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Mad Men on AMC (4 Viewers)

Gadfly said:
Jesus, you guys should at least read Alan Sepinwall's thoughts on the show before posting your misguided interpretations here. It will help you get a clue.
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But bad as I expected things to go, I never expected anything quite as horrible as Don's behavior the next morning, when he shocks Allison with how much their encounter didn't happen, as far as he was concerned, then hands her the envelope with her holiday bonus. **** Whitman, who grew up with the nickname "whore-son," is so fixated on keeping his personal life walled off from his professional life that he makes Allison feel like his whore. He doesn't close the door and apologetically suggest their night together was nice but a bad idea in hindsight; he just acts like it never happened and gives her a hundred bucks, cash. And unlike some other incidents where we see that Don's weird pathology allows him to forget about the thing that he wants to erase - see, for instance, his initial confusion when Peggy asks him to repay her for the bail money from the car crash with Bobbie Barrett - his expression after a humiliated Allison leaves his office makes it abundantly clear that Don knew exactly what he was doing and feels guilty about it. Just not guilty enough to have stopped himself.
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Looks like the guy agreed with me. :goodposting:
Even though he had promised her the bonus earlier, giving her $100 cash with an impersonal note allowed him to treat his encounter with her as if it was nothing more than any of his nights with prostitutes. He clearly knew that there was more going on, though.
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ScottyFargo said:
Gadfly said:
Jesus, you guys should at least read Alan Sepinwall's thoughts on the show before posting your misguided interpretations here. It will help you get a clue.
Click to expand...
But bad as I expected things to go, I never expected anything quite as horrible as Don's behavior the next morning, when he shocks Allison with how much their encounter didn't happen, as far as he was concerned, then hands her the envelope with her holiday bonus. **** Whitman, who grew up with the nickname "whore-son," is so fixated on keeping his personal life walled off from his professional life that he makes Allison feel like his whore. He doesn't close the door and apologetically suggest their night together was nice but a bad idea in hindsight; he just acts like it never happened and gives her a hundred bucks, cash. And unlike some other incidents where we see that Don's weird pathology allows him to forget about the thing that he wants to erase - see, for instance, his initial confusion when Peggy asks him to repay her for the bail money from the car crash with Bobbie Barrett - his expression after a humiliated Allison leaves his office makes it abundantly clear that Don knew exactly what he was doing and feels guilty about it. Just not guilty enough to have stopped himself.
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Looks like the guy agreed with me. :pickle:
Even though he had promised her the bonus earlier, giving her $100 cash with an impersonal note allowed him to treat his encounter with her as if it was nothing more than any of his nights with prostitutes. He clearly knew that there was more going on, though.
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:thumbup: You have earned the right to post your opinions in this thread.

 
ScottyFargo said:
Gadfly said:
Jesus, you guys should at least read Alan Sepinwall's thoughts on the show before posting your misguided interpretations here. It will help you get a clue.
Click to expand...
But bad as I expected things to go, I never expected anything quite as horrible as Don's behavior the next morning, when he shocks Allison with how much their encounter didn't happen, as far as he was concerned, then hands her the envelope with her holiday bonus. **** Whitman, who grew up with the nickname "whore-son," is so fixated on keeping his personal life walled off from his professional life that he makes Allison feel like his whore. He doesn't close the door and apologetically suggest their night together was nice but a bad idea in hindsight; he just acts like it never happened and gives her a hundred bucks, cash. And unlike some other incidents where we see that Don's weird pathology allows him to forget about the thing that he wants to erase - see, for instance, his initial confusion when Peggy asks him to repay her for the bail money from the car crash with Bobbie Barrett - his expression after a humiliated Allison leaves his office makes it abundantly clear that Don knew exactly what he was doing and feels guilty about it. Just not guilty enough to have stopped himself.
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Looks like the guy agreed with me. :goodposting:
Even though he had promised her the bonus earlier, giving her $100 cash with an impersonal note allowed him to treat his encounter with her as if it was nothing more than any of his nights with prostitutes. He clearly knew that there was more going on, though.
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:) Is that you, Jesus?

 
jdoggydogg said:
Methinks we'll be seeing Glen's knife again. Perhaps embedded in Sally?
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I don't knowI'm kind of likin' what Glen did hereFrancis moves into Draper's house and won't move out, knowing that Draper is payin' his mortgage, and having to have an idea that it must be making the kids uncomfortable. Glen dishing out some vigilante justice.
 
