You know the drill...
I think I really like a scared Don--that's really his truest self, and the rest is a facade. One of my favorite scenes happens in season one, when Rachel Menken berates Don for wanting to run a way and calls him a coward. It was like seeing him undone offered a view of what's really happening inside.
Anyway, I'm sure you guys have more. I really would like to see more Peggy. The minute Joan's husband said he was going into the Army, I knew their marriage was over.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Copyright © 2009 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
unbuttoned. that's the only word i could think of as i watched don this week as he was stripped bare. the last line of the show was devestating. "and who are you supposed to be?" i guess that's been the question for awhile now. don puts on the suit, combs the hair and looks and talks the part. but once anyone takes down part of that facade, his face creases in places that smooth before, his hair instantly becomes disheveled and his eyes become as those of a toddler caught stealing cookies. don has indeed been playing a high stakes game of dressup for years.
Jon Hamm was incredible in this episode - watching him fumble that cigarette was just killer, and then his breakdown as he told Betty the truth.
So what happens to Don and Betty now? Do they become co-conspirators? Does Betty use her newfound info to keep Don at home and faithful? Interesting to see how this will all play out . . .
I'm going to miss Ms. Farrell. I left for her when she finally gave up on Don and snuck back down the road. Having the audience know she was waiting in the car for Don was a brilliant way to heighten the tension of the big reveal.
It's funny we talk about how Don's life and position is a facade, etc. But Don seems not to realize that the thing that is most responsible for his success and therefore position in the world he's chosen to inhabit is how good he is at his job and that's something that is his and would have been his whether he was named Whitman or Draper. I get the impression that Sterling knew that Don didn't come from a big family or a fancy background when he pulled him out of that fur company.
Anybody else think it was odd that Betty told Don that he didn't understand money? Have we seen any evidence of that? I don't think a rainy day stash of cash in a draw by a child of the GD qualifies as not understanding money.
I din;t think she said you don't understand money, I thought she said you have always been funny about money.
And yes keeping thousands of dollars in cash in a desk drawer is an unusual way for a rich person to handle money.
I heard "don't understand" in the money line, and instantly thought it was something her father would have said.
I heard it as about money in the Jane Austen sense of people "having money," which entails that someone generations back got enough wealth to invest. Said money earns dividends large enough to support elegant living more or less in perpetuity.
From that angle,the thousands in cash are just small change for groceries and school supplies.
She did say he doesn't understand money. I don't think that means that he blows money though--maybe that he hordes it? that he doesn't invest?
Yes, that's how I took it.
I don't think any of us are old money enough to understand what she even means by that. I think she meant that he didn't understand money as a concept.
I went to a wacky Cambridge college. The master of that college was VERY old money. He once said to me "Lad, money is like sex; you don't worry about it if you've got it" That's what I imagine Betty was speaking about. Don worries about money since he was one of those poor unfortunates so affected by the depression and being a hay seed. This is contrasted by the Rog and his former lover talking about traipsing about Paris during the depression "while people were throwing themselves from windows". New money v Old Money.
I was told by my relatives that many in the lower class came out of the Great Depression with a huge distrust of banks. They would always keep at least some money in the proverbial jar in the back yard because bank closures wiped them out. I am just thinking that this is a sign of class. He was raised not to fully trust anyone but himself with his money. If I remember correctly, Betty, as coming from a more privileged background, might not have been raised with the same tendency.
Great point.
In think in his case it is different, the desk drawer is his escape box, he has all his actual personal belongings and enough cash to start over if he needs to leave at the drop of a hat.
As Betty points out what he did is a crime, he is guilty of identity theft as a civilian, but the military charges might be even worse, he is technically a deserter and he committed some sort of fraud when he accepted the real Don Draper's medals, I'm not sure exactly what the charges would be.
The only medal I recall Don receiving was the Purple Heart, which he earned because he was injured. Am I forgetting something?
I thought there was another one for valor of some sort.
At any rate he is definitely a deserter and guilty of identity theft
My grandfather lived through the Depression, working construction his whole life. When he was on his deathbed about ten years ago, he told my grandma about a shoebox hidden in the basement that had $8,000 in cash. She had no idea he'd been keeping that much in cash the whole time, but from what I understand, that was a fairly common thing for people to do who went through the 1930s.
Susan Farrell should be a first ballot for the Jump-Off Hall of Fame. Holy hell would have broke loose if she'd walked up to that door to see what was taking Don so long, but she had enough savvy not to go there.
