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Definitely. While she rejected his advances after the Clio, she did seem more than willing in the cab two episodes later.
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2. Since she's admittedly "not good" with kids, and shouldn't have let Don push her into his family drama.
Well, yes in retrospect. But on the other hand it did show that she is willing to at least try to fill that role for him.
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3. She comes around in the hopes that he'll be kinder and more giving but he breaks dates, maintains an emotional distance and physically pushed her away during his panic attack.
I disagree about the emotional distance part. He did tell her about his true identity. He trusts her...and to be fair, I'm not sure I can recall any woman that Don's truly been emotionally close to other than Anna.
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4. She wants to believe that he understands the difference between "the office" and "what they have together." He doesn't.
He doesn't...but I think he's starting to. It's been a very gradual thing for him the last few years. Last week's eulogy was a good example of the wheels in Don's head turning to show that gradual change...maybe?
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5. She broke the "Chinese Wall" for Don after he sh*t on her career and ethical responsibilities.
Agreed. And that seemed pretty dumb to me on her part. Don should have begged her for forgiveness, but he didn't.
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Despite Faye's ability to understand people in business (remember the AESOP fable?) she isn't operating like the sun with Don. She's been unable to warm him up over several weeks while Megan did it in 5 minutes. Not to say that Megan has "won" anything, though.
I think that is because Don respects her more than Megan...and like I said, I don't think Don's every really warmed up to anyone totally except Anna.
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IMO, Faye should forget about Don. He's completely narcissistic and not worth her time.
I certainly agree and think now's not a good time to try to start something long term with Don.
Wow, what a great episode.
Loved the highs and lows (no heroin pun intended.)
Every time I see Sally, she is always wearing something that takes me back to that time, esp her little plaid outfit.
Glen is beginning to look like a slightly pudgy young Jake Gyllenhaal. He is weird and creepy but also incisive and interesting.
Really enjoyed the story arc of Don and Midge's "chance" meeting, his discovery of her sordid addiction squalor, and consequent tactical maneuver of putting the ad in the paper.
(For those who don't know or forgot, Midge is an old lover of Don's.)
I am a little surprised at the dismay of the rest of the firm about Don's ad, but of course I am looking at it from a 21st century perspective.
But I do remember plenty of anti-tobacco advertising (esp on TV) back then.
Was Don sort of following up on Peggy's original re-branding idea?
That one scene with Megan in the background, and Faye and Don standing together. So is that symbolic of Faye's exit with Megan waiting in the wings?
Or what? Someone please enlighten me.
I liked that Don paid Pete's share. Don can be so cruel, but at the same time displays such initiative and loyalty. (Plus I guess if he saves Pete, he saves the firm.)
From the very first episode of Mad Men's season 1: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Don - the creative director for Sterling Cooper ad agency - tries to convince him to convert from his choice of smokes, Old Gold, to his brand, Lucky Strikes.
"Reader's Digest says it will kill you," the waiter says.
"Yeah," Don pauses and looks around the room. Every hand at the bar holds a cigarette. "I heard about that."
Glen is beginning to look like a slightly pudgy young Jake Gyllenhaal. He is weird and creepy but also incisive and interesting.
Maybe its just because Glen is so creepy, but I really don't care for him much...Kiernan Shipka is a much better actress. The actor who plays Glen is fine (he's Matt Weiner's son) but seems to be either overly melancholy or just reading lines.
Glad to hear that the Francis family will be moving out of the Draper home. That should really put a deeper wedge between Sally and her mom. I think Betty is jealous of Sally...jealous that she has improved herself...jealous that she is better-adjusted than Betty...jealous of Sally's love of Don. And Henry seems to be a good father figure. At least he's trying hard.
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Really enjoyed the story arc of Don and Midge's "chance" meeting, his discovery of her sordid addiction squalor,
Yeah...that was a very interesting series of events. And for a minute there, I thought Don was going to go back with her or worse...do something stupid and try heroin.
Interesting way to describe being high by Midge. Pretty sad to see her move from a bohemian hipster to living in a putrid apartment with a fellow drugged up loser. And also sad that she is clearly talented and probably won't be around much longer if she keeps up her current lifestyle.
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I am a little surprised at the dismay of the rest of the firm about Don's ad, but of course I am looking at it from a 21st century perspective.
