when it rains, it pours

I didn't feel too good after watching this week's episode of Mad Men. I suppose you could say that this episode, titled "Hands and Knees," wasn't the most uplifting of the current season. There was nothing but drama. And yes, I know that this show is classified as a drama, but this episode in particular seemed to have nothing but. I suppose with Miss Blankenship's passing, our guaranteed bit of comic relief passed on with her. At this point I feel like we're all over the place with our hero (anti-hero), Don Draper. First he's a drowning drunk. Then he's swimming his way back to the man he was. Now it seems he's stuck on a sinking ship. But more on our guy Don, in a bit.

This week, we opened with Roger in his office, and in walks Joan all aglow. Yes, she's glowing. She's got a certain, how do you say, "je ne sais quoi" about her. Turns out she's late. I know, I too thought, "Oh that's silly, she can't be late, she's standing in Roger's office--it looks like she made it to work just in time." No, no, she's late. She's laaaaate. Well, it was bound to happen with these two, wasn't it? A part of me was thinking that Matthew Weiner would never go there. They'd have their late night, post-mugging quickie up against a wall and that'd refuel their romance. But he went there--to babytown--and now we have a bit of a situation on our hands. But Joanie, being the forward-thinking woman she is (remember in Season 1 when she referred Peggy to her doctor for birth control pills?) knew exactly how she was going to handle this situation: abortion. But seeing as this is the 1960's and Roe v. Wade has yet to happen, she'd have to go to a specialist and pay the guy $400 for taking care of it. Oh, to be in a world where terminating your pregnancy was a no-no, how suspenseful and exciting it'd be! But never fear, apparently all went as it should have. Joan went to the doctor. She calmly sat in the waiting room with a magazine. She calmly consoled a woman who's seventeen-year-old daughter was getting the procedure. She calmly lied and basically said the was waiting for her daughter too. She calmly assured Roger that everything was taken care of. Do you believe her? I'd like to think that she went to the doctor, and did what she went there to do. But I wouldn't be surprised if the issue arised again....in baby-form!

And what's going on with the other employees of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce? Well, the Draper's getting back into the good graces of his daughter, Sally, after last week's incident. And just how is he doing that? With Beatles tickets of course. YES. We've entered the age of The Beatles. Nothing will ever be the same. And I think the best actress of the night was Kiernan Shipka. Her reaction to hearing the news was spot on. That moment was probably the happiest moment of the episode. Even Betty cracked a smile and was genuinely excited for her. What could possibly ruin this? Later hearing that Don hasn't officially gotten the tickets was a bit of a sting. This only made me worry that the plan would fall through, and all would be lost for his relationship with Sally.

Don wasn't the only one trying to mend his relationship with his child. Lane, toting a plush Mickey Mouse (giving off just a slight hint of desperation) rushed to reception upon hearing that he had a visitor, assuming it was his son, Nigel. Oh dear; tis not Nigel. In fact, it is Lane's father, with what I'm sure is great news from London. He's basically come to get him and take him back to the UK. This reminds me of the movie Cool Runnings, when Junior's father flies out to Canada to bring his son home to Jamaica--but if we all remember correctly, Junior assertively refused, and then later proved to his father that that he made the right decision in staying in Canada, and in turn, made his father proud. I wish I could say the same for Lane and his father, but unfortunately, their story took a slightly different route. Junior proved he made the right choice by finishing the bobsled race at the Olympics. Lane proved he made the right choice by taking his father out (dragging Don along) to a Playboy club. Yeaaaah, not the same result. Lane, looking like he was already a bit drunk, called one of the bunnies over and handled her a little closer than the usual patron. Turns out, the bunny is Toni, a girl Lane is seeing. I'm not sure how long they've been together, or even how they met. But I'd assume that one day he went to the club, feeling sad and depressed, and Toni felt sorry for him, and she happened to be on her break, so they sat and talked, and when she got off of work, they sat and talked some more, and BOOM--they're dating. I really think it could have happened that way. Well that's aside from the point, according to Lane's father. It seems he wants nothing to do with meeting Toni, and as Lane pointed out, is it because she's black or because she's not his wife? We don't know what exactly Lane's father is thinking but he lets Lane know that he can't have both London and New York. My opinion is that he's a traditional man, who thinks his son should be on the same continent as his family, so of course, he won't open himself up to anything else. And this makes me feel sorry for Lane. Maybe Toni's his rebound girl, maybe not, but it seems like he's moved on (or is at least trying) and it has to be tough for him to see that his father flew all the way to NY not because he's interested in what his son's been doing, but because he's interested in bringing his son back to his previous life. Ugh, Drama City.

As I mentioned earlier, our guy Don seems to be tasting the fuzzy side of the lollipop in this episode. Once again, his past comes back to haunt him, and this time, it could be bad. It all started with Pete Campbell's hard-earned client, North American Aviation. They're worth about 4 million dollars, so of course, SCDP would like to work for them. We go from a hunky-dory client meeting to special agents from the U.S. Government visiting Mrs. Betty Francis, at the Draper home--sorry, I meant the Francis home. Betty, acting as normal as she can, basically sits through 45 minutes of answering personal questions about her ex-husband, and we all know about the elephant in the room. That elephant is named Dick Whitman. After she's in the clear, Betty of course rings Don at work, gives him the gist of the situation, and passes over the panic to him. And boy, when Don panics, he panics. Understandably so, though, since if the government found out that he changed his name, especially about how he changed it, Don Draper's life would literally be over. So he panics. He yells at Meghan (for filling out the government form for the background check that was needed to work with N. American Aviation). He vomits (as gross as his mouth must be, that close up shot of him post-vomit was quite nice). He sets up a trust fund for his kids (just in case anything should happen to him and his perfect life). He tells Dr. Faye all about what happened that night in Korea. He rides Pete hard to get him to talk to his buddy in the Defense Department (the one he mentioned when he tried to blackmail Don in Season 1). And finally, he makes Pete come up with an excuse to get rid of North American Aviation as a client, just to save himself from getting caught. Now, I know Pete has secrets and trust issues of his own (ahem, affair with Peggy; ahem, child with Peggy given up for adoption) but I felt bad for him. He worked really hard to get this client and at this point, SCDP, needs every client it can get. So I think Don really owes him for this one. The client meeting was so uncomfortable to witness. Pete was basically chewed out by Roger for losing the client (when really, I'm sure Roger was mostly venting from losing their biggest client, Lucky Strike. Thanks a lot, Jerk of the Year, Lee Garner Jr.). Talk about dishonesty--can't wait until that bomb explodes.

In the end, Don Draper is still Don Draper. He's still a partner at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. He's still taking his daughter, Sally, to see The Beatles. And he's still running from his past as Dick Whitman. He may have dodged this bullet, but he's still changed his identity, and that's something that he can't just bury. It's bound to come up again. But for now, he'll go on living his life--the one he's made for himself.

Question: What was Don's look to Meghan all about?? I know she's a striking woman, but geez, Don, has this past season taught you nothing?? Can't wait to see what happens here, Matthew Weiner wouldn't leave us with that last shot for nothing.

Smidge of Comic Relief: Trudy Campbell. Oh, you. Thanks so much for wearing that little pink baby doll while as pregnant as you are. You were like a giant, pink cottonball. A pompom. An orb of innocence (and sexuality, did you SEE how short the baby doll was?). Bless you, Trudy Campbell, bless you.

Suicide Watch: There are a lot of theories out there about this show concerning a possible suicide from one of the characters. Well, if I were to run with those theories, and base it on this episode alone, I'd think that Lane is the one to end it all. That could change. But right now, I'd say he's in first place in the Suicide Race. What do you think?

Complaint: I love this show. I love that in its timeslot, it can get away with so much, writing-wise, that other shows can't. Until now. In Roger's rant against Pete, the f-word was used. It was used, and it was bleeped. And that took me out of the reality of the show. I complain to Matthew Weiner for putting that in there, knowing the small chances of it actually being heard. And I complain to the censors, for not allowing it to squeak by this one time. According to my colleague on this blog, the f-word was put there so that it may be heard when the DVD comes out. Nevertheless, if it was going to be bleeped, it shouldn't have been there in the first place, in my opinion.

What will happen next week? Will Don go after Meghan? Will Stan go after Peggy? Will Roger go after Joan? Will Glenn (yes, scary neighborhood Glenn) go after Sally? Will anything at all make me laugh? We shall see.

everyone's had their face sliced open before, am i right?

Last Thursday, the surgeons of Seattle Grace returned to work (and Grey's Anatomy returned to our television sets) and it was obvious that the hospital was still in recovery mode from the mass murder that occurred in last year's season finale. To refresh your memories, an angry, sad, and armed widower entered the hospital with intentions of killing Derek, the Chief of Surgery responsible for his wife's death (he pulled the plug). All of the surgeons of Seattle Grace were traumatized that day; some physically, some emotionally. Weeks later, we see that the principles (season regulars) involved in the incident are all going through counseling, in order to be cleared for surgery.

Since the shooting, people have changed. Derek, having had a very close brush with death, is now an adrenaline junkie, getting off on speeding on the freeway, and crazy surgeries--the latter of which he can now perform after quitting as Chief of Surgery and returning to Achieves the Impossible Neurosurgeon. Cristina's getting married to Owen. Yes, they went from an intentionally violent relationship (he strangled her in his sleep), to a so-so relationship (he still had feelings for Teddy), to nearly breaking up, to being engaged. Oh, what a rollercoaster their relationship is. Then again, I do believe every relationship on Grey's Anatomy has issues, but if I start going into that, this post may never end. Let's get back to the task at hand. Derek's a speed-demon, Cristina's getting married, Alex thinks the bullet inside him makes him look like a bad ass, Miranda's just a bundle of nerves (I'd be too if I had had a gun pointed at my head), Lexie's recovering from a very bad case of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), Callie is super-duper in love with Arizona, Teddy's with a new man, and Meredith--having had a miscarriage--is doing surprisingly well, though she never told Derek about the incident.

