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VinylonUnderground posted:You might want to spoiler an interview that talks about things several seasons in advance of this thread. argh, sorry. i changed it to a pastebin. sebmojo fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Jan 31, 2021 |
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Jan 31, 2021 02:46
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VinylonUnderground posted:Don can afford to be unhappy in the self-indulgent way he is. What do you mean?
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Jan 31, 2021 02:54
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Yoshi Wins posted:What do you mean? Don's emptiness comes off as Pete's, "Everything is so easy for you" pout.
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Jan 31, 2021 02:56
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I'm not being deliberately obtuse here. I still don't understand. Are you saying it's a shallow or insubstantial pain?
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Jan 31, 2021 03:05
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Viewers idolised Tony Soprano even after Chase started basically using the show to yell in their faces about what an awful piece of poo poo he was, it’s unfortunately no surprise they didn’t see that Don was meant to be a tragic character
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Jan 31, 2021 03:13
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Satire and irony are pretty challenging. I feel pretty ambiguous about American Psycho, for example. I think it's an excellent piece of satire, but maybe it's not "worth it." I actually don't care all that much for season 1 of Mad Men, which I also think is the season that this critique would best apply to. He starts out appearing invincible and then the show deconstructs his entire life over the course of the following 7 seasons. Don seems more and more plagued by doubts, more and more paralyzed by the weight of his failures and his past sins. And indeed, toxically masculine men's websites and youtube channels and the like kind of stopped paying attention to the show after, say season 3. But there definitely was a little men's media cottage industry in idolizing the Don Draper of the early seasons. Ultimately I'm OK with this, because I think the show does an excellent job of demonstrating why people who listen to their friends and family and co-workers, and empathize, and behave honestly end up better off than people who try to be strong at all costs. There's really no doubt by the end of the show that I'd rather have had Peggy's experience of the 60's than Don's, even with the extra crap she had to deal with because she's a woman. It's a valid concern. I just think more people stuck with and viewed a very good examination of happiness, privilege, image, etc. than the number of people who saw beatnik-owning Don and said, "I wanna be THAT guy." Spoilered because the direction of Don's arc could be considered a spoiler. Maybe that's overdoing it, but there you go.
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Jan 31, 2021 03:32
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Yoshi Wins posted:I'm not being deliberately obtuse here. I still don't understand. I think it is the kind of pain that only a certain class of person can have. His pain is just another form of self-indulgence. But that's not my point. My point is that the show is against the "man in the grey suit" era the way Paths of Glory is antiwar (feel free to insert whichever other not-actually-antiwar movie that purports to be antiwar here). Weiner loves the things he is telling us are bad too much to actually portray them as bad. He shows them as being awesome all the time. Then he shows Don being alone and sad with the subtlety of a trombone. He can tell us these things are bad in interviews. He can have what amount to fourth wall breaking scenes where he says these things are bad. But when he actually shows them, he revels in the spectacle and lets his love, not his revulsion, shine through. S1&S2 spend a lot of time doing this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCUPqf2sslk&t=65s
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Jan 31, 2021 04:14
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Yoshi Wins posted:Satire and irony are pretty challenging. I feel pretty ambiguous about American Psycho, for example. I think it's an excellent piece of satire, but maybe it's not "worth it." I'm still reeling from learning that 300 was a satire
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Jan 31, 2021 04:36
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VinylonUnderground posted:I think it is the kind of pain that only a certain class of person can have. His pain is just another form of self-indulgence.  If being bad didn't didn't work and get people glamor, fame, wealth, and power, it wouldn't be so tempting to be bad. Showing the fruits of ill-gotten gains as luxurious, tantalizing and superficially empowering is a feature, not a bug; the fact that some people never get past that and miss the critical forest for the cosmetic trees is their fool's loss and literally happens alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the time. This whole line of criticism is desperately uninteresting.
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Jan 31, 2021 04:54
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Also he's kind of awful in some ways but he's not a murderer, so it's not like soprano or white at all.
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Jan 31, 2021 05:35
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The Klowner posted:I'm still reeling from learning that 300 was a satire It helps if you know that Frank Miller is a Marxist-Leninist.
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Jan 31, 2021 05:46
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McSpanky posted:
In the 60s the idea of a wealthy, successful provider who cheats on his spouse isn't seen as automatically being "the bad guy". This isn't some new or radical concept there are still large pockets of people in tyool 2021 who think "stand by your man" is the only answer to a married man doing anything wrong. Same with (not that it actually happens like people love to talk about) self made men dunking ivory tower liberals being a thing for quite a long time. Conservative establishment have championed the "anyone can be great/self made man" while simultaneously eroding any advantages in society that would allow that, and condemning/mocking liberals who would try and stop them using the same arguments. Showing this on a tv show, written in the late 2000s and set in the 60s isn't some hidden message to the audience any more then Lucky cigarettes seeing a 30% boost in sales during the first few seasons. Criticizing the show in this way is like attacking it for promoting smoking. It's so clearly not the point to the show that making the argument calls into question that person's actual understanding of it. pentyne fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Jan 31, 2021 |
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Jan 31, 2021 06:24
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sebmojo posted:Also he's kind of awful in some ways but he's not a murderer, so it's not like soprano or white at all. He drove his brother to suicide. and another
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Jan 31, 2021 11:08
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Satire has always struggled with the problem that it’s ultimately just preaching to the choir. People rarely realize any difference from what they always believed. If your inclined to see Don as empty rear end in a top hat that’s what you’ll get. If you aren’t you won’t. It’s not a new phenomenon.
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Jan 31, 2021 13:00
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I think I just question whether VinylonUnderground watched the entire series or just the first couple seasons. While it's valid to raise these concerns, I think it's important to look at the series as a whole. Season 7 Don is a vastly better human being than early season Don. He's far more humble and he values his relationships much more. And the show does a very good and very believable job at credibly steering a narcissistic and traumatized character from a place of incredible toxicity to that much more decent place. There is very little toxic masculinity for the troglodytes to admire in season 7 Don (or season 6 Don, who is the saddest sack of crap in the whole world). And there's a sense of triumph in his moral improvement. In S7:E7 "Waterloo", Don voluntarily gives the Burger Chef pitch to Peggy because he might get fired soon and it would be better for the company. Peggy's pitch is brilliant, and it's a triumphant moment for her, as it shows how far she's come. But there's also a moral triumph for Don in that scene. He was supposed to pitch, and he put other people over his own ego, and he was so proud to see his sole protege thriving. There's a moment during the pitch where they exchange smiles, and you can see Peggy is thinking "I'm killing it" and Don is thinking "I'm so proud that you're killing it." It's a direct contrast with The Suitcase, where Don shouts at and abuses Peggy for daring to feel slighted by his refusal to acknowledge her contributions to the Glo-Coat ad. And the fact that the story ends up in this place is a clear indication by the writers that this is much more the way to be than the way that Don is in the early seasons. It's a hero's journey story. That "hero" starts out as a highly abusive, controlling, adulterous narcissist, who also is very effective at his job and very skilled at seduction. I think VinylonUnderground believes that that's just not a good main character to have at all, because people will always admire and identify with the hero, so you're automatically encouraging that kind of behavior simply by depicting it being done by someone who is so... powerful. And there's no doubt that some people wanted to emulate early season Don. But the show's ratings were actually better in the later seasons than they were in the early seasons, and, although his progress is very much a 2 steps forward, 1 step back process, Don shed more and more of his season 1 persona as the show went on, because he kept destroying everything that was important to him. And that's not hard to notice, and it's very credibly told.
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Jan 31, 2021 15:01
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just came here to say I love that username
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Jan 31, 2021 16:32
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pentyne posted:In the 60s the idea of a wealthy, successful provider who cheats on his spouse isn't seen as automatically being "the bad guy". This isn't some new or radical concept there are still large pockets of people in tyool 2021 who think "stand by your man" is the only answer to a married man doing anything wrong. So you think Paths of Glory is an effective antiwar movie?
