Mad Men: The Grownups
Nov. 2nd, 2009 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
falafel_musingsReview: The Grownups
Loved this episode. Isn't that a relief? And yeah, on a surface level one of the main things I loved was how this episode featured nearly every important MM character, except for Sal (where are you Sal!!). This episode not featuring Miss Farrell was also a big plus for me. But I also loved that MM was returning to its roots as a period drama, which lessens the soap opera feeling induced by too much time with the Draper marriage. I know Matt Weiner wasn't crazy about depicting the Kennedy assasination, but I'm glad he sucked it up and did it, because I thought he did it extremely well. I loved the tone and the stillness of this episode. I have certain images caught in my head...
- Pete and Harry complaining about their jobs while the first Kennedy story plays on the TV set behind them, completely unnoticed. Then Don wandering into the empty secretarial pool full of ringing phones.
- Carla sitting down next to Betty to watch the news, crying and lighting a ciggarette. We've never seen Carla crying, smoking or sitting. And Sally comforting her mother as she grieves and watches the awful news story even though Betty never consoled Sally when she was mourning her Grandfather and watching a monk set himself on fire.
- Pete and Trudy huddling together on the couch, watching Lee Harvey Oswald's shooting in slow motion, their faces looking almost identical with the same expression of angry defiance.
The episode wasn't perfect. A lot of S3 storylines have suffered from being underwritten and shelved. The Peggy/Duck hook up has been ignored since midseason, but now we find out that Peggy has been fucking Duck for months and we are expected to care. The Pete Vs Ken story has also been ignored since midseason and we expected to care about that again too because they need to give it a rushed resolution. Roger's personal story with Jane, Mona and his daughter hasn't been featured since the earliest episodes of S3 and all of a sudden we are plunged into it again. All these stories feel like they have big holes in them...big holes where Don/Betty ate all the screentime pie.
However, I think there have been some S3 storylines that have overcome their minimal screentime and been very powerful, largely because of the strength of those stories and the fact that they were at least evenly spaced throughout the season - the story of Sal's sexual awakening and exposure is one, the story of Joan & Greg's rapidly disintergrating marriage and then Pete & Trudy, the only couple whose marriage is becoming stronger in S3. It's really surprised me in S3 how Pete/Trudy have gone from being my least favourite couple to my favourite spouses on the show. In S1 they were just two spoiled brats in a dollhouse marriage. In S2 they gained a little pathos with their infertility, but they were still unsatisfied and disconnected from each other...
In S3 I've been struck by how balanced and in harmony Pete/Trudy seem together. Their perfect Charleston was a great representation of this unity. These two really listen to each other. When Pete was rude to Hildy about his instant hot chocolate, he caught himself and apologised. He was careful not to lose his temper in front of Lane when he got the bad news about the accounts job. Trudy's mothering has done Pete a lot of good. She's taught him manners like his own parents never did. And at the same time Pete is teaching Trudy to question things and rebel like she has never done before. They are melding together and becoming one person, just like Pete always wanted. It feels like Peggy needed to reject Pete before he could fall back in love with Trudy. I'm passionate about both those love stories because Trudy and Peggy are such complete opposites - the rich Prodestant girl & the poor Catholic girl, the selfless devoted wife & the self-driven career woman, Trudy who wants to be a mother but can't have babies & Peggy who had a baby (Pete's baby) but didn't want to be a mother. Even though I've bitterly missed Pete/Peggy interactions in S3 I've loved the development of the Campbells this year. Especially that last shot of them sitting together on the couch, looking boldly towards the future, trying to see the truth in what's going on. Pete and Trudy may have began their marriage as two bratty little rich kids. But they've changed, they've learned...they've grown up.
Going back to the Head of Accounts job, I'm as confused as Pete. What was the point of this? Like Pete said he and Ken have been matching each other's billings. If all it came down to was "Pete tries too hard with people while Kenny makes everything seem effortless" wasn't that obvious from the start?! I wonder if they always wanted Ken were just using Pete to build up Ken's drive and ambition? I did go awwwww when Pete and Ken shared sad looks over the news. And then I just died laughing when Pete said "Head of Accounts has gone to Kenny and his haircut!" I loved Harry suggesting that Pete should go into Market Research instead. That never occurred to me before but...of course, Pete should be a researcher!! Pete doesn't have the people skills for Accounts and he lacks the flair for Creative, but a Research job would be so perfect for him. Finally his insights would not be wasted!
