Welcome to GAMbIT’s coverage of Mad Men. We’re going to try something a little different with this show. The reviews will be done by myself and my wildly talented colleague and friend Margaux Poupard. They’ll be a little longer, and a little more meandering, but like Mad Men itself, we’re playing with format. That’s right: Margaux and I are the Matthew Wiener of Internet criticism.
Trevor: So, should we talk about Roger’s orgy, or should we build up to that?
Margaux: I think we should build to that.
Trevor: Nice to see Freddy knock one out of the park and not pee his pants. Even if Don wrote it. And California might have made Pete an even bigger asshole. He had a fucking sweater around draped over his shoulders like the bad guy in an 80s John Cusack movie. Thoughts?
Margaux: I actually think that Pete is finally happy,especially after getting the shit kicked out of him ALL season last year. Whatever the hell that truly means to him. I think it’s hilarious Don calls him a “Hippie” – clearly, he’s preppy. And I’d like to see his tennis game.
Trevor: Pete being happy means he has the big-dick Don Draper swagger he could never attain in New York. Look how possessive he is of the real estate agent (who, let’s face it, Don will probably end up sleeping with anyway, maybe even by accident). Him being in California and Don being on suspension is like the best thing that’s ever happened to Pete, and this is a guy who used to bang Alison Brie.
Margaux: Ha, accurate. Pete is deeply insecure no matter what jarring tan he has.
Trevor: It says a lot about Vincent Kartheiser’s performance that he can actually make us feel for Pete, who could easily be the Joffrey of the 1960s, if he continued acting like he did in the first season.
Margaux: I just can’t tell what he’s trying to with his meetings with Don, does he not know he’s practically fired from SC&P?
Trevor: Pete always felt that he and Don were friends, no matter what distance Don kept him (usually somewhere far beyond arm’s length). I think he’s trying to prove that they’re equals, since Pete is more or less running the show in California. Don being suspended puts Pete in a position of the slightest superiority.
Man, this is a hard show to review. I’m glad we’re doing it together. If someone asked me what “happened” last night, I’d say “Uh…brunch?”
Margaux: Right? It’s like, everyone is still depressed and swimming in the wake of their shitty choices, MAD MEN!
Trevor: Put that on the poster. “Suburban malaise and ennui as far as the eye can see!” – GAMbIT.
Margaux: Perfect. And speaking of perfect suburbia, where the hell is Betty? Nothing will ever compare to Fat Betty (blam-bah-bam). But I’m curious where she is now, especially in her relationship with Sally. Last we saw, she was being introduced to her Father’s whore house upbringing. Way to sober up after getting drunk for the first time.
Trevor: Yeah, I’m more interested in Sally than Betty. Kiernan Shipka is killing it. You beat me to the Fat Betty joke.
Margaux: Well James van der Beek said it best, “Kiernan Shipka is like a tiny, blond, Daniel Day Lewis.”
Trevor: I think with any first episode, a lot of time is spent checking in with people, and at this point Megan is arguably more important to the show than Betty. And you might be on to something with the death theory. That floated around last year, as the Internet realized she was wearing the same shirt as Sharon Tate in one episode, but Matthew Weiner debunked it. Now she moves into the Canyons? And Sharon Tate died in Benedict Canyon? Of course, there’s a solid possibility that Weiner is fucking with us.
(Also, please start more sentences with “James van der Beek said it best.”)
Margaux: I’d like to say that I’m more interested in Don’s crappy marriage part duex, but I’m not. I do like Megan and that she’s a drastic change from Betty’s submissive wife, I’d like to think they’ll do something more interesting with their relationship than divorce. Cause that shit is just inevitable.
Trevor: Agreed. Can we switch gears? I want to talk about Peggy. Clearly she’s more or less turning into Don, which we saw with the great shot that closed out season six, a visual echo of the opening credits. I’m afraid the most nuanced critique I have of her transformation is the possible racism of this note I took during the show: “P has black assistant like Don.”
Margaux: Naturally you’d go there. I liked Peggy’s Broadcast News level freak outs, when she yells at Stan about being the only one who cares. Then goes home, her brother-in-law leaves and she collapses on the floor. You don’t feel bad for her, you relate to her. Who hasn’t had a fake, white old dude tell you “your charms just don’t work on me.”
Trevor: Lou Avery suuucks. That guy is a 9-5 desk jockey who does not give a shit about the ad copy. I mean, “Accutron: It’s Accurate”? I could come up with that, and I’m some kind of moron or something.
Margaux: A Don visionary, Lou Avery is not. The fact he responds that his weekend was “peachy” makes me want to punch him in the face. Sure he’s organized but he’s soul-less. Don doesn’t have a soul, per say, but at least he has a vision.
Trevor:And he also doesn’t have some weird medical fixation. He called Dawn “nurse,” he made some crack about the writers coming in for a check-up…that’s weird.
Margaux: He’s on some Hannibal shit, for sure. Not helping his likeability.
