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14
May

Dirty Martini: A Mad Men Conversation – Dark Shadows

Gillian,

I hope you liked the episode as much as I did. I am not saying it is groundbreaking in anyway, but it felt like Mad Men. Does that make sense?

I am not quite sure what ‘Dark Shadows’ signifies, rather, they could have called this one ‘Apologies’ and that would have been consistent with the feeling I got. Roger apologizes to Jane, Roger doesn’t apologize to Peggy. Don apologizes to Megan, Don doesn’t apologize to Ginsberg. Betty apologizes to Francis, Betty doesn’t apologize to Sally.

Let’s start:

Roger: I thought he was getting stronger toward the begging, but towards the end he went back to his usual paying off of folk in order to get what he wants. Do you get the feeling that he has checked out and really doesn’t care one way or the other about the business; rather he is trying to find his place in life? And what do you make of Jane talking about Joan in a unsavory fashion? Does she know something we didn’t see on screen?

Don: I liked how he handled the Anna situation with Sally. A much more enlightened Don to be sure. Also, he seems to be adjusting fine to Megan trying out acting. And I loved the fact that he was being creative again. Was his dismissal of Ginsberg’s work a cheap shot to get back in the game? I don’t feel that way. They guy has good ideas and he is trying to run a business. If anything, I think his comment at the beginning about how a lot of the work was Ginsberg’s and not Peggy’s was telling. I think Don is looking out for Peggy…

Peggy: Loved her in this episode. Even with Roger correctly calling her out in the elevator, she has put in a lot of time and sweat into the company and I think she had a right to say what she said.

Betty: Bitch.

Sally: I think Kiernan Shipka is becoming a better actor. Her performance never once threw me out of the scene unlike the first few seasons. Maybe the acting classes from Megan are helping!

Megan: Not much to talk about from her, but I am bringing her up for one reason. If you like in New York and someone is driving out to pick up the kids, wouldn’t you be a little more aware of the time? Also, she seemed a little flighty during the exchange with Betty. Drugs maybe? She is hanging out with a new crowd. What were your impressions about that scene?

Anyway, lot’s more to talk about and yes, I did not bring up Pete’s fantasizing about Gilmore Girl since I know you have a better angle than I do and I want to hear it first.

Gone to get bagels,

Alex

_________

Good morning, Alex.

You are on it this week. Impressive. Must be the competitiveness coming from that episode last night. This week’s episode reminded of the old Mad Men, yes. Much like last week did. But once again we got hit over the head with a theme. Betty, please tell me how you feel by expressing how thankful you are that ‘no one has anything better”….because we certainly can’t figure it out.

I think the Dark Shadows reference relates to Megan’s waitress friend auditioning for a role on that soap opera. She mentioned the name Collinswood when she was running her lines. I looked it up and it ran from July of 1966 until 1971. Funny that Weiner would time it with Johnny Depp thing they are about to open. Not sure if that was deliberate, but it’s probably the only reason I caught the name “Collinswood” — that was the name of the manor where all the dastardly soap opera goings on occurred. This episode played out a bit like a soap opera too.

  • Roger seemed odd this episode. I was rather enjoying Zen Roger, but his bigotry is always off putting to me and the Jewish comments were grating. Weird since he probably isn’t really a bigot against Jews at least since apparently Jane was Jewish (who knew), but he certainly is completely politically incorrect by today’s standards. I loved Ginsberg asking why he assumed he was Jewish. I rather enjoy his competitiveness with Pete, since I am no Pete fan so that was kind of funny, but his Jane stuff was a bit too much. I know the bloom is off the rose, but seriously he can’t think of her feelings enough to not “christen” the new apartment? But her response the next morning was pure soap opera. Sitting on the sofa wrapped in a blanket saying how now the new place was ruined. Seriously, she could have simply told him to go. Pretty sure he would have. Jane’s Joan comment was wonderful. I don’t think she suspects anything has happened since she and Roger were married or that Joan’s baby is Roger’s, but I’m fairly certain that Joan and Roger’s extracurricular activities back in the day were known, but not discussed. Remember how hurt Joan was when Roger had the heart attack….Bert clearly knew that those were non work related feelings there. Roger also seems like he should be running out of money one of these days. Endless hand outs. Two ex-wives with alimony and buying apartments at a whim. He can’t have endless funds can he?
  • I am very glad that Don discussed Anna with Sally. I’ve always wondered how he explained taking the kids to Anna’s house in California. Loved how he said she wished Sally had met her. The only thing that Don did in regard to Sally in this episode that didn’t sit well with me was his initial conversations about how Betty was trying to hurt us rather than Sally. As a little girl why would she think that her mom was trying to hurt anyone. Why would Don point out that her mom was trying to hurt someone? I’m not saying it didn’t ring true, I know divorced parents do this all the time, I just hate it. He could have just explained the situation like he did without disparaging Betty in the process. And why would you then give Sally ammunition to then play games with Betty when she got home. Now Sally knows that Betty and Megan are in competition – other than hearing the argument through the walls the night before. I think it’s a parents job to try and pretend that everyone gets along. Sally has a wonderful model for manipulation in Betty, I don’t see why you would want to give her more ammunition.
  • Regarding Kiernan Shipka’s acting: I’m not quite there yet. Liked most of it, but when she told Megan not to tell her dad she read the line too ominously. It totally took me out of the scene.
  • Don is finally working which was very fun to see, but he is adopting tactics which seem so beneath the old Don. Really, leaving Ginsberg’s sketches in the taxi? I agree that showing up with two pitches is a bad plan, but the way he went about it was childish and insecure. Frankly, I thought both campaigns were a little silly, but totally different. Lighthearted and fun vs. kind of dark. The old Don would have learned what makes his clients tick and figured out which one would go over better. We might assume he did that since he got the contract, but I think he picked his campaign to pitch purely out of fear that he didn’t have “it” anymore. A valid fear if you ask me. Of course Ginsberg was a jerk about it, but Don gave Ginsberg the same lesson he gave Peggy in the Suitcase last season with the whole “good thing you work for me.” It’s an amazingly arrogant thing to say to a guy who clearly has a very high opinion of himself and definitely a risky move on Don’s part. Ginsberg could easily just say fine, I’ll work for someone else who doesn’t treat me quite so disrespectfully.
  • Frankly, I’m growing weary of St. Megan. I’m waiting for her to do something spectacularly stupid and awful. I didn’t get the impression that she was on drugs when Betty got there, I just assumed she felt awkward with Betty in the apartment. But now that you say it, I did find it odd that she was getting dressed in the early evening and had apparently lost track of time. Does she nap a lot like Don? Maybe you are right.
  • Betty is just being Betty. I’m not sure why Weiner wastes so much film on her. I’d prefer they put in more office stuff and less Betty. The Weight Watcher’s scenes were excruciating, but I’ll admit that I loved the scene where she was making the toast and cheese breakfast. Beautifully done.
  • I’m not sure what I think about that fantasy scene with the fur wrapped Gilmore Girl. Seemed like a scene straight out of a movie that he had seen recently. But in the end fantasies are just fantasies…rather harmless in the end. His telling his train friend that he should just go over to his house and screw his wife seemed insanely stupid. But Pete is just bent on self destruction right now. Do you think that his train friend is lying about the mistress?
  • Peggy was great in this episode, but does she ever go home to her new live in boy toy? Did she change her mind about that? Or maybe that’s why she is always at work. Not going so well? Loved that she told off Roger!
  • And Joan proves once again that she runs the place. Making low key little suggestions to Don, so he kind of gets the impression that it was his idea. I’m in awe of her manipulative skills. They never even know what hit them.

Sadly, next week looks like more Lane. I can’t say I’ve missed him much.

Weirdly, I’m in the mood for Turkey for lunch.

Gillian

__________

Gillian,

Nice pull on the Dark Shadows! Never would have guessed that it was the roll being rehearsed in the Draper apartment.

I’m glad you brought up Jane’s apparent conversion to Judaism in this episode. I couldn’t remember where that was mentioned before either but I thought I had just missed it. I am a little disappointed that Weiner and company would throw that in there, especially since it served as little more than a McGuffin to get Jane to the dinner. And yes, the end scene on the couch was a little too much for me as well. Does this mean that she is going to get a new apartment after this one? Also, I’ll need to do some research but I think we know that Roger probably made about 2.5-5.0 million from the initial sale of SC. Add in his inherited worth and I think he would have enough cash on hand back then to manage buying a couple of apartments.

I knew we were going to disagree on Don’s actions regarding the pitches. But remember, Ginsberg screwed up the pantyhose pitch in the Mystery Date episode and was cavalier in his attitude. I think it is about time Don put Ginsberg in his place. If Ginsberg doesn’t like working for Don, he should get a job somewhere else. His attitude sucks.

I thought you were going to go a different route with the fantasy/dream Pete had. I for one am getting tired of hallucinations/dreams/trips and the rest. How about a straight up episode! Give me Don staring off into the distance and I’ll come up with my own image of what he is seeing or going through.

I think Peggy is still with Abe, but Thanksgiving is around the corner so Abe was probably out buying up some more ham. (It’s his favorite!)

Looking forward to some Lane next week. I for one have missed him, even if it just means we get to see Pete flinch as Lane comes down the hall.

I used the toothbrush in there; I hope it’s yours…

Alex

__________

Alex,

Yes, loved Roger’s dig on “hoping it was her toothbrush.” Nice, implying other men have already been there? Wish she said it was an old toothbrush she had used to clean the toilet earlier that day.

I’ll admit I kind of forgot about Butler shoe pitch (I think that’s the one you are referring to) that Ginsberg went rouge on a few episodes back. Yep, it was partial payback, but I still don’t feel that Don is coming from a position of strength at work these days. I’m still hoping he gets his mojo back. While Don was never a nice guy, you could always admire his business acumen. He now has fleeting moments of niceness, in between working with Betty to poison his kids, but still isn’t the advertising whiz that he was.

What route could I go with on the Pete hallucination? It was interesting that he dreamed something rather old school – flashes to the fur Roger gave to Joan back in the day? This woman has clearly done a number on Pete, but she just seems like a less intelligent, pre-baby version of Trudy. Pete, like many many men, probably has a madonna/whore complex. As well as he needs constant reinforcement and praise. Name a complex, he probably has it.

I did a little research on the smog thing too. I never realized that was such a problem back then, but apparently that issue was true. 

I know this show is certainly not a happyfest, but do you feel that the mood is increasing dire? Much like that smog (again Weiner hits us over the head) I need another episode like the end of season three when they broke for the new agency. Or a trip to California where Don has a real person in his life.

Ginsburg: “I feel sorry for you.”

Don: “I don’t think of you at all.”

Yeah, right!

Gillian

8
May

Dirty Martini: A Mad Men Conversation – Lady Lazarus

Good morning Alex,

Well I must have liked it. The hour seemed over way too soon. And we finally skipped ahead a bit to October. I did a little research and while the Lazarus biblical references are obvious, I also found a pretty morose poem by Sylvia Plath from 1962 entitled “Lady Lazarus” that ends with:

Out of the ash

I rise with my red hair

And I eat men like air.

This episode the women were clearly in control or “eating mean like air.” From Megan dumping the career that Don so “graciously” has supported her with, to Beth leading Pete around like a lovesick puppy, to Joan being the soothing and take charge one for Don’s confusion, and to finally Peggy angrily standing up to Don for blaming her when he was really mad at Megan. The men were at the women’s mercy.

I’ll start with Pete even though I find him to be an immensely unlikable child. His death themes are definitely increasing.

  • How does he have no idea how his life insurance policy works? It was news to him that the company was the beneficiary?
  • Loved how when Roger tells him he can choose some skis or take them both he instantly takes them both. Such a greedy child. And loved that Roger got a kick out of watching his ungainly attempts to pick up the skis and poles…and told him with “and I got to see that.”
  • “Deep thoughts” Beth has done this before. She just found someone to fill her needs for the evening and someone to pine after her and give her back some power. Pete needs some lessons from Don’s earlier liaisons. When they give you an out, take it! But no, the more she says no, the more he wants her. Way to be a stereotype, Pete. But then you always were. I just found it very disingenuous with her walking into the house petulantly leaving the door wide open (who does that?) and then turning around “surprised” that Pete followed her. So she was just leaving the door open for a random stranger to walk in? For the neighborhood cat to come in? For fresh bug filled air? She is a masterful manipulator. The forlorn steam heart actually made me laugh.

 Can’t deal with Pete so on to Megan/Don.

