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Shageletic posted:That's a pretty good distillery but yeah starting out drinking bourbon is gonna make anyone take a step back, personally I find good scotch like this boy here this is how you do them to be as smooth as juice, but tastes differ ofc e: lol what the gently caress is happening with links ok yeah that was fairly weird but i think this is what you were pointing at? sebmojo fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Dec 30, 2020 |
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Dec 30, 2020 02:35
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sebmojo posted:ok yeah that was fairly weird but i think this is what you were pointing at? Yup. Haunted code.
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Dec 30, 2020 03:02
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a new study bible! posted:Does Jerusalem have a pateron or something? I feel like I should chip in a few bucks a month for these wonderful reviews.
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Dec 31, 2020 08:19
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My memory of the seventh season is really shaky and I'm not sure I ever saw, or at least remembered the finale. In fact, I forgot most of the series and it's a lot easier to have everything broken down like this.
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Jan 4, 2021 19:38
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The finale is good.
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Jan 4, 2021 19:48
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Grammarchist posted:My memory of the seventh season is really shaky and I'm not sure I ever saw, or at least remembered the finale. In fact, I forgot most of the series and it's a lot easier to have everything broken down like this. A lot of the final season is hazy to me, but the finale itself is very memorable in that nothing major happens, it's primarily epilogue to what happened a few episodes prior. Also, Brett Gelman's there sunbathing naked and it throws ~*~my immersion~*~ out the window. "...Did Don Draper just stumble into an episode of Eagleheart?"
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Jan 4, 2021 21:25
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I'm expecting 10,000 words on The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife
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Jan 5, 2021 00:58
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It appears in the background all the way back in season 1, and I was itching to bring it up at some point, but on my first watch I definitely never noticed it until that scene where Lane is admiring it, which is a great scene, and I wouldn't want to lessen its enjoyability for Jerusalem.
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Jan 5, 2021 01:28
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Season 2, Episode 8 - A Night to Remember Written by Robin Veith & Matthew Weiner, Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter Don Draper posted:I don't want to lose all this. Betty Draper rides her horse, putting it through its paces, all her usual elegance lost in a mad push to race away from whatever it is that is bothering her. She fails in that regard, when she finally stops, soaked in sweat and breathing hard, she doesn't look any more relaxed or at ease. She rests her head against the horse's flank, desperate for some kind of serenity/connection to come from the one thing that until now has managed to set her mind at ease and bring her a measure of peace. Returning home, she ponders the quiet of the house and steals a glance upstairs before rolling her eyes. In the bedroom she finds her perfect husband still laid out in bed in his pajamas, enjoying a long sleep in. He wakes and checks the clock, surprised at the time, asking where she has been and even joking as he asks if it is still Saturday. She's in no mood though, the woman who once doted on her husband and forgave (if she ever dared to think he NEEDED forgiveness) everything he did now just fed up with a man who hasn't done even the simplest task she asked him to. She reminds him she needs the outlet in the living room repaired, dismissing his statement that she was going to get an electrician to do that (it strikes me that HE decided she would do that, in hopes he wouldn't have to). When she points out how simple the task is, he jokes that it sounds like she could do it, but she's in no mood for his humor. Belatedly realizing this isn't going to be a pleasant morning of teasing, Don - who to be fair works all week and should be allowed an occasional Saturday sleep-in - gets serious, asking her (kindly) to join him on the bed. She does, and he reminds her that there is still a week before the party and she doesn't have to let herself get stressed out about it, and should make use of Carla's assistance to take the pressure of herself. Allowing herself to be (slightly) mollified, she reminds HIM that they are going to have a house full of people and all she is asking if that he take care of some of the things on the list that need doing. He assures her again he will, but while she thanks him and moves on, it's clear that she is no longer the kind of wife who is so easily "handled" by smooth assurance and an air of loving but paternal authority. Peggy Olson, meanwhile, has her own stress to deal with. She arrives at her sister's home, though happily for her just after her mother has left. She sits with her sister, who tells her wearily (but also with relief, because it means they're not underfoot) the boys are out back throwing rocks at the laundry. The real subject to discuss though is Anita's husband, Gerry, and his ongoing back issues. Anita has been supportive, but it is growing to be more than she wants to deal with and she is beginning to have (or at least vocalize) suspicions. Gerry told her how much he hated his job, and then a week later his back issues started. Chiropractors - whose expertise Peggy immediately dismisses - can't help, and even his workmates have stopped visiting because, she is sure, they suspect he is a "malingerer". Anita seems to type to wallow in misery, as she quickly moves on to her next complaint: their mother and her obsession with her bunions. Peggy changes the subject by passing over a library book she got out for Gerry to read, a Horatio Hornblower, though she can't help but "casually" bring up that she was right about an unseen argument/disagreement and there is only one book about Moby Dick after all. As an aside, I love little writing flourishes like that. You can just see it in your head, the polite but insistent argument from somebody who is adamant that there are a series of books about Moby Dick, and Peggy's determination to go and prove herself right that there aren't without actually making it look like what is a big deal to her was actually a big deal. It's just a wonderful combination of characterization and world-building. An unexpected visitor distracts them both from Gerry's condition, it's Father Gill who has come by unannounced purely to see how Gerry is doing. Anita, initially put out by his arrival is delighted at this thoughtfulness and insists that she will wake up Gerry in spite of Gill's protests, declaring that he will be thrilled by the visit. That unfortunately leaves Peggy and the priest alone, a slightly awkward encounter that they fill to the best of their ability with empty pleasantries. If that was that, it would be fine... but Gill can't help himself, he is a priest after all. He points out that he's noticed that while she attends Church, she seems uncomfortable and guarded. Peggy, who is already forcing herself just to show up on her precious Sundays off let alone have to pretend an interest in active engagement, insists this isn't the case. Gill though has a suggestion, pointing out there are other ways to be involved in the Church. One is to make use of her professional talents, as he notes a CYO dance is coming up soon and he's hoping to modernize the decidedly "traditional" advertising to encourage more participation. Uneasily she reminds him just how busy she is, but now that he's made the suggestion he's not going to change his mind, smiling and insisting that she can make it "pro bono" work for the Agency as if that somehow makes it any better. Anita returns to tell him Gerry is ready for him now - poor Gerry, let the man sleep - and he asks Peggy before he goes to at least think about it. He's very pleasant about it, and probably genuinely thinks he is only "asking", but just the very fact of who he is means he's put her in a rough spot: if she says no to him, she's essentially saying no to the Church, and then she has not only the community (lovely to visiting priests, an insular and gossipy hell-hole to others) to consider but her own family as well.   