I was too. I thought that was really well done, though. I suppose I understand why they were upset. They should have been consulted as well. However, if they were consulted they would have shot the idea down and the firm needed to take a bold initiative like this...going on the offensive makes them look strong. I was most surprised by Bert's outburst. He, above all others, seems like the most likely one to appreciate this move.
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Was Don sort of following up on Peggy's original re-branding idea?
Definitely. Like the Glo-Coat ad, she planted the seed and Don created the rest of it.
I also liked how he was inspired by Midge's painting. He was about to throw it out, but instead used it as a motivating tool to write his ad. Was he thinking about how she's tossed her life away because of addiction...thus writing the "Why We Quit Tobacco?" ad? Or was he inspired by her "closing her eyes and painting what she sees"...thus making Don do the same and coming up with a tobacco-free client SCDP?
Either way, the ad reminded me a lot of Jerry Maguire's manifesto. And may have the same effect...alienating coworkers and helping competitors short term.
By the way, great prank call by Ted Chaough. I thought that it was a terrible Kennedy accent (sounded like Mayor Quimby from the Simpsons) but was somewhat relieved when it was a prank. Ted Chaough is such a jerk.
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That one scene with Megan in the background, and Faye and Don standing together. So is that symbolic of Faye's exit with Megan waiting in the wings?
Definitely a good sequence. I just don't think Megan will be that involved in Don's life. I see her as a fling, a mistake, not a long lasting thing. Clearly she's trying hard...praising Don's ad. While she may have meant it on some level, I think she's overplaying her hand a bit.
I thought it was interesting that Faye's boss set up a meeting for SCDP...breaking down the Chinese Wall himself, just like Faye did last week.
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I liked that Don paid Pete's share. Don can be so cruel, but at the same time displays such initiative and loyalty. (Plus I guess if he saves Pete, he saves the firm.)
And Pete got Don out of trouble earlier this season by pulling strings with the Dept of Defense...so it's Don's way of repaying Pete. Plus now it puts Pete indebted to Don too. Win-win for Don, really. I was a little surprised at how (thinks of the nice word to say) harpy (?) Trudy was at Pete over the loan. The "...and don't think of calling my father" line was especially painful. They have really made Pete out to be a sympathetic character this season. Surprising, honestly.
So, are we to assume that Bert Cooper really is out? I assume he did not pay up with the rest of the partners. If so, where does that leave the company? What about Roger? If Cooper is out, does that pave the way for it to be Sterling, Draper, Pryce, and Campbell? Interesting thought. And I loved how Bert was carrying his shoes on the way out the door.
So, how will this end up? Will the cliffhanger be "Will SCDP survive?" or will there be some major event next episode to spice things up? Might Connie Hilton drop by to offer SCDP an opportunity? That thought has been creeping in the back of my head for the last 2 weeks...that would certainly give SCDP a big boost and I'm surprised no one has mentioned it to Don yet.
Last edited by DonCorleone; 10-11-2010 at 07:58 AM..
I was so thrilled to see Midge again! Of course I am disappointed with how her life has turned out but it was still nice that she was on again and it reminded me of some of the great characters that we haven't seen in a while like Rachel Menkin, Sal Romano, and Paul Kinsey. I wonder what they're up to...
Also, I really liked Trudy putting her foot down. Alison Brie is just so wonderful.
I love how the writers title the episodes. "Blowing Smoke" has so many layers. "Blowing smoke" as a colloquialism means to try to obscure something. In argument, it's a strategy of misdirection. And it's one of the fundamental things that advertising agencies do, isn't it? Obscuring flaws, bad images, scandals, drawing attention to positives. But "blowing smoke" also suggest contempt. When we "blow smoke" into someone's face, it's akin to spitting in their face in a way. It's suggesting that they don't matter. And of course, we have the very real fact that exhaling when you're smoking means to blow smoke, the on-the-surface reference to tobacco and to Lucky Strikes.
So, okay, it was great to have Sally play a major part of an episode. Her relationship with her therapist. How much is their relationship based on "blowing smoke"? The therapist tells Sally how proud she is of how Sally has learned to obscure and conceal her real feelings, especially anger, from her mother. Sally tells the therapist that her mother blows smoke, too. The teeth-brushing. Betty's not concerned about Sally, she's concerned about controlling Sally. She obscures her real issues as a matter of form. Just like moving, Betty's comments about the neighborhood going down is pure smoke.
