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That episode felt kind of all over the place, didn’t it? This season has felt a bit different from any other because each episode has held a close focus on only a few story lines, but last night we peeked into a good number of them. (Though still no Joan?) (Where’s Joan?!) Because of that it should’ve felt more like an episode from one of the previous seasons, but so much of the action introduced during the episode felt sort of out-of-nowhere that the slow-burn Mad Men effect kind of flew out the window into the death smog, leaving us with something that felt like a different show entirely. Not that it was a completely bad episode! I have, overall, enjoyed this season very much, and I like where each character is headed. But all of the action without much of an indication that it was brewing seemed a bit jarring, and a bit rushed. Like what was the deal with the incredible amount of Don/Ginsberg tension? While it’s certainly true that the entire season has been focused on old vs. new, and Ginsberg represents a new way to work that threatens Don’s old, lame style, the fact that it was all so deliberately YELLED at you this episode, without even having been whispered before, felt kind of cheap. The tone wasn’t right. And although Betty’s discomfort with Megan has been picking up speed since she first learned of her, their non-confrontational confrontation this episode was so over-the-top that it was almost cartoonish. Like, we definitely get that Betty is fat and trying to lose weight! And that Megan is young and beautiful! But where have the tiny shreds of Betty sympathy that we used to be entitled to gone? Is she only a one-dimensional Weight Watchers monster? Is she ONLY poison smog that the Drapers have to keep out of their fancy apartment? And, good grief, can we PLEASE keep the clothes on Rory Gilmore? Also: Manischewitz, Rodger Sterling spending SO MUCH MONEY all of the time, Sally making a young to old transition that is just as important as the young to old transition everyone else is making, and the Pete Campbell crazy spiral. What did you guys think? Are you all dead? Too much death smog?
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I loved this in comparison to last week’s Cool Whip storyline, because as we all know, real whipped cream is way better. Betty knows what’s up.
I think we all agree that Cool Whip is only good (the best) when eaten frozen like ice cream.
Most depressing Cheech and Chong movie EVER.
I don’t know. When I was a tween, all the dudes were into huffing the nitrous or what ever that laughing gas is called, out of those kinds of containers. Fake whipped cream never tastes anywhere close to real; and Peggy wasn’t afraid to call it.
I think this was actually my favorite episode this season. As far as Betty goes, while she was a raging bitch (Classic Betty), I sympathized with her weight loss struggle. I gets better, Betty.
Though, to be fair, I have compiled a list of things that do in fact taste as good as being thin feels:
A really good glass of wine.
Stuffed pizza.
It’s not a long list.
it gets longer:
Double shot of any decent scotch
ANY CHEESE
Warm Crustly Doughy Bread fresh out of oven, buttered copiously
I know this list could go on forever, probably, because chacun à son goût, but I just felt like pointing out that no matter how thin and good feeling I get, there is not a snowball’s chance in hell I am going to give up those three things.
You mean “sno ball” though, right?
This was a great Roger moment:
Forget the second link:
Yeah, I really liked this episode. My parents divorced when I was ten, and my dad’s mom did something similar to what Betty did to Sally. Fuck you Betty!
Sally is going to be just like her mother. What a tiny jerkface!
But were you pretty sure that your dad’s name was real and that he didn’t lie to you about his life and identity? Fuck you Don! Sally can’t win, both of her parents should not have been parents.
Geez Roger yes you took acid once and it was a revelatory experience now can you SHUT UP about it?
I did however like when Jane mentioned that he has started to make up blatant lies about that night trying to trick her, like saying she would remarry right away to avoid prolonged alimony payments.
That an older guy would try a drug for the first time and then tells everyone how great it is seems pretty accurate, also I kinda thought when Sterling called Ginsburg into his office he was going to ask how to get more LSD because obviously the eccentric young guy would have a connection.
Betty’s Thanksgiving meal made me really, really sad.
one brussels sprout?! whaaaaat???
Dude, if you roast them in olive oil and garlic….you haven’t lived.
I’ll have what she’s having — not!
I’ll have what she’s not having!
So whoever made Matt Weiner with thought bubbles with Megan in them was SOOO right! Even out of SCDP she’s still #1. I guess they are trying to show that things change (it’s the 60′s!!!!) but I miss all the old characters doing their old things. Why is Peggy off her game? Why is Don lame? Why is Roger working? I was super happy that Betty was really bitchy for part of the episode just because it felt so familiar. Does this mean I would have voted for Nixon?
I think this was my least favorite episode of the season so far. I agree with Kelly – it just felt a bit all over the place in terms of plot. The pacing seemed really off to me too – strange transitions, moments held too long or cut too abruptly. I don’t know, it was just off-putting. I actually found myself looking forward to the episode ending, which is the opposite of every other week.
