Mad Men Season 3, Episode 1: Out of Town

Today is Dick Whitman's birthday, but that means nothing in Donald Draper's world.  He takes some warm milk to his pregnant, sleepless wife, goes into work to deal with a final round of post-merge layoffs, and heads out of town on a business meeting like it's any other day.  But in a parallel universe Dick Whitman is another year older.  On his non-birthday, Don learns he's not the only one living a lie, not the only one with deep secrets.

Don stands at the stove and imagines back to the night he was conceived and the day he was born.  How much was told to him, how much he made up, we'll never know, but the story he sees in this strange hallucination/false memory is of his father impregnating a prostitute who dies in childbirth, leaving the child to be raised by his father and the man's childless wife (who had suffered many miscarriages).  Not the most savory of backstories, not a warm, fuzzy memory of how he came into the world.  But then, that is Dick Whitman's origin story, not Don Draper's.

Don and Betty have gone ahead with the reconciliation Don begged for at the end of last season and they're very sweet together.  But we are reminded that Don and Betty had split for a while and that but for her pregnancy they might not have reconciled.  Sally certainly has not forgotten that there was a time that her dad was not living at home and she didn't know when she would see him again.  We discover that she's so concerned about losing her daddy that she broke the clasp on his suitcase so Don couldn't leave home again.

The British have come to Sterling Cooper, following last year's merger with PPL, and if there weer any question who would win the war between Don and Duck, the answer is not surprising.  Duck is nowhere to be seen and Don is the one in charge.  The British overlords are represented in New York by Lane Price and his secretary right hand man, Mr. Hooker.  Lane is the financial officer whose first job is to take care of "redundancies," i.e., trim the fat.  He accomplishes that feat by, among other cuts we hear about but don't see, firing the Head of Accounts (Don gets to do the honors as Roger was late to the meeting).  In an inspired move, Lane splits the job between two junior account executitves, Pete Campbell and Ken Cosgrove.

The interplay between Pete and Ken over their promotions was great.  How they each handled their meeting with Lane, how they dealt with the news, how they interacted with each other. Pete pretends not to now Burt was just fired, Ken lets it be known that he heard the fallout.  Pete doesn't even ask how much money he'll make in his new job, Ken asks about his new salary first thing.   It was a throwback to the office comedies of the 40s, very cute but also telling about each character.

So about that marital bliss?  Don may be the loving husband at home, but when he's out of town, he's back to his old ways.  And that involves making up a new identity and finding a girl to cheat on his wife with.  Shelly the stewardess (back before "flight attendant") is more than game to take ol' Bill Hoffstadt for a little roll in the hay.  She's engaged and looks at the handsome stranger as her last chance.  But as Don/Dick/Bill tells her, she'll have lots of chances.

While Don is pursuing an extramarital dalliance in his room, Sal is similarly finding someone other than his wife to spend the night with.  The bellhop who comes to fix his thermostat has amazing gaydar and recognizes Sal as interested in what he has to offer.  The two start having sex in Sal's room, while Don and Shelly are taking their sweet time getting to the same place up in his room, when the hotel's fire alarm goes off.  During the evacuation down the fire escape, Don peers into Sal's room and sees him in flagrante delicto.

The next morning, Sal is late, and visibly nervous, at the meeting with London Fog.  This was one of Burt Peterson's clients and Don and Sal's job is to alleviate their discomfort with Burt's leaving and deal with their concerns about their business.  One of the latter is the shrinking market for raincoats - basically, after you've bought one, you don't need to buy another.  The client wants to look into divesting into accessories, but Don (a bit of a dinosaur) says not to panic, not to go where other companies already are, and to stick with their strength.  It's safe, but not very forward thinking.

Don and Sal never talk about what happened at the hotel, what Don saw.  This is 1963 and if you think coming out is a big deal in 2014, imagine in back then.  Sal is a married, closeted man and his cover's been blown.  But Don knows a thing or two about not being who or what you say you are, about keeping secrets and being in fear of being found out.  So he does what he thinks is the kindest thing he could do for Sal, he ignores it.  He lets Sal know that as far as he cares he saw nothing and while that may comfort Sal that his secret won't be spilled, it's not the same as being free to be who you are.  So back into hiding Sal goes.

At the office, Peggy is griping to Joan about her secretary Lola and about one of the many distractions in Lola's way, Lane's secretary right hand man.  Joan blows off Peggy's concerns.  Joan is so over the office at this point and can't wait till she's a doctor's wife, living the life eating bon bons on Park Avenue.  Meanwhile, Pete Campbell is furious to find out that he is co-head of accounts with Ken Cosgrove, while Ken could not be happier to be sitting at the big kids' table regardless of whoever else is sitting there.

In the end, Trudy convinces Pete to grin and bear what he views as a slap in the face and he pretends to be happy with the promotion.  For their part, Sterling Cooper show him that he's appreciated.  As the company is taken over by the British, it's nice to have an old time Yankee on their side.  The partners may be enjoying the spoils of war - their raises, the imported vodka and cigars - but they still have to deal with living under someone else's rule.  How long will that last?

Mad Men knows how to pull on our heartstrings, while making us a little sick to our stomach at the same time.  Thus we have one final scene, back at the Draper residence at the end of the work day (following his return from Baltimore).  Seeing Sally, so sad that her dad might leave home again, so excited to think he brought her a present home from his trip.  But the present is a remnant from daddy's latest one-night-stand.  Then we watch as Don wells up with emotion, telling Sally the story of the day she was born and we know that he knows that he's a cad and doesn't deserve this sweet moment or this love.  He's fallen back into his old bad habits and only a crazy person thinks you can do the same thing and get a different result.

OBSERVATIONS:

Oh, Burt Peterson.  He is one of the most interesting characters on Mad Men.  He operates in this world of Madison Avenue ad men, an accounts man with his Rolodex of clients who flits from agency to agency.  It is through characters like this, who stay part of the story whether in the main or on the periphery, that the world of Mad Men seems so real.  We first heard of Burt back in Season 2, Ep. 5 "The New Girl" in this quote: "Duck called Burt Peterson a Mongoloid."  He came up again in Ep. 12 "The Mountain King" when he supposedly complains about someone's expenses and they reply: "Why doesn't he just die already?"  We finally met Burt in this episode, but it won't be the last time we see him.

I love how this episode starts, not with something to tied you back to the end of last season, not with a by-the-numbers introduction into this new season.  Instead, it's a bit of a jolt.  A thematic set piece, not a flashback nor a memory, but a mini-play that Don imagines being performed for his benefit.

There is such a matter-of-fact feeling to this episode as we see the new normal at Sterling Cooper following the big changes at the end of the last season.  Not much time has passed, Betty is more pregnant but not bursting at the seams.  Lane Pryce is just there, in Bert's office, apologizing to Don for sending him to Baltimore, while calling him the face of the business (and showing us definitively that it was Don, not Duck, who came out on top).  He gives us a factoid we didn't know - there's no fog in London. I love how Bert Cooper seems incredulous and dubious despite the information being presented by the guy with the British accent.

Speaking of Lane, it's a great introduction of a character.  No fanfare, no phony external dialogue to set him up, he just appears seamlessly in his new job and we learn about him from how he interacts with the other characters.  He is smart, understands people, is a little awkward and yet is very aware of how he is perceived. It is he who tells Mr. Hooker that demanding his own office is unseemly and he knows how not to step on toes.  Hooker complains that the office is a gynocracy - no doubt feeling that Joan runs things - but so far, Lane hasn't had any problems with her.

QUOTES:

Betty:  She's taken to your tools like a little lesbian.

