Yes indeed! Pryce grows on me by the episode. He definitely is becoming attached to New York, in inverse proportion to his wife's loathing. My hope is that he drops the dime on PPL's plans to sell SC again to Don and stays with SC in some capacity (still head of accounts, thus thwarting Pete once again?) Mrs P can return to London alone and grouse to her high class friends how her husband is stuck in that dreadful backwater of the colonies, New York.

Both she and Betty are happiest being the center of attention but only in the proper setting where they can be catered to. Neither are interested in their husbands' work except as it affects them. They are both all about appearance.

Pryce has come to very much appreciate America as a place with much less constricting class structures (we have them but they're more money-based than education or family) and mostly he likes the possibilities or opportunities open to anyone willing to work hard. In NY he could flip Sinjin the bird and go into business for himself if he wanted; at that point in England he could not and in fact would have great difficulty rising above the class level into which he was born. He could be correctly pegged by accent alone as to place of birth which would narrow down the likely schools he would have attended. I would hate for him to be posted to India - and Mrs P would suddenly think New York wasn't quite so awful, lol.

I think it would be very astute of the writers if they made Pryce and Don partners in some new entity. They would really compliment each other. They would hire back Joan and Sal, and Pryce could rescue Joan from the scary Greg.

Ta-town girl: We just don't know enough about Mrs. P to understand where she's coming from. Mr. P is glad no one has asked where he went to school and has his work for self-esteem. Mrs. P is in a foreign country with a very different social order. Presumably, she knows no one besides her husband, has few social contacts, and very little to do or be entertained by outside her home.

I have no idea what London was like in '63, but it seems odd that it would be less dirty, have less traffic or be less crowded than New York.

Her comments regarding NY, (about insects, dirt, traffic,) have struck me as strange in that I've wondered how much different those things might have been from London verses her PERCEPTION of the difference based on her discomfort with the culture shock of the two cities.

Do the Pryce's have children? If so, and they're grown, she may miss them.

It seems natural to me that a person feeling so out of place, so lonely and so foreign might come off as selfish or self centered.

Pryce is different from his peers here, and so is his wife regarding her counterparts. The thing I noticed about his wife is the difference from the Sterling Coo wives' attitudes toward their husbands and their work. Jennifer at the party is encouraging Harry, she also did last year about getting a raise. Trudy is encouraging toward Pete. Kitty wanted to be more in on Sal and his work, the moment of discovery regarding Sal for her came when she wanted to help in whatever way she could with his work, even if just listening. Betty will alwyas be Betty but even this episode she even said to Don we just want to show you we know how hard you work or something along those lines. And she always steps up for him when it time to play the trophy wife for his benefit in after hours dealing with clients.

That's the role of the Sterling Coo wife. Be there even if you're generally disappointed like these women probably are. You still have a part to play in positivity or to build him up, and they generally do even though they're probably more unhappy than not. But they do it anyway.

So you have Pryce different from his peers of SC, and upon the first sighting of his wife, she's also dissimilar from her counterparts in her role of the business wife we see at SC.

Need advice fellow MM

How can I start a new Topic? I don't see any
window / button that will take to me that?
Thanks

(

Bree, just go up from here and to the right click TALK under your name and right there it says Start a Conversation. Hope this helps.

@Bree: You posted a topic before....did you forget?

Go to the main front page - there's a box there to start a topic.
http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/talk/

Actually, Mrs. P is far worse off than Betty. Betty at least has nearby relatives and people she can call who understand her lifestyle. Mrs. P is virtually alone, has no social network, is dependent here on Pryce for position and the children are in school.

Surprisingly, India might be better for Mrs. P. If they were relocated to Bombay, a large city in a former British colony, there were still quite a few ex-pats in '63 working in British companies even after less than twenty years of independence. There would also be a fair number of British wives locally she could socialize with and who would understand her culture.

