So let's begin.....
Random Thoughts As I Watched the Episode
We start off with Stan and all his glory, and it was nice to see Stan really trying to make a move in his career, he does come of as very laid back, so it was interesting to see him proposing the idea of a CA office and he being the one to get the ball rolling.
"It's like Detroit but with palm trees."- haha
Margaret annoys me. She annoyed me as angst ridden teenager on the show and she still annoys me. She's all kissing up to the same man that a few weeks earlier told him he would no longer be able to see his grandson.
"What do I have to do to get on the list of girls you give money to?" Oh burn. She is no Sally Draper, she knows her father inside and out.
However, I am in love with her plaid dress.
The agency has their own mugs. Fancy.
Next client is Hershey, this is the second client from PA where last season they were in deep with Heinz.
I love Pete venting about Detroit saying the airport is like Calcutta. Pete is turning into the new Roger with his zingers and one liners.
Ken- thank god you are not dead, and if anyone can pull off that eye path- it's you.
Best Roger Line- "It's all fun and games until someone gets shot in the face."
Bob is a tricky little one, but I am in full support of his platonic relationship with Joan, I may be naive in thinking this but I do not believe there is malice behind it, and thought it was cute that he brought back Kevin a little car.
Again, I know I've mentioned this in earlier episodes, but once again Mad Men does not sugarcoat the holidays and shows them in all their emotional, dysfunctional glory.
Don talking to the Minister -"I'm doing fine, Nixon is president, everything is back just the way Jesus wants it to be." Oh hunny...you are so naive.....
Love Uncle Mack's line when he kicked out the preacher from the brothel- "I would say go to hell but I never want to see you again." classic.
I thought the line that the ultimate sin is to believe God cannot forgive you. This is definitely Don, he never faces down any of his problems, if he's good at one thing its beginnings, and running. He wants to run this episode again, away from work, NY, issues with his daughter. He never believes that anyone will ever forgive him for anything, and never gives them time to, partly because he never thinks they will, and partly because to forgive is to love, and he never has believed he was worthy of that. He has never believed anyone would love him enough to forgive him, so he runs.
Don wakes up in jail- yup he's hit rock bottom.
Ted's wife definitely gave Peggy a look as she paraded herself in that fabulous coat, and kids in front of Peggy. One thing Peggy craves is a family, as much as she is a modern woman, she still wants a family, and is jealous of so many that do.
Oh no, Pete's mother is lost at sea. I do believe they should forbid any of the Campbell clan from traveling. His father died in an airplane crash, his mother fell over the side of a boat, and Peter is a disaster at driving. They were not meant for travel.
Sally is looking all 1960's Connecticut preppy in that sharp little cardigan as she gives her father lip.
I will give Megan one thing, as she confronted Don the next morning when he woke up in jail, she definitely has some fight in her, she definitely speaks up more than Betty ever did, which shows generational differences. However, sometimes you look at her and think she's just as naive.
"I've gotten out of control."- Don. Damn right you have. and oh, what's this? You want to run again, surprise, surprise. Not like we didn't see this coming, and then he steals Stan's lines about going out there, and of course that would appeal to Don. That idea that once again he can start over, that the west offers a clean slate, you can be pioneers and really build a life for yourself. But he has a life here, he just doesn't want to deal with it. It also shows how once again Don is losing his touch, stealing ideas, just reciting lines playing the part of Don Draper. He tells her that they were happy there, that they could be happy again. Escapism once again.
Joan's suit in the meeting where Don tells them he is going to CA is wonderful. Ted has a point, everyone else has to jump through hoops, and have ideas be discussed, except Don- he can just run with whatever he wants.
So the nurse married Pete's mom- total con artist. Pete was being harsh on Bob but honestly Bob is a con artist in his life that he made up for himself, and so he looks very suspicious to have suggested the male nurse to Pete.
Oh damn Peggy rocking those boobs and tights and I love her little move of going in to say she was taking off early. Ted's wife sashayed in front of her what she doesn't have, so she sashayed her goods to Ted.
"Chanel number five. It's all I wear." so good. Vixen by night. love it.
I want that car, it is amazing. Pete doesn't know how to drive, and I love how Bob got his revenge on him by making a fool of him in front of Chevy. Pete does not have the upper hand as he would like to think.
Ted waiting for Peggy. " Get inside before my neighbors kill you." He went to her apartment, and I loved his outburst:
"I don't know why women do anything!" He's in love with her, and cut to kissing and Peggy locking her door which cracked me up.
