Breaking Bad Review: Ozymandias

Breaking Bad (AMC), Episode 14 of Season 5
"Ozymandias"
Directed By: Rian Johnson
Written By: Moira Walley-Beckett

GRADE: A+

Brief Description: There were two episodes that aired after "Ozymandias"which were "Granite State" and "Felina". "Felina" was regarded at the time (and obviously still is) one of the best series finales of all time. My own personal problems with "Felina" aside, I like to think "Ozymandias" as the true series finale, with the other two episodes acting like an epilogue. "Ozymandias" was by far and away the best episode Breaking Bad aired in 2013 during it's final eight episodes, and I'd like to give it its own post as dedication to the awesomeness that this episode was.

"Jungle" Is The Next Greatest Song For Your Commercial

"Jungle" by Jamie N Commons and X Ambassadors is the greatest song of 2014 that you've never heard of. Or to put it more fairly, it's the greatest song you have heard of yet you have no idea how you heard of it. You can listen to the full song below. It's being used in everything nowadays; it's the commercial version of The Rolling Stones' "Gimmie Shelter" for Scorsese films. It's just in everything, and it's always used perfectly.

2014 TV Weekly Recap (June 22 - June 28)

CURRENT SHOWS AIRING

Sunday June 22

Halt and Catch Fire (AMC), Episode 4 "Close To The Metal"

GRADE: B-

Brief Description: Halt and Catch Fire tries to take a slight step back from the building of the portable computer and focus on its main three characters, Joe, Gordon, and Cameron, while adding heavy focus and depth to Donna who seemed to be there solely as a cliche nagging wife. H&CF does its best to try and give these characters the most compelling story line possible, but it's just not clicking. The stakes aren't there and the characters aren't that well defined or developed. It does its best by making Joe out to be a villain and he gets beat up by some cops this episode, but I just don't care. This show hasn't done anything to make me truly care about these characters, and it's just not doing anything to suck me in to make me want to continue watching. 

Tuesday June 24

Tyrant (FX), Episode 1 "Pilot"

GRADE: B

Brief Description: Truthfully, I have no idea how I feel about Tyrant. I didn't hate it and it passed the iPhone Test where I was more focused on the show than my iPhone, but it also didn't do anything to make me want to stay either. I will continue watching it, but I may give up with it soon along with Halt and Catch Fire. The pilot to Tyrant plays out exactly like the plot of The Godfather. Adam Raynor plays Bassam "Barry" Al-Fayeed and he is the Michael Corrleone character. His father is the Don Vito Corrleone character and the dictator of a fictional Iran/Iraq-esque country. Barry is self-exiled and living in L.A. because he doesn't want to be in the violent business that his father is in. However, and just like in The Godfather, a wedding brings Barry back to his home land, and wouldn't you know it, he gets sucked in and stays a while longer. Barry has an older brother, Jamal, who is a hybrid of Sonny and Fredo. Jamal is the "bad son" who stays and loves to rape and take advantage of his power. A character like Jamal should be a character we all love to hate, but he's so one-dimensional that I never had any feelings for him whatsoever. How I felt about Jamal is how I felt about the pilot to Tyrant as a whole. It's cliche, one-dimensional, under-written, and not that well-acted, but there's also a clear capability to become better and more engaging. Despite all my negativity towards it, I'll continue watching a few more episodes, and I will give this FX show a chance.

Orange Is The New Black Review: We Have Manners, We're Polite

Orange Is The New Black (Netflix), Episode 13 of Season 2
"We Have Manners, We're Polite"
Written By: Jenji Kohan
Directed By: Constantine Marks
Flashback Of: N/A

GRADE: A+

Brief Description: My general take on season finales is that one episode can't change a season. A great finale to a terrible season (a la Season 2 of House of Cards) is still a terrible season and a terrible finale to a great season (a la Season 1 of Homeland) is still a great season. The season finale of Orange Is The New Black is the exception to the rule so to speak. The first half of this season was incredible, while the second half stumbled a bit, the 90 minute season finale tied up almost every loose end. "We Have Manners, We're Polite" was the reason we saw the previous 12 episodes and it capped an excellent end to an excellent season.

2014 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Outstanding Drama Series

Recently, the Emmy's released every person and show eligible in all of their categories for the 2014 Primetime Emmy's for their nomination ballot. This post is dedicated to everything related to Outstanding Drama Series category. It will be both who I think will actually earn a nomination as well as who I think deserves to earn a nomination. However, there is one main ground rule- I have to go off of the actual Emmy nomination ballot. Which means that if the series isn't actually eligible to earn a nomination in real life, then it's not eligible to be mentioned in this post. Makes sense, doesn't it? Let's begin!

DRAMA

WHO I THINK WILL GET A NOMINATION:

- Breaking Bad (AMC)
- Downton Abbey (PBS)
- Game of Thrones (HBO)
- House of Cards (Netflix)
- Mad Men (AMC)
- True Detective (HBO)

The Surprisingly Good Cubs Rotation

In 2007, a Notre Dame receiver, a receiver who was considered the best college wide out behind Calvin Johnson, decided he wasn't going to play football anymore. He decided he was going to play baseball. After college, he signed a five year deal with the Chicago Cubs. For the first four years of that five year deal, this former wide out was just a relief pitcher. Not even a closer, just a reliever. It looked like the decision not to play football was a bad one- especially considering how much Calvin Johnson was tearing up the NFL and how much money he was making. In 2012, this reliever was converted into a starting pitcher. Over the next two years, this pitcher had a 4.11 ERA throughout 61 starts. However, he did boast an impressive K/9, striking out a little over a batter an inning. This year, this pitcher is one of the best in the game. He has a 2.35 ERA, an 8.5 K/9, and is the ace of the Chicago Cubs rotation. As you have probably already guessed by now, this man is Jeff Samardzija.

Orange Is The New Black Review: It Was The Change

Orange Is The New Black (Netflix), Episode 12 of Season 2
"It Was The Change"
Written By: Sara Hess
Directed By: Phil Abraham
Flashback Of: Vee

GRADE: A

Brief Description: A storm is coming to Litchfield! Not only do we get a literal storm, but the war between Vee and Red is finally here. I've been complaining for a few episodes about how the war between Vee vs. Red was not nearly at the level it should be. We finally got the episode I've been waiting for and that we all should have gotten a few episodes back. Even without the last two scenes between Vee and Red, this episode was still an "A". We spent a fair amount of time focusing on some minor characters, mainly Ruiz, but for the most part, this episode was filled with the characters and story lines this entire season had been building towards. Even in scenes without Vee or Red in them, the threat of a fight breaking out lingered over everything.

