80 replies to this topic

[ags]

Highlights of Duck's tenure:
Herman "Duck" Phillips was hired to head Account Services at Sterling Cooper.
Worked at Y and R in London.
Thinks that SC needs more young people.
Seems to have taken a shine to Pete.
Convinced Roger and Bertram to try to land American Airlines. Sterling Cooper already had Mohawk Airlines as a client. Don was tasked with firing Mohawk to show American they were serious about acquiring them as a client.
SC ended up not getting the American Airlines account because Shel Kenneally, Duck's friend got fired.

[Billthebear]

You know, Duck is perhaps my least favourite regular character. I've never liked him from the beginning.

He's supposed to be such a hotshot, what with that background at Y&R. However, it was never clear just why he left Y&R, which is a much bigger and more successful firm than Sterling Cooper. Was he fired? If not, why did he want to leave London, and the fancy plane flights he bragged about having got from former airline clients?

The Shel Kenneally contact at AA sure didn't pan out, so I wonder if that will tarnish Duck's reputation at Sterling Cooper.

[QAF Rocks]

I don't like him, either. He's just not a very compelling character for me. Duck's a bit boring, the guy in the office we're all supposed to be rooting against.

[Constantinople]

I don't much care for him either, but in the Three Sundays Episode he told the gum chewing secretary not to worry about being fired; he also told the Account Execs to stop griping about Don & Creative, but in a professional manner. Something along the lines of Accounts bends down the branch, and Creative picks the fruit. I have no idea what that means, but it came off well.

[EleanorAquitain]

Something along the lines of Accounts bends down the branch, and Creative picks the fruit. I have no idea what that means, but it came off well.

It meant that it is the job of Accounts to create an environment in which all Creative has to do is with the potential client over with their ideas. So Duck was saying that as inscrutable (and maddening, since he seemed to be scrapping all the prep work they did previously) as Don was being with his "there is only the future," Duck was saying it was their job to go with it because it would ultimately be Don's creative mind that would get them the account. It was a good moment for Duck in terms of being a team player.

Edited by EleanorAquitain, Aug 26, 2008 @ 1:25 PM.

[KissMeKate]

Duck serves as a peer to Don - a competitor, a foil. Don is smarter but Duck can keep it in his pants, it seems. Don's horny ants in his pants are going to get him in trouble this season....

[ags]

I am very disturbed about the Duck and Chauncey story, no not the part where Duck puts the dog out on the street, but that Duck was full of such despair and self-loathing that he could not accept Chauncey's love and latch onto it as a reason to not fall off the wagon.

Duck wanted to fall off the wagon and he wanted the consequences that came with it. With alcoholics / addicts, there is the notion that they have to hit rock bottom before they will address their problem. It looks like Duck experienced this and had rebuilt his life back to within striking distance of where it was before, but now it appears that he has decided that he "deserved" rock bottom. He has not given himself absolution for the "sins" he committed while he was drinking.

Edited by ags, Sep 1, 2008 @ 9:05 PM.

[first avenue]

Did anyone notice the promo of the staff going into someone's office and looking up like they are looking at a window or something. I hope it's not Duck.
I felt so bad for him. Everything he had was leaving his grasp and I think he put the dog out, because he's going to go the way of Don's brother. He was in such despair, poor guy.
What moves does he have left careerwise, except on the way down?
I still don't understand why Duck hasn't tried to start a relationship with one of the nice women who work in the office.
He seems like a nice man, I'm sure they would like him.

[unclewiggly]

Duck is alive (which is definitely not to say sober) at least through episode 8, so never fear.

[Constantinople]

From now I'm referring to this character as Herman, not Duck.

He doesn't deserve an animal nickname.

[mrsbootsie]

I am very disturbed about the Duck and Chauncey story, no not the part where Duck puts the dog out on the street

I was not fond of him before, but his character is dead to me now. I hope he falls and falls HARD.

[ags]

I was not fond of him before, but his character is dead to me now. I hope he falls and falls HARD

From now I'm referring to this character as Herman, not Duck.
He doesn't deserve an animal nickname.

Yoo hooo, Animal Lovers! Bobbi is still tied up in the bedroom... So what's up with that, bitches don't count? :-D

Edited by ags, Sep 2, 2008 @ 11:27 AM.

[rue bee]

Duck locking Chauncey out was one of the most heart wrenching moments ever on this show.

[QAF Rocks]

Just when I decided that Duck wasn't a compelling character, they had to go and humanize him for us.

I admit that I'm confused about what happened with Chauncey. Surely Duck didn't put his dog out on the street to run away and possibly get hit by a car. Or did he? At first I thought that's what he did, but then decided it seemed more likely that he put Chauncey out on the roof so he could go ahead and get drunk without feeling guilty. I find the other possibility rather too disturbing to contemplate.

[Billthebear]

Putting Chauncey out wasn't nice, to be sure. However, I'm wondering just how much Duck wanted Chauncey back in the first place. One could see his protestations that the kids should keep the dog as just being polite, but maybe he really didn't want to be Chauncey's master again.

Another point: Do we really know that, after putting Chauncey out, Duck went back upstairs to drink? It seems logical...but we didn't actually see him doing it.

