Mad Men!

Mark here...Laurel and I have settled in for an amazing dinner and our start of the first season of Mad Men.  Laurel has made us some amazing Beef Wellington with Green Peppercorn Sauce, Green Beans, and Ambrosia Salad.  I've made some Baked Stuffed Potatoes.  The rich menu is inspired by our next show to blog about, "Mad Men."  We're also having Sidecar cocktails to wash it all down.

I have seen the show before but it's been a while and I forgot how amazing the style is.  Having not been there in the 60s I can't speak to the authenticity but certainly the show's stylists should be commended for maintaining a certain look.  To give a brief idea of the premise...we are introduced to Don Draper, the Creative Director at an Ad Agency in the early 60s.  He is tasked with coming up with a new campaign to sell cigarettes, which are now proven to be unhealthy.  Along the way, we see the sexism of the day, all the secretaries at the agency are assumed to be there to find a husband (and expected to do no better than secretary).  Also, all the executives seem to drink all day long.  Don romances one woman in the beginning of the episode and another mid way through.  The twist at the end is that he's a married family man.

The other characters of note that we meet are Peggy and Pete.  Pete is the upstart young executive, who clearly represents the good old boys network. He has no social skills, minimal talent and eyes young girls left and right...oh, and he's getting married.  Peggy is Don's new secretary, who's thrown into a world of men who tell her to show more leg and totally dismiss her.

Hi..Laurel here.  One of the things that really stood out to me about this episode (with the benefit of hindsight) is that the shows creators/writers really knew what they were looking for from the beginning.  Don, Pete, and Roger are exactly who they turn out to be in this first episode.  They knew what they wanted and it shows, the characters are completely developed from the get go, these guys really knew what they were doing and had a well thought out concept from the beginning.  Other characters like Peggy and Joan are a little different than how we end up knowing them but it's because they grow and change over time, not because there wasn't a clear idea of who the characters are.

Pete is such an asshole!  (like always).  He's having his bachelor party in this episode, and while he's on the phone with his fiance discussing it, he says, and I quote "Of course I love you.  I'm giving up my life for you, aren't I?"  OMG!  What a dick! and as we later find out, so true to character.

I also think it was an interesting choice that they choose to focus on Lucky Strike as the first client.  It's a super interesting concept to see them grappling with, considering our perspective from the future.  They have just come to terms with the fact that cigarettes aren't safe and need to find a different way to market them.

Another thing that Mark and I noticed were ladies bras.  They are so pointy it's insane!  I was telling Mark that I took a class about alfred hitchcock's "Vertigo" in college and we discussed that bras at the time were all about engineering, if it was comfortable than you weren't doing it right.  The fabric was all very structural and stiff so there was no other option but to make a cone and sew it up on one side.  poor ladies!

Prophecy Girl

Mark here...Laurel and I are here sitting down for another night of blogging and dinner.  Tonight I made us some steaks with bearnaise again.  This time to spice it up a bit I made a homemade demi-glace and added it to the bearnaise.  Laurel made us a kale salad to go along, which was a nice side to balance out all the fat!

We're on to the last episode of Season One of Buffy, "Prophecy Girl".  We had a few false starts trying to watch this episode, I think because the beginning is so slow.  Basically the episode starts with Xander confessing his love for Buffy, which doesn't turn out as he had hoped.  The big prophecy of the title is then revealed, via Giles, that Buffy will face the Master and die.  This is accidentally overheard by Buffy and she gives a  big "I don't want to die speech" that only an entertainment writer could love.

In any case, we find out prophecy's are tricky things.  Buffy herself allows the Master to go free and he kills her by leaving her to drown.  But Xander and Angel arrive in time to give her CPR.  It's a nice twist that sets up future things to come.  One of the shows main rules is that to each generation one slayer is born and the next one is called when that one dies.  Buffy effectively "dies' in this episode but is revived.  When she comes back she is revitalized and proceeds to take down the Master, who is killed at the end.

One other thing to note, Jenny Calendar is around and still annoying and out of place...like a resident of Melrose Place who's randomly in Sunnydale.  Every line from her sounds extremely awkward.

Laurel here..I agree.  The only thing to add is that this episode was awesomely 90s.  It's funny to see the producers/art department doing the best with what they had, and they really stretch it out here.   I'm proud of them for making a good looking (for the time) season finale with obviously limited resources.  Also I'm not sure how prom fits into all of this but Buffy ends up "dying" in her prom dress (a super boring white empire waist dress) which totally adds to the teenagerness of the whole situation.