Hi Ritt... as always, you make good points.... here about Mrs.P being alone.... and very -interesting and astute- Bombay possibly being better for her in terms of a social network that she can relate to more comfortably. But think Bombay would probably be worse for Layne....

I hope he does stay w/ SCoo no matter what happens.

Auburn, Bi-polar, Greg.... great posts... thanks!

(Damn CRS...) Great thread Ta-town!

They do have a son - remember them talking about getting him in school? They've been married, what, 15 years? He's probably having a ball.

I couldn't stand Pryce when he arrived but I have warmed up to him. Did you see the way he rushed out of Don's office? Poor thing. He's so stuck in the middle. And I am happy to see he knows a toad when he sees one.

There are definitely similarities between Don and Pryce since both are self-made men who benefit from the (relative) egalitarianism of the US. Great point Ta-town girl.

Here's a thought-- could Dick Whitman ever have become Don Draper in the UK??

So far I haven't seen enough of either Mr. or Mrs. Pryce's personalities to know if I truly like them yet, but I do find them both to be interesting and sympathetic additions to the MM cast.

Mrs. Pryce in particular is very homesick and feeling like a fish out of water. I agree with Bipolarbear that this is a totally justifiable reason if she seems a bit self-centered. I don't want to judge her entirely based on her feelings about the move. If she still behaves the exact same way next season, that'll be different. Moving to a new country must have been far more disorienting and isolating in 1963 compared to today. Especially since we 21st century dwellers can get nearly any question answered instantly via internet or cellphone and they didn't have those advantages.

She doesn't know her way around NYC yet and was understandably humiliated when that cab driver ripped her off so blatantly. Although I actually found that scene a bit confusing because I thought she said they were living on Sutton Place during dinner with the Drapers. That's actually quite close to Sterling Cooper. I was surprised she managed to get lost between 57th/59th & Sutton and 50th & Madison. It's on a grid Mrs. P.! You can learn this! And watch the meter.

Deep Dish is right; the Pryces have one son. Pryce referred to having just found him a new school when he had his little outburst about India. I'd venture a guess that Junior is probably attending boarding school in New England though. Or one of the Upper East Side prep schools then.

Cool new avatar, MelbaToast!

If the Pryce's do stay in New York, she is going to hate it when London becomes the capitol of all things mod and swinging. On the other hand, she will be English in New York...she should have more friends than she will know what to do with, all asking her questions about the Beetles and all things British.

Ack!!! Can't believe I misspelled "Beatles"....I am so sorry, John!

Their SON will hate being in the states when, as the song goes, Eng[a]land swings like a pendulum do. I think the Pryces senior will turn up their noses at the commotion, the long hair, short skirts, the flash gear and fast cars. They're a little old to be smitten or charmed by the energy.

Yes, Bombay in 1963 had a lot of expats but it was often hot and muggy with a social class as stifling as the weather. Was there a reference when they were at dinner with Don and Betty about the UN diplomats? I should think there would be enough British embassy types around to make do for a while for Mrs Pryce. And surely Lane can't be the only English businessman in New York City, can he?

Bluegirl..Thanks! I finally overcame my lazy and somewhat computer intimidated self to work it out... (one reason being the recent impersonations -I realized that with no avatar it would be easier for someone to play that game... to create that kind of gratuitous discord.)

Auburn...Bombay was mentioned by SinJin and his cohort as the possible next post for Layne when Guy McKendrick was introduced... remember that hideous snake in the basket thing?

I agree that Mr. and Mrs. P. are too old and too "straight" to be interested in the British Invasion/Swinging London stuff. But depending on how old Pryce Junior is, the cachet of being English in the mid-60's could have him fending off the girls with a bat... you know, if they can't actually date Paul or John, that British guy at school is going to be the second-best thing! In the UK he'd be ordinary but in the US his cute accent would make him exotic and desirable. Might be rather positive for him, depending on his priorities of course. ;)

Yes, there was some kind of United Nations reference at the dinner with the Drapers. Mrs. Pryce made a comment about lots of African people living nearby. I believe the actress who plays Mrs. P. is actually South African, not British. Her accent does reflect this. Were we supposed to deduce from that one tiny vague hint that Mrs. Pryce is also South African? I wonder.

