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It's cool to see all these similar, but slightly different interpretations. I think it speaks to one of the defining characteristics of the show. Our behavior can rarely be traced to one simple motive. In our biggest decisions in life--careers, relationships, family matters--we usually usually have more than one reason for making the choices that we make. In most TV shows and movies, characters' choices can be explained by a single critical factor. One of the things that gives Mad Men a strong sense of verisimilitude is that character motivations are closer to the complexity of real life.
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Oct 27, 2020 01:08
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It's a real turn of the screw.
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Oct 27, 2020 01:15
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I agree that a central theme of Mad Men is that poor communication kills relationships. Another is about getting what you wanted. The arc of many of the characters in the show is that some desire has been fulfilled and what happens next? Already we have seen Don getting his perfect late 1950s work/life balance with a suburban home, string of exciting mistresses and prestigious job; we see the farcical version of that with Pete (whose role is in some ways that of the “low” characters in a Shakespeare play; that is to parallel the story of the protagonist but at a level more relatable to the audience: he’s a lot more obviously a fuckup than Don), Peggy getting her time with Pete and what that turns into, and so on.
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Oct 27, 2020 01:40
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Ken is the Falstaff though.
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Oct 27, 2020 02:50
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I would strongly advise more discretion when it comes to discussing the overarching themes of the show. That kind of conversation lends itself to accidental spoilers very easily (e.g. "X is very interesting, especially in the later seasons" or "The show is about Y, which is demonstrated later on by Z"). Part of the fun of the thread is reacting to the OP's fresh take on the plot, particularly in what they expound on or what they personally connect to. If you go ahead talking about which certain events or relationships are important unspoilered, it sours the fun a bit. I say keep unspoilered talk strictly about the most recent episode. It's better to nip this in the bud now than later when we get to the latter seasons.
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Oct 27, 2020 02:54
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The Klowner posted:I would strongly advise more discretion when it comes to discussing the overarching themes of the show. That kind of conversation lends itself to accidental spoilers very easily (e.g. "X is very interesting, especially in the later seasons" or "The show is about Y, which is demonstrated later on by Z"). Part of the fun of the thread is reacting to the OP's fresh take on the plot, particularly in what they expound on or what they personally connect to. If you go ahead talking about which certain events or relationships are important unspoilered, it sours the fun a bit. Ok that’s fair.
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Oct 27, 2020 03:22
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Everything I've said is readily apparent from the episodes discussed. Look at Rachel, look at Midge. Look at Peggy and the twin. Then look at Betty. I haven't even been "cute" about "later" because I don't think that is relevant. One of the reasons later seasons get tedious is because Don is very much trapped in a cycle. But that cycle is absolutely apparent as soon as he starts going after Rachel while ditching Midge. You think he's breaking the cycle later when he marries an independent-minded dark haired woman but lol no, just another go-round on the carousel. But that's not what my comments are about and I'd argue you honing in on them is way more spoilery than me talking about what is happening on screen. Incelshok Na fucked around with this message at 04:30 on Oct 27, 2020 |
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Oct 27, 2020 04:27
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stop digging
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Oct 27, 2020 05:00
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Beamed posted:stop digging Spoiler police is worse than spoilers and I haven't given any spoilers. Go gently caress yourself.
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Oct 27, 2020 05:48
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Listen fellas, you both just had a fight and I wasn't involved. If you don't make up right now, I stand no chance tonight  Speaking of Paul, him having a go-to line of "Have you tried Ukrainian food?" is hilarious, he clearly thinks it works and makes him seem worldly, which is probably why he also smokes that pipe and talks about smoking "mary-jane" to seem cool. I love whenever his writing gets made fun of for being kind of hackneyed because you can tell it REALLY bothers him, especially now that everybody knows how good a writer Ken is (I think Pete already completely forgot about that after his initial obsession).
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Oct 27, 2020 06:19
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Jerusalem posted:Listen fellas, you both just had a fight and I wasn't involved. If you don't make up right now, I stand no chance tonight Pate’s just being competitive. He doesn’t actually dream of being a writer, he’s just desperate to have something that he can win at.
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Oct 27, 2020 06:52
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Beefeater1980 posted:Pate’s just being competitive. He doesn’t actually dream of being a writer, he’s just desperate to have something that he can win at. Pete is a land of contrast; when Jerusalem says he wants to get his way because of his pedigree, he also is, I feel, ashamed of it while also using it to his advantage. How much does Pete resent being there because of his name? His parents already think his job is not fit for his background, like he is slumming it.
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Oct 27, 2020 07:02
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Paul is a total boob. His pickup lines are bad, his brown-nosing attempts are way too obvious, and his idea of a great piece of writing is him telling the story of the time he got along with some Black people.
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Oct 27, 2020 07:04
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What do we know about Pete, based solely on Jerusalem’s recaps so far? He’s enjoying the benefits of privilege, and because they are totally hollow, he is also totally hollow. Pete’s presented as a well educated, decently smart guy from a well off family who isn’t streetwise and completely lacks a moral compass, but who knows that he is supposed to have one and feels inferior to people who earned their achievements. All of this combines to mean that he can’t fail, but also possesses none of the things a person needs to succeed. So he coasts along in mediocrity, and feels bitter and angry at everyone else. It’s absolutely toxic. Of all the characters we have been introduced to, I believe the writers have been having the most fun with Pete, in the same way that Austen must have loved kicking the poo poo out of her characters.
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Oct 27, 2020 07:15
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Something I really enjoy about Pete is that he's not dumb - he actually does have good ideas and harnessed well he might have the makings of a creative after all. It's just that every single time he has a good idea (Backbone of America, buying up the non-Nixon ad time etc) instead of reveling in the attaboy or using it as a moment for growth, he becomes completely arrogant and immediately tries to use his success to lord it up over others. When Don congratulated him on a good idea, instead of being grateful or just enjoying the moment, he HAD to stand up and draw everybody's attention to the fact he'd been complimented, and try to rub Don's nose in it before also trying to call an end to the meeting. It's quite fun comparing him to Peggy, who is also trying to get her ideas out there, and being encouraged and helped along because people actually WANT her to succeed because they like her.
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Oct 27, 2020 07:40
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Pete is also the one who points out Elvis doesn't were a hat and the appeal of Kennedy's youth, which everyone dismisses.
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Oct 27, 2020 07:58
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And direct marketing. He invented that. It turned out it already existed, but he arrived at it independently.
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Oct 27, 2020 08:19
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Yoshi Wins posted:Paul is a total boob. His pickup lines are bad, his brown-nosing attempts are way too obvious, and his idea of a great piece of writing is him telling the story of the time he got along with some Black people. I kind of love the moment when he – while high and struggling to come up with a new pitch with Peggy and someone else – quotes the hollow men by TS Eliot, and everyone else is all “we get it, you’re educated.
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Oct 27, 2020 08:25
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KellHound posted:Pete is also the one who points out Elvis doesn't were a hat and the appeal of Kennedy's youth, which everyone dismisses. His line about the President being a product isn't exactly revolutionary thought, but he's absolutely right to bring it up and point out that Kennedy's campaign was running rings around Nixon's.
