this little bit of shine

[wishfulclicking]

The day after Mad Men airs, I always read reviews to see if I'm running against the tide. Usually I end up nodding along or going WTF in my head, but every so often Alan Sepinwall makes me smile:

Peggy and Pete do have a bond beyond the absent child - note that Pete rests his head on the obtrusive column in his office while dealing with the Clearasil news, while Peggy raps her forehead against her desk after congratulating Pete on his news - yet they're headed in different directions even as both their stars rise. The episode ends with them on two sides of the glass entrance to SCDP, Peggy with her bohemian creative friends, Pete surrounded by old money men in suits. Their office is the same, but their worlds are not. But Peggy can still catch Pete's eye through the glass and exchange a look with him that makes it clear that wherever their futures may take them, their shared past means they still understand each other on a level no one else does. Pete's not going to leave his pregnant wife to go running back to Peggy, and Peggy's not going to give up wild nights to have a family with Pete, but there's still something there, and there always will be.

I guess next time, I can just wait for him, post a link and say THIS in big letters.

I'm also going to take a moment to rec his blog. I don't always agree with what he says, but he supports his stance well. He covers a ton of shows, especially my favorites like Sons of Anarchy, Justified, and Community.

Comments

[twtd]

There are days when I really, really like Alan Sepinwall and days when I really, really don't, and he is totally going to convince me to watch Sons of Anarchy one day. But I got really irked at him when he wrote that article on how to make The Good Wife better and almost all of his suggestions seemed to be "Moar Menz Pleaz." The Good Wife is not a show that I could really get into, but I don't think his fixes would change that much.

He's definitely a fan of a certain type of show and I think he sometimes does a disservice to shows that don't necessarily fall within that rubric. I also think that very often those shows tend to have female leads. When he will do a one off review of a specific episode (like the Grey's Anatomy finale), it seems like there is something slightly off about his tone.

Still, he does a very good job with the shows that he does review and I would second your rec, with that caveat.

[wishfulclicking]

Do you follow any other sites that review shows/media?

I agree with what you said about Sepinwall, some day I will make a post that mentions everything in my head. He definitely does favor a certain kind of show and sometimes that has run against other shows I like.

I kind of wish he would stay away from reviewing Grey's.

I do like some of The A.V. Club reviews, it helps they have a variety of people writing them, and most of them seem to be fans of the show they're reviewing. Salon is okay some of the time but I don't read them enough to have a complete opinion. I unsubscribed from Mo Ryan. Jezebel and Gawker are hit or misses for me.

ETA: Sons of Anarchy talk.

It's a very good show but it can be uncomfortable at times to watch.

[twtd]

I really like Monkey See at NPR, but it's less straight TV criticism and more pop culture criticism that often covers TV. I've just started following The Wall Street Journal's pop culture coverage at Speakeasy (which is just an awesome name, I think), but I haven't really read enough there to get a feel for it yet. They do have a nice, "round up of what other people have said" feature, but I can't remember if it's just movies or if it covers some tv to. Actually, the website that Alan moved to, hitfix, doesn't do a terrible job. And I like Antenna for more of a long view, academic perspective.

I keep meaning to look at The A.V. Club but I haven't gotten there yet.

[wishfulclicking]

I really like the Monkey See Blog too. I just found that Antenna blog after you mentioned it and I'm going to subscribe to them too.