Monday, May 7, 2012

COOL HWIP:  Just try it! Or taste it!  Is there such a thing as a Mad Men metaphor being too spot-on?  TVDW:
Cool Whip’s a chemical imitation of the real thing, something that’s designed to taste good enough to surpass the original, so long as you just give in and “taste it.” But Cool Whip—like Miracle Whip or a maraschino cherry—is only good as a substitute so long as you’re not intimately acquainted with the real thing. Cool Whip tastes good, but mostly in isolation. It melts down into a miracle, maybe, but it can’t compete with the taste of real whipped cream, ideally done yourself in your own kitchen. The characters most central to tonight’s episode—Don, Peggy, Pete, and Megan—have all done their fair amount of looking for sustenance in a substitution, but the substitution will always start to taste a little empty if you give it too much thought. It’s why Don and Peggy’s attempt to replicate Don and Megan’s easy banter falls flat (in a scene that’s one of the most cringeworthy of the whole series). They’re trying to replicate something that can’t be replicated.
Mostly I'm freaked out by the existence of Don Draper, Supportive Husband. Okay, sure, in private he may turn off "Tomorrow Never Knows," but at least he gave it a try. But to see him accept Megan's decision to leave SCDP so calmly, so soon after their tumultuous evening at Howard Johnson's, and to not fire Peggy on the spot after her outburst at the dessert lab ... if Don Draper is growing up, I'm not sure I know this show anymore.

6 comments:

  1. So cringeworthy I honestly couldn't watch it - I fast forwarded, it was so painful.

    Poll: In the category: "Things Held in Pete Campbell's Arms" Which was more wooden, snow skis or Alexis Bleidel?

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  2. sconstant11:03 AM

    I admit that i stopped watching midway through the first season and only picked it back up recently with this one (with a few random intervening episodes when they were on repeats), but I've come to expect way better than the hackneyed I-comforted-you-but-am-now-secretly-disquieted-and-awake bed scene which such an unworthy and terrible overworn trope that the last place I think I saw it was on 2.5 Men.  Way more cringeworthy than Don and Peggy discussing topping, imho.

    (Ridiculous platitudinous I-c-y-b-a-n-s-d-a-a bed scene, first seen in the less interesting cave wall paintings, goes as follows: (1) Person A can't sleep, Person B is asleep, (2) Person A wakes up person B and unloads, (3) Person B comforts person A, but then DUM DUM DUM! (4) Person A, comforted that all is well, goes immediately to sleep, while Person B is actually disquieted and STAYS AWAKE.]  This doesn't happen in real life unless Person A is narcoleptic and/or an idiot.)

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  3. isaac_spaceman12:56 PM

    Spacewoman and Spaceboy v.2.0 replay Icybansdaa about once a week, though maybe Spacewoman isn't actually disquieted as much as just unable to fall back asleep. 

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  4. Carrie3:31 PM

    That Megan was listening to the color of her dreams and Don was gazing into the void took the lyrics of "Tomorrow Never Knows" a little too literally for my taste. Speaking of my taste, always thought Cool Whip had the flavor of saccharin froth.

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  5. Kelli Oliver George (cagey)9:24 AM

    I am not so sure it was so soon after the Howard Johnson's event.  The Howard Johnson episode seemed to be a few months back, in warmer weather.  This recent episode was during October (Halloween decorations were all over the place)

    Still, I am also suspicious about Don's seemingly quick acceptance of her about-face.  If nothing, it seems as if he is a bit wistful or jealous!

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  6. Aimee3:13 PM

    I'm willing to give these writers a lot of leeway.  I seriously doubt that Don's easy acceptance of Megan's decision with either easy or a true acceptance. 

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