Sam Quentin said:
jdoggydogg said:
Methinks we'll be seeing Glen's knife again. Perhaps embedded in Sally?
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I don't knowI'm kind of likin' what Glen did hereFrancis moves into Draper's house and won't move out, knowing that Draper is payin' his mortgage, and having to have an idea that it must be making the kids uncomfortable. Glen dishing out some vigilante justice.
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Sure. I can see that. But Glen is still a sociopath.
 
Good show. I was about to give up on it half-way through Season 3. I've enjoyed the past 4-5 episodes more than any other point in the show. I always thought the Draper home-life was a drag on the show. I find the Draper's separated to be far more interesting than Draper married life.

 
McJose said:
bostonfred said:
How they landed Lee Garner Jr. for anyone who forgot... (spoilers)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1059578/quotes
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Which quote?
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They're all quotes from the episode where it happened, but the actual deal closer was:Don Draper: This is the greatest advertisting opportunity since the invention of cereal. We have six identical companies making six identical products. We can say anything we want. How do you make your cigarettes?

Lee Garner, Jr.: I don't know.

Lee Garner, Sr.: Shame on you. We breed insect repellant tobacco seeds, plant them in the North Carolina sunshine, grow it, cut it, cure it, toast it...

Don Draper: There you go. There you go.

[Writes on chalkboard and underlines: "IT'S TOASTED."]

Lee Garner, Jr.: But everybody's else's tobacco is toasted.

Don Draper: No. Everybody else's tobacco is poisonous. Lucky Strikes'... is toasted.

Roger: Well, gentlemen, I don't think I have to tell you what you just witnessed here.

Lee Garner, Jr.: I think you do.

Don Draper: Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And do you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It's freedom from fear. It's a billboard on the side of a road that screams with reassurance that whatever you're doing is OK. You are OK.

Lee Garner, Sr.: It's toasted.

[smiles]

Lee Garner, Sr.: I get it.

Interesting that Jr. seems a little less subtle, kind of like the guy who wanted a polaroid and got one, or made Roger wear a Santa suit for his entertainment.

 
A little slow tonight, but I like seeing Draper go to Cali. Seems like it's the only time he can truly be himself and be comfortable.

 
Premier said:
A little slow tonight, but I like seeing Draper go to Cali. Seems like it's the only time he can truly be himself and be comfortable.
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Agreed. I'm a little disappointed he didn't go to Mexico. Would have been fun to witness his vacation game.
 
That was a fun hour! One of the most interesting episodes of the entire series. It was.... different. Odd that Roger basically had the night off, too. I don't think any of us saw it coming when **** got shot down by the blonde nubile.

Have you guys noticed any anachronisms this season?

Pretty sure I saw a 2005 Harley Davidson Screamin' Eagle Fatboy when Don was driving to see Anna.

 
Raider Nation said:
That was a fun hour! One of the most interesting episodes of the entire series. It was.... different. Odd that Roger basically had the night off, too. I don't think any of us saw it coming when **** got shot down by the blonde nubile.

Have you guys noticed any anachronisms this season?

Pretty sure I saw a 2005 Harley Davidson Screamin' Eagle Fatboy when Don was driving to see Anna.
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Really? ****/Don has swung and missed a couple times this season. It seems like he's lost a bit of his swagger.I loved that Don's time was split between CA and back in NY this episode, it felt as if him chickening out on the cancer thing should've ended the episode, but then they bring him back for the whole hilarious bit with Lane, which were some of the funniest/strongest sequences of the season so far. Lane in the movie theatre = hysterical. Lane at dinner = also hysterical/absurd, and I bought it. Lane heckling at the comedy club and hooking up with a prostitute = fantastic.