On Monday morning, Harry Crane has a rather worrying meeting with Duck in the latter's office, where he's informed that he's currently costing the Agency more than he is making it. To his horror, Harry learns that Tim Dunst from Maytag called to complain that one of their advertisements for an agitating washing machine was placed on a Sunday Night movie featuring a Russian spy frequently referred to as an agitator. Fighting back a terrifying urge to laugh inappropriately, Harry can only nod as Duck reminds him that a client will jump at ANY excuse not to have to pay a bill to the Agency and they can't give them those excuses. What's no laughing matter for him is the fine line he has to walk not to disabuse Duck of the notion that Harry's Television "Department" doesn't consist solely of himself. Rather than risk pointing out that he and he alone is responsible for any and all actions the Department takes, he simply declares that he "accepts" full responsibility. Duck warns him he will "gut" the Department if it doesn't shape up and Harry, knowing he's the only thing to be gutted, nods and leaves... eventually, Duck just kind of went back to work and left him standing awkwardly. Once clear of Duck's office, Harry makes a beeline for the communal table where Sal, Ken and Paul are killing time. He immediately asks if one of them would be willing to help him read TV scripts, and because none of them are dumb they ask if they'd be paid for it, and have no interest when he admits they wouldn't. He explains the problem is that there are too many scripts for him to read all by himself, complaining that his job consists of a number of responsibilities he didn't know he'd have. That amuses them, after all HE made up the job entirely. Sal points out that his belief that the job would consist of liaising with executives and studios and buying time was his OLD job, and they have little sympathy for the plight of a man who got a new job title AND a pay-rise. He shuts up as Duck leaves his office and moves past, and then considers what the hell he can do. Sal has a simple solution and Ken agrees: he needs a Junior, somebody to fall on the barbed wire so he can walk over them to safety. The trouble is, as already indicated by their refusal to read scripts with him, there is no money for a Junior. Duck has Pete Campbell join him for a meeting in Don's office to discuss Don's latest campaign idea, one that is confusing their client. It's Heineken beer, who want to push hard to be a tap beer at local taverns all across America. Don however has a different idea, and is keen for Duck - who he has accused of being too client focused in the past - to back his play: he wants to avoid the tavern market and exploit one that is ripe with potential... housewives. They're the ones who entertain in the home, and they can use Heineken's status as an imported beer to make it seem sophisticated, a product that housewives can proudly display rather than hiding the beer in cans out in the garage fridge. Unlike in the past, Duck isn't fighting Don on this idea, he's just doing his job and letting him know he's picking up resistance from the client, with a recommendation that they present more research to set Heineken's mind at ease. Don can see the benefit of this, agreeing that they can set up displays at A&P stories in the "cash belt" of Connecticut and northern New Jersey AWAY from the other beers, surrounded by other dinner party favorites. Pete has a not bad idea, saying they'll make uneven stacks of the displays so it looks like the beer is in high-demand. Duck is happy, this gives him something to take back to the client, and Don is satisfied since he's getting support from his Head of Account Services. Both men are trying their hardest to meet Roger's "request" that they bury the hatchet, and it's proving beneficial to all. As Duck leaves though he does apologize for Don have to pass on bad news to Betty. He isn't sure if he can make the Sunday dinner party after all, and Don subtly reminds him this party is really about keeping Roger Sterling happy, he was the one who felt it would be beneficial for them to socialize with Crab Colson. Pete is intrigued, who is Crab Colson? Duck explains he is with Rogers and Cowan, assuming that Pete knows enough to know the significance of this (it is a major PR Firm, and Crab is the man Don chatted with at the Country Club on Memorial Day). Duck agrees that he'll double-check the time with Jane and leaves, and Pete goes to follow him... then pauses in the doorway. He stands there for a few moments, which gets Don's attention. Don looks at him, waits for him to say something, then broadly shrugs to indicate that he's waiting for a reason why Pete is just standing there. Pete quickly makes his exit, Don forgets all about him and goes back to work. But why did Pete pause? I think for one of two reasons, either because he was trying to work up the courage to ask Don if he and Trudy could come on Sunday if Duck couldn't make it (or even if he could).... or perhaps because he was hoping Don would actually invite him unprompted? The latter is perhaps more arrogant than even Pete could be, but I do think he was hopeful/expectant of being invited even in spite of he and Don's extremely rough history. This seems like the kind of "snub" that Pete would resent and seethe over, furious he wasn't invited to a dinner he had no reasonable expectations of being invited to, and didn't even know existed except by pure chance due to an overheard passing remark.   At the Draper household, Sally and Bobby are on the couch watching television while Betty surveys the dining room as she preps for the Sunday dinner. She goes to move one of the chairs and notices it is slightly uneven. Frowning, she rocks it slightly, perhaps hoping to jostle the offending leg back into place. Then she lifts the chair and bangs it against the floor, perhaps hoping to force the offending leg back into place. Then she begins banging it against the floor, no longer thinking at all, the children turning to stare in confusion as she bangs the chair hard enough that the leg splinters and breaks free from the rest of the chair. She pauses for a second, frustrated but also a little satisfied by hurting the thing in her life that didn't do what she wanted. Then she seems to grasp that she's ruined a chair, but more from the sense that it is yet another thing that has caused her issues ahead of the dinner party. She gathers up the remains of the chair, which break apart further as she does, then carries them silently out of the house. Bobby and Sally's heads swivel on their necks as they track their mother and her strange behavior out of the house. It's telling that they say nothing, only watch - sadly it seems they're not entirely unused to odd behavior from their parents, and have learned not to draw attention to themselves when it happens. Their mother did once walk outside and start shooting at the neighbor's pigeons, after all. Harry is at his desk writing when his secretary informs him to his shock that Roger Sterling is here to see him. He leaps to his feet as Warren McKenna quickly hides he was leafing through a Sports Illustrated, checking his tie and jacket as Roger makes his entrance. It seems Harry has made a request via Mitch (I don't believe we've ever seen Mitch, only had him referenced) to expand the Television Department, and Roger wants to know why. Harry explains they need a dedicated person to read the scripts and handle meetings, while Harry himself should be focused on being the face of the Department for clients and the networks. Roger disagrees, not in a particularly good mood especially after realizing that Harry doesn't have any cigarettes he can bum, saying that Mitch thinks he is trying to get out of work and there's no money to pay anybody in any case. Harry tries to argue that they'll save money by avoiding unpleasant surprises, but Roger hits him with that age-old management chestnut, telling him to figure out a way to do twice the work at the same cost: he has to find a way to make it work with his current resources. With that he leaves, Harry left with nothing but an angry warning to Warren not to repeat any of this to Mitch. In Peggy's office, she takes a phone-call and is surprised to hear Father Gill on the other end. He doesn't recognize her voice, assuming she is a secretary, and rather than correct him Peggy just takes a moment, slightly changes up her voice and then answers as herself, pretending without actively lying that she does have a secretary - despite their differences, like her family she isn't adverse to making herself look good for the Church. It turns out she did produce some work for the CYO dance after all, a flier showing boys and girls dancing with the text,"A NIGHT to REMEMBER" prominent. Father Gill though, is just like any other client, he wants to make changes. The most straightforward is that he'd like it as a poster, but his choice of phrasing "whatever this is" triggers Peggy's suspicions: what does he mean by that? Careful not to offer an opinion of his own, Gill explains that the CYO Committee are unsure about the "A NIGHT to REMEMBER" tagline in case it sends the "wrong" message. Peggy, not enjoying having her professional work questioned, complains that it's wholesome and also something designed to attract the girls to the dance, which is the only way they'll also get boys there too. Gill isn't disputing that she knows what she is talking about, but he also wants to soothe the committee, asking her to come and speak to them so they at least feel part of the process. Peggy agrees out of obligation, but she doesn't like it. She's just had her first experience with "Accounts" not backing her over a client, and like Don Draper she doesn't like it.   