Mad Men – “My Old Kentucky Home” (Dahvi Waller & Matthew Weiner)
I adored Pete and Trudy dancing and not just because I love VK so much. It was exhilarating and so much fun to watch. Everyone at Roger and Jane’s do should have enjoy that display. Whee.
“I’m Peggy Olson. I wanna smoke some marijuana.” Hee. I liked Peggy’s secretary although she has been introduced a little abruptly and didn’t seem particularly believable but through her interactions with Peggy we got a lot of Peggy goodness: “Don’t worry about me. I am going to get to do everything you want for me. I am going to be fine, Olive, I really am.”
Elisabeth Moss is playing Peggy to perfection and she is propelling her character to the top of my list now that Betty has become so boring. I was really invested in her in S2 but after 3 episodes of this season it really does feel like nothing has happened (an accusation often used against Mad Men) and I am losing interest.
Additionally, I find the whole Draper household generally depressing. Sally and her grandfather give me the creeps, her thieving is unpleasant, and Don is, well, Don. His comment to Roger about looking foolish was interesting since Don may behave foolishly (often) but never looks it. (Unlike in 30 Rock where the Hamm was splendid. He really is a good actor and even manages to look older as Don…)
I was wondering how Roger could afford a fancy country club event (what with the divorce and his daughter’s wedding) but Andy reminded me that he had pocketed 1/2 million at the end of S2. Do you think Don has told Betty that they too are rich?
Other highlights include Joan shutting up her nasty husband (“Then you should stop talking.”) and Christina Hendricks playing the accordion. And Alison Brie is really sweet as Trudy. Paul is insufferable. I like Smitty.
Mad Men – “Love Among the Ruins” (Cathryn Humphris & Matthew Weiner)
For once, I couldn’t care less about Betty’s storyline. As far as I can tell the Draper domestic scenes were put together for one reason and that was to get Betty’s dad into their home. Betty’s antagonism towards William’s wife was inexplicable; Don’s bossing of William was weird; did pregnant Betty really want a vulnerable person in her house weeks before the arrival of a new baby?; should Don have clarified that with her?
Did children in 1963 constantly watch TV? Or did the children leap in front of the TV just before dad came home?
One other scene didn’t seem right to me (although I enjoyed it just because I love VK as Pete) involved Paul’s outburst to the Madison Square Garden people. It was startlingly inappropriate and unprofessional. Folk have been fired for less.
However, overall I much preferred this to the first episode and I can put that squarely at the feet of Peggy and Roger. Now, I can’t stand Roger so I enjoyed Betty’s offhandedness towards him; the look between him and Joan; and the scene between his daughter, ex-wife and future son-in-law where it’s clear that nobody likes him; these moments cheered me up no end. I also like that John Slattery and Talia Balsam are married to each other and get to pretend to be estranged. For some reason that amuses me.
On to the character that I like. This was Peggy’s episode and Elisabeth Moss has totally won me over to her portrayal. The reaction to her one night stand is interesting. Do the male characters have their self-esteem issues critiqued in quite the same way? I don’t think it will have had a negative effect on her self-esteem or boosted it tremendously but she will have found it a useful experience. She slept with the young man on her own terms and she proved to herself that she was not unattractive and could pick up a man if she wanted too. All I hope is that whatever the two of them got up to involved reciprocation.
Peggy singing “Bye Bye Birdie” into the mirror was a highlight.
So Mad Men is back and I have no intention of waiting until next February or March to watch it. I will be buying Blu Rays of S1 and S2 and I pay my licence fee so Matthew Weiner and co aren’t losing out.
I wasn’t as disappointed in this as I was in S2’s opener but I do hope S3 doesn’t take quite as long as S2 to become excitingly watchable. I almost bailed around the time of “The Benefactor” because I thought it was too unpleasant.
There was not nearly enough Peggy or Betty and what we did see wasn’t very charming. There was lots of Pete and Sal but far too much of Don. I am as bored of watching Don and his cold-blooded philandering as he appears to be of the act itself. Even Don’s “memories” didn’t grab me; the story has been told. (Unless I view these scenes as an elaborate way of revealing that Don is a complete Dick because he’s even named after one.)
I’m not going to argue that Betty wouldn’t know the word lesbian and what it means (she did go to a fancy collage after all) but I find it extremely hard to believe that she would use the word to describe anyone let alone her own daughter. This moment seemed to me as false as the Drapers’ casual littering.
I liked Jared Harris as Lane Pryce (really though, Lane? That sounds so not British). He’s a much more interesting addition to the show after one episode than Duck ever was. However, he talked nonsense about London fog saying it was just coal dust when it fact they were fogs created by a mix of coal dust (and other nasty particles) and he also implied that they were long gone from London when in fact it was the Clean Air Act of 1956 that got rid of them. Sorry, but rewatching that scene makes me suspicious that he is British at all!
Pete is a fabulous character. One minute he is appealing, the next he behaves like an unpleasant child. Trudy does not need to have a baby when she has Pete for a husband. His happy dance and his conversation with her were great fun.
I wish that I wasn’t always scared that Ken is going to be colossally creepy at least once in every episode (he actually wasn’t in this) because I do like Aaron Staton.