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Jan 31, 2021 19:21
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While I think the criticisms I'm presenting do apply to the series as a whole, I'm not spoilering things because I'm keeping my commentary contemporary with the thread itself. For example the jetsetters are a good foreshadowing of the doldrums of some of the later seasons and those do a fair job deglamorizing Don's lifestyle. Being a pathetic loser who pays women to slap him and then having the one friend he has left top himself is very much not glamorous. We know Weiner likes being a grimy little pimp and his love of all the "bad" things about Don shines through in the product. I don't think the show is effective (and certainly not up to the point in the narrative where this thread is) at actually condemning these things. Instead it revels in them and then does a quick sad trombone scene to clumsily communicate that these things it presents as good are, in fact, bad. VinylonUnderground fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Jan 31, 2021 |
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Jan 31, 2021 19:25
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I really, really don't think you can see the broken husk that is Don as his world falls apart multiple times, even when it doesn't and think to yourself "good golly gosh that's just a sad trombone!! Look how badass this dude is". Maybe rewatch some of the show alongside the thread, I really feel like you missed, uh, the show.GoutPatrol posted:He drove his brother to suicide. I really struggle to blame Don for either of these, and call him a murderer thus. The idiot article writers during the time the show airing constantly comparing him to Tony Soprano and Walter White were really dumb. Beamed fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Jan 31, 2021 |
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Jan 31, 2021 20:21
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VinylonUnderground posted:So you think Paths of Glory is an effective antiwar movie? This feels like a trick because.....yes?
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Jan 31, 2021 20:21
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VinylonUnderground posted:While I think the criticisms I'm presenting do apply to the series as a whole, I'm not spoilering things because I'm keeping my commentary contemporary with the thread itself. For example the jetsetters are a good foreshadowing of the doldrums of some of the later seasons and those do a fair job deglamorizing Don's lifestyle. Being a pathetic loser who pays women to slap him and then having the one friend he has left top himself is very much not glamorous. bad things must have a sign hung round their neck that reads BAD so we know they are bad? The littering scene did that, and it was very heavy handed and they wisely steered away from it in future. Should there be a character that tells don he's a bad person? because the comedian guy does exactly that. fundamentally people like confident attractive people, whether as audience or irl, and so you have to see them being confident and attractive. there are plenty of characters that are neither but have all the same advantages (paradigmatically, Pete) so it's not like we don't see the flipside where someone has all the privileges without the patina. I mean hell you see don dissolve into a terrible sweaty mess the instant after Pete threatens to shop him. How much more explicit do you think it needs to be? Should there be a chorus character following Don around chanting 'this character is a product of a racist sexist culture and is not to be admired or imitated'. less snarky, is there a way it could be done well, in your view, in a way that it's not already being done? sebmojo fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Jan 31, 2021 |
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Jan 31, 2021 20:23
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VinylonUnderground posted:So you think Paths of Glory is an effective antiwar movie? jesus christ
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Jan 31, 2021 20:24
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sebmojo posted:bad things must have a sign hung round their neck that reads BAD so we know they are bad? The littering scene did that, and it was very heavy handed and they wisely steered away from it in future. Should there be a character that tells don he's a bad person? because the comedian guy does exactly that. Don gets away with so much because he looks good. Hell, the Carousel pitch depends on him and his family looking the way they do. the clearest example of this is in S7 when Mathis tried to solve things "Don's way" and it goes over like a lead balloon. Mathis says, explicitly, that this poo poo only works because Don is handsome, something we are told repeatedly throughout the series.
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Feb 1, 2021 00:04
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There was more to Mathis' loving up trying that line than just "don looks better" to be fair 
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Feb 1, 2021 01:58
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GoutPatrol posted:Don gets away with so much because he looks good. Hell, the Carousel pitch depends on him and his family looking the way they do. Except Don's advice is sound, more or less "Read the room, address the previous offense with a sense of humor, but do NOT explicitly apologize because the client will read that as weakness. They've already agreed to a second meeting, so what you did clearly was not a deal-breaker for them, we still have leverage here." Don even gives Mathis the appropriate angle - "Go in with a bar of soap, tell them you've got it on hand in case you need to wash your mouth out." Prop humor, but it addresses the elephant in the room and turns it into a self-effacing thing. Instead, Mathis just parrots the exact line from the story Don told him - A bawdy one - knowing that being coarse was what got him in hot water in the first place, and then blames Don for bad advice. Mathis sucks.
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Feb 1, 2021 02:14
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VinylonUnderground posted:While I think the criticisms I'm presenting do apply to the series as a whole, I'm not spoilering things because I'm keeping my commentary contemporary with the thread itself. For example the jetsetters are a good foreshadowing of the doldrums of some of the later seasons and those do a fair job deglamorizing Don's lifestyle. Being a pathetic loser who pays women to slap him and then having the one friend he has left top himself is very much not glamorous. show us on the doll where Matthew Weiner touched you
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Feb 1, 2021 02:34
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JethroMcB posted:Except Don's advice is sound, more or less "Read the room, address the previous offense with a sense of humor, but do NOT explicitly apologize because the client will read that as weakness. They've already agreed to a second meeting, so what you did clearly was not a deal-breaker for them, we still have leverage here." Mathis sucks
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Feb 1, 2021 03:04
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Mad men, more like... bad men
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Feb 1, 2021 03:08
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JethroMcB posted:Except Don's advice is sound, more or less "Read the room, address the previous offense with a sense of humor, but do NOT explicitly apologize because the client will read that as weakness. They've already agreed to a second meeting, so what you did clearly was not a deal-breaker for them, we still have leverage here." I would disagree on this. I feel like the entire point of the final conversation is Mathis saying anything Don would have done to fix it would work, while anything Mathis does wouldn't (you may disagree on this, but I think that's true. Nothing Mathis did probably would of made the client happy). He could get away with so many things because of his looks, and I think Mad Men does a great job explaining that - like when Pete and Don go golfing and Don forgets his golf clothes, and just goes "I'll throw my tie back and roll up my sleeves, they'll love it." Pete replies "...they probably will." and they go. Only a Don could get away with this. Even Don does subconsciously know this, when they all go on speed and Don is explaining to tap dancing Ken that "he must be there in the flesh" on his pitches, because in the end, a big part of his sales pitch is himself.
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Feb 1, 2021 03:29
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I think Mathis is an OK guy who had a bad day because he was frustrated with himself for having made a mistake and frustrated with/envious of Don. He seems like a nice enough guy most of the time. He's sort of an everyman character. But a lot of Mathis content is season 6, which I've watched the least, so maybe I'm forgetting something egregious.
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Feb 1, 2021 03:34
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I think it's like a lot of things in the show. a little column a a little column b. Don does use his looks and charisma to get away with poo poo that others couldn't. but mathis also totally hosed up dons advice and the fact that he couldn't figure out that he himself hosed it up shows he's never gonna be a player in the ad world the way don is.
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Feb 1, 2021 03:35
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Gaius Marius posted:I think it's like a lot of things in the show. a little column a a little column b. Don does use his looks and charisma to get away with poo poo that others couldn't. but mathis also totally hosed up dons advice and the fact that he couldn't figure out that he himself hosed it up shows he's never gonna be a player in the ad world the way don is. Unspoilering just to write my agreement here: Mad Men is always way more nuanced than you'd think, and there's never just one reason for anything. That said, it is definitely NOT a subtle show
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Feb 1, 2021 03:55
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Spoiler: the Mad Men blind watch thread is extremely horny for Don Draper (Jon Hamm)
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Feb 1, 2021 05:11
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Beamed posted:Unspoilering just to write my agreement here: Mad Men is always way more nuanced than you'd think, and there's never just one reason for anything. That said, it is definitely NOT a subtle show Season 3 is set in 1963. A certain world event that occurs during that year is foreshadowed in what would only be described as subtle if you had gone your entire life unaware of one of the most famous few seconds of film in history. It's a show that delights in not being afraid to stick a landing hard when it needs to. Bert Cooper is the undisputed king of the mic drop in the show and he when comes at someone he doesn't ever miss.
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Feb 1, 2021 05:15
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Escobarbarian posted:This feels like a trick because.....yes? It is the original example given in the "you can't make an antiwar movie" argument. If you think it is an effective antiwar movie, then, sure. Mad Men is also effective.
