And who are you supposed to be?
~Carlton (who is probably not a doorman.)
Above is the random quote that popped up for me earlier, minus the reference to Rhoda. I know a couple people thought this was a little too on the nose for him to say at that moment, but I loved it. I can almost promise you that if you are fighting with your spouse about something and you have a joker among your acquaintances, and you run into him, his big mouth will somehow reference it, even if it’s an accident. There has to be a law or rule somewhere. He might not realize you’re inwardly cringing, but it’s there — made more painful by the fact that the only other person who could know what you’re really thinking is next to you, and thinking it too, and you know this person just made your life a little more difficult.
Thanks, Friendly Neighborhood Ass-Clown!
That’s why the line worked for me. If Don was alone and Carlton said it, that would be one thing, but it was brilliant because of the presence of Betty and the fact that the Drapers were just trying to be normal and not think about Dick Whitman, and they were reminded, as people usually are in these types of situations. I’m pretty sure that, for a while, she couldn’t stand the sound of her own son’s name either — for other reasons than her usually borderline hatred of men — after she confronted Don about his wicked ways with Bobbie Barrett. Coke ads were probably everywhere for a while, compounded by the fact that they really ARE everywhere.
I had, um, a friend — right, a friend — who had fought with her husband because he felt she’d flirted too much with a guy. It turns out that there is a chain of stores with this guy’s name that had gone unnoticed up to that point, and every male character on TV that year shared that same name. What ARE the chances? If Time Magazine would have done a cover story on it being the most virile and irresistible to women man-name ever, she wouldn’t have been surprised.
I love this line, because it’s Mad Men playing to one of its strengths — the awkward moments between people who’ve been together for a while. In fact, that one line did what the whole Draper-At-The-Awards-Speech was meant to do, only it got straight to the heart of things, and this time Don was on to what his wife was thinking. To hearken back to another moment that poignant, you have to go back to Betty right before she yaks in the new car — but again, this time Don knows what she’s thinking!!!
Yes, yes, I’ll calm down now.
18 Responses to “Pour Some More Salt In The Wound!”
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I am loving the Ms. Darkly today.
"This is Carlton, your doorman" cracks me up EVERY TIME.
I thought it was too "on the nose" but it would have been ok if they hadn't done the significant closeup of Don right after. What are we, idiots? But to each hir own.
Yes, yes, yes! The asshat who always seems to bring up the wrong thing at PRECISELY the right time. How in the worlddo they do it?
I thought the long close-up of Don was probably selected to a) give us a chance to re-contemplate the fact that we're essentially looking at two different men and b) because there was actually a play of emotions on Jon Hamm's face. I hear that expression a lot, but I rarely see it – if I were a director and I caught that complex of an expression on an actor's face, I'd highlight it too.
@Donny Brook — I get what you're saying, but the whole — well, stuff I discussed about — redeemed it for me.
I think people are expecting something different from season 3 lines than from season 1 lines. Not necessarily better, but a line that might have worked back them is no longer fresh.
I think it's the successful writer's dilemma. People love them, and want more of the same, but they also want something a little different — but not too different. They just want to be surprised the way they were in the beginning, and that becomes harder to do.
Now, I'll for off-topic, sorta:
People say Stephen King isn't as good of a writer as he used to be. Other than my theory that no editor has the balls to give him the editing he needs, I disagree. We've lived in a world with "Stephen King" for thirty years now — even people who don't read him know his tics and tricks. On a basic level, he can't surprise us in the same way, and people resent when he wanders too far from his beginnings. I think that if he had focused on being a teacher and scrapped his attempts to write, only coming on the scene now, that people would be overwhelmed with him in the way they were in the seventies and eighties. However, I can't imagine pop culture without him for those decades.
@5 Jon Hamm is one of the best actors I've ever seen when it comes to subtle plays of emotion. Sometimes it seems like his expression has barely shifted and yet you know he went to a completely different place. I could watch it forever — how does he do that?
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You got something you want plugged, send us an email. That ISN'T rude and DOESN'T piss us off.
Ms. Darkly, your point about S3 lines vs S1 lines is apt. S3 for any show is usually when it goes beyond cult classic to mainstream following. It is often the peak season, for scripts, acting and appeal.
Many West Wing fans think things didn't get any better than S3, when Bartlet runs for re-election after the disclosure he has MS. For ER, S3 brought the realization by Mark Green that he loved Susan Lewis while Carol and Doug gave in to their attraction. And of course, on The Sopranos, Livia dies during S3.
@#8,
I just couldn't. It would be like moving back in to my parents' living room and kitchen.
OT–when are they going to come up with a shortcut that changes caps to lower-case and vice verse? Don't you hate when you're typing along and realize you've hit the CAPS button 3 sentences ago?
#9 Season 3 of The Wire brought the end of the Barksdale clan, but S4 was the best of them all. S3 of Battlestar Galactica started out amazing, but then the slow slide into stupidity began. So it all depends.
One of the best things about set design, and I know this has been discussed a lot, is that they mix the old and the new — a lot of the pieces are fifties or forties. Who doesn't understand that or can't look around their own house and see examples of it? No matter how modern the decor, there are usually a few items that are kept around for practicality or sentimentality.
The house I live in now started with all new furniture. I really started from scratch — and yet. In my kitchen are plaques that hung on my great-grandmother's walls, and then my grandmother's walls, and are from "the old country." My heart wanted them and they made my kitchen homey.
And we've all walked into homes that time has left behind.
the set is sweet, but, the ads r cooler… cool gallery here http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2009/10/10/arc…
Those harp-backed chairs? In my very own dining room right now.
#9
Season 3 of Buffy too
#15 beat me to it. Faith! The Mayor! It doesn't get better.
I agree about Buffy.
Brilliant post, btw, Ms. D. Just a great insight.
Meeting the wheedling friend who oozes insinuation from every pore just after the domestic quarrel? I hate it when that happens.
I'm not as TV literate as so many of the Basketcases, but I do remember one old program that took a real delight in savoring those unspoken, awkward moments between people, but to a much different effect: The Andy Griffith Show. Back then, it was played for poignancy, but it sure made me squirm.