(Short) Saturday Sesame Street

Because I love Madeline Khan:

Chuck vs The Women

My monday evening routine is to wait anxiously for 8 o'clock to roll around so's I can watch some Chuck goodness on NBC. Typically, I then go on-line and look up all of the music I want to get that I heard on Chuck, get it, load it onto my Chuck playlist, and then stare and my iPod in confusion when, on shuffle, one of those songs is independently played. Because, sometimes, hearing Hall & Oats without any explanation is just odd. Actually, that should be an "always".

However. Loving Chuck is problematic. It's problematic for a multitude of reasons. Chuck had ten characters credited during the theme for its first two seasons, and then nine in its third season. Three of the ten were women in the first two seasons. Two of the nine are women in the third season. This isn't good. For me, and in general. Sure, one of the central three characters is a woman, and she gets a decent amount of attention focused on her. And yet, purely by the function of who she is and what her character brings to the series, we know very little about her. And so, we're left with 3 women who function as accessories to the male characters, as love interests and, for one, simultaneously as a sibling.

Because there are, at most, three women on the show, they don't often interact. And when they do interact, the moments don't typically pass the Bechdel Test. Sarah and Ellie discuss Chuck; sometimes, Sarah and Ellie discuss Devon (aka, Captain Awesome); Sarah and Anna discuss Morgan; a couple of times, Anna flips out on Ellie about Morgan. They talk about weddings and boys, and once, how Sarah had never been close to a gun before. But they don't talk about anything else, and thus we learn almost nothing about them. We know that Jeff and Lester enjoy playing in their band, Jeffster. We know more about Morgan than is necessary, including that he sleeps in the nude. But we don't learn much of anything about the women that does not in some way connect to the men.

But there is another issue with Chuck, almost a more serious issue. A lot of shows don't have great male-to-female ratios. A lot of shows don't have the women talking about much else but the men in their lives. It wouldn't be great, but I would be able to live with it. But Chuck fails women far more egregiously than simply not being able to pass the Bechdel Test.

Chuck, as a show, suffers from an almost chronic urge to delegitimize threats women face in the world and the workplace. It often uses stalking as an impish thing these specific guy characters do. And no other character calls these stalkers out on it. In Chuck vs Tom Sawyer, we (and Chuck) are given witness to Jeff's music video dedicated to Anna Woo, complete with stalker-footage from when Anna is leaving the women's bathroom. Later in the episode, Jeff's request that Anna fan him while wearing a hula skirt is granted. And both Chuck and the store's manager Emmett make no mention to Jeff about the completely illegal and inappropriate actions he has taken. No one mentions the tape to Anna, so she can press charges (not that she would, because stalking is totally cool!). Later in the season, Morgan begins stalking Anna as well, in vs The Best Friend. And although Chuck calls him out on it after both Anna and a group of mobsters discover him, Chuck's reasoning is less about shaming Morgan for his actions toward his ex-girlfriend than trying to save his life. Afterward, he even complains that he had to sacrifice Morgan's dignity in order to protect him. Chuck doesn't even begin to contemplate that stalking your ex is a pretty solid way to demonstrate you've given up much of your dignity anyway.

Stalking isn't just relegated to the creeps of the show, either. Chuck, himself, has been known to stalk his fake girlfriend Sarah. The one day she has off, he follows her as she goes to meet her father, because she had the temerity to not alert him to her plans. And when she discovers him, she doesn't yell at him or give him the cold shoulder. She doesn't discuss how following her is completely ignoring a boundary she has set for her own personal reasons. She invites him to stay.

And the stalking is just one part of the equation. From Morgan and Jeff and Lester using the store's electronics to get video footage of various (faceless) girls' butts and cleavage, to Jeff and Lester setting up a casting couch and then exposing various models to Jeff's penis, the show takes a light-hearted "boys will be boys" mentality when it comes to violating the various women who make the mistake of working, shopping, or knowing someone at the Burbank Buy More.

It is that light-heartedness that makes this all the worse. If the behavior was seen and treated as wrong, as being a violation of these various women's autonomy, if it were called out as being inherently disrespectful to women, then the show may be something other than regressive. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Morgan, Jeff, and Lester are seen as weird, losery guys, but they're also portrayed as lovable (in the case of Morgan), unthreatening (in the case of Lester), loyal (in the case of Jeff (and Morgan)) guys. These guys, the show demonstrates, are doing little wrong. After all, the women don't complain about it! These guys, the show demonstrates, are impotent geeks that girls don't have to worry about!

And then that is the other edge of this sword. There have been two girls who have been Nerd Herders (the Geek Squad of the Buy More). Both of them have been subject to sexual comments and what would be, in the real world, sexual harassment. They were Herders at two different times, so women have never made up more than 1/4 of the Herder staff. But what really seems to be happening here is the show doesn't only go for the "boys will be boys" and "stalking really isn't that serious" and "harassment is just playing", but is either negatively commenting on the nerdish men among us or - and I think it is the second one - giving one nerdish perspective on women and men. Perhaps it shouldn't be that surprising that only two of the nine writers are women.

A large portion of the Chuck series has been full of geekish and nerdy delights, too many to count. And that, along with Chuck being absolutely adorkable most of the time and zany writing, is one of the things that makes me love Chuck oh so very much. Well, that, and a propensity of the writers to rip off whole scenes from their other series, The O.C., and have those scenes play for more often than not comedic value. And that makes the marginalization of women within their world even harder to bear. Because it isn't just that women are absent, or that women get to discuss parts of their lives other than the men; if that were the case, this post could have (and almost was) been called Chuck vs The Bechdel Test. No, it goes deeper than that. It goes to having geeky guys consistently treat women as sexual objects, and as something other than the norm. As a girl, as a geek, and as a nerd, it feels less than welcoming to have that play out as a theme on this show that I love.

Saturday Sesame Street

I like how there were originally 1776 cherry trees in the orchard:

The Coolest Thing

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I wish my high school had been, or in this moment was, that cool. Alas, no.

Saturday Sesame Street

One part of one of my favorite Christmas specials:

A Post In Which I Review Dollhouse's "Meet Jane Doe, Part 1"

Bennett has twice the resources I have. She thinks she runs that House. And she might, for all I know. But there is one thing of which I am certain. I have a cooler office.

