MAD Men: Just When You Get Your Foot in the Door

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ImCrushingYourHead		#1681	[-]
Posts: 4739 (10/12/09 12:11 AM) Registered user Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	Don's the only one who knows Sal's secret. Wasn't Don reprimanding Sal for NOT sleeping with Mr. Lucky? "You people," Don says, as if he's saying, You people, pretending to be straight and then getting indignant when an important client wants a little extra service. Isn't everyone in advertising a whore anyway? Isn't Don essentially Hilton's whore at this point? Hilton to Don: "You're more than a son to me." What's more that a son? A whore, who is supposed to give Hilton what HE wants (the moon), not what Don's wants to give him. Like Mother, like son. I liked disliking Don for being an asshole to poor Sal. It was era-appropriate and we get to see how square Mr. Cool can be. I love the looks the Draper's 'help' give anytime racial subjects come up. There is so much to read on that actress's face. She half-raises her eyes, like when Betty brings up the murdered young girls, sympathetically offers her the day off, then says it may not be time for civil rights. The look on that woman's face! (what's her character's name?) The weariness, the resentment, the fear of speaking the truth, the hopelessness, the sense of irony. I hope we get to see more of her. Oh, and I'm not feeling it between Don & psycho-teacher. What does he see in her?
ghost poyozo		#1682	[-]
Posts: 97 (10/12/09 12:29 AM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	ImCrushingYourHead wrote: Don's the only one who knows Sal's secret. Wasn't Don reprimanding Sal for NOT sleeping with Mr. Lucky? "You people," Don says, as if he's saying, You people, pretending to be straight and then getting indignant when an important client wants a little extra service. Isn't everyone in advertising a whore anyway? Isn't Don essentially Hilton's whore at this point? That's how I see it. He inferred that Sal led him on but didn't follow through. He wanted Sal to whore himself out and his whole "You people." comment shows his complete ignorance of the situation. Don can DIAF.
ImCrushingYourHead		#1683	[-]
Posts: 4745 (10/12/09 12:49 AM) Registered user Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	It's kind of comparable to the idea at the time that if a woman was raped, she did something to deserve it. Sal did NOTHING flirtatious in this situation, but was completely blamed for Lucky Strike's interest in him. I'm beginning to think the teacher relationship is providing a mirror for the Don/Hilton dynamic. Don wants someone he can call in the middle of the night to do HIS bidding, the way he does Hilton's. Like Don, Teacher is her own master ... all the sweeter to dominate. Hilton both loves Don's independence, and wants to rob him of it, the same way Don does & will do with crazy teacher. Last Edited By: ImCrushingYourHead 10/12/09 12:56 AM. Edited 1 times.
ImCrushingYourHead		#1684	[-]
Posts: 4746 (10/12/09 1:01 AM) Registered user Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	Oh, and it was so funny & sad, the very brief scene with Sal calling from the phone booth in the 'boy's section' of the park. Just that little glimpse to show us that Sal is now 'embracing his nature' after getting fired for essentially NOT embracing it.
scepticA		#1685	[-]
Posts: 1710 (10/12/09 2:15 AM) Registered User Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	That scene with Sal in the park also hit the fact that he hasn't told his wife what happened. He's spending the night engaged in other activities. My gosh, that's sad and pathetic. This was a brilliant episode. Every one of these people is damaged. Hilton was weirding me out, the guy from Lucky Strike is a drunk martinet The one funny scene was Pete coughing and hacking (almost puking!) in the background while they are filming a cigarette ad. That was high comedy. The rest of it was a slow motion train wreck of people's lives. And just when they give you enough info to feel sorry for Don (suddenly this screwup is all his fault) he goes and bangs the schoolmarm. Sheesh. Like I said, brilliant.
