Mad Men - season 2

Re: Mad Men - season 2

That episode was beyond subtle.

Let me make sure I got this:

MM dies leaving everyone wonky. Joan scolds Roger for not 'feeling' the loss enough. Makes him think a bit about how short life is. He parties with Don and hears Don't philosophy of cutting your losses and moving forward. Between the two moments of introspection, he chooses to leave his wife.

Got that.

Now, who is he leaving her for? I had thought he was very attracted to that whore he was spending a fortune on. But, all the signs in this episode tend to imply that he's leaving his wife for Don's secretary: he knows about the Roosevelt - and, it's not due to his power of perception. She leaked the 'personal' info to him. That's why Don says, "I want her off my desk." Roger also touches her shoulder gently during the blowup and she's crying again. I'm assuming an affair here. Also, the purchase of the shirts for Don was not from her...that was from Roger. He's been there. Am I right? Am I misreading this?

Re: Mad Men - season 2

It could very well be that Roger is Sleeping with Don's Secretary. Roger did save her job after being fired. She is a manipulator and could get all of the men into trouble, at least don and Roger and possibly Pete if Peggy confided to her about the baby but I think Peggy's too smart to do that. I can't believe how hooked I am with this show.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

That's exactly where I am. We know it's not Peggy or Joan (at least I assume). The number of other females is obscenely low. So it has to be the secretary, which would be why Don wants her off his desk. In some way he feels guilty for breaking up Mona and Roger.

Anyway, just my guess.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

Not just guilty...but, pissed. If it's true, then Roger never 'figured out' Don was kicked out of the house. He got the info from the secretary.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

All I can come up with is that life can be uncomfortable, whether it be dealing with parents on the wane, adoption, priorities in causes, a kid's crush, estate handling from inheritance issues. Betty's dad zings Don with a flailing swing surrounding Dan's lack of a familial past. Nice "birthday" party for the expectant father. Joan is such a ball-buster who relishes delivering bad news. Pete and Peggy continue to have strangely, off-balanced, short conversations.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

All of a sudden Peggy is dressed in style and has a figure!

Re: Mad Men - season 2

well it was advice from the comedian's wife remember? =P. stop trying to be one of the boys and become ur own woman, etc.

there's still so much about don we dunno about =P. it keeps propelling the narrative forward.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

Finally got caught up with the last episode. It felt more like set up for the end of the season than anything else at this point. Let's move some pieces into a position so they are all lined up for the inevitable fall.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

well last year's season1 had a lot of stuff in there but the season finale wasn't like a traditional series where it would end on a huge cliff-hanger and so on. it felt more like a miniseries coming to an end where u saw a slice of life into the 60s. this season picked up all those setups from season1 and really really pushed it through

Re: Mad Men - season 2

Had to laugh at Pete having absolutely no game in LA.

Don just slips in and out of situations with aplomb. Joy had this Grace Kelly look about her in the pool. Tasty. Laura Ramsey (Joy) was a blonde in "Ruins" recently. The Jet Set do live a different life.

Cosgrove's reaction to Curt was abrupt and to the point, but in the time period, political correctness hadn't quite sensitize people to Curt's sexual orientation. Sal pretty much had to hold in a gulp or two, as his closeted sexualitiy was bursting to free itself, but not with the reaction of his co-workers on display, nor his own acceptance of who he is. Had to smile at Curt's hairdressing skills (not sure if they were trying to prop up a stereotype or simply update Peggy's hairstyle).

Duck finally succumbed to the bottle again, got a bit of his bravado back, and has payback on his mind. Roger won't see it coming, but he is a man in love with a woman young enough to be his daughter.

Glad to see Don's suitcase make it to Betty's home, now, will Don make it back, or will he confront his Dick Whitman past and have residual damage from dredging up the past?

Re: Mad Men - season 2

who did Don call as "Whitman?"

I wonder if Pete Campbell will reveal Don's past to anybody else. The only other person who knows is Cooper, and he's a nimkompoop. I wonder if Sterling or Don's wife would dismiss the news as easily as Cooper. "Who cares?"

Re: Mad Men - season 2

I know fans of the show call this a "soap" (a good soap!) but using that term, which could describe any drama with a long-view narrative style, suggests a superficiality that doesn't do "Mad Men" justice. I marvel at the intelligence and psychological complexity (and the subtly of the execution of the show's themes even as it manages to be entertaining and funny). Something much richer is lurking under the surface which the term "soap" can't begin to convey, a sort of mortal angst, an American questioning. This show is about more than advertising, and more than just the 60s.

Okay, enough ranting. On this week's "soap" :-) ...

This was probably my favorite episode of the season. This was the "dramatic pivot point", in which all the dramatic pins are lined up. Duck back on the sauce. Sterling-Cooper on the auction block. Don off the deep end (literally and figuratively). All the swimming pool symbolism. No, we're not supposed to know who Don called, but we will next week.

It was odd not having Betty around. Was this the first episode not to feature January Jones at all?

