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Lady Radia posted:I don’t think Cooper feels much of anything at all Thanks!
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Aug 19, 2022 01:59
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 16:09 |
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SMH at everybody downplaying that Cooper is out there reaching for the moon. 
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Aug 19, 2022 02:58
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Lady Radia posted:I don’t think Cooper feels much of anything at all he feels that the best things in life are free
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Aug 19, 2022 05:15
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hes right and he should say it
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Aug 19, 2022 07:43
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https://i.imgur.com/lyuxtx1.mp4  
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Aug 21, 2022 04:22
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Peggy and Roger were always a perfect pairing of personalities
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Aug 21, 2022 04:26
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Season 7, Episode 12 - Lost Horizon Written by Semi Chellas & Matthew Weiner, Directed by Phil Abraham Jim Hobart posted:When I want something, I get it. Don Draper arrives to work, rushing to get through the elevator doors before they can close. The elevator is spacious but stuffed full of people, but one woman recognizes him, greeting him by name. He has to take a moment but it comes to him, asking if her name is Beverly, pleasing her that he got it right. She certainly seems to know a lot about him, instructing one of the other passengers (the days of elevator operators seem a long distant past now) that Don's floor is 19. Striding down the corridors of his work, it's a far cry from SC&P's offices. There, even when they were newly moved in and had stuffed as much of the retained Sterling Cooper staff as possible into every space they could, the space seemed opened and designed to encourage movement. Here at McCann-Erickson, it's gray tall corridors and solid walls, and people scurry to-and-fro constantly, for as big as McCann is even this space seems too full, making a mockery of Don's insistence that the old Sterling Cooper was "mammoth" when it never bore anything close to the size of McCann. Meredith is waiting for him in the corridor with a coffee, and when he reminds her she doesn't need to wait for him everyday, she points out that she doesn't want him getting "lost" in this maze again. He insists he wasn't lost, just late and telling a lie to cover up for it, but that's just as bad she offers in an indulgent, loving reproach. Bringing him to his office, she reminds him he won't have to "suffer" staying at the Plaza much longer when he complains about housekeeping making the bed while he was IN it. It seems he's finally moved out of his old place and picked out a new one, and with the apartment floors almost done and he just needs to pick the paint and he could move in as early as next week. He does need furniture however, he still hasn't picked anything out, the only thing he is bringing from the old apartment is his bed. She passes him an envelope of things she held onto rather than risk the movers getting their hands on them: cash, his social security number, and perhaps most importantly Anna's old ring. As he reviews them, she reminds him he'll be having dinner with Sally before she returns to school, and she has made the reservation for Monday. With that he's caught up, though she has one more piece of vital information: Jim Hobart is back from his vacation, which means he can NOT wile away his hours at work with a nap as he commonly does. Alone at last in his office, Don steps up to the window. It's a good view, a reasonable sized office - though perhaps only half to 2-3rds the size of his SC&P one - and Don certainly seems to have no reason to complain. He's obviously been welcomed at McCann-Erickson, people know who he is and where he works, Meredith has already fit herself in to the ecosystem admirably, he appears to still have at least the appearance of the freedom he had to do as he liked like he had at SC&P. So why then does he test the windows? Pushing his hands against them, he finds them secure, apparently not open-able, the sound of the wind moving between skyscrapers apparently all the explanation needed for why they'd have secure windows and rely on air conditioning. It would be ludicrous to suggest he was having any kind of suicidal thoughts, but I think him testing the windows says something: he feels trapped. On the surface, everything is absolutely fine, everything he could want, there are no problems, he is getting everything that Jim Hobart promised... but he's in a cell. An opulent one, a well-paid one, a cell that many in his industry would shove their own mother into traffic to have... but a cell nonetheless.   kalel posted:also Jerusalem the reason why he touches the window is because there's a draft. the whooshing of wind stops when he presses his hands to the glass. it's hard to hear in the scene unless you turn up the volume. there's probably a symbolic meaning too but that's the literal meaning of the scene The above changes my interpretation slightly, but I still think it's a result of feeling trapped.... and the barest crack in the window offering one last thin chance for escape. But while life goes on and Don adjusts to the reality of his new life at McCann-Erickson, SC&P isn't quite done with yet as the transition from independent Agency to absorption into the giant runs through its final stages. At the Time-Life Building, amidst a gutted and mostly deserted Creative Floor, Roger and Harry oversee the removal of what was supposed to mark the bright future of the Agency: the IBM Computer. When Roger (half-)jokingly asks Harry if it will be sharing an office with him at McCann, Harry - the biggest proponent for its purchase - shows zero hesitation in simply stating that the "old girl" (barely a year old if that!) served her purpose. Yes, the Creative Lounge died for this... a few months of a machine for clients to goggle at while it outputted figures for a spreadsheet on where advertising should be targeted - the 1970 equivalent of Duck Herman's early 60s radio-buy strategy. Now it's gone, and the guy who wanted it most doesn't care, his mind dancing with visions of the oversized media department and all its toys at McCann-Erickson. The idea that maybe his own status might be impacted by no longer holding a unique position doesn't seem to have occurred to him, once again he's convinced himself he's about to get the kudos he feels he has been continuously denied. When he comments that he'll be on Floor 24 but will frequently be up on Roger's floor - 26 - to use the Executive Dining Room, Roger recalls traveling to summer camp as a child stuck on a bus next to a kid like him, and insists that they will NOT be bunk-mates, assuring Harry he'll force McCann to build a whole other floor if he has to. Harry isn't bothered by the insult though, declaring he won't let Roger ruin HIS moment, still utterly convinced that he's going to be a big deal at McCann, presumably assuming that his Hollywood and television connections will guarantee it, not even considering that there will be multiple equivalents of himself over there already. He leaves, Roger scowling after him in irritation, perhaps purely for his cheerfulness. Shirley approaches, apologetically admitting that she doesn't know why the Building Representatives haven't arrived yet but assuring him she is perfectly comfortable managing the handover without him. He jokes that she's comfortable with forging his signature, but when she starts to talk to him about this being her last day he becomes serious, angrily declaring that they can't fire her. But that isn't what she means. She took another job already, her cousin works in Traveler's Insurance and got her a job there, and she's quick but gentle in explaining why to him when he tries to play off her desire to leave as a distaste for Caroline and then asks - not for the first time in his interactions with female employees - if he did something to offend her. The fact is... advertising is not a very comfortable place for everyone. "Oh," he says after a beat, because he works in advertising and thus he knows how to read between the lines. It was only a few years earlier that he was basically forced to hire Dawn after a bad joke put SCDP in an uncomfortable position, and Shirley herself only came to work because of the merger with CGC. She's a black woman in an industry (and society) only recently really accepting the notion that women can work at all and that black people aren't "children" at best and "animals" at worst. SC&P was uncomfortable at times, but she knows McCann itself will be far worse, and she simply isn't going to put herself through that. So she warmly tells Roger that he was "very amusing", even smiles at his grunting that it didn't do him much good, a none-too-subtle regret that they never had sex, and then makes her exit. It's rare a woman in her position gets to (semi)openly tell a rich white man the truth, even rarer that she could do so and not have it held against her. She leaves SC&P with her head held high at least. But another woman who had little choice but to take the jump to McCann is in the middle of settling in herself. Joan Harris is working in her office when two women come knocking at the door, bearing a plant so she can take advantage of her window (which presumably they do NOT have) and explaining they're the welcome wagon. She thanks them, accepting the gift and noticing her secretary has only belatedly seen them and stepped into the doorway. It's Beverly, who greeted Don in the elevator, and Joan introduces her as a way to learn the names of her guests: Libby Blum and Karen Schmidt. They ask Beverly for a minute, Joan not surprised that the sweet gift and greeting were the precursor to something else. After they're left alone, they explain they're copywriters and Joan points out she recognized their name from reviewing her files on Tampax, and Karen fires off an obviously well-practiced line about their work on several feminine products: if it's in it, near it, or makes you think about it, we're on it! That is why they're here, while Joan didn't get handed one of the big Clients like her fellow Partners, she's obviously been similarly placed on "feminine" products as the "Account Man", and bringing Topaz Pantyhose and Butler Shoes with her has gotten their attention... but more importantly than that, they want on Avon. Amused but not annoyed, Joan notes that it seems they only came to say hello because they wanted in on her business, and they don't deny it, though Libby promises they DID want to say hello too! They explain the rather circuitous route an Account Man has to go through to request Copywriters at McCann, laughing that she can do it however she wants and let the "Soviets" sort out the details... but the smiles and laughter fade when Joan sweetly reminds them that Peggy Olson is already on those Accounts. With faker smiles than before, they insist that they would love to "share the crumbs", and then offer Joan the chance to join them for a regular girls drinking session they hold, promising it isn't women's lib. She admits she might like to do that once she has settled in, and they take their leave, Joan watching them go with an actual pleased smile on her face. She's encountering the politics and the scheming of the workplace already, but it's something that she understands all too well AND it has showcased that woman copywriters are far from an oddity at McCann even if they do get stuck on a particular type of product. Plus, they want to work on HER Accounts, and perhaps Joan is realizing for the first time that while she didn't come to McCann with the promise of a big Account like the others... she DID come to McCann WITH a big Account. Avon. That is hers, and her position might just be more secure than she thought it was. But while Shirley has made a dignified exit and Joan is getting some comfort in her new role, Peggy Olson has gotten neither and she is NOT happy about it. Returning to the Time Life Building with her box of supplies, she walks past the few workers remaining and the movers to her office, slightly frustrated to find Ed hanging out sitting at her chair at her desk, surprised to see her back. She explains through clenched teeth that there was a "mix-up" and her office at McCann isn't ready yet... but why is Ed still here? Pointing out that he was NOT included in the shift from SC&P to McCann, he's still getting paid for the week so he figured he'd come in and use the office till he couldn't anymore, and make some long distance calls on SC&P's dime while the getting was good. Peggy, being Peggy, only really hears that he is still being paid till the end of the week, so immediately passes him a folder of their work on Dow. He reminds her that they've lost Dow as a client, but she shrugs and points out that they still owe them work, and asks him to call Mr. Kreutzer at Sugarberry Ham for her as well. Confused as to why he would do that - extra artwork for a soon to be lost client is one thing, but he's not a secretary - she passes her Rolodex to him and explains Marsha is still at McCann sorting out the issue with Peggy's office, and as the Copywriter she certainly can't put in the call herself. Figuring what the hell, he's getting paid anyway, Ed starts looking through the files for Kreutzer's number.   