The Players You Should Vote For For The 2014 All Star Game

Currently, voting is underway for the 2014 All-Star game in Minnesota. Fans across the nation, and across the globe can vote on who they think should start the All-Star game. Many fans will just be homers and vote for players who play on their favorite team. However, if you do vote for this or any All-Star game, I ask that you take this seriously and vote on who you genuinely believe is the best at every position. The reason for this is the same reason I loathe the fact that Derek Jeter is probably going to start at SS for the AL this year. Being honored with the designation of an "All Star" matters. Not only is it a great personal achievement for that particular player, but its used as a determining factor for a player's legacy. One extra All-Star game for Derek Jeter may not matter, but if he steals that vote from say Jose Reyes or Alexei Ramirez, that does matter. You can give me all of the bullshit excuses of "this is a fan's game, so the fans should determine who they personally want to see" or "Derek Jeter's selection is not for this year, but for the great career he had" and you'd just be wrong. You're wrong. At the end of the day, who is an All-Star matters solely as recognition for how great of a player you were. Nobody will say in 10 years, hell in 5 years, Derek Jeter went to the All-Star game 14 times, but it's really 13 and a bonus year representative for his entire career. No. They'll say Derek Jeter is a 14x All-Star, and that's that. Players should be rewarded for how they perform on the field to determine if they're worthy of becoming an All-Star.

2014 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Outstanding Comedy Series

Recently, the Emmy's released every person and show eligible in all of their categories for the 2014 Primetime Emmy's for their nomination ballot. This post is dedicated to everything related to Outstanding Comedy Series category. It will be both who I think will actually earn a nomination as well as who I think deserves to earn a nomination. However, there is one main ground rule- I have to go off of the actual Emmy nomination ballot. Which means that if the series isn't actually eligible to earn a nomination in real life, then it's not eligible to be mentioned in this post. Makes sense, doesn't it? Let's begin!

COMEDY

WHO I THINK WILL GET A NOMINATION:

- Girls (HBO)
- Louie (FX)
- Modern Family (ABC)
- Orange Is The New Black (Netflix)
- The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
- Veep (HBO)

Orange Is The New Black Review: Take A Break From Your Values

Orange Is The New Black (Netflix), Episode 11 of Season 2
"Take A Break From Your Values"
Written By: Nick Jones
Directed By: Constantine Makris
Flashback Of: Sister Ingalls

GRADE: C+

Brief Description: I have no idea how a show as great as Orange Is The New Black has been can come so far off of the rails as it has become. But truthfully, I don't think we should be surprised. While Jenji Kohan created Orange after coming off of a long running, slightly successful, slightly critically revered show, it's not like Weeds was ever considered the Mad Men of Breaking Bad, or even Dexter, of its time. To it's credit, it does have a handful of major Primetime Emmy awards, but nowhere in its eight year run was it ever considered as great of a show has Orange Is The New Black has been. And now that we're almost done with Season 2, you can see the seems start to tear and the thread start to unravel, just like Weeds did. To be fair, "Take A Break From Your Values" as a stand alone episode is not a C+. It's better than a lot of shows out there. However, the gap for where Season 2 should be this late in its run versus where it is now is just staggering.

2014 TV Weekly Recap (June 15 - June 21)

CURRENT SHOWS AIRING

Sunday June 15

Game of Thrones (HBO), Episode 10 "The Children"

EPISODE GRADE: B+

SEASON GRADE: A/A+

Brief Description: As amazing as Game of Thrones has been this season, and its fourth season was easily its best season to date, there are still plenty of story lines within this story that I just don't care about. Many of those story lines were prominently featured in "The Children". I absolutely don't give a shit about Bran, and now the fact that there's a magical addition to his story makes it even worse, Stannis should be a character I care about but I don't, and Khalessi's story arc in Season 4 was terrible. But with that being said, the ending of "The Children" was incredible- first with the fight and then death of The Hound, and then of course everything with Peter Dinklage is fan-fucking-tastic. That moment where he kills Shae, and then his father is one of the best of the series, but it still wasn't as good as when he was on trial this season.

It actually worries me that Tyrion is still alive, but will now be in Essos. Of course we all wanted Tyrion to live, but I think I'd rather have him die than have him be boring in another country. A huge chunk of what makes Tyrion great as a character was how he was perceived in Westeros and the Lannister family dynamic. He loses both while in Essos, and that could be a recipe for disaster.

However, despite the fact that that Season 4 ended as somewhat of a stumbling block, that doesn't automatically discount the amazing eight episodes that preceded it. Season 4 ended up shrinking the cast and we ended up spending more time with characters we care about. The arc of Season 4 was different, for the better. As opposed to building one giant arc for the entire season like 1-3 did, Season 4 created many mini-arcs, making the middle sections of the season much more enjoyable. As opposed to dragging their feet around Episode 5, we got great episodes in Season 4 like "The Laws of Gods and Men" and "Oathkeeper". Game of Thrones doesn't get a full "A+" in my book, as I only reserve that grade for mind-blowing, game-changing seasons like Season 4 of Breaking Bad and Season 2 of Justified, but when the year is done, I'm confident I'll have Game of Thrones as my #1 show of the year- a thought I never thought I'd have 2 or 3 years ago. 

Orange Is The New Black Review: Little Mustachioed Shit

Orange Is The New Black (Netflix), Episode 10 of Season 2
"Little Mustachioed Shit"
Written By: Sian Heder
Directed By: Jennifer Getzinger
Flashback Of: Piper & Alex

GRADE: B-

Brief Description: For an episode that should have worked so well on paper, both from the prominent story line of Vee vs. Poussey to having acclaimed director Jennifer Getzinger on board (she directed some of the best Mad Men episodes including "The Suitcase" and "For Immediate Release"), this episode was by far and away the worst of the season so far. A big part of this was that the prominent story lines should have happened at least three episodes sooner (which really makes me re-think the high grades I gave episodes like Episode 5's "A Whole Other Hole" and Episode 6's "You Also Have A Pizza") as well as the fact that little moments for minor characters like Morello and Sophia (plus an unnecessary flashback involving Alex) should not exist this late in the season.

