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"The Chrysanthemum and the Sword"

I haven't even finished the episode, and I already want to strangle Betty.

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Wow, you've really caught up fast. What did you think of the end of season 3? Or the start of season 4?

I think Betty is becoming increasingly unsympathetic as a character. Whenever we see her she is cold and distant. Don can be cold, but he can also be fun (see his drunken night out with Pryce). Betty is just a drag. And it's no coincidence that the better episodes from season 4 have been the ones where she isn't present.

A few notes (maybe not as detailed as what I did in the Lost thread )

- Have you noticed the characters seem to be saying "shit" more often? I don't remember them saying it in the past. Where they given permission this season to say it?

- I've also noticed this season that the second half of an episode almost plays as an entire episode separate from the first half. One episode has Don go to Acapulco, then focuses on him back in New York getting into shenanigans with Pryce. Another focuses on Pete becoming a dad, and ends with Peggy and her new lesbian friend going to some underground party. Last night starts with Betty melodrama and ends with the Ocean's 11 like feel of the season 3 finale. The size and scope seems to be getting smaller, while at the same time it seems the show itself is attempting new things when it comes to pace and direction.

- It was good to see the gang actually doing some work. I don't think we've seen too much of that so far this season.

- Don needs to fire that secretary of his.

- Ah, good old Pete has grown some balls. His name might not be on any of the office stationary but he's the one making the big moves.

- That new character Faye Miller leaves me cold. I'm not sure where they're going with the character but she just hasn't made much of an impression on me.

- This episode wasn't quite as meandering as the last. That is something I've noticed with Mad Men. Each season is a slow burn.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

TVshack makes wonders ! I've loved the show so far, the third season finale left me a little flabbergasted, particularly the whole thing the four main partners did when they bailed out of the firm, but I think I got it now.

Although, I really don't know what the fuck happened between Conrad Hilton and Donald Draper, I actually have my suspicions that the volume of the episode was too low and therefore I couldn't get what they were saying to each other.

And truly, those last episodes of the third season were too much, I loved the scene where Don gets Betty from bed after he finds out about her afair, the fight that follows --> Feliciano's mind blown.



I've always thought that Betty & Don are interesting as a couple in the sense that each is stronger than the other in some aspects, Don is a shitty husband, unlike Betty who is faithful and caring, in other matters like parenting I think Don gets the upper hand, he refuses to hit his children, he clearly acknowledges them as children, while Betty seems to think of them as little adults.



What about the score ? I give this one an 8, I demand more Peggy !



Who knows ? Maybe it's another historical detail ? perhaps people started saying shit more often in the late sixties ?



I demand more ad pitching from Don Draper ! I think season 4 has been missing some of those.



Joan will most likely kill him, but it has to be done.



I am wondering, why is the firm not named "Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce, Campbell" ?



Me neither, I feel Matthew Weiner will just say "fuck it" at some point and have Don bang her.

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It's hard for me to score the episodes for some reason. I don't feel like the show works the same way Lost works. Because not much is going on it's harder for me to have the same reaction that I would have with Lost. I could start reviewing the episodes like I did with the Lost thread, but it would just be for the two of us (Just the two of us/building castles in the saaaand)



I used to rewatch much of Lost's season 4 on TVshack. But you have to be careful as sometimes they won't have the full episode.



I think what it came down to was Hilton wanted Don to outdo himself with the ad campaign and was disappointed Don didn't give him "the Moon". Although I think he might well have been serious about wanting to put a Hilton on the Moon. Plus he wanted a commitment from Don, who had just signed a contract with Sterling/Cooper, and Don doesn't like being tied down like that. Tying women down, maybe, but not himself.



That would be kind of a mouthful. My guess is they don't add his name because the company started off as Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce and they're still a fresh company. They need to stick with the identity they started with so that they can create their brand. I'm actually surprised they don't come up with a name for the company, rather than using their names, although this might have been a later practice.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

This is a funny blog that has recaps of the episodes:http://www.bestweekever.tv/2010-08-17/mad-men-recap-finally-the-episode-where-we-get-to-see-don-draper-naked/

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

Currently watching the first season. Pretty cool, never watched a series that is centered just around the characters. Anyone has the name of the theme song?

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Never give you up
Never gonna let you down

English not very good. Forgive me.

http://www.ghondar.blogspot.com
Because people on the internet think that I'm somewhat funny.

"A Beautiful Mine", by RJD2.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

Hey, also a Mad Men fan here.

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I don't mind being the smartest man in the world. I just wish it wasn't this one.

And a ghost too !

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Why, it's the Lost thread all over again.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

Mad Men, the cure for the common tv show.

Just thought I'd get that out of the way.


- I had been watching the Emmy's before I tuned in to Mad Men. Only to find some of the episode would revolve around the gang going to an awards show. Irony!

- I think we can agree that goofy, happy Don is a lot more entertaining than cold, pensive Don. I find him more interesting to watch this way, especially his interplay with Roger.

- The opening was funny, particularly when Don turns to Peggy, and with a slight smile says "It's an idiom. Did you know that?"

- I think Pete is getting a bit too big for his britches. He's letting his success go to his head. His pouting to Pryce, his smugness with Ken. He's grown a bit as a character, but he's still a slimy character.

- So Ken is back in the fold. Makes me wonder what Kinsey is up to?

- Was it me, or was Jon Hamm channelling Jimmy Fallon in the flashback scenes? It had a goofy quality to it but he was maybe overdoing it a bit. He reminded me of whenever Fallon tries acting on his talk show.

- The word "shit" was used three times this episode. I counted.

