Mad Men: Season Five (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

I thought the kid playing Glen was Weiner's son. (I could be mis-remembering that factoid).

 

[ScottH]

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun /t/317541/mad-men-season-five/240#post_3934312
I thought the kid playing Glen was Weiner's son. (I could be mis-remembering that factoid).

That would certainly explain why he's on the show. Nepotism as it's best!

 

[Tim Gerdes]

I thought the kid playing Glen was Weiner's son. (I could be mis-remembering that factoid).

Yup. It's Weiner's son Marten.

 

[TravisR]

Since Glen isn't on the show that much, I think having an untrained actor playing him actually adds to the character. It's like Glen's an alien trying to imitate a person so it makes him strange, creepy and slightly threatening. On The Wire and Treme, they used/use real people off the street and you can tell that they aren't actors but their inexperience adds something to the scene and show overall that a 'real' actor can't bring.

 

[Charles Smith]

I totally agree. It adds perfectly to the unsettling feeling you get with Glen. That creepiness...or the constant expectation of same, based on his history.

 

[Quentin]

Honestly, I don't think Don will be all that broken up. Bad day? Yes. But, a shadow of guilty gloom hanging over him? I don't think so - he gave Lane the out. He gave him the absolute best deal anyone in Lane's position had a right to get. I don't see Don being dragged down by Lane's decision.
As for Glen...I once thought the kid was a serious creep. A serial killer waiting to happen. I'm thinking I was wrong - the kid seems really well adjusted and super polite. Weird.

 

[ScottH]

I don't know. I guess 'The Wire' did it right - some of those characters probably weren't even acting.

This kid certainly makes you feel uncomfortable, I'll give you that.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I'd say that Jaguar must be really happy with all the free publicity they're getting but it seems like it's all negative. Every episode someone says that the car is unreliable, is impractical, is for assholes in a midlife crisis and now it doesn't even work when you want to kill yourself.

"Jaguar - it might break the bank, but it won't kill you."

 

[joshEH]

"What happened with your enlightenment?" "I dunno. It wore off."
The Don/Lane scene was kind of heartbreaking, because both of them were kind of right. Lane DID take an awful lot of risk to keep the company afloat, and has long been underappreciated for it. But he went about it entirely the wrong way, and this is something Don simply can't ignore.
He was giving Lane an honorable way out -- forget about Bert and Roger, he was totally within his rights to call the cops -- one that wouldn't wreck Lane's career. Besides, Don's own position would have been in jeopardy if he'd written this off, and it was later discovered. So yeah, can't see Don being to blame for this, although I can understand him feeling a little guilt about it.
Also, it's the honorable way out Don would almost certainly wish for, were his own past crimes (Korea) to be brought to the attention of the government -- he didn't want Lane to go to prison for his one (in the grander scheme of things, very minor) slip-up any more than he himself would want to for his.
"This is the hardest part," indeed.

 

[Tim Gerdes]

Honestly, I don't think Don will be all that broken up. Bad day? Yes. But, a shadow of guilty gloom hanging over him? I don't think so - he gave Lane the out. He gave him the absolute best deal anyone in Lane's position had a right to get. I don't see Don being dragged down by Lane's decision.

Objectively I agree with you, that Don gave Lane the best offer he had the right to expect. However, this is Don Draper. The man's entire life is a lie. I found it a little hard to stomach when he told Lane, "I'm sorry I can't trust you." I understand why Don was upset, but it seems disingenuous to be angry that someone has forged your name, when its a name you yourself have stolen, and forged on every document you've ever signed.
Should Don's partners trust him, this manufactured person, whose own crimes would surely destroy the firm and send him to prison if discovered? The same man who unilaterally wrote an open letter to big tobacco, dragging his partners into his scheme without consultation. As I said that objectively Don gave Lane a pretty fair deal, but Don should have been more than simply objective here, he should have acted with more mercy. I think in retrospect he will realize this and I do think Lane's death will weigh on him.
The greatest tragedy in all of this is that Lane's tax problems were triggered by liquidating his portfolio to come up with the necessary $50K to keep the firm running. Lane of course knew that Don fronted Pete's share. But he only saw Pete, the "grimy little pimp" being generously covered by Don. The Americans, one happy family, and he the lonely, unloveable ex pat. What he couldn't know was that Dick Whitman was essentially buying Pete's silence to escape questioning by the Department of Defense.
One wonders, if Don didn't have to scuttle the North American Aviation deal to protect his crimes, would the firm's partners have needed to kick in the money to keep the firm afloat?
Apart from Don, only we viewers know the extent of his own dishonesty. But if Don doesn't feel complicit in Lane's death, he should.

 

[joshEH]

Just had the darkest thought: With Lane's salary now off the books, I wonder if they'll now be able to pay bonuses?

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by Tim Gerdes /t/317541/mad-men-season-five/240#post_3934504
Objectively I agree with you, that Don gave Lane the best offer he had the right to expect. However, this is Don Draper. The man's entire life is a lie. I found it a little hard to stomach when he told Lane, "I'm sorry I can't trust you." I understand why Don was upset, but it seems disingenuous to be angry that someone has forged your name, when its a name you yourself have stolen, and forged on every document you've ever signed.