Peggy’s conversation with Joan seemed off particularly since Joan made it clear that wasn’t interested in having it at all and Peggy seemed uncharacteristically gossipy.
Finally, finally, Sal! That was an incredible scene as, at last, Sal gets his (well, almost gets his) (mind you, it was also incredible that the bell boy’s gaydar was so finely honed). It’s weird that what Sal almost did doesn’t feel like unfaithfulness (is that everyone now?) because this incident at last has revealed to Sal what his desires are (or what he is). His relationship with Kitty is based on the submergence of his true nature and that isn’t healthy for anyone.
A few other things: I assume that naked breasts are forbidden on AMC because why was the stewardess covering them up and asking if Don liked them; Don’s accent sounded odd as he told the stewardess to forget her shoes; the bell boy took a long time in the bathroom; and the advertising campaign with the woman flasher was rather too tacky to be convincing.
Now that I am as up-to-date with Mad Men as anyone except Matthew Weiner, I can read Basket of Kisses with gay abandon. It really is a super fansite with great interviews. For example, there is this insightful one with Elisabeth Moss who I was pleased to read did not play her scenes with Father Gill as if she found him attractive. There is tons of stuff I still haven’t read.
Ages ago I noticed in my Google Reader a post at The Hathor Legacy with the eye-catching line “Betty really was just a hysterical housewife who needed to get laid”. I immediately thought this was a S2 spoiler and quickly skipped the entry and mentally filed it for reading once I had finished S2. Many months later, I was most surprised to find that was what Jennifer Kesler ’s reaction to the conclusion felt was the message the show was sending at the end of S1. lizriz’s responses are close to my opinion and I never once thought that Peggy was stupid for not realising she was pregnant.
As a feminist my feelings about the show are mixed though I do think it has done a great job most of the time. Only occasionally I felt it has “enjoyed” its portrayal of sexism a little too much with lingering shots of Joan’s ample bottom as she bends over and the sleazy remarks by the ad men in “Babylon” as they watch a lipstick testing through a two way mirror. I am also aware that this is a minute slice of life. This a view of the 60s focused on a narrow privileged closed world that the majority of Americans never lived through.
I could get addicted to Mad Men. I wonder if there is any fan fiction? Duh. (NB: I have not read any of them.)
I read about specialised crushes over at The Anti-Room and I can only agree with the examples of Viggo Mortensen and Jon Hamm. VM as Aragorn is a honeypie while JH with “floppy hair and stubble” is just not the same!
January Jones is in the specialised category too. As Betty she looks fantastic but, as herself now, in any photoshoot she looks generic starlet and doesn’t look beautiful at all.
Despite what this says, this is not an extra scene but was shown in the original broadcast. It has been cut from subsequent showings and it was definitely not on the BBC broadcast. I remember noting that I had read the TWop recap that mentioned this scene. I thought then that it was just the BBC version that was cut but that seems not. And Pete was in his pajamas! Are the DVDs complete? I shall soon find out (once we have got through Buffy and Angel).
Mad Men – “Meditations in an Emergency” (Matthew Weiner and Kater Gordon)
This season ender doesn’t have the power of “The Wheel” but it does have the best scene so far when Pete confesses to Peggy that he loves her and she tells him it’s too late.
Pete: I love you. And I want to be with you. What? Didn’t you know that?
Peggy: Pete. I could have had you in my life forever if I wanted to.
Pete: What do you mean?
Peggy: I could have had you. I could have shamed you into being with me. But I didn’t want to.
Pete: I don’t understand.
Peggy: You got me pregnant. I had a baby. And I gave it away.
Pete: What?
Peggy: I had your baby. And I gave it away.
It was utterly gripping and it was this scene (following on from her scene with Father Gill) that has convinced me that Elisabeth Moss is playing Peggy very well indeed. Father Gill is doing his job but I was so relieved that Peggy wasn’t falling for his fearmongering despite the imminent apocalypse.
Father Gill: Hell is serious and very real and unless you unburden yourself you cannot know peace.
Peggy: I understand that, Father, but you’re upsetting me right now.
Father Gill: That is your guilt, Peggy. All that God wants is for you to reconcile with him. Don’t, don’t you understand that this could be the end of the world and you could go to Hell?
Peggy: I can’t believe that’s the way God is. Good night, Father.
Betty spends the whole episode telling everyone she doesn’t want the baby to no avail although the much missed Francine has more advice than most. I love Anne Dudek and I think a re-viewing of The Book Group is required. I also love Lois (Crista Flanagan). She is such a sweet character. I do like how actors in these tiny recurring roles sneak up on you in terms of affection. Pete’s secretary Hildy is another favourite of mine (Julie McNiven – “Stand-in/body double for Lindsay Lohan!” – excellent).
When Don comes to see Betty at the stables I was in two minds about whether I wanted her to say “it’s okay” or to say what she did say. Damn Don’s charisma. Don’s letter was a marvel and the moment when Joan tells Don that Betty wants him to come home made my heart leap.