Don meanwhile continues to get the royal treatment, as he pops into Jim Hobart's office, having been called to see him. Ferg Donnelly is there too, but Hobart only has eyes for Don, declaring he's given him a standing ovation and happily declaring the Bahamas - his recent vacation - is "everything we say it is in print" before motioning Don to take a seat. He himself sits on the edge of his table, making him appear casual (he and Ferg both are without jackets, and Ferg probably takes his cues from Hobart on dress code) but also allowing him to remain in a position of authority/power, especially as Ferg quickly takes a seat beside Don to make Hobart's superior status clear. If Don even consciously or subconsciously notes this, he wouldn't care, he's fully aware of the power dynamic between himself and Hobart, and who the boss is. Hobart asks how he is fitting in, and Don is quick to praise Ferg for being such an effective tour guide. He's less self-confident though when Hobart excitedly declares that Ferg is their resident impressionist and asks him for an impression of Don which Ferg promptly gives... except that it's just Richard Nixon, and a bad one at that! Hobart roars with laughter, Don confused as to how to respond (remember in season 1 when he confidently declared he saw himself in Richard Nixon?) and so simply blinking a few times and holding onto his composed handsome face, which has served him so well over the years. Getting down to business at last, Hobart explains they've lined up "coffee and bologna" with Nabisco, National Cash Register AND even Don's "old friend" Conrad Hilton, an amused Ferg noting that Conrad even bought Don a gift! "That's never good!" chuckles Don, who probably has mixed feelings about ever working with Connie again, but quickly shifts his attention back to work when Jim lets him know they just bought another entire Agency, just to get their hands on Miller Beer. "When I want something, I get it," Hobart tells Don with utter (and terrifying!) sincerity when a confused Don asks if they went after Miller Beer just to give it to him? Hobart freely admits it, he's been after Don for 10 years, he's his "white whale". Don responds to that honestly slightly creepy proclamation the only safe way he can, by making light of it and saying HE should have got to go to the Bahamas in that case! But while it's all - slightly overwhelming - friendship, even now the first little chips are coming, as Ferg notes that this is a "shirtsleeves operation" in reference to he and Jim's lack of jackets, couching it in terms of wanting Don to feel comfortable. They don't make it an order, or push for him to remove the jacket now, but they've made it clear that they expect him to dress like them too, immediately followed up by more of the carrot as they promise that if there is ANYTHING he needs in the city he just needs to add their name to his own. Promising to keep that in mind, Don starts to leave, but Hobart lets him know that Miller Beer will be coming in tomorrow for handshakes and to get feedback on their latest idea: diet beer, and not for ladies, but for men watching their waistlines. Don jokes they should call it Tub, and the others laugh, but Hobart still doesn't let him leave, asking him if has said "it" yet? Has he introduced himself in the way Hobart has clearly been obsessing over for the last decade? Knowing EXACTLY what Hobart wants, Don gives it to him. As the camera pushes in on him, his entire presence changes to the smoothly comfortable pitchman who has seduced multiple clients over the years. "I'm Don Draper from McCann-Erickson," pours from his mouth like liquid honey, Hobart making a show of clasping his heart in delight that doesn't hide the fact his reaction is genuine. His earlier statement about getting what he wants was true, and the fact it took him so long to get Don has made this moment all the more exciting for him: he owns Don now, Don is his, and he couldn't be happier. For Don, it simply continues another trend he was consciously afraid of and must be aware at some level is happening. Despite everything going so well, despite all the support, the material trappings, the influence, the full-throated support.... Don is no longer the master of his own destiny, and even in a friendly meeting like that he was already being told how to dress and even what to say.   Joan meanwhile is meeting the other side of the positive experience she had earlier in the meanwhile. Joined by Dennis, the rather crude Account Man from her and Peggy's disastrous meeting with McCann when trying to get Topaz into a Department Store, she's making calls to her clients to set their minds at ease over the shift from SC&P to McCann, and started with the biggest of them all: Avon. All of which would be fine, except Dennis isn't listening to anything she is saying as she sets Barry from Avon's mind at ease over the continuation of service with Ted Chaough and Peggy Olson, bored of the minutiae and deciding to show Joan how it's done by talking all over her to arrogantly declare what McCann can offer: 5 times the audience for every penny they were spending at SC&P, plus they can get them on television! "We're already on television," Barry replies testily over the speaker after a moment, Joan glaring at Dennis who seems utterly unfazed and completely confident in his own "charm" to fix this problem, noting that he's often in Atlanta so they should go hit the greens sometime! Either not noticing or indifferent to the look of horror on Joan's face, he asks if Barry is any good at playing, and after another pregnant pause Barry simply states that he is not before excusing himself from the call, saying his secretary has reminded him of a meeting. Apparently unbothered, Dennis shrugs and just asks Joan who is next, while she struggles to contain her apoplectic rage, reminding him that among the many things in the client briefings she gave him to read AND that she told him is that Barry.... is in a wheelchair! Oh my God. He takes a moment, and then gasps that he thought that was Charlie Butler at Butler Shoes! Even now he doesn't seem to think it's a big deal that he just embarrassed an important client, while Joan grumpily reminds him (but not Libby and Karen earlier) that it is Butler FOOTWEAR... and his name is Charles, not Charlie! But Dennis remains utterly unruffled, if anything he seems irritated at Barry for using the phrase "walking around" during their call, complaining that he shouldn't be allowed to use an expression like that! Furious, Joan moans that she spent the entire night prepping those briefs for him and he doesn't seem to have read them, and while Mr. Donnelly said he'd be in the calls to aid the transition he doesn't seem to care whether they keep them or not. And now, of course, Dennis does get upset. And, of course of course, he's upset at her for having the temerity to get angry at him for him loving everything up! Leaning forward, he angrily demands to know who told her that SHE got to get upset? Furious, barely containing her anger, 1000 acid remarks designed to strip flesh from bone race through Joan's mind.... and then falter, as she has to remind herself yet again that she isn't one of the Partners at her own Agency anymore, she's a newly recruited Account Man at perhaps the biggest Advertising Agency in the world, talking to a man who is technically her senior, and that she HAS to bite her tongue even though he is completely, totally and 100% in the wrong. So what does she do? She does what she has had to do so often in her life but only recently finally believed was behind her for good. She bites her tongue, she holds back her own anger knowing that she'd be called "emotional" even though he's the one currently throwing a tantrum over being called out for incompetence. Taking a moment, allowing a deep breath, she controls herself and very gently, very diplomatically, explains that all she asks is that he take a moment to read the next brief before they make the call. So of course of course of course, he gets FURTHER offended! Standing up, outraged at her having the audacity to gently ask him to do the very bare minimum of his actual job, he declares triumphantly that SHE can make the rest of the calls herself (that's fine!), slamming the briefs down on her desk and storming out. Unbelievably, he actually complains that he thought she was going to be "fun" as he goes, making no bones about the fact he probably took on this assignment with visions of banging her in his head. Did he somehow leave their earlier Topaz meeting thinking she was enthralled by his "clever" jokes? Somehow, I think maybe he did. Joan watches him leave, distraught, because of course she's jumped back in time well over a decade. Even in 1960 at Sterling Cooper she was a respected (and feared) person on the floor despite the hyper-sexualization she still had to deal with on a daily basis. But now it's a decade+ later and she's gone back even further in time to the 1950s. Women are there to be ogled, certainly not to be listened to or take instruction from, and any mistake a man makes is the woman's fault if she calls it out. This is NOT what Joan wanted from McCann-Erickson, but it is perhaps what she feared, and whatever reassurance she took from meeting Libby and Karen earlier has certainly evaporated now. Peggy Olson, however, is at home watching McCloud! A knock at her door interrupts her relaxing early evening, and she gets up and looks through the peephole (something I've noticed she's done ever since Ginsberg showed up at her door), then opens it to let in Marsha. She's carrying flowers in a basket, and Peggy is quick to assure her the office mix-up was NOT her fault and she didn't need to come all the way out to see her and bring them. Marsha though explains the flowers are from McCann, and at first Peggy is pleased, noting an apology is classy. When she learns that ALL the SC&P girls got flowers, she still thinks it is a classy move, but when Marsha finally has to come right out and explain that all the SC&P girls who are new SECRETARIES at McCann got flowers, she finally gets it: they thought SHE was a secretary too. Outraged, she demands to know if Don knows this, but when Marsha asks if she should tell Don Peggy quickly cries out,"No!" He was her first thought but of course running to him would just undercut Peggy's own authority. Instead she ponders going to Joan, irritated when Marsha points out handling this kind of mix-up is NOT Joan's job now, explaining that she's aware of this. Marsha hands her some files, explaining that she's taking care of her memos in the meantime and can get her any files she needs, like these ones on Peter Pan and Tampax. As for Peggy's office things, they're being moved into storage while they sort out the office mix-up, and until then she's welcome to work in the secretarial pool. Knowing this would only reinforce the idea at McCann that she's nothing more than a secretary herself, Peggy insists angrily that she is a Copy Supervisor (Copy Chief once again a role she'd have to work her way up to) and she won't work with the Secretaries... until she has her own office she won't be coming in, and McCann can reach her here if they need to. "Here?" asks Marsha, surprised, and Peggy admits that no working from home would not be a good look. So she'll work from her office at SC&P, her furniture is still there after all, and they can call her there if they need her. She lets Marsha go, locking the door behind her and taking a moment to seethe: her Career Advisor pushed her to stick with McCann to build up her career opportunities down the line, but right now everything seems to be going backwards.   