Yay! Hello Maddicts!
I hope "the color blue" isn't some sort of reference to the mood of this episode. I could use a pick-me-up after last week.

@Lily: WHY on earth are these Open Threads dated a week later than the actual air dates of the episodes?? Episode 10 is on this Sunday, October 18th and you’ve got the thread dated for October 25th. This makes no sense!

Yes, over a week's worth of poems, song lyrics, resumes, obituaries, medical health problems....what else can we add!!

Prediction - final scene from last episode of season 3 (or whole series): http://www.myphoto.com/suomoto/9831/73612/x

I am looking forward to this episode. We will get a glimpse of SC of yore., maybe find out a bit more about Don. (The copywriting-night school-attending, Don). More of Roger et al back then.

Maybe we can actually see a fun party at which people actually have fun for the duration, in what has been a dreary, joyless slog at work for most of them this year.

Laurie B: It seems as I look over the threads for each episode, Lily merely dates each episode for one week's time. It does make sense to me that she begins by listing, for instance, the Sunday, October 18 episode today, Friday, October 16 (she probably does this before she leaves for the weekend) and dates it for the following week figuring the thread will be open from, in this case, Friday, October 16 through Sunday October 25 when episode 11 will air. I think it does make sense that she does it this way because people post from before the episode airs (the moment she lists it) until up to the airing of the next episode. It seems it's always been done this way by AMC, even last season when the other guy did it this way. I cannot recall his name. Clayton something or other.

Please explain CH and his Hilton on the moon statements. Is he being metaphorical and telling Don that while the ad campaign is good work, it is just good and not the home run that he was looking for. Or did he really want the ad campaign to be about a Hilton on the moon?

First Joann. Now Sal????? Say it isn't so! Bring them back! I really loved Betty's Dad and his relationship with Sally. I love this show, but there doesn't seem to be any loyalty with the characters. Plus, Pete is acting pretty David Letterman.

I think Hilton meant he wanted a campaign more forward thinking..something that meant the future for Hilton.Something beyond ..well, think bigger. LOL Like the the moon. Unless of course he was thinking of Jackie Gleason..and sending Don to to the moon.

Cool! Thanks for sharing that A-Line. That's exactly where he belongs.

@fancynancy & Greg: Are you guys on or what?

@LaurieB.: I agree with you. Always.

@Everyone: I don't know if you guys noticed but Nancy, Greg & I were not on the Op Thrd E9. That's why it was so boring. (I'm just foolin'. Once I read through it Wednesday night, I was dying to jump in.) I was on Sunday night, and posted twice. Then I got blasted off. I was able to get into the website everyday, no problem, but the minute I pressed, "Join this conversation", they threw me off the site completely. Nancy & Greg expereinced much of the same thing. I finally got in Wednesday night at 10:44 PM. Last night I highlighted the whole blog - 728 posts! - and CUT & PASTED them in an e-mail to Greg (which is how he's spending his weekend, reading all your posts!) I hope we have better luck this week, but if this is the last time you see my screen name, you'll know they won't let me ON (I noticed Monty had no problem getting ON & posting.)

Although I have a separate thread going, I would LOVE to know what "Guilty Pleasures" you guys are watching between MM episodes. For me, locked-out of the Op Thrd all week, it was "Dirty Harry". I read a new bio on Paul Newman, & the author wrote that "Harry" was offered to Newman, but he declined. Then he suggested they look at young Eastwood, who had yet to find his niche. I saw "Dirty Harry" with my boyfriend, on the big screen, when I was around 15. I remember I thought it was the most brutal film I had ever seen.

@G: I almost forgot, will this photo do? I LOVE this new laptop! It does everything, and FAST, except make tea!

If the title refered to how people were feeling, I'd suggest "Mood Indigo."

The color blue reminds me of those Tiffany blue boxes with white ribbon. Maybe Roger is buying Jane another gift?
---------------------------

From a color site:
Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.

Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness. In heraldry, blue is used to symbolize piety and sincerity.

You can use blue to promote products and services related to cleanliness (water purification filters, cleaning liquids, vodka), air and sky (airlines, airports, air conditioners), water and sea (sea voyages, mineral water). As opposed to emotionally warm colors like red, orange, and yellow; blue is linked to consciousness and intellect. Use blue to suggest precision when promoting high-tech products.

Blue is a masculine color; according to studies, it is highly accepted among males. Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability; it is a preferred color for corporate America.
---------------------------

When did IBM become "Big Blue"? Somewhere in the 1960s but no set date. Could this be the account Peggy and Paul compete for?

Might it be a reference to Don's blue car?

Bobby Vinton's "Blue on Blue" (heartache on heartache) came out in 1963 too.

What with the penchant for psychoanalysis among some of us here, I'm suprised no one has yet speculated that some of CH's behavior seems "bi-polar-like." Maybe he's "blue" in Ep 10? :) !!

But I do wonder at his calling Don his "angel" in their wee-hours tete-a-tete; then the next time he sees Don, it's: "What do you want...LOVE?" I thought that was a very strange question for one man to ask another; and I also thought CH's anger and his "going off" on Don was out of all proportion to the issue, and inappropriate in a "client-professional" relationship-- despite "King's Midas"s wealth-given 'right' to be eccentric and treat people however he wants....

@racy, well get a look at you! Such a fresh face on you!
I'm happy to hear you are enjoying a new laptop.

@everyone else, I will now read to you the latest Entertainment Weekly preview description for episode eleven.
"Joan and Greg make plans for their future. The best future for Joan is ditching Greg, but I'll settle for her going back to Sterling Cooper". ( the second sentence is obviously writer commentary).
So if we're still denied it this Sunday, at least we'll look forward to some Joan storyline the week after.

I hope "The Color Blue" refers to the blue balls of one of the resident rapists, or I'll at least settle for Don's.
But I don't wish it upon poor Sal. Get this guy some (consenting) action!
Poor guy...

@amybett & wasthere & sab4ever, & bluegirl, & MadMenSuze, & renatae, & Sugarbear, & Deepdish: Thanks for the welcoming back! I didn't realize my Mom (OmarsMom) was going to go into such detail on her post, but at least you guys knew you were on my mind. I don't recommend the camera & laser down your esophgus, though,
especially when they do it while you are awake (altho it seems like you are dreaming, or under water, or something). You can also forget about going home. After they told me what they were going to do, they gave me 25 mg of Demerol (just like Betty in 'The Fog'!), and rolled me down to the operating room. Whiile rolling down on the gurney, I suddenly found myself walking on the cold, windy beaches of Monterrey, CA (where my ashes will someday be scattered), & I spent some time assuring the doctor that I could go home, because I really felt much better now. Forget it. They're happy for you, but they still do the procedure.

@Racy: "I left my lunch pail on the bus.....and there's a giant tube down my throat." See any caterpillars or janitors? :)

A-Line: That so hilarious! Don on the hotel floor with the earth on the horizon! Unbelievable.

A-Line: That's so hilarious! Don on the hotel floor with the earth on the horizon! Unbelievable.

Thanks, it was irresistible. Please bear in mind that it might not be possible to build the first Moon Hilton according to the standards of luxury hotels on earth.

Racy wow.I was wondering where you were all week. ..It's so nice to float like that though..when it's legal and under a doctor's care.
I was watching 'Ghost Whisperer' earlier tonight. Brian Batt was on playing a waiter with a French accent. I could see his character being secretly in love with Melinda's friend. But then he only had a brief appearance....
I've been trying to think of a theme for Hilton's request that he wanted the moon. It brought me to Don's trip to California. for the government contractors.. And then the song came into my head. "Everyone's Gone to th Moon!"
But then Looney Bin! So I didn't really get anywhere, did I? I have too much time on my hands.
I think maybe Don made a choice because he was fed up with Hilton and let him get away. Then off he goes to mess with Miss Farrell. Then Sal lost the Lucky Strike account and messed it all up for him. Oh, am I getting it out of order?
I'm a mess.! But so excited. A great- granddaughter due in Feb.!!!
I did think of something....I usually sign in but I never sign out....I forget!..Could be it would help the site if we all made sure we sign out?

Interesting editorial in this morning's NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/opinion/17sat4.html

Interesting editorial in this morning's NYT.
This web site is so lame. I think my 4-yr-old granddaughter could design a better one. Jeez!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/opinion/17sat4.html

Interesting editorial in this morning's NYT.
This web site is so lame. I think my 4-yr-old granddaughter could design a better one. Jeez!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/opinion/17sat4.html

From this morning's New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/opinion/17sat4.html

@AuburnAnnie- Hopefully "the color blue" is all the color site says it is :)

@racy- glad you're back, and w/ a fresh new face too!

@60's chick- interesting perspective from that editorial. I must not be miserable enough to enjoy the latest round of MM misery! The sad part is how can it not get worse? Assassinations, equality battles, secrets revealed?

Just a Tip: I never click on "Join this conversation". I only click on the "Comments: #" Don't know if that'll help or not, but some people could not get on the Open Thread at all last week, and we missed them.

LaurieB.-- Lily post-dates the thread so it will stay on top all week. I think she does it before she goes home on Friday afternoon.
Remember the last two seasons Clayton would have it up just minutes before the new show would start?
Wonder where Clayton is? He participated in discussions in the beginning.

I just started the weekend off right by watching a recorded Episode 10 (sure hope Sal is going to be all right...) and reading the NYT article about misery loving company through the ages.

The consolation prize for '60s was that popular music was fixing to explode with the advent of the Beatles and folk music's fuse would soon be lit by young Bob Dylan.

My misery found lasting love with most of its company -- 3 kids and 4 grandchildren ago! Mad Men puts an arty edge on what seemed like our families' real lives/problems (drunk at work in a cigarette haze, screwing around, nothing but caucasians, etc.) Interesting to consider from a 40 year perspective!

I don't watch Mad Men for the misery of it all, or sharing that with les autres miserables. I watch it much as I would a mystery, not waiting for a happy ending, but waiting for a resolution of sorts, one in which truth wins out in some form or other. So many secrets, some of them will have to be told!

Thanks for the link, 60's chick!

the color blue:
humm
bruises are blue
boys are blue
something borrowed
first place ribbons
if you want to push the Gatsby thing the color blue in the book was synmolic of false apperances and fake emotion

blue moon, baby blues, Fontainebleau, true blue, blue collar, out of the blue, into the blue, blue meanies (from Breakfast at Tiffany’s), singing the blues, Blue Monday, blue laws, bluenose, blueblood. Does it have anything to do with the Hilton ad campaign? Miss Farrell’s favorite color? Probably none of the above.

Hello, all. Well, here's my 1st post. Finally jumping in after reading the (mostly) insightful/creative dialogue from a safe distance. Compared to previous seasons, this season I *almost* felt like giving up on the MM writers (okay, admitedly, I'd never be able to stop "turning the page" of this story), but of course I am complelled to stick with these oh-so-mixed-up characters with their complexities, flaws, desires, frustrations and joys (however destructive & fleeting). I, too, would love to see more glimpses of work life at SC. And I so hope that Sal finds a way to be himself. And Peggy finds recognition for her work talents (but not with Duck). And Roger finds his way back to Joan somehow. And Pete finds himself a conscience. And Sally gets a grip on her temper so little Gene can grow up. And Betty finds a tiny bit of affection and interest for her kids. And of course I hope Don can reconcile his past and find real love and fulfillment outside of being SC's superadman (and, at present, doormat to Conrad) . And the list goes on. Ahhh...such fun waiting and imagining what Sunday night will bring.

Is is Sunday 10pm EST yet??

Sorry for the typos on my post; flying fingers and no spell check.

@fifty-two, I feel the same. I watch MM like I read a page-turner of a book or watch a well-written film that is chock full of surprises and twists and unexpected character development. That's what I like in music, too. Watching/reading/listening for something to resonate, a truth to be revealed, a transition maybe. Or even (gasp!) resolution of some sort.

So...is it Sunday night yet?

the color of the sky......the color of the ocean

opps, and the color of Allison's panties when Pete tackled her on election night.

sorry, couldn't help it.

and the color of Alison's panties when KEN tackled her on election night. Sorry, couldn't help it.

@Sab: Carlton is monitoring the "Breaking Bad" threads. Also, you are MUCH too young to be a great grandma!

Looking up at the beautiful blue sky while Don and Suzanne are picnicking; Don wearing that awful blue plaid shirt but still looking great as ever trying to shake off the vision of the icy blue eyes of Betts. Burt looking blue when Roger brings to his attention of an old photo of a woman, decorations of blue for Bobby Draper's birthday, and lastly, blue blood; the Kennedys which were once known as American royalty.

@aline: LOL. What a great photo!

I think you nailed it SugarM! Finally, someone has made a truly prophetic prediction for the next episode.

Love Mad Men, I think that Don may be just having a writer's block nightmare in that scene.

Seeing pictures of January Jones getting posted here, she looks so different from Betty Draper; makes me think she is a good actress. But maybe other people see a stronger resemblance.

Welcome madmenmaniac! We hope for the same things. Glad you joined in. Your eye is a good one, figuratively and literally. Can't wait for Sunday.

SM, very good.

A-Line, I think she is a great actress- that's why so many hate her. I just can't picture her with Ashton Cutcher - her bf for how many years? Ashton v. Don. Nope, can't picture it.

Ya know how Gene said " He has no People."?
I know a fella here who definitely has "people".
whoohwoooooh~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Beware...LOL

Hello dear Maddicts... there is a new and quite inflammatory thread...suggest (I only say suggest) not responding to it, as that seems to be what the poster so desperately wants...

Dear Ms. Sab always right, I think his name is Sybil.

I think January Jones looks more like Eva Marie Saint than Grace Kelly. JMO

How about out of the blue? I am sure we are going to be subjected to Don telling Miss Farrel that she is the only one that underdstands him and he doesn't want to loose what he has with her. She is suppose to be so progresive with her jogging and civil rights. I'll bet its Carlton that finds out about Don and tells Francine. He's probably laying her too or wants too. Does anyone think its especially cruel for Don to set this up to intentionally get caught? He knows that Carlton jogs by to watch the teacher Carlton told him that. He also knows that Hilton will probably call and Betty will guess that he is having another afair. I guess he just wants to "Disrespect" Betty once again and this time do it even in a more cruel way. Why does he hate the mother of the chldren that he claims to love. If this gets any sicker it will lose even more viewerws next season. I wonder if the firing of the two writers have anything to do with the drop in viewers this season?

Someone commented in one tag that he identifies with teacher because she lost someone. Isn't it strange that he was completly unsympathetic to Betty when she lost her mother and he hasn't shown any feeling for her losing her Dad. Betty was blamed for not giving Sally attention when her grandfather died- she was nine months pregnant and in shock. We didn't see Don giving any TLC to anyone but teacher this season. He sure has been and Ass to everyone else. I really want Joan and Sal back-also miss the Dad- loved his take on Don and his relationship with Sally.

The Color Blue--- I predict it'll be about depression only it won't be obvious to us that it is till the show is over.
Betty was more up because of Henry,more excited,now what will happen? Maybe she didn't feel any chemistry when she and Henry kissed and that's why she stopped him. Has that ever happened to you?

Do you remember this sad song that Barbara Streisand and a few others recorded in 1963? This one's for Betty:

"My Coloring Book"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgQyPMEzVfQ&feature=related

Pen: WOW thanks. Beautiful. That brought back a memory of a lost love. But one I'm glad now got away.

This is the first time that I've made a comment on this blog and do love reading all your comments. I believe the color blue refers to blue as in boy. Did anyone catch the very last scene of the previews for this episode? There is a shot of Betty looking totally devastated. I think we will see something very serious happening to baby Gene. (Does this remind you of the Kennedy baby?)

Give me some feedback on this theory.

@deepdish: thanks! It's hard to take my (green) eye off the MM characters, but I sure don't envy any of them.

@Jasper, I share the concern for baby Gene.

Blue always feels calm to me but I sense it's all about a moody, melancholic vibe for the MM players (and ultimately for viewers when the season ends).

I appreciate reading all the thoughtful comments but where do I start?? So many threads, so little time!

@Nevernot tasty Eva Marie Saint, well at least it's not Buffy St. Marie I think she looks a little like Christina Applegate, especially in the caterpillar dream sequence

Hi Jasper, welcome. I hope nothing happens to baby Gene. That would be curtains for Don & Betty.

Don: "I don't think children belong in graveyards."

@fifty two - I agree - but have a stong feeling about this.

I know alot of you guys are alot younger than me, but there was a program in the 1980s, called "thirtsomething", about a group of friends who were in thier 30s. 2 of the lead males had their own small ad agency, which went bankrupt, Consequently, they were hired by a competitor that they both hated. They brought in a large account, & the account decided to take over the classy ad agency. These 2 guys were "undercover" for the competitor's takeover, & the nasty guy, a widow of another agency founder & a retired (to CA) founder, all held the majority of stock. The 2 guys went out to CA to negotiate w/ the retired guy, & after hearing their approach, he agreed to give them his proxy under one condition: they remove the roof. At first the one guy says, "Oh, you mean open-up the agency to new ideas!", & the other guy said, "No, you really mean take the roof off the office building."

When I heard CH tell DD last week, "You didn't do what I said, I want you to put Hilton on the Moon.", that episode of "thirtysomething" dropped right into my lap. Coincidence in the writing? I don't think so.

@hobocode52: Exactly how old are you? Were you born in 1952? Who (besides you & me), has ever heard of Buffy St. Marie? Wasn't she Hawaiian?

@sab4ever: Hey, hey , hey! Congratulations! The problem w/ not having kids, is not having grandchildren, or great grandchildren. I'm green w/ envy about your news. Keep us updated!

@LaurieB. Geez, Laurie, thanks for that tip. I'll remember it this week & pass it on. If only we'd known last week! I was wondering if AMC techs were banishing me, or something.

@G: Thanks for providing the "Entertainment Weekly" MM update. ET is the only magazine I subscibe to (except for TCM's 'Now Playing'), & I'm an original subscriber. Comments on MM are one of the few things I can relate to, in the magazine.

@Sugarbear: Sorry, no catipillars or janitors. Just me & the rocks & the sea (& the Demerol, I guess.) I plan to be "scattered" there, because, as a lifelong insomniac, Monterrey is the only place I've ever had a good night's sleep.

@madmenmaniac: Let me join DeepDish in saying: Welcome! Stay on the Op Thrd, please. We always need new blood because by Wednesday, we've spilled all we've got. It looks like the Monty Python movie scene, w/ the vicious white rabbit, here on this site, by Wednesday.

@DeepDish: January Jones was w/ Ashton Kutcher at one time? Wow. Thank God you people can tell me stuff like this, otherwise I'd be totally clueless!

@DeepDish: Can you be a little less cryptic in your post? Who is angry, & on what thread?

@NeverNoToasty: Whup! I disagree. January Jones has Grace Kelly "Money" written all over her. Eva Marie Saint was the Catholic schoolgirl in "On The Waterfront", and the feminist b4 her time (sleeping w/ 2 different men) in "North By Northwest". I believe the MM casting agent was looking for "a Grace Kelly type" web JJ was hired as Betty.

@Jasper08: Welcome to the Open Thread! I once had a pet rabbit, who had a pet rabbit, & my rabbit's rabbit was named "Jasper".

I nearly forgot; I think we should have a new contest about "retitling" (is that a wrod?) the MM titles, because the writer who came up w/ "The Wee Small Hours" should have been canned. Even I can come up w/ a better title than that, I think we all can.

Plus, I think we should open-up the "Be Ken's Date" contest, again. We haven't even seen Ken since he got splattered w/ blood, & then told Roger he was taking "full responsibility", which gave Roger an opening for some of the best dialogue lines of the series.

We already lost Joan & Sal (let's hope Sal doesn't apply to Bonwit Taylor's, too! And, exactly how did Joan end-up as a retail mgr so fast? Because of her going to college?), so we know MM characters are dropping like flies! Let's not lose Ken, as well. Remember, Ken's job on the show, is to be "clueless." Kind of like me on this blog every week.

@Racy good detective work, you must be psychic
Great 2 hour special running on the history channel about JFK assasination. It's called Three shots that changed America. Lot's of good rare footage. Truly a must see if interested in the subject.

Thanks Hobo, I'm watching in now. Lot's of footage I've never seen.

Did you ever get that interview with MW? I was rooting for you.

Hi Racy.... Buffy SteMarie is, I believe, Canadian... and has Amer-Indian heritage. I've always loved folk singers... and if I remember rightly, Peter Paul and Mary were the toast of the Village in '63. And I agree, Monterey is certainly in one of the prettiest parts of Cal...

Hobo... es verdad.. I too think the JFK docu is very good indeed.

@hobocode52: Yes, I caught it! But thanks for the heads-up. The History Channel is showing Kennedy specials all week. I was watching TV, sitting next to my 32 yr old Dad, when Oswald was shot. I turned to my father & said, "Daddy, did that really happen?", because I was used to seeing guys shot on "Bonanza" & stuff. My Dad was always upset that his 7 yr old daughter saw a man killed on LIVE TV. But I also was watching when the Challenger blew-up (home sick) and then I watched 7 of my friends perish when a religious zealot flew an airplane into their office building, so I guess I'm supposed to be used to it.(That doesn't even count last February, when the widow of one friend, died when a Continental Airliner fell on our neighbors house.)

When I was in graduate school, I had to take "Counseling Across The Lifespan", & the last day of class we were told to write our own obits. The Prof then read them out loud, & the class had to guess whose obit it was. Mine began, "She was old enuf to see Lee Harvey Oswald shot on LIVE TV". BTW, I now believe Oswald acted alone, & there was no conspiracy. Partly because of Norman Mailer's book "Oswald's Tale", & also the History Channel Special, replayed this week, where they used computer graphics to see the limo from any other direction than what shows up in the Zapruder film. But, like in "JFK", I agree w/ Oliver Stone's ending; this man was elected into office by the people of the United States, & no one has the right to say, "Well, no, I don't like that choice", & take it away from all of us.

Catch the special on the Lincoln Assasination that The History Channel is also replaying. I am a fanantic on the Lincoln Assasination, & am writing an article about John Wilkes Booth, to coincide w/ the 145th Lincoln & Booth assasinations, in 2010. The best book on the subject, for anyone who cares, is called "Blood On The Moon". I even have a photo of JWB on my desk, next to my laptop ('Considered the handsomest man in America. Black hair & hypnotic eyes.')

Personal Prediction Alert. Personal Prediction Alert:
The writers will not touch upon the JFK incident within this season.
Or,
they will, but it will be the last moment of the season finale.
Or,
they will have skipped it altogether when season four opens, only to make mention of it (besides the obvious cultural changes) when Roger has a few one liners to describe all the money he'd lost from his daughter's postponed wedding.

I still have that nagging sense that we are in store for at least a couple of unpredictable shockers in the last two to three episodes of this season. Mark my words.

That wanton hussy of a school marm is Trouble with a capitol T. I don't like her face. Trouble.
And our hero may just receive his comeuppance quicker and harder than even he would expect.
He may even cry. But I'll love him anyway. Tough love.

In case these personal predictions do not pan out, do not mark my words. I'll be to embarrassed.

I'm so embarrassed! I meant to spell 'too' embarrassed.
Sorry everyone! Sorry! Won't happen again.

G: Loved your comment. I wish I could be so witty.
I see what you mean about the "school marm's" face! LOL But I don't like Betty either. She is way too shallow.

Buffy St.Marie was a/is a Cree Indian from Canada. I loved her song; "Now that the Buffalo's Gone". Very sad piece.

New York City and the surrounding metropolitan area attracted a large number of migration in the 20th century. Were the 1960's any different? Autumn in New York is different. Public life now seems sanitized. Mad Men is not a replica, a moving museum or a dominant style of aesthetics like the major trends in British novels and cinema. Stephen Crane, the more literal meaning: "I eat my heart because it's mine."

Hi fellow maddicts!

I won't repeat what I think the color blue refers to...
I enjoyed reading all the posts.

@A-line: I'm sooo glad your "American Gothic" Don/Dick avatar is back!!!
It is the best I've seen!!

@racy: I've read other Maddicts welcoming you back, and wishing you well. It takes me a while sometimes to catch up. I'm happy you are well, and back on the Forum!
I am a history nut, and really enjoy the History Channel.
I have been following the newest JFK special also. Unlike Matt W., I don't feel the story has been over done.
I like the different footage not seen before. It's so funny to see the way news was reported in 1963!

Like you, I remember the day and the weekend in November 1963 clearly.
I won't bore you with my memories, I have posted them many times...

Lately, I've been left wondering about the SC work environment and the evolving world around them that advertising reflected. Thinking about TV commercials that Sal might have worked on. Watched Naked City's TV commercial spots (series available on Netflix) and was inspired to watch more vintage 50s & 60s commercials (Raid, Tang, Ovaltine, Dentyne, Chesterfield, Hertz, Bryl Cream, Noxzema). There are sooo many on YouTube, but here's a link for those who haven't explored:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFbCGT_AWBI
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yWTsFVkrFc

Wonder what Don would say about these (now) classic ads?

Hope you can link to my "doctored" pic of the always pensive, sometimes mysterious Don:
http://www.photoshop.com/accounts/c1173f0e568943838c3c7dc482b6328b/assets/1ec7bd65d9f14139956aeb48395cc0e9

(I couldn't find a "thought bubble" nor was I able to rotate the conversation graphic, but oh well.)

Part of the enjoyment for me is *trying* to get inside the characters' heads. I often wonder, "What were you thinking?!"

What will Don or Betty or Pete or Peggy or Roger or Sal or Joan reveal about their true selves in the context of those times?

Let me say again how much fun it's been to read many of your insightful, playful, creative comments. It brings another level of thought-provoking discussion to the post-episode discussions with my spouse.

haven't read every post - so forgive me! do you think peggy would bring duck as a guest to the SC anni party? or maybe freddy? As far as the color blue is concerned, just glad it's not red, we've seen enough red in S3!

this is off topic but just read the music teacher by john cheever -very interesting story - wondering if anyone remembered what song was being played on the piano when don arrives at her home?

oops - ADD moment - by "her" home i meant anna drapper's home

Racy, welcome back....those hospitals can really take it out of you (no pun intended!)

Enjoy your posts and missed you.

j9mac, Anna's piano student was playing "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Grieg when Don walked in. I think that episode was titled "The Mountain King" also.

Welcome back Racy and welcome madmenmaniac! I agree with Racy that "Wee Small Hours" wasn't such a great title for last week's ep and hope that tonight's is more in tune with its title.

Re: "The Color Blue" ... Bobby Vinton's album "Blue On Blue" was released in 1963. It was entirely composed of songs with "blue" in them such as the title track, "Mr. Blue", "Blue Velvet", etc.!

thanks bluegirl

I don't think Pegs would bring anyone who's been fired, like Freddie or Duck, to the party. It would be job suicide if she did.

I'm not too disappointed in this season and enjoy the Betty focus. I'm mainly disappointed in Joan's absence from much of the show. I'd like to see more of the fun of season 1 come back: the Belle Jolie lipstick test by the women of SC, the booze-fueled office parties. Roger's and Joan's marriages have taken them out of the scripts too much this season, except for the one episode each (the blackface number and the accordion number) in which they were featured. I sincerely hope they come back with strong story lines of their own.

As for the inflammatory thread and the hate comments repeated verbatim on several threads, I think not responding is the best response.

Yes, egyptbelle (neat av with Claudette Colbert/Cleo, btw) ~~ it is best to ignore those provocative threads, but, it is soooooooo difficult, no?

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to who the woman in the photograph was that made Bert wince?

Since we have some time to kill, here's a question.
If you were to dress up for a costume party, who from the cast would you be?
I wish my friends watched MM, so our party could have a MM theme.
I'm settling for Lizzy Borden. I have a great Victorian outfit.
Enjoy the show tonight!

Egyptbelle: I don't think Duck was fired. I think he and SC would have had a gentleman's agreement to part ways, with them giving him a good report to any future employer. Although Roger, Burt, and all the executives act like savages much of the time, they like to think they're gentlemen when they can get away pretending they are. It would have been no skin off their noses to treat Duck well while he was leaving. He lost that round to Don and he knew it, so I think he would have left rather than be fired. Seems he had little trouble getting a good job elsewhere.

But I see your point about Peggy not being able to bring Duck. It would show she is not a team player. And no one should bring Freddy since they're going to have their clients there, and the point of firing Freddy in the first place was so that he would not embarrass them in front of a client. Imagine having Freddy drink to excess in front of all their clients. Mon Dieu! Apologies to Auburn Annie, who likes old Freddy, but SC just couldn't take the guy out in public anymore.

@josepha
we are having a Halloween Madness party
everyone has to come dressed in late 50s early 60s

Wow...there are already 78 posts up, and the show will not even start for two hours on the East Coast!

