Mad Men Watch: Double Your Displeasure
SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this, slip some Dr. Scholl's in your shoes and watch Mad Men.
AMC
How disgusting is Roger Sterling? And how sad is Roger Sterling? And how scared is Roger Sterling? And how human is Roger Sterling? If, as I said about an earlier episode of Mad Men, the mark of a great show is that it understands all its secondary characters well enough that it can construct an episode around any of them, with enough depth that you might think they were the protagonists, then it may be time to nominate Mad Men for greatness.
Maybe the creepiest, and yet in retrospect, most perfectly sensible, aspect of Roger's near-fatal assignation with the twins, was that he's not just cheating on his wife. He's cheating on his daughter. As he leaned against his half-dressed conquest and complained about his strained relationship with his daughter--more or less his date's age--it became clearer that that missing connection is one of the things he's trying to recapture, one corrupt drink of youth at a time. The heart attack was perfectlly timed thematically, linking his tryst with all those oysters and Beef Wellington, the desserts and the bottomless drinks: he's been trying to consume his way to happiness.
How funny, by the way, to see Don in the role of wingman here, rejecting his twin's advances just as confidently and arrogantly as he pursues his other affairs: that dismissive, chuckling, "No," when the girl asks if he has any gum. Don's more interested now in the woman who owns the gum, and the rest of the store as well, and we see just how interested as he opens up, post-coitally, to Rachel Mencken more than he apparently has to Betty in their entire marriage. Why? Maybe, as he says, because she lost her mother as well, but it seems also because he believes she's one woman who gets his grim view of the universe. Yet she also has the strength to challenge his rationalizations--"This is all there is"--at least briefly. (I'm enjoying Old Man Mencken more and more, by the way: "This place reminds me of a czarist ministry. No matter what the decision, you don't feel it was yours.")
Maybe it's pat psychology, but now that we have Don's story spelled out--prostitute mother dead at childbirth, passed on from his dead father at age 10 to live with his resentful stepmother and her new husband--it does make sense that he should be constantly trying on new women and seeking out new homes. To add on a little more pat psychology: how about that visit from Betty's dad? When she began having her nervous episodes at the start of the series, it seemed that they were all about Don, but maybe we need to look back a generation. It looks like her mother's death, and her father''s taking up with "my friend, Gloria" ("She's a real sport!"), may have made her all the more anxious about being a replaceable woman.
As for the Joan-and-Carol storyline, it was nicely played (especially Joan's unflappable response to Carol's confession of love: "You've had a hard day. Let's go out and try to forget about it, OK?"). I'll be curious to see if Carol's story goes somewhere further, or if it's just another way of chipping away at Joan's competent facade. Another impressive thing about this episode was that nearly every storyline was about the difficulties of the women of 1960--anxiety, exploitation, being taken seriously in the workplace, sexual closeting--but without the occasional elbow-in-the-ribs obvious of "The Ladies Room" episode earlier in the season. (Another blink-and-you'd-miss-it touch was Joan''s assumption that Carol was upset because she must be pregnant--"Are you late again?")
Oh, also: the Nixon storyline. It makes perfect sense that Don would sincerely see himself (or at least, imagine voters seeing themselves) more in Nixon than in Kennedy: the self-made man as opposed to the silver-spoon aristocrat. But it also reflects on his situation as an executive at behind-the-times agency Sterling Cooper, since the Nixon of 1960 came to be the symbol of the old-school politician who didn't realize the future was overtaking him.
Obviously, that's not the Nixon we first think of today: we think of the Nixon who learned his lesson, embraced modern advertising in 1968, and then was brought down by his deceptions. In other words, he was ultimately destroyed by his success. Every cue in this show is telling old-school breadwinner Don Draper that he's headed for trouble, in part because of the forces of historical change, in part because of his character. Will he listen? As he says dismissively about Nixon's feeble attempt at a campaign ad: "Message received. And forgotten."
-
1
wow, great article for a great episode.
-
2
I hope the fact that this is only the second reply to the post doesn't mean that everyone forgot about Mad Men. I almost forgot about it myself becasue of it being premier week. But this episode ended up being the best hour of television I watched all week.
I have began to notice that I never know what to expect from an episode. The trailers don't give anything away and the press release descriptions are extremely vague. So for a person who can sometimes be obsessed with spoilers, it is nice to be surprised every week.
-
3
I don't have a comment except to say please keep up the Mad Mans watch. I can get online discussion of Grey's Anatomy anywhere.
-
4
I didn't forget about Mad Men, Chris Kw. I hope it comes back for another season because I love it.
-
5
I think Don Draper is looking for meaning. He's not interested in flings with girls like the twin. He's interested in a meaningful relationship with a woman that will give his life meaning. He's tried the neurotic pretty girl (his wife), the artsy free-spirit (the beatnik chick), and now he's on to the dark, strong woman.
