Mad Men Season 2: My Review and Thoughts on Episode 4 (s02 e04)

Peggy, about to be embarrassed

As I sit here watching the still rings event finals for the men in Beijing, let’s talk about the latest episode of Mad Men:  Season 2, Episode 4.

First off, in my opinion, this was the strongest episode of the second season.  Thus far, I don’t think Season 2 measures up to the drama, tension, and frankly, novelty of Season 1.  I think we’ve strayed a bit too far from the smaller-scale stories like Don Draper’s past, the Peggy-Pete dynamic, and Betty’s growing insanity.

Betty and her gun

Betty and her dress

That said, Episode 4 was terrific.  Some thoughts:

1. My new favorite character?  Don Draper’s daughter, Sally.

When Don finds out that he has to go in to the office on Palm Sunday to deal with the American Airlines, and when Betty has to take Bobby into the emergency room for his burn, Don takes a deep breath and looks down at Sally…. who proceeds to clap enthusiastically!  Loved that moment.  Sally also got a chance to observe a lot of people at the office, most interestingly Pete Campbell taking a little swipe at Don behind his back, and Duck Phillips using that frustration to unite some employees against Don.  Will that come back to haunt them?  I wonder, probably not.  But you just never know.

2. In a moment of great casting, Don’s son Bobby looks a lot like Don’s half-brother.

That last conversation between Bobby and Don really brought out an almost sad look from Bobby that harkened back to Don’s half brother.  Overall, this was a very interesting episode to me, precisely because of this hinting back to Don’s hidden past and his seemingly lasting issues regarding his childhood.  Also, the fight with Betty revealed a few things that will definitely play out for this season:

a. That theme of distance between man and woman, husband and wife, has come back strong here, right when it looked like Don and Betty were starting to really grow a little closer.  Betty had no idea about Don’s past, about how deeply his father hurt him both physically and psychologically, and so she kept pushing Don to discipline Bobby by hitting him.  And Don never took the opportunity to talk to Betty, let her know about his past, not until they had a shoving match.  And even in the end, Don left a lot unsaid to Betty.  Why?  What is preventing him from opening up to her?  And how long will Bobbi (the manager) hold sway over Don’s fidelity?

b. Father figures. Don is becoming more of one for Bobby.  I still think we’ll see a bit of a relationship between Don and Pete.  Betty may need to rely on her parents a bit more if Don can’t come through.  There’s something a little fatherly between Roger Sterling and Joan.  And to get religious, the Father and Peggy had a quick falling out… but will that reverse itself in the future?  Where will some of these play out?

3. Duck Phillips and Don Draper are coming to a brutal fight.

It’s clear that Don made a professional mistake bringing in Duck Phillips.  It almost seems like Duck is Don’s boss, what with making Don go through that terrible breakup with Mohawk, with Roger seemingly taking Duck’s side on everything… It makes me think that Don’s standing as partner at the firm is going to be in jeopardy. How will Pete side on this one?  After all, with American falling way way through, Pete no longer has a reason to stick with Duck… in fact, he’s back to square one in a way.

Some additional thoughts?  Add them in the comments section!

Mad Men: My Ongoing Review of Season 2 (s02 e03)

They Still Have Eyes For Each Other?

Ah Mad Men.  Now that SYTYCD is over, I lean on you for entertainment until LOST comes back. Well, that and the Olympics! If anyone caught the Mens 4×100 Free Relay last night… Wow! And the US Women’s Gymnastics – very tense moments, but so far, so good.

Now, to Episode 3 of Mad Men.

So, we took a break from the emerging Pete Campbell story line involving Duck Phillips.  We also took a break from the Peggy story line, though we saw a glimpse of how hard it will be for her to escape at work.  Even something random like a television show brought in to a client harkens back to her “illegitimate child”, as described in the show clip.  We stepped back from a lot of the newer story lines and looked mostly at the Don and Betty Draper relationship.  What did we learn?