 
Damn, I was actually looking forward to reading this thread when I got home. :lmao:

Surprised to see basically no comments.

 
Premier said:
Damn, I was actually looking forward to reading this thread when I got home. :shrug: Surprised to see basically no comments.
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We all have to read Alan Sepinwall's thoughts on the show before posting our misguided interpretations here. It will help us get a clue.
 
Now you may all comment:

"The Good News" marks the end of 1964, and though we've only seen a few months of it, it appears to have been a very bad year in which to be Don Draper. He's a rising star because of the Glo-Coat ad, but at work he's feeling too much pressure to keep the new firm afloat, and at home he's a lonely, pathetic, sloppy, drunken mess who repeatedly embarrasses himself hitting on women. (Thus far, the only women with which he's had success are the ones he pays: Candace and Allison.)

It's gotten so bad to be Don Draper, in fact, that for the first time in a long time being **** Whitman seems a preferable option - particularly if Anna Draper is part of the deal.

We saw in season two's "The Mountain King" that our Don is much more relaxed in the presence of the real Don's widow. Here, she's even more of a life raft for a drowning man. He still makes a fool of himself trying to seduce Anna's college-age niece Stephanie - in marked contrast to his California fling with Joy in season two - but before that, he seems happy and content and capable of connecting with other human beings.

And then Stephanie reveals just how flimsy even this life must be by telling him that Anna is dying of cancer, and doesn't even realize it.

This news briefly turns him back into Don Draper (check out how he carries himself when trying to bully Anna's sister into letting him take over), but mostly it leaves him more vulnerable and **** Whitman-like than ever. Anna has always been the one safe harbor in his life. Where Betty reacted to the #### Whitman news in the way Don feared - "I could tell the minute she saw who I really was, she never wanted to look at me again." - Anna, who has even more justification to feel hurt about it, has never judged him for what he did. She's never judged him for anything (though it's unclear how much he tells her about some of his extra-curricular activities), and is a ray of sunshine in his dark life. At the bar, Stephanie puts on Patti Pagie's "Old Cape Cod," and **** suggests the song reminds him of a beautiful place he wishes he could go. Anna is that place for him, and though he doesn't go there as often as he should, it's always been there for him - until now. When **** tears up(*) at saying what he assumes will be his final goodbye, Anna thinks he's just upset at what his Don Draper life has become, and assures him that he'll make the best of things like he always has. The difference is that before, he always knew he had her in his corner - always knew that he had this safe place to retreat to in case of emergency. Now? He promises to bring the kids out for Easter, and while this season seems to have a holiday theme for its episodes, I wonder if Anna will even make it that far. Our man has spent a lifetime running from being **** Whitman. Suddenly, being **** doesn't seem so bad - but the last vestiges of **** Whitman are going to die with Anna Draper. The "**** + Anna '64" signature on the repainted wall evokes young lovers putting their names on a tree or a wall or a desk, but also evokes the writing on a pair of cemetary headstones.

(*) We have an early contender for Jon Hamm's Emmy submission here. I thought "The Mountain King" was a mistake two years ago because the performance was only striking in the larger context of **** vs. Don, which wasn't obvious if you only saw that one hour. Here, though, he spends most of the first half being ****, and letting his heart be torn to shreds, and the second half being drunk, comically pathetic Don. The man can act a little.

Don isn't the only character grappling with the haunting question of how much time he has left with a loved one. Joan is professionally fulfilled (give or take some dust-ups with Lane Pryce, who's quite harsh in declaring his immunity to her charms), but at home she faces nothing but uncertainty. When will her schedule coincide with Greg's enough for them to try to conceive? When will Greg be sent for basic training? And when will the Army send Greg to Vietnam?