Harry is watching an ad in his office when Joan comes in to ask him what he needs. Surprised, he turns off the television and asks her to repeat, and she tells him Roger sent her a memo asking for a girl to help Harry with his workload. Harry sighs, explaining this isn't exactly what he was after, he needs somebody to run through the scripts he has to make sure there are no nasty surprises for any of their clients. Warren returns to the office and gapes to see Joan there, stammering to speak to her as she politely dismisses him, she's more intrigued by Harry's job. He sighs and says that he's just hoping to get home at a reasonable hour to see his pregnant wife, and explains further what the job entails: look out for scenes in the scripts that would reflect badly on clients, like kids hating dinner right before an ad for a TV dinner company etc. Joan admits that it all sounds fascinating and Harry agrees that it is... at first. In any case, Joan collects up his scripts and promises she'll find him somebody to do the work, though she warns they are already stretched thin in terms of duties. She leaves and Warren sighs, asking why he can't do that. Harry is confused, Warren already has a job, but Warren corrects him: he meant why can't he talk to "so much woman" like Joan? His doomed pining doesn't interest Harry though, who happily collects up his things and makes his exit, free to actually go home at a reasonable hour for once. The night of the dinner party arrives, a charming reminder of a now bygone era where dinner with the Boss was a big deal but not an impossibility, and entertaining in your own suburban home wasn't just unusual but expected. Roger and Mona Sterling join Crab and Petra Colson as guests, though there is no sign of Duck yet. They sit in the living room, watching charmed as little Sally Draper performs her ballet for them as her own treat before being sent to bed with Bobby, who is sitting in pajamas on his father's knee. Betty is satisfied as she surveys the dining room, Carla there to provide support as Don promised. She joins the guests in the living room as Crab and Roger lament their own daughters being too old to dance with their fathers anymore. Don offers to replace drinks, Petra just a little too eager to get a top-up, while Duck finally arrives, though sans a +1, claiming that his date cancelled. He's brought flowers which she appreciates, though she can't help a couple of passive aggressive comments about how the numbers are now uneven and she could have found him a date if he'd told her. Don greets Duck and introduces the children, Bobby too shy to respond to Duck's questions, which they all find charming. Betty shepherds the kids up the stairs, while Duck explains his tardiness to Don by saying he was trying to find a replacement date of his own. I get the sense this is bullshit, that Duck hasn't been dating at all since the separation (and now divorce) from his wife, and is either incapable of getting or doesn't desire another partner... at least not at this time. I have nothing to back that up beyond his obvious dismay at learning his ex-wife was remarrying, just a sense I get. Don assures him that nobody cares, though Duck isn't quite so sure, pointing out his own wife hated odd numbers at parties. He's led into the dining room where he is introduced to the Colsons, Roger taking some pleasure out of the fact Duck and Crab have animal-themed names. Don offers Duck a drink and he happily asks for tomato juice, and when a clearly already tipsy Petra insists he have something harder he skillfully bypasses an awkward conversation by suggesting he might have "something" during dinner. The assumption is that Duck managed to maintain his sobriety even after abandoning his dog, but his is a career that puts him often into the position of having to invent excuses for not drinking, and it's a dangerous line to be walking. But some things never change, and rich people talking about the difficulties of being rich is one of those things. Conversation turns to owning boats, and the terrible inconvenience of having to pay for all the things that come with it. Roger doesn't mind that stuff though, he just wants a boat. Crab asks a bemused Don, still not entirely used to the upper echelon of "society" he has found himself in, if he and Betty are gonna join the County Club. Luckily he's rescued from an answer by Betty returning to announce that it is time for dinner itself, inviting them into the dining room. Duck smoothly engages Crab in conversation, buttering him up for his coveted position at Rogers and Cowan, while Petra manages to walk directly into the door frame thanks to her inebriated state. She and Mona laugh it off and Don and Roger find her clear alcohol problem amusing, more interested in being impressed by Duck being "whatever you need him to be" at any given time. In the dining room, a proud Betty explains the theme of the evening: a trip around the world. Gazpacho soup from Spain, Rumaki from Japan, and a leg of lamb with mint jelly from Duchess County with egg noodles from Germany. Don beams happily as Crab offers him an impressed look. However it is Duck who is most impressed by the drinks choice, though his admiration is openly expressed towards Don. Why? Because alongside the Burgundy from France are frosted glasses of beer from Holland: Heineken. Delighted, Duck declares that Don put Betty up to this, and a pleased Don insists that he gave her no coaxing. Betty is confused and unsure, understanding there is some shared joke here she is not part of. She likes it even less when Don laughs that he's not even allowed to choose where he sits, and Roger and Duck explain to Crab (not Betty) that Don had insisted to them that housewives like Betty were the target market for Heineken, which is one of their clients. Betty forces a smile and agrees that seems like a "fun" experiment, and then Petra asks, through a forced smile of her own, if she can please sit now. It's taking all she has to stay on her feet, and she clearly already needs some more booze, so they quickly take their seats, Betty back into gracious host mode as she pours wine for those who want it. Don and Roger have their own drinks, while Duck has carefully made sure to keep his glass full of water. When Betty is done, Duck holds her seat for her, and then they all share a toast to old friends and new, a gesture appreciated by the Colsons (Petra appreciates the wine more). But once everybody tucks happily into their meals, Betty is left sitting at the head of the table, what should be her moment of triumph undercut by the horrible sense that she's been made to look a fool.  Peggy is spending her Sunday evening with the ignominious task of having to defend the FREE work she did to the CYO Committee, explaining that "A NIGHT to REMEMBER" is the promise of the kind of wholesome hand-holding that eventually leads to marriage. Gill supports her take on things, but the committee members - two far older woman and one silent older man - of course have any number of little nitpicks, not least of which is the fact that the boys and girls in the graphic are dancing too close together! Also she's only advertising for girls, and they don't think the boys will hear about it since they don't go to school with the girls. Striving her best to maintain her calm, Peggy points out that the boys and girls DO go Church together, and CYO dances are a tradition of being boy/girl events so they'll already know what they are. Father Gill does offer some support to Peggy, but he's also quick to agree to the ideas of the two women, suggesting that Peggy put space between the dancers, come up with a new slogan for girls AND boys etc. Peggy of course grits and bears it, promising to do her best to redo the FREE work she's doing purely on a voluntary basis. Gill was right though that the women are satisfied to have been heard, and now they have been they're happy to go while Peggy is left to do all the work. She asks to speak to Gill for a moment, one of the women saying she also wanted that opportunity. Sensing that Peggy's need is the more urgent, Gill promises the committee woman he'll speak to her tomorrow, and ushers them out. Now that they're alone, Peggy takes the opportunity to, if not lash out, at least Gill a small piece of her mind. She's thinking of him in this moment not as a priest but an Account Executive, and he's failed in his job to make the client understand that she as Creative knows better than they do what will work to achieve the goals THEY want. He tries to fence-sit, insisting that they had some good points but that her work was also solid. Having vented somewhat, she calms a little and belatedly remembers he's a priest and not somebody she should really be haranguing. She admits that she can turn the work around to be more in line with the committee's wishes, and assures him she was able to get clearance from Sterling Cooper to make use of the copy machine for the Church. Father Gill escorts her out, promising her that next time they will both be better prepared to handle the committee, and thanks her genuinely for assisting him in all this. She takes that in the spirit it is intended, and though she's not fully satisfied with how things have been left, she at least knows she has been heard. At Joan's, she's settled in on the couch reading scripts, having taken them home to read herself - it seems the girl she found was herself. Her fiance returns home with Chinese takeout, surprised to see she hasn't set the table. She leaves her scripts behind and collects plates, happily gushing over being in-the-know about what will happen on As The World Turns, asking him as a doctor if it is ridiculous for somebody to come out