I am rewatching the episode now because I was so sleepy last night, but I was also disappointed.
It seems like these new friends are a device with which to allow Don to be tempted to desert his own life and reinvent himself again. If that's the case, it seems unnecessary to spend so much time on them.
I did appreciate Duck's part in the episode. I didn't know he had it in him. Also, Pete wasn't quite as bad in this episode, although I'm sure he'll make up for it next week.
i felt sorry for pete...don criticized him for wanting to enjoy his first day in CA, then awkwardly leaves him waiting with the clients to go to palm springs. looks like pete is going to try to screw him in the next episode, join up with duck perhaps?
don is definitely drawn to the alternative lifestyle...season one, smoking the herb with the hippies, now this...i can totally see him becoming part of the 60s anti-establishment movement.
is anyone else excited about how much better the music in this show is going to get as the time frame moves into the mid sixties...?
I think the pacing of this season is strange, and I found this episode especially frustrating. Too much time lounging around poolside with Joy.
Now there are only two episodes to wrap up the demise of Betty and Don's relationship, the downfall of Sterling Cooper, Joan's pregnancy (and ultimate firing?), Roger's idiotic and doomed engagement, Peggy's repressed memories of her unplanned pregnancy, Pete's adoption storyline, and that business with the "You're not Don Draper" lady from the car dealership.
That. Is. Too. Much. Spend less time at the pool.
On the bright side: Woo! Peggy gets the gay best friend she's been needing all this time. Yay, neighbors!
I'm going to be unoriginal and agree with Robin. There is absolutely too much to wrap up! Perhaps I am especially sensitive to this after watching too many seasons of Lost, but I expect better from Mad Men.
I also don't know anything about Pete's adoption. How did you know that?
And, George, I disagree with you again. I think Don is intrigued by people who seem to be bohemian or anti-establishment. However, I think he needs the structure of his conventional life to form who he is, and the power he has acquired to avoid people finding out (and caring) who he really is.
Oh, and I'm interested to know who this is who knows him as Dick Whitman. Does this person know Don has another identity? Is this the person Don wrote the letter to in episode 1? So many questions. So little time.
George, you must be right. Season 3 for most of those story lines. But the impatient viewer that I am wants to skip the lingering scenes with the skeevy new friends and go straight to the Dick Whitman meeting. No cliffhangers, please.
Maybe the adoption story for Pete will not be re-addressed. I meant that he and Trudy have talked about adopting, and his family has made it clear they'd make that uncomfortable for him. I thought that might be explored more if/when Peggy's pregnancy is revealed to Pete.
I, too, like Duck's new story line, by the way. Finally this kind of dull character starts to pay off as something more than a foil. I like him so much better as a bad guy.
Oh, right, that adoption. I feel foolish. I really thought they were going somewhere with that, too.
The problem with cliffhangers in this series is the long break between seasons. If it's going to be another year and a half in between, then we don't get to see anything about what the resolution was like, only the final result.
Duck definitely works as a bad guy. I have the the feeling that he's been feeling taken advantage of -- by his wife, Sterling Cooper, Don -- and he's now done with putting up with it. He does seem like he could be taken advantage of without any consequence, so I can't wait to see where this goes. I imagine Roger to be the most shocked when this all comes out.
Of course, agree with all about too much to wrap up. I cannot wait 1.5 years to find out about Joan! She is by far my favorite character. I also thought it was very telling that Peggy only underwent a transformation after a man (albeit gay) criticized her look. Both Joan and Bobby gave her similar feedback (both this seaon and previous), but she didn't do anything about it until Kurt physically forced her to do it with the hair cut. Perhaps I am reading WAY too much into this scene (which would be fitting given my obsession with my own hair), but I found it interesting to parallel this and the pregnancy. In both cases, she avoided the plain truth until she was physically overcome -- labor pains with the baby and someone cutting all of her hair off.
As perceptive and smart as Peggy is, there is another part of her that lives in such deep denial. It's amazing she can function so beautifully day to day.
ps -- If I had the means and figure, I would totally dress up as one of the women from Mad Men for Halloween.
10 comments:
thanks goodness it picked up in the 2nd half, but come on with the new characters...
who are these new "friends"? joy?
are they some kind of cult? what is don's deal? i think he's mentally unstable.
the best part of the episode, for me, was duck becoming the root of all evil with his intended business deal.