@LaurieB.: Okay, Laurie, I took your advice, & came in under "comments". Let's see if I get thrown off. I should be more optomistic, right? Okay, I'm ON, let's hope I stay on.

@pi168: I'm envious as you can see ;). Sounds like a blast. Who will you resemble?
@josepha: Can't you just twitch your nose and make it so?
@auburn annie: What's your guess? Seems I'm not that astute an observer. Was she a client (Rachel??) or an ex-wife?

Why do people want to kill Baby Gene? I see no reason for them to do this, unless you want Betty to lose her mind.

I think Betty is going to find out about the teacher.

@pi168
sounds like fun! I love period costumes. I rewatch episodes not only for the dialogue I missed, but also to study the costumes.
I want Betty's "sad clown" dress! Saw one like it on ebay, but I was too late!!
Love your avatar by the way. I loved watching The French Chef when I was young.
Now, I'm actually a chef!

i think don might find out about henry - betty needs to toss those letters! it would be interesting to see how don reacts to her infidelity and how or if he would be able to move forward. would he ask her to leave the house? does he even think she is capable of being unfaithful? remember his response after they had sex and she said she had been waiting all day for this.

Hi Zab... teacher tryst exposed... I second you on that.. (big uh oh)

Hi josepha... I love vintage clothing too... and truth to tell, "back in the day" I had a dress very like Bettys sad clown.. different colors though... shades of reds, pinks, oranges.

Hi pi168... hope you are doing well... and your party sounds great!

Hi NNT... think you are perfectly right about how Duck actually left SCoo... well put...he just lost that round of corporate kung fu.

Counting down.... an-ti-ci-pa-a-tion

Madmenmaniac:There's nothing insightful here.You're dealing with the Oprah and Reader's Digest crowd here which should have been evident.99% of these comments are made by bored housewives and retirees who barely made it through Podunk Highschool.

@zabadu- I agree about Baby Gene. I just don't see them having something happen to the baby. Losing a child must be a devastating thing, having them write that into the show would cause a lot of people to stop watching, in my opinion. I don't think anything will happen to him, I think (as I posted on another thread) that Betty finds something in the study. Maybe the unlocked drawer with secret information about Don.

@Auburn Annie- That is a good question about the picture of the lady that made Bert wince. Maybe an old secretary (like Joan) that he maybe had a fling with?? Just guessing

@josepha - I ,too, wish a lot of our friends watched MM. Have been trying to get them to watch it not only so I could have people to talk to about the show, (thank goodness, I have this site to come to to get all of your wonderful insights) but to have MM themed party. How fun to come dressed up like one of the characters.

Also, speaking of vintage clothes, my daughter is having a vintage dress made for her casual pictures for graduation. She loves Mad Men as much as I do. She wants to do it like Betty's photo standing in front of a store window. We have a friend that owns a store with a window front similar to the picture. Very excited to see how the pictures come out.

@p168-your party sounds like it will be so much fun. You could even use MM's cocktail guide for ideas of different drinks to serve. ( I am envious, wish I could come!!)

Count down to the next episode..can't wait. I feel this episode is going to be full of interesting story lines, hopefully some answers to old questions too!! I want to see more flashbacks!!! Help us fill in some blanks!!!

Happy Mad Men Day Everyone!! See you after the show!!

Take care!

For Auburn Annie

Mood Indigo

(1930) Barney Bigard, Duke Ellington, Irving Mills

You ain't never been blue, no, no, no
You ain't never been blue
Till you've had that mood indigo
That feeling goes stealing down to my shoes
While I just sit here and sigh
Go along blues

I always get that mood indigo
Since my baby said goodbye
And in the evening when the lights are low
I'm so lonely I could cry
For there's nobody who cares about me
I'm just a poor fool that's bluer than blue can be
When I get that mood indigo
I could lay me down and die

You ain't never been blue, no, no, no
You ain't never been blue
Till you've had that mood indigo
That feeling goes stealing down to my shoes
While I just sit here and sigh
Go along blues

Egypt & SC, you're both right, and I am one guilty of responding. Ignoring is truly the best.

Can't wait for the show.

I love your musical posts fifty-two!

Auburn Annie, I'll wager a few random guesses about the lady in Bert's pic. His mother? Alice? An ex? Or "the one that got away"?

Zabadu, I agree that Betty is going to find out about Miss Farrell. And I don't think anyone *wants* anything bad to happen to Baby Gene. I sure don't. It just seems like there could be a vague possibility of something malicious in Sally's behavior? Maybe that's too obvious or too dark. I don't know. I do know I'd be the first to cry if anything happened to the poor little dude. He's got a tough enough situation coming into that household already, right?

Jeffe64, congrats to your daughter on her graduation! Sounds like her photos will be lovely and unique! I'd love to see them if you and she would feel comfortable to share.

josepha, wasn't your husband in advertising?

@bluegirl: I can't see Sally doing anything to Baby Gene.

FYI Everyone: Monty is back as Montgomery, Bertha is a known troll as is JeanM. Try really hard not to respond.

Well you're right Zabadu, it probably won't happen like that. Just a random speculation... and thank you for looking out for us. I think they may be all one person. Similar writing style.

***************************START HERE*******************************

@LaurieB: Babe, I just got thrown-off 4 the fifth time. This does not look like a good omen.

@josepha: "Since we are just killing time..." First "laugh out loud" of the night. Thanks. (You are tooo much.)

@josepha: But, will you be carryting a bloody ax? And there was never any blood found on Lizzie's dress, except for what the doctor testified to, & no man on the jury wanted any discussion on THAT! Have you been to her B & B in Fall River? I know this is off topic (like that has ever shut-me up b4), but as a true crime follower, do you believe she did it?

@Everyone: Call me a "rube" but, what exactly does "lol" stand for? "Lots of Luck" or "Laugh Out Loud"? (Notice, I picked-up on BTW, & WTF all on my own.)

@MelbaToast &
@Troksky: Thanks for the info on Buffy Saint Marie. I probably would never have thought of her again, if HOBOCODE52 hadn't mentioned her last night. BTW, the late Mary Travers used to be my neighbor. Very nice lady. Great 19th Century house.

@G: I never caught your "to" & "too" mistake. I only see my own typos, once they're logged on.

@60s child: You have posted your JFK memories on my thread, right? Did you reveal your birth year?
Please, please post if you haven't. I'm behind reading that thread because I have been responding to my film threads.

@NeverNoToasty: Freddy as a continued "embarrassment" in front of clients? As opposed to Roger's "surprise" in the SC reception area.

@pi168: Oh, am I invited? Halloween night? I promise not to embarrass you in the fashion of Freddy & Roger.

@MadMenManiac: The funniest commercial was about Anacin. A dad walks in his house after work, & his wife says, "Dinner's almost ready, & then we need to change for the PTA meeting." & the guy compensates for his other problems by snapping at his wife, "Please Gloria, I just got home. Can you just give me a minute to myself!" & the narrator says, "Control Yourself! Sure you have a headache & you're tense. But, don't take it out on her." My sister & used to immitate the commercial all the time, & die laughing over the "Control Yourself!" line. (Small things amuse small minds. We were 7 and 9.)

@SCfan: Well, thanks for the homecoming. Everyone is saying how much I was missed. It means alot. Really. Thanks.

@Thanks for welcoming me back. And thanks for agreeing w/ me. I love that!

@Zabadu: Well, fillies, it's about that starting time again. Zab, just waiting for you & then, "They're off!"

Yeah! So excited. Was so gutted to have to wait several days to see the episode last week and then couldn't catch up on the comments. On track for tonight though!

everybody is welcome at our party... of course.
I am going to dress like Liz Taylor in The V.I.Ps

at least 45% of the population will believe I look like Liz Talyor in the VIPS

Mrs Pryce on 2 different channels at the same time, she is also on Californication as Mrs Koontz,also on Sunday night at 10 on SHO

Somehow, the brother is going to be a problem.

Well. I don't think I've ever heard a better description than that: "Smells, sounds and criminals" - the city that never sleeps, for sure.

the old bra campaign. i remember that. ouch.

Hang up calls...who said "bunny boiler?"

Is Don's naivety ever going to end! Why in God's name would he meet the brother when he's a married man screwing the guy's teacher/sister? Why doesn't he just pick up some more hitchhikers on the way home and pop some pills! His character is played & getting boring. Peggy looks a little strange...new hairdo?

And the keys to the desk in his bathrobe--another good call by someone?

And the keys to the desk in his bathrobe--another good call by someone?

Have to say, Don just feels so out of control. Swept away by sentimentality (surprising?) with that "long, curly hair" comment. Meeting the brother....

The blue bathrobe!

"Don get my brother a job in the mailroom at sterling cooper!"

She said " I don't care about your marriage" Playboy rule # 1 you never have an affair with someone who doesn't have as much at stake as you do

Did kinsey do the onehanded dance under his desk ?????.

So happy to see all of the SC players in this episode!!!

Lois?? And Paul - lol!

Maybe Sally or Bobby will find the keys before Betty does. I'm surprised she doesn't automatically check pockets before throwing stuff in the wash, especially with kids.

Uh oh - SC's on the block again.

Don Draper is so busted!

Okay, THAT was funny. You tell her Henry!!

OH SHIT!!! Here it comes....

Both teach and her brother are creeping me out. Don is just plain stupid!!
Do that laundry Betts! Find those keys!! We need more excitement than Paul's "idea inspiration activities"...yuck!!!
@Deep Dish-yes, my husband is in advertising...and his name is also Dick. What a coincidence!! Twinkle twinkle.
@racy-I love true crime also.
Oh yeah-she found those keys!!

OMG, OMG, OMG!!!!

open! ohhhhhhh noooooo
why keep that stuff in the house????

Oh, shit.

....and Don's world implodes.

Now...THIS is promising.

Does it get any weirder with Nutbar Farrell? Her brother drops over, she’s in the sack with a married guy and she wants her brother to pop out of the bedroom and meet him!

....and it gets weirder still: now she’s gotten onto the train with Don....

...and weirder yet: Betty’s gone and found Dick’s secret stash. Note the lighting on her face after she’s duly noted the divorce decree between Don and Anna.

OH OH, HIS WORLD IS ABOUT TO CRUMBLE

Sorry everyone, excuse my french above :-)
Hasn't Don ever heard of a safe deposit box??? Hellooooo???

don is going to run off with the teacher and live on a comune

Betty's going to take that money and go back to Rome.

Oh, no. And everything's there. Don, you got some 'splainin' to do!

I knew it!!! She finally got into the desk drawer!!! OMG!! There is a lot of stuff in that box!! A lot for her to take in!! I

I was soo happy to see Lois again!! YEA!! They kept her...probably because she saved SC from Guy taking over!!

Love this show!

Sorry everyone, excuse my french above :-)
Hasn't Don ever heard of a safe deposit box??? Hellooooo???

What brother talks about his sister like that!!!! WOW!

Notice how Betty still has yet to add the Coliseum to her charm bracelet?

Yeah - that's a weak plot point. Don has always been so cagey - why in the world would he keep that paperwork AT HOME??!?!

First Achilles changing light bulbs and then Betty as Pandora - hmmmm.

(that'll probbly be the cliffhanger for the season: Betty finding the secret stash. She probably won't confront him by the end of this season.)

(that'll probbly be the cliffhanger for the season: Betty finding the secret stash. She probably won't confront him by the end of this season.)

"mr draper we found this dead body with your business card in its pocket"

Don, forget Miss Farrell & go home. Betty really REALLY wants to talk to you.

Yeah, Don left a lot of loose ends opened. He's being very, very stupid.

Betty's crazy for not running out and getting an extra key made. Shopping money!!

Pandora puts the box back...
"it never happened"

...and there was that train whistle, again, at the start of the episode....

@goodstuff-I agree! I said on an earlier post..I thought he was smarter than that and had a lot of that stuff in a lockbox!!

Bad things happen when Don lets someone else in the car.

Can you see Betty dropping the Dick Whitman bomb at the SC party?
The you-know-what is going to hit the fan...

So cracking up right now! "She's not Margaret, she's Jane, my wife!" Hilarious...I'm sensing an anniversary party train wreck coming.

This is a good ep tonight...can't believe how careless Don has become. lol

This is a good ep tonight...can't believe how careless Don has become. lol

So, the previews show Betty talking to her brother and lawyer, packing a bag.

No Joan this ep - wasn't this supposed to be a Joan ep?

Roger and Jane with the mother. How funny was that?

wow...
well.. that set some stuff in motion...

Kinsey's look of awe at Peggy
Betty's death glare at Don

The book that Betty is reading in the tub--"The Group" by Mary McCarthy....anyone know it?

Next ep: Gypsy and the Hobo. Guess we know who they are.

I know you Mad Men are thrilled to death w/ Miss Farrell, but would you kindly explain what the attraction is, to all of us women? (Except for NANCY - I'm certain she thinks this is hot.) GREG, is it validation again? You MEN, how much "validation" do you need? Yuck. And YUCK too close to home.

Even though this episode is titled "The Color Blue" (which I guess is Don's robe?), it follows the Rome theme of the past. When the S-C CEO (the guy from London running the office) confronts Cooper about not attending the 40th anniversary party, this conflict comes straight out of "Julius Caesar." Caesar, momentarily, is not planning on going to the Capitol. Decius Brutus is appointed by the conspirators to bring Caesar there. When Calphurnia convinces her husband not to go, Decius Brutus must put a "spin" on her dream interpretation and get Caesar there. Just like Decius Brutus tells Caesar he should go because if he doesn't, it will appear Caesar is old and sick, so does the London officer manager (exact same words) tell Cooper people will think he is sick. Both men do it with flattery. The London CEO knows that he is setting Cooper up (like Caesar) for future chaos and failure. Cooper decides to go and says, "How did you know I was vain?" Same with Caesar - his downfall was his pride.

And who mentioned something to Don about Caesar (Peggy?) and Don said, "It didn't turn out well for him either." ?

So, tonight, "Julius Caesar" was directly mentioned and alluded to. A parallel story line in regards to Cooper walking into a lion's den and not even knowing what is about to hit him.

Hi everyone! This was a good episode, better than last week's. Some thoughts:

Miss Farrell's getting way too possessive of Don. She's acting as if they have a real relationship (versus hookup buddies, which is really all they are) -- getting on the train with him for no real reason? Weird. I bet anything she was the one who called the Drapers' house and hung up. She and she alone would have freaked out when she heard Sally's voice answer.

Racy, I don't get Don's attraction to Miss F. either. I think she's rather plain looking and possibly nuts. He's definitely playing with fire there. Does Don want to get caught or is he just off his game? P.S. LOL is short for laugh out loud. :)

Peggy was kicking some serious copywriting butt. Good for her. She's really talented and getting more confident every day. Was that the Hermes scarf over her hair in the Aqua Net scene?

Noticed several references to Greek and Roman legends and lore. Achilles, Pandora, Caesar. Excellent insightful thoughts on the Roman empire allusions, MADtini! You're so right.

OMG Betty and the drawer! Of course they kept us hanging... what is she going to do now?

The trip that we know she and the kids will be taking soon may NOT have anything to do with separating from Don-- she mentioned selling Grandpa's house and possibly having a Thanksgiving dinner there. You know how they tease us with those preview clips sometimes.

I was a tiny bit disappointed we didn't get to see more of the SC anniversary party. Loved Roger's mommy and her treating Jane like she were Margaret. "Does Mona know?"

Shelby123, yes, I've read "The Group". It's about several women college friends in the 1930s. Here's a synopsis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Group_%28novel%29

OK, I give up: What isw Don getting from Miss Farrell that he didn't get from his other conquests? I'm not seeing it.

From the previews, looks like somebody gets fired next week. I'm guessing Cosgrove, but it could be Kinsey. WHen you're given Lois as your secretary, you're pretty low on the totem pole.

How about Suzanne's seduction music-- the Singing Nun??

I was so glad to see Betty reading "The Group." It's a Mary McCarthy novel about a group of Vassar graduates who received their degrees in the 1930s. They all take different paths in life. One marries a cad, one embarks on a nasty affair with another cad (reading about her furtive attempts to get birth control is astounding). Another woman, the most beautiful and enigmatic, is revealed to be a lesbian (apparently a big taboo back then). Another is a rather innocent, pretty girl who becomes disenchanted with New York. Yet another becomes involved with a married man. Rather soapy material now, but the book is well-written. A movie starring a stunningly beautiful Candice Bergen was made in 1966. The movie was rather awful, but the book is worth reading.

Seeing BLUE....Don figures at least 45% of the population sees blue the same.
(as an art teacher, I always found this concept fascinating)
Carla wears Blue
Brit's wife in Blue.
Don's Blue robe had the key.
Betty in the Blue bathroom...in a Blue dress...
SC's blue too??
...someone else has the upper hand on each of them........

Don Draper = Humanity?
Paul: Masturbation = Inspiration?

SECRET DRAWER!!! Betty lost the courage to confront...for now Totally Pandora @pi186!!

Lois still has a job

"you really pour the honey on...then you lick it off"

QUESTIONS:
What was Betty reading?
Hilton can't really be calling Suzanne's house, can he?
Epilepsy seizure control medicine?? Was there none available yet?

@Shelb123- great catch on the charm!

I think drugs will be Paul Kinsey's Achilles heel.

How do men and women differ in their approach to problem-solving?
Peggy uses free-association to come up with ideas.
Paul uses his free hand to "come" up with ideas.
Sorry..I couldn't resist.

Such a funny counterpoint in work habits...Peggy and Kinsey. Him drunk and self-gratifying ...her diligently dictating - apologizing for burping up her Coke (Patio)

I was glad to see Betty reading "The Group," a 1933 novel by Mary McCarthy. It's about five 1933 Vassar graduates and their subsequent lives. One woman marries a cad immediately after graduation, and dies young. Another enters into an affair with another cad (the description of her trying to obtain birth control in 1933 is astounding). Another woman, the most beautiful and enigmatic of them all, is revealed to be a lesbian, apparently a big taboo back then. One woman, rather sweet and innocent, becomes disenchanted with life in New York City. Still another enters into a relationship with a married man. The book was made into a movie in 1966, and starred a young and gorgeous Candice Bergen. The movie was pretty awful, but the book is still worth reading.

I rewatched this episode and it was Miss Farrell's brother who said in the car, "Julius Caesar" had epilepsy and Don then said, "It didn't turn out too well for him."

So that was the other "Julius Caesar" reference.

Peggy was genius!!

Don trying to take care of Suzanne's brother = Dick being unable to save his own brother.

@amybett: Don has a answering service and the service takes messages and then calls Suzanne's house.

Yes, wasn't that strange that the Singing Nun was the background music for Don and Suzanne's latest tryst? I remember having to memorize "Dominique" in kindergarten. The poor Singing Nun: After a string of musical failures and debts, she and her partner committed suicide in 1985. By the way, sorry I posted twice earlier: The AMC server keeps crashing!

The description of the Aqua Net ad reminds me of the JFK motorcade. Instead of a bullet passing from one person in the back seat to the person in the passenger seat, it's a scarf.

Do you think Paul was grateful for Peggy saying "we" a lot in that meeting with Don, or was he simply impressed by her ease in coming up with things - and the fact that she didn't rub his nose in it. I couldn't quite read that scene.

The lunch bag that Paul takes out of the fridge - did that say Sal on it?

CH wasn't calling Suzanne's place. She said something like, "Your service called and Hilton's looking for you, but he's probably on the plane now." She means the answering service Don uses had called her place. That means he's left Suzanne's number as an alternate to where he can reached. Wait til Betty calls his service. Don is really getting careless and stupid!

Okay, I am NOT going to say that I am disappointed with the episode - lots of great stuff on many levels, but I have to say that Don being careless a.) with the key and b.) with even keeping the documents in the house was a weak plot point (as stated by @Auburn Annie). I feel like they could have come up with a far better way for Betty to find out about Don's past yes? I do however like the heightened tension of her waiting up all night, only to be unceremoniously deprived of her opportunity to confront him with REAL evidence for once. Her subsequent phone call with him made it appear that she was losing her courage, and maybe so, but she appears to be biding her time don't you think? Those looks at the party said "you are going down!!!".

Ms. Farrell is a free-spirit. That in itself is alluring.

Was Wallis Simpson attractive? No, yet almost every man she met was mesmerized by her. And a king gave up his throne for her. Some women have " it " and it isn't always the pretty ones.

Yes MADtini. Perhaps further, if I may, it is that women who are not considered pretty, often hone other skills (not one word there please) to make up for that fact.

FINALLY!! The sauce is beginning to thicken! All these episodes and I was beginning to lose hope. I'm betting the crew somehow buys SC back and the group comes together again. But Don? He's walking right into the eye of the storm. It's painful to watch.

I cannot stand the teacher! What is Don thinking?
I loved his other affairs!

What happens now? Selling Sterling Cooper is the big event at the end of the season? Again? How many scenes were there of Betty doing the laundry tonight? Would have made a good drinking game. The only thing that happened tonight was Betty finding Don's secret stash and they had to drag that out for a half an hour. Who knows how many episodes before anything else happens with that. I might as well be recording General Hospital.

This season has been a major let down. I doubt I'll watch the rest of it.

Was Don always a partner?
Don was working in a fur salon?! I hope to find out more about his work history.

There are just too many ways Don can come undone now....
Betty just pulled the first unraveling string and meanwhile...
Don/Dick: faking it so hard he gets an award!
It's all got to be downhill from here for Don...

Thanks @NNT- an answering service makes more sense...it makes me nervous how close Suzanne is getting to Don.... @bobcatsmom- OMG! I hadn't even though of that!

Dumb Paul should have viewed that endeavor with Peggy as a team endeavor: two heads are sometimes better than one.

It is really fascinating how so many on here express dislike for Ms. Farrell! How has she demonstrated this "clingy-ness" and "craziness" that some have referred to? Is she a free-spirit? Um, okay, in that one-foot-on-the-ground-and-the-other-in-the-clouds kind of way. We know that Don is attracted to women that do not conform to the social norms of the time, so there you go with that. But I haven't really seen those qualities explicitly. I see her being naive in some ways and she doesn't censor her behavior or reactions. Anyone?

Well, Betty has her excuse to nail Henry Francis now,

Re all the Roman Empire allusions. Were the 60s the beginning of the end of the American Empire? What are we supposed to make of all these references?

By goodstuff on October 19, 2009 12:00 AM

Yes MADtini. Perhaps further, if I may, it is that women who are not considered pretty, often hone other skills (not one word there please) to make up for that fact.

And that is EXACTLY the rumor behind Wallis Simpson.

It looks like next week that Betty finds herself in a room with a lawyer and it seems she's talking to him about her discovery. I can't believe she didn't empty the contents of that drawer and stash it elsewhere (outside the house) or at least (as Zabadu said) make a copy of the key.

At Lane's tedious speechifying, Moneypenny says "Very rousing, Sir" he replies, "Churchill rousing or Hitler rousing?" Hysterical

Paul's role just got a whole lot more interesting. He now understands that Peggy is better at this than he is. Will he try to sabatoge her or ride her coattails?

@MADtini - I really asked for that one didn't I???

@KBF: Maybe Paul will say to Peggy, "All those times I used to pass by your office and didn't notice you. How is that possible?" JUST KIDDING

I loved that Don was staying put, even if tempted to stray. I have noticed that when he feels stressed or pulled in too many directions, he reverts to the behavior of philandering. When things are not quite as stressful, he is more content in his life. This is his "alcoholism." Not an addiction to sex, but an addiction to escapism. Now that one Pandoras box has been opened, I wonder what else lies in wait around the bend.

I hope they bring up Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique" soon. I'd love to see Peggy, Joan, and Betty affected by it.

QUICKSAND! That could have been the title.

I think the "lawyer" with Betty is the guy selling Eugene's house.

And Paul, was he looking at Peggy with gratitude for saving him, or with distain for having stolen his thunder (again)?

The Singing Nun, OMG. We had that album.

Poor Price! Been in NY for ten months and nobody has asked him where he went to school. He's a toad, too.

How long has Sal's lunch been in the fridge?

How far from Ossining to Bedford, MA?

So, Betty thinks Don was married before when she sees that divorce decree? I didn't see dates on it. So I am guessing she thinks it is Don's?

This is a long post alert but I'm so aggrivated with this site I'm not breaking it up because once you're on you better post up everything, so, have it folks...

I felt the thing this was most about was not Betty getting in the drawer, but instead more about Don and Miss Farrell and everything you can get from that.

We have the reminding of Adam through Betty finding the box when she specifically looks at the picture. Then of course Don's experience with Farrell's brother here and how it relates to Don's last experience with Adam.

But I felt it went deeper than that surface level. It's about Don really reaching for Miss Farrell. Have we ever seen him this affectionate, giving this much effort?
Much of this season has been about Don making a greater effort toward Betty. But after little reciprocation from Betty, he's done with it and back to, "I need to show you off".
So he shifts his giving of affection toward Miss Farrell, and does so to a greater degree. He actually holds her hand in the train, at first when he wants to hide from her family member he decides to give in to her wish and go meet him, he makes a real effort to drive him later on. Not the usual Don.
Most importantly to notice very much is the pillow talk, which is not a Don thing to do really. Remember episode 1 season one with Midge his pillow talk consisted of his work. Now look where he's at.

He's trying even moreso than we've seen him, with her, after initially trying with Betty but getting no reciprocation back.

See, it's hard to put into words to make it make sense but one of the things I felt last week, with Don going to Miss Farrell, was about the idea of you can only push a man so far before we have enough and just leave.

One of the common themes, one of many, thus far has been Don being pushed around. It can be active like at the office or passive like with Betty. So Don left. He left not only a woman in the middle of the night, Betty, but something more; he left the idea of trying to be being committed to his wife since there is no reward in that.

He gets a reward from Miss Farrell: escape, which is a Don need.

So this bleeds into another need, that of Miss Farrell. What is one thing that is pretty clear she needs? Loyalty and security. Part of her dance to and fro with Don has been about two things; plain simple immaturity in making him chase her till she catches him, and the idea of security.

One of the things in her dialogue with him has been about the idea of Don running around. Yet of course she takes a victim mentality defense, yet in the end is always there on her own choice isn't she.

On the train she tells him she doesn't care about his wife and everything else as long as she's the one that's there. And that leads into something that the Miss Farrells of the world don't understand.

It's the concept of "the one" vs "the one....that's there". Now, which one is Miss Farrell, really.

These two are no match. This will go nowhere. Soul-mates they are not. She's looking for security and finding it in the wrong man, and he's looking for an escape. Know what his attraction to her is also about?

Don Draper is lonely.

This is just me but I still feel Miss Farrell is a total parallel for Anna. I don't think it's coincidence that when he goes to Miss Farrell's, they always show the camera shot similar to when he showed up at Anna's, in the hat, knocking at the door, her opening it and the way the camera shot is. What was it, 3?, times tonight they had the shot of him at the door when they didn't have to show it? Just similar, not exact replication of the shot at Anna's, but still a reminder of the visual shot. (for those who like to go back and look at things, it's the Anna episode where after the flashback where she busts him in his apt, they flashforward and you hear the Mountain King in the background and Don knocks on the Door with Anna answering). This season with Miss Farrell it's not the same replication but similar a few too many times, the visual of him at Anna's door. A reminder.

He confided in Anna. Don begins for the first time, confiding in one of his women in pillow talk here this year as well. Don asks Anna for a warm shower and a place to lie down. Miss Farrell is about the same thing to Don, just a warm place to curl up.

The difference is Anna didn't go for sex, she went for security with Don. Miss Farrell also goes for security with Don like Anna, yet indulges him with sex.
That begs a question which can't be answered here: did Anna not go for sex bc she was intimidated because she's not the prettiest thing, or did she not go for sex because she's smart enough to stay away from Don in that regard. Maybe that's how a girl keeps Don, don't have sex with him. It happens.

Another parallel: Betty/Henry and Don/Miss Farrell. Last week Don taking Miss Farrell in his arms was about him taking control because at this point for the first time since we've known him Don has control of nothing. Don by doing that is basically telling her to stop being a woman acting like a little girl with the hot and cold flirting, and time to sit at the adult table.
Henry is kind of telling that here to Betty. "I'm not going to chase you and play games" is basically what he says. And that's basically what Don says to Farrell last week. Sit at the adult table.

Betty wrote him letters last week instead of calling him.
This week the ad campaign is "you can't frame a phone call" as in but you can frame personal writing.

Other quick points:
Betty again having a relationship like Don would have with a Sterling Coo secretary, in having Carla cover for her.
Don, twice here, gave Peggy positive affirmation for once. Any near future implications?
We got a little more on the Don geography in that Roger found Don at the fur company. ( I assume later Roger will look for payback for that)
This is the second episode in a row where we have seen Don's award with the horseshoe displayed behind him. It's the award he won in season 1 that led to the Adam trouble.
Farrell saying to Don, "do you feel bad about what you do". Not about advertising is that little remark?
Lois was very strange in dealing with Paul because at one point she sounded rather motherly like Carla to Betty, but on the other hand she had these faces like she really did do something bad to him. I couldn't figure it. But that's Lois I guess.