Burt:  Fellow comrades in mediocrity, I want you to listen very carefully. You can all go straight to hell! 

Pete: I don't even know if I'm getting a raise. I didn't ask; I forgot!

Ken: I wouldn't be much an account man if I didn't ask what it pays.

Don:  I keep going a lot of places and ending up somewhere I've already been.

Shelly: I'm engaged.  On the other hand, you might be my last chance.

Don:  I've been married a long time.  You get plenty of chances.

Sal: Well, our worst fears lie in anticipation.

Don: Limit your exposure.

Pete: Why does it always have to be like this? Why can't I get anything good all at once?

Sally:  I'm sorry I broke your suitcase.

Don:  Find out how much it is to repair And it'll come out of your allowance.

Sally: I don't have an allowance.

Don:  Then don't break things

***************************************************************************
SPOILERY OBSERVATIONS (Don't read unless you're caught up):

Burt was mentioned again in Season 5, Ep. 10 "Christmas Waltz" when Don and Joan were sitting at a bar reminiscing.  Don mentions that when he first arrived at Sterling Cooper, "Burt Peterson told me you were the one person in the agency I shouldn't cross."

Poor Burt, happy and successful at Cutler, Gleason and Chaough, was once again fired (following his new company's merger with his old) by Sterling Cooper in Season 6, Ep. 7 "Man with a Plan."  Two episodes later, we hear that Bert landed on his feet again as Duck Phillips got him a job at McCann Erickson.

Sal's homosexuality comes to a head when Lee Garner, Jr., of Lucky Strike, makes a pass at him that is rebuked at the end of the season.   Garner does not take rejection well and gets Sal taken off the Lucky Strike account which leads to him getting fired.  This was not one of Don Draper's shining moments as his response to hearing about Sal rejecting Lee was that Sal should have gone along for the good of the company.   It marks the end of Sal at Sterling Cooper and, sadly, the end of Bryan Bratt as Salvatore Romano.

Recapping Survivor San Juan Del Sur, Episode 10: Stick with the plan

There are those moments - those dumb moves - on Survivor that stick with you.  Erik Reichenbach giving away his immunity idol before being voted out on Survivor: Micronesia.  James Clement being voted off Survivor: China whilst holding two immunity idols.  Tyson Apostol failing basic math in Survivor: Heroes v. Villains and changing his vote guaranteeing his torch snuffing.  Woo taking Tony, Colby taking Tina, And to this list we can now add Keith Nale and his fatal foot in mouth moment from last night's tribal council.

But before we launch into one of the dumbest survivor moves ever, let's look at one of the smartest.   After Natalie was blindsided by her allies voting out Jeremy at the last tribal council, she had to scramble quickly.  She was not in the loop and did not want to be the next out.  If she sticks with Missy/Baylor and Jon/Jaclyn, she's still in a dominant five, versus Alec, Reed, Wes/Keith.  But she just as easily could have felt angry or upset that they went behind her back and voted off her closest ally.  What would the spunky, hotheaded, supercharged, intimidating, alpha girl do under these circumstances?  We saw how she dealt with John Rocker.  The girl is a spit fire.  So what did Natalie do?

She kept her cool.  Natalie did the math, saw how the next few days could play out, and let her alliance know they could still count on her.  She swallowed her emotions and went with her head.  She knows that her target is Jon; she also knows that timing is important.  If she doesn't win the million dollars, it'll be a travesty.  That's how you play Survivor.

In fact, not only does Natalie get the smartest move award, she also gets runner up for doing even more math and figuring that Jon may have an idol from Exile Island and Keith may have an idol from his camp, but there might still be an idol at the current camp.  I question why she brought Baylor into this plan (unless it was to solidify their alliance) but nevertheless it worked.  She found the third idol and she and Baylor seem tight.

Reed was counting his blessings.  He should have been the next one to go after Josh.  Instead, he watched as the strongest, best positioned player was blindsided and he still had life in the game.  He got together with his alliance and gave them some great advice.  Keep your head down, stay together, and try to get someone's vote.  Meanwhile, he's thinking what's best for him.  He can join with the dominant five-person alliance and vote to get rid of his allies (Alec, Wes and Keith) or try to bring someone over.  He sees Jon as the next biggest threat, he now has to convince someone from the other side of that.

Not much to say about the reward challenge. They did a school yard pick to select teams and I would love to see how it played out so that there were all the super fit people (Reed, Alec, Jon and Jaclyn) on one team and the less able-bodied (Nat, Baylor, Missy and Wes) on the other.  Keith was not selected by either team.  The super group one and immediately afterwards, Baylor was reduced to tears at the thought of her mom missing out on another reward.  Reed volunteered to give Missy his spot on the excursion, winning him brownie points as well as the chance to talk some game while his target (Jon) was away.

During the reward (a fun afternoon of baseball and snacks) and we hear again about Jaclyn's medical condition which makes it so that she can't have her own children.  Jon talks about how he loves her regardless and this, along with the discussion of Jon's father's serious medical condition, is starting to look like a winner's edit for Jon.  Meanwhile, Missy the mom is in her element surrounded by all the kids.

Reed puts his plan into motion and using very small words and speaking very slowly he tries to instruct Keith on how to stay in the game and organize Jon's ouster.  Too bad Reed doesn't have hand puppets or some other way to help Keith understand.  All they have to do is vote for Jon.  The other side of six will be splitting their votes because they know Keith has an idol.  So four votes against Jon will trump the three votes for Keith or Wes.  Simple.  It is a brilliant, fool-proof plan that will only fail if Jon plays his idol.  But if Jon does not think he's in any danger, he will want to save the idol for later in the game.

Elsewhere at he camp, after finding the third hidden immunity idol, Natalie talks to Baylor about the plan.  There are four girls, five guys.  Vote out one of the guys that's not in their alliance (preferably Reed since he does well at challenges) and then when it's down to eight, get rid of Jon.  They would still have the numbers (and would pick off Alec, Wes and Keith).  Great plan (although Jon's idol could be a problem in the future).

The immunity challenge is often very telling, especially when it's a "who wants it more" challenge. It tells you who feels safe, who thinks they're at risk.  Who is thinking about the team, who is thinking about their own needs.   Here, the challenge was about holding on.  You drop when you can't stay up any longer...or when you are tempted by Jeff.  Here comes Jeff with a small plate of sweets and faster than you can say, get your fingers off my Butterfinger, Jon is out of the competition and on his way to finishing the plate Jeff had started in on.

Jon said he thought he'd be the first out and typically larger guys with big feet do have a problem in this type of challenge.  But it was still a sign of arrogance and comfort that he jumped off so early - not a smart strategic move.  It did not go unnoticed by Keith, who teased him about falling off so far before an old guy.  Alec made a comparison to Jesus on the cross.  I'll just leave that one alone.

Missy dropped out without waiting for Jeff to bring out any more goodies.  While Wes was negotiating the terms of the next food item brought in, Jeff unveiled cookies and milk and Jaclyn and Baylor flew off their perches to share in the cookies.  Wes cursed his bad timing.  Meanwhile, Jeff tried to remind the remaining players that they were playing for $1,000,000 and not for the best food prize.

Despite reinforcing that they were playing for immunity, Jeff was able to get Wes out of the challenge by showing him a plate of hot wings.  Wes' dad Keith called his move crazy and could not have been happy to see him give up a chance at safety for the chance to shovel more food into his mouth.  Meanwhile, the old guy held on as long as he could.  Keith noted how the rest of Natalie's team felt pretty comfortable heading into tribal council as each one of them had already hopped off.  Natalie showed her loyalty to her team, the last one there to keep the other side from winning immunity.

