Episode 4 - New Amsterdam

Taynement says:

So this episode was a Pete-centric episode and we find out that Pete can't hack it at work or at home.  The boys at the office are slacking off as usual in Pete's office listening to a comedy record when his secretary (who I promise is Jessica Chastain but I cannot find anything that backs me up) lets him know that his wife, Trudy is here to take him out to lunch. There is a brief encounter when Trudy meets Don and Peggy and Peggy flees as fast as she can. Trudy tells Pete she has found them an apartment. They go look at it and Pete lets her know that they cannot afford it. Trudy who seems used to getting what she wants lets him know there is nothing wrong with getting help. When Pete mentioned he only made $3500 a year it took a minute for my brain to adjust and realize these were different times.

Cue Pete going to ask his dad for money and we get a glimpse as to why he is the asshole he is. Because his dad is a bigger asshole to him. He berates his job and basically lets him know he is not good enough and will not be helping him out financially for the apartment. Which was a complete turnaround from when they ask Trudy's parents for money and Pete's father in law showers Pete with praise and places so much confidence in Pete's future. On the work front, Pete oversteps his boundaries eager to prove that he is more than a client woo-er and pisses Don off so much he was surely out of there, until Bert Cooper explains why Pete's family connections is needed for the company. Sterling (who I am appreciating more with this rewatch) uses this opportunity to tell Pete that his job was saved by Don and he owes everything to him.

Betty is walking the new family dog and sees Helen Bishop's ex husband making a scene outside her house. She later goes by to Betty's and they have a drink and a chat where Helen tells her details of the divorce and how she was cheated on. Don walks in while they chat and he goes straight upstairs, Betty feels she has to make an excuse and says he needs his quiet time.Helen later asks Betty to please babysit for her and so begins the strange relationship she will forever have with Helen's son, Glen. Betty goes to her psychiatrist and spends her time talking about Helen - or rather herself. And this is one of the reasons why Mad Men is my fave. The human psychological aspect of it that is expressed through metaphors of some sort. She mentions how she thinks Helen is jealous of her and how she needs help but the reverse might be the truth. Betty is probably jealous of Helen and her bravery and freedom so to speak. All in all, the whole episode felt like characters who are trapped in a life where they don't feel they belong to.

Altius says:

Welcome back to our Mad Men rewatch. We’re settling back in nicely with the folks of Sterling Cooper and this week we spend a lot more time with smarmy Pete. We finally meet Pete’s wife Trudy (the fantastic Allison Brie), the same time as Peggy does and it’s as awkward as you can imagine. She’s trying to convince Pete to buy an apartment that way out of their budget. Pete doesn’t seem overly keen but Trudy certainly has a forceful personality with an accompanying manner that’s hard to say rebuff.

Pete asks his dad for money to help buy the apartment and he’s summarily dismissed. Trudy then asks her parents for the money without Pete’s consent and they almost fall over themselves to help. Pete, somewhat understandably, bristles at this as he feel this further puts him under the thumb of Trudy’s parents.

Unlike Trudy’s seemingly easygoing parents, Pete’s own parents are pretty gross and casually racist (quelle surprise). Pete’s father believes that the wheeling and dealing that goes along with advertising is “whoring” and “no job for a white man” so that should tell you everything you need to know about him. It’s pretty hard for me to feel any sympathy for Pete though because clearly the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.

Pete’s frustration in his personal life leaches over into his professional life when he pitches to a client behind Don’s back. Don, understandably, doesn’t take too kindly to this and fires Pete on the spot. However, when he and Roger Sterling go to Bert Cooper for final approval of said firing, Bert reminds them that Pete comes from an influential family and that they’d do well to keep Pete on board. Don and Roger then let Pete know that he’s hung on to his job by the skin of his teeth but battle lines have clearly been drawn and I’m sure that isn’t the last we’ve seen of a conflict between Pete and Don.

Betty meets Helen Bishop’s estranged husband and this meeting is the impetus for Betty and Helen to come together. Helen ropes Betty into babysitting her kids while she shills for Kennedy on the campaign trail. Yay! This means we get to spend more time with creepy Glen Bishop. Truly, I’m not calling Glen creepy just to be mean, he just really is! When Betty gets up to use the bathroom, he purposely walks in and stares at Betty while she’s doing her business. He apologizes and I’m almost ready to chalk it up to regular child curiosity but then he asks Betty for a lock of her hair. What’s really wild is that Betty actually gives it to him. What is wrong with these people?!

This episode gave us more insight into the dynamics of some of our key players at Sterling Cooper but where was Joan? Boooooo!

Episode 3 - Marriage of Figaro

Taynement says:

The episode starts with Don on the train and we find out that he is not really the Don Draper we know as someone calls him by the name of Dick Whitman and names the platoon he was in. Don plays along while looking over his shoulder to make sure that noone overhears him and it sets the tone for the episode which seems to be the secrets the various characters seem to be keeping and the face they present to the world like everything is okay.

