mad men

[Rhom]

[quote name='Relic' post='1571036' date='Oct 29 2008, 02.23']i think pete, for all his outrageous faults, is my favorite character on this show.[/quote]

I love Pete. Every time he's on the screen I just wonder what he's going to say next.

[The Iceman of the North]

[quote name='Billy Clyde' post='1570028' date='Oct 28 2008, 15.18']IIRC, in one of the closing scenes from this episode Pete is seen holding that rifle in his office isn't he?[/quote]
Yes, and I also noticed the rifle in the background of an earlier scene, just leaning towards the wall.

[Rockroi]

[quote]And yes, Pete had what looked like a rifle in the dark office in that last scene. Could mean anything or nothing, I suppose.[/quote]

IIRC, Pete purchased the rifle in the final episode of last season when he returned a wedding gift that he and his wife did not like/had two of. When he tried to get the money back, the store assistant stated he could only get store credit. So, with the credit, he bought himself a rifle. Itw as funny and obviously very selfish. Its a symbol of Pete's selfishness and his attempts to "be a man." When you consider he was holding it after his attempts at getting together with Peggy went South, I think it fit in well.

[Annelise]

[quote name='Tears of Lys' post='1569565' date='Oct 27 2008, 22.14']The scene between Don and Betty at the end was poignant, and I read it as him realizing that Betty is accepting him back because she's pregnant.[/quote]

That's what I think as well, from his POV. However, I don't think it's true or entirely true, from hers. She was, afterall, considering abortion and it seemed that she could have secured one, had she wanted to. That he admitted his infidelity, and was heartfelt, and again in his letter, I think, mattered to her. Additionally, she got even with her own infidelty at the bar and it seemed like that helped her get past his.. coming home, eating the chicken and accepting the pregnancy. Those things put together, I think her POV is that there was hope to move forward.

[Winterfella]

[quote name='Rockroi' post='1571400' date='Oct 29 2008, 11.01']IIRC, Pete purchased the rifle in the final episode of last season when he returned a wedding gift that he and his wife did not like/had two of.[/quote]

It was a Chip 'n Dip.

[Blaine]

So was I the only one who cringed when they showed Pete alone with the gun in the office?

For a brief second there, I thought they were going to end the season with a suicidal bang.

Which would've sucked, because I want to see more Pete. And it would've made more sense if it was Duck. Or Freddie Rumson.

[The Iceman of the North]

Nah, I was wondering the same.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

My big irrational thought for the season was Betty was going to kill herself at the end of "A Night to Remember". Which wouldn't have made any sense, of course, but she really seemed off the rails.

[Rockroi]

[quote]So was I the only one who cringed when they showed Pete alone with the gun in the office?

For a brief second there, I thought they were going to end the season with a suicidal bang.

Which would've sucked, because I want to see more Pete. And it would've made more sense if it was Duck. Or Freddie Rumson.[/quote]

I have to say Blaine, as soon as I saw the gun, I recognzied it as the one from the first season (thanks Winterfella for reminding of the Chip 'n Dip) and I knew it was just a symbolic accessory to his personality and NOT a device to lead to his suicide. Pete is not, to me, suicidal.

If ANY character this season was going to off themselves, I thought it was going to be (perish the thought) Joan (I'm sorry- the woman is gorgeous, the part is awsome, and I'm sorry, I am loyal to the Firefly people... SUE ME!!!). I thought that she had genuine depression from losing Roger; her trips to his couch were, in my mind, one of the more jolting parts of the season. When she is trapped in this unhelathy relationship with Mr. Perfect, I thought she may try the hard way out. Then the rape scene... I honestly thought she would take 40 sleeping pills, turn out the lights and cradle a picture of Roger in her arms...

Okay, now I'm depressed. Thank you all SO MUCH!!!

