(S02E10) This seemed an oddly structured episode, with the emphasis more on Betty than Don, with a splash of Pete and Kinsey thrown in. The idea that life was simpler in the old days, should anyone still think that adage applies, is disproved with every hour of Mad Men that unfolds.For Betty, the impending death of her father has shaken her to the core. A series of strokes has led to dementia and when Don accompanies Betty to visit him in her childhood home, she has to come to grips with not only the fact that he's slipping away, but also be reminded that nearly every vestige of her mother has also gone.
Betty's crying in the arms of Viola, the family housekeeper who probably raised her -- like Carla is raising Bobby and Sally -- was poignant, especially when Betty described herself as an orphan.
That orphan status explains, in part, her connection to 10-year-old Glen Bishop. This time around, Glen wants more than a lock of Betty's hair. He takes her hand at one point and says he wants to rescue her.
Glen looks more and more like a miniature Don, an idea underscored when he puts on Don's tee-shirt, sits with Betty and takes her hand. But Betty has been taking charge in her relationship with Don. On the trip to see her father, she relegated Don to sleep on the floor, an action that really speaks of who's in power in their relationship. Then, she awakens him for sex, climbing on top -- controlling the action -- and initiates the lovemaking. In the morning, Don finds himself alone on the floor. When they return home, Betty again banished him.
Like Helen says when Betty reveals that she's separated from Don, "The hardest part is realizing that you're in charge." Betty's reaction to that reality (at least for now) is a non-reaction. Is that what she wants, to be in charge? If so, that would mean she has to become a grown up. Hmm...we'll see if that's where this is going.
Other points of interest
-- Pete's approach to Peggy before leaving on the California trip was a come on for sympathy sex. Like she should give him comfort because he has to go on a plane for the first time since his father died in the American Airlines crash. Peggy wasn't biting.
-- Kinsey received another slap in the face from Sterling-Cooper when Don decided to take the business trip in his place. In a fashion that Don would approve of, he lied to his girlfriend, Sheila, claiming that he chose to go with her to Mississippi on a Civil Rights mission, never letting on the truth.
-- Don had the idea of going to L.A. before seeing Harry's baby shower, so I don't buy that it was a family reminder that motivated him to leave town. He's fed up with Betty and her unwillingness to get over it. Although I wonder if Don had said "I love you" to Betty when they returned home if she would have forgiven him. Instead he said, "You need me." Big difference.
-- Don't you love Joan? She's so much better than her job. And what about Peggy? Her notes for the Rocket Fair were spot on, as Don pointed out, proving again that she's a star on the rise.
-- Funniest moment in a rather dour episode, Bert Cooper opening the door to the conference room where the baby shower was going on and saying, "Happy Birthday!"
Seven greatest hand cannons in TV history
TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-06-2008 @ 10:14AM
Jimmy said...
I didn't see Pete's conversation with Peggy as a come-on. I thought he was legitimately scared (and I'm not necessarily inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt).
Your other observations are spot-on, though. Nice review!
P.S. The whole Glenn storyline really gives me the creeps.
Reply
10-06-2008 @ 11:11AM
carrespondent said...
My interpretation of the Don-Betty sex scene was that it was in Don's head, a dream. Though I'm not convinced. Other views?
Reply
10-06-2008 @ 11:50AM
Jimmy said...
Pretty sure that was real!
10-06-2008 @ 4:42PM
Karen said...
I thought it was a dream as well.
10-06-2008 @ 11:47PM
nattyff said...
i think that was real too.
10-13-2008 @ 8:53PM
Katie said...
I agreed it was real too, given the lack of a shot cut, the drowsy surprised look on Don's face, and Don waking up the following morning without a shirt.
10-06-2008 @ 11:37AM
Lee said...
This is such a great show with so many small yet significant moments. When Betty's dad feels her up, thinking that she's his dead wife...was so strange, uncomfortable and tragic at the same time. And the way that Joan treats Kinsey with such contempt, so spot on.
Reply
10-08-2008 @ 5:05PM
Chip Douglas said...
