-- Pete can never be happy. California blonde babe. Bringing in business. Ted doesn't seem to be dicking him around. Still -- nothing but pure Pete. -- My wife is a smarty pants. She immediately cleared up my confusion, telling me that the black secretaries were sarcastically calling each other by the other's name because the rest of the office undoubtedly did the same thing every day. -- Sally Draper!
Peggy is such a miserable human being. Her reaction to being told the truth about the flowers shows the kind of person she is. This episode went out of it's way to present her in the most unlikable light possible. I found myself telling her to go F herself several times for her self absorption and lack of common sense. I felt bad for Joan. She had to put up with a lot of crap.
At the end, did ?Dawn? (black secretary)* become the new office manager? Looked like she moved into Joan's old office. *way too many secondary character to remember all their names.
At first I was shocked Don took the onerous terms given to him, but if they fire him the non-competition clause would be null and void. I expect to see Don clashing with that asshole Lou. Peggy continues to be completely unlikeable.
Glad Roger spoke up for Don. Harry Hamlin does a fine job of playing a closet homosexual to use the popular vernacular of the late 60's early 70's. His character is as obnoxious as Lou and Peggy. Betty, Henry lies to you. You suck as a mother. Getting bent out of shape over the sandwich is something a man does.
Hopefully once Ted hears of Don's return to the agency and of the onerous conditions placed on him, that Ted could somehow personally step in and help things be, at the very least, a bit less onerous for Don. After all, Don was the one who was originally supposed to represent the agency in California alongside Pete (and live there permanently with Megan), but voluntarily gave all that up to help Ted get away from Peggy and save his marriage. -G
It's also a bit ironic that Ginsberg was one of the very few there who seemed genuinely welcoming of Don's return (the others being Ken, Dawn and Roger), especially considering Don's "I don't think about you at all" to Ginsberg a few seasons ago. -G
I dont know how to do a screencap but at minute 32:32 on, the scene with Ginsberg, there is a drawing on the wall when Dawn is hanging her coat. It is the Can-Am car in which Bruce McLAren was killed in June 1970.
Last two episodes have won me back. The scenes with Son and Sally are always good. That Lou douchebag is the worst. And can they please kill off Betty? Her scenes are totally worthless.
Hey Don: remember that girl who arrived at Roger's apartment shortly after you did this last episode? That's what a hippie actually looks (looked?) like. -G
I tend to agree with you, but wasn't there a scene last season in which Cutler was seen schtupping some secretary in his office? I could be mis-remembering. And not that schtupping one secretary means he's automatically NOT a closet homosexual. Can't wait for Bob Benson's return, on that note!
Burger Chef. Nonetheless, Bert was a real dick (and I don't mean Whitman) to Don in this latest episode while Pete was seemingly on Don's side... what a difference in the dynamic between those three since that moment early in the series when Pete's attempt to expose Don's real identity to Bert was stymied by Bert himself. And of all the ways Roger may have thought of the consequences of his actions throughout the years (if he ever did), did he ever expect it to come in the form of his daughter abandoning her family to become a full-fledged commune-inhabiting hippie? -G
Kind of an on-the-nose episode. This half-season has definitely not been subtle, and the pacing feels all cocked up.
The show has spun out of control at the office. I can't guess what any of the original characters (and really anyone other than Lou or Harry Hamlin) are going to do.* They have become ridiculously plastic and non-human. * I'm sure there is some exception(s) that prove the rule, but all in all plot is driving character now.
Yes agreed, Peggy's behavior over the past few episodes has been quite different. Don, knowing they were emasculating him turns to drinking in the office after Bert blows him off. Somehow I would have expected Don to have behaved differently. Not have immediately gone on a bender.
Yeah, none of it felt quite right. It's like they wanted to get him to that last scene with Freddy, but didn't know exactly how. Erin Levy has written some of my favorite episodes - Shut the Door, Have a Seat & The Sword and the Chrysanthemum are two that come to mind - but I feel like she really missed on this one. That said, there was some satisfying thematic stuff happening (as always): the computer age - which, thanks to 2001: A Space Odyssey, gave the episode its name; built-in obsolescence; and "doing the work." That was the juxtaposition of the two main storylines. Roger wanted the benefits of being daddy, but never really did the work. Don wanted the benefits of being Don, but he had to do the work (again). Just want to point out to anyone else reading the thread that, while I am luke warm on this season by Mad Men standards, it is still an extraordinary show. Anything that exists as both a more thoughtful version of Gatsby and a repudiation of Atlas Shrugged goes on my personal Mt. Rushmore, even if Don does, in fact, turn into D.B. Cooper.
Scout's Honor, Julio watching TV with Peggy, Don's threesome, and a nipple in a box. Also, there are only two new episodes left this calendar year. -G
I haven't watched a single episode yet, but the fact that a lot of interesting people that we know are making comments like this have led my wife and me to plan on binging it later this summer.
The multiple Kubrick references in "The Monolith" were interesting, but the fact that there as at least one more this week ("the Runaways") suggests that we're really supposed to be looking to Kubrick's work for some parallels/insights. Don't know what to think of it, but clearly we're supposed to think about it since it's not just a one-off.
Jon Hamm's aroused befuddlement (or befuddled arousal) at an impending menage-a-trois may be one of my favorite pieces of acting he's ever done. I was dying. And Jessica Pare also did very well with her 15 seconds of happiness melting into what-the-hell-did-I-just-do pissed offness after her go-for-broke ploy predictably turned into nothing but annoyance and regret. Sally Draper! Always the best. She's the Arya Stark of suburban New York (which means Maine is full of ice zombies. That tracks.) But Bobby Draper is finally a real live boy! I'm as happy as Gepetto. Of course he's miserable, but at least he's something. His scenes have been pretty crushing this season. And Sally's "They'll never let you go..." was pretty ominous. And believable. And the less said about Ginsberg, the better. At least that's been the approach of the writers up until now. Very disappointing -- even without the mutilation, his role has been totally wasted. The only plus side of that whole story line was more evidence that Peggy Olsen is (brilliantly) the worst dressed person in the history of television.
That was great and it further reinforces based on it's awkward nature just how over Don and Megan's marriage is. I thought that a better example was Megan's treatment of Stephanie. By the way Megan is not kidding when she said she is a beautiful girl. I felt bad for Stephanie. Megan wanted to dispatch her as quickly as possible. So insecure and so self absorbed. Those scenes with with Ginsberg and Peggy were bizarre. It's a cop out to have Ginsberg go off the deep end and even cut off his nipple. It just doesn't make sense given how he had previously behaved. I hate when tv shows do things to generate shock at the expense of a logical storyline. I wonder what will become of him? Is that it? Have they written him off the show? Too bad he was an interesting character.