I've noticed that she seems fairly savvy at the whole how to sneak around thing remember how she set it up to "meet him" on the train? I get the impression this isn't her first married man relationship.
I also get the sense that we haven't seen the end of her either.
The moment that got me this episode was Joanie's resigned stare at the back of her husband's head when he says something like "You don't know what it's like to want and plan on something your whole life and not get it." And then she hit him in the head with a vase. Heh. Joanie's got it all over Greg in every way. Her tutorial on interviewing... I see her taking care of him, not unlike she took care of all the execs at SC, for the rest of his life. Unless the army "makes a man of him." Will he grow when he's elbow deep in carnage in some surgical unit in Viet Nam?
And "the talk" was devastating.
it really hit home for me last night, Don's original lie has caused so much misery for so many. His brother, his lover (the teacher in the proximal sense), Betty are all caught the wake of this one lie and are profoundly affected by it. I had never thought of Mad Men as a parable before last night.
The Big Talk played out well, I thought. It was stark but not over the top with histrionics. It was a very adult moment - likely the most adult moment Don & Betty have ever had with one another - and that much stronger for it.
Having said that, I'm not sure we've seen the last of Miss Farrell. I could be wrong, but she just came across as too needy to just vanish. Or I could be wrong. Who can say?
Roger's backstory was great. Apparently there's some humanity still left beneath all of that cadishness.
When Roger was telling his former lover that he had met the one, I got the feeling he was not talking about Mona or Jane. I felt he was talking about Joan. Did anyone else feel that?
Ding we have a winner! bang on april.
I agree.
Hmmmm, Roger & Joan could get back together and be the "Thin Man" duo of the 60s. /fanboy daydream
I see your point. But If Roger really wanted Joan, I feel like he would have tried to get her. I mean he left Mona for wasshername didn't he? Not like the marriage bonds were holding him back.
yeah, but that was after Joan got married, I think he took her for granted and thought he could keep things as they were forever
Isn't Joan the one, period? That is, doesn't she affect just about everyone, to the level of their knowing her, as a special feminine power? Except her navel gazing husband.
I did not get that particularly from Sterling, but I haven't seen previous seasons. Mostly, I got a side of Sterling I hadn't seen before--someone with depth and a man who (unlike Don, who woulda thunk it) understands loyalty is borne from real affection. Went counter to everything I had thought about the guy before.
...special feminine power...
I love this line!
He was definitely talking about Joan. She was his "one who got away."
Interesting! I wonder if he was thinking about Joan as his old flame poured her heart out about him. Maybe he makes a play for her?
For me, this was the best plotted episode all season. The suspense of whether Miss Farrell was going to come to the door to find out what was going on with Don was especially well done. And the confession flipped the whole direction of the past few weeks adroitly.
Reax: Though I still have no idea wtf Sterling does exactly, it was interesting seeing him played as a foil to almost everyone in a positive light with the old girl friend and Joan.
I do love Joan, but I must say cracking her husband over the head with a vase--it's one of those details about the show that drive me a bit nuts; the impact of the blow sure seemed understated.
But I like how the writers use the Viet Nam war (not unlike the way they used Miss Farrell in the car in the driveway) to create an unspoken narrative for Greg and Joan.
I sort of got this a couple of shows ago in the dept. store, but if anything Joan is more tightly wound than Don, and for all her strength and the misdirection of her magnetic physical presence, she, too, is in trouble.
Miss Farrell calling Don on his unhappiness. And in a way, his acknowledgement of that.
Betty telling the lawyer that she might be able to prove Don's adultery (yet that does not seem to have stuck in her craw the way finding out about this other past did).
Other question about the drawer left unanswered--wasn't there a whole lot of dough stashed in there? Betty somewhat alludes to it when talking about Don's attitude about money (echo of when she asks for cash earlier and Don jives her about it).
Don and Betty have big problems on both sides of the aisle; will Don have the guts to engage Betty, now, on how she shuts him out after all this? Will Betty engage Don; ie open up to him?
Somehow, I don't think so.
The lesson last night was about communication and intimacy, the connection between the two and their salutary power. I agree Don showed his best side last night, even when he said to Miss Farrell that only she would be worrying about him (a man jilting her with almost no explanation). Interestingly, Miss Farrell opened Don up to his need for intimacy, but Betty's ability to compel him to open himself leads him back to her.