Orange Is The New Black Review: 40oz of Furlough

Orange Is The New Black (Netflix), Episode 9 of Season 2
"40oz of Furlough"
Written By: Lauren Morelli
Directed By: S.J. Clarkson
Flashback Of: Red & Vee

GRADE: B

Brief Description: We are way too late in the season to have an episode like this. If "40oz of Furlough" aired three episodes ago, mainly with the flashbacks, then this episode would be another solid "A". However, we can only hint at the Red vs. Vee war for so long before something is actually done about it. Don't get me wrong, the flashbacks were great and the Red vs. Vee story line is consistently the first or second best story line in a given week depending on how terrible or amazing Piper's story is. But a war has been brewing for so many episodes now that I've lost count on how many times I've mentioned it in my recaps.

2014 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Writing

Recently, the Emmy's released every person and show eligible in all of their categories for the 2014 Primetime Emmy's for their nomination ballot. This post is dedicated to everything related to Outstanding Writing in both the drama and comedy categories. It will be both who I think will actually earn a nomination as well as who I think deserves to earn a nomination. However, there is one main ground rule- I have to go off of the actual Emmy nomination ballot. Which means that if the series isn't actually eligible to earn a nomination in real life, then it's not eligible to be mentioned in this post. Makes sense, doesn't it? Let's begin!

DRAMA

WHO I THINK WILL GET A NOMINATION:

- Erin Levy (Mad Men) "The Monolith"

- George Mastras (Breaking Bad) "To'hajiilee"
- Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) "Waterloo"
- Nick Pizzolatto (True Detective) "The Secret Fate of All Life"

- Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad) "Felina"

2014 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Direction

Recently, the Emmy's released every person and show eligible in all of their categories for the 2014 Primetime Emmy's for their nomination ballot. This post is dedicated to everything related to Outstanding Directing in both the comedy and drama series categories. It will be both who I think will actually earn a nomination as well as who I think deserves to earn a nomination. However, there is one main ground rule- I have to go off of the actual Emmy nomination ballot. Which means that if the director isn't actually eligible to earn a nomination in real life (a la Oscar winner Alfonso Cuaron for directing the Believe pilot), then he or she is not eligible to be mentioned in this post. Makes sense, doesn't it? Let's begin!

DRAMA

WHO I THINK WILL GET A NOMINATION:

- Alex Graves (Game of Thrones) "The Children"

- Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective) "Who Goes There"

- Rian Johnson (Breaking Bad) "Ozymandias"

- Tim Van Patten (Boardwalk Empire) "Farewell Daddy Blues"

- Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad) "Felina"

Orange Is The New Black Review: Appropriately Sized Pots

Orange Is The New Black (Netflix), Episode 8 of Season 2
"Appropriately Sized Pots"
Written By: Alex Regnery & Hartley Voss
Directed By: Daisy von Scherler Mayer
Flashback Of: Rosa

GRADE: A

Brief Description: This is probably my favorite episode of the season so far, and I don't think it's a coincidence this happened to coincide with the first Piper heavy episode since the season opener.  But before I get into the episode, I need to get some technical things out of the way. First, the only way I was able to understand what the characters were saying in the flashbacks is by having the Closed Captions on. That means I either had to toggle back and forth throughout the entire episode, or I had to leave the CC on the entire time (which I did do and strongly disliked reading what I was hearing). I have no idea why the natural setting of this episode wasn't to have all the Spanish be subtitled? The second is the poor narrative function the show did by using Rosa in the flashbacks. At first glance, I thought we were doing a Blanca flashbacks considering how extremely similar the actress who played Young Rosa looks like Blanca. It was jarring for a brief moment for me, but then I figured it out as not only did Rosa say she robbed banks back in "A Whole Other Hole" (and I actually remembered her name was Rosa and not "That Cancer Prisoner") but the camera panned to present day Rosa's face right before the flashback. However, my wife, who is a pretty smart cookie, didn't figure it out until the second flashback scene. I can't imagine she was the only one.

Orange Is The New Black Review: Comic Sans

Orange Is The New Black (Netflix), Episode 7 of Season 2
"Comic Sans"
Written By: Sara Hess
Directed By: Andrew McCarthy
Flashback Of: Black Cindy

GRADE: A

Brief Description: We are most certainly heading for a Vee vs. Red showdown as both make huge power strides in "Comic Sans". Vee and Taystee's crew starting using the tobacco Vee sneaks in to roll cigarettes and their business explodes immediately. Vee uses Taystee, Watson, and Black Cindy as salesmen while Suzanne handles the grunt work. Outside of the prison, Red's greenhouse pipeline is back in full force. Now that she's completed her good will tour, it's time to start making money. We still don't know where she stands with her prison family just yet, but she's certainly on her way to becoming Mama Bird again. Both Vee and Red show that you don't need the kitchen to gain power, as the Hispanics are clearly third tier during this power struggle right now. Gloria, the leader of the Hispanics has to come to Red to barter, and Flaca, Maritza, Maria ( I still need IMDB to look up the Hispanic inmates' names despite the show doing a better job actually telling the audience their names) and the other Hispanic girls can't get enough cigarettes.

2014 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Actor

Recently, the Emmy's released every person and show eligible in all of their categories for the 2014 Primetime Emmy's for their nomination ballot. This post is dedicated to everything related to Outstanding Lead Actor in both the comedy and drama series categories. It will be both who I think will actually earn a nomination as well as who I think deserves to earn a nomination. However, there is one main ground rule- I have to go off of the actual Emmy nomination ballot. Which means that if the actor isn't actually eligible to earn a nomination in real life, then he's not eligible to be mentioned in this post. Makes sense, doesn't it? Let's begin!

DRAMA

WHO I THINK WILL GET AN EMMY NOMINATION:

- Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
- Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey)

- Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom)

- Jon Hamm (Mad Men)

- Kevin Spacey (House of Cards)

- Matthew McConaughey (True Detective)

Fantasy Rock Band: How Would You Create The Best Rock and Roll Band Of All Time?