of a coma with a new accent. He laughs that it is unlikely but agrees it might have happened once, which makes for a good story. As they begin their dinner, he asks why she is bothering with work, reminding her that once they're married and he has finished his training, she can look forward to quitting work and settling in to a life of ease as a housewife. She doesn't argue the point, far too accomplished at massaging the egos of men to get what she wants, simply states that reading the scripts is "a hoot". He notes that this is "all right" and she allows herself a little of that toughness she exhibits at work to shine through, making him grin as she quips that she is glad he approves. He reminds her that she didn't get him the glass of water she offered and she is surprised, she had completely forgotten. She heads into the kitchen as he continues to eat, the two seemingly on the same page... and they probably are, it's just that her fiance doesn't yet realize that HER page is the one he is going to end up on. At the Draper Residence the dinner is over, and it was a rousing success for everybody except for Betty Draper. She sends Carla home, saying they'll clean it all up the next morning (though Carla insists on cleaning off the plates with jam so it doesn't set). What she really wants is to be alone with Don, who is casually laid out on the couch still drinking and watching TV, making not the slightest suggestion that he might help clean up. Carla says her goodbyes, congratulates Betty on the success and leaves... and now Betty can confront her husband. Turning off the television, she accuses him of embarrassing her. For a second his eyes dart about, as he considers and discards a multitude of bad things he HAS done that she might be referencing. Instead he wisely retreats into confusion, asking what he did, not letting her repeated statement that he embarrassed her draw him into admitting anything she might not know. To his great relief, she explains, and it's something he finds baffling: she's mad that he knew her well enough to guess that she would buy the Heineken? He reminds her that he uses aspects of their lives constantly in his work, it's why they pay him (and handsomely) and this is no different. She continues to insist though, he humiliated her by her exclusion from the group, it was a joke that everybody but her was in on. That it wasn't intentional on his part, that there is no actual "joke" or even humiliation is beside the point, she feels marginalized and looked down upon, and he is the one who made her feel that way. Don insists that there is nothing wrong, that nobody was laughing at her, trying to point her instead to the fact Petra Colson got so drunk she actually failed to hit her chair when sitting down. She won't have her feelings set aside though, and even flinches away when he tries to reach out to reassure her. She demands to know why he insists on humiliating her, baffling him further because of course he doesn't think he does, and he doesn't grasp that this is about how she feels rather than any objective truth, that it is about a symptom of something deeper wrong with their marriage than the surface level conduit she has found to express it. Of course, in true Don Draper fashion, he retreats into a position of authority, furthering her sense of being looked down upon with his stern warning that he can't talk to her when she is "like this". He tries to walk away, and finally it all comes blurting out, something she may not even have been aware of on a conscious level as she just opens her mouth and the words come tumbling out... she knows he is having an affair.  
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 00:56 on Jan 6, 2021 |
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Jan 5, 2021 17:26
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He stands in shock, and then he gets angry. Not shouting angry, not threatening (though when he steps towards her she cringes for a moment), just quiet and disgusted, retreating behind a shield of false resentment (or perhaps real, maybe he legitimately feels pissed that his bullshit has been called out?) as he tries to turn her accusations around. When she names Bobbie Barrett (and in her misery can't help but point out how "old" Bobbie is) and reveals that Jimmy is the one who told her, he tries to puncture holes in her argument not with reasoned responses but declarations that anything Jimmy says has no merit. But he also constantly drills HER for information, looking for a structure upon which to hang a defense: what does she "think" she knows? What was she told? What did Jimmy say? What does she think happened. Betty is smart enough to know he's really looking for her to say something so he can twist her words, understanding that he's smart with words in a way she isn't (not smarter than her, just in this specific framework) and will try to use that against her. Against him she uses her emotions, her intuition, reminding him that while he may know her well enough to know she'll pick out Heineken, she knows the TYPE of man he is, which is exactly the type who would have an affair with somebody like Bobbie Barrett. Purely because he can't help himself, it's who he is and she knows it... and she wants him to admit it. He won't though, and since he can't get any more from her and she won't accept his dismissal of Jimmy, nor rise to the bait of him trying to make this about Jimmy having a thing for her, he simply declares with his waning authority as the pater familias that he's going to bed. He strides up the stairs, leaving her behind. She's miserable, but on some level it must be an enormous relief. Her blowing up about the Heineken was a complete overreaction, but it was because she had something far more serious lurking below the surface looking for an outlet. Now she has excised the poison to some extent, verbalized what has been eating away at her ever since that night at the Stork Club. What happens after this is anybody's guess, but she is no longer suffering in silence. Don lies in bed, not sleeping, as the night ticks on. Betty opens the door and looks in on him, but she doesn't enter the room. Instead she goes to her children's bedroom, clambering into bed with Sally still wearing the dress from her wildly successful dinner party. She's still wearing it the next morning when she eats at the breakfast table with Sally and Bobby as they eat. Don comes down clean and well-dressed, all smooth confidence as he greets his children who tell him that mommy said the party was fun. "Did she?" he says, taking a chomp of Sally's toast and casting a look Betty's way, but she doesn't grace him with a response, just stares away at nothing as she smokes her cigarette. So he simply shrugs and leaves, trying to pretend that everything is still perfectly normal and she hasn't just exposed his infidelity directly to his face the night before. Harry meets with two representatives from Maytag: Mr. Pastern and Mr. Kostis. They stand in the lobby chatting amicably about Jennifer's pregnancy, and are joined by Joan who is carrying the scripts with her. They're very pleased to see her for obvious reasons, but even more so when they realize she is the person they've spoken with on the phone about scripts and advertising recently. Harry introduces her as running "Broadcast Operations" and they tell her they're eager to hear her thoughts on next week's scripts. She continues on her way and they congratulate Harry on newly streamlined and more efficient operation he now has running at Sterling Cooper. It seems this encounter is the end of a longer meeting already held, as they make their exits, leaving behind a very satisfied Harry who is finally getting to enjoy his new position. At home, Betty enters the closet and begins hunting through Don's coat pockets, looking for something, ANYTHING to present as hard evidence to go with Jimmy's accusations and her own belief. But there's nothing, not even the lingering smell of another woman's perfume. She tries his study desk next, rifling through the draws and finding nothing but old scribbled notes for prior campaigns, and touchingly the Valentines card that Sally made for him. At Sterling Cooper, Pete brings two Heineken Executives - Phil and Francis - to meet with Don and Duck in Don's office. They all settle down, and unlike in the past Pete and Duck are completely focused and in-line with Don's idea, truly hammering home to the still wary Heineken men about his push to target housewives and home drinking over the bar scene. Don, distracted by issues at home, is still on point himself, admitting their sample sizes were small but they saw strong sales in their targeted stores and end-of-aisle displays. It's Duck who presses harder, going somewhere Don was wary about as he waxes lyrical about Betty - a real peach of a gal! - and her perfect dinner party. He stresses that she was the perfect hostess, the perfect wife, and SHE chose Heineken, she saw the appeal in an exotic beverage. They're intrigued, especially when Duck raises the idea of using her international menu verbatim in select women's magazines, which will of course include Heineken. That is a market they have NEVER been in, and while Don had to internally cringe at being reminded that Betty is a perfect wife, he jumps on their excitement, reminding them that THEY can set the standards that the competition will have to meet for a currently untapped market. They agree to include