Television Show Review: Mad Men

Mad Men: Season Five created by Matthew Weiner (Lionsgate Television, Weiner Bros., and American Movie Classics)

Starring Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, Christina Hendricks, January Jones, John Slattery, Kiernan Shipka, Robert Morse, and Jared Harris.

Recommended, Highly 

In replacement of a spoiler warning, if you haven’t watched Mad Men, stop reading this review and rent Season One. Actually, before you do so. I need to make sure you'll like it. There’s nothing worse than highly recommending something that someone doesn’t like. Mad Men is a slow-boiling character-driven drama. If you need a fast-paced plot, death, mystery, and explosions. Steer clear!

If you like complex characters, though, you need to watch Mad Men. For Matthew Weiner and company, Season 5 represents their best work yet. At a time when most television shows start to fizzle as ideas wane, Mad Men gave us the most consistent season of the hit drama to date. More specifically, Mad Men continues to set the bar through its use of symbolism, accidental progressiveness, and the continued development of compelling characters.

Mad Men as Symbolic 

First, Mad Men has always been a series surrounding symbols. From both the falling advertising executive denoting the downward spiral around the pursuit of happiness to the lounging man smoking a cigarette illustrating the laissez-fare attitude of the era in the opening sequence, the 1960s on Madison Avenue acts as a placeholder for the deeper issues we face in life.

With each episode standing alone as its own short story, the narrative arcs in Mad Men proceed through short vignettes. In Season 5, we find some iconic episodes. In one instance, the employees of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce awkwardly socialize at a party we would now label the epitome of 60s swag while Don Draper’s (John Hamm) new wife, Megan (Jessica Paré), croons a sexy French pop song. In another, Joan (Christina Hendricks) prostitutes herself for the firm to gain the Jaguar account and to obtain a 5% stake in the company.



Whether depicting the power struggle between husband and wife through a French pop song, or the lengths we’ll take to gain financial security, the symbolism in these stories resonate deeply because they are human stories.

Mad Men remains at its best when it uses symbolism to comment on culture and the hollow lives of people pursuing happiness.

This second point on happiness—one to which Weiner returns time and time again—influences every character and action in the season. Don, now 40, finds himself in a funk. For the first time, he feels old. Where in the first few seasons Don keeps his finger on the trends influencing the youth of the nation, the summer of 1966 introduces a new wave of youth, a shift he no longer understands best referenced by his interactions with fans backstage at a Rolling Stones concert or his inability to enjoy Revolver by the Beatles.

Mad Men as Accidental Progressiveness 

Additionally, Mad Men tends to focus on the ways in which Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce falls into progressive stances. In previous seasons, hiring Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) as a copywriter and refusing to do business with the cigarette industry represented impressively forward thinking actions, yet the characters never represented this liberal mindset. This year, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce continues to champion progressiveness by accident.

We find the firm employing African Americans after the firm made a sarcastic jab in the papers about a rival company. Additionally, Joan, as a woman becomes a partner in a male-dominated profession. Yet, to do so she had to resort to scurrilous actions with a Jaguar executive.

Mad Men as Character Development 

Finally, Season 5 continues to add complexity to the characters we know, love, and sometimes hate. Our protagonist Don, in addition to dealing with his advancing age, interacts in a power struggle with his new and youthful wife.

While Don expects submission as his previous wife, Betty (January Jones), allowed, Megan will not tolerate his power grabs. Whether by asserting her will at work, at home, or in the bedroom, Megan considers herself an equal to Don. To a certain extent, this power struggle fuels their relationship, but it also manifests itself in physical forms as their fights often become violent wrestling matches.

Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser), the ever punchable junior executive, is following the Don Draper path to a tee, just one generation behind. Now with a lovely wife, child, and home in the suburbs, Pete’s realized dreams now feel shallow and he desires the ever-present urge to find new women, new business accounts, and new thrills. Nonetheless, he never finds happiness.

Mad Men as Remarkable Television 

Mad Men Season 5 is remarkable television. It represents talented writers and actors functioning at the top of their collective game. Each episode illustrates multiple themes worth pondering, and, on the whole, the television show is profound. In particular, Season 5 offers beautiful illustrations of progressiveness, symbolism, and character development. For all that is good and holy, please watch Mad Men, it will assuredly warm your soul.

Verdict: 5 out of 5

What about you? Are you a fan of Mad Men? What are your thoughts on the current season? Do you think the characters will ever obtain happiness? What does the show tells us about our culture? Our hopes? Our pursuits?
Share your thoughts below.

