Mad Men - Season 4 - Page 4

Seems to me that with Lucky Strike gone, its only a matter of time before Roger Sterling is out as well.  He's certainly not bringing in any new business at this stage.  Which brings me back to Cosgrove and Campbell...with Sterling out of the picture, how long will Cosgrove stay happy with his rival Campbell a partner, and he still just an account man?

Can't believe I'm still surprised at Don's self-destructive habits with his secretaries...but I am surprised.  It sure doesn't seem comfortable for him the next day, which would stop many people from making the choices he makes, but not Don.   Now what happens when the Doctor stops by??  That's going to be a nice awkward confrontation down the road I'm sure...

I don't even picture the awkwardness because they established up front that it was what it was -- and no more.

I liked how Heinz was described. "It's vinegar, sauces and beans." And then came ketchup.

Don's doctor lady is hot. You walk out of a destroyed relationship with January Jones and walk into that? Not only is she just as beautiful, but she's infinitely more well adjusted, and "in the business" to boot. Don's described as a sort of self destructive tragic character, but he has so many blessings. Doc was right when she said he's one of the most hirable men on Madison Avenue at this point (even though he doesn't want to work for someone else). It's sad that his children grow up without their father, but other than that, I wouldn't exactly call his life terrible.

Pretty gutsy "Hail Midge" call on Don's part, hope it keeps SDP afloat.
 

I had flashbacks to Jerry Maguire when Don sat down to write the tobacco copy.  Loved everyone's reactions to it, too.

Yes, I couldn't quite place the letter motif, but it was very much Jerry Maguire-esque.  Nice move on Don's part to spot Pete his share.  Don must be loaded to walk around with $130 back in the mid-60s.

The final scene between Don and Peggy was interesting -- just the slightest acknowledgement from Don that, yes, she did have the right idea when she suggested "changing the conversation". But he didn't know how until his encounter with Midge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun 

Yes, I couldn't quite place the letter motif, but it was very much Jerry Maguire-esque.  Nice move on Don's part to spot Pete his share.  Don must be loaded to walk around with $130 back in the mid-60s.

it wierd to not think about money conversion today, when he gave the junkie 10 bucks for groceries my first reaction to his reaction was, what small amount of groceries could he get for 10 bucks for a full meal, until i realized his reaction was amazement at how much don had given him.

didn't don get a million for his share as partner when the brits took over?

Yeah, $10 could probably buy you quite a bit of heroin back in the mid-60s... (actually I have no idea...)

I have no clue what the inflation rate is from the mid-1960's to today but I just add a zero on to every amount of money that they talk about to make a guess as to what it would be in today's value.

Well, comic books were about $0.12-$0.15 each, and they are now about $3-$4, so it could be a 10x-30x inflationary multiplier needed to convert 1965 dollars to 2010 dollars.  (I know, not at all scientific, just guestimating).

I loved the way everyone poo-poo'd the American Cancer Society.. "it's just prestige" little do they know it probably goes on to be one of the most influential advertisers.. and since cigarettes don't get air time (banned, August 1, 1965..) then it becomes the ACS who starts their first big batches of ads that year; and of course a huge campaign to end the sixties.. and early seventies.

Just a point:  My father bought his Mustang1, new on the lot in 1967 for $1,700.

With the agency circling the drain, you would think any work coming in the door would be good news regardless of how "small" it might be.  When Pete crapped on the ACS, I found that very odd.  Do good work for them and you show a public organization has confidence in your agency.  More people will knock on your door and you diversify your client base.

By the way...if you're in a position like this, you RETURN EVERY SINGLE CALL YOU GET.  It would be like an unemployed person not responding to an e-mail or message from a potential new employer.  That makes no sense to me.  (Yes, there's always the chance the call is a prank, but can Don afford not to at least check it out?  Nope.)

Yeah...Don spent a lot of money last night.  But, to his credit he IS loaded and very liquid.

