I don’t like Betty Francis.
I’ve never liked Betty Francis, or Betty Draper, as we’ve known her for the better part of the series. Most people have clambered upon the Betty hate-wagon by now, but I remember when people did like Betty—around Season Two, when she first threw Don out of the house—and I remember when people felt sorry for her. I was not one of those people. To be honest, I kind of felt sorry for Don. He chose the wrong person to marry; he chose somebody that was empty when what he really needed was somebody full and nuanced, somebody that was actually an adult (coincidentally, each of the women he was adulterous with—save for maybe Bobby Barrett—fulfilled those qualifications). Betty is as thin as a one-handed clap, yet she maintains the healthiest self-centered, self-aggrandizing, self-pitying attitude of anyone on the show.
So, I don’t like Betty Francis.
Last night we saw that the now overweight Betty has a ‘benign’ node or tumor on her thyroid gland. I wasn’t as interested in Betty’s response to this development as I was in how the other characters would react. I’ll admit I’m not sure what to make of how Don’s reaction. He seemed legitimately concerned, at least for a time.
His response could be dismissed as him worrying how the kids would fare without their biological mother. Don lost both his parents; he is very aware what it’s like to not have your birth parents around and what it’s like to be under the care of step- or foster-parents. His own experience was difficult. While he went on to repeat the cycle of child-parent separation, albeit through divorce rather than death (his parents died), he does seem aware that losing their mother would be terrible for his children. Betty certainly isn’t a capable mother, but from what we saw of Megan’s parenting at the tail end of Season Four, Megan appears to take the “best-friend” or “babysitter” approach to parenting. She’d likely manage better than Betty, but I’m not convinced she’d be perfect. Some part of Don must be aware of that.
But what if some small echo of Betty has been left rattling around in Don’s heart? Judging by his past behavior, he no longer seemed to be attached to her, even when they were together. He was impotent the night of their Valentine’s Day tryst in Season Two—and Draper certainly doesn’t have any problems with his sex drive. He simply wasn’t attracted to Betty anymore. I’d have to believe that’s still the case, but his reaction to the news and his glazed-over eyes do leave me a little suspicious that there’s some dust left over that hasn’t been swept out.
I’d like to return to Betty’s thyroid tumor, however. I couldn’t shake the feeling that too many new plot points have been introduced over these two opening weeks. Or, rather, not that there have been too many new points, but that the two that stick out to me—Lane and the girl Dolores from the wallet, and Betty’s thyroid condition—don’t seem to be part of any larger season arch that should be forming by now.
But one of the things I’ve long admired about Mad Men is that it doesn’t leave loose ends lying about (the same observation was made in the Slate discussion of this week’s show). I’m reminded of Raymond Chandler in that respect—if you’ve read Chandler before you’ll appreciate that Chandler’s prose was never wild. Every sentence he wrote was there for a reason. Not every sentence had a big, important meaning, but it all worked to form the image he wanted you to be seeing. Chandler was not wasteful.
Neither is Mad Men. I think we’ll see more from Lane’s girl Dolores. And I think that Betty’s tumor isn’t benign.
I don’t know whether they told Betty the truth over the phone and she’s hid her state from everybody, or whether the clinic has made a mistake, obviously to her detriment. But from Weiner’s track record these past four seasons, I can’t imagine he’d introduce something like this just to make it a one-hit plot point. If it was just for this episode, then what was the meaning of the whole thing? Everything in Mad Men has a very present—sometimes blatant—subtext. What was the point of Betty’s cancer scare if not for it somehow turning out to be legitimate?
I really do look forward to seeing what happens. Knowing my track record, I’ll likely be proven wrong. But I do hope we see more from those two stories. Here are some disparate thoughts that I’ll close with:
- I love how the quack psychic got the tea leaf reading wrong immediately. It wasn’t even like, “Oh, this could kind of apply to Betty.” Nope, dead wrong straight from the first word.
- Betty’s dream sequence probably rates as the clunkiest dream/hallucination in the show yet. I’m not sure whether it was because of the overt writing, or the lighting (it was weird that it was so dark)—or maybe it came off strange because of January Jones’ acting.
- Sterling looks like he’s toast. He really looks like a major leaguer that refuses to believe age has caught up with him. I love his character, but I can’t see him sticking around past this season.
- If we don’t see Don pull some ad-pitch voodoo soon, I’ll buy into the whole “he’s lost his touch” thing that’s going around.
- I think the young girl Don was talking with backstage was there only to prove that he’s no longer nipping at everything feminine that walks past him. He treated her like what she was: a child. (“We’re worried about you.”) On that note, what the hell has happened to Harry? Can he go away, please?
- I didn’t see any indication of it this episode, but I have to believe that Megan is going to want a kid of her own soon.
So did you guys like “Tea Leaves”? I recall the comments from last week; some of you were disappointed with the season premiere. Did this episode steady the ship? And do any of you share my feeling that the season has been kind of frenetic with introducing plot points thus far? Does Betty actually have cancer, or is that whole thing over and done with? Let’s talk about it.
I miss Rorie.
I thought it was a better episode than the last one. Interested to see what happens with Megan, both with Don and the company. I foresee cloudy skies.