The next morning, it is Don's turn to hold the elevator door for somebody, and he's very pleased to see it is Joan Harris. She's pleased to see him too, and as they ride up he asks how she is going, and she admits it has been a little bumpy and she is "homesick". When he recommends they get drinks together sometime, she points out with a grin that he's far too important in status now for them to share any accounts, but he promises he can always find time for her... and to intervene if she needs help of any kind. She considers that, for a long time they had a very respectful (and mildly yearning on her part) relationship, then it deepened to what felt like real friendship, then it soured entirely for a long time before 1.5 million dollars helped heal the divisions between them. Now with the shift to McCann, any remaining animosity she had for him is entirely gone because he is one of the last lingering connections she has to a time in her life when she was in total control of every aspect of her life.... hell, for a good while, she had control over parts of HIS life in fact! But she comes to a firm conclusion, thanking him for the offer but assuring him that she intends to solve this little conundrum herself. "Of that I have no doubt," beams Don, who has nothing but admiration for the way she handles herself and confidence in her ability to master her fate. They reach the 19th floor and he exits, Joan suggesting they get lunch together at least at some point, which he happily agrees to. Once he's gone, she rides up alone except for a man who joined on 19 and looks like he's running late for something, her confidence fading slightly as she ponders just what her options are. In Don's office, Meredith takes him through a layout of potential plans for decorating his apartment that she has prepared. He's stunned and very happy at how organized and actually compelling it all is, asking how she learned to do this? "I'm an army brat, remember?" she beams, delighted with the praise, explaining that the constant moves to new bases meant she got used to constant redecoration. He taps one of her layouts and tells her THAT is where he wants to live, and gives her the complete freedom to handle the decorating for him, promising to pay her in cash. She (foolishly) waves off that offer, insisting that it is something she loves to do, then reminds him he has lunch with Miller Beer today and is roast beef okay for his meal? It's perfect, he agrees, and she leaves, Don going back to genuinely appreciating the fine work of her proposed apartment layouts: did he ever feel this enthusiasm for Megan's decorating ideas, even at the height of his blind, obsessive love for her? Elsewhere, Joan makes her move, as she pops up to a different floor and runs into Ferg and Pete. Pete is beaming, obviously absolutely in his element at McCann despite his initial trepidation about finally moving from being a big fish in a (relatively well-sized) pond. Pleased to see her, he asks if she is here for the Sears briefing, thinking it's a good idea, but she explains she was actually looking for Mr. Donnelly. "Ferg!" he insists, and tells Pete to go on without him, giving him a vote of confidence by pointing out that it is HIS meeting so he can go ahead and start without him. Happily insisting he is going to request Joan get involved with the Sears Account too, Pete takes his leave, Joan saying goodbye and noting how thoughtful that was to Ferg. He's all smiles but of course offers nothing positive or negative to the idea of her being on Sears, because it's one thing for Pete to request it and quite another for Ferg to openly agree to it: one is a "thoughtful" idea and the other would be a directive with the power of authority behind it. So he asks what he can do for her, and after her suggestion of Pete's involvement is casually shut down (he's a Vice President now apparently, they don't get directly involved like that) she offers in the most diplomatic, polite and sweet way possible that while she likes Dennis "personally" she fears that the client did not respond well to him. Ferg, who presumably can more than read between the lines, immediately declares she need say no more and that he will take care of it immediately. She's surprised but pleased at how smoothly that went, though perhaps it went a little TOO smoothly? Joan doesn't seem to consider it, but just what did Ferg take away from that line about the client? Given what we've seen of him to date, is there a chance an enraged Dennis bursts into Joan's office an hour from now declaring he's been fired and accusing her of orchestrating it? But as Joan navigates the filled-to-the-brim corridors of McCann, Peggy finds herself in the now eerily empty and gutted remains of SC&P's. She calls out a hello, but all she hears in return is a foreign language being confidently spoken, and enters her office to find Ed has been making good on his promise to make long distance phone-calls during the remains of his paid week of employment. Her boxes have arrived at least, jammed into a pile in the corner, and Ed tells whoever he was chatting to that he has to go and hangs up, explaining that he signed for them but has no idea why they're here? She doesn't answer, just sighs over everything being dumped there instead of in storage as promised, meaning they'll need to be collected from there too when she finally moves back. Ed ignores her demanding to know if he's been on the phone all morning, instead giving her the message that Stan called and doesn't have his own phone yet, but he's got a place on the 14th floor (so he did go to McCann in the end, good!) and wants her to pop in to visit him sometime. But more importantly than that, he's got the art she wanted for the dead account on Dow! Grabbing his artboard, he proudly shows her what he clearly thinks is his best work yet!  Oh Ed, why'd you wait till what is presumably your final episode to have a personality!?! She's horrified of course, while Ed is unapologetically not, his only concern being that maybe quagmire should be pluralized! She gasps that she can't hand in anything like this, but he shrugs that they're not even going to look at it, just dump it in a pile before collecting the new work from McManus, John & Adams. But she reminds him he could end up working for Dow again, or Ken Cosgrove, or even for her... does he really want something like this on their minds? Grumpily, she points out that she asked him to do ONE thing and he couldn't even do that! "Fine, I quit!" he smirks, and she can't help but allow a little smile herself at the utter absurdity of this entire situation: she's demanding work from a guy who doesn't really have a job, for an Agency that doesn't really exist, to present to a Client that isn't theirs. Of COURSE he's not taking it seriously. The lights go out, Ed commenting that this wasn't very subtle of the Time-Life Building Managers, but as he collects his things he does pause for a moment to offer one last genuine and heartfelt comment: once she is settled in at McCann, which he knows absolutely WILL happen.... will she call him when she is looking for new artists? She promises him that she absolutely will, and with that he goes, his employment now effectively over and the search for a new job begun, and Peggy left seemingly the last occupant of what she was once told would be her "Dream Agency". At McCann, Don is escorted to the Miller meeting, and enters a room to find it stuffed full with what seems like a dozen men, all mostly in shirtsleeves (some rolled up), cokes on the table, all of them chatting away amicably with each other. Spotting somebody he knows at least, Don steps up and shakes the hand of an older man, confirming that he correctly recalls his name is Bob. Bob it is, returning the handshake and pointing to a box lunch with Don's name at it. Don is confused though, he was expecting lunch with Miller Beer, has he got the right meeting? Indeed he does, but it seems Miller Beer is actually being represented by the tall, well-built young man chatting with Bob: Bill Phillips from Conley Research. He passes his card to Don and Bob introduces him AND Ted, who has stepped up behind them carrying his boxed lunch and Don's. Ted, of course, is in shirtsleeves. Don accepts his lunch from Ted, still taking in the room, asking Ted if McCann has brought in EVERY Creative Director in the Agency for this meeting? This is obviously not what he was expecting, presumably he had something more in mind of himself, an Account Man and a couple of execs from Miller - the kind of thing that was old hat at SC&P. He was wrong about that though, and he's wrong about this being every Creative Director in the Agency... because according to Ted it's only half of them! Ted, obviously feeling completely at home, moves to take a seat, and when Bob sarcastically asks if he is also here to "bring us up a notch"?, Ted just laughs and admits that's what they tell him. Hobart had told Don the same thing in an earlier meeting, and now he's had a very unpleasant revelation, one that contrasts strongly with Hobart's earlier claim about him being his white whale. He's nothing special. Don is... just another Creative Director. One of a dozen, itself only half of all those who are also in the Agency. He isn't even "special" in the sense of being there to give the others something to aspire to, because apparently Ted got told the same thing, and the notion is laughable to the other Creative Directors who have presumably been through the flavor of the month before with new hires. He's here as one of many, in a meeting with a Researcher instead of the Client, learning the reality of a truly large advertising agency: everything is in bulk, the money it generates overrides all over concerns, and he is just another cog in a very large, thoughtless machine. Bob introduces them to Bill, takes a seat, and lets Bill take control. Don listens, stunned, as he realizes that he is receiving a pitch. Bill is doing what a Copywriter does, weaving a story with his words, getting people to listen... but the people he's pitching to ARE the Creatives. He sets them at ease by downplaying the pages of facts and statistics in the binders in front of them, talks them up as the finest Creative minds in the industry, then asks them to imagine in their minds the picture he is painting of the ideal composite Miller Beer customer they are trying to sell on Diet Beer. Think back to episode 1 of season 1. Don could barely stand to sit through a presentation of facts by Dr. Greta Guttman, refused to take her ideas about the "Death Wish" seriously, and just pitched what came to him in the moment. Think of Season 4, when he accepted Dr. Faye Miller's expertise only through gritted teeth, though he came to value her insight mostly for his own benefit before he discarded her in favor of Megan. Now, here in the tail end of season 7, it's not something he even has a choice in. He has to sit there and listen to the carefully researched, scientifically broken down components of TARGET CONSUMER. His art has been turned to science, instinct turned to carefully honed points of interest to stimulate TARGET CONSUMER's appetites. Like Duck Phillips, Harry Crane and Jim Cutler, it is advertising reduced to nothing but numbers, no matter what Bill says about ignoring them. Worst of all? His fellow Creatives - including Ted! - laugh in unison at all the right places. They turn in unison to all the right pages as Bill continues to breakdown TARGET CONSUMER who lives in Wisconsin or Michigan or Ohio, has some college, makes a good living, has a lawnmower, wants a hammock, never uses his power tools, used to play sports, loves dogs because they don't talk etc. Don's attention wavers, this breakdown doesn't interest him, it doesn't help him, it doesn't inspire or inform. It simply bores. So he looks out the window, watches a plane flying by going... somewhere, anywhere, it doesn't matter where. It's possibility. Potential. A story that can be told, made up, put together in a moment by an imaginative mind. It's as far from what is happening in this room as it can be, and it's where Don wants to be in this moment. So what does he do about it? He simply stands, collects his lunch, and walks out. Only a couple of the other directors notice, and quickly return to listening to Bill breaking down the factors that prevent TARGET CONSUMER from being convinced to drink a different type of beer from their father and grandfather or what they drank in college. The only one who truly follows his departure is Ted Chaough, who watches him go perhaps suspecting in part what is behind this exit. But once Don is gone, Ted returns his attention with the others to Bill. He listens attentively, just like all of them, because as he warned them all before the agreement to sell to McCann and after Hobart informed them of their reward/fate.... he's simply content now to let somebody else run his life for him.   