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Posted by: Donovan Richards

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Book Review: The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine

The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine: A Novel by Alina Bronsky; translated by Tim Mohr (New York: Europa Editions, 2011. 304 pp)

Alina Bronsky was born in Yekaterinburg, an industrial town at the foot of the Ural Mountains in central Russia. She moved to Germany when she was thirteen. Her debut novel, Broken Glass Park, was nominated for one of Europe’s most important literary awards, the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize.

Tim Mohr is a New York-based translator, author, and editor. His translation of Guantanamo by Dorothea Dieckmann earned him the Three Percent award for best translation. Mohr also collaborated with Duff McKagan on It's So Easy (And Other Lies).

Head in the Clouds 

I tend to be oblivious of my surroundings. Perhaps, like the famous Socrates, I suffer from my head in the clouds. This issue—one my wife constantly seeks to alter, much to my appreciation—leaves me prone to saying something stupid, ignoring a friend in a social setting without realizing, or alienating an individual. I truly mean no harm, but sometimes it ends up happening anyway.

For this reason, I find similarities with the characters in The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine.

Three Generations of Tartar 

Alina Bronsky’s The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine outlines the lives of three generations of Tartar women. The pugnacious matriarch and narrator of the novel, Rosa Achmetowna, grew up in an orphanage and meanders through Soviet Russia in a loveless marriage.

Her daughter, Sulfia, is a bland and lazy nurse impregnated on questionable terms:

“Sulfia sat on the stool and in answer to my questions told me that her sudden pregnancy could only have come about from dreaming of a man at night, while asleep, and I believed her immediately. The streets were full of pretty girls in short skirts, and a real man would never come anywhere near Sulfia unless he was nearsighted or perverted” (14).

Finally, Sulfia’s daughter, Aminat resembles her grandmother and quickly becomes the apple of Rosa’s eye.

“She was given coloring books and felt-tip pens, tights, oranges, and a toy doctor’s kit. She opened the kit up immediately and began to sort through the instruments. Watching her warmed my heart. I could tell as soon as I saw her playing that my granddaughter was going to be a doctor one day, and quite a doctor at that” (33).

The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine is not plot heavy. Rather, the novel dictates the many ways in which Rosa, Sulfia, and Aminat relate to one another in the pursuit of a better life outside of Russia.

The Complicated Mother-Daughter Relationship 

In particular, the relationship between Rosa and Sulfia takes center stage. Sadly, Rosa postulates her daughter to be a poor mother.

“Sulfia held the hand of my little girl. I could see immediately that Aminat was carelessly dressed. She didn’t have a scarf on, and her hat had shifted so that her ears were exposed to the biting cold. Her black hair hung in her face. Her nose was red. She definitely had a cold, and no wonder with this mother” (45).

As the narrator, the reader tends to side with Rosa. With the world revealed through her words, we want to take Rosa’s side. Yet, Rosa continually reveals her own arrogance.

“I didn’t look anything like a grandmother at all. I looked good. I was pretty and young looking. You could see that I had vitality and was intelligent. I often had to mask my expression to keep other people from reading my thoughts and stealing my ideas” (61).

In fact, this arrogance leads to unwanted consequences later in the novel when Rosa is unable to perceive the ways in which her beliefs and actions inflict harm on those around her.

“She screamed that I should never again interfere in her life, a life I had already destroyed, this time forever, broken her heart, robbed her of her dear little daughter, taken away her family, shattered her future, and chained her and poor Aminat to me” (142).

Despite her character flaws, Rosa truly loves her daughter and granddaughter—even with the criticisms of Sulfia’s looks.

Family: A Collection of Broken People 

To a certain extent, The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine reveals a deep-seated brokenness of humanity. Rosa’s brash arrogance is her way of attempting to communicate, correct, and contribute to her family. However, these traits only serve to inhibit the lives of those around her.

Despite our best intentions, we always maintain the ability to inflict massive amounts of pain on others unknowingly. Those closest to us sometimes, in fact, receive the brunt of our mistaken intentions.

Alina Bronsky’s The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine is an intriguing character study on misplaced motives and broken families. If you are a fan of European fiction, character studies, and multi-generational family stories, The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine is for you.

Verdict: 3.5 out of 5

How about you? Do you suffer from obliviousness? Does the complexity of a character add to a storyline? Does this book interest you?
Share your thoughts below.