[Rhom]

[quote name='Rockroi' post='1572768' date='Oct 30 2008, 18.17']If ANY character this season was going to off themselves, I thought it was going to be (perish the thought) Joan (I'm sorry- the woman is gorgeous, the part is awsome, and I'm sorry, I am loyal to the Firefly people... SUE ME!!!). I thought that she had genuine depression from losing Roger; her trips to his couch were, in my mind, one of the more jolting parts of the season. When she is trapped in this unhelathy relationship with Mr. Perfect, I thought she may try the hard way out. Then the rape scene... I honestly thought she would take 40 sleeping pills, turn out the lights and cradle a picture of Roger in her arms...[/quote]

I hadn't thought of it like that, but she did take Marilyn Monroe's death very hard. I can see the parallels.

Minor nit-pick. Since I am in the middle of a rewatch, I wanted to point out that the Chip n Dip episode wasn't the season finale last year. It actually is somewhere around episode 7. ("You put the chips on one side, and the dip goes in the middle." Fantastic Pete line.)

Here's another question about the first season. Do we think Peggy gets pregnant in their first encounter or the second? I'm not sure of the timeframe of the entire season, but I know that as of episode seven there have been no signs of her pregnancy. I recall that she starts getting heavier in the later episodes. Is it basically nine months from the beginning of the season to the end, or is it a larger time frame that could allow her to get pregnant during their encounter on his couch later in the season?

[Blaine]

[quote name='Rockroi' post='1572768' date='Oct 30 2008, 17.17']I have to say Blaine, as soon as I saw the gun, I recognzied it as the one from the first season (thanks Winterfella for reminding of the Chip 'n Dip) and I knew it was just a symbolic accessory to his personality and NOT a device to lead to his suicide.[/quote]

I also recognized the gun as the spoils of the great Chip N Dip exchange, but symbolic or no, it was creepy to sit around holding a rifle in your empty office.

Conventional storytelling wisdom is that if you show a gun on the wall in Act 1, it's going to go off in Act 3. Obviously, we aren't to Act 3 yet. So maybe it'll go off another time.

Then again, Weiner worked on the Sopranos, where the storytelling worked on more of a "talk about a gun for 12 episodes and build tension" then "forget the gun alltogether and have the family go out to dinner in episode 13 with a nice music montage."

So who the hell knows?

[quote]Pete is not, to me, suicidal.[/quote]
Agree completely. That's probably why my fear was pretty short-lived. I still think Freddie and Duck were the most likely suicide candidates by the end of Season 2.

Disagree about Joan, though. She's way tougher than Marilyn ever was. She'll rebound. Hopefully.

[quote name='Billy Clyde']Here's another question about the first season. Do we think Peggy gets pregnant in their first encounter or the second?[/quote]
I think most people guess it was the first encounter, since Peggy had gone to the doctor to get the pill by the second encounter, unless I'm mistaken.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

Peggy technically had the pill before their first encounter, but if birth control in 1960 works the way it does now, it would have taken a few weeks before it was effective.

[Rockroi]

[quote]Disagree about Joan, though. She's way tougher than Marilyn ever was. She'll rebound. Hopefully.[/quote]

Joan is very tough; and that's why I am happy that the character is sticking around. At the same time, she has been hit with some pretty stupifying trauma. We all have our breaking points. I was just thinking - considering her talking points -that she was up there.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

Regarding the rewatch, which some of you have expressed interest in, I'm now thinking of waiting until the new year before starting, so that mentally people can get a chance to get away from the show and then come back to it with more of a fresh perspective. I'd anticipate doing an episode a week; and I'm ambivalent about whether to do season two only, or the whole thing. The advantage of doing both is that then we'll likely finish a few weeks before season three begins.

[quote name='Blaine23' post='1573304' date='Oct 31 2008, 09.49']Then again, Weiner worked on the Sopranos, where the storytelling worked on more of a "talk about a gun for 12 episodes and build tension" then "forget the gun alltogether and have the family go out to dinner in episode 13 with a nice music montage."

So who the hell knows?[/quote]

MW doesn't necessarily have a specific idea in mind for the rifle. We know that he has some things worked out--Don's past, including the stuff from season two and probably also stuff that we haven't heard about, was part of the master plan from before he wrote episode two; and he says that he has vague ideas about how the series is going to end--but he doesn't plan from season to season, and quite candidly says that he doesn't know what season three is going to be about yet.

