I think the quintessential question for Mad Men that I will always come down to is whether or not I am supposed to like Don Draper. We’ll leave out, just for a second, whether or not I’m even supposed to like him and settle that another day. Do I like Don? Not really, not yet. I mean, in pretty much every situation, if he were to imagine his better angels on his left shoulder and his demons on the other, he always going right.
“Shoot” Season One, Episode Nine
“I was a model, you know.” – Betty
“Every commercial block on air in the land of Lincoln is clogged up with … laxative buys.” – Cooper
My favorite storyline of the entire season, besides Don and Rachel Milken, is the Nixon/Kennedy stuff. Not that it should be much of a surprise, considering my degree in Government or affinity for all things The West Wing. Maybe it was interesting because it is the only thing we’ve seen Don, in a work setting, not be successful. It’s like he doesn’t even want into that particular game. He’s fired clients before, but that isn’t the same as the sense that he just doesn’t know his place in that world.
I love how Don continually smacks Pete down. His response to Pete’s “Are we done here?” was perfectly timed. To be truthful, Pete actually deserved it. An attaboy from the owners is one thing, but to flout it in front of your boss like that, ending the meeting? No sir, that wouldn’t work for me either.
Don played himself into a nice little promotion (do yourself a favor and don’t look at an online inflation calculator to see how much of one). It is pretty ironic that he spurned the offer from the guys using his wife to get to him to stay with the guy that basically made a pass at his wife mere weeks ago. If that isn’t a screwed up sense of priorities, I’m not sure what is. But hey, he’s in the money now!
The scene between Don and Betty at the end (even more so than Betty shooting pigeons, which Bob told me I’d love) was incredibly well played. Both thought that they knew more than the other, but both played it so innocently. We know, obviously, that Don is the more informed of the two, but when he’s actually supportive (in his own domineering way), it is actually surprising and effective.
“Long Weekend” Episode Ten
“This place reminds me of a czarist ministry. No matter what the decision, you don’t feel it was yours.” – Menken
I did something different when I watched this episode … I closed the laptop, and actually gave 100% attention to it. I’m not sure how you watch television, but it isn’t often I don’t have a computer going to take notes, chat with other Clackers, or get distracted with the myriad of ways the Internets can distract us. I’m not sure if it was because I was distraction free, or just because this episode was different, but I enjoyed it quite a bit more.
The impact that Sterling’s heart attack had on both Don and Joan was surprising. With his colleague, the reaction surpassed loyalty. Don’s story as he laid in Rachel’s arms might have pointed to the loss he experienced as a child, but I didn’t buy it. That story would seem to build a man who was deeply devoted to fidelity. He was the product of a prostitute’s pregnancy, raised by his father’s wife. The fact that he turned out to be an even worse man, at least in this particular light, makes him what? Flawed? Is that the best we have to show … that all men are flawed?
The whole scene at Rachel’s apartment exemplified that. When she said that Don was using Sterling’s heart attack as an excuse for bad behavior, I laughed out loud. Until she finally relented, I think Rachel was the only noble character in the entirety of the show. Then she just copped out, too. Believe it or not, I’m not sitting here in judgment of extra-marital affairs (Personally, I think that your spouse and your god will do enough of that for the rest of us). But she had been holding her line like a politician trying to spin her way out of a bad Twitpic mistake, only to go back on her certitude when Dashing Don finally played the right card.
With Joan, I have to admit I was a bit confused. First, the way that she shut down her roommate was downright cruel; though, in that particular situation, I’m think cruelty might have been a kindness (Carol didn’t seem to take the message the right way, did she?). Then, she had to fight to hold the tears back when Cooper told her about Sterling’s condition. The old guy impressed the heck out of me, though, by telling her that she could do better, because honestly, Joan … you totally can.
Take a look at previous entries in my Mad Men Virgin Diary.
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Jun 28, 2011 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