In the end, it came down to Natalie and Reed.  Reed, the very fit, very in danger dancer, against the very determined Sri Lankan twin.  Natalie took inventory and realized there was little chance of her outlasting Reed, so she did what has been de riguer this season.  Let's Make a Deal!  I'll jump off for some pizza,wings, a cookie, a glass of ice water and some beer.  And, because Jeff Probst can have anything he wants, a plate magically appeared, with everything Natalie had asked for.

Off she came and down Reed came in one of the more memorable finishes of a challenge.

The plan was set.  With Jon hopping off the challenge so early, it helped solidify that he was too comfortable in his alliance and should be the target.  Reed solidified the votes.  He and Alec would tell the other side that they were joining them in voting to flush out the idol, splitting the votes between Keith and Wes. In reality, they, along with Keith and Wes, would actually vote out Jon.  As long as the other side didn't get wind of the plan, they were golden.

Missy was convinced and, to his credit, the usually vapid Ken doll Jon had his doubts.  He grilled Alec, unconvinced that Alec would really vote with them against Keith and Wes.  Jon recognized that for the first time he and Jaclyn weren't the swing votes and so he had to trust in others.  But he felt confident enough not to plan on playing his idol.

And then Jeff started questioning the tribe at Tribal Council.  Things were going well until Jeff starts talking about idols and when to play them and the fact that they haven't yet been played so far into the game and you don't want to leave with an idol in your pocket.  He kept on the topic of idols and asked Reed a question about them and Reed thought he would show his allegiance to the Jon/Missy group by pointing out the suspicion that either Keith or Wes had an idol.  This would play right into the plan to split the vote, to uncover the idol and vote the other one out.

Only, it didn't play out like that.  Instead, Keith flew into a white hot panic and nervously said to Reed to "stick to the plan."  While Keith cackles maniacally, Jeff asks Jon to make sense of what he's hearing and Jon is definitely rattled by what he just heard.  What plan?  Who's sticking to what?  Is there any more candy involved?  Jon is confused (keep in mind, double knotted shoe laces confuse Jon) and doesn't know what is going on.

Natalie to the rescue.  She has figured it out and realizes that, as much as she wants Jon gone, she does not want him gone at the expense of her alliance having the numbers.  She still wants Keith or Wes gone this vote, Jon the next.  But with Jon having an idol, it will be hard to get him out next time if he at all senses he might be at risk.  So she can kill two birds with one stone if she can get Jon to play his idol at tribal.  Keith or Wes will go home, either holding an idol or after playing it, and Jon will give up his.  She will be the only tribe member to have an idol and her alliance will have a numerical advantage.

A lot of talking back and forth goes on and Jeff is beside himself enjoying chaos at Tribal Council.  Those out of the loop are confused (Alec is sitting slack jawed, Baylor aptly describes feeling like she's staring at a funhouse mirror) and even those in the loop are panicking.  Eventually, Natalie puts the pieces together and she whispers loudly to Jon just before the votes are read.  Play your idol.

Jon plays his, Keith plays his, and Wes ends up getting his torch snuffed out with just two votes cast against him.  Let's hope Ponderosa is stocked with tacos and chicken wings, Wes is on his way.

Natalie should be in a great position.  She's showed loyalty to her alliance, she has a hidden immunity idol, and all the attention will be on Alec and Reed lying about the plan.  With a double elimination coming up Wednesday night, we'll either have the final Pagonging of those two (with so many confessionals today, it's hard not to see Reed going next) or Natalie will put her plan to get rid of Jon into motion.

Quotes:
Natalie:  It's just figuring out the right plan at the right moment.

Reed: It's about doing good for other people.

Reed: As long as we trust each other for this one vote we can make a huge change in this game. \

Jeff:  Baylor and Jaclyn just gave up a shot at a million dollars for five chocolate chip cookies.

Keith: Natalie is fighting for her team.  The rest of us are fighting for our lives.

Jon:  This is where we build trust right now.

Confessionals:
Keith (2)
Reed (4)
Natalie (3)
Missy
Jon (2)
Baylor
Alec

Recapping The Voice Season 7, Top 8: The race to the end closes in,who'll be there next week?

Tonight the Top 8 return, knowing that by the end of tomorrow night there'll be just five left.  That's a big cut!  Some of the strongest contestants faltered, will that gives some of the dark horses a chance to go the distance?  How many times can I weave racing metaphors into this recap?  Let's see!

First up, and still not in any risk of going home unless parents take phones away from their daughters during the "save" portion of tomorrow's show, was Team Gwen's Ryan Sill.  He sang Journey's "Open Arms."  Besides straining a bit to hit some of the higher notes, there was nothing much to say about this performance.  I feel as if I could just cut and paste my review of any of Ryan's past performances.  If nothing else, Ryan is consistent.  He has a nice band boy-voice, and he's solid.  I cannot fault his voice in any way. Like his hair, his face, his smile, it's pristine, like glass.  But it's vanilla.  That's great for an ice cream, but not for a performer.  He does nothing transformative, he doesn't make me feel anything.  He'd be a great wedding singer.

Craig Wayne Boyd from Team Blake took on the Eagles' "Take it Easy."  It was great seeing Craig veer away from his traditional country roots to move into more country-rock mainstream with the Eagles' classic, but I question his timing.  With so few singers left, and going from eight to five, you shouldn't do anything to hurt your fan base.  He stumbled out of the gate, flubbing his first line, and never really recovered.  This was not his best performance vocally.  He did a great job connecting with the fans at home, he gives good camera smiles, and he looked comfortable leading the band, but the melody didn't give him a chance to showcase his voice.  I blame the song (too fast, too many short notes) and not his performance, but he missed a chance to deliver another superstar performance like last week.

The last girl standing is Team Pharrell's DaNica Shirey. Fittingly, she sings "These Dreams" by the original girl rockers Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart.  I couldn't understand any of what DaNica was singing and I thought at first it was a rare translation, then maybe some new language, a cross between Swedish and Swahili.  I thought maybe she'd had a stroke, but when she got to the chorus, I recognized the title of the song.  That was a close one.  Putting aside her inability to articulate (and I'm a fan of King Mumbler Michael Stipe), there was just something missing for me.  It sounded a lot like someone giving birth, albeit someone with good pitch and a nice tone.  It was loud, but it wasn't that appealing.

Damien Adele's "Someone Like You"  Apparently, it was Damien's dream to sing this song and he fought for it.  Great choice.  Now, admittedly, I'm a huge fan of the song and the chills started with the first piano note.  But Damien was more than equal to the song.  We knew he had a great voice, but I don't think I remember Damien ever connecting this emotionally with a song before.   It was his best performance by far and might help keep Team Adam together one more week.

Why, oh why?  Of all the songs he could have chosen from. {{Sigh}} It's just embarrassing having to type "Sexual Healing" (and what of the families that watch The Voice together with their children?) - but Adam had to pick the Marvin Gaye classic to help Chris Jamison tap into his inner sexual being. Awkwardness aside (oh, look, there's Chris' MOM in the audience) it was a good choice. I love Chris' voice - it's not as bland as Ryan's nor as mannered as Luke's. He hits the middle ground just perfectly with a radio-friendly R&B sound. And he's cute.  Is he exciting?  Not really (despite all the screaming from the girls in the audience).  But the guy does yeoman's work, singing his heart out, going as high as is humanly possible without being kicked in the nuts.  The guy is effortlessly great and, as I said last week, he's creeping up the ladder to one of the top performers on the show.  Team Adam is looking strong.

