Another highly entertaining episode of Madmen. Don is definitely at a low point in his life; even in business where he was last season at the top of his game he is remarkably ineffectual. The best scene
in the episode is when Don's neighbor, the doctor comes into Don and his wife's apartment with their daughter, Sally, also present. It had the quality of a farce often seen in French films when the doctor and then Don's wife tell Don how wonderful he has been because of what he has done for the doctor's son not knowing that Don has just slept with the doctor's wife. Sally, who walked in on Don and the doctor's wife, finally explodes. Totally hilarious.

The finale of Game of Thrones was another great episode, in which many loose ends were tied up.
The two most memorable scenes: 1. John Snow's lover turning on him and watching her enormous emotional pain as she does so. 2. Khalessi showing her extraordinary leadership skills and inspiring the love of the former slaves who have been freed because of her actions. I'm not sure why the woman who has Stanislaw in her power saves his adviser from death but that was certainly a surprise.

A terrific episode of Game of Thrones. Really intense and totally gripping. A betrayal that when it happened came as a complete surprise even though in retrospect it should have been foreseen as a possibility. The events were disturbing but very well filmed. The people who I was rooting for didn't emerge victorious, quite to the contrary. I won't say more in case you want to watch it.

Another  highly entertaining episode of Madmen. Once again the sixties was the backdrop for the episode. There were the protests at the Democratic National Convention and the violent police reaction as captured on TV, and a party where everyone was smoking hashish with huge water pipes and those wild sixties clothes and the soundtrack with great music from the sixties. This episode had a lot of infighting at the firm which provided the drama. Peggy comes to the rescue of Joan who is in conflict with Pete, a character who it is very hard not to dislike. Lots of things are still developing so the next episode should also be really good.

"Game of Thrones" was not on last Sunday, because they had a special movie on about Liberace. The acting --- Michael Douglas and Matt Damon --- is supposed to be great. So this gives me an excuse to
change the blog from Sunday night television to Sunday entertainment and tell you about an excellent movie, "Stories we tell". It is a documentary about a family and the main characters are the daughter and her father. She investigates and recounts the story of her mother and a key theme is the relationship between husband and wife. The daughter explores her childhood --- I won't tell you anymore because I don't want to spoil it for you. The father and daughter play themselves but the rest of the family are actors, but you don't learn this till the credits come on at the end. It therefore preserves the feel of a documentary.

The last episode of Madmen was thoroughly enjoyable. Back to old form it was highly entertaining with some unexpected events: Don having a fling with his ex-wife and Peggy accidentally stabbing her boyfriend, leading to their breakup. It was sad to see Peggy treated so badly by Ted but says a lot about the attitudes of the times. Best line: In response to being told that there's a good job opportunity in Wichita, Pete says: "Is there anything back here on earth."

This last episode of "Game of Thrones" was thoroughly enjoyable. There were no new characters; the characters previously introduced were further developed. Khalessi is really developing into a strong leader even though she can also be at times ruthless. Every scene with Peter Dinklage is great; he's a great actor. I'd really like to see how his new marriage develops. The sets on the show are wonderful.
Does anybody know where it's filmed?

This last episode of "Madmen" was strange. Portraying the times, the sixties, it had in it "free love" and "drugs". Everyone at the ad agency receives a shot ---- a concoction of different drugs that get them high. The behavior that results is very strange, giving the show a surreal quality. Don, who's been acting strange all season, is especially weird in this episode. The flashbacks to his life as a child --- linking the past and the present are very effective.

Maybe the writers for "Game of Thrones" saw my blog from last week --- just kidding --- but this last episode was very easy to follow and thoroughly enjoyable. More next week about the story and the characters.

One of the noteworthy aspects of "Madmen" is the multiple readings or interpretations that are possible for events in the show. While this is usually a good thing, sometimes, like in the last episode, this can result in confusion , which makes the episode unsatisfying. One good thing, though, about this episode is that the relationship between Don and his mistress seems to have come to an end. I didn't like or really understand their relationship.

As an addendum to my previous blog, I'd like to note that as cited in the film review in the Guardian by Philip French Henry James asked: "Are we not moreover --- and let this pass as a happy note --- pretty
well all novelists now"? I recommend  the review which has a similar take and ideas on the film as my own.

One of the reasons why I decided to use this blog to write about  Sunday night TV shows is that I feel that they are superior to most of the movies that come out. But today I saw a great movie that I'd like to
tell you about. I'll write later about the weekly Sunday night TV shows. It's a French film called "In the house"--- "Dans la maison" in French --- and it's a meditation on both the writing process and the way we construct our life stories, the narratives of our lives. An insightful psychological exploration of the writing process, writing is viewed as a projection of our desires and needs. In the film the stories that are created by the protagonist --- a budding writer --- and reality are not always distinguishable: reality is a subjective experience in which we are all writers creating our narratives.

This season of Game of Thrones is exceptionally difficult to follow; there are so many characters and the plot is so complex. I still enjoy it but I wish they would simplify it; it's becoming a strain to watch.
Especially interesting in last Sunday's episode was the further development of the relationship between Jon Snow and the woman who initially captured him.

After a disappointing episode last week, it was good to see Madmen return to form this week with a highly entertaining episode. Don and Peter are both a lot of fun to watch because they behave so badly.
It's incredible that Peter with a completely straight face can call someone else a hypocrite. The episode also had a really nice and surprising twist: the merger of the two advertising firms.

Sunday Night TV Shows

They say that this is the Golden Age of Television and I wholeheartedly agree
that there are many great television shows. Two of my favorites are "Madmen" and "Game of Thrones"
which are on every Sunday night. I'll be offering my opinions on each weekly episode on this blog.