So everyone's in the process of getting cleared for surgery, and it seems that Cristina and Meredith (much to Cristina's indifference and Meredith's dismay) have yet to be cleared. And it's a great time to get cleared for surgery because there's a boy with a brain tumor and the only way to get it out involves his face being sliced in half. Yep. You gotta love the surgeries that come into this hospital; what'll those writers think of next? The boy's jaw will literally be sawed in half--yuck. And while Derek was feeling all confident that everything will all work out for the best, I was on Meredith's side when she stepped in and gave a very blunt rundown of the risks and affects of the surgery. If I was the boy's mother--as painful as it'd be--I'd want to hear the complete truth too. But of course, it wouldn't be good television without showing the crazy surgery (or would it?) so they go ahead with the surgery. And, I've been watchig this show for years. I was also a huge fan of ER and I'll go back even further and say I watched Chicago Hope when it was on Lifetime. And since I'm here, I'll go further than that and say that I made a big habit of getting up early on summer mornings (no school) and watching Rescue 911 reruns. So, with all of that, I'm pretty OK around graphic surgeries and injuries. But, when I saw Dr. Sloane (oh, Mark, I'll confess you are nice to look at) literally saw that boy's face in half, I do believe I cringed. But don't worry, all went well. Sure, the boy at one point--face insanely swollen--woke up in ravaging pain, but after a nice little pep talk from Derek, he powers through in hopes of recovering.

I guess that's what this episode was about: recovery. The surgeons involved in the shooting experienced a trauma that, sure, could emotionally be compared to getting your face sawed in half. And they each had their own way of of recovering from it. Cristina married Owen. They did it. The episode ended with their wedding at Meredith's house, and it was simple and lovely. Meredith doubted that Cristina truly wanted to marry Owen, and I can understand that. To go from wanting to break up, to getting a gun to your head, to wanting to get married, is a bit unusual. But, whatever. I loved Cristina's monologue to the counselor ("I think you're either born simple, or you're born...me.") I mean, you give Sandra Oh a monologue, and she knocks it out of the park everytime. She's half of the reason why I stay loyal to this show--because, it does tend to get sudsy, if you know what I mean. But back to Cristina. I understood her. It was simple. She's spent most of her life one way, but in the end, she realized that she wants what everyone else wants--to be loved. And with Owen, she is that. And it was quite convenient when Owen walked in on Cristina crying, saying she doesn't want to be alone, and out pops an engagement ring. He was planning on it. They thought the same way. And if years down the line, they realize they rushed into things, then so be it. But right now, they are happy, and in love, and that's what matters. Lexie, after a stint in psych (as a patient) has gone back to brunette and is seeing things clearly again. So much so that she ably puts Alex in his place by reminding him that while he was close to death, he cried out for Izzy, the one who left him. I really do hope these two are truly broken up so that Lexie and Mark can be together again. Derek, even after being in jail, speeds again, and yes, is put in jail again. Meredith, being the assertive one she is (except for the whole "not telling Derek about the miscarriage" thing) made sure he stayed there, even if it mean him missing the wedding. Let's face it, Meredith wasn't in full recovery mode, but as we've seen from past experience, this character takes longer than others to get past anything. Callie asked Arizona to move in with her. Just to move in with her. Not to marry her. Not to have a baby with her. To move in with her. And Arizona was more than happy to oblige. Miranda, going the "i need to be alone" route, told Dr. Anasthesiologist that she, well, needs to be alone for now. And if you're a fan of Grey's Anatomy, while watching this scene, you knew Miranda was about to have a monologue (being held together by only bits of tape and glue). Cue the other half of the reason why I still watch this show: Chandra Wilson. While I feel like after so many season, it's really expected to give her a big speech--she practically has one each week--she kills them everytime, so...yeah I don't know why I'm complaining.

In case it hasn't become apparent already, I tend to not take this show very seriously. It's really changed over the years. It can at times be overdramatic. In each episode, I find myself annoyed with at least one aspect of it, whether it be in character or plot. But I think with this show, you either watch it or you don't. And I watch it. Yes, I still watch it. So I will stay true to it and in exchange for my loyalty, I will recap it the way I see fit.

But really, I'm a fan, and I look forward to watching it. So you keep doing what you're doing, Shonda. See you next week.

and the search continues

Last week, Season 6 of How I Met Your Mother premiered, and I couldn't be happier as a viewer. If you recall from my most current Glee post, I mentioned that season premieres are supposed to remind us of why we watch these shows in the first place. And in this writer's opinion, the Season 6 opener of How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM, to its fans) did just that.

The show opened with a flash forward. It's obvious that it is someone's wedding day. With Marshall approaching Ted, who looks like he's a bundle of nerves, we assume Ted is the one who's tying the knot. But before anything too revealing comes up, we're immediately taken back to present day New York City, to the gang's bar, MacLaren's, where Ted's grading papers , and Bareny's in constant complaint mode about the sad end of "the season of exposed skin." Yes, summer's gone, and fall has arrived. And Barney is lamenting the loss of the beautiful sight of ladies in sundresses. And I have to (kind of) agree with him on this one. Believe you me, Barney, it's just as tragic for the ladies as it is for the men. As a young woman living in New York, I very much look forward to the summer, where aside from a few days of sticky humidity and random rain storms, it is the perfect weather for a sundress. No need for a cardigan or a light jacket. The sundress, and a simple pair of flats or sandals, are all a lady needs to go for a stroll outside, whether it be day or night. Alas, as we approach October, I find it sad to say that summer is no longer here. But buck up! Fall is upon us! Scarves, tights, wool hats, oh my! And, Barney, doesn't this work out in your favor as well? Just think: when you do bring a lady back to your sky-rise apartment, you'll have more layers to take off, which would only make the situation even more exciting, yes?

So, Barney and Ted are sitting together in their booth, when the inevitable happens: a beautiful girl. And just when Ted and Barney are about to fight over who has "dibs," in walks another beautiful girl: Robin. Fine, technically, at that moment, she didn't look too beautiful. Robin is still getting over Don--her co-anchor/boyfriend who left her to pursue a better career-opportunity (which Robin had actually been offered first, but declined so she could be with Don). Thanks to another flashback, we learned that Robin, well, basically let herself go. So, in she walks, clad in sweatpants, toting a burger and fries, with hair amess (and unwashed.) She literally looks dirty, and Barney is apparently turned off ("derection"). But Robin also makes it clear to them that the girl they're fighting over, isn't even available. She's reading a book because she's waiting for someone.

And the person the girl is waiting for does arrive. Rachel Bilson, who guest-starred last season as a girl Ted (briefly) dated. What was so special about Rachel Bilson last season is that by the looks of her apartment, her roommate (who we have not yet seen) looks like the perfect match for Ted. And at one point, we learn from Bob Saget's older-Ted narration, that Ted does indeed end up marrying the girl. So of course, Ted, seeing this girl interacting with Rachel Bilson's character, wonders if this is her roommate. Having only seen her ankle as she quickly ran into the bathroom while he was at their apartment, he only has so much to go on. But nevermind all that nonsense, Rachel's character, Cindy, has something she wants to say to Ted. It actually turns out OK. Their break up was simply due to the fact that Ted wasn't what Cindy was looking for. In fact, what she was looking for, was the girl at the bar, and this is confirmed when the two kiss (cue Barney's head exploding). This instance also confirms the fact that the "mother" of the title of this show, has yet to be seen.

Now, what I haven't touched upon is what's going on with Marshall and Lily. We know the perfect couple is trying for a baby, but in this episode, issues occur when we learn that Marshall's basically told everyone (specifically his dad) that the two of them are in the process of making babies. And while I did enjoy the cutaway shot of Marshall being cheered on by his coworkers as he leaves the office to go impregnate Lily, I had to side with her on this one. What they're doing is very private, especially because it may not turn out the way everyone wants it to. But of course, in proper HIMYM fashion, the two have a beautiful heart-to-heart on the stoop of their apartment building. Up until this moment, they had basically been in a fight, but after 5 seasons of this show, we know that the two of them would never stay that way for long. Lily, with good reason, was afraid that she'd fail Marshall. But Marshall assured her that something like that would never happen. And I have to confess, at that moment, tears began accumulating in my eyeballs.

I know this post has already gone on too long for a show that spends only 22 minutes (at most) on the air each week, but I just have a few more things to say. This show is often not given a chance by viewers. I know people who after watching 2 or 3 episodes, will still say that the show is not all it's cracked up to be. I of course, am open to those opinions, but while I'm here, let me humbly give you mine. How I Met Your Mother is the only show I watch today, that still uses a laugh track. And those kinds of shows seem to be a minority today. Yet, this show, every season, has high ratings. And yes, I think it's a funny show, and the laugh track isn't even necessary, but it has more going for it than jokes. I think this show has a lot of heart. And I'm not just talking about the story. I'm talking about the writing that goes into it, and its actors, who highlight it so well. This show so beautifully constructed. It immediately takes us to a plot where there is always going to be suspense, and it handles it so well. You'd think that Ted would have found his wife by now. But I sometimes find myself not even thinking about that, because there are so many other things going on with these characters, and they all feel so real. Instead of blatantly putting the obvious thing out there, the writers give us everyday storylines, and sprinkle in the hints we crave to the number one question on everyone's minds. That way, we're still kept in suspense, but (at least for me) the hints come about unexpectedly and just act as added bonuses to an already great episode.

This season premiere had everything I wanted as a fan: Barney's blunt jokes, Marshall's and Lily's loving and strong relationship, Robin's effortless ability to put Barney in his place, and Ted's constant search for the one. And what about that wedding at the beginning of the episode? Was it Ted's? In fact, Ted was the best man, nervous about the traditional speech. Which only led this fan to believe it was Barney's wedding...to Robin. I'd go on, but I think I'll keep my thoughts on those two for another post.

we were supposed to get cancelled

In the the fifth season premiere, Liz Lemon is happily in a non-relationship with Carol (a gray-ish Matt Damon). By the way, can I just say, for the total loser Liz is purported to be (well, by Jack), she seems to do okay in the guy department. There was Subway Hero, Floyd, Dr. Drew, Conan, Wesley Snipes (the other one), and Matt Damon. All right, fine, they're all a little bit...atypical, but still! Liz thinks she and Carol are both quite happy in their non-relationship relationship but it turns out Carol is a sobbing mess who wants a meaningful relationship ("I had to spoon him for an hour. And I was the outer spoon!"). Because it's not a Liz Lemon love interest if there's no bizarre quirk, even if they do look like Matt Damon.