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Oct 27, 2020 09:03
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Jerusalem posted:His line about the President being a product isn't exactly revolutionary thought, but he's absolutely right to bring it up and point out that Kennedy's campaign was running rings around Nixon's. I could be wrong but I feel like Kennedy is one of the first examples where the president was marketed more as a product than as a policy mouthpiece of the party. It has been a while since I've studied US politics and history though, so I could be forgetting earlier examples. Also make your write-ups as long as you like, I very much enjoy reading them and you have a great level of insight.
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Oct 27, 2020 10:21
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I just realized that mad men is available for streaming via the IMDB channel on Amazon prime so I'm pretty excited to revisit the series along with the thread. I'll do my best not to skip ahead 
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Oct 27, 2020 14:38
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HppyCmpr posted:I could be wrong but I feel like Kennedy is one of the first examples where the president was marketed more as a product than as a policy mouthpiece of the party. It has been a while since I've studied US politics and history though, so I could be forgetting earlier examples. Eh Lincoln chopping wood, Andrew Jackson fighting Indians, actually we had a string of Presidents in the 1840s that were seen as Indian fighters/genociders. Its always been a product. The first real competition btw Jefferson and Adams was a matter of who was meaner.
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Oct 28, 2020 00:03
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Shageletic posted:Eh Lincoln chopping wood, Andrew Jackson fighting Indians, actually we had a string of Presidents in the 1840s that were seen as Indian fighters/genociders. That's true, it's probably just the jump to the television and it being more directly relatable to modern marketing that I overlooked that.
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Oct 28, 2020 02:11
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Yeah, television really changed the whole campaign landscape. Eisenhower was the first president to use TV as a medium to reach the voters. IIRC, Kennedy/Nixon was the first televised debate.
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Oct 28, 2020 13:05
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Cat Army
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Even Washington was something of a brand.
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Oct 28, 2020 14:46
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That's fair, I'm not that knowledgable about the history of marketing itself. I just think that TV was one of the tools that modern marketing really ran with and Kennedy vs Nixon was where it really started to come to the forefront in regards to politics. This coincides with the rise of the TV set itself during that time peroid. I think when you compare the decades before the 1960s that's where television really penetrated american homes; from memory it closed on around 90% saturation in the early 1960s. It allowed a direct window into the home for advertisers and the way Kennedys team handled his campaign showed their awareness of that. I think it's outlined pretty well in the scene where they compare the two campaign videos. I probably didn't outline what I was trying to say very well earlier either.
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Oct 28, 2020 15:30
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Season 1, Episode 11 - Indian Summer Written by Tom Palmer & Matthew Weiner, Directed by Tim Hunter Paul Kinsey posted:Cleaning out the old guys? It's good for us. In a dingy hotel, a man in a dirty suit approaches the manager and asks him to mail a package for him. "Sure, Whitman," says the manager, familiar with the man who is obviously a guest and seemingly a long-term one. The cost is 40 cents, but Whitman hands over a a full note and doesn't wait for change, simply heading back to his room. Inside his hotel room, he piles up a few stacks of $20s and $10s, writes a brief note and then... places a noose around his neck and climbs up onto the edge of a chair. Kicking it away, he falls and then jerks to a stop in midair. For a second we see his legs start to spasm, and then the camera cuts. The man is, of course, Adam Whitman. The money is all that is left of the 5k that his mysterious brother Dick gave him to get out of his life. Whatever the money bought him, it certainly wasn't happiness, Adam Whitman's death is an abrupt one more in keeping the "sad people" that Don told Rachel raised him. All that is left of him now is that package, on its way to New York and the officers of Sterling Cooper... addressed to "Donild" Draper. Peggy Olson is having family problems too, but far more mundane ones. Her mother has called to try and push a blind date on Peggy, who picks at a muffin while insisting she's busy or that she isn't interested while her mother continues to insist she at least meet the boy. Realizing that Joan is hovering behind her, Peggy tells her mother she has to go and hangs up, demanding to know if Joan was eavesdropping. Joan isn't embarrassed, in fact she's happy to turn things around by pointing out this was a PERSONAL phone-call being made on company time. Joan, of course, has never been particularly shy about mixing personal life and business, she just knows how to do it more effectively. So when Don Draper arrives and asks Peggy to fetch him a glass of ice water, she takes the chance to turn a conversation on catering for the Clients' Luncheon into inquiring after Roger Sterling and his current condition without giving away her intimate relationship with him. Don tells her that Roger is looking and feeling better, and Joan says that she hopes he knows how concerned "we" all are.   Freddy Rumsen leads a contingent of execs including Pete, Ken, Harry and Sal to Don's office and with a sigh he waves them in: it's time to discuss a new account that is proving awkward to sell. It's an odd looking product with switches, dials and pads attached to wires, and it was sent over to Sterling Cooper by another agency as a return for them sending Firestone their way when they couldn't let the account conflict with their Goodyear account. But it doesn't seem to have been much of a trade... none of them really know how (or if) the thing works, or whether it does what it says it does. It's a weight loss device for women, claimed to be a Passive Exerciser by its creator, you simply attach the pads and it stimulates the muscles to cause fat to burn without actually exercising. Except... it doesn't work. While the creator offers plenty of testimonials, their own research - giving it to their wives to try - has had mixed results at best with only one constant: nobody has lost any weight. Harry's wife took it the wrong way, assumed he was insulting her and refused to use it (she told him to, instead!). Freddy's own wife tried it and had no weight loss, but to his surprise she kept using it anyway, when she'd given up on fad diets and other programs far faster in the past. Other executives within Sterling Cooper have largely had similar results. This raises concerns for all of them, because while the company that makes the device are offering a "bounty" to Sterling Cooper on additional sales, they don't want to risk making false health claims. They already faced blowback for their prior cigarette advertising claiming the health benefits of smoking, if they start claiming this device will make you lose weight when it doesn't it could put them all in trouble. Just then Peggy arrives with Don's ice water, and after she leaves there is a moment's silence before Freddy asks about her. Ken and Sal take this the wrong way, cracking jokes about Peggy's recent weight gain, and while Don doesn't appear outraged, his own joke back at Ken's expense is a quiet reminder not to be an rear end in a top hat to HIS secretary. But what Freddy meant was why not give the Passive Exerciser to Peggy and see what she comes up with? He reminds them she did a great job on Belle Jolie, but Pete Campbell smugly declares Peggy isn't the answer, after all he promised the client they'd put Sterling Cooper's top people on this. Except, as Don notes, Sterling Cooper's top people have failed to come up with anything. He makes an executive decision, calling Peggy into the room where they show her the device and tell her they want her to have a shot at coming up with a pitch. She's pleased but slightly wary, much like Harry's wife she's suspicious about why they thought of HER when they were thinking about a weight-loss device. The reply is blunt but not insulting: she's a woman, she has a better insight into what women might be thinking. Her paranoia settled, an excited Peggy asks if this means she has a new account, and Don is very quick to remind her this is an ASSIGNMENT, not an account. But she can take it home and yes she can even come up with a new name for it if she wants. She leaves happily, and the men sit in silence once she's gone. There seem to be mixed feelings: Pete isn't happy, Don is. Freddy is proud, Sal is amused. Harry and Ken are considering. All of them are feeling these different ways for the same reason: Peggy asks the right questions, she is intrigued and pleased by the same things that intrigue and please them (getting to change the name, which is stamping your personality on the product indelibly). In short, they are seeing the birth of a writer from the most unlikely place within Sterling Cooper... and it's kind of a wonderful (and for Peter, unsettling) thing.  