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Feb 1, 2021 05:21
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I might be misremembering, but didn’t Mathis end up taking Don’s advice in completely the opposite way? Like instead of making a light-hearted joke about himself with the soap, he just further insulted the client? I never read that as Don getting away with it over “being handsome” but more Mathis not understanding how to defuse a situation at all. You don’t need to look good to make light of something and turn a new page
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Feb 1, 2021 10:36
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VinylonUnderground posted:It is the original example given in the "you can't make an antiwar movie" argument. It's a poo poo argument, yo
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Feb 1, 2021 10:55
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Season 2, Episode 13 - Meditations in an Emergency Written by Matthew Weiner & Kater Gordon, Directed by Matthew Weiner Don Draper posted:The world continues without us. There's no reason to take it personally. Betty Draper finds herself staring at needlework of a mother deer and its baby (surely I'm not the only one who immediately thinks of Bambi, and the fate of the mother?), while sitting on an examination table in a Doctor's office. It is a far cry from the places that people like Peggy Olson have found themselves in the past, here Betty is greeted by a charming, affable older doctor whose operates his family practise out of his own suburban home, apologizing for the chill and explaining his wife is hogging the heater. He has good news, at least from his perspective: his suspicions as to the source of her bleeding in the previous episode turned out to be true. It wasn't an early (or late) onset of her period, the spotting was a sign from her body that she is pregnant. Betty takes this news with a quiet,"Oh," that is far from the excitement and enthusiasm Dr. Aldrich is clearly expecting, she had her own suspicions and he has just confirmed the worst of them. Perhaps it was a result of her and Don's encounter at her childhood home, or an earlier evening back before she snapped and threw him out. Whatever the case, she is not enthusiastic about adding a third child to the home, especially as she increasingly faces the prospect of being a single mother. Aldrich still doesn't quite grasp her unease, he is pleasant but a little patronizing when he assures her that her "resilient" figure will bounce back from the pregnancy like it did the last two. But when she makes it clear she means she really CAN'T have this baby right now, he figures it all out soon enough. Again, in direct contrast to how people like Peggy have been treated, this doctor approaches Betty - a woman of means and standing in the community - with far more restraint and acceptance. Clearly not keen on the idea, he admits that if they are talking about what he THINKS they are talking about, there are "alternatives". At this time, abortion was still a criminal offense in New York and would be until 1970 (with Roe v. Wade happening in 1973 covering the entire country), but for as affable and friendly as Aldrich is, he's also apparently a realist who understands all too well that not helping will only lead to hurting his patient down the line if she was to seek a back alley abortion somewhere else. But he still does his best to keep her from jumping to that decision, unknowingly making things worse when he promises her that once she tells her husband she'll come to see this pregnancy as a blessing. He heads back upstairs to "wrestle" the heater from his wife after all, wanting to give Betty a physical check-up (and talk to her more about keeping the baby, of course). But after he's gone, Betty simply collects her things and walks out the door, already knowing what she needs to do. She leaves behind an empty examination room, that picture on the wall of the mother and baby deer probably seeming like a cruel taunting from nature. Nothing about this pregnancy feels natural to her, or her own feelings about it.   At Sterling Cooper, Ken Cosgrove brings a harried Harry Crane ad revenue projections from himself and Pete. Peggy Olson and Paul Kinsey are also present in Harry's office, Harry explaining that he needs to get these projections to Bertram Cooper earlier than normal, and he isn't sure why. Grumpily Harry notices that Clearasil is missing, but enthusiastically forgets all about that when he hears Paul ponder whether these projections have anything to do with Don Draper being AWOL in California. Because Harry is convinced he has worked out what is going on in there, based on Pete's bragging about the "gold rush" for aerospace business: he thinks that Don is heavily pursuing a BIG client. The others IMMEDIATELY look to Peggy to confirmation, another little reminder that they see her as being far more in the know than any of them. She promises she has heard nothing, and Kinsey offers another theory... maybe Don is breaking off and opening his own shop out on the West Coast? Harry doesn't want to be that pessimistic... maybe he's doing the advance work on the opening of Sterling Cooper West? Oh you poor bastards. As Ken has visions of riding around L.A in a convertible, Harry says whatever the case they are all clearly being evaluated. That makes him worry about tonight, since the President is due to give a speech and he's hoping it doesn't go too late as it will knock Lucille Ball, Danny Thomas AND Andy Griffith off the air and that means none of the ad-time he bought gets used which means grumpy clients and a pissed off Cooper. Shortly after Peggy slips into Pete's office, where she finds him waiting pensively by the phone at his desk. He explains he is waiting on a call from North American Aviation, one of the big companies he was pursuing in California, but it's still early in the morning for them on the West Coast. Peggy admits that while she doesn't know what is going on, her meeting with Harry made it clear that everybody is being evaluated, and she couldn't help but notice that Pete hasn't let anybody else know yet that Clearasil are done with Sterling Cooper. Pete winces, he's been putting off telling anybody even though he knows the problem isn't just going to go away. For once not putting on any kind of act, he asks Peggy openly just what the hell he should tell Duck, because "my father-in-law hates me" is probably not going to cover him in glory. Peggy's response is probably the best advice that Pete will have ever recieved in his life, as Peggy tells him to simply tell the truth and not worry about the outcome, because people will respect that honesty. A little naive perhaps? Perhaps not, Peggy has been learning over the last year or so that being forthright and speaking openly actually gets you a lot further than putting on an act... in that sense, she is perhaps the opposite of Don Draper. Considering, Pete actually offers a genuine thanks to Peggy for the advice. As she leaves the office though, she can't quite help but to throw in a little joke, noting that she wants him to tell the truth so that Creative don't get the blame for Clearasil pulling out. Betty is absolutely not following doctor's orders as she rides her horse at the stables. Dismounting, as she passes the reins to a stable-hand she spots that somebody is waiting for her in the car-park... her husband, Don Draper. They approach each other warily, meeting at the halfway point where Don admits he has been waiting for half an hour, not wanting to interfere with the pleasure of her ride. Restraining herself, she can't help but be bitter when he explains he took some time away to think, noting how nice it must be to just be able to drop everything and disappear for awhile whenever you want time to think, without having to worry about the responsibilities to your work, your wife, your children etc. Gently he cuts her off, telling her that he would do anything to fix what happened, at which point she pins him down with a very pertinent question: what happened? Now is the moment of truth, where Don can decide to finally admit his infidelity or continue to pretend nothing happened. Even now, at this pivotal moment, he can't quite bring himself to openly admit to what he did, so he offers the next best thing, a tacit admission by agreeing that he was not respectful to her. For Betty, there is some relief in that "confession", as despite her intuitive belief in what Jimmy told her she was never able to find any evidence. Now he has all but admitted it was true, she can feel justified, knowing that she wasn't going crazy or being paranoid. Where Don is nakedly truthful though is when he tells her that he wants to be together again, he wants to be with her. The hot rods, the appeal of starting all over again out in California... he considered it, and in the end he decided against it. Just like last season, he came too late to the conclusion that he WANTS to be with his family, that his attempts to scratch and claw his way into a life he merely watches was worth continuing. Whether he learned from Anna's reminder that he needed to change to affect this isn't quite clear yet, but he is at least fighting for his family instead of eagerly trying to run away from it now. Betty's answer cuts him to the quick, but is deserved at least. She isn't sure if SHE wants him back, long past the point where Don's every urge/need trumped her own. Much like the office continued to operate without him, Betty points out that home life without him there hasn't been all that different either. It isn't entirely true but it is an indictment of his lack of being present, so often when he was home he still wasn't really there, and about the only thing that would change up the way the household runs now would be if the paychecks stopped coming in. Don negotiates, saying he at least needs to see the children (the ones he once was happy to run out on with Rachel) but she isn't playing according to his rules and timetables, and grunts that she can't deal with this now, but she will call and "make arrangements". She leaves, having held herself together remarkably well given the probable storm of emotions and thoughts roiling around in her head, not least of which being the internal scream of,"I'M PREGNANT I'M PREGNANT OH poo poo WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!?!". She leaves, and Don is left behind, uncertain and off-balance, any hope of a quick reconciliation or at least halting first step to reconciliation - if not buried - at least tamped down. He made the choice to come back, but he still hasn't learned that he isn't the one who gets to make these final decisions... or at least not alone.   