So here we again have a conceptual episode that really does nothing in terms of plot progression, but is about the general idea of progression in general; mostly seen through Don and Sally.
The oft-used concept of mirroring is in effect again. You have the office and progress with the racial component ending with Dawn actually getting her own office. Joan progresses to the upper floor.
Then you have the main event of Don actually progressing in his own self. Last season we thought he was almost there yet in my opinion of last week's opener we found out he's finding out he still has a ways to go. The progress of Don begins with him marking the bottle of booze. He's measuring himself. He's trying. The episode bookends around with anchoring Don's progress in his time with Sally, and achieving reward for his progress when she says she loves him.
Within the mirroring of separate, especially separate bc Don has zero office scenes, explorations of the idea of progress, is using the template of relationship issues by setting the scene of Valentines Day.
Relationship can mean so many different things yet have the same roots. Some of those roots are aspects of the ideas of unison and togetherness, honesty, trust, reward, complaining/disappointment, failing and consequence. Between the office half of the show and the Don part of the show we saw these. So they used the idea of relationships as a general theme, to get the Don character a lil forward. A slow episode because it is a conceptual one.
So the concrete was poured beginning with inner-office relationships. Peggy "breaking up" with her secretary. Lou "breaking up" with his secrtary. Pete wanting to "break up" with the agency. Don is the one they kicked out, yet on his own is the one making a real effort regarding a relationship. Pete with the realtor is hardly what the idea of valentine is. But that's Pete. Then the slight scene of Hobart from season 1 (Isn't he the guy at the theater who later gives Betty a phony modeling thing to get to Don) trying yet again to get all on Don after hearing of a "breakup". Pete telling Ted, "we're no longer talking". Pete is now even crapped on by the MM writers by them now making him sound like a jilted woman soap opera character. Even the writers crap on Pete and he's not even real. Sucks to be Pete. Also in the office, Joan is rewarded by Jim for making her effort in the company. A flower-less unintedned type of Valentine even though by proxy she got flowers from Roger but still. Reward for you being you which is a valentine idea. Mirroring again, Joan's day went from bad to good, so did Don's in the end.
Which leads to....
unfortunately you have to break this stuff up because this site can only hold so many typed characters at a time
Which brings you to the Don angle of the relationship theme. There are flowers all over the office, even the dopey one coming to switch with Dawn has flowers in her own box (and God bless whoever that man is)... yet no flowers necessary in Don spending special time, in his way he knows how, with his own valentine.
The idea of the epsiode was Sally being Don's valentine, with Peggy's valentine angle of yet again poor Peggy crapped on as a foil. Incidentally how could you not love Peggy. Poor Peggy, we all just wish we could make things right for her. Nope, like Pete, she will always be crapped on.
The relationship ideals explored through Don/Sally interaction are here of honesty and trust, as well as complaining and disappointment. She starts with the latter, and he ends with the former. And what happens when you either have, or begin to rebuild, the real concrete of a relationship in the trust that comes with honesty? You have a re-budding of a relationship. Couple that with Don marking the bottle in the beginning. You have effort which is the foundation of progress.
Do you think Sally lost her purse on purpose?
And we end with this important concept: Sally was not at all disappointed in him in his letting down a manly wall and admitting failure; she was impressed by his honesty with her. That's building a relationship with strong concrete many men don't yet get how to do. And Don did it. He's learning the female does not need you to be Superman, in fact Superman often actually is just the guy who is more honest and real. And here, after the male comes to that, the female now tells the male she loves him.
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So here we again have a conceptual episode that really does nothing in terms of plot progression, but is about the general idea of progression in general; mostly seen through Don and Sally.
The oft-used concept of mirroring is in effect again. You have the office and progress with the racial component ending with Dawn actually getting her own office. Joan progresses to the upper floor.
Then you have the main event of Don actually progressing in his own self. Last season we thought he was almost there yet in my opinion of last week's opener we found out he's finding out he still has a ways to go. The progress of Don begins with him marking the bottle of booze. He's measuring himself. He's trying. The episode bookends around with anchoring Don's progress in his time with Sally, and achieving reward for his progress when she says she loves him.
Within the mirroring of separate, especially separate bc Don has zero office scenes, explorations of the idea of progress, is using the template of relationship issues by setting the scene of Valentines Day.
Relationship can mean so many different things yet have the same roots. Some of those roots are aspects of the ideas of unison and togetherness, honesty, trust, reward, complaining/disappointment, failing and consequence. Between the office half of the show and the Don part of the show we saw these. So they used the idea of relationships as a general theme, to get the Don character a lil forward. A slow episode because it is a conceptual one.
So the concrete was poured beginning with inner-office relationships. Peggy "breaking up" with her secretary. Lou "breaking up" with his secrtary. Pete wanting to "break up" with the agency. Don is the one they kicked out, yet on his own is the one making a real effort regarding a relationship. Pete with the realtor is hardly what the idea of valentine is. But that's Pete.
Then the slight scene of Hobart from season 1 (Isn't he the guy at the theater who later gives Betty a phony modeling thing to get to Don) trying yet again to get all on Don after hearing of a "breakup".
Pete telling Ted, "we're no longer talking". Pete is now even crapped on by the MM writers by them now making him sound like a jilted woman soap opera character. Even the writers crap on Pete and he's not even real. Sucks to be Pete.
Also in the office, Joan is rewarded by Jim for making her effort in the company. A flower-less unintedned type of Valentine even though by proxy she got flowers from Roger but still. Reward for you being you which is a valentine idea. Mirroring again, Joan's day went from bad to good, so did Don's in the end.
Which leads to....
unfortunately you have to break this stuff up because this site can only hold so many typed characters at a time
Which brings you to the Don angle of the relationship theme. There are flowers all over the office, even the dopey one coming to switch with Dawn has flowers in her own box (and God bless whoever that man is)... yet no flowers necessary in Don spending special time, in his way he knows how, with his own valentine.
The idea of the epsiode was Sally being Don's valentine, with Peggy's valentine angle of yet again poor Peggy crapped on as a foil. Incidentally how could you not love Peggy. Poor Peggy, we all just wish we could make things right for her. Nope, like Pete, she will always be crapped on.
The relationship ideals explored through Don/Sally interaction are here of honesty and trust, as well as complaining and disappointment. She starts with the latter, and he ends with the former. And what happens when you either have, or begin to rebuild, the real concrete of a relationship in the trust that comes with honesty? You have a re-budding of a relationship. Couple that with Don marking the bottle in the beginning. You have effort which is the foundation of progress.
Do you think Sally lost her purse on purpose?
And we end with this important concept: Sally was not at all disappointed in him in his letting down a manly wall and admitting failure; she was impressed by his honesty with her. That's building a relationship with strong concrete many men don't yet get how to do. And Don did it. He's learning the female does not need you to be Superman, in fact Superman often actually is just the guy who is more honest and real. And here, after the male comes to that, the female now tells the male she loves him.
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