Jack is waging war against Avery, who is trying to redo his apartment. By the way, I'm glad that despite Jack's continuing relationship with her, we don't actually have to see her, because I may one of the few people left who doesn't really get Elizabeth Banks' appeal at all, but I digress. Jack tries to win the war by winning over her presumed gay decorator, because he is, in his own words, a "daddy bear." Despite a hell of an attempt to do so, Avery still wins. No mention of the growing Donaghy fetus.

In totally boring subplots, Jenna becomes a producer as her contract stipulates, is freakishly good at it, and fires herself, and Tracy thinks Kenneth is a figment of his imagination until Ken throws himself in front of oncoming traffic to prove otherwise.

In the end, Liz and Carol decide to make a go of it and tell each other one of their secrets. Her: on a waiting list to adopt a baby (so that plot is back!). Him: touched by priest (!). Liz (we) will see him next on October 14, the live episode!

Things that made me go ughhhh:

The ah....sex scene with Pete's wife. Not necessary, Tina Fey, so not necessary.

My favorite line:
"You're wearing a blazer from Rico's husky boys collection." (Um, I liked her blazer.)

actually, we met at an orgy

I've decided I really really like this show. Here's why. At first you kind of just think, what's so special about this family sitcom as opposed to the dozens of other family sitcoms that have come and gone through the years? Yes, they aren't the traditional TV family, but they go through essentially the same sitcom plots and clichés almost all comedies do. And yet they manage to do it so much better that you forget that you may have seen this before on some other show. There's always some little twist or tweak that the writers manage to sneak in to make it just a teensy bit ~sparklier~ than your usual family sitcom. Okay, fine, maybe in this case having a May-December marriage and a gay couple with a Vietnamese daughter helps. That and there are some extremely funny actors on this show.

In the season premiere, Claire convinces Phil they need to sell their station wagon that's been collecting dust in their garage. The Dunphys spend an afternoon cleaning out the festering vehicle and Claire is overcome by a fit of sentimentality. Thoughtful Phil springs to action by taking the family on a nostalgic trip . We get a great little visual bit where we see the whole family in the car when things start to go a little south: Luke starts getting vomit-y, Claire spills her soda over Alex, Haley sees a spider and steps on Phil's seatbelt, who spits his drink all over the dash (and the camera). They all get out of the car so Luke can go puke in some bushes, and the car starts rolling backwards. Then we get Dummy Phil, who launches himself on top of the car as it rolls down the hill. The only thing that bugged about this plot was why Phil would think his body could stop the car from moving. Wouldn't most people just jump into the driver's seat, considering it was going all of 3 mph? I know, I know, I'm thinking too much. This is my it's-only-a-show-it's-not-real-life moment of the episode.

Meanwhile, Cam and Mitchell are about to start building a huge princess castle for Lily (LUCKY!) and Cam enlists Jay to help distract Mitchell, who is clueless about what a terrible builder he is. This plot was great purely for the sight gags: Mitchell waving pruning shears around haphazardly and indavertently lopping off flowers, the look on Cam's face when he realizes he was one foot away from being nail-gunned to the wall by Mitchell, etc. etc. And I love when Jay and Cam have scenes together, because they're so different and it makes for some excellent comedy.

Lastly, Manny invites his school crush over to work on a class project and Gloria finds herself getting inexplicably jealous of the girl, especially when Manny rejects her trans-fat empanadas. I think Gloria was my favorite this week simply for her controlled rage and the snippy way she said she didn't like the salty chocolate milk. (Later: "It was delicious," she admits in confessional.)

My favorite throwaway moment...

Cam reading gossip magazines to baby Lily, apparently after having had enough of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

My favorite line(s)..

"You two ladies enjoy your light beers."

"How does he know we're having light beers?"

"Oh, we only have light beers."

Did you know...
That Nolan Gould (aka Luke Dunphy, who often seems to be one sandwich short of a picnic) has been a member of Mensa since the age of 4 (as per my latest Entertainment Weekly)? No, I don't know how preschoolers qualify for Mensa.

Do you guys...

Follow the babies Lily on Twitter? The adorableness is almost too much to handle.

l'oreal! take a drink!

Last week on Project Runway, Michael D. was voted off. This means two things: 1) The 4 remaining boys are moving in together, and 2) I can now refer to Michael C. as Michael. This will both cut down on my use of capital C's in my future posts, as well as alleviate the anxiety I had over the accuracy of my grammar surrounding the use of that initial.

This week, the 8 remaining designers would be competing for a little more than usual. In Heidi's words, this challenge win would come with a "big chunk of change." We later learn in the workroom, thanks to Tim Gunn and Collier Strong, that the winning designer would receive $20,000. That's a lot of money, especially for people have chose this career path. At first, I'm not quite sure how I feel about this added gem to the usual challenge win. It just reminds me of Top Chef and how at one point they started having High Stakes Quickfires. I guess I can't expect reality-competition shows to stay the same. Actually, what I haven't brought up yet in any of my PR posts is that that there have been a few changes this season as far as what the viewers see:

• The designers hanging out in the lounge outside of the work room, eating. That catering looks pretty darn delicious.
• Swatch. Yes, Swatch, the dog at Mood Fabrics. How long has he been around? Did the people at Mood just get him this past year or is this the first year we've seen him? He's been showing up in every episode lately. He and Tim Gunn seem to have a great little relationship. Could there be a spin-off web series in the works? Swatch and Tim: Designers' Best Friends.
• Letting us in on what the designers are saying during both runway and judging--even taking us back into lounge where they basically talk about people behind their backs.

Anyway, so on top of the challenge win, the best designer would receive $20,000. Not only that, but their design would be a part of a feature editorial for L'Oreal Paris Makeup's website. An ad will also appear in Marie Claire. Win for both designer and model. But mostly a win for the designer, as they walk away with the money. This is a L'Oreal challenge because the designers need to come up with a design, inspired by one of the new shades of eyeshadow on display, and now on sale. I swear, the product-placement in this show is HILARIOUSLY OBVIOUS. Sometimes it's like watching The Truman Show. If I were to play a drinking game with myself watching PR where I'd take a sip of alcohol every time a brand was mentioned or displayed, I'd probably pass out halfway through the episode.

So the designers are busying themselves in the workroom and already there is drama (obvi). Gretchen, who considers bordeaux to be her color is upset by the fact that Michael, who apparently has no identity as a designer has chosen, you guessed it, bordeaux. I get it. It's a lovely color. And you don't want your design to look similar to his. But, Gretchen, the color clearly does not dictate how your design turns out, so I'm sure you'll be fine. Michael went with "metallic," for his shade, which would explain why his bordeaux is shimmery. But that is literally the only color he's got going on. Gretchen on the other hand, who's chosen "velvet" is only incorporating bordeaux. Their designs already have different fates. Are we sick of the word "bordeaux" yet? Ivy, who's shade inspiration is "bright," decided to go the ocean route (hey, just like last episode) where her dress would act as the blue ocean, and we'd see wave-like layers on the bodice and skirt. Yes, I'm sure this will be turn out to wow the judges. Andy's inspiration is "metallic" and he's decided to go the futuristic soldier route. I'm kind of indifferent to Andy, but I have to admire him for his creativity and the ability to execute it so well. I have to say the same for Mondo, who after my loss of Casanova, is quickly becoming my favorite. I like his personality and design aesthetic. Both are so extreme and unique that it seems impossible that he is putting it on. He's being himself.

Just when people are in the midst of their designs, Tim walks in, and as much as he hates to fulfill the task, he lets the designers know that they will be creating a SECOND LOOK. And of course it is a big surprise. But at this point in the competition, the designers should be expecting something like that, yes? Given 2 days for one look shouldn't cause them to slack off. April for example got right to work--and this made the idea of a second look much less daunting. Valerie on the other hand, has got issues. She's already in the middle of a time crunch, concerning her first look; a second look doesn't sound very promising.

The designers' looks finally hit the runway, and I take pride in the fact that I accurately predicted the results. April and Chris are safe (I put them in the "good" category). Mondo, Gretchen, and Andy have the highest scores (they too were put in the "good" category). Ivy, Michael, and Valerie receive the lowest scores ("bad" category). I really loved Gretchen's. While I would have preferred a simple "long, flowing hair" look, her dress was beautiful; very hippie-chic. And the workmanship that went into it looked effortless. Andy's, albeit a bit intense, certainly scored points with me for creativity. Not only was it well-executed, but I loved how he turned a simple pair of pumps into skin-tight, full-length boots. Mondo, though, walked away with the win--and $20,000. His design was funky, yet high fashion. And his second look was a cute little black and white dress that worked perfectly with his look. The judges took note of how he went with what could have been costumey or cheap-looking fabrics and combined them in such a way that it achieved a stylish and unique look. On the other side of the runway, we had Ivy, Michael, and Valerie defending their designs. Valerie's first look was compared to a pageant dress, and her second look just seemed like a throw-away. Michael's two looks were both made from the same fabric. His high-fashion design seemed a bit va-va-voom 1800's with a train that went on for days. And Ivy, oh Ivy, her ode to the ocean looks just drowned. Sorry, I just had to do that. It's really sad because I saw Ivy's original sketch and while it didn't seem too innovative, I thought it looked nice. It just goes to show that what you see on paper, and what you see on the runway, are two completely different designs. In the end, it was between practical BFF's, Ivy and Valerie. I was happy to hear Ivy get the Auf. And while it was an emotional departure, I for one am glad she's no longer around.

Michael Kors Quote of the Night: "I think they look like bridesmaids under the sea." -on Ivy's two looks.

really? that's how you're starting the season?