This is something I didn't touch upon in my review of The Left Hand, and that is this. Topher does have a very cool office. But it also does a couple of things. One, it reinforces the very large God-complex Topher has. It is literally an office encased in glass, situated above those he has complete power over. He can make any Doll whomever and whatever he chooses. Bennett's office is farther removed. It is an actual office-like area, filled with books and music and tea. It is more analytical. It doesn't create the same sort of Doll-Programmer familiarity Topher's arrangement allows. It doesn't create a bit of emotional pull; it doesn't facilitate getting to know the Dolls, their personalities and their grouping patterns. Topher has the cooler office for any number of reasons; his is more like a day care center in terms of toys than any actual office. But what really makes it so that he has the cooler office is how it pulls him into the overall Dollhouse community. He is not separate. He is above, but not aloof. He is apart, but still included. Because of that, his reaction to things like "grouping" is different than those who are separate, who are not a part of the overall community. It is what allows him to call Echo a friend, and it is what leaves him less than thrilled at the end of this exchange:

HARDING: Are they grouping?

TOPHER: Oh... They, uh, technically...

HARDING: They're grouping, aren't they?

TOPHER: I'm sorry to say, yeah.

HARDING: Oh, it's okay. It happens all the time.

TOPHER: It does?

HARDING: Yes. It's very common and easily dealt with.

TOPHER (looking a bit apprehensive): It is? Of course it is, yeah.

HARDING: Split them up, place them in separate Houses. They'll be fine. The girl would be perfect for Dubai.

And this exchange allows us some other insight. Victor and Sierra aren't special. The Los Angeles Dollhouse isn't the only breeding ground for un-Doll-like behavior. Dolls naturally gravitate toward each other. The need for true companionship, for interaction is still present and strong. There have been many studies about the human need for socialization, for friendships. Dolls aren't too separate from that. Even if Sierra and Victor are particularly adorable in their personal grouping.

What also comes through clearly in the episode is that Dolls are not simply a Tabula Rasa of the person they were before being Dollified. Ballard had been working from that basic assumption, and it didn't seem too far off in the early episodes of the show. What we knew about Caroline, her altruism and her bend towards justice, seemed to be mirrored in Echo's more child-like attempts. But the Doll is separate, and Echo isn't necessarily too keen on the possibility of Caroline coming back:

BALLARD: You said Bennett gave you her own memory.

ECHO: Of Caroline. And it wasn't... I didn't like it.

BALLARD: Well, that's Bennett's perception, and she doesn't sound remarkably stable.

ECHO: But the idea that Caroline might not be... I've been saving this body for her, but I'm not her.

BALLARD: You don't know that. You've resisted the wipes from the start. You tracked down my cell and you couldn't remember my name. You knew that I would help you, keep you from DeWitt. DeWitt was Caroline's enemy, not Echo's. Maybe it was Caroline picking up those shells.

ECHO: I'm not her! My name is Echo.

...

...

ECHO: You think I'm a freak - or a child.

BALLARD: I think I don't have the right.

ECHOL It's not my other... personas that make me feel what I feel.

BALLARD: The Dollhouse made you fall in love over and over. You told me that.

ECHO: They also made me aggressively sexual and phenomenally creative in bed.

BALLARD: Now, that's just cruel.

ECHO: Also, sociopathic, inexperienced, blind, and - at least seven times - gay. There's a lot of noise from the Chorus Girls, but they're not me. There is a me. This is me.

There are couple of issues I have with this part of the episode. Part of it is the reverse Florence Nightingale effect, what with Echo falling in love with Ballard as he's devoted himself to taking care of her and helping her get ready in her quest to take down the Dollhouse. But part of it is the fact that Paul Ballard has, in essence, been chasing after Caroline from episode one. It is creepy, because just four episodes ago he was leering at her recently college-decked out body in Belle Chose. It's creepy, because Echo has been programmed to trust and rely on Ballard.

But what it also highlights is Ballard's concern that he doesn't have the right to the body Echo inhabits, even if there were no creeptastic factors, because it is in actuality Caroline's body. Here's where the problem lies. Because it is a violation of Caroline's body, just like a person can rape the comatose. But it isn't just Caroline's body anymore. It is now also Echo's. She is a person, separate from the other personas in her head and separate from Caroline. She doesn't have a body of her own, and being in Caroline's body may have helped form her. Does she have some say? Is she independent of thought? Does she have the right to a romance, to a love affair, to a sexual release? The Dollhouse, by creating someone who was intended for nothing more than caretaker and not for personhood in hir own right, denied the Doll in question the right to a full existence, and that is as cruel a thing as every other despicable action they have foisted upon these Dolls. Echo, Whiskey, others who come to consciousness, seem to live in the agonizing in between where they are aware their bodies and lives are not truly their own, and have to ponder their own mortality in a way few of us ever do or ever shall. They have to face the possibility of voluntarily disembarking, ceasing to exist, so another could live the life interrupted.

Which leads us back to Topher, who lives the agonizing life of being a friggin' genius. And one who has seemingly backed away from the "progress is always a-okay!" viewpoint he held not two episodes ago. It's no secret 'round these parts that Topher is my favorite. And this week he's my favorite because he is absolutely in way over his head, and he knows it. He's my favorite because he is just so bad at the whole moral thing, and yet keeps on trying. I also love how profoundly desperate he is becoming in his attempts to figure out how to prevent the future he foresees as the inevitable conclusion of the tech he develops from coming to pass. And how he turns to the one person he probably shouldn't for guidance and conspiracy:

ADELLE: I've been hearing about your new device all day. I don't need to see it. I'm sure it's very impressive. But with the resources at your disposal now, I'm surprised it took you this long.

TOPHER: It didn't. I finished it two months ago. I spent the rest of the time trying to come up with another way to do it, a stupider way, a parlor trick... that wouldn't lead to anything else, anything bad.

ADELLE: What else, Topher? What "bad"?

TOPHER: Harding's got me working on a portable remote wipe, right? I saw Bennett working on a somatosensory system override. And there are what? 22 Houses, right?

ADELLE: 23, now.

TOPHER: Each working on their own small, specific, relatively harmless technology. So I got to thinging -

ADELLE: It's a component. It is a piece of a larger whole.

TOPHER: The next question is...

ADELLE: For what?

TOPHER: I think they're hoping to build a portable device that will be able to imprint anyone without any Active architecture implants. Any innocent on the street with a new personality.

ADELLE: That's unnerving.

TOPHER: No. What's unnerving is I figured out how to do it.

