SO WELL-BUILT WE CAN'T SHOW YOU THE SECOND LEVEL: Do we really not have a Mad Men thread yet? The first episodes of this show's seasons tend to be stage-setters, all prologue. This was unusual, in that it was an episode with a beginning, a middle, and a very satisfying end, with the title of this post as a through-line. And Pete's comment about hiring actresses was maybe the funniest one-liner of the entire series (especially with the delivery), making even Roger's off-color matchmaking pale in comparison.
Anyway, the thread is open.
I very much enjoyed Alan Sepinwall's 'Ho-Ho, ho' title!
ReplyDeleteHarry Crane: Master of the Yiddish Language
ReplyDeleteI'm deliriously happy that Roger Sterling is back, making jokes at the expense of Korea War vets.
ReplyDeleteHeh, I didn't even get the double meaning for the post title until just now with the Jantzen ad and the SCDP's non-existent second floor.
ReplyDelete"John!" "Marsha!"
Spacewoman had to point it out to me.
ReplyDeleteWas the alternate title to this episode "How Draper Got His Groove Back"? It was jarring to see Don not super smooth with his date, glad that is resolved.
ReplyDeleteIf this season mainly focuses on the new agency and the crumbling life of Betty Draper Francis, I'll be very happy every Sunday night.
I miss Sal!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThere, now that I got that out of my system, I can say that I enjoyed the premiere immensely. Peggy's increasing confidence and Joan's newfound authority are really wonderful to watch. And they might help make up for my fear that the fourth consecutive season featuring a variation of "Who is Don Draper?" as a plot is really starting to get boring.
Here's a great recap of the John/Marsha reference and why it was such a historic satire.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tvbarn.com/tv-barn/john-marsha-stan-mad-mens-freberg-love/
That being said- I still don't find the original piece funny/fail to see the humor in it.
Anyone get it?
I thought it was a terrific episode -- loved the cracks in Don's veneer, like maybe the fact that nobody knew who he really was was the only thing holding him together. I was sort of bowled over by authoritative confident Peggy, and I want to know why Joan has an office -- the implication certainly seems to be that she's working with Harry in Media, which would be nice continuity from the earlier plot that showed she had such a knack for it. I also loved how, in the months that have passed since the season finale, suddely everything FEELS like the sixties, from Peggy's hair to the chairs in the office. It made me realize how stuffy the old Sterling Cooper office was.
ReplyDeleteOne of the truly miraculous things about this show is that it gives us the regular old style of period drama, where things that are old are freighted with our understanding of their age, but it also gives us something extremely rare, in that things that are supposed to feel new in 1961 or 1963 or 1964 actually do seem new and liberated from our 40-years-later associations. There is nothing in the SCDP office that you can't find now in a run-down office building, with the original aluminum-frame doorways and corrugated frosted glass wall panels. That stuff reeks of obsolescence, and maybe penury, now. You can't even look at it in a movie from that time period without it looking dated. But as filmed in Mad Men, the same objects are sharp, novel, futuristic. It's a fascinating trick -- I don't know how they do it.
ReplyDeleteContrast that, by the way, with the one change that Betty and Henry have made to the Draper home -- they got rid of the dated-feeling aquamarine-upholstered headboard and replaced it, hilariously, with exactly what you would expect from Henry Francis: a massive dark walnut Federalist-style pediment. If Don is only haphazardly moving forward, Betty is more steadily moving backward.
when I say "things that are old," I mean things that are old to the people in the show, not just to us.
ReplyDeleteI don't find it all that funny, but I'm grateful that now a few more people might get it when I reference the routine upon meeting someone named John.
ReplyDeleteJoan has an office! Joan has an office!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping for you it is John Slattery.
ReplyDeleteLoved so many things about this episode- Peggy sitting on the desk with her feet on the chair, ordering around her (male) assistant; the lack of a conference table; Joan in an office; Kiernan Shipka looking so much older I barely recognized her at first; a repeat Bobby Draper (way to go BobbyIII!); and pretty much every scene with Roger Sterling.
ReplyDeleteIsaac, I'm totally with you on being amazed how they make something so dated and (normally) dingy looking like 60s office decor appear shiny and modern. Such a great difference from the old building.
Anyone know if we'll ever see the old office people again? As much as he bothered me, I'm really going to miss Paul Kinsey, not to mention Ken, Kurt & Smitty, and Lois, the great walking office disaster.
Did anyone else think of the poor british guy (or British, Guy) when we saw the reporter with the wooden leg?
ReplyDeleteOh definitely... almost like there were more jokes that they wanted to have in GWIAAA, but just couldn't fit them in.
ReplyDeleteWe can only hope.
ReplyDeleteI thought of Paul when Bethany mentioned her friend who died in the Freedom Summer movement. And without Paul, who will be pretentious?
ReplyDeleteI did notice the headboard shift, but god did I love that blue upholstered headboard! I am trying to sell the fiancee on something like it.
ReplyDeleteAt least Don doesn't have to worry about who answers the phone any more.
ReplyDeleteAnd I loved Henry's mother's description of Betty. Even if the Mom is a pain in the *ss, she got that one right.