599 replies to this topic

[TWoP Mars]

From AMCTV.com:

Betty gets a visit from her father. Sterling Cooper grapples with a very specific client request. Roger makes arrangements for a wedding. Peggy becomes personally affected by a campaign.

[Marie Blossom]

For me, the episode felt a bit slow. How cute was Peggy singing and dancing in front of the mirror, though? I agree with her, that actress' voice sounded shrill. I thought it was nice of Don to take in Betty's father. Don looked really hot at the end there, with the sunglasses and suit.

[over30patheticgroupie]

So what "other things" did Peggy do with the guy? ;) Looks like she is not looking for long term romance.

I give Don credit for letting his father-in-law live there, Betty's brother should be happy he got off easy.

I love Roger, but can't blame Mona and his daughter (that's a different actress playing her) for their resentment.

I hope Joan doesn't get pregnant!

[SassandtheCity]

I really enjoyed this episode a lot. Just like last season, the second episode proved to be faster moving and more interesting than the premiere.

I enjoy Roger's total blind spot at the wreckage he has caused in the lives of others as well as Peggy's continued fascination with the fabulousness of Joan who looked infinitely better this week.

Don asking Betty's father to live with them was beyond sweet and a nice step forward.

[Penguins71]

Wow, so did anyone else get the impression the big closeup on Rogers' daughters wedding invitation that the show was telling us it WASN'T going to gloss over the JFK assassination? Nov 23rd 1963 is the day after, so I'm guessing that wedding may see a postponment.

Love em and leave em Peggy... I like her!

[Zif]

Peggy had it in one: that actress' voice was like nails on a chalkboard. To be fair, that's a terrible song, but still.

I am ceaselessly amused that Peggy hooked up with a guy who looks a lot like Pete. I wonder if that was intentional on the part of whoever's in charge of casting. The priest from last season looked a lot like Pete, as well. Does Peggy have a type who happens to resemble Pete and the other guys, or is she just drawn to people who look like Pete?

Speaking of casting, was that Embeth Davidtz playing Pryce's wife? It sounded just like her.

Gene moving in cannot end well, but it was nice seeing Don use his alpha male mojo for good instead of evil.

It was nice seeing Roger gradually realizing that he cannot get by on charm anymore, although I did love him breezing past Peggy stating bluntly that her father had passed away.

Pryce was much less the "cold-blooded Brit" stereotype this episode and more like beleaguered middle management, hassled by his superiors and his subordinates alike. He seemed much more sympathetic, and it appeared to me more nuanced and interesting than Pryce as the "villain."

Edited by Zif, Aug 23, 2009 @ 10:14 PM.

[Maire]

I loved how Don took in Betty's father becasue he knew she wanted that. Of course I don't think it will work out.

So ..love among the ruins. Clearly Roger and the love he left behind (plus the ruins in his office)
Betty's father and what is left of him.

Weren't the cuts to commercial really random? They threw me off a little.

[AnansiGirl]

I love Roger, but can't blame Mona and his daughter (that's a different actress playing her) for their resentment.

Really? It looked like the same actress to me.

[over30patheticgroupie]

Why do you think Don was feeling the grass? Was it because he was enthralled by the teacher's freeness dancing?

[eavj]

Elizabeth Moss rocked in this episode. I loved her "Bye, Bye, Birdie" rendition. It's no surprise she was nominated for an Emmy.

I'm a bit confused, though, about the situation with the father. What would have been so wrong if the brother and his wife had moved in to the father's house? The father would have been able to stay in his own place, the sister-in-law would have been there to care for him. I don't get it.

It seemed that Don was just trying to placate Betty. Having her father in the house? This is not going to end well.

Speaking of Betty . . . I see she's just as warm and lovely to her children as always.

[SassandtheCity]

Wow, so did anyone else get the impression the big closeup on Rogers' daughters wedding invitation that the show was telling us it WASN'T going to gloss over the JFK assassination? Nov 23rd 1963 is the day after, so I'm guessing that wedding may see a postponment.

I was trying for the life of me trying to figure out why they were placing such a heavy emphasis on the date!