Pete bites the bullet and goes to see Duck in his office, where Duck is now openly day drinking and given up any pretense of still being a teetotaler. Pete, to his great credit, is quick to assure Duck that both sales AND Creative have been strong for Clearasil after giving him the news that they're losing them as a client. He doesn't admit that he is the cause of the break-up, though, simply saying that the two businesses are not fit to work together. Duck however is no fool, at least not in this sense. He quickly guesses that the problem is with Pete's father-in-law, and Pete - again, to his credit - admits it is so, and is surprised and a little relieved that Duck seems to accept this as a reasonable excuse for losing a big client. Duck has good reason to be magnanimous though, perhaps because he's a little tipsy or maybe just because the excitement is overwhelming him and he HAS to share with somebody. Telling Pete he is relying on his discretion, he reveals that Putnam, Powell & Lowe are taking control of Sterling Cooper on Friday and thus Clearasil would have to go anyway, as it would be a conflict of interest with the larger firm's contract with Lever Brothers. For once in his life though Pete ignores the "good" news that reveals he would be have been free of his reliance on his in-laws regardless, to focus on the larger issue: Sterling Cooper is being merged into Putnam, Powell and Lowe? It gets personal again though when Duck explains that he was impressed by Pete's enthusiasm for the American Airlines deal in spite of his father's death, and his willingness to put any personal feelings aside for the good of the Agency. As a result, Duck wants Pete to replace him as the Head of Account Services, offering him the job he has dreamed of for the last 2-3 years, because Duck is going to be the new President of the Company. Pete isn't sure how to react or what to say, and gets his second piece of very good advice for the day: when something like this happens, you simply say thank you and then nothing else. Still though, Pete can't help but be concerned, remembering the disaster of his attempted blackmail of Don Draper: will Don accept him as the Head of Account Services? "That's why God put non-compete clauses in contracts," smirks Duck, declaring that Don will have to like it or find himself a new career. Duck is going to be President and EVERYBODY is going to answer to him, and before anything has been finalized he's already thinking about rewarding allies and punishing "enemies". Pete follows his advice and offers him a thank you and then nothing else, Duck grinning to see him learning already. But as Pete leaves, a peculiar thing happens. He's just been gifted inside news, his dream promotion, and learned that his "nemesis" Don Draper is going to be bought to heel.... and yet as he leaves the office, he frowns. Something isn't quite right, and he knows it. That evening in Don's hotel room, he watches President Kennedy's address to the nation, and if Harry was worried about advertising before now he's gonna be making GBS threads bricks now. Because this isn't just any Presidential Address, it is October 22, 1962 and President Kennedy is discussing recent events in Cuba, an address that would herald what would go down in history as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Don watches like so many Americans did, learning that Russia has provided Cuba with the potential to launch nuclear missiles that can reach multiple cities in the Western Hemisphere, including of course many American cities. Don reaches for the phone to call somebody - Betty? - before changing his mind and simply sits and watches, his mind surely drawn to the conference he recently attended and the enthusiastic description of how easy it would be to destroy multiple Russian cities and kill millions... and how very easily that fate has now been flipped around to America.  The next morning, Don makes his unheralded return to Sterling Cooper, where he is of course barely noticed by people listening in fascinated horror to the radio and contemplating the very real possibility of nuclear annihilation. He's noticed and greeted by Hildy at least, and Joan welcomes him back with the professional enthusiasm expected of her still temporary role as his Secretary, even as she admits that like most people this morning she is feeling distracted. As he hands her his coat, spotted with water from the rain outside, Peggy steps through the door to her office to welcome his return as well, and Don is surprised to realize this is her office now, jokingly asking if he works for her now? She quickly falls back into a deferential role to him, saying she hopes he doesn't mind... but also is sure to point out that she got permission from Roger Sterling, AND that she landed the Popsicle account. Don is amused and far from displeased to see her success, and it is quite interesting that as he jokes to Joan about the changes in his absence, he mentions without prompting Peggy's new haircut. Other males in the office notice something about her had changed but she had to explain each time that she'd changed her hair. Don however, who is far from the world's best husband when it comes to Betty, noticed and referenced it without having to have it pointed out. Joan leads him into his office where he finds, of course, a giant stack of correspondence waiting for him. Don peers at it and comments that the world continues without us, but there's no reason to take it personally. It's the perfect thing to say of course, even if Don frequently does seem to be hit hard by the fact that the world is largely indifferent to his existence and can and will continue on without him just fine. Joan, who of course knows Don well on some levels, asks knowingly if Don wants to know if he's been missed, pointing out that this is only HALF his correspondence. It's a nice way of soothing his ego, sure the world continues without him but also there were plenty of people who have been TRYING to get through to him. She lets him know she has been sending his checks home and they quietly tiptoe around the subject of Betty when Don asks if she has called the office. Getting back into business mode though after learning that both Roger and Duck have been trying to find him, he asks for Sal and the Copywriters to be summoned to get him up to speed, and to call Roger in 30 minutes to tell him that Don will see him 30 minutes from then, buying him an hour to prep. As for Duck? Making Duck's importance to his life all too clear, Don muses that maybe he'll bump into him in the men's room. Joan suggests that, though she doesn't want to cause a panic, it might pay to make people in the office aware of the Civil Defense guidelines in place in case of "emergency". Not wanting to cause a panic himself but also knowing somewhat the level of obliteration that they could be facing, Don responds that no amount of drills or hiding beneath desks are likely to accomplish much, making it clear without explicitly saying so that it would be best not to even bring up the possibility of needing to follow a drill to anybody else. As Joan leaves, Pete bursts into the room, not quite able to keep down his hostility as he notes Don has FINALLY returned. Pete wants to take out some aggression, Joan wisely closing the door behind her as he demands to know what happened, why Don just disappeared? He complains about being left to "tap dance" for General Dynamics, reminds him he can't drive and it was a miracle he made any meetings at all. Don though handles Pete masterfully, so long past the point where he fears Pete's ascendancy that he is able to approach the meeting with a clear head and knows EXACTLY how to handle him. Pete DID make the meetings, and Don knew he would... did Pete ever stop to think that Don abandoned him because he KNEW he could handle it? Pete is utterly flummoxed, and can't help but brag that he is very close to nailing North American Aviation as a client. Don agrees that this proves he was right to trust in Pete, a complete line of bullshit that both boosts Pete's ego but also makes Don look like the master of his craft who wisely set Pete on the path to success. Offering Pete the kind of attaboy that he desperately craves from a father figure, Don also offers him some fatherly advice: he knows that Pete wants everything the minute he wants it, but sometimes it is better to wait. The implication leaves Pete reeling, asking if this means that DON now thinks he is ready, and Don throws him a bone by agreeing that he is. With that, Don has completely defused Pete's anger and left him feeling like a million dollars, and when Don happily asks to be left alone to catch up on his work, Pete leaves in a happy daze after offering a heartfelt welcome back. His justifiable anger at being cut loose has turned into admiration, respect and a little bit of awe: his ego is bursting, though Don never said anything remotely like it, Pete has taken away that Don being a late addition to the trip, his abandonment of Pete, the failure to communicate with anyone... it was all because Don decided that Pete - the most important person in the world! - was a project well worth working on, and everything was designed around lifting Pete up to a higher level in the Agency. He walked in angry, and also with the info in his back pocket that Don himself is soon to no longer wield the power he has enjoyed at Sterling Cooper for so long. He walks out light as a father, respecting and loving Don as the mighty father-figure who has chosen to bestow compliments and support to him. All while Don just wanted to avoid a confrontation with an underling and get back into the swing of his business, simply "selling" to Pete to get him to leave him alone for the time being.   