Mad Men is shown on Sunday.
So is Screened now attempting to become The AV Club? Because that's not why we're here.
@jaredog: Screened has been doing these episode recaps for over a year. Also, Matt has been a freelancer here for over a year. Constructive criticism is fine, inaccurate trolling is pointless.
I liked the episode, but that's because I don't attempt to look for everything at once like Matthew has done here. Mad Men should be enjoyed and revealed to you over several episodes, not dissected and expected at once. This feels like a blog from a very impatient person.
Let me elaborate. By "attempting to become the AV Club" I'm referring to the fact that the only stuff that has been published the past few days are episode recaps and that this one in particular even goes so far as to use the exact format the AV Club uses.
I will say that this one is far superior in writing than the hastily thrown together garbage that was the Game of Thrones "recap." I didn't realize Matt has been freelancing here and it's probably not his fault that this was published 3 days late as the wording sounds like it was written the day after the episode aired.
You have to admit though that the previous Screened episode recaps were never put up with much regularity save for this past season of The Walking Dead.
Maybe I'm just frustrated because the only things that have been published on here lately are recaps and a completely useless "Hey Adam Sandler sucks amiright?" article.
These comments are disappointing
I liked this episode more then the premiere probably just because it was shorter. I have, for quite a while now, not liked the Betty Draper character. Obviously I am speculating but there has to be some resolution with her character either she dies or Don and her finally completely disconnect from one another, and then something happens with the children. Maybe not, she could just be a constant irritant. Also glad that Don's daughter has found so peace for now unless Betty does something to rock the boat again. Still on board but after watching all of Season 4 in one week may have blown me out unless this season starts picking up.
I disagree entirely re: Harry Crane. Harry's been a great character. He still needs to get his comeuppance for his detailed description of how he'd fuck the French out of Megan, but how could you not love watching him get stoned and eat 20 sliders after accidentally signing the Tradewinds to perform a song about beans?!
I've always liked Harry and I found it pretty weird when Don said that he didn't like him. Why? He hasn't really been much of a screw up, and it would make sense if Don started to hate him now after the whole Megan thing, but not before.
Also, I believe it's possible that the reason for the tumor only being in one episode so Harry Francis starts to doubt Betty. At this point, it's pretty easy to see that Betty still has feelings for Don, and it seems like her phone call to him proves that. So now, even though the tumor is gone, it provided a shred of doubt in Francis's mind about Betty.
this is exactly like all those articles rorie and alex would write the night after each walking dead episode. this is well written and interesting, keep it up guys.
I feel like Sterling is going to do something crazy to Pete, whether its embarres or fire him, IDK but he is not happy.
Well at least this Matt was kept on as a freelancer. If we still get to see articles by Wes and amazing long form pieces by Andy Gray, I think there still might be a reason to come back to Screened (albeit probably twice a week as opposed to twice a day)
@Kingfalcon said:
Speaking of Godoski, doesn't the guy live in LA. I was given the impression that the site was based there now. If so hiring him would be a great way to boost confidence about the sites future: he wrote some of the best articles.
@FizzleNizzleBear: I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised. From his posts, you could tell that he really knew his shit about the industry.
@jaredog said:
Buddy, I absolutely share your frustration, but I think we just need to give these new folks a chance to get acclimated to the Screened "style" and figure out all the big picture behind-the-scenes stuff before we pass judgement. Adding to that frustration is that we still don't really have a clear picture of who's going to be behind this new stuff, but in the next week or two I'm sure we'll be getting the kind of content that we're more used to.
Anyway... Mad Men. I loved this episode mainly because it had a ton of solid humor to balance out the drama. Maybe it's because I also don't like Betty, but I feel like she had to be lying about the tumor being benign. Although, I really hope not, because the less time we spend with mopey Betty, the better.
Also, I have to disagree with Captain Floratis about Lane having more to do with the wallet-photo girl. It's great when a show has no frivolous content, but I thought that the whole situation there was a very well told vignette. We know that Lane isn't the most faithful guy, and he was presented with a clear opportunity to hook up with some crazy big boobs. Then the realization came, and he thought better of it. A clear tiny lesson. Not every even needs to span the season to be relevant.
Did anyone else thing the Dawn/Don confusion was fucking hilarious?!
I just had three Big Macs, so I'm ready. It's okay though because I washed them down with water. I'm still pure inside.
@Arc209 said:
I really hope Sally does, though we haven't seen that much of her yet. Betty's done more than enough damage to her. Where does a mother get off treating her nine-year-old daughter like an adult? Ugh. Somebody should arrest her. Did anybody else notice that Kiernan Shipka's (the girl that plays Sally) voice has gotten really deep? Or is it just my imagination?
@InsidiousTuna: @alexpiercey: Re: Harry; I read an interpretation somewhere (maybe Slate) that Harry's change in tone might be Matthew Weiner's F-you to creepy-ass Hollywood types. I look forward to seeing what happens to him. Ordinarily he would be on thin ice, but he still seems to be the only TV-guy at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, so they'll have to keep him around.
On that note, I miss Kinsey. Salvatore (the Italian artist) was a pretty great character too.
@gangly said:
Yes. It was great.