"Mad Men" on AMC (US) - (Spoilers Within)

[The Good]

The Crash also reminded me of that Star Trek episode from season 1 where most of the crew gets infected with a disease, with the wild way they were behaving.

 

[Kirk H.]

Can't say that I have any firsthand knowledge of drug use in NYC ad agencies in the late 1960s, but I can offer that some illegal (and legal) drugs carried a certain cachet then (due in no small part to their novelty, I suppose) that eventually wore thin. Perhaps people in "creative" fields were likelier to jump in. Seems plausible.

If this past Sunday's episode did anything to glamorize drug use, it was wasted (har har) on me. Whatever "mild stimulant" that quack administered to the staffers may have kept them up and jumping for a couple of days, but, as the Jim Cutler character observed once the crew crashed (the episode was titled "The Crash"), what they produced over those speed-fuelled days was mostly gibberish. And it turned them erratic, reckless, and creepy.

What I'm not seeing is much of the downside of alcohol and tobacco use (excepting the Roger Sterling character, whose smoking and drinking pose the real likelihood of putting him in an early grave). But then, we mostly ignored (or denied) the consequences of those habits, even as recently as, say, 20 years ago. Having once worked in a place that ran on booze and cigarettes, I find the show's portrayal of that sort of thing quite credible. It would be even more credible if they were to check in with the characters 20 years down the road, to see how many of them had emphysema and/or heart disease and/or cirrhosis and/or cancers of one sort or another.

I dont think Don or Roger would have lived to see the 1980's.

 

[tonyb]

I dont think Don or Roger would have lived to see the 1980's.

Probably right about that. Advances in cardiac care weren't moving quite fast enough to catch Roger in time to save him. And Don perpetually risks being murdered by jealous husbands. And their wives, come to think of it.

But maybe just an amputation would do. You know, the Lorena Bobbitt treatment, which would be poetic, at the very least.

 

[Young fogey]

Yes, the show's veering toward the creepy and arty pretentious.

Like I said, Madison Avenue then was insane, and only a few years earlier, 'Dr Feelgood' was giving those dodgy drugs to President Kennedy and his friends, so the story line last episode wasn't far-fetched.

I think Weiner has said Don will die in his 60s. Like the fanfic I read of '30 Rock' character Jack Donaghy dating Sally Draper: it's the early '90s and Don's dying of cancer.

 

[Young fogey]

Watching reruns now. Must have slept through some scenes the first time. Now I understand: Don's creepy game drove Sylvia away; she came to her senses. And I know why Joan was sick.

 

[Young fogey]

Looks like Sylvia's gone. Didn't see that coming with Bets. Bet she and Don just made another baby. Yay, Abe's gone. Bet Peggy and Ted get together like they both want. So are Joan and Bob dating?

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Quite a few interesting twists and turns to this episode.

My favorite part, of course, was a glimpse at Don's current Cadillac and Betty's wagon.

 

[Young fogey]

Quite a few interesting twists and turns to this episode.

My favorite part, of course, was a glimpse at Don's current Cadillac and Betty's wagon.

Sad that it's leaving the golden era; it's segueing into what I remember. (I'm Kevin Harris' age.) The first car I remember was a '67 Galaxie wagon.

 

[tonyb]

...

My favorite part, of course, was a glimpse at Don's current Cadillac and Betty's wagon.

Yeah, real nice wagon on that Betty.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Got me by 10 years. First car I remember is mom's '77 Ford LTD wagon.

Sad that it's leaving the golden era; it's segueing into what I remember. (I'm Kevin Harris' age.) The first car I remember was a '67 Galaxie wagon.

 

[flat-top]

Another enjoyable episode. And even though they were both cheating, I was "happy" to see Don and Betty together.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

As soon as they were both at the filling station, I knew where that was gonna go.

Another enjoyable episode. And even though they were both cheating, I was "happy" to see Don and Betty together.

 

[The Good]

What's your opinion on that Bob Benson guy?

 

[Young fogey]

What's your opinion on that Bob Benson guy?

Good question! At first you weren't supposed to like him; his ambition was too obvious and he's kind of a geek. Not a smooth operator like the anti-hero main characters. He's a wannabe. When I think about it, in the show's world, many of us would be like him, socially out of our depth. I like him. What's wrong with ambition? He's puppy-dog sincere in his friendliness and it's obviously self-serving at the same time. What you see is what you get, unlike the smart double-dealers at the firm. And ... he's managing to date Joan? Guess he's no geek after all.

Or if they're not dating, he's a beta orbiter, friendly with an obvious ulterior motive just like at work, one that's perfectly normal and not in itself wrong. (Beta orbiting in the friend zone doesn't work for that motive, by the way.) But Joan has never treated men like that; golden-era people didn't have weird, unnatural platonic relationships like that, unlike modern messed-up people. Sure, there were opposite-sex friendships like Don and Peggy but they don't pseudo-date. Don and Anna, the real Don's widow, were another exception, understandable, that could have really happened.

The Bob-Joan connection could be a fake-out for the audience; maybe Bob's gay and she'll be nice and protect him, as a real friend. (You'd think a dweeb like him'd be tongue-tied around her. Not a bad-looking guy. But usually a little awkward.) But the show already did gay with Sal; it's not that common in real life.

 

[AmateisGal]

I liked this episode. I think we all saw it coming with Betty and Don. Now that she's skinny again, she really is craving the attention from other men again.

Not sure what to think about Bob Benson...and then poor Roger. A perpetual child to the end.

 

[AmateisGal]

Oh - and poor Peggy! When I saw that knife on the end of the stick, I knew something bad was going to happen...

 

[Young fogey]

Good point about Betty being thin again and thus getting lots of attention (the man at the event propositioning her; the gas-station attendant; Don).

I liked the comic-relief story about Roger as a grandpa.

More from me.

 

[Fading Fast]

Oh - and poor Peggy! When I saw that knife on the end of the stick, I knew something bad was going to happen...

Agreed - they telegraphed that one. That said, away from a quaint (hopefully not on this board) disdain for cheaters, if ever there are two people who should not just sleep together for "fun," it is those two. Beyond their ugly history with each other, they have two new families that they could blow up (and kids that would get tossed hard in the resulting storm). In a joking-to-make-a-point-way, I said if they needed to cheat, have a fling, whatever, they should have chosen anyone else in the universe but each other. Not that Megan or Henry would be happy finding out that they were cheated on, but they would really go nuclear if they find out that it was with the old spouse. I know its TV and it needs drama and conflict, but my God, that was really stupid.

 

[Fading Fast]

Agreed - they telegraphed that one. That said, away from a quaint (hopefully not on this board) disdain for cheaters, if ever there are two people who should not just sleep together for "fun," it is those two. Beyond their ugly history with each other, they have two new families that they could blow up (and kids that would get tossed hard in the resulting storm). In a joking-to-make-a-point-way, I said if they needed to cheat, have a fling, whatever, they should have chosen anyone else in the universe but each other. Not that Megan or Henry would be happy finding out that they were cheated on, but they would really go nuclear if they find out that it was with the old spouse. I know its TV and it needs drama and conflict, but my God, that was really stupid.

Hi, sorry, meant to respond to the comment about Don and Betty sleeping together - I grabbed the wrong quote.

 

[Young fogey]

That's why adultery generally is bad in real life.