That night, Peggy is sitting reading the manual for the Passive Exerciser when her roommate Marjorie walks in to inform her she owes $3.49 for her half of the phone bill. Peggy reminds her she never uses the phone (she talks to her mother at work instead!) but Marjorie still wants half, complaining Peggy ate all the snacks. Peggy insists that was actually due to having friends over while Marjorie was out drinking, which seems likely to be a lie - she doesn't really seem to have friends outside of the office, and I can't see her bringing them over to her apartment. In any case, she has work to do, which further confuses Marjorie since why work AFTER you've finished for the day. She tells her to use the phone more if she doesn't like paying half the bill and then leaves her to it. Peggy locks the door and pulls out the bizarre weight belt, which looks more like a giant set of underwear with wires attached. Pulling it on under her nightgown, she lays down on the bed, settles herself, then turns on the device.... and then lets out a moan of surprise and quickly flicks it back off, leaps out of bed and wiggles off the faux-underwear. She stares at it in horror, realizing just why this device's users have remained so loyal to it despite not losing weight. It stimulates alright, but not muscles, or at least not the ones you might expect. It's 1960 and Peggy Olson is writing copy for a sex toy. Betty Draper doesn't even have that. Lying in bed alone on a hot night, she hears a noise and perks up, thinking it might be Don coming home to join her in bed, maybe just to sleep but maybe also for some of what she spends her days yearning for. But when she realizes it was just the house settling and nothing more, she lays back resigned to spending the night alone. Rachel Menken used to spend a lot of nights alone too, but not anymore. Now she's in bed with Betty's husband, asking him if he has to leave and him assuring her doesn't: after all, he has no obligations, just a wife he expects to hover in limbo patiently awaiting his return as and when he sees fit. Like Betty, Rachel admits she finds herself thinking about Don all the time now. Unlike Betty, she's fully aware there is another woman in Don's life, though she actually sympathizes with Don and considers he has it tougher than her as the married man in the equation. "I don't think about it," Don responds, then perhaps because he realizes how callous that sounds or just because even he can't pretend to be that detached, admits that he TRIES not to think about it at least. Rachel admits she fantasizes about the two of them being together in more than just this physically intimate sense, and Don - perhaps truthfully, even if he's lying to himself, or just because it's the type of thing you say in this situation - promises her that this is just a matter of him having not figured out "what to do yet". How many women have had that ultimately empty promise from men in the past? The assurances that they mean to leave their wives, that this woman they're with is who they are TRULY meant to and want to be with etc? And how many times has it ended in heartbreak, mostly for the mistress rather than the wife, or both, but rarely for JUST the wife.   The next day at work, Don dresses in fresh clothing he keeps in his lower drawer, having spent the whole night with Rachel. Peggy enters the office and apologizes, but he's hardly naked and tells her it is her choice if she wants to stay or go. She decides to stay, because she has something even more awkward she wants out of the way: her report on the Passive Exerciser. Don asks her to actually tell him what she found and is put out by her constant efforts to avoid answering, simply telling him over and over that she wrote it down. Disgruntled, he settles into his chair and looks through her surprisingly brief notes, and is irritated to find she is saying even less than there. When Peggy, burning with embarrassment, tries to explain "it is difficult to put into words" he snaps at her sternly that she has failed. That is the last thing she wants, and so she swallows her pride and manages to force out the words she didn't want to say: "It vibrates." Even now Don still doesn't get it, until she specifically references that this vibration works in conjunction with "how you wear it". Coupled with her earlier statements that it gives a feeling that many women would probably want, Don finally clicks exactly what is going on. Peggy even admits that this probably explains why the device has been successful despite the lack of weight loss: a lot of women who have suffered through years or decades of uninspired and selfish sex suddenly have access to a device that can get them off while they pretend it simply helps with weight loss. Though he's mildly embarrassed himself by having to have this conversation with Peggy, the fact it's out in the open now seems to have relieved them both, as they're no longer dancing around the subject. Instead Don informs her they now have a benefit they can truthfully sell... it's just a matter of figuring out HOW to sell it without offending or scandalizing anybody. Peggy happily agrees to start thinking on how to work that angle, and as she leaves Don offers her a genuine and very welcome piece of advice: think hard on it... but then stop. It's only then the answer will leap into your face. Peggy thanks him and leaves, and her thanks is not forced or polite. The Creative Director of Sterling Cooper has just offered her advice on a peer level. In fact their entire meeting just now was not a secretary and a Boss, it was a writer and her Creative Director. Peggy, at this moment at least, feels like she belongs. At home, Betty answers the doorbell and finds a handsome young man at the door, a salesman who is going door-to-door selling Air Conditioners. Despite the heat and the sheen of sweat on her in spite of still wearing her thin nightgown, she tells him she's not interested and starts to close the door. Before she can though he asks if he could trouble her for a glass of water, noting how incredibly hot it is outside (it's October but the "Indian Summer" is keeping the heat going). Not wanting to be rude she agrees, and he follows her inside as she moves into the kitchen. Looking around the house, the handsome young man - younger and skinnier but not worlds away from looking like Don himself - eyes everything up, then as soon as he has his drink launches into a pitch regardless, having used the water as an excuse to get in the door. They both have to laugh though when Betty explains her own husband is a salesman, leaving it unsaid that she's more than familiar with the technique he is using to try and sell a product to her. She also is fully aware this false summer won't last and they'll make it through the next week or so okay. He's not one to give up easily though, he kind of can't be if he wants to live on commissions. So he offers to return when her husband is home, and then starts dazzling her with his knowledge as he points out just where the unit would go, tells her where they're losing their heat from, and offers to take some measurements and put together an estimate for her to discuss with her husband when he's home. In spite of herself, Betty thinks about how nice having cool air coming into the bedroom would be, and lets the sales man push on ahead in his enthusiasm. But as she leads him up the stairs towards the bedroom, the wrongness of everything strikes her. She's in her nightgown, leading a strange man up the stairs to the bedroom. Even if it was perfectly innocent, the symbolism alone strikes something deep inside of her... and not unpleasantly. Which is why she has something like the reaction Peggy had to turned out the Passive Exerciser. She stops, turns and informs the salesman that her husband will just purchase a model from Sears. He's disappointed, but having come this far he's not gonna stop pushing in hopes of a sale. He offers to at least run the numbers and slide the estimate under the front door for her husband to review when he comes home. But Betty is insistent now, polite but insistent as she repeats twice for him to please go. Realizing he's lost the sale and perhaps understanding why (or so caught up in his need to make sales to survive he didn't quite grasp where this lonely housewife's mind was racing) he stops pushing and makes his exit.  