Glee is back. Sorry, was I supposed to put an exclamation point on that? If I were a proper "gleek" I would have said something like, "GLEE IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" But I guess I'm not a proper "gleek." I like the show. I do. I find it very entertaining. I often find myself laughing out loud while I watch it. There are even times when I have a smile almost permanently glued on my face in response to a familiar song. I have an entire playlist on my ipod made up of songs from Season 1. Hell, I'll even confess that on Tuesday, I rushed home to watch the premiere. I love season premieres. I know this is probably is an obvious statement, but for me, they work as a way to jolt me right back into the show I'm returning to. They're exciting and new. They remind me of why I started watching the show in the first place. Unfortunately, this did not happen with the premiere of Glee.

So here we are, back in high school, and we find Sue and Shue back in Principal Figgins' office. Oh no, they're at it again. C'mon, Sue, give some of your Cheerios budget to the Glee Club. I know they didn't beat Vocal Adrenaline last year (despite the fact that you fought for them) but they need the money just as much as you do. I'm sorry? They're not fighting over eachother's budgets? The football team? But, why? The football team's terrible and we haven't even seen Coach Tanaka so--MEET COACH BEISTE. And, yeah, it's pronounced "BEAST." And she--yes, she--is ripping apart the Glee Club's and the Cheerio's budgets, so now Sue and Mr. Schue are in the same boat.

Solution: more members. And based on last season, how does the Glee Club inspire people to audition for them? Why, they sing of course! Song of choice: "Empire State of Mind." OK. I love this song. I think everyone loves this song. It's a great song. But when the Glee Club members ambushed lunchtime, dressed in New York tees (where did they get the money for those?), and started performing it, I got a little sick of the song--or maybe I just got sick of the glee clubbers? It's more likely the latter. I know. I should get excited, right? But I just sort of found myself rolling my eyes at the whole thing, thinking, "Here they go again, with a big group performance." As a "fan" of Glee, I shouldn't be reacting like that? Right? Sigh, moving on.

New members a.k.a new cast members would be found as both Finn and Rachel (now a couple) came upon two possibilities. Rachel ran into a foreign-exchange student in the bathroom named, Sunshine Corazon, played by newbie Charice. Now, I know we're only in the first episode, but unfortunately, I'm not a fan of this addition to the cast because of articles like this one. You can be on either side of the argument, but reading the article just rubbed me the wrong way. And on top of that, I really don't think Glee--the actual show, not the global monster of a phenomenon--needed new cast members; particularly in the club itself. Yet here we are, seeing Rachel and Sunshine in a sing-off of "Telephone" in the ladies' room. Meanwhile, in the boys' locker room, while posting fliers for auditions, Finn stumbles upon a voice. An 80's rock kind of sound, coming from the showers. Sound familiar? Yeah, uh, in the premiere of the first season, Mr. Schue came upon Finn singing "Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore" and now, in Season 2, Finn comes upon a fresh-faced boy named Sam Evans singing "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." I get it. It's the whole throw-back thing, but again, do we need yet another member? I don't think we do. But given that these two auditioned and everyone just LOVED them, they're in. So I guess I'd better get used to it.

The Cheerios were also holding auditions and it was a big day (in some cases, literally) for people. Quinn was back. She had her baby, it was adopted, and now that part of her life is closed. She can return to being the popular, celibate cheerleader. She even convinced Sue that it would be a good idea to make her captain of the Cheerios, especially because a certain someone (ahem, Santana) had a certain procedure (ahem, boob job) performed over the summer. And this was actually a high point for me. I give props to the writers for letting Sue effectively (and comically, thanks Jane Lynch) chew Santana out for getting plastic surgery at such a young age. I don't want to get all after-school-special, but I do think that is a good message to send. Finn was also auditioning. Yes, Finn. Madame Beiste (c'est francais) kicked him off the football team in a moment of insecurity--which Sue and even Mr. Schue were actually responsible for.

But by episode's end, things seemed to be on the up and up. Mr. Schue apologized to Coach Beiste for being unwelcoming and they were off to a better start than before. Sunshine's and Sam's audition impressed everyone, so they were in. Which of course led Rachel into a "things are changing" performance of the A Chorus Line classic, "What I Did for Love." But just when we think the Glee Club's added new members, we suddenly see Sunshine clearing out her locker next to a strange man, who turns out to be the new coach of Vocal Adrenaline (played by Cheyenne Jackson--this, 30 Rock, and Broadway? Geez, the guy is busy.). Is Sunshine really going to leave? To be honest, I hope so, she already gets on my nerves.

So, looking at the premiere overall, I have to say that I'm a little let down. The show is pop culture monster. People love it. So I'm sure people loved this premiere because it meant that Glee and everything about it was back. But for me, it felt like the people behind the show are almost too aware of how popular it is, and it crossed over into the story. I'm still going to stay loyal to it. And believe you me, the promo for next week's Britney Spears episode got me way more excited for the season than this episode did. So, I suppose we'll take it from there. Who knows, perhaps next week's episode will get me completely "gleeked" out. Yikes. Even that made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

I'm looking forward to:

• Mike O'Malley as Kurt's father. I pretty much love every scene he's in.
• Jane Lynch. I have no qualms with her.
• Those quiet yet loudly hilarious lines from Brittany (played by Heather Morris).
• Matthew Morrison singing showtunes (I'll admit it, his voice makes me melt).
• John Stamos (the Beach Boys will be there, right?)
• Lea Michele and her belters (though I kind of believe the rumors that she's a diva on set.).

fine, ok, i don't really care, but whatever

Well, last week marked the end of Season 7 of Top Chef, and for this viewer, it was quite uneventful. Then again, most of the season was uneventful. Nonetheless, the season has come to an end, and I am obligated to recount it.

As we all know, Kelly left us and we found ourselves with Ed, Kevin, and Angelo. It's obvious by now that I'm not crazy for any of these guys. But I'd rather Ed win than the other two. Angleo is just--do I need to explain myself further? And Kevin; well Kevin just gets on my nerves. And yes, I know he's harmless, but there's something about him that just bothers me. I know he's a family man, and is doing this for his family, and it's not about him, and blah-dy blah-dy blah blah, but I just don't like him. There were those times when he lost his temper (not appealing) and those times with the popped collar (never appealing). So you know what? I'm just gonna get this part over with: KEVIN IS THE WINNER OF TOP CHEF SEASON 7.

Ugh, there. I mean, yeah, I'm happy for him, as I would be for any winner, but I wasn't particularly excited or beaming upon hearing the news, as I was with Season 1's Harold, for example. So, please, allow me to explain (in a not particularly excited manner) how we came to this mediocre conclusion. Here at We Watch More TV Than You, it is important to note that we do not need to stay neutral with these posts. We're not going to just tell it like it is and be done with it. We have feelings too--WE'RE HUMAN. OK, moving on.

The challenge for the three remaining chefs, was to create the 4-course meal OF THEIR LIIIIIIIIIIVES. Wow, that sounds daunting, oh but don't worry, they'll have help, from 3 past Top Chef winners: Michael, Ilan, and Hung. To be honest, I don't think I watched any of these guys' seasons all the way through, but hooray for them and their achievements. The chef-sous chef pairings were as follows:

• Kevin-Michael
• Ed-Ilan
• Angelo-Hung

Everything is going swimmingly the next morning until Angelo wakes up horribly sick. And since he is now unable to get the groceries with Hung, he is forced to literally phone them in. Hung's at the market, with Angelo in his ear. Meanwhile, Kevin and Michael are little buddies, and Ed is having a little trouble maintaining Ilan as his sous chef. While it was still a question of whether Angelo would end up cooking or not, in the end, all three finalists were in the kitchen, preparing their menus.

And we all know how things turned out. There were negatives and positives to every chef's overall meal. But Kevin was the one who walked away with the win. Thought his veggie terrine was blah, his duck was apparently perfection. And his twist on the "Singapore Sling" topped everything off and the judges were mad for it.

So there you have it. Kevin is Top Chef. And while I have to admit, it was kind of cute when his first response to Padma's telling him was, "I am?" I'm not too thrilled. Then again, if Ed had one, I probably wouldn't have gone crazy. And with Angelo--well, I would have just left the room.

Top Chef is always exciting to watch because of the food and the challenges, and the quirky judges you can grab sound bites from like Eric Ripert. But when you can't pick out a few favorites out of the competing chefs, it kind of takes the suspense out of it. I know I'm only one opinion, but this season, no one really did it for me. I guess we shall see what next year will bring.

never trust a guy in a mustard yellow mock turtleneck

In this week’s episode of Mad Men, The Beautiful Girls, we all learn the lesson, “Remember when you thought it might be fun to have lived in the 60s? Well, it WASN’T.” At least not if you’re a woman and certainly not if you’re Sally Draper.

Seriously, I think Sally may be the most tragic character in all of Mad Men. I mean, really, she is totally effed. Her parents suck! Betty is unfeeling and doesn’t appear to actually give much thought to her children besides how they make her look to outsiders and Don is just oblivious. I tried to give him a little credit for taking her to the zoo and being generally sweet with her, but it was still a major fail. I think Don loves his kids but he does not know how to talk to them or parent them. How awful that Sally was sitting in his office, screaming about how much she hates living with Betty, and all Don can do is look around helplessly for someone else to come parent his kid? In three years Sally’s going to be turning on, tuning in, and dropping out. Let’s also add daddy issues to her list of therapy topics. By the way, therapy? Doesn’t seem to be working so well…

Kiernan Shipka is a great little actress. They really lucked out with her. Ugh, when she did that face plant at SCDP and then sobbed to Meghan about how it wasn’t going to be all right, or when she told Don goodbye in that tone of defeated finality? How could you not feel sorry for her?