Relix recently posted an article entitled "What If You Had $25 to Start a Rock Band". Analogous to fantasy football or fantasy baseball, Relix gives you prices for different guitarists, drummers, frontmen, etc and you have to form the Greatest Rock Band ever. The reason I love this article is because I've had this discussion with my friends many-a-times, and I'm sure you have to. While I've never given "prices" when having these discussions, it's excellent conversation fodder to discuss the greatest rock and roll band of all time and the greatest musicians of all time.

However, the reason this Relix article is so good is because it created actual confines as you have an actual budget to work with. This article combines the realistic workings of fantasy football and baseball with the ability to create the ultimate rock band. I like that you can't just choose "the best" at each "position". If your fantasy football team had Adrian Peterson, Peyton Manning, Calvin Johnson, and Jimmy Graham on it, you'd win every single year. Unfortunately, no team ever ends up that way thanks to the snake or auction draft you have beforehand. Relix created their own parameters by only giving you a $25 budget and by setting the prices of certain musicians so you couldn't pick "the best" at every spot. You have to choose five people to start your band: a Frontman, A Lead Guitarist, A Rhythm Guitarist, A Bassist, and a Drummer. Here's what the prices look like: (click to enlarge)

2014 Emmy Questions: Game of Thrones

Click here for the introduction to The Cover 3's "2014 Emmy Questions" series

COLD, HARD LOCK NOMINATIONS: Best Drama Series, Best Supporting Actor (Peter Dinklage)

STRONG, EDUCATED GUESS NOMINATIONS: Best Screenplay (David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, "The Children"), Best Direction (Alex Graves, "The Children")

EDITOR'S NOTE: I actually wrote this article two weeks ago, but I wanted to wait until I saw/HBO aired every single episode of Season 4 before I made any cold hard analysis. This Emmy Question series is meant to be questions surrounding eligibility as well as the nominations themselves, however, this last Monday, the Emmy's released their nomination ballots, so we already know who and what is eligible right now. Although, this "curveball" really only changed Question Two.

QUESTION ONE: Will Emilia Clarke earn an Emmy nomination this year?

2014 Weekly TV Recap (June 8 - June 14)

CURRENT SHOWS AIRING

Sunday June 8

Game of Thrones (HBO), Episode 9 "The Watchers on The Wall"

GRADE: A-

Brief Description: Historically, penultimate episodes of seasons of Game of Thrones have been the best episodes the show has ever done, and that includes the show's best episode, "Blackwater" (the second to last episode of Season 2). The penultimate of season 4, "The Watchers on The Wall" had a lot to live up to. Unfortunately, it failed to meet those expectations. While having a giant action sequence set in one location is normally the key to a fan-fucking-tastic Game of Thrones episode (see: "Blackwater") there's a second part to this equation. The action has to involve characters we care about. The star of "Blackwater" was Tyrion Lannister, the show's best character. The star of "The Watchers on The Wall" was Jon Snow, a character I wouldn't shed too many tears over if he died. For the past 4 seasons, the scenes involving The Wall were always some of the least compelling parts because the danger never seemed immediate. We knew The White Walkers and The Wildlings were a threat, but certainly aren't even close to the threat that Stannis Baratheon was to King Joffrey in Season 2. Even if Mance Rayder's army did win the battle this week, so what? It would still be another season before they took over Westeros (if they could). The stakes felt significantly lower in "The Watchers on The Wall" then they ever felt in the prior penultimate episodes, which in turn affected the overall quality. That's not to say this episode was complete garbage, Quite the contrary. It was an action-packed episode that gave us wonderful little moments (Sam reuniting with Gilly, Ygritte's death) along with incredible and mind-blowing action sequences. It was a non-stop thrill ride that ended too quickly and didn't feel like an hour had passed. Hence the "A-" grade. However, it should have been more. Especially considering Game of Thrones is currently the best show on television.

Halt and Catch Fire (AMC), Episode 2 "FUD"
GRADE: A-

Brief Description: Halt and Catch Fire already has the reputation of being one of AMC's vastly inferior products and being a show that feels reverse engineered from other AMC shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men. In fact, it seems like you're legally not allowed to talk about the show without mentioning that the Lee Pace and Scoot McNairy characters are analogous to Don Draper and Walter White, respectively. But for all the AMC comparisons, no one seems to be mentioning Halt and Catch Fire in its own right. I really like this show a lot, and I'm going to continue watching for the rest of the season. We find out here what Joe MacMillan's play actually is- to engineer a computer that's twice the speed for half the cost. That notion didn't really appeal to me all that much, as it doesn't feel, as Joe puts it, "The thing that gets you to the thing". Building another computer doesn't seem all that revolutionary and I sided with Cameron about her anger towards the project. On the other hand, Joe's idea at the end of the episode, to build a portable computer IS revolutionary, and we obviously know from history and living in 2014 that that truly is the future of computers. That does feel like "The thing that gets you to the thing". However, what really sucked me in and the reason I want to stick around for the entire season is the corner "FUD" immediately puts itself into. Instead of attacking Cardiff through the courts, IBM attacks their wallets. IBM steals almost all of Cardiff's clients in one fell swoop that it leaves the company with almost nothing, and thereby will stop the production of Joe's new computer. It's a ballsy and daring play to create a status quo of this show and then immediately destroy it. You have to assume that Cardiff or Joe or somebody soon will find money to keep this project going, but this move IBM just pulled seems like the type of move that would immediately destroy a company, and I have no idea just how the show will pull Cardiff out this mess. 

Tuesday June 10

Fargo (FX), Episode 9 "A Fox, A Rabbit, and A Cabbage"

GRADE: A-

Brief Description: Admittedly, this episode was probably an "A" or an "A+" but it's only an "A-" because of my own personal viewing experience. For starters, I normally watch Fargo as one continuous episode, but I watched "A Fox, A Rabbit, and A Cabbage" On Demand, which means commercial breaks and this episode works better when you watch it during one continuous sitting. Also, I watched the first half doing other things, and watching anything distracted goes ruins your enjoyment of the show. That's my fault because I missed a tense filled episode. It goes to show you that a little music can go a long way. Sometimes it worked to the show's disadvantage (once Lester was at his home in Minnesota I knew he was safe) but often times it worked to its advantage (when Lester and his wife initially get to the Las Vegas elevator/ Malvo and Keith Carradine's conversation in the diner). But really, there is only one thing to talk about in this episode, and that's what a fucking horrible human being Lester Nygaard is. Despite his arrogance testing Malvo and later Deputy Solverson, sending his wife in to die at Malvo's hand is unforgivable. Lester has done some pretty terrible things during the course of these 9 weeks, but he still remained a protagonist in some respects, analogous to Jamie Lannster in Season 3 of Game of Thrones. But after what he did to his wife, here's hoping he dies in the series finale next week.

