Hah, I totally missed the Bobby joke but that is indeed hilarious. And I miss Glenn. He was creepy as fuck, but I thought all of his episodes in the early seasons were really strange in a good way. I was also glad to see old Betty back this week, and I love that Don Draper got Don Drapered by Betty of all people. I don't want them to get back together or to have any kind of affair, but just that one time was awesome.
This last episode was really interesting. Subtle movements, lots of table setting for the next three episodes. There didn't seem to be a major theme tying everything together except for Pete getting mad his dick got knocked off the table. Then Don freaking out and almost dying. I like the fact that Roger got him out and saved him. Also the callback to Danny was fun, that guy was useless, but it was interesting how much Roger hated him. Also, Ginsburg's freakout was a little out of pocket. I get they've been building him out for some freakout, but that was uncomfortable to watch. They should have shown how some creatives were always weirdos instead of just making this one seem crazy.
Interesting, but unlikely theory about Megan. Spoiler She's dead. During the hallucination, in addition to finding out that Megan is pregnant, Don asks, “How did you find me?” Megan responds, “But I live here.” The “here” is not California; it can’t be the party. She’s clearly not actually there, but she could be in the afterlife. A few seconds later, Draper sees a dead Private Dinkins, who says, “I heard you were here.” Again, “here” is in the afterlife. “Dying doesn’t make you whole,” he tells Don, which is when Don realizes that death won’t fulfill him, it won’t bring him the answers he seeks. He has to get out, back to the living because “everyone is looking for you,” as Megan suggests. That’s when he is pulled from the pool and returned to life, away from Megan, Private Dinkins, and that place where the doorman was briefly after he died. It’s a perfect bookend to the opening scene of the season.
I like that theory. Just don't think they're going to pull that in episode 10, with two more to go. They also can't have Megan not pop up for an entire episode if Don is in it or not comment on it.
Odds on who might die: <a class="postlink" href="http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/06/07/mad-men-death/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/06/07/mad-men-death/</a>
Well, shit got real. My initial thoughts were... - I really like Ted Chaough. His scene with Don in his office was great and his character, despite the Peggy romance side story, seems fairly altruistic and interested in the overall success of the agency. He just seems like a good guy in a sea of sheisty individuals. An interesting turn from the slimey vibe they gave him last season. - Son of a bitch Matt Weiner. Bob Benson is in love with Pete? Really? That's your play for him. Motherfucker. He was an intriguing character, and I know this still could potentially present an interesting storyline, but it just seems too on the nose and potentially open for Pete to pull classic dickhead Pete maneuvers. - Oh Sally. Breaking into your neighbors apartment to steal back a note for some college dude written by your 14 year old sloptart friend and you catch your Dad banging out his mom. That's a rough afternoon. 1) Why are they banging with the door open? That's just sloppy. Button it up Don, give yourself a failsafe. 2) Why does Sally always have these precocious trollops for friends? Also, congrats on the worst, most unconvincing excuse ever Don. Comforting my ass.
