laugh-out-loud humor at Blankenship's expense also had some read tenderness and depth - a fine, refreshing mix for Mad Men.

See also Mad Men 4.1: Chicken Kiev, Lethal Interview, Ham Fight ... 4.2: "Good Time, Bad Time?" "Yes." ... 4.3: Both Coasts ... 4.4: "The following program contains brief nudity ..."  4.5: Fake Out and Neurosis ... 4.6: Emmys, Clio, Blackout, Flashback  ... 4.7: 'No Credits on Commercials' ... 4.8: A Tale of Two Women

And from Season 3: Mad Men Back for 3 and 3.2: Carvel, Penn Station, and Diet Soda and 3.3: Gibbon, Blackface, and Eliot and 3.4: Caned Seats and a Multiple Choice about Sal's Patio Furniture and 3.5: Admiral TV, MLK, and a Baby Boy and 3.6: A Saving John Deere and 3.7: Brutal Edges ... August Flights in 3.8 ... Unlucky Strikes and To the Moon Don in 3.9 ... 3.10: The Faintest Ink, The Strongest Television ... Don's Day of Reckoning in Mad Men 3.11 ... Mad Men 3.12: The End of the World in Mad Men ... Mad Men Season 3 Finale: The End of the World

And from Season Two: Mad Men Returns with a Xerox and a Call Girl ... 2.2: The Advertising Devil and the Deep Blue Sea ... 2.3 Double-Barreled Power ... 2.4: Betty and Don's Son ... 2.5: Best Montage Since Hitchcock ... 2.6: Jackie, Marilyn, and Liberty Valance ... 2.7: Double Dons ... 2.8: Did Don Get What He Deserved? ... 2.9: Don and Roger ... 2.10: Between Ray Bradbury and Telstar ... 2.11: Welcome to the Hotel California ... 2.12 The Day the Earth Stood Still on Mad Men ... 2.13 Saving the Best for Last on Mad Men

And from Season One: Mad Men Debuts on AMC: Cigarette Companies and Nixon ... Mad Men 2: Smoke and Television ... Mad Men 3: Hot 1960 Kiss ... Mad Men 4 and 5: Double Mad Men ... Mad Men 6: The Medium is the Message! ... Mad Men 7: Revenge of the Mollusk ... Mad Men 8: Weed, Twist, Hobo ... Mad Man 9: Betty Grace Kelly ... Mad men 10: Life, Death, and Politics ... Mad Men 11: Heat! ... Mad Men 12: Admirable Don ... Mad 13: Double-Endings, Lascaux, and Holes

20-minute interview with Rich Sommer (Harry Crane) at Light On Light Through




                 Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, eHarmony, eMusic, Mozy, Zazzle








The Plot to Save Socrates




"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book


No comments:

InfiniteRegress.tv