However, he's been trying on lifestyles too, not just homes and women, in an attempt to find meaning. He did the military thing, the nuclear-family thing, and the business exec thing. That's why he told Sterling that when he left it wouldn't be to continue advertising, it would be to find some other meaningful job. Sterling of course didn't understand and interprets his commitment to his job as being a die-hard ad-man, instead of simply a man who throws himself headlong into everything in an attempt to discover meaning.
It's also why Sterling's questions about a soul scared him and shook him up. He's biggest fears are about whether life has meaning, and he was shaken talking about it. Especially because he fears there is no meaning and no soul, and of course didn't want to tell Sterling that.
It is a product of him growing up in such a horrible environment.
-
6
A little late to the (small) party ....
JP, you're "enjoying Old Man Menken more and more"? Funny that I didn't recall ever seeing him before. In the first episode? Didn't make a big impression on me, and I *like* Allan Miller.
For the completists: Not much of note in the closed capsizing this week (the gremlin was on loan to the documentary "Fog City Mavericks" on Starz!, which, I'm told, was accidentally broadcast with the rough-draft captions). The reference to the Maypo ad (May-Po add) was amusing, given that the show is about advertising, and somehow "dressage" turned into some bit of gibberish starting with the letter J.
-
7
@Bianca: The Show was picked up for a second season.
@Jon88: Actually I don't know why I threw in the "more and more" -- I don't think he's appeared except as a reference, unless I'm forgetting something. Just typing faster than thinking there. I do like how the show gets its older characters, though--the immigrant-era Mencken, the two middle-aged barflys that Joan and Carol picked up, who look like Rudy Vallee-era slicksters gone to seed.
-
8
I worked for McGraw-Hill Book Company in the 1960s. Mad Men captures the corporate world of that era and its culture and values in a stunning, precise way. Every totally accurate detail triggers a flood of memories that I had forgotten. I cannot say enough good things about the writers. It is pretty amazing to me to see these perfect actors capturing a time they couldn't possibly remember.
The expense account fueled alcohol culture reminds me of sales/editorial meetings when they would wheel in a cart of mixed drinks, bloody Marys and screw drivers, during the morning break.
At 4:30 p.m., there would be an open bar before everyone went out for dinner and drinks. You had to pace yourself because it was against the unwritten rules to appear drunk. I could never figure out how the Don Draper guys had climbed the pyramid but I did know they talked in a coded cool and were really competitive with each other. Don Draper and Tony Soprano have nothing in common on the surface and everything in common inside their heads.
Johnny Hughes, author of the upcoming novel Texas Poker Wisdom.
-
9
Best episode so far. I was a little creeped out by Carol's come-on to Joan, but she played it off well. It obviously didn't surprise her. Joan's a great character. Definitely the type of woman who will be out there burning her bra in a few years. But something tells me Roger won't learn a lesson from riding Mirabelle. He's too much of a weasel to change his slippery ways at this point.
Funny recap of the show is here. http://www.unboundedition.com/content/view/2646/50/
I didn't realize the obvious play on "The Apartment" at the end with Joan and Cooper in the elevator. Duh.
-
10
@jinxie: It also seemed to me that Joan was not (entirely) surprised by Carol's confession. Which reminds me again of a small problem I've had: how could she, of all people, be completely clueless that Salvatore's gay?
- poniewozik @carr2n Virgin is the best, LAX-JFK - 43 minutes ago
- poniewozik Did NPR interview abt multiscreen multitasking. After, automatically reached for iPhone in pocket. Like don draper wd have for cigarettes. - 1 hour ago
- poniewozik webinar #PleaseKillThisWord - 2 hours ago
Most Popular »
- Best of the Decade: Sci-Fi Movies
- Is Harry Reid Burning Out?
- How Will Obama Pay For Stimulus 2.1? (or 3.0, 3.1, whatever you want to call it)
- The Health Reform Abortion Wars, Part Deux
- War of the Supermen: Q&A With Matt Idelson
- Quinnipiac: Obama Gets Bump on Afghanistan
- Economists Growing More Wary of the Senate Health Bill
- How to Outsmart a Debt Collector
- Best of the Decade: Gadgets
- "How Will Dave Ever Make Fun of Sex Scandals Again?"
- The Truth Behind the Leaked Climate-Change E-Mails
- Tiger Woods Must Face His Fans' Moral Outrage
- Mexico Witness Protection: Corrupt Program, New Killings
- Helicopter Parents: The Backlash Against Overparenting
- Taiwan: World's Lowest Birthrate Could Affect Society
- Creating Jobs: Can Obama Government Boost Employment?
- How Strong Is the Evidence Against Amanda Knox?
- Humanure: Goodbye, Toilets. Hello, Extreme Composting
- Suspect Headley: Pakistani Terrorist Group Going Global?
- Study: Parents' Sex Talks with Kids Happening Too Late
Quotes of the Day »
RSS