5 Worst TV Dads Of All Time

Father's Day is right around the corner. It's a day where we get Dad power tools and we mow the lawn for him. We love our Father and we should celebrate him. However, this list is full of guys that are the antithesis of your Dad. These are bad, bad fathers. We may love them as characters, but they're terrible for their children. So in "honor" of the holiday, here is a list of the 5 Worst TV Dads Of All Time:

5) Homer Simpson (The Simpsons)

Father Of: Bart, Lisa, & Maggie

Voiced By: Dan Castellaneta

Why He's A Terrible Father: They were plenty of terrible TV dads who star in FOX cartoons including Peter Griffin (Family Guy) and Stan Smith (American Dad), but not only is Homer Simpson the original, he's probably the worst. He's commits child abuse in every other episode by constantly choking Bart and he's so mentally incompetent that he's just incapable of fostering a nurturing environment for his daughter Lisa. In fact, without Marge around, the Evergreen Terrance house would literally be filled to capacity with garbage, that his kids would realistically be taken away from him. Don't get me wrong, I personally love Homer Simpson as a cartoon character, but I would never, ever, ever want him to be my father.

Orange Is The New Black Review: You Also Have A Pizza

Orange Is The New Black (Netflix), Episode 6 of Season 2
"You Also Have A Pizza"
Written By: Stephen Falk
Directed By: Allison Anders
Flashback Of: Poussey

GRADE: A-

Brief Description: Love is in the air in Litchfield.. Not just with the prisoners, but with the prison guards and Larry and Poussey and everybody else. "You Also Have A Pizza" only covers about 48 hours worth of time around Valentine's Day, yet it feels like months. So many characters get great little moments, and this episode shows what a true ensemble cast this is really is and also that Piper is the star of it.

Let's get the major story points out of the way first before we get into the little characters moments. "You Also Have A Pizza" closes some mini arcs while also setting up some new ones. We finally figure out exactly what Red's plan is, as she finds an unused sewage system that she can sneak supplies in and out of. While it's extremely unbelievable that a security flaw of this magnitude actually exists, I'll buy it for the sake of this particular story. Red's power is on the rise as she hands out gifts to the fellow White inmates to get back in their good graces. While it's a great first gesture for some, it doesn't work for Gina and The Mute as they're still mad at her (rightfully so) for causing Gina's burn (which seemed even more apparent in this episode to me).

2014 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Actress

Recently, the Emmy's released every person and show eligible in all of their categories for the 2014 Primetime Emmy's for their nomination ballot. This post is dedicated to everything related to Outstanding Lead Actress in both the comedy and drama series categories. It will be both who I think will actually earn a nomination as well as who I think deserves to earn a nomination. However, there is one main ground rule- I have to go off of the actual Emmy nomination ballot. Which means that if the actress isn't actually eligible to earn a nomination in real life, she's not eligible to be mentioned in this post. Makes sense, doesn't it? Let's begin!

DRAMA

WHO I THINK WILL GET AN EMMY NOMINATION:

- Claire Danes (Homeland)

- Connie Britton (Nashville)

- Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men)
- Kerry Washington (Scandal)

- Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex)

- Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey)

Weekly Fantasy Baseball Update (June 7 - June 13)

HERO OF THE WEEK

BATTER

Lonnie Chisenhall (CLE) 1B/3B (75% owned)

Chisenhall was tied was first in runs (8), tied for first in home runs (4), and led all batters in RBIs (13) while hitting .583 over the past seven days. These impressive numbers stem from his monster Monday in Texas where he slugged three home runs and 9 RBIs. On the year, Chisenhall has a triple slash line of .393/.438/.619 and if he keeps hitting like this, he's going to remain in the line up every day whether Carlos Santana healthy or not. Chisenhall showed solid power before his explosion and any fantasy owner that took a risk on him early have been rewarded so far. However, now is the perfect time to sell high on Chisenhall. The Indians third baseman currently has a BABIP of .428- which is crazy unsustainable no matter what Chisenhall's career BABIP is (it's .308). Chisenhall was always a decent prospect but never really showed anything in the majors until a few weeks ago. So what Lonnie Chisenhall is doing is not a complete fluke, but something similar to what Alex Gordon of the Royals did a few years ago. However, when a lot of your value is tied up in batting average, and that average is going to drop quickly, sell, sell sell. 

Tanner Roark (WAS) SP (51% owned)

Over the past seven days, Roark has 15 strike outs in 14 innings, and a 1.29/0.71 ERA/WHIP to go along with two wins. On the season, Roark is the 25th best starting pitcher with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Roark has a K/9 of 7.02, which isn't that great for fantasy purposes, but you can get away with it in the majors when you're BB/9 rate is only 1.94. I don't think Roark will finish as a top 25 starting pitcher, but he certainly is good enough to keep up these solid numbers all season. While he has a low BABIP (.261) and an ERA lower than his FIP (3.41), logic dictates your ERA will rise; however, Roark doesn't walk anybody or give up home runs. So while I believe the ERA will rise a little, it won't rise significantly to the point where you have to cut him. If someone in your league believes he's destined for superstardom or will be better than what he's doing now, then sell as fast as you can. However, he's probably going to be this level of good all year, which is extremely valuable to your fantasy baseball team, especially if you just picked him up in free agency. 

Orange Is The New Black Review: Low Self Esteem City

Orange Is The New Black (Netflix), Episode 5 of Season 2
"Low Self Esteem City"
Written By: Nick Jones
Directed By: Andrew McCarthy
Flashback Of: Gloria

GRADE: B+

Brief Description: The worst episodes so far this season has been the ones with little to no Piper. That's not to say Orange Is The New Black has any bad episodes so far, but the weaker ones (Episode 2's "Looks Blue, Tastes Red" and this episode) barely feature Piper. While Piper doesn't need to be in every scene like she seemingly was in Season 1, she does need some story arcs that we care about in every given week. While Taylor Schilling got a great moment this episode where she finally confronts Healy for leaving her that night she was attacked by Pennsatucky, other than that, she didn't have a whole to do this week. She learned that her grandmother is dying (in a funny game of Hot/Cold with her brother before the realization of the situation sank in) and I imagine her furlough will be granted so the random Larry and Polly scenes will eventually lead to something. But as for a stand alone episode, this story line was just "eh".

