From: Patrick Radden Keefe To: John Swansburg and Julia TurnerPosted Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009, at 10:52 AM ET
I agree, Julia, the flashbacks have a hokey flatness. After the sleek lines of Sterling Cooper, the sets in these interludes look like some cast-off Dustbowl diorama from the Smithsonian. It's as if the show's otherwise fastidious production designers take a sick day anytime the script calls for another dollop of the founding allegory.
And well they might, because, really, aren't the writers laying it on a bit thick? If Don's pedigree gets any more debased, he'll make Freddy Krueger (heretofore the title holder for most twisted origin myth) look like a veritable Dyckman. This is sort of the Lost problem, isn't it? The cooler the riddle at the center of your show, the more of a letdown it's going to be when you explain it. I'm sorry to liken Don to yet another homicidal maniac, but it's the same deal with Hannibal Lecter. In Silence of the Lambs, he's fascinating because he's inscrutable—his pathology is never explained. And then in the later films we learn about the childhood trauma and the death of his sister and blah blah blah. It's possible to over-explain a character and kill the magic. I really hope that doesn't happen to Don.
I could go on, but it's time to make the donuts. What we haven't discussed, and really must next week, is the enigmatic Peggy Olson. She's got a new 'do and a new view and, best of all, a passive-aggressive secretary, Lola, who spends too much time lollygagging with Mr. Moneypenny. I, for one, am seriously looking forward to watching Peggy crack the whip.
Series creator Matthew Weiner has stated he leaves nothing for future seasons and puts everything out there each season, like its the last, and this episode could almost double as a series finale. I think when Mad Men eventually ends its run, there will be discussion whether this episode was the proper series finale and should have called it quits right here, or will Weiner have new and interesting places to take us in season 4?
"And the way that they saw themselves is gone." Julia, I think this pretty clearly refers to Peggy having her child and giving it away. Until Peggy told Pete about the baby, Don was only person on the show outside of her family and priest that knew her secret. Don was the one that visited Peggy in the hospital after she gave birth and had been out of work for a while.
Who's in charge, Betty or Henry? Something that surprised me was the amount of involvement Henry had in Betty's divorce advice. Does it ring true for the period that Henry went to the lawyer with Betty and apparently also knew the lawyer and may have selected the lawyer for Betty? And, when Betty told Don that she would be consulting with a divorce attorney and Don should too, was she simply parroting Henry's words?
Certainly since Henry's divorced he knows the routine and I can understand him giving Betty the benefit of his experience. Last episode Henry was willing to give Betty the time she needed and he would wait. Now, things are fast-tracked to Reno. I'm sure that it's been hard for Betty to continue to live in the same house with Don who continues to deny Betty's feelings. But, seeing Betty sitting in the lawyer's office on the sofa with Henry, reminded me of Betty sitting on the sofa with Glen last season. Then, when Don confronts Betty about Henry, they seem to be having their first real fight.
Anyway, I wonder if Betty/Henry are the 'lasting love' mentioned in the Roy Orbison song at the end.
I think season 4 will include a serious health issue for Don-perhaps lung cancer. Note the cough at the beginning of the last episode. Also the brief scene when Sterling's dog food heiress old flame states that her first husband died of lung cancer, there is a brief cut to Don lighting up another. Thoughts while I write an order for Don to get a screening cat scan.
I agree, Julia, the flashbacks have a hokey flatness. After the sleek lines of Sterling Cooper, the sets in these interludes look like some cast-off Dustbowl diorama from the Smithsonian. It's as if the show's otherwise fastidious production designers take a sick day anytime the script calls for another dollop of the founding allegory. 
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Series creator Matthew Weiner has stated he leaves nothing for future seasons and puts everything out there each season, like its the last, and this episode could almost double as a series finale. I think when Mad Men eventually ends its run, there will be discussion whether this episode was the proper series finale and should have called it quits right here, or will Weiner have new and interesting places to take us in season 4?
-- guyroy
(To reply, click here)
"And the way that they saw themselves is gone." Julia, I think this pretty clearly refers to Peggy having her child and giving it away. Until Peggy told Pete about the baby, Don was only person on the show outside of her family and priest that knew her secret. Don was the one that visited Peggy in the hospital after she gave birth and had been out of work for a while.
-- BumblebeeMan
(To reply, click here)
Who's in charge, Betty or Henry? Something that surprised me was the amount of involvement Henry had in Betty's divorce advice. Does it ring true for the period that Henry went to the lawyer with Betty and apparently also knew the lawyer and may have selected the lawyer for Betty? And, when Betty told Don that she would be consulting with a divorce attorney and Don should too, was she simply parroting Henry's words?
Certainly since Henry's divorced he knows the routine and I can understand him giving Betty the benefit of his experience. Last episode Henry was willing to give Betty the time she needed and he would wait. Now, things are fast-tracked to Reno. I'm sure that it's been hard for Betty to continue to live in the same house with Don who continues to deny Betty's feelings. But, seeing Betty sitting in the lawyer's office on the sofa with Henry, reminded me of Betty sitting on the sofa with Glen last season. Then, when Don confronts Betty about Henry, they seem to be having their first real fight.
Anyway, I wonder if Betty/Henry are the 'lasting love' mentioned in the Roy Orbison song at the end.
-- lkd711
(To reply, click here)
I think season 4 will include a serious health issue for Don-perhaps lung cancer. Note the cough at the beginning of the last episode. Also the brief scene when Sterling's dog food heiress old flame states that her first husband died of lung cancer, there is a brief cut to Don lighting up another. Thoughts while I write an order for Don to get a screening cat scan.
-- ldbmd
(To reply, click here)