Second Looks

Instead of blogging, I've apparently been rewatching stuff a lot lately. But that also means I noticed things I've never noticed before. And now I'm going to point them out.

First, I rewatched the episode of Mad Men where Don makes Roger puke and Pete buys a gun. For some reason, I didn't notice the first time around how well constructed the Betty portion of the story line was. First, we just had Pete the week before asking his wife to sleep with a man of power to advance his career. In many ways, Betty was following a less extreme line than Pete wanted, but was essentially doing the same thing. She flirted with Roger as Don's boss and says as much when she suggests attracting Roger is part of "earning her keep." So when Don gets pissed, it's both showing the difference between Pete and Don but also between Pete's wife and Betty. Second, I didn't notice her drinking during the day the first time. And finally, despite her perspective about her role as a wife, I have to admire Betty for standing up for herself to Don in the kitchen. When he grabs her, she challenges him to bounce her off the walls. It immediately deflates Don and belies Don's accusation that Betty's just a little girl. Until of course, she eagerly asks Helen Bishop about Glenn--notably not Helen's daughter--in a way that suggests Betty's way too flattered by the nine-year-old's attention. It's a really complicated portrait of her character.

Second, I rewatched Now, Voyager on TCM yesterday. Somehow I didn't notice last time that James Cameron stole the fucking in a limo on a boat scene in Titanic from Now, Voyager. Stealer.

Third, I rewatched the group challenge episode of Project Runway. Heidi Klum asks each designer to say who they would eliminate if it were up to them. And Sweetpea doesn't want to answer and whispers something to Chris. And then Heidi gets pissed and demands that Sweetpea answer. And Sweetpea responds like Heidi is the Nazi she shares an accent with. She's so scared. It's awesome.