1. Don has definitely made a conscious, sincere decision to be a better husband and father, but this line of work just won’t let him.

This most likely stems from that devastating moment at the end of Season 1 when Don realized that he wanted to be with his wife and kids during Thanksgiving, two years ago.  Betty had basically thrown his affair in his face (by talking about how their neighbors/friends were dealing with the husband’s affair), and Don definitely made the turn towards his family at that point.

However, I think we saw that until Don quits this job, he simply will not be able to remain faithful.  He can certainly try, and he will be able to “minimize” his actions if he wants, but there will always be … well, the need for amoral actions.

What do I mean? Obviously, there was this incident with Jimmy and Mrs. “Utz”.  In order to smooth it out, Don had to deal with Jimmy’s manager.  At first, Bobbi was quite simply more than a match for Don.  In fact, I think it’s clear that she was playing Don like a fiddle, and she was lording it over him. Don’s glib talk wasn’t making any headway.  He couldn’t get to Jimmy. He couldn’t even fend off her advances! (Notably, Betty Draper was able to succeed at exactly that in the stable, more on that later.)

Don could not “win” this battle until he dropped that barrier, and so we had the scene in the restaurant powder room.  Quite a shocking scene, to be honest. I was not at all expecting that. For those who missed it, Bobbi was basically taunting Don with Jimmy’s contract, demanding $25K for any sort of (presumably insincere) apology, and seemed to be heading for the win.  But Don grabbed her hair, used his right hand in another body part, and (to be crude) played her like a puppet. Quite a moment… and you could see the terrible effect it had on Don afterwards in the car with Betty.  How would you interpret his facial expression at the end?  I’d call it self-loathing, hatred of his job, and a desire to be free.  (I think the fact that he was at the movies during the work day, even if for research, is a sign that something big will be in the future, perhaps at the end of the series.)

2. Betty will have a breakdown very very soon.

We saw a lot of Betty this episode, and every time we do, (a) Betty’s character becomes more and more interesting and (b) January Jones’ acting becomes more and more impressive.  The aforementioned stable scene shows that in some ways, Betty is a stronger person than Don, at least for now.  She is able to stop sexual advances in the moment, though maybe that has more to do with fear – fear of what will happen if she lets that dam collapse, fear of losing Don and the kids, etc. But I also think that it is evident and obvious that she is “profoundly sad” as stated by Mr. Romeo in the stables.

She obviously wants so much for her and Don to be a true couple, truly in love. Not just from the end scene with her crying “happily” about being more involved in Don’s life and work, being a “great team” (such an ironic scene all around), but even from something simple like the watch she had fixed and monogrammed for Don.  It seemed to touch Don, and it certainly was a very thoughtful thing for her to do.

Even Jimmy called them the JFK and Jackie couple. And I think it’s clear that Betty desperately wants that image to be true, that their home is the Camelot of suburban New York. Now, will that ever happen?  My money is on yes, perhaps at the end of the series, but there will be much trial and tribulation before we get to that point.

My guess is that at some point in Season 2, Betty will finally have her affair.  It will be passionate, and it will be discovered or revealed to Don in the last episode of the season.  How will Don react?  I honestly could see it going both ways – Either Don will be understanding (doubtful right away), or he will break down, loath her, but somehow come around (more likely to me).

3. BTW, love the Joan Holloway character.

Queen Bee

How GREAT was it to see Joan  as Don’s secretary for a minute!  She obviously is the queen bee in that office for a reason – in the words of Don, she is suited for that job.

Next Week’s Episode:

Looks like from the preview that we will return a bit to Peggy’s story, but honestly, I’m most interested in Don’s line. I wonder if his standing at the firm will continue to drop?  How will the Duck and Pete collaboration develop?

Mad Men: Review of Episode 2 (s02 e02)

Episode 2 of Season 2 of Mad Men aired last night: So what did you think?