Don is recording dictation when Bertram Cooper enters his office. Don doesn't mind, he's pleased in fact since he'd just gotten to the part where he was informing a client they have doubled sales of cases of their rum. With that out of the way, Cooper explains that he's just had a rather unpleasant call from Lee Garner Sr. at Lucky Strike Cigarettes. They're concerned about Roger Sterling's status, and when Cooper invited Garner to a client lunch tomorrow to prove everything was running fine he didn't expect him to take him up on the offer. So now Cooper has to get Sterling - still weak and recovering - in for the day to pretend he's still hands on with the Lucky Strike account, which means Cooper needs Don in too to make sure all the focus isn't on Roger. If they can't pull the off, the stakes are clear: they could lose Lucky Strike as a client, which will cost them a huge amount of money. Rachel has dinner with her sister Barbara at a Chinese restaurant, where Barbara is trying to pair her sister up with a eligible bachelor she has found quite charming. Rachel admits he sounds perfect... for her married sister, not for her. Barbara correctly suspects something else is getting in the way of her reluctance, and asks if she is seeing that "goy"? "A little bit" Rachel offers back with faux-indifference, but then can't help getting animated as she discusses how happy being with him makes her feel. Barbara finds the whole thing delightful but can't see why that should stop her seeing this charming Jewish bachelor too... until she discovers her sister's mysterious romantic interest is also married. Rachel is quick to insist nothing has happened between them, especially when Barbara starts pointing out how it always ends the same with these married men: they always say they'll leave their wives and they never do. That does get her sidetracked though, much to Rachel's relief, as she starts talking about a movie instead where a man killed his mistress. The fortune cookies arrive and she can't help but laugh after taking Rachel's, reading,"You are your own worst enemy" as the fortune. Rachel points out that this should really be considered Barbara's fortune, enjoying a good laugh with her sister... and also completely hiding the fact she's sleeping with a married man and her sisters words hit just a little too close to home. That night the man himself gets into bed with his wife, who stares adoringly at him. When he admits he's as tired as he looks, she tells him he works too hard and he starts to assure her that's not it.. then admits that maybe she's right. She can see he's too tired and it's too hot for any excitement tonight, so he lays on her back and then offers out of nowhere the observation that they're losing their cool air through a crack in the dining room window. Don is perplexed, what the hell is she talking about? She explains it was something the salesman said, and now he's not just confused but angry. There was a salesman, and he was IN the dining room? Betty tries too hard to explain herself, to explain why it wasn't a big deal (is she trying to convince Don or herself?) but Don is furious. She let a stranger into HIS house. His house now, not theirs. She is taken aback and honestly somewhat offended at his complete lack of regard for her sense, but as she tries to defend herself he cuts her off with a brusque,"Goodnight, Betty" and rolls over to face away from her, ending the conversation with finality. It's hard to say what made her bring it up, maybe it was simply that she wanted to use the salesman's patter on Don so they could get the air conditioner and he'd be more inclined to coming home and being with her? Maybe it was a conscious or unconscious desire to deny her fears that she'd put herself in danger or been open to temptation and wanted to "prove" it by openly talking about it to Don? Maybe it was just one of this innocuous conversations where one partner flies off the handle for no real reason? Whatever the reason, it had the opposite effect to what she clearly desires: physical and emotional closeness with her husband.   Roger Sterling returns to the office, flanked by his wife Mona and his mentor Cooper. At Cooper's prompting, the gathered staff applaud their returning General, who declares he should make a speech.... "Get back to work!" Everybody laughs, a little too loud and forced (especially Pete) and then disperse, while Don shakes Cooper's hand and Mona informs her husband he gets 1 hour and no more. She leaves, and Sterling promises Cooper and Don he will be happy to be "both dog and pony" for them. As they take him to his office, they're watched by Pete, Paul and Harry, the latter two far less worshipful now that he's out of sight. They comment on his gray skin, his clear weakness, saying he looks like death. Pete disagrees and walks away, and Paul and Harry exchange knowing glances: Pete has no love for Sterling, but in spite of being successfully sold on Don Draper being his savior, he also doesn't like the idea of who will fill a Sterling-sized hole in the company should Roger no longer be there. In Roger's office, he considers the spot where he had his heart attack, where Don found him naked and in pain. There's a knock at the door and Don and Cooper move to answer it, it's Joan Holloway who they've called in because they trust her discretion (and Cooper at least knows he can also trust her feelings for Roger): they need her to use her make-up skills to hide Sterling's pallor. They leave the office, which means Joan has her first chance since the heart attack to actually talk to her secret lover. The last time they saw each other, they didn't so much have an argument as a minor spat, but all that is forgotten now as they sit close by and really get to look at the other. She asks to kiss him, he jokes he might not be able to handle it, and then she kisses him anyway. As she brings out her makeup and starts applying foundation, Roger laments that nobody thought to do this for Nixon before the debates, and sighs over the arrogance of the campaign (mostly because they didn't take up Sterling Cooper's offer to run their advertising for them, probably). As an aside, I am deeply disappointed we didn't get to see the characters watching/commenting on the debates as they happened. It's long since been disputed, but the legend has long been that Nixon "won" the debate for radio listeners while Kennedy "won" the debate for television viewers. It would have been fascinating to watch the ad men staring aghast at an unshaven, sweaty Nixon disappearing into the dark void of the television screen while JFK's handsome face, perfect hair and even teeth glowed bright with the perfection of a meticulously crafted Presidential product. In any case, Roger is getting fired up talking about the campaign so Joan quietly tells him to calm down. She pulls out lipstick, explaining she can use it instead of rouge to put color into his cheeks. As she applies it, Roger gets serious, telling her that he has wanted to tell her something for some time now... she is the finest piece of rear end he has ever had. She's slightly surprised at this turn of phrase but not offended, in fact she seems to take this as a dear compliment, as well as his next line that he is glad to have "roamed that hillside" as he stares hungrily over her curvy body. The point he is trying to make is that when he was laid up in hospital he got to consider all the things he regrets in his life... and being with her was NOT one of them. She fights back tears, caught vulnerable for just one brief moment as his words slipped past her usual composure and the self-amused front she puts on. Regaining herself, she tells him he looks better, stands and leaves, though not before he takes her hand one last time. And it does seem final. Despite his phrasing being that he doesn't regret anything, that he missed her and clearly still lusts for her... when she walks away, it feels like the final chapter of a relationship she was half trying to get out of already until his heart attack made her forget her consternation and remember what appealed to her about him in the first place. Maybe I'm wrong on this, but this does feel like the end for the two of them.  Betty has popped around to Francine's to catch up, but they find themselves stuck in the baby's room (she finally gave birth) since the sound of the door opening is louder than their talking will be, and she's just gotten the baby to sleep. They discuss the heat, Francine joking that she's sweating so much those stains are almost reaching the breastmilk stains on her front. Betty asks if she considered buying an air-conditioner from that "pushy young man" and Francine is surprised, THAT is what he was selling? She never even let him get that far. Betty admits she let him inside and that Don wasn't happy about it, confusing Francine... Don was home? She's even more confused when Betty informs her that Don wasn't home and she let a stranger into the house, but also that she later TOLD Don this. Her line about Carlton breaking her arm if she ever did that is delivered not as a joke or even with any fear, but more like it is a simple statement of fact. Betty insists that she simply wasn't thinking when she told Don, and admits he lost his temper... but then she gets a faraway look in her eyes and seems almost satisfied when she comments that Don is "very protective".