- Peggy's sub plot was a bit meandering, and the scene where she strips in the hotel room seemed like a false note to me. I'm never quite sure how to take the character. Sometimes she's naive, but often what she does seems calculated. I wonder if because she's the only main female worker besides Joan that the writers feel they need to give her too many sides to her persona? Like, if there were more main female characters working in that office, maybe she wouldn't have to take the bulk of different character types? Being naive, sexy, calculated, sincere, etc.

- Betty makes a brief, minute long cameo, and manages to be a bitch in it. This must be a new record for her. You gotta hand it to her, she's consistent.

- Don must have gone on a massive bender. When did he have time to meet that waitress? It strikes me that we've seen Don drunk in almost every episode this season. Mercifully for him, he managed to avoid losing the client. By using that terrible ad pitch. I don't think there's a chance of that new kid becoming a star at SCDP, though.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

The episode is not up yet ...

Damn TVshack !

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Great episode ! Mad Men IS indeed the cure for the common tv show



We needed "Goofy & Happy Don" given how much we get "Cold & Asshole Don", now don't get me wrong, I love both, but a little balance was necessary, not in Roger's case since the man is awesomeness incarnate, with greying hair of course.



Pete not being a slime................................impossible, I love the character, and I cant imagine him being any different.

And particularly something has always bugged me about Ken, maybe I missed something, but how the hell did he got paid so much at Sterling Cooper ? and how come it always seemed like he didn't work as much as the others ? Paul Kinsey was nothing more than an incompetent, hypocritical prick, it was quite clear, but Ken going as far as he did, I don't know, I think Lane is hiding something.



*Kinsey looking at Peggy's empty office, realizing what just happened* --> WIN.



It seems like they are trying to compensate the lack of female characters by fleshing out the ones they have, it does seem weird how Peggy sometimes takes a beating and stays put, and at other times she strips in front of co-workers , although her character development is strange, I think it's more of the same, little girl playing big boys' games and doing what it takes to play it right.



Holy shit ! That scene was just too much, she appears less and less in each episode, but the magnitude of her bitchyness NEVER decays !



It will be a cold day in hell (in the Mad Men universe) when Don Draper hits on a woman and has the latter reject his advances.

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I think Ken almost represents an American ideal. Young, male, blond and blue eyed. He has an easy charm that Pete lacks. I think he was so successful because he seemed genuinely enthusiastic whereas Pete came off as being insincere. Remember the episode where Pete, Peggy and Sal were working on pitch, and Pete casually mentions one of the guys from the company they're trying to get recently became a father? Sal is genuinely interested and asks "Oh, a boy or a girl?". Pete just looks at him for a second than goes "That's good", then writes the question down for future reference. It's such a funny, but odd little detail.



Dude, you remember the scene, I think it was from season 3, where Kinsey is alone in his office and trying to come up with an idea? He takes out that old Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy ad that he came up with, then begins to unbuckle his pants. That's how narcissistic Paul Kinsey is. He jerks off to his own ideas.

I forgot one funny moment from last night. Don asks his secretary to phone the bar because he thinks he's lost the award he's won, and she asks him for the category. And he looks at her and says "....best actress".

My favourite funny moment of the season so far though is when Don and Roger are talking the day after that uncomfortable Christmas party, and Don puts on a German accent.

Don: Did you enjoy ze fuhrer's birfday?
Roger: May he liff for a sousand years

Also, Duck Phillips! Can't forget about him. Seeing him at the awards show, I'm reminded of an idea I had about him in season 3. I always imaged he had gone crazy after he left Sterling/Cooper and maybe he wasn't working for some new company. I thought we would get a scene where he would show Peggy the new office, and it would turn out to be a kitchen, and that he moved back in with his mother.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

I loved the hysterical revelation that Don never had a contract because Roger never even hired him. Was that what we were supposed to get out of the flashbacks?

Pete's transformation into Ben Linus is almost complete. He'll have his sobering moment soon. I bet Trudy will miscarry and that will bring him back down to Earth. Like Ben, Pete's strengths are in support, not leadership, and he'll discover that before the end of the series.

As far as Kinsey, I think his final scene in the season 3 finale was all the hilarious sendoff he needed. Same goes for Sal, as much as I'd like him to return, he had a good, if sad, sendoff. However, I do want Duck to return to full prominence. And not just as the rival in the shadows, but the full-on archenemy of Don. He needs revenge for Don's epic ownage of him back in season 2.

All in all, I really enjoyed this episode.

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I don't mind being the smartest man in the world. I just wish it wasn't this one.

I love this show while I hate and/or disgust ALL the characters.

I dunno how......never had an experience like this before )))


Oh and love the dresses, my style completely...<3

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Oh Sinnerman, where you gonna run to?
Sinnerman where you gonna run to?
Where you gonna run to....all along dem day
Fire, walk with me

First Season, fourth episode:

"Pete, I need you to go to get a cardboard box and put your things on it".

I fucking love this guy.

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Never give you up
Never gonna let you down

English not very good. Forgive me.

http://www.ghondar.blogspot.com
Because people on the internet think that I'm somewhat funny.

You'll hate him soon enough

NO ONE can love a "mad man" without acknowledging a couple of assholitical actions.

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Assholitical? I think you just invented a new word.

But yes, Don is a dick. In more ways than one. This is one thing I've struggled with. There are times when Don seems noble and empathic. Other times he's cold and quite nasty. I think he's fundamentally a good person but he's done wrong by quite a few people in this series.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

EVERYONE is a dick at one time or another, I think that the show manages to display very effectively the areas in which the characters shine much more than others, Don is a more caring, understanding and clear-headed father than Betty, yet the latter is much more faithful and committed to the marriage than Don.

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