Yes, with two episodes left there is some interesting shit on the table. I like the now fully formed Ted. We get him and where he is at. He is a self-aware Don who just pulled himself back from the brink. He can hang out with his people and have a few laughs. I thought it was interesting when he confronted Don about his little fuck-up at the Chevy dinner. Don's subtle reaction to Ted's accusations were great because it was obvious that Don was being Don and not targeting Ted specifically. It looked like Don was agreeing to stop something he didn't even know he was doing for a favor. Also, can Stan get a shoutout? That man is a boss. Not only did he bone some hottie, he turned own Peggy's cute little attempt at sexiness to get him to come over and kill the mouse. That was a great scene when he dropped the obviously silly code line. "You can bring her with!" was hilarious. Also Peggy and Pete's scene was touching for the brief moment. The facial acting Peggy nailed while talking to Pete's mom was killer, and the scene was great. Then the Pete and Peggy scene doesn't go to a dark place which is really nice. And from Pete we get to Bob Benson. I'm not as freaked out as the internet was about this because I didn't get all Lost on him with the theories. Its like no one has been paying attention to Matt Weiner, he gives no fucks about what the audience wants or thinks. He was the reddest of herrings. He wasn't going to cheese out with him being some government/rival agency spy. What is this, NBC? Not going to lie, took me like an extra 10 seconds to realize he was gay. I still think it could be a manipulation for more moving up, but the fact he was in love with Pete is the best part. With all those other hunky men, Pete is the target. After the nurse popped up and he was gay, I thought it was going to be nurse + Benson gay together. Wonder if Pete's subtle rebuke was him freaking out that he might be bi or his progressiveness clashing with his natural reaction. Man, I can't say much about Don and Sally. I didn't really think the Thank You call was going to lead to Don and Sylvia boning again, but it did. I'm not sure that Sally is going to stay infuriating at her, but I think the comfort thing is going to backfire. She's going to comfort some guy by boning him or something like that. Don IS too much of her hero for it to completely flip their relationship. Its not like Sally was smitten with Megan in the first place, so it probably won't stick.
I don't think that Bob is actually gay. I'm just not buying it, both because while I don't think any of the big conspiracy theories are correct I just don't think this is his big reveal and because something about the scene didn't play genuine to me. My best guess is that either Pete misinterpreted the situation and we were seeing it through his eyes, or that it was more of Bob being an opportunist and he thought Pete was gay and it was a big misstep. But I'm sure next week we'll see Bob in a big gay orgy and I'll be eating my words. I hate you Matt Weiner. I hate you.
I kinda thought we were watching that scene through Petes eyes, who the Fuck really knows though, anything on that show is possible.
Hmm I never made the connection that the Dr was gay and guy knew because he too was gay. I figured like some have said Pete was just reading the scene wrong. Im not going to lie there have been a few decisions theyve made this season Im not thrilled with. Getting Don and Betty back together for a one off seemed odd even though as skillfully as Wiener tried to have Betty come off as ultimately being the manipulative one it was way out of character for where they've taken both of them since they split. Two, Peggy's break up with her writer boyfriend was network TV slapstick bullshit. Something NCIS would pull. They could have broken them up in any other way and it wouldn't have seemed so hackneyed (I feel like they threw in the EMT guy looking all uncomfortable as a wink to the audience that they knew the whole scene was stupid). I was going to say the same thing about Pete's mom and the Spanish doctor as a totally fucking jump the shark plot line until they implied he was in fact gay and not a dementia rapist. I do like how they've been transitioning from the golden days of the late 50's early 60's in advertising to the more structured corporate era of the coming 70s-80s. In earlier seasons Don was free to take big chances and woo clients with charisma and a handshake. Now they are forced to rely more on market research data and chain of command issues. It's quite a shift that I like from the merger of their companies.
Poppiing around and reading reviews/interwebs, it looks like people are less and less convinced that Bob Benson is gay. It seems like he'll do anything to move on up. Spend a day on the beach with Joan, lie about his father to get in Pete's good graces, or throw a red herring up in the air when his nurse plan backfired. It could be anything. Also, Pete's gun is back in question. For 2-3 seasons it was a discussion topic. He's going hunting. Someone's gonna die right? To things KK. I think the Betty thing was supposed to be more of a commentary on Don than Betty, as her line about the best way of getting close to Don isn't sex. Also the Peggy/Abe breakup apparently was supposed to be loaded with subtext/symbolism about editorial vs advertising, idealistic vs pragmatic, etc way better described in a lot of write-ups than I can here. Also tied to his incident earlier in the episode with getting attacked. I'd agree about it being network crap not tied to the bigger picture, but tied to the bigger picture it works. I think everyone would have been more upset if it became a drama of her going all the way cheating and him finding out. Also, anyone else surprised that she's still in the same place?