At the very end, another example of the idea of three this season: We had three married couples, crammed into 3 cabs, and all three not happy with their situations.

Ossining to Bedford is three hours and some today. Probably was a longer ride back in 1963.

By Deep Dish on October 19, 2009 12:18 AM

QUICKSAND! That could have been the title.

I think the "lawyer" with Betty is the guy selling Eugene's house.

******************

What is a lawyer? She used words like complicated, complex, or conflicted...something like that...and I thought maybe she was talking to her psychologist again.

I listened to the song "My Coloring Book" that an earlier poster mentioned. Very appropriate for tonight's show. I am wondering about why they have Betty reading "The Group". Is there anything in that book that could reflect what is going on with the story line?
Also, any clues on who this mystery woman from the past is who appears in the sneak peak from next week?
Re: the Cesaer references--if Cooper is Cesaer, who would Don and Roger be?

Mmmhmm!
Look at Betty's face when the key turns in the lock. We've all felt that joyous relief of finding the right key.

Look at Don's face when he realizes that he's been snuggling with a crazy lady who stalks him at the train station, and lies about calling his home that he shares with his super model wife and innocent children.
At least Betty's extra marital partner doesn't "play games".

Look at Kinsey's face when he realizes how easily the ideas form in Peggy mind. Kinsey, my favorite boob. And yes, he was taking pleasure in himself with himself.

And my heart was in my throat as I waited for Betty to make a scene at the awards ceremony. But no, she's a classy lady, who thinks adultery is "tawdry".
She should invite Anna to dinner to discuss the situation like civilized adults.

It's absolutely amazing that they would keep Lois. Wouldn't you be afraid around her? Maybe Roger is doing it to torture Paul. (Joke)

@Madtini: who else would the divorce decree belong to in Don's desk? Did you mean to say you didn't see the names on it, or you didn't see the dates on it? The names were Don and Anna Draper.

I'm astonished that just a few days ago I posted about when Betty finds out about who Don really is----and here it is already.
What I'm surprised to read that some are surprised about the items in the drawer---I just thought all along that the writers were alluding to it all along. It even seemed heavy-handed in one episode that Betty was seriously trying to find information everywhere and couldn't get in that same drawer.
The safest place for Don to put the box and $ is at home because he has the wrong impression about his wife and that she'd be looking....He underestimates her.
I have been waiting each episode for that bonus money to show up because he tried to give it to Midge I think it was, but she turned it (and him down), so I knew he still had it.
Let the meltdown begin.
Oh, and are we all just suppose to suspend belief in that the teacher is really that attractive to Don? What is it about her again that makes him unravel all his carefully honed life of lies?
I've never been on this main thread before--it's great to read all the fresh responses and discussion.

Poor Carla (clad in blue)...the only (adult) moral compass in the Draper household.

Last week Betty openly objects to the rapidly advancing civil rights agenda. Tonight, Betty dismisses little Sally's observation that Carla attends weekly church vs. the Drapers' annual Christmas visit.

@greg...The Anna/Miss Farrell comparison is just excellent. I think you're on to something there.

loved that look when the key worked!

And loved the look Carla gave when Sally asked "Why don't we go to chuch"

@Greg- great about the Betty/Henry letters and the telegram campaign!

Am I the only one who cringed when Paul walked out of his office and shook Achilles' hand without washing it first?

fanomad, no, the bonus money and Midge - It was a check and he signed it over to her and told her to buy a car. It was cash that he gave to Adam (then told Betts they couldn't buy a summer home).

Filmography
I googled Abigail Spencer - Miss Farrell - and see that she is on MM for only 4 episodes. Tonight makes 3 (right?) That means one more next week.

Tonight it was mentioned only 3 episodes left, so that would mean, she will NOT be on the last 2 episodes of this season. What will become of her/Don?

Jump to filmography as: Actress, Self
Actress:

* In Production
* 2000s

1. In My Sleep (2010) (completed) .... Gwen

2. "Mad Men" .... Miss Farrell (4 episodes, 2009)
- Wee Small Hours (2009) TV episode .... Miss Farrell
- Seven Twenty Three (2009) TV episode .... Miss Farrell
- The Fog (2009) TV episode .... Miss Farrell
- Love Among the Ruins (2009) TV episode .... Miss Farrell

My mistake from my last post. The scarf goes from the front seat to the back. Maybe I should watch the show thoroughly before I post.

Does this discovery by Betty signal the end of the Draper marriage?

Betty put up with an abhorrent affair (Bobbie) because of a pregnancy she couldn't abort in 1962. But her feelings for Don were built on her vision of his heroic persona, now entirely shattered.

Don's secret being discovered by Cooper led eventually to Don's being more tightly tied to SC, not dropped by them. Will it be the same within his marriage?

Hmmm....

By AlphaD on October 19, 2009 12:25 AM

I listened to the song "My Coloring Book" that an earlier poster mentioned. Very appropriate for tonight's show. I am wondering about why they have Betty reading "The Group". Is there anything in that book that could reflect what is going on with the story line?
Also, any clues on who this mystery woman from the past is who appears in the sneak peak from next week?
Re: the Cesaer references--if Cooper is Cesaer, who would Don and Roger be?
*****************************************

Marc Antony, Octavius? 2/3rds of the next Triumverate?

Deep Dish, I know it was a check to Midge, but did she take it? I thought she didn't.
I knew he'd have to cash the bonus check--and it was a heck of a lot more than a car's value--wasn't it some outrageous amount like .5 million? What I have presumed is Betty didn't know about it and that it is Don's secret/personal stash since he's always got a plan to be gone......So, that's why I was waiting for it to appear.

Greg, yes, Don is reaching for Ms. Farrell -- unfulfilled and lonely. But I just don't think there is any comparison with she and Anna. Not in a sexual way, but a bond, true understanding vs. - not just a booty call, it's more than that, but nothing near the honesty and openness with Anna. Don shared things with Anna that he would never share with the teacher. And, too close to home. Even the train ride was awkward. With Anna he is totally free to be himself. And that is a continent away.

fanof, I'll try to get back and take a look. I'm sure it was a few thousand, enough for Paris, anyway. Didn't he just stuff it in her blouse and leave? Anybody?

The Group had a number of things going on in it. I think one woman was being beaten or abused in some way by her husband and one (it may have been her) committed suicide. I think two of the women were gay. If I recall correctly, marriage came in for a bad rap.

I'm wondering if perhaps Don's heightened attraction is more about his needs than a genuine attraction---as in he needs this woman to be someone to sweep him out of his life??? (I just don't see her being "the one" ). I really don't buy the he's so lonely either......He's been lonely all his life!

Wait--is Roger Sterling's mother Burt Cooper's sister? Which would make Roger Burt's nephew? (Octavian was the nephew of Julius Ceasar).

No, no Alpha, the confused mom in Roger's limo was not Alice Cooper. And Alice was sharp as a tack. (her stockings cost more than the carpet)

@Deep Dish- the lunch bag did not have the name Sal on it. It had the name Sarah, but I think it would have been a nice touch if it said Sal.

"The Group" was a best selling novel that follows eight women friends, all wealthy and educated. The contents of the novel cover heavy issues social and personal, but primarily focus on changing social and economic status and personal autonomy. It was considered important and daring at the time and also a bit autobiographical.

Adam, really? sorry and thanks - It looked like "Sal" on my little screen. I wanted to slap him.

I thought when they started to discuss Halloween that they would bring up another parental no no from the '60s - the fact that parents didn't think twice about letting their children go "Trick or Treating" for blocks around the neighborhood at night, knocking on strangers' doors - and largely without any parental supervision. Something that would hardly happen today. Controlled private parties are a more recent development.

Also, I too am mystified over the appeal of the teacher. Ms Farrell is nowhere near as attractive, nor as interesting as most of Don's previous paramours. In fact, there is something a little creepy about her. How to explain the lack of arrogance he usually shows towards his women, let alone the besotted state that has him now acting so carelessly. Either the writers or the casting director has some explaining to do on this point.

Please remember my reminder near the top. Withhold your comments as much as you're able.

Z, thanks for the reminder---I just gloss over them and it works, just like walking away from an oddball at a party.

The check Don gave Midge was for $2500.

Greg--love long posts like yours. Takes thought and I really respect that.

It is clear there is a link to the women who give Don both sex and some opportunity to unburden himself emotionally. But Ann doesn't fit in one key respect:

Don's mother was dark haired.
Midge was dark haired.
Rachel Was Dark haired.
Bobbie was dark haired.
Miss Farrell is dark haired.

These women with whom he has affairs, are Don's "medicine" for the anxiety he feels about about the life he leads. Midge even tells him in Season 1, "I like being your medicine."

As we've all figured out by now, Don escapes stress and disillusionment through sex. Again and agin, in Don's life, Eros is used to divert his psychic gaze from Thanatos--the death urge--not just fear of death but a deeper fear that you might embrace death to escape the pointlessness of life.

Indeed that quite literally happens in his first sexual encounter with Rachel --one which occurs right after Roger nearly dies in front of him--in the office, whoring around.

But all the running is a flight from that confession to Rachel that night about how he can feel time slipping through his fingers like sand. He feared death on the battlefield enough to "kill" Dick Whitman. Now he diverts his gaze from a desire to "kill" "Don Draper" with a mommy figure each time the horror of his emotionally empty, intellectually vacuous existence hits him.

I think, as was revealed in his comment about long dark curly hair not being in style anymore in this episode, Don has a madonna/whore complex. Betty is his madonna, a perfect blonde goddess from a good family. He protects her from the world in exchange for being able to "show her off" as he does to complete his Don Draper master of the universe persona one he both loves and hates. He also has a "type" who is his "whore" the dark-haired woman he seeks out agains and again and tries to unburden himself to in one way or another.

Where does Anna fit in? I don't know if sex was ever part of that equation other than she clearly found Dick Whitman attractive when she said, "What am I going to do with you?"

Not to start a political flame war here, but boy does Don remind me of Bill Clinton. Clinton picked a yale educated lawyer for his wife a perfect partner for his career --a woman a bit like his strict grandmother, but then seeks out a series of "good-time" girls like his often absent mother even when it is insanely destructive--Monica Lewinsky, if you think about it, was just a chubbier Miss Farrell.

What is good to see above all is that Season 3 has found its groove, even if it is a bit less that season one and two.

"The faintest ink is better than the best memory." Don needed to hold onto permanent evidence of Dick Whitman's existence.

"A telegram is permanent."

Don's secret stash is permanent.

The harm done to others through his lies will be permanent.

Betty's sudden discovery of so many lies is brutally contrasted with Don in his office, changing his lust-stained shirt while ordering his wised-up wife to perform for the company. "I want to show you off." But Betty recognizes and understands this pattern now, his obvious use of her as a prop, a trophy, the need for a veneer to cover the life of lies. And she agrees to help disguise what is rotten and crumbling. Everything which seemed permanent is slipping away. The shock of it renders her dumb, numb.

It serves as a preview of that shock our nation will come to feel quite soon. The loss of a certain sense of permanence, the loss of the belief that Presidents are permanent, American wars are righteous, and God is always on our side.

I'll tell you why I don't like that tawdry teacher. I don't like her face (as I've said), and I just don't like the way she threw herself at my Don. Betty's Don! (of course).

As we've gotten to know Betty, we love to fascinate at what an exasperated mother she is, as well as her naivete. But she's now OUR Betty and we understand and sympathize with her.

So Midge was somehow excusable (never liked her though). Just some lunch time catnip.
Rachel was not a seductress or desperate and she was more of an equal with Don emotionally.
Bobbie was manipulative and dangerous, and force herself on poor vulnerable Don, so really poor Betty as well.

But here's hoping it'll all come out in the wash, and Don and Betty will run into each other ten years later when they've both grown up and fall in love for real.
They are that fairy tail wedding cake couple.

@JimK I agree completely that Betty won't stay in this sham marriage. She now knows that everything has been a lie and that she is simply a prop for his professional persona. It may actually be liberating to her to finally know the truth. He is a sociopath. I found myself feeling sorry for the teacher because she has become stuck in his web also.

If Betty has the means and I believe that she does, she would be better to leave and take the kids far away from him. She deserves better treatment than the pack of lies that Don spews.

A couple of thoughts
I think Don will spin a good yarn to get him out of hot water with Betty.He will probably come out smelling like a rose and Betty will feel guilty for invading his privacy.
I felt bad for ol Roger having to laud Don at the dinner. Way to take one for the team.
Loved the crack Mrs Senile Sterling uttered in the limo, confusing Rog's wife for his daughter. Great look on Joan's face.
Hey Betty, if your kid asks you when Halloween is, why not answer him?
Just wondering why so many dislike Lane Pryce. He seems like a fairly decent human being. Oh I guess I answered my own question.

Notice Mr. Coopers' unsmiling face as Don speaks at the banquet. Suzanne reminds Don of his roots-simple girls with long curly hair--unpretentious--someone Dick would have fallen for. the word Betty used in lawyer discussion was "compromising" things about Don have come up. Perhaps she will go live in the house.
Trick or treaters may go to Miss Farrell's.
I hope all the truths be told-Pete to Trudy about the baby--Don will tell Suzanne he is Dick before he would tell Betty. Don is in love with Suzanne, pure and simple.

Right, the check was for $2,500----Anybody remember how much Don's bonus was (when he flaked in CA with the girl and her grifter buddies)?

Deep, the parallel between Anna and Miss Farrell isn't in the details. Farrell has become more than a booty call for him. The pillow talk. He never does that except with Anna, the exception being it's not post-sex pillow talk with Anna but it is the same thing as pillow talk with Anna, escape, confiding etc. Don never confides, but he did with Anna. Don never confides, but he has now opened himself up tonight with Farrell the same ease he has with Anna.

Escape vs being lcoked up.

Escape is Don's thing. He escaped last year to Anna. This year as much as he is pushed around outside and shut out by Betty except for one drunken time with Betty in Itlay, he escapes to Farrell. Farell and Anna are common because they have been in separate seasons the only one he opens up to. He did it with Anna, He has done it here with Miss Farell. He needs that, he seeks it. They're common.

Also the only mention we've heard of his brother is not to his wife but to two women who are not his wife. And those two women have been an escape to him. One a warm shower and the other a warm bed and touch.

Draper is always a mystery, but he opens to Anna.

This year he has opened to no one, except Farrell.

Apparently seeking and needing that is a character trait of Don underneath the armor.

Peggy has a touch of indigestion.. how long has it been since she slept with Duck... or that student she picked up...? Could she be "in trouble" again? She has been getting a lot of praise for her work lately.... What will she do ? She won't be able to pretend she doesn't know what's happening this time....

Lane said in America no one asks him about the school he went to. He appreciates that in the US, people take him as they find him, not checking out his class status. He must have been a grammar school boy instead of a public schoolboy. And perhaps didn't go to Oxbridge. That's why St. John and Ford are so patronizing to him. He's not in their class.

I wonder who'll buy SC now. I don't see Roger or Burt parting with their money. Maybe Conrad Hilton? It's kind of a daft idea, but I can't think of anything else at the moment, unless they're purchased by Grey and they all end up having a nosh.

Greg, in Don's world, Anna and Suzanne are not common in one sense of the word. They are uncommon. Common are the too made up and perfumed social climbing gossiping bitchy wives he sees, the money hungry female clients,
the secretaries working till they snare a husband.

I love the way Don was eating the date nut bread that Suzanne had made. He was thinking of her during work....secretive and intimate

I know many posters don't like her, but I can see why Don is drawn to Suzanne. She seems quite sweet and caring, especially with her students and her brother. Think about Midge,(flippant and in love with another man) Bobbie (quite harsh and ruthless) ....they never showed these qualities....only Rachel and Anna did, and Don opened up to them as perhaps he will with Suzanne.
He talks to Suzanne just as he talked to Anna...very sweet, interested, calm.

If the Suzanne role is only for one more episode...could something happen to the brother and this causes the affair to end....(as someone brilliantly said, we found a dead body with your business card in the pocket)
I love the references to the madonna/whore idea.....and the Wallis Simpson reference....and the JFK motorcade.....you Maddicts are truly
brilliant! You add so much to this fab show

Betty won't leave Don. She needs him too much; without Don, she feels as if she will "float away.' Besides, divorce would seem too tawdry for Betty.

It was weird how Suzanne insisted he meet her brother.
Was he really her brother.Will it be blackmail for Don?

The teacher (I don't like her face and refuse to speak her name), has already been in four episodes.
One: The Parent/Teacher meeting.
Two: The eclipse.
Three: The 4 am jog (Pulleez!)
Four: The brother meeting.

And she is crazy and stalks and drunk dials married men.
"You said, you'd call"
('I don't want to be ignored...!')
Caaraaazzzy.

What amazes me is the post I read on this Thread. No one sees Don as the protaganist and Hero. He is Americana. He isn't a phony. He is a survivor. Just like Peggy. Betty is the phony. She's just a shell. An empty shell. Like the moon. Always a satellite not having any of her own brightness so she can shine. Always needing someone elses. She should kiss Don Drapers Ass every day, and be glad she is not Dick Whitmans wife. Even if she had the perfect husband she would be terribly unhappy because she is a lifeless husk. Like those stupid Blondes that Hugh Hefner runs around with. Vacant eyes. So vacant you can see the back of her skull when you look in her eyes. Remember when Don told her that she was a child? He was wrong. An emotional retard is what she is. And Racy, your right, your Laptop isn't takiong good pics. Make you look fat and your hair flat.
Remember, Don will survive no matter what happens. Unless Mathew Weiner punks out, and turns out to be like the little comedian who needs to get back at the Alpha males who he stood behind all his life. And wrote this story just to trash the Don Drapers of the World. Now we are stuck with the Barack Obama's of the world. The slick talking vipers, who smile, but inside are full of dead mens bones. Sheperds who fleece the flock. At least the Don Drapers were builders, and movers. Like Conrad Hilton, Howard Hughes. Yes MM is moving towards the perverted 60's. Pandoras box is about to open the door to pestilence of the American Mind.

Betty will always be unhappy. An empty shell. Always a satellite who needs someones elses brightness to shine. Don is the protaganist who is the survivor. Betty is the real phony. Empty, like some vacant eyed Barbi doll. So vacnt you can see her skull through her lifeless eyes. The terrible 60's are coming soon. This will be interesting.

I too am getting stronger and stronger "Fatal Attraction" vibes about Suzanne. Didn't she tell Don from the beginning that "she knows how it ends" i.e, ends not well or happily. Another thought: before Don and Betty married, wouldn't he have to list a previous marriage on the application for a marriage license? And therefore, wouldn't Betty have known at that time that he had a previous marriage? I know he was not really married to Anna, but it was necessary for the legal record to show that it was a legal marriage. Remember when he asked Anna to give him a "divorce" so he could marry Betty? I don't know about Don & Betty, but when I got married both parties had to sign the application for a marriage license.

Did C.Hilton ever buy an Advertising firm?

I feel sorry for Betty.
Ms. Farrell looks like Don's mother or rather the woman that raised him. Don's women he chooses affairs with usually have brown or darker hair.

Don keeps marrying BLONDES.
I felt so sorry for Betty. Don is really awful.

Midge had dark hair(she was a favorite, she was fun!) Pot parties, hippies,beatniks,the village, police sirens outside....

The teacher is TROUBLE, but so is Don!

Mrs.PRICE was the girlfriend in Bridget Jones Diary.

I think Paul is going to be fired or Quit!

I truly hope that burp wasn't Peggy soon pregnant again.

god how I wished, hoped Sal wasn't fired.

where was Pete?
Lois is back YEeeeaaaaah!

I realize that many of the posters here either despise Don, or think that he is a scumbag for having and continuing this adulterous relationship. I actually am rooting for Don. I have been in his predicament, and can say from personal experience, that it is painful on a daily basis. One feels like a trapped animal with no way out. Someone will get hurt regardless of what he does.

The only thing that seems less dangerous than ending the status quo, is continuing it. The affair takes on a life of its own. The feelings become more intense, and the impending break-up, which is inevitable, only appears MORE disastrous. No miraculous solution seems forthcoming.

I can't imagine how Betty will handle the new knowledge of Don's previous life, but women HATE it when men keep secrets from them, although women feel entitled to keep secrets from men!

I wish this show was about more than Don and Betty and their terrible marriage. It's turned into such a soap opera. There are so many great characters being wasted.

Even Don's affairs are becoming boring. I hate to say it, but I actually miss Bobby a little. At least she was interesting. This teach is not interesting.

The writing has really become obvious, I can't think of one thing this season that was actually a surprise. Even Betty getting into the drawer. That was foreshadowed earlier in the season when she tugged on the drawer. The teacher plot line was telegraphed from the get go.

Yes, the teacher is nuts, yes, Don is having another melt down (complete with the ever present distructive behavior and flashbacks...), yes, Betty will have an affair. Blah, blah, blah.

We really don't need a season 4.

Don's life of lies, his phony suave demeanor is unraveling as the season winds down.
Betty is smart enough to place the "evidence" back for now and will calculate how best to proceed for herself and the three children that have been caught up in this mess.
She may have not figured it all out yet (seemed like she focused on the previous marriage), but who would suspect such a deep, on going deception? I wish she had thought to make a second key but she will get back in that drawer when she's ready.
Don, what a fool.

@ Greg, love your posts...they make me think and watch the episode once again.
@ lisa S. It was pretty weird that ms. Farell wanted him to meether brother. I kind of thought maybe she was trying to create a situation where she introducing her "boyfriend" to her brother....but your blackmail idea is interesting.Theres much more going on in her screwy little head than she lets on.

I was extremely grossed out when paul shook Achilles hand after his self-pleasuring session.

I can't find the posts, but someone asked how much Don's bonus was. I think it was 500,000

Also, I don't think Don is being careless by leaving his past life in the drawer, I just think he doesn't expect Betty to snoop. Its arrogance on his part because he is used to betty believing whatever he tells her to believe about him. If herespected her intelligence, he would be breaking his neck to hide incriminating material a little better, but since he doesn't....

betty is soo going to dive into her affair with creepy governement guy.....I'm going to watch this ep again....loved it!!

Beenthere, Don lies. He would not list anything,he wanted to hide and who was going to make him? It's not like Court houses had the internet, it might take months , years, or a old wif shwing up to find a previous marriages and who would look, unless suspcious?

Why do most of the younger people in the world outside of SC (in the real MadMenworld) seem angry and full of angst,Suzanne's brother, the hitchikers,Sally.

Anyone catch Sally's comment "Geez Louise!"
Haahaha didn't Gene say that???

Yes Pete, we do need a season 4 because everything is about to change. I was around in 1963, and it was a mind-boggling. American society was shaken in a way that many today cannot comprehend. And, those who were shaken the most were the ones who had the sort of lives depicted in MM. Many were oblivious to the suffering, injustice, and apathy that existed all around them.

This will all begin to change on the show if it is true to history. How the characters deal with this will be most entertaining, and for some, most educational.

Like don Draper is happy blueknife?? I dont like betty much either, but in the culture of the time what do you expect from her?? And if you say Weiner created this show to trash the Don Drapers of the world. your not speaking very well of Don Draper yourself.

JimK

I hear you. I like great argumentation and debate as much as anyone so, I'm gonna toss you a rebuttle for fun. Somewhere DonDraperesq is seeing the MadMen signal in the night sky Batman style.

(did younotice the lady who ragged on us both on some post, right before she did that posted a fruitcake recipe? [I can't decide which is funner, apropos or irony] )

Anyway so I'll see your Madonna/Whore and raise you this:

Yeah you're right when you say, "As we've all figured out by now, Don escapes stress and disillusionment through sex."

So here's my rebuttle:

That's absolutley right, but I think we've had a movement here. With Anna he escaped all his disillusionment and all his demons just being with Anna. And this year he has a lot of demons and just plain grief chasing him. So he can't just call on Anna because she needs to remain a secret. But his need is still there. So he seeks it in Farrell. So I think it's not the Madonna/Whore thing, I think Farrell is almost an emotional surrogate for him even though sex is involved. Don actually reaches out to a woman.

Don, gasp, is finding out he needs more than just sex in life.

There's a reason why Don finds medicine in the brunettes as you say, I agree. But where did he find his best medicine? In the blonde. No, not Betty, the only other blonde, Anna. That's been his best medicine of all. That's the difference in the blonde/brunette thing. He has his best sex with brunettes. But he has his best emotion with the blonde Anna.

He confides, engages in pillow talk, holds hand, pays attention to and actually listens when she speaks...Miss Farrell. Similar to Anna last year. It's two different environments and situations, but still Don seeking that general thing. Is he seeking an Anna thing through Farrell?

But nonetheless Miss Farrell is "the one that's there" and that's all she is.

So I think Anna gives him the ironic best of both worlds in that she unburdens him, yet unlike everyone else, not through sex. But she's a secret and it has to stay that way.

So the pain continues.

K. time for speculation on the remainder of the season.

Next Sunday's title may refer to Don as 'hobo AND gypsy', as he is forced to hit the bricks when Betty sues him for divorce, then moves to Italy with the bambinos.

When Moneypenny is booted after the Sale, Pete might make mention of Joan, and Roger takes pity and...
who am I kidding Joan would not come back to Sterling Cooper. And Roger would never investigate.

Peggy gets the raise she needs as a result of a less penny pinching company owner, and becomes more confident of her work as she continues to best Kinsey's pretentious, guitar playing, credenza stealing, pipe smoking, beard wearing, protest marching, butt face. I love that boob.

Lois will of course witness Sal going into of the Stonewall, follow him inside, and well one thing leads to another, and gets the job as his doting hag.

Ole Coop looked real tired tonight. He will either keel over and be forced to attend his own funeral. Or simply retire.

And the teacher with the face will be dismissed from the school after her landlords report that she is unpure, taking in strange men at all hours. Rheally!

I still think the Jewish girl working for her fathers company was the girl for Don. I forget her name. Don will get bored with this new girl, she is not feisty enough.

As ever, fantastic commentary from many posters...

Madtini... great Caesar & other Roman parallels

AmyBett... good question about epilepsy...and it sounded like Suzannes brother had the most serious type (Grand Mal). There were drugs to help control seizures, they were heavy duty phenobarbitol types and proper dosages were tricky, and sometimes left the sufferer unable to function properly, and worse yet they were not always effective. Now, this is all from memory - so Maddicts, if I err, please help!

NNT nice info about Layne Pryce and his remark about no one asking where he went to school...his relief from the English class "old school tie" system. I thought he was rather quiet in the cab when his wife rhapsodized about returning to England...

Greg... your posts are superb analyses, and I've nothing to add but thanks...

JimK...I really like your comments on the psychology of Don, his ladies, and the Madonna/Whore axis.

And Fifty-two, thanks, great post (1:31) think you are so very right about "preview of shock". The foreshadow of what for America is revealed to be not permanent, but which had been believed to be. A point in passing...Thanksgiving falls the week after the JFK assassination.

I'm a little afraid to admit here that I rather like Suzanne. She seems totally honest and natural. She and Don have a passionate attraction to each other that would be hard to control. I think she was "push me, pull me" at first because she was afraid of her feelings. But Don seduced her with his charisma, sexiness, and sheer male beauty.

Betty is obviously only a show piece for him now. Although he loves his children and retains some affection for her.

It was Henry who called. Why else would he be so strongly defensive about it. Me thinks he doth protest too much.

Mollee: Don doesn't have an addiction to escapism. On the contrary, as the song says he has an "addiction to love".

Greg: Great posts! I love that you are a sensitive, literate male!

Jim: Wow, very profound thoughts on the death wish. Your whole post held my rapt attention.

NeverNotTasty: Good point about Pryce and his "betters". Didn't get that at first.

Mirvin: Don's bonus was 5,000. The 500,000 was what he got as partner when SC was taken over by PPL (the brits)

Joan was in the previews for next week.

But seriously now.
What if Don runs off to hide out and help the dog food/horse farm mentioned within the preview video.
There would be a comely young lady to pass the time with, and he could be the Clark Gable guy...

- Does anyone know the instrumental music played over tonight's credits?

- After two weak episodes, tonight got things going strong again. More things happening at the office, and with the ensemble cast. ...More Peggy... And a whole lot less Connie, thank goodness. The only good thing about Connie's character is he makes everyone and anyone else seem good by comparison. I hope Connie gets fed up with Don or something, and just splits SC.

- To the Betty-haters: I am often disappointed with Betty's character, but I don't hate her by any means. She can be very shallow, but I do think there's a light on. She tries to be too careful perhaps, where her husband is nearly totally out of control a lot of the time.