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Posted by: Donovan Richards

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Television Show Review: Whites

Whites directed by David Kerr (British Broadcasting Corporation. 2010)

Starring Alan Davies, Darren Boyd, and Katherine Parkinson.

Celebrity Chefdom

In a world where Gordon Ramsay rules, Anthony Bourdain sarcastically entertains, and celebrity chefdom somehow continues to rise, it was only a matter of time before a comedy in the culinary world would emerge to please the masses. I was thrilled to see Whites arrive. But, I was equally as disappointed to see it quickly vanish, cancelled after one season.

Based in Reality

Roland White (Alan Davies) had a seemingly promising career ahead of him. Alas, he is now a past-his-prime chef in a dead-end restaurant, at the White House Hotel. Roland is a gifted-but-lazy chef. The show’s writer, Matt King, used his experience in the kitchen to form the premise for the television series. In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, King states,

“Whites is totally based on Hanbury Manor, where I worked. It’s a facsimile. Roland is a composite of several chefs I know who can’t be bothered any more. They’ve kind of missed the boat, missed out on Michelin stars and cruise along.”

Interestingly, because of Matt King’s background, the entire cast trained at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen in order to adequately play their roles in a proper culinary fashion. 

Recounting the Tale

In the first episode, we find Roland meagerly sitting in his office writing his “poignant” autobiography while watching his sous chef, Bib (Darren Boyd), flounder in his attempts to keep the busy kitchen afloat. 

Roland, finally noting Bib’s inability to survive the hectic kitchen alone, allows Bib to hire another line cook, named Skoose (Stephen Wright). The only problem is, Skoose vocally covets Bib’s job, as he intends to be a head chef of his own restaurant in only four years.

Time to Develop

What ensues is restaurant hilarity. But, the series was cancelled after only a year. It was not cancelled due to disinterest, but rather because BBC couldn’t secure the money to run the show for a second season. Unfortunately, Whites needed time to develop its characters, a notion writer Matt King laments.

“In our minds, it was a getting-to-know-our-characters series. It’s not a lot of time to explore seven characters. It was always, ‘We’ve set up this world, with series two everyone knows the characters and we’ll explore it from there’.”

Series two could have developed plot after the world was set up, an unfortunate consequence of really taking time to introduce the characters. Series one is a bit slow, but it’s just as funny. With equal parts sarcasm, wit, and slapstick comedy, I found Whites to be hilarious and entertaining. Though the show is cancelled, I think it still entertains. The world needs a chef comedy to interact with the Anthony Bourdains and Gordon Ramsays of the world, it’s sad that this one found its end.

Verdict: 4 out of 5

Have you seen Whites? Did you enjoy it? Are you sad it's been cancelled? Share your thoughts below.
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Posted by: Andrew Jacobson


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Book Review: Catching Fire

Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins (New York: Scholastic, Inc., 2009. 391 pp)

Suzanne Collins began her writing career in children’s television. While working for Nickelodeon, Collins wrote for many shows, chief among them Clarissa Explains it All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Eventually, Collins moved to children’s literature writing a five-part series, The Underland Chronicles. Her Hunger Games trilogy, however, has received high acclaim, and the first book has been adapted into a major motion picture. Collins lives in Connecticut with her family. 

*Spoiler Alert for Book One in Effect Throughout this Review*

Book Two

The Hunger Games and its subsequent Catching Fire is the latest craze among teens. The Hunger Games is even being taught at my school, where, to both my delight and chagrin students are now reading during my classes (not the appropriate time to do so). I, too, have fallen in love with the phenomena, as I find the plot exhilarating. However, the main character, Katniss, annoys me to no end.

Katniss, now the victor of the most recent Hunger Games, wishes to forget the gore she encountered. Understandably distraught, she now has to perform a publicity tour throughout the districts, beginning in district eleven and concluding at her own district twelve.

“If it were up to me, I would try to forget the Hunger Games entirely. Never speak of them. Pretend they were nothing but a bad dream. But the Victory Tour makes that impossible. Strategically placed almost midway between the annual Games, it is the Capitol’s way of keeping the horror fresh and immediate. Not only are we in the districts forced to remember the iron grip of the Capitol’s power each year, we are forced to celebrate it. And this year, I am one of the stars of the show. I will have to travel from district to district, to stand before the cheering crowds who secretly loathe me, to look down into the faces of the families whose children I have killed...” (3-4).

