You’re A Monster
Dear Kathryn,
I loved this episode’s bookends – with Don, in the fetal position on the bed, then the couch, having disappointed quite possibly the two most important women in his life (Megan, then Peggy). At least Peggy has the wisdom Megan lacks, and can call him out on what a monster he’s being. Megan seems willing to put up with being continually tossed aside by her husband (him changing the channel on her soap opera may have been a bit heavy handed there!). But in the same way Betty knows that Don is at home getting drunk (and Megan has no idea), Peggy too is able to call him out on his crap. Still, I’m left wondering just what it is about Peggy and Ted that bothers Don so. Sure, he mentored her, and she’s his proudest protege. And I’ve never really thought Read the rest of this entry »
Get that girl a counselor!
Dear Natalie,
How many times is poor Sally going to walk in on adulterous sex? She may not have made it to second base herself yet, but if there were a category in the Model UN on various sexual acts and positions, she’d be on the Security Council. It hardly helps her budding sexuality that each encounter is so loaded with lies, shame, and deceit. Or at least it didn’t seem to help the young Dick Whitman’s ideas of sex. Can someone please call Dr. Edna? Read the rest of this entry »
A Tale of Two Cities
Dear Kathryn,
While I know so many people were up in arms about the confusion of The Crash two weeks ago, I have to admit, it was this one that left me a little adrift; perhaps it’s because we were moving between coasts, I felt left somewhere in the Midwest, not quite sure what was going on. With something like The Crash, I can settle into the artistry of it, expecting not to have too much of a narrative payoff. But whenever Mad Men tries to do a ‘narrative’ episode, I find myself wondering: “so what?” Narrative movement just isn’t what this show is really “about,” and so while I didn’t dislike this episode, I can’t say I was all that into it either. I like it when the guys go to LA with their suit jackets and experiment with new girls and new drugs – but this trip out West wasn’t all that different than other trips out West the show has done. Although it was kind of awesome to see Roger get punched in the balls, and now we know that Carnation gets overly emotional about a cross-country time difference, the only real movement we saw was Don’s psyche opened up for a moment by hashish (is that hope or fear that Megan could be pregnant again, and just why would he feel haunted by the private he befriended in the season opener?). But I’m not convinced we had to go to LA to see that. But I suppose, who cares about LA when we could have Joan stepping into total success or total failure? Read the rest of this entry »
Two halves of the same person
Dear Natalie,
This week was a reminder of just how formally beautiful Mad Men can be, plots, characters, and visual clues layered in symmetrical folds, creating a perfect origami swan of symbolic excellence! The connecting thread (to mix my metaphors) was the strange couplings – the connecting halves of disparate and sometimes perfect pairs – that wove their way through every plot point. Peggy names the theme when she yells at Don for pretending that he and Ted are not involved in a passive-aggressive odd couple routine, determined to divide the newly united SCDPCGC into teams: “sometimes you are the same man.” Megan echoes this later that night at dinner when sharing her frustration at trying to make Chloe and Colette into recognizably different people (and did you think for a moment that Megan might have gotten her part precisely because she could do that hammed up French accent so well?!): “they are two halves of the same person, driven by the same desires.” Perhaps precisely because he heard that speech from Peggy a few hours earlier, Don requests they skip the dinner Megan just cooked and “turn on the tube.” Thank god that Megan finally acknowledged how boorish and distant her erstwhile committed spouse has become, but more on the Don/Megan dyad in a moment. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m Not from Somewhere Other Than This Moment?
Dear Kathryn,
There are a number of threads in this episode on which we could pull to try to unravel it and get at its meaning. I feel like the whole thing was full of one-liners, each of which could constitute the central focus of a whole blog post. The one I want to tease out is history. But first a brief aside: Mad Men gets consistently accused of being heavy-handed; indeed, I know I’ve made that accusation myself. Sally’s realization last night – “And then I realized I don’t know you at all” – or Don’s exclamation that every time they get a car “this place turns into a whorehouse,” hot on the heels of a set of flashbacks to his being raised in a brothel both offer examples of this classic Mad Men move of hitting us over the head with content summary. But last night I came to the conclusion that these moves are the show’s strength, not weakness. Because it’s not like any one of them makes the meaning of the whole thing so much clearer. Instead, they provide small footholds for reflection. I began to wonder, in fact, if when we bloggers like to point out how heavy-handed these moments are, it’s really because we’re a little overwhelmed by just how smart (and, by extension, confusing) this show can sometimes be, and we want to respond with something like, “don’t think you’re smarter than me Mad Men, because you’re not…I’m on to you!” An episode like this – that bends time and reality (brilliant use of lighting at various times makes hours pass unnoticed as a character simply walks down a hall to his office…I imagine alluding to whatever blackouts the drugged state may have been inducing) and opens up new dimensions for characters (I. Love. Stan. Now) – puts its meaning just beyond our reach. And in that, whether Don’s got time for art or not, the show, I think, comes as close to art as anything running on tv right now. Now, back to history. Read the rest of this entry »
Happy Graduation Cupcake!
Dear Kathryn,
While I’m excited for The Originals, this episode actually gave me a craving for a different spinoff – something like, The Other Side, maybe? I mean, Lexi, Alaric, Kole, the witches – these guys made the show fun again! I was, in fact, much more bummed than their best friends seemed to be when each one slipped away. At least Bonnie got some sort of a farewell – but of course, our biggest concerns with her (i.e., that her power would kill her rather than empower her) came true in an pretty amplified way. Not only did she die as punishment for her strength, but she got a kind of double, definitive death, giving up her life to save the guy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to have Jeremy back. He’s actually become a surprisingly mature voice of reason on the show! But in an episode heavy-handedly exploring the theme of selfishness and self-sacrifice, it’s exhausting to me that the ultimate sacrifice is paid by the only strong black woman on the show in order to save the life of a white man. Read the rest of this entry »
Take me with you
The Mindy Project wrapped up its first season, as Mindy decided to join Casey on the year long mission trip to Haiti – seemingly solidifying their relationship, but leaving her professional life hanging in the balance. This has been an up and down season with some bright spots, but just not enough character development of laugh-out-loud moments to really satisfy. Given the cast and writers, I came into this show expecting a comedy series with a few meaningful story lines thrown in to make the viewer think every once in a while. On occasion the show did actually address some interesting topics and issues, Read the rest of this entry »
