Amph [MAD MEN] Guy walks into an advertising agency...

Yes.

 

Awesome!

 

I enjoyed the episode as well. The two stories that I thought would be boring, Betty's new life with Henry and Don as a swinging bachelor, had a lot of darkness, depth and relevance.

I don't really like the style of the new office though. It looks more modern and mid-60s, but Roger, Bert and Lane look a little out of place in it. Plus it seems extremely bright in there! I do like how disheveled it looks, though. They really seem to be struggling still and with the loss of two accounts in one episode, its going to get tougher.

The episode reminded me of Episode III in the way juggled some pretty dark themes with strange cartoony comedy thrown in. Why the hell did Harry have such a ridiculous tan? And stooping to a bizarre publicity stunt to sell ham?

Did anyone else think that Don screaming at the bathing suit people to "get the hell out" was exactly what he wanted to say to Betty, but couldn't?

 

i thought it was just the buildup of his frustration throughout the entire episode, but that was definitely part of it.

i thought last season started out good and then just got better and better. this episode gives me a feeling that season 4 could be much the same.

 

I liked the new, modern look. It felt very sixties to me, which I thought was appropriate.

And yes, I totally agree about Don screaming at the bathing suit people. I hadn't thought of that before...but it makes sense.

 

Did anyone else think that Don screaming at the bathing suit people to "get the hell out" was exactly what he wanted to say to Betty, but couldn't?

I wouldn't say "couldn't" but "didn't". He told her that he wasn't going to fight her. It reminded us in the previews before the episode started.

Great episode. I hope the momentum continues. When the episode ended, I wanted more!

 

I was so surprised to even hear that the Ossining house was still being lived in.. by anyone. I thought for sure that Berry would have moved the kids in with Henry and Don would be living in Manhattan. Seeing him back in the living room was surreal. Ditto to seeing him meet Henry face to face, I never expected that and especially not in the very first episode.

I also can't wait for more! The clip of next week's episode was quite intriguing, especially the part where Sally is crying on the phone about how she hates living with Betty and Henry.

 

I was more interested in the fact that there's apparently a flashback to Don's hospital stay after Korea (there's a shot of a nurse with the camera looking over the shoulders of what appears to be Don). I wonder what that's about.

 

I like that the nurse is the girl from Brick and Heroes.

 

i think she was justified in leaving don, but i'm not sure that she's a better person. don is at least portrayed as a human being (as all the characters are really, it's one of the things i really love about the show). he has done some pretty despicable things and sometimes treats people horribly, but he also has genuine loving moments and moments of gratitude, sadness and remorse. he is a horrible husband obviously, whether it was the norm at the time or not, and for that reason i do feel for betty at times. but what are her better qualities exactly? as far as i can tell, she's completely narcissistic.

 

Well, I guess she isn't much better. But she did seem to show more restraint (such as not constantly cheating even though she had opportunities and even though she knew Don was doing it) and a lot of her behavior stems from dissatisfaction with the housewife/"good wife" roles she's expected to keep up. Sure, Don has the "my Dad and stepmother treated me like ****" excuse for the elaborate lie about his identity, so I dunno.

 

it seemed to me that she rather enjoyed playing games with men and flirting and being controlling and manipulative. i don't think her restraint was for her family's benefit, she just liked having some kind of power over men and feeling wanted. everything she does seems to be all about her, but i suppose it can be argued that don's indiscretions made her that way. after all, we never really got to see them when they were newlyweds and presumably a happy couple. she resents her housewife role sure, but she doesn't really fulfill it at all. she completely neglects her children and lets carla raise them. she's accustomed to a life of complete privilege and is ultimately a spoiled brat. i think that's really the big split between her and don.

 

some pretty cool online extras here.

 

I find it really hard to believe that women don't hit on John Hamm. Hell, I would consider hitting on him.







What?

 

Awesome episode.
Did anyone else catch all the suicide references? Crane, Sterling and I think Draper too all made some kind of joke about killing themselves. It got me thinking about the show's intro of a man falling from the building and whether that might be the ultimate ending.

 

I recall Crane wanting them to have a second floor so he could jump off it. What were the other two?

 

Crane made the joke about the second floor.
I think Sterling mentioned that when he imagines Don going home at night, he wants to kill himself.
I could be completely off, but I thought Don made a joke about it too.
By no means do I have the definitive memory on this.

I think the Slate TV club brought up that Don's critique of the bathing suit company could easily be applied to the new SCDP. They are either comfortable and dead or risky and rich. In this episode, Don initially resisted the risky (Peggy's PR stunt, an actual interview etc) and played the comfortable (pleasing himself instead of the clients and giving a guarded interview.)

Slate also pointed out the physical similarities between Betty and Bethany.

In terms of the new sets, I thinking of how bright the new office at the Time Life building is compared to how dark Don's new apartment seems. A good metaphor for the bright career vs. the dismal personal life.

 

Why why why did they have to bring back that weird little kid? I guess it's good he's interested in someone a little closer to his age for once.

 

Yeah, that kid freaks me out. Draper should hire him to freak out Betty so she moves out of the house.

 

Suicides don't increase during Christmas and New Year's! That's a myth.

 

Glenn Bishop is so creepy!

But I thought it was a clever sub-plot and I am glad he is back. Same with Freddy Rumsen! It was a great surprise and makes me glad that I didn't read any spoilers leading into the episode. I thought it was interesting to see his interaction with Peggy. So much has changed since he last saw her.

Lee Garner Jr. is such a.. sadist? He was horrible to Roger. I hope SCDP can land some other big client so they can drop Lucky Strike. Or maybe his other life will be exposed..

Does seeing Freddy Rumsen boost the chances of seeing Sal?

Also has anybody else entered the Banana Republic casting call?

 

Lee Garner, Jr. is not necessarily a sadist, but he is an entitled ass. He sexually harassed Sal in the latter's last episode. I imagine that SCDP is going to find a way to drop Lucky Strike this season, as the relationship between the firm and the tobacco company is clearly unsustainable. Then again, I was wrong about flashback with Don in a hospital. I'll make an excuse and say that the nurse and Don in a robe was clearly meant to fool us!

Also, unless the producers outright lied, Sal is not going to be appearing this season-- and probably won't ever again. I liked the character, but I think they satisfactorily ended his arc. There's not much more that can be done with a gay man in 1964, unfortunately.

Bringing Freddy back is a good way to show the changes that have happened in only a couple years.

 

at this point lee garner jr. basically owns scdp. a lot is going to have to change before they can afford to drop him.

and don continues to be so disappointing. i know it's part of what makes the show so compelling but it can be downright hard to watch at times.

 

Yeah, like getting a couple (or more) new big clients. It can happen.

 

The episode 2 preview was pretty misleading, in several ways. I thought for sure that Sally was complaining to Don about Betty, but it was Glenn.

That art guy who works for Peggy seems to dislike Don a lot. In the first episode he joked about Don spending the holidays alone, in this episode he called Don "pathetic". Are they trying to make him a new Pete Campbell?