2014 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Supporting Actor

Recently, the Emmy's released every person and show eligible in all of their categories for the 2014 Primetime Emmy's for their nomination ballot. This post is dedicated to everything related to Outstanding Supporting Actor in both the comedy and drama series categories. It will be both who I think will actually earn a nomination as well as who I think deserves to earn a nomination. However, there is one main ground rule- I have to go off of the actual Emmy nomination ballot. Which means that if the actor isn't actually eligible to earn a nomination in real life, then he's not eligible to be mentioned in this post. Makes sense, doesn't it? Let's begin!

DRAMA

WHO I THINK WILL GET A NOMINATION:

- Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad)
- Dean Norris (Breaking Bad)
- Jeffrey Wright (Boardwalk Empire)
- Jim Carter (Downton Abbey)
- Mandy Patinkin (Homeland)
- Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)

2014 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Supporting Actress

Recently, the Emmy's released every person and show eligible in all of their categories for the 2014 Primetime Emmy's for their nomination ballot. This post is dedicated to everything related to Outstanding Supporting Actress in both the comedy and drama series categories. It will be both who I think will actually earn a nomination as well as who I think deserves to earn a nomination. However, there is one main ground rule- I have to go off of the actual Emmy nomination ballot. Which means that if the actress isn't actually eligible to earn a nomination in real life, she's not eligible to be mentioned in this post. Makes sense, doesn't it? Let's begin!

DRAMA

WHO I THINK WILL GET AN EMMY NOMINATION:

- Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad)
- Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife)

- Christine Baranski (The Good Wife)
- Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey)

- Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey)

- Michelle Monaghan (True Detective)

Orange Is The New Black Review: A Whole Other Hole

Orange Is The New Black (Netflix), Episode 4 of Season 2
"A Whole Other Hole"
Written By: Sian Heder
Directed By: Phil Abraham
Flashback Of: Lorna Morello

GRADE: A

Brief Description: Our de-facto three main characters, Piper, Red, and Vee, spend their time in "A Whole Other Hole" in some sort of power struggle with each of the three in different stages of it. At the beginning, Piper is on top, Vee is still climbing, and Red is at the bottom. Piper is back within the general population and the memory of why she was sent to the SHU is still fresh in the inmates minds. She spends the beginning part of the episode taking back items other prisoners took from her when they assumed Piper was never coming back (except for Suzanne's picture she took of Larry and Piper, she can keep that). She even stands up for herself to Big Boo, who looks like she's ready to whoop Piper's ass to keep Miss Claudette's afghan.

2014 Emmy Power Rankings (Comedy)

Last Monday, the Emmy's released their nomination ballot for their voters to vote on. It's a comprehensive list of every single person and show that is eligible in each particular category. This list right here is a Power Rankings of the top contenders in each particular category and how I believe the nominations will play out in a month. Who do I think will get a nomination? Who do I think is in the running but will come up just short? How many major nominations will your favorite show get? Find out when you check out our 2014 Emmy Power Rankings for Comedy Series:

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES

1) Orange Is The New Black (Netflix)
2) Modern Family (ABC)
3) Veep (HBO)
4) Louie (FX)
5) The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
6) Girls (HBO)
_____________________

7) Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX)
8) Parks and Recreation (NBC)

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR

1) Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
2) Louis C.K. (Louie)
3) Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
4) Don Chedle (House of Lies)
5) Matt LeBlanc (Episodes)
6) Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory)
_______________________________

7) Robin Williams (The Crazy Ones)
8) William H. Macy (Shameless)

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS

1) Taylor Schilling (Orange Is The New Black)
2) Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)
3) Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)
4) Lena Dunham (Girls)
5) Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)
6) Anna Faris (Mom)
_______________________________

7) Zooey Deschanel (New Girl)
8) Emmy Rossum (Shameless)
9) Melissa McCarthy (Mike and Molly)
10) Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs)

2014 Emmy Power Rankings (Drama)

Last Monday, the Emmy's released their nomination ballot for their voters to vote on. It's a comprehensive list of every single person and show that is eligible in each particular category. This list right here is a Power Rankings of the top contenders in each particular category and how I believe the nominations will play out in a month. Who do I think will get a nomination? Who do I think is in the running but will come up just short? How many major nominations will your favorite show get? Find out when you check out our 2014 Emmy Power Rankings for Drama Series:


OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

1) Breaking Bad (AMC)
2) True Detective (HBO)
3) Mad Men (AMC)
4) Downton Abbey (PBS)
5) Game of Thrones (HBO)
6) House of Cards (Netflix)
_______________

7) Masters of Sex (Showtime)
8) The Good Wife (CBS)
9) Homeland (Showtime)
10) Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR

1) Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
2) Matthew McConaughey (True Detective)
3) Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom)
4) Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
5) Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey)
6) Kevin Spacey (House of Cards)
_____________________

7) Woody Harrelson (True Detective)
8) Martin Sheen (Masters of Sex)
9) Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire)
10) James Spader (The Blacklist)
11) Damien Lewis (Homeland)


OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS

1) Claire Danes (Homeland)
2) Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men)
3) Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey)
4) Connie Britton (Nashville)
5) Kerry Washington (Scandal)
6) Robin Wright (House of Cards)
7) Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex)
_________________________

8) Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife)
9) Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel)
10) Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black)

Orange Is The New Black Review: Hugs Can Be Deceiving

Orange Is The New Black (Netflix), Episode 3 of Season 2
"Hugs Can Be Deceiving"
Written By: Lauren Morelli
Directed By: Michael Trim
Flashback Of: Crazy Eyes

GRADE: A

Brief Description: Yes! We finally get a flashback episode of Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren. Yet, at the same time, the flashbacks felt somewhat of a let down. It's possible that we as Orange Is The New Black fans, myself included, anticipated a Crazy Eyes flash back episode too much that frankly anything was going to be disappointing. However, I think the real reason it felt like a let down was because there's so much more in Suzanne's background, that what we got in this episode was only the teeny-tiny tip of the iceberg. Similar to the flashbacks that we saw of Piper in Episode 1 of Season 2, we only saw a little bit of what makes this character tick in general, and not what got her into prison to begin with. We knew that Suzanne actually has a legitimate mental disorder, but that wasn't really explored too much in this episode. Some of the reason Suzanne is the way she is is because she was a black girl growing up in white suburbia, but as we see with Litchfield itself in a sense, race isn't the only factor. I wished we got a little bit more about who Suzanne really is, and the flashbacks here seemed so sparse, that there feels like there's a plethora more material to cover.

