Thursday, April 05, 2012

Game of Thrones sets up the board for season two,Mad Men's Betty has a scare and a pair of southern lady writers are saluted on American Masters


The second season of Game of Thrones(based on the second book "A Clash of Kings" in the Song of Ice and Fire series)picked up where they left off last time,as Rob Stark continues his campaign to be King of the North,Dany and her dragons lead their people into the desert and Jon Snow accompanies the Night's Watch north of the wall while the former king's elder brother Stannis prepares his own bid for the Iron Throne.

Said throne is currently held by Joffrey,the vicious boy king whose hobbies include tormenting poor Sansa Stark and having all of his supposed father's illegitimate children put to the sword(that's going to put a crimp in any plans for a family reunion there!). Even his dear mother Cersei doesn't have as strong a hold over him as she used to,which spells real trouble for the folks in King's Landing.


However, Tyrion has now arrived and in his new position as Hand of the King(temporarily filling the spot for his warmongering father Tywin),could curb some of Joffrey's less than prudent decisions regarding the kingdom,not to mention improve his manners.

Granted,big sister Cersei is far from thrilled about this new development but in the end,she may appreciate his voice of reason:




On Mad Men this week,we checked in on Betty,who has been feeling so down about her recent weight gain that she's starting to withdraw from any social gatherings.

Taking the advice of her new mother-in-law(who Betty should be a lot nicer to),she went to the doctor to get a prescription for diet pills and got an unpleasant surprise as he found a lump near her thyroid. Fortunately,it turned out to be benign yet that news didn't please Betty too much as the change in her physical appearance seems to have unsettled her more than the possibility of chronic disease.

What might be more toxic to her new marriage is that she went to Don first about her troubles and didn't mention that at all to current hubby Henry(who found out about it from a follow-up call from Don). As understandable as it was for Betty to turn to Don in such a moment,not being appreciative of Henry's no-holds-barred love for her is just as dangerous as any tumor to the health of their relationship:





PBS's American Masters series debuted two back-to-back episodes on Monday that paid tribute to two well known writers of the South,each of whom had only one book to their name but that was enough for them to make their mark on literary history.

First up was the author of Gone With The Wind in Margaret Mitchell:American Rebel,a woman who courted controversy in both her public and private life. Nonetheless,most agree that she was a woman well ahead of her times in many ways and the creator of a truly remarkable heroine:

Watch Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel on PBS. See more from American Masters.



The other film was Hey,Boo:Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird,Mary McDonagh Murphy's engaging documentary about the impact of that modern classic upon society then and now.

This was the second time that I've seen this movie and it still packs quite a punch. I need to catch up on the Margaret Mitchell one and fortunately,both of them will be replaying on most PBS stations over the holiday weekend. If you haven't at least seen Hey,Boo,look for it,you won't be sorry,folks:



RANDOM NOTES:

THE NEXT FOOD NETWORK STAR: Season eight begins on May 13 and yes,Bobby Flay and Giada will be on deck as will Alton Brown to guide a fresh batch of potential foodie hosts through their paces. All three of them are going to be team leaders this time around and give some more intense input to their contenders,which should kick things up a notch:

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