this campaign idea in how they promote Heineken, though they're smart enough to point out they'll not only begin regional but will need to see how some strangers' wives react to these displays before they commit to anything more wide-ranging. Don allows a tight smile at the joke, while Duck and Pete are thrilled. Don's pleasure is tainted though, especially considering one of the executives went so far as to declare that Don obviously knows his wife well. As he has been reminded, he doesn't know her anywhere near as well as he thinks. Meanwhile Harry and Joan are meeting with two executives from a suntan lotion company to discuss ad placement. Harry is pitching Love of Life, explaining as a man what women like to fantasize about. Joan speaks up, careful to stress that she hasn't spoken to Mr. Crane (not Harry when she is speaking in an official capacity) about this, saying that she thinks As The World Turns might be the stronger bet. First she speaks with the enthusiasm of a TV watcher, but then she gets more into the business side of things, explaining the soap is starting a special Summertime Special AND that she's already spoken with Logan Reynolds from CBS who assured her the show is going to be heavily promoted during this time. That means a lot of eyes on the product, which will mean a lot of eyes on an advertising they place. Harry, to his credit, jumps on the opportunity Joan has afforded him, agreeing that the price is close enough not to be a huge difference, plus if they can lock them in now on rates, if they go up when viewership increases then they'll be getting an even bigger bargain. They agree happily, shaking hands and admitting that they were happy to have the meeting in person because they love what Joan says and especially the way she says it. She takes the "compliment" happily enough, after all she just locked them in to more purchasing which is going to make everybody happy.   An exhausted Betty Draper has fallen asleep on her bed with a pile of Don's clothes at her feet. She's woken by a confused Sally who wants to know if she is okay. She says she is fine and declines an offer of aspirin - Sally probably assumes she has a hangover, even if she doesn't specifically know what a hangover is - promising that she just needs some rest. She sends Sally downstairs to play with Bobby and tries to get out of bed, but ends up standing on a discarded wineglass... presumably she has been day drinking as well? She grunts at the sound and a sharp burst of pain, and peers numbly at the blood on her foot where she has cut herself, too detached to be upset or even all that concerned. Harry enters Roger's office as he is packing to leave for the day, Roger sarcastically remarking about the fact Harry was able to "fit" him in. Confused, Harry reminds him that Roger was the one who set a 4:30 meeting time, and Roger - who was in fact packing to leave - is surprised to realize it really is only 4:30. Presumably he thought the working day was done, but then again that is the benefit of being the Boss. The reason for the meeting was happily a good one, he's received unsolicited calls from happy clients who are pleased with how the Television Department has been running for the last week. Accounting is also pleased, money is coming in thanks to the increased efficiency of how and what is being pitched to their clients. Harry, once again to his credit, admits that he isn't doing it all alone, and Roger nods and agrees that it is about time the secretaries got back to their original jobs. Harry explains it's actually all been one woman, Joan Holloway. Roger takes this onboard and points out that this means her attention as Office Manager is divided, and makes the executive decision to find money he claimed earlier they were stretched to find. Harry can have that extra employee he wanted, they'll be making $150 a week (nearly 5 times what Peggy was making when she started) and have to share an office. Harry, walking towards the door alongside Roger, happily agreed to this unexpected gift... then belatedly realizes Roger is waiting for him to open the door for him. He does so and exits the office with him, an unconscious(?) reminder from Roger just who the Boss is. Don returns home, but nobody greets him. No loving wife, no adoring children. He heads upstairs and find Betty - still in her party dress - sitting in the dark on the bed in front of a pile of his clothes. She mumbles that the kids are in bed when he asks, and explains what is happening with his clothes... nothing. She went through all his pockets and drawers and she found nothing, no sign of infidelity, no love letters or smell of perfume or other sign that he has been cheating on her. He tries to tell her to stop, but she means to have this out. The lack of proof proved nothing, she admits that she should have known better than to look, implying that he would be too careful about hiding evidence. She turns and stares at him, a haunting look from a devastated woman. He once accused her of being like a little girl, but she is the one who is trying to talk to him from the heart while he engages in schoolboy-level denial tactics. Honestly, poignantly she tells him that she would never do something like this to him, and asks him why he is doing it to her. Refusing to admit wrongdoing, to even acknowledge her accusation or give it any credence, relying foolishly on a lack of evidence as a way out of this mess, he insists coldly that he did nothing. He glares at her, as if his contempt for her accusations could make them go away, as if years of cheating on her and trivializing her would not leave a mark on her even if she never found any direct evidence of his infidelity. He marches out of the room and leaves her to her misery in the room that is supposed to be their sanctuary, a shared space of security and comfort for them both. He sleeps on the couch, woken before dawn by Betty who has at last changed and showered, sitting in a bathrobe with wet hair beside the couch. She tells him she doesn't want their marriage to be like this, and he reaches for this apparent olive branch, telling her that he doesn't want it either. He reaches out to touch her knee when she says she doesn't know what to do, but it is a miscalculation. She doesn't want him to comfort her, she wants to deal with the actual problem, and it is still something he can't do, because to do so he would not only have to admit fault but admit that anything happened at all. Now he isn't full of contempt or disgust, he's the caring husband who looks her in the eye and promises that nothing happened. But this too was a miscalculation, as she comments about this direct eye contact, claiming that it is something he never does. He never truly looks her in the eye, and doing so now feels artificial, calculated, just another one of his carefully considered pitches to get what he wants. He's horrified when she points out that he never tells her he loves her, that he never tells the children he loves them. He insists this isn't true, that he does love her, saying it out loud now which is of course too late and lacks the spontaneity and depth of feeling she actually means/desires. But when he says,"I don't want to lose all this" it comes across as far more genuine, because at his heart this is probably the most genuine express of a real emotion he has given her. Because he doesn't want to lose all this, but like she said earlier he can't help himself: he's only scared now because he may face consequences for his actions, but that fear didn't stop him in the slightest from pursuing what he wanted in an extra-marital sense. She stands up and walks away, leaving him alone and as confused as ever as to what he can possibly do to "fix" this, seemingly never once considering that actually telling the truth or at least treating his partner as an equal might be the key. Or that this isn't something that is "fixed" but instead actually, legitimately, properly dealt with by the two of them like two adults.   At a far more reasonable hour, Father Gill meets with Peggy at Sterling Cooper. As she leads him to her office (which of course doubles as the photocopy room), Ken and Pete watch them go, unable to resist poking fun at the fact Peggy is an "undercover nun". I guess her night out with the boys at the strip club was a one-off, because she seems to be fully back into regular Peggy mode since then. Joan comes to Harry's office where he is laughing happily at a story being told to him about a drunken night out by a stranger. He introduces her to the man, he's Danny Lindstrom, and he is going to be the new person running Broadcast Operations. Joan's self-control her is extraordinary, after only the briefest of pauses she recovers from this bombshell and offers not the slightest protest or alarm at having her new role unceremoniously taken from her. She doesn't blink at being asked to explain the role to the man now getting paid to do what she was doing for free. Apart from one brief halt in her explanation of the tasks, she maintains her composure and lays everything out as professionally as could be. Harry thanks her for her hard work but then simply goes back to sipping his coffee with satisfaction, Danny pleased to have Joan around to help him out with the details as he gets caught up with how everything works. Joan takes that all in and leaves, never once betraying how hurt she is. She never wanted Peggy's job, she was always satisfied with her status as