salome2000		#1686	[-]
Posts: 88 (10/12/09 6:16 AM) Registered user Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	ImCrushingYourHead wrote: I'm beginning to think the teacher relationship is providing a mirror for the Don/Hilton dynamic. Don wants someone he can call in the middle of the night to do HIS bidding, the way he does Hilton's. I tend to agree with this observation. For Don, it took a long time for him to act on that attraction and it was after he was once again emasculated at work. By contrast, Betty, who it seems is starting to feel a kind of power, refuses her paramour. It's interesting to see Roger as something other than a loveable drunk, but I miss the bon mots. I am also burned out on "Connie" at this point. As someone suggested upthread, now Joan and Sal are no longer with Sterling Cooper. I do hope this isn't character pruning because this isn't the right kind of show for that and those two aren't the right characters. Assuming it isn't pruning, it does seem that it is building to a big shift of some kind. The housekeeper's name is Carla, I think. One criticism of the show is that the lack of attention to black characters during this crucial period. It was interesting to hear what Weiner supposes would have been dinner party talk among rich white northerners. The Birmingham church bombing got a lot of publicity in the north and supposedly helped galvanize support for changes in the law, but you can see the "Bettys" who see the issue only as one of convenience. It's easier to stop the bombing by stopping the marching.
StarrEise		#1687	[-]
Posts: 9754 (10/12/09 6:53 AM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	ghost poyozo wrote: Mad Men just isn't the same without Sal and Joan. Agreed. I found myself disliking just about every character in this episode but Sal and Carla.
tarzan groupie		#1688	[-]
Posts: 9304 (10/12/09 9:14 AM) Registered user Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	I absolutely hated this episode. The only interesting part is that Betty rejected whats-his-name. That was a surprise, but yet it almost wasn't. I think she knew he would get in her head too much, if she succumbed. Betty's all about control in the relationship.
Marque Mywords		#1689	[-]
Posts: 2110 (10/12/09 9:43 AM) Registered user Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	Don is definitely feeling emasculated by his subservient relationship with the impossible-to-please Daddy Hilton. Someone even told Don that "you've had your head in Hilton's lap" for so long that he's shirking his duties at the office. So Don regains his manhood by firing queer Sal (who refused to become a client's butt-boy like Don), and by boinking the schoolteacher. He even makes the schoolteacher into his night-time booty call, the same way that he is Hilton's booty call. Last Edited By: Marque Mywords 10/12/09 10:03 AM. Edited 3 times.
Kirblar		#1690	[-]
Posts: 8407 (10/12/09 11:28 AM) Registered user Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	The last few episodes have ALL been about power in relationships, and frankly, its getting really, really old. Beating the same theme into our heads episode after episode isn't a good thing.
PAPAYOKE		#1691	[-]
Posts: 21489 (10/12/09 11:35 AM) Registered user Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	I think you should probably stop watching then, because with the advent of the Civil Rights movement, women's lib, and other pending social upheavals, power is the name of the game (at least for the rest of this season, I think). Brilliant episode. Loved the prominence of Civil Rights in the same episode that Sal hears two words that are often more painful and infuriating than even the most offensive epithets: "you people". As much as one can feel for fictional characters, my heart broke for Sal. I was one of those who felt that Don would never betray Sal (by revealing his secret), but he betrayed him all the same. Don is someone who will do almost anything to maintain a charade and expects the same of others. I have no doubt in my mind that if it were Peggy the conversation would have went similarly.
StarrEise		#1692	[-]
Posts: 9762 (10/12/09 12:05 PM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	I don't mind the power in relationships angle, but I am getting a wee bit tired of Don jumping the bones of every attractive woman within arm's reach. We get it already - he's a horny dog looking for something new to remind him that he isn't trapped in an unhappy marriage and life of his own making. And Betty...what's to say about her. She would have dropped her panties in a second for that guy, as long as he came to her. As soon as she realized that he wasn't going to throw himself at her feet and that she would have to do the legwork, she bowed out. I just detest Betty. But that's starting to spread to all of the characters, with the exception of Joan and Sal. My sister said to me that she didn't watch the show because she thought it was too much like a soap opera...and I'm starting to see that now. Everyone's sleeping around and that's been the primary focus for this season and much of last season with Bobbi, etc. I'd like to see a bit more than that. (And ditto on the Connie creepiness...what is UP with that guy?)
