Mad Men

lisa wrote:The thing I am most looking forward to this season is Don & Joan's inevitable affair. Both of them are aging out of their primes, both of them are off balance, and both of them are carrying around a hell of a lot of resentment at the world. That's going to create a false sense of intimacy, and with those two, there's only one place that can go.

Yeah, when Joan said, "I bet he looks so handsome when he blushes" or something like that, I got a feeling the writers were setting up something between them down the road.

Instant Monkey wrote: And everyone at the office, instead of being like "I know, what's up HIS butt, right?" sympathetically to her, basically treats her like she committed some gross social violation. Which she didn't! Normal people throw parties for their husbands (as she says) and even doing a little sexy dance at the party is daring and flirty but not outside the realm of normality. She probably thought it might ingratiate her with Don's (and now her, after her awkward promotion due to marrying the boss) colleagues, but instead they turned on her and now seem to see her as either a sex object (Harry) or unhinged. She put herself out there and it fell flat.

In all honesty, I think she did commit a pretty significant social faux pas. If she was participating in a fundraising cabaret it probably would have been fine, but it was a smallish party in their home sung directly to her husband, which made it seem personal, and a really inappropriate thing to do in front of colleagues. Of course it's going to change how people in the office view her! Even co-workers who aren't gross like Harry will think she has poor judgment, at least.

The '60s and '70s had a lot of groping around, so to speak, to see what was socially acceptable sexual behavior (...socially acceptable sexual behavior seems like a weird thing to say). I have the feeling this is a symptom of that as well as of misunderstanding between Megan and Don. (And in saying that, I really hope we don't see Pete and Trudy at a key party. Eww.)

Arabella wrote:

lisa wrote:The thing I am most looking forward to this season is Don & Joan's inevitable affair. Both of them are aging out of their primes, both of them are off balance, and both of them are carrying around a hell of a lot of resentment at the world. That's going to create a false sense of intimacy, and with those two, there's only one place that can go.

Yeah, when Joan said, "I bet he looks so handsome when he blushes" or something like that, I got a feeling the writers were setting up something between them down the road.

Oh, this is depressing. I do not want this show to go there.

Spoiler:

So is the consensus that Roger knows that Joan didn't go through with the abortion? Was the "That's my baby!" comment impeccably timed or just coincidental? There was that line about Roger buying the baby a bicycle, so I'm not sure if that's telegraphing to us that Roger knows the baby is his son or if it's just Roger throwing his money around (as he often did in this episode).

Just in case there are people who don't know about them, Tom and Lorenzo's Mad Men post are terrific. There Mad Style posts, which analyze the clothing and sets of each episode, are my favorite.

"Zou Bisou Bisou" is never going to get out of my head, is it?

Aurora76, if it's any consolation, Matthew Weiner is so spoilerphobic I can't imagine he would ever let something like that out into the wild before it actually happened, if it ever did.

Matthew Weiner is so spoilerphobic I can't imagine he would ever let something like that out into the wild before it actually happened,

Seriously, he went ballistic on critics who wrote how long the time jump was when reviewing the season premiere. Listing to the Sepinwall and Feinberg podcast before they show aired but after they had viewed their screeners was hysterical because they kept trying to say things about the show but also be super vague about it, so they would continue to get screeners.

punkysdilemma wrote:Aurora76, if it's any consolation, Matthew Weiner is so spoilerphobic I can't imagine he would ever let something like that out into the wild before it actually happened, if it ever did.

Witness the absolute non sequitor previews.

Francie Nolan wrote:So is the consensus that Roger knows that Joan didn't go through with the abortion? Was the "That's my baby!" comment impeccably timed or just coincidental?

I'm pretty sure Roger knows that Joan's baby is his son. Roger may be clueless sometimes, but I would guess he did the math and figured it out.

I'm going to disagree and say I don't think Joan and Don are going to have an affair. Although Lane had the line about being the only one who can resist her charms, I can't see Don going there with Joan. I think Joan is one of the few women Don sees as just a friend. Their chat at the hospital after the lawnmower incident just cemented their relationship. I think he respects the hell out of Joan, and wouldn't want to jeopardize her position in the office. On top of that, I think Don sees Joan as "Roger's girl". I'm SURE he knows they had a long-standing affair, and even though he and Roger don't always get along, I think it would go against Don's personal code to sleep with Joan.

Interesting article from the NYT- the opening scene happened pretty much as written.

Was anyone else as amused as me at how obvious it was that Fat Betty Body Double was a completely different human being than January Jones?

Betty calling Don first with her news and asking him to re-assure her -that says a lot. I know she is a pretty awful person but good lord is she one miserable person.

