Mad Men, Season 5. General Discussion Thread (spoilers welcome)

[Dorian Thompson]

I agree that Pete shot his mouth off to Lane. I don't fault Lane for being angry with that. I just found it odd that he seemed to be singling out Pete when he walked into the room when they were all to blame, his client who can't even take the gum out of his pubic hair the most. How much of a dip shit do you have to be to not notice the hooker's gum in your pubes before going home to your wife? Initially, Lane came off as naive and silly to me when he walked into the meeting. It's like--come off it, Lane. You're just upset because the client's wife busted you to your wife and she thinks you're a pimp when it's your co-workers who are the pimps.

I thought Don was showing growth until he made that remark about how he wouldn't have screwed it all up if he'd met Megan first. Age issues aside, he seems to be deflecting all blame to Betty. Megan was spot on when she said he couldn't do that, that he has bigger issues. I'm waiting for that one high stress event to trigger Don's old, cheating ways. It'll happen. Then he and Pete can commiserate in the cab again. Some seem to think he had a break through because he didn't cheat at the party with the prostitutes, but that was because Don doesn't like prostitutes. Brings up his "mommy" issues.

 

[ALF]

I just found it odd that he seemed to be singling out Pete when he walked into the room when they were all to blame, his client who can't even take the gum out of his pubic hair the most.

I think the issue was that Pete continues to disrespect Pryce to his face, provoking the response. In stark contrast to Roger, the resident smartass, who this time bent over backwards to make sure Pryce had the right set up going in to seal the deal in the one on one.

Joan best explained it later to Pryce: "Everyone here wanted to do that to Pete for years," etc.

Pete's tragic flaw is his unending sense of entitlement. He's such a dick to Pryce in the scene where Pryce first mentions the possibility of an account with Jaguar. He pouts that they'll have to hire people for 10 months, presumes it's 3 mill at the most and then mocks a shitty accent as the cherry on top.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Well the episode came and went, and Pete didn't die.

Or did he?

 

[ALF]

I don't think any of the characters will be dying off anytime soon.
Except maybe Cooper...

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Everyone seemed so convinced someone would die in a car crash this week, I thought yall knew about spoilers. I avoid spoilers, so I'm easy to fool.

 

[ALF]

Ah, right. Those promos are edited with a lot of subterfuge.
One think I do love about Mad Men is that it doesn't continually use death as a "raise the stakes" ploy to keep people watching. But when incidental to the plot, like last seasons' Ms. Blankenship, it can be very entertaining.

 

[the G-man]

Some seem to think he had a break through because he didn't cheat at the party with the prostitutes, but that was because Don doesn't like prostitutes. Brings up his "mommy" issues.

Don was regularly seeing a hooker after splitting up from Betty, even taking Pryce with him once.

 

[ALF]

I can't remember... has Don come clean to Megan about being Dick Whitman yet, like he did with Faye?

By contrast to last season (panic attacks, etc), Don is having a great year. He actually seems happy in the past few eps, obviously setting him up for a fall. But he genuinely believes his luck by being with Megan... I'm sure Betty is going to come in and do everything she can to smash his house of cards by making everything about her. I wonder if she'd resort to blackmail to get Don back?

If anyone is at risk of being written off/killed off it would be Megan. She's making Don so stable he might get boring... although it was a hoot watching him at Pete's house when he'd been avoiding doing something as friends with him since episode 2.

The look on Pete's face when Don fixed the sink was priceless... "Look, it's Superman!"

 

[J.T.B.]

I agree that Pete shot his mouth off to Lane. I don't fault Lane for being angry with that. I just found it odd that he seemed to be singling out Pete when he walked into the room when they were all to blame, his client who can't even take the gum out of his pubic hair the most.

Yeah, he did single Pete out, perhaps unfairly, but the client dinner was Pete's thing, and if it went wrong it was his responsibility. Also Pete had baited him a bit in the earlier meeting, he may have been smarting over that.

How much of a dip shit do you have to be to not notice the hooker's gum in your pubes before going home to your wife?

Ah, the subtle effects of alcohol.

I thought Don was showing growth until he made that remark about how he wouldn't have screwed it all up if he'd met Megan first. Age issues aside, he seems to be deflecting all blame to Betty. Megan was spot on when she said he couldn't do that, that he has bigger issues.

Yes, Don may be rationalizing there, but at least he's acknowledging the destructive effects of infidelity rather than just blowing it off as what a real man's gonna do. He was also open about his humble origins in front of the staff and with the whorehouse proprietress; he seems a lot more comfortable in his own skin than in earlier seasons.

I can't remember... has Don come clean to Megan about being Dick Whitman yet, like he did with Faye?

Yes, apparently he has but it happened off-screen.

The look on Pete's face when Don fixed the sink was priceless... "Look, it's Superman!"

And when he realized that Lane wasn't joking about fighting him. Great stuff there.



Justin

 

[Roshi]

I can't remember... has Don come clean to Megan about being Dick Whitman yet, like he did with Faye?

Yes, he has. Look at the glance she gives him when he corrects the name to Whitman.

Loved the episode and the Superman reference.

They're getting near September 8, 1966. I wonder if they will let slip a tiny reference to Star Trek. Well at least, Kenny's penchant for SF stories makes me believe...

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Did Don really grow up in a whorehouse or is that just him being self-dramatizing? I thought his mother died giving birth to him and his dad took him in.

Seems like the story is headed for some violent outburst. The dialogue keeps mentioning Pete's gun. My bet is that he takes a shot at Lane and kills someone else by accident.

 

[sidious618]

Lane Pryce is my personal hero.

 

[ALF]

They're getting near September 8, 1966. I wonder if they will let slip a tiny reference to Star Trek. Well at least, Kenny's penchant for SF stories makes me believe...

