MAD MEN: “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” was an anthropologist’s study about Japanese culture, written at the request of the U.S. Office of War information in an effort to anticipate the behavior of the Japanese during WWII. Here’s the description about the book that fascinated me: “it popularized the distinction between guilt cultures and shame cultures” and we saw elements of guilt and shame throughout this episode:
–Roger and the Japanese – how incredible was John Slattery’s performance as he played Roger’s residual anger and feelings from his time in the war? I took it to be guilt and shame about the men he served with who didn’t make it back and doing business with “the enemy” (no matter how long ago it was) was something Roger couldn’t stomach.
–Bert Cooper, the most senior of SCDP partners, knowing the Japanese customs about gifts and lack thereof – he reads the signs before the rest of the crew and he’s probably the only one at SCDP who actually read the book
–Don – here was the Don Draper we know so well: realizing they didn’t need to pitch anything to the Honda people, let alone follow their long list of rules. And I loved him creating the ruse about a commercial so the other company would spend their money.
–Don and his women: I keep wanting to go back to the Madonna/whore device but it doesn’t fit here.
–Faye the research guru: he speaks very honestly with her, as he did with Rachel Menken, does this mean he really likes her or does Don just need someone to talk to?
–Phoebe the neighbor/nurse/babysitter – she no longer seems like a dating possibility, especially after the Sally haircutting incident
–Bethany the Barbizon date – she seems like a younger version of Betty with her bitchy, manipulative manner
–Sally Draper – My heart hurts for her. She’s feeling completely alienated from her mother, missing her father terribly and acting out in all sorts of ways. It wasn’t at all a surprise when she wound up in therapy at the tender age of 10. Too bad they’re not requiring her mother to join her there.
–I was convinced Betty is the worst mother of all time but then I realized she’s a product of bad parenting herself and if you don’t learn from your own parents, you won’t be able to parent your children. Even after that realization, I have zero sympathy for her and I think it’s because I feel so terrible for Sally being on the receiving end of Betty’s impatience and verbal harshness. I also think Betty is spoiled and shallow and has no desire to make herself better, which is sad and pitiful.
–The shot of the dollhouse in Dr. Edna’s office as Betty’s gaze wandered to it: Betty is still looking for her perfect dream house and dream life to go with it but it’s still out of her reach for reasons she’ll never begin to fathom.
What else struck you in this episode? I’m still mulling and I’ll need to watch it again because one viewing is never enough to absorb everything.
TONIGHT’S COVERT AFFAIRS: Tonight’s episode focuses on Auggie, Christopher Gorham’s blind analyst character and Gorham knocks it out of the park as Auggie crosses paths with a former girlfriend he may still have feelings for. The show is a bit uneven but Gorham is solid in tonight’s episode as Auggie gets out of the office and finds himself in some tough situations with a beautiful Russian computer expert.
THE CLOSER: The best scenes are still the ones between Brenda and Fritz, especially as she’s now on the short list for Chief of Police. I also liked the plot turn in this week’s episode of Fritz being appointed FBI Liason for the LAPD which puts him in very close proximity to Brenda at work and she doesn’t always play well with others, even Fritz. The best part of their relationship is that Fritz can call her on all her crap and she has to take it seriously because she’s married to him. The tense scenes between her and Will Pope (J.K. Simmons) have also been terrific as the two try to find a way to remain something like friends, even if Brenda gets the top job.
LIE TO ME: I’m endlessly fascinated by Tim Roth’s performance in this show and it’s because he’s playing Cal Lightman, expert on all things deception, much looser and quirkier this season. It’s as if Cal is coming just a little unstrung and you’d think that would undermine the performance but it doesn’t. I still don’t understand Cal’s crush on his partner/co-worker Gillian played by Kelli Williams but I’m willing to stay with the show and see where they go with it. Yes, she’s the one who reads Cal best but that can’t be the only reason he’s into her.
EARLY HEADS UP FOR THURSDAY NIGHT: the summer finales of BURN NOTICE and ROYAL PAINS on USA. On TCM: the Elia Kazan-directed classic “A Face in the Crowd” starring Andy Griffith and the late great Patricia Neal in the definitive story about celebrity and what it does to people. On PBS, POV: The Edge of Dreaming – I read a short article about this documentary and it sounds intriguing: “Scottish filmmaker Amy Hardie has built a career making science documentaries that reflect her rational temperament. When she dreamed one night that her horse was dying, only to wake the next morning and find the horse dead, she dismissed the incident as a coincidence. Then she dreamed she would die at age 48 — only one year away. When Hardie does get ill, just as the dream predicted, she visits neuroscience experts and eventually a shaman. The Edge of Dreaming is an evocative, intimate chronicle of that year and a fascinating investigation into the human subconscious.”
REMINDER: The Emmys are Sunday night. Look for Jimmy Fallon and the LNWJF crew to update the show in different ways, including incorporating Twitter into the show to capitalize on Jimmy’s considerable following there.
HAWAII 5-0 MARATHON: Via MediaWeek: Male-driven Spike TV, the cable cousin of CBS, will gear up for the new version of Hawaii Five-O with a marathon of the original 1968-80 crime drama beginning on Monday, August 30 from 9am – 6pmET. Forty-five episodes will air through Friday, September 3rd. Spike TV’s marathon will also feature special previews of the new series, which premieres on CBS on Monday, Sept. 20.
STUNT CASTING OR DESPERATE?: Jennifer Aniston booked to guest on COUGARTOWN. Yeah yeah, I know she and Courteney Cox are BFFs. It still seems sad. Or maybe it’s just me.
THE DAILY SHOW SCORES AGAIN: http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Be sure to watch Jon Stewart’s rant about Fox News and his segment with Rod Blagojevich; both in last night’s show (August 23).
TODAY’S SURF WRITTEN WHILE LISTENING TO: Cee-Lo Green’s “F*#k You” single on a continuous loop because it’s the groove of the summer and possibly the year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAV0XrbEwNc&has_verified=1
Follow me on Twitter @thesurfreport and just a reminder: The Surf Report is also on the internets: http://thesurfreport.biz
Tonight’s rundown:
ABC: 8:00 p.m. Wipeout 9:00 p.m. Shaq Vs. 10:00 p.m. Primetime: What Would You Do?
CBS: 8:00 p.m. NCIS (R) 9:00 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles (R) 10:00 p.m. The Good Wife (R)
NBC: 8:00 p.m. Minute to Win It 9:00 p.m. America’s Got Talent (2 hours)
FOX: 8:00 p.m. Glee (R) 9:00 p.m. Glee (R)
THE CW: 8:00 p.m. Plain Jane (R) 9:00 p.m. Life Unexpected (R)
Bravo: 9pm: Flipping Out, 10pm: Rachel Zoe Project
Comedy Central: 10pm: Big Lake (2 episodes)
Discovery: 10pm: The Colony
FX: 10pm: Rescue Me, 11pm: Louie
Oxygen: 9pm: Bad Girls Club
Syfy: 9pm: Warehouse 13
TNT: 9pm: Hawthorne (season finale), 10pm: Memphis Beat (season finale)
USA: White Collar, Covert Affairs
On WHITE COLLAR: Peter helps the U.S. Marshal Service find an FBI agent who’s leaking federal witnesses before they testify. After naming the suspect, Peter goes on the run with the agent while he tries to prove the agent’s innocence.
That’s a wrap for now.