And then Betty's meeting with the therapist. Betty "doesn't need a psychologist"? If anyone needs therapy, it's Betty, and she knows it. So she "blows smoke" when she insists that she's there to talk about Sally's progress, and when the therapist suggests otherwise, it causes Betty real distress.
Then we have Midge, "blowing smoke" about how she has "run into" Don, and what she wants from him. The sad thing is that Midge's moment of clarity is about using heroin, when certainly heroin use is also about hiding/escaping/distorting reality. I don't think that irony is lost on Don, and when he sits down to study her painting, I think the abstract quality of that work underlines the whole distortion of reality theme of the show.
And hard reality is what plays out at the office. I think Peggy's role in this when she asked Don about changing the name, is that she reminded Don of what they do. The company is in trouble, but Peggy's the first one to look at the problem as if the company is a client. She understands, and conveys to Don, that their problem is not with the product. It's with their image. It's that little seed that gets planted in Don's fertile mind and leads to the letter. And the letter isn't "blowing smoke", it's blowing-off smoke. I understand the consternation of the other partners. Don changed the playing field. He changed all the equations. That throws everyone. Everyone has to start from square one. But it underlines Don's genius, and his nerve. He's not going to hide behind smoke.
Before I get to the latest episode, I wanted to touch on something others have mentioned about Don being narcissistic and not revealing himself emotionally to women, w/the exception of Anna, and the small identity confession to Faye. To me, Don CAN'T be emotionally candid w/ women b/c he is Don Draper. His identity, his persona, was built in reaction to and as an escape from Dick Whitman, which is why he's always been able to be emotionally open w/Anna. If you watch episodes where Don is in CA w/Anna, he's like a totally different person, almost a woman's dream in the sense of relationship material. As Don Draper though, he's got to survive. His identity,his life is built on keeping people at a distance and fighting to win. I think he has some internal breakthoughs and he's pretty aware of who he is and his inner demons, but Don is Don and I don't know that I want to see him become emotionally candid and soft b/c then I think it takes something away from his character.
Not only that, it's his fighting spirit that propels the creative and tactical moves he makes for SCDP. In fact, I thought his tobacco manifesto was brilliant and I was rooting for him the whole time, b/c I saw what he was trying to do. He was trying to make SCDP relevent in the advertising world again and no one, except maybe Peggy, appreciated that. I liked how she called him out on using a tactic he once berated her for, and he could acknowledge that. I too was suprised by Bert's reaction. In fact, it seems like Don is the only one at this point who is willing to put his balls on the chopping block and fight for SCDP. Everyone else would rather wring their hands and b*tch. He is the only one taking any ACTION and Don is all about the action. On the other hand, he shot down Peggy's idea to change the name of the company--"change the conversation." I like how Peggy picks up tricks of the trade from Don, but maybe does not yet know how or when to use them. Don's defense was that changing the name doesn't change the facts, and w/Don and SCDP, it's always been about the facts and reality. W/ his personal life? Well that's another story.
Funny how Betty was open to Sally wanting to have dinner w/Henry and fostering that relationship---at first I thought maybe Sally and Betty have moved closer to a working relationship, and then Betty undoes everything by over reacting to Glen and then showing her ignorance and lack of self awareness in the counseling session. I thought it was hilarious when she wanted to continue to see the counselor who said "I am a child psychologist" and I thought "EXACTLY b/c Betty is such a child!" Betty stumbles upon the truth by trying to deny her truth!
The Midge exchange was so interesting. It really shows how much her life has changed into a downward spiral.How telling when she said to Don "you have not changed---or you are still the same" or something to that effect. I saw that as a good thing on Don.
As for Don and Pete---the both have enough entangled information/drama in their personal lives that sort of bonds them now--more professionally--but there is a reciprocal fidelity that exists now. Don is going to do anything to keep SCDP alive, and Pete, regardless of the occassional tension betwixt the two, is an asset to the firm. Don wants to keep him, and of course, will pay his share of the money. Whether it was a personal debt/loyalty, or a tactical move----I think a bit of both.
Don't know what to think of Faye and Don or Megan and Don. I can't even see where that is going.
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I'll Save My Fritos For You