Team Pharrell's "soul singer" Luke Wade is given "Holding Back the Years" by Simply Red.  I'm of the "older" group that is very familiar with this song and think the blue-eyed soul song is a great fit for Luke.  The performance was a bit sleepy for most of it and at one point it seemed that his coach was exhorting him to do more. It doesn't help that he asked the audience to sing with him.  I don't see the contestants on Top Chef asking diners to cook with them.  It was fine, not memorable.  There wasn't much singing going on, not much of a chance for Luke to make an impact.  Like with Craig, this seemed like a lost opportunity.  The coaches seemed to agree and gave the closest thing to a critique all night.

Taylor John Williams is following up the Beatles' nearly 50-year old "Come Together" with relatively new "Royals" by Lorde.  Taylor is in his own world.  He's not a contestant on The Voice, he's just the cool guy who walks up, once a week, does his own thing on that stage and seems unconcerned with anything like votes or results.  I know that's probably not true, but his desire to put out the best, most interesting performance he can each time he performs sets him apart.  He's got such a great tone and is so compelling to watch, he is the one I wait for each week to see what he'll do.  He might not have the range or the power of some of the other artists, but he is the most watchable.

Last up was Mr. Consistency, the one who could go wire to wire from front runner to winner.  Coach Adam presented Matt McAndrew with a gift, Damien Rice's "The Blower's Daughter."  Big build up, big promise, could lead to a big let down.  How would he do? No reason to drag it out... Matt killed it.  It was perfect having him stand center stage, playing his guitar, not running around high-fiving.  The simplicity, the honesty of his performance gave me chills.  He can connect like no one else.  Matt is a true artist, who delivers not just the notes on the page, but the feeling behind the song.  Perfection.

Bottom four will probably be DaNica, Ryan, Chris and Luke (Craig should end up bottom half for his weakest performance of the season, but as the lone Team Blake member, he should get enough votes to keep him around another week.)  I was worried Damien might also be near the bottom just because he was sandwiched in the middle of the pack and doesn't have the young girls squealing like some of the other contestants, but iTunes downloads should save him.  Matt and Taylor are not going anywhere, get used to seeing them.  As far as America's save, I don't think Ryan can pull out another win. Luke has a huge following and Chris is just as cute as Ryan, so the Twitter vote probably won't save Ryan again.  If you want to have a say, follow @nbcthevoice on Twitter tonight at 8:50 EST to see when it's time to vote.

Recapping The Voice Season 7, Top 10: Will there be just one girl left after tomorrow?

All is right in The Voice world. Not only is there an all-star list of mentors helping out this week, but Pharrell Williams is wearing a hat again.  Please, no more sweat bands.

Group numbers highlight the weakest vocalists and in tonight's mini-medley of Rascal Flatts' "hits" ("God Bless the Broken Road" and "Stand") that would be Anita and Reagan.  Anita in particular hit some majorly clunky notes that proves, if nothing else, that they are singing live.  It's strange enough that we're down to ten and there are just three females left, stranger still that only one of them has much of a voice.

Last week's frontrunner Matt McAndrew from Team Adam is up first with his second turn with a Coldplay song.  He had wowed during the battle round with "Yellow," so tonight he took on "Fix You."  It was a great, if obvious choice (heck, I had suggested it on The Voice App).   Matt handled the high notes with ease and let the song build as he commanded the stage and, later, the whole audience.   He's a natural performer and has a great, versatile voice.  He may not belt out notes, but he interprets lyrics and conveys their message in a meaningful way.

Team Gwen's unexpectedly popular Anita Antoinette sang Passenger's "Let Her Go."  Had she sung "Let it Go" from Frozen I might have had no choice but to vote for her since I'm a big sucker for that movie.  Sadly, that was not her choice.  I don't get why The Voice fans love Reggae singers, but her success, like that of Tessanne Chin, show that they do.  Anita tried to put her Jamaican spin on the popular indie song and I thought it was a hot mess.  She was off key half the time and even when she hit the right notes, they fell metaphorically, if not literally, flat.  Her worst performance of the season.  I listened twice to make sure I wasn't exaggerating and I wasn't.  Just awful.

Damien has a nice voice, but nice is not exciting or memorable.  The second member of Team Adam to sing tonight, he was given the well-worn "You and I" by Stevie Wonder.  It's a pretty dull song and sounds really outdated in 2014.   The only thing it has in common with current music is the over-reliance on repeating the song's title interminably.  There was no passion, no feeling, just a succession of nicely sung notes.  Damien is a good singer, don't get me wrong.  But he does not have that special, indefinable "it" factor.  Zzzzzzzzzz.

Will Reagan James legally change her name to "the youngest member of the competition?"  Can Carson Daly come up with anything else notable about this girl besides her age?  Is there a requirement that her age be mentioned every other sentence?  I was really impressed by her youth until I found out that Lorde just turned 18.  So step back Reagan, you're not all that and a bag of organic popchips or whatever you crazy kids are noshing on these days.  The Team Blake young 'un takes on "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea. Uninspired is the word that comes to mind.  Breathless, shouty, and nothing that any other teenager couldn't have covered better.  She's giving Anita some competition for the worst performance of the night.  Reagan, please for the love of everything holy, never rap again.

"Try a Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding (and later covered by everyone) was an inspired choice for Luke Wade.  Guest mentor her royal highness the great, one and only, Diana Ross was able to give Luke some good advice about feeling the music, too bad she couldn't give him suggestions for that thing growing on top of his head.  But bad 'do aside, Luke does have an interesting, unique tone. Unfortunately, it's not a tone, nor a style of singing, that I find at all pleasing, especially on this tune.  I didn't like his phrasing of the chorus, I didn't find any moment of the song to be genuine.  The reliance on the "improvisational" part of the song made it all sound over-rehearsed and watered-down.  Check out another cover of the song, by Three Dog Night, to compare.   Luke didn't mess up on the intro like last week, and only left out one "don't," but this didn't hit me as a huge, memorable performance.   Maybe you had to be there?  I want to like him, but definitely not my cup of tea.

The only country singer left in the competition, Team Blake's Craig Wade Boyd, had some cojones to sing Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line" and even more to play at all with the speed of the song.  He slowed it down and totally changed the mood and disguised the melody.  It was almost unrecognizable.  But it was absolutely beautiful.  This guy has come from the back of the pack to be the one to beat.  He's got a great voice, with a rich tone that has genuine emotion.  You believe him when he sings.  And now that he's toned down his twang (and is pronouncing his "esses" not as "eshes"), I can see him having wide appeal for all country music fans, both retro traditional and nouveau bro-country.

I learned that Team Gwen's Ryan Sill was going to attempt "Straight" by Muse an hour before the show, not enough time to apply ex parte for a TRO or an injunction to prevent this injury to my ears from happening.  I'm not a huge fan of this song as the wheezing and lack of breath control on the recording makes me run to grab an inhaler to keep the singer from passing out.  But I'd take an hour of Matthew Belamy gasping for air over one minute of Ryan's atrocious performance.  His voice lacks the gravity to take on anything but boy band fluff and he was completely out of his league on this song.  Stick with light-weight pop songs and leave the real weighty stuff for the grown ups, Ryan.   But unless he's against cutie pie Matt in the bottom three, I suspect the teenagers will again vote him through on Twitter.

To reward us for not turning off the show after than horrible performance, we get the vocal angel DaNica Shirey showing that she's more than up to the challenge of a Whitney Houston song.  Team Pharrell's DaNica has the best pure voice on the show and her turn with "I Have Nothing" was inspired.  She nailed every note, every word, every feeling.  So confident, so powerful, so passionate.  And she makes me stammer compliments in threes.  I listened again as I was writing this and I'm still getting chills listening to her take that song and effortlessly beat it into submission.

