I felt the thing this was most about was not Betty getting in the drawer, but instead more about Don and Miss Farrell and everything you can get from that.
We have the reminding of Adam through Betty finding the box when she specifically looks at the picture. Then of course Don's experience with Farrell's brother here and how it relates to Don's last experience with Adam.
But I felt it went deeper than that surface level. It's about Don really reaching for Miss Farrell. Have we ever seen him this affectionate, giving this much effort? Much of this season has been about Don making a greater effort toward Betty. But after little reciprocation from Betty, he's done with it and back to, "I need to show you off". So he shifts his giving of affection toward Miss Farrell, and does so to a greater degree. He actually holds her hand in the train, at first when he wants to hide from her family member he decides to give in to her wish and go meet him, he makes a real effort to drive him later on. Not the usual Don. Most importantly to notice very much is the pillow talk, which is not a Don thing to do really. Remember episode 1 season one with Midge his pillow talk consisted of his work. Now look where he's at.
He's trying even moreso than we've seen him, with her, after initially trying with Betty but getting no reciprocation back.
See, it's hard to put into words to make it make sense but one of the things I felt last week, with Don going to Miss Farrell, was about the idea of you can only push a man so far before we have enough and just leave.
One of the common themes, one of many, thus far has been Don being pushed around. It can be active like at the office or passive like with Betty. So Don left. He left not only a woman in the middle of the night, Betty, but something more; he left the idea of trying to be being committed to his wife since there is no reward in that.
He gets a reward from Miss Farrell: escape, which is a Don need.
So this bleeds into another need, that of Miss Farrell. What is one thing that is pretty clear she needs? Loyalty and security. Part of her dance to and fro with Don has been about two things; plain simple immaturity in making him chase her till she catches him, and the idea of security.
One of the things in her dialogue with him has been about the idea of Don running around. Yet of course she takes a victim mentality defense, yet in the end is always there on her own choice isn't she.
On the train she tells him she doesn't care about his wife and everything else as long as she's the one that's there. And that leads into something that the Miss Farrells of the world don't understand.
It's the concept of "the one" vs "the one....that's there". Now, which one is Miss Farrell, really.
These two are no match. This will go nowhere. Soul-mates they are not. She's looking for security and finding it in the wrong man, and he's looking for an escape. Know what his attraction to her is also about?
Don Draper is lonely.
This is just me but I still feel Miss Farrell is a total parallel for Anna. I don't think it's coincidence that when he goes to Miss Farrell's, they always show the camera shot similar to when he showed up at Anna's, in the hat, knocking at the door, her opening it and the way the camera shot is. What was it, 3?, times tonight they had the shot of him at the door when they didn't have to show it? Just similar, not exact replication of the shot at Anna's, but still a reminder of the visual shot. (for those who like to go back and look at things, it's the Anna episode where after the flashback where she busts him in his apt, they flashforward and you hear the Mountain King in the background and Don knocks on the Door with Anna answering). This season with Miss Farrell it's not the same replication but similar a few too many times, the visual of him at Anna's door. A reminder.
He confided in Anna. Don begins for the first time, confiding in one of his women in pillow talk here this year as well. Don asks Anna for a warm shower and a place to lie down. Miss Farrell is about the same thing to Don, just a warm place to curl up.
The difference is Anna didn't go for sex, she went for security with Don. Miss Farrell also goes for security with Don like Anna, yet indulges him with sex. That begs a question which can't be answered here: did Anna not go for sex bc she was intimidated because she's not the prettiest thing, or did she not go for sex because she's smart enough to stay away from Don in that regard. Maybe that's how a girl keeps Don, don't have sex with him. It happens.
Another parallel: Betty/Henry and Don/Miss Farrell. Last week Don taking Miss Farrell in his arms was about him taking control because at this point for the first time since we've known him Don has control of nothing. Don by doing that is basically telling her to stop being a woman acting like a little girl with the hot and cold flirting, and time to sit at the adult table. Henry is kind of telling that here to Betty. "I'm not going to chase you and play games" is basically what he says. And that's basically what Don says to Farrell last week. Sit at the adult table.
Betty wrote him letters last week instead of calling him. This week the ad campaign is "you can't frame a phone call" as in but you can frame personal writing.
Other quick points: Betty again having a relationship like Don would have with a Sterling Coo secretary, in having Carla cover for her. Don, twice here, gave Peggy positive affirmation for once. Any near future implications? We got a little more on the Don geography in that Roger found Don at the fur company. ( I assume later Roger will look for payback for that) This is the second episode in a row where we have seen Don's award with the horseshoe displayed behind him. It's the award he won in season 1 that led to the Adam trouble. Farrell saying to Don, "do you feel bad about what you do". Not about advertising is that little remark? Lois was very strange in dealing with Paul because at one point she sounded rather motherly like Carla to Betty, but on the other hand she had these faces like she really did do something bad to him. I couldn't figure it. But that's Lois I guess.
At the very end, another example of the idea of three this season: We had three married couples, crammed into 3 cabs, and all three not happy with their situations.