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Oct 29, 2020 16:15
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Bertram Cooper is protective of his firm, but he's also a very rich man who likes having things his own way. So in spite of his efforts to keep Lee Garner happy, he's also still shoeless as they sit at the conference table for the meeting with Lucky Strikes. Don and Roger haven't arrived yet, and the others are entertaining Garner and his two executives with delicatessen sandwiches and sodas. Garner carefully examines the cigarette butts in the ashtrays and declares with satisfaction they are all Lucky Strikes. The business really begins when Roger and Don arrive. Don is there to take the focus away as needed, but for this initial arrival it is Roger who has to shine, and he does. He's the Roger of old, smooth and confident and charming as he jokes with Garner, pops a coke, grabs a bite and then pushes right into business: they're concerned because they lose the lawsuit, right? Garner is, but Roger won't be shaken from his assertion that no damages being awarded was actually a success. Being blamed for health problems is bad, but they also weren't found to have maliciously caused harm and that gives them a lot of leeway for arguing they have some sort of moral stance. More than that, Roger shows off his contacts at the Surgeon General's, informing them that it'll be at least 3 more years before any further action gets taken against the cigarette companies. Pete steps in as is appropriate now that Roger has taken the lead to inform them that it'll be at least two years after THAT before they can start considering things like adding warning labels to packets. Don then steps in to tamp down all possible fears by reminding him that this means 5 years before they have to work on a new campaign. Five years to consider stockholder confidence, watch the shares and then react smartly rather than in a blind panic needlessly half a decade before they have to. Garner finds himself feeling that horrible, wonderful, terrifying sensation: hope. Five years is a long time to continue profiting, and plenty of time to figure out how to make more profit after that. When Roger bums a cigarette from him and explains away his own lack with a knowing,"I've been spending a lot of time with the wife" Garner is thrilled. This is old school boy's talk, Roger slipping one by the wife for being overly protective, everybody hanging out smoking and laughing. A huge smile on his face, he says the words Cooper has been longing for, the spell has been cast, the old magic is still there, and Garner is glad he came here and had his mind set at ease by these New Yorkers he has missed so much. Roger agrees, declaring a toast to New Yorkers, may the... And his heart gives out again. He doubles over in pain, crying out,"Not again!" in horror and misery. The spell is broken. Everybody is aghast, especially Garner, as Don and one of Garner's executives rush to open his collar and get him some air. Pete sits frozen at the table, seeing everything falling apart in a moment, not knowing what to do or how to react. Shortly after, Sterling is once again rolled out of his office and his building by ambulance attendants. Mona rushes to his side, while Joan is left standing in the corridor, unable to be close or express her feelings yet again. Don is deeply apologetic to Mona, and more importantly furious as he admits that Roger being brought in so soon was stupid. He walks alongside Roger as he is wheeled to the ambulance, while Mona takes a moment to turn her disgust and fury onto Cooper, with Garner beside him probably burning up with the knowledge he was the one who forced this meeting in the first place. He tries to apologize, but she's not having any of it and fair enough, as she tells him to go to hell and storms away.   But with Mona gone and Roger not even at the bottom of the building yet, Cooper is already back to business. He reminds Garner that Don Draper is still here and will still be the one running their advertising campaigns like has always been the case, Sterling or no. Garner isn't convinced though, Sterling brought connections and political insight, and while he's a fan of Don himself that doesn't mean anything to the board of directors, even if he sits at the head of it. The answer doesn't lie with Lucky Strike so much as it does with Sterling Cooper: Lucky Strike need a sign that the firm is dedicated to Don and that Don is dedicated to the firm, because THEN they can feel safe knowing that remaining with Sterling Cooper is the right choice. As they speak, Pete Campbell observes from afar, and though he can't hear them he can easily guess where the discussion is going: with Sterling out of the picture, SOMEBODY is needed to fill in the gap, and he can guess who it is going to be. Paul, Ken, Harry and Sal join Pete in his office to discuss the news that has already flooded the office. Their obvious conclusion is that Sterling is a dead man, even if he lives. One coronary is the cost of doing business, but two? That's weakness. Ken, who does not come from a privileged background, is trying not to freak out as he ponders if Sterling Cooper is going down and his job with it. Sal smirks and admits he sent out his own resume already at company expense, but Harry and Paul calm everybody but Pete by pointing out the obvious solution: Don Draper gets made a partner, everybody is relieved and then everything goes back to normal. Pete is revolted by the idea, moreso by the fact that everybody in the office not only agrees it is the right play but think it is long overdue. He tries to bring up other top executives who have equal cases: Frank Birmingham! Mitch Sullivan? They scoff at both, Frank is boring and Mitch is charmless. It's Don who brings in half the clients and keeps the other half charmed, and they're already paying him a massive salary so why not go the extra step? Now the conversation turns to whether Don likes them, with Harry admitting he works hard to get Don to like him, while Sal laughs that Paul does too but is too obvious about it. This alarms Pete even more, they're talking about it as if it has already happened, simply accepting it. Angrily he declares that they're all holding Don on their shoulders so HE can reach partner, and becomes paranoid even as he insists that Harry is wrong to think he fears being fired if Don makes partner. That leads Harry to speculate that Pete somehow thinks Don - in spite of all evidence to the contrary - doesn't deserve to be made partner. Paul shakes his head and asks if he understands how business works? Old guys getting taken out of the picture is a GOOD thing: it opens up spots for guys like them. Everybody has gone from terrified about the company going down to excited about the potential for future promotions. Everybody but Pete, who dislikes Don, doesn't understand why others do like him, and doesn't need to be a genius to know that Don doesn't particularly care for him. Draper being a partner opens up a spot? Quite the opposite, Pete fears that this development means he'll be stuck where he is for the rest of his career.  Peggy attends dinner at La Trombetta with Carl Winter, the man her mother was trying to fix her up with. It seems it was a mutual setting up, as Carl tells her his own mother hasn't been able to stop talking about Peggy to him. The waiter brings them their drinks and Peggy is slightly disconcerted that her Brandy Alexander isn't as sweet as the ones "my friend" Joan orders for her whenever they're out at a bar. Trying to appear sophisticated, Peggy smokes and explains it is practically mandatory at her work, though she has to suppress a cough on the first puff. She talks up Joan as a "scream" who lives in the city, and when she sees him drinking his beer tells him about a bar in Manhattan where the glasses are chilled. He nods but seems not particularly wowed by the concept, so she finally turns the subject about to him: he drives a truck? He does, though there is more to it than that he assures her. He owns his own route, which was expensive but worth it, since now he is the only one who can move Wise Potato chips through that territory. Peggy immediately turns this back to her work, noting that Utz are one of their clients, though she doesn't get free samples like he does because she doesn't like chips. He's surprised by that, and asks if she really lives around here? She does, in Prospect Park, she has her own apartment... that she shares with Marjorie. It's all going disastrously, even for the incredibly low standards for a blind date. Neither seems interested in what the other does, and Carl's attempts to move the conversation away from her workplace keep failing as she just jumps through back in. When he tells her his sister is ALSO a secretary, she's quick to point out she's more than just a secretary: she just got a new account (not assignment in her mind) to go with the Belle Jolie account she wrote copy for, and which will soon be in a number of magazines! Just probably not ones he reads, it'll be high fashion magazines and the like. Carl chuckles and notes that advertising doesn't work on him, and Betty smirks and says nobody thinks advertising works if it is good. Carl isn't just gonna let that slide, asking if they can prove that it actually DOES work, and she has had enough, why is he insulting HER work? His retort makes her feel like the world's biggest rear end in a top hat, as he mimics her earlier insulting,"So you drive a truck?" like he was a piece of poo poo for having that job. He reminds her he is own boss, and just because she takes a