Yes I realize what they wanted to "tell" about Betty. I still think hooking them back up doesn't work with the characters they've become since they broke up. Maybe Betty because she takes satisfaction in supreme manipulation but Don seems 100 miles off from wanting to bed her again for any reason. He might fuck the neighbors wife or some chick in LA but I just didn't buy Betty. Honestly every time you link some in detail write up about all the allusions and metaphors I always think of the poop that took a pee episode of South Park. If Wiener does go to great length to add a gabillion items of symbolism hipster New Yorker's can jack it to I'm calling it a day. They had built up the chasm between them and to have him abruptly break things off in the back of an ambulance for a slapstick stabbing was just lame. It is ok to not blow Matt Wiener about every single thing. I was wondering why she stayed in that apartment she hates. Probably because she bought the building right? I thoughts what she's said. Maybe hard to move out off in a fast manner.
That bothered me. She was scared to death of the place, and now she's there alone. I don't remember exactly where they said the building was, but I'm assuming they're going to leave her there to deal with the Stonewall riots.
I get what you're saying here, but it IS the 80-90% of the show. It's like saying you don't care about the terrorism of Homeland. And it isn't a gabillion items, it were the themes that have tied that specific episode AND the season all together. Its not even some really deep reading. I also need to go watch that episode of South Park. This is from the A.V. Club, it's not complicated at all, but it is the reason it happened and the justification for it as well. Well she was talking about it with Abe like they could get out of it quick, but I guess not. Maybe she's staying in it as a way to grow and fight through. There has been less outside noise these last two episodes.
Please remember this sentence when you watch that South Park episode. I imagine the author who wrote this pulling another classic South Park moment a second after writing it:
It's possible, I suppose, but that look on Benson's face in Pete's office when Pete called being gay disgusting or something seemed to be one of genuine hurt. And that was before he doubled down with the grade-school knee bump seduction. If anything, I think his Lloyd Braun act is how he compensates. Also, he clearly fits what I'm going to assume is Weiner's 1960s version of gay: sensitive and immune to the charms of women. See: Sal Romano.
You're underestimating the power of nostalgia. He's at a summer camp with his boy and there's the mother of his children looking model-hot like she did when they first met. Add that to the fact that he still has a functional penis, and it didn't surprise me a bit that he wanted to hit that. As far as Betty goes, fuck yeah she'd try to seduce Don. He was the one that got away. She was a sexy motherfucker and he was stepping out on her every minute, so she goes and gets a nice new (and powerful and attractive) husband, but is there closure for the blow to her self-esteem? Hell no. Then she gets fat, feels like a piece of shit, and then gets hot again and here is sex-dripping-out-of-every-pore Don Draper, giving her that look that he used to reserve for the women he was cheating on her with. Now she's the girl he can cheat on his wife with. What a fucking rush, right, Betty? And then to walk away from it all right into the arms of her hot, rich husband who also has a respectable family background. It's the only time I thought, "Fuck yeah, get that shit, you dumb fucking cunt." But I didn't really give it a lot of thought, so who knows.
So Bob is smiley gay Don? And Peggy is now grown up Sally, disillusioned and disappointed with the Old Man. I honestly think Don isn't doing this stuff to fuck with Ted, or at least he wasn't until Ted started up with his little girl. Hey, has anyone noticed that Pete is a slimy excuse for a human?
I don't...think...I'm really getting Mad Men this season. I'm enjoying it, for the most part, but after almost every episode I have this uneasy feeling that things are going over my head and I'm not getting the Bigger Picture yet. Maybe I'm supposed to be feeling that way, or something, but I've always felt that I've been pretty good at understanding the subtext and the subtlety and the symbolism and all that, and while I don't think I'm missing everything on a smaller scale, I think there's something that hasn't really fallen into place for understanding the meaning of the season as a whole. I got the departure from the norm last season because of the big culture shifts that were going on, but this season feels so chaotic - which I've been wondering is maybe the point itself seeing as what the country was like in '68. Most of what I read seems to be similarly scrambling to make sense of it, though, so I don't feel too bad. But, I'm kind of hoping that the finale will have some kind of "ooooooohhhhhhhhh" moment that will tie things together or clear things up even somewhat.