I thought the conversation between Betty and Don really showcased how far Betty has come. In the past she always seemed to call Don in hysterics whenever something happened, but she's very cool and calm saying their daughter was suspended for buying beer with a fake ID (like father like daughter). Betty did still make it about her, but it wasn't all about how it embarrassed her (well with her mother in law not wanting her to know, which is understandable that mother in law is from hell). She's also not blaming Sally, saying oh she's doing this to hurt me, etc, shes so calm stating that Sally needs more than she can give her. I thought it was interesting to note that she mentioned she tried to think of all the things that her mother would have done, but it wasn't enough. Betty is realizing that so much of what her mother drilled into her in how to be a woman, and how to live, isn't enough for her either. I felt this was a small way of acknowledging that her own mother failed in some ways with her, and didn't give her enough of the tools to be grownup.
So now Ted wants to run too, he and Don are not that different, and Don turns him down. Once again, someone is coming to Don for help, being in a situation that is very similar to one that he was in, and he turns them down. His brother did it, Lane did it. Ted is running from Peggy and maybe it will work. He should leave so she can be with Stan. There is such a desperation in Ted's voice when he says its his only chance. Don recognizes that, that desperation to disapear.
Ted saying I can't throw this away, I have kids. Ted wants to run with his kids, Don always wants to run away from his kids, and when he doesn't at the end of the episode, there is growth. Maybe like Ted, he knows that his kids may be the glue that keeps him together in this crazy world. Maybe Ted was right when he said to Don, I know there is a good man in there. It could have just been his plea, but part of me thinks he meant it, and I don't think Don has heard that much from people, not in a childhood where he grew up being told he was trash.
"It's too late Ted, my wife- they're writing her off the show." oooh foreshadowing of Megan.
Don in the Hershey meeting was just brilliant acting on the part of Jon Hamm, first his bs story about his dad in the store, and then when there was that raw emotion of telling them about being in the brothel, being an orphan and dreaming of being wanted, that feeling of being a normal kid. The Hershey bar symbolized so much for Don as a child.. The true story was more compelling, but isn't that often the case?
The look of shock on everyone's face was just unbelievable, Don Draper finally opening up, so I guess they can rule out Harry's theory from the first season that he was found under a rock, and could be batman for all they know....
"Happy Thanksgiving, sweetheart." a true affectionate moment to Dawn. He too is an outsider.
Poor Peggy, once again her heart is broken, so sick of her being the punching bag for pretty much everyone. She needs to catch a break in love. I thought it was heartbreaking when she said to Ted, "Well you are lucky to have decisions." She always feels trapped, and can't seem to get ahead in her personal life. She wants the freedom the men in the show have in running their own lives, sure she's been a trailblazer in her own right, but she is still limited. I do love how she wears that pantsuit in the end of the episode.
Pete and Bud talking to the investigator, hilarious how they were wondering if it would be worth it to find out the true situation of their mother's death. She was not a warm woman to either one of them, and now they are both free. Trudy said it best when she tells him that at the end of the episode
Megan looks like a pilgrim which made her comment about the children and how she used to pity them but now she knows they are in the same boat that much better. Megan is leaving, I really don't think she will be back, she was his rebound second wife. Three times may be a charm for Don in marriage.....well, maybe.
Then Don is fired, he is the golden boy no more, like his daughter he has been suspended, however unlike his daughter he has no return date. Duck must have loved seeing him when he stepped out of the elevator.
"Going down?" and another great burn on the show.
A few thoughts about the thanksgiving scene at Joan's:
One, Bob in a apron is a riot
Two, I want Joan's amazing deep green dress, its perfect
and most importantly: They are playing MOON RIVER! One of my all time favorite songs. They could have ended the episode right there, and I'd be thrilled.
But they had to end it with Don, and let me just say, that the last scene of this episode was just purely beautiful and perfect, when they pulled up to Don's old house and he opened up to them. It's interesting to note that the last couple seasons, they had Heinz, and then Hershey two huge brands from PA, and Don himself grew up in PA, so it was in a way getting him to go back home. They were bringing him back to his past. He told them this is where he grew up, and as Both Sides Now (another one of my favorite songs!) played that look that he shared with Sally was beautiful. He was saying he was sorry, he was saying I'm going to tell you about me now. It was a perfect scene, and for whatever gripes people had about season six (which I really did enjoy) that scene was just wonderful. Can't wait to see what is in store for Don next season as he finally confronts his past......
I don't think I've ever been more excited for a season to start.....2014 you are too far away!
PS I would really like it though if next season I see more of Joan in the show than just Johnny Walker commercials during the break.....thanks.
Until next year folks- I hope you enjoyed the recaps of Mad Men.
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