Yes, that was an interesting moment when Suzanne calls Don on his unhappiness. He hides in response. Their intimacy is what he wants, but it's a threat, too. It'll be interesting to see what he and Betty do with this opportunity.
Money and class are subtle but fascinating threads in Mad Men.
As for the money in the drawer, Betty earlier in the episode tests him when she asks for cash, and he brushes her off, acting like he doesn't have any available. The money doesn't really bother her that much, but then again she doesn't really know how much he's hiding (like the $500,000 share of the sale of SC he's never mentioned to her). She does acknowledge that he's always been funny about money, doesn't know what to do with it. She comes from more money, and can see that his attitudes betray a childhood without it. I think she even says that she knows he was poor and was embarrassed about it, is that right? He's been passing as middle/upper middle class, when he's "white trash." That's so much a part of the shame.
Betty always seems to want the fantasy "white knight" and now she has a very real Don/Dick opening up to her. Will she engage in her real marriage or reject him in search of that fantasy she thought she'd married, but hadn't?
Miss Ferrell telling Don of his unhappiness is her take on the pop hit "Don't you wish your wife was as insightful as me?" Betty had to stumble on the keys all these years to unlock a mystery he never wanted to unlock before until she was hit on the back of the head with it --much like Greg was. Yes, that was a bit reverse Jimmy Cagney's grapefruit in Mae's face, or Cher's "Snap out of it!" slap of Nicolas Cage, but he needed a minimum of violence to hop to reality. Unfortunately, now we see where his character is going--straight to 'Nam. 'Bye 'Bye Greg. (To paraphrase Kelly Preston's character in Jerry Maguire, "She won't let you hurt her. She was too strong for you--LOSER!")
Jon Hamm is so deeply entrenched in this role, his body becomes Don Draper. His facial expression in the close up shot trick or treating with the kids, "And who are you supposed to be?" was priceless.
Betty's character just had a major overhaul. Gone is the self absorption. Present is a woman suddenly fascinated by and empathetic with her husband's circumstances. She has overcome, at least temporarily, her ivory tower privilege.
As to the money comment--OK, I have one parent who escaped the Depression but was scarred with obsessions about waste--of food, electricity, etc. and always mentioned the starving children of the world. He believed in FDR, civil rights, et al. The OTHER one came from old money relatives in England--and the notion was never flash, always be understated in clothes, cars, etc. Old money is comfortable in an old sweater. New money has to have the Armani. Old money does not air its dirty laundry; new money waves it out there for the world.
Money is a euphemism for savoring and sustaining wealth, which is what I believe she meant by her comment that he doesn't understand it. He just makes it and spends it; she wants to grow it for the children. She will handle the sale of her father's estate shewdly. Old money has an easy time with that sort of thing.
Anyway, this was one powerful script.
This episode was so powerful -- less layered in its symbolism than some, more straight forward with the meaning and the messages, and yet, had some amazingly nuanced performances.
That scene with Betty confronting Don was Emmy-quality all the way. Hamm showed such amazing range in that one scene. Jones demonstrated that she has so much more to bring to the role than the tightly controlled Betty usually allows her to reveal. I was awestruck by the many different emotions Don showed when Betty confronted him: shock, anger, desperate attempt to physically intimidate, fear, relief, confusion, grief. It was all there. Such a physical demonstration of his facade falling apart, when he fumbles the cigarette, and has to sit down. Such a shift between them, when Betty gets him a drink. Later, on the bed, when he confesses the truly big sin, the one he holds against himself most, the suicide of his brother... He chose to tell (mostly) the truth to her, and it evoked a compassionate (pity? or more?) reaction in her, even when she had every right to have nothing but rage.
We'll see, of course, what happens with it, but you could see the next morning that the earth had shifted. The expression on their faces, their posture, the way Don asked if Betty would be having breakfast. Even Sally saw it. She didn't know what she was seeing, but she could see something was very different. The power had changed, and that holds great potential for drama, but I think the more profound change was the arrival of intimacy.
Suzanne was out in the car the whole time! What a great device to drive the tension up. And, while she's still a bit of a wild card, you have to respect her eyes-wide-open honesty. I've always seen her as a harbinger of the liberated/natural/idealistic woman who is about to emerge on the social landscape in a much bigger way in the following decade.
The other plot lines were delicious, as well. I loved watching Roger handle the old lover. We got a more complete picture of him, a view beyond his quick one-liners and cynicism. And so interesting his loyalty to Jane. And to Joan. I loved the scene where he works his old-boy network for Joanie. We got to see that Roger really does care for these women, even if he is an ass a great deal of the time.