An hour later, Don visits Roger in his office where he also does his seemingly effortless selling-number on Roger too, betraying no sense of concern over Roger's complaints about his unexplained absence, going so far as to jokingly suggest they stack up his absences against Roger's own. When Roger threatens him with having to find a new job, Don doesn't take it seriously in the slightest, just insists that his absence was important and notes that the walls are still standing despite him being AWOL. Roger, unable to keep up the pretense of being mad or trying to discipline him, takes some satisfaction in agreeing that yes the walls are still standing... but they sold them. Even Don's poker face can't quite deal with the news that Sterling Cooper is now owned by Putnam, Powell & Lowe, and that there will be a strategy meeting on Friday to discuss management and logistics. Roger points out that there will be a memo somewhere in the stack on Don's desk laying out further details, but is happy to give the most important one when Don asks how much they sold for: Don himself stands to make a little over half a million dollars (in 1962! Roughly 4.5 million in 2021), a figure that leaves him staggered, absolutely the last thing he expected to hear when he finally returned to week was that he made 500,000+ dollars without doing anything. "Best vacation you ever took?" smirks Roger, enjoying the fact that for once Don is speechless. He is, but just like with Peggy earlier he also immediately notices a little detail others haven't. When Roger tells him that Duck put the deal together after "running into them in a bar", Don is curious, what was Duck Phillips - a teetotaler - doing in a bar? Roger doesn't see or care about the obvious gap in Duck's story though, simply noting - after a bad taste joke about his divorce and fresh engagement - that there are very few conflicts in the two Agencies client-lists. In an important moment, Don congratulates Roger on his engagement and Roger tips his glass back in welcome. Don's realization that Roger was sleeping with Don's secretary (and that she was passing on VERY personal information to him) put a tremendous strain on their relationship, in addition to Roger telling Mona that Don gave him the idea of course. But with this congratulations he makes it clear that this animosity is behind them, something Roger is only too happy to accept. They shake hands, Roger joking that now Don can go back to his office and do the mental calculations about just how much Roger himself made from this deal. It is only now, at the very end of their meeting, that the subject of the Cuban Missile Crisis comes up, despite Roger reading a newspaper with screaming headlines on it when Don entered. With typical negativity, Roger complains that the world is going to end right as he is getting his second chance at happiness. Don though simply notes that none of them know what is REALLY going on and makes his exit, either in denial himself or simply wanting - as always - to put on the best front possible. After all, he is also trying for a second chance, and the huge influx of money is sure to be a big help in that respect... he simply can't let himself accept the notion that some rear end in a top hat politicians in Washington and Moscow (and Havana!) are gonna put an end to all that. At Church, Father Gill is attempting to offer some peace of mind to a troubled flock as he discusses Khrushchev and Kennedy, reminding everybody that these are worldly affairs while they must put their faith and trust in the spiritual. Struggling a little to keep his own panic from slipping out, Gill leads those gathered - including Peggy and her mother - in a prayer, speaking of the need to understand they are sinners but to have the faith and common sense to admit it, confess it, and find salvation in God. He is unable to stop talking about death as an inevitability, shaken by the overwhelming sense of powerlessness that America as a whole is feeling upon learning just how close truly terrible weapons are to their homes, of just how fragile their lives of luxury (even the poorer of them live comparatively luxurious lives compared to large sections of the world) actually are. Peggy of course feels like the words are directed towards her, her own feelings of guilt creeping up from her subconscious, ironically thanks to Father Gill having learned from her how to direct a sermon so it feels personal to all in attendance.   At a ritual/gathering of a different sort, Betty and Francine are just two of those in attendance at a hair salon, where Betty waits for her turn in the chair as Francine gets the finishing touches to her hair. Another woman has just left and the gathered women comment on how quiet she was, considering she may just be "smug" because her family has a bomb shelter. The daughter of one of the women casts her mother a concerned look, who warns Francine to stop talking about this subject as it is upsetting her daughter. Francine is irritated, pointing out that the Times said it was good to talk to your children about the subject, but the other woman makes a fine point: Francine can talk to her own kids about it all she wants, but she doesn't get to make that decision for her. Francine ignores this to keep talking to Betty, saying Carlton told her he heard the stock market had crashed because there are Russian troops off Key West. This causes the other woman to complain angrily to the owner that she is going to leave if this line of talk isn't shut down. Francine complains back that she's done now anyway and stands up, sarcastically remarking how nice it is to feel the warmth of community spirit in a time of crisis. As she turns to crack a joke to Betty though, she notices for the first time how pale Betty is and asks out of genuine concern if she wants a Miltown. Betty says no and offers nothing more, but finally can't take the silence and admits what she has told nobody else yet: she is pregnant. A startled Francine quickly sits down beside her, picks up immediately how less than enthused Betty is, and offers her a,"Congratulations?" before reminding her that her own last child was an accident but she's happy to have had her now. But while Francine picked up on Betty's reluctance far faster than Dr. Aldrich did, like Aldrich it takes her a little bit to realize that Betty is seriously contemplating an abortion. Just like Aldrich, while she's not pleased at the idea she is willing to offer support, telling her there is a doctor in Albany who will do the treatment, and of course in Puerto Rico they actually do it in a hospital rather than forcing desperate women into unhygienic and dangerous locations with less than reputable doctors. In the end, Francine offers the same advice Betty got from Dr. Aldrich, there is no need to rush into a decision. When the hairstylist tells Betty she is ready for her, Betty and Francine hug and Betty assures her that she won't need to be checked up on, suggesting that she's going to follow her advice. But as Francine leaves and Betty takes her seat, she looks far from resolved about what she is going to do about this incredibly poorly timed pregnancy. Harry returns to his office and is pissed off to discover Sal, Ken and Paul gathered around his television like apes the from 2001: A Space Odyssey (still 6 years away form being released), fiddling with the controls and thumping it angrily trying to get a picture. He demands to know what they're doing and where his secretary is, and they complain back that they need to get a picture because they heard the Soviets had fired missiles at them or they fired on them or SOMETHING HAPPENED FIX THE TELEVISION! Harry shoves Sal aside to try and look at the wiring, accidentally ripping the cord out and shutting the entire thing down. Sal observes that they can only hope the Soviets had somebody like Harry building their missiles, but their wider, worldly concerns suddenly narrow right down as Harry tears a sheet off paper away from the seat of Paul's pants (he was seated on Harry's desk) and discovers a memo requesting a list of everybody in all departments: why the hell do they need that? Sal jokes that this will be easy for Harry's department since it is just him and Danny, but Harry is focused now: if they're looking at revenue projections AND want a list of everybody working for them, it means they're counting money, and that is NEVER a good thing. They need more information, which means they need to find somebody clued in to everything going on in Sterling Cooper who will also be willing to talk... and they can only think of one person who fits that bill. Soon Ken is hauling a confused Lois Sadler out of the switchboard room, promising her that they wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't important. Paul, Harry and Sal wait for her in the corridor, where they plead with her to let them know if she's heard anything about L.A, about a new office being opened out there... ANYTHING!?! She had assumed that they going to be complaining about the difficulty of learning anything about the Missile Crisis given how many people are using the phones, and reminds them that she isn't allowed to repeat anything she hears over the switchboard. They assure her she won't get in trouble, and Sal turns on the charm, fully aware of her old crush on him, saying they'll owe her. So she lets them know, and what she tells them fills them with dread: Duck has brokered a deal for Putnam, Powell & Lowe to purchase Sterling Cooper and will be merging it into their larger Agency, and there will be a meeting on Friday to hand over the keys. Their entire worlds have fallen out beneath their feet, the horror dawning on them as they realize that every single one of their jobs are in jeopardy. Lois offers what relief she can, from what they can piece together over the phone-lines, PPL intend to mostly keep the place staffed with current Sterling Cooper personnel... but there will be redundancies. Feeling sick, they thank her and start to leave, but she calls them back, wanting something in return now. At least one of them will survive this, if not more, and whoever that is MUST get her out of the switchboard room, she simply can't stand being back in there after her sweet taste of freedom as a secretary. They manage to mumble out their agreement and then slump away, dead men walking. "If," warns Ken, but once he's gone Lois' face breaks out in a huge smile, this merger is going to be great for her! 