Joan's marriage hasn't been anything like what she imagined it would be. She wanted a handsome, kind, rising star surgeon. She got the handsome part right, but the rest? No need to rehash most of the previous ugliness, but even here, when he's doing something relatively right by stitching up her cut hand, he still makes it clear that he doesn't understand or appreciate his wife. He knows so little about her new job that he thinks she still does filing, and distracts her with a technique that he usually saves for children. The problem is, Greg is the child - the one who's never been able to see beyond what effect the world has on him - and Joan is stuck with both him and his uncertain future. So she weeps not over her cut, but over the rest of it. Greg assures her that "Everything's going to be okay," but neither of them have any way of knowing that.

Lane, meanwhile, at least has a clearer sense of what's becoming of his loved one - but a definitive answer isn't much better in this case, since Rebecca has chosen England over him.

We saw the tension in the Pryce marriage last season, as well as the idea that Lane has come to love America, even though America - as represented by his colleagues at the two firms - hasn't been entirely warm towards him. But in finding himself alone at the office on Dec. 31, and then in the orbit of a spectacularly drunk(**) and self-destructive Don Draper, Lane actually begins to feel welcome in this group, sad as that may seem.

(**) When Don remarked on the lack of bite on the booze Lane's alcoholic father gave him, I knew things would get worse before they get better. The last thing Don Draper needs in this state is a kind of booze that's easier to drink.

Though there was a lot of pain behind both men's actions, the trifecta of them drunk and loud at the office, drunk and loud while seeing "Godzilla" - or perhaps, per some commenters, "Gamera" - (Jared Harris yelling in pidgin Japanese was genius), then drunk and loud at the restaurant was, a wonderful comic duet for Hamm and Harris. I was pleased that Lane had no illusions about the "girlfriends" Don called for them, and even weirdly pleased that the intensely private Don would let a colleague see that side of him. When he tells Lane that he learned the hard way about giving advice in these situations, he's alluding to the Roger/Jane/Mona mess, which was one of many instances of Don trying desperately to keep everyone at the office from knowing anything about him. Here, he lets kindred spirit Lane see the real him - a particularly dark and sad version, but him nonetheless - and both men seem to feel strangely better afterwards, like at least they know there's one other man in that office who feels something similar to what they do.

Despite Lane's toast about what a magnificent year they've just had, it's clear that he, Don and Joan are all hoping the new year is a lot happier than the old one.

Some other thoughts:

[*]Though Don is finding it harder and harder to connect with young women (all women, really), he's also becoming more acutely aware of the power of youth culture, as evidenced by most of his dialogue with Stephanie. Also note that we hear The Beach Boys Jan & Dean playing on the jukebox at the bar, and that for perhaps the first time in a long time (since he was with Midge), Don is out for a bit of nightlife geared at a generation younger than his own.

[*]Though this episode opens only days after the end of "Christmas Comes But Once a Year," Allison seems to have recovered from the humiliating morning-after with Don - or, at least, is doing a good job of acting like she has. But Don is still weirdly flirty with her. Hmm...

[*]Stephanie's line about how "nobody knows what's wrong with themselves, and everyone else can see it right away" should be a motto for the entire series.

[*]Don is taken by that line, and it's clear he's absorbed Faye Miller's lecture from last week, since he paraphrases her question about desires versus expectations to Lane.

[*]I'm assuming the shot of Don sitting on Anna's couch all night was done in a single short take with the light changing, but it was still very effective.

[*]"I'm not going to fight watching **** Whitman paint my living room in his shorts." I'm guessing Anna is not alone in that sentiment.

[*]The counter-culture comedian was played by our second "Sopranos" alum in the last two weeks: Will Janowitz, who was Meadow's one-time fiance Finn De Trolio.
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DD never planned on going to Acupulco, did he?

I liked that he wouldn't let anybody do it in his kids' room at the end. Thought it showed that his priorities are still intact.