Betty is very conflicted. She is traditional, in good and bad ways. Yet she wants out from the prison that tradition has become for her. She had her one moment of sexual infidelity, but she does not want to go through that again. She is tempted but she does not want love outside her marriage. She is a lady, and a caged tiger. Maybe Women's Lib will give her knowledge, courage and wisdom.

- Roger shined tonight, both in his meeting with Bert and then in his clever, touching speech at the dinner. It's been a while.

- Don looked like a robot on drugs when he was accepting/fending off the applause. It was trippy.

Where does Mr. America go after his speech at the dinner? A love field?

Who's photo was that, Roger held up and said "remember her?" Was it Joan?

Peggy- Paul reminded me of
Sally - Bobby , where Don(the parent) wanted to hear about Sally's day,(and Bobby asked don't you want to hear about mine) he said No, because Bobby would give a longer answer. He told Paul his story was basically too long for ad to work , until Peggy shortened it.

The SC Office is dull without Sal, Joan and the zipper guy Rumson. The meeting with Don consisting of just Peggy and Paul was kind of dullsville.
Roger is the best. No one delivers lines better.

Ms. Farrell's creepy, her brother's sad, kinda creepy. The brother reminded me of the Bum in the Hobocode, first season.

I noticed something strange: In the broadcast, in the scene where Cooper and Roger are looking at the picture from 1923, the seated guy on the left with the straw boater, well, his head looks pasted in. When I looked at the sneak preview, it happened to show the same scene (where Cooper says, "the soup hit the fan") and, voila, same picture but a clearly a different guy in the same position. And his head looks real, unlike the one on the broadcast, which clearly looks doctored.

So why would they change the picture? Is the doctored version meant to look more like a young Robert Morse? It doesn't, really. Why would they release a trailer/sneak with a different version of the same scene?

I wonder what kind of meds were available to epileptics in 1963? I suspect that they, like other mental health meds, were probably just vaguely palliative... nowhere near addressing the neural difficulty, just gorking the patient into a haze so much that his mind was distracted from other things...

Interestingly, my maternal grandfather had a first wife he never spoke about to his kids.. it was a real skeleton in their closet, growing up. They were together for only a year or so.

Of course, what's wryly funny about Peggy and Kinsey trying to come up with something catchy about telegrams, is, by 1963, they really were a dying form of communication... (just like the dictaphone). So essentially, Sterling-Coo is being asked to breathe some life into wat is essentially a dead horse... I guess ad companies are asked to "polish turds" and "flog dead horses" all the time, heh-heh.

Peggy sure is paying some hard dues.... and all because she's female. She takes so much guff from virtually everyone at S-C. We just know "the worm is going to turn" in a huge way... it's just a matter of time.

I wonder why anyone ever bothers to lie to Carla. She knows the score on just about everything, living as she does in everyone's back pocket. I've learned that housekeepers/maids can be one's greatest confidante, if given the chance. They see everything from a front row seat!

Notice no-one worries about, or takes Kinsey to task about getting stinking, blackout drunk on the job; in 1963, booze was just seen as an adjunct to everything social and business-oriented. Everyone knew that booze could "get out of hand", but one was suppoed to pull himself up by the bootstraps and "cut down a little on the sauce".

If one got drunk excessively, it was seen as a character defect; a moral flaw. Quite frankly, to this day Alcoholics Anonymous still vaguely holds onto the myth of alcoholism as a personal character flaw (not a possibly genetic or ethnic predisposition or neural imbalance).

"Dominique", sung by Soeur Sourire, the singing nun, in the house where adultery is taking place. haha. a subtle touch.

I guess we are all cognizant of the British exec St. John?

We get that he is from a posh background, a posh school, because he has the Christian name St. John, which----- to those in the know (ie., of the right caste and class)---- is pronounced "Sinjin".

That little touch of "upper classs twittery" reminds me of the Monty Python episode in which a posh man being interviewed on TV tells everyone, "My name looks like 'Raymond Luxury-Yacht', but it's actually pronounced Throat-wobbler Mangrove'"

hahahaha

.....and speaking of The Singing Nun, I am remnded of how, in the 1980's she was revealed to be a Lesbian, and then later, she commited a murder-suicide, in a most un-nun-like fashion, by furiously burning down the house she shared with her female companion....

Again... ironies, secrets, taboos, skeletons in closets....

In a strange way, "The Singing Nun's" life is kinda a condensation of the 1960's. She left her convent to pursue fame but never duplicated her first success--like many rock 'n roll one-wonders. (And her record company got most of her earnings.) She became Vatican II-radical--she advocated for birth control and was openly critical of the Catholic Church. And she put what money she had into an ideal (a school for autistic children)--only to see both go by the wayside. The loss of those is what led her and her partner to kill themselves--a very 60's reason for suicide.

@G.: There's a Fifth episode to add to the four with the teacher you cited at 2:12 AM: our First glance at Suzanne was her dancing barefoot, joyful and carefree with the children around the Maypole: where Don, on a hot day in the sun wearing his Rayban-style dark glasses watches her, transfixed while lightly stroking the lawn with his fingertips, next to the red Dixie Cup-- (did anyone else notice that '63-era Dixie Cup? We drank cold lemonade at the beach out of those flimsy cups with that white flower design, and then scraped the wax off under our fingernails... )

@jodada---

Weiner & Co. should've let me do that photograph of Morse blended into the 1930's group shot...

I know how to Photoshop better than that.

(-:

@laVida Loca

Yes! Good observation! My grandparents also had an endless supply of those early-60's DIXIE CUPS.

I also recall that it was 1963 that the song "Chapel Of Love" came out..... produced by Spector/Barry/Greenwich, sung by the New Orleans duo calling themselves The Dixie Cups.

(-:

Hi fellow Maddicts!

Well, right after I post that there haven't been many WOW episodes this season, we get one!

Please excuse any repeats of points already made...

The biggest chuckle for me was Roger's mother thinking Jane was Margaret, and when corrected by Roger, asking if Mona knows!! Tooo funny!

I think Don was bringing Ms. Farrell's brother to Bedford Hills NY. Maybe I missed the mention of MA. I don't think he would be taking an overnight drive to Bedford MA. Bedford Hills, however, is in Westchster Co. and there are (and were) a few psych. institutions there, as well as correctional facilities.
It sounded to me that Ms. Ferrell's brother was talking about cleaning toilets somewhere.
I wondered if he was being placed in a psych. facility for treatment of his epilepsy? Not unusual back then. Obviously, his seizure activity is not controlled.
Someone asked in a post way up if there weren't medications for epilepsy? There were, they just weren't as tech. advanced as today.
I found a weird coincidence between Don and his recent car passengers...
The teenagers on their way to Niagara offered Don what they said was Phenobarbital.
Phenobarbital was one of the meds used to treated epilepsy back then...just a little weird.

Betty finally got into that damn desk drawer!
Now, we'll have to see what she will do with the info.
I think she will hold it for future use. She has a powerful "ace up her sleeve" now, and I don't think she'll use it right away. Betty can now manipulate Don and their marriage for her benefit.

Oh well...enough for now, I have to read more.

Sorry for being so off topic, but are there any New York Central historians out there who can comment on how realistic it is to have a steam loco pulling commuter cars from Ossining to Briarcliff Manor in 1963? Tried posting this as a separate thread but "the dog ate my homework" and now I've got nothing...

There is something different about Don's relationship with Miss Farrell. He holds her hand. He agrees to give her brother a ride, so she won't have to drive herself home. He gives the brother his phone number.

Greg is right. He's lonely. He wants to connect with this woman in a way that he and Betty can never connect, or at least it appears that way. Betty is for showing off.

But, like most things in this show, I think there is an advetising connection. Miss Farrell is "new and improved." WIth her Don doesn't have to think about getting older, or having another child, or being under contract. But most new products over-promise, and there's a touch of disappointment. I think the same will be true with Miss Farrell. On the other hand, I think she, unlike Rachel, may be willing to run away with him.

It is kind of interesting. Betty is the trophy wife. Usually it's the younger, second or third wife who fulfills that role.

P.S. I have been critical of this season, but I really enjoyed last night's episode, with one exception. The brother just seemed far too odd, if not unnecessary. It was like he should have come in her apartment and said, "Hi, I'm here to move the plot forward. Don't confuse me with a real person."

I've had the same feeling about other characters this season -- the hitchhikers, the guy Don met in the delivery room, even the British guy whose foot was chopped off by the lawn mower. They just don't seem real, or as real as the other MM characters, even the minor ones like Lois and Francine.

Greg, one little correction: Don also confided in Rachel. Confided BIG, I might add!

I agree with someone who asked above, what was Lois still doing there? A stronger choice would have been to move her back to being an operator.

I honestly thought when Betty finally found out about Don it was going to BIGGER! This was more like a thud. No real
pay off. Her expression was sort of off too. Was it the actor or the writing or the direction? It fell flat for me and I have been waiting for the big reveal for 3 seasons now. I hope it gets handled well in the last 3 episodes.

Yes, he was going to Bedford, NY, I live right there. It's only about 10 miles from Don'd house on Rt 133 through Mt Kisco and then on Rt117. I don't know any psych hospitals there but there is 4 Winds in Cross River a few miles away. In '63 I don't believe anyone was in a psych hospital for epilepsy and about the same drugs were used then as now-phenobarbital and Dilantin. Klonapin and some SSRI's are used too but I doubt if they're any more effecive.
There's a women's prison in Beford Hills.Even though these places are close to NYC, these prisons existed before these areas were suburbs and before anyone had country houses this far from the city. Even today there is a lot of open land in N Westchester and that's only a hour's drive from NYC.

Lot of good inferences about Miss Farrell and her role in Don's life.

Don said to her in this episode, "I don't want to mess this up."

Is he way more into her than some think?

With everything that's happening this season, I keep recalling that photo released in July of Don sitting in his office while being engulfed in water. He really is going to be drowning, or at least, floudering, soon. Given a lot of the imagery in certain episodes, I wonder if the water should have been blood.
http://www.unlikelywords.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/mad-men-season3-hed.jpg

6465: I don't recall any steam locomotives on the NY Central but I do recall speaking once to an old man who was a judge in Mt Kisco at a friend's restaurant. I guess he lived in the area but attended a private prep school in Manhattan as a day student and we happened to be talking about the train that he took as a student to school and I believe that he mentioned that there were steam locomotives so perhaps they had them still in the 50's and possibly later.

These trains are all above ground so smoke wouldn't be a problem and only go underground for a short distance after the 125th stop and then into Grand Central.

Hi Montgomery!

Thanks for the the info. I disagree with a few points you made about the treatment of epilepsy/seizure disorders.
Some patients were treated in state Psych facilities back then. So many people were considered "defective", whether they suffered from psych. or other neurological illnesses, like epilepsy. When their seizures couldn't be controlled, they were sometimes placed in these facilities to live, or to receive experimental type treatments and then be released.

When I was in training in Psych. nursing in the mid 70's this was still happening. Then in the 80's and 90's the large state facilities started closing.
At the same time there were tremendous advances in medications and other medical treatments to treat seizures.

Today, I have patients who have gone through every med., ablation of brain tissue, and other procedures, and their seizures are still uncontrolled.

I have to put a shout out to renatae, where ever she is!

She has been in the medical/nursing profession longer than I have, she may have some better insight.

@KBF - Gosh, you touched on something that I too had been feeling about some of these peripheral characters. Indeed they seem so irregular that they couldn't possibly be "real". But I have been thinking that perhaps this is MW's attempt to make the audience experience a sense of unease, even downright uncomfortableness (word?), so that we can connect more with Don's reality or non-reality as it were. He is leading this fabricated life, tenuous at best, and seems to be feeling less and less able to control it. I know when I watch these episodes with these side characters, I feel disquieted.

@60's child - If you happen to watch the episode again, you will indeed see that, yes, Don was taking Suzanne's brother to Bedford, Massachusetts. She even exclaims "Don, that's a long drive" (or something like that).

The exchanges between Don and Suzannes seemed incongruous at times. When she asks him to meet her brother and he says "I don't want to mess this up", I took that to mean that he was cautioning her to back off, don't ruin a good thing by making it more than it is? But others on here have interpreted it to mean that he is already attached to her and doesn't want it to end. Interesting. Further, when he offers to drive her brother, he says "Let me do this for you". Whoa, what is that if not tender or selfless?

This relationship is interesting indeed.

Hi goodstuff!

Thank you! I will watch the episode again. I missed some of the dialogue. I am ashamed to say I was drifting in and out of sleep (missed my Maddict power nap yesterday!)

Wow, if he was driving to Bedford MA, that's really far. And makes the idea even stranger. Why would Don take this guy he just met (who may have a major seizure on the way) so far? Very strange...

JimK, very insightful, and I think you are correct on many points, but please remember, an erection has no conscience. I have said before, Suzanne is like an amusement ride, you know you might get sick, but you have to hop on. Just like any other kind of addiction, in order to satisfy the addiction you must "up the ante" and Don is certainly taking a big chance with the naughty teacher. She is a pleasure outlet, he doesnt have to pretend anything.
I agree she is dangerous, but damn she looks great in shorts and a bowdoin tshirt/sweatshirt! On another note, now you see why it was so important to the Brits to get Don on a contract. I wonder if Carla thought Henry was coming by for a visit? Roger is my favorite, he put aside his contempt and praised Don, he is a corporate king. How does he sleep at night, just fine on a mattress made of money. Im thinking that Betty and the kids have Thanksgiving at Gene's while Don has gravy with Suzanne. Im too young to remember but I also wonder if the world stopped when JFK was killed like 9/11, would that have a damper on the Thanksgiving celebration. What happened to Ketel One, did they dump MadMen?

@adamx - You are so correct about the motorcade.

Now the bullets may have been back-to-front but the conversation (scarf) was definitely front-to-back. Immediately before Kennedy was shot, Nellie Connelly (Peggy) turned around and said "Now you can't say that Dallas doesn't love you, Mr. President"

So the Aquanet staging is definitely on spot-on, with Peggy's turn to the back (scarf) mimicking Nellie Connelly.

I just watched next weeks sneak preview, oh my Roger is smooth as a baby's bottom. He says, I dont have to brag about how big I am! Roger is the man!

Let's see.. they're selling SC, Betty knows a little bit (but not as much as she thinks she does) about Don's past, and we're about to reach a very, very important date in US history.

Yes, the "soup is about to hit the fan," big time.

I can't figure Miss Farrell out. Something odd about her, and why introduce Don to her brother? This will all come back to bite Don in the behind for sure.

Wouldn't it be something if Betty called the real Mrs. Draper and got the whole scoop?

As far as Nov 22nd goes, I'm guessing it will be danced around. Betty's at the house or with Mr. Francis and we see the TV on in the empty room announcing the first bulletins or the famous Walter Cronkite scene and fade to black-end of the season.

Only three episodes left! How can they do this to us?

In the scenes for next week, it showed Betty packing a suitcase. Would she DARE go out to California to the address on the deed and look up Anna!?!?!? Holy Duplicitous Don Batman!!!

I read through the comments for the answer to the question about who was in the photo on Burt's desk that Roger admired? Does anyone know? I just can't tell! (Sorry if it was answered and I missed it).

And, I'm a little surprised that no one has really commented substantively on Paul's little exercise in his office. Is he feeling emasculated by Peggy?

@madmenmaniac, the links to youtube 60’s commercials you posted - amazing. The ads show the USA at the height of its hubris. The Noxzema ad - “take it all off” with the strip tease music - are ads that came later any racier than this? The whole James Bond atmosphere. I remember how hot Swedish actresses were at the time. Amoco, Alka Seltzer, Lucky Strike, Tareyton, (the taste worth fighting for - I’d rather fight than switch). The guy narrating the Goodyear ad sounds like Duck, with the deep, smug confident voice. Alka Seltzer very funny - in fact all the ads have a kind of self-parodying silliness.

If I were Betty and I didn’t want Don to know I found the key, I guess I’d put it back in the backrobe.

@MADtini - So glad you analyzed the comparison to “Julius Caesar”, it never would have occurred to me. Why did Bert have to be at the party? What happens after Don makes the speech? The Brits said people were to be at the party who might be potential buyers of SC. Could Sterling & Cooper get their company back?

Suzanne is changing her life for Don - she got a new job out of town, not teaching (“no one loves their job as much as you do”), to distance herself and Don from potential scandal. I think if it had to be Henry or Suzanne who called it would have to be Suzanne. Henry convinced me he didn’t do it, and Suzanne is less in control of her feelings.

It seems like every episode is a cliffhanger, everything’s about to fall apart all the time but somehow people are still functioning and it’s just on the brink. Thanks to all for comments, they really enrich the material.

Wow episode is right!

A few comments about some of your keen observations (how will I get focused on work after watching it twice?? My Monday morning coffee was never so vital)...

@racy: that 60s tag line, "control yourself" could be the subtitle to the entire show LOL!

@zabadu: betty's secret cache of shopping $! Too funny if it wasn't so sad.

@gwen1: loved the reference to that iconic (if wacky & artificial) couple, Lucy & Ricky, with your "splainin'" comment!

@PI168: dead bro with don's biz card in his pocket? Fascinating thought!

@shelby123: super sleuth you are. Charm bracelet missing the roman charm from her ultra charming hubbie.

@madmensuze: talk about delayed confrontation! Poor betts. All bottled up. Let's hope her numbness wears off, but not at the SC soirée.

@Greg and Jim: loved your input! Please keep posting! Wish I didn't have to work on Monday mornings. So much more to comment on but work beckons. Glad I don't work for SC!

Forgot who commented about Peggy's ideas for Aqua Net but the Hermes scarf line was brilliant. And who was surprised when Kinsey stole from that lunch bag?? And Don's attempt to help *someone's* brother. And Don's quest for understanding from a woman who is more than a pretty face.
So much food for thought til next Sunday.

Thanks, all.

We saw a lot of Achilles Heels in this episode.

Don's is arrogance (pointed out by Suzannn'e brother)
Paul's is pride (he didn't want to tell Don he had, then lost an idea, and was amazed at Don's reaction when he did reveal his flaw)
Cooper's is vanity (pointed out by the Brit)
Betty's is vanity (Don coaxing her to go to the award ceremony by telling her how good she would look)

I think the character's 'Achille Heel theme' also tied in beautifully with the Caesar Fall of the Roman Empire theme, and was yet another way to illustrate how the coming changing times will reveal how these flawed yet very human characters are all going to react very differently when their world is completely shaken.

Which ties into yet ANOTHER theme in this episode, 'people see the color blue the same/differently', which I think was one more way to emphasize that each character may be involved in the same situation (When SC is sold again, Kennedy assassination) yet will have very, very different grasps, and reactions.

First off, after last week's episode I was almost done. It sent me off the beaten path, but tonight Mad Men redeemed itself a little.

Anyway my prediction for next week is that Betty decides not to sell the house and her brother gets angry. Betty now knows that not only is Don one big walking secret, but she can no longer trust him in general. If she didn't know about the previous "marriage", it's no telling what else she doesn't know and now she has to look out for her kids. That house is her Plan B, and I think at the end of the season, she may move back home. She will probably realize that Don isn't worth it.

I thought the full lighting on Betty (and near lack of makeup) when she reads Don's divorce decree, finding out she was not Don's first wife, made her look her age, not as a trophy wife. Which is good.

When Pryce is talking to his wife, he's happy no one asked him where he went to school. Obviously not an Oxford or Cambridge grad. It's a status/pecking order British thing and the Americans could care less. Unfortunately for him, his wife wants to return to London. She probably came from a higher-status family than his.

fanof/deep dish -
Don signed the $2,500 bonus check and slipped it into Midge's blouse saying, "Buy yourself a car."

After the preview: What will Betty say once she learns SC is doing the advertising for the horse slaughterhouse and her favorite riding horse may someday become dog food?

According to the preview, Abigail Spencer will also be in the next episode so that'll make it at least six episodes in which she appears. Maggie Siff (Rachel Menken/Katz) only appeared in eight episodes (credited but not seen in six episodes). Ms. Spencer's sixth episode ties her with Rosemarie DeWitt (Midge) and puts her one ahead of Melinda McGraw (Bobbie Barrett) at five.

Well, now we know why PP&L wanted Don on contract. They already had plans to sell the company and doing a bit better due diligence than Duck did in prepping the sale for them.

Personal pat on the back: I knew when Paul didn't write down his idea after talking to Achilles that he'd forget it.

Miss Farrell introduced Don to her brother because she was proud to have Don as a lover. Not quite like a girl introducing her boyfriend to Mom and Dad but very, very close. Getting the family's approval.

@A-Line: Suzanne did not get a job out of town.... where'd you get that from?

@Greg / JimK: Brilliant analysis as usual.

Some thoughts: Betty not even reacting to all that money in the drawer and goes instead right to the mystery box. The next person to say "Who ARE you?" - Betty to Don.

Suzanne got her brother a job at the Veterans Hospital in Bedford. That's in Mass - 3.5 hour drive.

Preview shows Betty packing a suitcase. I think she's off to Long Beach, CA.

Morning Maddicts! I'm looking forward to another week of MM digestion :)

@JimK @Greg @KFB-
Don absolutely has the Madonna/Whore complex:

BUT he's starting to treat his Whore like a princess, and his Madonna like a toy.

Betty as the empty trophy (since she's emotionally stunted), and Suzanne the loving savior (since she's an emotionally strong giver).

If Betty keeps reading, perhaps she'll wake up, and revolt against Don?(esp. when adding in what she now suspects about his past)

If Suzanne keeps reaching for the truth, she could unwittingly expose or destroy Don?

@Racy- Don't listen to the haters, their vile attacks only show how ugly they are.

@jack carlson- Since you said you were in Don's shoes once, I want to ask if you ever got the point where you wanted to be caught, just so you could be free? I suspect something of the sort is happening with Don...

@goodstuff- Don was tender, but I doubt if his interest in helping Suzanne's bro. was entirely selfless....it seemed too much like Dick/Don failing to save his own brother...

@nikita- excellent Achilles's tie-ins!

Great insights, Maddicts! I have to say that I was disappointed in this episode. Betty's discovery of Don's secret drawer was, indeed, quite the thing, but we all know that she had to find out somehow, at some point.

Miss Farrell seems too needy, which make her a very dangerous paramour. None of Don's other lovers ever needed him; they just wanted him. Greg, I think you are right to associate her with Anna because right now, Don is seeking all the things that Anna provides him: comfort, safety, and connection. But he will not find it with Miss F. She is trouble--she is too close (literally) to his home, family, and life. All his other lovers have been removed from his family by distance and/or work. Not Miss F.

@NNT: Great comment about Pryce. It's funny because after reading your comment I realized just how much he and Don have in common: America--and, more specifically, advertising--has allowed these men to recreate themselves.

Loved seeing Peggy succeed and to see Don reward her for her success. Still wondering about the Duck situation.

I hope Achilles washed his hand after shaking hands with Kinsey. Nasty.

@A-Line: I don't think Suzanne has a new job, she said she would only ride with Don for "one stop". She just wanted some alone-time with him. All she would have to do is get off at the next stop, cross under the tracks to the other (westbound?) platform, and wait a few minutes for the next local. She would then have plenty of time to get to her school job.

LaurieB: Maybe I got it wrong? Will have to watch again tonight. Wanted to quote the line but I don't have TiVo.

Why SC is up for sale: Pryce - "But profits are up 22% and we've made so many reductions to the staff." St John: "You just answered your own question." Slimy.

Before I watched the show last night I had been rereading "To Kill a Mockingbird," which my students are studying this week. In it, Atticus famously tells his daughter, Scout, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Miss F's discussion of the color blue seems to say the same: Do you--or can you--see the world as I see it? If you can then you have the ability to climb into another person's skin, which in turn can lead to empathy. We see several instances of this in this episode:
1) Peggy: She empathizes with Paul's desperation before their meeting with Don and helps him, despite the fact that he has treated her badly.
2) Don with Miss F's brother: After their discussion in the car, Don realizes that not everyone has the same shot at success as he has had.

Yet, as "Mockingbird" demonstrates, not everyone is capable of empathy. When Betty is sitting at Don's desk and realizing how much about him she does not now, how much he has hidden from her, we wonder: will she be able to see the situation from his point of view, or will she feel so betrayed that that will never be possible? I am anxious to find out.

@Laurie B: I noticed that Betty ignored the cash stash, too. Man, how wealthy do you have to be to ignore that major stack of cash. I've been wondering why he doesn't have an account in his own name somewhere, or maybe a safety deposit box.

How about Betty’s look at Don in the final scene? “Who are you?”

2 questions for anybody:

1) The drawer. How much money is actually in that drawer? Is that just “mad money” or is the $500K in there with the other bonus money? I wonder if she ever counted the money? I can’t believe she didn’t run and make a copy of the key. Or did she?

2) Paul’s look at Peggy after the telegram meeting – gratitude or disdain? I couldn't tell.

Did you notice in the first scene, when Don came home, offered to fix him a drink, he usually goes straight to the cabinet and pours it himself. Also, she seemed genuinely concerned and sympathetic to how hard he was working. If she only knew. I'm now wondering since she ended the thing with Henry, is she now trying to be more wifely to Don. Of course, we'll never know bc she opened Pandora's box. Good for her, but what is she going to do with the information. Next episode, she's taking a trip. I think she's going to California to confront Anna. Why does everyone assume that it was a lawyer she was talking to about finding comprimising information about her husband. It cold have been a private detective.

Does anyone think Peggy stole Paul's idea when he was passed out in his office?

The look on Paul's face in the meeting with Don & Peggy made me thing that her "ideas" were vaguely familiar to him.

His idea was “sparked” by a comment from Achilles, which refernced families and generations. Kind of along the same lines as Peggy’s idea, KWIM?

Maybe Peggy realizes that sometimes you have to play hard ball in a man’s world, and has taken an underhanded approach to getting ahead.

you just know the teacher is going to get pregnant

60's child: I made an error. He was going to Mass.which seems like a very long drive by car, through Conn. and RI first. But he wasn't going there for treatment. Judging from the wound on his head he probably had a seizure and was let go from his previous job and either he or his sister found him a new job at the VA in Bedford, Mass. as a janitor. He just didn't want to lead his life doing these menial jobs which he why he got out of the car. Who knows what he'll do. Perhaps try to get a better job than janitor and hope he doesn't have a seizure but it appears that this is an ongoing thing where he has a job than gets a seizure on the job and is let go. His sister seems to be partially supporting him and from a few words she said he's had a series of jobs until he gets an attack.Even today he may not qualify for SS disability since you have to be disabled where you can't perform any work. If he only gets these seizures occasionally then he probably wouldn't qualify but if they were 3x a day then he may.

I thought that Peggy was going to discover Kinsey with his pants down (or worse.) It would have been interesting to see whether or not she would have then added him to her list of lovers. I wonder what is now going on with Duck?

Thanks, Team Mad Men, as always for the insights! I disagree with the Anna as madonna/Suzanne as whore analysis. Don and Anna's relationship must have had a sexual phase. Don stole her husband's identity, didn't bother to find out if a family is left forever not knowing about their husband/dad's disapperance, and Anna says that Don and she connected to improve each other's lives? Hogwash!

Don's money would make Anna act civil toward him; only his prowess in bed would make her light up when she saw him. Remember the movie "The Summer of '42?" Same idea - the war widow who heals through a short-term affair that can't go anywhere. But unlike every other woman Don has known (including Betty and Suzanne, despite what she said), Anna understood that Don's affections would be temporary, so she set herself up as his counselor so she could continue to be in his life when the sex ended. All of Don's other women want to reform him, and then end up losing all of him.

Suzanne will lose all of him within one more episode. The question for Betty will be whether she can accept having only part of Don (which the contents of the box clearly showed her is her only option), or will she lose him rather than not have all of him? January Jones has had a huge season with the show; maybe this was her tour de force season and "Mad Men" will move on without her next year.

Thanks, Team Mad Men, as always for the insights! I disagree with the Anna as madonna/Suzanne as whore analysis. Don and Anna's relationship must have had a sexual phase. Don stole her husband's identity, didn't bother to find out if a family is left forever not knowing about their husband/dad's disapperance, and Anna says that Don and she connected to improve each other's lives? Hogwash!

Don's money would make Anna act civil toward him; only his prowess in bed would make her light up when she saw him. Remember the movie "The Summer of '42?" Same idea - the war widow who heals through a short-term affair that can't go anywhere. But unlike every other woman Don has known (including Betty and Suzanne, despite what she said), Anna understood that Don's affections would be temporary, so she set herself up as his counselor so she could continue to be in his life when the sex ended. All of Don's other women want to reform him, and then end up losing all of him.

