Showtime’s Masters of Sex doesn’t premiere until September but this new teaser gives us a glimpse of what we can expect from Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan as the Masters and Johnson sexuality research team. Following the work of Alfred Kinsey (the movie Kinsey is a good place to start and features a whole host of familiar faces such as Peter Sarsgaard, Laura Linney and John Krasinski), William Masters and Virginia Johnson took on the science of human sexuality research baton and were pioneers in this field. This new drama chronicles the lives of both Masters and Johnson and the work that they did that helped kick start the sexual revolution.
This teaser shows that there will be humor in their work and revelations that will change how sex is discussed in the private and public sphere. I’m very happy to have both Lizzy Caplan and Michael Sheen on TV and I’m looking forward to seeing their trajectory from this ’50s setting as researchers to landing cover of Time magazine.
Masters of Sex premieres Sunday, September 29 on Showtime.
There has a strong sense of doom and gloom on Mad Men this season with national events and personal experiences featuring fraught and violent moments. This might be why outlandish theories about Megan and Bob Benson developed traction and while the Bob Benson mystery has been solved, this foreboding feeling remains.
The episode opens and closes with Don lying in the fetal position; first in his daughters bed at home and then on his coach in his office. On both occasions he is pushing those who were once close to him further away; Megan is trying to reach out to him but is having no luck and an argument with Peggy where she calls him a monster results in him curling back into this position. Don has been adrift all season, he is the empty suit in his pitch and after the incident with Sally last week he is even more despondent. Don’s job is all about connecting with a wide audience, but he is the one having issues with connections this season. It’s a bad sign when you’re sneaking vodka into your morning orange juice so I think it’s safe to say that Don is in bad shape. Outwardly he is still doing a relatively fine job at work and home; he ‘saves’ a pitch but also humiliates Ted and Peggy in the process and Sally hasn’t told her mother about what she saw.
Instead Sally has cut herself off from her father and thanks to some bad city experiences Betty does not suspect Don as a reason for Sally not wanting to visit. Sally wants to go to boarding school and like her father she is very good at selling herself; all those times that she made drinks for her parents comes in handy as she tells the girls at the boarding school that she can make a Tom Collins. Any Sally storyline that involves drinking, getting high and Glen is enough to cause concern but it turns out that Glen is not actually all that creepy anymore (ok he’s still a tad creepy) and he defends Sally’s honor after his friend makes the moves on her. When Sally is asked “You like trouble, don’t you?” she responds with a sly smile and in this moment it looks like Sally is having a good time. Sally is both out of her depth and in control in these moments and this dichotomy is apparent when Sally tells Betty why she wants to go to boarding school; she wants to be a grown up but also get a good education. Sally is still incredibly young, but she has also experienced the harsh reality of being let down by the one person who should protect her and so when she tells her mother “My father has never given me anything” it isn’t strictly true as he’s given her this new jaded outlook on life. What a gift to give!
Don’s relationship with his daughter is broken and at work he’s fallen out of favor with Peggy. Peggy and Ted are incredibly obvious in their shared attraction as they flirt and discuss creative ideas as if there is no one else in the room. While Ginsberg is merely annoyed by this as it means none of his ideas are getting heard, Don sees it as a much larger problem as Ted’s judgement is impaired. Don is partly right, but it also reads as petty jealousy as his former protégé no longer needs nor respects him. The way Don handles it is reminiscent of how he took charge by getting Ted drunk a few weeks ago; he does it in a public arena and hurts Peggy by giving credit to the now dead Frank Gleason. Don is convinced that Ted can’t be that virtuous and wants Peggy to see this too, but all this does is fracture their already fragile relationship. While they keep discussing working together as a team, the actions of both men don’t suggest that this is going to happen any time soon.