My favorite description of that last scene is [url="http://maulofamerica.blogspot.com/2008/10/in-red.html"]from Matt Maul[/url]: "The last shot of Pete shows him in his darkened office holding a rifle as if he were standing guard against the world outside." Maul suggests that this shows

[Rhom]

[quote name='Sarah L. Palin' post='1574754' date='Nov 2 2008, 12.28']My favorite description of that last scene is [url="http://maulofamerica.blogspot.com/2008/10/in-red.html"]from Matt Maul[/url]: "The last shot of Pete shows him in his darkened office holding a rifle as if he were standing guard against the world outside." Maul suggests that this shows[/quote]

This shows [i]what?!!?[/i] I'm dieing to know!!!!

:huh:

[The Iceman of the North]

From his link:
[quote]The last shot of Pete shows him in his darkened office holding a rifle as if he were standing guard against the world outside. With Trudy, he seemed resigned to whatever fate had in store for him. However, it’s now as if he’s found something to live for.[/quote]
I assume the "something to live for" is the kid.

[Nichole]

[quote name='Blaine23' post='1572723' date='Oct 30 2008, 16.28']So was I the only one who cringed when they showed Pete alone with the gun in the office?

For a brief second there, I thought they were going to end the season with a suicidal bang.

Which would've sucked, because I want to see more Pete. And it would've made more sense if it was Duck. Or Freddie Rumson.[/quote]
I thought that was going to happen as well, I was bracing myself for the moment he would actually stick the gun in his mouth.

I am glad that he didn't. I can't stand Pete, but he is fun to watch.

[Rhom]

I needed to find this thread for a second to look something up... and I just hate to see it buried on the board, so consider this a shameless bump. :thumbsup:

(Also... is there a better way to search for something on the board? I tried "Mad Men" but since both words were less than four letters or some such, it was unable to search for it.)

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

New interview with [url="http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article5247450.ece"]Jon Hamm[/url]:

[quote]“My dad was a businessman in the 1960s,” he begins. Then he stops and corrects himself for not giving me enough information. “I’m from a small town in the middle of the country called St Louis. It’s a small town. Ish. It’s fairly conservative. And my dad was originally a big fish in that small pond. Like most men in most places in the late 1960s and 1970s, he saw that power dry up. He was a big guy, close to 300lb, 6ft 2in, a really big guy up until the mid- to late 1970s, when he was diagnosed with diabetes and lost, like, 120lb. I didn’t come around until the 1970s, so I knew him as a very slim guy, but to his friends he was this hulking Tony Soprano businessman who worked in trucking.” Hamm stops, laughs, then explains. “Working in trucking, he worked with the mafia and the teamsters [union]. It was not a shy business.”

Right, I say — and, to show I’ve watched a few gangster movies, I make some joke about having people killed. Hamm puts his head on one side and smiles. “At my father’s funeral, a guy came up to me, gave me the heavy handshake and said, ‘You don’t know me, but I knew your father very well.’ He gave me his card and said, ‘If you ever need anything... ’ I was 20 years old, and I was like, ‘I know exactly who you are, my dad talked about you a lot.’ ” He shakes his head. “There were a lot of shady characters in that industry.”[/quote]

Also, apparently [url="http://blogofneworleans.com/blog/2008/11/24/bryan-batt-local-merchant-acclaimed-actor-national-anthem-singer/"]season three will begin shooting in March[/url]. This is at least a month earlier than last year (which of course was delayed by the writer's strike), which hopefully means that the airdate will be earlier too.

[quote name='Billy Clyde' post='1594490' date='Nov 19 2008, 17.12'](Also... is there a better way to search for something on the board? I tried "Mad Men" but since both words were less than four letters or some such, it was unable to search for it.)[/quote]

Search for "Draper" next time. That's how I found it just now.

[Rhom]

I have been fascinated by John Hamm lately. My girlfriend's Vogue magazine had a nice interview with him last month as well. He seems to be a genuinely interesting guy.

[quote name='John Quincy Adams' post='1609406' date='Dec 4 2008, 15.12']Search for "Draper" next time. That's how I found it just now.[/quote]

Ahhh... Thanks. Much better idea.