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Feb 1, 2021 11:23
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That evening at his hotel room, Don greets his delighted children when Betty brings them around for the promised visit. They'll be spending the night with him, Bobby sleeping on a rollout mattress while Sally gets the second bed. Like all separated or divorced dads, he wants to basically spoil his kids when he has them and says they can order Chinese takeout or go to the movies or do anything they want to. He carefully offers Betty the chance to join them, and Sally speaks up as she unpacks her suitcase, declaring that "mommy doesn't like to eat", a phrase that speaks volumes about all the little life lessons that Sally is picking up from her mother even unconsciously. Betty declines in any case, saying she has plans. Don doesn't ask what they were, or at least doesn't dare to, and simply asks if she would like to pick up the kids from the office tomorrow? No, he can drop them off at home, though she won't be there as she has plans to ride (screw you, Dr. Aldrich!) so Carla will take them in. With that she goes, Don watching her go still unsure if he is any closer to his desired return to the family fold. Sally though, for all her ability to pick up on the significance of Don's absence in a way Bobby couldn't, is still a kid, and now that she's been reunited with her daddy the most important thing on her mind is if they can order room service. A simplistic desire easily filled, which for Don must be a great relief. Of course, Betty has no plans, she just didn't want to stay with Don, either for what message it would send or because she doesn't quite trust herself not to let current circumstances and his presence in an elevated mood of "I gotta be a good dad and husband or I'm hosed!" making her jump at the chance to just "fix" all of her problems without any of the underlying issues actually being dealt with. So she wanders down the street, looking at window displays of fashion, an captured by her own reflection as the mannequins on display. She enters a bar, a little awkward and timid to be in one without her husband. She takes a seat at the bar and asks for a glass of water, and then finds herself facing the unusual experience of being asked by somebody to make her own choice on what she wants to drink instead of that being handled by Don. She requests a gimlet and the bartender brings it to her, letting her know it was paid for by the gentleman at the end of the bar. She turns and looks at a handsome, well-dressed man - younger than Don for sure, but of a similar height and build - and asks the bartender to pass on her thanks. He agrees to do so, but gives a knowing warning (he can see the ring on her finger) that the man will consider this an invitation to come and talk. "We'll see about that," returns Betty, displaying a confidence not usually seen, enjoying the idea of being the one dictating things. Of course the man does make the warned-of approach, smoothly using the current Crisis and agreeing with her statement that she's trying not to think about things, all in order to make two points: tonight feels unreal and it's a good idea not to think about things. In other words, don't think and just do, none of this is real and she should go wild and let him pick her up. Of course for all of Betty's naivety in some things, she is no stranger to men trying to hit on her, or the various techniques they might use to get past her defenses. So though she accepts the toast, she also proves true to her word to the bartender and tells her wannabe lover that tonight she'd prefer to be on her own. Thankfully he's not the type to lose his poo poo over somebody accepting a bought drink as if it gives him the rights to anything more, and he quickly backs off, knowing better than to push at somebody who so clearly isn't interested. Good for you, 1962 bar stranger! But once he's gone, Betty sits alone, the sound of the television hammering home again and again the current state of the crisis. She drinks her gimlet, pulling a little too deeply from the glass, that mask of assured self-control slipping a little, the world's troubles combining with her own personal disaster, pouring liquor down her throat into an empty stomach, pregnant and miserable and at the moment painfully, unbearably alone. https://i.imgur.com/2p5uLRD.mp4 In the hotel, Don takes a hearty bite out of Bobby's hamburger, as his small son has declared he doesn't like it and Don is trying to prove to him how delicious it is. As Don tries to explain patiently to his son that the milkshake he's decided he wants will take 45 minutes while he has a root beer there right now, Sally eagerly tries to get her father's attention, wanting to tell him a knock-knock joke. Finally she gets to, and he smiles as she excitedly delivers the punchline which requires a lisp. In the 10 seconds it has taken to tell the joke, Bobby has completely forgotten about the milkshake and asks if they can watch television. Don of course is more than happy to indulge his children (apart from that milkshake!), not questioning that they are ignoring the delights of an entire city at their disposal in favor of doing what they do at home. Betty asks the bartender to watch her packages and purse while she uses the restroom. She strolls down the length of the bar, slowing and making sure to give the mystery man a pointed look as she passes. She's more than a little drink, and pouts a little when she realizes the restroom is occupied. As she waits, her admirer has followed her and asks what she is doing, not really caring about her reply that she is waiting or simply taking it as an invitation, that she has been waiting for him. He approaches her and moves in for the kiss, and unlike with Arthur this time she doesn't resist or pull away or seek to escape, she enthusiastically reciprocates, kissing a man other than her husband for the first time (outside of her dreams) in her near 10 years of marriage. He checks the door to the bar's back office and finds it unlocked, and opens the door before giving her a look, making it clear that this decision is entirely hers, offering no pressure (again, +1 point for 1962 bar stranger!). She considers, drunk and tired, less sexually aroused than sexually determined as she lounges into the office, offering a quiet,"I'm married" to him as she goes. This is HER quiet invitation to match his own presenting of the open door: she is going into this encounter with eyes wide open, and she wants him to do the same. It is no great surprise that he shows not the slightest hesitation in following her. Inside, he locks the door and strips out of his coat, letting her lead him to the couch and kissing her urgently as he works his hands up her thighs and unbuckles his belt. She lies beneath him, kissing him back just as urgently, offering no resistance, enthusiastically accepting his presence and his proximity. In the hotel, Don watches the children watching television (Leave It To Beaver, of course, no news for them), then pulls out a pen and paper. Settling down onto the bed, he begins to write. In the back office, their encounter complete, Betty and the stranger straighten out their clothes when they hear the doorknob turn. The bartender is outside, trying to get in, and when Betty opens the door and he asks what she was doing in there she simply offers back a satisfied look and walks away without a word. The stranger quickly follows, not able to look the bartender in the face himself, straightening his hair and making quickly for the bar and presumable the outside, not wanting to face judgement or questions. Peggy brings some of her mother's baking to a Church shelter, explaining to Father Gill that Anita would have come too but had to stay home with the children. Gill assures her that this is exactly where Anita should be, and asks how she is doing in the current crisis. She admits it is hard to get her head around the idea they could all be gone tomorrow, but Gill reminds her that this is ALWAYS the case. Calling back to his sermon, he notes again that this is why Confession is so, so important. He knows that she believes in God, but he fears for her Immortal Soul if she doesn't "unburden herself." She promises him that she understands that Hell is real and Confession is important, but that he is upsetting her. Shielded by his position, standing and "moral" authority, he offers back that if she is upset it is because she is guilty, and if this is the end of the world then she could go to Hell. Instead of throwing in his face that he is a presumptuous, demanding rear end in a top hat who is also using information learned within the sanctity of a Confessional Booth, Peggy simply offers back that she simply can't believe that God (not him, not other priests, not her sister or her mother, but God) would be this way. She leaves with a mumbled "Good night", eager to be out of there away from his judgement and his entitlement, his steadfast belief (understandable given his vocation, to be fair) that he gets to be the one who stands in judgement of her and decides whether she is going to Hell or not. She got pregnant, gave birth and gave away the child. That is none of his business, and not something she need share with him because HE has decided that SHE should feel guilty about it. Betty returns home to an empty house. No children, no husband. Unlike Don in the final episode of the last season though she doesn't feel alone or empty or miserable. She opens the fridge, pulls out a piece of chicken and takes a big bite, enjoying something to eat at last. She certainly doesn't feel guilty about breaking her vows, nobody is going to burst down her door demanding that she confess now or go to Hell. If anything, for the first time in a long time Betty Draper seems to feel unburdened, because she finally took the step she has been tempted by before, and returned the insult to their marriage that Don so casually inflicted time and time again in the past. She slept with a stranger, somebody whose name she never even learned, her own name never given either, a sexual encounter with somebody with no meaning to her. It doesn't even things with Don, but it helps her feel at last like she is no longer the naive fool who was the only one taking their vows seriously.   