In the unenviable, "I have to follow her??" position is cute, quirky Taylor John Williams.  I'm of two minds on this performance.  He took one of my favorite songs by my second favorite band and I'm very overprotective about their songs, especially those that John sang/wrote.  So hearing that Taylor was going to sing Come Together... and that he was going to be playing a role in different parts of the song and put his own spin on it.... caused some major concern.  You don't mess with such an iconic song.  But Team Gwen's resident heartthrob, who eschewed his trademark porkpie hat for a bandanna, has an undeniably strong voice and great musical instincts.  He sounded great and even had a few moments where he twisted the notes around (possibly thanks to some mentoring by major note abuser Christina Aguilera) and added something genuinely special to the song.

Final performance of the night was Chris Jamison who has moved from "how could Adam pick you over Taylor?" paraiah to contender for winner of The Voice in just one week.  Could he equal his standout performance from last week?  Actually, yeah.  He was blessed with a hot, current song, "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson (ft/Bruno Mars) and Chris showed that he fits right in there with current young male pop/R&B singers.  He's comfortable on stage, moves well and, if he grew out his hair a little, could be a favorite with the girls who are somehow keeping Ryan in the game.  Love his energy, love how natural he is with this genre of music.  He might be the best pure male singer left in the competition.

Bottom three performances, IMnevertobeHO were:
Ryan
Anita
Reagan
Of the three, Anita should probably be given another chance, but that Twitter vote may keep Ryan around for a few more weeks in which case we could have a final eight with just one girl left in the competition!

Tune in tomorrow to see who makes it into the Top 8!

Mad Men Season 2, Episode 13: Meditations in an Emergency

The second season draws to a close with a literal bookend from the debut episode, as the book "Meditations in an Emergency" comes back into play as the title for this episode.  That book, which the young diner patron thought would mean nothing to Don Draper, was his muse all season long.  The theme of the book's eponymous poem reflects Don's personal crisis.  He struggled with his identity not just as Don Draper ad man, but Don Draper father and husband.  Lost and unmoored, he traveled cross country to find himself as he sought comfort in the only person who knows the real person behind the facade.

Emergencies of one form or another proliferate in this episode.  Throughout the U.S., a crisis of another sort is brewing as the discovery of Soviet missiles sitting right off our border, in Cuba, has the Cold War era country on red alert.  On a far smaller scale, Betty struggles with the discovery that she is pregnant with her estranged husband's baby.  Her own ticking time bomb is growing inside of her as she contemplates the future, her future with a man she doesn't trust and doesn't really know.

While crises abound, the middle level employees at Sterling Cooper are abuzz with rumors and gossip.  The higher ups are asking for revenue figures (we know they're doing that because of a planned merger, but they don't know that) and Harry, Ted, Paul and Peggy wonder if it's at all related to Don's unexplained extension of his West Coast trip.  While others wait to hear what the President will say about the missiles in Cuba, our favorite pragmatist Harry worries that it will upset tonight's TV schedule. You gotta love Harry.  Peggy tells Pete he better fess up about losing the Clearasil account - sooner rather than later - and you hope he appreciates her candor and her tact.

Betty deals with the news of her pregnancy passive-aggressively by going horseback riding against her doctor's wishes.   She is surprised to find Don there, at the stables, watching her ride.  He comes literally and figuratively hat in hand, contrite, desperate to have his old life back.  He apologizes without revealing too much, enough to let Betty know that "she's not crazy" and he has been a cad, not enough to really let her know the true extent of his deceitfulness.  But Betty is emboldened and not willing to let a little thing like the child growing inside her make her run back into Don's arms.

Back at the office, Pete has his own crisis to deal with - telling Duck Phillips (who's his de facto boss while Don is MIA) that he lost the Clearasil account.  There is no good way to spin losing a client who is also your father-in-law, but Pete needn't have worried because Duck's mind is elsewhere. He is planning on a coup and if things go as he plans, Sterling Cooper will be taken over by the London-based Putnam Powell and Lowe.  That agency had a client in conflict with Clearasil, so they would have had to cut Pete's client loose anyway.

Duck offers Pete his position as Head of Accounts and tells Pete that he will be President of the new PPL-owned Sterling Cooper after the merger.  Pete is pleased, yet wary.  He asks if Don is on board with his promotion and Duck lets it be known that Don wasn't consulted and isn't part of any of this.  But, Duck tells him, Don will have to go along as he doesn't have a choice.  "That's why they put noncompete clauses in employment contracts."  To Pete's credit, he walks out looking dubious, as if he sensed that something didn't feel right about what he'd just heard.  Trust those instincts, Pete.

Don comes back to work and things have changed.  He notes Peggy's new office, right next to his (and he notices her new haircut).  The office is unsettled by the presidents speech the night before about the looming confrontation in Cuba, not realizing that big changes are on the horizon for them wholly apart from the international crisis.  Joan catches Don up on what he's missed and he drops a little dig at Duck's expense that further pits the two of them in the US v. Russia position with Sterling Cooper as their Cuba.

Pete comes into Don's office still angry at having been abandoned in California, but Don turns it around, spinning it so that his ditching Pete was "a test" that Pete passed with flying colors.  Note how rod straight Pete stands, getting the approval from Don for a job well done.  It's really sad how needy Pete is for that parental approval and while he got a taste of it from Duck, it's always been Don whose approval has meant the most to him.

Don goes to see Roger who fills him in on the latest, Roger's engaged and the firm's been sold.  The latter fact equates to $500,000 more in Don's pockets.  Don is suspicious when he learns how the deal came together, with Duck supposedly running into them at a bar (as the supposedly sober Duck should not have been hanging out in a bar), but Roger is too happy with his huge payday to question how it happened.

The Greek chorus of Harry, Paul, Ken and Sal know something's brewing at Sterling Cooper and they ask Lois if she has heard anything.  And has she! She gives them the complete scoop about the merger with PPL, even down to the fact that there will be certain "redundancies" - i.e., time to update your resume.

Betty drops the kids off at Don's hotel and them goes aimlessly window shopping, where we see her staring at bedecked mannequins.  She then goes to a bar (with some small bags, so she might have done some actual shopping) and she sits down and is immediately bought a drink by a young Don Draper lookalike.  She's in pretty deep denial about her pregnancy (she discussed back at the hair salon with Francine perhaps getting an abortion).  So it's not a surprise to see her there acting like a single woman, not a married mother of two with another on the way.  She flirts with the man who bought her a drink, then rejects him, then flirts some more, kissing him by the bathroom.  Its reminiscent of how she flirted with the guy who helped her when her car broke down (Ep. 2.01), but this time she goes much further.

It's such a startling contrast.  Don in the hotel, munching hamburgers and fries with the kids, Betty, legs wrapped around some stranger on a coach in a bar bathroom.  Role reversal, he's the dutiful parent, she's the errant spouse.   Well, one good thing to come from her dalliance.  Betty got her appetite back.

Everyone is still in a panic about the missiles in Cuba and what that means for the country's safety.  Everyone but Harry, who is more concerned about the upcoming merger announcement.   Pete is not worried, he already has the inside information from Duck about what's going to happen and what it will mean for him.  He decides to go to Don with what he knows.  Remember back to when Bert Cooper told Don to keep Pete around and that the loyalty he built might come back to help him some day?  That bit of advice is finally paying off.