Pete comes back to the office from his honeymoon and it's hard to believe that he was missed that much to get as much a hero's welcome as he did. In the elevator he tells his guys a gentleman never kisses and tells and I scoff at Pete considering himself a gentleman. Anyways, he continues to try to convince them that marriage is the bomb by saying "he gets to go home to dinner". Next thing we see him exchanging very charged glances with Peggy clearly recalling their night together before he got married. He tells her she looks nice and also tells her he is married now and it can't happen again and Peggy lets him know she understands. Yea, Ok Pete. It was so hilarious seeing him pawing and begging for Don's approval and Don dismissing him like an annoying dog. haha.

It's Sally's birthday party (so hard to believe Kiernan Shipka was that young when Mad Men started) and Don and Betty get to play host to the couples in the neighborhood including the divorced mom, Helen Bishop who has been judged already. Don who seems to have picked up mistress #2 with Rachel Menken by kissing her and letting her know he is married just always seems uncomfortable when he's home.

He's building the dollhouse and one of Betty's friends makes a comment "What a man!" as a compliment to Don and Betty agrees knowing deep down that he is not all he is cracked up to be. The secrets continue as one of the husbands hits on Helen and when she steps out for a smoke with Don the wives alert Betty and Betty sends Don to get the cake. Don never comes back in time to cut the cake, he instead exposes his misery by attempting suicide on train tracks. He gets home very late with a puppy as a gift for Sally. Betty is not pleased but it's one more secret added to this unhappy household, Betty beginning to realise she is drifting further away from her husband and Don basically just tried to end his life.

Altius says:

The third episode of Mad Men begins with a shocker. Don is on the train on his way to work when he meets an old acquaintance who calls him by the name “Dick Whitman” and Don answers (!). A few minutes later, Stan and Peter are discussing Don when Stan says, “Draper? Who knows anything about that guy?” and boy is that statement apt. I thought we’d established Don as a brilliant ad man and devoted family man who clearly has a problem keeping it in his pants. So who the hell is Dick Whitman and why does Don answer to that name? Unfortunately, this being Mad Men, we won’t be told in this episode and we’ll have to wait for some elucidation. However, the fun is in the journey right?

Speaking of not being able to keep it in his pants, Rachel Mencken, heiress of Mencken’s department store, is back this episode and she and Don continue their not so light flirtation. Their flirtation progresses to a passionate kiss this time however, Rachel quickly puts the kibosh on it when she discovers that Don is a married man. In a state of disappointment and high emotion, she asks that Don remove himself from the Mencken’s account in order to avoid any further awkwardness between the two of them. I have a feeling that we definitely haven’t seen the last of Rachel.

Weasely Pete Campbell is back from his honeymoon and he wastes no time in disabusing Peggy of the notion that there’ll be a repeat of his pre-wedding indiscretions. Peggy has definitely got the better end of the deal here but the look on her face is like somebody kicked her dog. I’m going to need Peggy to do better here. Of all the men in New York, she’s got to be able to do better than Pete Campbell.

Back in the Draper household, it’s Sally’s birthday and Don and Betty are throwing a small party for her and the neighborhood kids. However, practically from the moment Don wakes up, he starts knocking back the beers, swiftly escalating to the hard stuff. I mean I get it. I wouldn’t particularly want to be sober around a bunch of hyper children all under the age of 10 either but Don is really going at it. Something tells me that the drinking has just as much to do with the mysterious “Dick Whitman” as well as self-medicating in order to deal with so many children though….

Betty invites scandalously divorced Helen Bishop and her son Glen (real-life son of Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner) and their appearance at the party causes an unsurprising stir. The women are threatened by her existence and subject her to several not-so-subtle digs, while the men seem strangely titillated by her mere presence. The creepiest of them all being the husband of Betty’s bitchy friend, Francine. He ostensibly offers to do a good deed by offering to take Glen out to play football etc. with him now and again. However, Helen sees right through his overtures and has no problem putting him in his place. I cheered.

Besides kissing yet another woman who isn’t his wife, Don saves his assholiest moment for the end of the episode. Betty asks him to go and pick up Sally’s birthday cake, which he does begrudgingly, but instead of bringing the cake back home, he keeps on driving right past his house and goes MIA for several hours. Betty is understandably worried sick until she realizes that he’s gone missing on purpose. She is humiliated in front of the other parents and I really do feel for her when Don shows up hours later with a dog (really?!) in tow for Sally and their other, silent, son Bobby.

In later Mad Men seasons, I convinced myself that I’d always hated Betty but watching this episode made me wonder why I ever felt that way? I hate myself for subconsciously seeing her as the “nagging wife” because this episode reminded me that boy, did she ever have a reason (s).

Until next time folks.