In Don’s eyes he is being merciful to both Peggy and Ted by throwing his weight around, but his phone call to Harry about Sunkist was out of pure spite after seeing Ted and Peggy at the movies together. Megan is excited by this development (and it’s adorable when Megan mouths “Oh my god” at Don) but Don uses it as an opportunity to go back on his word with Ted. Once again it makes more business sense to go with Sunkist as the billings are much higher, but this adds to the disharmony as we head into the final episode. Don pretty much throws his toys out of the pram in this episode as he tries to get what he wants by stomping over Peggy and Ted’s idea under the illusion of protecting the business.
There is a battle of wills raging in creative but if we head to the floor above another power play is occurring and it takes an unexpected direction this week. Pete doesn’t want to work with Bob after Bob’s declaration last week – a declaration of admiration not love as Bob puts it – so Pete turns to Duck to find a new job for Bob. Duck looks into Bob’s past and finds that he isn’t who he says he is, no he isn’t an undercover agent or Don Draper’s illegitimate son but he does share a similar history with Don in that he has reinvented himself to get ahead. Pete mentions that he has been in this position before and while it looked like Bob’s days at SC & P are over, Pete instead shows him mercy and lets him keep his job. Why would Pete do this? With Don he attempted blackmail and when he went to Bert with the truth he was met with a “Who cares?” Pete’s earlier attempts this season to tell Don what was going on with the firm fell on deaf ears and Pete has used these prior experiences and weighed up his options.
I’ve watched this scene a few times, particularly Bob’s reaction as he is just as confused by Pete keeping his secret as I was at first. Bob shows what a chameleon he is as he shifts from fake smiling ‘I’ll get you a coffee’ Bob (“For one thing I want you to stop smiling”) to resignation as he realizes that Pete knows the truth. It gets tense as Bob tells Pete “You don’t respond well to gratitude” and he’s also incredibly protective of Manolo, emphasizing once again that he isn’t doing anything untoward with Pete’s mother. The mercy that Pete shows is delivered in such a bitter way that it’s easy to see why Bob is perplexed and needs Pete to clarify what is going on. It feels like Pete is talking about Don, not other gay people when he says “I don’t know how people like you do it” and “your kind of animal.” Pete has always shown distaste for Don’s big secret and how Don can so easily lie about who he is.
Like Don, Pete is also thinking of the business and this is most evident from this statement “Where you are and who you are is not my concern” because he knows that Bob is a good account man and as the agency is so divided he probably figures that he needs a strong ally. It’s also hilarious that Pete doesn’t even remember hiring Bob, it’s like he just appeared with two coffees one day. For Bob it’s the opposite as he claims it was the best day of his life. This Don Draper 2.0 story is compelling and I hope that Bob Benson gets to stick around for the final season of Mad Men.
Other thoughts
– Chevy are really putting Ken through the wringer and trying to turn him into a pirate in the process (first the injured leg and now the eye patch). Ken no longer wants to tap dance and who can blame him after all this account has put him through.
– Once again the internet delivers on the Mad Men gif front as here is Don’s amazing baby impression.
– The episode is full of baby imagery; the movie they watch (Rosemary’s Baby), Don’s sleeping position, Ken’s news and the ad pitch. Don’s recent hallucination had him projecting the idea that Megan was pregnant and mother imagery has been a repeated throughout the season. Is this a reaction to the chaos of 1968?
– The political ad Don watches uses imagery of fear about the level of crime in the country and it’s easy to see with material like this why there is a sense of doom at this time.
– If only Roger knew what Lee Garner Jr had asked Sal to do.
– For an excellent reading of last week’s Bob Benson revelation I would highly recommend the always incredible Tom & Lorenzo and their “Mad Style” article talks extensively about Bob and the “Best Little Boy in the World” syndrome, even if their theory doesn’t completely pan out.
– On the way to the boarding school interview Sally is eating fries from McDonalds and on the way home Betty offers Sally a more adult ‘treat’ as she gives her a cigarette which Sally takes. This is much different from the last time we saw Sally smoking (look how young Kiernan Shipka is in this video). Sally now feels very differently about her father than she did in this season 2 clip, though she’s still just as snarky towards her mother.