Several questions that I brought up in my last Mad Men post were addressed last night. Let’s run through those and then discuss some new issues (*cough* Duck).

1. Peggy’s Baby

Well, I think we now know for sure what happened right after the hospital scene from the end of Season 1. It appears that Peggy had to tell her mom and (older) sister about the baby, either because of her tenuous financial situation or because “the New York courts told her that she couldn’t just do what she wanted” as noted by her sister when Peggy when she went to their house for dinner. Maybe Peggy tried to give the baby up for adoption, but somehow the courts stepped in, and (either because the mother tried to stop it or because the courts notified the mother as Peggy tried to leave the baby) the mother or sister took custody of the baby.

Either way, we now know one of the major story lines of the season: The evolution of Peggy. Broad, I know, but what I mean is this. (a) She was clearly uncomfortable with the baby, both in that chilling scene in the bedroom and in the church. Will she come around to seeing herself as the mother of that baby? For now, it seems that she has set up a 10 foot wall between them. (b) What will happen at work for her? There was a telling look between her and Pete. Will that become something more? Will her aggressiveness displayed in Episode One against Don’s new secretary, which probably was necessary for a woman to survive in that environment, become who she is, or will her true character win out?

2. Don’s Book

Remember this book? Who did Don send this to last episode? It wasn’t directly addressed last night, but I think we got some important hints. There is obviously still tension between Betty and Don (more on that later), but more telling is Don’s response to some tough professional and personal moments last night. He basically had his legs cut out from under him by Sterling, Cooper, and Duck. And when he had to tell Mohawk about the move, Don got the brunt of the anger and guilt. Now, back in the day, Don probably would have escaped to Midge or Rachel at this point, but he ended up staying at that Chinese restaurant (which funnily reminded the Mohawk guy of Pearl Harbor – nice touch of the 60s attitude to Asians – we all look the same, maybe).

And when he was approached by that waitress, we knew he wouldn’t go, but that normally he would have. Who was he thinking of at that moment? Rachel? Midge? Betty? My guess is now Midge, and that he sent that book to her. But sounds like Rachel might still be in the picture. The Midge story line seemed dead after the beatnik party scene, to me the Rachel plot seems more likely from a writer’s stand point.

3. Don and Betty

I am mesmerized by Don’s story, and aside from Pete Campbell, I sometimes wait impatiently while other characters are fleshed out for the story to return to Don. The relationship between Don and Betty is as complicated as ever. That card/drink scene – wow. Some interesting clues there too. During cards, Betty said, when talking ostensibly about her son, that she knows what mischief and lies “little boys” play at, and drew an immediate stare from Don. Clearly Betty knows about Don’s… dalliances. But did they have a direct conversation about it or was it a tacit understanding? That I’m not yet sure of.

One possible clue was a line from Don after the party while they were in the kitchen: “I’ll say what you want me to say, but I won’t fight with you.” Now, maybe this was in context of the party, of having that friend over who had had the affair discovered by the wife, but it also seemed to go towards a possible agreement or understanding between Don and Betty – and where was that understanding born from? A confession? I don’t know. It is clear though that Betty is more in charge than before, though not fully in control. It is, after all, Betty who organized that party and was not afraid of Don’s annoyance when he had forgotten about it.

New Plotline: Pete Campbell and his “father”, Don Draper

Pete has quickly become my second favorite character on the show. I think an important line from last season will come back to have more relevance: Roger Sterling to Don when Don wanted to fire Pete but didn’t: “Sometimes allies come from the most unexpected places.” (referring to Pete)

Things are looking bad for Don right now at Sterling Cooper. Things are looking great for Pete, and using his father’s death was a great move by the writers (somewhat predictable – my wife was on top of every plot shift last night). But, Pete obviously feels something for Don… Don has really become a father figure for Pete. It’s Don that he goes to when he needs to talk – after deciding not to call his wife, after looking at Peggy, after scanning the office. It’s Don’s advice he seeks, asking “Is that what you would do?” It’s Don’s acceptance he desperately wants. Not Duck’s. When Duck first approached him about American Airlines, Pete was able to say no, even after getting the very compliment from Duck that he had long sought from Don (that he works hard, that he knows what he’s doing, that he’s driven).