  • Megan is freaking always in Don’s office. It is completely ridiculous.
  • I want Don back. I’m glad he is still faithful to her, but with love apparently came a complete loss of identity, ambition, and drive. He has lost his whole identity to her. He has given up on even learning new things, since “Megan will know.” Don’t tell him about new music, he’ll just ask Megan. Like the two young guys he is talking to wouldn’t also know the same things? But he trusts her implicitly to have the right answers. That is simply too much power. Seems like she is running SCDP more than Don is.
  • Loved when he responds to her inquiry about “weren’t you working all day too” with “no.” Bert’s comments to him a few episodes/months ago clearly made no impact on him.
  • Am I the only one that thought they staged the scene where Megan wakes him up to tell him she wants to pursue acting rather than work at SCDP to look eerily similar to the fever dream he had with the woman that he “killed?” While one was a devastating nightmare, I think this reality will have devastating effects on their marriage.
  • I will admit that I was disappointed that Megan’s big dream her father referred to in the last episode was acting. I was just hoping for something nobler than “I want to be in films and on Broadway.”
  • Don is very supportive, which he should be, but I can’t help but think that he will hate his new life. Roger’s advice that they create a routine was already out the window. Don will now come home to an empty house because she will be in acting classes etc. If she makes a play she will be working in the evenings and he will be working days. This will be a recipe for disaster. He will also tire of her coming home crying when she is rejected. He can be supportive, but ultimately he is a product of the depression. In his gut, he will find her pursuits frivolous and silly. He certainly didn’t support Betty when she wanted to get back in to modeling. My father was like that, my grandparents were like that. You didn’t pick what you wanted to do, you did what you were good at so that you could provide and/or take care of your family. That is ingrained in him, right or wrong. He clearly thinks more like Roger’s generation than Megan’s.
  • I did not understand the lunch thing. Don was so cute going to Joan and simply being lost. He was devastated that he would no longer have his ego stroking wife at the office every day. As usual she took over and handled it. But then there was the elevator. Why didn’t Megan ride the elevator with the “ladies” who were taking her to lunch? That overly passionate kiss in front of the full elevator as Don sent her down was very inappropriate. She gets into an elevator filled with strangers to head downstairs to go to lunch with the “ladies” from the office. Don pushes the down button immediately after her door closes. Why didn’t he ride the elevator down with her?
  • Was the view down the elevator shaft real or a hallucination? If it was real why didn’t he tell anyone? I get all the symbolism, but didn’t understand the scene. He just walked down to his office and got a drink. Because he didn’t die? He must have wanted to go downstairs earlier. And that song Stan and Ken brought was clearly old. They are younger, why did they want to use that?
  • Probably my favorite Beatles album is Revolver, but I’ll admit that my favorite music of the Beatles is not the trippy stuff. The song that Megan had him play is definitely a “tune out” kind of tune. He couldn’t even sit through the whole thing. Loved the scene of him just heading to bed with his “old fashion” rather than listening to more of those radical Beatles. He is “tuning out” of the new stuff and the new emphasis on pop culture and it would seem that he needs to be learning that stuff to be good at his job.

 Peggy!

  • Loved her in this episode. She had so many fun things to do.
  • “Pizza Haus!!!” I was rolling.
  • She was amazingly supportive of Megan even if she was justifiably furious at being put in the middle of a lie between Megan and Don. She sounded a bit harsh with the “lines of people who want your job,” but from her position and how much she has had to fight to get there, I see her perspective. Funny how Megan called her on judging and giving advice, when in fact Megan is amazingly self absorbed. She certainly isn’t worried when she just hands all of her work over to Peggy…”Don told me to just give it to you.” She has no problem defying Don in other ways, but not if it is inconvenient.
  • The scene with Joan was also wonderful. Joanie is definitely the cynical one. You have to wonder if she doesn’t have a very well hidden thing for Don with her “that’s the kind of girl Don marries.”
  • But my favorite, okay this is close with the “pizza haus” phone greeting, is the marital spat she has with Don in Cool Whip’s test kitchen. Don clearly is upset with Megan’s decision, but he won’t confront her, so he takes it out on Peggy. Calling her unsupportive to Megan and the reason that Megan thought they were all so cynical (hey, Don, get a mirror) was the furthest thing from the truth and I love the fact that Peggy didn’t just take it. That was an argument that you do not have with your boss in front of people. That argument was way to intimate for a boss argument…but it accurately depicted their intimate relationship. I’m sure that Ken was uncomfortable and that other lady clearly was. But Don knew she was right…and needed a smoke.
  • Love that they just smoke pot at work. Was it not illegal back then?

 Done for now. Looking forward to your take. In the meantime, I have a meeting with the Head of Desserts. I hear he is 300 pounds.

Gillian

 _________

 

 

Gillian,

This may feel like I keep hitting you in the heads with my skis, but I really don’t mean to. I haven’t been driving that long.

I was BORED by this episode. There was nothing about this episode that couldn’t have just as easily been alluded to in the first 5 minutes of the “next” episode.

OPEN: Peggy in Joan’s Office

Joan: “How is it going since Megan left to pursue acting, Peggy?”

Peggy: “Just fine, but I would have loved to have her take on the Playtex account.”

CUT TO: Disjointed Don sitting in his chair.

Don: “Dawn, can you get my wife on the phone?”

Dawn: “Right away Mr. Draper.”

CUT TO: Blacked out Don & Megan apartment, phone ringing.

CUT TO: Don’s Office, Don sighs.

CUT TO: Phone booth outside of SCDP, Pete is on the phone, calling the insurance guy’s house and he gets the insurance guy who is staying home sick that day. His wife asks who it is and he says, ‘they hung up’ and she gets a look on her face.

Finished! With these 5 minutes of rough script, I would be completely caught up on what is going on in the world of Mad Men and be ready for the next show. I’m in no way trying to say you are wrong for liking this (and there were a few clever moments), but I was just bored…

Okay, on with the points.

I am glad you found the Plath reference. That helps with the tone of the episode. I would have just gone ‘biblical’ and then been confused by the title. Very chilling poem. Almost makes me want to stay away from Red Heads.

PETE: How can Pete not know that his life insurance policy doesn’t cover him? The same way that he had no idea that he would be required to pony up some money when the partners required it to stay afloat. He doesn’t read what he signs! Simple as that.

Yes, I also loved the ski routine. John Slattery never moved once in that scene, yet he made it play like Roger Sterling was the focus of the room. He never even motioned to help him with the skis. And I agree, Pete has always been a child when it comes to things like that, never calm enough to enter an office without suspicion and never generous enough to give a pair of skis to Roger.

Yup, I think Beth has done this before too. I wasn’t sure until she left the door open. Then it hit me that the “locking the keys in the car” was also probably a planned event. So if she was willing setting up to revenge cheat that night, was she on the make for just anyone or was she waiting for Pete?

MEGAN: You are not going to find much disagreement from me with your Megan comments. That being said, wasn’t there part of you that thought Megan was going out for a rendezvous that night? And since we never saw where she went, I had to be open to the possibility that she was lying to Don and to Peggy about where she actually was. I only felt it was about 5% possible she would be cheating, but nonetheless, the possibility existed. And then they had to throw in that damn montage at the end where it showed her at the class. So now, you and I can’t even talk about the possibility of if she was cheating on Don. Where is the fun in that?

PEGGY: “Pizza Haus!”

DON: I have to go with elevator hallucination. That entire scene didn’t make logical sense. I’m even willing to go a step farther and say that he never walked Megan to the elevator in the first place. Here are the reasons (and I am agreeing with you on some points). 1) Why would Megan be “meeting” everyone to go to lunch anywhere but the lobby of SCDP? Meeting at the restaurant or even in the lobby of the building doesn’t make sense. 2) I know I get pretty pissed when someone stops the elevator and then takes longer than 5 seconds to get on the thing. And I live in Texas. There is no way that 5 New Yorkers are waiting for some Jon Hamm looking fucker to kiss some chick while the doors stay open. And another thing. The doors stayed open WAY too long. Most elevators close after 15 seconds. They were holding everyone up for about 25-35 seconds easy. 3) Megan doesn’t take a box with her stuff in it, and Don offers to bring her stuff home. When he gets home that night, no box. I don’t think he ever left his office.

I’m skipping over some of your points that I wholeheartedly agree with you like the scene in the cool whip kitchen and most other things Peggy/Don & Peggy/Megan related. Nothing for me to add.

Was pot legal back then? No, just readily available and more socially acceptable. It is the equivalent to having a flask in your purse today. No one cares and no one will say anything, but some people may be a little judgmental.

I know I sound like a broken record, but what happened to Ken Cosgrove? The guy has lost any confidence he had in the first 4 seasons.

I’ve also brought this point up before, but can’t women smell other women on their man? Unless Pete went to a motel nearby and took a shower and got into his extra set of clothes he keeps in the trunk, I can’t imagine that Trudy won’t smell this on him. I can allow for getting home at 12 or 1 in the morning and heading straight for the shower because she is asleep, but she has to still be up on that night, right?

And lastly, the only thing I found interesting in the entire episode was what you laughed out loud at. The steam heart was the only thing that made me wonder what would happen in future shows.

Play this one…

Alex

__________

 

Alex,

Yep. I understand the boredom and you are technically correct on your synopsis episode. But this episode, more than any others this year, reminded me of the way they used to do this show; at a more leisurely pace. Slow story telling with lots of subtext. Of course they used to give their audience more credit for being smart and didn’t feel the need to explain every little thing like they seem to this year, but overall I liked it.

Let’s see…

Pete, yes he is an idiot on many fronts. Meant to mention how much I loved the scene with Harry when Pete was in the phone booth. “What do you want?” “Nothing, you opened the door.” See, this is a sane and kind of funny Harry. I still don’t entirely understand the Harry in the first episode this year…although there was the reference to the convention whores.  And you may be right that Beth completely plotted this whole thing. That actress had a distractingly large forehead. I looked her up and she was on Gilmore Girls…which I’ve never seen, but I thought I recognized her. I didn’t find her to be particularly talented.

Megan – weirdly I didn’t really think she was stepping out on Don. I immediately thought it had something to do with her “dreams” she had left behind. I will say I didn’t understand the garment bag she was carrying around. Clearly she had a dress in it to wear to the audition. Wouldn’t Don have wondered why she was bringing a change of clothes to the office? I’ve never seen her carrying clothes with her before. Maybe she was supposed to go to dinner with Don, but I got the impression that was an afterthought invitation. It would have been interesting if they had given us the impression she might cheat on Don, but truthfully, other than at her own party, I’ve scarcely seen her talking with a man in a remotely flirtatious manner. And the ones she was flirting with at her party were most likely gay.

The goodbye lunch and elevator scene – yep, I think it had to be a hallucination too. And yes, the whole thing might have been an hallucination, because you are completely correct, none of it made sense. But why is this show giving us so many hallucinations all of a sudden? Flashbacks were fairly normal in earlier seasons, but there are a lot of “seeing things” in this season, whether on LSD or not.

To answer the question on whether a woman can smell another woman on a man, of course they can. But that assumes they get close enough to smell each other. They have a new baby. She may be sleeping in the baby’s room these days, or he stopped by the gym on the way home or who knows. I think you would also smell it if he came home freshly showered in the middle of the night. Almost equally suspicious. Pete’s also pretty stupid. He seems to want to self destruct these days. Going home to your wife smelling of another woman’s perfume would certainly lead to it the destruction of his marriage even if she chose to ignore it or he had some farfetched explanation that she “chooses” to accept.

Ken – I don’t think Ken’s lost confidence, he just doesn’t care so much anymore. He gets his paycheck from SCDP, but his enjoyment elsewhere. He is now what you like to call a “ham and egger.” He won’t make partner that way, but he is probably fairly happy and might Dave Algonquin might get successful.

Sorry about the heart scene. It was just too heavy handed for me. Much like the Beatles montage they did at the end. Really? And good heavens, if Don isn’t a Beatles fan, I can’t imagine Megan telling him to start with that song. It’s probably the one song on the entire album he would be guaranteed to hate. Eleanor Rigby or She Said She Said would have also gotten the point across. Maybe AMC couldn’t afford the rights to those?

I just hope Ginsberg gets his $15 back.

Gillian

1
May

All The Pretty Horsies

Every year, I run a Kentucky Derby pool that my old friend, Daryl Englebert, used to run called Darly Downs. Daryl was a horse racing aficionado while I am just a guy with a blog and the propensity for writing five thousand words about some topic I know nothing about. When Daryl was running the pool, he sent out a document called All The Pretty Horsies which was his honest, drunken attempt at handicapping the most exciting two minutes in sports. Handicapping a horse race with 20 three year old horses is a fool’s errand if you are expecting accuracy but it’s a gold mine if you’re looking for entertainment value.

Hence, I give you this year’s All The Pretty Horsies, my attempt to amuse you regarding the 138th Running Of The Roses. Nothing past the first paragraph should be taken with the idea I have any idea what the fuck I’m talking about. I have had two glasses of really good Pinot Noir and the vodka could come out at any moment so while based on nothing factual, the following tome should a fascinating study in why WordPress should have a built in breathalyzer. Without further ado, on to the stars of the show, those big beautiful horses.

One thing to remember is that it’s quite possible that one or more of the horses below won’t make it into the Derby, either because of injury or the owner’s failure to pay the requisite fees. If you bet on a horse that doesn’t get in, it’s a donation. In 2009, I Want Revenge was the 9-2 favorite and he got scratched on Friday after everyone put their money on him. A word of advice, don’t put all your money on one horse. But then, that goes exactly contrary to one School of Handicapping in another related document so what do I know.

This will be the third year I run Darly Downs. In the two previous year’s, 2009 and 2011, I wrote about 12 of the 20 horses, eventually growing tired of staring at DRF’s Top Twenty Contenders and making the fatal judgement that no horse from the bottom of the pack could possibly win the Derby. In 2009, Mine That Bird won the Derby going away as a 50 to 1 long shot and last year, Animal Kingdom came from the back of the pack in an absolutely stunning trip to win. Neither every got mentioned in All The Pretty Horsies. The chance of me getting through 20 horses tonight is slim so remember, if I don’t write about them, they are probably going to win.

We’ll start with the current favorites and move our way down the list. The horses below are listed from favorites to dogs based on the latest odds found on Bodog.com. Trainer and Jockey follow the odds.

