OMG where do I even begin with this week’s episode — which was directed by John Slattery, btw?!?! As anyone who watched knows, Mad Men went freaking HAM last night. Let’s just get right to it…
-I’ve had a theory about the ultimate fate of Pete Campbell since watching the season premiere twice a few weeks ago. I’d like to finally share it with you, as I’m now feeling way more confident about it: remember in episode one when Pete was whining incessantly about his office not having a window? It was emphasized so much in that episode that it led me to think that Matt Weiner was setting us up for something — and, taking into consideration that there’s an animated falling man in the opening credits (largely presumed to be Don Draper), I began to think that Pete would ultimately meet with an untimely demise via the windows he so desperately coveted (I’ve since noticed that a handful of others on the web have had similar thoughts). Initially, I thought that this would involve some sort of tragic accident — like when a man has his foot chopped to shreds by a John Deere mower in an office — but then as the tension between Pete and Roger started to escalate I began to think that a drunk Roger would somehow manage to push Pete out of a window late at night when no one else was around. But after watching last night’s episode — in which we see Pete begin to slowly circle some sort of mental health toilet bowl — I’m convinced that Pete Campbell will commit suicide by leaping from his office window, and probably soon.
Additionally, there have been a couple of references to suicide in scenes with Pete this season that I recall — I believe a rider on the train with Pete in episode one said something about suicide, and Don said something last night about life in the suburbs being enough to drive a man to suicide. It just seems to me that some clues have been dropped and Pete’s sudden emotional spiral — exacerbated by cheating on his wife with a hooker, getting cock-blocked by a teenager named “Handsome” in a driver’s ed class, being unintentionally emasculated by Don in his home in front of his wife, and getting his ass kicked by Lane at work in front of his co-workers — has me believing this will happen and happen soon. (“I have nothing, Don.”)
But then again, this could all be an elaborate misdirection on Weiner’s part. (UPDATE: Someone else thinks it’ll be Roger.)
-I’m not sure where the ballsy, aggressive Trudie Campbell of last night came from, but I like her.
-Don’s dinner jacket from last night belongs in some sort of MOD style museum. And to think that it’s one that Megan made him change in to because one of his solid-colored work jackets was too conservative, presumably.
-Most. Awkward. Dinner. Party. Ever. (And sorry Pete…Don’s place is much nicer.)
-“I’m not gonna bore you with compliments.” — Roger Sterling handing me my new favorite opening line on a silver platter. Sterling was on f*cking fire last night.
-Oh, and of course Roger knows where there’s a high-end whorehouse in the neighborhood. Of course he does.
-I can’t be the only one who thought Pete was going to violently beat the crap out of that hooker, right?
-Don Draper is now the epitome of morality and virtue — the moral compass of SCDP. Oh how things have changed.
-“Because he was caught with chewing gum on his pubis.” — Lane Pryce. I almost coughed up a lung on that line. (Last night’s episode was written by Weiner and Frank Pierson, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Dog Day Afternoon, btw.)
-“You’re a grimy little pimp.” — Lane Pryce
-When Lane proposed fighting Pete I was struck by how none of the other men in the office did anything to stop it. Don just closed the curtains and they stood back and let it all happen. It’s as if they’d all been dying to see Pete get his ass whipped or something.
-To the victors go the spoils, as they say. In such, Lane got to make out with Joan. Maybe a threesome with the flirty girlfriend of that guy who lost his wallet is coming?
-I was taken aback when Roger told Ken that he’s “a fellow unappreciated author.” I wondered if this meant that Roger has an unpublished novel under his bed or something, but then I remembered that Roger wrote a book back in season three (I think) that you can actually buy.
-Once again: “I have nothing, Don.” PETE CAMPBELL IS GOING TO COMMIT SUICIDE BY JUMPING OUT OF A TIME-LIFE BUILDING WINDOW, PEOPLE!
-No Betty Draper! AGAIN!!!
-Finally, the GIF would below sums up this past weekend on the internet pretty well, but would do so even better if it somehow included Pete crying to Don in the elevator or getting punched in the face by Lane. Just tossing that out there.
Thoughts? Best Pete Campbell-got-his-ass-kicked-so-bad joke gets a Mad Men season one or four DVD set.
(GIFs via Gifulmination and Best Roof Talk Ever)