It’s been a week of several award shows and more Emmy related roundtable discussions and some of these have already been covered here at TV Ate My Wardrobe and feature fantastic looks. As always there are no real rules to this weekly column and it is a snapshot of what I have been watching (and looking at online) and each pick is for a variety of reasons including; what it adds to the storyline, what it tells us about the characters involved or simply because it looks good.
Winner: Dr. du Maurier on Hannibal “Releves”
The costuming and set design on Hannibal has been consistently brilliant with the use of red and pink tones being particularly noticeable. In this scene with Gillian Anderson’s Dr. du Maurier Jack attempts to get information regarding her discussions with Hannibal, du Maurier gives Jack very little showing that her loyalty is with her colleague and patient. We know that du Maurier was attacked by a patient, a former patient of Hannibal’s who she claims swallowed his tongue and that’s why he didn’t kill her. Later on she discusses both the visit from Jack and the attack with Hannibal and it would seem like Hannibal was involved in the attacker swallowing his tongue (the who/why/how is still very unclear).
With this latter meeting du Maurier is wearing neutral colors and almost blends in with her surroundings, it’s a very different statement from the fuchsia pink blouse in the above shot where she clearly controls the conversation with Jack and has all the power in the scene. This is not the case with Hannibal and he has some hold over her, as he does with most people as he manipulates the situation to his advantage. Why does Hannibal do this? As Hannibal tells Abigail he does things because he is “curious what would happen”, Hannibal is an observer, but he also interferes to make things happen. It looks like Abigail isn’t long for this world.
Runner Up: Sally Draper and Julie on Mad Men “Favors”
Sally Draper didn’t have a great week on Mad Menand her friend Julie could be blamed for Sally’s despair; Julie took the note that they had written about Mitchell and posted it under the Rosen’s door, but what followed isn’t Julie’s fault but Don’s as he can’t seem to keep it in his pants. The above shot is at the very awkward dinner as Julie and Megan are both oblivious to the real reason behind Sally’s anger at her father. While both girls think that they can handle themselves in the city and with boys they are still very much children and their costumes reflect this. Together these dresses clash in both pattern and color and their hairstyles are both childlike but very different; bows and headbands/up and down.
Throughout the episode we see that Julie and Sally don’t have all that much in common besides an interest in Mitchell; Sally thinks that being smart matters, whereas Julie believes she has the art of flirting down. By the end Sally has had the more adult experience, an unfortunate one where she finds out that her father isn’t the hero she thought he was. Don attempts to spin a tale to Sally but she is old enough to know when a lie is just that. We’ve seen Sally adopt the ’60s mini skirt style as favored by Megan so will she start acting out further in teenage rebellion when it comes to her clothes as a result of this incident?
Runner Up: Comedy Actors Hollywood Reporter Emmy Roundtable
Regular visitors to TV Ate My Wardrobe know how much we enjoy a pre-Emmys roundtable and the comedy ones this year have been particularly entertaining. Matthew Perry. Jake Johnson, Adam Scott, Fred Armisen, Eric Stonestreet and Jim Parsons are the participants in the comedy actors panel (you can watch it here) and they have been styled as if they are on vacation – in the video some of them mention how the no socks aspect is not something they usually go with. Variations of blue and an array of pastel colors have been chosen for the composition and Fred Armisen’s green jacket is something I’d quite like for myself. The conversation covers a variety of topics about their current shows and past experiences, though the highlight is when it takes a surreal turn about the word “penal.”
The first image from National Geographic’s forthcoming historical docu-drama Killing Kennedy has been released and it shows Rob Lowe recreating the famous official White House JFK portrait. The project is based on the book of the same name by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard and will air in November, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination. The two-hour film looks at Kennedy’s final years as well as that of his assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (Last Resort’s Will Rothhaar). Once Upon a Time’s Ginnifer Goodwin is playing First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Gossip Girl favorite Michelle Trachtenberg is playing Oswald’s wife Marina.
