What I’m Watching: Me, Myself, and I

Me, Myself, and I: Season 1, Episode 7 “Field Trip” (B)

I had completely forgotten about this show, which I found very entertaining and was saddened to hear had been pulled from the air after just six episodes way back in October. I was delighted to find out that the remaining seven episodes, which had already been filmed at the time of the show’s cancellation, were being made available on Saturday nights on CBS this month. At the time of this post, they’ve all already aired, but I’m going to take them one at a time so that I can enjoy the show as I wanted to before it was taken off the air in favor of far less quality programming. Not too much has changed and I didn’t really need a refresher course to remember that the Alex of the youngest and oldest generations is hopelessly in love with Nori/Eleanor. Justin’s efforts to help him take advantage of the field trip to appeal to Nori didn’t work terribly well, and the biggest problem of all, one that might explain why we’ve barely seen Justin of the future, is that Justin has now developed an attraction towards Nori and seems to be the most successful beneficiary of her return affection. Recognizing the EMT dad as the man who slept with his wife in his middle period was entertaining, especially because he turned out to be a nice guy who only got Alex riled up when he revealed that he was using cheat codes during their video game session. The online dating world of the future is a bit more hi-tech but not all that much more helpful, and Vanessa Williams is always a welcome guest star, especially in this case as she played someone he hated who only liked him more when she found out that he was pining for someone else.

What I’m Watching: Mad Men

Mad Men: Season 7, Episode 3 “Field Trip” (B+)

There was something very deliberately uneasy about the mood of this episode, which found Don stepping back into familiar surroundings that have become very hostile since last he was there. It’s incredible how quickly Don got a great offer from a competing firm, yet he instantly said “okay” when he was offered a miserable deal to return, which includes working for Lou, who is not going to put up with him for a second. Don also readily admitted to Megan to lying to her to protect his pride, while at the same time confessing that he had kept the truth from her for a year and wasted what could have been plenty of time spent together in California. Don was clearly nervous for his big meeting with Roger, and to have him not show up while everyone walked by and awkwardly greeted Don – some more coolly than others, especially Joan and Peggy – was awful. Don’s attitude toward Dawn’s new responsibilities and lack of time for him was telling of how the world has moved on without him, and it’s going to be an enormous adjustment for him to fit back in after such a perilous exit. I love how Cutler interacts with everyone, and calling Harry the most dishonest man he knew provided a both entertaining and worrisome scene. We hadn’t seen Betty in quite a while, and it was interesting to meet her again in this moment of feeling inadequate after dining with Anne Dudek’s Francine, who was last on the show a few seasons back. Things really were going well on the field trip, and then Betty’s not entirely unjustified reaction killed it and showed what a cold person she is.