So, the Sunday morning marathons have begun. Here’s our plan:
We’ll put up open threads Sunday mornings instead of Sunday nights, so you can discuss episodes while they air.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we’ll put up, one per day, a post revisiting the best discussions we’ve had about that week’s episodes. So, tomorrow we’ll get started with a Smoke Gets In Your Eyes revisit. These posts will be in addition to, not instead of, our regular daily scheduled blogging.
There may also be additional posts about re-aired episodes, but we have no specific plans right now.
So: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Ladies Room, and Marriage of Figaro: Discuss.
I guess I’m the only one who gets up early on Sundays.
Watching “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” the thing that strikes me most (along with a hundred or so foreshadows) is Jon Hamm’s performance. Of course, we now know so much about Don, but you feel as if he’s giving you the subtlest hints. It’s in the way he delivers the big “It’s Toasted” pitch, as if he’s pitching to himself (whcih as always, he is), and the way he reacts to Rachel zeroing in on his outsider status. Subtle and perfect.
It was too painful to watch the end of “Marriage of Figaro” when Don never shows up with the cake. What a jerk! Then he brings home a dog for her to feed and clean up after.
And people wonder why Betty got more and more bitter as the show progressed.
“It was too painful to watch the end of “Marriage of Figaro” when Don never shows up with the cake. What a jerk! Then he brings home a dog for her to feed and clean up after.”
But…..but…..it was Polly! Adorable, fluffy, Polly! (I have a soft spot for golden retrievers, we have one in my family)
Good thing Helen Bishop was there that day. I’m sure the kids didn’t noticed the frozen nature of the cake (only Betty, who had to cut it, did), but if there had been no cake appearing at all, they would have noticed.
Just reviewed “Smoke…”. Wow. What a horrific gyno visit for poor Pegs.
Could the smoking gyno have been any MORE of a jerk, I ask you??
This pilot episode isn’t easily digested in one gulp, or one viewing.
Definitely sets the dark, stark stage that is Mad Men.
Smoke presents Don at his peak or very close. He was the wonderboy- loved by employer and clients, above the fray in the office, beatnik mistress, the freedom to not come home for a night or 2 and a beautiful family waiting for him in the suburbs.
No one knew it at the time, but he would soon begin a long descent. Seeing Smoke with the knowledge of what comes next, the viewer has a sense of both melancholy and foreboding.
While I didn’t get up at 6am, I am glad for Netflix.
Really superficial comment of the day: I always thought Peggy looked really pretty in that pilot episode (hence why the boys were checking her out in the elevator and she was the talk of the office.) And then starting with Ladies Room they turned her into the frumpy, awful bang-ed, “dorky” girl of the office. I feel like it was a big switch, look-wise, for her from “Smoke” to the rest of season 1.
MPAN, “Smoke” was actually filmed a full year before the rest of S1. Notice how different Joan’s hair is. It wasn’t Janie Bryant doing costumes, and a lot of the production crew was different.
Yes, Deborah, Joan’s hair just looked severely bizzaro!
And I agree My Peep…Pegs looked way better than her even pre-baby stylings…
Not superficial at all, in my estimation. The makeup/costume/etc. stuff on this show is so superb, it might as well be a cast member.
Figaro was Don realizing what a nothingness (is that a word?) Betty and their relationship were to him. That is still not an excuse for his behavior. I actually winced as he pulled his disappearing act, and I’ve seen the episode more than 10 times. Brutal. I love the brazen, no shame Pete in these early episodes. What happened to him? Marriage? I’m probably alone in saying this, but the jazz music segues were cheesy to me. Didn’t feel they had sync with the heavyness of the plotlines.
Pete’s photo of Trudy looks like the picture that came with the frame when you bought it. (I think they address this in the commentary for the Pilot episode, saying that they hadn’t yet hired Alison Brie to play Trudy). The photo looks a little like Arlene Francis, from when What’s My Line premiered, before she went blonde.
They filmed Smoke in New York, too, didn’t they? So different sets, different people, different everything that they had to recreate in LA.
Also…did we ever decide where Don got the dog? I remember we had some discussion of that a while back. No mobile phones then for him to call an ad in the paper, no pet stores (which probably didn’t sell full-grown dogs anyway) no shelters open after dark on Saturday…all I can come up with is that Don got himself a newspaper and a phone booth and started making calls, Don had some special connection to get him into a shelter after hours, Don knew someone personally who had a dog to give away, or…ulp…Don stole the dog. Probably Betty was thinking the latter, from the look on her face.
Meowser, yes about New York versus LA, I meant to add that.
The party takes place on a Sunday, and Roberta has long contended that he stole the dog.
Deb–I have not! I don’t think he stole the dog!