In Joan's office, she's preparing to eat lunch at her desk when Ferg comes knocking at the door, asking if "your girl" is still at lunch? Joan explains that she always insists Beverly take the full hour for her lunch (she surely remembers the days when her own lunch hour would be spent chasing up things for the men she worked for) and Ferg steps in, closing the door behind him and noting he has news. Joan obviously has been thinking about potential blowback since she last spoke with him, and asks if she's caused trouble? Instead of answering, he gestures to her drinks trolley and asks if it is too early for her, and she assures him it is not as she takes a seat and he pours them both drinks. He explains that he spoke with Dennis, and she's worried again that she has ruffled feathers. That concern turns to frustration when Ferg points out that what this looks like is that a Junior Account Man came in swinging her elbows. Irritated, she points out that Dennis did not read his briefs and also that she is NOT his Junior, these are HER Accounts and he was supposed to be there to help out. Ferg though calmly explains that she just needs to see things from Dennis' point of view, after all he has a wife and three kids... he's not going to work for a girl! Jesus loving Christ. He's not done though, and what makes it worse is that he's not mocking or cruel or even angry, just calmly recounting what to him are simply facts of life: how can Dennis talk to a client and point to somebody like Joan and say,"She's my Boss!" Jesus loving Christ. Trying to control herself, Joan notes with a hard smile that women bosses is something that happens all the time now, after all Peggy Olson was their Copy Chief and that worked just fine for everybody. Ferg though isn't fazed by little things like actual evidence of societal progress, noting that it's different for a bunch of writers fresh out of Columbia... and honestly he doubts that is going to continue here at McCann anyway! Does he mean Peggy's role as a Copy Supervisor is already on the chopping block? Or does he just assume she's going to automatically slide back down to being a simply copywriter? Or is he just talking more generally about women and thinks suddenly women are going to decide they want to return to only being allowed to be secretaries or models until they're "lucky" enough to become wives? But after all that, he does actually offer an olive branch, promising her that he didn't come down for this meeting to upset her, he's here to ensure she DOES retain the status and respect she deserves with these Clients. Surprised, pleased, but a little confused, she offers a little,"Oh?" response, and things get even more confusing when he explains who will be the new man aiding her transition of clients from SC&P to McCann. Ferg Donnelly. Stunned, she promises him that he doesn't have to take on this extra - and let's be frank, beneath him - work, but she's more than happy to accept that generosity. She raises her glass to him and takes a drink, and he does the same, and then gets right down to business: they have to pay Barry from Avon a personal visit and give him an apology for Dennis' gently caress-up. She's surprised by that, and something - years of experience sadly - set her alarm bells ringing. Carefully, she points out that she doesn't want to waste his time, and what she means by that is that it might look like too much doing something so extreme. Barry will be visiting New York soon, and Avon Corporate is only a few blocks away, they can wait till then. Ferg takes that onboard, shrugs and admits that he's easy... after all, he's not expecting anything more than a good time! The naked brazenness of it leaves her shocked, and she manages to get out a soft little,"Excuse me?", and completely at his ease, having clearly done this many times before and taken it as a given privilege of his position, he offers that of course he'd like to get to know her better too! "....of course," she manages, and he stands and declares that in his benevolence, he's going to "let" her call Charles Butler all by herself! Jesus loving Christ. Too late she's realized that she's jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Dennis bitterly complained that he thought she would be "fun". Ferg clearly EXPECTS her to be "fun", and somehow that last line about "letting" her call Charles Butler herself is the most galling part of all. Because of course, the truth is she absolutely does not need ANYBODY to "aid" the transition. This is as simple as her telling her clients they're at McCann now and selling them on what the much, much, much larger Agency can offer them. They have forced first Dennis and now Ferg on her, and the onus is on her to make it work despite their hosed up priorities and lecherous attitudes, with the only person at risk from all this being herself. But it's one final line from Ferg that takes it over the line BEYOND the line he already crossed. Because it wasn't enough for him to simply expect her to meekly accept sex as part of doing business, he offers one last final implied threat that makes it entirely clear that he knows ABSOLUTELY 100% what he is doing and that he is trying to force her to do this. Turning to look at her from the doorway, with a grin he points out that they have to make sure she keeps her accounts, because after all... what would there be for her to do here at McCann if she didn't have them? Ken Cosgrove was right, this guy's a giant piece of poo poo!  
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 11:11 on Aug 23, 2022 |
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Aug 21, 2022 05:05
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In Rye, Betty Francis is reading a case study on hysteria by Sigmund Freud when the doorbell rings. She calls for Loretta to get it, and soon after Loretta brings Don into the kitchen. He's alarmed to find no sign of Sally, even more alarmed when he finds out she has already left the house, getting a ride with a friend. Upset, he asks why nobody told him, and Betty points out that she told Sally to call his office, blaming Meredith who she calls a moron. Wincing because he knows if there was a call, Meredith would have dutifully taken it, he admits he wasn't at the office, he instead took the car to be washed so it would look nice when he picked Sally up, a plan that obviously backfired him. Surprisingly, Betty offers a defense of Sally (maybe she gained a new perspective from Freud's horrible treatment of Dora!?!), noting that she comes and goes as she pleased but "we" can't get mad at her for being independent... it's normal. Amused, he asks if that is what Freud says and she admits so far she hasn't found anybody "normal" in her studies. Returning to her seat, she winces, admitting she had to carry about $100 in textbooks while registering for her classes yesterday. Pleased, Don steps behind her and begins massaging her shoulders, teasing her that she might be getting old. She takes this in good humor too, pointing out that she's younger than him and always will be, and grins when he cheekily suggests she find a Freshman to carry her books for her. But she also gently taps his hand tells him she's fine now, not too subtly but also not cruelly letting him know that the intimacy of his shoulder massage cannot continue. A little awkwardly, he steps away, asking when the boys will be back. Unfortunately, Gene is at Cub Scouts and Bobby is playing basketball, so they won't be back till 6:30. Don considers, thinking about the time, whether it would be appropriate to stay that long or not, and finally settles on the obvious: no it would not. So he kindly tells her he will leave her to her studies, and when she smiles and lets him know that this is something she has ALWAYS wanted, he takes a moment before he offers his own utterly sincere and supportive response: "Knock 'em dead, Birdie." He leaves, and pleased she returns to her reading. The old pet name for her is used for perhaps the first time since their divorce without some kind of extreme situation behind it: no panic over a lump, no slightly drunken one night stand while on a trip to visit Bobby at camp. It's a name once reserved as a marker of the intimacy of their marriage, now spoken as one adult friend offering support to another. The relationship between Don and Betty has been fraught, complicated, messy, often angry, and frequently loud. But in this moment, Don sees a woman who is far from the "child" he once bitterly complained he was married to (and that he deliberately made to be that way), somebody who has matured enough to support their growing daughter's independence. More than that, perhaps, is that she is doing what SHE wants to do. Perhaps that she even knows what she wants to do in the first place. Don himself has no idea, he's been chasing that high of finding something to fulfill meaning to his existence for a long, long time now. Every time he thinks he's found it, it turns hollow, and the Miller Beer meeting today was just the latest in a long line of examples of a man who has succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of many and still doesn't know what it is he wants to do or what will make him happy. Betty has? Then good for her, he could either resent her or be happy for her, and this once at least he makes the healthy choice and is happy. At SC&P's now darkened former offices, Peggy tries to make herself a coffee by heating a mug on a glowing stovetop element. This, of course, makes the mug itself superhot, and when she tries to pick it up it burns her and causes her to drop it with a clanging bounce to the floor, the coffee spilling everywhere. She stares down at her failure.... and figures gently caress it and just walks away. After all, like Dow it seems foolish to spend any more time trying to figure out how to do finish this task. It's not like anybody else is going to be using the kitchen, she'll leave it for the poor bastards in maintenance to eventually get to once the office lease finally runs out for good. Don, meanwhile, drives on through the night, no daughter to take his mind of things, no kids to spend time with, not even an ex-wife to give a shoulder massage to and maybe engage in one more "one more for the road" with? So he drives, and when he spots the highway sign pointing in the direction of Pennsylvania, of course he takes it. Joan at least has somebody. Lying with her head on Richard's chest in bed, she giggles over his stomach rumbling, and he reminds her she never gave him a chance to eat. Apparently the frustrations of the day lead her to try and exorcise them with lust with a man she actually WANTS to be with. She offers to make him fried chicken, and he makes a counter offer: her mother and Kevin are away on holiday together which is allowing them to "play house" together for a change... but why doesn't she just call in sick at work and he'll take her to Bermuda for a holiday of her own! "No," she insists, and when he offers Cape Cod, she coldly tells him she doesn't want to go anywhere she doesn't want to go, and doesn't want him making plans for her. Confused at her sudden shift in demeanor, he mumbles,"All right, all right" as she rolls over in bed. But when she lights up a cigarette and mumbles that she has a lot of work to do, he assures her that despite telling her in an earlier conversation that he didn't want to listen to work complaints, it doesn't mean he doesn't want to hear about things from her that are obviously REALLY bothering her. She promises him he really doesn't want to hear this, and when he keeps asking, she admits that she realized too late that she asked the wrong person for help there, and now she doesn't know how she is going to get out of it. Richard though has a more simplistic solution: she has enough money of her own already AND she has him too, does she NEED to be there? Joan's reply is simple enough, and a good explanation for why she has bit her tongue and is currently wracking her brain trying to find a solution to Ferg's horrific expectations: they owe HER over half a million dollars. She doesn't explain the finer details, of course, but the fact is that she - quite rightly - refuses to walk away from it and let them get away with not just their horrific, backwards caveman attitude toward her but be rewarded for it by saving $500,000 of the money they promised her that put her into this predicament in the first place. For Richard though if it is simply a matter of dollars and cents, he CAN help, because he knows how to deal with business issues. He offers her his two key solutions for dealing with disagreeable people in matters of business. The first is to throw a lawyer at them, tie them up in court, cost them money, drown them in paperwork, and while nobody REALLY wins it does at least "loosen the Earth" and help you out of a seemingly intractable situation. Intrigued, she asks what the second option is, and is shocked when he casually admits that you can get "a guy". "A guy?" she asks, what does "a guy" do? With a shrug, Richard admits that if it is the right "a guy", all they have to do is show up and that's enough. He doesn't elaborate on what happens if the person still refuses to be moved, but he doesn't have to, and with a shocked grin Joan asks if he has REALLY done that before? Noting that since she seems to like the idea, he's going to say yes, he has her both happy and shocked. That too was part of his plan, as he points out that now that he's laid out just how extreme things CAN get, maybe her own problem doesn't seem QUITE so bad now. Please with him for helping take her mind of things, she gives him a kiss. Because now her mind isn't running up against the brick wall that was Ferg's seemingly unassailable position of power, and she's back to feeling relaxed and comfortable again.   