RiverThames wrote:Was anyone else as amused as me at how obvious it was that Fat Betty Body Double was a completely different human being than January Jones?

We had to instant-replay that a couple of times, heh.

Oh Betty, you so lame. My fiance hates her and thinks her plots are boring, but I kind of like watching her awful depressing life in Henry's depressing house (contrasted with Don's fab new apartment, of course). I figured the thyroid nodule would be a false alarm and Betty would go on to make absolutely no changes in her life despite realizing how her kids NEEEEEED HEEEER. I guess we'll see.

Really liked Megan's refusal to put up with Don's impulse to stay home and sulk.

Genevieve wrote:Betty calling Don first with her news and asking him to re-assure her -that says a lot. I know she is a pretty awful person but good lord is she one miserable person.

I thought it was pretty telling that the kids didn't even cross her mind until Don asked her. I really disliked her storyline last night, but I am hopeful that it will be the impetus for something to happen. So many of the episodes early in the season are setting things in motion for bigger stories later. But there was about a .01 percent chance that she was actually going to have cancer, so I just kept waiting for them to get on with it.
Roger kind of breaks my heart. He's made himself irrelevant, so it's his own fault, really, but Pete's stunt was obnoxious.

I thought it odd that even though she didn't have cancer, she did have a benign something removed from her thyroid. Wouldn't that still help keep the fat on her body, if its unregulated?

I unabashedly love the character of Betty. I know she's miserable and childish and can't get out of her own way, but I like her. I find Henry really creepy. I want Betty to grow up and face the music, but I think she is one of the far more interesting characters on the show.

Pete's an ass. That was a really horrible thing to do to Roger.

Genevieve wrote:Betty calling Don first with her news and asking him to re-assure her -that says a lot. I know she is a pretty awful person but good lord is she one miserable person.

This was the most sympathetic Betty's been in a while. That phone call spoke volumes--I got a little misty-eyed when Don called her "Birdie."

I'm dying to see more of the Francis...Castle? Dungeon? I can see why Don referred to them as Morticia and Lurch last week. That house is like the fainting couch writ large.

Betty's face-fattening makeup was so distracting. It looked like they recycled Peggy's pregnancy makeup from season 1.

mialoubug wrote:I thought it odd that even though she didn't have cancer, she did have a benign something removed from her thyroid. Wouldn't that still help keep the fat on her body, if its unregulated?

Not necessarily - I had a benign cyst on my thyroid a few years back, and it made for a big 'ol lump on my neck, but didn't affect my weight/metabolism in any way. Though, of course, anecdotes do not scientific data make, so you could also be totally right. :)

Oh Rodger! I still can't get over the "darkest before the dawn" line!

I liked Tim Goodman's take, though I hope his speculation about Rodger isn't true though I could see it!

Heh. To most New Yorkers, "Don" and "Dawn" don't rhyme.

I just love the banter between Roger and Peggy. The back and forth about Peggy growing a penis was gold.

Genevieve wrote:Betty calling Don first with her news and asking him to re-assure her -that says a lot. I know she is a pretty awful person but good lord is she one miserable person.

I didn't see it that way. She went home to see Henry and only called Don once she realized Henry wasn't home. She was vulnerable and scared and needed someone to tell her she would be okay.

I'm already tired of the Roger/Pete battle. Yawn.

Oh, my. Betty's husband leaving her while she hides under the covers in her unzipped dress, then transitioning to Megan blithely chatting in French while her dress slips effortlessly over her head and her doting husband zips the back ... man oh man, both delightful and ob-veeee-ous.

Does anyone know of a female recapper who is covering Mad Men? I love to read and talk about this show, but I'm finding my regular coverage a little too male-centric these days (I miss Emily Nussbaum at NYMag) - Todd VDW at AV Club, Sepinwall, Matt Zoller Seitz at NYMag, even TLo - it's all men! Any recs would be appreciated!

Mo Ryan over at HuffPo recaps Mad Men, along with a lot of other shows. I always enjoy her recaps, even when I disagree with her.

Deborah Lipp from Basket of Kisses is also recapping over at Press Play.

Joan Holloway No-Longer-Harris, YOU ARE A GODDESS.

Another interesting episode. Really dark, but absolutely riveting. I kept waiting for something terrible to happen. I really loved that Dawn had a bigger part in this episode, and it was interesting to see her with Peggy. That moment when Peggy realize WHY she was worried about her purse and that Dawn knew why she was worried about it said so much.

The whole thing with Don was just straight up creepy, but I figured it all

Spoiler:

And Cynara, I agree with you, Joan rocks! I am THRILLED for her.