Orange Is The New Black Review: "Looks Blue, Tastes Red"

Orange Is The New Black (Netflix), Episode 2 of Season 2
"Looks Blue, Tastes Red"
Written By: Jenji Kohan
Directed By: Michael Trim
Flashback Of: Taystee

GRADE: A-

Brief Description: After spending the first episode of Season 2 of OITNB of essentially just Piper, we get an entire episode that's Piper free. Piper Chapman was our introduction into Litchfield, but now that we've had 13 episodes to fully see what Litchfield is like, it's nice to have an episode without Piper. We're in, now let's explore. As shown through "Thirsty Bird", and frankly all of Season 1, Piper surprisingly is one of the least interesting inmates in prison. That's not an indication of Taylor Schilling's acting, it's just the way this role is written. However, after having no Piper for a full hour, I almost feel like I'm in withdrawal. I need a little Piper in my life.

10 Quick Reactions To The 2014 Emmy Nomination Ballot

Throughout the entire month of May, I wrote many Emmy Questions pieces regarding many of the shows eligible and likely to be nominated for an Emmy in 2014 including House of Cards, Mad Men, Modern Family, Breaking Bad and many, many others. You can check out all of my articles here. A lot of the questions for these particular shows were regarding which categories certain actors would be nominated in. The Emmy's helped answer those questions today as they released every single show and person eligible in every single Primetime Emmy category. Here are 10 "Quick" Reaction to the 2014 Emmy Nomination Ballot that was released today.

1) True Detective

Click Here For Our True Detective Emmy Questions Post

The biggest question of all during this "Emmy pre-season" is what category would Woody Harrelson throw his hat into. HBO isn't ashamed to do what they can in order to maximize nominations and prestige, especially considering True Detective is a mini-series yet it's nominated in the Drama Series categories. Matthew McConaughey is a lock to earn a nomination, and is probably the favorite to win Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, so it was unclear whether Woody Harrelson would also be considered a Lead Actor as opposed to a Supporting Actor. The lead actor category is already crowded, and adding Woody Harrelson into the mix makes it almost impossible for anyone to get a nomination!

However, Woody Harrelson was clearly a co-lead with McConaughey and is eligible as such. Even though HBO probably could have maximized its nominations by submitting Harrelson as a supporting actor, the network seems so confident in the show, that Harrelson was submitted as a lead.

I was correct that Cary Joji Fukunaga submitted "Who Goes There" with its excellent oner at the end of the episode for Outstanding Directing, but I was incorrect as to what episode Nick Pizzolatto would submit in the writing category. I thought it would be the show's pilot, but it turned out to be Episode 5, "The Secret Fate of All Life." Since both Fukunaga and Pizzolatto directed and wrote, respectively, all eight episodes by themselves, they're only eligible for one nomination each.

The Curious Case of Doug Martin

Personally, one of the hardest running backs to rank for the upcoming 2014 season is Doug Martin. I imagine if you do your own personal rankings (which all fantasy football players should), he will be hard to rank for you as well. Martin ended his 2012 rookie campaign scoring the most points out of any running back not named Adrian Peterson. However, about 18% of his total fantasy value in 2012 came off of one game- which he scored 51 points. Then came 2013, which was marred by injury early on and a lack of productivity when he was healthy. In 5 full games in 2013, he only had 1 TD and one game of rushing for over 100 yards. So will the real Doug Martin please stand up?

In this article I'd like to just address the points I've been hearing about Doug Martin. I don't know that there will be a clear answer on where you should rank Doug Martin, because I think at the end of the day, there's just too small of a sample size to truly accurately predict how Doug Martin will perform in 2014.

2014 TV Weekly Recap (June 1 - June 7)

CURRENT SHOW AIRING

Sunday June 1

Game of Thrones (HBO), Episode 8 "The Mountain and The Viper"

GRADE: B+

Brief Description: I am a firm believer that the ending does not make or break a season or an episode. A bad episode with a great ending is still a bad show. That's what "The Mountain and the Viper" was. Now that's not to say that you completely disregard the ending entirely, as it is still a part of the episode, but the excellent fight sequence at the very end does not excuse how mediocre the lead up to it was. Instead, the fight between The Mountain and The Viper (as well as Tyrion's monologue about his dim witted cousin smashing beetles) added a "+" to what was, overall, a "B" episode. I could care less about anything that happened to the Bolton clan/Theon and that goes double for Gilly. Maybe this was all a set up for the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones, which have historically been shit-in-your-pants incredible episodes, but as a stand alone episode, "The Mountain and The Viper" was just all right. 

Silicon Valley (HBO), Episode 8 "Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency"

EPISODE GRADE: B

SEASON GRADE: C+

Brief Description: Richard is such a meek character that he gets shit on constantly. It's ideally used for humor, but more often than not, it's just frustrating to watch him on screen. I guess that's what makes the end of "Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency" that much more rewarding (and it is rewarding to an extent), but I don't know if the winding journey we had to watch justifies the destination. It's certainly better than if Richard had lost the TechCrunch Disrupt, as all of Richard's hard work finally paid off, but so much of Season 1 was Richard being Richard, which made for unpleasant viewing. I wrote two weeks ago, after Silicon Valley's penultimate episode, that even if the finale was great, there was nothing that was going to get me to start watching Season 2. This finale was far from great, and if anything, the ending of "Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency" only made it seem as if Season 2 was going to be more of the same. 