...

...

TOPHER: Are you out of your British mind?!

ADELLE: I acted in the best interest of the House.

TOPHER: You gave Rossum the deadliest tech I've ever heard of.

ADELLE: Which you designed.

TOPHER: I was trying to figure out what they were up to!

ADELLE: You were fascinated. You were playing.

TOPHER: No. Don't put this on me. I trusted you!

ADELLE: Well, who thought that was a clever scheme?

Which, wow. No wonder Adelle feels responsible for Topher in the aftermath. I had originally thought it was more of the maternal instinct mixed in with a healthy bit of the belief she was just as complicit in the Dollhouse meltdown. Now, it seems as though more than a little bit of guilt is also there. What is also interesting to me is how Adelle characterizes Topher. I'm sure she's not wholly wrong; I'm sure Topher messed because he was revolted and intrigued by the idea. But I'm also sure she isn't wholly right. I'm sure Topher is revolted by the tech. There's a reason he didn't roll out the remote wipe tech once he was done with it, a reason why he didn't deliver the plans that would give him the title of Harding's (and Rossum's) Golden Boy for all eternity. The amoral Topher we originally met probably would have; but this Topher has grown. He grew through his disastrous attempt to save Sierra. He grew through his interaction with Echo. He grew from the belief that there is no such thing as morality. He accepts that there are such things as innocents. And he sees the big picture well enough to understand that doing what is in the best short-term interest for the House is not what is in its best long-term interest, nor in the best interest of the whole "world not ending" scheme.

Random Observations:

• Why does Galena trust Echo? I would totally not be prepared to put my faith in the person who got me into jail in the first place.
• Wow, does this show borrow from the Matrix.
• Wow, Tahmoh Penikett is really good looking.
• He also can't really act.
• The whole "moving between personas" would be better if Enver Gjokaj were the one to do it.

Grade: B

A Post In Which I Review Dollhouse's "The Left Hand"

I'm kind of depressed about how long it has taken to write this review, partially because after Hulu kept crapping out during the episode I broke down and bought it for 3.99 on iTunes. Of course, I now have one of my favorite scenes ever on my iPod constantly, so maybe it's all a wash in the end.

So, I'm going to do something I've been avoiding since this Healthcare debate thingy started in Congress, and that is talk about the state of Healthcare and those Congresspeople making the laws. Because Joss Whedon told me to. Seriously. Don't believe me? I offer Evidence A (which is actually from The Public Eye):

No one is saying the work these corporations do isn't vital, but there must be accountability. The health of our citizens cannot be held hostage to a profit motive.

Sounds like some healthcare angst to me. Evidence B is the fact Perrin is a man made and supported by the very industries he is supposed to be going after. Say, that's kind of like my own state senator, a Mr. Joe Lieberman! Who is a guy I voted for, in part because he campaigned in 2006 on the promise of fighting for a Public Option! Which, in turn, has made me into the schmuck of my immediate family! Who, of the two other members who are legal voting age, voted for Ned Lamont! Damn Lieberman! Oh, this also goes for a whole bunch of other people in Congress. Perrin, who is very much a demonstration of false consciousness, is used to validate and prop up the very industries that are going to bring about the end of civilization, Epitaph One style. Which, in turn, makes me think those Whedony people are probably pretty pissed and concerned with the way the Healthcare fight is going. Also, kind of like they think our elected officials are bought and paid for by Big Corporations, which is also the tale of today's Non Sequitur. There's probably a lot more to say about this issue and Dollhouse's handling of it, but I'm going to move on, now.

To Cindy Perrin. Who kind of gets the bad end of every stick. I know I'm not supposed to sympathize with someone who is clearly not on the Moral Train, but Cindy does stir something in me resembling empathy. And that is because she is pretty much in the exact same position as the Dolls, except she doesn't have the benefit of being a True Believer. She is used as just another object for the Dollhouse's purposes. And she is trapped by her role as a wife:

I can't stand you. Having to be your wife, letting you touch me, pretending that when it doesn't disgust me, it doesn't bore me? That has been really hard.

She is being forced to have sex with a man she does not love, forced to allow someone she doesn't even like, to touch her. And while I think her anger and hatred is more than a bit misguided - it isn't Perrin's fault, after all - it is also entirely realistic to rail against the person trapped with you in this type of farce than the nameless, faceless decision-makers that put you both there. And then, she dies. Cindy Perrin's situation just drives further home the idea that the Dollhouse - and Rossum - don't actually see people, merely opportunities to do what is best for their own self-interest. Which is, actually, yet another arm of the "corporations are soulless and need to be controlled for our own good" argument the entire show seems to be making.

What I really want to discuss, though, is the geekiest love affair known to man, and that is the mutual lovefest between Bennett Halverson and Topher Brink. Mostly for this:

BENNETT: How do you work it? The disrupter?

TOPHER: How'd you know it was called that?

BENNETT: What else would you call it?

TOPHER: A signal goes out for 50 feet, but everywhere. That's what messed up your senator and ruined your evil plan.

BENNETT: If you route the signal through here, it becomes directional. Not like a bomb. More like a taser.

TOPHER: Huh! (Tries To Tase Bennett) Huh.

BENNETT: Did - did you just try to tase me?

TOPHER: No? No, No! That would result in - you'd be unconscious. Why would I want that?

BENNETT: And it only works on Actives. I'm concerned that you may have just tried to tase me.

If only there were more times in life when one could say, "I'm concerned that you may have just tried to tase me". But it is their geekitude, their giddiness when bouncing ideas off one another, and their ultimate betrayal of each other - Topher by stealing Perrin's brain scan, Bennett by trying to kill Echo - that truly makes the episode for me. Well, them and:

VICTOR-TOPHER: What you're not getting, man-friend, is that this whole operation is dependent upon me. Not, uh, brain-constructy me, but "Bond, James Bond" me. Which is, not so me.

BOYD: Vic-Topher. All you hae to do is stay calm.

VICTOR-TOPHER: This from the guy who had to dismember my last little outing?!

Whedon has done the one person in two bodies before with Xander Harris on Buffy, being played by Nicholas Brendon (who was normally Xander) and his twin brother (who normally was not). This was better. Giving Enver Gjokaj opportunity upon opportunity to shine makes Dollhouse an incredible actor's vehicle - just not the actor it was designed for. Gjokaj's ability to go beyond mimicry, to actually embody the character created by another actor, is incredible. I was beyond impressed when he became Dominic last season. His Topher was even more superb, possibly because Topher is a exaggerated character to begin with. The concept could have become a gross parody of itself, but instead it was both masterfully written and acted. It was fun and self-aware and perfect, for the show and for the two actors. And my favorite moments were their interactions, possibly because two Tophers are always going to be better than one in my world.