Suzanne will lose all of him within one more episode. The question for Betty will be whether she can accept having only part of Don (which the contents of the box clearly showed her is her only option), or will she lose him rather than not have all of him? January Jones has had a huge season with the show; maybe this was her tour de force season and "Mad Men" will move on without her next year.

A couple of things.....Yes, it was definitely Bedford, Mass. because Don commented that he didn't want Suzanne to find out he had let her brother out of the car several miles outside of Framingham....which is in Massachusetts, west of Boston. Also, why would Don be stashing money in the drawer? What's his plan? As for Betty going to California, no. Remember she said her brother wanted to have Thanksgiving in their father's house and she thought that would be a good idea....."One last time". I'm betting she took the kids and headed there. I'm also thinking that this season is going to wind up at the same time as the Kennedy murder. I don't know how all this will play out in the final episodes but I'm thinking, chronologically, that makes sense. Earlier someone posted that they thought the brother could end up dead with Don's business card in his pocket. Sounds plausible. And one last note.....you don't have to list any former marriages on a marriage license, depending on the jurisdiction's laws where you are taking out the license.

I think it's just a few grand in "emergency cash" in that drawer, in case of a quick getaway. I doubt the whole $500K is in there!

Betty wasn't interested in the money because she probably had "store accounts" where she can charge whatever she needed, and then Don would just pay them each month.

Besides, she would probably think it was "tawdry" to have that much cash lying around!

Re going to New Bedford, MA--what's weird is that Don dropped him off "20 miles outside of Framingham," which means he took the Mass Pike, probably from the NY thruway, though Hartford via 84 to the Pike . The Pike opened in the mid-50s and 84 in 1961. If you are coming from NYC, it would have been much faster to go 95 through southern CT and RI, but coming from Ossining, he obviously went the the "new way," but still quite a hike and out of the way from that part of Mass. I don't know which way would be faster...

My last comment got eaten, so I will give it one more try. Those close-close-close shots of rumpled Don in bed with Suzanne are sort of like the dizzying shots of Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun. Don has his rumpled sexy self, and his sleek predatory "shark" self. I wonder why we even care about him. But I have to say, Mad Men without Don would have failed by now. He gives the show its heart of quiet desperation.

I have to admit, I don't see January Jones as much of an actress. She's a Stepford Wife at best, though perhaps that's intended. Her open-mouthed reactions to Don's shoebox of horrors was amateurish. There's something vacant about her, though I suppose Don wouldn't marry anyone who was a threat to his favorite hobby. And why did he keep all that stuff? To remind himself of who he isn't?

Sal, Sal. Don't go the way of Freddie. We need you back. He didn't pee himself, after all, just refused to prostitute himself. One wonders what happened to him in the park and what Kitty's reaction was when she saw him come in late, all funky from rolling on the ground.

If this doesn't post, I think I'll shoot the monitor.

How about this: When Betty learns the truth about Don/Dick, her initial reaction is anger, but then sympathy, as she realizes the anguish he must have been living in all these years and why she was never able to get "all of him," as I think she told him she wanted in Season One. The more he discloses, the closer they get, saving the marriage and actually falling in love with each other.

(Long pause.)

Naw.....................

Hi IDGABTT... I too have been wondering (for quite a while) why on earth he doesn't keep that stuff in a safety deposit box at a bank... and now that we know its a deed, divorce decree etc., it is even odder. I concluded it must just be a needed plot point. The cash I sort of understand, "escape" $ or even just ready cash - (remember when he had to call Peggy for fine $..)

Hi Deep Dish... I honestly don't think the $ in drawer is the 500 K... I expect that is safe in a bank or invested. Maybe its old bonus money.. and he just got another 5 K signing bonus so hes adding some... to his comfort cash stash.

As for copying the key... another Weiner mini-mystery... did she or didn't she. I would have...

Don does have bank accounts, but you have to remember that as a child of the depression, he was also inherently distrustful of banks. Many people in those days stashed money in their homes “just in case”. Also, Don has an even more imperative reason…. He needs quick money in case he ever needs to split.

I think Betty will either head out west to visit Anna Draper. Or she will hire a private detective.

Don is starting to repulse me with his philandering! He never changes! Also I must admit that I agree with Ashton Kutcher - January Jones is an awful actress. I used to think that it was her character I didn't like, but it's really her! She is so wooden!

I do not like the sister & brother storyline & would rather see more time spent on the already interesting cast of characters

stefanchikm -
I agree it's just emergency cash. There were no credit cards as we use them now in those days. Don probably has an American Express and/or Diner's Club card. Both had to be paid off every month.

Betty's definitely not going to CA to meet the previous Mrs. Draper. The concept of flying to the opposite coast was still fairly new and definitely not done on a whim. It was expensive and probably cost more than going on a train. I think she's going back to Philly to the "old home place."

A-line -
PP&L's sale of SC is not "slimy." This is what venture capitalists do. They take a company, put in new top management, let go of the "deadwood," bring Payables to a more current basis, push sales and after the company becomes more viable, sell it at a profit. At least they didn't dismember the company to sell the accounts and building separately.

PP&L might have initially wanted to make SC their window on American but the handwriting was on the wall when they cancelled the MSG offer. There would be no "future billings" as far as they were concerned, just a loss leader.

Interesting that next week's client will be a dog food manufacturer (from horse meat) and Bert mentions "The Misfits" which was on yesterday afternoon. I never saw it before and gotta tell you, I thought it was terrible.

As I've read all your fine comments (up to about #285 or so), I hope these will not be too repetitive. (Warning – I know for certain they’ll be long.)
In no particular order:
1) When Betty sees Conrad Hilton again - and it's pretty certain she will -- wouldn't it be appropriate for her to say something like, "Well, it seems you've been spending more nights with my husband than I have"? Of course, then Connie will be quite surprised at that news. Many fireworks to follow.
2) Does Betty never have the need to talk to Don when he's out so late night after night or does she assume he's with Hilton all those times at all those strange hours? If she called his service, we know which number they'd call. BTW, everyone knows this is a god-awful marriage, but even unhappy couples would occasionally have a short discussion/argument of the world's news, e.g., the civil rights movement (and yes, I know it was mentioned, but wouldn’t two married adults ever compare views), Kennedy being a Catholic, the Beatles (or Dave Clark Five, Herman’s Hermits, folk music), etc. Betty reminds me of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, who was an art major in college and now hates art (or she says something to that effect).
3) How can the Draper kids have so few friends? (And yes, I remember that kissing episode.) They are alone most all of the time; their lives exist in almost total silence. They obviously take their cues from their parents. Don and Betty, in a 24-hour period, how many words must come out of their mouths, total? Over 400?
4) Every time I realize how little most characters’ stories are pushed forward – a)Didn’t last year end on the gigantic revelation that Peggy had Pete’s baby and this year how much has that been developed? b)What about the competition between Cosgrove and Campbell? c)Joan’s husband, who obviously is going into psychiatry because his hands don’t work so well d)Sterling’s relationship with his either can’t handle the alcohol or may be having convulsions wife whom everyone in the world has shunned him for. Oh, yeah, and his edgy relationship with his daughter. Doesn’t the dad pay for the wedding? so there would be lots of plans to argue in that regard. e) Sal’s relationship with his wife after that amazing scene in which he acts out the Ann Margret part in front of her…etc., etc., etc. Anyway, so many loose ends so what do the writers do? Add in the off-kilter brother of the girl friend. One more character we can add to that ever-revolving merry-go-round.
5) When Don mentioned they had a chance to visit Rome, why didn’t either Don or Betty say something like “Oh, now you’ll/I’ll get to use that Italian again.”? Instead, she passes on it and only later decides to go. Interesting to see her reading The Group because neither of them seems to do much reading. A 60s house with kids always had books, the Harvard Classics or the World Book or the Britannica, if nothing else. Highlights for Children, Humpty-Dumpty Magazine, etc. I’ve probably missed those shots where their books are shown. And what music do Don and Betty like? Every couple identifies their courtship/early marriage with music in some way, don’t they?
6) So often it seems the characters are simply hooks to hang an idea on, but they seem so incomplete. I read a review once of Basic Instinct, in which, you may remember, the three central female characters were all psycho lesbian killers. The review said Joe Eszterhas (the writer) not only didn’t seem to understand women, it seemed doubtful that he had ever met one. I would never go that far with Mad Men, but aren’t there some people in this so-attuned-to-verisimiltude world that have motor mouths, that don’t express their entire lives in cryptic quotable golden nuggets of wisdom. I sometimes have to think, “Man, these characters have good writers.”
--Well, enough of all that. Thanks for reading/listening. I enjoy reading all your comments each week, though I have to admit, in Season 1 I watched every episode a minimum of two times and this year I erase it as soon as I’ve watched it.

LaurieB: Right on both counts! Why would he trust a bank with everything? And Don is always thinking of escape, so of course he would need ready cash. Excellent points.

I was not too surprised that Betty wasn't shocked by the money. She has everything she could possibly want in terms of material goods--it's not like Don has begrudged her anything along these lines. She is not upset by, nor does she need, the cash. She probably thinks it is some type of emergency fund.

I think Betty is packing her bags to go to her father's house and settle the estate.

@Amybett - Yes, you are right. Don was not selflessly motivated when he offered to drive Suzanne's brother to Bedford. Absolutely it corresponded with his feelings about needing to help his own brother. I do think the offer originated from a gesture to Suzanne though and then it evolved as he had that conversation with her brother in the car. What do you think?

@CharmCityCharmer - Wow, who ARE you??? That is a very provocative idea about Peggy stealing Paul's idea. I LOVE it!! I'm not saying I want her to have done that but that would be something of a character development indeed. Your comment really had some punch because I, like others here, still can't tell for sure what the look was that Paul was giving her at the end of the meeting with Don. It could have been admiration but it very well could have been "You b**ch, you stole my idea and you know it!!".

BTW, I'm noticing quite a few redundant comments on here this time. Like people aren't reading all the comments first. Hmmmm....

what was the chinese quote that peggy used to sell the Western Union pitch

@LaurieB, @6465NYWF - on the train it sounds like Suzanne says to Don, "I got a new job at the VA hospital in Bedford. Not pushing a broom but it has nice grounds." But she must have been talking about her brother, not herself. My mistake.

@Betty Crocker - Having driven between NY and Boston all my life, could not place the 2-lane highway he was driving on (Rt. 22?). If they weren't on the Mass Pike, maybe they were off the exit already and almost there - or maybe very far away, still in CT or NY. Doesn't matter - autumn leaves on the road after the rain, very New England.

what was the chinese quote Peggy used to sell the western union pitch?

@LaurieB and Ta-town girl - Your shared view that Don would not wish to put that stash of cash in a separate account out of both distrust (mistrust?) of banks and the need to have easy access is right for sure. But I couldn't tell if you thought that was why all of the documents were also kept in the drawer. As I said in my comment last night, it seems like a weakness in the storyline that he wouldn't put those documents in a safe deposit box. Some here have made the excellent point though that Don simply doesn't believe that Betty would snoop or mistakenly believes that she takes the obedience vows seriously. Maybe so. I still think it would have been more interesting to have his secrets unravel in a more clever way than just Betty finding the box with EVERYTHING in it.

I just heard that Elisabeth Moss will be a guest on, "The View" this Friday (10-23).

Set your DVRs!

"The faintest ink is stronger than the strongest memory" I think...

@A-Line: Suzanne said "I got him a job at the VA Hospital in Bedford......"

@Jefrey: Chinese quote: "Even the faintest of ink is better than the best memory."

Hi Goodstuff... I did miss your comment last night about the SD box...( I read all posts, but at midnight here on west coast obviously not thoroughly enough!) I do always try to credit ideas that I'm echoing....and am so sorry I missed it!

I too think it a weakness in the story line- it really is daft if only because of the danger of fire... not to mention all the other reasons!

Great comments fellow Maddicts! It was an exciting episode although I was a bit disappointed that Betty didn't have an opportunity to confront Don with her discovery. From past experience she usually seems to turn a blind-eye to his behaviour unless it is thrown in her face like his affair with Bobbi Barrett. I'm guessing the fall-out won't happen until the final episode this season. (January Jones on-line commentary for episode 10 shows her dressed-up and filmed outside which makes me guess she and Don will still attend Roger's daughters upcoming wedding together).

I'm intrigued by the upcoming episode. This Annabelle Matthes is obviously and old flame of Roger's and I think we can surmise that her company was a client of Sterling Cooper in the past. (Don't you just love Roger's double entendre!)

It also looks like Joan will be in next week's episode. Did someone say "you're back" to her - implying she's back at Sterling Cooper? Once the PPL sell Sterlling Cooper they'll need to hire a replacement for Moneypenny. I'll have to re-watch the trailer to confirm.

I'll go along with the idea that it's emergency cash, I guess. but those are serious stacks of 50 dollar bills -- i.e., a BIG emergency. But, okay, Don hates banks so he keeps thousands and thousands at home. My aunt and uncle really did do money-in-a-mattress thing, so I'll buy this idea, however implausible on first blush.

But I have to say that if a man as smart as Don Draper needed to hide a separate existence from everyone, the idea that he would keep documents and photographs evidencing his secret identity in a desk drawer in his home office that has a single (extremely breakable) lock is really a bit too implausible for me. But hey, it's TV and they can't let that story line linger too much longer. My honest opinion is that, in real life, he could've kept that secret going forever in the 60s.

I am not an expert on NY Central railroad history.
However in the mid 70's there were deisel powered engines on the Harlem line. The Hudson line would probably still not be electrified by 1963.

Fanomad,
Don received $500,000 for his share of the sale of Sterling Cooper. No mention was ever made of where the money went, but if I had to make a guess, it is probably in an “Executive Account” that Betty knows nothing of.

Hey Melbatoast - I know this is going to sound about as sincere as Don saying "You're my soulmate" to Betty but I wasn't referring to my own comments. I don't think I offer anything truly mind-bending to this forum (at least not yet!) unlike some others on here who are just amazing. I just meant like the same stuff was getting a little re-hashed instead of covering different points.

Anyway, sorry if I sounded like a twit.

Hi, fellow fans! I agree with others that this season will culminate around the time of the JFK assassination. In episode 2 or 3, Roger's daughter's wedding invitation reveals her wedding to be November 23rd, the day after the assassination. If the whole SC gang is in attendance of this socialite wedding, that should be our first taste of how the changing times will affect the characters...and a great way to end the season.

I think all things are leading to Betty leaving that dog Don. They haven't sold Gene's house yet, so she could pack up the kids and move all of them into her Dad's house. She has his car, and the cash from Don's stash, so she'll be fine until she wins a big divorce settlement from "Don/Dick." She's reading "The Group," which will incite feminist thought even if Betty hadn't any prior to reading the book. She hates living in Ossining and hates their friends. The girl needs a change!
Don meeting the brother is a huge mistake, but so is sleeping with Suzanne. Somehow, I feel that little Sally is going to be the one who discovers the goings on between Daddy and Miss Farrell. Poor child. This will ruin her relationship with her father. I'm afraid angry little Sally will become perpetually sullen.

Most of the comments on this thread are quite interesting, but I have to say that a couple of you people who write a dissertation every Monday to explain the previous night's episode to the rest of us are just plain annoying. If we were too stupid to "get it," we'd be watching Survior or Cops.

"You really pour the honey on. Then you lick it off". I have to nominate that for quote of the episode!! (Reminder: when Pryce is trying to charm Bert into attending the anniversary party)

I thought this was one of the season's better episodes. Here's my take:

- Don has no interest in Betty beyond her appeal as a trophy wife and mother of his children. He's unders stress and strays. The teacher is appealing because of her innocence. Don knows he has sinned many times and hopes to become a better person by contact with her. He also resents her and tries to corrupt her and bring her down to his level so he'll feel better about himself knowing that everyone else is just as rotten as he is.

- I think Paul was awed by Peggy and now knows for sure he is not her equal.

- Betty will confront Don about the box and he will tell her it's none of her business. I don't see her leaving; he'll spin it as "the past is the past" and tell her to move on and focus on their future. She's weak and will swallow it.

- I can't figure the Hilton angle; he seems very unstable and is likely to blow up at any minute and drop SC as his agency. Or offer Don a job he cannot refuse. Who knows with Conrad?

Is it just me or is anyone else disappointed that we didn't get to see more of the SC anniversary party. I was looking forward to seeing what the women were wearing, who Paul, Peggy and Ken brought as dates (if they did). I wanted to watch the dynamics with Roger and Jane and his mother. I wondered if daughter Margaret would be there. It was good seeing Alice Cooper but we didn’t get to hear any of her pearls of wisdom. We missed all the after-dinner banter and socializing. Does Jane tend to drink too much or was that an unfortunate one-time occurence at the Derby party? Are they truly still in love or is the bloom off the rose? Did Betty ask any prying questions among the SC crowd? We missed all the good stuff :)

Oh and I keep forgetting to make this point (yes, I feel like Paul!). Someone on here made the comment that they found it interesting that the camera angle used when Don goes to Suzanne's house is the same as the angle used when Don/Dick went to Anna's house. That shot, of the camera facing the person answering the door and including the back of Don/Dick's head and/or shoulders, in my opinion is purposely used to emphasize that Don/Dick is different to different people. It keeps reminding us that when someone opens a door, we are unsure if they will know him as Don or as Dick - BOTH literally and/or emotionally.

P.S. Regarding Betty finding the box, I think Don wants Betty to know the true story, he just didn't know how to tell her. Otherwise, why would he run the risk of keeping it in the house? That may be a stretch, but from what I remember of his conversation with Anna while he was visiting her, he actually considered telling Betty his real identity.

Keeping the cash on hand serves several purposes.
Peace of mind since he distrusts banks as a result of his upbringing during the Depression; it is handy if he decides to split; and it is not in a bank account, so if he's sued, for say divorce, his cash is protected.

OK... we are still getting Greek and Roman type of mythological illusions..

Achilles heel - Paul having a vulnerable place where Peggy is concerned.

Pandora's Box - Betty opening a box to let loose a whole lot of strife and tribulation, yet covering it rather than allowing hope to escape.

I hope they can do something... last night's episode dragged.

My apologies but I am watching the episode again, so thoughts are coming fast and furious. I just watched that sequence from when Don goes back to Suzanne's house and see's the brother again all the way through to his dropping him off outside of Framingham, Mass. Originally,I didn't feel the total impact of every single line of dialogue in that sequence, but I have now. It is extraordinarily powerful in a few ways. First and foremost, Don's attempt to help this brother in a way to make up for his own loss, but also, there is definitely a connection between Don and Suzanne as they share this caretaking responsibility of a sibling. The look that Don gives her when she hugs her brother goodbye and gives him money is a gutpunch.

@goodstuff- Perhaps Don's initial motivation for helping Suzanne's brother was actually selfless...it's just so hard to imagine him doing anything selfless... Is Suzanne changing him for the better??
& I agree on the honey quote.... :)

@LaurieB- There are some photos of other couples in their party outfits here...I wonder if we'll pick up where we left off at the party next week???
http://blogs.amctv.com/photo-galleries/mad-men-season-3-episode-photos/betty-don-ep10.php

I feel if Don got divorced from Betty tommorrow, he would go out and find another stunning blonde or attractive blonde, who could create a nice home or family life for him, similar in image to Betty and Anna.
He marries Blondes, he has deep affairs with Brunettes for a reason. He has too many abandooment(typo ha!) should say abandoment issues with Brunettes. His mother abandoned him, so brunettes will always represent that. He won't ever trust his homelife to those brunettes, even if he runs away with one, he will never truly set up a home with one. imo

Don definately has a Madonna-Whore complex as others have pointed out. He sees the blondes as the Madonna. He sees the Brunettes as the understanding Whore who's bed and bosom he can fall into and open up, like he wishes he could have had and been, heard or cared for from his mother. Don is searching for his mother in those Brunettes. He is searching for the complexities of his childood through those brunettes(who represent his mother) trying to understand why he was abandoned. Trying to feel warmth, love, acceptance from a woman who is the image of his mother (who was a whore according to his childhood remembrances.) But he will never truly trust his life and children bore to him to come from or with a brunette woman, because he is afraid she may abandon him and his chidren, like his mother abandoned him. Don's female selection's are very distinct.

That scene at the end of MM with Don at the podium reminded me of the scene in the movie "The Candidate" where Robert Redford wins the election at the end and no one exept those in on it, know he is just a image they created. The scene also reminded me a bit of the movie All about Eve, where the Acting award winner Eve, did anything it took, lies, cheating, creating a fake image to get what she wanted.

MadMen needs some color in the office again, the scenes with Peggy,Paul way too bland. Don needs Sal in those creative meetings, he needs Joan bringing the group in and greeting clients, injecting her smarts to SC. Paul also needs Sal and Joan around, I think maybe the colorfulness of others around, inspired his work. Paul can't work in a vacumn with just himself, it doesn't work for him. He ends up drinking to fill the void. He needs people to bounce things off of(like the janitor ). Paul is not as imaginative, spontaneous as Peggy who can work her magic alone and bring up great ideas. Paul needs colorful stimulation and peacocks(no pun intended) like Joan and Sal around. I am wondering if those creative meetings will be injected with the coming wave of civil rights for all Americans , with a African American hired soon in creative.

I hope Paul's drinking and forgetting his idea is not a foreshadowing of Freddie Rumson's fate. (although I do miss loveable Freddie) running out of the office suddenly with the idea of playing Mozart(?) on his zipper!

Bobby laughing that the driver was Chinese. Interesting. What was on tv at the time for kids to watch, that would have made Bobby feel the driver's nationality was a source of humour or source to note?
Where was Pete? Was he at the dinner with his wife Trudie? I haven't rewatched the show yet.

Little DickWhitman-Don in Hobocode - "Ain't ya heard, I'm a Whore-child!"

This MadMen season is stellar. The show is amazing. It is better than anything on tv.
I remember the same complaints about the Sopranos, now a tv Masterpiece!!!

Little DickWhitman-Don in Hobocode - "Ain't ya heard, I'm a Whore-child!" (that about sums up a major part of Don's psyche' and motivations and running away dreams)

I thought when the teacher said she got her brother a job at the VA in Bedford, she was referring to Bedford, NY in Westchester County and not Bedford in MA.

Amybett, thanks for the link to the party. I hated to leave it so quickly. So much more could happen there.

KBF

Great point about these new peripheral characters this season. They don't seem real. Two dimenisional. Like, ok...we need to show that Don is losing touch with the beatnik crowd, soooo... let's create these two hitch hikers. That may be my probem with the teacher, she seems too perfect for the role - Don needs someone to screw up his life again...2 miles from home, careless, weird Adam-like brother... too easy. I would love to see more creativity from the writers. I wonder if that's why there was a shake up of the writing staff this season?

A few have said Don marries blonds. No, he married one blond. He divorced Anna - but he never married her. His bond with Anna was deep and he loves her, but I don't think there was anything sexual about their relationship. Remember his face when he told her about Betty? We've never seen him so happy.

And he was very intimate with Rachel - told her things that he never told Midge or Suzanne. He was ready to run away with her and start a new life.

1) With Betty finding Don's past (complete with previous marriage), the fuse is lit.
2) Betty could blackmail him into a divorce settlement that would leave him penniless. What gets out to the public could make him unemployable.
2a) The fact that he's having an affair just adds to the fuel.
3a) The fact that Betty is playing with having an affair just increases her likelihood of nailing Don
3) He's alienated Rober, Peggy, Sal, and possibly Cooper and he's under contract. No friends, lots of enemies, diminished employment freedom.

It really looks like Don's about to go down the crapper.
I have to say I find Don + Betty's marriage confusing. I'm not surprised that Don write Betty the "I can't live without you letter" and that had another affair. What I am surprised is that there seemed to be real moments of tenderness and affective between them but it's fickle.

noreality: Bedford, MA actually has a VA hospital, & looks like it could be about 20 miles from Framingham.

Laurie B., I totally agree about the SC party and everything you said. I really wanted to see it! Thanks amybett for the party pics! Wow, Jennifer Crane's outfit was rather matronly for such a young woman... I almost didn't recognize her at first.

Interesting thoughts, firstavenue. I agree with many of your points; however, I don't think Don would ever be the one to dump Betty. Remember his letter to her from the hotel when they were briefly separated, where he said that if they split up, he knew she could find someone else but he knew he'd be doomed to be alone forever?

Re: the Chinese driver, I think Bobby and Sally were simply curious and perhaps had never met an Asian person before. There were definitely some racist Asian caricatures in children's cartoons of the time that were played for laughs, but I don't know exactly which ones, other than perhaps the depiction of the Siamese (Asian) cats in the 1955 Disney film "Lady and the Tramp". Maybe somebody who was actually alive at the time can help clarify.

Deep Dish is right that Don and Anna's relationship was not at all sexual. I think it was like brother and sister. When he told her about Betty, she was honestly happy for him. No hint of jealousy or weirdness. He even suggested they could pretend to be cousins so Anna could meet Betty and spend holidays with his new family, but Anna refused. I felt she was trying to give Don his freedom in a way by doing that, although she cared about him and it was surely bittersweet for her that he'd be leaving. He was emotionally intimate with Rachel, talking about his mother, etc. and letting his guard down in general. Midge was more of a fun casual fling for Don. Not the same thing. I don't remember them ever having a real conversation, only verbally sparring in a lighthearted way. Not sure what to classify Miss Farrell as just yet...

Hi Everyone!!!

All I can say is WOW!! Loved this episode and everyone's wonderful posts!! We were all wanting to be WOWed and we were.

I was so excited when I saw Betty open the drawer. (Been waiting for that for a long time.) I am glad she didn't confront him about it. If he had come home she probably would have. She had plenty of time to think about it and contemplate how to handle it. I think she is wise to hold on to that information for awhile. Maybe do some digging around and investigations before she does confront him. She has the upper hand now!!! If she were smart, she wrote all of that information down. If she didn't make a copy of the key(which she may have, she had all afternoon to do so) how is she going to get back in that drawer?

Here's a thought, what if Don goes back into that drawer and sees that things have been moved around or she didn't put them back the way he had them. He may move all of it and when she does confront him, he can say "What box?" ( Deny, deny, deny!!!)

I'm not sure why Betty was doing the laundry when she has a housekeeper. Any comments?

Does Carla come every day? I haven't figured that out yet. If not, there's always more laundry to do with three kids.

And perhaps literally, that expression "I don't do laundry" applies--it may be Carla's job to focus on the children and the cooking, shopping and light housekeeping, but not the laundry. Or all of the laundry anyway. There's just two of us and we do one to two other loads/week beyond the laundry our housekeepers do (but they only come once/week).

@ jimK---

Very good psych-sexual summation of Draper!

Hi everyone!

I must have been in a semi-coma last night, I kept falling asleep. I just rewatched the episode. Boy, did I miss things...

Thanks to my fellow Maddicts, this Forum, and on demand, I see things a little clearer. I know a lot of these topics have already been discussed:

Ms. Farrell listening to "Dominique" (sp)? by The Singing Nun when Don arrived. Just seemed like a weird choice.

Paul practicing "safe sex" in his office after turning on Jazz, looking at the ad campaign board for Playtex, AND taking out the cloth to clean up?! Help!

Yes, it is clear that Suzanne and her brother both refer to Bedford MA. Which makes the trip Don was willing to take with Danny even more bizarre!

Whoever said that Don giving Danny that business card will come back to haunt him was right .

And finally...I think Don and Suzanne, or Don and Danny are the "Gypsy and the Hobo".

Notice how foggy London looked out of the windows of the bosses office when they were on the phone with Layne Price. One of them also calles Layne foggy to drive the point. LP had stated in a previous episode that there was no such thing as "London Fog". Perhaps when one is in the fog, one cannot tell is exists. Also emphasizes his lack of clarity on the original purpose of the purchase of SC.

@AlphaD on 10/19 @12:50AM:

Interesting. That would suit my theory that Roger Sterling is the adopted "love child" of Alice Cooper and Mr. Sterling, Sr. (I speculate that Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, being childless, thought it in the best interests of everyone to raise as their own the baby (Roger) born of Mr. Sterling's and Alice Cooper's illicit affair). Just a theory. Btw, I think I saw Alice Cooper seated next to brother Burt at the dinner.

Isn't this the first time we've ever seen Mrs. Sterling, Sr.?

@ scavok:

You mention January Jones's acting. You're right, there are moments throughout this whole program in which her acting has been wooden or superficial. yet I've noticed that there have been many moments in which a bum line reading was read, or an inconvincing take, or whatever. Some scenes look as though the director failed to indicate what (s)he wanted from the actor, or that the film crew "settled" on an imperfect take, rather than re-do the scene after some directorial coaching.

Now interestingly--- Weiner has let these moments remain, and I think he's doing it on purpose. I think Mr. Weiner is a spiritual disciple of Hitchcock and Lynch, in that he actually uses awkward, stiff or "unworked out" moments to his advantage, to create a certain style.