Fuck it, I'm just going to talk about Pete for this whole review. I loved that they brought back the Pete-Kennedy themes from S1. How Pete was the only person at Sterling Cooper who was positive about Kennedy, because Pete wants the same changes. Pete was Sterling Cooper's Kennedy and now Pete's time at that agency is at an end. His decision to leave and burn Sterling Cooper by taking his clients is a decision I'll support. SC & PPL have been treating their employees like crap and getting away with it for too long. But I fear for Pete joining Joan and Sal in limbo. Can they all go to Greys? I like the idea of rival ad agencies in S4.
Still not enough Peggy! Especially since I seem to be blanking out Peggy/Duck. I'm wondering if there is any point to this fling other than to see Pete's face when he finds out. I loved that Peggy's only personal response to Kennedy's assassination was concern for how it was going to affect her Aqua Net campaign. I also love that Don had no response whatsoever.
I'm not a Joan/Roger shipper but the idea of them restarting their affair pleases me. I think Roger might be the one person Joan might confide in about the trainwreck her marriage has turned out to be. Or if she won't at least they'll have fun together. Roger's and Jane's happiness spell seems to be wearing off. It freaks me out how much Roger's wife looks and acts like his daughter. And Mona is a lioness. I like that Roger respects her, even if he still sucks for leaving her.
I'm sure Don/Betty will be discussed exhaustively in MM fandom this week, so I won't bother saying too much here. I liked that Betty told Don she didn't love him anymore. It may be a truth that is hard to hear, but then so was Dons. I hope that Betty isn't going to cave this time because I'm more than ready for the Drapers to divorce. If they have earned anything in S3 they have earned that divorce. And I hope that Betty doesn't remarry Henry, because a) Henry is too boring, and b) I want Betty to face being Helen Bishop. But she's got to leave Don. If Betty stays with him her whole life will be reduced to "Take a pill and lie down."
Loved this episode. Isn't that a relief? And yeah, on a surface level one of the main things I loved was how this episode featured nearly every important MM character, except for Sal (where are you Sal!!). This episode not featuring Miss Farrell was also a big plus for me. But I also loved that MM was returning to its roots as a period drama, which lessens the soap opera feeling induced by too much time with the Draper marriage. I know Matt Weiner wasn't crazy about depicting the Kennedy assasination, but I'm glad he sucked it up and did it, because I thought he did it extremely well. I loved the tone and the stillness of this episode. I have certain images caught in my head...
- Pete and Harry complaining about their jobs while the first Kennedy story plays on the TV set behind them, completely unnoticed. Then Don wandering into the empty secretarial pool full of ringing phones.
- Carla sitting down next to Betty to watch the news, crying and lighting a ciggarette. We've never seen Carla crying, smoking or sitting. And Sally comforting her mother as she grieves and watches the awful news story even though Betty never consoled Sally when she was mourning her Grandfather and watching a monk set himself on fire.
- Pete and Trudy huddling together on the couch, watching Lee Harvey Oswald's shooting in slow motion, their faces looking almost identical with the same expression of angry defiance.
The episode wasn't perfect. A lot of S3 storylines have suffered from being underwritten and shelved. The Peggy/Duck hook up has been ignored since midseason, but now we find out that Peggy has been fucking Duck for months and we are expected to care. The Pete Vs Ken story has also been ignored since midseason and we expected to care about that again too because they need to give it a rushed resolution. Roger's personal story with Jane, Mona and his daughter hasn't been featured since the earliest episodes of S3 and all of a sudden we are plunged into it again. All these stories feel like they have big holes in them...big holes where Don/Betty ate all the screentime pie.
However, I think there have been some S3 storylines that have overcome their minimal screentime and been very powerful, largely because of the strength of those stories and the fact that they were at least evenly spaced throughout the season - the story of Sal's sexual awakening and exposure is one, the story of Joan & Greg's rapidly disintergrating marriage and then Pete & Trudy, the only couple whose marriage is becoming stronger in S3. It's really surprised me in S3 how Pete/Trudy have gone from being my least favourite couple to my favourite spouses on the show. In S1 they were just two spoiled brats in a dollhouse marriage. In S2 they gained a little pathos with their infertility, but they were still unsatisfied and disconnected from each other...