Katniss is a believable character, to Collins’ merit. However, my problem has always been (and this is a personal view) she is just a little too whiny. Katniss never willingly seems to kill people in the Hunger Games as a survival instinct. Rather, she only killed her competitors when someone else was in danger, when someone else’s life was on the line. I believe, realistically, she would be much more brutal, as the instinct to survive is stronger than what Katniss portrays. Moreover, the crowds, viewing this spectacle on the television, would undoubtedly side with Katniss as the merciful competitor, as she didn’t kill willingly, only doing so as a last resort. The crowd wouldn’t look down on her and loathe her as Katniss seems to believe.

Repercussions and Self-Loathing

Nonetheless, Katniss feels the repercussions from her activities during the last Hunger Games, especially in regard to winning with Peeta, her fake love interest during the games. 

“The full impact of what he’s saying hits me. I will never have a life with Gale, even if I want to. I will never be allowed to live alone. I will have to be forever in love with Peeta. The Capitol will insist on it. I’ll have a few years maybe, because I’m still only sixteen, to stay with my mother and Prim...if I want to keep those I love alive and stay alive myself [,] I’ll have to marry Peeta" (44).

Continuing on her path of self-loathing and depression, Katniss takes her victory at the games incredibly hard.

“I’m selfish. I’m a coward. I’m the kind of girl who, when she might actually be of use, would run to stay alive and leave those who couldn’t follow to suffer and die...No wonder I won the Games. No decent person ever does” (117).

I understand killing is hard, killing would obviously cause self-doubt, repercussions, and some serious depression. But, I think that Katniss is simply too whiny...too much of a teenager for some readers to root for. Her inner monologues become far too annoying after some time, much like listening to a drop of water leaking from the faucet.

Still Compelling

Despite my annoyances, I still find the plot of Catching Fire to be compelling, and in my mind, that’s what saves the trilogy. Suzanne Collins certainly knows how to grip the reader’s attention, she places plot twists conveniently at the end of each chapter to keep the reader wondering “what happens next?” Even though the book is flawed, I still think Catching Fire is worth a read, especially if you enjoyed the movie or the previous book.

Verdict: 3 out of 5


What do you think? Do you find Katniss to be a believable and compelling character? What about the plot? Share your thoughts below.
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Posted by: Andrew Jacobson

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Book Review: A Clash of Kings

A Clash of Kings: Book Two of a Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin (New York: Bantam Books, 1999. 768 pp)

George R. R. Martin is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. Born in New Jersey, Martin earned a B.S. and M.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University. He began writing fiction in the early 1970s with his first works earning him a Hugo and Nebula award. In the 1980s, he began writing in Hollywood for the Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast. Martin is best known for his critically acclaimed epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, which was developed into Game of Thrones, an HBO television series.

*Spoiler Alert for Book One in Effect throughout this Review*

The Female Lead 

What constitutes a strong female character? Does she need to act “masculine,” dominating the fields of battle, outwitting her male counterparts, and saving the day? Or is a strong female character reserved, capable of reading scenarios, understanding social settings, and leading a household?

I don’t claim to know the answer to these questions. I do, however, enjoy the female characters in A Clash of Kings, the second installment in George R. R. Martin’s epic series, A Song of Ice and Fire.

The book begins where A Game of Thrones concludes.

Panoramic Warfare 

Civil war plagues the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. In every corner, an army declares their respective leader the claimant to the throne. While Stannis Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, Joffrey Baratheon, and Robb Stark prepare for war, Balon Greyjoy, the self-proclaimed king of the Iron Islands aims to take the northern territories of Westeros. Simultaneously, Jon Snow marches beyond the Wall with the Night’s Watch hoping to better understand the potential threat of Mance Rayder and his armies in the far north.

Across the sea, Daenerys Targaryen meanders eastward nurturing her baby dragons and raising an army with the hope of retaking Westeros.

With a myriad of moving parts, there is little wonder why A Clash of Kings tips the scales at over 700 pages. World building depends upon verbosity.

Grace Among the Bone, Pulp, and Gristle 

But the females stuck in a male-dominated world interest me most in this narrative.

In A Clash of Kings, we find Arya Stark pretending to be a boy as she flees King’s Landing. To hide her gender, Arya must “make water” in the woods and exude a vicious “masculine” personality to hide her true self from enemy troops. Arya’s life depends on the denial of her gender.

The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros

Catelyn, the widowed Stark matriarch, feels helpless as the war unfolds around her. Even though she continues to perform crucial tasks in the war effort, she feels the pull of home—Winterfell—and the motherly duties of raising children.

As an illustrative contrapuntal character to Catelyn, Brienne, a sworn knight, promises to protect Catelyn.

