Doubling the price of the service and losing a million customers in the process? Splitting the service into two different companies and further alienating everyone?

That’s nothing. Netflix’s lowest moment as a company was on September 1st, 2010. On that date we were promised a streaming version of the previously unreleased Fish Story, Yoshihiro Nakamura’s stunning punk rock opus. The Netflix Instant listing had all the credits and even right the cover art, but when people tried firing it up they found themselves watching a 53 minute PBS documentary called Fish Story.

Many tears were shed, many wives punched in anger. The Western World mourned.

Today, however, is a bright and shining day. Fish Story is finally up on the service and you can finally see the movie I’ve been gushing about for two years (here and here) since it played the New York Asian Film Fest, an absolutely perfect film that deserves to be seen by everyone.

Now, if they can get Castaway on the Moon on the service, I’ll be set…

I like this title better.

So yeah, like everyone else who’s missed out on Mad Men till this point, I’ve been watching it on Netflix Instant. The first four seasons are on there right now. Eight episodes into the first season and I’m really enjoying it- it’s a great show with interesting characters and enough mystery to keep us guessing at what’s going to happen (Just who is this Don Draper cat?) Much more exciting to me than the last show I started watching, Sons of Anarchy, whose second season got better but still didn’t shake that goofy, wannabe tough guy feel.

But the one thing that threatened to turn me off Mad Men from the beginning is how much fucking winking is done. There are just constant reminders of the time period being thrown in your face that have a real “Look, they didn’t know anything back then!” feel to them.

For instance-

She’s smoking a cigarette and in the next shot you see OMG SHE PREGNANT

Some guy hits a kid who’s not his for running in the house and the father comes and OH HE AGREES WITH PUNISHMENT AND WANTS TO DEAL MORE

Men drink and they drive and THEY’RE JUST BEING MEN, STUPID

Women say anything and they SHOULD SHUT UP THEY’RE NOT PAID POORLY TO THINK

Draper says what do you have a magical machine that can COPY PAPERS LOL

Also everyone smokes three packs of cigarettes a day, at least.

Thankfully it seems like they’re finally easing into the time period and getting a little more serious with stuff. But we’ll see…

Oh and there’s always this. I don’t even care if this nullifies one of my previous complaints, I’ll watch this all day.

The cops go to the Sons to talk. The Sons go to the cops to talk. VERY DISCREET, PEOPLE. GOOD JOB KEEPING YOUR DIRTY CONNECTIONS ON THE DOWN LOW.

I get that it wouldn’t be as interesting to watch people constantly chatting on phones but I’ve lost count of the number of times someone just pulls up in their car to chat with someone as if they’d been following them for hours, or knew their schedule to a ridiculous degree. They meet at gas stations, garages, the hospital, side of the road, bars- everyone in the show must have a GPS chip implanted in them so they can easily meet up in public places.

The thing is, I am enjoying the show so far. I’m almost done with the second season, which has been an improvement over the first, but there’s a few things that bug me about it. First and foremost is the really lighthearted feel it has, especially when you consider the subject matter. The lead characters have killed dozens of people, usually at least one or two an episode, and really don’t seem any worse for it. It’s got a very happy go lucky feel that just clashes with the subject matter. There’s some dark subject matter, no doubt, but even the worst moments don’t seem so stressful in the scheme of things. Hoping that changes over time as things get worse for them.

But everyone gets shot and stabbed (shit, even blown up) and they’re generally back in action in no time, without even bothering to wince afterwards. The only person that looks like he’s finding it harder to roll with the punches is (surprise!) Ron Perlman. Charlie Hunnam’s character cracks me up because he’s wishing to get out of the life in one scene and mutilating a rival gang member in the next.

Favorite character? Probably Katey Sagal’s overbearing mother figure. She’s got an interesting arc in the second season (to say the least) and all of the best dramatic beats are hers. Definitely a surprise.

Anyway, going to continue on with this one but not completely blown over.