Also, the episode was titled Dark Shadows, which is the show Megan’s friend was auditioning for, and frankly, I found that whole plot line with Megan and her friend to be unnecessary and distracting. If you’re going to do the whole “people are jealous of Megan” thing, you more than accomplished that with Betty’s storyline.
And finally, I am all for symbolism in TV shows, but the smog was just too much. It just reminded me of that South Park episode which is not a good thing. I get it! Betty is poison! OR the smog is like the uncontrollable egos of Don & Roger, who are both willing to throw other under the bus for their own self-satisfcation! OR a million other things.
just like the first few episodes are boring [set] up, then it gets a 3-4 episode groove, then it get’s all-over the place [rising action] before the 2-3 episode big finish. it’s just the nature of the beast. kind of sick of people complaining about the same stuff all the time. it’s just the natural flow of the show over the course of a season.
I respect and understand your point, but at the same time I’m kind of sick of people defending the show like it’s always at 100% top notch quality. It is usually very close to great/perfection, but sometimes the episodes fall a little flat compared to others. I don’t think you can blame it all on the “flow” of the season. This just doesn’t only happen with Mad Men, plenty of other good shows are guilty of this.
i’m not saying it’s perfect and always flawless, but it is an unnecessary and overused criticism. especially when saying “it’s all over the place,” well yeah, a mid-season episode often will because we have a lot of story lines to keep track of and they have to push them forward so we can see what becomes of them in the last couple episodes. mid-season is when they all collide into one another – or shoot outwards into fractured lines – hence, it being all over the place.
i too wish they’d just get on with it and show pete falling down that elevator shaft already, but sometimes you have to see a man’s masturbatory fantasies sandwiched into a jumbled episode for his death to really have the note of gravitas. its called drama.
And as we all know because of the Dark Shadows film coming out, Dark Shadows was a soap opera that started airing in 1966 (although the vampire character Depp plays in the film doesn’t even show up on the program until a year after it has been on the air).
I really enjoyed this episode. Kelly asked, “Like what was the deal with the incredible amount of Don/Ginsberg tension?”
Well, Don is trying to get back into the creative side of his job, now that Megan isn’t there anymore. We see him sitting in his office, not getting much of anything done. He decides to leave and sees Ginsberg’s stuff and really likes it. And he used to think stuff up like that all the time. So he tries and it is not good. But Don is trying to get back in the saddle. SO he refines his Devil pitch and rolls with it while they mock up both ideas and get feedback from everybody. And although Ginsberg’s is clearly the favorite, the Devil idea has traction. When it’s all said and done, Don goes with his because he’s the boss and he feels he still has what it takes to make a sale. And he does.
MEANWHILE. Ginsberg is pissed. He’s taking it personally. It was nothing personal on Don’s end. He doesn’t hate Ginsberg. It is QUITE the opposite. He loves Ginsberg’s work. That scene with Joan illustrated just how much of Ginsberg’s work is getting used by the company because Heinz has Peggy so preoccupied. But Don’s busy trying to reinforce his own self-worth, considering that for most of this season Don has been on record saying “I don’t care about work,” and now he probably should again since Megan isn’t there.
I think the point of all of that are two-fold: 1) At the end of the day Don is the boss and does what he wants, but in this instance it worked out because they still made the sale (and he didn’t steal any ideas), and 2) Ginsberg is young and flipped out the minute one of his ideas weren’t used, and took it as a personal attack on his livelihood, which is not what Don intended.
I thought it was a very good progression of events. Remember when Ginsberg was so happy to meet him? That was because Don’s the boss. Deal with it, Ginsberg *sunglasses gif*
The last couple of episodes have flipped things so that Don and Peggy now get to feel the desperation everyone at the old Sterling Cooper used to feel during their respective ascents. #rippaulkinsey
And let us not forget that episode earlier this season where Ginsberg pitched what he wanted after they already made the sale on what Don wanted. Turn about is fair play, Ginsberg. Don didn’t take that personally. You don’t pull that kind of shit if you’re not the boss (because it could get you fired).
I really did enjoy that whole business with Don and Ginsberg. Don sitting in his office doing nothing. He looks at Ginsberg’s work in the 11th hour of the day, and it inspires him. Ginsberg has no idea he’s the reason for Don’s devil ad.
you know, i’m beginning to get the feeling everybody on this show is unhappy.
I like the way Pete thinks:
“Yes, my coverage in the NY Times is a huge turn on for every lady. Let’s make love and then I’ll jump on my jetpack and fight Muhammad Ali — ON THE MOON!” — Pete Campbell
Can we just go ahead and give Rory Gilmore’s boob tape the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama?
Is it unreasonable that I want the entire scene of Pete’s fantasy and subsequent smirk on the couch as a .GIF? That made me laugh so hard you guys.
It is so reasonable I’ll second that.