“Brienne fell in beside her, silent. It is simpler for her, Catelyn thought with a pang of envy. She was like a man in that. For men the answer was always the same, and never farther away than the nearest sword. For a woman, a mother, the way was stonier and harder to know” (495).

A big-boned and hard-featured character, Brienne rejects her noble upbringing as a lady replacing it with the brutality of knighthood.

The Queen Regent 

Even though the previous characters intrigue, my favorite character relationship in A Clash of Kings goes to Cersei Lannister and Sansa Stark. As Queen Regent, Cersei effectively rules Westeros for her teenaged son. Sansa, betrothed to Joffrey despite her “traitorous” father, lives in King’s Landing existing in a careful balance between enslaved and a noble lady. Sansa, as the sister of Robb Stark, the King of the North, carries immeasurable value as a hostage in the war effort. Yet she remains betrothed to King Joffrey.

Throughout the novel, Cersei communicates the tenets of womanhood to the frightened Stark girl.

“’Tears,’ she said scornfully to Sansa as the woman was led from the hall. ‘The woman’s weapon, my lady mother used to call them. The man’s weapon is a sword. And that tells us all you need to know, doesn’t it’” (637)?

Martin depicts Cersei as a power-hungry harridan. If Cersei were a man, the Iron Throne of Westeros would be hers in a heartbeat it would seem. As a woman, her ambition must remain cloaked. Martin potently describes Cersei’s vitriolic nature:

“’When we were little, Jaime and I were so much alike that even our lord father could not tell us apart. Sometimes as a lark we would dress in each other’s clothes and spend a whole day each as the other. Yet even so, when Jaime was given his first sword, there was none for me. ‘What do I get?’ I remember asking. We were so much alike, I could never understand why they treated us so differently. Jaime learned to fight with sword and lance and mace, while I was to be sold to some stranger like a horse, to be ridden whenever my new owner liked, beaten whenever he liked, and cast aside in time for a younger philly. Jaime’s lot was to be glory and power, while mine was birth and moonblood” (639).

One’s sexual constitution most certainly dictates the path of life in A Clash of Kings, much like in real life. Even though life in Westeros often depends on becoming more masculine, Martin includes some strong feminine characters. While men parade through Westeros seeking violence with the sword, the women represent the most compelling characters through strength, resolve, and dignity.

A Clash of Kings is an epic tale with immense depth. If you have yet to read A Game of Thrones, I suggest you do so.

Verdict: 4 out of 5

What do you think? What makes a compelling female character? Does George R. R. Martin succeed in depicting strong female characters in an overtly masculine setting?
Share your thoughts below.

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Posted by: Donovan Richards

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Television Show Review: The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead: Season Two created by Frank Darabont; produced by Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Robert Kirkman, and Charles H. Eglee (Circle of Confusion and Valhalla Motion Pictures)

Starring Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Steven Yeun, and Chandler Riggs.

A Premature Review

Partly because I’m currently engaged in some lengthy books and need to post some content, I am reviewing the current season of The Walking Dead despite the fact that it is early in its second season.

As I mentioned in my review of the show last year, I am not a fan of the zombie genre. Yet, the more I consider the subtext beneath these post-apocalyptic narratives, the more the genre fascinates me.

Zombie as Metaphor

At its core, a zombie story explores human frailty. The zombie functions as a metaphor for the inevitability of death. Like a contagion, the threat gradually rises until no hope remains for escape. In other words, the zombie genre requires the viewer to encounter his or her own death.

In movie form, zombie stories move quickly with boatloads of action before the narrative resolves in the finality of death. The Walking Dead, however, must unfold slowly due to its serialized nature. As such, a sensory assault seen in most zombie movies would drain the viewer.  With a show format, The Walking Dead needs drama in order to break up the intense zombie scenes.

I Want to Like the Characters before They Die!

And, honestly, this drama is the Achilles’ heel of the show so far. Of course, in light of a dying world, it is nearly impossible to imagine the ways in which humans would cope. But, the attempts to humanize the characters in this show sound hollow. In truth, I am not drawn to any of the characters on this show.  As these people die (and we know they will, let us not deceive ourselves), I want to like them. Stated differently, it is not dramatic if unlikable characters die.

So, despite high ratings and much promise, I find it difficult to give The Walking Dead, a perfect score. The show has promise. In the third episode, we find the kind of cliffhanger that creates real characters. If you love zombies, you need to watch The Walking Dead. As for me, I continue to watch hoping that the writers put everything together.

Verdict: 3 of 5