Mad Men flies to the moon,the delights of Penny Dreadful and another session with Masters of Sex

Mad Men gave us a mid-season finale that certainly felt like the beginning of the end for some, as long time partner of the firm Bert Cooper passed away during the historic moon landing(an event that affected just about every character) and for once Rodger had to take the reins in order to keep things going along there.

There were some milestones for Don and Peggy as well, with the end of his marriage being pretty much acknowledged( that was pretty much a forgone conclusion at this point but one that needed to be recognized) and Peggy getting her big presentation moment with Burger Chef, Peggy's own "Carousel" ride if you will. She was amazing to behold and having Don silently cheering her on during that was priceless.

It does seem cruel to make us wait until 2015 for the remainder of the series but then again, some pleasures are best enjoyed when consumed slowly. I do wonder if the rest of the episodes of this season will take place in 1969 or will they make another time jump to wrap things up? At least this is worth waiting for:

So far, I've watched the first three episodes of Showtime's new supernatural series  Penny Dreadful and while it was what I expected it to be, there were some surprises that kept me intrigued to go back for more.

The main plot thread of this period ensemble piece is Sir Malcolm Murray's search for his missing daughter Mina, who is in the clutches of a master vampire, and with the help of unusual allies such as mysterious psychic Vanessa Ives and ex-pat showman Ethan Chandler, are exploring other dark and secret corners of Victorian era London.

We also have Dorian Gray on the fringes of the story but another well known literary character with a bigger role to play here is Dr. Frankenstein, who we see helping his human creation Proteus adjust to his renewed life. However, a shock and awe moment comes when the not so good doctor's first born creature comes calling and makes a very brutal demand on his wayward creator:

What I like about that subplot is how it strongly harkens back to the original Mary Shelley novel in it's take on the creature yet adds a few new wrinkles that work for this particular series.

Also, there are other elements of interest such as the possibility of ancient Egyptian gods attempting a convergence that could bring about an eternal darkness, a sickly prostitute who may be the love interest of more than one character and that there may be a werewolf lurking in their midst(my vote is for Ethan on that one).

Penny Dreadful has some real meat on it's gnawed bones and arriving as it does during this time of TV show wind down is most opportune. I just hope that the promise that has been built up thus far will provide a proper pay off by the end of this initial run:

 Another Showtime series on the returning horizon is the second season of Masters of Sex, which plans to schedule their next appointment on July 13.

The first season had it's ups and downs yet maintained a solid sense of character development as Bill and Virginia went on with their research(not to mention an awkward romance) and learning about the social history of the time period was an added bonus.

 There are so many shows set for the summer that's become hard to pick and choose from them all but MOS is a definite must-see for me and worth catching up on for those curious to know more. Believe me, this show is not simply "Mad Men with more sex"-brains and beauty are both on display and held to the highest standards:

RANDOM NOTES:

HEROES OF COSPLAY: A new season of this series that goes on the road with a number of comic book/ sci-fi/ fantasy convention costumed competitors is back with some new faces and fresh outfits to wear. As much as dressing up like your favorite pop culture character can be, it also can be a bit exhausting to put together so think of this as living vicariously thru people who live vicariously thru these characters as well( way too meta?):