Banality and obvious artifice are two of the tweaks that Hitchcock and Lynch have blatantly used in their films.

Did you notice when Moneypenny and wife are driving to Don's award dinner? There is a reflection of some city neon coursing across the mirror-like finish of the automobile's glass windows. Frankly, it looked artificial.... like an effect done "in post", as they say. Yet again I maintain that Mr. Weiner is deliberately using artifice, awkwardness and occasional banality as artistic "tweaks" in his style.

It's part of the dreamlike quality of MAD MEN.

In another post, I stated how MAD MEN often reminds me of the paintings of Edward Hopper. If you study a Hopper, you'll gradually note that the canvas--- which had initially looked "realistic" and naturalistic--- is actually full of odd visual non-sequiturs and odd, overly simplified details. It's part of Hopper's style, the way he conveys Americana in the form of dreamlike images...

Look here:

http://home.ust.hk/~davcook/New_York_Office_CGF.jpeg

or here:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jHGfr2_8g_Y/Sjq_AJTFm3I/AAAAAAAAA1s/0sF9taukZiA/s1600/479698.jpg

Naturalistic? Surreal? Actually, a mixture of both.

Hi takefive!

Very interesting theory! I just can't get beyond the name, Alice Cooper! That had to be a spoof...

@adamx:

Good call on the Aquanet-Convertible ad. Whether there was an initial bullet that hit Gov. John Connolly (in the front passenger seat) first or not-- (and I think there was)--that was sharp of you to catch the symbolic significane of the scene.

I wonder if there will be time to "pull" the ad before it's shown on top of TV coverage of the Dallas motorcade?

Anybody remember which ad it was that Peggy suggested pulling right after Mailyn Monroe's death? (She and Don were just getting off the elevator -- and that she thought of it was her first "home run" in Don's eyes).

Freddy Rumsen had grand mal epilepsy, too – remember what happened? He became incontinent, then sort of “blacked out” and when he came to, he was disoriented. His medical problem wasn’t related to drinking.

And it’ll come to pass that Don was spotted at Farrells – he passed by the window as he was emerging from the sack....”limit your exposure...” the same way Sal was spotted.

"Gypsy and the Hobo" sounds like Halloween costumes.

@AmyBett: Thanks for sending the photo link. Oh that Trudy... so gorgeous! @BlueGirl: Yes, Jennifer Crane's dress is matronly, but she is so pretty too. Anybody remember the blonde dancer in "Dirty Dancing"? That's who she reminds me of. Especially in this picture.

I'm speculating on what could happen with that business card on the loose. Don could unjustly get the rap for something serious - like a murder, and then only have Ms Farrell for an alibi. Which could force her to choose between the brother she is devoted to and a man who by that time she might view as someone who used and abandoned her.

Who might get him out of that pickle jar? Maybe Carlton who has admitted jogging along the same route used by Ms. Farrell. Perhaps he's noticed a familiar caddy in her driveway at night.

But then again, if Suzanne's only around for one more episode - that's probably all a stretch.

Wasn't Don's Cadillac also blue?

Hey Ritt1, you may be on to something!

@Ritt1: Hmmm you may be on to something. Maybe that’s Sally and Bobby’s Halloween costumes this year –gypsy and a hobo.

@TakeFive: They would have had to pull the Maidenform ad (are you a Jackie or a Marilyn?) but it was really never actually launched. The Maidenform guys said Thanks but no Thanks.

LOL, Ritt--I was BOTH of those at some point in my Halloween youth!

Matt Weiner is either the most brilliant man in TV or the least.

Well into the 3rd season he throws away the entire premise that the show is built upon - that being Don's little secret. Sure there are other characters and story lines, but the very tension that holds the show together is now gone. Watching Betty play Cat and Mouse with the truth won't hold up. Nor will Don and Betty apart. So at the moment, in TV terms, Jeanie has met Dr Bellows, 99 has married Max - the tension is gone the show is doomed….unless, Matt has an all new story line to conveniently overlay. If nothing else he will have my attention for now.

SALVE!
-Auburn Annie: terrific description/definition of the color BLUE!

-Racy: LOVELOVELOVE you photo-avatar: TRES JOLIE! Nice to see you in all respects! Yes, I loved how Don arrives at Miss Farrell's garage-top apmt. (ala"Sabrina"), storms in and leads her immediately to the boudoir. HOT. I love PASSION!
Don is sooo lonely. He needs a Brunette fix!

-MAD-tini: YES: Wallis Simpson was trained by Chinese concubines in the wiles of pleasuring and coupling. She had a lot of Tricks in her diminuitive-plain countenance-much bejeweled-impeccably dressed personage. I've read that her alabaster skin was like white velvet (because she literally bathed in cream) and she wd read passages of the "Kama Sutra" to Edward when he was in the bath. It has long been rumored that each of them had discreet yet multiple same-sex lovers. . .

Greg-You always surprise and amaze me: your analyses (as so many other posters acknowledge) are spot-on and so provocative. YES, Don is in so much pain. He desperately needs escape and release (don't we all!). Our protagonist is so tortured, yet after a palliative ( c/o Suzanne) he always smoothly and suavely "moves on."

Betty's secret info is going to result in a tricky and messy scenario. Cannot wait! Mad-lectable!

-AlphaD: I surmise that Don wd be the elegant and brilliant Caesar Augustus and Roger wd be the decadent and diabolical Emperor NERO! (Racy, I used to have a kitty named "Nero.") GODS, I LOVE All things Roman. "The Eternal City," my FAV place in the World and the foundation for all that has occurred in the West!

Our Show is indeed a MAGNUM OPUS!
"PECTUS EST QUOD DISERTOS FACIT"! (Quintillian)
IN SPIRITUS SANCTI,
FANCITUS NANCITUS

racy, Bluegirl: On Why Don's attraction to Miss Farrell?

She is attractive, but my 'stayawaydar' went off when she came on the scene. Detected a whiff of Fatal Attraction Syndrome there. She seems vulnerable, smitten, and dangerous all at the same time. To me, Miss Menken was by far the most attractive and interesting of his flings. Independent, smart, stylish with a great career. Bobbie was just plain scary - like in an S&M sort of way. I thought his first one (name?) was just kind of not all that interesting.

@greg, @JimK: Bat signal received. Both of you have important things to say about Don this episode. I can't say I can take one side or the other, even in a fictitious debate. I recall a lot of people on this Board refusing to acknowledge back during the May Pole episode that Don's "touching the grass" was about sexual desire for Farrell. I think that debate is closed now.

I never received the "hippie" vibe that a lot of people initially got from Farrell. I tried to read all these posts today, and I apologize if I'm missing anyone, but I didn't see any men denying her attractiveness. She is smokin' hot, though not quite the same temperature as Jane. She does seem to have some erratic and uncouth tendencies, so the bunny-boiler thing may still be a possibility, though I don't want to believe that. The thing that really disturbed me about her character more than anything was the reintroduction of the low-level theme of relativism in this episode through their discussion of the "true" perception of blue. Subliminal justification for their conduct. "Whatever works for you!" Then she shames Don for actually understanding that most people see things a certain way. ("Do you like what you do?" or words to that effect.) Ugh.

@rasputin1963:

I like that you mention Hitchcock and Lynch.

I like the deliberate artifice of the sets on the show as well. I think it's very authentic to many of the 60s filmmakers and their style of presenting reality as overcolored.

Douglas Sirk comes to mind big-time when I watch Mad Men, and I feel like the set designer/art director takes several pages from his stylebook.

To everyone: I have to say I was most satisfied with this episode. I am glad that Betty finally got a clue! I want her to visit Anna Draper.

I don't know if Suzanne is certifiably whackadoo, but nothing good can come of that relationship.

On another note, now you see why it was so important to the Brits to get Don on a contract.

Hilton insisted that Don be signed to a contract, not the Brits.

2) Betty could blackmail him into a divorce settlement that would leave him penniless. What gets out to the public could make him unemployable.

Betty would never dream of being a divorce, much less proclaim to the world that she married a divorcee.

You guys are right he did confide in Rachel, my mistake. I remember now him telling her about his mother dying in childbirth etc I think.

That actually makes it more interesting and fits the profile. His being emotionally intimate with Rachel at that moment came when he sought escape regarding her. That adds a little fuel to his whole escape/confiding deal he has going on inside. His deal with Anna allows him to escape his life and he's close with her. He's becoming closer with Miss Farrell as she offers him an escape from his life currently.

Great insights Greg, as usual!

Anyone remember the big boss in the movie "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit"? I think that the night Connie gave Don the "You should spend more time with your family" speech, Connie's story arc reached its end. Thoughts?

@Laurie B, I too was disappointed that such a tiny fraction of this episode involved the party.

When Peggy left the office and looked so long at Paul's closed office door, hearing the jazz playing on the other side, her expression was a bit odd. Did she suspect he was entertaining Ma Thumb and her four daughters? (Sorry, know that's a gross descriptor ~)

I have a hard time believing Miss Farrell, free spirit though she might be, would as an elementary teacher in the early '60s come on to a student's father and invite him to have an affair (while coming out with denials at first that she's interested, with her "men are all the same" line). Teachers strived to behave in an open and above-board manner then...an affair with a married man, the father of one of her students? Job suicide, if she were found out.

Don was a fool for handing his business card to her brother and for inserting himself into their business in the first place. And now he's woven another little web of lies in dropping Danny off and lying to Miss F. about it. Does he think this won't be discovered by her?

I can't stand the way he treats this wench with all the tenderness he withholds from Betty. Is he at all involved with Baby Gene? Note in last week's episode, when he and Betts returned from Italy and Carla greeted them at the door with the baby, Don didn't even give the little guy a glance.

I was hoping the Connie storyline had ended when he got mad at Don for not giving him the moon and walked out, but apparently not. He's still calling, according to Miss Farrell. I think that whole Conrad Hilton development was ridiculous. If all they wanted was a father figure for Don, surely they could have come up with something more believable.

This, however, was the best episode this season, loved it! Finally, after 9 other water-treading episodes, they're back to form. I didn't notice who wrote it, did anyone? I recorded it, I'll have to notice when I rewatch.

Finally got all the posts read! This episode definitely got more interesting as it went. Miss Farrell is getting weird. Well, she was really weird all along, Don just didn’t notice it. I can see her showing up at the Draper’s door and confronting him in front of Betty.

I hope Betty made a copy of the desk key. I wondered why she didn’t call a locksmith a long time ago, and tell him the kids flushed the key down the toilet or something. It was great when she kept checking the drawer to see if it was locked, and then finally found the key! We finally know what makes Betty Draper smile – the key to Don’s desk drawer!

Maybe Don’s brother Adam had epilepsy too. I seem to remember he was in a menial job. That would explain why he was so sympathetic to the brother. I don’t think we’ve seen the end of him either.

I almost feel sorry for Lane Price. He has a wife he can’t please or handle who seems out of his league; his bosses are in a higher social class that he is and they intimidate him. Nice little detail on the Sunjin as a diminutive for St. John, I’ve never heard that one before.

Wow, did you see the chemistry between Roger and the lady client in the preview! Goodbye Jane!

And Joan is back next week – can’t wait. I am missing her big time.

Love the show for the realism of the 60's, but I got them last night. Did anyone notice the books behind Betty in Don's den. One was from the series The Corps by W.E.B. Griffin. Books were published 40 years later.

Hi Here's a laugh-maybe Weiner wants us all to remember it's just a tv show, and Hilton has Don go to Dallas, Betty goes with him,they get invited to the banquet JFK was scheduled for that Nov 22 afternoon-or are to get to meet him some other way--they go outside to see the motorcade go by,and JFK spots blonde Betty, turns around to check her out, and Oswald can't line up a good shot,panics,flees the book depository, ...later Don gets an idea for Hilton about the moon when meeting JFK,while JFK flirts with Betty...
AND MATT WEINER HAS CHANGED HISTORY !

The Color Blue, true blue (no one is "true" in this TV program!), something borrowed-something blue (but no one's marriage is any good in this program either!), also Suzanne Farrell mentioned one of her students to Don who had discussed the color blue with her, but back to "true blue", as Matthew Weiner had said in the clip, this episode was about the characters finding out the truth about each other and things... like the fantasy being over and things turning more into reality for them as such... On Mad Men, sometimes a statement or phrase can mean just ONE thing and other times it means LOTS of things, thus all the "psychoanalysis" with regard to this show... it's definitely interesting...

Dondraperesq makes a superb point about the use of relativism in this episode. Miss Farrell clearly wants to justify and feel OK about her actions. I think she was definitely the one who called the Drapers' and hung up when she heard Sally's voice-- thinking about Sally, her student, makes what she and Don are doing all too real. I'm annoyed by the fact that Miss F. was acting like she cared so much about poor little grieving Sally, making a big production about all the philandering suburban fathers being just alike, and then hopping into right into bed so blithely with Sally's daddy. I do get a little bit of a proto-hippie vibe from her but only a little-- i.e. she prides herself on being freethinking, ala her comments about MLK and Medger Evers. Also she doesn't dress or style her hair in the same way as other women her age. Longer hair, flatter shoes, simpler dresses. There's a subtle difference. It's still the early 60's though. But I'd bet $20 that by the later part of the decade Miss Farrell will be one of those all decked out in Birkenstocks and long peasant skirts. I can totally see it.

GuySmiley is so right about the meticulously styled Technicolor deliberation in the set design on MM. Lots of interesting stuff in the visuals. The Drapers' home has a lot of highly saturated color and some of the costuming does too, especially that of Betty, Joan, and Trudy. Neutrals and pastels reign in the office (love the candy-colored office doors) and other characters' clothing such as Peggy's dreary plaids.

Rasputin1963, LOVE your Sinjin comparison to a Python sketch! Huge MP fan here! Anyhow you're quite right about the British class snobbery and proper pronunciation. While on that subject, would anyone care to venture a guess at Moneypenny's social status/background? I'll guess that he is not upper class because he's far too much of a striver and kiss-up.

Pink63, yeah, Roger and Ms. Annabelle have something going on there in the preview! Never would have expected him to cheat on Jane with an *older* woman but it could happen...

Did you love Roger calling Don 'friend'? Their smiles and handshake was great (sadly the embrace wasn't really shown as the camera panned the others) and the fancy clothes and location for the 40th party were so nice! Also, loved the camera angle when little Sally anwers the phone call with a "hang up" showing both Don and Betts wondering if the caller was 'their secret person" ...
the limo ride with Roger, Jane, and Mom was priceless ... him saying "Mommy" was dear! :)

John Hamm will be a guest on "The Tonight Show" on Tuesday night.

Awful thought, what if Grey buys SC and Duck gets to exercise his revenge on Don, Roger and Bert.

Well it seems that Betty's Father was right. You can't trust a man with "no people". This must have gone through her head as she sat with the box waiting for to Don to come home.

I love the title of this episode. I definitely this it is referring to the pillow talk conversation with Don and Suzanne. But not about being "true blue" more having to do with having different perspectives. Everyone has a different perspective. Betty sees her marriage one way and then, poof, the box is open and sees it another way. She has time to think about, really stew about it and sees it another way. Don sees Suzanne the way he wants to see her - a free spirit who wears her long curly hair down, unlike most women of his day. He sees her as a compassionate woman (her students, her brother); as a passionate woman (sexual and "no one enjoys their job as much as you do). He doesn't choose to notice that she often acts like she has a split personality. Innocent and naive one minute, cynical about all men the next. She meets him on the train which rattle Don (which she seems to enjoy). She promises her brother won't be home when he gets there but he is. She calls him at home when she's drunk to flirt with him and denies that she called him again and hung up AND HE BELIEVES HER!

Layne has a perspective about his job and the company he works for, and he is constantly being thrown curve balls. He has a completely different perspective on living in America than his charming wife has.

Paul has a perspective about Peggy which is condescending and harsh. She is hurt but treats him with respect and even compassion. His perspective changes - or does it?

Henry Francis has a narrow perspective on his relationship with Betty and she keeps being surprised by it?!!?

Roger's perspective on Don has certainly changed and vice versa.

Also we the audience keep changing perspective. One week we like a character and the next week we can't stand him or her depending on their behavior and the story line. Although I will always love Joan.

It IS true that Ken Cosgrove's character/storyline is quite slim in this entire TV show, it seems.

But I have a prediction:

We know he's an aspiring novelist, right? I think, on the final episode of this show, the camera is going to "pan up", so to speak, beam into the "future", to reveal that this whole story--- all of it--- is Cosgrove's memoir or novelization.

He's 67 years old, and receiving a book award for this yarn he's written...

This will prove that he is not an "incidental" character at all....!

A further comment on the acting on MAD MEN:

Do you ever stop to really let it "sink in": Only the silver-haired actors in this show probably have any direct memories at all about The Sixties, especially the early Sixties...???? In other words, Roger's age and older?

All other actors are relying on intuition, direction and Stanislavskian research to find their motivations and characters' styles!!

It is to Mr. Weiner's credit that none of the characters on MAD MEN--- not a one--- are caricatures. Even Midge and her beatnik pals are not caricatures (which they could've easily been). There is an earnestness, a certain seriousness of purpose, going on in MM, which I respect and enjoy immensely.

There has been no character snappin' his fingers and smackin' gum, spouting quasi-Sixties bebop: "Hey, far out, Daddy-O.... Groovy!"

Yes, rasputin 1963, I do think of the level of writing on this show and it's lack of caricatures. Thank you for expressing something positive about the writing. I'm a little sick of all the criticism. I love this show and I just want to enjoy each episode for what it is - a little creative, thought-provoking gem.

Hi SixtiesGirl!

You reminded me of a crazy, out there thought I had. It was almost as if Grandpa Gene was "channelling" through baby Gene.

Gene Sr always said Don had no people. Last night there was Don in his box of secrets, baby Gene cries and causes Don to put his key in his robe pocket, and hence have Betty find out what Gene Sr always said was true.

I told you it was far out!

Far out, but fun. You made me lol.

@SixtiesGirl: I agree with your analysis of perspective in this episode and posted something similar to it earlier.

I also agree with Miss F, having something akin to a split personality. I think she was the caller, and when she turned up on the train I thought: "Uh-oh--this one is trouble."

Don has always managed to keep his affairs at a safe distance (literally) from his home life. This affair is way too close to home.

And I find it interesting that, while Miss F. clearly has a political conscience (at least as far as civil rights go), she seems to have no scruples about wrecking the home of one of her former students. Very odd.

Start boiling the water--the bunny is about ready.

Also wanted to comment on Sally saying "Geez, Louise" after being scolded by Betty. Sally is beginning to talk back. She may just survive her childhood after all.

Ta-town girl, you made me laugh too! I'm really beginning to feel sorry for this poor bunny....

It just occurred to me that it may be Suzanne's enigmatic personality that attracts her to Don. He seems so confident in being able to figure everyone out - boiling every one and everything down to it's bare minimum. But he can't really figure her out. She intrigues him. Also, I loved how Don asked her if she had been correcting papers and Suzanne looks at him with such a puzzled look and he lifts the gold star from her cheek. I think he loves the idea of being the star pupil.

I thought Betty was going to find, in Don's laundry, not the keys.... but a simple gold foil star.

That would spell everything out pretty quick, wouldn't it?

(-:

I'm surprised prim Betty didn't correct Sally even for saying, "Jeez Louise!" which is itself a thinly-disguised euphemism for the more questionable interjection "Jesus!"

Several great posts from SixtiesGirl, Ta-town girl, and Rasputin1963...

Rasputin, you totally blew my mind with your very creative Ken Cosgrove idea! That would certainly be a trip, to use some quasi-60's lingo. I wasn't alive yet in the 60's myself but am also very appreciative that MM doesn't stoop to cliches about the era.

Ta-town girl, you are SO right about Miss Farrell not seeming to care that she's personally contributing to hurting poor little grieving Sally, whom she had *so* much deep compassion and empathy for at the beginning of the season! I said the exact same thing (except more sarcastically) in another thread-- something about Miss F. acting as though she cared about Sally's well-being and then jumping in bed with Sally's dad.

SixtiesGirl, I agree that Miss Farrell's uniqueness or mysteriousness (I still think she's crazy but Don doesn't seem to think so-- yet) is probably precisely the thing that intrigues Don about her. Good call!

About the charm - noticed the charm was missing from betty's bracelet too, since that epi aired, i have wondered if don really bought the charm for betty or if it had been a gift from connie. don leaves for work the morning after they return from rome, he tells betts that a box from hilton has already arrived at the office. watched the scene a few times, and each time i am convinced he seems surprised and even annoyed that connie has managed to give him more work to do so soon. not sure he would have mentioned this to betty if he was planning to surprise her with the gift.

the letter F - also noticed that don's middle initial is F as seen on one of the documents betty discovers. maybe this is how baby gene got his middle name - how tragic.

I predict that Suzanne will commit suicide. Just one more piece of emotional baggage that Don will have to carry around. I think she will be his season 3 "Adam". At some point, she'll want Don to chose her over his family and he won't. Not because he's a great family man, but because he loves to dream about escaping but doesn't really have the courage to give up the good life - and he'd realize that Suzanne could never be a Ad Ex's wife. Her style is all wrong for the role Betty plays in his life (she wouldn't make great cocktale party arm candy). Sounds tough, but if you listen to any Jon Hamm season 3 interviews, he keeps saying that Don is a pretty bad guy. That is the way a pretty bad guy would assess the situation.

Betty will hire a detective to look into Don's background, but she won't do anything with the information, not yet at least. I don't think she'll leave Don until she has her second husband lined up (like Happy Rockafeller). She is not going to be a Helen Bishop.

OK, off topic, but here's a song for Archie Whitman: "I Won't Go Huntin' With Ya, Jake, But I'll Go Chasin' Women":

http://ozarksoffbeat.blogspot.com/2008/02/for-sniderman.html

CHORUS:
Oh, I won't go huntin' with you, Jake, but I'll go chasin' women
So put them hounds back in the pens and quit your silly grinnin'
Well, the moon is bright, and I'm half tight; my life is just beginnin'
I won't go huntin' with you, Jake, but I'll go chasin' women.

Let's go down to the meetin' house and wait till they start home
Them gals that live on Possum Creek we'll always leave alone
We'll run them down the corn rows, them sassy little misses
We'll scare them pretty gals to death; we'll stop and throw 'em kisses.

CHORUS:

Now, go wash your face and comb your hair, 'cause it's durn near time to start
But let me tell you 'fore you go, there's one that's got my heart
Don't chase that gal with the yaller hair and wears a dress of green
For that little gal belongs to me, I know she's past sixteen.

CHORUS:

Now I was headed for the general store, when a silly thing I seen
They make 'em in the city; called a magazine
I turned to page thirty-two, and look at what I found
Them gals wear clothes that we ain't seen beneath them gingham gowns.

Baby Gene's middle name is Scott, though, isn't it?

It was definitely Henry who called and hung up. Remember the pop-in where Carla came in on him and Betty? So we know he is impulsive enough to come to a married woman's house, if he is attracted to her. Then his denial was waaaay too defensive and even angry. But he had a smile on his face, like he was still glad that she called. He is still very smitten with her and is playing games. And finally, he is a politician. They lie.

When Don asked Suzanne about the call she simply said "no I didn't". There has been absolutely no evidence that she is a liar.

I don't want the Bedford Mass/Ny debate to confuse anyone. It is said right in the scene Bedford Mass. No need for any detective work here.

I couldn't believe the ending look that Betty gave Don at the dinner. It was a look that could KILL! Why doesn't she just confront him on all his secrets? She waited up till 2 am for him to return and then blew it. And he is such a run around! This guy can't keep his pants on. I'll admit he is a hunk, but did everyone fool around like that in the 60's or is Don just sex crazed??

Many of you are underestimating Betty. Yes, she can be childish but she can also be vindictive. She'll get back at Don for this.

I watched the first 6 episodes of season 1 today and Betty has changed alot. She actually used to like her children. I think what made her so mean this season is that she can no longer deny the truth that her husband is a liar and a cheater.

Betty and Don actually have sex on a regular basis in Season One. Now they have to leave the country to do it.

Betty didn't confront Don because there's three more episodes to go and she, along with the writers, wants to string us out to the end. I doubt there's going to be a confrontation this Sunday, either.

Here's another thought: Why is Betty so witholding from her kids? She never gives them any love or hugs. Don is more human than she is in terms of the kids, but it's totally unrealistic to think these kids would obey their parents like little robots!
What's in it for them?

Suzanne is the Gloria Torillo of the Sopranos. Gloria was a very sharp dark haired love interest of Tony Soprano, she was also being treated by Dr Melfi for a mental illness, I think bipolar depression. Tony and Gloria had a hot affair, with many similarities to Don and Suzanne, but when Gloria tried to contact Tony's wife, all hell broke loose. Gloria wound up hanging herself.

Second Viewing!
Hearing that key clanging around in the robe before Betty finds it was excruciating to watch the second time around...then I burst into tears when she opened that drawer, Betty's life will never be the same!

Instead of answering Suzanne's pointed question during pillow talk, Don says, "Nobody feels as good about their job as you do." The perfect non-answer...also something he wishes he could say to Betty but can't??

Pryce use the word "amigo" poor thing wants to stay in America.

Don's affair with Suzanne is EVERY NIGHT! A Full Blown Affair!

Sally's "Geze Louise" was great....@sixtiesgirl - I agree there is hope for her yet!

Don said "Sorry" two times to Suzanne on the train....
When was the last time he said it like that to anyone??
Then I realized he was just trying to keep from having a scene..... but still, it gives Suzanne the feeling that she was right to stalk him that way...get that water boiling Missy!

Bert Cooper- "I wouldn't have told Roger if I wanted it to remain a secret" - ha!

Hi Rasputin... wow! "and its all from Ken's novel"... what a fantastical idea....and wouldn't that just be a kick in the a$$! Well done! Also, I so agree with you about the writing, and the directing and acting choices... great post.

Sixties girl...Thanks for wonderful post on the different characters perspectives. Weiner & Co give us complexity and the paradoxical in the characters... so our viewing "prism"... changes. I love it!

I don't think the phone call was Henry because I don't think he cares enough to put forth much effort in pursuing Betty. If Suzanne is really crazy she could easily lie about it. She did tell Don that her brother wouldn't be home when he got there and he WAS. She knew that he had to go to Massachusetts and that that would take a long time, so why would she say she'd be there without him?

@Bluegirl: You always have such astute comments. I like reading your posts, and I agree with you about Miss F. being crazy.

Don's other significant mistresses--Midge, Rachel (sigh--I miss her) and Bobbie--have always had a worldliness, a maturity about them. They know what territory they are entering into with Don, and none of them expect more than what he can offer other than an affair. Rachel, of all of them, falls the hardest, but remember her repugnance when, as Don asks her to run off with him, she realizes that he hasn't made plans for how he will provide for his family? Skip to Miss Farrell and her willingness (and neediness) to be Don's first and only priority, despite the fact that she was Sally's teacher. Disturbing.

to amybett. I agree, it was difficult to watch. What do you think Don will do when she does confront him about his past?

One million dollars consisting of one hundred dollar bills stacked one on top of the other is 6 feet tall, that gives you some idea of how much room it would take to store $500K in other denominations. There is 2500 to 5000 in cash in the drawer. Plenty of money to leave town or buy someones silence with. Please note, that a an honest wife can be trusted to think positively, where a cheating wife will think the worst a la, how Betty thought the hangup was Henry

Honestly, I can't feel sorry for Betty. It sounds ridiculous, but that drawer was locked for a reason. It's a case of "be careful of what you wish for"...she couldn't wait to get it open and now she has to deal with what she found.

Sometimes, it's better not to know.

We all know Don is....complicated. So does Betty. We know she doesn't trust Don, with reason, but she went back to him anyway. Now she's proven she's no more worthy of trust than he is, and I'm not even counting Henry.

End of season, Don will again be alone and fighting for his "old" life again. I'm sure we're looking towards a heck of a cliffhanger.

Hi Sixties Girl.... agree that phone call very unlikely from Henry. Even if he wanted to pursue Betty... the written word to someone who gets the mail is a lot safer and surer.. and if he used the phone, why call at night when hubby is more likely to be home, which then put her on the spot and likely annoy he --? Suzanne is far more likely the culprit... she "doesn't care about his marriage or his job as long as he's with her".

I just started watching the original "Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin". I was amused to hear Bert Cooper saying "I didn't get to where I am by dwelling on the past" a line popularised by the CJ character in that show.

On an unrelated note, it seems as if that teacher has had a series of relationships with the married fathers of her students. What's in it for her?