Uh, why aren’t any of you talking about Don’s devil voice? #HELLoL
Why are only the “T” and “H” capitalized in “THis?” What does it MEAN?
“deaTH to Peter?”
We’ve had almost two full seasons of Don really struggling to maintain his self-assuredness, his aura of invincibility taking hit after hit in every relationship around him. But watching Don Draper begin to suck(?!) at advertising had been the strangest thing for me.
Not just a string of weak ideas (though Peggy’s cold streak from Heinz onward is starting to worry me), but his first attempt at getting back in the game after year-long honeymoon is plain embarrassing to watch, the rest of creative eyeing each other nervously to see if they’re crazy for secretly thinking his idea is bad. It’s like watch Pujols play for the Angels.
I liked this episode, as far as Betty’s story arc went. It did seem a bit out of character for Sally to let her mom’s spitefulness get the best of her (it’s also worried me that she was basically Betty Jr. and Mean-Girling Megan for not sharing her dad’s past).
The scene with Roger and his (soon-to-be?) ex was odd to me as well. On the one hand, I could understand how having sex with Roger would be a bad start to a “new” start. But it just seemed like two lonely, consenting adults getting busy. Unless that little pause where she said his name supposed to indicate that she didn’t want to get busy? That would explain the awkward exchange in the morning, as well as Roger’s admission of guilt…
I thought that little quip by Don to Ginsberg in the elevator was pretty great (I yelled “Someone get him a cold compress for that BURRRRN!” at my TV…). But now that you’ve pointed out the old vs. new going on in the episode, it seems more like an on-the-nose iteration of how the different generations view each other as a whole (does that make sense?).
In closing, more Joanie and Lane, less whatever the heck’s going on now.
Is it really a burn if it was a blatant lie? Don was thinking about Ginsberg throughout the entire episode – seeing his name all over the ads they were going to submit to the NY Times, leafing through his “Shit To Do” folder, trying to 1 up his SnoBall idea, deliberately leaving his ad in the taxi. Sure, it deflated Ginsberg something fierce, but, uh, somebody doth protest too much Don.
I kind of felt like we got to see Sally try on both her parents most awful personality habits: first she mean girls the shit out of Megan, almost like Betty but slightly less subtle, and then after she deduces that her mother also deserves some blame for the whole thing she lies to her as effortlessly as Don can lie to anyone.
I felt this episode was remarkably on-point. Almost smotheringly so.
Literally every character except Sally was faced with a moment in which they peered into the life of their counterpart (Don>Ginsberg, Megan>Actor Friend, Betty>Megan, Pete>Commuting Buddy, etc. … Roger being notably absent from that list) and felt envy.
The show was all about envy’s manifestations, including the rise in the 1960s of the self help industry (hello, Weight Watchers!). It wasn’t as fun as recent episodes, but I thought it worked.
Actually, Roger totally had a face to face with a rival too – the son of the Jewish client who caught Jane’s eye immediately. That was very much a catalyst for his getting Jane into bed at her new apartment, though, interestingly enough, he seemed the most remorseful of any character for letting his ego hurt someone.
Roger sure has a habit of taking women up against walls.
I don’t view Betty as being a one dimensional monster at all this episode (and season). She had my sympathy completely until she tried to use Sally as a pawn in the unwinable game of sadness chess she’s playing with the Drapers. Watching Betty carefully measure out her food in the beginning, suck in her stomach before she walked into the apartment to face Megan, that sweet scene with Henry and reading the mash note from Don (!) all made me feel for her. …Right up until she exploited Sally (who ps clearly learned from mama well based on all her cutting little comments).
The only thing that bothered/confused me this episode was the Roger/Jane dynamic. Obviously sleeping together was a mistake buuuut how was that just Roger’s fault? She could have said no? Even allowing for the fact that she probably still has feelings for him?
It definitely wasn’t all Roger’s fault. It takes two to tango! Jane could have stonewalled him. She did not.
It was Roger’s fault – Jane made it clear she wanted a new apartment so it wouldn’t be tainted with all their history. So what does Roger do when he’s feeling threatened? Imposes himself in her new place to remind her who paid for it – her very first memory there is with him. It was the human equivalent of pissing on a fire hydrant. Yeah, he felt remorse, but it doesn’t change what he did.
It was Roger’s fault that he tried to engage Jane in her new apartment. But it was still consensual sex and she still could have said no, no matter what kind of obligations she felt she had or the time period in which the show takes place.
But yeah, Roger’s definitely taking responsibility for the whole thing, which is probably good. He was accused of selfishness multiple times in the episode and hopefully it will spark a behavioral shift in him that will finish what the LSD started.
I can definitely see where Jane would have felt pressured to go with the moment, not the least of which is that she’s probably feeling lonely and vulnerable. First and foremost, I can see where it would not be all that easy to say no to the person who’s paying her rent.
