- Mad Women
I struggled to watch the Emmy’s last night and made it through enough to watch Matt Weiner win an award for Outstanding Writing. Then Jimmy Fallon’s musical tribute to canceled shows got muted, and later Ricky Gervais saved the entire telecast, but Mad Men also won Outstanding Drama Series for the third year in a row.
Somehow this episode, “Waldorf Stories,” managed to be funny, engaging, interesting, and embarrassing—yet on the whole, kind of a ho-hum, wheel-spinning, scenes-from-SCDP montage.
To coincide with the Emmy’s there was an actual Emmy reference by Crane and an advertising awards gala. Joan holding hand with Roger and Don was priceless; she’s the den mother of SCDP.
Fun to see Don and Peggy interviewing. The hire (Jonathan from Buffy, I don’t care that his name is Danny Strong is he will always be “Jonathan from Buffy” and next to Jon Hamm he looks like a grinder monkey) is a nepotistic joke thrown at them by Roger Sterling but thanks to a massive fuck up by Don he actually ends up getting hired. Don and Peggy still have an edge to their dynamic, but she’s also his little conscience and can slap some sense into him when he needs it.
Peggy’s a little upset that she gets no recognition for the nominated ad, and Don is all swollen pride after he wins, leading to a horrible, toe-curling client meeting (that somehow actually works out) and then a hell of bender that we don’t, unfortunately, get to see. Except apparently Don picked up a tore-up waitress named Doris and told her his real name. Not a big deal, but it’s like Dick Whitman is Don’s Tyler Durden (or maybe Don is Tyler in this equation) and since the divorce he keeps rearing his ugly head. Hey, at least this time his drunken antics didn’t damage his reputation at the office (so much as cement it). He managed to consolidate the wreckage to his personal life, and I do feel sorry for his absent kids. Don seems to know he’s making a lot of mistakes but can’t stop making them. I guess you can tell how people will behave based on how they’ve behaved in the past, unlike Don claimed two weeks ago.
(Don and Faye are on a crash course to hooking up as well. Minor episode detail.)
- Peggy Olson Triumphant
The still embattled Peggy also had a rough week, butting heads with the new art director Rizzo. Matt Weiner describes him as “the first aggressively sexist character on the show.” We thought we had seen sexism before but this guy is instantly odious. Peggy, forced to work with him all weekend, calls his bluff on being a “nudist” by stripping naked for their brainstorming. And thus wins. Peggy shows off her smarts, daring, progressive side, and a few other parts to shut up this pig. We are all very proud of her.
Also, Ken Cosgrove is coming back, for the rest of the season it looks like. And the first thing he’s treated to is a taste of Pete’s new spine. I liked that scene. Ken never felt the competitive pressure like Pete did, but I’d like to see these two work together again and the power struggles that ensue. The new hire seems so obnoxious they may as well bring back Kinsey too.
More evidence that Roger is on his way out: He’s writing his memoirs and can’t get past his childhood. Lane Pryce describes him as a “child.” He’s jealous of the award and has to ask Don to appreciate him. Joan asks him what he does and is unimpressed with his moroseness. Roger is done.
Finally, we got to fill in some back story I’ve always been curious about—Don’s life in between selling cars and Sterling Cooper. We get a glimpse of Don as the eager, ambitious kid he was when Roger found him. The neat ending scene begs the question, did Roger actually hire Don at their drunken breakfast together? Or did Don sneak his way in? Roger isn’t sure himself.
I take it back; even though it wasn’t my favorite, the episode did work, with some nice parallels. Don on the same road to disaster that Roger once was. Peggy on the same road to success that Don once was. And a nice cameo from Duck, who is apparently back on the sauce.
The entire house of cards that Dick Whitman built doesn’t exist. Even getting his job. DON DRAPER WAS NEVER ACTUALLY HIRED! The single smartest move Roger (n)ever made and Don did it for him.
I loved Peggy storming into Don’s apartment, berrating him, telling him “fix it” and storming back out. Peggy is a fucking bad-ass. And then makes fun of Rizzo’s small penis.
Pete is the smarmiest sorest winner ever. He put Kosgrove in his place, and then acted like a fucking dick-ass-munch. Pete can’t even win for winning. Always the loser. And Lane having to tell Pete that he actually likes him to console his stupid temper-tantrum? Lane is one of the only two people with any class at SCDP.
I liked Rizzo. He looked like that guy from 21 Jump Street. But Rizzo the first aggressively sexist character? HA. I guess that means Don’s hand-jammed-up-the-vagina move from a few seasons ago would be considered a feminist gesture.
Great episode. (The quality of the show is typically inversely proportionate to Betty’s screen time, IMHO. Her relevance extends only to her impact on Don and the kids, otherwise she’s a bore. For Dave Bow ONLY-she’s the Sammi of Mad Men).
+1 for Duck’s return. Ken’s new client, a beverage called Mountain Dew, is, like, totally exxxxtreme!
+1 for Madame Defarge.
For as much as I enjoy Peggy (and her ever-changing hairstyles from scene to scene), it would be nice to get a handle on her motivations. Even though she’s reprentative of cultural and gender shifts, they write her too enigmatically at times.
Best part of the episode? The very, VERY brief cameo from sobriety!
How sexy is that Don Draper THIS season, ladies???
Graham,
Good points. If Joan’s the den mother, Lane’s big daddy. Classy plus much funnier liquored up than the rest.
Vincent K’s portrayal of Pete might be the best on the show. Such a great mix of pathos, cockiness, insecurity and sleaze.
Pete somehow manages to sound younger and less in control the more he tries to dominate a situation. Maybe Vincent’s serious voice is too congested for drama; or maybe he’s just acting! But it’s good to know they still made him take freshman English in order to get his BS in Communications. A+!
And Judas Priest does Peggy manage to be my consistent favorite in each episode. SCDP still treats her like a woman, but she can play hardball with the best of them (even if she is just a Catholic girl from Brooklyn [who can’t finish a drink!–I’m pretty sure Don slammed the rest of hers after she walked out of his office]).
Speaking of balls, and who doesn’t have them, [Ratso] Rizzo. I was hoping he would act as much like Christian Slater as his voice would suggest. It was more like he was cocky enough to act like Bukowski, but, uh … Peggy needed to make one tiny change.
Yeah I forgot about Don Draper’s patented power sexual-assault finger blast move. My jaw hit the floor when I first saw that.
And Graham you leave Pete alone! He’s doing the best he knows how!