Mad Men (Read 5,069 times)

[Kpatch]

New season starts tonight! Who's going to watch?

[wendylou]

I did. I love Mad Men. Pretty heavy stuff. Seems like death and/or mortality was a big theme. Also looks like the honeymoon is over for Don and Meagan.
What'd you think?

[Kpatch]

I haven't watched it all yet. I recorded it. Will watch over the next few days. Then we can chat about it!

I can't stand Megan, so I'd be happy if she were completely out of the picture.

[Kpatch]

Took me four days to watch the show in increments. The theme was death.

Peggy has turned into Don. I wouldn't want to work for her. But I wouldn't mind working for him. To me, it says that kind of management style is easier to take coming from a man.

And I could not believe Don is having an affair with the doctor's wife. What a dog. So why do I love him anyway?

Looking forward to tonight's episode. Only one hour long, correct?

[wendylou]

It's funny, I always think our morals have loosened so much over time but this show is taking place in the late 60's and I can't believe what a prude I feel like sometimes when I watch it. Were people really smoking dope and swinging all over the place like that? I would never have fit in.

Back to that actual show. Don is quite the hypocrite. He is offended by Megan kissing a man as part of her job but he can cheat on her??? I think he is jealous of her success.

You know, the first episode was all about death and I'm starting to think the whole season is showing a sort of death for Don, not literal but symbolically. He's the epitome of the smooth 60's ad man but he kind of seems to be a dying breed. He looks almost out of place amid all of the side burns and beards and he doesn't seem to be the golden boy he onces was. The clients don't seem very impressed with him anymore either.

What do you think.

[Kpatch]

Interesting thoughts wendylou.

You are right that Don hasn't had a hit with a client in some time. Very good analysis about the sideburns and Don being the odd man out. I also think his affair with the doctor's wife is going to be exposed in a very public way. The doctor may walk in on them and then go tell Megan. I really can't stand Megan by the way. The actress is just horrible. I don't know how she landed a plum role like that. She has no talent.

Back to the show. I think it was very telling that Don turn the cross around, like he's turning his back on faith. And yes, he was doing the same thing with another woman as he was accusing Megan of doing when she was merely acting a part. Lots of parallels in those scenes.

Joan is wonderful. Love her and hate her all at the same time. I wonder if Roger is ever going to claim Joan's baby as his own. 

I do believe that all the smoking they were doing was prior to the surgeon general's warnings. The rest of it, I have no memory of. LOL.

Is this the final season of the show? If so, I expect a lot of things to blow up.

[wendylou]

Do you ever read slate.com? They have a Mad Men TV club where three of their writers discuss each episode in great detail. I love to read it b/c this show is so nuanced I miss a lot of things they catch. They are also really good at correlating real historical events to things on the show. You might like to check it out some time if you never have.

It's funny to me that you hate Megan. I hated her at first and I'm not quite sure how I feel about her now. I told myself I probably just hated her b/c I was jealous. I definitely think she behaves like a brat much of the time. I'm at the point now that sometimes I like her and sometimes I don't. I do feel bad for her being cheated on. She's so clueless about him.

I like Joan for the most part. She can be very cold though. I guess she had to learn that to cope in that agency. I have never liked her with Roger. I think she deserves better. I did like her exchange with Dawn.

This is the second to last season. There will be seven. Just once, I want one of these philanders wives to look at them when they walk in the door and tell them they have herpes or something. There's just no way they could be sleeping around like this and not get something. Maybe the doctor's wife will get pregnant.

One more thing, I was disappointed to see Peggy's friend (whose name I can't remember) flip her off. I've been hoping they would end up hooking up sometime in the future. He's one of those guys who's kind of crass and a jerk but I love him anyway.

[wendylou]

Wow! Kpatch what did you think of this last episode? I can't remember a time when I was so disgusted with Don. I didn't care for that whole 50 shades of Don bit. I didn't like Don exerting his dominance over his mistress just to nurse the wounds he felt from being outshined by Ted at work.
I have never really liked Ted before but I find myself rooting for him to beat Don in this little battle. Don is totally slacking.

I really liked Joan and the new guy (is his name Bob?). I liked how he saved her and then she saved him right back, and she did it so slyly too. That's why I like her. She needs a really GOOD man for once. Maybe it could be him.

I also love the commaraderie (sp?) between Joan and Peggy.

[Kpatch]

Ha! I was just coming to post something wendylou. Good recap.

I thought the whole episode was about everyone jockeying for position, at the office, and with Don and Sylvia. I started wondering if he was just fantasizing. He took it too far. I'm glad she walked out on him. Don is definitely losing his "cool." 

That plane ride was scary! 

Don has lost interest in Megan. Very poignant scene at the end where their backs were toward each other and they were grieving separately. 

I like the new guy too and all the things you said about him and Joan.

I wonder if we will ever hear anything more about Peggy and Pete's child, if that will ever be revisited. Pete is such a jerk.

