7 Reasons ‘Happy Endings’ Needs to Survive 

As ABC’s comedy Happy Endingsfinishes out its third season, fans of the show are crossing fingers and toes that this won’t be the last we see of the wacky Chicago-based gang.

‘Mad Men’ Recap: Peggy versus Don 

This week on Mad Men, Joan learns the limitations of her power at SCDP, Peggy swoops in and steals ketchup like a boss and Don proves to be a staggeringly huge hypocrite when he freaks out at Megan for an onscreen kiss. 

Also, there’s too much Harry Crane and his distracting sideburns and much too little Roger Sterling and Burt Cooper, who prove with a few sharp barbs that I would watch a spin-off where they insult people and shop for argyle socks. Plus, African American secretary Dawn gets to develop a bit of a personality and proves she might be someone to keep an eye on at the agency.

On Mad Men, the more things change, the more they stay the same. It’s not that the show has an entirely negative worldview on people’s capacity to change and grow, but it can be crushingly realistic about the likelihood of people breaking free from old patterns. 

Peggy has managed to work her way up from Dawn’s position to surpass her former mentor, using his own words to boot. Joan, however, might have earned the partner title, but she still doesn’t have the respect. “They still treat me like a secretary,” she says.

Don is seemingly standing still, allowing Peggy to fly by him. He’s retreated back into old patterns in his personal life with his affair with Sylvia, while professionally we haven’t seen anything resembling the old Don Draper in eons. The times are changing, but Don isn’t. 

— Read the full recap, including Don being a hypocrite and Joan being an awesome wing lady at BuddyTV HERE!!

Serial Killers on TV: Is it Time to Lower The Body Count? 

If you’re worried about missing your serial killer fix now that Showtime has announced Dexter’s upcoming eighth season will be its last, I wouldn’t worry too much. Serial killers on TV are having a moment right now. 

When Dexter started back in 2006, the titular character was a murderous lone wolf on the TV scene. Besides CBS procedural Criminal Minds, serial killers weren’t getting much love on the dial. And there’s an argument to be made that while Dexter puts viewers in the blood-soaked drivers seat, Criminal Minds at least takes the perspective of the FBI unit working to put serial offenders behind bars.

Flash forward to 2013 and within the last six months or so there have been at minimum six shows with serial killers at the center of the action. Besides the small screen serial killer stalwarts in Dexter and Criminal Minds, American Horror Story’s second season featured a serial killer named Bloody Face (two generations in fact). 

But the more surprising trend is the rapid proliferation of serial killer fare in the last few months alone. Since January the small screen has been slayed by FOX’s Poe-obsessed killer in The Following, NBC’s creepy cannibal Hannibal, and A&E’s Hitchcockian origin story Bates Motel. 

Not enough murder, terror, and mayhem for you? Well then boy, are you in luck. Because don’t worry, there are more killers on the way. A&E, not content to be merely the home of a young Norman Bates, has ordered a serial killer drama called Those Who Kill starring Chloe Sevigny and James D’Arcy. And FX is now getting in on the action with their new drama The Bridge, based on a Scandinavian series about a border-hopping serial killer the network has transposed to the Mexican border. 

Why are serial killers the new zombies (who were in turn the new vampires) of the TV universe? And what makes these shows continually nab ratings, even as their plot mechanics often strain credulity? (I’m looking at you, The Following.) 

— Read the full article and sound off on your thoughts on the serial killer TV trend at BuddyTV HERE!

‘Castle’ Recap: Murder By Bigfoot?

This season of Castle has had plenty of big, serious episodes. We found out the identity of Castle’s father, Alexis was kidnapped, and Beckett dived further into the conspiracy around her mother’s death. So it’s been a nice break to jump back into the more silly and lighthearted side of the show. This episode, centered entirely around Castle’s Mulder-like belief in the existence of Bigfoot, wasn’t remotely serious but was a zany good time.

Beckett and Castle have always had a bit of a Mulder and Scully partnership. Castle always wants to believe the killer could be supernatural, whether it’s a killer videotape, zombies, or even Bigfoot. Beckett, however, is much more skeptical. 

If Castle is putting up an “I want to believe” poster with Bigfoot in his mind, Beckett is trying to bring a little reality into the situation. 

This is made clear in the conversation the two share in bed, while Castle dives into a book about Bigfoot and Beckett tries not to sprain something rolling her eyes. Castle says he likes to believe because he likes to think there’s more out there to discover, while Beckett is content enjoying the beauty of the here and now.

Just like Mulder and Scully, their relationship works because both ultimately respect each other and enjoy the other’s point of view. There might not really be anything Castle doesn’t believe in, at least initially, but part of Beckett enjoys Castle’s childlike wonder. Even when she’s raining on his Bigfoot parade. 

—Read the full recap including all the Bigfoot action at BuddyTV HERE!!