But, again, it is Topher-Topher who truly makes the episode for me. From his:

I'm just here for Echo. My last ethical quandary was... unhelpful.

to his:

This isn't about Caroline! This is about Echo!

to his:

It wouldn't be a second opinion! It would be the same opinion twice!

It is Topher's emerging and continuing humanity that keeps me engaged. It is his continuing moral development that makes him still profoundly interesting. The fact that both he and Victor-Topher are still so focused on his last "ethical quandary" makes him a person with real regret and remorse. The fact that he sees Echo as a distinct person, as a friend separate from Caroline, makes him someone for whom the Dolls are becoming more and more, as themselves, actual people. And then there is the continuation of the idea he first expressed in the season opener to Whiskey/Saunders. What Topher is concerned about intellectually isn't so much having someone who agrees with him, who thinks like him and who will come to the same conclusions he has, but someone who will be able to see where he is blind. The fact that he doesn't want himself around for help analyzing Perrin's brain map could just be an ego thing, until it is related back to the idea that he is terrified he is going to miss something, and that someone will get hurt.

And yet, the most important part of the episode may be something Bennett herself was blinded to. She tells Topher:

I have a theory that the human brain can hold multiple imprints and still function... ...Not a composite. Something new.

This is what Echo is. This is what Echo develops into. This is what Bennett herself doesn't see when she at first tells Echo, and then Topher, that Echo is merely a shell - and at the same time Caroline. Topher seems to have a better handle on the fact that the person Echo is now is separate from who Caroline was, but the implications of that statement are far-reaching. What it does is offer a bit of hope for humanity even as it explains Echo's own existence. It offers up a new kind of humanity, after we have been ravaged by the world of Epitaph One. It is the series' optimistic rallying cry, that all is not lost. And, it creates a whole host of coolness we'll never have a chance to see fully examined.

We do see it examined partially, though, through the experiences of the escaped Perrin and Echo:

PERRIN: Even if I could, I don't know if I want to be the man I was before.

ECHO: I understand.

PERRIN: You do, don't you?

ECHO: I'm afraid of Caroline. If she comes back, where do I go? I don't want to fall asleep, even for a little while.

Echo is probably afraid of Caroline at least in part because she saw what Caroline did to Bennett, but the underlying fear that coursed through Whiskey/Saunders is also present here. These are people, and they exist. But the bodies they exist in are not, strictly speaking, theirs. And what we see through Perrin and Echo is this desire to continue to live on, to not disappear into the night. And it makes Echo into what she needs to be, a character in her own right and not just a placeholder for a person we have yet to truly and deeply meet. It creates just that one more level of moral and emotional conflict. And that, along with the fun, makes The Left Hand possibly my favorite episode of Dollhouse.

Grade: A+

Quotes of the Episode:

VICTOR-TOPHER: She's going to look at my 1.0, and she'll know!

BOYD: I have to track down Ballard. You just run the house and wait for yourself to call.

TOPHER: I poo you not!

BENNETT: I'm concerned that you may have just tried to tase me.

BENNETT: You hacked into my system. Stole Perrin's brain map.

TOPHER: You're trying to kill Echo!

BENNETT: So we're even?

A Post In Which I Review Dollhouse's "The Public Eye"

CINDY: Remind me why I love you so much.
PERRIN: I'm your white knight.
CINDY: And I'm your beautiful damsel.
PERRIN: Ever after.

Whoa. Whoa! Dollhouse, how I've missed you!

First, I have to alert everyone that I did not see the Perrin reveal coming and merely thought Whedon had decided to play against trope simply by letting us in on the secret of Cindy being the Doll instead of having a Mellie/Angel(us) situation overtake us and giving me a heart attack in the midst of that process. This led to me going, "Oh, Daniel, you're going to be soooo surprised when you find out your wife is a --- HOLY MOTHER OF GOD YOU'RE TOTALLY A DOLL!!!!!!!!!"

That was pretty much my reaction exactly. Luckily, as the Monk series finale was going to be on at 9 and I didn't feel like switching televisions mid-stream, I was alone with my outburst.

Now, let's unpack that one interaction, the one that happens multiple times over the course of the episode(s). Whoa!!! Dollhouse is totally calling out the prince-princess phenom! I'm totally going to try to limit my use of the word "totally" (that may or may not happen)! Let's discuss. Perrin is, literally, a made man. He is, literally, imbued with a cultural mindset regarding princes and princesses and happily ever afters. He is, well, us. All of us. All of us Disney-lovin' folk out here. He is existing within the false consciousness of traditional gender norms, as exemplified by the prince-princess meme! Whoa, I say!

This may be where I should note that at the age of 18 or so, I was completely against the idea of false consciousness in philosophical terms. My mind is my mind, right? What I'm thinking, I decide to think. My thoughts are my own, my feelings are my own, and I am totes an individual. Yeah, not so much with that mindset any more, and I love Dollhouse for exploring that same "awakening", that same idea that we all think we are masters of our own destiny and space - and how we are more than influenced by the world in which we live in. Dollhouse takes it a bit further, what with the whole "actually wiping people's brains and making them other people" thing, but the premise is still the same. And right here, we have the constructed romance portion of our journey; plus, it really highlights how much the White Knight construct has played a part in the journey of various characters thus far. But there's another side to this construct too, and that is the paternalistic nature of this philosophical theory (and, in fact, one of the reasons I railed against it at first):

MADELINE: I almost wish I hadn't seen it. But then I wouldn't be here. And there are still people being held captive by the Dollhouse. They don't even know they need help. So, that means we have to help.