Rob Lowe has already had a scene stealing turn in Behind the Candelabra this yearas Dr. Jack Startz and a spinoff would be a dream come true; “Dr. Startz Investigates” is the best suggestion I’ve heard so far – he’s excellent at solving crimes because he always has a poker face. If the White House staff in Killing Kennedy is made up of everyone from The West Wing and Parks and Recreation then I would also be very happy.
Are you looking forward to another Kennedy biopic?
Last night the women of Mad Men attended the 2013 Women in Film Crystal & Lucy Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles and received the 2013 Lucy Award for Excellence in Television. January Jones, Elisabeth Moss, Jessica Paré and Kiernan Shipka collected the award on behalf of the show and this is Moss’ second award of the week as she received the Critics’ Choice Award for Top of the Lake.
It has been a big week for Kiernan Shipka’s character Sally Draper as she caught Don sleeping with Sylvia, Shipka showed once again what a remarkable actress she is as she reacted with horror, repulsion and disbelief at her father’s actions. While this season has been light on the Sally appearances this is surely going to leave its mark on Don and damage their relationship for the time being. Shipka once again looks age appropriate in a black star patterned dress and this is another red carpet hit for her.
It’s rare that we get to see all four of these women in a scene together (possibly the only time is in one of my favorite episodes, season four’s “The Beautiful Girls”) but all of them have being doing great work this year on Mad Men with January Jones being the big surprise as Betty has been a highlight rather than a hindrance.
When they took to the stage Elisabeth Moss said “Mad Men has taken an unintentional political stance by simply treating women like human beings. Our show is a truly special and spirited place in Hollywood.”
New Girl isn’t back for a few months and the cast members are busy with their summer projects, but as some fashion brands such as French Connection are unveiling their fall collections, here at TV Ate My Wardrobe we thought we would pick out a few potential looks for certain characters on the shows we love (and whose wardrobes we covet). New Girl has been a big part of both the “Look of the Week” and more in-depth articles so it is the perfect place to start with this fantasy costuming feature.
Costume designer Debra McGuire has been fantastic at subtly evolving Jess’ look during season 2 telling Entertainment Weekly “that the sexier costumes are due to the storyline, there seems to be more sensuality and sexuality going on.” Bold colors and patterns (mostly stripes or polka dots) are a Jessica Day staple, but as monochrome is on trend this season we are likely to see more of this bleeding into the costuming choices. We have chosen three different outfits from the new French Connection A/W 13 collection that we could imagine Jess wearing.
The Hatched Horses Cap Sleeve Dress is the kind of outfit that Jess could wear at her new teaching job, especially if it was paired with a black blazer. This type of dress can be dressed up or down, the model in the photo has gone for the latter option (thanks to the flats) but with some pumps Jess could be out on a date with maybe beau Nick. The horse pattern is perfect for Jess even though it deviates from her usual stripes or polka dots as it is still whimsical and girly. The matching box clutch might be a too many horses for one outfit, but it would certainly be a perfect accessory for one of the many bright pieces in Jess’ closet.
Before you say this is something Cece would wear as the Solar Pleated Dress is edgier than Jess’ girly style, let’s look at how Jess’ clothes occasionally feature an unexpected item. This is usually when Jess is out of her comfort zone and in the season 2 episode “Models” Jess wore an outfit that is reminiscent of the one above. While that night ended in a falling out with Cece (and a boob slap fight) it would be good to see Jess step away from a bold color palette and wear something like the dress above. This dress has a strong structure and the pleated leather-look skirt adds a sense of frivolity. The horse box clutch from the first outfit could make this more Jess and despite it being all black, the shape and fitted quality makes this more of a Jess dress than first impressions might suggest. Zooey Deschanel wore a black ensemble to the Fox Upfront Presentation and showed that a lack of color is also in her fashion wheelhouse.
