Monday, April 23, 2012

DISPLACED PERSONS:  I don't have much to say yet about last men's Mad Men other than that I will pay good money for a Bert Cooper five-dollar bill, and that whatever hesitation I had after the first three hours of the season is gone: this is the show we know and love, and Matthew Weiner knows what he's doing with this season.

9 comments:

  1. Adam C.9:05 AM

    I was tired and it was very late when I sat down to watch this ep, so I know I'll have to go back to it in a more alert state of mind to catch more nuance (truth?).  But WOW. Everything with Roger was pure gold, and each of the three narratives was exceptionally strong.

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  2. I found this episode to be so well done, and so sad.  Don is trying so hard to have a different marriage this time with Megan (he never would have invited Betty along on a road trip instead of Roger), but he just can't escape his nature.  (Nearly everything Megan said was reasonable, but Don just couldn't hear it.)  Peggy wants to be Don - she did such a beautiful, Don-like Heinz pitch - but where Don would have smoothed things over with the client (and perhaps even convinced him the campaign was what he wanted), Peggy is bristly and defensive.  And Jane wants to be "together in the truth" with her husband, only to find that the truth is that their marriage is over.  On top of that, we have the new guy's revelation that he was born in a concentration camp and feels like (or really believes?) he's from another planet, and Don's awful, violent chasing of Megan around their apartment.  It was an excellent, but tough, hour. 

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  3. Heather K11:15 AM

    I really thought that Megan was going to be dead--from when Don was on the phone with Peggy.  There was such a deep dread that seeped through, and then she disappeared, and I just thought she was going to be dead even as I realized that was such a ridiculous thing to have happen so early in the new season/new marriage/etc.  I just felt the dread so strong I had no idea what it could be other than death.

    Good episode.

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  4. lisased11:37 AM

    I had the same reaction. I kept thinking about "The Vanishing."

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  5. kd bart2:16 PM

    Which packed more of a wallop in the conference room, Lane's punches to Pete or Bert's words to Don?

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  6. Nancy6:17 PM

    I can't remember an hour of TV having such a visceral effect on me, like, ever. I couldn't sleep for a long time after. Just- very odd. Good but odd. I can't really describe it. I can see some people hating it. But I thought it was disturbing and intense and dark and all kinds of skillful. Wow.

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  7. Aimee6:15 PM

    I watched it yesterday and it kept me up.  I thought watching it at 7:00 would give my brain enough time to unwind before bed, but it really didn't.  I'll definitely be watching this one again, there's so much to process.

    BTW, Heather K, I thought Meghan would be dead too.  I had an overwhelming sense of dread from the moment Don drove off.  Dark things are coming, I fear.

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  8. Heather K8:46 PM

    I wrote that right after I finished watching the episode and in retrospect, I see that I felt what Don felt, that she must be dead.  But in that respect, I think I was a desired result.

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  9. Heather K8:46 PM

    And now from the chekov's gun post, I am sure Meghan will fall/be pushed/leap from the balcony.  But probably not, but I am really really worried about her.

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