I’m really drinking the Betty haterade this episode. She doesn’t even notice that Sally is missing and worse, she doesn’t even seem to care. She seems to get more spiteful glee out of knowing Don’s been inconvenienced by Sally’s appearance than by the fact that her daughter is actually safe. And then at the end of the episode when she comes to collect Sally and tells her she was “worried about her” so she could look like Mother of the Year in front of Joan, Peggy, et. al. I wanted to reach into the TV and smack her. Of course we know Betty has her own issues but I think that’s really been put on the backburner this year and they’re making her frustratingly one-dimensional and villainous. It’s starting to get to the point where I don’t give a flying fig what Betty is up to. I mean we’ve already seen multiple episodes this season where she has little to no screen time and I never miss her. At the end of this episode I was all ready to go and drop-kick Betty straight out of this show.

Was it bad that I laughed through the entire sequence from when Peggy discovered Mrs. Blankenship dead body to when Harry came out of the office yelling about his mother’s afghan? For all the gloom and doom, this show is so hilariously macabre. And while I admit to being disappointed that Pete has had virtually no storyline since like three episodes ago, the shots of him moving Mrs. Blankenship’s body through the glass conference room walls were priceless. Especially the background shot where you can literally see him make the “Me?!” gesture when Joan shows him the body.

As for Joan and Roger, I really like them both separately and together but I hated that they went there with them again. It seems like such a regression, especially for Joan. I’m praying the writers aren’t so obvious as to get Joan preggo with Roger’s illegitimate child, kill off Dr. Rapist in Vietnam, and leave her a single parent. Are they??

Okay, I think I got what Peggy’s lesbian friend Joyce was saying about men being soup and women being pots, but they couldn’t come up with a better analogy than that? I found that whole scene to be really awkwardly scripted. And then the line, “Are you angry or lovesick?” Maybe I’m being dense but I didn’t have a clue what that meant. Are we to infer that Peggy was torn between liking Turtlenecked Beatnik (I don’t know why, seeing as he proved to be a huge douche) and being pissed at his belittlement of the women’s movement? Because I really didn’t get the feeling she was all that into him after he came by SCDP with his dumb manifesto.

The final shot of three “beautiful girls” was definitely gorgeous but it was also totally unsubtle, in my opinion. Like, look here: three women of different ages with different colored hair who’ve made different life choices, all pondering about how they fit into this patriarchal society! And the lesbian in pants can go down the other elevator! Usually Mad Men isn’t so obvious.

Odds and Ends:
-Rum soaked French toast! I'd eat that.
-By the way, making like the third black person on this show a mugger? Nice job.
-“Oh right, we’ll have a civil rights march for women.” DOUCHE ALERT. If the turtleneck didn't already tip you off.
-Didn’t touch on Don too much this week, but I thought he and Faye were going to take it slow? Guess that’s out the window.
-I approve of Joan’s glasses.

I try and I try and I try

Oh Don. I'm not sure how long (semi) teetotaler Don will last, but I'm glad to see he's making an effort. I'm still not totally sold on New Don. I want to believe we're now heading for some sort of redemption arc, but I'm extremely suspicious that we're all being misled and the season is going to end poorly for our anti-hero. Although, if New Don wants to walk around in his sunglasses all the time and pose in doorways, I would be okay with that. How did we feel about the voice-over narration? I'm not sure I buy Don as a journaller. He seems like the type that'd try it and give up after three sentences. It seemed a bit "tell and not show" for Mad Men. And that zoom-in on the alcohol during the SCDP meeting seemed overly-stylistic and cheesy to me.

I hope we're done with Bethany Van Nuys. We've already got one Betty, let's not add another. Her name even sounds like Betty's! I did like Don's voiceover here though: "She wants me to know her, but I already do." I would have thought girls like Bethany wouldn't have participated in, er, oral activities of the type we saw in the back of the cab, but I guess she was threatened by the appearance of Don's icy-cold ex-wife. By the way, I had to laugh at Don's rather blasé reaction. I mean, he seemed to enjoy it but he looked about as pleased as if he'd found a dollar bill on the sidewalk. Like, oh, that's nice. And was the cab driver just chilling out in the front seat?! Really?

Speaking of Betty, I know we tend to rag on Betty/January Jones, but I thought she was pretty good in this episode. I loved her petulant sulking in the car with Henry after getting drunk at dinner. She's obviously got ~unfinished business~ with Don, judging by her bathroom breakdown. And I loved it at the end when she picked up Gene like a sack of potatoes and plopped him in Don's arms with her very best faux smile plastered on her face, all while her eyes were saying, "RAAAAAAAAAAAGE." And did Don just decide to show up at Gene's birthday party or did Betty invite him to prove her maturity to Henry? I was so glad when Don sauntered in (holding a giant elephant, no less!). Don + baby Gene + smiling = PRESH! Was anyone else totally laughing at how completely uninterested the baby was in Jon Hamm? LOL.

As for Henry, the jury's still out on him. Half the time I like him for when he calls Betty out on her childish behavior, but then he takes it out on Don. Why should Don have to move his stuff from his own house? If Henry's so rich why are they still living there? I get that he's paying rent but honestly, man up and make Betty move out!

I'm still pretty unimpressed by Dr. Faye. I feel like I'm supposed to like her because she's more of a "modern woman" yet she leaves me rather cold. I don't know if it's the actress herself or the fact that I don't really think she and Jon Hamm have very much chemistry, but the most I could muster up when she and Don went on their date and made out in the cab was a shrug. Certainly it was a big step for Don Draper, serial womanizer, but I don't really have much invested in their relationship personally. I certainly think Don needs someone LIKE Dr. Faye but I find her as engaging as wallpaper. Who knows, maybe some backstory on her mob family will make her more interesting. And let's face it, I love me some Don Draper, but honestly, does this guy have pheremones shooting out of every pore or something? LOL, one brief makeout session and the formerly restrained Dr. Faye was all LETSGOBACKTOYOURPLACEHOTANDBOTHERED! Although I suppose it helps that Don looks like Jon.

Actually, none of Don's extra- and post-marital love interests have ever really appealed to me. I hate to admit this, but I kind of can't really picture Don without Betty, not because they're well-suited for each other or anything, but because they do have good chemistry and their dysfunction is highly entertaining. It's like how we all really root for Don to get his shit together but, let's face it, one-step-away-from-a-mental-breakdown-Don is exponentially more interesting.

Moving on to Joan. I spent the majority of this episode feeling awfully sorry for her. She has no friends at work. She's disrespected and harassed by three glorified frat boys. Her husband is leaving for Vietnam (by the way, I still don't get their relationship. Remember when he raped her? And when she smashed a vase over his head? Not that these two things are in any way equivalent, but their dynamic is messed up.) Then Peggy fired Asshole Joey, who TOTALLY DESERVED IT. And Joan is a total b about it. I know Joan is generally beloved by most Mad Men watchers, and I like her too, but she was wrong. 1965 or 2010, Peggy did the right thing, even if she was being a bit self-congratulatory about it. Joan's proposal was to use her sexuality to get rid of Joey, Peggy used her authority. I know Joan was just lashing out, probably partly due to the fact that Peggy was the one who had the clout to fire Joey, but if she continues like this, she is going to be one bitter lady. Anyway it'll be interesting to see the dynamic between Peggy and Joan as the feminist movement gets more relevant.

Odds and ends:
-I do give credit to Dr. Faye for making me laugh when she told her now ex-boyfriend to "go shit in the ocean."
-I'm so glad to see the return of Francine (a.k.a. Cutthroat Bitch a.k.a. Ted's Krav Maga gf).
-Sally (a.k.a. Patron Saint of this blog) looked so subdued when Don came in. I want to know what's going on with her therapy.
-Fashion police: Don can burn that jacket he wore on his date with Faye. His plaid shirts can stay.
-Apparently they blew the music budget on the Rolling Stones, because the lack of music over the end credits was conspicuous.
-So glad Don and Peggy's relationship is still going strong after last week. I liked how he nonchalantly told her to just fire Joey, and then it turned into some Major Drama.

Line of the night:
-I'm torn, do I go with Pete's one throwaway line of the episode, "When did we get a vending machine?" or Henry's hilarious yet not-inaccurate, "I hate Nazis?" Oh wait, there was also Francine's contribution: "You always have terrible luck with entertaining." I'm gonna give it to Francine this week, because we haven't seen her in a while and because her delivery was top-notch.

Questions to ponder:
How long will Don 2.0, new and improved, last? Will Don marry blonde #1 Bethany, blonde #2 Faye, or blonde #3 (wildcard!) Betty? Will Harry become less annoying? Will Stan ever admit his raging crush on Peggy? (You know it's tearing him up inside!)

Okay, I know this recap/review/word vomit was really late this week (although not as late as the Best Week Ever people--we're still waiting!) so I'm ending with a gift, this little gem of an interview with Jon Hamm and Jennifer Westfeldt in which they appear to be well on the way to drunktown. Special guest appearance by Ted Mosby, Architect.

two for the price of one...again

I know, I know. I am just as disappointed in myself as you are. I have slacked off on the last two episodes of Project Runway and I know that I've had weeks to put them up; yet here we are, a couple of days from the next one and this blog is not updated. Well, I'm putting a stop to it this instant. We're gonna kill two birds with one stone and take care of both episodes right here and right NOW. Here we go:

Episode 7: "What's Mine is Yours"
Still recovering from Peach leaving, April is moving in with Ivy, Gretchen, and Valerie. And as welcoming as they were...yeah....April, I wish you the best of luck. Meanwhile, Andy and Michael C. are having a heart-to-heart about how everyone hates Michael C. As annoying as Michael C. is, I have to say that it doesn't feel too good to win a challenge and have no one be happy for you. Sure, you're not that happy when you don't win but you at least congratulate the guy who did...don't you? People just need to get over the fact that the judges like him. Anyways, here we are on the runway to find out the next challenge and after 7 episodes I'm going to finally say it: I truly dislike Heidi's short hair. Please go back to long and flowing. Danke.
It's off to the marina where the designers meet Tim Gunn and Michael Kors for brunch on a yacht. Challenge: Resort Wear. The designers have to create an ensemble that falls under the category of Resort Wear, while still staying true to their aesthetics. After spending $150 at Mood, the designers are back in the work room and OH WAIT, TIM GUNN WALKS IN with that infamous velvet bag and spouts his signature, "Designers, may I ask you to gather around please?" I only wish I could great his intonation in this post. It was priceless; as if he knew exactly how much he's said it and how much staying power the statement has. Well, the reason Tim asked the designers to gather around was because he had a little surprise in store for them (obvious). To make the challenge even more of a challenge, the designers had to hand off their sketch and design concept to another person, who would then execute it. Yes, they were acting as eachother's pattern-makers. The couplings were as follows:

• Gretchen exchanged with Casanova (hooray!)