MAD MEN
3 comments:
I felt the thing this was most about was not Betty getting in the drawer, but instead more about Don and Miss Farrell and everything you can get from that.
We have the reminding of Adam through Betty finding the box when she specifically looks at the picture. Then of course Don's experience with Farrell's brother here and how it relates to Don's last experience with Adam.
But I felt it went deeper than that surface level. It's about Don really reaching for Miss Farrell. Have we ever seen him this affectionate, giving this much effort?
Much of this season has been about Don making a greater effort toward Betty. But after little reciprocation from Betty, he's done with it and back to, "I need to show you off".
So he shifts his giving of affection toward Miss Farrell, and does so to a greater degree. He actually holds her hand in the train, at first when he wants to hide from her family member he decides to give in to her wish and go meet him, he makes a real effort to drive him later on. Not the usual Don.
Most importantly to notice very much is the pillow talk, which is not a Don thing to do really. Remember episode 1 season one with Midge his pillow talk consisted of his work. Now look where he's at.
He's trying even moreso than we've seen him, with her, after initially trying with Betty but getting no reciprocation back.
See, it's hard to put into words to make it make sense but one of the things I felt last week, with Don going to Miss Farrell, was about the idea of you can only push a man so far before we have enough and just leave.
One of the common themes, one of many, thus far has been Don being pushed around. It can be active like at the office or passive like with Betty. So Don left. He left not only a woman in the middle of the night, Betty, but something more; he left the idea of trying to be being committed to his wife since there is no reward in that.
He gets a reward from Miss Farrell: escape, which is a Don need.
So this bleeds into another need, that of Miss Farrell. What is one thing that is pretty clear she needs? Loyalty and security. Part of her dance to and fro with Don has been about two things; plain simple immaturity in making him chase her till she catches him, and the idea of security.
One of the things in her dialogue with him has been about the idea of Don running around. Yet of course she takes a victim mentality defense, yet in the end is always there on her own choice isn't she.
On the train she tells him she doesn't care about his wife and everything else as long as she's the one that's there. And that leads into something that the Miss Farrells of the world don't understand.
It's the concept of "the one" vs "the one....that's there". Now, which one is Miss Farrell, really.
These two are no match. This will go nowhere. Soul-mates they are not. She's looking for security and finding it in the wrong man, and he's looking for an escape. Know what his attraction to her is also about?
Don Draper is lonely.
This is just me but I still feel Miss Farrell is a total parallel for Anna. I don't think it's coincidence that when he goes to Miss Farrell's, they always show the camera shot similar to when he showed up at Anna's, in the hat, knocking at the door, her opening it and the way the camera shot is. What was it, 3?, times tonight they had the shot of him at the door when they didn't have to show it? Just similar, not exact replication of the shot at Anna's, but still a reminder of the visual shot. (for those who like to go back and look at things, it's the Anna episode where after the flashback where she busts him in his apt, they flashforward and you hear the Mountain King in the background and Don knocks on the Door with Anna answering). This season with Miss Farrell it's not the same replication but similar a few too many times, the visual of him at Anna's door. A reminder.
He confided in Anna. Don begins for the first time, confiding in one of his women in pillow talk here this year as well. Don asks Anna for a warm shower and a place to lie down. Miss Farrell is about the same thing to Don, just a warm place to curl up.
The difference is Anna didn't go for sex, she went for security with Don. Miss Farrell also goes for security with Don like Anna, yet indulges him with sex.
That begs a question which can't be answered here: did Anna not go for sex bc she was intimidated because she's not the prettiest thing, or did she not go for sex because she's smart enough to stay away from Don in that regard. Maybe that's how a girl keeps Don, don't have sex with him. It happens.
Another parallel: Betty/Henry and Don/Miss Farrell. Last week Don taking Miss Farrell in his arms was about him taking control because at this point for the first time since we've known him Don has control of nothing. Don by doing that is basically telling her to stop being a woman acting like a little girl with the hot and cold flirting, and time to sit at the adult table.
Henry is kind of telling that here to Betty. "I'm not going to chase you and play games" is basically what he says. And that's basically what Don says to Farrell last week. Sit at the adult table.
Betty wrote him letters last week instead of calling him.
This week the ad campaign is "you can't frame a phone call" as in but you can frame personal writing.
Other quick points:
Betty again having a relationship like Don would have with a Sterling Coo secretary, in having Carla cover for her.
Don, twice here, gave Peggy positive affirmation for once. Any near future implications?
We got a little more on the Don geography in that Roger found Don at the fur company. ( I assume later Roger will look for payback for that)
This is the second episode in a row where we have seen Don's award with the horseshoe displayed behind him. It's the award he won in season 1 that led to the Adam trouble.
Farrell saying to Don, "do you feel bad about what you do". Not about advertising is that little remark?
Lois was very strange in dealing with Paul because at one point she sounded rather motherly like Carla to Betty, but on the other hand she had these faces like she really did do something bad to him. I couldn't figure it. But that's Lois I guess.
At the very end, another example of the idea of three this season: We had three married couples, crammed into 3 cabs, and all three not happy with their situations.
Post a Comment