What happens next? A jump in time again? I won’t be waiting until 2010 to find out
Mad Men – “The Mountain King” (Matthew Weiner and Robin Veith)
This was an action-packed episode, well, packed. What with Peggy’s new office, Betty berating Sarah Beth, Don and Anna then and now, Joan’s rape, the Popsicle and Clearasil accounts, and Peggy cracking a joke, there was a ton of great stuff to digest.
We were taken once again away from the New York world that we are used to but unlike “The Jet Set” the scenes in San Pedro, CA, totally worked. Don’s relationship with Anna was fascinating and the actor (Melinda Page Hamilton) was instantly likeable. Dick/Don’s excitement over meeting Elizabeth was a little overplayed by Jon Hamm but the line “I just like the way she laughs, and the way she looks at me” just killed me with its irony.
I was concerned that the child playing the piano was Don’s son which was a complication I wasn’t interested in seeing.
Peggy scoring Freddy’s office just by asking was fabulous and seeing her behind the desk joking with Pete (“How the hell did you swing this?” “I’m sleeping with Don. It’s really working out.”) and drinking whisky was very exciting.
Betty’s changing relationship with her daughter Sally was a pleasure to see though I was 21st century horrified when she put her in the cupboard as a punishment. However, she treated her better later on by giving her riding boots (and hence riding lessons) and telling her the truth about Don was a great leap forward.
Betty’s words during her phone call to Sarah Beth were harsh but I see disappointment in Betty’s reaction. Sarah Beth failed to be faithful despite what she has said to Betty about her marriage and Betty was disappointed.
Joan’s rape by her perfect fiancé was pretty hard to watch. Her face as she looked away into the distance was heartbreaking – Christina Hendricks is amazing and I was sad that she wasn’t Mrs Reynolds at this point because then she could beat the shit out of him. Sadly, in real-life, kick-ass women don’t exist.
I think I get Matthew Weiner’s intentions for “The Jet Set” but I felt a growing sense of disbelief as the episode progressed. It just didn’t work at all. The bohemians felt so phoney that it took me ages to realise that they weren’t actually con artists or something of that ilk (or maybe they were – sometimes I think I watch through a fog of incomprehension). The actor playing Willy was the least convincing and Joy with Don felt forced and unnatural.
I may be misinterpreting this but I felt they were also trying to present Pete as an awkward and somewhat repellent figure. He may be a bit of an idiot (maybe) but he’s not so instantly dislikeable and certainly has not been depicted in that way before.
All the focus on Don and his failure to connect to people who have cracked glasses poolside meant no Betty time and I did want to see how she was getting on while he was away.
I loved Kurt’s coming out which certainly didn’t seem implausible to me. Not everyone was terrified of upsetting conventions and he is (pointing to Scandinavia maybe) European… I am disappointed his makeover of Peggy didn’t do something with her fringe but everything involving Kurt and Peggy made me laugh. She also wore two lovely outfits: a cream dress with red flowers and a green and black suit.
Mad Men – “The Inheritance” (Lisa Albert & Marti Noxon and Matthew Weiner)
I was shocked when Betty’s dad grabbed her boob. I think she recovered more quickly than I did.
It’s a shame that the actor playing Glen isn’t very good. I really didn’t believe him when he told Betty that he hated her. Betty has been triggered at last. She needs to take charge and with Don away she really has to step up.
Despite Don’s advertising acumen he just cannot work out how to talk to his wife (though I suspect a confession and a heartfelt sorry might work) and he has now run away (he also tried to run away with Rachel).
Joan was unnecessarily mean to Paul even if he is a pompous bore.
When Betty seduced Don on the bedroom floor I was convinced it was a dream just because the episode had been co-written by Marti “Buffy” Noxon.
Pete is such an arse although no matter how crass and appalling he behaves, he always manages to redeem himself in some way. In this it was his touching conversation with Peggy about his father and mother.
Mad Men – “Six Month Leave” (Andre Jacquemetton & Maria Jacquemetton and Matthew Weiner)
The Mad Men crew are knocking out one excellent episode after another. After the iffy “I’m not sure I want to watch this any more” “The Benefactor” the series has just got better and better. Consequently we are now on a MM marathon weekend and I’ll be trying to produce short practically pointless observations.
When Roger touched Jane on the back I shuddered. He really is the creepiest creep and his wife should be glad he’s leaving her. John Slattery plays him brilliantly.
I’m glad they had Don admit to Roger about relieved about his freedom. Betty has no-one to talk to at the moment. She could talk to Clara but there is too much of a class and racial gap for that to happen.
Freddie Rumsden’s alcoholism was tremendously sad. Nobody knew how to deal with it effectively or even, in some cases, seriously. Freddie is finished because without his work he’s dead. Peggy’s outrage over the Rumsden incident is misplaced. Something had to be done but perhaps six months’ leave isn’t quite the right answer.
Betty’s manipulation of Sarah Beth and Arthur was sneaky. Manipulation seems the wrong word to use in regard to Betty who doesn’t seem to think through things but rather acts instinctively. I think Betty’s journey this season will involve a change from reacting to things to taking charge (oops, I’m getting ahead of myself).
Don and Betty just don’t know how to communicate with each other and it’s painful to watch.
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