Pete gives Don a bit of news.  "We stopped a ship today.  I bet the Russians will reconsider now that we've made a stand."  The metaphor is not lost on Don.  In the meeting with PPL, Don makes his stand.  The company that Duck describes is not one he will be working at.  Duck thought he had the upper hand, until he finds out that Don was not under contract at Sterling Cooper and is free to leave at will.

With everything seemingly going his way, Pete decides to go after one more thing that he wants - Peggy.  He professes his love, but it's way too late.  While he and Trudy were dealing with infertility and adoption issues, he learns finally that he fathered a child with Peggy that she gave up.  Peggy will not be the answer to his marital discord.  She paints a picture for him in painful detail.  She chose not to have a life with him, she chose to give away what they had created together.  She didn't want to have a future with him and she accepts that it will never be.  Pete is devastated when he discovers all that he lost and can never have.

But while Pete reels from this blow, there might be a chance for Don to regain what he lost.  The letter he wrote Betty while he was in the hotel with the kids may have struck a nerve.  Or she may feel she has no choice but to try and make things work.  Or with the end of the world looming, she is grasping on to whatever she has for safety.  Whatever her motivation, she asks Don to come home.  And she tells him about the baby.  He holds out his hand and she takes it and as the camera pulls back the two sit in silence.

Season 2 ends on a cliff hanger.  Will Don and Betty come back together now that there's a new baby in the picture, what will be the future of Sterling Cooper now that Don has walked out and Duck taken over?  What kind of a relationship can Pete and Peggy have in the future with this knowledge existing between them.  The threat of nuclear annihilation may have lifted, but the nuclear family is still under attack.

Oh how times have changed:

Betty drinking and smoking while pregnant would be a criminal act today, while she could much more easily get an abortion if that's what she decided on.

Quotes:

Don: The world continues without us.  No need to take it personally.

Betty: I'm pregnant.
Francine:  Congratulations?

Pete:  If I'm going to die, I want to die in Manhattan.

Harry: The loyalists are hung and you don't want to get caught in the fallout.
Paul: What's wrong with you? Aren't you loyal to anyone?

Don:  Without you, I'll be alone forever.

Duck:  It'll take a second to find a kid who can write a prose poem to a potato chip.

Saint John: He never could hold his liquor.

Peggy:  I could have had you in my life forever if I wanted to.

Peggy:  Well, one day you're there, and then all of a sudden, there's less of you, and you wonder where that part went, if it's living somewhere outside of you, and you keep thinking maybe you'll get it back, and then you realize it's just gone."

****************************************************************************************************
SPOILER-Y OBSERVATIONS (Don't read until you're caught up):

After Lois told the guys what she'd heard, she asked that if any of them survived the merger, to get her off the switchboard and back on a desk as their secretary.  She became Paul's secretary.  But her most memorable moment was atop the John Deere when she accidentally ran over the foot of Lane Price's replacement, setting the stage for the later creation of SCDP.  While Lois was fired off of her last desk job for incompetence, her incompetence on the tractor ultimately saved the day.

It has been noted, but I think it has to be a coincidence, that the mannequin on the left that Betty is looking at in the store window bears a striking resemblance to Don's next wife, Megan.

Pete is seen holding the rifle he bought with the money from the returned chip and dip, and seven seasons in Chekhov's rifle remains unfired, a symbol of Pete's efforts to reestablish his manhood whenever it comes under attack, but nothing more.

Clearasil comes back to Sterling Cooper years later, after its merger with Cutler, Gleason and Chaough.

Duck's repeated attempts to beat Don and come out on top are never successful, but he comes awfully close down the line.  The sight of him exiting the elevator at the end of Season 6 with Don's replacement as Don hops in "going down" is etched in my memory.

Recapping Survivor San Juan Del Sur Episode 9: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Oh, Jeremy!  You were my pick, my favorite.  You had this.  A strong two-person alliance with another savvy player, Natalie.  Physical strength, smarts, an affable personality.  Where did it all go wrong?

Reed?  Maybe.

He planted the idea in Jon's head days earlier that Jeremy would be impossible to beat in the end.  The nice firefighter with two kids, who wouldn't hand him a million bucks?  It was a smart seed to plant in the vast empty space that is Jon's head and it grew quickly to a mighty oak tree of worry.  Jon doesn't know much, but he knows he wouldn't win in the end if he were sitting next to Jeremy.

Jon is like an overgrown puppy, he's very excitable, is easily distracted, and is readily attracted to whoever pets him last.  He does not have a strategy, he makes his decisions impulsively.   He is unpredictable and while that may make for good TV, it does not make for a good alliance member.

Winning team before the switch

"I love you guys."  That's what Jon said right after Jeremy and Natalie gave up the reward to give it to Jon and Jaclyn.  A catered yacht trip along the coast was Jeremy and Natalie's gift to them for joining their alliance, voting with them to get out Josh, and having a final six deal.  As Natalie said, when someone does something like that for you, you show them love and respect.  That's what she and Jeremy were doing for their new alliance members.

Jon and Jaclyn were so appreciative until...

Reed?  Well, not exactly.

During the reward, Jon and Jaclyn were toasting their benefactors and praising their selflessness.  Reed had enough and made it his goal to make sure that Jon and Jaclyn know how the "gift" was nothing more than a strategic play.  He wanted to turn Jon against Jeremy, get him to realize how Jeremy was his biggest threat, how he had a perfect social game, how his gift was just another in an unending series of brilliant moves.

But - at least from what we saw last night - it wasn't Reed who sunk Jeremy's ship.  Nope, Reed had help in his plan to turn them against Jeremy.

Jon?  Yep, it was Jon that ultimately brought down Jeremy.

Jon, the pretty boy dimwit.  The goofy, clueless guy.  They guy who couldn't spell alliance let alone tell you which one he was in from day to day.  That Jon.  Jon, who doesn't do much thinking, had a thought.  He realized that if Jeremy went to Exile Island and received a new clue for the immunity idol, he'd figure out that Jon has the idol that had been hidden there.  Jon risked hurting himself by thinking about it some more.  If Jeremy figured out that Jon has the idol, he'll realize that Jon didn't tell his alliance about it and that he'll look bad.  Finally, and about twelve hours too late, Jon realized that sending Jeremy to Exile Island to find an idol that he already had was probably a bad idea.

Just that fast, Jon went from "I love you guys" to "I better get rid of you guys."

We're still good, right?

While Jon was starting to worry about Jeremy busting him for having the idol, Reed was scrambling.  He knew he'd be the easy next boot, so he had to do something to draw attention away from himself and onto someone else on his side.  So he digs into Keith's bag and lo and behold he finds that Keith has kept a souvenir to later sell on Ebay - the instructions that go along with the hidden immunity idol.  So he tells Missy, Baylor and Jaclyn (who he already knows do NOT like Alec, Keith and Wes) that Keith has the idol. His goal was just to get the votes off of him and onto somebody, anybody else.   So this plan gets everyone to turn their attention to flushing out the idol and/or getting rid of Keith, right?  

Nope.  Jon is now in full panic about Jeremy realizing he was withholding info about the idol.  So he hatches a plan.  More shockingly, the plan worked.  He told Missy that he had an idol, has had it for some time, and that Jeremy just figured that out.  He told Missy that he was worried Jeremy - who was in their alliance and had never wavered, never strayed from the alliance - might tell the others that Jon had the idol.  He convinced Missy that Jeremy had to go, sooner rather than later.  And Missy, who had been aligned with Jeremy since day one...went along with Jon and jumped ship.  Three days after telling Baylor to vote out her ally Josh, Missy voted out her ally Jeremy.