Not for nothin’ folks, but it’s possible that Matt did not think through where the dog came from. I mean, maybe he just liked him coming back with the dog, and didn’t think through the rest like we, his
obsessiveattentive fans eventually would. I’m just sayin’.@tk On the last thread I commented on how much I like those—-haha, for some reason, it transports me….
Helen Bishop—–the teacher—–Rachel Menken—–Bethany (to a much lesser extent)
all women who called out men….a sort of “youre-all-the-same” attitude. Or, “I-know-how-it-ends” attitude. secure and challenging.
anyone notice this? other similarities with these women?
also–how great is it seeing Allison this far back?
MIAE I wasn’t trying to contradict you. The jazzy pieces just struck me as oddly off-putting. Suzanne told DD that maybe you like me cause ‘I’m new and different, or maybe I’m exactly the same’. Hardly. Until Betty asserted herself by throwing him out in S2 and finally ending it S3, she was a weakling who Don toyed with. All of his affairs were with women with strong personalities. Even Bobbie Barrett, until she revealed herself to him as some sort of groupie sycophant. That changed it for Don and he lost respect for her, and in a way become some sort of version of Betty to him. Strength of character, or lack there of, doomed Don with Rachel. “What are you, 15 years old?”. Goodbye, pal!
One superficial thing Don’s affairs had in common was they weren’t blondes, unlike Princess Grace. He loses his marriage and gets set-up with Bethany, and hooks up with Faye, 2 blondes! They didn’t stand a chance. Although the non-blonde theory didn’t work for Allison. There’s only room for one blonde in DD’s life: his best girl, darling Sally. Anna doesn’t count. She was the Madonna in his life.
I think Don dumped Bobbie Barrett to protect his vulnerable sense of identity. By telling him that she and other women discussed him he was forced to see himself as the wider world saw him which cracked the bubble inside which he exists.
I think it’s completely believable that Don might have stollen the dog.
Both series 1 and 2 show the bizarre half-life that Betty is kept in by Don’s lies and control of information.
I believe I first posited that Don stole the dog. And you know what? I still stand by it.
By the way, two of my favorite bits in Mad Men have to do with Sally choosing the dog over Don. In MoF at the end of the episode when he tries to kiss her, Sally pushes him away, wipes the kiss off, and hugs the dog. Then in For Those Who Think Young, she returns from her ballet class and runs to the dog first thing. I believe it went something like “Hi Daddy…POLLY!!!” LOL. Obviously that’s the way women should respond to Don. LOL.
Meditations- Yes, it was good to see Allison. I loved her subtle raised brow when her general invite to Pete (“The grand lot of us are going to…”) was turned down.
Also loved the subtle raised brow of the jewelry clerk in Menken’s, when Rachel replaces Don’s cufflinks.
Great stuff!
And SmilerG, oh my, you’re right, now that I think of it! When Pete is glancing lovingly at the photo of Trudy on his desk…it kinda reminded me of the movie “Night Shift” when Michael Keaton says, “Nice frame” as Henry Winkler shows off his beloved. ;O) Nothing against the Arlene F. Trudy prototype….and just loves me my Allison Brie.
Again, @ Meditations: Yes, I’d say all of Don’s paramours have that “you’re a scoundrel and I know it” attitude..
Rachel Menken was the wisest though, it seems. She got out quicker than Suzanne, and I think Bethany was just disgusted.
Some of Don’s women think they know him : Suzanne, Bethany, Betty (at first), Megan. He likes that they think they do, but he knows they are wrong and that gives him a sense of control. Some of them do see who he is like Rachel and Faye and perhaps Bobbie so he has to move on fast once that becomes clear. Peggy and Anna are different because they are not his lovers but do love him for himself.
Bethany was disgusted? She was dismissed with nary a second thought. Some scoundrels ironically, live by a code. Omar on The Wire never curses and observes the Sunday truce among gangsters. Don would never steal. Ever. He didn’t steal the dog. END. OF. STORY.
Watched Episode 1 again the other day and was struck by the certainty, as I was the first time I saw it and every time after, that it is one of the best hours of television I have ever seen. To me it feels like a mini-Hitchcock movie.
And “Marriage of Figaro” is one of the most depressing hours of television I have ever seen. The part where Don disappears for hours and doesn’t bring back the cake actually gives me a stomach ache. The emotional absence of both Don and Betty from their children’s lives just kills me.
Tilden–Don DOES steal.
He steals other men’s wives.
He steals another man’s “ideas” ( “Life, the cure for the common breakfast.”)
AND MOST SIGNIFICANT AS THE OVERREACHING ARC OF THE ENTIRE SERIES THUS FAR- HE STEALS ANOTHER MAN’S IDENTITY !