The next morning, an amused Pete watches Trudy collect the silver to take with her to her parents' home. She's not leaving Pete over their recent troubles, this is purely about fear over the Cuban Missile Crisis, but even in that fear she has time to - ludicrously - be worried that looters might break their way into the 14th floor of an apartment building. She asks him to come with her, worried about him being alone in New York is something happens. A little too harshly, he reminds her that Rehoboth Beach is 90 minutes from D.C and far more likely to be caught in an attack, and besides if he is going to die he wants to die in Manhattan. Frustrated, she asks if he is trying to upset her with that kind of talk, particularly the notion that he's going to die. He points out it won't matter one way or the other where he dies so he chooses to be here, and she chooses to be with her parents. She doesn't like that kind of talk, she loves her parents and they love her which is why they want to be together, and if he loves her then he'd want to be with her too. "You're right," he agrees, which is probably NOT the kind gesture she takes it as. In a mild Freudian slip last episode he talked about how he loved Trudy rather than loves her, and now he has agreed she is right that if he loves her he would be with her... while also making it clear he isn't going to be with her. But a smile and telling her she is right is enough to mollify Trudy somewhat, and he offers to help get her things packed in her car. He doesn't drive himself, and she's given him an envelope with a few hundred dollars to pay somebody else to drive him if he changes his mind and the trains aren't running. That is a nice gesture too, but another reminder that in this household the money still primarily comes from her side of the family, another reminder that he isn't - yet - in control and authority over his life, marriage or household. At Sterling Cooper, Ken, Sal and Paul listen in dread to radio reports about Russian ships trying to get to Cuba. Harry is still focused on their smaller problems though: there are good canapes in the fridge! As ridiculous as it sounds, they know what it means. The Conference Room is booked out for the day, high quality food is on hand, the carpets were shampooed last night: that big PPL meeting is happening and their fates are all up in the air. Pete arrives and they call him over to inform him that the meeting is definitely happening, and Pete is careful to agree that he only knows this because they told him what Lois told them, not giving away he already knew from Duck. They seem confused that he doesn't appear worried, and again he is careful not to give away how much more he knows, and how secure his future already is, simply saying he is going to wait to see what happens. Harry offers his advice, gleaned from his father-in-law: in a regime change you want to stay neutral, because if you're a loyalist to the losing side then you go on the chopping block. Paul is disgusted, is Harry's only thought his own survival? Harry's answer should have been obvious to Paul "man of the people" Kinsey though, "They" don't care about any of them, they're all just salaries in a ledger and anybody below a certain point on a list is going to get cut. Paul sulks that he doesn't want change, he's happy with Sterling Cooper the way it is. Pete listens to this, knowing he's already secured a top position in the new regime... and comes to a decision of his own. He walks into Don's office and asks if he has a minute, closing the door and taking a seat. In a strange, distorted echo of his disastrous blackmail attempt from season 1, Pete informs Don that he has come to him to quietly let him know he's aware of something he shouldn't. He knows about the merger, but more than that he knows what the post-handover plans are, information that Don himself (and Roger and Cooper) don't have: Duck Phillips is going to be the new President, and he is going to run Sterling Cooper exactly the way HE thinks it should be run. Following Peggy's advice, Pete tells the truth. He knows this because Duck Phillips told him, and he thinks Duck told him because Duck is already dividing things up and choosing who ends up where. When Don, doing his best to keep a poker face like when Pete hit him with the Dick Whitman bombshell, asks WHY Pete is telling him now, Pete offers back the most sincere response he can, because he thought Don should probably know what he was walking into. Don considers a moment and then offers Pete a surprised thank you, and Pete nods and makes his exit. As he goes, he pauses to tell Don that the Americans stopped one of the Russian ships from going to Cuba, and he thinks the Soviets will be rethinking their aggression now that America has made a stand. With that, he leaves, with Don left to consider the explosive information just dropped into his lap, and how he will make use of it. Was Pete being genuine when he told Don he just thought he should know, or is he playing a game? Did he look at Harry and Paul's pathetic responses to the merger (one keen to keep his head down, the other uselessly moaning about not wanting change) and decide to be more proactive? Did Don's earlier "attaboy" touch him in a way that Duck's compliment about American Airlines did not? Is it down to Pete respecting Don in spite of everything, and his still clear disrespect for Duck in spite of his support? And what about that departing line about the Russian ship? Is it simply a matter of Pete genuinely thinking there is a future after all and looking to secure his position regardless of who wins the Duck/Don battle? Or just an analogy that like the Soviets Duck thinks he can do what he want, and Don taking a stand might be enough to back him down? In the end, it doesn't really matter. Pete has passed the information on, but he's secure either way. It's down to the "higher powers" to battle it out now, but Pete chose to die in Manhattan and now chooses to live in Sterling Cooper. Whether that's as Head of Account Services in a Duck Phillips-led Sterling Cooper or still burrowing away under a Don Draper who has shown signs of valuing him at last, Pete will be there. He lost his father, his marriage is increasingly troubled, his vast inheritance has been signed away... but he still has Sterling Cooper.   Betty returns home from riding and finds an envelope with her name on it. Carla explains it is from Mr. Draper, and she opens it and starts to read... and discovers Don giving the most important pitch of his life. It is what he wrote in the hotel room the night before, a love letter of sorts that is also an unabashed apology even if he still doesn't outright admit to his infidelity. He speaks of the children eating and watching television in the hotel room, of her absence and how he knows it is HIS fault that she is not there. He talks about the mistakes he made, the problems he caused, and his deep desire to return home to be with all of them again. He doesn't demand it, insist on it, or offer compromises or potential workarounds. Instead he simply admits that should she decide to leave him she will, and that he knows she would not be alone for long, but he would be lost and alone forever without her. He leaves it off with an,"I love you," a key phrase she once complaining he would never utter. There was a time where the love she felt for him was so deep and to be almost painful, she yearned for his presence at all times. That has been shaken and damaged by his actions over the last couple of years, but though she is fully aware he is a man whose entire trade is in convincing people to do what he wants, reading these words touches her deeply. She doesn't seem to doubt the sincerity of his plea, but the question now is if sincerity alone is enough, even if she has had her own "revenge" already. As she considers her future, Don considers his own as he finally meets Putnam, Powell & Lowe. Saint John Powell and Alex Martin sit on one side of the conference room table with Duck Phillips, while Cooper, Sterling and Draper sit on the other. It's an amicable meeting, after all everybody is getting exactly what they want, and Cooper is quick to let Martin know that while the offer of autonomy is more than welcome in a post-merger world, it really is PPL's company now and they absolutely can do whatever they want with it. But while he isn't going to kick up a fuss over not being the guy making all the decisions anymore, he is curious who is going to be running things when they're all back in England. Though Don already knew for certain, Cooper and Roger are no fools and it comes as no great surprise when Saint John Powell announces that the man literally sitting on his side of the table - Duck Phillips - will be the new President of the company. Duck puts on the unnecessary if requisite performance of acting surprised at the offer but graciously accepts. Roger notes that it makes sense and Cooper offers a warm congratulations, and Duck pointedly notes that he will treat the FOUNDERS of Sterling Cooper with the respect they deserve, very much making certain to leave Don out of that statement. With the meeting handed over to him, he stands up and pretends like he was unprepared before declaring that for Sterling Cooper to reach financial maturity it can no longer be held back by Creative running the show, as important as it might be. No, the new Sterling Cooper is going to be all about buying time and space, focusing on television and using their new leverage as part of PPL to get cheaper rates on bulk advertising. Cooper takes this in and makes a point, he doesn't think he heard the word client once. "Well Bert," replies Duck, using the first name of one of the Founders he promised to treat with respect,"When the economy is good, people buy things, and when it's bad, they don't." He declares that Creative has fantasies about being masters of persuasion that simply aren't true, it really is as simple as just flooding the market with ads for greater awareness. Cooper and Roger are stunned, it was no surprise that Duck would end up in a major role but neither had any idea that his vision for running the company diverged so massively from their own. Softly, almost pleading, Cooper turns to Don and says his name, wanting to hear his reaction. Don, obvious subject of Duck's contempt for "Creative", has kept his cool through the entire process, having walked into the meeting fully expecting just this thing to happen. He had his problems with Duck and despite their recent forced "reconciliation" the two have clashed too much for him to be surprised at Duck using his new authority to squash him down. But he's unconcerned, simply smoking and declaring that as far as he's concerned, Duck is outlining an effective and sound strategy for a successful Agency, and that Duck is clearly the man to run such an Agency... it's just that he personally has no desire to be part of it. Duck leaps on this with delight, here it is again: Creative and their Artistic Temperament, but for once Don doesn't get to call the shots! No, he's an Ad Man but he can't be that anywhere else but Sterling Cooper, because when Putnam, Powell & Lowe bought that they bought him too. He has a non-compete in his contract, which means unless he wants to go be an insurance salesman somewhere he's just going to have to suck it up and learn to do as he's told. Don absorbs this threat, considers, and then with a simple smile says the one thing that almost nobody else in in the Agency knew: not Duck, not Pete, not Peggy and probably not even Joan.   