In the world of the Dollhouse, it is easy to see Madeline as someone who once was blind but now sees, just as it is easy to see Echo in that role. It is easy to see how all of the other Dolls - Victor, Sierra, Kilo, etc. - really don't know they need help and who need outside forces to come and rescue them; to open their eyes to the fact they are being used and manipulated and are trapped in the Cave, staring at shadows on a wall. But the question immediately becomes, "Who are you, to tell me I am blind and you can see?" And that question is hard to answer; it is hard to answer because all are blind. Madeline is not free, no matter how much she believes it or Ballard wishes it. She still contains the underlying architecture of a Doll; she is still not truly an actor of her own free will. She is still one who doesn't see the whole picture. As is Perrin; he is a True Believer; he sees himself as that White Knight, that guy who will ride in and rescue the Dolls and lead them back to their true selves. He will be the one to show the world the evils of the Rossum Corporation. But he is not free; he is one who is also being held captive by the Dollhouse, one who doesn't even know he needs help. And so, Dollhouse the show both demonstrates the idea of false consciousness and questions, seriously questions, our ability to find a White Knight who will lead us out of such a situation. Because the White Knight, whomever he or she may be, is just as ensnared as ourselves, except perhaps in a different way. As Ballard says, "Nobody ever really leaves here, do they?" None of us are free of the Dollhouse.

And then there's this:

PERRIN: Listen to me. You've been manipulated. You were probably desperate and alone, and they used that against you. Forced you to be a slave so the wealthy can have a play toy. It's despicable.
...
...
BREE: Look, you're very sweet, but you should know - I like what I do. You're not the first john who thinks he can save me.

If Bree really was Bree and not Echo, she could very well be right. That is the problem with a paternalistic approach to an issue. Even if 9 out of 10 people in Bree's exact situation would possibly want to be saved, there is always that 10th Brie out there making an informed decision, and who is in a position she, to the best of her ability, chooses to be in. This obviously goes for sex workers. But it also goes for other things. Paternalism, because it is based in the belief that the actor knows better than the acted upon, limits the ability for the acted upon to say, "Hey, not me! Go save those people over there. I know what I'm doing." And paternalism, the "poor souls" aspect of it, is what offers the justification for the Westernization of nations who were probably doing okay before Europeans or Americans decided to come in, "civilize" the nation, and take as payment a whole host of natural resources. So, is Dollhouse saying we should ignore people's own wishes and instead work off the premise that everyone who doesn't think like us is obviously hideously deluded? I think, no. And I think that, because the show has been rather clear about the absence of White Knights and of the fallibility of those who hold themselves up as saviors. I think that, because of Perrin's reaction to when he discovered he himself was a Doll. And, I think that because of DeWitt's reading of the situation:

With Perrin under his power, Harding controls how far the damage goes. The Senate Subcommittee will clear Rossum of any contact with us. And Perrin will be hailed as the conquering hero who's rescued all these poor souls. He'll have the political capital to pass whatever laws and regulations Rossum's programmed him to.

One where altruistic White Knight impulses are really hiding something much less about saving the victims and much more about profiting. With that, it becomes somewhat more clear that there is no easy "I know best" answer to this question.

Onto Topher, who is, of course, my favorite. This week, what makes him my favorite comes mostly in the second part of this two-part episode extravaganza, but he still has moments of note here in the first act. Most notably,

It'll knock out any Doll in a ten-foot radius, including a pesky Sleeper like Cindy, without actually harming real people like us.

Which is a bit of privilege harboring there that is still present in Epitaph One, the idea that there are real people, Actuals, and then there are fake people, those people who have had the misfortune of becoming a Doll - or a victim of errant and randomized Doll-making technology. And it is troubling. We know he listens to Echo and worked to protect Sierra when she was in trouble. We know that he has referred to the Dolls as people in the past. But are these (Sierra, Echo) flukes, the "I have a friend who's a Doll" of Topher's life that allows him to think he thinks of Dolls as people because he interacts a few that he does see as people? Or does he actually see Dolls, as a whole, as "real people", and this bit of "real people" is just a bit of unconscious "I haven't had my architecture Activized" privilege seeping through? I tend to think it is more of Column A than Column B, and that is partially why I like Topher. He's a person, and he has prejudices and biases, and one of the interesting aspects of Dollhouse is watching Topher evolve.

Now, for some issues.

ECHO: She's not right.
TOPHER: We got that the first time, Echo.
BALLARD: She doesn't mean Madeline.

Why does no one see this, that Echo can sense or tell or reason out in just a glance when people aren't right, as a problem? Isn't that bizarre? Shouldn't they all be going, "oooo"? But no. These three guys just accept that Echo can do this, and go on their merry way working on the assumption she's right. Which is good, because she kind of is. But it is bad, because (a) they didn't ask her to elaborate ("Not right, how?" would have been my first question), and (b) obviously the wheels on the controlling-Echo train have come completely off. I guess I can explain this one away by it being Ballard and Boyd and Topher, with one person who knows exactly how much Echo is evolving, one person who is aware Echo is evolving, and one person who considers Echo a friend and because of that seems to accept Echo's evolution implicitly - but it still seems like something that should generate some sort of pause for one of them.

Also, why are there books around for the Dolls to find and read? I mean, really. If you don't want your Dolls to start developing, why put around things that will help them develop? If you don't think your Dolls will ever be able to retain, why shove something out there into their world that requires retaining?

I have to geek out about a few things as well. First, the fight between Cindy Perrin and Echo-Bree. It was pretty cool how the scene kept jumping to previous instances of people attacking Echo, and to see her respond.

But foremost is this: Summer-freakin'-Glau. Summer Glau is one of my favorite Whedon-actors; that is, she is among my favorites who have been in various Whedon projects. Alan Tudyk is up there as well, but I think Glau is number one on the list. I'm so happy to see her. And I love Bennett, in that weird "I really shouldn't but I do" way.

Grade: A

Quotes of the Episode:

ECHO: I'm on your team!
PERRIN: I love her.
ECHO: I know. (Hits Perrin) But I don't have that problem.

PERRIN: You want to take me to them? They're all bad guys, Bree!
ECHO: I think her bad guys are badder than my bad guys!

BENNETT: I assumed we'd fill him with travel memories - a layover in Milwaukee, some turbulence. And something to explain any dehydration or disorientation. Bad shrimp or... or a film with a dog.

Saturday Sesame Street

Yesterday, on my way home from work, It's Not That Easy Being Green came on my iPod. And so I knew exactly what video I was going to pick:


I always always always tear up when I hear this song. Because I'm more than a little pathetic. But also because it makes me think of this version:



This one, I don't have on my iPod. For what should be obvious reasons.

Saturday Sesame Street

"We superheroes bruise easily, you know":

Thanksgiving Day Watching

[Originally Posted Last Year]

Every Thanksgiving, I watch the Macy's Day Parade, but there are a whole bunch of other turkey day specials that go hand in hand with this yearly event as well! So, here's a list of what I'll be watching and some of what I already watched yesterday (because I'm impatient).