I am rewatching the episode now because I was so sleepy last night, but I was also disappointed.
It seems like these new friends are a device with which to allow Don to be tempted to desert his own life and reinvent himself again. If that's the case, it seems unnecessary to spend so much time on them.
I did appreciate Duck's part in the episode. I didn't know he had it in him. Also, Pete wasn't quite as bad in this episode, although I'm sure he'll make up for it next week.
i felt sorry for pete...don criticized him for wanting to enjoy his first day in CA, then awkwardly leaves him waiting with the clients to go to palm springs. looks like pete is going to try to screw him in the next episode, join up with duck perhaps?
don is definitely drawn to the alternative lifestyle...season one, smoking the herb with the hippies, now this...i can totally see him becoming part of the 60s anti-establishment movement.
is anyone else excited about how much better the music in this show is going to get as the time frame moves into the mid sixties...?
I think the pacing of this season is strange, and I found this episode especially frustrating. Too much time lounging around poolside with Joy.
Now there are only two episodes to wrap up the demise of Betty and Don's relationship, the downfall of Sterling Cooper, Joan's pregnancy (and ultimate firing?), Roger's idiotic and doomed engagement, Peggy's repressed memories of her unplanned pregnancy, Pete's adoption storyline, and that business with the "You're not Don Draper" lady from the car dealership.
That. Is. Too. Much. Spend less time at the pool.
On the bright side: Woo! Peggy gets the gay best friend she's been needing all this time. Yay, neighbors!
i agree...too much. i'm thinking season 3 or later to find out most of these things.
joan's firing? pete's adoption? i'm in the dark...
I'm going to be unoriginal and agree with Robin. There is absolutely too much to wrap up! Perhaps I am especially sensitive to this after watching too many seasons of Lost, but I expect better from Mad Men.
I also don't know anything about Pete's adoption. How did you know that?
And, George, I disagree with you again. I think Don is intrigued by people who seem to be bohemian or anti-establishment. However, I think he needs the structure of his conventional life to form who he is, and the power he has acquired to avoid people finding out (and caring) who he really is.
Oh, and I'm interested to know who this is who knows him as Dick Whitman. Does this person know Don has another identity? Is this the person Don wrote the letter to in episode 1? So many questions. So little time.
George, you must be right. Season 3 for most of those story lines. But the impatient viewer that I am wants to skip the lingering scenes with the skeevy new friends and go straight to the Dick Whitman meeting. No cliffhangers, please.
Maybe the adoption story for Pete will not be re-addressed. I meant that he and Trudy have talked about adopting, and his family has made it clear they'd make that uncomfortable for him. I thought that might be explored more if/when Peggy's pregnancy is revealed to Pete.
I, too, like Duck's new story line, by the way. Finally this kind of dull character starts to pay off as something more than a foil. I like him so much better as a bad guy.
Oh, right, that adoption. I feel foolish. I really thought they were going somewhere with that, too.
The problem with cliffhangers in this series is the long break between seasons. If it's going to be another year and a half in between, then we don't get to see anything about what the resolution was like, only the final result.
Duck definitely works as a bad guy. I have the the feeling that he's been feeling taken advantage of -- by his wife, Sterling Cooper, Don -- and he's now done with putting up with it. He does seem like he could be taken advantage of without any consequence, so I can't wait to see where this goes. I imagine Roger to be the most shocked when this all comes out.
Of course, agree with all about too much to wrap up. I cannot wait 1.5 years to find out about Joan! She is by far my favorite character. I also thought it was very telling that Peggy only underwent a transformation after a man (albeit gay) criticized her look. Both Joan and Bobby gave her similar feedback (both this seaon and previous), but she didn't do anything about it until Kurt physically forced her to do it with the hair cut. Perhaps I am reading WAY too much into this scene (which would be fitting given my obsession with my own hair), but I found it interesting to parallel this and the pregnancy. In both cases, she avoided the plain truth until she was physically overcome -- labor pains with the baby and someone cutting all of her hair off.
As perceptive and smart as Peggy is, there is another part of her that lives in such deep denial. It's amazing she can function so beautifully day to day.
ps -- If I had the means and figure, I would totally dress up as one of the women from Mad Men for Halloween.
Post a Comment