• Mondo exchanged with Michael C. (everyone hates Michael C.)


• April exchanged with Christopher (cool as cucumbers)


• Ivy exchanged with Michael D. (my prayers are with you, Michael D.)


• Valerie exchanged with Andy (sure, why not?)

Yet another surprise walked in when Michael Kors, uh, walked in with Tim Gunn to critique the designs-in-progress. He especially helped April (no, really, keep reading) by advising her to make a pair of black hot pants to be worn underneath what looked like a short and translucent little frock. "GO WITH YOUR GUT," he enthusiastically told her. And she did. She and Chris seemed like they would be fine, come judging. Mondo and Michael C. were actually getting along and Mondo realized that he "was being a dick" and that, hey, maybe there's a reason why the judges love Michael C. And while Michael K. made note of the patterns being used for Mondo's design, I'm sure he was confident in the final product, knowing Mondo's history. He also reminded Gretchen and Valerie of their constant use of "bordeaux" and cobalt blue, respectively. This of course caused Valerie to suddenly breakdown in an interview: If she doesn't make it to Fashion Week, she professed, "I feel like everything is gonna die." Really? Have you seen this show before? Do you know that they have almost all of the designers show at Fashion Week, so as not to spoil anything? Sure, you may not be in the running to win $100,000 butyou will most likely be showing a collection, so please try to relax. Ivy and Michael D. made up what was probably the weakest pairing--on one side at least. Ivy has great skills so she was able to execute Michael D.'s just fine, but she felt she had to (for lack of a better set of words) dumb-down her design so Michael could complete it. You're right to assume that this did not end well. You could tell just by the way they worked together. I swear, that moment when Ivy was sitting right next to Michael, eyeing his every move as the minutes winded down, gave me the creeps.



And so the magic of the runway comes and goes, and we have 6 designers left on the stage.



Best: Andy, April, Michael D.


Worst: Mondo, Casanova, Ivy.



April's was by far my favorite, or at least the one I'd actually consider wearing. I am nowhere near voluptuous enough to pull off Andy's. And yeah, I like black, but not enough to have it completely enshroud me like Michael D.'s would. As it turns out, the judges--including guest judge, Kristen Bell--also favored April's, and voted her the winner. As far as the losing designers went, well, it was just a whole bunch of awkward. Mondo's design looked like it was made for a teenager. While it was constructed well, it just didn't read adult or high-end, to the point of confusion. Casanova--oh, poor Casanova--was once again defending his design for looking like it'd be worn by his grandmother. I didn't think it was that bad. Sure, it wasn't very resort, more like midtown office, but it was pretty, and the model looked great in it. And Ivy (eyes aflame) pretty much put out a boring, blue ensemble. Again, it wasn't ugly, it just didn't work, and was really blah. But Ivy wouldn't go down without a fight. No, instead she'd basically bash Michael D's work right in front of him, which the judges--"YOU'RE THROWING HIM UNDER THE BUS!"--did not appreciated. And I'd like to thank Nina Garcia for finally putting Ivy in her place by suggesting that while her construction skills are great, her vision as a designer is lacking. The ability to sew, does not a designer make.

Well despite the negative feelings towards Ivy, it was my Casanova who was voted off. But in Casanova's defense, I'm afraid that the judges misunderstood him. It seemed like they actually believed that Casanova designed with his grandmother in mind. But I think the specifics of that idea got lost in translation. I'm sure he didn't actually use his grandma as inspiration. Unfortunately, it looked like he did, to the judges, and I guess they had had enough. It was bound to happen. I'll confess I wasn't quite ready for it to happen. And I'm sure I'm one of many viewers who will miss him. I believe he is the first Project Runway contestant to actually receive an honorary montage of his best moments before he shuts his table light off. Fare thee well, my darling Casanova. I'm glad that you were able to grab at least one of New York's balls.

Michael Kors Quote of the Night: "It just looks like a weird assemblage of clothes from Forever 21...that were on the sale rack!"

Casanova Best Quote to Leave With: "Sad? ZERO. Disappointed? Maybe a quart."

Whew! I know, that was longer than I expected. But since we're here, let's squeeze out the eight episode.

Episode 8: "A Rough Day on the Runway"

I already miss Casanova. That's how I was feeling when I watched the beginning of episode 8. It's safe to say that all the designers were feeling the same way. I have a feeling that we'll see Casanova again. You know Project Runway is unpredictable (not really) like that. But until we see Casanova again, we must move on. Challenge: Jackie Kennedy. American. Fashion. Icon. The designers are given the task of taking the image of Jackie and creating a new (yet inspired) version of sportswear. Easy, right? Sure, sure. Off the designers went to Mood, and they all found what they were looking for. As Tim observed, Mondo was even able to find houndstooth in, "Mondo." Ivy was conflicted between using black and white or white and navy (suspenseful). Christopher was all about making a beautifully fitted dress. Andy, being the individual he is, decided to go in the dangerous direction, and create a pair of crazy cargo pants. But wait a minute. Tim has a surprise for all of us. The designers must create a piece of outerwear to go with their initial design. Notable thoughts from a few designers:

• Michael D.: I have this in the bag. I'm "Captain Outerwear."
• Valerie: Wait a minute, I've already made a skirt/jacket outfit, so...how about a vest?
• Chris: I know, I'll try working with fur, something I've never done before.

Everyone else pretty much took that in the direction they felt they should go. And, well, I know this isn't right but I'd really like to move on from my neglecting the last two episodes and just get us--all 7 of us--so here's how the runway went down:

• January Jones a.k.a. Betty Draper a.k.a One of the Best-Dressed Television Characters Today is the guest judge. I know it's an obvious statement, and I know that the woman seems like an ice queen, but you can't deny that she is beautiful. She's wearing a simple black turtleneck with her hair down and she's gorgeous.
• Mondo looked amazing. Yes, Mondo. The outfit he was wearing was apparently inspired by The Cotton Club.
• Mondo's model looked amazing. His design was everything you'd want for a modern day Jackie: black and white striped boatneck combined with a funky houndstooth pencil skirt, and the signature glasses. She looked great. And separately, you'd think the two pieces wouldn't work, but Mondo put the two together and it looked like it was meant to be. Mondo wins. The cute little jacket was just the cherry on top of an already delicious dessert.
• Ivy's looked very Jackie, but I personally thought it was too literal. And yeah, still boring.
• While the judges weren't all too impressed with Christopher's fur, uh...(insert noun here)...the dress was beautiful and well-constructed.
• Valerie didn't get away with her vest-over-jacket look. And Nina put it simply and called the outfit "sad." Ouch.
• Andy, oh Andy. The pants. They just didn't work. Not at all.
• Michael D. got the "Auf" because of his unmemorable, poorly-constructed, and insulting-to-Jackie ensemble. The skirt failed. The top failed. Even the outerwear failed.

Michael Kors Quote of the Night: "This is schizophrenic Jackie." -on Andy's design.

you have to pick and choose your buttons

I want to first start by apologizing. I know this Project Runway recap (sometimes mine are more rants than recaps, but whatever) is more than a week late. And I really don't have any good excuses, so I'll just apologize to the 4 people who read this so we can all move on.

We are now in the "moving on" phase.

Phase complete.

Sooooo, Project Runway! Episode 6! What WILL the challenge be this week? Well to start, let's go back to what happened last time. Remember? Team challenge? Gretchen went nuts? Everyone hates Michael C.? So the designers are still in recovery from that traumatic incident. Gretchen was hurt that Tim spoke of her in such a way-AND IN HER PRESENCE. And everyone still hates Michael C. You certainly can't knock some of the designers for consistency, can you?

But no matter; new day, new challenge. Out walks Heidi (hello!) onto the runway and she soon warns the designers that they will have different models to work with. Project Runway is now on its eighth season. For those of us who have been watching from the beginning or at least from way back, upon hearing "different models," I'm sure a lot of us immediately thought, "OOOOOOH, IT'S ONE OF THOSE CHALLENGES!" And it certainly was. Out walks 10 lovely ladies of different shapes and sizes, all wearing a......BRIDESMAID DRESS. Yes, the challenge is to take a woman's bridesmaid dress and incorporate it into a design she can wear again--everyone knows the stigma of bridesmaid dresses, yes? To confess, I didn't find this challenge all too exciting because I found it a bit too similar to the wedding gown challenge a few seasons back. Bride, bridesmaid; they're kind of in the same family--don't you think Project Runway could have come up with something else involving new models? The possibilities are endless (comments!)

Well, the designers picked their models and basically started crackin'. Working with normal, everyday people instead of actual models is slightly different. For the most part, the model just stands there and listens to the designer and pretty much agreed with everything that is said about the design. When the designers have actual clients to work with, it's a whole new game. The designer stands there, giving out ideas, but also taking into consideration what the client wants--because after all, she's the one who will be wearing it and (hopefully) taking it home with her. And as veteran watchers of Project Runway, we all know that there is at least one pairing of client/designer that doesn't go as smoothly as the others. Well, April had a few issues with her model. But in hindsight, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Just the usual "my client knows what she wants and it is way too much and I want to make sure I'm still able to show my aesthetic so I don't lose myself" kind of thing. And to be honest, up until this episode, I've thought that April isn't that great. Yeah, she has a lot of opinions, and I like the way she wears her hair but she has yet to wow me. Just saying.