1) A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I love how Peppermint Patty invites herself over the Charlie Brown's on Thanksgiving Day, and then brings along Marcie and Franklin. I love Charlie Brown's and Linus' exchange, when Charlie Brown says, "I can't cook a Thanksgiving dinner! All I can make is cold cereal and maybe toast", and Linus responds with, "That's right. I've seen you make toast". I always wonder how even that blockhead Charlie Brown could screw up toast. I also enjoy Linus trying to make a historical connection to the current fight between Peppermint Patty and Charlie Brown and getting shot down by Patty saying, "No, it's not like that at all". But mostly, I love Snoopy helping to make the popcorn and the toast and serving it with jellybeans and pretzel sticks when he had an actual turkey cooking in his doghouse. Aside from the disturbing part of feeding the turkey to Woodstock, the fact that the dog could make a turkey and chose not to share it with the rest of the neighborhood is just hilarious to me. Of course, Linus and Charlie Brown never asked if he could - or was - making a turkey either.

2) Sports Night's Thespis. The episode is brilliant. From the frozen turkey on the light grid to this exchange:

Dana: My whole family's coming to New York. 18 people.

Natalie: And this is your first time making the dinner by yourself.

Dana: Yes.

Natalie: It's a rite of passage into adulthood.

Dana: Yes.

Kim: It's a time for giving thanks. A time to share in the warm embrace of family.

Dana: Right.

Natalie: You don't want to take any crap from your mother.

Dana: I really don't.

Aaron Sorkin has a tendency to pontificate during pretty much every moment, but Thespis is pitch perfect between the true spirit of being thankful and whacky hijinks that routinely plague any ghostly visitation. Isaac dealing with his daughter's placenta previa, Casey and Danny's anniversary fight, and Dana's turkey woes all highlight different interpersonal relationships, and all revolve around the idea of pointing out what is important by Thespis mocking what is not.

3) WKRP in Cincinnati's Turkey's Away: A Thanksgiving turkey drop goes very, incredibly wrong for the radio station gang, leading to outright hilarity.

I highly recommend watching the whole thing; Les makes it, especially with lines like, "The turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement!"

4) Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Pangs. A made family celebrating a day with pie and fighting vengeful spirits. The gang's all together, and it's great. They also get into the nitty gritty of the holiday, by both aptly describing what it is:

Anya: I love a ritual sacrifice.

Buffy: It's not really a one of those.

Anya: To commemorate a past event, you kill and eat an animal. It's a ritual sacrifice. With pie.

And its problematic nature:

Professor Gerhardt (in the background): And that's why it's appropriate that the ground-breaking for the UC Sunnydale Cultural Partnership Center is taking place so soon before Thanksgiving. Because that's what the melting pot is about - contributions from all cultures, making our culture stronger.

Willow: What a load of horse hooey.

Buffy: We have a counterpoint?

Willow: Yeah. Thanksgiving isn't about the blending of two cultures. It's about one culture wiping out another. And then they make animated specials about the part where, with the maize and the big, big belt buckles. They don't show you the next scene, where all the bison die and Squanto takes a musketball in the stomach.

The episode isn't a shining beacon of cultural sensitivity, but it does present arguments from the different factions and also incorporates my own personal philosophy of "What happened in the past is something we should work to correct and acknowledge and the original 'everyone was happy when the pilgrims came to stay' meme is a sham, but it is a sham with yams and good family moments that should be taken and celebrated for their own right". Plus, it's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and no holiday of mine is complete without the corresponding episode.

5) Chuck, Chuck vs. The Nemesis. A newbie but a goodie. I'm holding on to Chuck tight, since Ned left me, and I love this episode for both the Buy More Thanksgiving preparations and the combined Bartowski and Morgan Thanksgiving. The whole thing, between preparations for Black Friday, Chuck dealing with his ex-best friend, and the actual dinner is incredibly funny.

6) Chuck, Chuck vs. The Gravitron. An even newer newbie but a goodie. Just Morgan's face when Ellie throws out the dry-run turkey is worth watching the episode for (though between this and Sports Night, I really have to start wondering how many people actually make dry-run turkeys before the big day). Captain Awesome continues his awesome streak, and Big Mike's defense of Buy More from robbers is incredible.

7) The West Wing, Shibboleth. Between CJ having to pick a turkey to be pardoned, and President Bartlet's incredulity that a high school student would not know that it was not in his power to actually pardon a turkey, the episode is a home run.

8) The West Wing, Indians in the Lobby. Aside from the plot the episode title is taken from, President Bartlet discovering there is a Butterball hotline is wonderful. As is his pretending to be a regular citizen while calling it to discover whether or not it is safe to cook his oyster stuffing inside his turkey or if he should make it separately.

Editing to Add:

9) Friends, The One Where Ross Got High. I usually don't like Friends very much. But I love this episode from start to finish. I love Monica and Ross' mom's response to all of the friends' outbursts, from Rachel putting beef in the trifle to Phoebe being in love with Jacque Cousteau to Joey wanting to go to Ross having done drugs and every other secret the siblings launch at each other in under a minute.

Have a happy and fulfilling Thanksgiving. And watch some television.

Also, new to this post, enjoy some Natalie Dee comics!

nataliedee.com


nataliedee.com


nataliedee.com


nataliedee.com

Saturday Sesame Street

Featuring one of my favorite people, Madeline Kahn:

Monday Reading List

Not The Man I Know by Cara:

This is the danger of making statements about what “the man I know” would and wouldn’t do. It places our own experiences with a person above those of a person with whom they have been violent. And it erases the fact that violence against women exists, that it is being committed right now as I write this, and that it’s being committed by men who we’ve gone to school with, been to dinner parties with, played on the playground with, by men who have been non-violent towards us, who have helped us, who have been nice to us.

Belonging Review: Dollhouse 2.04 from Maia:

Belonging wasn’t the fantasy of killing a rapist, there was a body and it traumatised Priya even more. The fight was messy, Priya had a normal person’s strength and was lucky. Although I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who shouted at the screen “Topher couldn’t you have helped by providing her with Kung Fu skills. But it wouldn’t have worked if he had. And after there was blood, a body, and very few options. There were still fantasy elements – Boyd arrived on cue with body disposal skills, but it was the reality, not the fantasy that we were left with. The scene, or story, didn’t end with her stabbing him.