the Office Manager... but she found something in this role that spoke to her. It was a job she loved and one she was exceptionally good at. The monstrous unfairness of it all, the simple ease with which it was taken away, the complete lack of thought for how she might react, the indignity of being replaced by a young nobody who doesn't actually know anything about the job but gets his own (shared) office and a weekly paycheck. But she is a professional, long since practiced at keeping her poker face, of stopping her emotions from getting the best of her. Which doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. Far from it. She just won't ever let anybody see it. Father Gill waits for the fliers to finish printing, his presence enough to keep wary secretaries from popping in to do their own copies or use the noticeboard. Victor Manning's name is no longer on the door with Peggy's, now it says "Xerox Machine" under her name, presumably Victor was fired or, less likely, moved to another office. Peggy does paperwork as Father Gill waits, but he can't help himself as he fills time for the copying to complete. Taking a seat beside her desk, he asks if she wants to share anything, admitting that he's noticed she doesn't take Communion and wondering if it indicates she has something she needs to talk about. Decidedly uncomfortable with this but trapped by not only their positions but his status, she tries to insist there is nothing to say but he keeps pushing. Why is pushing everyone away? Why does she hold herself apart? Doesn't she realize there is no sin too great for God to forgive etc? Forced to remain civil, to hold back her resentment at him bringing this into not just her workplace but her very office, she can only smile and finally offer that she feels it isn't something he would understand. Gill, of course, believes that whether he is a flawed instrument of God or not, the message can still be passed through him to God. His insistence comes from a far less divine source though. Though he can never admit it due to the sanctity of the Confessional Booth, he knows about her pregnancy out of wedlock. To him, Peggy is somebody who needs saving, and he means it when he calls her a beautiful, intelligent woman with so much to offer... it's just that this comes with the caveat that she can't realize this (or be allowed to realize it) without admitting to a "sin". He is coming at it from a well-intentioned place, but in the process he's deeply upsetting a woman who simply wants to be allowed to live her life and do not only what she does well but what she enjoys. With that said, though, something does hit home hard with her when he asks if she feels she doesn't deserve God's love. Mercifully, the Xerox finally silences in this moment, a welcome distraction and excuse to get rid of him as she is able to leave her desk, collect his fliers and box them up for him to take away... and leave her alone at last. He thanks her for all the hard work she has done on their behalf, and she assures him she will be in Church on Sunday. With that he's gone, and she can breathe easy again... for now. Does she believe herself, at some level, unworthy of God's love? Perhaps, but perhaps only because the people closest to her keep insisting that she has done something wrong. Father Gill may come at this with a genuine desire to help, but doesn't he only believe there is something wrong with her because of his privileged information? Before Anita told him about Peggy's pregnancy, he didn't appear to have the slightest inkling that there was anything "wrong" with her. Now that he does know, every action she takes or doesn't take is suddenly ripe with meaning to fit into the facts he already has. All the while, Peggy is being bombarded with endless messages that she is wrong, that there is something wrong with her, something that needs to be fixed. It must be exhausting, and now it is even intruding into her work life.  Betty is preparing dinner at home as Sally and Bobby play in the living room. She joins them, settling down to read a magazine. She seems more herself, more collected and even somewhat in a good mood... until an advertisement for Utz potato chips comes on the television. There he is, Jimmy Barrett grinning as he informs her that he isn't crazy before burying his face into a bag of potato chips. She stares at the screen, all her deep seated frustration and the firm conviction in Don's infidelity with Bobbie coming to the surface once more. At Sterling Cooper, a thrilled Duck is telling Don about how they're instituting Heineken displays at chain stores on the East Coast plus Chicago and Cleveland. Heineken have really come onboard with this trial, and Duck sees it as a vote of confidence in the Agency... and of course in Don Draper. Don, packing to head home, is pleased to hear it of course, but quickly gets Duck out of the office when Jane informs him that Mrs. Draper is calling. Duck smiles and tells him to thank her again for him, then leaves. Don answers, perhaps hopeful of a reconciliation, perhaps fearful of another argument. What he gets instead is a short, sharp and shocking command from his wife: don't come home. He tries to talk but she cuts him off, she doesn't care where he goes but it can't be there, she doesn't want to see him. With that she hangs up, and with satisfaction and purpose continues to go about her business preparing dinner for her and the children. Just not for Don Draper, the husband whose affection and approval she once constantly craved. At her own home, Joan prepares for bed, idly rubbing a red indent left on her skin by a bra strap. There's nothing else for her to do, without the work she brought home, she's seeing an early preview of the life her fiance wants for her when they are married and his training is complete: sitting around the house doing nothing. Peggy sits in a bath, alone at last but far from happy. Father Gill's words continue to pinball throughout her brain, yet another front in the attack on her for daring to want to be her own person. Father Gill himself undresses in his small bedroom at the Church, settling down for the evening to play guitar, singing for the Lord to help him find the way to the Promised Land. The lyrics speak of a person weighed down by burdens who seeks comfort and aid from God. They're lovely lyrics, and Gill sings them with genuine pleasure... but they are still being sung by a man who, though he probably has his own stresses and worries, also occupies a position of some privilege and prestige. Peggy, Betty, Joan, all could more easily speak of the burdens they suffer. They could use helping hands too, but all find those best placed to offer them only adding to their woes. For Betty it is her philandering husband. For Joan it is Harry offering her the briefest look into a life of professional fulfillment and then casually removing it, and for Peggy the promise of God's love comes with the caveat that she must first partake of the structures and mindset that the Church and her family insist on her. And what of Don Draper? His burden is entirely of his own making. At the height of his career, his professional powers never more finely honed, his silver tongue has failed him completely against of all people the wife he once infantilized. Alone at night in the now empty offices of Sterling Cooper, he collects a Heineken from the staff fridge and sits alone at the break room table. Far from the image of international sophistication, he drinks by himself, a lonely man bereft of his family once more, and once more entirely by his own doing. Does he regret his actions? Does he ponder the folly of his ways? Or does he simply sit and brood over the "unfairness" of his wife for treating him this way? Does he begrudge her for not quietly accepting or ignoring his infidelity? Does he still think he can stonewall her and deny long enough that she accepts the lack of evidence and believes his bullshit denial? We don't know, because Don Draper rarely shares what he is truly thinking or feeling. Not with his wife, not with his colleagues, not with us the viewer, not with a God he probably doesn't believe in. Hell, often he doesn't even share it with himself. He has created an image of himself that he projects to the world, that he projects to himself, and he can't accept or admit to his failures as a man and a husband because then the whole thing comes tumbling down. That it is doing so anyway doesn't occur to him, or he refuses to accept it has. Better to live in denial than accept the truth. For all his accomplishments, for all his perfectly crafted image, Jimmy Barrett may have been right: maybe he really is garbage, and maybe on some level he really does know it.  Episode Index
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Jan 5, 2021 17:26
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I wish I had a lounge with a hearth, a comfy lounge chair and an old-timey record player so I could achieve the feng shui to fully immerse myself in a Jerusalem mad men post
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Jan 5, 2021 17:36
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Betty feeling belittled by the Heineken stunt felt overstated to me when I first saw it (as a single man) and felt completely justified upon rewatch (married with a kid). What a lovely thing to not give your wife a heads up on. I understand proving a point, but let her in on it before actually revealing it at dinner.
