This Week on My TV: August 9, 2014

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(Mad Men, S7E6 "The Strategy") Something I have been baffled by all season: How did Pete land Bonnie?? And he's still married to Trudy?! -- I'll say it again: Don's secretary is *such* an airhead. -- Oof. Poor Peggy. Somehow, Ted keeps popping up where she is least prepared for him. -- Pete [about Peggy]: You know she's every bit as good as any woman in this business. ... OUCH. -- Ken Cosgrove saying "you really gotta keep an eye on him" is so funny for all the wrong reasons. -- What is Megan's angle, showing up in New York, unannounced? Still can't figure her out. -- LOL! Peggy breaking into the tiki bar in Lou's office. -- Peggy [to Don]: Did you park your white horse outside? Spare me the suspense and tell me what your "save the day" plan is. -- Don is still mentoring Peggy, she just needs to see it. -- I thought Pete's jackets were...loud. Bob Benson is wearing on in this episode that look like a box of Crayola melted into a jacket. -- Bob Benson [following Joan's rejection of his "marriage" proposal]: I know I'm flawed, but I am offering you more than anyone else *ever* will. Joan: No, you're not, Bob, because I want love, and I'd rather die *hoping* that happens, than make some arrangement. And you should too. -- Peggy and Don are at their best when they're together. I love them cynical and laughing and collaborating. -- Don [to Peggy]: I worry about a lot of things...but I don't worry about you. -- Peggy is so pretty when she drops her defenses, whether that means open vulnerability or quiet confidence. Anything but pinched and bitter. -- Oh my heart, Peggy and Don dancing to Sinatra's "My Way." -- Love love love Peggy's new direction for her Burger Chef ad pitch: "every table is the family table." And then cameras pulling back on Don, Peggy, and Pete, eating together. Like family. Each other's family, these three lost and floundering souls. Reunited. I feel like it has shades of the early seasons.

**(Murder in the First, S1E2 "The City of Sisterly Love") I will say this about the obligatory chase scene that every episode of a police show much have: at least there was no chain link fence over which to be climbed; it was exchanged for a less common tumble down some stairs. Points for mild originality (at least, I can't recall the last time I saw that done). -- Not sure which I find more horrifying: the sister of the dead wife dropping her robe for the grieving widower or picking the used tissue out of the trash with the kitchen tongs and putting them back in the crock on the counter? -- I love that they set the show in San Francisco. I have a soft spot for that city. -- This episode has a better pace than the pilot, which gives me hope.

**(The Bridge, S2E4 "The Acorn") The first question, when Eleanor Nacht appears in a scene with any other person, is "how long til he/she is dead?" -- Ray is sitting there, telling Charlotte about how they'll run away to Alaska, buy a trailer on a couple of acres, have a fire pit, she can pop out a couple of kids, and that's how they'll be, til they die. Charlotte says "that's nice" in a tone of voice that suggests she'd rather he just kill her now. -- Daniel Frye is such a douche, but he makes me laugh. -- Now why did Dobbs' brother steal that particular picture off Sonya's refrigerator? -- Deal?? Fausto and Eleanor have a deal?? What is this deal?? (This actually intrigued/bothered me more than wondering who (or what) was inside that cage and took the acorn from Eleanor.)

**(Murder in the First, S1E2 "The City of Sisterly Love") It has to be too obvious that Erich Blunt would be the killer...right? Either way, he sure does...get around with his employees. -- Duh, lady. You can't violate a non-disclosure agreement to a cop, relating to a major murder investigation, and expect him to keep it a secret. -- Real estate lingo is a dirty, dirty trick. Spin, spin, spin. That apartment "in a classic building with a treetop view" was a DUMP. -- Sheesh. All the ladies are just throwing themselves at Terry. His deceased wife's sister. His real estate agent. Is "grieving widower" a lady magnet?

**(Reckless, S1E2 "Parting Shots") Roy: Ah, Yankees. Jamie: Your all purpose insult. Roy: You know, you are too blunt, Jamie. Jamie: What am I supposed to say? Roy: Nothing. Or "bless your heart." That's what we say when we don't like something. -- Oh, so Cruz was working undercover and that's how he got into that footage? Hmmm... -- So Lee Anne has a jealous and insecure husband who is a disabled veteran. Interesting twist. -- Whoa! I did not see it coming that the mother in the custody case set up the shooting on herself! -- Is there anything cuter than Roy video chatting with his girls? I think not.

**(Motive, S2E10 "Nobody Lives Forever") I always puzzle over the water bottles in the squad room. Is it purely decor or is it also supposed to be functional? -- I will admit, I find it intriguing that this show, which is actually shown and set in Canada (then aired later in the U.S.) had a theme of illegal aliens. You never hear anything about it being an issue in Canada. Or, at least, I've never heard it mentioned before. -- I called the parts about the security company calling to inquire about the failed attempts to access the safe, that the victim  was killed trying to be the killer, that the victim was the killer's husband, but not that it was self defense, which, oddly, given the details I had gathered, should have been a logical leap. -- I know I've said this before, but I really enjoy the way they "fade" from one scene to the next on this show. -- I don't recall them weaving in a season long arc in the first season of this show (if they did, it was either super subtle or quite forgettable), but I'm not sure how I feel about the one they've played with this season. It's dragging too much, which shouldn't be an issue for a show that is only thirteen episodes long.

**(Turn, S1E6 "Mr Culpeper") I totally fell for the opening scene, thinking Abraham had somehow been caught trying to pass spy messages! Well played, Turn, to have it be just a scenario playing out as Nathaniel Sackett was imagining possible scenarios and their outcomes. -- I love the authority and mystery they've woven into George Washington's "character." -- For as despicable as Major Andre is, I love the way he treats Abigail. He's friendly and kind. -- Hahahaha!Mr Sackett's dismay over the spy ring's failure to use encryption. -- I found the whole bit with Abraham's capture by a lone rebel to be very odd and mildly confusing. I guess I didn't see the point? -- Andre's redressing of Simcoe in front of his peers after he killed the released-POW-turned-spy that Andre hoped to turn into a double spy was very satisfying. -- I'm impressed by Ben Tallmadge and the nerve he had to tell Washington the fault with the chain of spies was a lack of trust. He's right, you can't have success with a mission of that nature without total trust for each of its members.

**(The Last Ship, S1E2 'Welcome to Gitmo") I can't even imagine listening to all those radio transmissions of terrified, dying people and being unable to do anything about it. Heartbreaking, especially when you don't know the fate of your own loved ones. -- Why does it seem like the XO on most of these shows is always the weakest link? -- It was pretty crazy how ghost-town-ish Gitmo looked when the special teams landed to collect fuel, food, and supplies. -- So that's how the Russians knew where the ship was located: Quincey. -- Big fan of the prison guard from Gitmo. I like the rough around the edges, rowdy comic relief he provides. Glad to see he seems to be sticking around.

**(The Last Ship, S1E3 "Dead Reckoning") So, after a lot of posturing between the captains of the two ships, the Nathan James outwits the Russians...for now. But I have to imagine they will be back. I mean, they do have that nuclear-powered ship, a desire for the vaccine, and Quincey's family onboard. -- About the Russians having Quincey's family. Or is it had? Are they still alive? I can see what a terrible position he was in. -- Lt Kara Foster: I can knock the nipples off a chicken from a thousand yards, sir. -- What is the deal with that man in the plastic sheeted room on the Russian ship?! Why does he need a microwave oven? And why did he breathe on that lab mouse??