Missy is either playing the greatest game of Survivor ever - a mix of Tony's vote out your friends and Sandra's anyone but be strategies - or she is choosing allies the way she chooses husbands.  She didn't at all focus on the fact that Jon had lied to her, that a physical specimen like Jon with an idol is a dangerous combination, that Jeremy was loyal to her and would never target her.  Nope, she just went along with the idea of stabbing one of her closest allies in the back this early in the game and going along with the most untrustworthy player left in the game.

They get to the Tribal Council and the first question Jeff asks is about trust.  Of course, it's Jeremy who answers that one.  Poor Jeremy has no idea he's in his alliance's cross-hairs.  But Reed knows, as do Missy and Baylor and Jon and Jaclyn.  Keith, who asked to be told if he were going home so he wouldn't be blindsided (i.e., so he'd know to play his immunity idol) kept his.  Jon, who trusted that Missy was on board with blindsiding Jeremy, didn't play his.  While thinking he was in a tight, six-person alliance, Jeremy was completely shocked to see his name written down five times, enough to make him the next member of the jury.

Natalie asked what all us fans of Jeremy were asking, "What the ____, Missy?"  Everyone's favorite is out of the game, a victim of trusting too much and not recognizing a threat for what it was.  As soon as he realized Jon had the immunity idol and had kept that fact from the alliance, Jeremy should have gone to Missy with that information. Instead, he trusted that time was on his side, that Missy was on his side, and that he could deal with Jon later. He didn't realize that in Survivor, there may not be a "later."  

Quotes:
Jeff (on Jeremy):  "Two minutes ago he was on a yacht."

Natalie: "This will be leverage for me down the line."

Wes: "I just don't want to get hashtag blindsided."

Jeremy: "That looks like the yacht I'm supposed to be on right now."

Jon (on the yacht): "Here's to the best team Survivor's ever seen."

Missy: "You rock the boat too hard, one of us is going to fall out."

Jeremy (just before being blindsided): "Trust is huge in an alliance and hopefully that's what we've been building all season."

Confessionals:

Reed (3)
Jon (5)
Keith (2)
Baylor (2)

Jaclyn
Natalie
Wes
Jeremy (4)

Missy (2)

Recapping The Voice Season 7 Top 12: Where Gwen discovers that this is a weird show

Yes, Gwen, The Voice is a weird show.  We're voting for singers based on how well they cover, whether faithfully or uniquely, someone else's song.  Weirder still, some songs they sing were already covered successfully by someone else (such as this week's "Take Me to the River" which had been a hit for The Talking Heads after Al Green first put his spin on it).  A good vocalist can sing someone else's song really well, while still reminding you of the original.  A great artist can sing someone else's song and, though it's cliche to say it, do something different enough with the song to make it their own.  Often, a song is reimagined so well that the new version exists outside of the world of the original as something completely new and different.  That's the sort of transformative moment we all hope for in singing shows like this and American Idol.

We didn't get any of those moments last night.

Instead, we had some good vocalists doing a solid job, some others stumbling, but not one goose-bump inducing, jaw-dropping moment.

Ryan Sill took Duran Duran's "Ordinary World" and gave a substandard performance so abysmal that the word "ordinary" would have been a compliment.  He was totally out of his depth, here.  He lacked any emotion, any connection to the lyrics, and when he strained to hit the high notes he went totally off the rails.  Horrible. If you must, you can listen to it here.

Sugar Joans did what she does. She oversang, screeching her way through "Take Me to the River."  It was what her coach wanted and he was clearly thrilled with her performance. What he hears is not what I hear.  I hate the growling and vocal gymnastics, it's forced and doesn't make me feel anything besides irritated.   Listen here.

I had high hopes for Jessie Pitts. She started out "Don't You Worry Child" on the piano and her breathy style worked well for the first half of the song.  But when she stepped away from the piano and took center stage, it all fell apart.  Her voice is not at all suited for the techno beat and she was swallowed up by the song.  Check it out here.

Damien was up next with the Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy" and there's no question that he has a great instrument.  His voice is crystal clear, strong, and piercing. A few times I started getting caught up in the sound of his voice and was close to being carried away, then he threw out a small grunt or two and it took me out of the moment.  When he goes all churchy or adds those guttural embellishments,  it's just too much and the sweetness of the song is lost.   Take a listen here.

What DaNica Shirey and her coach Pharrell did to Radiohead's "Creep" is probably a crime in seven states.  It was so very awful that I can't believe it was on a network show.  Someone should have stepped in to stop it.  She was pitchy and all over the place trying to find her way through that song.  But that wasn't the worst part, because DaNica really has an amazing voice. It was turning that anthem for the underdogs, into a dance song.   She took all meaning out of the song, stripped it of its twisted, painful expression of frustration and desire.  It's here if you want to hear it.

Taylor John Williams was given a song that is 43 years old and was old fashioned when it was first released.  "If" by Bread may hold the record for the shortest title for a number one song, and it is technically a beautiful song albeit with some crazy lyrics, but it is pretty much a lullaby.  It's snoozy in the Ambien sort of way.  But Taylor has a really pretty voice and he handled the falsetto very nicely.  He also played a bit with the melody, doing the best with this otherwise sleepy song.

I'd heard that Reagan James has been sick and maybe that's why her vocals on Lenny Kravitz' "It's Not Over Til It's Over" seemed pretty breathy and weak.  She has a great tone and she's certainly a trooper, but this was not her best performance.  She seemed winded and worn out by the end.  Check it out here.

Luke Wade had a rough time with Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud."  Right at the beginning, Luke started a couple beats before the band.  He recovered, but still seemed troubled by this misstep.  That's too bad because I thought this was his best vocal on the show.  Usually, I find him a bit fake but tonight I heard the Van Morrison-esque styling that everyone's been so crazy about.   He has a good sound and certainly emotes more than most of his competitors who usually come off too controlled.

Matt McAndrew has a great adviser who again gave him a song to connect with the god-fearing (and he hopes vote-giving) fans of The Voice.  This week it was the amen-filled "Take Me to Church" by Hozier.  I'm a fan.  Matt has the whole package. Great, identifiable voice.  Cute look.   He knows how to connect with the song while also connecting with the audience, which is not as easy as it sounds.   As Gwen said, even covering someone else's song, you can hear there's something special there.

I don't like old-fashioned country music.  Not a big George Strait fan.  But I like me some Craig Wayne Boyd.  He sang "You Look So Good in Love" and it's cheesy but I'll say it, he looks so good on stage.  This guy is just solid week after week.  He's a rarity on a reality competition show - he doesn't do too much (oversing, overgesture, overperform) just to show he can.  He sings like he's at a concert, not on a TV show.  You can see not a contestant, but the guy who will be playing the small club next week.  Great job.

So last week when I was stomping my feet and carrying on about how stupid Adam was for saving Chris Jamison?  Yeah, my bad.  Chris KILLED it tonight with Nick Jonas' "Jealous."  He out-falsettoed his coach and showed an amazing range.  Chris had a flawless vocal performance, yet never seemed studied, stiff or phony.  He was completely on point yet totally relaxed.  He could easily slot himself in the current void of young, cute male singers.  The standout of the night!

For me, they did not save the best for last.  It's not that Anita Antoinette didn't do a good job with "Redemption Song," but having the Reggae singer sing a well-worn Bob Marley classic was neither inspired nor surprising.  So, yes, she sounded great, but if you're, like me, allergic to that style of music, even a very good version of it is still something you don't like.  Like foie gras at a Michelin 3-star restaurant.  It may be the very best, but I still won't like it.  I can appreciate it...but not enjoy it.