train to Grand Central Station each day doesn't make her anything special. He takes it too far, getting cruel as he points out that Peggy - who has put on weight since starting at Sterling Cooper - doesn't look like those other girls in Manhattan. Offended, insulted, and most galling of all only here under the insistence of her mother, Peggy isn't sticking around for this bullshit. She moves to gather her things and he reaches out and places a gentle hand on her arm, telling her he is sorry for being cruel. That's not enough for her though, and he doesn't do himself any favors by complaining that he said sorry as if that automatically gives him a pass. Peggy isn't above being cruel either though, as she informs him that "those people" in Manhattan are better, though she at least lumps herself in with him in this instance. They're better because they want things they haven't seen. She walks out, people at neighboring tables casting surprised looks an embarrassed Carl's way. Peggy was far from blameless in this mess, and her self-loathing for where she comes from is a sad thing to see, but he was not doing himself any favors either. They should count themselves lucky the dinner ended so early and spared them a painfully long evening. At the Draper home, Don and Betty are watching The Danny Thomas Show in the living room. Betty gets up and turns off the TV, turning expectantly to Don hoping he'll be coming up with her. Caught by surprise, he promises her he'll be up soon, he just wants to make a call to check in on Roger first. He heads towards his study and she watches him go, upset again that he doesn't seem to want her as much as she wants him.   It's not Mona he's calling of course, but Dr. Wayne. He's being emotionally and physically distant from his wife so he can sneak into her study and call her psychiatrist behind her back to find out why she seems to be reacting badly to him being emotionally and physically distant. Dr. Wayne notes the clear hostility in Don's voice as he demands to know why Betty not only isn't getting better but seems to be getting worse, to the point he's afraid to leave her alone in the house (but not to leave her alone in the house all night while he bangs his mistress). He's confused, then agitated, then smugly righteous when Dr. Wayne tells him that they can expedite her recovery by shifting into deeper Psychoanalysis in 3-5 weekly sessions. Because to Don, this is all a racket, Dr. Wayne is just another salesman looking get paid and pad out his bills in the process. So he tells Wayne he'll think about it and hangs up, determined to believe as always that there's nothing wrong with Betty that just deciding to be normal and fine won't fix. The next day at Sterling Cooper, it's time for Peggy to make her pitch. This time is different to Belle Jolie, there she wrote up her copy, gave it to Freddy and then he worked on it with Sal. Now it's Don, Freddy, Pete, Sal, Ken and Harry all gathered together in a conference room to here HER pitch HER idea to them. It's the thrilling kind of thing she bragged to Carl about, but it's also absolutely terrifying. She walks to the head of the table, realizing there's no chair and she'll have to stand to present. She passes around the only copy (with a carbon copy) of her notes, explaining she didn't have time to get more made, and Ken laughs she could have given it to "one of the girls". But then its time to present, and after a shaky start she becomes more confident, laying out a pitch that carefully avoids any weight loss claims, makes sure to include a sensible diet, and otherwise just focuses on how women want to feel good about themselves. That's what this product does, she explains, and without ever mentioning the obvious sexual intent, uses terms whose meaning will quickly become apparent with context: this "Rejuvenator" will give you the flush and glow of youth... "you'll love the way it makes you feel." The room sits in silence after she is finished, stretching out uncomfortably long until Freddy declares he's not going to wait like everybody else to see which way Don turns: he thinks it was good, and her end run around the weight loss was inspired. Ken, following Freddy's lead, also admits he liked the pitch, but he's still confused by one thing... what does the "Rejuvenator" actually do? Peggy is frozen at this, it was one thing to force out her explanation to Don in the privacy of his office, but in front of all these men? Don comes to the rescue here, explaining smoothly that it provided women with the satisfaction of a man... without a man. Everybody cracks up, they've been replaced? Harry - whose wife never used it, he must be thanking his lucky stars - cracks up as he recalls that Mitch's wife wouldn't take hers off. The others all howl with laughter and then, as if Betty wasn't there (is this good that they actually didn't stop to consider her not one of the boys? Or are they simply used to being brazenly sexist?) they begin drooling over how sexy Mitch Sullivan's wife is. Freddy takes pity on her as he sees how uncomfortable she is, quietly explaining that Mitch's wife is "very attractive." Don gets them back on track, finally offering his own feedback to Peggy. It's not all glowing, which itself is probably an endorsement as he picks out minutiae for her to focus on, which indicates he's overall satisfied with the concept. He tells her to dump the Latin explanation for Rejuvenator, which he also doesn't like as a name anyway, and she is still going to have to find a way to hint at what it ACTUALLY does. Peggy takes this onboard, agreeing she could be more explicit and suggesting,"Stimulating" as a keyword? Freddy disagrees, it needs to be more coded than that, something akin to "refreshing". Most importantly though, they're all talking to her seriously, it's more of the peer style relationship she has been craving and she laps it up. Unfortunately, it's still a boy's club, and Ken suddenly bursts out laughing as he recalls something... didn't Freddy say his wife wouldn't stop using hers? Suddenly this isn't a joke, this is deadly seriously. Mitch Sullivan wasn't around so they could safely joke about his wife, but Freddy is RIGHT THERE. He jumps to his feet and Ken does the same, not willing to back down. Don is immediately between them, shutting this down and instructing Freddy and Sal to go get started on the layouts for the art for the "Rejuvenator", causing Sal to quip he'll get arrested just for the sketches. Now everybody leaves, and as they go each has a word of encouragement or approval for Peggy that she drinks up: Don tells her warmly that pitching wasn't so bad after all, huh? Harry with a grin explains that Freddy's wife does NOT look like Mitch's; Ken actually gently pats her shoulder and gives her a,"Good work, Pegs"; and even Pete without any arrogance or insult notes that everybody liked her idea. She nods and thanks and continues gathering up her things, but the entire time she's over the moon: forget the vibrating panties, THIS has made her feel good about herself. At home, Betty is doing the laundry when she notices the washing machine load has become unbalanced and has begun to shimmy out of its space. She walks up and presses against it so she can push it back... and as she does, the vibrations against her crotch catch her by surprise. Pressing firmer against it, feeling the thrum and rumble of the machine, her mind drifts pleasantly back to the salesman and leading him up the stairs. This time, in her mind, they go all the way, and he grabs her and kisses her and she hungrily accepts it, and he presses her against the wall and parts her legs, and it's passionate and hot and she's sweaty and it feels so goood.... and the washing machine comes to a stop. Leaning over it, breathing heavily, she regathers herself and then heads into the kitchen where she stands in front of the fan, letting the air cool her face which has the glow and flush that comes not only from hours of exercise, but being a young girl.   Don is enjoying a drink in his office when there is a knock on his door. It's Peggy, and timidly she steps in to request she be given her own desk to serve him and the company better as a copywriter. Don without hesitation points out she has a desk already, and feeling sick at this rejection she points out that she has writing being used in radio spots now. Don, of course, is playing the game/doing the dance, and he makes that clear by telling her that she is not wrong to come in asking for more after what she has delivered, but being timid about it isn't helping her. She presented "like a man" and now he wants her to negotiate like one. She takes that to heart, and with conviction declares she wants a $5 a week raise. Don, who recently negotiated a 10-15k raise for himself, is astonished and asks her with some incredulity how much she makes now. Confused, after all he is her Boss and she assumed would know these things, she explains she makes $35 a week. Seemingly he had no idea she made that little, but he quickly recovers, pointing out that $5 a week is a 15% bump and that is pretty significant. Before they can go any further though, Bertram Cooper arrives and asks for a word, and that trumps any further discussion between the Creative Director and what is, for now at least, "just" a secretary. Cooper leads Don to Sterling's office, and a nervous Pete watches them go. He instructs Hildy to keep an eye and let him know as soon as one or both of them leaves. Hildy, who actually works for a living, sarcastically remarks that she'll just sit there and watch the door since she has nothing else to do, and he snaps angrily