Don also stole most of PPL’s best men when he formed SCDP. Also, he killed the real Draper (a kind of freak accident, but he was never honest to anyone about the actual events). He’s certainly a murderer in my eyes.
@Montana
I don’t think the women were wrong about Don–especially Rachel, especially Suzanne
I miss Rachel entirely. She was a whole character–had a great back story, conversations with her sister, relationship with her father—–I saw her more of a person than most women with which Don philandered. I didn’t put Rachel in a box….the artist, Midge; the idealist, Suzanne; the cougar?, BB; the business woman, Faye…..etc.
I hope we can see her again…though I am not sure in what circles she travels that would allow for a run-in…
Speaking of run-ins…I would absolutely love to see Helen Bishop. Of course there is the Glenn/Sally connection BUT if she professionalized her politics hobby she could certainly run in to Henry. Thoughts? I would be really interested in that dynamic—especially because Helen and Betty have that unique relationship
Rachel is someone who absolutely sees through Don to Dick. She gets what he’s up to when he wants to run away with her and they share the fact that both their mothers died in childbirth – just as Don and Peggy share that they saw their fathers die. It would be great if Rachel came back. Helen Bishop was so much a person of the future before the others saw it coming – and how they despised her for it. I can’t imagine that Don’s relationship with Megan will last – that, to me, is him hiding from reality and creating a life that’s more like an advert than real. A huge theme of the show is the gap between what people want and what they think other people expect them to do. It’s always fascinating to see how the characters play that out.
tilden katz-
Yes, you’re right, Bethany was forgotten as soon as Don hooked up with Faye…what I meant was, Bethany did call Don on his s***, chastising him for waiting so long to call her, stuff like that.
I love the clever usernames some of our readers have!
Stollen for Christmas [of course you mean the breakfast cake, right?]
Under the bushes, under the stars
Meowser
My people are Nordic
Would enjoy learning how you chose your noms de plume.
Montana : it’s where Bert Cooper keeps the cattle he loves.
I saw Bethany as a transition character : someone Don could play at dating with before he moved on. She was somewhere on a line between a submissive Betty-type and a more assertive woman. But she was completely out of her depth with Don. It was almost embarrassing to see her portray herself as experienced compared with him; to hear her encouraging him how to behave when he was newly single and she thought he needed to have his confidence and ego boosted.
Other than The Sistahs (Lippsters), I’d offer a drink to anyone at the next BoK party who knows the significance of my name. I’m married to someone else’s THE ONE.
. Dick Whitman stole an identity. Don Draper is rich and doesn’t stoop to such shenanigans. DD has never stolen any man’s wife. He merely borrows her for fun, but is not stupid enough to leave the mother of his children for some flooz. Come on, that’s on page 1 of the cheaters’ handbook! Obtw; like Mrs. Mulwray I also dislike the word cheat. Don and his partners made a decision to break away and control their own destiny. Happens in biz all the time. That idiot Saint John should’ve kept his yap shut and not told Lane. Oops, he paid for it. Don is a murderer? Wha……. I know some fans despise Don, and I always defend him, but jeez. Accidents in war are the norm. Its not as if he fragged Lt. Draper.
My apologies to our eminences Deb and Ro. You two gals can have one, or two, or three on me, anytime.
Tilden Katz…the man Rachel Menken married after Don asked her to runaway with him.
Always enjoy your posts, and keep on defending Don!
Bless you Polly. LOL. Please make your way to the party next year, the biscuits, er…… the toast will be my pleasure. What’ll it be? A vodka with mountain dew? :
Check out the pilot script for AMC`s upcoming Western drama Hell on Wheel right here:
http://meanmassive.com/tv-pilot-script-hell-wheels/hell-on-wheels-tony-joe-gayton/
Dear Tilden ( a/k/a Menkan’s Munchkin ):
I assumed that the contest for the significance of your name was a challenging contest. If the answer was Rachael’s husband, whom she introduced to Don while he was with Bobbie at the restaurant, that was not a challenge. We all ( or, more likely most of us, ) assumed the there was some special, obscure reference, ala Lyle Evans.
P.S. See # 18 and the theme of stealing, as well as Don’s sale to Roger for Roger’s gift to Joan, for how certain noms d’ plumes are inspired.
P.P.S. Has anyone heard recently from the once prolific blogger “Toronto Pipeman?”
I honestly didn’t remember the Rachel Menken connection to Tilden Katz. That’s v-e-r-y interesting, because in the episode that ends with Freddy Rumsen’s leaving Sterling Cooper, Don Draper actually uses “Tilden Katz” as an alias when they visit the gambling club. He says something like “I’m Tilden Katz and this is my friend Dick Dollars.” (Or maybe it was Mike Moneybags. Can’t remember.)
