So how do we feel about last night’s Jon Hamm-directed Mad Men? Like I was after last week’s episode, I’m torn. I was unimpressed — and frankly kind of bored — with the episode as I watched it, but am appreciating it more the longer it marinates in my head. Specifically, I feel like I might have reached a philandering tipping point with the show. Ad guys tom-catting around behind their wives’ backs just doesn’t hold the same appeal for me that it once did. It feels kind of soap opera-y. Personally, I’m much more interested in Peggy potentially betraying Don by tipping her boss to the trouble with the Heinz account.
Anyway, let’s dive right in, shall we…
– Pete and Trudy both openly flirting with neighbors in their home sure effectively foreshadowed what we found out later: that their marriage is an empty vessel, a business relationship of sorts, and that both need to go outside the relationship to find thrills.
– Kind of ironic that North Korea was mentioned in the news report Pete watched on his sofa when everyone is currently freaking out about their nuclear sabre-rattling, no?
– Was the cut between Don’s childhood growing up in a whorehouse and Don appearing to pay Dr. Rosen’s wife for sex some sort of weird psycho-sexual implication that Don views her as a whore?
– Yes, I’m growing tired of the cheating storylines, but Don Draper’s “oh f*ck” face when he walked in on Megan and Sylvia talking in his living room was absolutely priceless, probably one of my favorite things ever on the show.
– I did enjoy the contrast between Don and Pete both f*cking their neighbors’ wives, with Pete’s affair blowing up in his face while Don always appears cooly in control of his while his wife is completely oblivious. Don wins and Pete loses, forever. I’m convinced this will end with Don banging Trudy on Pete’s desk right in front of him, the ultimate “F*ck you, Pete!” from both of him, a big, fat Don/Trudy dagger inserted directly into Pete’s black heart.
– There’s some serious irony in Don’s “you gotta dance with the one that brung ya” loyalty stance in his work life while practicing anything but in his private life.
– I don’t know about you, but every Timmy from ketchup I’ve ever met has been a swarmy little prick.
– “This is how it’s going to work. You will be here only when I tell you to be here. I’m drawing a 50 mile radius around this house and if you so much as open your fly to urinate I will destroy you.” — Trudy Campbell
– It was refreshing to finally see some depth from Alison Brie’s Trudy character last night. Previously, she had always just kind of struck me as a set piece — someone who was just there. I think Joe Biden’s wife speaks for all of us here…
– The emergence of Trudy’s soul on the show is also already inspiring fan art in her honor…
– Speaking of Trudy, have you seen the photos from Alison Brie’s Esquire interview? This is probably my favorite one, because I love popcorn, of course…
– I really enjoyed the symbolic imagery of Trudy turning out the light on Pete after she returned from bringing that bloody broad to a hotel. It certainly pointed to her kicking him to the curb the next morning.
– Herb: “C’mon… I know there’s a part of you that’s glad to see me.” Joan: “And I know there’s a part of you you haven’t seen in years.”
– Dude, you do not leave your wife alone to dine with Don Draper. NEVER. EVER. No wonder he’s long-dicking your wife behind your back — you’re practically begging him to!
– On the flip side, I think it’d be hilarious if it’s later revealed that Dr. Rosen doesn’t give a fuck and all these emergency calls he gets aren’t medical emergencies but his own mistress sending out a bat signal for him to come bang her.
– Is it just me or is there a condom and a packet of birth control pills in Peggy’s desk drawer?
– Someone I follow on Twitter, and I can’t remember who, noted last night that the previews of coming Mad Men episodes are like Vine videos. They really are.
– “You want to feel shitty, right up until the point where I take your dress off. Because I’m going to do that. You want to skip dinner, fine, but don’t pretend.” — Don Draper, laying down the law before he lays down the wood.
– Not sure if I’ve ever heard the early version of “Just A Gigolo” that played during the closing credits. The campy David Lee Roth version had previously been my only experience with the song, as far as I recall.
– More of Joan pwning people in her new role as an executive, PLEEZE!
– Needed more Roger Sterling.
– Finally, Sunday nights are truly great nights for TV again, what with Mad Men, Game of Thrones and Veep all running. It was truly exciting to sit down to watch them all last night.