As for the money, especially the half million for Don's share of the sale - don't forget the IRS! In 1963 the normal tax rate on the first $25000 was 30%; over $25000 it was 52% plus a surtax of 22% (and folks whine about the taxes they pay these days, lol.) There's been no hint of Don not paying his taxes, so it's a lot less leftover money than one would otherwise assume.

My feelings for Betty change from episode to episode. I believe she is trying to be nicer to her kids and to Don. It's much easier with the kids. Don just drives me crazy. Does he not realize what he is risking. I know he loves Betty and the kids, but he compartmentalizes his whole life, there's work, home, and sex with other women. He is not going to be able to keep up this charade much longer. It's time to let the cat out of the bag bc there are other stories to tell with these characters. The premise of the show is not about Don's identity, it's about the madmen of the 60s and how things were so different in that era.

Thank you for the very kind words Ta-town girl! The feeling's mutual! :) You're so right about Don's other women. Midge knew what she was doing. Bobbie, definitely the same. Rachel was a little more of an innocent, a romantic, but she was still a grown-up in a way Miss Farrell is not.

Liquor, you have a fantastic post there about the Miss Farrell/Don relationship being similar to Gloria/Tony in the Sopranos. Yes, this could very well end up exactly the same way...

Zabadu, I understand what you're saying. I too felt that perhaps Betty wasn't ready to handle what that drawer contained. Maybe a part of her knew that on an intuitive level-- which could be why she didn't try harder to open it sooner. Nothing was stopping her from hiring a locksmith. She could've played it like a helpless little housewife, kind of like she did with the car mechanic: "Gosh, I'm so stupid, I lost the key and my husband's going to be angry! Please help me! I'll be ever so grateful." [bats eyelashes]

In this episode, I see some parallels between the pillow talk between Suzanne and Don, lines from “Meditations in an Emergency” by Frank O’Hara, and the relationship between Betty and Don.

Suzanne brings up a conversation in which a student, Charlie, asks her “How do I know if what I see is blue is the same to you?” When Don investigates into what she said, she responds, “I told him the truth…I don’t know. What would you have said?”

Don responds in almost confessional fashion that in his profession, he knows “There is a blue that at least 45% of people see.” When asks about the other 55, he responds “People may see things differently, but they really don’t want to. He knows Betty knows he’s blue, but also that she wants to believe he’s yellow, which is her overruling thought. I think this is further illustrated by Betty not confronting Don about his past: she knows he’s a liar and a cheat; however, it is more comfortable to believe he’s not---which ultimately wins out. As long as we see everything the same way no one gets hurt, which means Don, when façade remains in tact, is off the hook. However, the front seems to be slipping away, which is making it harder and harder for Betty to deal with the reality that is…

Frank O’Hara says this so much better than I:

“My eyes are vague blue, like the sky, and change all the time; they are indiscriminate but fleeting, entirely specific and disloyal, so that no one trusts me. I am always looking away. Or again at something after it has given me up. It makes me restless and that makes me unhappy, but I cannot keep them still. If only I had grey, green, black, brown, yellow eyes; I would stay at home and do something. It’s not that I’m curious. On the contrary, I am bored but it’s my duty to be attentive, I am needed by things as the sky must be above the earth. And lately, so great has their anxiety become, I can spare myself little sleep.”

@rnpen: Actually, the entire premise of the show is based around Don's duo personality.

@zabadu....How do you think this will play out? My suspicion is that Betty will keep it as a secret and use it to justify her own secrets, starting with Henry Francis. Remember, it was after Don confessed that she went bar-hopping.

I had the October 18th episode of Mad Men DVR'ed but for some reason it did not record, any idea if AMC will play this episode again before next Sunday's new one??

@rnpen- I don't know if it will happen that way, Betty confronting Don... I just feel bad because she found out way more than she ever could have imagined....

Peeking into Don's very private drawer of truth was a distrusting and dangerous thing to do, far more dangerous than Betty may have ever imagined.

Betty's in over her head...in the same way Don's in over his head with lies? The water is rising all around him.......

Betty is too proud (or selfish $ ??) for a divorce and won't want to admit she's been tricked and lied to more than she suspected....

Don and Betty may keep this secret to themselves...maybe Betty will never tell Don she knows, maybe just the knowing will be enough to make her feel superior, waiting for the right moment to use the information....like Bert Cooper did? @KFB Do you think Betty is crafty enough to turn these truths against Don?

I suspect MW will draw us down a long arduous path that will unravel slowly, with small explosions along the way...I just can't imagine the details.

I think it would be funny if Miss Farrell( hmmm kind of like the word "feral" interesteing) anyway if she bleaches her hair blonde "just for a change" hehhehehehe

Amybett, and everyone actually, reading the comments about Betty and the drawer is reminding me of, didn't one time last year in bed Betty looks over to Don and asks, "who's in there" ?

Regarding the drawer, we found out it's less about what is in there, and more about who is in the drawer.

But the greater point is, I guess she went straight to the pictures and papers and not the cash because it's what she's been trying to do for a while now: break into his life that he keeps locked away from her.

@KBF: Well, I'm always wrong. However, it would behoove Betty to keep it under her hat for a little while. She'll use the information to get what she wants. Little by little, she'll up the ante.

Miss Farrell is the teacher that little boys have that they crush on. Beautiful, smart and a dashing smile. How can you NOT see the appeal of her? Plus the whole flirting and conquest pulled ol' Draper in.

I don't think Don only sees Betsy as his trophy wife. There is genuine care. But Don is leading two lives. One which is the family life which is boring and stressful and the other which is filled with romantic (or just sexual) adventure. Don's relationship with Betsy is more about him taking care of her instead of romanticism (which we saw a peek of when they were in Rome).

That's the same thing Betsy sees in Henry. Romanticism.

I don't know, Betty may be afraid of the information.
She depends on Don, like it or not, and now she has had a bit of that security shaken. She now is faced with the knowledge she is living , for all practical purposes, an illusion. She must feel a bit like Pete's mother felt when she learned that there was no money left. It is one thing to find out your husband is a cheater but it is an entirely different thing to find out he doesn't exists at all. She put the box back. She is just "going to think about it tomorrow"

My theory as to why Betty never hired a locksmith is that intuitively she knew whatever was in that drawer would set her world afire and she wanted no wittinesses present. She wanted the privacy to make that discovery alone. Note how she immediately asked Carla to take the kids and not come back until dinner.

I still think we all underestimate Betty. She showed her grit last season when she threw Don out and only allowed him back after he admitted he "disrespected her" and sent her the letter with his almost apology. It wasn't until the Cuban Missile Crisis and finding out she was pregnant that she even considered it. Betty may still decide that being on her own with 2 kids and one infant could be worse than putting up with Don (at least until her ducks are in order). I also think Betty is smarter than many think. Any time she has free time during the day we find her curling up with a book as opposed to watching t.v.

I also think that if/when Don is confronted, it just may occur to him that his business success is in many ways dependent on Betty. He needs her for the Hilton account specifically and for professional events in general. Don knows that losing Betty means giving up the Don Draper/successful ad man persona. He's considered doing it before and decided against it.

Someone above posited that Don was a sociopath. Sociopaths by definition do not feel guilt. Don obviously does. Last episode it was expressed with his line to Danny: "I promised myself if this ever happened again I would do it right". An obvious reference to Adam.

I would appreciate anyone that caught it to tell me who the two men were in the preview we were shown just after the episode. Betty was behind the desk, one man was seated and I'm pretty sure the man standing and walking toward the door was her brother, William. Anyone?

@Mambo Deb: I too feel I've waded thru 9 episodes so that this story could START last night. Last season we saw growth in all the main characters, Pete, Peggy, Don and Betty, and yet this season it is as if each has reverted back to the people they were in season one.

@bipolarbear- I do think one of the men was Betty's brother, William. I guess they are at the father's home. The other guy ?? I'm unsure maybe a lawyer? But when Betty says "I have found some compromising information" (or whatever she says) she's either talking to her brother or that guy. Betty's hair and outfit are the same in those scenes.

I always forget about old BB Gun Betty..she can make things happen...what is she going to do now?!?!

I want to know who Roger is talking to on the phone in the previews, and then who shows up to see him. Maybe it's something totally innocuous like Jane with some shitty new hairdo.....

I think the phone call was just a wrong number/hang-up and the irony was that both Don and Betty wanted it forgotten quickly as both were afraid it was from their respective dalliances. I was confused with Betty's reaction and shortness with Sally until she called Henry the next day. Its obvious which of these 2 has experience with such things. Note Don's placid expression and complete non-verbal response juxtaposed with Betty's quick temper at Sally.

@amybett: Thanks. I'm so busy trying to figure who was in the office with Betty I forgot about Roger's phone call. It could have something to do with Annabell (?) the woman we meet in the sneak peak for next week on the main page?

I think the Gypsy and the Hobo return from trick or treating and ask mommy why daddy's car is at Miss Farrells. Then she will spin her web.

First and foremost everyone is missing the references to the fallen empires: Achilles and Pandora's Box/Greek. Caesar/Roman.
The demise of the SC/Don Drapper Empire will coincide with the Kennedy assasination/the end of Camelot.
Other observations. The color blue, does everyone see things the same way. Miss Farell is viewing her relationship with Don alot differenly than the way he sees it. She is trouble.
When Don is not in control, he is way too trusting, something that gets him in trouble. Dont forget his late night ride with the hitchikers and now his evolvement with Miss Farrell and her brother. Sure to bite him. I see rabit stew in his future.

thanks for everyone's insights. Give me alot to think about.

In the first scene with Paul and Peggy, Paul accuses Peggy of stealing ideas. In the last scene, Paul has an "aha" moment and realizes that Peggy is quick and an example of real talent, something Paul WORKS at, (or thinks he does) but it just comes naturally to Peggy. Paul regards her with part admiration, part jealousy.

@deep dish:
Prince's comment related to the class distinctions in England where one's worth is measured by "where you went to school". In America, your worth is measured by your contribution to society instead of your ancestry and connections.

Lots of great thoughts, bipolarbear. I agree that Betty gets underestimated at times. In the preview scene with Betty and two men, I think amybett is right that one of them's definitely William-- I recognized his bright blond hair-- and the other man doesn't look familiar, but I suspect he is probably an estate attorney and the 3 of them are talking about Grandpa Gene's will and the house.

Deep Dish, I like your Halloween prediction. Today I was just saying to a friend IRL that Don's car could so easily get noticed by a neighbor who knows him, since Miss Farrell only lives 2 miles from the Drapers! It would be deliciously ironic if Bobby decided to dress up as a hobo, and then Sally could be the gypsy due to her fiery temper. Is Miss Farrell a black widow spider??

ive read this entire blog and still cant find an answer! please help!

Where was Pete Campbell? DidI miss something in the asr episode that would explain his absence?

joe9876jh:

No, you did not miss anything, all characters do not appear in every episode.

Where was Pete when, joe? He did attend the SC anniversary party. Amybett posted some pics way up thread of the party showing Pete and his wife Trudy there. BTW, welcome, if you're new.

noladiva, absolutely, class distinction. My question is --- Is Price disappointed that nobody cares about his pedigree that he is so proud of, or does he admire or distain Americans because they are just not that interested?

joe98...Yeah, where's Pete? MIA? Unless Trudy boiled his bunny.

Rasputin: they are all caricatures.Even the so called beatnics were still wearing BB suits and ties, and the girls dresses back in '63.You would really have to watch films made in the early '60's to get a better idea about things, and even here it wouldn't be 100% accurate.

Greg, true, but I still cannot get past Betty not having dug before. Is she dim? Remember when she went through his closet? I'm still wondering why she didn't take an ax to that drawer that day.

@Take Five- I think that you could have pinpointed the whole premise and plot for the aqua net-convertible ad. I might have found the rock in the dirt, but you polished the diamond.

@Nikita Ava- Your perceptions are so high, you look down upon the stars.

So often the preview teasers turn out to be innocuous sentences taken out of context. With that in mind, I am wondering if Betty's bit about finding something "compromising" will turn out to be commentary on her dad Eugene?

Re: the cash in the locked drawer, clearly Don has had that habit for a long time. I think, as a man with a double life, he always wants cash ready at hand. Cash to bribe a long lost brother or anyone else who pops up to get lost again and cash to run away if he were ever exposed, both of which have already happened.

Or maybe... Don gets the big salary but Dick (the self he keeps in the drawer) gets the tips (bonuses) because after all Dick is nothing but a hick fit only to park cars at a roadhouse.

I don't think there was ever a sexual relationship between Don/Dick and Anna.

Don, as far as we know, never had a nurturing female in his life. He was a "whore child" whose stepmother belittled him. Betty is not nurturing: she may have been at times very worshipful of Don but that's not the same thing as nurturing.

Anna was his nurturing female, a mother figure even though they are contemporaries or close to it. I think she encouraged him to go to night school, to be more than a car salesman, to aspire.

I have tried to read as many posts as possible to make sure I do not repeat too much.

Most of you have amazing insight!

The MM writers have redeemed themselves!
Now I understand why the episodes prior to this one were a bit slow. We needed to be eased into this very important episode. Excuse what I am about to say, but episodes 1-9 were simply "foreplay." This episode makes Betty into an woman.
She will no longer think like a child....

Betty is finally realizing that her pretty "Barbie" looks and perfect suburbia home is really just a fragile reality.
She really reminds me of the character NORA in Henrik Ibsen's play, "A Doll's House."
I will not go into it. Those of you who are familiar with the play will know exactly what I am talking about...and for those curious minds here is a quick link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Doll's_House

ALSO

Since I think like an artist, I took this episode's title more literal.
It is called, "The Color Blue" and so I looked for the color blue throughout the episode.

1. The conversation between Suzanne and Don includes a direct reference to the color BLUE. Their conversation revealed a lot but the quote that stood out the most for me was when Don stated, "People see things differently, but they don't really want to."

2. Don's door to his office is BLUE. (Others are peach/pink.)

3. Lane's wife wears a BLUE dress when she visits him at the office. (I love her, what is her name?) Very important line, she says, "This is not my home."

4. Peggy is wearing a dark BLUE blouse when she is recording ideas for Western Union and she says, "The phone is cheap. It's everyday and you can't trust it."
(This scene follows the anonymous strange phone call to
the Draper's home???)

5. Don is wearing a BLUE robe when he is putting away the cash.

6. Betty finds the keys inside Don's BLUE shirt.

7. While Betty is waiting for Don with the box, there is a gorgeous cool BLUE glow from the TV screen on Betty as she waits for Don to come home.

8. Don's pressed white shirts in his office are kept together by a BLUE band.

9. Betty's party dress is BLUE and she is pensive inside a BLUE bathroom before going to the party.

10. A partial dark BLUE neon sign is reflected onto Lane's taxi window on his way to the party. Important quote, " ...the Americans will go to the highest bidder."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Doll's_House

EXCERPT from Wikipedia about "A Doll's House"

[TOWARDS THE END OF THE PLAY]
"By now Nora has realized that her husband is not the man she thought he was, and that her whole existence has been a lie. Her fantasy of love is just that—a fantasy. Torvald's [HUSBAND] love is highly conditional. She has been treated like a plaything, first by her father and then by her husband. She decides that she must leave to find out who she is and what to make of her life. Torvald insists she must fulfill her duty as a wife and mother, but Nora believes she also has duties to herself...Nora sees that she and Torvald are strangers to each other. When Torvald asks if there is still any chance for them to rebuild their marriage, she replies that it would take "the greatest miracle of all": they would have to change so much that their life together would become a real marriage."

Don's had two blonde wives.

Those brunettes are short term.

Rachel Menken had daddy issues, which might be why she and Don' s fling lasted longer,.Don was looking for his mommie and she was looking for the complexities of her relationship with her father through Don.

Sixties girl, the episodes are wonderful. I agree very much.

I wonder if Betty took the money out of Don's drawer, like Carmella took the money out of Tony Sopranos stash, in the back yard.

Roger is always so great in his scenes.

I hope train-stalker teacher SF doesn't get pregnant by Don.

Did you noticed the beautiful french song playing in the back-round exactly when Don entered his teacher-lover home? Do any of you recognize that song?
I remember it from my childhood and looking for it for a long time.

Just saw this episode, so if things aren't as insightful as I think they usually are, forgive me.

First, montgomery, I take offense saying that these posts are made by bored housewives, etc. As a housewife, I assure you that I am not bored.

Second. Don is getting reckless in his womanizing. Sally's former teacher, she's attractive and all, but ew. The women in the city was a smarter move, but somebody his wife knows is a little careless. Betty's got much more going on than she does, and I'm not talking just in the physical. I think Betty just left everything as she found it. Exactly. She'll confront Don on her own terms, not the other way around. I do feel bad for her that she had to get all glammed up after her whole life has been shattered.

I hope Miss Teacher doesn't get pregnant, that would just add insult to injury to Betty. I don't think we're going to see much of the Assassination, either. There's going to be too much going on at SC for everyone at work and a ton for Don at home. I think we may see Walter Cronkite and his coverage as background noise to what's going on in the day to day. Don't forget about Roger's daughter's wedding the day after!

Am I wrong that there is less smoking going on?

I'm an old romantic and see Miss Farrell as turning DD into a home-loving boy again. Betty is going to use her new-found information cleverly - instead of confronting Don, she put everything back in the drawer. Henry will find things out for her, win her heart (if she has one - she seems cold and icy to me), and Don will find all his enemies ganging up on him.

Perhaps Hilton will give Don the money to buy Sterling Cooper. He can get back Madison Square Gardens, rehire Sal and send him to Hollywood to make movies ...

Hi Elin; Why do the kids obey their mom like robots? Well, my sister and I did so we wouldn't get b@tch-slapped across the face and screamed at! I don't know why Betty is so disinterested in her own children, all I can say is that my mom was exactly like her. One of the great mysteries of MM is the "why's" of the characters, and this is one of the big ones...

@60's Girl: I think they have been saying it's "Dominique"...

@sumithar: "On an unrelated note, it seems as if that teacher has had a series of relationships with the married fathers of her students. What's in it for her?" She gets to satisfy her needs for sex and emitional closeness without the danger of actually getting into a full-time committed relationship.

@14theroad "Perhaps Hilton will give Don the money to buy Sterling Cooper" that is what I was thinking.

I can't help but wonder if Don is saving his money so that he can approach Hilton as a "viable partner" for a purchase of SC. I thought this last episode was great but I'm liking Don less and less as his affair with Suzanne Farrell continues.

@MADtini - the word Betty used at the lawyer's or whatever, I believe, was "compromising." My curiosity is aroused by the anger the blond young man displays. I do wonder if it's just a real estate office, but the conversation seems unlikely for such a situation.

Caesar had "the falling sickness," Don is headed for a fall, and Suzanne's brother, also with a seizure disorder, seems to completely have Don's number. If that astuteness runs in the family, perhaps Suzanne's designs on Don aren't nearly as informal as she puts on. Maybe that's what bothers me about her - she acts as though she is a free spirit, but perhaps is actually playing one of the oldest games. She needs someone to help support her brother, and she's beginning to seem just that calculating. I also wonder if she played the "brother" card as part of a plan to make Don aware of their plight, because otherwise the exposure makes no sense.

Someone asked about seizure medications, and yes, it was available, however, there were and still are breakthrough seizures. Especially if a person can't afford or forgets their meds.

Can hardly wait to find out who the "mystery dialer" is, since both obvious suspects have denied it. My vote is for Teach, or maybe even Connie. I don't think Henry would take the risk nor need to bother.

I thought it was interesting when Betty said, "We don't need to go to church every week." Full of hubris and slighting to Carla.

@JimK - good question - will Don be more tightly tied to Betty due to her knowing his secret as he was to SC? This may be why Betty did not immediately take any action whatsoever - she seems to be considering her options. Great comments by you at 1:27 a.m. on the 19th.

@ fifty-two at 1:31 a.m. - I felt so much the same about Don's treatment of Betty regarding the event. I really want to shake him, so cannot be as eloquent as you on the subject!

@NNT - good observation about Pryce's probably being a grammar schoolboy instead of a public schoolboy. He seems miserable about the prospect of returning to England, and that definitely explains why he would prefer the colonies.

Several ladies who were stuck in their circumstances seem to be at least temporarily on the ascendancy - Betty with her newfound knowledge, Mrs. Pryce may get to return to England, Suzanne seems to be getting the upper hand with Don.

I just wanted to shake Don when Betty said she wasn't feeling well and he practically ordered her to the event, tying it all up in a sweet little bow, "I want to show you off." Blech! After his evening catting around, his continued disregard was disgusting.

Peggy was so gracious to Mr. Pompous fruitcake when he fell on his face after treating her so badly - she's twice the person he is, and she could have left him to his own paltry screeds. His underestimation of her demonstrates his shallow grasp of reality.

@oldsoul555- Montgomery (Monty) will PURPOSELY try to offend you, please ignore him.
Perhaps when the blog gets boring around Wed. we could ask Monty and his babushka to post at the same time for kicks ;)

@Holly- Also: Carla wears bright blue, Betty has a light blue sweater, Don's car is blue, Don's date nut bread is wrapped in blue paper?, and blue headboard & phone in Draper bedroom.

A viagra pill is blue and when taken, it causes colors to take a blue hue among other things

Well, I finally got in & read all the posts (& criticisms).

I don’t suppose my being a card-carrying member of PETA give you guys enough of a reason to have some sensitivity toward me and stop using the “boiled” comment on the blog? This upsets me, especially because it’s so close to Halloween, & sometimes when people talk about something bad, someone crazy reads it, & makes it come true. I am a pacifist, against all pain & suffering. Anyway, I just thought I’d ask you guys.

Besides, the original stalker story was filmed years earlier, in the Clint Eastwood directed film, “Play Misty For Me”. Beautiful scenery of the Monterrey Peninsula.

I think Don keeps that stuff in the drawer because he needs to see it for himself, like late at night.

Roger’s comment that Mona said she always thought Don & Betty, as a couple, looked like they could have been on top of a wedding cake”, is not an original line. I’ve used that line myself, & it even goes back to TV’s “Dallas”.

“I am Peggy Olson, & I burp while giving dictation.”

Okay, contest time! Is anyone ready to rename the episode? I think last week’s episode should be renamed, “Don & Betty need a telephone answering machine.”, & this Sunday’s episode should be entitled, “Please wash your hands b4 you meet Achilles”

@amybett: You win! You identified the best line of dialogue in the episode: Coop to Pryce, “I wouldn‘t have told Roger, if I wanted it to remain a secret.” I’m posting that one over my desk.

@keylimepie: The reason posters come on the blog Sunday night, right after the broadcast, w/ their analysis, is not because they think “no one else got it.” They know that none of us are picking-up everything. But, if we watch the episode once or twice, & then read the blog, we have a better overall picture of what the show was about, and then we can freely discuss it That’s why I like to wait to read what everyone has posted b4 I respond to them. It’s not people showing-off. (More like they’re drowning.)

@Ah, everyone: Just for future postings, I believe NANCY gets to “pour honey all over” GREG first, & then the rest of us can comment.

@Greg: Greg, your analysis was tops, as usual. Let’s discuss it more fully elsewhere, as you suggested. What you said made me uncomfortable, because I’m certain you’re completely right. Why, as a woman, can’t I wrap myself around this affair when you Mad MEN are able to? If all this was happening between Don & JOAN, I’d be passing-out all over the living room.

@JimK: Thanks for taking a big “GREG-style” step, & providing us with your terrific analysis on Don’s preferences for Blondes & Brunettes. The cool blonde, very Hitchkockian, I agree. Thanks for posting, & not holding back, & not trying to be “pc“ on a blog filled w/ women, & please keep sharing.

@KBF: I agree w/ GREG. The affection Don is showing to Miss Farrell is key. The sweep of her lower back to draw her into his embrace, his taking her hand in order to lead her to the bed, & the handholding, in general, as GREG points-out, was especially sexy on the train. In fact, for me, the train sequence was the first time I saw ANY chemistry between them, & I found that scene filled w/ passion, & very realistic. But, I like trains.

@DonDraperesq.: Can you be more specific? In what way is Miss Farrell “smokin’ hot”, & why can’t I, & 127 other female posters, able to grasp it? Is there a Mad MAN out there that doesn’t find Miss Farrell “smokin‘?

@fancynancy: Thanks for enjoying my photo. Why don’t you post the one of you & Dr. Knight? Or just you? Or just Harvey?

@NeverNoToasty &
@DeepDish &
@adam6000x: I thought the lunch bag said “Sal”, too.

@goodstuff: I think Betty’s biding her time, now that the official shock has worn off. I was in a similar situation in my marriage, & I always regretted having the confronting conversation w/ my spouse. In the long run, I would have been more pleased w/ myself to just hold back on what I knew.

@amybett: Awww, I’m sorry you cried at the key/drawer scene again. You are emotionally invested in the character. When I first saw that scene, I didn’t move a finger. Like BETTY CROCKER, I’ve been waiting for Betty to open that drawer all along, knowing she was expecting incriminating evidence of an affair. Instead, she found the divorce decree, which I knew would come her way, once I heard Don tell Anna, “You know, I’ll need a divorce.” Of course, having the house deed in there is not accidental. I agree, Betty knows where to find Anna, & she will go & confront her. You really felt for Betty. I did, too.

@amybett: Betty is also “The Vessel”. Hey, thanks for sticking-up for me! At least I didn’t post w/ a pretzel box, or something (whoops! Sorry HOBOCODE52).

@LaurieB.: I’m w/ you. I think Betty will contact Anna. And, you’re absolutely right about Depression-era people holding on to cash. My Dad did it, too.

@amybett: I can’t find “bobscatman”. What did he/she write?

@Shelby123: I didn’t catch Jared Harris’ “Churchill”. Thanks for printing that.

@DeepDish &
@Ritt1 : The remark Lane made about being in the U.S. for 10 months, & not yet being asked where he went to school, reminded me of 2 movie references: In “Separate Tables”, David Niven (who won the Academy Award as Best Actor for this role), is living in an English, seaside rooming house after the war, & is missing 1 night. The next night the other residents learn that he was arrested for being a “masher”, & they meet to decide to get him thrown-out. When Gladys Cooper’s character, tells a another older, male resident about Niven, the old guy says, faraway, “I’ve always blamed this kind of thing on the public schools…” Good Movie, everyone. The second film is “Reversal of Fortune”, where Ron Silver plays attorney & Harvard Law Professor, Alan Dershowitz, & Jeremy Irons (who received the Academy Award for Best Actor for this role) are having lunch at Delmonico’s, in Manhattan. When they are served their lunch, Jeremy Irons’ character of Klaus Von Bulow tells Professor Dershowitz, “When I married Sunny, she was the wealthiest & most beautiful heiress in the world, & still, we never got this table in here. In America, it’s fame, not class, that matters.”

@Ritt1: Did I ever thank you for providing me w/ the film title, “Guide for the Married Man”, & Art Carney’s name? Let me say thanks now.

@first avenue: Hey, thanks for the movie references. A lot of fun for me to read.

@DeepDish: I’m wondering about Paul’s look at Peggy, too, & he said to her, “Wow.” or “My God!” Well, what does that mean? I don’t know whether he’s either going to kiss her, or kill her.

@Madtini: Betty was in PA (Psychoanalysis), so her analyst was a psychiatrist, not a psychologist. He was a medical doctor. I was waiting for him to prescribe something for her. Instead, she self-medicates, w/ wine in the afternoon.

@NeverNoToasty: No, there are no suicides in “The Group”. Kaye accidentally falls out of a window, in a Manhattan high-rise, while watching the skies for German aircraft.

@Cathy Chick: What?! You are saying the film “The Group” was lousy?! I beg to differ, it’s one of my GPs! And, it’s better than Mary McCarthy’s novel. I was tickled to see Betty reading that book. Pretty sophisticated reading. Maybe not.

@pi168: Well, I wasn’t going to mention it, but I thought Paul was planning the same thing you did, in his office. Whoa, wait just a minute. Where did you get that Playboy rule #1? What are the rest of the rules? This is so cool that you mentioned this!

@Auburn Annie: Yes, we know what’s going to hit the fan: A British right foot!

@bluegirl: Hermes scarf. Never picked-up on that. Thanks for posting.
@Zabadu: Sorry, sweetie, I stepped on your starting gate. I had to retype that posting 3 times, I kept getting thrown-off. And then I went back on the first commercial & saw
Your “Starting line”. Will you please forgive me?

@adam6000x: Wow, Adam, like TAKE 5 & SHELBY123, I didn’t pick-up on the set-up in Don’s office, as foreshadowing the JFK limo. You’re sharp! (See what good things happen when you go off Meth?)

@Lisa S.: I hadn’t thought of Betty taking the kids, & escaping to Gene’s house. And you remember the “knock” she gave to Ossining, while sitting w/ Henry at the soda fountain.

@Lisa S.: Oh no, Betty & Don invited to “The DallasTrademarket Banquet” on November 22, 1963.

