"I went to a place to eat. It said 'breakfast at any time.' So I ordered french toast during the Renaissance". --Steven Wright ... If you are a devotee of time travel, check out this song...

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Mad Men 7: Revenge of the Mollusk

Tonight's Mad Men - Episode 7 on AMC - was not only smoky but seething under the surface, and mostly about Don and Roger.

Roger makes a pass at Betty after an unexpected dinner with Don and Betty at their home. (I don't know - is that the right expression? Today we would say, "came on to her".... Anyway, he puts his arms around her.) Everyone's had a lot to drink (always the case, everywhere in Mad Men). Betty demures, Roger goes home but ... Don is not stupid, and realizes something happened, even though Betty pretty much denies it.

This sets the episode for a powerful display of something we haven't quite seen on Mad Men before. Don is jealous - and, moreover, will do something about it.

He gets his revenge over lunch right before the very important visit of the Nixon campaign people. Roger and Don consume plates of oysters - Roger remarks that Don is a "fan of the mollusk" (I am, too - seafood is my favorite food) - they drink a lot (of course), and then prepare to go back upstairs for the meeting.

But Don has bribed the elevator man to say the lift isn't working, causing Don and Roger to hike up 20+ flights of stairs. Don's in a little better shape than Roger, and the huffing and puffing up the stairs results in Roger's losing those mollusks - right in front of Nixon's people.

Roger surely got what he deserved. In addition to hitting on Betty (ok, another more modern term), he needled Don about his pedestrian speech ... But Don is by no means a completely sympathetic character in this, either.

Some good, promising exchanges between Peggy and Pete (especially good performance by Vincent Kartheiser) tonight, too, as Mad Men moves along its roiling, ever more intriguing, path...

20-minute interview with Rich Sommer (Harry Crane) at Light On Light Through



nice little clip on Mad Men at the end...

See also reviews of other episodes: Mad Men Debuts on AMC: Cigarettes and Nixon Coming ... Mad Men 2: Smoke and Television ... Mad Men 3: Hot 1960 Kiss ... Mad Men 4 and 5: Double Mad Men ... Mad Men 6: The Medium Is the Message! ... Mad Men 8: Weed, Twist, Hobo ... ... Mad Man 9: Betty Grace Kelly ... Mad men 10: Life, Death, and Politics ... Mad Men 11: Heat! ... Mad Men 12: Admirable Don ... Mad Men 13: Double-Endings, Lascaux, and Holes







6-minute podcast review of Mad Men






The Plot to Save Socrates


"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

5 comments:

LA said...

I think the theme to tonight's show was the struggle of virility versus emasculation... war talk, hunting talk, wedding gifts exchanged for rifles, posturing and revenge. Oh, and let's not forget Roger was turned down by Joan early in the episode.

I think that Pete might be more blue blood than his wife, but his wife comes from a much wealthier family. Since he values money over name, he feels completely neutered by her. His storyline tonight was completely unexpected. I also think he's going to steal Peggy's good ideas.

I can't wait until next week's episode. They are FINALLY going to explore the character of Salvatore. About damn time, I say!

Anonymous said...

I loved the episode. However, I must quibble with your "But Don is by no means a completely sympathetic character in this, either" statement.

Don not completely sympathetic? Mr. Levinson, you have an extraordinary talent for understatement. I wanted to kick Don's sorry behind into next week. Even in his revenge, it was only because Roger wounded his ego. Could the serial adulterer Don be any nastier to his wife? Between this and his inexcusable treatment of his brother, Don Draper is fast becoming the most loathsome character on the show. He and Roger are matching swine bookends. Womens liberation is coming, you pathetic excuses for men. Ugh.

That being said, I must also express my appreciation for Vincent Kartheiser's work. He's oddly, amusingly appealing as the slimy Pete, who has good ideas in spite of how Roger puts him down.

Capcom said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Capcom said...

Excellent post and comments on this compelling show and episode! The way that Roger got his come-uppence was elegant, but Don better watch out for when his actions begin to catch up with him as well...hopefully some time before his slimy under-life surfaces and drives his wife to "suppressed housewife suicide". Notwithstanding how unnerving it was to see how Don treated his poor brother and past, he does have a way with the rapier touche', when dealing with adversaries. His banter with the beatnik in last week's ep, and his reply to Roger's remark at the table about "taking a commercial break brought to you by alcohol" was the art of the insult at it's best.

BTW, so glad that "Bets" slapped that nervy neighbor in the supermarket. And how about that supermarket, the decor was classic, right out of the movie "Bachelor In Paradise"! The attention to detail in the sets, props, and lifestyles in this show are very impressive.

Paul Levinson said...

Ia - good analysis!

anon: glad you like my capacity for understatement:)

but, actually, I do think Don had a lot of justification ... certainly not too cool of Roger to make a pass at Betty in Don's own home...

capcom - thanks ... agreed!

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