The Fox Knitted Jumper might be considered the most obvious choice of the three looks but so far the New Girl costume design team has stayed away from overt animal motifs like this one, perhaps because it is too on the cutesy nose. New Girl has come far enough now to embrace both the sexier side of this character along with the ribbon hat wearing Jess. This would be perfect for those days in the loft paired with either a pair of skinny jeans, short wool skirt or high waisted shorts (as long as Schmidt hasn’t put a ban on them again). A fox jumper on the Fox network could be an eye roll moment, but I think they could make it work (said in my best Tim Gunn voice)
What do you think of these outfit choices for Jess?
To see more of French Connections A/W 13 collection head here.
Last night the Critics’ Choice 2013 TV Awards took place in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton Hotel with Parks and Recreation favorite Retta hosting the proceedings. While Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad tied in the Best Drama Series category, there is also a tie here at TV Ate My Wardrobe for best red carpet look between Elisabeth Moss who has featured multiple times in our “Look of the Week” and Diane Kruger, who will most likely become a weekly staple of this column.
The haircut that Elisabeth Moss got backstage on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon coupled with the blonde color continues to be a defining look (and I think we can put Moss in the group of women who look better with shorter hair, a group I adore). It sets her apart from the character we are so used to seeing her play, a character that has to be tough around the edges because of her job and the decade she is working in. This makes Moss look more youthful and fun, something that is missing from Peggy most of the time.
The plunging pink Valentino prom style dress suits this event and really compliments this new hairstyle. Moss has opted for toned down makeup, but I think a strong lip color would really set it off.
Elisabeth Moss took home the award for Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Movie for Top of the Lake and she joked that “I’ve never won an award for acting. I have to remember not to thank anyone from Mad Men!”
Diane Kruger is a fashion icon both on and off the red carpet because she takes chances but also has an eye for Old Hollywood glamour and this black strapless Nina Ricci gown falls into the latter camp. The sweetheart neckline evokes Jessica Rabbit and the retro inspired waves give the impression that Kruger is a 1950s starlet. The strong red lip color adds to this look and it’s a shame that the effect of the Manolo Blahnik pumps is lost in this shot as they blend into the red carpet. Diane Kruger’s new show The Bridge debuts on July 10 and as I have mentioned previously this is one of my most anticipated summer shows. Kruger took to the stage with co-star Demián Bichir to present at the awards.
For a full list of the winners of the Critics’ Choice 2013 TV Awards head here.
The Emmy nominations will be announced on July 18 and so the roundtables featuring potential recipients continue. While there are too many to cover here at TV Ate My Wardrobe we want to focus on the ones that provoke both entertaining and interesting discussions and the comedy showrunner table has done just this. This Hollywood Reporterpanel includes both network and cable faces; Mike Schur (Parks and Recreation), Greg Daniels (The Office), Liz Meriwether (New Girl), Steve Molaro (The Big Bang Theory), Matthew Carnahan (House of Lies) and Bruce Helford (Anger Management).
A large portion of the conversation focuses on the evolving business model of television and how the ratings system still hasn’t caught up with the way that audiences consume their favorite shows (it is mentioned several times that New Girl is a big DVR ratings performer). They discuss past and present success stories on network television with Seinfeld as an example of a show that didn’t fit the broad cookie cutter type sitcom and while most of the shows represented have relatively low numbers, Steve Molaro is the showrunner on The Big Bang Theory which is the highest rated sitcom at the moment. NBC has been the focus of a lot of the sitcom ratings think pieces because it used to be the sitcom powerhouse and now it languishes behind everyone else. Mike Schur makes the point that cable networks have a specific brand and can tailor their programming to this, whereas networks have a responsibility to have broad appeal.
Schur also points out that there is too much to watch “I’m going to die from starvation because I have too much TV to watch! Wherever you are in the world, and whatever kind of person you are, there’s 50 shows that are great for you.” This echoes what Alan Sepinwall said in a recent piece and was a topic of discussion in a recent roundtable discussion that I took part in (and I have so many shows to catch up on with Scandal, Game of Thrones and Orphan Black being just three of them).