Besides...it's only collateral.  He won't lose it unless the company goes down...which is doubtful.

I loved that Megan (of all people!) and Peggy were the ones who understood what he did.

 this site has a converter to the right:

http://www.minneapolisfed.org/

i think that 10 was = to 70 today and the 130 in his pocket was 900

even more astounding is that 50k was 350,000

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattCR 

Just a point:  My father bought his Mustang1, new on the lot in 1967 for $1,700.

Having worked in automobile finance from 1961 to 1970 that price seems too low (unless someone died in while parked on the lot). My first new car was a 1959 VW with moon roof. The price was $1,695.00 plus tax and registration. My memory is sketchy on the Mustang but I think the first Mustang introduced in late 1963 had a base (no frills) price of around $2,300 to $2,500.

I had the year wrong.  It was a 1965, and it was $2,700, but a he somehow he paid $1,850 all said and done and left the lot.   So, I was wrong   You made me call and check I knew it was something like that hell I wasn't alive then

Really? That was the season finale? Meh. Don's loins got the best of him once again. Mr. Francis might have to lose Betty to regain his own sense of serenity. Couldn't believe they addressed Megan's teeth.

I think the moment that got Don was the milkshake.    He was so used to the way his normal high maintenance women would react (Betty), that when she maintained calm in the storm he knew then that is what he was after.  Someone he could control, but who would stay calm and reasonable. 

Meanwhile, what Peggy saw was that the way to rise in the company was through sex, and she was put off.. her major announcement of new business seemed trump-carded by something that added nothing to the bottom line.

And of course, how can we overlook Jane discussing her pregnancy with her husband.. apparently passing it off as her being farther along, or it being his..

There appears to be hope with SDCP.   American Cancer Society is a real potential account.  And, with new business walking in the door, there is a chance to get rid of the circling the drain stigma.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattCR 

I think the moment that got Don was the milkshake.    He was so used to the way his normal high maintenance women would react (Betty), that when she maintained calm in the storm he knew then that is what he was after.  Someone he could control, but who would stay calm and reasonable.  

 

Absolutely agreed.  I think this episode really showed the difference between Betty and Megan.  Betty flies off the handle just because she can while Megan is more grounded, human and calmer.  The moment the milkshake was spilled and Don began to get upset, Megan was able to calm him down instantly by saying "it's only a milkshake."  That's the kind of woman Don needs, not someone who yells, screams and ends up being high maintenance.

It also struck me how...bitchy...Betty has become this year.  Yeah, she's been through a lot, but the woman is never happy.  When an episode goes to the Francis household, I don't like being there.  It's uncomfortable since you never know what she's going to blow up over.  It makes sense showing the atmosphere in the house every week to remind everyone what was going on, but it also does a disservice to January Jones who becomes one note. 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattCR 

I think the moment that got Don was the milkshake.    He was so used to the way his normal high maintenance women would react (Betty), that when she maintained calm in the storm he knew then that is what he was after.  Someone he could control, but who would stay calm and reasonable. 

I agree, but that raises an interesting question: Why not Dr. Miller? Nothing about her suggests high maintenance, and she's been terrific for him. What was wrong with her? I mean, it had to be more than the blonde hair (Don's weakness for brunettes having been a running theme since season 1  ).

^ The kids.  Faye was not very at ease with Sally earlier in the season.  I think she said something along the lines of she didn't do kids or somesuch.  I don't think Don ever saw Faye as a "mother figure."  More of someone for him instead of for his entire family.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason_V 

^ The kids.  Faye was not very at ease with Sally earlier in the season. I think she said something along the lines of she didn't do kids or somesuch.  

She was speaking as a professional psychologist, when Don asked her to talk to Sally. I'd want to rewatch the episodes to be sure, but as I recall, Faye's interactions with Sally on a personal level were just fine. Don never gave her the chance to be in a family situation with the kids, but he leapt straight to a marriage proposal after one weekend with Megan. There's more to it, and something about that final exchange between Joan and Peggy keeps nagging at me.