Bodemeister (7-2 B. Baffert/M. Smith) Bodemeister is one of two horses as of Tuesday night going off at a 7 to 2 clip. This horse won the Arkansas Derby as his last Derby prep in impressive fashion, blowing the field away in a 9 and a half length win with a Beyer number of 108, the fastest of any of the Derby contenders. He’s trained by the biggest ego in horse racing (and that’s saying something given the outsized man jewels necessary to even get into a sport that requires buying horses for a quarter of a million dollars) and he’s ridden by Mike Smith who won the 2005 Kentucky Derby on board Giacomo, an only slightly more absurd name for a horse. Bodemeister is an impressive piece of horseflesh but he’s got a curse riding along with him not even Jerry Bruckheimer and Johnny Depp couldn’t turn into a happy ending movie: the last horse to win the Derby who wasn’t raced as a two year old was Apollo. In 1882. Also the last year a horse could be named something reasonable and manly. Regardless, that’s 130 years of history that doesn’t bode (it’s a pun, and I’ve been drinking, laugh with me) well for Bodemeister since he wasn’t raced as a two year old. His first race was this January and frankly, I like my horses with a little more seasoning in a race that’s longer and tougher than anything they’ve ever encountered before. Bodemeister is going to get action at the track and he’s going to get action at Darly Downs but you just aren’t going to get much value here. He’s a big pretty, fast horse that’s probably going to come in second.

Union Rags (7-2 M. Matz/J. Leparoux) Union Rags, also a 7-2 favorite, is another big pretty horse. He came in third in his last Derby prep, the Florida Derby which sounds pretty terrible but was largely a factor of his trip. He was trapped along the rail for pretty much the first mile and couldn’t break for the lead until the end. With only an eighth to make up ground, he finished pretty well and with another quarter mile (the length of the Derby), he might have been able to run down the leader. I think there are four problems with Union Rags. 1) A good horse will find a way to win a race like the Florida Derby. Just watch the trip Animal Kingdom took last year in the Kentucky Derby and you can see a good horse with a good jockey will find a way to win. 2) He hasn’t run a Beyer over 100 which means he isn’t particularly fast as best we can tell. There are some really fast horses in this race and a mile and a quarter may not be enough time for Union Rags to chase them down. 3) He’s the favorite which means if you’re betting him, you aren’t getting much value. 4) His jockey is French and like the French Army, is really good at winning things that just aren’t that impressive (yes, I know the Breeder’s Cup is actually quite impressive but we’re talking about the Derby here and frankly, that’s all that matters). He rode Dialed In, a top contender last year, to a solid eighth place finish. Bet this horse at your own risk. Every year, I pronounce some horse as the PIG and this, folks, is 2012′s PIG, the highest rated PIG so far. If this horse finishes better than 5th, I’ll give you the next year at You Need More Sports for free.

Creative Cause (6-1 M. Harrington/J. Rosario) I don’t have a lot of biases when it comes to horses but one I do have is towards gray horses. I think they are the prettiest animals around and Creative Cause is no different. This is a pretty horse. Unfortunately, like Brittany Spears, he seems to be long in the looks department and short in the talent department. While he did run a 102 Beyer in winning the San Felipe, the rest of his races have been uninspiring to say the least including a paltry 94 Beyer in the Santa Anita Derby second place finish, barely holding off a horse named BlueskiesAndRainbows, a name only Manisha Patel could love. His San Felipe trip was ugly and undisciplined and frankly, were he to win the Derby, it would be almost as surprising as when Fusaichi Pegasus won in 2000. This horse has potential but I’d much rather see him at 8 to 1 instead of 6. Luckily at Darly Downs, that might happen before the week is over.

Gemologist (8-1 T. Pletcher/J. Castellano) If you’re looking for a homer bet, look no further than Gemologist, trained by Texas’ own Todd Pletcher out of WinStar farms, the place where all Michelle Gibson’s poker dollars go. Pletcher and WinStar had the 2010 winner in Super Saver lest you think we don’t know horse racing down here in the Lone Star State. This horse has gotten progressively better in each of his five races, with Beyer times that are slowly approaching 100. He’s won every single race including the Wood Memorial last month at Aquaduct. Pletcher knows how to win and this horse seems to like beating the other horsies. Again, I have no idea what I’m talking about but I say if you put this horse and Bodemeister in an exacta box, you’re going to make money. This is my pick to win it all which means you should run screaming the other direction.

Dullahan (10-1 D. Romans/K. Desormeaux) This horse won the Blue Grass Stakes with a 98 Beyer but other than that, he just hasn’t been that impressive. His name makes me think of what kids called Dirty Harry in third grade. His jockey has won the Derby three times but one of those was atop the aforementioned Fusaichi Pegasus which, like giving someone a venereal disease, pretty much negates all other good things you might do for them. He’s half brother of Mine That Bird, the 50 to 1 long shot that won the 2009 Derby and let’s be honest, that’s not a good thing. He’s never won on dirt before (this is actually important because some horsies just don’t like it when they get a little dirt kicked in their face). On the upside, the distance shouldn’t be a problem so if you’re looking for value, 10 to 1 is a pretty good price, though you won’t see that at Darly Downs after Nish puts all her money on this horse on Thursday.

Hansen (10-1 M. Maker/R. Dominguez) Other than being named after the worst boy band of the early middle nineties, this horse is a lot like the tenth grade version of me: he just doesn’t have the stamina required to get the job done (not that that should bother him or me in the tenth grade). If you look at his Beyers over the last 4 races, they are all between 94 and 96. Incredibly consistent but they just aren’t improving much and what that tells me is that he’s a fast horse who can’t close. He’s not going to run down anyone in the field and unless it’s a rainy, sloppy day, I just don’t see him having any chance. On top of that, not to be a horse racist, but white horses should be ridden by the Lone Ranger. Hansen is not going to win this race.

I’ll Have Another (12-1 D. O’Neill/M. Gutierrez) I’ll Have Another won the Santa Anita Derby over Creative Cause in a decent showing witha 95 Beyer and a solid trip. He’s been strong at distance even though he’s only had a couple of races over a mile. This horse seems to have a lot of heart and if you’re looking for a mid range shot at the track, he might have potential. He hasn’t had a lot of experience but neither had Jeremy Lin and God knows ESPN jizzed their metaphorical pants writing about him for days on end. This horse hasn’t proven to be particularly fast but he has the heart to win the Derby. The big issue is that he’s been on the bench twice with shin problems but if you can get him at somewhere north of 10 to 1, I think he has value. Remember, heart wins this race more often than not because it’s longer than anything they’ve been at before. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see I’ll Have Another in the top three and might be an interesting addition to some exacta or trifecta boxes.

Alpha (15-1 K. McLaughlin/A. Garcia) Not to be a jingoistic American but I’ll be damned that a horse owned by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, prime minister and ruler of Dubai, wins the Kentucky Derby. I’m too lazy to go look it up but I’m positive it’s never happened and even if it has, it shouldn’t have. Just because you have a net worth of 79.5 fucking billion dollars does not mean you can buy the Kentucky Derby. This horse did come in second at the Wood and has steadily increased his Beyers but the horse racing gods just couldn’t let that happen, could they?

Take Charge Indy (15-1 P. Byrne/C. Borel) It’s at this point in the proceedings when I start to realize the amount of work required to write something either intelligent or witty about 20 horses. I’m on number 9 and have my doubts about reaching the end. But that opens up the possibility of continuing my streak of not writing about the winner. Still, at some point, a favorite has to break through. Or maybe one of these middle shots might get there like Take Charge Indy, ridden by one of the best jockeys of all time, Mr. Calvin Borel. Don’t forget that Borel rode Mine That Bird and Super Saver in 2009 and 2010 respectively to Derby wins. He knows horses. This horse is slipping through the cracks but at 15-1 or better has a chance to really make some people some money. Putting him and Bodemeister in exacta boxes might be worth $10 or so if you’re into such pursuits which as it turns out, after 2100 words and two vodka tonics, I might be. On the downside, I’m out of tonic. On the upside, I still have vodka.

El Padrino (20-1 Pletcher/R.Bejarano) Another Todd Pletcher horse, this one is unfortunately owned by Let’s Go Stable which has to be the gayest owner (no disrespect to actual gay owners, I mean it in an entirely pejorative 1980s sort of way) name I’ve ever heard. I don’t know what the opposite of peaking is but I think it’s close to what I do 10 minutes after sex, namely fall asleep and start snoring. This horse has gotten progressively slower in his last 3 races and if you couple that with that whole Let’s Go Stable thing, I just don’t think this horse has the necessary horse jewels to have dirt kicked in his face over a mile and a quarter and keep running. I love Todd Pletcher but I’m putting on my money on Gemologist in this race. This horse seems to like wet tracks and there’s a 30% chance of rain on Saturday so while it will be too late for Darly Downs participants, if it starts pouring down, you might want to dump some cash on this horse late at the window, especially at 20-1.

Daddy Long Legs (30-1 A. O’Brien/C. O’Donoghue) Sigh. Look, I know this is the sport of kings and all but this crap with horses racing in the UAE Derby as supposed Kentucky Derby contenders has got to stop. I’m too deep into the vodka to go back and look at history but I have the feeling UAE winners do terrible at the Derby. This horse has been on dirt only once and hated it. Some of you will put money on this horse even though his name is ridiculous and frankly, you’ll get what you deserve which is a 15th place finish and a check for $30 sent to me. Mark my words, while I can’t in good conscience say a 30 to 1 longshot is a PIG, this horse is a PIG.

Daddy Nose Best (30-1 S. Asmussen/G. Gomez) This horse has been getting progressively faster and in his last race at the Sunland Derby, put up a 100 in a decent win. Asmussen is a good trainer and certainly has the pedigree to win the Derby. Unfortunately, Julian Leparoux was the jockey for Daddy Nose Best in the Sunland and he decided to jump ship (metaphorically speaking, these are actually horses) to Union Rags. This can mean one of two things: Not unlike the Vichy, Leparoux could see the writing on the wall and decided to support the power mostly likely to help him in the long term or Leparoux misunderestimated (in the Bushian sense) the future power of the Allies and went over to the wrong side. What does all this mean? That we’re 2600 words in, I’m the only one reading and I’ve had way too much vodka on a school night. Still, this horse has a ridiculous name, a Texan trainer and a Mexican jockey looking to avenge The Maximilian Affair for his country. What does all that mean? Five of you will put a couple of dollars on this horse even when I told you not to. Anticlimactic, I know. Sue me.

Went The Day Well (30-1 H. G. Motion/J. Velazquez) On the upside, John Velazquez rode Animal Kingdom in an aweinspiring victory trip last year. On the downside, everything else. I mean, c’mon, this horse is owned by Team Valor which is what the X-Men would have been called if there was a government committee in charge of naming super heros, he’s had one race (he did win it but it was against horses like Heavy Breathing and Russian Greek. Let’s be honest, if I told you I was in a cage match with Pussyfoot Honeybunch and The Italian Czech, would you be fucking impressed?) and his name is ridiculous. I hate to say anything bad about a horse that is this pretty but let’s be serious, he doesn’t have half the chance Animal Kingdom had last year.

Done Talking (50-1 H. A. Smith/S. Russell) This describes exactly how I feel about writing All The Pretty Horsies. I’m done talking. This horse is owned by Skeedattle Stable. And I thought Let’s Go Stable was bad. Don’t bet on this horse. You’re better off buying a shot of jager. The enjoyment may be more fleeting but your chance of success is infinitely higher.

Liaison (50-1 B. Baffert/M. Garcia) I’m hard pressed to ever short a Baffert horse. However, he finished 6th at the Santa Anita Derby in a really disappointing race. Baffert will say this horse is ill-suited for Santa Anita but this horse is going to fade fast at Kentucky. He doesn’t have the heart to win the Derby.

There are 5 other horses going off at 50 to 1 and taking the chance that another Mine That Bird lives among them, I’m done at almost 3000 words about shit I have no idea about. You can bet Mark Valeski (that’s a horse, not a jockey, surprising I know), Prospective, Rousing Sermon, Sabercat (like Thundercats but with better weapons) and Trinniberg (French for “Horse Sandwich”) if you want but I’d advise against it.

That wraps up All The Pretty Horsies, the first edition ever to mention all 20 horses. Remember, there’s a good chance at least one of these horses doesn’t even make it to the pole so spend your money wisely and look for value, a topic will cover more as Darly Downs continues.

1
May

Dirty Martini: A Mad Men Conversation – At the Codfish Ball

Hello Gillian,

Do you know how to tell when a French girl is giving you a blowjob? There’s an accent. (Ba-dah-dum)

Okay, on to the review!

I felt like Roger Sterling in this episode; just kind of floating around. Last week’s was so intense that I was on edge for the last 30 minutes. This episode seemed ethereally. That is not a complaint, just an observation.

But what the Codfish Ball was really about was being happy. Is Peggy happy? Yes Ma, be happy for her. 3 cats in succession won’t do. Is Joan happy? She certainly doesn’t seem sad about Greg. Is Megan happy? She knows she should be but needs some prodding from Peggy to realize how big a deal that ad campaign was. Is Don happy? Sally seems to think that the award brings a smile to his face. Is Roger happy? Yes, so much that he is touting the wonderful new world of LSD! The concept of happiness was brought up so many times last night that I kind of felt hit on the head.