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Jan 5, 2021 18:40
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Woo! The train is rolling on! A little detail I like from this one: When Betty is going through Don's things for evidence of his infidelity, she finds a Yahtzee score sheet with the words, "What do women want? Any excuse to get closer." This is from the second episode of season 1, Ladies Room. He comes up with that tagline while in Midge's bed. The line fits the situation perfectly, and I love the irony of Betty not realizing that it's the most incriminating thing she'll find all day. it with Francine and Carlton sometimes, but it doesn't seem like Betty's type of game either. She's from a well-off family and probably prefers the classic card games. January Jones is really good in this episode. The scene where she confronts Don just hit me so hard the first time. I felt like we were seeing something new from Betty, and the scene is extremely intense despite not being very long and without the characters shouting at each other. I also love the chair breaking scene. It's such a unique and memorable moment. Don's attempt at gaslighting Betty when she wakes him up on the couch in the middle of the night is somehow both creepy and feeble. His tone and expression are so unnatural as he tries to will her into believing he says he loves her all the time. I think it shows how much Don relies on his image of perfection. He can turn people's minds inside out in the pitch room, but here he is lying prone on a couch and facing a person who knows he's a liar, and his magic utterly vanishes. It's so easy for Betty to brush it aside. And yet, there's no doubt he was trying to reach into her mind and fill it with ideas that aren't true. Just the attempt is unsettling.
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Jan 5, 2021 18:47
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quote:At home, Betty enters the closet and begins hunting through Don's coat pockets, looking for something, ANYTHING to present as hard evidence to go with Jimmy's accusations and her own belief. But there's nothing, not even the lingering smell of another woman's perfume. She tries his study desk next, rifling through the draws and finding nothing but old scribbled notes for prior campaigns, and touchingly the Valentines card that Sally made for him.  Closer to the truth, perhaps. efb, drat you yoshi! But I do agree re: jones' performance in this episode. It's easy to dismiss her in season 1 with how understated her character is, and maybe it's Jones getting more used to the character over time, but I think her performance in this season and especially this episode should dispel any notion that she isn't a good actor. She is a good actor, and she's playing an initially thankless role that requires hours and hours of build-up and deconstruction. The Klowner fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Jan 5, 2021 |
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Jan 5, 2021 18:58
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Yeah, she's good. In season 1, Betty is trying hard to be the perfect housewife she was trained to be by her mother, and she's grieving her dead mother and not processing it well, in part because her husband won't allow her to grieve. It's a good story, dramatically, but her character has very little agency is season 1. That's partly what her story in that season is about. But we see hints in season 1 that the meek and polite exterior is a facade that is bound to crack sooner or later. That scene in Shoot where she fires at the pigeons is a watershed moment for her. Her mother certainly never trained her to do THAT. Thinking about the dinner party a little more reminded me of the scene at the end of The Benefactor (S2:E3) where Betty starts crying in the car on the ride home from their successful dinner at Lutece (business-wise). Don says she should tell him what she's thinking about now instead of waiting until he's gone to sleep, and she says she wanted to be part of his life like this, and they make a great team. The dinner party in A Night to Remember is another situation where Betty can help him in his career. If Betty charms the Colsons, that may help Sterling Cooper. But Don kind of treats her like a prop with the Heineken thing. I believe he doesn't really mean to, but he does. And truthfully, he used her as something of a prop in The Benefactor as well. Bobbie told him that Jimmy would like thinking he has a shot with Don's wife/girlfriend, and then Don arranged a dinner with the wives and instructed Betty to charm Jimmy. She wants to be treated like an equal, and he simply isn't doing that. He treats her more like an exquisitely beautiful ornament.
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Jan 5, 2021 19:35
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Heineken: "Brand integration with your series is seamless. We'd love to do a product placement spot that could make Heineken a memorable entry in the Sterling-Cooper portfolio." Mad Men: "Just remember: You asked for this."
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Jan 5, 2021 20:04
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I think its clear over the first 2 seasons of Mad Men that Don's most honed pitch is himself. He doesn't have any roots, or any family, or any past, but what he has is the same thing underlying his every client meeting, every interaction at work, even his paternal aloofness at home, he's better than all of this, because Don only looks to the future. I've said Don is America, and this aspect of himself is especially so, in the space age 60s where Americans can look up to the Moon and not at the bloodied earth under their feet. This is a recipe for psychological disaster. For a sociopathic psychosis that tears away at cohesion and relationships. Eternal optimism cut off from reality leads to an eternal hunger for more and just out of reach happiness. Don is never happy (or only for brief, brief moments, mostly when he engages with his children, or engages with his coworkers in the pure art of craft and ideas). Most of the time Don is so devoted to the idea of looking like a great person, better than everything around him, the things that actually make him act are always a mystery to himself. He doesn't engage with his shadow self, or his unconscious desires that make him clutch at anything that pushes away the idea of death or decline for himself (America), he's separated himself from the hard work of growing and appreciating the things that give him comfort, the mundane realities of family, of socializing with peers on equal terms, of putting in stakes and attempting to be content. Don would so benefit from good psychological advice, from a specialist. But he's inured, so powerful, so rich, and so lauded, he wouldn't even deign to do anything of the sort. Its a shame, kinda.
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Jan 5, 2021 23:09
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I've heard historians call the postwar period of 1950-1970 "the American Victorian period," or "the American Belle Époque." Which makes a kind of sense to me, based on Mad Men. It's a period marked by a very specific kind of decadent superficiality, by intense consumption and wealth signaling, and a blind optimism for the future. It was America at the height of its national hubris, so fully convinced of its own socioeconomic and cultural power that it thought the trend would continue forever. Don Draper is kind of a perfect encapsulation of that thought. He's this dressed-up fiction that's completely broken inside, but he thinks if he keeps moving forward and keeps succeeding and keeps throwing alcohol and money and sex into the hole inside him, he'll plug it up before it collapses. There's a very Dorian Grey aspect to him, which a S6 exchange speaks to, "You didn't get your arm back when you died?" "Dying doesn't make you whole. You should see what you'd look like." So, I definitely see the argument that Don is America. He's so successful in all these surface, material ways that he feels he can totally avoid confronting any of the dark poo poo underneath, indefinitely.
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Jan 6, 2021 00:42
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I missed these, nice to see a new one  Got some Betty for Peggy going on: "Betty's determination to go and prove herself right" paragraph 6 "Betty, who is already forcing herself just to show up" paragraph 7
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Jan 6, 2021 00:46
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IIRC The Heineken spot was the first big company that showed up in the show and then had their real commercial showing up right after.
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Jan 6, 2021 01:18
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Yeah I pondered if I should bring up that the Right Guard note was actually written during one of the trysts she was looking for evidence of, but in the end I figured I'd look at it more from Betty's perspective which was that it was just another of his stupid little advertising notes. But it does stand out that even when she is looking for it, she can't see that his infidelity is right there in plain sight if you just know what to look for.Ungratek posted:Betty feeling belittled by the Heineken stunt felt overstated to me when I first saw it (as a single man) and felt completely justified upon rewatch (married with a kid). What a lovely thing to not give your wife a heads up on. And of course Don assumes that because he didn't intend it that way, this automatically makes everything okay. Even if her reaction wasn't just a symptom of a deeper unhappiness, have some empathy for your stressed out wife who is feeling unappreciated! I really dug January Jones as Betty right from the second episode of the first season when she actually got to do something, but she is so much better in season 2 now that they're past the initial starry-eyed adoring housewife role and she is more and more seeing through the illusion of Don's perfection. It's fantastic television.
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Jan 6, 2021 02:04
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So "fun" fact from the episode commentary on the DVDs, Betty breaking the chair is based off one member of the writer's room childhood memories. They remembered their mom taking her frustration out on an imperfect chair after finding out about an affair.