at her a reminder that she works for HIM. Because that is sure to endear her to him and increase her productivity! In Roger's office, Cooper takes a seat and Don thinks the worst, asking if Roger is dead. Cooper is surprised, remarking it's actually the opposite, Roger has already been sent home to convalesce. So why this meeting then? Cooper gets straight to the point, he wants to make Don a partner. For just a second Don's guard is down, he's astonished by the offer and unsure how to react. But then he regains control, and instead of accepting or declining or asking if this is all really real, he tells Cooper straight that he thinks telling him this in Roger's own office is in bad taste. Cooper dismisses that, this is exactly how things are done at this level, and that's something Roger would understand better than anyone. The point isn't to make the firm into Sterling Draper Cooper or even Draper Cooper, he won't be on the masthead as a name partner. He's a partner to restore faith for the clients like Lucky Strike shaken by Roger's heart attack(s). That Don can understand, and he immediately accepts. Cooper knew he would, and says he'll start him at a 12% stake and they'll see where things go from there, but one of the privileges will be that HE and only he will get to choose the new Head of Account Services. Don queries if they want an internal or external appointment and Cooper, getting to enjoy himself, declares that he just made Don partner, does he really have to do ALL the work for him!?! But there is one condition Don has, and it's another that Cooper was expecting: he still doesn't want a contract. Cooper is happy to accept, laughing that you must beware the non-comformist, and happily ponders introducing him to Ayn Rand, thinking she would salivate at the likes of Don Draper. He means that as a compliment. It isn't.  For a moment Don has the office to himself to enjoy, to consider the wild ride of his life that has brought him to this. But then Pete is through the door asking the same question Don asked, is Roger dead? No he isn't, so Pete's next question is WHEN will Roger be back? Rather than answering that, Don enjoys torturing him by instead talking to himself, considering that he'll forgo taking this office for himself so he can use it to lure Marty Brennen in as the new Head of Account Services. This unspoken announcement of his own partnership allows Don to enjoy watching Pete squirm as he forces himself to swallow his pride and kiss-up, congratulating him, telling him how much he enjoys his work, assuring him he means it. Don responds calmly and with some satisfaction to all those lines, but then Pete insists that nobody can deny THEY make a great team, Don just smiles and instead decides he might take this office after all, just so Roger will know he can have it back when he returns. As he goes to leave, Pete takes his chance, saying he's sure Don knows that he himself would like to throw his hat in the ring (presumably for Head of Account Services?). Don grins, says he knows that... now... and the walks out, king of the world and leaving Pete convinced his career has hit a deadend he'll now never recover from. Don returns to his office, collects his things, and as he leaves tells peggy they've both had very good days and they can both leave early. That's the best he can do for her for today, and he's amused when she explains she still has work to do. So, deciding to enjoy the perks of being a partner, he capitulates for her unlike with Pete and throws her a bone, telling her she can have her $5 a week raise AND he'll get somebody to cover her desk so she can work on her "assignment" (still not an account, not yet). She's delighted, and he's amused when she asks if SHE can be the one to tell Joan this is what is happening. She can, but then he does want her to leave early, to grab her friends and go enjoy her night. He goes, and she packs up her desk and heads off the floor. As she goes, she passes people she says goodbye too, acquaintances she smiles at and who smile back. She likes them, they like her... but they're colleagues, not friends. She claimed to Marjorie that she had friends around at the apartment, but for all today has been a big success for Peggy, I can't help but feel that right now she's still trapped between two worlds - Brooklyn and Manhattan, secretary and writer, independent woman and needy pursuer of a married man - and remains a very lonely woman. Come 5pm the rest of the office is clearing out, while a drunk Pete Campbell exits his office and places his empty glass on Hildy's seat as a kind of pathetic revenge. He moves to Don's office and takes a seat behind his desk, putting his feet up, considering the space and thinking about how much he wants it (and probably thinks he deserves it). A voice suddenly speaks up, asking for Don Draper, it's a young man from the mail room with a package, which he leaves on Don's desk. Pete doesn't claim to be Don, but he doesn't correct him either, not even offering a token return "Good night". He picks up the box and takes a look, it's labeled for "Donild" Draper, this is Adam Whitman's final package. That means nothing to Pete know, who tosses it back onto the desk indifferently then gets up to leave. For a moment the camera stays on the package, and then suddenly Pete returns, picking it back up, giving it a quizzical look and then taking it with him. Why does he take it? Simply because it was something personal to Don and he wanted some small measure of petty revenge? Did the mispelling catch his eye and make him ponder who could Don know who would write with such a clearly uneducated hand? Or was he just drunk enough that he just figured,"gently caress it, I'm taking that!" and come back for it? In any case, Pete Campbell now has hold of a package that may be the last remaining link between Don Draper and Dick Whitman. But that's (possibly) for the future. For this episode at least, Don returns home feeling more secure than ever. He makes the kids scoot back from the TV, goes into the kitchen where he and Betty drink iced teas, dismisses her concern that she didn't make him dinner because she thought he would be working late in the city... and then tells her the good news, he made partner. Excited, she jumps forward to kiss him but then stops herself, getting serious and admitting that he was right to be mad about her letting the salesman into the house, and she should have known better. But Don is happy, and he doesn't want to spoil the mood by focusing on the negative, so he tells her without malice that he doesn't want to talk about this. Happier, she kisses him and then takes him by the hand, noting this "Indian Summer" may finally end tomorrow. He points out that it will probably be snowing within a couple of weeks, and for a moment they're just a normal couple having a normal conversation. But then her face falls, she steps away and goes into the fridge to find him something to eat. He doesn't understand it, because he still thinks Dr. Wayne is simply trying to squeeze more money out of him, but Betty's emotional problems can't just be ignored and she can't just decide not to worry about them today. Don should understand this, after all he just made partner, he's banging Rachel, he may have a giant new office to enjoy, Cooper thinks of him as a golden child... but here at home with his beautiful wife and perfect family, he's still not happy either. Finally, Peggy sits in bed, her celebration with her friends being sitting in bed reading a book on scientific advertising. Finishing up, she locks the door and goes to turn off the light, only to catch her reflection in the mirror. She's overweight, and the little barbs from Joan, the collapse of her doomed one night (and one morning) stand with Pete, her lack of a social circle and disastrous blind date... it all comes to a head. Turning off the light and returning to bed, she tries for a moment to just go to sleep... and then rolls over and reaches down to collect the "Rejuvenator" so that for tonight at least, she can literally enjoy herself.   Episode Index
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Oct 29, 2020 16:15
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vvEdit: Whoops. Fixed. I find it interesting that Don gives Peggy that creative advice, in such a helpful and mentorly fashion. We don't see him doing that with Paul. Does he identify with Peggy, perhaps because his route to creative director was an unlikely one, and now she has the unlikely assignment of writing advertising copy? Dr. Wayne is horrible. Don is right to believe he's shaking him down. But what can Don expect? He obviously searched for a psychiatrist who would give him secret reports about his wife's thoughts. You aren't going to find compassionate and ethical psychiatrists that way. You'll find creeps like Wayne. Betty might be making progress processing the grief of losing her mother and dealing with the malaise of her youth ending as a bored suburban housewife if she had someone compassionate to talk to, but Don was the one who found Dr. Wayne, and he had other priorities. I think Betty tells Don about the salesman because she knew he wouldn't like it. It was a tiny act of rebellion against his control. It also induced his "protective" reaction, which is one of the only ways she can tell that Don cares about her at all. Yoshi Wins fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Oct 29, 2020 |
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Oct 29, 2020 19:28
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People messing up Peggy and betty's names are really messing with me.
