(S02E05) "This is America. Pick a job and become the person who does it." - Bobbie, to Don
Is there any other show on TV right now that packs so much stuff into one episode? So many revelations, so many character developments, so many nuances? People who only have the attention span for music videos have complained that "nothing ever happens" on Mad Men, but I say that more happens in an episode of this show than three or four of most other shows on the air right now.
This episode was amazing. Not only did we get the background story on one of the big mysteries of the first season (if this was Lost the message boards would be going crazy right now), we got to see a different side of a few characters and the very welcome (if quick) return of an old favorite. Though I wonder how her new situation will affect Don in the upcoming episodes.
Speaking of message boards, some of the Mad Men fan sites have surmised that Don knows what happened to Peggy. I really wasn't sure of that, because in a way it seemed like wishful thinking, that she wouldn't be alone (aside from her mom and sister). But tonight we find out that Don actually tracked her down in the hospital. I'm not sure if his advice about forgetting what happened will do her any good in the end (we'll have to see, though I think Don was thinking of his own life quite a bit there), but at least she has a connection in the office.
I like Jane (SEXY SEXY SEXY SEXY SEXY SEXY SEXY), and I wonder how she's going to affect the office, other than the sight of seeing male employees we've never seen before standing at a filing cabinet drooling. And Joan is engaged now? Sorry Roger. You had your chance (well, as much chance as a married man can have I guess). Remember in episode one when Joan told Peggy that with any luck, Peggy would meet a man and not have to work at Sterling Cooper at all? I'm going to predict that Joan isn't going to think that way anymore, especially about herself.
And Joan isn't the only one with a permanent other. I was truly happy to see Rachel, but kinda crushed that she's married now and her name is Rachel Katz (hmmm, you would think Don would have heard about that, since he used to handle the Mencken account and stuff like that would get around). I wonder if this means that they haven't kept touch with each other and Don mailed that Frank O'Hara book to Midge?
Some more observations about this episode:
- I loved all of the refreshingly blunt talk about Pete, Trudy, and their attempt to have a baby. When Doc Stone tells Pete that he should talk to his secretary about getting a semen sample and Pete says "When she's free," I actually laughed out loud. When Pete finds out he already has a child (and Trudy finds out!), that's going to be explosive.
- I didn't see Don calling Peggy at all. Sure, it made sense when we saw that Don visited her in the hospital in 1960, but I got all happy when I saw her walk into the police station. I think Don actually owes Peggy now.
- If there's ever a spinoff of Mad Men, can I suggest Peggy & Bobbie? Just two girls in the big city, one single and one now divorced, trying to make it. Picture Laverne & Shirley, with more smoking.
- Speaking of Bobbie, I liked her a lot more in this episode. Her talks with Don were a little deeper, she was actually trying to be helpful with Peggy, and she just seemed more...nice? Hell, even Jimmy seemed nicer in his cameo.
- Wait, so Peggy's sister was pregnant last year or so??
- Why is this episode called "The New Girl?" Sure, Don gets a new secretary, but the episode titles for this show usually mean a few different things. It can't be Bobbie, because she isn't new. Can't be Peggy's kid, because that's a boy. Maybe it refers to Jane and also to the new attitude Peggy has (calling Mr. Draper "Don") after her talk with Bobbie.
- Several episodes have had a scene where the Drapers are having dinner and Don comes home and joins them after work. These scenes always depress me, because I want that family unit to survive and I have the feeling they're setting us up for a break-up in some way.
- Weirdest scene: Fred Rumsen coming out of his office in the middle of Jane and Ken's conversation, playing Mozart on his zipper.
- Least favorite scene: That stupid "Viva Viagra!" commercial in the second half hour. Painful to see such a terrible bit of advertising in a brilliant show about advertising.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-25-2008 @ 12:16AM
Phish said...
the main problem i have with this show, is trying to stay awake through the whole episode!
i'm not saying its a bad show, the acting is amazing. its just something about the shooting style, or colors or something that just knocks me out cold.
i usually tivo the show, and watch it around 11:30pm, yes its late, but it has never affected me watching shows like lost, bsg, house etc..
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8-26-2008 @ 6:57AM
MK said...
I have the exact opposite problem. I watch the first airing (10pm), then figure I'll watch the first few minutes of the 2nd one (11pm) to look for anything I missed. A few minutes turn into the whole hour, and I find myself watching the ending credits.
BTW -- Bobbie said that "pick a job... become the person who does it" line to Don at the restaurant... and not to Peggy. That was a GREAT line.
Did anybody catch the little fact montage before/during the commercials that had a quote about art & advertising?