And when Pete goes to Don the second time, and Don angrily snaps at him (such a hard moment), I think Don then reminded him of his real father, and that’s when he decided to go to Duck. But I think that’s temporary, and I believe we’ll see Pete and Don unite at some point in some way. It may take a while though, because while Pete sees Don as a father figure, I don’t think Don sees Pete as a mentee.

Tomorrow: My Top Five SYTYCD Routines of this Season!

And some day soon, I’ll return to my real love: SPORTS.

Mad Men: Season 2, Ep. 1 – Unanswered Questions

First, let it be said: If you have not gotten into Mad Men on AMC, give Season One a try. I think fans of West Wing, Sopranos, The Wire, Weeds, and other intelligent, well-written and -acted dramas, will feel right at home with the show.

Now, for those who are already into the show, let’s talk about Sunday’s premiere of Season 2.  Specifically, I think you can see where this season will be going; let’s talk about some of the unanswered questions that popped up during this episode.

1. What happened to Peggy’s baby?

Much was said directly and indirectly about this issue.  The word around the office is that Peggy went to a fat farm, most effusively by Pete Campbell. Or perhaps Don Draper “knocked her up” and then promoted her, as some jealous writers hoped. And Pete and his wife are having immense problems conceiving their own child – and given Pete’s proven sperm, it seems like Trudy may have medical issues not yet discovered.

BUT, back to the question: Where is Peggy’s baby?  It would be very tough for a young, single, hard working, ambitious copy writer to raise the baby on her own, given the hours she must work and the salary she must pull in (in the 1960s), so the bet here is adoption.  But obviously, this one’s not done yet.

2. Who did Don send that book to at the end?

“Meditations on an Emergency” by Frank O’Hara, is a collection of poems by a poet who would fit in well on this show.  But for our purposes, I’m more concerned with the question posed at the end of the show.  Who did the poem remind him of?  Who did he send that book to?  The guess here is Rachel Menkin, partly because I wish she’d be back on the show.

3. What happened between Don and Betty in the last 2 years?

Don seems a bit unsure of himself. His “underachievement” in bed on Valentine’s Day was just the most outward, obvious expression of his lack of confidence. He was also: (1) at the doctor’s office for a physical and dodging the doctor’s questions about his drinking, health, how he feels in the morning, etc. (2) very late for his own meeting, forgetting all about it as he ate lunch in a bar, feeling like he’s “doing nothing”, and chatting up a stranger, which seems very out of character for him (3) waiting for his wife as she was manipulating that tow truck driver, saying “well, I was here” in a surprisingly meek way.

Meanwhile, Betty was radiant on Valentine’s Day. She took control of the room service order, going all out with the crabmeat and steak. She’s taking horseriding lessons and scaring her daughter out of following suit (great line about the tragic scene in Gone With the Wind). She’s manipulating truck drivers, using her sex appeal to get out of a messy situation and then calmly walking out of a potentially abusive scene. She’s not cooking every meal for her children any more.

So, what kind of arrangement did they make after that Thanksgiving incident in Season 1? (Great ending to Ep. 13 by the way) Did Don simply open up his wallet (horses, nanny, hotels)? Did Don admit to his affairs? Has Betty had her own affairs?

4. What is the new calculus of power at Sterling Cooper?

Specifically:

(a) How is Roger Sterling’s health, and how has it been having three partners at the firm now?  Has that affected Roger’s and Don’s relationship?

(b) Is Duck Phillips making a move for Don’s position?

(c) Is Peggy the new Pete?

Here’s to a great season!  Please leave comments, and we can discuss any of these points or new ones you may have.