[izabella]

What was the deal with those shots of Don at the end? He was focusing in on the teacher dancing around the maypole, and then we saw his hand put his coffee cup down on the grass, back to the teacher, and then back to his hand with his fingertips sort of touching the grass. Was that supposed to mean something?

[Dumdeedumdum]

Based on the little tidbit of preview for next week, I have a very bad feeling about Joan's story line. All along, it has looked to me like Dr. McRapesalot is going to end up beating her, and I fear next week might be it. Damn.

[YippySkippy]

That was definitely the same actress playing Roger's daughter. I always remember her in whatever she's in because she played a teenage Natalie Wood in a biopic.

As for the episode, looked like a bunch of cutting room scenes put together ...

[xocalove578]

Ooo, previews for next week looked so good! This is actually the first time ever I've been able to catch Mad Men live, but does anyone know if AMC always replays the episode at 11pm as well?

Betty is so...odd to me. I can't get a read on her. If I was her, I would be ecstatic Judy was willing to take her father off her hands for her. I wonder what will end up happening. Peggy's storyline was also interesting. I thought her date looked a bit like Pete as well. I kind of wish she had told him that she wasn't just a secretary, but can see why she didn't. He seemed very young though. How old is Peggy supposed to be? Maybe she just seems older than she is.

Ok, one part I really didn't get was at the Maypole dance, when Don was staring at his daughter's teacher, and then he placed the cup down, then reached for it, but didn't grab it. Huh? Color me confused. Please tell me this was some kind of symbolism, and not that Don is planning to hook up with Teach.

[Ripley68]

Did Peggy's dad die between last season and this? Wasn't the priest coming to visit him at the beginning of last season? I totally agree, Ann Margaret's voice was grating. Mad Men throws around some big names, Pepsi, Pampers. I'm not clear on why the higher ups didn't want Madison Square. Just a bottom line? Are they setting us up for Don leaving and starting his own? He shouldn't be under contract anymore. I love Bert Coopers response to the loss of the account. I didn't quite get Don and the grass. Was he just trying to get closer to the teacher?

The Drapers are so screwed with Betty's dad there. And man, she has become even more of a hormonal witch! I think if someone who obviously cared for my dad offered to move into his house to take care of him,, I'd be all over it!

Edited by Ripley68, Aug 23, 2009 @ 10:15 PM.

[beeble]

The wedding date was a little too anvil-ish. I couldn't help but think, an upper-middle class wedding in November? I know they happen, but the Sterlings would want a summer date so the couple could get a nice honeymoon in Europe and not be so overwhelmed before Christmas. Oh, I kvetch. It all goes into the theme of "change just is."

I didn't quite get Don and the grass. Was he just trying to get closer to the teacher?

This refers to Don's earlier line about welcoming change with a dance.

Roger got all the good lines this episode. "You ever get three sheets to the wind and put this thing on?"

Sal cracked me up with his "Aw" when the projector was shut off.

Still not enough Joan. And what was with her blouse?

Edited by beeble, Aug 23, 2009 @ 10:15 PM.

[Jersey09]

Don's fixation on the teacher was creepy to me. I guess she was being all Ann Margaret free and 15. And that's such nice change from his very prego and curt wife and his co-worker Peggy with her "toolbox." If somebody could explain the toolbox line, I would greatly appreciate it.

So really? Women aspired to be like Ann Margaret belting out Bye, Bye Birdie.

Roger is such a cad, but his line about the armor in the brit's office really cracked me up.

I love Peggy. I love seeing her trying to figure out how to be a powerful, kick-ass woman and yet have the sex appeal of Joan. I so appreciate her nausea at seeing the Bye, Bye Birdie clip. That's how I feel when I see Paris Hilton or the bimbos on the Hills or whatever vapid girl is being shoved down our throats as the "ideal" woman today.

Edited by Jersey09, Aug 23, 2009 @ 10:19 PM.

[avaleigh]

I'm confused about Peggy's feelings towads Don--she was calling him a jerk, right? It isn't as though he hasn't been frank with her before. I'm surprised she took such offense to his comments.

I agree that Peggy was cute (and a little sad) while she was singing in the mirror. Even though Joan has put on weight she can still command attention in a way that Peggy can't.

