Mad Men Forum

@Scotty_Gun: @WalkerTR77:
Also, with the mention of the assassination of Malcom X, we know it is now late Feburary 1965, meaning Bloody Sunday, and the fallout from that, is right around the corner.
 
I'm really excited to see how the series handles the changing of America that takes place in the last 60s. With them introducing the issue of race, it seems like the changing of America will be a theme throughout the rest of the season. It was already foreshadowed in the final scene of the last episode with the "old boys club" being contrasted with Peggy's friends, behind glass, outsiders, who we know are the people that will ultimately define the decade.  
 
In the past, the series has mostly been about the contrast between the America of the early 60s and the America of today, but I look forward to the show giving us a first person view of a time period where things begin to change very quickly. 1965 is a very interesting year in American history.

Is this still the de facto Mad Men thread? I'll just dump a few of my thoughts here while I wait for Rubicon:
 
Not sure what I thought of this week's episode. Good to see Draper not acting the sad sack and getting back to being the genius we all know and love but considering the dour tone of the rest of the season, it stuck out as being a bit too fanciful, even if Lane did step in at the end to keep it in line. I hope this is an omen for his future and he doesn't go back to the sauce straight away. The shot of Bizarro Draper was great though, it's not often we see Don's impact outside of the walls of SCDP and even if he's done a few interviews here and there, this is the first time we see a rival company's creative director biting at his heels. 
 
Roger's anger at the Honda deal started off as overblown if entertaining, though the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. As a WWII vet, I can understand him not wanting to be the guy working for a Japanese company even if it would help the company. The thing that struck me the most is that Roger is an easy going guy in nearly everything: He has a one liner and a smirk for all situations and here, going from passive aggression in the board room to full on aggression against Pete in his office, it isn't something we've ever seen from him before and it's kind of scary. It also makes me feel like I'm right in picking him to be the first main character to die on the show. He's out of his depth these days and it's showing. 
 
The thing that gets me down, as mentioned before, is Betty. Her story line just doesn't interest me in the slightest and with this season revitalizing the office, it feels even less necessary than last season. I don't know where this story can lead. She's just a bitch and the slapping of Sally did nothing but underline that. With the psychiatrist at the end, the reveal (or maybe reaffirmation) that she had a terrible childhood felt like a step in the right direction but that doesn't seem like anything that can be resolved either in this season or before the show even finishes. I'm still not sure what I think of Henry. He seemed like a nice guy in season 3 but here, the glimpses of him just make him seem either overly nice or manipulative in all the ways Don wasn't.

@HandsomeDead:  I guess until there's a mad men tv page, and I make a season 4 discussion thread this is the closest thing. 
 
I was enjoying the lack of Betty in the past few episodes but the Betty/Sally side story in this episode was actually not bad and didn't just seem like a distraction. I think the fact that Roger is usually so carefree really made his behavior here all the more impactful, and it brought up the interesting new development of everyone at SCDP being more or less equal. I hope Don's life remains on the upswing, the spiraling alcoholic sad sack routine was becoming depressing.
 
I don't know how many of you mad men enthusiasts read the mad men power rankings, but they are well worth checking out. They get updated usually by Tuesday, it's a hillarious recap of sorts describing the highlight reel for each character episode by episode.
 
http://marklisanti.tumblr.com/tagged/mad_men

I continue to believe the theme of this season is much like the rest of 1965, the year this season takes place: turning everything about the way it was on it's head. 
 
For the first 3 seasons, I've loved and idolized Don and Roger and this season is definitely reminding me why I shouldn't. 
 
Don misses his kids, but when he actually gets them for the weekend he goes out on a date with a woman he barely he even likes instead of spending time with them. The second a woman admits she's not married, his demeanor changes and all he cares about is bedding her. He's still at the top of his professional game and he's never felt so good about it (did you see how smug he looked at the end of that episode?). I feel that some people will see this episode as Don returning to form again and being the "hero" we know and love, but missing the real point of the episode: Don may be good at his job, but he is not a good person.
 
We're shown that the normally ineffable Roger is also a bitter racist, a slick playboy from a dying era, more and more being replaced in both influence and usefulness by the once perpetually unlikeable Pete Campbell, who by now we know is the future of not just the company but also America. The flaws of Roger showing through reminded me of his other flaws that I've so easily forgotten: he left his wife to marry a woman his daughter's age and that he's an arrogant and aging boy of privilege, expecting everyone to adapt to him. 
 
While I hate Betty as much as anyone, her presence serves one purpose, if nothing else: making us damn thankful we live in the year 2010 and not 1965, a feeling we hardly ever have with Mad Men, a show built on the strength of nostalgia. Also, it's notable that the only person she can actually be honest with is Don, which is the reason she no longer wants him. There was a fantastic line from the AV Club's review of the episode: "Betty is only interested in the world insofar as it conforms to her dreams of the life she's always wanted." Which makes Henry the perfect husband for her: a mostly useless man, weak enough to let her control the household as she sees fit, but soft enough to prevent her from destroying the entire thing without allowing her to realize that she can. 
 
The theme I walked away from on this episode is that just about everybody is struggling with their "role" in society. Either their struggling to maintain their image, or they're trying to project an image they can barely convince themselves of, or just trying to get out from under the image other people have of them. No one is very happy with the way things are. The older characters desperately want things to return to the way they used to be when live was easy and they felt like they were in control, while the younger characters desperately want to push things forward because they know it's the only way they'll be able to make their own place in the world. 
 
It's fascinating to watch the two world views battle it out for supremacy, especially when we already know which side is going to win. I'm very curious to see where each of the characters will end up when the cultural dust-up settles down as well as how each of them deals with the change, everyone grasping for their grip on the reins. 

One thing the episode definitely made me think about Don is that even if he is a bad husband, he always seemed like a good father. He was the one who sat down with the kids and said they weren't being replaced when Betty was pregnant and I remember him doing things like building the playhouse in the back garden. He may have been work orientated but he still had a place for them and this weekend made me feel like that dynamic hadn't changed. It's heavily implied he doesn't particularly like Bethany and he seemed only in the Japanese restaurant on recon for the meeting with Honda. It doesn't make things right, by any stretch of the imagination, but it just seemed a case of bad timing with Don not knowing what to prioritize now that it has to be one or the other.

@HandsomeDead: However he did admit later on that he doesn't know what to do with his children and he feels relieved when he drops them off. 
 
I think something has definitely changed with him, because you're right, he always did seem like a pretty decent father. 
 
Perhaps now that things are difficult and they require more of him, he's reluctant to give himself. In the past he could get away with little things like soothing conversations and playhouses, but now they desire and require more of his attention and love - something more substantial, which to me sums up Don's problems. 
 
He's an excellent charmer on the surface but can never give enough of himself to build a real relationship with anyone. He always keeps himself at arms length from everyone and now as his children are growing up into real people, he's pulling away from them as well. 
 
It's kind of sad to watch. 
 
EDIT: 
I've just been thinking about how things have changed but more like they've just compounded. 
 
When the show first started, the America of Mad Men was a completely alien world, with almost nothing resembling the world we live in. That made the problems they had seem quaint and forgivable.  
 
Now, as the America of the show begins to change and becoming like something resembling our modern world, we begin to view the problems with something resembling modern eyes. We begin to see and feel the real destructive forces of things like racism, sexism, alcoholism, serial womanizing, bad parenting, emotional distance, etc. 
 
I don't think Don's problems have really changed that much, they've just been brought into very sharp focus by the changes occurring around him.