Other topics include product placement (Liz Meriwether has regrets), studio notes and the ways they get around these, the big Nick and Jess decision (others weigh in on their experiences of ‘with they/won’t they’ couples) and how the dramatic aspects of half hour shows make award classification a tricky task.
Watch the full roundtable below and for anyone who is interested in how the creative departments deal with the business side it’s totally worth it.
It’s more than six months later and I’m still mourning the loss of my favorite Irishman on TV, but it’s time to move on as HBO has released the first teaser promo for season 4 of Boardwalk Empire. New faces including Jeffrey Wright and Ron Livingstone make an appearance and there is a sense of familiarity with the glitz and the glamour alongside the violent underbelly of Prohibition. Richard Harrow features quite prominently much to my delight and Gretchen Mol’s Gillian Darmody looks a lot better than when we left her in heroin induced stupor (the heroin was meant for Gyp Rosetti, who didn’t survive the season). Jeffery Wright is playing Dr.Valentin Narcisse “a philanthropist, student of culture and the man who runs Harlem.” Will he be next the person who goes up against Nucky?
Boardwalk Empire returns to HBO Sunday, September 8.
Last season on Mad Men Sally referred to New York City as “disgusting” after she witnessed a very adult act between Roger and Megan’s mother Marie, after “Favors” she might never want to return to her father’s apartment again. There are many secrets in the SC & P office (getting used to the new name) and it is easy to forget some of the personal relationships that have long since ended; this episode did a very good job of highlighting this and showing just how lonely these characters are. It would be so easy for everything to come crashing down around them if every truth was to come out, which is why favors are such an important commodity. Even when nothing is expected in return, the knowledge that comes from knowing a person’s darkest secret can becoming a bargaining chip in the future. The Ted/Don conflict which has really existed in them bitching to others about their situation is addressed, but even if everything is well in business the same could not be said for the private matters of these characters. The doom that has permeated this season has led to discussion of what violence might befall a certain character, but the real horror on Mad Men is when dark truths are revealed.
The episode opens with Peggy – still living in the apartment she hates – being given another reason to want to flee this abode as she sees a rat. The rat makes a return later in the form of a blood trail across the floor (conspiracy theory doom alert) and when she calls Stan he doesn’t take up her offer to come over, he’s not her boyfriend after all. Peggy can’t ring Ted, because of his wife and kids situation and she doesn’t really have anyone else to turn to – Peggy you need to get yourself some better, ok some actual friends. One relationship that has long since changed and dissolved is between Peggy and Pete, it’s easy to forget that they were once intimate and have a child. The conversation between them while they are drunk and at dinner shows how familiar they are with each other and Pete reiterates that Peggy really knows him, echoing his statement from the end of season 2 when he confessed his love for her and she first told him about giving up their baby. It’s moments like this that remind me why I have been a Pete defender in the past and the effectiveness of these Pete and Peggy scenes is because they are so few. These scenes remind us that Pete isn’t just a weasel of a character, even if his own mother tells him that “You’ve always been unlovable.”
It turns out that someone is in love with Pete and the mystery of Bob Benson is revealed; it isn’t one of the many nefarious or soapy suggestions, instead he is gay and is in love with Pete. Pete’s disgust at the suggestion that Manolo is gay (he calls him a degenerate) doesn’t prevent Bob from giving a misguided speech “Couldn’t it be that if someone took care of you — very good care of you — if this person would do anything for you — if your well-being was his only thought — is it impossible that you might begin to feel something for him?” Pete rejects this and Bob’s knee touch rather emphatically by telling him to let Manolo go and that Manolo (read Bob) is “disgusting.” Poor misguided Bob, now we know why he was so happy to do everything for Pete, but this approach is no way to make someone love you. Later on we see Pete alone in his dreary apartment with not even enough cereal to have for dinner; this is part of a montage of the SC & P at home; Peggy has got herself a cat that she can rely on, Ted returns home to his family and even if they don’t give him the satisfaction of work he is trying and then there is Don arriving back at his apartment drunk and disheveled.