One person who needn't worry about his design is Casanova, seeing as he won the challenge last week and therefore, won immunity. And a good thing too, right? I love my Casanova but I'm afraid this challenge may not have worked out so well for had he not had immunity. Don't get me wrong--in the end, without immunity, he would have been fine, but I have a feeling that immunity gave him a little confidence boost and in turn, helped him execute a decent ensemble. Remember his breakdown in the last episode? "AND I'M GETTING FAT!" But no matter, I wasn't worried about Casanova this week. I'm sure he knew "EXAAAAAAACTLY" what he was doing. However, some other designers were at a bit of a loss. Peach was just, kind of a mess. Michael D. had a lot of shiny, dark pink fabric to work with. On top of that, he had to focus on making an outfit that would be flattering on his model, who happened to have more curves on her than any of the other ex-bridesmaids. And on top of THAT, Tim walks in for his usual walk-through, with a little surprise for the designers. Before they have their models walk the runway for the judges, they will first show off their designs at a designer showcase, where the models will, well, model the design next to its designer and the general public will say if they like said design simply by throwing a button in a jar designated for the designer. Wow, was that a terribly unbearable run on sentence, or did you get through it OK? The more you read it, the easier it gets.


So here we are at the designer showcase and everyone's FAVORITE designer has a jar full of buttons: Michael C. And you know what? He should be getting buttons. He took a woman's black and boring bridesmaid dress and turned it into a sexy (but not slutty) night-on-the-town look. Mondo is also getting a lot of buttons. His look has a cool, 1960's go-go dancer thing going on. What's more is that he turned the hideous pink dress inside out and used the softer pink--hooray for creativity!


Now, I have yet to touch upon any drama from this episode. Let's take care of that now, shall we? Ivy. How do y'all feel about Ivy? I'll tell you how I feel. I think she's mean, opinionated, controlling, conceited, rude, and in no way as amazing as she lets on. But, hey, that's just me. I could be reading her the wrong way. She could be totally awesome! My opinions aside, a rumor got out during the designer showcase that Michael C. was telling people that Ivy is the bitch of the show this season. While I 100% agree, I'm not sure if the rumor is 100% accurate. Or is it? Did he say that or not? A question that will never really be answered. Well, the rumor got Ivy steamed, and you could see her eyes light on fire--I'll admit, it was kind of scary. Though I did have to laugh at her when she first said that Michael was "picking my buttons" before correcting herself. So, in case it wasn't clear before, Michael C. and Ivy are officially enemies.

So here we are on the runway, and as it turns out. Mondo's dress received the most votes--so he's obviously safe. But the judges didn't really go for his styling. Michael Kors was pretty much spot on when he likened his model to "Snooki in The Flintstones." The judges also went gaga for Michael C.'s design--much to the chagrin of all the other designers. It looked polished, clean, and expensive, and the styling was just right. This all lead to Michael winning yet another challenge--cue Gretchen's head exploding. The other Michael (Michael D.) did not do so well. The judges just thought his dress looked like another bridesmaid dress. But it was Peach who got the ax. Her design looked cheap and just not fashionable at all. If it was in a different, more vibrant color, it might've looked a bit better but the olive green just looked blah--and "Holly Hobby Halter," according to Michael Kors. I will say though, that Peach is one of the most winning losers Project Runway has ever seen. Even though she was leaving, she didn't shed one tear. All she did was excitedly tell everyone what a great time she had, and I love it! Everyone should leave with that kind of attitude. Pull a Peach!

Michael Kors Quote of the Night: "I mean, she's got an avocado goiter." -on Peach's ensemble.

talking the talk and walking the wok

Well it's the first part of the finale of Top Chef and we find our remaining chefs in Singapore. We first see Kelly, and my, what colorful and plaidy Bermuda shorts she has on. It doesn't surprise me that she wears Bermuda shorts; she seems like the type to do so. Kelly sits at a table in the middle of what is basically a giant street-food court. Booths, carts, and kitchens all together, and filled with people cooking what are sure to be mouth-watering (because of the spice and the taste) delights. After being taken on a tasting tour by a world-renowned expert on Singapore's famous street food, the chefs were given a Quickfire Challenge to create their own similar dish using the one, the only, wok. The wok. I've always thought of it as a giant frying pan without a handle. And I would have assumed that these chefs--being chefs--have all used a wok, and used it often. WRONG. Turns out Kevin has never used one, and Padma appropriately asked what was wrong with him. Seriously, Kevin, what is wrong with you? You're a chef. And I know that there are some pretty crazy cooking utensils out there, but even I know a wok is pretty common. Am I wrong? Well, despite his lack of wokking experience, Kevin's dish was received well. But Ed walked away with the win with his stir fry noodles. And guess what? He got IMMUNITY. I know, I know. So late in the game, and Padma offers up immunity, which means Ed automatically moves on to the final finals. EXCITING. What's even more exciting is that Ed beat Angelo. Throughout the whole competition, Angelo has been cooking food with a mostly Asian influence. He constantly brings up his restaurant, where he serves Asian dishes. So, yeah, you could assume that Angelo is an expert. But Ed beat him. That had to have felt good.


But of course having immunity doesn't even affect Ed. Sure, he may feel a little less stressed seeing as he's automatically in the finals but, um, he wants to win too. And I commend him for that. It'll only help him in the long run, when the judges weigh the four finalists' performances throughout the challenges. Speaking of challenges, what was the Elimination Challenge? I'll tell you. Dana Cowan of Food and Wine is hosting an event to celebrate the tastes of Singapore and the chefs are responsible for the menu. Well that sounds easy enough. How about 4 dishes--one per chef? Sure, sure, everyone agrees that that sounds like the plan. Each chef will create one dish for the final challenge. One dish. Oh but wait a minute. Just as the chefs were prepping their food, in walks good 'ol Tom Colicchio working the Tim Gunn routine and checking in. Not only do we learn of his shock that the chefs are only putting out four dishes. Not only do we learn that the chefs must now come up with 2 dishes each. We learn that Ed went shopping, already having 2 dishes in mind. Oh SNAP. Of course everyone is shocked/upset that Ed went ahead and did this without perhaps bring up the idea that it would be a good idea for everyone, but c'mon people--this is a COMPETITION. You best be prepared for twists and turns (see end of previous paragraph concerning immunity).

So here were are in the kitchen of a fabulous resort and the chefs are anything but relaxed. Well, I guess you could say Ed's pretty much the same as usual. But Kelly, for example, is so flustered, she slices her finger and it is a bloody, gushing mess. In case my other posts on this blog haven't revealed it yet, I'm slightly paranoid. Not about everything, just about a lot of things. And bodily fluids in the kitchen is one of those things. Kelly is a trooper for cutting her finger, putting a glove over it, and powering through. I have to give her that. But if I was a diner and found out that my food was prepared by a woman with a bloody finger, I probably would be completely turned off from eating it--BUT THAT'S JUST ME.

In the end, Kelly completing her two dishes, even with a bloody finger, was all done in vain (pun intended--I know, but I couldn't resist.) because her food just didn't cut it (I can't help it). You can't get to the finals simply because you happen to make a great guava salad. Angelo and Kevin are through. I was worried about Kevin for a minute, when he couldn't get his cockles open. You know how it goes: everyone's having fun and laughing until someone's cockles won't open! Ed is through as well (obvi) but he also WON the challenge. His banana fritters and sweet and sour pork took him all the way to the win. And quite honestly, I don't like bananas (did I mention I'm a picky eater? I know, why do I even watch this show, right?) but those fritters looked kind of amazing. And Tom was right when he told Ed he would completely sell out if he made those fritters street food in the East Village.

So we say goodbye to Kelly, and say hello to the final four. Right now, I'm rooting for Ed. Angleo's a good chef but he just rubs me the wrong way. I guess Kevin's decent but for some reason, I just don't care about him. He's a bit of a hot-head, and uh, yeah he wears a popped collar. And he's pulled the whole, "I have a family" thing way too often. I know, I'm really compassionate. Ed. I like Ed. I'm not in like with him, but I like him. He lives in Queens, and that's right next to my borough of Brooklyn. He's sarcastic, which is always welcome in my book. And throughout the competition, he's created many fried creations. So yes, that being said, I like Ed, and I hope he goes all the way.

We shall see...

Peggy, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship

So here is what I SHOULD be doing early this morning: working on my work presentation that's due in a few days that I procrastinated the hell out of (no, I don't actually watch TV all day long, I have a day job, and yes, I realize it's Labor Day and it's sad I will be, in fact, laboring).

Here is what I'm ACTUALLY doing: writing a recap for what I think might be the best episode of Mad Men I've ever seen. It may be the combination of having been completely wired on sugar and coffee and, oh yeah, I HAD DINNER NEXT TO JON HAMM AND JENNIFER WESTFELDT LAST NIGHT, but I couldn't sleep for about 2 hours after I finished watching the episode. (I won't elaborate too much because this isn't about me and my celebrity sightings, and if I did elaborate you would just think I'm a crazy stalker but: 1. He looked goooooood. 2. Despite patently avoiding eye contact with him for 2 hours straight I can remember exactly what he was wearing. 3. At one point he was discussing Justin Bieber with his dinner mates 4. This was the crowning glory of any LA celebrity encounter I've ever had.)

Okay, back to Mad Men. Usually I try not to read any reviews before I write these things because even though this is mostly for fun and it's not like a ton of people read this anyway, I don't want to advertently or inadvertently steal anyone's ideas or thoughts. However, with the whole not sleeping last night thing, I read whatever I could find. The first thing I read was the recap from NYMag, which I always enjoy, but I have to say I'm really surprised that so many people seemed to think this episode pointed at a burgeoning romance between Don and Peggy because I didn't really get that vibe at all (although, the end of this episode was the first time the idea of it didn't immediately make me feel like retching). I think it was definitely a sign of a shift in the relationship to a deeper level but I think your mileage may vary on whether it was romantic (I lean towards platonic, personally).

I figure if you're reading this you've already seen the episode so I won't bother rehashing everything, but basically this was all Peggy and Don, battling it out over all their issues (and boy do they have a lot). They were figuratively locked in together overnight, not by silly circumstances like a stuck elevator or a locked door that would happen in a sitcom, but because they WANTED to be together, for whatever reason. There was a reason Don made Peggy stay behind. And how many times could Peggy have left the office, even after being heavily berated by Don, but didn't?

