MM or Leverage?

That was interesting. And that was jack from jack and Bobby as Peggy's writing partner, wasn' it?

Mad Men

Leverage: if anyone (and it probably includes the team members) had made Parker make the noise that Elliot did when he tore the head of the pinata, he would have offered to hurt them at the very last. Bad Elliot.

However, Elliot and Hardison recreating The Defiant Ones (or was it The 39 Steps? And would that make Hardison Madeline Carroll?) was hilarious.

MM: Don's got some serious self-loathing going on, if that scene with the prostitute is anything to go on, especially if this is a regular gig for them as it sounded.

Leverage - no comments about the handcuffs? It is like I don't know y'all.

Parker called Sophie by that name instead of whatever new name she has. In the first few episodes the mystery of her name was a clear point and now that seems to have been dropped. Was this the first time this season that she has been called Sophie without that being a "cover" (not sure what word to really use) for her real name?

Yeah, that Sophie name thing is super fucking annoying now.

I might just be in a bad mood though.

I almost forgot about the Sophie name thing. They haven't even mentioned it the last couple episodes. I'm still holding onto hope that she's really Annie Croy.

Really loved the Eliot&Hardison Show this time. And Hardison got to have his "we can't leave now; this is what we do" moment. I did wonder how Nate found them in the woods, though.

Freakin' Matthew Weiner. He always waits until the last five minutes of key episodes to throw a complete knuckleball at the viewers. Don's attitude, the music, everything.

Agreeing completely with Frank about the self-loathing, which also reminds me a lot of an episode of Criminal Minds that, incidentally, aired tonight, where a call girl is murdering her clients-- a madam reveals that what the men really want isn't the sex, but someone to whom they can reveal their weaknesses.

Love how Peggy is willing to stand up for her mistakes but is also ready and willing to call Don on his shit.

Was surprisingly charmed by Henry's mother. She's got Betty nailed, doesn't she?

I'm sure it was The Defiant Ones.

I really like the Eliot/Hardison friendship. First the coffee, now the impromptu fishing trip, and then the Wii. They're very cute together.

Speaking of cute--Hardison and those tight pants. Mrrowr.

You just know that Hardison got the Wii fishing game for Eliot because he didn't get to have his fishing trip. So cute.

Mad Men:

The actress who plays Sally Draper is now listed in the opening credits.

Both Peggy and Betty are sporting post-Jackie bouffant bobs. Joan's wearing sixties eyeliner.

Love the new offices. It's getting sixties now.

"Who is Don Draper?" I think we have a Theme.

He's: the subject of "Tobacco Road," a dick (as well as a Dick), a good father, an advertising star, a difficult mentor to Peggy, somebody who wants to conceal his past, somebody who chooses to tell his own story, somebody who spends Thanksgiving with a whore, somebody who wants to be slapped, somebody who has more money than intimacy.

Sterling Cooper Draper Price (SCDR) is struggling, and are going to have to aggressively move into the changing decade. Don's making that choice. They're finishing '64 and moving into '65. This is the period when the Beatles happen, the California sound (Beach Boys) happens, Motown explodes. It's the beginning of the post-Kennedy sixties. The mod part. I think they have to go to London during this season or next.

In 1966, the Velvet Underground form in Manhattan. The Warhol, media-driven sixties, advertising-as-art is coming soon.