Did Glen get a growth spurt? He could pass for a senior in a high school musical now! This makes the Sally/Glenn thing really weird to watch now. And Sally gets another thing to talk about on her therapist’s couch in 1987. Walking in on your kind-of-grandma bopping her head up and down on your daddy’s friend is going to scar her pretty bad, especially since she never did get to go to the restroom.

And at the beginning, I thought that Megan’s mom was just a lush and a little too flirty with Don, but then it all kind of makes sense at the end when we see Megan’s dad all but dismiss his wife and belittle his daughter. It now makes sense to me why Megan has been behaving the way she has around Don whenever she is angry. Megan’s dad is a manipulative condescending ass and I have to say that the actor who played him did a great job.

I know this is short but I want to hand this off to you. Also, I thought the Heinz ad that Megan came up with was pretty darn brilliant! Did you?

Going to shop for a cat…

Alex

_________

 

Alex, Alex. That was pretty bad. And poor Julia Ormond…Mad Men scores Julia Ormond and they had her do that. Quelle horreurs!

Yep, not my favorite and at a much slower pace. I realize that this episode didn’t take place the next day, but the coziness between Don and Megan seemed weird considering the fairly violent fight from the previous episode. Guess I was looking for some reference to him LEAVING HER IN A HOWARD JOHNSON PARKING LOT. Sorry, but that was a big deal to me. Apparently, Megan is more understanding than I.

Interesting that you read this episode about happiness. I would say it was about disappointment. So many great setups only to have characters hopes, visions, aspirations shot down. The look of disillusionment in the faces of the characters in that shot at the near end was just beautiful. Said it all so perfectly for me….life kind of sucks…no matter how much you dress it up. I’m assuming that was the Codfish Ball reference. No matter how fancy it’s all about stinky fish you don’t really like. Sorry, I’m such a downer.

My personal let down was that I was hoping that Megan’s parents were this super chic French couple only to find that they are truly nasty people, to each other and to Megan and Don. Just once I’d like to see a genuinely nice person on this show. Oh, who am I kidding, that wouldn’t be any fun.

 On to other disappointments:

  • At the beginning of this episode little Sally desperately wants to be a woman. 12 is when it hits hard and a girl feels so awkward. Her flirting with Glen is just gross, but she was strangely infatuated. She lies about how Pauline fell and loves the accolades about how she handled it so well. The shopping trip to get clothes with Megan and her mom must have made her feel so grown up. But then Don kind of shot her down, appropriately I think, when she came out looking like Nancy Sinatra. But then the party. Loved that her first comment when she walked into the ballroom was “but there’s no staircase.” Yep, disillusionment by Disney. All the Disney ballrooms had staircases for dramatic and grand entrances. Darn, they aren’t all like that. Follow that up by Roger bringing her into his inner realm to help him with contacts, calling her his “date.” Loved that he is already telling her how she will need to boost up her man’s ego with the “go get ‘em, Tiger,” just ugh. Then to follow all of that up with yucky fish on her plate and the walking in on the blow job. Now she doesn’t care to flirts with Glen at all and the world is dirty. Nice dose of reality. On another note, would a 12 year old in 1966 really have understood what was going on in that room.
  • Poor Peggy. She was all ready to think that Abe was going to break up with her until Joan convinced her that he was probably going to propose. Her comment that “men don’t take the time to end thing, they ignore you until you insist on a declaration of hate” was pure brilliance. Joan the wise sage/mother figure. So Peggy dresses herself up like a Christmas present and is crestfallen by the “hey, wanna shack up” proposal. No ring. I’m not even sure she wanted to marry him, that’s what was sad. There is still a little part of her that wants the “traditional” stuff. She was disappointed and I loved that Joan made her feel better and like a trailblazer. I also like that Joan is becoming a little more open about her less that fabulous existence. And then to have Peggy’s mother follow her personal disappointment with the insults was just devastating, true and very honest, but so very painful. Three cats and you’re done? Just wow.
  • Megan comes up with an ad campaign that I personally thought was kind of lame, but I’m no expert. But more than the campaign idea, she single-handedly orchestrated the saving of the Heinz account. Very nice! I know Don was part of it, but geez that guy has simply lost his instincts on how and when to manipulate people. As Peggy said in the first season, he is a different person. Complacent, boring. I don’t particularly like this Don. I can’t think of even an idea that has come from him directly this year. She should have been so proud of herself yet she was so stoic. I’m sure this had to do with what her Dad said about her trading her dreams for Don’s. Curious what her dreams were, I hope it’s not the acting thing. Maybe she wanted to join the Peace Corp or something. I loved that Peggy was so sweet to her about it, but telling her to enjoy it because “in this job, this is as good as it gets” unknowingly added fuel to the questioning fire. I think Megan is realizing that maybe this stuff is more important to Don and her coworkers than it is to her.
  • And Don. He wasn’t much of a driving factor of anything during this episode. I do hope that the comments from Ken’s father in law are going to wake him up. Those same comments were made by Bert (I think) last season when he quit. No one would ever trust SCDP after they turned on their own client. But I love the statement that they will sing his praises and hand him awards all day long they just won’t hire him. Again with the illusions of grandeur with nothing to back it up. Lipstick on a pig if you will.
  • Roger’s disappointments at not drumming up lots of new business at the party were of course offset by the BJ in the empty ballroom next door. Mr. LSD-Zen certainly didn’t gain any morals in his little trip did he? And through the rest of the episode I had such hope for him. Especially after explaining to Don that it didn’t matter why he wrote the letter and that you never know the ulterior motives of people who do good things “for all we know Jesus was hoping to close the loaves and fishes account.” Thank you for that crack up moment!

Can you help me out with a scene? When they show Don just waking up all scruffy and in his bathrobe he finds Emile and Bobby in the living room and Megan, her Mom and Sally returning from what was apparently a fairly lengthy shopping trip. In his conversation with Megan about her parents blow up, Megan explains that her father had gone to his publisher’s meeting, got back and called his girlfriend, her mom caught him on the phone and they had a spat about that, then we assume the shopping followed. By my account that would mean that Don woke up no earlier than around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I mean what was up with that? Don is now so ineffectual he just stays in bed?

 And on a couple of personally disappointing notes on the writing, I thought the Peggy response to whether she wanted to eat dinner with “I do” very heavy handed in that scene. I also didn’t understand her feeling like she was reliving her experiences through Megan. Was it some heavy handed references to virginity with the whole living in sin thing? It seemed very out of character for Peggy. And that stupid comment from Emile about “spreading her legs and flying away” was, while funny, ridiculous. He hadn’t mistranslated a single thing until then.

Regarding the ad campaign, I didn’t hate the idea, but it seemed so very that Heinz guy. I don’t like him. I loved how he commented that it was so “the future” when, in fact, the campaign basically revolved around things never changing. Narrow minded view of the future, if you ask me. I also loved that his wife basically called him out on the exact thing that Peggy did last week. He immediately liked the campaign but wasn’t willing to immediately go with it. She had to push him a little until he went ahead and said yes.

Okay, I’m done. Gotta go home and see if I can whip up some dead fish on a plate to serve for dinner. (Who serves that at a banquet?)

Gillian

__________

 

Gillian,

I would think it has to be at least a few weeks later, because yes, I too would have thought there would have been a Howard Johnson reference in there somewhere if it was the next weekend.

And yes, I may have been too obtuse in my statement about the episode being about happiness, but my point was that people were supposed to feel happy, yet life doesn’t turn out that way for them. So in short, I agree with you.

On to your points:

Sally: Love the Nancy Sinatra reference. Those boots were definitely made for walking. And while I heard the staircase reference, it wasn’t until you pointed out the Disney connection that it really hit home. I was thinking Southern Belle/Gone with the Wind, but she would not have seen that. Disney makes more sense. I did enjoy her relationship with Roger at the dinner. Having her purse ready to take home all those business cards! And would a 12 year old in 1966 understand what was going on in the fellatio annex? Maybe not fully, but enough to have a bad feeling in her stomach.

Peggy: I bet once this series is over and someone watches it from beginning to end in a week, I bet they will come away with the impression that Joan has always been on the lookout for Peggy, even when Peggy said she didn’t need Joan. That was a really nice moment in the break room.

Roger: While the line about Jesus closing the loaves and fishes account was brilliant, the best Roger part was the scene with his ex-wife. Beautifully written and acted.

Per your request about the scene where Don gets up, by your account around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, I would argue that maybe he took a nap. The reason behind this is, “where was Bobby.” Since the women left to go shopping and Megan’s father left for his publisher, that means the only people in the apartment were Don and Bobby. So since I do not believe that Bobby was left to his own accord, I think it probably played out like this. Everyone gets up, has breakfast, then the girls go off and Emile leaves for the publisher. Don and Bobby hang out. Emile comes back. Don, knowing he has to be on that night says he may go lie down for a bit if Emile doesn’t mind watching him. Takes a nap, and cut to scene.

I’m going to end with a thought, and it wasn’t until I watched it a second time that I found it wonderful. The scene where Emile is talking to Pete, and Emile is on his high philosophical horse asking, “but what is it that you do?” and Pete coming back and charming him to the point where Emile is gushing like a girl getting asked out, only to have Pete sum up by saying, “that is what I do.”

Going to eat some ham, it’s my favorite.

Alex

_________

 

Alex,

Congratulations on being the half full guy this week. Yep, we agree on the theme, you just took a more positive spin on it.

I agree with you on the Roger/Mona scene. So well done, but that scene is the one that started to give me hope. The way he was treating Sally also made me think that Roger may have grown up a bit after his LSD trip. But the blow job from Megan’s mom pretty much ruined that theory.

And the Pete scene was great. Pete actually handled that without his usual sliminess. Loved it! But Mr. Marxist was probably left even thinking less of him. That guy was a piece of work. What did his wife say when he arrived at the apartment? Something about his eyes not agreeing with his politics? He loved the apartment and had no problem enjoying the fruits of Don’s wealth, but insisted on insulting it the whole time. Go home and live in your shack if you are so noble. I did kind of agree with his conversation with Megan though.

Anyway, I’m still having a problem with the Don “wakes up in the middle of the day” scene. I don’t think Bobby was left alone at all. That is why it makes no sense. Don missed everything. From what Megan described to Don in the hallway I see the following going on while he was still in bed:

  • Megan, Bobby, Sally, Megan’s mom and Emile are up
  • Emile goes to meet his publisher while Megan and her mom, Bobby and Sally have breakfast or whatever.
  • Emile returns from the meeting having been rejected and goes into a room to call his girlfriend
  • Megan’s mom walks in on the conversation and she and Emile get into a fight
  • Post fight, Megan, Sally and Megan’s mom leave to go shopping
  • Emile is left with Bobby. That way Emile could let Bobby ruin that damn white carpet while “refilling his fountain pen” for him. (That carpet is becoming a character in this season)
  • That is the scene that Don wakes up to.
  • The ladies come home from what was probably a long shopping trip.

We know Don missed all of this since Megan had to fill him in. I don’t think he was up and then took a nap. And how many people get back into their PJs for a nap? He was in a robe.

I think they were trying to say something about how ineffectual Don is these days. Sleeping half the day away, not missed even by his family.

You watched it twice, so maybe I missed something. Maybe I will try to watch it again, until then, I won’t say I disliked this episode, it just wasn’t one of favorites.

In the meantime, I must remember to watch out for places that have fellatio annexes.

 

Gillian

24
Apr

Dirty Martini: A Mad Men Conversation – Far Away Places

Good Morning Alex.

 After watching last night’s episode, my immediate response was that this was their “jump the shark moment.”  Too gimmicky for my taste following a gimmicky dream sequence a couple of episodes ago….I expect more of this show.  I’ve since been looking for the meaning of the play with chronology and assume they were pointed out the “trippiness” of the whole thing.  LSD trips, real trips, and Peggy’s trip into basically becoming Don in way more ways that I would have expected.  I also thought that this episode again focused a lot about women finding their worth in the workplace and in their marriages…life in general I guess.  Was the timing changes supposed to reflect the overall confusion for women finding their way in a “man’s” world?  Not sure, but rather with they would return to the less odd plot devices.