Duck's entire world falls out beneath his feet, as he feels exactly what Ken, Harry, Paul and Sal felt when Lois told them about the merger. Don... doesn't have a contract? Cooper and Roger can't help but smile, Roger explaining that due to he and Don's friendship, they were both happy to work on the strength of a simple handshake agreement. Which means, of course, that Don is free to walk out that door and never come back, but go to work for a different Ad Agency tomorrow if he wants... hell, this afternoon if he wanted. And though he's "only" the Creative Director of a "third tier" Agency, everybody knows that Don Draper is wanted by big firms, that he has been headhunted by them before, that he was given a Partnership position in Sterling Cooper simply to keep him AND the Agency's Clients happy. Don stands and with an air of finality tells Saint John Powell and Alec Martin that he sells products, not advertising. While he admits that he can't see as far into the future as Duck, if the world is still there on Monday he will be happy to talk to them... and with that he walks out, ignoring Roger calling after him (after all, Roger isn't his Boss anymore), a man who walked into a meeting that was to double as his execution and instead walked out somehow holding all the cards. Duck, seething, snaps that it's fine, just fine, they'll run the Agency without him, he's not needed! They can find some kid in a second who can "write some prose poem to a potato chip!". He slams his hand on the table, bitterly complaining about Don disappearing for three weeks while HE put this whole deal together. But Saint John Powell quietly retakes control of the meeting, asking Duck to give them the room. The brand new President of Sterling Cooper finds himself dismissed, the dream of his unchecked power turned into a nightmare within 5 minutes of the announcement of his new position. Regathering control of himself with some effort, Duck nods and leaves the room. Roger considers and asks the question of most importance to him: does this blow-up affect the merger (and the millions of dollars he'll be making)? No, Saint John Powell promises him, and then in a rather callous indictment of his own new hand-picked President whose drinking HE encouraged, waves off Duck as somebody who never could hold his liquor. Don, out of the meeting now, has let his poker face slip a little as he beats a quick retreat towards his office, not quite able to believe the bluff he just pulled: he doesn't want to leave Sterling Cooper, he has no desire to go to some bigger Agency, but he couldn't just let Duck have his way, and he can't quite believe that he might have pulled it off. Putting his mask on as he gets close to Joan's desk, she surprises him by telling him that Mrs. Draper called and said she wants him back home. For Joan, that might just be as simple as a wife calling a husband to say come be home during this unprecedented Crisis, but for Don it is the most important news he has had all day, including what Pete told him earlier. He tells her she should head home too, collecting his things from her but declining to take his bag with him. This weekend isn't for business, it is for family, and he is all too keen to for once let it be that and nothing but that if Betty's message means what he thinks it does. As the day wraps up and everybody else starts making their exits, Pete collects a drink and wanders out onto the floor, pleased to see Peggy on her way out too. Seeing him and his big smile, she asks why he is so happy and he declares it is because she is still there, and she admits working a little later in the hopes of catching a quieter train. He offers her to join him for a drink and she accepts, heading into his office as almost everybody else has gone. Oh God Peggy no don't do it. Thankfully he's at least left the door open, and she takes a seat on the same couch where they once had sex, and where he told her his fantasy of being a simple woodsman. Accepting a drink from him, she immediately asks him about Trudy, surprised he isn't with her during these troubled times. Amused, he asks why it is she never lets him talk about what HE wants to talk about, and so she asks him what he wants to talk about. The truth, he admits, which is that she makes it so hard for him. What does he mean by that? That these recent events have made him ponder who would care if he was gone. Trudy would care, he admits, but she doesn't really know him... not like Peggy knows him, and not like he knows her. You see, he has decided that he made the wrong choice in staying with Trudy after their two dalliances. He wishes he had picked her, because he loves her, and he wants to be with her. Oh Jesus Christ Peggy no don't do it. And Peggy listens to this, to this declaration of love, of the tender way he asks if she didn't know that while stroking her chin, of the coming true of a fantasy she held in her early days at Sterling Cooper.... and she smiles, and lifts her head, and she destroys him utterly. Because this is no longer the overwhelmed Peggy Olson so desperate to be an adult and a "Big City" girl that she fell for Pete's less than obvious charms. This is a Peggy Olson who has come to see her own self-worth, to go after what she wants, and to not let others dictate her life to her... yes, not even disturbingly attractive priests who have taken an intense interest in her. Instead, she tells Pete a truth of her own: that if she had wanted to, she could have had him in her life forever... and she chose not to.   He doesn't know what she means, and so she confesses at last, but not to a priest or to God, but to the one person she probably felt most guilty about keeping in the dark. "I could have had you, I could have shamed you into being with me," she admits, but she didn't want to. He still doesn't get it, so she finally lets the words out: "I had your baby, and I gave it away." Pete has gone from confused to disbelieving to stunned, none of this was in his script, he thought his declaration of love would leave to passionate embraces, kissing, sex, another chance to find the connection he can't find with Trudy (and never will with anybody for as long as he seeks to use somebody else's love to fill an emptiness within himself). Instead, she has not only rejected him but revealed that the child he wasn't sure he wanted and didn't seem able to have with Trudy, he already had with Peggy... and he never even knew it existed, and not it is gone forever. "I wanted other things," she admits, and when he still can't wrap his head around the enormity of her revelation, as gently as she can she explains the absence of a part of yourself. She could just as easily be talking about the baby or her love for Pete (or the idea of him at least), it was part of her and then it was gone, and at first she thought that absence left her incomplete until she realized it was no longer a part of her, and finally she realized it was just gone. Pete does not understand, cannot understand of course. All he knows is that he feels deeply hurt by the revelation, stunned and, of course, a little angry that she would hurt him this way. I'm sorry Pete, she admits, and stands and leaves, brushing one hand over his shoulder as she goes. Whatever he thought might happen with her in his office, it was not this. He is left sitting stunned, unable to truly grasp what he has learned, what she has lived with for over a year and moved past. She had the obvious advantage of the knowledge, of course, but it speaks to the great differences in their character: Peggy has grown so much in the last two years, while Pete remains largely in the same place he held at the start of the season. He lost his father and his inheritance, his marriage is shaky, and for every step forward he takes he somehow always manages to take a step or two back. Every moment of growth is stymied or setback, largely through his own actions, and though I find myself once again feeling pity for him, I am largely more focused on Peggy's growth. I needn't have feared for her making a stupid decision with Pete in his office, because that was the old Peggy... and Peggy, like Anna Draper told Don he could, has changed. Don himself returns home, really home. His children call out his name happily but don't stop watching television, accepting his presence as just part of the way things are. Carefully he takes a seat beside Betty, and they share a brief and quiet look before turning to watch the television themselves, content for the moment just to be together. Pete spends the evening sitting alone in his office, now wife and no Peggy, holding the gun he bought in a fit of immaturity almost like a security blanket. He doesn't know who he is or what he is going to do, life remains an uncertain jumble. Peggy lies in bed at night and says her prayers to a God she believes will not send her to Hell for having gotten pregnant out of wedlock. She curls up and goes straight to sleep, self assured and happy in who she is. Betty does the dishes, listening to the radio inform her of the latest of today's events in the Missile Crisis. Don steps into the doorway and watches her for a few moments before speaking up, letting her know he has finally gotten the children to go to sleep. Alone at last, she tells him not that they need to talk but that SHE needs to talk to him. He switches off the radio and sits down at the table with her, for once willing just to listen. She has something to tell him, and it isn't about her own one-night-stand, that is an irrelevancy. No, she tells him at last that she is pregnant. Don isn't quite as shocked as Pete was at Peggy's confession, but he is shocked. For once though Betty doesn't get a quick assurance of happiness or that everything will be all right. Instead, Don opens his hand: not taking hers but inviting HER to take his, if SHE wants. She does so, and they sit together at the table, holding hands and not speaking, neither entirely sure how to feel about this news, how it will affect their future or even their present. The first season of Mad Men ended with Don Draper alone in an empty house of his own making, having realized too late how much he wanted to be with a family he took for granted. Season 2 ends with Don together with his wife, their children asleep upstairs, the family unit all in one place... but far from the vision of perfection Don showed off to Kodak. But as the camera pulls slowly away from the table, even though Don and Betty's relationship remains strained, even though they have suffered indignity and insult to their marriage, as they have reunited in uncertain circumstances at a time when America genuinely believed they were seconds from obliteration.... they are at least together.  Episode Index Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 13:10 on Sep 3, 2021 |
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Feb 1, 2021 11:23
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 04:42 |
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Hell yeah. I love that ep.
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Feb 1, 2021 11:48
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