Would you like to play cards?”
Hee.
You know, I wasn’t surprised to see that Don visited her in the hospital. He seems to like and respect her, to the extent that he’s capable of respecting a woman to whom he’s not sexually attracted. If Ken or Paul went AWOL, he would have replaced them before their seat was cold. Not only does he seem legitimately impressed by her work, her promotion also managed to emasculate the other writers. So she gets the job done and she’s useful for reminding everybody else of their place. No wonder Don likes her. It’ll be interesting to see if Peggy can pull off her new confidence and how Don reacts. Will he be impressed, or will he smack her down?
Speaking of women who impress Don, it’s the return of Rachel Mencken. Their scenes together were some of my favorite last season, probably because they’re really the only times when Don voluntarily gives up the upper hand that’s so important to him. With her he was open and vulnerable, and just this close to actually being Dick Whitman again. And there she is, with her new husband who’s the Anti-Draper. I really hope this isn’t the last we see of her.
And then we have Roger and Joan. I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t get Paul’s reaction to her ring, but his attention was elsewhere at the time. (On a purely shallow note, I’m liking the new secretary.) That was such a good scene. I can’t decide if Joan still has feelings for Roger, or if his weakness has turned her off and now she’s trying to hold on to the old emotions. She was devastated by his heart attack, but I think once the drama wore off and reality set in, she had to face some facts. Yes, I know she places a premium on being married before she’s “too old”, but if Roger were healthy, their affair would still be going on.
Last thought: In the clips from previous episodes, they used the scene of Pete going to Bert Cooper with Don’s secret. That didn’t directly figure into this episode, which is unusual for them. It seemed like that scene was there to help set up Pete’s failure to live up to his own standards. Pete wants to be Don, but would Don ever go and tattle? Don, in Pete’s position, would have used that secret to keep his rival in line forever. It would be a slow turn of the screw. Pete, well, he’s neither that strong nor creative. Instead, he runs to an authority figure so they can deal with it. If Pete weren’t so wormy, you’d almost feel sorry for him.
Or maybe not.
Don
I’ve been missing something and maybe you haven’t. It’s the guy who performed Mozart with his zipper this past Sunday. He’s comic relief and the only lines they give him are the funny ones. He adds nothing to the story and he’s about as useful as the lamps in the office when it comes to the plot. But he cracks me up. Mad Men’s writers employ a technique (I’m sure there’s a name for it) where they bring you into a scene that is already happening. Not always, but often. And usually they bring you into a scene where someone is delivering the punch line of a joke. What’s more, I don’t recognize the punch lines so part of me is starting to think these punch lines are completely bogus which makes the technique even funnier. For example, last week we walked in on Ken Cosgrove and Pete Campbell entertaining a client and Sterling-Cooper’s unknown funny-man was finishing this doozy…