 So much to comment on, I barely know where to start.  But here goes:

  • I loved the juxtaposition of Peggy’s relationship with Abe and the relationship between Megan and Don.  Both women strongly care about their work and their men don’t particularly appreciate it.  Interesting that Abe would say that with Peggy’s always thinking about work that “Most men would be out of here” followed shortly by Don’s literally leaving Megan at the HoJo because she was mad at him for basically forcing her to leave her work.  How dare she want to work more than eat orange ice cream?
  • Peggy was channeling Don with the whole presentation to the Heinz jerk.  Unfortunately, that approach would only work if Don were the one delivering the sanctimonious insults to the client.  She has seen him do it many many times and the client sees the light.  But coming from Peggy, the woman, the old guy was insulted and possibly felt emasculated.  Lord knows, that is something a woman can never do.  Peggy was absolutely correct in her assessment of what that client liked, but she can’t use Don’s approach and be successful like Don would be.
  • Don was amazingly irresponsible to take Megan on the trip and miss the Heinz meeting.  When the scene was playing out that he was just turning it over to Peggy I was astounded that he would do that.  No matter how much he thinks of Peggy, she wasn’t ready for that, especially since she had already failed with one presentation with these guys.  He just didn’t care anymore.  Adore that Bert called him out on all of it at the end, but couldn’t get over how disrespectful of Bert Don was in that meeting.  Just wow.
  • Very disappointed that Peggy was also channeling Don in her escape to the movies and her hand job dalliance with the weed boy in the striped pants.  Good grief.  Then she comes back and just takes a nap on Don’s couch for the rest of the afternoon.  Like Don, apparently rebellion makes her feel better in the short term only to make her crash in self recrimination later.  Although I’m not sure she felt that bad about it…and neither did Don.
  • I’m not sure if I believe the Ginsberg story.  I found it odd that one minute he is irritated that she overhears a phone conversation and/or a hallway conversation, but then just spills his “truth.”  I know he is an odd guy, but I wouldn’t put it past him to make that up just to screw with her.  Of course, if it is true that makes his distaste at the creative team’s obsession with the nurse murder photos make a lot of sense.  I just thought the way the writers handled him telling her caused me to doubt the veracity of what he told her.
  • The LSD thing was incredibly funny, but who hangs out with their psychiatrist on a personal level.  Highly unprofessional on the psychiatrist’s part, but not sure if you would expect much more from a psychiatrist that does LSD with her dinner guests…although she certainly was responsible about it with the whole “describe yourself if you die” pages everyone wrote. On the other hand, I’m still trying to figure out what the heck has happened to Jane since we last saw her as the bored shopaholic.  Where did she get these intellectual friends that Roger hates so much?  Seems unusual that a woman that goes to a dinner party dressed as a cross between Princess Leia and I Dream of Jeannie would have friends that sit around and discuss Frank Lloyd “Rice”  And yes, I realize that she was emulating I Dream of Jeannie, but there was definitely a Princess Leia vibe in that outfit.
  • Adored the singing vodka.  I wouldn’t know, but the hubby immediately said it was Russian music.  Perfect for a bottle of vodka!  And the fact that Don was in Roger’s hallucination making him feel better was freaking hilarious.  Clearly Roger wants Don’s approval…but then we kind of knew that already.
  • I looked up the symbolism of that yellow rose Jane was carrying while they were dancing and in the cab. Yellow roses mean joy and new beginnings.  New beginnings yes, but not so sure Jane things it as joyful.  Also Roger is clearly obsessed with trying to be younger.  The hair thing and the remembrance of the baseball game from when he was a kid.  He continues to fight against his aging
  • I also thought the morning after scene with Jane and Roger was odd.  They made that scene look like he was leaving a mistress.  Standing next to the bed tying his tie.  Like they were in a hotel room or something.  And she asks him “where are you going.”  If I’m at home and my husband is getting dressed in the morning, I would assume he was going to work.  Seemed weird to me.
  • On to Don and Megan.  I believe the honeymoon is officially over.  He was horrible to back her into a corner about that trip.  She had no opportunity to tell him know without making him look bad in front of his coworkers.  So she sacrificed what she wanted to do, attend the Heinz meeting, to ceded to his wishes even after she made if pretty clear she didn’t want to go.  Him pulling rank absolutely sucked, but it wasn’t the first time he has said something along the same lines.  You don’t do that to your wife and she is not the same thing as a subordinate.  They really need to quit working together if they intend to stay married.  I didn’t really have a problem with anything she said to him until the comment about his mother.  That was a low blow, but when you are angry sometimes those things get blurted out.  She recognized her error and apologized, but that one thing she said apparently was way more important to Don than the myriad of insults from him she endured so he immaturely drove off.
  • Weird trip Don makes up in his head from Disneyland with Megan in Betty’s role.  The dutiful wife who does whatever her husband asks.  Looked up I Wanna Hold Your Hand and it came out in November 1963.  I would imagine that and fantasy Megan’s white gloves would set his fantasy in an earlier time of 1964 or so.  Way before women would have argued with their husbands so violently.
  • I actually love that she made him worry.  He deserved it and it certainly made me appreciate cell phones.  But the level of violence between these two really bothers me.  The kicking in the door and the slapping and grabbing then the violent chasing of each other around the apartment knocking over lamps etc. is just not healthy.  No party should have bruises after an argument and I guarantee that both of them will, with Megan’s being much worse from the grabbing alone.  But that white carpet cured the argument again.  Amazing stuff white carpet is.
  • And did you get a sense that Megan is really not turned on by the ultra clingy Don during the tummy grasp.  Don’t get me wrong, that scene could have been so touching if it didn’t follow that argument.  She sees the desperation and will either use it if she is as manipulative as I think she may be or she will just be creep-ed out by the whole thing.  Their trip back to the office looked so forced and I can’t help but think that forced may be the future for them

 I’ll stop for now. “She’s not going to make it out there on her own.”

 Gillian

________

Good Afternoon Gillian,

I will agree that the show is no longer following the formula that made it so successful in the first 2 seasons, however, maybe if they were not doing this, we would instead be writing about how the show is stale and needs to do something different.  I will give Matt Weiner the benefit of the doubt and trust that he knows what he is doing. That being said, I actually liked this episode.  It felt like a play. I love the idea of taking a moment in time (a minute, an hour or a day) and replaying it from several peoples view points.  I find your phrasing interesting as well.  While I agree with your sentiment that this episode “focused a lot about women finding their worth in the workplace and in their marriages,” I would have said that the episode was about men and how they have to come to terms with empowered women. I feel we are saying in essence the same thing, but tell me if I am wrong…I don’t want to come off as sexist.

I would like to take a look at some of those empowered moments in the episode and I will be picking up some of your comments along the way.

  • If you heard about a couple where one was busy and tired all the time because of work and the other felt that when they made love there was nothing there, it was just more of an act to get through, 9 times out of 10 most people would assume a working male and a despondent female, however, Abe is the one whining about his relationship with Peggy, and he is doing it in her apartment in her bed.
  • Yes, I agree, Peggy does not do a very good Don impression when it comes to taking down clients.  That being said, where did Ken Cosgrove’s spine go? Peggy never would have had to invoke the spirit of Draper had Ken stood up for creative.
  • Peggy is again empowered in the movie theatre. She did not let a man control her and play skirt hockey. Instead she does one of the most awkward pull-n-tugs I’ve ever seen. He was slooped down way too low in his seat. I had more problems with the logistics than the act itself.
  • I will come back to Jane Sterling and the LSD trip in my next reply, but her empowering moment came at the end of their part where she tells him that a divorce is going to be expensive. Yes, she knew she was going to make money on Roger going into the marriage, but still, it was interesting to watch.
  • Is Megan feeling empowered? No, I think she wants to feel empowered but she is verging closely to becoming a spoiled brat. As long as Megan gets what she wants she is happy.  When she doesn’t she is sad.  That’s how I see it. She is not really concerned about Don’s happiness as much as her own. Her is a quick point/counterpoint list:
  1. Megan wants to be treated like a regular employee. / Megan likes using Don’s office to get away from everyone else.
  2. Megan wants to throw a party for Don thinking it will make him happy. / Megan feels like a fool because she ended up looking like one with the burlesque show.
  3. Megan overreacts with the orange sherbet (seriously, it felt like a bad When Harry Met Sally scene) because she is mad at Don. / When Don calls her on her childish behavior, she pulls the ‘your mother was a whore’ card that sends Don away.

 

Now I am not saying that it is ever justified to leave someone stranded anywhere, but he did go back and he did wait around and you can tell he was genuinely worried. I think it is horrible that she had been at their place and wouldn’t answer the phone. Going with your “appreciate cell phones” comment, imagine if you and your husband got in a fight at the local Starbucks and you decide to walk home by yourself. (For this thought experiment, we will assume your husband stays at the Starbucks and is blowing off steam for 30 minutes.) If he calls and you do not respond, then all he has to do is take the 10 minutes to drive home and see if you are there, paying close attention along the way to see if you are still walking home. If he gets that and you are there, no big deal, you were still mad at him and you chose not to answer your phone. Now let’s change the situation and say the exact same thing happens on a trip to Austin. You storm off and after 30 minutes he tries to call your cell phone. Are you back at the hotel? Did you fly home? Are you out at some bar? Did someone pick you up and kidnap you? Big difference from being a 10 minute walk from home. The courteous thing to do is to text your husband, “I don’t want to talk right now,” or “I’m back at the hotel and want to be alone,” or something to that effect. Megan and Don were very far from home and I think that Megan should have picked up the phone one of the times Don called on the way back and cussed him out or yelled at him or something, but why would anyone put another human being through that much worry.

Okay, I am starting to get off track but I think this is a good place to wrap up for now.

Everyone has places to go today.

Alex

________

Hi Alex.

 Well, I do think that we all have a tendency to look at things from our own perspective so I think our personal perspectives are both valid. Whether it was specifically about either gender figuring anything out, it definitely touched on both of them attempting to  figure out their paths.  But I can’t say that I think any of them came to a good resolution on it or even a plan for attempting to handle it.  I will admit though, that assuming that someone whining about a job versus feeling needed would be specifically the man working and the woman whining is, in my opinion, a little sexist.   

  • Don seems co-dependent and way too needy.  I still think that Faye was dead on when she told him that “he only likes the beginning of things.”  He thought Megan was going to be the perfect mother figure for his kids, nurturing to him and his sexual plaything, but he is realizing that she might be a real person, not one simply defined by what he expects of her.  But I certainly blame Megan on this as well.   She created this persona of herself for him and it got him to the altar.  She really shouldn’t be surprised that he wants her to be something she really isn’t.  Maybe she will see the $$$$ Jane manages to get out of Roger and take Don to the cleaners on a divorce.  And hell yes, I completely agree with you about her being mostly about her.  All of your points on her are very valid.  She wants everything she wants.  That is why I again think that needy grasping at the end was rather pathetic to her.  She just nodded mutely knowing how much power she has over him.
  • “Skirt hockey?”  I’ve never heard that phrase, but it’s funny.  Must be a Florida thing.  And yes the logistics seemed difficult…I’ll leave it at that.
  • And I actually think Peggy did a very good Don impression, it just doesn’t work for her and in her era.   What am I saying, probably wouldn’t work today either.  She forgot Bobbie Barrett’s advice that she didn’t need to be a man at work.  That being a woman was “powerful business if done correctly.”  She needs to keep that in mind.  And I think Ken tried to support her when he said “see how enthusiastic she is about this.”  But then he lost it when he said she was possibly “too sensitive.”  That’s it, call a woman emotional.  He would never have said that if Don was doing that rant.  His helping manner reeked on condescension, but i don’t think he was doing it deliberately.

You detail on the contact thing is interesting.  Today’s technology makes the entire scene play much differently, but even then I think there is a limit.  While I do not justify that she didn’t answer the phone when he called the house, otherwise I don’t see that she owed him anything in terms of making sure he knew she was okay.  He left her at a freaking Howard Johnson’s with no regard for her safety.  She didn’t run away from home, he left her.  She had no idea if he was coming back for her and according to the waitress she did go inside for quite a while waiting for him to come back.  There are consequences to actions.  Don just left her there with no transportation.  She figured out how to get home.  Frankly, I was surprised she didn’t head to Montreal since they were fairly close.  I don’t really think she owed him a courtesy call to make him feel better, but if he was calling the house incessantly then she was a jerk not to pick up since she knew he was worried.  She also sound like a petulant child when she wouldn’t let him in when he got home.  None of it justifies the level of anger and physical violence though.  She is entirely right with that devastating line that every time they fight is diminishes “this” a little. Just not sure if she meant it or it was used for effect.  She is an actress after all.

 Gotta go.  Need to spend some Bert dollars.

 Gillian

16
Apr

Dirty Martini: A Mad Men Conversation – Signal 30

Dear Gillian,

I know cooler heads should prevail but am I the only one who loved this episode? This has to be one of the top 5 Mad Men eps of all time!

Directorial debut for John Slattery and he did a wonderful job. The script was solid as well with many references throughout the run of the series.

Poor Pete! Is the only thing working out for him is his ability to play his music as loud as he wants? I like how his character has been crafted into someone that the audience can find moral reprehensible yet can still feel sorry for him since his life just is not working out like he imagined. He clearly wants Don as a friend in his corner but only when Don agrees with him. The moment Don expresses concern for his life choices, Pete throws it right back in his face.

And hooray! Bert Cooper is back! I’ve missed his Zen philosophy permeating in the wings of SCDP. I had to go back and watch the boardroom scene again to see if Bert laughed at the situation as the others did and he did not. I would not have been surprised if he had. Speaking of the boardroom fight, did you see Pete kept looking to Don for support?

Loved the simplicity in general.  We did not have 8 story lines and we had some stellar acting. This is one of those episodes you’ll remember for a while.

Going to throw it to you for your analysis. Also, I seem to have misplaced my gum.

Alex

__________

Hi Alex,

Funny that you say that.  I said the same thing when this episode was over…brilliant.  But then I said last week was in my top five. Maybe the long hiatus made this year even better.  I simply love the way these guys tell as story.

I have decided that I do not like the way AMC is airing these episodes now.  I’m sure they are desperately trying to boost ratings of other shows by airing them immediately after Mad Men, but I miss the days of an immediate encore of the episode.  Frequently I would watch it twice.  One time while glued to the TV and then another while multi-tasking, but twice.  To fully or even partially understand some of the subtleties and detail included in this show I think each episode should be watched at least twice.  Now I find myself wishing I could see it again, but alas, I just can’t allow myself another full hour of watching TV in the den, where it’s DVR’d.  