How I Found Out I Was Politically Correct, a post only slightly marred by the misnaming Joss Whedon as Josh Whedon:

The next time someone complains about “political correctness”, listen close. Chances are they’re either talking about someone not knowing their place, or someone having the gall to tell the listener to act like a decent human being. “What‘s this chick robot doing in my show about walking dude robots? TOKENISM! Chew with my mouth closed? POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE WILD!” These folks are under the impression that they’re “edgy”. After all, what is more rare and groundbreaking than straight white dudes ragging on things? Sometimes I can go an entire day without hearing that! Assuming I don’t watch television or listen to radio or go on the internet, and also spend the entire day in the woods.

Only Those With Power Can Participate In Racism:

...if you're black, say, and engage in prejudiced opinions and behavior against white people, you are not participating in a power structure that systematically oppresses white people, because no such power structure exists. You are engaging in a singular act of prejudice that does not, in the end, change, effect, or even play into the balance of power.

Amanda's Looking at Releasing Dirty Pictures As A Form Of Sexual Assault:

Understanding that this kind of thing is a form of sexual assault also helps us understand how it’s victim-blaming to suggest that the girls deserve all this because they were foolish enough to take these pictures. Whether or not it’s wise to do this doesn’t diminish one bit the fact that it’s wrong to use these kinds of pictures to hurt and control young women. Indeed, the only reason that taking these kinds of pictures is reckless is because there’s so many wannabe sexual assailants out there, and they know that they won’t be held responsible if they perform their assaults by leaking these pictures. Just as rape creates a general loss of freedom for women, who have to control their associations and movements out of fear that it will happen, this form of sexual assault also creates a loss of freedom. In all cases, men should consider how this loss of freedom is wrong not just because it hurts women, but also because it hurts them. When women know that some assholes are out there, waiting to punish and humiliate you if you express yourself a little bit, you don’t express yourself. And the men who might be the beneficiaries of your enthusiastic, consensual self-expression don’t get that. In this case, every use of dirty pictures to punish and humiliate women results in more women deciding that they will never, ever take and send such pictures.

From Garfield Minus Garfield:

What Evil Men Do Can Be Laid At The Feet of Women

You see, Miss DaFonte, when a man can't have the woman that he loves, he gets a bit crazy. - Agent Booth, Bones episode 5.07, Dwarf in the Dirt

Wow. Let's look at that statement again.

You see, Miss DaFonte, when a man can't have the woman that he loves, he gets a bit crazy.

Again, I say "wow". And it is a bad "wow".

The teeniest bit of backstory. Booth, the federal agent who puts forth such words of wisdom about the nature of man and woman, has had a bit of a problem doing things lately. Plumbing problems, being able to tell if a suspect is lying, shooting his gun... The list goes on and on. Booth has also been doing ordinary tasks differently than he used to. Holding his phone to the opposite ear, starting with his left foot when walking up and down stairs instead of his right... Again, the list goes on and on. The reason we're given? His love for the good Dr. Brennan, the eponymous Bones.

You see, Miss DaFonte, when a man can't have the woman that he loves, he gets a bit crazy.

The Miss DaFonte in question continuously slept with one brother for the whole of her relationship with the other brother.

You see, Miss DaFonte, when a man can't have the woman that he loves, he gets a bit crazy.

And so it goes, when one brother kills the other, Nicole DaFonte is to blame:

NICOLE DAFANTE: Derek, why?

DEREK DAFANTE: Come on, Nicky. You know why. You know exactly why.

And Booth is proven correct. He is going a bit crazy because he can't have Bones. Bryce DaFonte (the murdered brother) goes a bit crazy and tries to steal a shit ton of gold coins because he can't have Nicole. And Derek DaFonte, well, he goes a bit crazy and kills Bryce because he can't have Nicole either.

...when a man can't have the woman that he loves, he gets a bit crazy.

And so it goes. On Bones, as per almost every where else, a man can't have the woman he loves, and that gives him the justification for going a bit crazy. The man isn't the problem. Derek can point to Nicole as his reason to murder; Booth can blame Bones for his failure at firearms. And the world keeps turning with this sort of righteous statement thrown out there as fact. As gospel. Never mind that the woman the man can't have is a person in her own right, that she has the right to not be had, that she has the right to not have the man's actions after that fact be recognized as directly relational to the not having of her.

...when a man can't have the woman that he loves, he gets a bit crazy.

This is the sentiment used to justify crimes against women. It is the sentiment of people who believe men are entitled to women, and when they are denied what is rightfully theirs, they can get a bit crazy. This is the rationalization behind stalking, behind verbal assaults on the street, behind domestic violence. This is the rationalization that places the onus on the woman. This is the rationalization that makes women responsible for men's actions. This is the philosophy that places men and men's wants above women and women's wants. This is the philosophy that recognizes men have wants and needs that must be fulfilled, lest he get a bit crazy, and yet seemingly ignores that women may also have wants and needs that must be fulfilled - or if not ignores, then does not grant those wants and needs the same validity. After all, as a woman, not getting the man she wants won't lead her to getting a bit crazy.

Saturday Sesame Street

Savion Glover is incredible:

Ode to Dollhouse

Written yesterday, revised today:

And, so it goes. Dollhouse has been given the boot. I can't really blame Fox for canceling Dollhouse (unlike when they cancelled Firefly), but I do wish it had lasted. And not simply because I discovered a major crush on Fran Kranz.

I'm not surprised because Dollhouse had some consistency issues; I'm saddened because the good episodes were up there with some of the more ingenious inventions of Whedon's other work.

When Pushing Daisies was cancelled, I quoted Whedon:

"Two roads diverge in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn."

I don't think Dollhouse was cancelled because it was on the road less travelled by. At least, I don't think that is the only reason. Sure, part of the reason is that it couldn't be practically explained in a soundbite. There was no "cheerleader kills vampires" or "nine people stare out into space and see nine different things". But part of it was that the show took a few stumbles early on (and then again later on), and sometimes the philosophical offerings of an episode were far more interesting than the episode itself. And I speak as someone who only truly "flames on the sides of my face" hated Instinct. Part of that was probably due to it having to forge a new path in the television wilderness. It couldn't simply recreate the system that works so well for the 19 bazillion Law and Order and CSI type shows on television. And creating something new involves working out how to make it work. And working that out means failure.