Trevor:What’d you think of Don’s flight with Lee Cabot (Neve Campbell)?
Margaux: Oh you mean, WHAT DOES NEVE CAMPBELL SOUND LIKE?! I loved it, if only for the 90s nostalgia.
Trevor: Between Linda Cardellini last season and Neve Campbell this season, expect Melissa Joan Hart to show up as one of Roger’s paramours.
I liked the dreamlike quality of the conversation. And the more I think about it, the more I think it might have actually been a dream. I don’t think Weiner is that literal though. But look at the way it’s composed visually: most of the conversation takes place with the two of them under blankets, and when Don rebuffs her, he opens the window, letting in light, effectively “waking up.”
Margaux: Don admitting that he’s a bad husband, I’m not sure if he’s becoming more aware cause he’s sober-ish or if he was toying with the idea of Mile High-ing her.
Trevor: That’s so funny you said that. One of my notes from last night says “D very self-aware.” I think he’s realizing how hard it is to change. (And the No Shit Award goes to…me!) I like that shot at the end, where his balcony door is stuck open. He can’t keep the cold out, so he goes outside to suffer in it. I think he’s resigned.
Margaux: I took that as, his life in New York is falling apart without Megan. He’s got nothing to lose, he’s sitting in the freezing cold for fucks sake. But enough about Don, we’ve still got Joan and Turtleneck Ted to talk about. Who do you want to start with?
Trevor: Jesus, this show has more characters than The Wire. Let’s start with Joan, if only because Ted is less interesting to me since he broke things off with Peggy like a DICK. Don’t you want a handy in the movie theater, bro?
Margaux: The only helpful thing Ted does is tell us time frame we’re dealing with, January of ‘69.
Trevor: I like Joan’s back and forth with Ken, who is hilariously still rocking the pirate patch. He’s kinda being a dick, too – I know he’s stressed, but Joan is a partner now, matey, not head of the typing pool.
Margaux: Hold on a second, I’m trying not spit out my coffee – laughing. Yes, Ken has assumed the dunce cap of the office, previously left vacant by Pete. I love when he threw Joan her earring and completely misses it, I had to rewind it. I love Mad Men’s touches of humor through all the sad-sack crap.
Trevor: That was a great touch. And I’m curious to see what chicanery Bob Benson is getting into in Detroit. But he’s on The Crazy Ones now so I don’t know how much we’ll see of him and his short shorts.
Margaux: That’s too bad because Benson was by far the most interesting character last season, if only for creating the catchphrase: NOT GREAT, BOB. I also hope we get to see more of Ken’s sci-fi short stories in some form or another. Especially now he’s on his last nerve with work.
Trevor: And let’s start the BRING BACK SAL campaign now. (Also, thank you for reminding me of “Not great, Bob!”)
Margaux: Alright and finally, we have Roger. Whose life looks like a trap house from a rap music video.
Trevor: That was a BALLER way to wake up. That guy skipped the 60s and jumped right into the 70s. (Another nice comedic touch: the cigarettes falling out of the pack.) What do you think of his daughter’s newfound…I guess I’ll call it “spirituality”? Cause she’s definitely the kind of girl who would say “Um, I’m not religious, but I would call myself ‘spiritual.’”
Margaux: Well, it’s a sharp turn from the bitchy-ness from last season. I wonder if she’s gone the same way as the former copywriter turned Hari Krishna who wrote a spec for Star Trek and gave it to sideburns in TV.
Trevor: I hope Matthew Weiner’s follow-up to Mad Men is filming Paul Kinsey’s Star Trek script. Just the one.
I like Roger. (Great criticism there.) The way he’s embraced free love, for lack of a better or less douchey term. Not to mention the butt-naked solo LSD sessions. John Slattery is fantastic. That looks like a really fun midlife crisis. Dude must be pushing 70 and he pulls hotter chicks than I do.
Margaux: Roger has been my favorite since season one, he’s so up front – in his own way, about what an asshole he is. The funeral, from the premiere last season, he has some of his best moments there. But the thing that struck me the most is, for all his free love and LSD trips, why is he so resistant to his own daughter. I mean besides thinking she’s after his money. Again.
Trevor: I think he’s weirdly cautious about any change. Still more open to it than Don is, though. Don didn’t even like Revolver.
Margaux: It’ll be interesting to watch when Don and Roger see each other face to face. Whenever that’ll be.
Trevor: Agreed. Okay, let’s wrap this up, cause we probably already set a GAMbIT record for longest review. Final thoughts? Star count?
Margaux: Ha, alright. I think it was a strong premiere, lots of ways this could shake out. Too bad AMC doesn’t know how to program more original content so we’ll have to wait till next year to see how it shakes out. I give it 4 stars. You?
Trevor: I was thinking the same thing. I usually knock shows for lack of narrative momentum – seriously, you could play a drinking game to my reviews – but narrative momentum would kind of defeat the purpose of Mad Men. Let’s agree on 4.
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