There was a lot in the final act of the show, including Joan's conversation with her husband (I forget his name right now).  I do think Joan is getting disillusioned with the workplace at this point, with her promotion in title only.  That's why she mentioned deriving joy from something outside of the office.

I'm still of the opinion Don thinks Megan is better for his kids, and enough of a change from Betty for him, than Faye.  Maybe it was how Megan jumped at the chance to interact with them while Faye seemed to have been keeping her distance.  Maybe Faye looks too much like Betty.  I don't know for sure. 

Agreed that the key was the milkshake spill.  Don had a moment of serendipity when Megan had a completely un-Betty reaction to it.  No doubt this built on the moment a few episodes ago when Megan comforted Sally when she fell at the office.

Of course, the serendipity did not include any thought about the consequences of spurning an intelligent woman who knows his deepest secrets and has a father apparently connected to organized crime, but these things are rarely all-encompassing.

Regards,

I guess mixed into all of this is the disintegration of the American family in terms of divorces and re-marriages.  This show does do a good job conveying the happenstances that occur to make such shifts from more "stable" home lives of the basic American family unit up until the late 1950s (1 dad, 1 mom, 2 kids, and a nanny/housekeeper) to more fractured ones in the 1960s where it becomes more and more common.

I think just being on the west coast in the shadow of Anna's premature demise shook Don to his lonely core, and Megan was just literally at the right place and right time for Don (with his children) to take another leap for love.  But what does Don really know about Megan, beside her calm disposition and being basically the antithesis of all things Betty?  I thought it was quite telling how much Megan came alive when speaking in her native language with her mother, when she is much more demure in other situations we've seen of her this season. 

This plot turn in Don's personal life reminded me a bit of this season of "The 500 Days of Don" for Faye, which had similar plot turns for her, perhaps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun 

 

But what does Don really know about Megan, beside her calm disposition and being basically the antithesis of all things Betty?  I thought it was quite telling how much Megan came alive when speaking in her native language with her mother, when she is much more demure in other situations we've seen of her this season.

Isn't getting engaged quickly somewhat common for that era though? I figured it was just par for the course that you'd find some things out about a person after getting engaged. I would assume for the sake of drama, there's going to be problems with Don marrying Megan so fast but I think for that time that it's not as sudden as it would seem today. 

And I might be misremembering but I think they've said that Don married Betty pretty fast too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Reuben 

 

I agree, but that raises an interesting question: Why not Dr. Miller? Nothing about her suggests high maintenance, and she's been terrific for him. What was wrong with her? I mean, it had to be more than the blonde hair (Don's weakness for brunettes having been a running theme since season 1  ).

Dr. Miller wasn't really as comfortable with the kids.. and Don had no idea how she'd react to a baby.   Meanwhile, Sally and the kids really liked Megan, from the beginning, from the moment Sally showed up in the office on.  I think that's what hit Don. 

I also think Dr. Miller wasn't an ideal choice in that Don viewed her as a "career woman", and not someone who could be a homemaker.  He viewed Megan as someone who would be a homemaker for his kids.  Meanwhile, with a high powered job, Dr. Miller would never be the "stay at home with the kids, present to the clients" type of partner he wants.

 plus megan has already shown that she understands advertising the same way don does and its someone he can talk to work about too, not just house hold things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattCR 

I also think Dr. Miller wasn't an ideal choice in that Don viewed her as a "career woman", and not someone who could be a homemaker.  He viewed Megan as someone who would be a homemaker for his kids.  Meanwhile, with a high powered job, Dr. Miller would never be the "stay at home with the kids, present to the clients" type of partner he wants.

I think there's a lot to that. In fact, I'd take it even further, except that then I'd probably start sounding critical of Don Draper, and experience shows that's not popular here.