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Jan 6, 2021 06:11
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GoutPatrol posted:IIRC The Heineken spot was the first big company that showed up in the show and then had their real commercial showing up right after. Did the show have any sponsored placements? I remember later in the show the brands would make jokes on twitter whenever they'd get featured in an unflattering light.
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Jan 6, 2021 08:15
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KellHound posted:So "fun" fact from the episode commentary on the DVDs, Betty breaking the chair is based off one member of the writer's room childhood memories. They remembered their mom taking her frustration out on an imperfect chair after finding out about an affair. The same is true of Betty shooting at the pigeons because the neighbor said he'd shoot their dog. The mother of one of the writers actually shot at her neighbor's pigeons for that.
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Jan 6, 2021 08:40
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That's horrible for the kid but the trauma made for good writing!
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Jan 6, 2021 09:18
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pentyne posted:Did the show have any sponsored placements? I remember later in the show the brands would make jokes on twitter whenever they'd get featured in an unflattering light. I think jaguar was. I don't know if it is a situation where they are paying to be on the show, it was more like "if they want to use us, we'll put our commercials there wink wink"
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Jan 6, 2021 09:41
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GoutPatrol posted:I think jaguar was. I don't know if it is a situation where they are paying to be on the show, it was more like "if they want to use us, we'll put our commercials there wink wink" [S5 spoilers] Their presence on the show winds up to such a dark joke, too. “They’re lemons! They never start!” Poor Lane. I recall Jaguar’s social media team commenting about it, though. “At least he didn’t do it in the Jag,” or something along those lines.
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Jan 6, 2021 09:45
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pentyne posted:Did the show have any sponsored placements? I remember later in the show the brands would make jokes on twitter whenever they'd get featured in an unflattering light. I remember Matthew Weiner saying somewhere that sponsorship went along the lines of if they wanted to be in the show, the show had to be able to do whatever they wanted with your product was part of the deal.
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Jan 6, 2021 16:16
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pentyne posted:Did the show have any sponsored placements? I remember later in the show the brands would make jokes on twitter whenever they'd get featured in an unflattering light. Looking around online, I can't find a ton of concrete info on which brands paid for the privilege and which just went along with it. An article I read had a quote from an AMC exec playing coy, saying that their aim was that the audience should never be able to tell the difference between a sponsored spot and the characters organically discussing a brand. One AdAge article did confirm at least two "structured" product appearances in the third season premiere - London Fog and Stoli vodka both apparently paid for the privilege.
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Jan 6, 2021 17:38
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Xealot posted:So, I definitely see the argument that Don is America. He's so successful in all these surface, material ways that he feels he can totally avoid confronting any of the dark poo poo underneath, indefinitely. Yeah, Don definitely thinks he can fake it until he makes it. I think a central thesis of the show is that emotional authenticity is good. That it's necessary for strong healthy relationships, which are necessary for happiness. So Don's approach... is questionable! This is also one of the subtler social changes the show depicts. People of this time became more interested in "being themselves", whatever that meant. And while Mad Men does criticize some of the excesses of the "Me" generation, I think it depicts this as a positive change in American culture, compared to the world of the 1950s, where people faced enormous pressure to conform tightly to very prescribed social roles. Peggy, for example, feels like the hero of the show, and she has no rulebook to follow, and must invent her own path based on what feels right.
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Jan 6, 2021 18:37
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Yoshi Wins posted:I think a central thesis of the show is that emotional authenticity is good. That it's necessary for strong healthy relationships, which are necessary for happiness. So Don's approach... is questionable! One thing that really stands out to me is Sally's birthday party, where a drunk Don is running about with the video camera, treating the whole thing - documenting his daughter's birthday! - as a chore and a joke, and then there's a moment where he catches one of the invited married couples just standing together sharing a moment of genuine love and affection and it hits him hard, because there is a depth of not only emotional attachment but also a willingness to open themselves to the other that he simply does not have with Betty (while she absolutely has it for him). That the episode ends with him abandoning the party, then making a big grand gesture to escape consequences by giving Sally a dog is basically a perfect indictment of his mindset.
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Jan 7, 2021 02:31
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I loooove the ending of that episode. And yeah, his crestfallen reaction to marital love that endured beyond the honeymoon is a great moment that tells us about how Don feels about his life in such an understated way. And then instead of getting Sally's cake he drives to some train tracks that he is almost certainly thinking about driving onto. What a sequence.
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Jan 7, 2021 04:25
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Yoshi Wins posted:Yeah, Don definitely thinks he can fake it until he makes it. While Peggy's the hero making her own way, the other important character besides her and Don is Pete. And a lot of his unhappiness can be chalked up to him being forced into a role. His parents are disappointed with him not fitting into what they want him to be. Trudy wants them to start on a family that he's clearly not ready for. He says his woods fantasy with a woman cooking the animal he hunted but a big part of that fantasy is there is no society telling him what to do and be. Peggy has no rulebook to follow, Pete feels crushed by his rule book.
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Jan 7, 2021 04:35
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He's very smart for such a chronic underthinker. Or maybe he's an overthinker, but fucks up the hip shots. Pete is just such a smarmy gently caress.
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Jan 7, 2021 04:42
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BrotherJayne posted:He's very smart for such a chronic underthinker. Or maybe he's an overthinker, but fucks up the hip shots. Pete is just such a
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Jan 7, 2021 04:47
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Pete's my favorite because he is weirdly cynical and naive at the same time. Like cynical about business and good at seeing treads, but so bad at individuals. Like he understands that Kennedy has youth appeal (the comparing him to Elvis as response to "he doesn't wear a hat") and understands Trudy sleeping with a guy could get him published, but doesn't understand why Trudy would object to prostituting herself for his ego.
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Jan 7, 2021 04:50
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KellHound posted:Pete's my favorite because he is weirdly cynical and naive at the same time. Like cynical about business and good at seeing treads, but so bad at individuals. Like he understands that Kennedy has youth appeal (the comparing him to Elvis as response to "he doesn't wear a hat") and understands Trudy sleeping with a guy could get him published, but doesn't understand why Trudy would object to prostituting herself for his ego. He's got that affluenza
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Jan 7, 2021 04:52
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I also like that because he is so bad at people, he is incapable of hiding who much a shitheal and sad bitter little man he is. And it makes him a great contrast to Don and Roger who impress folks with charm and an act. He basically enters the room and says "hello i'm here to do lovely things"
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Jan 7, 2021 04:58
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Jerusalem posted:One thing that really stands out to me is Sally's birthday party, where a drunk Don is running about with the video camera, treating the whole thing - documenting his daughter's birthday! - as a chore and a joke, and then there's a moment where he catches one of the invited married couples just standing together sharing a moment of genuine love and affection and it hits him hard, because there is a depth of not only emotional attachment but also a willingness to open themselves to the other that he simply does not have with Betty (while she absolutely has it for him). That's such a great moment, because it captures one of the reasons I find myself hoping for Don's turn constantly at this point in the show - he's a deeply sentimental, emotional guy. He hides it and lies and does terrible things, but he's a slave to his emotions.
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Jan 7, 2021 05:07
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Yeah Don's an emotional guy, even a sentimental one, but its really only honed to make himself more money. Like Pete's ability to read tea leaves. These people's gifts or what have you are honed to their business. It reminds me of ppl I met in grad school. If you're gonna make money, parts of your personality wither away based on your focus on your ambition. Then cue 20 years later and everyone is having divorces and just embarrasing themselves tryi g to turn into a DJ or something
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Jan 7, 2021 05:29
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