I kept noticing last night how many cliches were in this episodes and due to my lack of a rewatch I can only quote one.  Roger saying “don’t hit from the tee when you can hit from the green.”  Of course, Roger is kind of a walking cliche, so it’s probably to be expected.  I found it interesting in this episode that Roger seemed to be coming into his own as the elder statesmen and maybe doing a little mentoring, but still providing plenty of humor.  Loved his comments during the fight about knowing they should stop it, but really wanting to see this.  You know he was loving Pete looking like an idiot after the fool Pete has been making of him recently

I do find it interesting that you think that they make Pete somewhat sympathetic.  I don’t feel sorry for him one bit.  But then I personally don’t have much pity for people who can’t be appreciative for the good things in their lives while dealing with the bad.  Pete is amazingly unappreciative of what he has and what he could lose.  So weird that Don would be schooling him on that fact, but somehow I get the impression that Don was still in shock over his fever dreams of a few weeks earlier.  

Pete just could not catch a break on anything in this episode.  He was made to look weak and foolish so many times, while beating his chest and telling everyone how wonderful he was.  His attempt at hitting on the high-school student was just creepy, creepy and echoed back to his rape of the nanny in his building from a couple of seasons ago. The fact that his attempt at fixing the sink was saved by “superman Don” was so pathetically funny.  There is nothing that Pete likes less than being made a fool of and this episode was just beautifully cruel to him.  The one thing I thought he might win on was that coffin sized stereo (we had one so similar in our living room growing up – stereo as furniture) and how he could “play it as loud as he wanted since he didn’t share walls like those sad folks in the city,” but then Trudy made him turn it down so it didn’t disturb the baby.  Ha!  I am starting to wonder just how deep Pete’s self esteem issues are and if he will ultimately do something to harm himself or someone else.  Just like last week, there were a lot of dark elements to this episode (noose scribbles, gun talk, talk of the suburbs being worth shooting yourself, those car crashes in the drivers ed movie) and his breaking down and crying in from of Don will do nothing to make him feel more in control and powerful – an illusion he does a lot to maintain in the most blustery and self important way possible. But this show doesn’t seem like it would kill off a character or have one go murderous.  But I could be wrong.

I loved the focus on Ken in this episode. Loved how much they juxtaposed Ken’s hiding how truly talented and smart he is while creating a fairly milquetoast persona at work while Pete spends his days trying desperately to prove how smart and talented he is while he is truly milquetoast and ineffective.  Ken clearly uses his creativity to deal with having to spend his days working for “the man.”  Somehow I think that is the more healthy way to approach what we all have to do in this life.  And I suspect that Ken will ultimately come out ahead of Pete.  On the other hand, maybe he will be like that robot and take everybody out.

I also found it interesting that Ken and Peggy have a pact, but I wasn’t clear on whether they are openly looking or just saying that if one gets a great offer that they would bring the other one with them.

Curious about the car conversation with drunk Don and Megan.  He got all dreamy eyed about that baby (well, horny more than dreamy eyed, but whatever) and Megan’s comment was something along the line of “that’s not possible.”  I’m wondering if Megan is on the pill and Don is not aware of this fact.  I found the following disturbing, but not surprising, reference in Wikipedia..” Although the FDA approved the first oral contraceptive in 1960, contraceptives were not available to married women in all states until Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965 and were not available to unmarried women in all states until Eisenstadt v. Baird in 1972. (way to go, lets make sure the unmarried women can get pregnant….geez).  So married Megan, could certainly be taking the pill in 1966.  I’m suspecting that there will be much more tension in this marriage that Don is pretending is perfect.

And Lane is someone that I simply cannot decide how I feel about.  Clearly this guy is deeply wounded by his upbringing and while he clearly has self esteem issues similar to Pete, he doesn’t use them to make fools of other people, so I’ll certainly root for him in a fight with Pete.  But he is foolish in so many ways.  The best thing most people can all do is realize where their strengths and weaknesses lie.  At his age, he should have figured it out and been proud of what he can do.  I didn’t care that he couldn’t close the deal and was proud of him for letting Roger, Pete and Don handle it.  Frankly, but for bad gum luck (geez, gross), it would have worked.  But then his sad sack pity party with Joan about “what do I do around here” was just pathetic.  He’s always known that Joan does way more than the firm gives her credit for so I guess he feels badly…but kissing her wasn’t the way to make it up to her.  And I LOVED the way she handled that.  Pure class.

Yep, happy to see Bert back in this episode.  Good catch on the fact he wasn’t joining in on the fun with the fight scene.  Yes, Mr. Zen would not find that humorous at all.

I’m sure there is more to comment on, but I’m too drunk to for you to drive right now.

 Gillian

___________

 

Gillian,

I forgot about the doodle of the noose and the gun talk, etc. Good point. Also, the background of the tower shootings in Austin (Don Draper corrected the dinner party on the shooters name being Whitman) served up another black element in such a lighthearted episode. I was watching the first 5 stories from Season 1 on Sunday morning which took place in 1960 and the world has definitely changed from a post-Eisenhower dreamland to a breaking point Johnson/Vietnam ethereally existence. We are only a year away from the Summer of Love and another 3 years from Woodstock. Imagine if I told you that in 3 years the world as you know it would be turned on its head and you and I would not have a place in the new order of things. That is what happened back then and I don’t think anyone like Don or Roger saw what was happening until it was already over. Also, I never realized that birth control pills were not available to everyone until 1965. Isn’t it curious that birth control is again an issue in politics?

Yes, Pete was very creepy with the teenager in the driver education course, and it DID remind me of the nanny. If we go back and watch the seasons again, how many times has Pete cheated on his wife? I think about 4 that we know of and I am sure that his job as an account man requires him to take lots of clients out for a good time. Makes you wonder if Ken Cosgrove has to do the same things. Ken seems a little more Pollyanna now than he used to be. Is he just settling into marriage better or is he just not the type? And yes, I do not think that Ken or Peggy is actively looking for a job, but I am sure after they lost Lucky Strike that a lot of people probably updated their resumes and formed some alliances.

I also agree that Joan handled herself very well. I think she likes Lane but I also think that she is probably tired of being the office throw pillow, at least for a while.

By the way, “Signal 30″ is an old highway safety film.

Gotta go, I think my sink is dripping.

Alex

________

Alex,

Actually, Ken mentioned to Peggy that he had turned his client dinners into drinks so that he could write more.  I think Ken is a good guy…surely, there is one on this show.

And yes, the world changed a lot during the sixties.  I am guessing that is why Wiener chose this decade to for this show.  Huge change in the general feel of the world since 1960 when this show started.  I also wonder if the news didn’t start becoming more competitive in the later sixties and things like the nurse killings and the UT sniper didn’t become more sensationalized.  Reading that stuff in the paper every day, similarly to today seeing it on the news, has to make you view the world a little more bleakly.  Maybe why people wanted to start “checking out” with drugs etc.  And yes, that point is not particularly original.  Many people have said it before.

You need to read my Wiki quote a little more closely.  Birth control wasn’t available to all woman until 1972.  Only married women could use it beginning in 1965.  Thank heavens the government takes such interest in what women do with their uterus….whatever would we do if those big men weren’t watching out for us frail little things? – HA!

Megan is a new woman with different ideas about what a woman’s role in the world can be and I’m pretty sure that Don isn’t ready for that, no matter how much he wants to think he is.  I think the difference between someone who is 40 and 26 (?) was probably much wider than it would be today.  As people age now, they have seen the speed with which things change and they know they will have to keep up with it – so they try a little harder (or at least the ones I know do).  Back then, they hadn’t historically experienced the rapid evolution of attitudes/technology/science and were not ready for it.  The didn’t understand the need to evolve with the times.

I hope they keep up this streak up of fantastic episodes.  I’ll admit I was expecting this one to be a “filler” after last week.

Gotta go.  Want to go watch my hubby fix something.

Gillian

11
Apr

Dirty Martini: A Mad Men Conversation – Mystery Date

 

Good morning, Alex.

 Did you sleep last night?  After watching that nightmarish Mad Men Episode I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t.  This was an episode of fairy tales gone bad and hiding from nightmares.

 I’ll start with Joan finally waking up from her nightmarish relationship with Dr. Rapey.  I’m so sad that she is going to be a single mom, but Rapey just proves himself a jerk over and over again.  Joan breaks my heart a lot because she clearly is very smart, but she has been told her whole life that she is supposed to be a “traditional” woman.  She just isn’t and never will be “traditional.”  You can see that much her pressure comes from her mom, but it appears that her mom just wants better for her than she had.  I think she means well, but she has clearly done harm.  Joan accepting Rapey and marrying him was horrible but like a fairy tale character (references maybe to Snow White or Sleeping Beauty) she has finally woken up to her reality that she isn’t a traditional woman and will ultimately use her smarts to forge a new life for herself.  I loved how she called him out for never having been a good man, a theme mirrored with Sally telling Pauline that she (Sally) is a good person, Don wanting Megan to believe he is a good person despite his “appetites,” Peggy wanting Dawn to believe she is a good person, (lots of people seem to want to think they are good whether they are or not) Hopefully Joan will find a way to live happily ever after – but we all know that is a crock.

 And Don, good heavens.  The cruel themes going on there are really terrifying.  I’ve always thought he had a fairly physically violent side to him.  His treatment of Bobbie Barrett a few seasons ago, his harshness and physicality with Betty a couple of times, his desire to have a hooker hit him last season.  While he thinks little of himself, he takes out that anger at himself on others in either psychological ways or less frequently, physically.  I think his hallucination/dream of killing Andrea was his repression of his anger at a lot of things.  And dream analysis confirms that this is frequently what that means – whether you believe that stuff or not.  He clearly felt threatened by Andrea’s presence and by Megan’s comments about his past.  She was honest and he doesn’t appreciate honesty about himself very much.  Reminded me of when Bobbie Barrett basically called him out on his promiscuity and that many many women were aware of it.  She thought she was complementing him but he reacted violently to her, by tying her up, and ended the relationship.  He can’t do that with Megan, he married her.  She sees him for who is, not the fictional character he has carefully created.  Admitting he was Dick Whitman was easy compared to admitting that his frequent sexual dalliances are a lack of character on his part.  He saw himself diminished in Megan’s eyes and he really hates that people don’t think highly of him…especially someone he cares about.  He couldn’t defend himself to her because what she said was true and he knew it.  So he worked out his anger with Megan and Andrea by having that awful dream.  I found it interesting that in the dream Andrea was so very complimentary to him.  Praising his sexual prowess and his decorating skills.  But he had to kill her because her being there would ruin his life with Megan….so it was kind of Megan’s fault he had to kill her.  I can’t imagine how creepy it was to him to have Megan bring him breakfast that morning.  He didn’t know what was or was not true.  He was also probably worried about what he said during all of this and, if any, role Megan played in any of it.   I also loved that his immediate belief was they she hadn’t come home and him snapping at her about it.  Revealing his fears of her betrayal of him…and probably believing deep inside that he deserves it.

 Megan came off rather bitchy in this episode.  Don was clearly sick, she sleeps with him, shares a house with him but was moving across the elevator to get away from him.  Childish.  She was clearly repulsed by his sickness.  Kind of stupid to marry a guy 15 years older than you if you can’t handle him getting sick.

 I looked up that murder case.  Holy cow, pretty scary stuff - although worse has happened since.  I totally identified with Sally in this thing.  She so wanted to know the story, but when she found out she was terrified.  Pauline was probably right in not telling her, but she acted pretty foolishly by continuing to discuss it in front of her.  Just so she could be harsh and tell her she was too young to know such things – the worst thing you can ever say to a 12 year old.  Ultimately Pauline did tell her and turned it into a morality play about those short skirted nurses opening their door to a handsome man.  Holy cow!  That is some serious victim blaming there. That story she shared about her dad hitting her for no reason was also pretty terrifying.  Another theme that you never know when a man is going to kick you for no reason.  Men as the big bad wolf theme?  I also think Sally is heading for real freaking problems — eating disorder, pill use.  What moronic grandparent gives a 12 year old Seconal to sleep?  And then her sleeping under the sofa (similar to Don hiding the dead Andrea under the bed) in that creepy house… what a visual.

 What else?  Peggy was pretty fun in this episode.  In the first episode she is telling Don she shouldn’t be allowed to drink and this week she just goes all out drunk, starting at the office and continuing at home with Dawn.  Loved that she extorted $400+ out of Roger.  What is up with him paying off everyone these days?  He is clearly lazy and finding that he can pay off people to make up for his laziness.  The “$10 for the work, but the lie is more” line was wonderful.  I wonder what is going to happen with this pitch or if we will even see it.  They hired Ginsberg to do this, Roger won’t be able to admit to anyone that he had Peggy do it.  Ginsberg will end up getting the credit.  And Peggy rescuing Dawn from sleeping at the office was also interesting….another of those fairytale themes?  Dawn can’t go into the dark woods (Harlem) alone so she is rescued by Peggy.  Loved that Peggy drunkenly unloaded her insecurities on her….although I’m pretty sure Dawn wasn’t as excited.  I think Peggy was really disappointed that Dawn didn’t want to be a copywriter…she so wanted them to be compatriots.  And as painful as it was, I loved that scene where Peggy questioned leaving her purse full of cash with Dawn.  Dawn saw it and it was so sad.  But Peggy did the right thing and thankfully didn’t even check her purse in the morning to see if the money was there.

