Interesting that after the G men talk to Betty and she tells Don, he makes it clear despite their differences to thank her. Remember Peggy saying you never say thank you.
Here's something I didn't think mattered in other episodes but it was here again tonight. Betty and the phone about the Beatles tickets: you clearly see Bobby's picture on the bottom left of the screen but it is half cut off. Back when Don and Peggy spent the night together in the office more than once you saw the kids pictures were never clear, they were always cut off. Don had Anna's picture cutting off his own kids pictures by being in front. So between that, and here, you more than once have the kids pictures cut.
"Hands and Knees" Layne, Roger and Don all cut down. (the 3 girls in the elevator last episode, this episode about 3 men). Layne emasculated as a grown man with Mickey and balloons, then by his own father. Roger once emasculated by Lee G junior with the Santa suit and now again of sorts again under the thumb of Garner. Don, on his knees with everything.
Joan yet again caught behind some sort of curve. She's assumed to already be a mom here when asked about her assumed daughter, and before when she was teased as being old in the office, calling her mom at the vending machine.
So we have a continuing theme of Don is losing it, Joan is losing it, Roger and Bert are losing it, beginning with Blankenship last week. "Losing it" can constitute any number of things, but the concept is rearing it's head as of late.
Roger is fighting for his life with Lee G jr. He smacks the table, fighting. Usually he fights the idea of mortality with sex. But here he does so with business. Again Roger stares death right in the face as he has a history of; through the war, coronaries and business. The end of Lucky Strike could mean the death of business. Meanwhile Joan is assumedly ending life that is literally Roger.
Pete again this season is seemingly at a crossroads. Pete is questioning everything nearing the end here. And he did so last year at this time last season at the Kennedy episode. Notice the scenes for next week where he is in the office without the suit and tie? He was like that last year on the couch with Trudy at the Kennedy episode.
Don and Dr. Faye: More exploration of the idea of pseudo-Betty.
Don has a history of confiding in blonde wedding cake images being he's the wedding cake male. Here he gives his past up to Faye. That's big. (and of course he still says "they mixed us up" so he's still lying even in telling the truth; a mirror to the box episode last year) Also, earlier in the episode in all the chaos, he still actually kisses her hand here.
The hand kiss is a show of affection, a show of intention, but more importantly an actual effort of a male toward a female is what the kiss on the hand is about. Showing her, not just telling her, that it's about her is what the hand kiss is about.
The hand kiss is about meaning. And he in the midst of his misery, kisses Faye's hand.
But he also in the same episode says thank you to Betty. Remember Peggy screaming at him he never says thank you. Remember he put his hand on Peggy's which was probably all Allison the prior secretary was looking for; an effort from him. But he says thank you to Betty, that he apparently learned from Peggy.
Don say's the line, "We'll figure out what to do."
Is that meant for Faye or really is it meant for Betty?
But..... not to ruin it, but, the episode ends with Don eyeballing the brunette hot secretary. Mr. Draper who has again had a blonde confiding thing in him, lucky that he's out of his bind, is now eyeballing the brunette as she's being girly. He doesn't look away. The episode ends.
The Beatles "Do you wanna know a secret" musically closes the curtain. Great choice.
Depsite the bad for him in this episode, two good things happened. Betty was more than just cordial with him on the phone in the beginning. She actually smiled. And given she has made it clear she wants him dead, she had every chance and decided to do the opposite. And the second thing is his being relationship-oriented toward Faye which is usually not him. Faye is responding generally well to that. Don is in fact in need of a home. It seems, maybe, on this front, the bell curve has bottomed and is begining to climb upward?
So here he is, the beaten down man most of the season. And with Betty not engaging in the kill shot and instead sort of saving him, and things looking solid and not just one nighter with Faye, it's different in a positive way for Don. And this is all when he was so close to his own sort of mortality in that we almost saw the second death of Don Draper if you will, but he escaped.
But what do we end with? An Angel on one shoulder and the Devil on the other? Megan now in front of him every day, vs, this new part of Don. ( Don's lawyer saying, tell me you're shtooping that, Megan being girlie right in his view, and in an earlier episode Peggy's ponytail gal pal saying she'll come up to the office to Peggy bc her friends want to see Megan, all means the character is presented for a certain motif).
Iceberg, straight ahead.
Will he steer around it, or, fall back into what he is used to? Many people in a crossroad go back to what they know. Like a mental struggle, like an addict seeing and saying I know that's bad for me, but I'm not looking away either. Don's looking.
I think they meant us to think. But thats what we love about it. They give us these avenues to go down, so let's go there. All differing opinions are great because they give us the means to do so.