The AV Club said it was very much like a short story, which I totally agree with. It was perfectly structured with a beginning, a middle, and an end, and in a mere 50 minutes they've managed to show how these two people's relationship has changed overnight (literally!). I love how it started with Don being, as per usual these days, a raging ass to Peggy. This culminates with that awful conversation where he yells at her about her supposed ungratefulness, causing her to cry in front of him. Next, they very gingerly bond over Roger Sterling's hilarious taped memoirs, and then at dinner and in the bar, they actually talk about things that they've never talked about with anyone else, even if they do so very obliquely. They're both completely screwed up, but they get each other.

And of course, that moment after Don finally makes his dreaded phone call to California, hangs up, and then we get that shot of Peggy on the couch just staring at him. It's like when you have things bottled up for a long time and you see someone who looks concerned for you, and then the dam breaks. It was a huge shock to see Don cry and it was about as close as I've ever come to crying while watching this show. Jon Hamm really killed it here. I know we're always saying he deserves an Emmy but really? He deserves an Emmy for this.

I spent nearly the entire episode thinking, please don't have sex, please don't have sex, but the end floored me even more than that would have. I thought for a second, is Don really going to completely ignore the events of the previous night, but then when he put his hand over hers, I think my heart grew three sizes. I really think their relationship is BETTER because it IS platonic--it's a lot more complex. And I think we all know a relationship doesn't have to be romantic to be very, very important to the parties involved. It seems pretty clear to me that Peggy is the new Anna Draper and I'm okay with this. I'm really glad Don and Peggy recognize that they have someone who gets them, for better and worse, and they're friends. It's like in first Harry Potter where Harry, Ron, and Hermione fight the troll and decide you can't really fight a troll without becoming friends in the end. You can't really have a night like Don and Peggy did and not come out of it besties. Yes, I just added an HP reference here, WHAT?

Now I'm genuinely curious where they're going to go the rest of the season. We're officially at the midway point now. Previously I'd said we were definitely headed for a Don Draper meltdown but now it seems like we're heading in the opposite direction. This episode ending was hopeful in a show where that doesn't happen very often (hello, the opening credits have a Draper-shaped figure tumbling off a roof for goodness' sake). I really hope they don't backpedal too much and have Don hit rock bottom again. Or was last week rock bottom at all? Is there more to come? I can't imagine the hopefulness sustaining itself much longer (that's not how Matt Weiner rolls), so where do we go from here?

I think this season has been really hit or miss but damn it if they haven't reeled me back in. Matthew Weiner might be a huge blowhard in real life but he knocked this one out of the ballpark. And if I'd seen this episode before seeing Jon Hamm at dinner? I would have had to restrain myself from genuflecting at his feet.

I love this show but it's really rare that I finish an episode and immediately think, I need to watch that again right now. Unfortunately I only caught the encore presentation, having missed the original (BECAUSE I WAS DRIVING BACK FROM HAVING DINNER NEXT TO JON HAMM--ok I'll stop), and I didn't get to watch it again until today. To date this is the only episode I've ever fully rewatched. To me this could easily have been a season finale (or dare I say, even elements of a series finale?). I've always thought this show to err a bit too much on the bleak side and if the eventual series finale was half as hopeful as this episode was, I'd be really pleased.

Things I LOVED:

-"You know you're cute as hell." Aw. Awwwwwwwwwww. Okay, fine, maybe a teeny part of me would not object to a Don/Peggy hookup. A teeny part!
-I love how Peggy looked completely disheveled when she walked into Don's office at the end and he looked fresh as a spring daisy. I'm glad some things never change.
-The Simon & Garfunkel. I know what I'm listening to all day.
-The look on Pete's face when he sees Peggy and Trudy exiting the bathroom together.
-Roger and Mrs. Blankenship. Cooper's lack of testicles. Sterling's Gold.
-The acting. Someone, somewhere (sorry I can't remember who!) wrote that it's a testament to Jon Hamm's great acting that you can always tell when he's being Dick Whitman--he's looser and open, but it's subtle--and you can see bits of that character leak through here.
-Enough about Jon Hamm, how about Elisabeth Moss? I've always liked her since her days as Zoey Bartlet on The West Wing. This was like watching a play with two great actors who know their characters very well.
-I just love when things come full circle or call back to earlier seasons. So I loved the hand holding that mirrored the first episode and how they both saw each other cry and the discussion of Peggy's baby and Don visiting her in the hospital.

Things I Liked:

-Trudy Campbell's "You're still very young" to Peggy. Bitchy, but Trudy's not a bitch. She's just a product of her time. And Trudy likes rare steaks and watching two guys fight!
-Peggy's mom hates Don because she thinks he was the one who got her preggo.
-Happy birthday Peggy! You're officially so awesome I will no longer make fun of your clothing. Your dress was cute this week, in fact. Don't worry, you CAN have it all!
-Maybe this is due to the fact I actually saw Jon Hamm in the flesh prior to watching this episode but I still thought Don looked pretty good for throwing up all night and being completely wasted.

Things I Could Have Done Without:

-Duck attempting to take a poo on Roger's couch. Ew. This is almost as bad as when he left his dog in the middle of Manhattan.
-Don's barfing noises were quite authentic but they went on a smidge too long for me, ughhh.

(P.S. I'm so SORRY this is so long, but I felt like I had to get this all out there before I could do anything real-life productive today. Thanks for reading!)

which show am i watching again?

Final 5. Episode 12. This was the episode of Top Chef that would determine which 4 chefs were going to be headed to the finals--and in Singapore, nonetheless! That's right, Top Chef is slowly turning into America's Next Top Model. But as long as Padma doesn't start wearing shoulder-padded jumpsuits and commending the chefs on how "fierce" their food is, I suppose we'll be okay.

Before I get into the Quickfire Challenge, let's get personal, shall we? As with every reality competition show, we get little tidbits about the characters' personal lives. For example, we learned more about Kelly and how much she loves and misses her husband. We also discovered that Angelo got a divorce last year and is now engaged. Wow, that was quick. How did he meet this Russian woman? How soon after his divorce did he get serious with her? I know it's really none of my concern but to get divorced and then engaged within such a short period of time; it just seems a bit fishy. And yes, I used the word "fishy" because it refers to food. Moving on.

This week's Quickfire involved properly pairing wine with food. And, appropriately, the guest judge was none other than Dana Cowin, the Editor in Chief of Food & Wine magazine. I'm not a big fan of wine. If I had to drink it, I'd drink white--it goes down a bit better than the red. Drinking it is one thing, and pairing it with a meal is another. Turns out Tiffany and Angelo are pretty darn good at it, and Angelo won, along with a trip to London. I think it's very exciting that Top Chef has gotten into this whole "high stakes quickfire" thing, but it's been a little overkill lately. Remember back in the day when winning a Quickfire would get you immunity and then later on just a warm and fuzzy feeling? I know, I know, more money is always welcome but in my opinion, it's making the show a little kitschy.

Since we're on the subject of how the show used to be, remember back in the day when the Quickfire Challenge would somehow relate to the Elimination Challenge? Have the creators gotten lazy or have they just decided to deviate from that concept? Because I really can't find any relation between food and wine pairings, and food that is able to be freeze-dried for astronauts. That's right, for this Elimination Challenge, the chefs were given the task of creating a gourmet meal that can be freeze-dried and added to the menu for out-of-this-world travelers of NASA. But, whatever. Top Chef has been on for 7 years now. I suppose it's just silly to think it'd stay the same. I shall get over it and move on (try to).

So. NASA. We learn that Kelly was a space nerd as a child. I must say, I was not expecting that from her. It kind of makes me like her more. Space Cadet Kelly and the other chefs have to create a zero-gravity meal, able to be freeze-dried, and just as delicious in space. And Buzz Aldrin, everyone's favorite astronaut, will be one of the tasters of this dish. Buzz Aldrin. First Dancing with the Stars, now Top Chef. I wonder which reality show we'll see him on next. As long as he stays away from VH1's series, I'll be fine. Buzz wasn't the only exciting part about this challenge. The winner would be receiving a BRAND NEW CAR! And now we're on The Price is Right. That's right. If one of the chefs played their cards right, they'd be receiving a snazzy Toyota Avalon. Zowie.

And what were the results of this challenge? Well, Ed's rack of lamb--despite my fear and dislike of eggplant--looked mighty tasty, and the judges discovered that indeed it was. They also liked Kevin's strip steak. But they liked Angelo's short rib the best, and he was the one who walked away with the Avalon and guest judge Anthony Bourdain's new book. And while the judges enjoyed Tiffany's pan-seared halibut, it simply wasn't enough to get her through to the next challenge. I was not a fan of this. I loved Tiffany. I loved her enthusiasm and she actually had great food to back it up. I think she deserved to be in the finals but maybe Top Chef will pull a fast one and give her another opportunity. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Other things of note:

• Buzz Aldrin pulling out Padma's chair at the table. Sigh. Thanks Buzz, for reminding us that chivalry isn't dead.
• The playful and cheeky banter between Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert. Can you just imagine putting these two in the kitchen together? I smell a spin off!
• Thanks to a talking-head interview, we learned that Kevin is the kind of guy who wears a "popped collar." Not sure what I'm talking about? It's a common "trend" for some bizarre reason. And I now respect Kevin a bit less than I did before.
• Angelo saying he made love to his short ribs. Enough with the sex metaphors, OK? I get it, you're in love with your food. But there's no need to go into how you glaze and heat.
• Kelly making artichokes. OK, there's really no other reason to bring this up other than the fact that artichokes were being made. They are now and forever my favorite vegetable. If they're incorporated in any way on any television show this blog writes about, it will be acknowledged.

Final four: Kevin, Kelly, Ed, and Angelo. I have to say, I really don't have a favorite right now. I suppose I could say that Kelly's cool. A bit snooty, but cool. And Ed is growing on me. At one point, I started to see him more, and his food has always looked quite appetizing. And you gotta admire the guy for his sarcasm. If these two are in the final finals, I will be a happy viewer.