 Let’s see the obvious fairytale reference with the Cinderella story line Ginsberg threw out to the pantyhose people was there too.  It was a little scary how much the pantyhose guys liked that theme…as dark as it was.  I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t make me buy those hose.

 I just realized I didn’t even bring in the Mystery Date theme.  Apparently Mystery Dates are truly scary and to be avoided….like most men in this episode.

 Think you’ll be safe over there by yourself?

 Gillian

___________

 

Hello Gillian,

Great episode last night!  Did you see who the producer was? Jon Hamm.  Glad to see he is building up his skill set.  I really like him.

Okay, let’s jump right in. Joan telling her husband to get lost was a bit of a surprise for me since they could have killed him off before the season started. But, how interesting will it be when Joan hears that her ex-husband was killed in Vietnam 6 months from now? Also, Joan’s mom is a saint. I especially enjoyed the overhead shot of the three of them on the bed to end the episode. Just beautiful…

I have been trying to find out who the red head seductress is online but I haven’t had any luck.  Talk about perfectly cast! She was just the right amount of beautiful/sexy/confident/aggressive to make me believe that Don would consider cheating with her again. And I will be honest with you. I did not realize it was a dream sequence until he wakes up to Megan. I was going to be plenty shocked if it had not been, but there was nothing about those events that I could not see possibly happening, especially in the world of Don Draper. I think most viewers were watching the choking scene saying, “there’s no way this is real” whereas I was thinking, “I hope he gets up early enough to kick the rest of her under the bed.”  Yes, I may have issues, but my point is that everything was filmed and acted so well that it fooled me.

Ginsberg is starting to worry me. The inexperience shown in the client meeting can be expected, but I find it interesting that when Ken Cosgrove tells him he was very close to be fired, not only doesn’t he care, he actually tells Ken he is wrong!

Peggy and Dawn was an interesting dynamic. I agree with you that Peggy was disappointed that Dawn didn’t want to be a copy writer and it showed. But the main point of that scene was to show that there was a moment of hesitation with the money filled purse.  I put that scenario through my thought experiment filter and came up with the following.  If Peggy invited a white secretary back with her, or a friend of Joyce or anyone that she only knew casually, wouldn’t she be justified in feeling the same way?

I think Kiernan Shipka did a great job holding her own against the mother-in-law. Her acting is getting better. Also, the eating disorder/pill popping thing is a nice seed to plant.  Lot’s they can do with that in the coming years.

I’ve missed a few things but I wanted to get this back to you before tomorrow. This was an enjoyable episode in many ways.  I am hopeful that the writers will continue to make it unpredictable.

I gotta say, I miss Bert!

Alex

__________

Good morning, Alex.

 Looking at my first email, I appear to be a bit long winded on this episode.  I’ll admit its in my top 5 .

 My online sleuthing turned up Madchen Amick as Andrea.  Probably most famous for Twin Peaks, but she has a very lengthy resume on IMDB.  I wonder if he had more than a one or two time encounter with her…and just how recently they were.  She called him her bad penny which would imply that he keeps turning up in her life.  I’ll admit that shortly after she showed up at the door of his personal home I assumed it was a dream.  He never had a history or hooking up with crazy chicks.  With the possible exception of his secretary from last year and Rachel from season 1, he seemed to choose women on the side that were very savvy about their role in his life..and really didn’t want more.  This chick came off as way too stalkerish for his taste.  In a swanky New York building he would have a doorman that probably wouldn’t let a random woman up without announcing her in some way.  I don’t know, there are lots of reasons I didn’t buy it, but none of it had to do with the acting.  Acting was great, just the scenario didn’t work for me.  I also don’t think they would ever make Don an actual murderer…and yes, you might have some issues. Still love the fact that they did it and think that the dream part of it told you a LOT about what is going on with Don.  He’s going to burst.

 The Peggy/Dawn thing I think was about many things other than and Peggy worried about her purse full of money.  And I totally agree with your thought experiment.  Most anyone would feel awkward leaving a lot of money in front of any relative stranger you invited into your home.  But the scene also showed Peggy’s vulnerability about who she is and how she is perceived.  I think it also showed she needs more girlfriends.  She works around so many men all day who don’t fully accept her and the women she works with don’t treat her like a girlfriend because she outranks them in the firm.  I was always hoping that Joan and her would be friends and I think they are, but on a primarily professional level.  Her other friend at Life Magazine is interesting, but I can see where Peggy wouldn’t exactly confide in her.  She strikes me as a bit judgmental.  And she can’t really be friends with Megan…she’s married to her boss.  I think this is sad for both of them.  Anyway, I liked drunk Peggy spilling her guts about her insecurities and basically not letting poor Dawn even speak.  She’s clearly a talkative drunk.

 Totally agree that Kiernan is getting much better at acting.  I really like the scenes with her and Pauline.  And the Ginsberg guy just confuses me.  He isn’t a complete idiot because he does have good ideas, but he needs to learn a lot about handling himself in a business setting.  On the other hand, enough talent will probably allow him to behave rudely and he will be fine — we see it all the time.  I seem to recall Don pissing off a lot of clients in those first seasons only to win them all over with his pitches.  Ginsberg may be similar without the smoldering sex appeal.  Don sees the talent and is trying to rein him in a bit by scaring him.  He may be a bit too oblivious to scare though.

 Bert was too much comic relief for this episode, but I agree.

 Gillian

 

P.S. And I can’t believe I forgot to mention my favorite line of the episode…”Joan plays the accordion too.”  Loved it.  What a proud mama. ;-)

3
Apr

Dirty Martini: A Mad Men Conversation – Tea Leaves

 

Hello Gillian,

 

Hooray! Back to form for Mad Men! And I am sure you noticed by the opening credits, we have a directorial debut for Jon Hamm.

I’m going to jump around a bit and just hit some highlights before I get to the questions/thoughts.

 

Finally we get to see the Francis house and it is in stark contrast to the new Draper condo. Funny thing is, both fit my taste and I would be happy to live in either.

 

January Jones was pregnant last year so I was delighted to see that they wrote that in, another kid for Betty, but it turns out Betty is just gaining weight. Interesting choice.

 

Rich Sommer did a great job of acting high.

 

Jon Hamm did a great job directing for his first time out. Would love to see more from him.

 

 

Okay, onto the questions/thoughts…

 

  • Is Harry Crane just stupid or was he really, really high? How do you not know that you weren’t listening to the Rolling Stones backstage? Part of me at first thought that he may have been fooling around with the 15 year old, but when he came out with a worthless contract, I gave up on that idea. Also, I had to check the White Castle timeline but yes, Harry could have polished off 20 sliders in the 1960’s as White Castle opened in New York in 1930.
  • Still trying to figure Megan out. She seems metropolitan, but is awkward at dinner with the Heinz bean couple. Also, this paragon of virtue and light as Don sees her is slightly jealous of Don going out to the Stones (When I say have a good time, I mean don’t) and seems a little preoccupied with her own self when Don tells her that Betty may have cancer.
  • Fat Betty: a lot of potential story lines could come out of this. We could get a prescription drug abuse story line, and we could also get a Henry Francis cheating on Betty story line. The dream sequence (that was a dream sequence, right?) felt a little heavy handed to me. Also, why does Henry hate Don soooooo much that he can’t even tell Betty he called asking about the test results?

 

I’ll let you hit on Dawn the new receptionist along with Ginsberg and Mohawk airlines.

 

You sure you don’t want the last one?

 

Alex

____________________

 

 

 

Hey Alex,

 

Great thoughts, but my biggest was “Where is Joan?” I guess they are making us pay a price for no Betty in the opening episodes by shoving her down our throats in this one. Just ugh. I’m consistently amazed at what a truly horrible character she is. I’m looking for a glimpse of some humanity, like when she was sweetly breathing in the scent of little Gene, but then she returns to the self-centered child she has proven to be throughout this show. I did appreciate that the writers used her pregnancy related weight gain (although I’m pretty sure they added to it) as part of the story rather than just hiding her behind plants and stuff. Thank heavens Michael Ginsberg provided much needed comic relief.

 

The theme this season seems to be the old guard versus the new kiddos. Not surprising considering the era I guess. There just seems to be such a giant rift between people that truly aren’t that much older. The fact that Don just turned 40 makes me feel downright ancient. But I guess the differences between a 40 year old and a 26 year old in 1966 were more distinct than they are now. After all I was raised with the much more open and “sharing” times of the youngsters on this. Or I’m delusion and just think I know what’s up with the “hip” kids today. Ha ha. Seems like the older folk on this show relate more to the hardworking, noble war fighting (as opposed to Vietnam sadly), depression surviving generation that takes appearances and decorum much more seriously…not always for the best. And the times, they are a changing – somebody said that, I think.

 

I’ll address your comments and make a few of my own:

 

  • The Francis home creeped me out. Not that it wasn’t beautiful, in a dark Victorian sort of way, but talk about outdated for the time. You can respect the architecture and fill an older home with more modern furniture, but I think that home was designed to show again the difference between the old folks, Henry and Betty (loved the doctor calling her middle-aged) and Don’s place which was highly influenced by the 26 year old.
  • I’m having a hard time with the transition of Harry Crane into a complete dolt this season. I realize that people evolve, but I don’t recall seeing signs of this last season. It’s like he has had a brain transplant in the few months between seasons. And he isn’t just kinda silly, he is just completely stupid. I’m assuming his failure to realize the difference between the Rolling Stones and whatever band he was seeing was also to point out that he is “old” and therefore didn’t know the difference. Smoking a joint while technically on the job was also incredibly stupid. I thought it was funny how Don basically gave him permission with his little nod. Guessing that Don wanted to take Harry out of the equation because Don thought he could better handle getting the meeting done successfully. Ha, little did he know he would waste his evening being mocked by a young girl that he became a daddy figure to. Shoot, he could go home and get that. Loved Megan’s comment, “your so square, you have corners.” I mean come on, a suit to a Rolling Stones concert.
  • I think the awkwardness with Megan at dinner is that she isn’t comfortable being the “wife.” She wants to be part of the real conversation and doesn’t see herself as relegated to chatting about the weather and how difficult it is to get into “tea” at the Pierre. The Heinz wife clearly saw her role as being out of the “boring business talk” and Megan was smart enough to play along, but I don’t think she was happy about it. Believe me, I have been in similar situations.
  • I also think she was jealous of Don going to the stones concert. She knew he wouldn’t enjoy it and probably saw it as a waste of tickets…which it was. I loved her calling him on the Betty thing the next morning. How the Betty news didn’t devastate him enough to keep him from the Stones concert, but it was just too devastating for him to join she and her friend at the beach. He clearly didn’t feel like hanging out with her friends after being made to feel old the night before. I actually thought she was pretty nice about the kids etc as they related to Betty being potentially sick, but he shut her down. The old Don and “I don’t want to talk about it.”
  • I think Henry hates Don because he realizes how tied to Don Betty still is. Very telling that she called Don when she couldn’t immediately find Henry to share the bad news. And all she wanted to hear was Don platitudes of “everything will be ok.” Makes you wonder if she doesn’t miss the house of lies she and Don shared. The truth is almost always much uglier….again to the old style of living and presenting oneself to the world. And she is clearly uncomfortable with what she is presenting to the world these days. I actually liked Henry in this episode and that he was a very supportive and useful partner in her time of need. You know she has to exhaust him sometimes, but I’ve always said he deserves what he gets for hitting on a pregnant woman to begin with.
  • Pete is going down the path of career suicide with his disrespectful attitude to Roger. I’m no fan of Roger, but you don’t publicly make a fool of someone. Pete announced to everyone in attendance exactly what you could expect from him if you ever help him out. He turns on you. I don’t recall them ever showing an all-hands meeting to tell the office that there was a new client. It’s like he deliberately held the meeting just to be belittling to Roger, Don and Peggy. “I hired a new copywriter” I don’t recall him even interviewing anyone.
  • I thought the Dawn thing was wonderfully handled, with only the known racist in the group, Roger, making a rude comment. Don clearly finds her competent and doesn’t seem to treat her differently than any other secretary he has had. Of course stupid Harry was the awkward one, but he is awkward around all women, I’m not convinced that it was just about race. The Dawn/Don thing is pretty funny too.
  • Ginsberg is absolutely hilarious, but Peggy will definitely need to watch her back. She was right in commenting that the scariest thing about him is that he can control the crazy. Makes him manipulative. Just like telling Peggy that he had no family, hobbies, social life etc. We know at least part of that was a lie. Of course, I find Peggy’s approach to hiring someone possibly better than her noble, but I’ll bet it won’t work out so well in the end. He may very well become her boss.

 

Overall, I thought a lot of this episode was very heavy handed. Not the direction so much as the writing – Jon Hamm could never do anything wrong. Not sure they are allowing us to figure themes out as much as they used to. The dream sequence and a tea leaf reader…very obvious. As usual, so much more to comment on, but I have to get back to work.

 

When are things going to get back to normal?

 

Gillian

 

 __________

 

Gillian,

 

You may be on to something with the theme of the season. It is interesting to think about how much things have changed in such a little time. To put things in perspective think about a TV show made in 2060 that is set in 2010 and the characters are dealing with things like gay marriage and social media.