I think it's going to happen. Those two storylines are on a collision course. After Star Trek comes the moon landing, right?

I'm expecting a major reference or none at all.

 

[Lord Garth]

Pete Campbell: two steps foward, five steps backwards.

Forward: 1) Adding a lot of business after the loss of Lucky Strike. 2) Leaning how to drive.

Backward: 1) Pining after a girl in high school and getting jealous of a high school boy who sweeps in. 2) Mouthing off at Lane. That was uncalled for and out of nowhere. 3) Telling Roger about Ken's still writing (I severely doubt it was Don). 4) Trying to dissaude Lane from brining in an account ties into #2. What happened to, "The rest of us are trying to build something!" 5) Seeing the prostitute.

More pathetic was Pete saying he has nothing. Let's see: a partnership, a wife, a house, bringing in lots of business. What the Hell is his definition of nothing? He's "ambitious", this is the result of it. I put ambitious in quotations because now I think he secretly wishes he were a frat boy who isn't tied down.

They were propping Pete too far up in the last few episodes. I knew he was bound for a fall, I'm just surprised it was so soon. Makes me wonder what direction the office politics will take now. They've really played up tension in the office this year. Even more so than in S2. Then it was just Don vs. Duck. Now it's shaping up to be Pete vs. Everyone Else.

Lane was great. Lover and fighter. But how is it he contributes "nothing"? I was under the impression that he and Joan were the ones holding the place together. Is Joan an accountant? She could be; but financial officer distinct from office manager?

And what's Roger going to do if Joan/Lane happens or goes anywhere?

 

[the G-man]

I think it's going to happen. Those two storylines are on a collision course. After Star Trek comes the moon landing, right?

I'm just disappointed we're in 1966 and Don apparently has the only ten year old boy on earth not obsessed with Batman.

Anyway, on to the ep itself...

Pete can be an incredible jerk but I sort of feel sorry for him vis a vis his unrequited man crush on Don. He seems to be desperately seeking a father figure. His glee at having Don at his house was almost childlike. Like a kid trying to get his long lost dad's attention. Even when he got mad at Don, after the night at the whorehouse, it seemed to be about wanting Don's approval and not getting it .

I can see why Trudy and Megan are becoming friends. Besides being insanely hot and charming they are both highly skilled at putting Don in his place and seeing through his bs.

There were some interesting, and atypical, fades between scenes. They were well done, they show Slattery's skill as a director, but they didnt really fit the show.

When Lane told Joan she could do his job the look on her face was heartbreaking. Poor Joan knows she could, but she's a woman and she's just old enough that she doesn't see being part of the future that younger women like Peggy have. Great acting on Hendricks' part.

I think my parents had that hi fi.

 

[ALF]

I think it's going to happen. Those two storylines are on a collision course. After Star Trek comes the moon landing, right?

I'm just disappointed we're in 1966 and Don apparently has the only ten year old boy on earth not obsessed with Batman....

I have a feeling Don hates sci-fi.
Remember early in the series when Paul did up an ad for aftershave in a can that featured an upside down astronaut?

"Who is this moron flying around space, I mean, he pees in his pants."

 

[J.T.B.]

Pete can be an incredible jerk but I sort of feel sorry for him vis a vis his unrequited man crush on Don. He seems to be desperately seeking a father figure. His glee at having Don at his house was almost childlike. Like a kid trying to get his long lost dad's attention. Even when he got mad at Don, after the night at the whorehouse, it seemed to be about wanting Don's approval and not getting it .

Yeah... blackmailing Don might not have been the best move toward getting his approval!

I can see why Trudy and Megan are becoming friends. Besides being insanely hot and charming they are both highly skilled at putting Don in his place and seeing through his bs.

Yes, Trudy got Don's respect by taking charge in a way that Pete can't.

I think my parents had that hi fi.

My grandma's still got one in a downstairs room. Nobody wants to move it!



Justin

 

[the G-man]

Pete can be an incredible jerk but I sort of feel sorry for him vis a vis his unrequited man crush on Don. He seems to be desperately seeking a father figure. His glee at having Don at his house was almost childlike. Like a kid trying to get his long lost dad's attention. Even when he got mad at Don, after the night at the whorehouse, it seemed to be about wanting Don's approval and not getting it .

Yeah... blackmailing Don might not have been the best move toward getting his approval!

I'm not sure Pete wanted Don's approval until after that attempt failed. Don pwning Pete seemed to be what triggered Pete's respect for him and I seem to recall Cooper predicting to Don that would happen after the blackmail attempt failed.

 

[Kirkman1987]

Just caught this episode and loved it! Pete is my favorite character to watch so naturally this one was gangbusters for me. I like that they brought back in Cosgrove's writing. It's cool that he writes sci-fi. I actually want to read that story that was talked about. Hope he leaves the ad game eventully and pursues writing full time.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

I'm not sure Pete wanted Don's approval until after that attempt failed. Don pwning Pete seemed to be what triggered Pete's respect for him and I seem to recall Cooper predicting to Don that would happen after the blackmail attempt failed.

Exactly. Pete was first "attracted" to Don during the episode when his father died in the plane crash. Don was the only one who talked to him and offered advice that made any sense. That's why Pete was so crushed when Don groused at him when Pete came to his office a second time to talk. He didn't realize Don was having other problems at the time. Then Don paid Pete's share to open the new agency when Don's need to keep his past secrets cost them the government contract that Pete had secured. He definitely looks up to Don for a myriad of reasons. I, too, find Pete's character fascinating even if I don't approve of all of his actions. Maybe it's because I can identify far more with Pete's insecurity than Don's self confidence and slick demeanor. That, and Kartheiser really does an outstanding job with the character. He doesn't get nearly enough credit.