The night wears on and Don continues driving. Sealed with a Kiss is playing on the radio, Brian Hyland insisting that he doesn't want to say goodbye to the summer. The host chimes in to let the listeners know what the weather will be like in Cleveland, and then another voice - somehow familiar - replaces it mid-sentence, tinny through the radio, also admitting that they don't want to say goodbye to the summer. Don blinks away the sleep in his eyes, the voice from the radio clearer now because it is no longer coming from the radio but beside him, the weatherman now a passenger in the car driving alongside him, now doing an ad-read for a Department Store selling all the back-to-school fashions. It is, of course, Bert Cooper. "I'm really tired, aren't I?" sighs Don, who knows full well that Bert Cooper is dead and has certainly NOT clambered out of his radio to sit next to him and read copy. Cooper agrees he must be, he's been driving for 7 hours in the wrong direction, where is he going!?! "Racine, Wisconsin," explains Don, asking Cooper if he's ever been there. He hasn't, asking Don what's to be found there, then - because of course he's entirely in Don's head - asks if maybe he can find a waitress who DOESN'T care about him there? Cooper warns Don he shouldn't do it, and Don, who knows this is advice he's giving himself, points out that knowing that isn't going to stop him from doing it. When Cooper points out somewhat fondly that Don likes to play "the Stranger", Don asks him if he remembers On the Road? Disapprovingly, Cooper reminds Don that he is FULLY aware that Cooper has never read the book, itself an acknowledgement for them "both" that this is NOT Cooper. There's no point asking a question he already knows an answer to, it isn't catching Cooper out as a fake if he said yes, because they already know this version of Cooper knows only what Don knows: it's how he knew about Diana Baur despite Don only meeting her after Cooper died, and this Cooper could probably quote sections of Kerouac verbatim (which he does only moments later!) but they both know that the real Bertram Cooper would have never wasted time on some beatnik's writing. "I'm riding the rails," Don says with a sleepy grin, and Cooper quotes an appropriate Kerouac line. Don smiles serenely, enjoying for a moment driving through the night with his dead former mentor... and then Brian Hyland's voice returns to the fore, still singing of a cold, lonely summer... and Cooper is gone, Don once again alone in the night. The next morning, a bored Peggy leafs through files in her mostly empty office in an almost entirely barren office floor in the Time-Life Building. But a sound penetrates the silence from far away, and she walks out of the office, down the corridor, through reception and into the elevator lobby where she finds the source of the ringing: the payphones, the only working phones left on the floor. Answering, she's surprised to hear her name, but of course the call is for her, there's nobody else there! It's Marsha, who admits that after trying every number she could she went with this one knowing she'd have to run all the way to the building otherwise: the mix-up has been sorted at last, Peggy's office is prepared, she can FINALLY leave Time-Life and make her triumphant entrance (again) to McCann-Erickson. Pleased, Peggy tells her she can come right over, her happiness only slightly blunted by Marsha - standing in what appears to be a rather small office - asking if minds working at a drafting table until they bring her things over tomorrow? She agrees to that readily enough, she feels she's made her point by refusing to come to work until she had an office, better to deal with the indignity of a single chair and a drafting office actually working for a few hours then spend another dreadful day in her large, furnished office doing NOTHING. She hangs up and starts heading back towards her own office, but as she does something strikes her as... ominous? Organ music ups the creepy atmosphere as she nervously calls out, asking if anybody is there. There's no response, the empty floor with the lack of lights suddenly feeling not so empty, the shadows perhaps hiding something, the clack of her feet on the floor louder and more menacing, perhaps masking the sound of another's. She moves down the corridor, the organ music becoming more sinister as she passes the old SC&P and SCDP logos, relics of the past now, and rounds the corner as the music becomes almost comically over the top and.... Oh gently caress me, it's Roger Sterling LITERALLY playing an organ! Yes, the music was diegetic and what Peggy was actually responding to in the first place! She calls out his name and this time he actually hears her, startled into clutching at his heart, complaining that he's got a heart condition while she complains right back that SHE isn't scary, organ music is scary! Asking what he is doing here, he explains that he told Caroline he wanted to pack his own personal things... but for some reason she didn't grasp that his booze was ALSO one of those personal things! Now he's sober in the daytime, an aggression that simply will not stand! She suggests he try Don's office but he already did that and only found lighter fluid, and he's not so far gone that he'll drink that.... yet! She notes all her own is gone, but when he reaches into his pocket for cash and asks her to do him a favor, she complains she isn't going to go on a liquor run for him, she has to get to McCann! "Three days ago!" he points out, and she starts to angrily explain the screw-up with her office before deciding there is no point, it's all sorted out now and that's all that matters. With a weary sigh, Roger complains that he doesn't want to spend the day drinking in a bar... he did that yesterday! Offering her the cash again and putting on his best sad little (rich, 50+ year-old) boy look he promises that he'd do the same for her. Still not willing to run errands, Peggy does take some pity on him though, because she does have SOME booze left, though unlikely to be to his taste: will he drink vermouth? He thinks for a moment, and then quietly admits that yes, he's afraid he would. And just like that, it seems we're about to be treated to a rare but always welcome experience: a Roger and Peggy sequence!   At McCann, Joan arrives to her office and finds a welcome sight: a gift has been left for her. Presumably thinking it is from Richard, she picks up the card and slips it out of its envelope to read... and it is of course from Ferg, "romantically" simply stating,"Pick a weekend" with his name attached, the mark of a man utterly convinced that not only can he get away with this, but evidently that he doesn't even know it's something he NEEDS to get away with. Her good mood disappears in an instant, and she crumples up the card and tosses it aside. In Don's office, Meredith is working merrily away on her plans for Don's apartment when Jim Hobart walks through the door, calling to somebody that he'll be with them soon. Surprised to see him, she greets him warmly and asks if she can help him, and he notes that if she's sitting in his chair she obviously doesn't expect to see him. Still bright and cheerful, Meredith explains she already told Daphne she wasn't sure when he'd be in, but grabs pen and paper and offers to take a message for him! Hobart plays along, grunting that she can take a note that he missed Nabisco AND National Cash Register just left... so he might as well take the rest of the day off. Meredith, apparently not picking up on the fact Hobart is pissed off, continues to cheerfully smile and tells him a sweet thank you, promising to let him know just that! Considering for a second, Hobart decides to set aside the polite pretense that just be direct, stepping forward and quietly asking her if Don's off on a bender. Meredith, still betraying not a hint of concern, explains that he was taking his daughter back up to her school, so she's not concerned at all about him being late, leaving it unsaid but implied that she figures something to do with that delayed him. Frowning, considering just what the hell is going on with the White Whale he finally landed (did Hobart ever read how that ended up for Ahab!?!), he leaves. It's only once he's gone that Meredith's cheerful, almost stupid expression changes. Because she's absolutely concerned about Don, his absence and the lack of contact. But for all the mockery that Meredith gets, she takes her role as Don Draper's secretary EXTREMELY seriously. She doesn't know where Don is, but her job is to not give any indication of doubt to anybody, and that even includes the guy who runs the entire place in Hobart. The man himself has pulled over on the side of the road on his long trip to Racine, stretching his legs and taking an unsteady walk around to disappear into the trees, presumably needing to badly urinate or worse, still determined to hunt down Diana or at least hope to find some connection to her now that he knows she is gone from her poo poo-hole apartment. At SC&P, Roger pours vermouth and wallows in nostalgia, reading a letter from Christmas Day, 1951 in his office from somebody called Roberta he doesn't remember. Peggy doesn't know her either, sitting bored on an overturned trashcan in his mostly empty office, complaining that he doesn't need help packing his things like he told her, he just needs an audience. Roger, who has belatedly - and happily - remembered Roberta after reading a few lines of the letter, insists though that she remain, after all if McCann made her wait then she can make THEM wait. "I'm.... not enjoying this," sighs Peggy, and Roger calmly wanders over to his pile of things, collects up a framed picture and then presents it to her. It is, of course, Cooper's scandalous octopus print. Shocked by the graphic content, Peggy gasps out,"What is this!?!" and Roger gives a straightforward response: It's an octopus pleasuring a lady! He explains it hung in Cooper's office for years, but now she can have it! Horrified, she insists she can't take it, not because she had little interaction with Cooper over the years but because... well... because it's an octopus pleasuring a lady! When Roger suggests she put it up in her office, she explains nobody would take her seriously if she did that, and he knows she needs to make sure she keeps men feeling at ease around her. "Who told you that?" grunts Cooper, before explaining that now he has given her something, she's obliged to continue to keep him company! She returns to her seat, and he moans that his floor at McCann's looks like a retirement home, bemoaning how things could have finally come to this? Peggy, perhaps feeling a little fired up by the 150-year-old erotic art or his comment that she doesn't need to make men feel comfortable around her, points out that the McCann absorption wasn't something that just happened to him, he played a part in it! Defending himself, he insists that he was the one who get the Agency together, and though she may not know the finer details of the little war between him and Cutler for how SC&P would continue to operate, she points out that even if he believes that, the fact is that HE is the one who sold the place. His job was to look out for them, but he was the one who let McCann through in the first place. With a sigh, he admits that this is an industry without emotion, where you're bought, sold or fired and he of all people should have known better than to get attached to some walls... even if his name is on them. Taking a moment to indulge herself, Peggy notes she hopes to have that "problem" herself one day, and an amused Roger pours her another drink as she insists that the move is also exciting, and while both of them may not have realized it, perhaps they NEEDED this new challenge? But Roger has his own take on that idea, telling her a story about his wartime experience in 1944 during a heatwave. They dropped anchor in the Ulithi Lagoon so the sailors could go for a swim and cool down, but