Paul is skating on thin ice. I'm guessing he'll get the boot at some point this season.

Betty's brother is a jerk. I can't believe he's only supposed to be 30!

Betty's hostility towards her children is so apparent I can't believe some people still simply see her as one of those undemonstrative mothers. She really resents them IMO.

I really hope that Joan doesn't have to get pregnant this season.

I loved the scene with Mona, Roger, and the daughter. Go Mona, for having a date and showing Roger that she's moved on as well. I can understand the daughter not wanting Jane to be there but people are going to talk either way so why not make it seem as though they are making the best of things and that it really isn't all that bad?

Roger has so much nerve for wondering why his daughter is acting the way she is. He loves to play the victim.

Was it me or were the commercial breaks super awkward this ep?

Why does Peggy go for these Brooklyn boys? She seems a little out of their league. JMO.

All in all I liked the episode but I would have liked to have had a few more scenes at the office.

[Suzy Trashmouth]

Ok, one part I really didn't get was at the Maypole dance, when Don was staring at his daughter's teacher, and then he placed the cup down, then reached for it, but didn't grab it. Huh? Color me confused. Please tell me this was some kind of symbolism, and not that Don is planning to hook up with Teach.

What I got from it was that the teacher's aesthetic and carefree ways echoed Ann Margaret in the Bye Bye Birdy clip. More than that, it echoed Don's crap to the Madison Square Garden dude about welcoming change with a dance of joy. Don seemed to be watching her bare feet on the grass, so when he set down his cup and touched the grass I thought he was trying to be "connected". Whether to her or just her feeling of joy, her uncomplicated nature...who knows?

I agree that the episode seemed disjointed. I wonder who wrote it, because it never quite gelled for me. I hate this British agency crap, and I hope the season finds a point soon.

[ovrdedge]

was that Embeth Davidtz playing Pryce's wife? It sounded just like her.

I thought it was her too, but man, she did something weird to her face, especially the lips.

Patio has got to be the worst diet soft drink name ever.

I have to agree with Don: why did the Brits even buy Sterling Cooper? He was right to be pissed about having to pass on the Madison Square Gardens deal, especially after he won the account for them with a classic Don Draper pitch.

He was also very good to Betty in this ep. I liked how he told her to tell him what was bugging her in the car, and not three seconds after he's dozed off. I have a feeling, his offer to let Betty's dad stay with them is going to come back and bite him in the ass. It's already started, with the emptying out of all the booze down the sink!

Betty's sister-in-law seems perfectly nice, so I wonder why Betty is always maligning her and her own brother to Don.

[Zif]

Peggy is facing that classic career woman dilemma: she can be competent and respected, or she can be desired, but not both. I almost cringed at her look of disgust battling with envy after seeing some clients--I think?--fawn over Joan. Also cringeworthy was her meek "Thank you" to Harry remarking offhandedly that she wasn't fat anymore.

I loved the scene with Mona, Roger, and the daughter. Go Mona, for having a date and showing Roger that she's moved on as well.

Mona was fierce this episode: rocking the black dress and hat, referring to Jane as "June," and crisply informing Roger that she has a date. Nice.

Paul is skating on thin ice. I'm guessing he'll get the boot at some point this season.

I'm not surprised that his star is on the wane.

I, too, was confused with the emphasis on Don looking at the maypole lady. Inspiration? Lust? Mommy issues? Nostalgia? All of the above? With any luck, there will be a post-episode writer soundbite explaining it.

Edited by Zif, Aug 23, 2009 @ 10:26 PM.

[Cinder63]

Re the "jerk" comment:

I think Peggy was role-playing, not that she really thinks Don is a jerk. Peggy is more complex and would never blurt that out even if she really thought it, without an ulterior motive. She was just trying to act like the average girl who has a ‘job,’ not a ‘career,’ and attempting to establlish rapport with a typical comment of commiseration. Her whole escapade with Burger Boy was market research of a sort. What does the run-of-the-mill woman want? That’s what was on her mind. That and to prove she could attract the average guy whom her colleagues told her really want goofy Ann-Margaret.