Duck isn't drinking openly at the office; he refused Don's offer to have the secretary get "something for you" when Don poured himself the stiff drink to celebrate the Martenson's Coffee deal.

Could he be sorely tempted to drink, but not yet giving in to temptation?

[Mamalita]

Duck isn't drinking openly at the office; he refused Don's offer to have the secretary get "something for you" when Don poured himself the stiff drink to celebrate the Martenson's Coffee deal.

I took Don to mean that his secretary could bring in something non-alcoholic, since he only has booze in his office and it's known that Duck doesn't drink.

[Constantinople]

Duck isn't drinking openly at the office; he refused Don's offer to have the secretary get "something for you" when Don poured himself the stiff drink to celebrate the Martenson's Coffee deal.

Herman's worked at Sterling Cooper for over a year and half now. He knows it would look odd if he suddenly started drinking in front of his colleagues.

And I still hope Herman is pushed face first into a wood chipper.

Edited by Constantinople, Sep 11, 2008 @ 5:48 PM.

[first avenue]

I envision Chauncey sitting in a Park Avenue (or Upper East side) Apartment, in front of a fireplace rolling around on a fur throw rug with his new owner (who found him on the street that night/day) eating some treats, before new owner sends him off bed in the den for the evening.

(Maybe Pete found Chauncy and secretly took him home to the wife. Pete has been known to like having other people's things)


Why doesn't Duck ask one of the girls in the office out, it might calm his nerves. Even on the weekend he was sitting with some potential client.

Edited by first avenue, Sep 12, 2008 @ 2:51 AM.

[boris]

I noticed that Duck doesn't drink at the office or in front of People Who Know, but he eyed that wine at the Draper's dinner party. At this point, he's probably drinking in secret and making a big show of not drinking in public in order to maintain his position.

[Dana Girl]

I agree; in fact, I thought that he tried to get out the Draper's party because he used Sundays to get wasted.

Duck is really such a sad, interesting figure to me. I couldn't stand him the first couple of eps this season, but now I can't wait to see what they do with him next.

[Scaramanga]

Why doesn't Duck ask one of the girls in the office out, it might calm his nerves. Even on the weekend he was sitting with some potential client.

I kind of wondered why he didn't bring one of the office girls to the dinner party, especially since it was essentially a business meeting.

[ags]

The age difference is probably a factor. Also, Duck hates himself and is unwilling to impose his unworthiness on a women.

Edited by ags, Sep 15, 2008 @ 6:28 PM.

[first avenue]

Poor Duck, sadness sweeps across him when he's talking about anything.
I hope he takes Betty up on her offer to get his a dinner date next time, if there is a dinner at Don and Betty's ever again.

[unclewiggly]

I don't understand this pervasive idea that Duck is drinking again. We've had absolutely no hints of it whatsoever, unless you're counting his awkward glances whenever others are being served (or serving themselves). As a recovering alcoholic, I can tell you -- the love affair never dies, no matter how long you've been dry. You never stop wanting.

I think Duck is being good.

[swansong]

I think he's off the wagon. First getting rid of Chauncey and then his attitude at the dinner party and his behaviour in general made me think he's putting up a front in company and drinking in private.

[bimbo du jour]

I don't understand this pervasive idea that Duck is drinking again.

I'm with you, unclewiggly. I think Duck is still sober. And it can't be easy, considering how much people around him are drinking.

[Constantinople]

Herman went to someone's office, made-up an excuse to get that person to leave, poured himself a drink (or was about to), looked into Chauncey's eyes. Then Herman takes Chauncey outside, unleashes Chauncey and then goes back inside.

This is not conclusive proof, but it's not unreasonable to infer that Herman abandoned Chauncey so that Herman could let himself have a drink (either then or later). Otherwise, they're just two back-to-back random scenes that have nothing in common other than Herman and Chauncey, and Mad Men doesn't seem to to do random.

[unclewiggly]

OR how about

Herman went into someone's office, made up an excuse to get that person to leave, started to make love to the bourbon bottle, and saw Chauncey -- and realizes that it is this invasion of his former life -- this imposition of responsibility, this unconditional love he doesn't feel he deserves, this tangible reminder of the man he USED to be and all the bad feelings of guilt and regret that it dredges up -- that brought him this close to the brink again, and he has to get rid of it.

One of the hardest things about being a recovering addict is removing reminders of your pre-sobriety life from your environment. This means saying goodbye to drinking buddies, losing friends, and sometimes even physically moving away. It's not pretty, it's not kind, and it's not fun, but a lot of times it's necessary if you're going to stay sober.

Edited by unclewiggly, Sep 16, 2008 @ 5:16 PM.

[ags]

I definitely think he drank the night he put Chauncey out into the street. I am not so sure that he is drinking on an ongoing basis... yet.

[Reddeyze]

What unclewiggly said (I agree with you on several points, it would seem). I think that Duck got rid of Chauncey to rid himself of past painful associations; he didn't get rid of him so that he could drink without Chauncey's recriminating eyes on him.

What he did to Chauncey was undeniably harsh, but I think that Duck felt it was him or Chauncey.

I do agree with many of you, though: Duck is a mildly boring character and as a foil for Don, Pete is more interesting.