Re: Mad Men - season 2

With Joy around, I did not miss Betty AT all.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

A-men brother

Re: Mad Men - season 2

Betty was in it, though as a mistaken identity, when Don first walked to the bar. It was pretty cool how they did it.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

To be perfectly honest, I was bored by this episode. Everything dealing with Don in California didn't feel like Mad Men to me. I know there's a point and so on and so on...each of the supporting stories back in New York happened to be much more interesting to me, especially what Duck is doing to Sterling Cooper.

The entire work conversation with Curt made me squirm a bit. I know the show has always been accurate to the time period and I'd never fault it for that; but to hear the homo's and queer's and such coming from characters I actually like (well, formerly liked) bugs me.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

don is only 11% stake. wouldn't have a huge say anyways about where the company is headed. after all, it's not sterling cooper draper, it's only sterling and cooper.

plus i really like how subtle everything becomes. don was made shareholder last season but not through direct dialogue, but more hints, cloak and dagger. i luv how this show uses dialogue, unintentional intentionality to achieve the end results. it is quite spectacular. most dumbed down series would simple say, "don, u want to be a partner?" (like how duck is trying to wedge himself in . but how don became a 'made man' was through a 'sit down' if u will w/sterling cooper talking about how it's time. well time for what? etc. that's what i dig about it.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

Yes, except if Sterling-Cooper sells, Don doesn't have to sell his 11%. If he refuses to give up an equal chunk of his shares to this, then his share would be far more valuable in the future company. It makes it hard to forcibly squeeze him out also.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

i luv how don spends so much time outside of the office... no1 really gives a crap =P

Re: Mad Men - season 2

Jason,
You just did fault it for that, and really, either you were bored or you were squirming a bit, you can't have it both ways.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

Why not? I already stated everything but the NY scenes was boring to me. And I do think making the audience squirm was the intended effect. I mean, if you're not even slightly taken aback by the terms being used in an office setting, then there is something wrong. What I don't find fault in is Mad Men being authentic to the time period and not being PC. It's the same thing that happens with the girls or the minorities in the show.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

But that's why I love this show. It's complex. You have to deal with the emotions of caring about characters who may say or do despicable things. In fact, the show has been playing that game since the end of the first episode. It makes me uncomfortable, but it also makes me think. This is how real people are. (And it's true to the era!)

Re: Mad Men - season 2

This is how my work and personal life are now.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

Jon Hamm on SNL next week. Should be fun!

Re: Mad Men - season 2

Anyone else notice 'Joy's theme' was an easy listening version of Misirlou, the titular 'Surf Music' opening song from Pulp Fiction?

Re: Mad Men - season 2

The Million Dollar Movie was a nice John Hamm film nod / promotion.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

as i suspected the sterling/cooper company was an easy pass. did anyone notice cooper's resigned show of defeat as everyone left him alone in the room? this is such an incredibly deep show!!! =D. u can watch this several times and still get a lot out of it =P unlike the sopranos later seasons .

i luv how the dialogues are always pregnant with meaning and insights into the characters, caricatures and settings of the time and place of the era.

this last episode that aired was incredible, it truly unraveled a huge yarn of who don drapper/dick whitman is =D.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

I find it interesting how the world was on the brink with the Cuban missile crisis, and the amount of information available to the common man was basically bits of TV reports and newspapers. With the end of the world at the forefront of everyone's minds, it provided a catalyst to bring forth the light on a life given away, and a life just waiting for to be embraced.

Anyone else cringe when Betty was not only smoking, but drinking after she found out she was pregnant? How times change. Her evening the infidelity scoreboard is perfectly Betty, that's her juvenile coping mechanism (and note, she only did it after Don finally confirmed it, though he didn't quite let on to the depths of his philandering ways).

Peggy's revelation to Pete was literally a bombshell to his world. Nice parallel to the world going to hell in a hand basket that weekend of the crisis in Cuba. Very delicate scene that played out strong in its restraint.

Duck's reaction to the news of Don's contract status was great. Duck getting blindsided was a nice bonus from that scene, plus the new owners definitely are aware of Duck's weakness when it comes to alcohol.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

You have the strong feeling after Don left that the London buyres, who said they were still interested in the merger, knew that they had to switch horses. Whether they thought Duck's plan was right or wrong, they knew that if Don left, he'd end up taking a big swath of accounts with him, or they'd leave and go elsewhere - making Sterling Cooper worthless.

So, who's president after that meeting? It isn't Duck. And Duck knew it. Don's bombshell basically said: either I'm President, or I walk, and if I walk, the whole thing doesn't work.

Duck just found himself back where he was.. and it was interesting that it was basically Pete Campbell who gave Don the time to prepare and think about how he'd respond.

But nothing could have helped his case better then Duck going off the handle.

Re: Mad Men - season 2

Very convenient how there was a nice couch in the back of that bar. She standing there waiting for the ladies room, they go into the nearest open door (which I expected to be a broom-closet or the men's room), and find themselves in something resembling Don Draper's office. Niiice.

I laughed how Pete said "you're right" to Trudy when Trudy said, "if you loved me, you'd come with me."

I wonder what year we'll be in when the show starts again at Season Three.
---didn't it jump 2 years between Season 1 & Season 2 (1960 to 1962?) Will Kennedy already be dead at the start of the new season? Will Pete get inducted to go to Vietnam?

And what was the deal with Pete holding his rifle at the end?