As expected this week's episode of Mad Men dealt largely with the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and specifically various character's reactions to the tragedy. There's plenty to discuss, but I'm just going to quickly hit some things I enjoyed:
1) Loving your kids. Or maybe not loving them like you thought you would . . . or should . . . or something. Did Don really say he didn't actually love his kids? I know Don is confused and continues with his little existential crisis and all, but really? This seemed a bit out of character to me. He at least always seemed to love Sally, right? Hmmm . . . we'll have to see where that goes.
2) Bobby Draper! I think they've had like 25 (approximately) child actors play Bobby, but here he finally gets a big story line. Until now Sally has been the only one of Don's not-actually-loved kids to play a major role (and I wouldn't count on any additional screen time for Gene anytime soon). But here's Bobby front and center, even making Don proud . . . at least until he shows more concern for Henry than his own father.
3) Awkward hugs. Peggy's hug with her secretary wasn't terribly awkward I guess, although it did come after her awkward comment about how it wasn't as bad as it could have been (meaning the rioting, but with the assassination in everyone's thoughts). But Joan's hug of Dawn was as awkward as it gets. Dawn didn't even turn to face her. Yikes. And speaking of awkward, I really enjoyed the early scene with the Drapers running into the Rosens in the lobby. They're going to D.C. Don!
4) Peggy & Abe. I never liked them as a couple and probably never will. But I did enjoy Peggy's reaction to Abe casually mentioning something about raising their kids. Although everyone seems to think it's a foregone conclusion that Peggy and Teddy will have an affair (and did you notice Teddy sitting in Abe's seat at the awards presentation? Symbolism!), which could spell doom for her and Abe. It would, however, keep in line with her turning into the new Don. And she was even looking to buy a home in Don's neighborhood.
5) Poor Pete. And speaking of the new Don, as terrible as Pete can be, it's hard not to feel a little sorry for him as Trudy tells him not to come home to comfort her and their daughter and he's stuck ordering Chinese food (and having his own awkward encounter with the delivery man) in his bachelor pad. He's like Don circa Season 4. Pete needs to find a Megan.
6) Ginsberg. More awkwardness as Ginsberg has the world's worst first date. But I was reminded why I loved his character so much last year. We need more Ginsberg. And although I'm sure this has been theorized somewhere out there on the internet, I haven't seen it, so I'm going to throw it out there. I could see a potential relationship between Ginsberg and Dawn. First Dawn mentioned to her friend that she'll never meet someone at work, and now we Ginsberg failing at a potential relationship. They're both minorities within SCDP, so could that get them together? This is probably where Mrs. would tell me I'd reading waayyy too much into this show, but there it is.
7) Stan's facial expressions. Roger will always get the best one-liners (and he was great with his zingers at the drugged out insurance guy he brought in), but Stan is quickly becoming just as good of a source of comic relief. I'm not sure he actually had a line this week, but his weird grin and giggle and stoned demeanor with the insurance dude was flat out hilarious.
No comments:
Post a Comment