Mad Men Season 3

Since they usually skip periods of time between seasons, I think the whole February 1964 British invasion won't even be shown on the series. Though I guess The Beatles were still popular after their appearance on Ed Sullivan.

Maybe I'm alone here, but I think Betty Draper's story just got more interesting.

First of all, I disagree that she doesn't know what she wants. She does: a husband who's faithful and values her as a person, not a possession. She's finally realized why the man she married can't ever be that, because he's play-acting at being the man who married her. (It's Dick Whitman who's always chasing after dark-haired, slightly bohemian women, not Don Draper.) She's been acting unsure, because, as the evidence keeps piling up that her husband can't be what she wants, she's felt more and more trapped.

But she's about to repeat history. She's about to marry a man she scarcely knows, and she going to do it without taking anything from Don, so that she and her children will be completely dependent on the new husband (Henry Francis). She'd better hope that he's everything she expects (which no one ever is), because she'll be stuck with him. Watching her learn to lie in the bed she's just made should present interesting possibilities for drama.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattCR 



I think you assign too many good motives to Betsy.  Betsy has always flirted with straying from her marriage.  She flirted with the boy at the stable, she had an affair in the bar.. she had considered leaving Don repeatedly before this, only to be won over with big gifts, trips, etc.

In the end, she's leaving Don not because of the lie.  She was breaking into the drawer to give her a reason to blow up the marriage, she wanted out long before she knew the lie.  The lie was simply the convenience to allow her to feel justified in doing it, to give her the moral high ground.  The moment she met Francis, and knew he was enamored with her, she was enchanted.  This was her chance to move up the social hierarchy.  Don had been relegated to another cog inside of PPL.  He had been made into Conrad Hilton's whipping boy.. he wasn't the champion of his own ship anymore.  He didn't offer her the chance at power and forward movement... he would be where he was.

Meanwhile, Francis offered her all the things she wanted.  Political clout and power.  Old money.  She was unsure where Don was heading so she bailed.  The moment things started to go south with Connie, her plot to get out was full speed ahead.

 

When in the first season did Betty Draper "flirt with straying from her marriage"? Her discontent began when she discovered, in the final episode of season 1, that her "therapy" was really just a pretext for Don to spy on her. That was when she began to realize that she was a possession to be managed, not a partner in a marriage of equals. The flirtation with the younger man (hardly a "boy") at the stable followed after that in season 2, and it was just that: a flirtation. 

As for the anonymous one-time encounter in the final episode of season 2, calling it an "affair" stretches the meaning of the term beyond recognition. And let's consider the circumstances. By that point, she was certain that Don was having an affair with Bobbie Barrett (which he was), and that this wasn't the first time. He'd also pulled his California disappearing act. And she'd just discovered that she was pregnant again, thereby making it a particularly difficult time to proceed with seeking a divorce (if one makes the correct historical adjustments). That very uncharacteristic fling was an act of rebellion, a giant "fuck you!" to her faithless husband (and January Jones reportedly got huge fan mail from the female viewership after that episode aired).

"She was breaking into the drawer to give her a reason to blow up the marriage"? If that was her motive, she'd hire a P.I. to tail her husband. The simpler explanation is that she was tired of being lied to. Breaking into the drawer was a continuation of her opening the phone bill at the end of season 1.  I'm not assigning Betty a "good" motive or a "bad" motive; I'm just identifying the obvious motive. And how does Betty know what's happening with Hilton or where Don's career is heading? It's not as if he actually talks to her about anything.

Finally, how do we know that Henry Francis is "old money"? And when has Betty ever shown any interest in power or political clout? (The reservoir issue was something she stumbled into.)  Her entire focus is and always has been on her private life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holadem 

MattCR,

There is an exchange which perfectly sums it up in one of those S2 episodes, when she spent the whole day going through his stuff and found nothing. She told him that when he came home, and then she said: "Why are you doing this to me? I would never do this to you." I found that utterly heartbreaking: She was not asking why he was cheating on her. She was asking why he could still stand there denying her the release of vindication for what they both knew was true. At that point, it was no longer the adultery, it was Don's (necessary) cruelty in the face of suffering he caused.

--
H

Yeah, I have no sympathy at all for Betty.  Don may sleep around.  But I never watched eps where he grabbed the hypocritical perch while treating his kids like crap.   

Child abusers are pretty low on my list of those who need sympathy.  I mean, I guess locking your kids in the closets, slamming doors at them, and berating them ...

I Love January Jones in the role.  I think it's difficult to play such a polarizing figure.  This isn't saying I think Don's an angel.  I think he too is a man of incredible faults who has been a douchebag off and on.  Thing about Don, though, is we keep seeing redeeming acts of charity... bailing Peggy out, providing for the man who's life he assumed, even moments where he works with his kids while Betty roles her eyes and dissapears.

Just me.  I understand how others feel differently.  But she's a great character I love to hate.  :)

Repeatedly Betsy called for the harshest punishments, and Don refused.  When she asked him to take a belt to the kid, he refused, and gave her the story of how he was beaten as a kid, and it accomplished nothing, and he wouldn't be hated by his own kids.  Let's remember these fine moments:

Bobby plays with and breaks household items.  In a huff, Betsy repeatedly berates the kid and hauls him off to the hospital for a minor burn at one point, because he "can't deal" with her daughter, who then goes to work with Don.  Later, when Bobby plays with a toy at dinner, Betsy demands he starts beating the kids.  Don explains he doesn't believe in it, because all that happened to him was that he wanted to "kill his own father" for beating him.
 

The message doesn't at all sink in on Betsy, who then complains to her therapist that Don's a big wuss for not beating the kids.  (S1).  And Betsy's reactions got continuously weirder.. in season 1, she used her own daughter's riding lessons as an excuse to get close and flirt with a fellow jockey. 

So, as far as hypocrisy, it cuts both ways.  If being a hypocrit is stepping foot in the house while you're cheating, Betsy has been guilty from the first few episodes in the show, and her other baggage is far more disturbing to me. 

Now, if the argument is, "he's a hypocrit for living as Don Draper, not Dick Whitman".. I don't see any hypocrisy there at all.  He never espoused the virtues of living one's own identity, so hard to be hypocritical on that issue.. it just is what it is.
 

No, no matter what the time period, some behavior is repugnant.  What Don did in assuming an identity is a sad story that has problems; then again, no physical person was hurt and the widow was taken care of... so I don't hold that against him in any way.  Don's affairs.. again, not his brightest spot.. but then again, he never went using some sort of measuring stick to chastise Betsy "I'd never do that to you" while he was doing it.. she did that. 
 

As far as being away from the kids/etc.. um, let's remember, outside of him being the defender of the kids in several instances, he also was the only one paying enough attention to the kids to realize their daughter was having a difficult time with death (Grandpa) and the naming of the kid was creeping her out.  More then that, he tried to offer the kid solace while Betsy went batshit on the kid and just blew up on her.