[Kpatch]

Mad Men was sooo good last night, one of the best episodes of the season, except for Peggy stabbling her boyfriend. That was so callous that they broke up and then she goes running to Ted, expecting him to welcome the news with open arms. I wondered if they brought back that other ad exec (can't remember his name, the one who was talking to Pete) as a love interest for Peggy since they once had an affair. Well, Pete's available now too. That would be interesting. I keep waiting for their child to show up. 

I loved seeing Betty and Don together like that. I always liked them together and it was so great to see her strong and in a place where Don didn't have the ability to hurt her anymore. She understood exactly what she was doing and why, and had no illusions. Like the Virginia Slims cigarette ads used to say, she's come a long way baby!

[wendylou]

Betty sure did drop that weight all of the sudden. She looked great. Their dynamic was interesting this time around. She seemed to be kind of on the prowl.
That stuff with Peggy and her boyfriend was so crazy. I was a little worried he might die. What a thing to have to live with. I am so glad they are over even though the breakup was crazy. Maybe she will become one of the first feminists after that and Ted's rejection, not to mention everything with Pete and yes that creepy Duck guy. I sincerely hope they don't get together again. I really still like Stan and her. Yeah, he's a rough around the edges guy but all the men on this show are pigs (can you think of one who's not) but at least he's honest about it. What you see is what you get.
On that note, what is Bob up to? Are he and Joan a thing or just friends) I almost got the feeling he was like he gay friend. But that whole thing with sucking up to Pete??? Is he just kissing all the partners behinds for protection?
Wonder if Don really is back.

[Kpatch]

May 28, 2013 12:52:53 GMT -5 wendylou said:

Betty sure did drop that weight all of the sudden. She looked great. Their dynamic was interesting this time around. She seemed to be kind of on the prowl.
That stuff with Peggy and her boyfriend was so crazy. I was a little worried he might die. What a thing to have to live with. I am so glad they are over even though the breakup was crazy. Maybe she will become one of the first feminists after that and Ted's rejection, not to mention everything with Pete and yes that creepy Duck guy. I sincerely hope they don't get together again. I really still like Stan and her. Yeah, he's a rough around the edges guy but all the men on this show are pigs (can you think of one who's not) but at least he's honest about it. What you see is what you get.
On that note, what is Bob up to? Are he and Joan a thing or just friends) I almost got the feeling he was like he gay friend. But that whole thing with sucking up to Pete??? Is he just kissing all the partners behinds for protection?
Wonder if Don really is back.

Been meaning to respond to your post.

Betty did look fantastic, the best she's looked in years. Don was right, she was just as beautiful as she was the day WE met her.

I don't know about the new guy. I kind of like him but he could just be a sycophant trying to ingratiate him to the partners. Loved those shorts he was wearing. Not. LOL.

When you say you wonder if Don is really back, do you mean back with Megan. He said she's right, things had to change, but of course that could mean anything.

[wendylou]

Kpatch, , when I say I wonder if Don is back I mean in every way, which is how I think he and/or the writers meant it. He was telling Megan he was back for her and I wonder if he meant it. But I also kind of wonder if the old Super-Don is back. You know the guy who has women falling at his feet and who makes clients and co-workers fall in love with him effortlessly.

Guess he just needed a roll in the hay with a gorgeous woman to get his mojo back? Okay, maybe it was family time.

[wendylou]

GIRL POWER!

Kpatch, I think I may have loved this episode as much as you loved last week's. I noticed in the beginning credits that John Slattery directed. Maybe that's why Roger was so on his game this week. I love watching him when he's throwing out those zingers and interacting with Don. He's one of the few guys who aren't intimidated by him.
One of my favorite things tonight though was Peggy and Joan. I really like how their relationship has developed over time. They are both making their way in a man's world. I loved seeing Joan's face when she realized that someone actually respected her as a professional instead of a pretty secretary. I liked seeing her and Peggy try to surpass the boys' club and the writers showing how hard it still is for both of them to get the same respect as their male counterparts. I really hope they are able to bring in Avon.
Harry cracked me up with his sideburns and that scarf (I don't know if that has a name). I STILL can't figure out Bob. Oh - and Pete just seems to get creepier and more obnoxious every week.

[Kpatch]

wendylou, this was my least favorite episode of the season so far. I thought it was mostly filler. Nothing much happened. But Mad Men doesn't do filler. I liked your analysis of the women. I did like them courting the Avon account on their own. I wish Peggy had been more supportive of Joan at first. She ended up getting Joan out of a jam later. Peggy thinks she knows Ted so well. Well, that was the old days. He's a different person now. What is Harry Hamlin's role in the agency. He seems pretty useless.

Gotta love Bob. It will be interesting to find out what he's really doing there. Pete is at a crossroads. I read a blog speculating that he might kill himself, I guess like Layne did. That would be pretty shocking.