But if Tilden Katz is Rachel’s husband, that puts a whole different complexion on Don’s usage of it.
Tillden,
Vodka with Mountain Dew? That’s an emergency.
Just fill my water bowl with rye (neat) or old fashioneds and that will make my tail wag.
@ Builder : nice pick up. It’s in S2.5 that we meet Tilden Katz. In S2.9 at the speakeasy, Roger introduces himself as Dick Dollars, Freddy as Mike Moneybags and then Don introduces himself as Tilden Katz.
Polly I’ll be there with my glasses and labcoat on. Hopefully, the bar won’t look like its set up by a blind man. I gotta stop it with these references. I noticed something in these first 3 eps and looking at the S1 DVD that Don is a menacing figure towards Betty. He berates her something fierce over the AC salesman in Indian Summer and the way he reacts to her hand shaking I thought he was going to literally bend her over his knee and send her to her room. It kind of frightened me for Betty. Am I overreacting?
Don’t forget, a Tilden Katz was actually a classmate of Matt Weiner’s, so I guess that’s the obscure reference.
After Pete’s fumbling attempt to use Dr. Greta Guttman’s “death wish” research report (that was rejected by Don) Lee Garner, Sr. remarks, “Are you insane? I’m not selling rifles here, we’re in the tobacco business”.
Given all that we now know about the hazards of smoking, their customers might have been a lot safer if Lucky Strike HAD been selling rifles.
I recently discovered a documentary called “The Tobacco Conspiracy,” that explores the full extent of what the tobacco companies were up against in the 1950s and what they were up to, in subsequent decades.
It’s a 90-minute film and you’ll have to deal with subtitles in some portions, but this in-depth study will give Basketcases a greater appreciation of how SC(DP)’s biggest client – and the rest of the tobacco industry – were operating behind the scenes.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/tobacco-conspiracy/
Stollen I was being silly with the contest. Any basketcase worth their weight knows who tilden is marriwd to. My take on the name is melancholic. Another man will spend the rest of his life married to Don’s wife. I vaguely recall the classmate of MW story. I didn’t even consider that angle when choosing my handle. Just a footnote. Peg started at SterlingCoo in March and S1 concludes on Turkey week. 8 months. Pegs had a premie.
Dick Dollars would actually be a great screenname
I do enjoy hearing characters names before we actually see them in an episode—that happens with Mrs. Blankenship and Freddie Rumson…quite enjoyable
Dick Dollars would actually be a great screenname
I do enjoy hearing characters names before we actually see them in an episode—that happens with Mrs. Blankenship and Freddie Rumson…quite enjoyable
I love the suburban-centered sarcasm in Marriage of Figaro…
(when looking at the kids playing house)
Helen Bishop: Quite a crowd in there.
Don: It’s the same crowd out here.
Carlton: We got it all, huh?
Don: Yep, this is it.
Love. It. Reminds me of Revolutionary Road politics…
My handle comes for the U.S. presidential race, circa 2008. ;O)
“Yes, she can!”
Peggy would make an INCREDIBLE president. ;O)
Mr Katz @45- Our Pegs was not necessarily premature. Here in Canada, normal human gestation is 266 days or 38 weeks. She conceived on the evening of her 1st day of work at S&C; did not elect a D&C and delivered either in her 38th or 39th week ( depending upon whether she began work the 1st or 2nd week of March. Even if she had begun work in the 3rd or 4th week, she still would have been well into her 9th month and not her 8th as you supposed.
Perhaps gestational periods or means of counting are a bit different in the U.S.
Welcome back, Pipeman. Well, the Mondays in March 60 fell on the 7th 14th 21st. 28th. So if we choose the 14th arbitrarily and Pegs gave birth on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving then her gestation was 253 days or 36 weeks and 1 day. Slightly premature. If we choose the 21st or 28th the she was at least a month ahead of schedule. Pegs could nevet be prez cause some Karl Rove type dirtbag will dig up the baby she gave away and present her as some loose, irresponsible, heathen liberal who cannot command the army of righteousness that is America! LOL.
I make these Peggy’s dates – conceived : due
March 7 : November 28
March 14 : December 5
March 21 : December 12
March 28 : December 19
So if the baby was born on November 22, that’s a range from 6 days to 4 weeks early.
Yeh, maybe, but Peggy could copyright her way out of anything!
;O)
I’d love to see what kind of campaign slogan she’d come up with.
Matter of fact, that would be fun to think, for each character.
Rachel: “A chicken in every pot”
Roger: “40 asses and a fool”
…and so on…;O)