Great insights, all!

@Bipolarbear: You are right--we need to know more about her before we can judge. And so true about her perception--great point! I have also wondered about London in '63--between the war and the swinging, I think. Maybe not so glamorous as she believes?

@Greg: Great obso about SC wives

@Melba Toast: Love the avatar!

@zerelda: Your posts are always so nicely proofread. I don't think I have ever had a post without a typo, to which my comma splice here attests
.
@Ritt1: True--she is more lonely than Betty. I wouldn't have thought that possible, but you are so right.

@Bluegirl: As usual, great insights. Good call on the actress--Embeth Davidtz (sp?). I have always liked her in the films she has done, but I never picked up on the South African bit. I looked it up. She was born in Indiana, of all places, but raised in SA. Nice!

Ritt, I don't know what country place you live but in NY where I go to college for 1 year there are many English so his wife will have much company.Mrs. Pryce has her hubby and children, what else does a woman need. Does it take a village to keep her company?

zarelda-NY is not Wichita. Most people in NY even in 1963 are not from NY.Most people speak more like English and not funny Kansas accent.I study language and can speak six well and can hear difference.

@Mashenka88: I am from Wichita.

tata girl-that is funny joke.

A few of you mentioned the Pryce's son. I don't think there have been any teenagers on the show. Wouldn't it be lovely to have a
British boy on with all the beatlemania going on. Think of all the trouble he could get into?!

(Come to think of it there were a few teens maybe; Margaret at the beginning, and Duck's kids)

Totally agree Trotskyaire! That would be great! I hope we'll see at least one or two teen/early 20's characters as the show moves into the mid-60's to take advantage of all the cultural awesomeness. Margaret Sterling is still only 19 now because she was said to be 16 in Season 1, Duck's kids were indeed a couple years younger than her, and Peggy's only 23, so still quite young, although she seems older sometimes because of her seriousness.

I'll admit I'm a sap for a British accent. Mr. P might be enjoying some preferential treatment in America just because of the way he speaks. A German friend of mine told me once that the advantage of having an accent was that it more or less forced people to really pay attention and listen to you.
I feel a bit sorry for Mrs. P at this point. She's so homesick and really yearns for the familiar. I can totally see her taking their son and scooting back to London.

Mrs Pryce is a major hottie on Californication! She plays the wife of the college Dean where Hank Moody has gone to work sort of as a visiting professor. Hank took a "field trip" to a strip club where one of his students is working "to pay tuition". MW please do not misconstrue my comments about Mrs Pryce as a reason to not tune into Mad Men on Sunday night, I watch Dexter on Showtime, then Mad Men and I catch Californication on demand the next day.

Here's some irony: In 1963, my mother talked my father into opting for a three-year military assignment in London rather than staying for a fourth. She was homesick, my older sister was about to start high school, and she never really felt comfortable amongst our English neighbors. My father and I loved it there, but he caved to her wishes.

The only bonus to coming back to the States at that time was that we got to see the impact of the early Beatles in both countries.

I've liked Lane Pryce since he admitted to Don that he didn't know why PPL bought SC. And the scene where the snooty Powell etc tried to send him to Bombay really sealed my affection for him. However, his firing and penny-pinching was entirely unattractive.

At first I took the "school question" to mean Pryce was upset that the barbaric americans never ask him what school he went to, because he is proud he attended Eaton or some such locale. I see different interpretation here on this posting......I like switch up.....Anyway on the East coast you are judged in certain circles by the private school you attented. Jobs and contacts between alums are forged for life...Your either in or your in public school!!!!!!!!! Sad as that is.......

lane sprinting from dons office and being lashed by the mrs. is priceless, in any language or accent husbands round the globe can relate. and stll no one has asked him where he went to school.