Welcome to Vulture Precaps, where we combine recaps, news, and (often informed) speculation into a pre-Sunday night TV-viewing primer.
Girls
What happened last week: Hannah headed back to her hometown of East Lansing, Michigan, trash bag full of dirty clothes and transplant attitude in hand. (“You are from New York,†she tells her reflection, “therefore you are just naturally interesting.â€) There, she binge ate, went on a date with a cute but not naturally interesting former high school classmate to a decidedly “cheesy†event, and just missed walking in on her parents having sex. What was going on back in Brooklyn remains a mystery, though we do know from his phone call that Adam got bored in her absence.
What’s happened since then: The New York Times revealed that Girls-watchers do not know about torrenting. And actor Christopher Abbott (Charlie) talked to Vulture about — what else? — sex scenes, and his lack of interest in the controversy surrounding the show. (And a Girls production designer told the L.A. Times how she put together his Target ad apartment.)
What to look for tonight: What appears to be a warehouse party in Bushwick, where Shoshonna smokes crack, somehow. Charlie seems to be on the rebound, Adam has put on a shirt, and Jessa’s boss — semi-cool dad Jeff — appears to have ventured out of Tribeca.
Mad Men
What happened last week: Harry ended up reconnecting with former Sterling Cooper-er Paul Kinsey, who’s since become a Hare Krishna follower. After determining that Paul’s new (sort of) girlfriend, fellow movement member Mother Lakshmi, is up to no good, he gives him enough money to make a new start in LA. Meanwhile, Don and Joan played husband-and-wife at a Jaguar dealership and, later, in a bar, though Don made a dashing exit before things got too real.
What’s happened since then: Netflix took credit for boosting the show’s audience by more than a million binge watchers. John Slattery took to The View discuss Roger’s endlessly fascinating experience with LSD, along with his own (possible non-)use of psychedelics. And the Daily News gave a brief history of the original reaction to “America Hurrah,†the play that so bothered Don at the start of the episode. Â
What to look for tonight: With his Christmas bonus cover-up plan basically thwarted, it seems that Lane’s financial troubles are headed for a reveal. We also wouldn’t be surprised to see a return to the Pete-as-dissatisfied-husband story line, along with mounting trouble with Megan: In the promo for this week’s episode, she says, “A wife is like a Buick in a garage.†As opposed to, say, a Jaguar.
Game of Thrones
What happened last week: King’s Landing prepares for a siege as Stannis’s ships approach, while inside the castle Cersei tries to one-up Tyrion by nabbing his whore — the wrong one, it turns out. Lady Catelyn Stark frees Jaime Lannister (a.k.a. the Kinsglayer) and Arya frees herself (with a little help) from Harrenhall. Theon Greyjoy is still rightfully being treated as a whiny child, while Daenerys remains dragon-less.
What’s happened since then: Fan site WinterIsComing.net spotted possible audition videos for Vargo Hoat, leader of the Bloody Mummers, a particularly depraved band of sellswords who call Harrenhall home. It was also announced that Game of Thrones Ascent, a Facebook game, is in the works — a bigger deal, we think, than the social media company’s botched IPO. Meanwhile, Thrones arrives south of the border, with Richard “Robb Stark†Madden and Kit “Jon Snow†Harington facing off in the pages of Esquire Mexico.Â
What to look for tonight: Finally, it’s Blackwater time. Stannis Baratheon makes his all-or-nothing bid for the Iron Throne, while King Joffrey quakes in his boots and his uncle Tyrion acts the faux-courageous general. Tonight marks only the second-ever George R.R. Martin–written episode to date and is supposedly so battle-scene-heavy that Thrones’ showrunners had to ask HBO for more money — which they got. Hopefully, the hope is well-deserved.