while everybody was eagerly leaping into the water, Roger couldn't do it. Peggy, enthralled, asks if it was because he couldn't swim, and he angrily reminds her was in the NAVY! The problem was that it was a 2-story drop from the cruiser into the water, and he couldn't make himself jump. Peggy considers that, and admits that everybody has regrets, but quietly Roger explains that he ended up going over and into the water anyway... he just needed a push. "This was a hell of a boat," he offers, as the camera cuts to a wide shot of the two of them sitting on the Account Floor, the walls to Roger's office gone, the now gutted floor fully visible to them. They toast, and sit quietly contemplating the sight for a few moments, and then Peggy suggests that he's only remembering the "boat" so fondly now because the ride is over, but it was terrible while he was in it. Sadly, Roger asks if that is REALLY how she will remember this place? Again she takes a moment, and then quietly admits that no, no she will not. She's trying to make the best of this, and there were times she was miserable at SC&P, but it was also a place she WANTED to work, where she did have good times, great times, wonderful times even. She made friends, she took a lover (that ended horrifically) but she also grew and grew in her status as a Copy Chief and seemed certain to eventually become a Creative Director... all from her simple start as a secretary. So no, she will not remember this "boat" as a terrible place. "Good," smiles Roger, because it was HIS boat and he was devastated to think she truly hated being on it. He pours her another drink and she insists THIS will be her last before she heads to McCann, and he asks if she really intends to show up drunk at 4pm for her FIRST day? This gives her the giggles, her last bit of reserve broken down at last, her giggling continuing as she happily embraces her role as Roger's audience now as he pulls out his ceremonial trowel and asks if she knows any Freemasons!  In Racine, a housewife answers the doorbell to find a tall, handsome and very well-dressed man standing on her doorstep. Greeting her, he explains he is looking for Mrs. Baur, and when she explains that is her he wishes her a good evening, asking if he is interrupting her dinner. Not yet, she admits, but is very careful to note that her husband will be home any minute, not ENTIRELY taken in by his smooth charm and good looks. Noting he only really needs to talk to her, he introduces himself properly, passing her his business card... he's Bill Phillips from Conley Research! His company represents an array of different companies including Miller Beer, and out of over 900 entrants, she - Diana Baur - was chosen to win a brand new Westinghouse refrigerator full of Miller Beer! She's thrilled of course, but there's just one problem. He's not Bill Phillips, and she's not Diana Baur. He already knew about the latter of course, and she has no idea about the former. It's Don Draper, looking remarkably composed after his long journey (presumably he freshened up somewhere, maybe even got some sleep?), carefully trying to hunt up information that will help him track down Diana, aided by the unexpected discovery of a new Mrs. Baur he obviously hopes will have less of a guard up than her ex-husband. Admitting it sounds wonderful, she explains she's Laura Baur, not Diana... can she still accept it? Not missing a beat, Don explains he needs to talk to Diana Baur and charms her by asking if her mother is at home. She lays it out to him though, he'll need to talk to her husband, Diana is his ex-wife. Here's where Don makes his first seemingly obvious misstep, saying he'll need to talk to Diana directly so he'll have to get her address from Laura's husband. But Laura doesn't find that a strange idea, figuring if she thinks about it at all that this is just weird legal nonsense that comes with such a big prize. He offers to return later or wait in his car for her husband, and laughing that her neighbors have seen him standing on her doorstep long enough now she invites him in, opening the door wider and revealing for the first time the young girl sitting on the stairs. Don comes in, taking a seat when she insists that it is no problem for her to get him iced tea while she checks on the chicken. Alone now, Don takes a moment take in the home that was Diana's until she gave it up, and then finds himself face to face with the surviving daughter that was Diana's till she gave her up too. The young girl has stepped in to face Don directly, demanding to know if he is looking for her mother, insisting that if she won anything, it should go to her instead. A little taken aback by her aggression - understandable aggression given the story Diana told him - he agrees that this makes sense, his only real interest still simply tracking down Diana, not wanting to spend too much time on thought of the reality of the damage she caused by her actions that until this point was simply an intellectual matter. At McCann, meanwhile, Joan has figured out her action, and identified what she hopes will be the right "a guy" who only needs to show up to get results. Jim Hobart. She's let into his office, assuring him her wait was no problem at all. They take a seat and of course at Jim at first is all ears, friendly and eager to help, even taking time for a friendly, fatherly reminder that they are OUR accounts when she mentions her accounts. Doing her best to couch things as diplomatically as possible, she sets the scene by explaining that her status as a Partner at SC&P meant she had more independence, and while she knows she needs to work with his personnel on these Accounts, she's concerned that the current set-up isn't what is best to make that happen. Still friendly and accommodating, Hobart tells her to just tell him what is really worrying her, and again being as careful as possible not to give offense she explains that Ferg Donnelly is not a good fit. Now Hobart's face falls a little, though he remains friendly, pointing out that Ferg is a very important person at McCann, and that if anything she should be thrilled that he has chosen to take an interest in her Clients. Of course the problem is that what Ferg has really taken an interest in, is her, but she doesn't want to come right out and say that - even now, the reality for a woman is that an accusation is more likely to backfire on her, and she knows it. But when Hobart calmly explains that she is going to have to get used to doing things the McCann way, she decides to be blunt without making accusations, simply stating that she can't work with Ferg. The friendliness is still there, but only barely sitting on the surface now, Hobart getting tenser as the conversation continues. Now when he talks he is more paternalistic than paternal, talking down to her, reminding her that her status actually HAS changed in the move to McCann. Joan isn't just going to let him throw that out there, perhaps because some part of her still remembers the feeling from her conversation with Libby and Karen and the realization that SHE was the one bringing something to McCann and not the other way around. She lists off Avon, Butler Footwear, Topaz Pantyhose, asking if he is really fine with losing those Accounts? Now he gets nasty, outright telling her he doesn't care about her tiny stake and Partnership in SC&P, condescendingly commenting that maybe it was left to her by somebody "in their will" as if there isn't any possibility she could have earned it, forgetting that all those Accounts she manages came about AFTER she had her Partnership in the first place. But Joan was prepared for this too, because as she told Richard she doesn't intend to go anywhere she doesn't want to go, AND she refuses to walk away without her money. So if he REALLY doesn't care about her and her stake, then she'll be just fine with leaving McCann.... with the $500,000 they still owe her. Standing up, all friendliness and warmness is gone from Hobart now. With a little sneer, the man who insists that he always gets what he wants has the audacity to comment that Joan is the type of girl who doesn't take no for an answer (it's the men who work for him who have that problem!)... but he isn't going to let HER tell HIM how to run HIS business, so she can find a way to get along or she can expect a letter from McCann's lawyer. She's tried to be nice, she's tried to be diplomatic, she has tried not to throw anybody under a bus or to expose their frankly despicable abuse... but if "getting along" means prostituting herself to Ferg Donnelly, then it's time to bring out the big guns of her own. "I wonder how many women around here would like to speak to a lawyer?" she muses,"I think the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has one." Oh shiiiiiiiiit. His fatherly smile replaced by an ugly little smirk, standing now in another little power move, Hobart insists that women LOVE working at McCann, and that if she makes a complaint she'll be all alone. Still utterly calm, Joan retorts that she doesn't think so, implying that Hobart doesn't really think so either, noting that the moment she makes a complaint the ACLU will be in her office... does he really want Betty Friedan and the women who marched down 5th Avenue raising their voices about McCann? Does he want to see headlines about McCann like the ones about Ladies' Home Journal and Newsweek? Rather than counter the idea that there are scandals to be found in McCann, Hobart instead falls back on the old standby of the rich and powerful.... he's above the law! Pointing out how much space McCann buys in the New York Times each year, he boasts that the paper would print Mein Kampf on the front page if they told them to. Joan, still frustratingly (for him) calm, simply retorts sarcastically that she's surrrre it will be difficult to find a reporter who is interested in embarrassing McCann this deeply! Hobart takes a beat, considering the impenetrable wall he has suddenly found himself up again. Allowing a semblance of his former "nice" smile to return, he takes a seat again, signaling the idea that he's trying to be accommodating. He acknowledges that she is clearly unhappy, and now HE is also unhappy, so he has an alternative: he'll pay out 50 cents on the dollar of what would otherwise be coming to her over the next 4 years (not counting her salary) so that he never has to see her again. Here, Joan makes perhaps her only misstep, though it's an understandable one. She wants ALL the money she was promised, all the money that SHOULD be coming to her by right because she lived up to her end of the bargain by agreeing to the sale of SC&P in the first place. So she insists it is the full 500k or nothing, and Hobarts walls go up again. He demands he get out of his office immediately, then takes a moment before glaring at her and telling her to "go ahead" regarding her threat to go to the EEOC, because he's rather give his money to a lawyer than give her the 500k (that he OWES her!). Her impassive face doesn't shift, but she leaves silently, perhaps wondering herself if she's made a mistake now. Even if the likes of Ferg and the whole culture that allows this kind of sexual harassment to run rampant NEEDS to be stopped, she doesn't want to make herself front and center of it. All she wanted was to either be free to do the job she is VERY good at or to be released from her contract while still getting the money that is absolutely 100% hers. What she's forgotten, despite the fact McCann has already changed the agreement to leave SC&P independent in the first place, is that these big companies don't have to play by the same rules as everybody else. Hobart probably legitimately thought he was being charitable by agreeing to pay her HALF the money he owes her, even though the full amount to him and McCann is a drop in an ocean (he bought an entire Agency JUST to get Miller Beer as a Client!). For him it is the "principle" of the thing. A rotten, lovely principle, all of which is perhaps overshadowing what else come out of that meeting. Joan was careful never to outright say it, but her implication of sexual harassment/demands being rife in the company and going as high up as Ferg Donnelly was clear. Hobart never denied them apart from his awful "women love working here!" line, but clearly he was aware on some level that this type of thing was happening... and simply doesn't care. Who knows if he has indulged in it himself, but whether he has or hasn't is irrelevant, this is his "boat" to put it in Roger terms, and he is the one who dictates the culture, and it is clear that the likes of Ferg and Dennis feel safe acting like this.... hell, Ferg straight up sent Joan a letter instructing her to "pick a weekend"!   