I think Dollhouse was cancelled because... well, it was a weird show that was about people you wouldn't want to eat lunch with let alone spend your friday nights with, and about the philosophical ponderings of what makes a person their specific person and the value each person holds. It was a show that asked us to look at how we see people, how we see ourselves, and whether or not it was ooky to rent the body but create another person to be housed within that body.

And the show suffered from a lack of cohesion; I started this by saying it wasn't the less travelled road that killed Dollhouse, but I'm reversing that here. Because pretty much every traditional weakness is determined by the very premise. It couldn't have the necessary cohesion because it didn't have a set of fixed characters who evolved slowly. It had a set of fixed characters who evolved slowly, a couple of characters who existed in drugged out child-like states and so had difficulty evolving at all (and whose very evolution was a radical and revolutionary act), and the new and temporary characters those drugged children embodied from week to week. All of that is the show; it isn't a problem of the show. And because it was the show, it was often used to the show's benefit. But because that was the show, someone popping in on an episode like Briar Rose would be completely thrown if their next episode was Belle Chose.

That isn't to say the show didn't have some real weaknesses separate from the premise. I have previously complained about structural theme of the show versus the nature of the stand alone episodes. There was also the "why?" question in relation to action. Like, "Why did Ballard rent out Echo to sleep with and marry that guy in the season 2 premiere?" or "Why didn't Adelle think to restrain the potential serial killer/leave a guard with Uncle?" or "Why don't they just shut this damn House down if every week there is a Major Issue?"

Some other questions emerged as well, like, "What is the refund policy for a Doll that stabs you in the midst of a non-stabbing engagement?"

And yet, I really, really, really liked Dollhouse. Some of it stemmed from those moments when everything hit on all cylinders, when Topher and Saunders discussed the conundrum of being a built person housed within someone else's body - and knowing it. Or the whole Nice Guy thing that went down in Belonging. Some of it stemmed from the pantsless scene in Echoes. Some of it stemmed from the fact that I really, really, really missed Whedon. Like, really. I know, I know. He's written some comic books. I've read them. I love hearing his voice in my head when I read them (not his actual, somewhat lispy voice, but his writerly "here are my words" voice). But I missed that visceral feeling that my show was on, that it was Whedony, that I would see the actors I liked doing the type of stuff I also am made to like by virtue of its Whedonosity.

I liked Dollhouse because although the balance in form had never truly been reached, the balance between the larger thematic message - the so-called "plot", if you will - and the evolution of the people - the "characters" - was spot on. I'm a character-driven gal. I hate it when the world moves the characters along; I much rather the characters to move the parts of the world, and each other. Dollhouse was character driven; the characters changed each other. And yet, the show never let you forget that these characters existed because their world was f'd up, because there were forces beyond their control that influenced and, for some, created them. That the forces contained within those gates would eventually come crashing down to earth and destroy almost everyone else.

After Fox burns off the rest of the episodes in December, I'll miss this show. I'll miss what it could have been, yes. I'll miss the crazy idea I had that Rossum was really just standing in for Blue Sun and that I'd finally see the world corporations ruled as Whedon seemed to be setting up in the early days of Firefly. But I'll also miss what it is. I'll miss the not-quite moral characters, and the slow, tentative grasps toward some sort of family unit. I'll miss Adelle, and Boyd. I'll miss Victor and Sierra. I'll miss Dr. Saunders. I'll miss Topher.

And I'll hope that at some point, Whedon will return to television. On CHUD, Devin Faraci is challenging Whedon to change the world - and I hope he will. I've already proven that I'll follow Joss Whedon from project to project, be it computer, television, film, or radio. But, and this stems from my years of watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Whedon on my television screen feels like home. And I like that feeling. So he can create all the internet and on demand media he wants. I'll be there to gobble it up; but I look forward to another show in the future that starts down the path less travelled. Hopefully, some day, there will be others traveling that road too.

A Very Happy 40th Birthday to Sesame Street

Forty years ago today, Sesame Street went live.

Around 16 years later, I was around to be their demographic.

By virtue of not knowing any other channels existed (I spent my weekend early mornings enthralled by the bass fishing I watched on tv), I was a PBS kid from the start.

And my absolute favorite program was Sesame Street. Well, that and the bass fishing.

I don't know how much Sesame Street affected me, because there was no click moment; there was no moment in my life when there wasn't Sesame Street. I'm not sure how much I really learned. I could never recite the alphabet backwards. The two-headed monster sketches did absolutely nothing for my pronunciation abilities. I never mastered double dutch. Letters and numbers I picked up along the way, but I'm pretty sure I would have learned to count at some point or another.

What Sesame Street did give me, though, was a path to another world; in the early years, Sesame Street was actually gritty. It still seemed gritty through the '80s. It seemed real, like there were real people and real monsters and real giant birds living side by side on this street with a roving frog reporter. And because it seemed real, the things the show discussed and the way the show discussed them were real. It gave me characters I adored, from Big Bird to Grover, to Oscar to Telly Monster. It gave me Luis and Maria. It gave me Linda and Barkley. It gave me Bob.

I've read numerous books about Sesame Street. I've learned about the effort that went into making the show, the reasons for the different characters, the growing pains, and everything else. But what stands out is how Sesame Street was a show that understood kids, didn't talk down to kids, and then gave a little something for the grown-ups as well.

And so, as my own little gimmick suggests, I'm inordinately fond of Sesame Street. I'm glad it has made it to year 40, and I hope it has another couple of decades left.

Also, check out the Sunday Sweets: Sesame Street. Those cakes are the awesome.

Saturday Sesame Street

In anticipation of Sesame Street's 40th birthday come November 10:

Saturday Sesame Street

This morning's Saturday Sesame Street is brought to you by the letter "S", as in Sociological Images, because that's where I found it:


I'll admit, it made me tear up a little bit.

Oh Dear

Via Chris Hayes' twitter:

My wife and I both thought last night's Mad Men was flat, and that the writing has gotten really stilted. Anyone else feeling that?

Via Whedonesque:

Marti Noxon finally gets to write a Halloween episode. As long as we're passing around the Halloween congratulations, the woman who made sure Buffy kept fighting the good fight while Joss was adding Angel and Firefly to the Whedonverse co-wrote the "Halloween episode" of Mad Men that aired last night.

The combo of the two thoughts makes me even more nervous for her proposed new feminist show.