Halt and Catch Fire (AMC), Episode 1 "I/O"

GRADE: B+

Brief Description: AMC does not have a good track record with new dramas within the past five years. This is especially surprising considering AMC is responsible for two of the greatest television shows in the history of mankind (Breaking Bad and Mad Men). Mad Men has the best pilot I've probably every seen from a drama series and Breaking Bad is not far behind it. Halt and Catch Fire's pilot isn't even remotely close to any of AMC's greats, as it's just riddled with cliches. Every scene I saw in H&CF I've seen in every other drama before, yet I was captivated by it here. The show definitely passed The Smart Phone Test- where I was more focused on the TV show than I was with my smart phone, and I will absolutely be looking forward to episode 2. However, I do hope this show gets better, as it can't remain on this same level as the pilot and also remain successful.

Tuesday June 3

Fargo (FX), Episode 8 "The Heap"

GRADE: B

Brief Description: Very similar to Fargo's second episode, "The Rooster Prince", "The Heap" was necessary for the season as a whole, but didn't work as a stand alone episode. Frankly, if the FX mini-series ended after Tuesday's episode, then all would be fine in the world. Fargo would still be considered a really good show, and the experiment would be considered a success. However, the good guy has to win, and therefore there's still more story to be told. Similar to the movie the mini-series is based off of, the bad guys need to get their comeuppance. Molly Solverson, who is now overtly Marge Gunderson from the movie considering she's now pregnant, is going to be the one to make everything right in the world. As much as I love Key & Peele as actors, their addition as new characters when the season was over halfway done was a bit odd, but after Tuesday's episode, it looks like the bumbling FBI agents will help Molly (because no way in hell was Gus going to do anything) bring down Molvo and Lester. I'm extremely excited to see the last two episodes to see how this series will end, and the "The Heap" was the first step towards the end.

Anytime

Orange Is The New Black (Netflix), Episode 1 "Thirsty Bird"
GRADE: A-

Brief Description: "Thirsty Bird" was a ballsy, ballsy episode for OITNB. We spent season 1 (mainly) following around Piper Chapman as she spends most of her time feeling like a fish out of water. However, by the end of the season, she's fully engrained within this prison culture. She may not be fully accepted, but she's engrained. Season 2 changes the status quo again by doing THE EXACT SAME THING as they transfer Piper to Chicago so she can testify at the trial of the kingpin who is (in some tenuous way) responsible for Piper's lock up. It's my understanding this scenario happened in the book took risk. And it paid off. Just because it was in Piper Kerman's book doesn't mean it had to be included into the show considering the vast majority of Season 1 came from the mind of Jenji Kohan and her writers, but the decision to move Piper not only allows us to spend time in Lynchfield without Piper's uppity attitude, but also expands our view of this world. While Piper is probably the least interesting character Lynchfield, Taylor Schilling is such a great actress that when you get scenes like when she's finally able to express what she (thinks she) did to Pennsatucky, that it all seems worth it. The ambiguity of whether Pennsatucky lived or died was ruined because Taryn Manning's name is in the opening credits (therefore she was paid to be in all 13 episodes); however, because Piper herself didn't know, it made her character interesting to watch. That was necessary as we spend the entire episode with just her and away from some of the characters  we grew to love in Season 1. Speaking of which, Danielle Brooks (Taystee), Uzo Adubo (Crazy Eyes), Natasha Lyonne (Nichols), and Tayrn Manning (Pennsatucky) all get promoted into the opening credits. Unfortunately, Pablo Schrieber (Pornstache) did not, which means my worst fears have come true.

Weekly Fantasy Baseball Update (May 31 - June 6)

HERO OF THE WEEK

BATTER

Oswaldo Arcia (MIN) OF

No one really separated themselves from the pack this week, so the under-owned Minnesota outfielder is my choice this week. He was tied for second in home runs (3), second in RBI's (11), while hitting .321 and was the second best batter of the week overall. Arcia hit 14 home runs in only 378 plate appearances in 2013, and he's a great pick up if you need some more dingers on your team. 

PITCHER

Madison Bumgarner (SF) SP

This selection was a no brainer as Bumgarner was just absolutely dominant and filthy this past week. He won both of his starts with a 0.60 ERA and a 0/47 WHIP total. Bumgarner was a borderline top 10 pitcher coming into this year who probably has moved in to the top with injuries to guys like Cliff Lee and Chris Sale. Madison Bumgarner has the 12th best FIP in baseball and the 7th best K/9 without walking guys and without giving up home runs. 

2014 TV Weekly Recap (May 25 - May 31)

CURRENT SHOWS AIRING

Sunday May 25

Mad Men (AMC), Episode 7 "Waterloo"

EPISODE GRADE: A

SEASON GRADE: B

Brief Description: HBO has consistently refused to air episodes during the Memorial Day break, so there's no Game of Thrones or Silicon Valley this week. That's perfect, because it will give me more time to discuss Mad Men, both Sunday's episode and the season as a whole. First, the good with "Waterloo"

"No man has ever come back from leave, not even Napoleon. He staged a coup, but he still ended back on that island." -Bert Cooper-

For some reason other TV critics have been using "Bravo" as the Bert Cooper line to describe "Waterloo." While Bertram Cooper's last Mad Men was an excellent episode with some lovely parting words (and a weird as hell song in the end. I don't care what everyone else says, that song was out of place and not right), this show has always been about Don Draper. As much as we want to make it about Peggy Olson, we still compare her amazing Burger Chef speech to the one Don Draper gave during "The Wheel". Don's marriage has officially ended (although we all know that wouldn't last. "Does she know you only like the beginnings of things!") but his professional career in New York is thriving, alive, and well. For now. This will only end one way for Don Draper, and it won't be good. Whether you want to Sunday's episode a "mid season finale" or the end of Mad Men in 2014, we'll just have to wait one more year to see how this incredible show ends and how the 1960's officially has affected everyone we love.

However, as great as "Waterloo" was, that doesn't make up for just a sub par season Mad Mad has had this year. The show ended on two excellent episodes, but that doesn't make up for the other average episodes in aired earlier in the year. The reason "Waterloo" and "The Strategy" worked so well was because it gave us character moments from the characters we actually wanted to see. Now Matthew Weiner has said the first half of every season is just meant to set up the second half, so maybe this first season will be good in the sense that Season 7b in 2015 will be amazing. However, you have to call a spade "a spade", and Season 7a was fine, but boring and dull at most points.