In Racine, Laura Baur is fascinated by the notion that "Bill" gets to drive around the country giving prizes to people. Drinking his iced tea, Don offers that he also has to give a lot of boring presentations, and then they're saved by Mr. Baur finally arriving home. In short sleeves and a tie, hair combed over slick, he looks almost like a suburban, middle-class version of Pete Cambpell. He greets his wife, obviously intrigued as to what this man is doing in the house, surprised when Laura explains that Diana won a prize. "A refrigerator full of Miller Beer!" Don explains, ready to go into the whole spiel again, starting to explain that he needs to track Diana down since she is the one who entered the contes.... and Mr. Baur shuts him down to authoritatively state that Diana did NOT enter any contest, and demands to know who he really is? Laura is stunned, quietly questioning Cliff who half lovingly/half condescendingly explains that his wife doesn't know any better but he does. When Don mumbles that there's been some kind of mistake, Cliff agrees there was... letting him into the house in the first place, but if he doesn't explain himself now, he's going to call the police. Don takes a moment, then apologizes to Laura for the ruse, and agrees with Cliff that he's not who he says he is... he works for a Collection Agency. Diana Baur owes money, and his job is to collect it, and though Cliff is no longer "responsible" for her, he still needs help tracking her down. Cliff considers that for a moment, then sullenly offers that the last he heard she was in New York. When Don asks if he has an address, Cliff barks,"NO!" at him, making it clear that he's done with this interaction. Taking his leave, Don apologizes to Laura for the intrusion, she looking devastated that she let this liar into her house. But as Don walks towards his Cadillac, still shiny and clear from its recent wash despite the long drive, Cliff isn't quite done with him, following after him, noting that they're not as dumb as he thinks they are. Don starts to mutter that he's leaving, but Cliff isn't talking about seeing through the prize scam, he's talking about seeing through EVERYTHING. Don's clothes, his shoes, his Cadillac with New York plates.... no collection agent dresses like this, and certainly Diana could never get her hands on enough money to justify sending somebody like Don all the way from New York to Wisconsin. No, Cliff knows EXACTLY what this is, Don is one of Diana's lovers, and she's abandoned him just like she abandoned her family. He's not the first to coming looking for her here, Cliff exclaiming she is like a tornado. Unsure how to react, Don finally admits that he was simply worried about her, she seemed so lost. Cliff nods at that, and then points out something that Don seems to keep forgetting, that Cliff and his daughter aren't just props and background characters in somebody else's story. He lost his daughter to God and his wife "to the devil", he has only just started to get somewhat close to being back to the normality he once had, and did Don ever consider that before he came bursting into their lives looking for Diana? Admitting that he did not, Don is at a loss how to respond when Cliff starts talking religion, which has always been a prickly subject with him at the best of times. Cliff it seems took solace (or perhaps always did) in religion, proclaiming that Don can't save Diana, only Jesus can, but Jesus will save Don too if he only asks Him. But with that little bit of witnessing out of the way, Cliff is done, proclaiming that Don is not to ever return here before closing the car door and walking away. Cliff is, in many ways, the TARGET CONSUMER that Bill Phillips identified. Suburban dad, married with a kid, obviously has some education, set in his ways, opinionated. But he's more than that too. Whether he found religion before or after his child died, it's clear that the tragedy shattered the connection between himself and Diana, with their other child the victim of the break-up. But Don's cynical attempt to dazzle these suburban rubes with a pie-in-the-sky story about a refrigerator full of beer made him as guilty as Phillips of simply categorizing Cliff and Laura as archetypes he could pinpoint focus a story at to make them give him what he wanted. It didn't work, because people are more than that, the broad strokes focus will ALWAYS miss the finer niceties of what makes people who they are, in favor of casting a wide net that catches up enough people that it doesn't matter, because the sheer weight of numbers overwhelms those left alienated, untouched or deeply cynical about what they're being told. It's one of the key differences in the advertising mentality of McCann and SC&P, both are effective in their own ways, the former FAR more lucrative but the latter far more satisfying for a certain type of Creative. The trouble for Don is that he's the latter, but he's now stuck working for the former. Speaking of the old SC&P, in their former offices... https://i.imgur.com/lyuxtx1.mp4 While Roger and Peggy are drunkenly celebrating the end of an era, Don drives on through the night. Where is he going? Back to New York? To Pennsylvania? Los Angeles? Anywhere? Perhaps he himself doesn't know, but he certainly didn't find what he was looking for in Racine. The next day, Roger arrives at McCann and goes straight to meet Jim Hobart in his office, having finally finished his slow mourning of the death of SC&P. Hobart is in a foul mood, demanding to know where he has been, and Roger - who may work for Hobart now but carries himself with the confidence of a lifelong multi-millionaire who has spent most of his career treating Hobart as a peer, and not a particularly well-liked one at that - isn't remotely cowed, telling him to relax and insisting that he just had a lot of stuff to move. Hobart demands to know if ANY of them are planning to actually do any work around McCann or if this merger (instigated by Hobart against their wishes!) has been the Con of the Century, ignoring that Ted and Pete have both been eagerly putting their noses to the grindstone! Roger again breezily waves off the complaint, stating that they're all just settling in. When Hobart further rages that Don walked out of a meeting on Wednesday and hasn't been seen since, Roger's blase response that oh yeah, Don just does that sometimes doesn't help his blood pressure any! Snarling that he may have been given rotten fruit, Hobart warns Roger it's not too late for the ax to fly, insisting he'll start with "that redhead". "Joan?" asks Roger, for the first time troubled, and Hobart growls at him that he doesn't even want to hear her name, furious at the woman for not timidly going okay with being sexually abused and also having the temerity to want to be paid all the money she's legally entitled to! But while Hobart and Roger discuss the fate of one of the former SC&P's high ranking women, another is finally making her triumphant arrival to McCann-Erickson, as Peggy Olson has wisely held back from coming to work and letting her first impression be as "just one of the girls" working among the secretaries. Instead, the first impression anybody gets of her is.... https://i.imgur.com/Kuj6l4n.mp4  Yes, looking impossibly badass, Peggy Olson struts with supreme confidence down the corridors of McCann-Erickson like she owns the place. Sunglasses, cigarette dangling, from the side of her mouth, dressed impeccably, and carrying - of course - Cooper's old print of an octopus pleasuring a woman, Peggy Olson has ARRIVED at McCann, and done so in style. Joan is also at work, walking into her office to find Roger waiting for her. She greets him like nothing is out of the ordinary, commenting that he finally made it in, but he is the one who for once is blown away that somebody else is walking into work like nothing out of the ordinary has happened. She points out that she's here and doing her job, as if it is as simple as that (it should be!), but Roger has come with a warning: Jim Hobart is NOT afraid of her. If that is the case, she points out, then why did he send Roger down to talk to her? Roger has an answer for that though, he came down so he could let her know that he CAN'T help her. Irritated at the notion that she was expecting him to swoop in and save her, she thanks him tartly for that message, but he isn't done. Admitting that her being put into this position was his fault given he was the one who pushed for the sale in order to beat Jim Cutler in their little war for prominence, he practically begs her to take the offer from Hobart because she isn't going to get any better than 50 cents on the dollar. "Take HALF my money," growls Joan, furious at the notion that she'll effectively be paying McCann 250k on top of losing her dream job at her own Agency. But Roger warns her of something she herself already suspected, she's started a process that could see her get NOTHING.... and half of what she's owed is still plenty, no matter how unfair it is. For a moment she retains the impassive face she held against Hobart, and then it collapses. She's tired of fighting for getting what should simply be in a just world. She's miserable at losing a job she was drat good at just because some rear end in a top hat middle-aged dude decided she couldn't have what she already had without screwing him too. But she's also exhausted and just wants it to be over, and so lets out a long, deep sight, then quietly collects her photo of Kevin and her Rolodex, turns back to Roger and quietly tells him to let Hobart know he has a deal. With that she walks out the door without a backward look, giving up everything she worked so hard to earn, though at least this time she leaves with enough money - 1 million already paid out, 250k still to come, on top of the salary she had been earning at SC&P before now - to secure a future for her and Kevin even without Richard in the mix. She didn't get to leave on her own terms, but at least she stood up for herself and made it clear to McCann that she wasn't just going to be there for "fun". Roger watches her go, miserable, he himself has all the money in the world but now he hasn't just lost his "boat", but one of the few people he cares about who at least made the transition to McCann with him. But as he said, there was nothing he could do. After all, what Jim Hobart wants, he gets. Don drives down the country road on a hot summer day, as Brian Hyland and Imaginary Cooper said it isn't time to say goodbye to it just yet. He spots a hitchhiker on the side of the road and pulls over, despite a less than stellar history with hitchhikers in the past. He asks the young, unkempt musician where he is going and is told St. Paul. He considers that for a moment, then shrugs and says he can go that way. The hitchhiker clambers into the Cadillac, turning a grateful look Don's way but assuring him he doesn't want him to have to go out of his way. Despite the fact that Minnesota is almost a third of the country away from New York, Don isn't troubled though. It seems he was already going the wrong way from Racine, not moving any closer to New York at all. "It's no problem," he insists, and they continue on down the road. After all, it's not like Don has anywhere he WANTS to be.   Episode Index
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Aug 21, 2022 05:05
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i'd have to rewatch the whole series to be sure but i think this episode gave us the series' only utterance of the phrase "women's lib", and it's entirely appropriate that it came from people trying to reassure a character no, don't worry, we're not into being liberated, we're good corporate soldiers one thing i always appreciated about the show is it had no illusions about the world it chose to present and rarely (if ever) shoehorned stuff in that wouldn't fit the characters' class and social statuses. our only brush with the new left of any significance was abe and that's because peggy wanted to dip her toes into that milieu as a curious budding yuppie. lesser shows would be doing "hey remember the 60s" and shoving square pegs into round holes all over
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Aug 21, 2022 12:36
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2nd Amendment posted:If they were going to McCannize them, sure. But McCann has specifically said that isn't what they want to do. Having been through several acquisitions myself I can give a hearty LOL to that but that's a very post 1980s mindset. The characters have neither the personal experience nor the societal cynicism/metis for that worldview. They kinda do though. They had personal experience with Puttnam, Powell and Lowe and they've also been around long enough at a high enough level, knowing enough other people in the industry, to know how this sort of thing can go down. They're not exactly fresh employees in the mailroom.
