"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...

Friday, September 14, 2007

Mad Men 9: Betty Grace Kelly

A superb Don and Betty Mad Men last night - one of the best of the series - with an important story that not only taught us more about their relationship but also showed us things about each, individually, that we didn't quite know before.

The catalyst is Don being offered a job by a McCann-Erickson exec, Jim Hobart. Don's tempted by access to a world bigger and more exciting than what he can get at Sterling Cooper. But Hobart, seeking any additional leverage he can get, offers Betty an assignment as a model.

Betty (January Jones) does look like Grace Kelly, and was a model before she married Don, so Hobart's offer certainly makes sense on the face of it. But, clearly, Hobart is hoping that Betty's good fortune at McCann-Erickson will be the icing on the cake for Don.

It proves to be just the opposite. Don, more complex, as always, that anyone around him realizes, abruptly ends the McCann courtship when Hobart sends him the first photos of Betty. She looks radiant. So why does this lead Don to say no to McCann?

Two possible reasons. One, maybe Don doesn't want Betty to have a career. He knows that if he doesn't go with McCann, Betty's modeling there will disappear, and that's exactly what happens. Two, maybe Don doesn't like being manipulated by Hobart in this way. I'm leaning towards Two, but reason One could have contributed, too...

Meanwhile ... we learn that Betty really loves getting back to modeling, and doing more than being a housewife. However happy she tells Don she is at the end, we now know, for sure, that she has a drive that goes beyond taking care of the kids and cooking great meals for Don.

And back at the office, a good Nixon-Kennedy discussion, Peggy's gaining a little weight ... which leads to another high round of male chauvinism from Harry-Asimov (Rich Sommer) and the guys, some delightfully rendered advice from Joan, and ... well, my wife has been saying almost since day one that Peggy got pregnant on that first night with Pete...

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 7: Revenge of the Mollusk ... Mad Men 8: Weed, Twist, Hobo, Excellent ... Mad men 10: Life, Death, and Politics ... Mad Men 11: Heat! ... Mad Men 12: Admirable Don ... Mad Men 13: Double-Endings, Lascaux, and Holes

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







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

2 comments:

LA said...

My three favorite moments of the episode:

1) Sal's comments about Jackie Kennedy.

2) Draper and Sterling nonchalantly ignoring and walking off while "the boys" duke it out behind them.

3) The final scene of the show. Genius.

Capcom said...

Agreed. This show gets deeper every week, the writing is amazing.

Betty might have thought that it would be easy to jump back into the modeling world after being out of it for so long (as she mentioned) but it wouldn't be the same as it was before she got married. Not to mention the "grass is always greener" thing. Jumping from one shallow life into another shallow world isn't really more fulfilling. I also think that Betty would have known that Hobart was only after her to get the husband, didn't she say in the car on the way home that she knew what he was after?

The scene with Peggy and Joan was great. Peggy is showing Joan (hopefully) that she's not a little mouse in every aspect of life, just because she's the newbie in the office. Peggy also seems to be letting her know that Joan's "medium" won't last forever either, and that there's more to common sense and wisdom than the sexual side of life. But her "they used my copy!" bragging will wear thin if Peggy lets it go to her head. It wouldn't do well to get someone like Joan mad.

What a great show!

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