My prediction for the bottom three:  Ryan, Jessie and DaNica.  If DaNica sings something from the Whitney Houston end of the musical spectrum, as opposed to the Thom Yorke, she should be saved by America's vote.  Tune in Tuesday to find out!

Recapping Survivor San Juan Del Sur Episode 8: Too fast, too strong

It's a balancing act.  If you aren't thinking strategy, if you aren't playing the game from minute one, you can make some serious missteps right off the bat.  It is never too early to remind yourself that Survivor is a game built on building alliances, planning for the future and positioning yourself for a deep run.  But you can also play too hard, too early and make yourself an easy target.  Val Collins learned that lesson episode two when she thought she was being strategic and inventive telling her tribe mate Jon Misch that she had not one but two immunity idols.  She overplayed her hand and ended up the second boot.  It took 21 days, but Josh Canfield learned that lesson as well.  As he told us in his post-torch snuffing confessional, "I just revealed a little too much of who I was out here and that sent me packing."

The tribe gathering for the reward challenge

Last week, Jeff Probst said that Julie McGee's decision to quit the game may have resulted in a "million dollar break" for someone.  Whether or not that check will be written to Jeremy Collins, we know that Josh was not the beneficiary of that rash decision.  He was at the top of an alliance that was ready to vote out his biggest threat, Jeremy, and solidify his position as the one to beat.  As Drew might have said, basically, Josh was a bad ass.  So what went so horribly wrong?

Josh had an early, solid alliance with Baylor Payne.  Probably always on the lookout for a guy she can trust (thanks to inevitable daddy and stepdaddy issues), Baylor had joined with Josh and agreed to vote out one of the women (Nadiya) and stand with the guy alliance. So how did Josh repay her?  He blindsided Baylor by putting her name down for no apparent reason.  Three days into the game.  He tried to justify it by telling her it was to remove suspicion that the two were working together. Well, it worked brilliantly because it certainly removed that suspicion -- from Baylor's mind.

The next time they went to tribal council, Josh knew that his ally Baylor was the target and switched his vote to Val to guarantee a tie vote, which ultimately led to Val being the next out and not Baylor.  But again, Josh failed to share his strategy with Baylor and she was left feeling alone in their two-person alliance.  Whenever they were together, Josh pushed their deal, but Baylor could never trust him.

Let's assume that Josh saw Tony's game in Survivor Caramoan and he thought that these wonky votes would not hurt him.  What Josh forgot was that by the time Tony was casting crazy, unexpected votes and having to explain himself afterwards, they were already weeks into the game. He had already built up trust with these people, had already trained them to believe him, so when he did something crazy, he could come back to them, tell them he did it for their own good, and they believed him.

Josh never had that level of trust with Baylor.  More importantly, because this season is a Blood v. Water season, he was also hurt by everyone knowing that his one true alliance was with his boyfriend Reed.

Baylor and Missy talking strategy

But let's be fair to Josh, who otherwise played a great game and was so much fun to watch.  He may have lost Baylor's trust and may not have been able to get her vote with the handy, "you owe me" but Baylor wasn't the reason he was the first person sent to hang out at the Ponderosa.  That honor goes to Jaclyn.  She and Jon were all ready to side with Josh and Reed, Keith and Wes and Alec to vote off Jeremy, swayed by Reed's statement that whoever ends up in the final tribal council against the affable fireman with two kids does not stand a chance.

The anti-Jeremy alliance was solid.  But give people three extra days to contemplate anything - especially food and sleep deprived people who are trying to win $1 million - and they will second and third guess themselves.  That's what happened to Jon and Jaclyn.  He was a bit on the fence about his decision to scuttle his alliance with Jeremy (remember when Jon vowed to protect Val?  Yeah, me neither) but it was Jaclyn who had a revelation.  She did not like the boorish frat trifecta of Alec, Wes and Keith and she did not like not being included in any strategy discussions when Jon was away from camp.

The more Jaclyn thought of it, why would she and Jon want to go up against all these guys now that individual immunity is so important?  Josh and Reed have balance and strength, Alec and Wes are pretty fit (Wes is a fireman, too) and even Keith has beasted some competitions. Wouldn't it be better to go to the end with Jeremy (who went out FIRST in the first solo immunity challenge last week), Natalie, Baylor and Missy??  And, though this didn't seem to enter into her consciousness, wouldn't it be better to break up the other pairs and be the last one standing?  And Jaclyn liked Baylor, preferred to hang out and talk to her than be ignored or disrespected by he guys.  It was an easy decision in the end.

I was sad to see Josh go.  He loved the game and came to play, but sometimes it's good to remind ourselves that playing and winning is not as easy as some people - *cough* Tony *cough* - make it look!

Josh gives his last Survivor confessional

Other highlights/lowlights:
For the reward challenge, the tribe was split in two groups, the winning group going to a taco (and beer and margarita) bar, the loser dining on snails.  Not escargot.  Snails.  As Reed noted, the split was not along party lines, so his winning team consisted of his allies, Wes and Keith, along with his nemeses Jeremy and Natalie.  The split left neither group in a position to strategize but those who feasted barely noticed, being distracted by watching Wes stuff as much into his mouth as he could before his body alerted him he'd gone too far.

Keith has absolutely no social skills or self-awareness.  It's one thing to complain about Baylor being lazy and privileged, it's another thing to do it in front of the self-described mama bear Missy.  And it's another thing on top of that to them blame Missy for stepping in and doing what he thinks Baylor should be doing around camp.  So, let's see, he said you're daughter's lazy and you're an enabler.  How far does he plan on making it in the game?

Keith is not a great liar.  He tried at the taco fiesta to sell the story that Julie had been his target and that he had no idea what he would have done had they gone to tribal after she quit. Jeremy is not buying one moment of that story and knows now that Keith is firmly with the other alliance.

Wes is young.  He knows not to wolf down large quantities of Mexican food (heck any food) and alcohol especially after not eating much for three weeks.  So what does he do?  Ask for double meat, double cheese for double the pain.  He will be paying for this mistake as well anyone in ear/nose shot of him.

Natalie should get a legal separation from Nadiya.  Together, they are annoying as hell.  Alone, Natalie is one of the most entertaining Survivors ever.

If you had trouble playing along with that memory test/immunity challenge sitting on your couch, after sleeping in your comfy bed last night and having a nice, balanced meal, imagine trying to remember all that in their condition.  Very impressed with Jeremy.

Jeremy walks a fine line between respectful and misogynistic (I bet Val gave him a good talking to about treating women differently, albeit with chivalry), Keith/Alec/Wes have obliterated the line and are some rude, crude, women haters.  Thank goodness Jaclyn woke up to the arrogance and rudeness of those guys. Unfortunately, instead of targeting one of those three sexist pigs, we lost Josh.  When he looks back on his game, maybe Josh will think twice about aligning with people like that.

Natalie didn't say much, but she made every word count.  She pointed out at tribal how the guys don't include Jaclyn in their decisions and she mentioned how nice it would be to get the old Hunahpu group back together (meaning, Jon come back!).  It was a nice play to get the power couple.

Quotes: 
Wes: "I wish I had the will power to control myself"
Wes: "It was all fun and games until I felt like crap."
Keith: "As long as you're still burping I guess you're okay."
Keith: "Wes is a good kid. He ain't been to jail yet."

Confessionals:

Missy (3)
Jon (2)
Reed 
Natalie 
Jeremy (4)
Wes 
Keith
Josh (3)
Baylor (3)
Jaclyn (3)
Alec