@BBK: It was PI168 that came up w/ the idea that little brother might be found dead w/ Don’s card in his pocket.

@Beenthere: You stole all my thunder. I had a hard time getting on. But, let’s ask:

@DonDraperesq.: Hi, there. Don’t 2 people have to be present when applying for a marriage license? They were probably married in NJ. I married a divorced man, & he had to have the divorce document w/ him when we went for our marriage license. I can’t believe Don could just sneak that past Betty.

@jack Carlson: In couples counseling, when one party explains he/she had an affair because he/she was unhappy in his/her marriage, we counselors always say, “If you were unhappy w/ your marriage, you go to a divorce lawyer. Not to bed w/ someone else.”

@blue knife: Well, thanks for the criticism. Actually, I’ve had 2 very close friends from high school just pass away, & I was making copies of their senior photos from my yearbook, when I passed my photo. G was asking people to post “something”, so she could scroll through the posts more easily, so I went ahead & posted mine, until I can find a recent photo of me. My face is actually square, & it looks round. My hair is definitely FLAT, you’re right there. I don’t have a curl on me. I don’t think I was THAT bad looking. I was a homecoming princess, but maybe they just felt sorry for me. Now, I’m just relieved that people are stopping me on the street because, all the time, they mix me up w/ January Jones.

@60s child: I wondered why Miss Farrell didn’t notice Don got back to Ossining so soon.

@Madmen Maniac &
@A line: I went back & watched the Anacin commercial again (it’s on my DVD of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show), & the narrator’s line goes: “Control Yourself! Sure you have a headache and you’re tense & irritable. But, don’t take it out on her.” Also, so funny, were the commercials for “Hy Karate” cologne for men. They show guys all beat-up, or groups of women running after them, & tearing off their suit jackets - very Beatle mania. My Dad used to laugh at those commercials so much. (BTW, the cologne smelled awful!)

@A line: I agree, Henry convinced me that he wasn’t the one who called the Draper’s home. Most likely it was Miss Farrell because she’s done so b4. I’m beginning to like the play between Henry & Betty.

@nikita_ava: Yes, & when SC is sold again, will the new partners really want Roger & Coop there? No, they won’t have the negotiating power they had the 1st time, & Don will jump at the chance to get rid of Roger.

@bappy53: Ashton Kutcher said January Jones can’t act? As opposed to what, his wide body of award winning work? (My nephew? Looks just like Kutcher. People even ask my nephew if they’re related.)

@Moe: In the preview, I think Joan is speaking to her husband.

@goodstuff: Okay, you’re forgiven for sounding like a “twit” - HSC in play!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@goodstuff: It was GREG who commented on the similar camera angles behind Don, when waiting at an outside door.

@Tere: Yes, I also noticed the “London Fog” outside the Brit’s office windows when they were telephoning.

@wildroot: Wow! Wow! Thanks for answering!

@eygptbelle: I agree w/ you. I think Miss Farrell is committing “employment suicide”.

@Mmlady: Didn’t Roger say “Mummy”?

@TaTowngirl: Your analysis was excellent, as always.

@rasputin1963: You obviously missed my “epic post” in E8. I thoroughly analyzed Ken’s character, & came to the (correct) conclusion that Ken’s job on the show is to be “clueless”. But, your idea that the whole show is just a story in Ken’s head? Oh, no! When I read that, I called my Mom (OmarsMom) at 5 am & read your post to her! She said that is very clever of you. Terrifying for the rest of us. All just a dream. Just like Season 4 (5?) of ‘Dallas’!

I suppose it goes over Betty's head that Don has risen far above the station he was born in. Is she too much of a spoiled Bryn Mawr snob to appreciate how he been able to pull himself up by his bootstraps?

And in find out the truth, begin to truly appreciate ability and chutzpah it takes to accomplish what he has. Only in America is that possible....as is readily shown by the upper class Brits attitudes towards the underlings they've sent to America.

The funny thing is that Miss Farrell is a better Mommy than Betty. Unlike Betty, she cares about her students and was warm with Sally on Eclipse Day. Can you imagine Betty responding to Sally's call when she saw the image of the moon crossing the sun and looking inside the box with her?

And yeah, Suzanne's banging the father of one of her former students and apparently he's not the first. Not good form. But if Betty filed for divorce and Daddy started openly dating Miss Farrell, Sally would enjoy that. What was it Don said? "Sally's got a crush on her teacher." I'll bet Bobby would too. Francine, a former elementary ed teacher, would soon be Suzanne's new best friend. Slam dunk on Betty.

I feel sorry for Lane Pryce. He likes it in America - the modified meritocracy where few are concerned with your ancestry or to what school you went. He knows he'll be recalled to England when the sale is complete. He might be able to stick around but his wife is even less happy with America than Betty is with their neighbors, friends, town, etc. His only hope is that his next assignment isn't Bombay where he'd have to do the same thing all over again. Five will get you ten he'll share the "on the market" information with Bert, Roger and/or Don in the next episode.

LOL, Rasputin, @ "Throat-wobbler Mangrove" I never got that before! I owe a debt to "Sinjin!"

@60'schild - Hi!- Suzanne said she got her brother a job at a VA hospital, which was where Don was supposed to be taking him when he bailed. I agree with what you said about seizure treatment at the time, and the fact that people were institutionalized at times for experimental treatments - nothing to add to what you said - you covered it!

@ goodstuff and KBF - I wonder if the brother and the hitchhikers are meant to represent the emerging youth protest subculture - the part which was not so much into idealism as it was into rebellion - stick it to "The Man" whenever you can, and show no respect to anyone you suspect of contributing to your dissatisfaction by simply being The Man. Perhaps this is why they are disquieting.

Suzanne is more than "smoking hot" she is flaming hot. Don reminds us of her black curly hair and its obvious the Bowdoin t/sweatshirt showed more of her assets. This is another situation of where someones dislike for the situation makes the person look unattractive, just like if you see someone that reminds you of someone you dislike, you all of a sudden do not think that person is attractive. Sort of like why all second wives have bigger "diamonds"

liquorup -
Too much Viagra can have a visual side effect of a blue haze over everything. Not Don's problem apparently.

If the bag Paul grabbed said Sal, for sure Sal wasn't going to be eating it. Personally, I doubt it. Sal left late that day. But on the other hand, maybe he wasn't hungry.

Betty not feeling well the morning of the banquet? Let's see, staying up until after 2 a.m.smoking cigarettes and drinking wine. Why wouldn't she feel perky at 9 a.m.? Don, not knowing she'd found the box, thought she just needed to get out and play dress up to improve her spirits.

Re: smoking hot. You probably wouldn't bring Suzanne Farrell home to Momma. Mostly because you couldn't trust Daddy. You could around Midge and Rachel. Not sure about Bobbie.

Did anyone notice Allison turned down Ken to go to the banquet and he had to get another date? "What would Don think if you showed up with his secretary as your date?" Does Allison have a secret crush on Don? She's already very empathetic to his (office) needs. And she's a brunette, not a blonde.

I am always interested in the diversity of opinion and interpretation of the characters. I too almost cried as Betty opened the drawer and confronted the complexity of the lie that is Don Draper. I see her life as so sad and empty. She is young but both of her parents are dead. She has no close family member to provide emotional support. Her marriage is a sham and she knows it. She has three little kids to watch out for. She has absolutely no intimacy or joy in her life because her husband sees her only as a unidimensional ornament to enhance his career, and again, she knows it.

If Don has the emotional capacity to fall in love with Suzanne, then I hope he does. If Betty were liberated from the hell of that marriage, I'm certain she could find someone with whom she could feel a true emotional connection. A divorce would initially seem terrible, but freedom from Don's deceit would be beneficial to her in the long run.

Hey everyone great insights, I love reading all the posts. I have a few comments about the episode.

#1 felt so bad for Betty, waiting all night to confront him....she will 'keep it under her hat' for a while like she did with the whole Bobbi/Jimmy Barret thing. I hope when she does confront him she will say "I know what you have been doing, now come clean"...then he may assume she knows about the affair and DOUBLE WHAMMY....she learns he as been unfaithful yet again AND have to confront him about his past.

#2 Teacher is wacky, I hate all of Don's mistresses, but I for some reason don't hate Ms. Drunk Dial as much as the others...

#3 I have read a lot of posts and you all haven't brought up Joy. She was blonde.

#4 There is a popular song out right now by Jay-Z Rihannah and Kanye West...called "Run This Town" Some of the lyrics apply to Don. I will copy and paste....especially the beginning and chorus, and Kanye's part

Jay Z ft Rihanna & Kanye West

Rihanna
Feel it coming in the air
Hear the screams from everywhere
I’m addicted to the the thrill (I'm Ready)
It’s a dangerous love affair (C'mon)
Can’t be scaring nickels down
Got a problem, tell me now
Only thing that’s on my mind
Is who gon’ run this town tonight
Is who gon’ run this town tonight
We gon’ run this town

Jay-Z
We are, yeah, I said it, we are
This is Roc Nation, pledge your allegiance
Get y’all fatigues on, all black everything
Black cards, black cars, all black everything
And our girls are blackbirds, riding with they Dillingers
I get more in-depth if you boys really real enough
This is La Familia, I’ll explain later
But for now, let me get back to this paper
I’m a couple bands down and I’m tryna get back
I gave Doug a grip, I lost a flip for five stacks
Yeah, I’m talking five comma six zeroes dot zero ?
Back to running circles ’round niggas, now we squared up
Hold up

Rihanna
Life’s a game but it’s not fair
I break the rules so I don’t care
So I keep doing my own thing
Walking tall against the rain
Victory’s within the mile
Almost there, don’t give up now
Only thing that’s on my mind
Is who gon’ run this town tonight

Heeeeeeeeey heeeeeeay
Heeeeeeeeey heeeeeeay
Who gon’ run this town tonight?

Jay-Z
We are, yeah, I said it, we are
You can call me Caesar, in a dark Caesar
Please follow the leader, so Eric B we are
Microphone fiend, it’s the return of the God, peace God
And ain’t nobody fresher
I’m in Maison, uh, Martin Margiela
On the table, screaming f@#k the other side, they jealous
We got a bankhead full of broads, they got a table full of fellas
And they ain’t spendin’ no cake
They should throw they hand in, ’cause they ain’t got no spades
My whole team got dough
So my bankhead is lookin’ like Millionaires’ Row

Rihanna
Life’s a game but it’s not fair
I break the rules so I don’t care
So I keep doing my own thing
Walking tall against the rain
Victory’s within the mile
Almost there, don’t give up now
Only thing that’s on my mind
Is who gon’ run this town tonight

Heeeeeeeeey heeeeeeay
Heeeeeeeeey heeeeeeay
Who gon’ run this town tonight?

Kanye West
It’s crazy how you can go from being Joe Blow
To everybody on your dick, no homo
I bought my whole family whips, no Volvos
Next time I’m in church, please no photos
Police escorts, everybody passports
This the life that everybody ask for
This a fast life, we are on a crash course
What you think I rap for? To push a f@#kin’ Rav 4?
But I know that if I stay stunting
All these girls only gon’ want one thing
I could spend my whole life good will hunting
Only good gon’ come is it’s good when I’m coming
She got an ass that’ll swallow up her G-string
And up top, uh, two bee stings
And I’m beasting, off the re-sling
And my nigga just made it out the precinct
We give a damn about the drama that you do bring
I’m just tryna change the color on your mood ring
Reebok, baby, you need to try some new things
Have you ever had shoes without shoestrings?
What’s that, Ye? Baby, these heels
Is that a May-what? Baby, these wheels
You trippin’ when you ain’t sippin’, have a refill
You feelin’ like you runnin', huh?
Now you know how we feel

Jay-Z
Wha’sup?
Rihanna
Heeeeeeeeey heeeeeeay
Heeeeeeeeey heeeeeeay
Jay-Z
Wha’sup?

Rihanna
Heeeeeeeeey heeeeeeay
Heeeeeeeeey heeeeeeay
Who gon’ run this town tonight?

Jay-Z
Wha’sup?

@Racy: It's so good to have you back in top form! The blog is not the same without you--it's like an episode of Mad Men without a great Roger one-liner. Just for you, I promise no more mention of anything being boiled.

RE the hobo and the gypsy (Bobby and Sally) turning up at Miss Farrell's house - 2 miles away - while trick or treating? No way. In those days (I'm about Sally's age) all but the littlest kids trick or treated on their own, walking from door to door. We usually covered three or four blocks and by then had a pillowcase full of candy we could sick on from then till Thanksgiving, longer if you parceled it out. We're talking full size Hersey bars, candied apples, popcorn balls, Beemans or Double Bubble gum, fireballs, wax teeth and lips, candy dots, lollipops etc. Today the "kids" parents pull up by the van-load, sweep through a neighborhood, and roar off in search of more.

One thing this show brings home to me more each episode - Being with someone you can be yourself with - Priceless!

I just saw the previews again, and it looks like the young man who says, "This is ugly" is the same one who says, "You don't know everything." I'm beginning to wonder if he could be Anna's son? I've always felt the real Drapers didn't have any children, but maybe I was just assuming? This young man seems SO angry, and I get the feeling he will be a pivotal character. Anyone?

@CharmCityCharmer - I don't think Peggy stole Paul's idea, because she left the office before he talked to Achilles - remember, he asked Achilles, "Did you see a girl come by here?" when he couldn't find her in her office - because she'd left. I think the look on his face was awe because he really did underestimate her ability to come up with good spontaneous ideas.

Regarding telegrams being permanent - my one and only telegram is a cherished one from my in-laws upon the birth of our first child - "Grandparents very proud." They were living in Indonesia while my FIL worked for Goodyear. I don't remember any phone calls I received, but this message is indelible.

@sixties girl

Re: French song "Dominque" -- Didn't Joan play a French song on the accordian for all the MD's & wives, that was some derivative/variance of "Dominque"? I vividly recall this because it was sort of a bastardized/cutesy French, and she kept adding the additional syllable "a" to it. Saying "Dominique-a".

At the time of the ep, I couldn't determine if this was a crossover/popular song of the day, due to the pervasive Francophilia back then -- Or just some musical mechanism to show us how worldly Joan was.

I don't know if this ep is still available in my On Demand. Comcast has deleted the earlier eps from viewing. Feedback?

I will check what eps are still available

To add to the above, Halloween was generally safer back in the day. We knew the people in the houses we visited, or our parents did. Our city and the fire department also sponsored a Halloween parade at the local football stadium and awarded prizes for best or scariest or funniest contest in about 6 different age groups so everyone from babies to young teens entered. It's a lot harder these days when there are fewer owner-occupants and more short stay renters to get to know your neighbors.

@Racy: In reference to "The Group", I actually have a magazine article at home by Scottie Fitzgerald, one of "the group" the book was about. It's either 1968 or 1969.

She literally disputes most of the book. I can try to scan it so people can see the follow up five years later...

With all the trouble we have on this site, I can't believe people post lyrics of songs. Inches and inches of song lyrics.

After reading the earlier posts I had the "aha" moment......the Hermes scarf in the hairspray pitch was the one Duck gave Peggy. I also agree with earlier posts that Paul looks at Peggy with a newfound mix of awe and jealousy after she doesn't leave him out there swinging on a limb in the meeting with Don. The look on his face as he leaves the office is not one of competitive jealousy.....more like "D#!!.....she's good!" As for the preview teaser, I thought the term "compromising information" was an odd description for the information Betty uncovered. I can think of many other adjectives she might have chosen to describe what she found but I'm not sure "compromising" fits. Maybe it's just me........Then one last note and I wait for next Sunday.......I totally agree with ncwriter......there have been so many tantalizing characters and story arcs dangled in front of us these past couple of months, even going into last year, only to go undeveloped. Great characters have disappeared.....even the office has disappeared. A few weeks ago someone posted that this show wouldn't have won Best Drama for two years in a row for nothing. I watch because of the the brilliance of Matt Weiner and this world he has created. I hope the end of the season doesn't feel like we got the appetizer but we are still waiting for the waiter to bring the main course.

@LaurieB: I don't understand it either.

Shelby: Joan sang "C'est Magnifique".

The song playing at Suzanne Farrell's was "Dominque" by The Singing Nun. It was quite the sensation at the time. Other posters have mentioned up-thread stories about the song and the singer.

AA: I am also about Sally's age, and wanted to thank you for bringing back memories of that 4-block walking pillow-case stuffing era! Here's a link you might be interested in, where you can order candy by the decade. I've tried them, and they're pretty good. Remember NikLNips and paper dots?

http://www.oldtimecandy.com/#

Don Draper is no longer hot to me. I've lost my Don. There is no chemistry between him and teacher. I just don't see it.

Laurie B.

Thank you!! It was just irking me that I couldn't recall the exact phrasing. Yes, I always read all of the previous posts prior to commenting...I was just trying to determine if there was any linkage betw the 2 songs, as it had not been explored as a topic previously in the thread.

OK - I am going to mention the "pleasuring yourself" scene with Paul Kinsey.

That's his name, right?

And now that gives us new insight to why MW might have picked that name for him...remember the Kinsey Reports on sexual behavior?

Also - girls - pay attention...did any guy, trying to get you to "go all the way" in the 60's or 70's, ever tell you it will clear your mind? Well, as soon as Paul enjoyed himself, his mind was clear to come up with the bright idea. Maybe there is something to that line? LOL

There was much speculation on this thread as to what, if any, property rights/estate rights Gloria would have after Gene died. It would be typical MW to show us a preview of Betty in an office with her brother and a "lawyer" type just after an episode where Betty unlocks the mystery drawer and mislead us once again. Given that we see Betty, William and the man seated, and the wisp of dialog containing "compromising", and the fact that we've had foreshadowing that Betty and William will be settling Gene's estate, it is very likely that Gene in his delusional state while Gloria was still around could have easily been led to sign something that would leave much of his estate to Gloria. Perhaps we'll find that Gloria was indeed a "gold-digger". It makes sense considering that once Gene's condition got really bad, Gloria took off.

@Ritt: Given that St. John wanted to reward Pryce with an assignment to Bombay for his outstanding work at PPL/SC, I think Pryce is concerned where he might be sent when SC is sold. If it were me, I wouldn't assume I was going back to England. He might try to stay associated with SC after the sale.

@MsDMac: Joy had auburn/red hair. She wasn't a blonde.

renatae -
The blonde man who says "This is ugly" in the preview is Betty's brother William (Bill) Hofstadt. He says it in Grandpa Gene's study. We know this because Betty is sitting behind the desk.

shelby123 -
The only relationship between the two songs is that they're both French. Sort of.

"C'est Magnifique" was written by Cole Porter in 1953 for the musical Can-Can. Faux French, even if it was sung by Maurice Chevalier. More Americans have sung it than French including Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra.

"Dominique" was written and sung by a Dominican Belgian nun, Soeur Sourire, in 1963 and is the only Belgian song ever to hit #1 on the Billboard charts.

Ms DMac: Joy had brownish hair. She was not a blonde.

Picture of Joy:
http://blogs.amctv.com/photo-galleries/mad-men-season-2-episode-photos/episode-11-don-joy.php

@Deepdish - I don't think anyone has directly answered your question (hopefully I haven't missed it). I feel confident saying that Pryce does indeed like it in America and that he would not have been the product of an elite British school nor an upper-class family. I think I see a slight smile on his lips when he makes that statement to his wife that no one in America has asked him where he went to school. I think another clue is how he has always been treated by St. John and his other superior (name?) from PP&L. They always seem to be talking down to him. Even when commending him on his work! And did you catch St. John refer to him as "Lad" on the phone??? A definite reference to him not being in the same social class.

Predictions:
- Betty won't confront Don re the shoebox until next season, if that. She'll investigate Anna and Don's history on her own.
- Miss Farrell will get more crazy and either confront Betty or threaten to. (Something about her reminds me of Gloria Trillo from the Sopranos, with less attitude.)
- Joan will get hired back (doesn't this sort of have to happen?)
- Roger will start cheating on Jane with this horse meat woman from the 'sneak peak' scene. Jane will leave him and, like Mona, take another slice of his income.
- Hilton will buy Sterling Cooper (through a third party)
- By the end of the series, Peggy will end up as an exec if not CEO of an ad firm, having outlived and surpassed everyone else.

Wondering:
- What's going to happen to Sal? Will Duck hire him?
- What the heck happened to the jai alai dude?

Thoughts:
- Kinsey is incapable of thinking outside the box, is too hung up on ego. I don't think the trend we saw this week (his anger toward Peggy) will necessarily continue; it's just another insight into his character. In a way, he's just as powerless as Campbell.
- This whole season seemed to drag up until the John Deere moment. They deliberately set up a dull, weary mood and jump-started things with an over-the-top moment of violence. Sopranos did that a lot: a lull and then a bang. It's almost a commentary on how we watch tv, what we wait for, etc.
- Don is incapable of inhabiting his own life and in that way is the perfect metaphor for the ad business: the conflict between fantasy and reality. I don't think he has any real connections to any of the people around him, including his family. He knows people and how their minds work but he is not emotionally invested in anyone. He knows this about himself and it disturbs him. Or he is disturbed by the fact that it doesn't disturb him.

@Racy- I think it was "bobcatmom" who said something about Don getting busted through his phone service...I think I typed the user name wrong before...

@liquor- I'm a second wife and I don't have bigger "diamonds"..
P.S. how do you know so much about Viagra?

@Shelby123- Time Warner's MM on demand is all jacked up too! We DVR and re-watch during the week...

Goodstuff: of course, that clinches it. I did not catch the "lad" thing. So, as his wife said - he does love it here in America. He seem disappointed when London said they are selling SC.

Hi Bipolar.. fun to see what I'd thought possible re the preview scene w/ Betty, brother & lawyer type so well articulated...the possible gold-digger scenario holds up quite well!

Re Pryce in the taxi scene... as he looks away when his wife is rhapsodizing about returning to England, I thought - he never told her about their narrow escape from the Bombay assignment... and now it looms again. (Aside... I wonder where props found that hideous snake in basket thing.)

@Thanks Zab! I was looking for those pictures. Here's another one:

http://blogs.amctv.com/photo-galleries/mad-men-season-2-episode-photos/episode-11-don-joy-2.php

It's interesting that Laura Ramsey is a blonde in real life, but they chose to portray her with rown hair for this episode. Maybe there is something to the theory of Don having all his mistresses be brunettes.

@trystme: I agree, Don has totally lost his cool factor. Makes you wonder how he got so far in the business world to begin with. Those guys are pretty saavy when it comes to reading people.

As for Betts, remember that she is now alone - both parents gone, and the one person she thought she knew is not that at all. She has to find someone to trust with this info to help her. Maybe Henry? of Carla?!

Can't wait for Joan's return next week. Maybe whe will straighten out this whole SC mess!!!

Love all the posts. It helps to make the show so much more intriguing

Anybody know if there were any upper class Brits in advertising in UK in the 60s - I tend to doubt it, since it was still somewhat déclassé even in the USA. Also I know a very well to do Brit who lives in Canada - his wife is Canadian - they were at some party among upper class Brits in England - they would not talk to him but were lovely to his Canadian wife, who was disgusted and stepdaughter of an upperclass Brit, which they had no way of knowing. No I think these Brits are just thugs and I'm softening on Lane but really can't stand his asst. Lane's wife should go find people in NY from London, she might feel better.

Hi Goodstuff.. think your name fits so very well..your posts are indeed goodstuff, and I always look forward to them! But didn't see the post re Pryce...I totally agree...(it was in my "gap"..I forget to refresh just before I submit)

@LaurieB: No problem! I think they dyed her hair to fit into Don's method of operation!

I hope they don't just gloss over the assassination - as I recently heard Marianne Williamson say, (I paraphrase) we thought politics could be the container of our highest aspirations and we protested and marched and there were advances in civil rights as a result but that the message of the assassinations (MLK and the Kennedys,killings of protesters in the cities and in the South and at Kent State) was: "There will be no more protest" and the baby boomers did spend all their blessings in useless pursuits, duly frightened, given permission to do what we wanted in the private sector. It would likely be Carla, Sally and Bobby who'd be the most freaked out - maybe Suzanne too.

Mary McCarthy is best known for her communist spat with Lillian Hellman (Hellman the Stalinist, McCarthy the Trotskyite - ;[note: a pox on both their houses] which resulted in this quip by McCarthy about Hellman on the Dick Cavett Show: "Every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the.'"

When you think about it she should have said, "Every word she writes is a lie, including "if" and "when." But, to each his own. By the way, the historian Paul Johnson had a great chapter on Lillian Hellman in his book "Intellectuals" which I believe was entitled "Lies, Damned Lies, and Lillian Hellman" -- now that's a chapter title.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it but in Sept., 1963 Bobby Vinton has a number one hit with "Blue Velvet" which is replaced by "Sugar Shack" which itself is replaced on November 16, 1963 with "Deep Purple" by Nino Tempo and April Stevens. Blue was everywhere in the fall of 1963. Of course, Dominique became Number 1 on December 7th (by the Singing Nun).

Sounds like next week is the assasination of JFK (my prediction) which is timely with all the focus on communists (which is topped off by Lee Harvey Oswald's stunt in Dallas).

I just hope MM stays away from all the Beatlemania that hits in early 1964.

amybett, getting caught would have only caused pain, suffering and embarrassment on a scale that was unacceptable. Other people are not tolerant of infidelity, unless it happens to be them. For some reason, folks seem to think that conscious reasoning can overwhelm affairs of the heart. That is rarely the case.

Racy, sometimes divorce is NOT a solution. While women often view infidelity as the ultimate betrayal, men sometimes look at it as therapy, because it DOES ease the pain of the moment. But, it is like morphine, it feels good, but it is temporary.

My impression is that at least one of the writers of this show has experienced what Don is going through, because it is being accurately portrayed. There has been a long tendency by Hollywood to glorify adultery, but Don shows here in MM the torturous pain that often accompanies it. Also, women tend to assume that MEN never suffer from guilt for infidelity. It isn't true.

@racy I'm with you. I simply do not see the attraction with the teacher. I didn't buy their affair in the previous episode, though I must say they at least exuded more passion in this episode. Still, I just don't get it.Also, have you figured out ROFLMAO?

@MADtini I think the Color Blue refers to the pillow talk teach and Don had.

@bluegirl Thanks for the link. "The Group" sounds like the original "Sex and The City".

@ambett So the thing Don said about 45% seeing the same blue is true? I can't comprehend that. What does it mean, and how it is confirmed? Totally got the same idea about Don and the brother. When Don sends brother off and says something like "I swore I would do this right someday", he's talking about Adam. He let his own brother walk out of his life, and ignored him. This time, he wants this brother to lean on him for help.

@NeverNotTasty All of the above I think. He was marveling at Peggy's genius and generosity, and maybe a bit at Don's compassion. I buy that Peggy could come up with those ideas all on her own (i.e. she doesn't need to steal them from Kinsey).

@goodstuff and @MADtini Got your point about attractiveness being in the eye of the beholder and all that. But I don't think the teacher, or her looks, or her 'talents' have anything to do with Don's attraction. I think it's his self-destructive behavior. A woman, just about any woman, will do to serve his twisted desire to destroy the "self" he has acquired, this "self" that requires constant vigilance to maintain, this "self" that has no real friends, no real lover, and no real parents. And who is Wallis Simpson?

@Greg Excellent observation that Don is lonely. He never gets to be Dick unless he's philandering (hee hee). And then he can't contain himself. He has to let out everything he's been holding inside for so long. This is why he falls so hard and so fast for just about any woman he chooses. I see the audience here trying to sum up Don's type, but really, he's so desperate, he'll take anyone.

@KBF Loved your take on the brother character. Actually, I felt that way last episode about teacher and Henry.

@rnpen I read Betty differently. I think that whole "oh, you poor thing you work so much" was a front for the fact that she's looking for another moment to slip away to Henry. In fact, that must be why she is so accepting of Don's carte blanche schedule lately. She is thinking less of her marriage and more about an affair. She just needs something to give her the courage, and Don is certainly fulfilling that wish.

@Ritt1 One can be a venture capitalist and slimy. They're not mutually exclusive terms. :)

I use AquaNet. Used it this morning actually. It's fabulous. I say Geeze Louise too. Some things just 'stick'.

I didn't think Don could become more disrespectful to Betty, but in this episode, he reaches new lows. He doesn't even bother to call home now? Just stays out all night, maybe for days at a time, then calls when he needs her to show off? Geeze Louise (there I go again)! At least he tried to hide his affairs before. Now, it seems as though he just doesn't care if she finds out *everything*.

@Deepdish and MelbaToast - Yep, Pryce is digging the Yanks! I wouldn't be surprised if he calls St. John a wanker by the end of the season! That would be priceless, um, pryceless, um, oh never mind.......