‘Mad Men’ Recap: Has Pete Finally Gone Too Far? 

On Mad Men, to say an episode is about cheating is like saying the sky is blue. Perhaps this week’s episode, in which we spend time watching both Pete and Don stray, isn’t so much about cheating as it is about the repercussions of cheating. Last week, the two-hour season 6 premiere was all about death. Yet this week’s installment somehow managed to feel even bleaker than that death and doom filled outing. 

A Look Into Don’s Past

This week’s episode is dark, as it involves cheating, domestic abuse, miscarriages and continual references to prostitution. Why does Don kill Herb from Jaguar’s idea? Part of it has to be the way they got the Jaguar account in the first place, alluded to in Joan’s brief blink-and-you-missed-it appearance in the episode. 

Although Joany gets more screen time in commercials than she does on the show, she does get in a good zinger on the disgusting Herb. “There are parts of you that you haven’t seen in years,” she calmly sasses at him. 

Don Draper is as shaped by his past with prostitution as he is by his identity switch. It’s why, despite having little scruples about other underhanded business dealings in the past, he asked Joan not to go through with the Jaguar trade last season. In flashback we see a young Dick Whitman entering a whorehouse with his very pregnant mother. The flashbacks practically ooze with sleaze, especially the man who eventually hooks up with Don’s mom. 

Later, as he talks to a still in bed Sylvia he hands her a bundle of cash. This is because Don heard Sylvia and her husband arguing about money earlier in the day. But the shot is framed to make Don look like a john offering recompense to his lady of the evening (or morning in this case.) 

As the episodes comes to a close, the song spells it out as Don finds himself unable to open the door to his home. “I’m just a gigolo who knew better days,” the song says. Don has rarely seemed so disconnected or miserable. This affair isn’t making him happy. He seemed more excited talking about death last week than he did at any point in this week’s episode.  

—Read the full recap, including Pete’s slimy ways and Trudy’s awesome stand, at BuddyTV HERE!!

‘The Borgias’ Season 3 Premiere Recap: Will the Borgias Survive? 

The Borgias returns from quite the cliffhanger: Pope Rodrigo Borgia hovers between life and death, while the danger from the college of cardinals might just pale in comparison to the danger of the wily Caterina Sforza.

Coming into season 3, Showtime’s papal drama got a real life boost with some real life papal drama. Pope Benedict XVI resigned the papacy, making him the first pope in 600 years to say, “Thanks but no thanks,” to the papal tiara. So suddenly, like Renaissance Italy in the time of the Borgia family, the world was watching a chimney and playing the long odds on the contenders. For a time, the modern world felt a little more Borgia-like than it had previously.

It’s too soon to say whether the recent hubbub over the pope will translate into greater ratings for the Showtime drama. The show has always flown a bit under the radar, which is a shame considering the caliber of drama both on screen and behind the scenes. When you’re talking about Oscar winner Neil Jordan’s pet project, starring Jeremy Irons, it’s kind of hard to imagine why the show doesn’t get more buzz. 

Season 3 gets off to a strong start in the premiere and sets up the thematic through-line for the season: the fear of those outside the family walls. The Borgia family has always been an insular unit, especially where sexy siblings Cesare and Lucrezia were concerned, but with outside forces closing in, the Borgias are closing ranks tighter than ever. 

As Lucrezia says in the promos airing all over Showtime, “Perhaps only a Borgia can love another Borgia.” Whether or not that’s true (Cesare did kill brother Juan, after all), it seems likely that the threats from outside are currently much greater than the threats from within. And with Rodrigo paranoid and weakened and Cesare on the ascendant, things are poised to get more dangerous for everyone in Rome. 

— Read the full recap including my Caterina Sforza fangirling at BuddyTV HERE!

Step Away From Your Sister! TV’s 13 Most Inappropriate Sibling Relationships

Is it just me, or has the family unit on TV gotten a little weirder lately? We’ve already delved into strange and creepy mother-son dynamics thanks to the ultimate mama’s boy on Bates Hotel. But what about all those siblings who are just a little too loving? 

With the premiere of Showtime’s scandalous papal drama The Borgias coming up and HBO’s Game of Thrones entering its third season, let’s take a look at a few siblings who might be just a little bit too close.

Cesare and Lucrezia, The Borgias

These two Renaissance era sibs really define the “too close for comfort” genre of TV sibling relationships. First there’s all the touching. There’s just way too much touching going on. There’s being an affectionate sibling and then there’s looking like you’re about to make out with your sister at any moment. Last season, when Lucrezia asked Cesare to marry her (meaning to perform the ceremony) Cesare came up with an elaborate fantasy that involved running away together. Normal right? Historically, the two were accused of incest although they probably never crossed that line. But they will in the upcoming third season, as the show finally embraces their impressive (albeit inappropriate) chemistry.   

—See who else made the list at BuddyTV HERE!!