What has poor Joan gotten herself into with this Dr. Loser? Can't see her as a happy army wife, but I don't know how/if she extricates herself from this. As a psychotherpist myself, I loved the coaching she gave him for his psychiatry interview. She, of course, was right on, but he has no potential, no insight, no self-awareness other than fear and loathing cloaked in a sense of entitlement. But then again, most psychiatrists of the day weren't particularly empathetic, and the writers correctly understood that psychiatry was the consolation prize of the specialty pecking order. He's got the surgeon's arrogance, and that makes me glad he didn't go into psychiatry after all, for his patient's sake.
Only two more episodes left, and that November date looming. I can't wait, but then I'll be despondent, waiting for next season. Really, why do they just do 13 episodes???
Re. Dr. Loser, when he said he was going to be an Army surgeon, I thought of Frank Burns in MASH -- a bumbler who gets away with ineptness because he's so desperately needed and because there's no such thing as malpractive in the Army.
Of course, Mad Men isn't a comedy, so Dr. Loser could be in for some grave problems.
Make that "no such thing as malpractiCe in the Army."
Im just glad he didnt hit her.
Everytime I see them in a scene together, I see his barely restrained rage and think of how he raped her on Don's floor and I hold my breath, wondering: "Is this it? The scene where he beats and abuses Joan?"
Roger and Annabel begin to go over what went wrong between them when the subject of Caldicott firing Sterling Cooper. Annabel explains that part of the reason they let SC go was that her dad thought Bert Cooper was 'crazy' or 'strange.' I forget the exact word but I couldn't help but think that it was her way of saying her dad thought Bert Cooper was gay. Did anyone else read that exchange this way?
Nope. Bert Cooper *is* strange (and i don't mean gay). Making people take off their shoes when they come into his office, having a giant ant farm, etc. He's just got some idiosyncrasies.
True enough, and I don't dispute the Bert's an eccentric fellow. Still, between the intimation that his sister has a female partner, his never having married, and the recurring reminders of how homosexuals were strictly 'closeted' back then, I thought maybe there was more to the comment than just a reference to Bert's idiosyncracies.
Of course, I may be looking too hard for something that's not there, but this show seems rife with statements and actions that can be read multiple ways.
I thought that Bert's insistence that people take off their shoes before entering his office was something he picked up in Japan. I don't recall anyone saying specifically that he was part of the American occupation force after World War II, but I assumed that he was, and the shoe thing was just one of the odd habits he picked up while in Japan.
Can't reply to Southerner for some reason, but...
Chances are Bert is too old to have been part of the American occupation force post-WWII - I'm estimating his "current" (as of fall 1963) age at around 70, which would have put him in his late 40s when Pearl Harbor happened.
Which, given the sentiments in the country at the time, makes his Japanophilia REALLY strange...
I thought last night was the first time in a long time, if not forever, that I thought Don and Betty's marriage actually had love. Don gave Betty the out at the end to not come trick-or-treating, but she did. And as harshly as she confronted him once the option of divorce was off the table, she also comforted him once it all started to come out.
I think this is the catharsis that actually saves their marriage. He had been living a lie for so long that it was easy to lie about everything and to keep himself distant from Betty. Now that it's come out, I'd expect that for all of the pain and crying, he 's probably as relieved as anything else. Betty now knows who he truly is and so he can truly be there for Betty. Maybe that changes down the road (he told Suzanne that he couldn't see "for now"), but I think he feels that right now.
Read a great point somewhere that all three stories last night were based around war. Roger and World War II, Don and Korea, Greg and Vietnam. Interesting how World War II was romanticized with all of the Casablanca talk, Korea is seen as hell (we've actually seen it on the show and note that Don told Betty that the army had made a mistake, not that he had actually switched the dog tags), and Vietnam is sort of shrugged off (though we know what's coming). The writers do a great job of using our knowledge of history to foreshadow and to inform the themes of the show.
Now that it's come out, I'd expect that for all of the pain and crying, he's probably as relieved as anything else.
No doubt. Betty pointed out that he kept the stuff in the house because he *wanted* to be found out on some level.
The shift in the way they spoke about the house was interesting. During the first season Don referred to it as "his house," last night Betty called it "her house", and finally Don said "our house." The writing is too sharp and precise for that to not be significant, but the explanation that Don & Betty are going to a new level of intimacy seems a little too obvious.