Well, no one ever said Don wasn't a hypocrite. But Don did exactly what he had to do.. in fact, he did Lane far more of a kindness; Lane could resign and go elsewhere.. in tact, and say he moved on. Don was willing to pay back the money Lane "borrowed" so that it wouldn't trace back to Lane.

Lane did borrow money that Don/etc. didn't know about (in fact, I'm wondering when they find out that this was a loan that $50,000 came from, not good business.. a loan Lane asked for to "give us time") and he forged Don's signature. Don wants to go after the big fish; the scandal around SCDP if it came out would be HUGE. Him hiding Lane would just be a bigger problem in that he isn't sure exactly how serious Lane's problem is, or if he'd do it again.. the man has shown he can successfully forge Don's signature.

No, Don did about the only thing he really could do, short of turning Lane in. There was no way Lane could ride this out and make it work. Don made it clear "why didn't you tell me" If Lane had explained he desperately needed the money directly, it probably would have been there for him, this method burned all bridges.

 

[Patrick_S]

Objectively I agree with you, that Don gave Lane the best offer he had the right to expect. However, this is Don Draper. The man's entire life is a lie. I found it a little hard to stomach when he told Lane, "I'm sorry I can't trust you." I understand why Don was upset, but it seems disingenuous to be angry that someone has forged your name, when its a name you yourself have stolen, and forged on every document you've ever signed.

It wasn't disingenuous at all and really Don's background before he got to the firm has nothing to do with whether his partners can trust him or not.
This ground was covered seasons ago when Peter told Cooper about Don's past. Cooper's response was the correct one in that he simply did not care about it. From Cooper's perspective all that matter was the history that Don and Cooper shared, everything else was inconsequential.

 

[Tim Gerdes]

It wasn't disingenuous at all and really Don's background before he got to the firm has nothing to do with whether his partners can trust him or not.

I disagree. It is an ongoing crime.
It was revisited last season when Don killed an account to avoid a DOD investigation. What do you think will happen to the firm if Don's crimes, for which there are no statute of limitation, are exposed? It will matter to the livelihood of the firm.
While Bert and Pete do know the entire story, and have thus accepted some of the risk, Lane and Roger do not and their livelihoods remain(ed) at stake.

 

[TravisR]

With Lane's salary now off the books...

I don't know how businesses work in a situation like this but assuming Don keeps quiet about Lane's misdeeds (which seems likely), I was thinking that Lane's death might result in SCDP taking care of his family to some degree out of sympathy.

 

[joshEH]

Also, it was quite hysterical seeing (hearing?) Jon Hamm play a couple of characters on last night's Metalocalypse, not long after Mad Men aired:
http://geek-news.mtv.com/2012/06/01/jon-hamm-metalocalypse-clip/
I laughed hard when the Jag wouldn't start, and laughed further when Lane checked out the car with his broken glasses. I thought it might have led to a possible reprieve for Lane's character, but no.
I then remembered that moment in California when Don was recharging his batteries, and he was checking out those hot rods some guys were building. It felt like he was getting back in touch with his youth, connecting with something a little simpler, something that could be fixed.
I imagined Lane using his broken glasses to work on the car, getting it to start, and maybe taking a drive, or something...and the suicide-urge passing. Alas.

 

[Matt Hough]

A grim episode and an unforgettable one. I wasn't quite sure I bought Sally running home to Mom instead of Megan, but I don't have kids so what do I know?

 

[Jason_V]

Just watched tonight, so I'm trying to do a little catch up...

Originally Posted by MattH. /t/317541/mad-men-season-five/240#post_3934601
A grim episode and an unforgettable one. I wasn't quite sure I bought Sally running home to Mom instead of Megan, but I don't have kids so what do I know?

Here's how I see it: Sally may hate Betty, but Betty is still Mom. Megan, for all her good qualities, is seen by Sally as a friend, someone close to her age who lets her do what she wants to do. Betty is a hardass, but she's been through it all with Sally, for better or worse. Betty is Mom, Megan isn't.

 

[Charles Smith]

Also, when Betty told her that she can ask other women for assistance, Sally indicated she wouldn't be comfortable doing that at all. So, at this point, that included Megan.

 

[joshEH]

I think that, right now, Betty finally has something in common with her daughter. I mean, sure, I despise Betty as much as anyone right now, but in savoring a victory over Megan (and Don), she didn't have to be as understanding and warm towards Sally as she was.
To (over)analyze, judging from her recycled "Weight Watchers" speech to her hubby a while back, I'd suspect someone gave Betty that same speech in the past, and she more mimicked empathy than actually felt it, but heck with it, I'll just give her the win this week.
Also, great interview with Jared Harris:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/04/lane-suicide-mad-men_n_1568797.html?ref=entertainment&ir=Entertainment
Another thing mentioned...this is the second show this year where his character has died (as Fringe-viewers well know). One interesting thing about Sepinwall's own Harris-interview: The actors didn't see him in full corpse-makeup until they pushed the door open and saw him during the actual moment of shooting the scene.
That's fantastic. Awful, but fantastic.
Christ, the past two episodes have been a wringer. I have no idea what's in store, but I have a feeling the finale's going to tempt me to call in "sad" the next morning, and just stay in bed.