8-25-2008 @ 12:31AM
khamel said...
i thought it was another great episode but was it just me was there something strange about the whole thing? was there a different director or something? maybe a new person working on the screenplay? something about it just seemed off. could have been the odd day i had but there was another level of odd going on.
i thought this fling with bobbie would only last a few weeks but the looks from the preview are that its not ending soon. i liked his other two mistresses alot more (i LOVED Rachel but it looks like that ship has sailed).
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8-25-2008 @ 1:02AM
Greg said...
The last scene (when Don came home to dinner) showed how much Don's wife loves him and I thought for sure that this, and the accident, would make Don appreciate his family more? Then, during next week's preview, he was humping Bobby Barret again. Will Don ever be faithful to his wife?
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8-25-2008 @ 1:08AM
quarterempty said...
nice quick write-up, i couldn't agree more with your first graf. i've gotten in conversations with people who say it moves slowly, and i can't imagine what show they're watching. _so much_ happens in each episode, often with just a few words or a glance. and i keep declaring each new episode the best of the season.
one clarification: when draper and katz (née menken) met, i thought he asked about another agency (erickson?) taking credit for all their work. implying sterling cooper no longer had the menken account. surely her marriage would not have escaped don if she was still with stooper.
that scene where rumsen comes out and plays his zipper was so ricockulously unbelievably bizzare, i can't even imagine how the writers came up with it. and once coming up with it, placing it there?
thanks!
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8-25-2008 @ 1:47AM
Andrew said...
The best part about Mad Men is the subtlety. I loved how it went from the scene of Pete at the doctor's about to masturbate to Roger playing with the ball and paddle. The zipper thing was extremely weird but I found it hilarious in the way it killed Ken's pickup attempt.
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8-25-2008 @ 4:14AM
Joe said...
'People who only have the attention span for music videos have complained that "nothing ever happens" on Mad Men.'
It's this blasted 'MTV Generation', or should I say 'YouTube Generation'! Overstimulated! Can't they just enjoy a dull storyline where nothing happens like all of us mature age people? It's faithful to the time period and for this reason, is a fantastic drama. Surely there's no way to deny that!
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8-25-2008 @ 4:49AM
KevinInChains said...
i really do love this show. I think the zipper thing was just thrown in their to undermine joan's whole speech aboot professionalism. I also think Don has a thing for dark haired woman who are very much independent, i mean rachael runs the store, midge is a free wheelin' hippie, bobbi runs a...well her husband? I think he cares about his wife, and finds her attractive(i mean who couldn't) i just dont think he loves her. The title refers to Joan, and Peggy i think. The changes in their attitudes from Joan getting engaged, and Peggy starting to take Bobbi's advice about treating them like equals.
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8-25-2008 @ 4:53AM
hooey said...
Regarding the scene where Don visits Peggy in the hospital. He advises her to forget it and move on. Wouldn't it be a shocker if eventually we find out that Don is the father of Peggy's child instead of Pete? Imagine a flashback to the day when Peggy rested her hand on Don's hand in his office and he rebuffed her. Maybe he went back out and asked her to come in and one thing led to another??
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8-25-2008 @ 5:59AM
greyhoundverona said...
"The New Girl" is Peggy. She's reinvented/reinventing herself. Given the quote you put at the top, how did you not get this?
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8-25-2008 @ 6:28AM
Brent McKee said...
I'm just wondering if the truth about Peggy's child is a bit darker than we currently believe. Is it possible that the child that we think is Peggy's son is really her sister's and that seeing the little one is too potent a reminder of the child she gave away? And while we know she was sent to - committed to - St. Mary's after her baby's birth we don't know why. Could Peggy have done something to herself or to her "real" child that led to her commitment?
I definitely think that the title "The New Girl" refers more to the way that Peggy is about to remake herself after the time she's spent with Bobby than it does to Don's latest secretary.
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8-25-2008 @ 8:07AM
Karen said...
Geez, Bob, do you think you could stop insulting viewers who criticize your favorite shows? First you told everyone who hated Studio 60 that we weren't intellectually-advanced enough to appreciate it (although by now one of its stars and its creator have both disavowed it). Now you tell people who criticize the pace of Mad Men that they "only have the attention span for music videos."
Have you ever considered the possibility of polite dissent?
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8-25-2008 @ 8:45AM
Bob Sassone said...
quarterempty: Yes, I realize that Mencken is no longer with Sterling Cooper, that's why I said "he used to handle the Mencken account." But I think he still would have heard she got married, through the grapevine or even in the paper, since she's a well-known businesswoman.
hooey: There's no way that Don is the father of Peggys's baby. There's been no plot development in that direction at all, not even a subtle hint.