In S3 I've been struck by how balanced and in harmony Pete/Trudy seem together. Their perfect Charleston was a great representation of this unity. These two really listen to each other. When Pete was rude to Hildy about his instant hot chocolate, he caught himself and apologised. He was careful not to lose his temper in front of Lane when he got the bad news about the accounts job. Trudy's mothering has done Pete a lot of good. She's taught him manners like his own parents never did. And at the same time Pete is teaching Trudy to question things and rebel like she has never done before. They are melding together and becoming one person, just like Pete always wanted. It feels like Peggy needed to reject Pete before he could fall back in love with Trudy. I'm passionate about both those love stories because Trudy and Peggy are such complete opposites - the rich Prodestant girl & the poor Catholic girl, the selfless devoted wife & the self-driven career woman, Trudy who wants to be a mother but can't have babies & Peggy who had a baby (Pete's baby) but didn't want to be a mother. Even though I've bitterly missed Pete/Peggy interactions in S3 I've loved the development of the Campbells this year. Especially that last shot of them sitting together on the couch, looking boldly towards the future, trying to see the truth in what's going on. Pete and Trudy may have began their marriage as two bratty little rich kids. But they've changed, they've learned...they've grown up.
Going back to the Head of Accounts job, I'm as confused as Pete. What was the point of this? Like Pete said he and Ken have been matching each other's billings. If all it came down to was "Pete tries too hard with people while Kenny makes everything seem effortless" wasn't that obvious from the start?! I wonder if they always wanted Ken were just using Pete to build up Ken's drive and ambition? I did go awwwww when Pete and Ken shared sad looks over the news. And then I just died laughing when Pete said "Head of Accounts has gone to Kenny and his haircut!" I loved Harry suggesting that Pete should go into Market Research instead. That never occurred to me before but...of course, Pete should be a researcher!! Pete doesn't have the people skills for Accounts and he lacks the flair for Creative, but a Research job would be so perfect for him. Finally his insights would not be wasted!
Fuck it, I'm just going to talk about Pete for this whole review. I loved that they brought back the Pete-Kennedy themes from S1. How Pete was the only person at Sterling Cooper who was positive about Kennedy, because Pete wants the same changes. Pete was Sterling Cooper's Kennedy and now Pete's time at that agency is at an end. His decision to leave and burn Sterling Cooper by taking his clients is a decision I'll support. SC & PPL have been treating their employees like crap and getting away with it for too long. But I fear for Pete joining Joan and Sal in limbo. Can they all go to Greys? I like the idea of rival ad agencies in S4.
Still not enough Peggy! Especially since I seem to be blanking out Peggy/Duck. I'm wondering if there is any point to this fling other than to see Pete's face when he finds out. I loved that Peggy's only personal response to Kennedy's assassination was concern for how it was going to affect her Aqua Net campaign. I also love that Don had no response whatsoever.
I'm not a Joan/Roger shipper but the idea of them restarting their affair pleases me. I think Roger might be the one person Joan might confide in about the trainwreck her marriage has turned out to be. Or if she won't at least they'll have fun together. Roger's and Jane's happiness spell seems to be wearing off. It freaks me out how much Roger's wife looks and acts like his daughter. And Mona is a lioness. I like that Roger respects her, even if he still sucks for leaving her.
I'm sure Don/Betty will be discussed exhaustively in MM fandom this week, so I won't bother saying too much here. I liked that Betty told Don she didn't love him anymore. It may be a truth that is hard to hear, but then so was Dons. I hope that Betty isn't going to cave this time because I'm more than ready for the Drapers to divorce. If they have earned anything in S3 they have earned that divorce. And I hope that Betty doesn't remarry Henry, because a) Henry is too boring, and b) I want Betty to face being Helen Bishop. But she's got to leave Don. If Betty stays with him her whole life will be reduced to "Take a pill and lie down."
Damn, it's getting late now....
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no subject
Date: 2009-11-03 12:36 am (UTC)So the Beatles arrive in JFK soon don't they? Can't wait until they get to that.
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Date: 2009-11-03 12:03 pm (UTC)Yeah, I interpreted 'the Grownups' title in the same way. Other fans are trying to work out who acted like grownups and who acted like kids in this episode, but I think you're right that it is about an entire generation losing their innocence and being forced to grow up.
I think Beatlemania will come in S4. Some fans thought Pete's black turtle neck was a reference to Meet the Beatles album cover, soon to be released in America.