On some level I’m sure she’s just as angry with herself as she is with Roger, but I don’t think she’s necessarily wrong to suggest he could have shown some real class and restraint by not marking Jane’s new apartment (and hence her new life) as his territory. He knows it too, as his sad response clearly showed.
John Slattery has had an incredibly strong season thus far. Hooray for him!
Seconded!
I don’t know why but I loved this episode. I agree that this show is becoming a little too on the nose but this is why I’m OK with this:
1. We can call Betty The Smog Monster. Everyone loves puns. Smog Monster it is.
2. Sally. This is the character that is most in your face and her content is ripped from the headlines of Duh Aficionado, but isn’t that what it’s like to be a kid of her age? No other character can be disillusioned by the contradictions of Roger’s life altering realizations and the reality of his lifestyle. That dirty old man.
3. The good mother figure vs. bad mother figure thing was hoaky * but it was so worth it for the last scene when Sally handles the confrontation with her mother in a calm and rational way and we all realize Sally IS an adult and then Betty throws a tantrum. (Sportsgum: Sally is Aaron Rodgers. Betty is Favre.)
As far as Greensberg goes I think it has to do with his father issues. He’s not a complete selfish dick like classic Campbell who just wants anything he can’t have. Greensberg wants to please Don for the sake of pleasing him but doesn’t realize Don would respect him more if he would instead just be honest with him the way Peggy is. When complementing Don about his devil idea backfired he took it personally because most of the office looks to Don like a father figure, much the same way Sally looks at Megan as a mother figure.
*as alluded to by the Dark Shadows thing, which I think was the only real reason to have the friend scene because maybe Dark Shadows wasn’t on the air yet so they couldn’t just show Megan commenting on it while watching it on TV but they really wanted to use dark shadows because they are really trying to hammer in the era this season but I don’t know maybe I’m just trying to read to much into that.
by thanksgiving 1966 dark shadows was on air.
Although Barnabas didn’t come on until 67.
This was my least favorite episode this season too. I agree with Kelly that the Ginsberg/Draper part was over the top and if someone new acted up like that wouldn’t they be fired? I do like Ginsberg’s character (maybe it’s just the actor?) but sometimes he’s a little too stereotypical Jewish for me.
Also what’s up with Peggy? She seems so lame this season. No ideas. I get she’s trying to cut back on work a little because of her boyfriend, but she seemed to go form 100 to 0 overnight.
Also no Joan. WTF?
And I don’t buy the Betty/fat thing. What are they going to do next season if she’s not pregnant? Just make it seem like she was a weight watchers winner? I guess they had no choice but it doesn’t seem right. Yes, she’s supposed to be depressed but something is off…
I didn’t have much of a problem with this episode (besides being immediately disappointed upon seeing Fat Betty in the first minute). Matthew Weiner said on Fresh Air that the central issue in Don & Megan’s relationship had already been brought up and it wasn’t what everyone thought it was going to be – I think it’s her issues with his money. Repeatedly we see her cooking, caring for the family and earning her keep – she didn’t take on a diva air the way Jane did with Roger. Megan treats Sally like an equal – she gives respect and perspective. Her tiff with Julia was more about the silly lines than an insult to her work – as a novice actor, she’ll get over that behavior with some time and rejection.
How about Henry rewarding Betty with food? Just like a dog…
The death smog was a real event. Killed 400 people.
The rush to snark sometimes needs to pass thru a simple google search.
http://gothamist.com/2009/11/24/smog.php
Sorry, work link pasted: http://the-end-of-summer.blogspot.com/2012/04/mystery-smog.html
Did everyone understand that when Bobby drew the whale with spears in it’s heart, and then Betty read the note between the new Drapers on the back, BETTY WAS THE WHALE?!?!?!?
DID YOU GET IT GUYS?!?!?!
Gee, thanks Weiner.
I’m not saying Betty is a shining example of a human being, but man, I gotta defend Betty, because the writers clearly make her out to be a horrible person. She was raised to be a traditional perfect trophy wife, but her parents made sure she was traveled and educated at a great school. Don is the love of her life, just looking for a trophy wife and she gets stuck in the burbs to pump out kids and make Don look like the man who has it all, when Betty would really love to live in Manhattan and have an urban lifestyle. It eats away at her and she barely saw Don and Don barely saw his kids, so of course he would seem like the better parent. Now she gets to see Megan living the life she wanted, with Don treating her the way she always wanted to be treated – PLUS – Megan gets to be friends with her kids and they like her, because Betty is the one who has them most of the time and has to raise them during the good and bad times and pretty much be the only parent when she was with Don (let’s not talk about Carla, that was a tragedy). Life ain’t fair, but for Betty it pretty much sucked. To have all that money and no one to really love you (and pork all of Manhattan behind your back) is not very great. I’m surprised they never had an episode where she mysteriously contracted some venereal disease and was baffled as to how she acquired it.