Of course this isn’t a new state for Don to arrive home in and he’s even passed out with the police in his front room this season; this is a whole different scenario as he really doesn’t know what he will find when he opens the door. Don has spent most of the episode harping on about how important his children are and this is why he is trying to help his friend’s kid get out of his 1A (eligible for military service) situation. There is another reason of course and that is his feelings towards Sylvia, I also think he is doing this out of a sense of guilt as Arnold is a friend who he has wronged. The conversation between them in the bar and how broken Arnold is about this draft news is enough to quick start Don’s favor asking and I actually don’t think getting back with Sylvia is his intention (am I being too naive?) Of course this is what happens and Sylvia’s way of saying thank you is through sex. Sylvia explains that she ended it because she was frustrated that Don had fallen in love with her. I thought it would be due to Don treating her like crap in the hotel, but apparently not.
The huge moment is when Sally sees them and as soon as Sally got the keys to all of the apartments I started watching through the gaps in my fingers as if this was a horror movie. This is the kind of horror that Mad Men excels at, not the kind that we have been expecting since Megan wore the Sharon Tate t-shirt. Sally’s feelings towards her father fluctuate from “I don’t know you” to using him in a scoring battle with her mother, but this cements the former and will likely mean that Sally will stop doing the latter for now. Both Kiernan Shipka and Jon Hamm are excellent in their reactions in this scene and later on when Don tries to explain that what she saw wasn’t really what she saw.
Don rarely loses the facade of cocksure Don Draper to broken Don Draper, but one such time was when Betty confronted him with the Dick Whitman box of information and he could barely get a cigarette out of its packet. The way Don acts in the foyer of his building after Sally has run out is like this and he looks completely lost about what to do or say; he looks like he has been stabbed. Sally has gone and there is nothing he can do to stop her from telling Megan or her mother about what she has seen. So he does what Don always does and goes and gets wasted. When he returns Sally hasn’t said anything and Megan is oblivious, it gets even more fraught when Arnold and Mitchell turn up to say thanks to Don for all he has done and Megan praises him. Sally looks like she might throw up during this entire scene and she finally yells that Don makes her sick.
This can neatly get explained by Sally’s friend Julie (who is also pretty oblivious) telling Megan that Sally has a crush on Mitchell. The conversation between Don and Sally as they stand on either side of the door is Don using his best sales pitch to try and make Sally think that what she saw was in fact something very different. Sally is both too old and smart enough to know that this a lie, Don must realize this too but there are so many unspoken secrets in Don’s life that adding another to the pile is probably not going to do much. Don’s big Dick Whitman secret is mentioned in conversations with both Megan and Pete (I always forget that Pete was the first person to find this out) and his service is referenced in his bar chat with Arnold.
Other thoughts
– Ted says what we have all been saying all season “Don’t be an asshole, Don.” Now that things are settled between Ted and Don (that handshake is a binding contract) will Ted be more at peace when he goes home or will he still want something or someone (Peggy) more?
– Anytime there is an indication that Sally likes an older boy I get worried, Sally brings out the great protector in me. I’m also happy that Sally thinks that boys will not be that into girls who come across as dumb (like her friend Julie). Don’t ever change Sally.
– When Pete’s mother mentions the child that Peggy has with Pete, she thinks that she is talking to Trudy but Peggy reacts like she has been sucker punched; it’s a small moment from Elisabeth Moss but the emotion that she delivers in this scene at this point and when she realizes that Mrs Campbell is confused is fantastic. As is her reaction when Mrs Campbell starts talking about the passion with Manolo.
– Ted mentions that the dinner that he shares with Pete and Peggy is the agency he hoped for, this contrasts with the forced meal he shares with the Chevy guys later. Both are dripping with subtext, but one is a lot lighter and less tense than the other.
– Peggy has noticed that Stan sometimes uses a sexy voice.
– There are only two episodes left of Mad Men this season, is it all going to come crashing down around Don?
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