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Aug 21, 2022 14:22
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many people when this was airing believed that don was spiraling downwards at this point, but what we are really seeing is a slow shedding of skin. he is starting big and working his way down as he removes things from himself, or himself from places and situations, that he used to identify with. hes not married, hes not an ad man, hess not a new yorker, hes said goodbye to betty, he seems to have resolved the diana situation as best as he could. he has no apartment, no things. just his caddy, his clothes, some cash and anna's ring. and still he travels, in search of...something. i really love these last 2 episodes coming up. i know its too soon to get into specifics, but person to person is imho the best finale of all time
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Aug 21, 2022 20:54
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I wonder what's going through Joan's head when Roger tells her to take the deal and run. Hendricks' expression is clearly pained, you can tell that Joan is tired of fighting and understands the wisdom of what he's saying in an economical sense. but to me, her expression seems disappointed. over seven seasons, we've seen her grow from a willing participant and proponent of the status quo for women into a trailblazer, and Roger, implicitly or not, has been supporting her decisions at each step. as obvious as Roger's position is, I can't help but feel there's a part of her that expected him to tell her to fight—to give her the strength to do so. she's the only man that truly knows her, as a lover, as the father of her child, as a business partner. and after a long career of success, he's now telling her, "you can't win. women can't win."
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Aug 21, 2022 21:16
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I just started watching Mad Men, having never seen any of it. I probably binged five or six episodes the other day. I was enjoying it but I felt like I was missing something. I didn't understand why they were keeping it a mystery by not saying what Don did to get shunned from the office. It turns out I hosed up on whatever app I was using to watch and started out on season 7.
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Aug 21, 2022 21:31
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i remember loving this so much when it aired 
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Aug 21, 2022 21:39
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Paper Lion posted:many people when this was airing believed that don was spiraling downwards at this point, but what we are really seeing is a slow shedding of skin. he is starting big and working his way down as he removes things from himself, or himself from places and situations, that he used to identify with. hes not married, hes not an ad man, hess not a new yorker, hes said goodbye to betty, he seems to have resolved the diana situation as best as he could. he has no apartment, no things. just his caddy, his clothes, some cash and anna's ring. and still he travels, in search of...something. don is following through his idea for the Hawaii ad from season 6
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Aug 22, 2022 14:49
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also Jerusalem the reason why he touches the window is because there's a draft. the whooshing of wind stops when he presses his hands to the glass. it's hard to hear in the scene unless you turn up the volume. there's probably a symbolic meaning too but that's the literal meaning of the scene
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Aug 22, 2022 17:25
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Is the Miller Beer meeting the last big "Mad Men is a Subtle Show" scene in the series? Bill Phillips drones on about a man of "very specific qualities" that exists by the millions, just as Don begins to comprehend that despite being special enough to be Jim Hobart's "white whale" he is now seemingly just another anonymous cog within the McCann hierarchy. I mostly remember this episode as the Roger and Peggy hang-out episode, and then when I rewatch it I'm always surprised that it's, like, two scenes.
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Aug 22, 2022 19:28
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Peggy rollerskating around the old SC&P office while Roger drunkenly plays the organ is in the running for my favorite scene in the series. It's just such a perfect blend of whimsy and melancholy, absolutely delightful scene. Really every scene with Peggy and Roger in the series is solid gold. It doesn't happen very often, but every time they have a scene together it's a memorable one.
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Aug 22, 2022 19:49
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Aug 22, 2022 20:13
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???????????????????????????
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Aug 22, 2022 23:28
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Absolutely adore Roger and Peggy scenes, glad they had the restraint to keep them rare and special.kalel posted:also Jerusalem the reason why he touches the window is because there's a draft. the whooshing of wind stops when he presses his hands to the glass. it's hard to hear in the scene unless you turn up the volume. there's probably a symbolic meaning too but that's the literal meaning of the scene Aha! Thank you! I definitely heard the sound of the wind but figured it was just the sound from outside coming through the pane, I didn't notice it stopped when he pressed on it. The outside trying to get in, the thinnest crack leading to freedom? This puts the whole scene in a new light to me! Scout's Honor got WEIRD in season 4.
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Aug 22, 2022 23:34
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get in the McCann Don!
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Aug 23, 2022 00:03
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Farmer Crack-rear end posted:??????????????????????????? It's from a "what if Mad Men fans made memes like Breaking Bad fans" Twitter thread. It's Salvatore Sunday! EDIT: Possible spoiler later in the thread, Jerusalem. https://twitter.com/BenjaminCrew1/status/1561449159877705730?t=CWJNQoDsyjt8dXWVlS47nA&s=19 Devorum fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Aug 23, 2022 |
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Aug 23, 2022 04:38
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i require Salvatore. I require him right now.
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Aug 23, 2022 05:51
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I feel like it's worth noting that Peggy's casual stride into McCann (with Burt's infamous Hokusai print, god what a power move) also uses the same BGM as the Lipstick testing scene from all the way back in season one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVI7-ufWR6I
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Aug 26, 2022 03:13
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Oh drat, that's a nice catch.... also holy poo poo they're all BABIES!  Wonderful seeing that first moment Freddy realized Peggy's potential again too 
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Aug 26, 2022 03:31
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I’m choosing to believe Jerusalem has watched the last two and is still sitting in front of his tv with a ‘whoa’ expression on his face.
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Aug 31, 2022 13:41
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In all seriousness, I've been putting it off because suddenly I'm on the cusp of there being no more Mad Men!  Next episode is coming in the next day or so, then there is only one left and I'm not really sure how I'm gonna handle that being it.
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Aug 31, 2022 13:50
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I remember that feeling a few years ago when I was watching the final season as it aired. A potent mixture of excitement to see how the show ends and a sense of loss that this meant it would end On the bright side it 100% rewards rewatching and I've been having a great time doing just that.
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Aug 31, 2022 14:07
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The cruel tease of seeing a "2 new posts" notification AND the most recent post being from Jerusalem Jerusalem posted:In all seriousness, I've been putting it off because suddenly I'm on the cusp of there being no more Mad Men! Then you get to go back and rewatch the early seasons to pick up on references and events that felt less significant at the time but wind up paying off in big ways later!
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Aug 31, 2022 14:09
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One thing's for sure, Harry Crane learned a valuable lesson from his one night stand and his tearful reaction to Don's Carousel pitch, and he'll never stray again!
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Aug 31, 2022 14:19
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I'd love to see Jerusalem posts about Severance but I guess that's too new and unfinished. Have you got any plans for what's next? I would personally love to see Oz but I get that it's not as universally loved as the other influential shows like Sopranos. Also you haven't done Breaking Bad yet?
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Aug 31, 2022 14:21
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There'll be a break before I pick a new series, but I'll want to avoid doing anything too long again - I've already done The Wire, The Sopranos and now Mad Men so something briefer would be good. I'd thought about Deadwood but I know escape artist is keen to start a thread on that up at some point soon. I'd thought maybe about Hannibal because I loving love that show which had no right to exist let alone be as good as it was. But there's still two more episodes of Mad Men and a season recap to get done first!
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Aug 31, 2022 14:35
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Jerusalem posted:But there's still two more episodes of Mad Men and a season recap to get done first! and a series recap, surely
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Aug 31, 2022 14:45
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Jerusalem posted:There'll be a break before I pick a new series, but I'll want to avoid doing anything too long again - I've already done The Wire, The Sopranos and now Mad Men so something briefer would be good. I'd thought about Deadwood but I know escape artist is keen to start a thread on that up at some point soon. I'd thought maybe about Hannibal because I loving love that show which had no right to exist let alone be as good as it was. true detective season 1. I beg you
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Aug 31, 2022 14:53
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Columbo thread/Jerusalem crossover imo
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Aug 31, 2022 15:13
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kalel posted:true detective season 1. I beg you
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Aug 31, 2022 15:30
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Severance would be a great short one! It's incredible.
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Aug 31, 2022 20:12
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Jerusalem posted:There'll be a break before I pick a new series, but I'll want to avoid doing anything too long again - I've already done The Wire, The Sopranos and now Mad Men so something briefer would be good. I'd thought about Deadwood but I know escape artist is keen to start a thread on that up at some point soon. I'd thought maybe about Hannibal because I loving love that show which had no right to exist let alone be as good as it was. Hannibal would be fun because the shooting scripts and Janice Poon's food blog are available online. Similar to how the Tom and Lorenzo fashion blog is a decent companion to your MM recaps
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Aug 31, 2022 21:12
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 16:09 |
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Going through Deadwood again would be nice, Swedgin needs more love.
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Sep 1, 2022 01:03
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