 

  • I like what they are doing with Harry Crane. Remember, he is spending a lot of time with Hollywood people and it has to be rubbing off on him. He is not happy with his home life and it is only a matter of time before his new life catches up with him.
  • I don’t think Megan was jealous that Don got to go to the Stones (it was business after all) rather I think she is a little self-absorbed. She seems to make sure all the attention is on her, whether good or bad. Remember, she is not concerned with Don being successful at the Stones, she is not concerned with Betty living or dying and she does not heed Peggy’s warning of Don doesn’t like surprises from the first episode. Watch her scenes again and I think you’ll find that her tone is sweet and caring but her words are very self-centered.
  • I agree wholeheartedly about Pete and his tactics. Maybe we are being prepped for a competing ad agency formed by Pete?
  • You and I are miles apart on the Ginsberg character. I could not have disliked him more. I found him pretentious, misogynistic and duplicitous. I’m going to call it now; this guy will have an episode in the near future where he steals someone else’s work and maintains credit for it even in the face of his accuser.

 

Also, Joan is hopefully at her apartment reading the script for next week, ’cause yes, I want to see her back real soon.

 

Alex

____________

 

Alex,

 

According to the previews there is more Joan and her mom next week. Hopefully leaving less room for Betty.

 

  • Just to clarify, I don’t hate what they are doing with Harry, I just find the transition too quick. It’s like overnight (or over about 7 months) he became this way – seems like a very quick transition from basically good guy to corrupt, sad and stupid. You are correct though, that the Hollywood types he is hanging around certainly aren’t helping him be a better person.
  • Good points about Megan. She, as well as most of the characters, is extremely self absorbed. You truly don’t see many of these characters really do anything out of the goodness of their heart for anyone. It’s what some of my friends complain about with this show in general. Most of the characters are pretty unlikable.
  • And I must need to work on my writing skills, because I, like you, think that Ginsberg is a total weasel. A humorous weasel, but a weasel nonetheless. I think we agree on who he is, I just find him funny and, as I mentioned, I think he will stab Peggy in the back…in any way he can. Truly, he may have only been funny in this one episode. From now on, I think he will be a complete pain.

 

I’m ready for Don to get back to his bad boy ways in order to compensate for his feeling older. He may think it’s cool that he has a young wife, but it appears that rather than make him feel invigorated to be near her youth he is only feeling more out of touch and old. And we all know he fixes that with a new woman.

 

Gillian

 

 

26
Mar

Dirty Martini: A Mad Men Conversation – A Little Kiss

Hello Gillian,

I am sure we were both excited for the return of Don Draper and company after the short hiatus, but I will be honest, this felt more of a whimper than a bang. Matt Weiner has been very good about not spoon feeding his audiences by allowing social issues of the time to be background noise rather than front and center obstacles that the characters (and thus the audience) are forced to deal with. But he starts Season 5 with a protest march. I feel sorry for any first time watchers of the show last night since they may not know what Mad Men is really about. Try an experiment with me. Do you remember the opening sequence to Raiders of the Lost Ark? The very first reveal is Harrison Ford in a tight close-up. Without a word being uttered, the audience knows that the next 2 hours will be spent working alongside Indiana Jones and whatever his adventure may be. Something similar happened in Mad Men: Season 1, Episode 1. The audience sees Don Draper with Midge and we might be left to wondering who‘s story this is, but we see quickly that Midge is there to show that Don is a cheating husband and we are supposed to go with him along his journey in 1960’s New York. So here is the experiment. If you were to ask a newbie what Mad Men was about do you think anyone’s first answer would be Don Draper? I think you would get answers such as civil rights in the 60s, women in the workplace, office dynamics and a handful of other opinions but no one simply saying, “Don Draper”. And don’t try to get out of this by saying that it is a continuous story line that must be watched from the very first episode. Because 90-95% of the episodes are written or filmed in such a way that the audience knows who the hero is even if they just see that one episode.

Now I want to turn my attention to some of the things that I found interesting or liked…

  • The surprise birthday party was a lot of fun. Megan grew on me throughout the night.
  • Harry Crane’s blunder in the office the next day was the funniest part of the show.
  • Yes, Pete Campbell deserves a bigger office. So why would Harry have had the bigger office the first place? Also, Pete is a junior partner? Why does Roger have to bribe Crane to give up his office? Shouldn’t this just be a “get out!” kind of scenario?
  • Didn’t Joan’s baby seem really small? I mean like piece of wood wrapped in a blanket small…
  • Turns out I was wrong about Bobby Draper. It is the same actor from last season.
  • Do you think there is going to be anything coming from Lane Pryce’s flirtation with Delores or was this just an in-episode diversion?
  • Turns out you can write a Mad Men episode without Betty Francis in it. Let’s keep that streak going!

I know this is a 2 hour opener so there is a lot more to discuss, but I know you have things to say too. Thoughts?

Alex

_______

Hey Alex:

 

Well I would agree there was no bang, but I don’t feel like it was a whimper either.  I just got the sense that they were setting us up for a lot of implosions this year.  And I’m looking forward to all of them.

 

First, I loved that the opening scene was a protest march.  The social issues, regarding race specifically, have always been in the background.  Because this story is about narcissistic Madison Avenue types who, for the most part, are well off, I think it is probably reasonable that these guys could see the racial tensions, but not really think that the issues would affect them.  They were above it all.  By the end of the show you can see that that is no longer the case.  They have jumped in.  Maybe not in the deep end, but they are wading in nonetheless.  And wasn’t it interesting that the only reason they decided to interview and probably hire one of the black candidates in the lobby is so that they didn’t appear bad.  It wasn’t that they felt some strong need to make a real statement to back up that ridiculous ad, but because they knew that they would get bad press like Y&R if they didn’t follow through.  Not the way you want it to happen but it hopefully will happen anyway.

 

You and I have always disagreed a bit about this show being about Don or not.  I’ll still contend that it isn’t just his story.  I do agree that you need to know these characters to understand the subplot, but not sure that a new viewer would completely not understand a scene.  They just would understand quite how brilliant it was.  

 

On to my general thoughts:

 

  • Don is the same old Don, but temporarily hypnotized by his carnal desire for Megan.  There is a part of me that wondered if Betty wasn’t a blond version of Megan when they first married.  We only met Betty when she already had two kids and lived in suburbia.  That changes people and combined with the fact that Don was hiding his identity from her and she was an emotional child she became the person that Don and frankly much of the audience really disliked.  The guy riding the train with Pete went through the progression with Pete, 5:25 train, then the 7:05 train, then the 9:30 train until you no longer come home at all.  Remember that Don would tell Betty he was staying in the city because of work obligations when he was really with his many mistresses over the years.  That has to suck the soul out of you and I think it did with Betty.  The same theme was evident in Jane/Roger.  Good grief, two seasons ago those two were the Don and Megan in this episode.  Obviously that glow is only temporary since that marriage looks about as happy as his was with Mona before.
  • Don is also highly hypocritical, as usual, in that he is busy telling Megan that he wants his private life to be private, yet he takes his private life to the office with him every day.  Holding hands, no less, and showing up late together.  Not sure why she would think he didn’t want his coworkers in his home when he openly flaunts their relationship at work.
  • I sense that the Don/Dick thing has run it’s course.  I like that, if not most, many people in Don’s life actually know about this now.  He doesn’t have to hide about this every day.  That being said, legally I assume he will always have to hide from several potential parties so that he is not arrested/court martial-ed for desertion. In that way he has exposed himself to potential blackmail and/or manipulation.
  • Speaking of manipulation – There is a lot that we, and I’m guessing Don. don’t know about Megan.  References to her having been an actress clearly took Don by surprise – especially since she told him in California that she never pursued acting because someone had told her that she could never be an actress with her teeth. Of course that lingerie cleaning scene was a beautiful example of her manipulative abilities.  I predict she will ultimately do him harm and not just in an emotional way.
  • While I want to credit Megan as being smart and hard working she could not have done more damage to her image and respect at the office by doing that little “burlesque” number at the party.  She is already not taken seriously because she is Don’s wife.  To get past that she needs to work very hard (and I’m sorry showing up at 11 am isn’t working that hard even if you are putting in a few hours on the weekend)  But, as she saw from Harry’s hilariously awkward moment, she is now seen as a sexual object.  That is usually not the way to make people take your work seriously.  Funny part was that she didn’t seem to think that was the problem, she just thought everyone in the office was a “meanie.”  While she sulked because Peggy (technically her boss) didn’t apologize for Peggy’s rude behavior, it didn’t seem to dawn on her that she should consider apologizing to Peggy for making her watch he do a lap dance for her husband (Peggy’s boss).
  • I liked the humor trend on the episode.  Peggy and Pete were too stressed to have a sense of humor during much of this episode.  The “joke” ad backfired on them.  The Y&R joke on SCDP had far reaching impact on the whole firms actions.  Joan commented that she didn’t like not knowing the “inside jokes.” The mean 6 am joke played on Roger by Pete.  And I don’t mistake him playing a joke on Roger with him having a sense of humor…his “joke” was cutting. Roger’s many jokes, “There’s my baby.”, the mocking of Megan, his cruel jokes with the toast at his wife’s expense.  Ouch.
  • Looking forward to seeing more of Joan’s Mom.  While I thought some of the things Joan said to her were incredibly harsh, I sense there is much history at play that contributed to that beyond Joan’s sleep deprivation
  • I thought the whole “phone sex” thing was kind of creepy…but I find Lane kind of creepy in general.  But then he was incredibly nice to Joan, so what do I know.  Anyway, I kind of got a mafia type of vibe from the whole sloppy guy and “his girl” Delores.  Who admits to a stranger on the phone that you aren’t his wife, your his girl.  Sounds like a goomah to me.  If Lane, the accountant of the group, gets in trouble with the mafia, the firm could be in real trouble.
  • I’m thinking that as a firm they really need to get rid of Roger and Bert.  As characters I love them, but as a business partners to SCDP they are dead weight.  Bert doesn’t care, but Roger is clearly fighting for his life.  I really agreed with Pete though.  Roger should be working with him not trying to steal his clients.  BTW, didn’t Bert quit when Don wrote that OpEd?  I guess he got bored.

Ok, I’m done for now.  I loved pretty much every second of it and adored the lack of Betty.

 

Gillian

_______

 

Gillian,

 

Good stuff as usual.  Let me address each of your points.

 

  • I agree that Don is still Don and we should see a liaison by the 5th episode.  Would I be crazy to think it might be Betty?  She seems a bit disappointed with her life in the last season.
  • Don has a point in wanting his private life to stay private.  I do not see the hypocrisy.  Usually I would not have anyone over to my house except family and close friends.  Work associates are not those people. Yes, even though he is doing a little too much PDAing in the office with his new wife, it does not translate that he can’t still just go home.
  • Totally agree on the Don/Dick thing.  It may come up again but it has kind of run out of steam.
  • Not sure on the Megan thing just yet.  I would want to see a few more episodes before I pass judgment on her.
  • Also agree that Megan acting the victim in this smirk of an office world was unjustified.  She was the one that invited people over and she’s the one that did the dance.  To then be angry with those people later is just not fair.
  • Yes, the humor in the show was excellent. I have too many favorites to list but anything involving Harry Crane could be played on a loop and I would not get tired of it.
  • Do you really think we are going to see more of Joan’s mom?  I have a feeling she is going to go the way of Richie Cunningham’s older brother from Happy Days.  Chuck ascends the stairs after dinner with his basketball and is never heard from again.
  • I think the Delores/Mafia boyfriend is a red herring.  Something that Matt Weiner is just throwing in for the heck of it.  I doubt we will see that play out.  But I would love to be proved wrong!
  • Yes, you are correct.  Bert did quit!  I think he and Roger are necessary to the agency though. Remember the Honda episode. While Roger did hurt the proceedings, Bert was invaluable in his cultural knowledge.

 

We failed to discuss the title: A Little Kiss. Meanings? I haven’t the foggiest…

 

Alex

______

 

Alex,

 

Apparently the translation of Zou Bisou Bisou is Oh, Kiss Kiss.  Guessing that was driver of the title.  Beyond that, I don’t seem to be able to come up with many more Kiss references.

 

  • I hope very much that you are wrong about a Betty liaison.  I’m actually wondering if Megan might be the first to wander.  She seems very open about her sexuality and certainly isn’t lacking attention.
  • I’ll respect your opinion here, but in my mind if you want your private life to be completely off limits to your co-workers then don’t marry your secretary and then keep her working there.  Just sayin…
  • You may be right about Joanie’s mom.  I’m guessing much of that will depend on whether or not Dr. Rapey makes it back from Vietnam.  And if if he does live through Vietnam, whether that M.D. got him enough education to figure out that Kevin isn’t his.
  • Who knows about the mafia thing, just a vibe I got.  I’m just flashing back to Weiner’s roots.
  • I forgot to mention how surprised I was when Joan said no one visited her.  Seemed so sad and a bit surprising.
  • I also loved the subtle insult to the “suburbs” when we all mistook Pete’s new kitchen for Don and Betty’s old one.  Too funny.  Apparently “all suburban homes look pretty much alike.”

Already getting ready for next week!

 

 

 

 

26
Mar

Dirty Martini: A Mad Men Conversation – Welcome!

Hello All,

I started watching Mad Men several years ago and my friend Gillian and I have spent many a Monday morning trading emails back and forth dissecting images, conversations, furtive glances and plot lines. This is easily one of the best shows that have come along in the last 15 years. There are many websites dedicated to just Mad Men but we thought it may be fun to share our thoughts since we were going to write to each other anyway. As with everything on this site, comments are welcome. Hope you enjoy!

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