PAPAYOKE		#1693	[-]
Posts: 21492 (10/12/09 12:14 PM) Registered user Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	Yeah, but Don's not just trapped at home, now he's trapped at work. And I think that's the only thing to possibly explain why he would shit where he eats so to speak. I've heard the soap opera criticism before, and would agree with that take if you consider each episode on its own merits without the social contexts. Most people's only means of wielding and acquiring power is with what's between their legs.
salome2000		#1694	[-]
Posts: 89 (10/12/09 12:32 PM) Registered user Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	Shakespeare is soap opera, if you just look at plot. I admit to tiring of Don's continual conquesting, but I do get that the tension in this one is different than the others. That said, for the rest of the episodes, I want more office, less Betty, please.
cookie		#1695	[-]
Posts: 301 (10/12/09 12:36 PM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	it is a soap opera -but a very, very good soap opera. I again was on the edge of my seat. I can't really list one season over another because they really have all effortlessly blended together.
OldFartToo		#1696	[-]
Posts: 786 (10/12/09 1:08 PM) Registered User Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	Goosehead wrote: And what of Betty's advice to Sally: "Don't go around kissing boys. Besides, they should kiss you first ..." A few levels of interpretation: 1. on the surface, simple social custom: refined ladies don't act that way; 2. a lesson in power: defer/withhold your sexuality until men can't resist acting on it themselves; 3. an introspective commentary on her relationship with Don and the political advisor. I'm really interested to know how Betty deals with Sally as she gets older. Does she encourage her to go out and do the things she regrets not doing or having the power to do? Or out of resentment, does she disapprove of Sally's desires to be different than her mom? And good speculation on the part of the poster who suggested Pete and Sally might get together. How insanely delicious would that be if they jump 2 or 3 years in an upcoming season and included a story like this. I know it was discussed a bit earlier in this thread, but how old is Sally at this point? I think Sally is around 10 or 11 which would make her around 20 in 1972 and maybe into drugs and a Hippy.
GlamsSlam		#1697	[-]
Posts: 4190 (10/12/09 1:26 PM) Registered User Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	gee I remember when this show was all about the funny and this thread was interesting and not so pedagogic. But then I am not night school teacher. Thank god I could never wear CP Shades!
ImCrushingYourHead		#1698	[-]
Posts: 4747 (10/12/09 1:36 PM) Registered user Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	Sorry glams, it's a compex show! Everyone's making such good points. I think the focus on power this season is as telling about the time period as it is about our own time. Power struggles never go out of style, and it seems there a similar resistance and backlash to change & achieving rights in our time (gay rights, african-american ascension) as in the 60's. Last Edited By: ImCrushingYourHead 10/12/09 1:40 PM. Edited 1 times.
Ooga Ooga		#1699	[-]
Posts: 3612 (10/12/09 9:02 PM) Registered User Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	I sure wish I could whisper in Sal's ear, "go see a lawyer and sue the bastards!" They have no right to fire you. 1963 is probably too early for him to win a lawsuit. But I sure would like to see that pompous Roger Asshole skewered in court.
scepticA		#1700	[-]
Posts: 1711 (10/13/09 12:10 AM) Registered User Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Connection Block Invite	1963, winning a case like that in court? Impossible. In fact, it was so alien to the culture that people caught in that circumstance wouldn't even begin to wrap their minds around the possibility of it, sort of like telling Sal to mention it on his blog. Just wouldn't happen. I'm not sure why people didn't like this episode because the characters were unlikable. Finally picked up on that, eh? These are people created to be disliked, or looked at from a distance, poked with a stick to see what they do. Instances of decency are remarkable in their rarity. They were only partially products of the era, because most people in that era were not despicable. Seeing the cultural shockwaves that will surely come in the next few seasons through the eyes of these pathetic characters is something i'm truly looking forward to. To me the big question will be: how will the characters change? It would be far too easy for the producers to have all the women become "liberated" by 1969 - that simply didn't happen; eras were not so easily defined by the decades on the calendar. To me it's a matter of figuring out which characters are capable of changing. We see some of it already, but to have the women change but the men stay stagnant in the Kennedy era is far too simplistic for my tastes. Gad, that's far too clinical. I watch the show to be impressed by its brilliance, to laugh, to be shocked, and to enjoy an hour. That's good enough, don'cha think?

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