 
I thought it was a solid episode. Which seems strange to me since my favorite characters (Pete, Roger, and Peggy) were hardly even seen. They've upgraded Anna's character nicely to a weed smoking free spirit. I like her a lot better this way. I hope they keep her around awhile.

Don and Lane partying together was :thumbdown:

 
Pooch said:
I thought it was a solid episode. Which seems strange to me since my favorite characters (Pete, Roger, and Peggy) were hardly even seen. They've upgraded Anna's character nicely to a weed smoking free spirit. I like her a lot better this way. I hope they keep her around awhile.Don and Lane partying together was :moneybag:
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Yeah, I will be pissed if the kill off Anna. She is too good of a character
 
Really enjoy watching Don breaking down as he finds all of his outlets and sources of strength slipping through the cracks, or as in the case of his luck with women, betraying him altogether. I wonder if they'll see an uptick at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, but lately it seems like the sinking of his personal life goes hand in hand with his professional life as well.

 
McJose said:
The_Hunchback said:
McJose said:
Raider Nation said:
McJose said:
I ain't reading all that.
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Stop being jealous. It's worth the read.
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NEVER!
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You'll admit to how stupid you really are after reading it............................I haven't and won't read it either.
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Well he does write about TV so he must be smart.
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Just read it for the second, and last, week. He does nothing but run down the show and state the obvious with a couple of opinions thrown in. Don't need to read him again.
 
ScottyFargo said:
Really enjoy watching Don breaking down as he finds all of his outlets and sources of strength slipping through the cracks, or as in the case of his luck with women, betraying him altogether. I wonder if they'll see an uptick at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, but lately it seems like the sinking of his personal life goes hand in hand with his professional life as well.
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I'm thinking Draper quits the company at the end of the season.
 
Masked Vigilante said:
ScottyFargo said:
Really enjoy watching Don breaking down as he finds all of his outlets and sources of strength slipping through the cracks, or as in the case of his luck with women, betraying him altogether. I wonder if they'll see an uptick at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, but lately it seems like the sinking of his personal life goes hand in hand with his professional life as well.
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I'm thinking Draper quits the company at the end of the season.
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I don't think it's realistic just from a TV perspective. The show isn't going to abandon all of the other people at the company, and it'd be too difficult to follow both tracks.Assuming MM goes 7 seasons, which is kind of the standard for a successful cable drama, what are the chances that it lays a dud at some point? It's been amazingly consistent so far, maybe a couple average episodes, but no prolonged funks.
 
The wife is tiring of seeing Draper's female escapades. She thinks it's getting boring. While I kind of agree, this show is so good, I can put up with a slow period.

I did not buy the whole steak on the British guy's crotch routine. He does a bad drunk. Excellent character, but that didn't work for me.

 
jdoggydogg said:
The wife is tiring of seeing Draper's female escapades. She thinks it's getting boring. While I kind of agree, this show is so good, I can put up with a slow period.



I did not buy the whole steak on the British guy's crotch routine. He does a bad drunk. Excellent character, but that didn't work for me.
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I didn't either. The best part was the conversation with Don about the hooker/paying the $ he owed Don. I also liked how awkward he was with the lady of the noche when it was business time. Still :confused: at Pryce going to the kid's room first. Love Don's expression and light scold as he knows they're both suffering and looking for a temporary escape. Don wasting that great scotch as it spilled all over the carpet during the transition to the flask gave me a chuckle. I remember a buddy doing that to a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue I just got as a gift.

The subtle nature of some of the scenes in Mad Men and the scenes closing with a character performing some mundane task may be my favorite. :style: like this make it one of the best shows in TV land at the moment and probably of all-time :fingerscrossed:

 
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TenTimes said:
Raider Nation said:
Title of tonight's episode: "The Rejected"Who spurns Don's advances this time? Joan?
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I'll go with his secretary. I don't know why, but I'm liking the Joan/Husband story line a lot. It's made me like her character more and more.
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They sure took her away from the gossipy/snide adultress and have given her some real heart with everything they've put her through. She's easy to love.
 
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