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Oct 29, 2020 19:36
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Yoshi Wins posted:but Don was the one who found Dr. Wayne, and he had other priorities.
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Oct 29, 2020 21:17
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lurker2006 posted:At that point in the show where it was constantly riffing on the dark side of 50s Americana I just kind of assumed that was standard operating procedure for shrinks of that time, they're lowkey going to let the husband know what's going on with the dame. Up through the 70s it wasn't uncommon for doctors to deliberately not inform married women of a diagnosis, instead just telling their husbands and letting them decide the course of treatment, if any. Even today, women's medical issues are statistically not taken as seriously by doctors as they do for otherwise equivalent male patients. Not surprisingly, the issue gets exponentially worse for minority (especially black) women: https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/how-we-fail-black-patients-pain
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Oct 29, 2020 22:04
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MightyJoe36 posted:Yeah, television really changed the whole campaign landscape. Eisenhower was the first president to use TV as a medium to reach the voters. IIRC, Kennedy/Nixon was the first televised debate. I'm trying to remember this book I read in poli sci, a fictional take about the handover of machine style politics to one dominated by TV. I can't remember!
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Oct 29, 2020 23:29
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Yeah, Don probably didn't have to look hard to find someone who would give him reports. But I think if Don cared about Betty's right to privacy, he could have found a psychiatrist who considered it ethically essential to keep their sessions confidential. Privacy in counseling was generally moving in the right direction around 1960. For example, by 1960, in California, psychologist-patient confidentiality was legally equivalent to lawyer-client confidentiality. But California was not the country, and even if the Drapers lived in California, that would not guarantee a better situation for Betty. Good laws are often ignored anyway. Schools remained segregated following Brown v. Board of Education, for example. I think Betty expects confidentiality. That's why Don is sneaky about how he contacts Dr. Wayne. It's another example of how Betty is trapped in a marriage to a stranger. She doesn't know who he is, nor what his intentions are when he finds a psychiatrist for her.
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Oct 29, 2020 23:37
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Another great ep firmly setting Mad Men as the best work politics drama ever. also the best drama ever.
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Oct 30, 2020 00:09
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I feel like "the guys" have thus far too readily accepted Peggy. Like you would expect a bunch of 60s business men to feel a little more threatened by the trajectory of a young woman who's able to write and pitch copy as well as she has. It's like an idiot plot but for sexism instead of intelligence. Also they ought to make a rejuvenator for men. I want some electric underwear elon musk, make it happen
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Oct 30, 2020 18:12
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The Klowner posted:I feel like "the guys" have thus far too readily accepted Peggy. Like you would expect a bunch of 60s business men to feel a little more threatened by the trajectory of a young woman who's able to write and pitch copy as well as she has. It's like an idiot plot but for sexism instead of intelligence. Peggy might be able to come up with a good line on occasion, but she's just a novelty. To the boys' club, she's a secretary they can treat as an in-house focus group when needed, and saddle with account work they don't want to handle. Also, I suspect that the Rejuvenator for Men involves a prostate massager.
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Oct 30, 2020 19:07
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The Klowner posted:I feel like "the guys" have thus far too readily accepted Peggy. Like you would expect a bunch of 60s business men to feel a little more threatened by the trajectory of a young woman who's able to write and pitch copy as well as she has. It's like an idiot plot but for sexism instead of intelligence. It's less acceptance then "well, this works and the client liked it" for the account men. It's also coming from 95% Freddy who's got insane seniority on everyone else there seeing something in her and making it happen. The only other creative in the show who could shut it down is Don and he sees the same thing Freddy does.
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Oct 30, 2020 21:33
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JethroMcB posted:Peggy might be able to come up with a good line on occasion, but she's just a novelty. To the boys' club, she's a secretary they can treat as an in-house focus group when needed, and saddle with account work they don't want to handle. This, absolutely. I don't think any of them are particularly "threatened" by her at this stage in her career because she's mostly filling a niche. She's good for Belle Jolie, or some other "women's account." She handles grunt work they don't want to do, etc. But when it comes down to it, the male creatives are going to be taken more seriously by each other and by management. Don is a rare exception, and even then only sometimes. The point where Peggy becomes threatening is the point where she has real seniority or power. Which happens: eventually she has hiring and firing power, and uses it. She gets senior positions with staff under her, and male subordinates who struggle to accept that. In that sense, I honestly think Peggy's most difficult challenge doesn't even happen during this show's run: her plot ends with her showing up at McCann in the early 70's, octopus porn in-hand and ready to make waves. The 70's is when "women's lib" really takes off as a focus of social change, and that's probably where she'd meet the most intense opposition from the Boy's Club. I really love Freddy, on this topic. He's a really great character, because although he's definitely a dinosaur with antiquated ideas about a lot of poo poo, he's also a genuinely perceptive and open-minded person. I imagine he wouldn't call himself "a feminist," but he kind of is one: he saw Peggy's talent for what it was, and did what he could to highlight and nurture it. And when he comes back, he gives her the most respectful advice of anyone: "you could do what everyone else does, find a new job, and take it. Show Don you're not just some secretary who's dying to help out."
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Oct 31, 2020 00:27
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Yeah, they're certainly not a bastion on progressive thinking by any means (weakly gestures at, well, everything) but they see the value in having Peggy approach things from a women's perspective, and they have no issue with the cognitive dissonance of both valuing her contribution as a writer (under their own, hyper-specific, conditions) and then immediately going back to seeing her as "just" a secretary. "Novelty" is I think a good word. Even though he was trying to get into her pants at the time, I think there was truth in Paul Kinsey telling her,"Sometimes a woman is the right man for the job." Also from Don's POV it really doesn't hurt much, he just gave her a whopping 15% raise and she's still only earning $40 a week and is mostly still there to collect his hat and coat for him, bring him pills and ice and make his calls for him etc AND do some copywriting every so often as well.
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Oct 31, 2020 01:52
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