Andrew: Yeah, I meant to mention the paddle thing! That was quite funny and clever.
Karen: Aaron Sorkin has not "disavowed" Studio 60, only acknowledged its faults. As have I and many other people. Still, it was a good show. As for Mad Men, I'm not insulting people who don't like the shows I like, I'm insulting people who don't like great television. There's a big difference.
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8-25-2008 @ 9:19AM
Jeff said...
Joan's status as "queen of the hive" will be threatened by the new secretary -- not to mention Peggy's fascinating corporate climb. I don't think Joan will leave Cooper for a wedding demotion after pursuing her particular brand of careerism. Looking forward to more sparks between Joan and ... Jane.
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8-25-2008 @ 9:28AM
Don said...
The New Girl, like all MAD MEN titles, has multiple meanings - Don's new secretary, engaged Joan, assertive Peggy and yes, Bobbie. Before she was a temptress that Don was trying to resist. Well tonight he made the cross over. Bobbie is his new mistress, and what better way to show that than to encounter his former mistress Rachel Menken (now the married Katz) in Sardi's. It was a changing of the guard moment.
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8-25-2008 @ 11:01AM
Allison Solow said...
Interesting episode, I agree, Bob. Here's a couple of more thoughts that occurred to me...
-- I was surprised Don jumped when Bobbie called him and went to Sardi's. I don't think he was thinking of humping her again, though. He seemed like he was placating her in case she pulled Jimmy from the agency. However, when he saw Rachel and realized that she's moved on, I think he was devastated. That was played out in the suicidal drive to Long Island. He was practically begging for the car to crash, closing his eyes and speeding. I think he was filled with self-loathing and wouldn't have cared if he died right there. He was punishing himself for losing Rachel, cheating on Betty, being a worthless bastard.
-- Menken's is now with Grey Advertising.
-- When Don returns to Betty, he has to say something to explain what happened, so he tells her about the high blood pressure. The dinner scene, therefore, with his getting no salt for the meat loaf is more punishment; you lied to Betty about one thing, told the truth about the HBP, and now you're going to have an even blander family/home life.
-- Jimmy's telling Don he's a cool guy is the ultimate in irony. Here Don has done everything wrong, and he comes out smelling like a rose. It's what Don's life is about, he's a winner in spite of himself.
-- Peggy's going to use Bobbie's advice to move up at Sterling Cooper. She reminded Don that he owed her...give me the $110 back...then she called him Don. He was surprised, but he knows now that she's a player. In fact, he helped create her by telling her to forget her hospital stay (and whatever that really entailed).
-- Rachel and her Jewish doctor were going to see "A Funny THing Happened on the Way to the Forum." What kind of a show is that, a farce! What does Don see in his own life, a farce, in which he's juggling all these lies and manages to stay out in front. It's the perfect metaphor.
-- Did you pick up on the reference to Marilyn Monroe singing at JFK's birthday? Peggy said something like I wish I had her problems.
-- Considering there were no ATMs in 1962, it's amazing that Peggy was able to dig up $110 in the middle of the night. I couldn't do it.
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8-25-2008 @ 9:30AM
Lee said...
I think you're missing the subtle point of Peggy's sister being pregnant in the flashback. We've been led to beleive that the baby her sister is raising is really Peggy's baby. But in fact Peggy's baby was given up for adoption and the baby that her sister is raising is actually her sister's baby. Gosh I love this show!
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8-25-2008 @ 10:25AM
Craig said...
I think Peggy was committed simply due to the fact that she refused to acknowledge she was pregnant. I could be wrong though.
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8-25-2008 @ 11:00AM
Jeff said...
I thought Peggy's sister is raising both children -- that's why she resents Peggy so much and made her "say goodnight" to the baby in an earlier episode. I'm sure it was more common to raise a sibling's child back then and their mother probably made it so.
What I love about this episode is how it focused on women's choices and the paths they could take: Rachel, Bobbie, Joan, Peggy, Betty, and Trudy Campbell are using different talents and luck to eke out their own version of happiness. This episode widened the scope for each of them as we await the release of "The Feminine Mystique."
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8-25-2008 @ 11:48AM
hiki said...
Don's talk to Peggy in the hospital is the key to the episode. He tells her to do what they say to get out. Peggy still doesn't believe she had a child. "The New Girl" is Peggy walking out of the hospital much like Don walked off the battlefield. Everything thing we thought we knew about Peggy was wrong, much like the first season with Don.
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