MAD MEN
2 comments:
Interesting that after the G men talk to Betty and she tells Don, he makes it clear despite their differences to thank her. Remember Peggy saying you never say thank you.
Here's something I didn't think mattered in other episodes but it was here again tonight. Betty and the phone about the Beatles tickets: you clearly see Bobby's picture on the bottom left of the screen but it is half cut off. Back when Don and Peggy spent the night together in the office more than once you saw the kids pictures were never clear, they were always cut off. Don had Anna's picture cutting off his own kids pictures by being in front. So between that, and here, you more than once have the kids pictures cut.
"Hands and Knees" Layne, Roger and Don all cut down. (the 3 girls in the elevator last episode, this episode about 3 men).
Layne emasculated as a grown man with Mickey and balloons, then by his own father. Roger once emasculated by Lee G junior with the Santa suit and now again of sorts again under the thumb of Garner. Don, on his knees with everything.
Joan yet again caught behind some sort of curve. She's assumed to already be a mom here when asked about her assumed daughter, and before when she was teased as being old in the office, calling her mom at the vending machine.
So we have a continuing theme of Don is losing it, Joan is losing it, Roger and Bert are losing it, beginning with Blankenship last week. "Losing it" can constitute any number of things, but the concept is rearing it's head as of late.
Roger is fighting for his life with Lee G jr. He smacks the table, fighting. Usually he fights the idea of mortality with sex. But here he does so with business. Again Roger stares death right in the face as he has a history of; through the war, coronaries and business. The end of Lucky Strike could mean the death of business. Meanwhile Joan is assumedly ending life that is literally Roger.
Pete again this season is seemingly at a crossroads. Pete is questioning everything nearing the end here. And he did so last year at this time last season at the Kennedy episode. Notice the scenes for next week where he is in the office without the suit and tie? He was like that last year on the couch with Trudy at the Kennedy episode.
Don and Dr. Faye:
More exploration of the idea of pseudo-Betty.
Don has a history of confiding in blonde wedding cake images being he's the wedding cake male. Here he gives his past up to Faye. That's big. (and of course he still says "they mixed us up" so he's still lying even in telling the truth; a mirror to the box episode last year) Also, earlier in the episode in all the chaos, he still actually kisses her hand here.
The hand kiss is a show of affection, a show of intention, but more importantly an actual effort of a male toward a female is what the kiss on the hand is about. Showing her, not just telling her, that it's about her is what the hand kiss is about.
The hand kiss is about meaning. And he in the midst of his misery, kisses Faye's hand.
But he also in the same episode says thank you to Betty. Remember Peggy screaming at him he never says thank you. Remember he put his hand on Peggy's which was probably all Allison the prior secretary was looking for; an effort from him. But he says thank you to Betty, that he apparently learned from Peggy.
Don say's the line, "We'll figure out what to do."
Is that meant for Faye or really is it meant for Betty?
But..... not to ruin it, but, the episode ends with Don eyeballing the brunette hot secretary. Mr. Draper who has again had a blonde confiding thing in him, lucky that he's out of his bind, is now eyeballing the brunette as she's being girly. He doesn't look away. The episode ends.
The Beatles "Do you wanna know a secret" musically closes the curtain. Great choice.
More Don and Megan at the end:
Maybe it's kinda like, "iceberg, straight ahead".
Depsite the bad for him in this episode, two good things happened. Betty was more than just cordial with him on the phone in the beginning. She actually smiled. And given she has made it clear she wants him dead, she had every chance and decided to do the opposite. And the second thing is his being relationship-oriented toward Faye which is usually not him. Faye is responding generally well to that. Don is in fact in need of a home. It seems, maybe, on this front, the bell curve has bottomed and is begining to climb upward?
So here he is, the beaten down man most of the season. And with Betty not engaging in the kill shot and instead sort of saving him, and things looking solid and not just one nighter with Faye, it's different in a positive way for Don. And this is all when he was so close to his own sort of mortality in that we almost saw the second death of Don Draper if you will, but he escaped.
But what do we end with? An Angel on one shoulder and the Devil on the other? Megan now in front of him every day, vs, this new part of Don. ( Don's lawyer saying, tell me you're shtooping that, Megan being girlie right in his view, and in an earlier episode Peggy's ponytail gal pal saying she'll come up to the office to Peggy bc her friends want to see Megan, all means the character is presented for a certain motif).
Iceberg, straight ahead.
Will he steer around it, or, fall back into what he is used to? Many people in a crossroad go back to what they know. Like a mental struggle, like an addict seeing and saying I know that's bad for me, but I'm not looking away either. Don's looking.
I think they meant us to think. But thats what we love about it. They give us these avenues to go down, so let's go there. All differing opinions are great because they give us the means to do so.
Post a Comment