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Mad Men 17/4

37 replies

clangermum · 18/04/2012 10:12

So many bits to love in this episode. Pete fawning at his house, then having to watch Don fix the tap, then unravelling in the lift at the end. Everyone but Lane laughing about the chewing gum. The fight. The expressions on the faces of those watching. Classic.

OP posts:
icapturethecastle · 18/04/2012 23:49

It was a brilliant episode - I thought the best this season.

southeastastra · 18/04/2012 23:51

argh am missing this series!

YNK · 18/04/2012 23:53

I'm totally hooked but last episode there was a remote control for the television. Were they around in the States then? The settings are always so authentic usually.

icapturethecastle · 19/04/2012 00:10

YNK Just googled and the first tv remote was from 1950 - the first wireless one in 1956.

The sets are amazing - it would be my dream to work on that show in production. I love that era - my perfect job finding objects from the 1960s.

FaneFeyre · 19/04/2012 11:21

Ooh can I join in? Loved the last episode! The expressions of the three onlookers to the fight! And tragic Pete. The ending was really beautiful- I love Ken and the quiet development of the writer aspect to his character. I am so glad mad men is back

wildfig · 19/04/2012 17:07

This is so depressing and frustrating! Are Sky-less Mad Men fans just going to have to wait for the boxset? Is the BBC not picking it up at all?

BrightnessFalls · 19/04/2012 19:59

Cant you download it? If you look at The Big C thread someone has put a free link up to watch the latest tv shows. Mad Men might be on it.

Happyasapiginshite · 19/04/2012 22:56

Wildfig, I watch it online. Just google it.

BRILLIANT episode. Love that Don's wife is strong enough for him - telling him to phone Trudi himself. Loved the phone call with Don and Trudi. Loved that Pete thought he;d fixed the tap but Don had to come in a fix it properly. LOVED the fight! Loved how Joan handled the kiss. If that was now, there'd be a court case over it!

kickingKcurlyC · 20/04/2012 08:40

The fight was hilarious.
I also loved the scene with Pete at the brothel.

"No"
"No"
... "Ok"

It's just a pity we haven't seen Betty very much this series.

wildfig · 20/04/2012 10:34

Just found it online - even with my skippy broadband, it was still fantastic. I love Lane. He and Joan are about the only characters in the whole company who really understand each other. She handled that awkward kiss so well, but he had the grace to look chagrined, because he knew that she'd just told him he was different from the others... and then he did exactly what Don or Roger would have done. Poor Lane.

kickingKcurlyC · 20/04/2012 12:21

I really like Lane and Joan's friendship. It seems a (rare in that office) genuine one based on mutual respect.
I hope it won't be spoilt by that kiss!

Happyasapiginshite · 20/04/2012 14:23

It won't be because Joan is so brilliant. They need that friendship, both of them, and now that the inevitable kiss is out of the way, they can get on with the business of being friends again. For god's sake, I'D kiss Joan if I had the chance and I'm a straight woman! She's just such a brilliant character.

wildfig · 20/04/2012 18:14

My big dread is that Greg will come back from 'Nam alive... but disabled in a way that makes Joan feel she has to look after him and call off the divorce. I can't help feeling that he's been written out too easily - but then I still hold out hope that Dr Faye will return and kick Don's arse in some manner.

EthelredOnAGoodDay · 20/04/2012 18:21

It was a fantastic episode. DH and I loved the Lane/Pete section. So good. Can someone please remind me, when Joan said 'we both know you're not a real man', or something like that, to Greg last week, what was she referring to? I find it hard to recall after such a long gap!

Clayhead · 20/04/2012 18:40

I presumed she was talking about when he raped her.

kickingKcurlyC · 20/04/2012 19:12

I though she meant the rape when she said he wasn't a good man, but when she said she was tired of trying to make him feel like a man, she was also referring to the way he's just generally pathetic. Like only staying in the army because he wasn't good enough to be a surgeon in the normal world, and there he can pretend.

EthelredOnAGoodDay · 20/04/2012 20:46

Oh god I had forgotten all about the rape! I need to re-watch! Thanks.

Islagiatt · 20/04/2012 21:40

"My money was on Lane".

Loved it.

lovelychops · 21/04/2012 13:02

Thought it was a brilliant episode! I love to hate Pete Campbell.
I missed lots of season 4 though, can anyone explain why Pete holds so much sway in the company now? And why he can belittle Roger? Was he a part of setting up the new company?

Yes to all the positive comments about Joan! loved the way she just stood up and opened the door after the kiss. I hope they don't bring her husband back, I hope she tells Roger about the baby. I really like Megan even though I like Betty, hope we'll be seeing more of her? Perhaps it's due to her pregnancy in real life?

Nancy66 · 22/04/2012 12:04

The actors who play Trudi and Pete are a real life couple.

is Joan's baby DEFINITELY roger's?

Happyasapiginshite · 22/04/2012 12:39

It must be? In the last series, she told Roger about the pregnancy and when Roger asked if the baby could be Greg's, she said Greg had been gone for 7 weeks so there was no possibility it could be his. She told Roger she'd 'take care of things'.

It'll all come clear...

wildfig · 22/04/2012 13:41

I think there are various reasons Pete's turned into a monster:

  1. Roger's obviously taken his foot off the gas even more than before, now he's lost Lucky Strike, his big client, but he made all that money from the sale of SC, so he's not bothered. Pete sees himself as the only one doing any work in accounts, so Roger's big office and good relationships with clients grates. For someone in a client-facing role (urgh), Pete's total lack of natural charm must be a major daily hurdle, which is why Roger's still around to do the extra wining/dining.
  1. Ken has also come back into the team, but in a subordinate role to Pete, after that terribly awkward business at SC where Lane chose Ken over Pete for Head of Accounts - something that's clearly much more important to Pete than it is to Ken. Also Ken's got his writing on the side - and Pete's just desperate to be special like that.
  1. Trudy's needling him about ambition, and he's not taking as much pleasure as he'd hoped in the 'traditional' marks of success, ie, suburban house in CT, lovely rich wife, baby. For someone who models himself on Don Draper, Pete doesn't seem to have noticed that none of these things worked out that well for Don.
  1. To be sympathetic to Pete, he's probably also worried about SCDP doing well, since he and Lane aren't cushioned by the sale money; the partners who did make a packet - Don and Roger - are both taking it very easy, and who knows what Bert did/does.

Pete's a complicated character because it's not quite enough to write him off as an unhappy striver who doesn't know what he wants. He seems to have flashes of self-awareness, and in some respects is way ahead of the others (he was addressing race issues in advertising ages ago; he doesn't smoke; he's a useless drunk), but he's feeding his unhappiness with the worst possible things - the house in the sticks is driving him mad, for a start. That gun of his keeps getting mentioned.

bringbacksideburns · 22/04/2012 13:43

Is this coming back to the BBC or is this it now and am i consigned to watch it online somewhere?

lovelychops · 24/04/2012 07:53

wildfig thank you! I bow to your Mad Men knowledge

wildfig · 24/04/2012 10:57

Blush I need to get out more.

The actors who play Roger Stirling and his first wife, Mona, are also married in real life - love Roger.