[crystalsage]

As to a wedding on the day after the JFK assassination, a woman I know wrote a story for a local publication about her wedding on the day after the assassination. Too much had been spent and people had traveled to the town for the wedding, so it went on. It was a very solemn event, no one felt like dancing or partying; everyone was in shock for a several days after that Friday. Same feeling as 9/11. Went through the motions. So, I'll guess that the wedding will go on.

[PennyLane7]

Zif, you are correct on the casting.

Oh my goodness, I had no idea Anne Margaret was such a horrid singer. I was in physical pain every time they played that song!

I thought this episode was really slow. Honestly, I'm feeling like Michael Kors-- maybe I'm just not smart enough to get it! Like, what was with Don staring at the teacher and feeling the grass? I get it goes with the whole theme of in with the new/renewal, but what was the bigger significance? First I thought he just wanted to bang the teacher (I wouldn't be surprised), then I thought we were gonna get some flashback, but now I just don't know. And why was Don staring at Peggy in the office at the end? And what's with the guy from the London office having no clue? There were so many moments that just left me thinking "wha?"

[kirinan]

I wonder if we're somehow going to see Don's fascination with the teacher dancing end up in the Patio commercial? I couldn't help thinking he was comparing her innocence with Ann-Margret's sexuality, and maybe realizing Peggy was right? Otherwise, I'm confused.

He looked amazing in those sunglasses. And Betty frustrates me with her princess-ish sense of entitlement. "How dare he talk to me that way in my condition?" Arrgh. I try to like her, but I just can't. And she's such a bitch about her sister-in-law, who really seems very sweet.

Edited by kirinan, Aug 23, 2009 @ 10:21 PM.

[EleanorAquitain]

I'm a bit confused, though, about the situation with the father. What would have been so wrong if the brother and his wife had moved in to the father's house? The father would have been able to stay in his own place, the sister-in-law would have been there to care for him. I don't get it.

To be honest, I thought it was the best solution. But Betty clearly has some jealousy issues with Bill's wife (even though she seems perfectly lovely). Betty is daddy's little girl and I suspect she doesn't want anyone but her taking care of him. Plus, there is obviously some competition between Betty and her brother regarding the house. I think that this was mostly the kind of power plays that often goes between adult children as parents get older.

avaleigh, I am not sure Peggy was calling Don a jerk. Instead, I think she was playing a part. She didn't want the guy she was about to hook up with to know that she was higher up the food chain than a secretary, that she was a copywriter. Notice she didn't tell him what firm she worked at, just that she was on Madison Avenue. I think she was using the kind of lines she would have used as a secretary because she thought she might spook him if he knew that she was a career girl.

[coolio70]

I, too, thought the commercial cuts were choppy and random.

I don't get why Betty was being such a pisser about what to do with their dad. Her bro and sister in law seemed genuinely willing to care for him. it seemed that Judy's familiarity with him bothers Betty a little bit. maybe she is threatened by another woman stepping into the daughter role? When Don laid down the law with William, clearly he was doing what Betty wanted (or what he thought she wanted), but damn, why was he such a dick about it, making them leave?

FYI to you youngsters: the actress was Ann-Margret. She was pretty damn hot at that time. Don was right: men wanted to be with her and women wanted to be her. I totally got what Peggy was trying to say, but ultimately Don was right. There is a reason that ugly people aren't generally used to sell a product: marketers want us to think that if he use a certain product we will come that much closer to being like the person hawking said product. amazing that many of us get sucked right in.

Overall I was underwhelmed by this episode.

Edited by coolio70, Aug 23, 2009 @ 10:29 PM.

[bagatelle1]

I'm a bit confused, though, about the situation with the father. What would have been so wrong if the brother and his wife had moved in to the father's house? The father would have been able to stay in his own place, the sister-in-law would have been there to care for him. I don't get it.

I'm confused too. I thought it might be a good idea for the brother to sell his own house and move into the father's... and why did Don tell the brother that he was going to go home, the father would live with him, but the brother would financially support him?

[Marie Blossom]

I also agree with the out-of-place commercials. Not only that, but I felt the transitions were jumpy as well, such as the one with a bunch of randoms entering the elevator and I thought it went on a bit too long, so I figured maybe someone from SC would go inside, but then it quickly cuts to inside the office.