Joan is still pissed at Kinsey because he "Has a big mouth." Joan has continually traded up to what she wants. Now that she has it, I'm not too sure she wants it. She never wanted Peggy's job, but now I think she does.
Betty idolizes her parents. One of life's rites of passage is the moment you find out your parents are people too. I see Betty as setting the table for a long time. I think she will eventually break it off with Don. She may not know what she is doing, but she is going to figure it out as she goes along.
Pete is pathetic. He is scared to get on the plane. His stream of consciousness is poisonous to all of his relationships. He has not thought this through. He is getting desperate.
And Don is moving on. The West Coast will be his next great adventure, to be someone else entirely. He of course has to come back to New York. We will see if Pete makes it back in one piece.
10-06-2008 @ 12:12PM
Craig said...
It's good to see John McCain lining up acting gigs as Betty's' father in case this whole election thing doesn't work out.
Reply
10-06-2008 @ 2:57PM
carrespondent said...
Niiiiice. Don't be silly: Betty's dad is far more lucid than McCain.
10-06-2008 @ 3:46PM
drklrdbill said...
He was a great actor in Shark Attack 3: Megalodon, not a former POW.
Reply
10-06-2008 @ 7:50PM
starky22 said...
I wonder if anyone else noticed in the scenes between Betty and Glen that Betty's hairstyle changed from one scene to the next. First her hair was pulled back, then in the next scene it was down. Was that intentional, or is there a continuity problem here? Just asking...
Reply
10-06-2008 @ 9:49PM
els said...
I love the quick cultural references, such as when Pete and his brother mention the Hitchcock movie "Rope". My favorite, though, was Kinsey in the elevator asking Sheila "why can't we wait?", a clear reference to Martin Luther King's famous letter "Why We Can't Wait." The look and Sheila and the elevator operator's face when he said that was priceless.
Reply
10-27-2008 @ 10:04PM
Alec said...
"Why We Can't Wait" wasn't published unitl 1964 and this pisode is 1963.
10-06-2008 @ 11:51PM
nattyff said...
how many episodes until the finally are???, last season was 13... anyone???
Reply
10-07-2008 @ 10:33AM
Nova said...
I'm glad Don has taken this opportunity to get away. You could see on the plane, as the sun slowly swept across his face and he lights up that cigarette, this is a new day for Don. He's been so unhappy for so long, living someone else's life. Don is not a traditional family man. He let the one person he could probably be happy with get away (well she rejected him in the end), and i don't mean betty.
I really hope that was break up sex for Don in thsi episode.
Reply
10-12-2008 @ 9:33PM
hooey said...
Looking forward to tonight's episode. My take on the last episode: I think Don & Betty DID have sex that night because Don was expecting to move back in to the house because he thought everything was fine again. Also, I think when Don gets to L.A. he will have an opportunity with another woman, but will turn it down with hopes of returning and getting back with Betty. If he rejects an opportunity to be with a woman in L.A., he will feel he "earned" the right to be on offense and put Betty on defense. I believe that's the way he thinks. Finally, has everyone noticed that great shows seem to be over so quickly? I remember being so disappointed that my favorite shows seemed to only last about 10 minutes!! Mad Men is another. I've never seen an hour go by so fast.
Reply
10-13-2008 @ 8:50PM
Katie said...
Why no commentary WHATSOEVER on Pete's situation, outside of the plane ride scene??? I expected a little more on Pete, and a little less on Betty. This episode presented major development for his entire character's story line, with Trudy urging adoption, he and his brother remarking on the "end of the line", and the entire scene with his mother. I kept replaying the "discards" line, and it only managed to shock me more about the changes in social perception of adoption.
Other Notes:
- I agree he's creepy, and it frankly comes off as just bad acting at times, but I'm glad to see Glenn and his mother back. Although Glenn said she's still "handing out pamphlets." Kennedy already won, so I wonder what Dem she's volunteering for now.
- The guys failing to read Peggy's research is one that I took to be a subtle sign of lingering sexism in the office, so it appears she still needs to shake off the perception of being the little girl at the table
Reply