I like the fact that Weiner allowed the conflict between Betty and Don to occur sooner rather than later. Too many times in modern television the powers that would use a bombshell, (in this case Betty's knowledge of Don's big secret), as a way to hook viewers into continuing to watch. I find those tactics somewhat annoying and manipulative.
It was fitting that Don took off his metaphorical costume on Halloween. Now Betty sees him for who he really is. I empathized much more with Don in this episode. There were so many emotions on display from him within one episode. From scared, to angry, defeated, and relieved you saw the gamut of human emotions in one incredible performance by Jon Hamm.
The way they looked into each other's eyes the next morning and as Don caressed Betty's neck it made me wonder if this really marks a new beginning for them. But would we enjoy watching a faithful Don?
edit *powers that be use
I would enjoy watching a faithful Don, so long as he remains a frequently come-on-to Don. Don generally has not been cruising or exploiting the unwilling, he has been leading on and saying "Yes" to women who have displayed clear interest in him because of his looks and his power/status. Let's not pretend that he isn't going to continue to get forward women in his life. If he stays with Betty while being sorely tempted, that will have drama like him staying with Betty while Suzanne waits in the car. It will also make me like him as a person for the first time ever.
Speaking of the tension of Suzanne obviously being in the car, that is now mimicked in the tension of the assassination obviously being on the way as these two reconcile. Don and Betty have been paralleling what we know to be the history of Jack and Jackie, including serial philandry and now massive confrontation and renewed effort to work on the marriage right before the gunfire. If I had to name an attacker among characters we know, I'd have to pick William. If they go for a different twist, I can see playing William like they played Suzanne here ... tense and terrifying right up til it doesn't happen and then JFK gets it.
I think that the Don-Betty talk had to happen in this episode to clear way for whatever dramatic shift is about to happen at Sterling-Cooper in the next two episodes. I feel that Weiner has to pick between Ossining and Manhattan for the A-storyline in each episode, and we've had a lot of Betty-Don this season.
Second, I've been thinking about how this season focuses on a very small chunk of 1963. I think Weiner is lingering over this time period intentionally because when we come back for Season 4, I think he's going to startle us by jumping ahead to 1965 or later, and the difference will be visually and politically striking (it'll be interesting to see if he deals with the Watts Race riots next season). Yes, this is pre-fall of the Roman Empire (or pre-fall of Camelot in Dallas), but I don't think Don will face any physical danger yet.
There hasn't been any raving love here yet for how amazingly Betty managed to nail Don-Jello to the wall. She really does know him, she was ready for every slippery twist he tried, and she refused to back down.
"You know that I know what's in that drawer!"
"I could have gotten a locksmith."
"We're not done."
Brava! Her people are indeed Nordic.
But she was pretty back-handed about it at first, with her asking him if he had any cash. It wasn't until she had no other option that she came right at him, but I agree. I wasn't much of a Betty fan until she found the shoebox last episode and this episode did nothing to make me reverse that.
The backhandedness is, itself, very Nordic, very restrained. January Jones does such an astonishing job with such a prim character. She has to convey so much buried emotion all the time. Except when Betty loses composure, JJ has to convey a dignified and poised expression with another true half-expression layered underneath. It is a revelation to watch.
I really wish we'd gotten to see Betty's mother, witness this cold mastery with a warm husband at its peak.
It will be interesting to see if Don starts bothering to read her. Betty will still be publically poised and proper, and she will continue to be ignored by most around her, but if he can't *see her* as she was at that 40th anniversary party, he's going to be blindsided again. On the flipside, if he does bother to see her as she is and earn her trust, she would be a powerful ally to have at the social level he wants to play at.
Betty was definitely at her most mature and likable in last night's episode.
Prior to the Draper Conversation, I thought that the Vase Incident was going to be the best moment of the episode. And may I say that the Future Widow Harris will look magnificent in black.
Haha. This was exact thought when Greg mentioned about Vietnam. Although TNC mentions thathe believes the marriage will end, he didn't say how.
I always love the Mad Men threads, because the comments are effing awesome and on point. During "the big talk" scene, I had to stop myself from yelling "get that emmy, hamm! get it!" at the screen. And JJ is no slouch herself; I'll be surprised if she isn't on the short list for next year's awards.
Three-dimensional Roger was delicious, and the way he handled his horsemeat-selling ex was great. Even though we ALL know that Joan will always be "The One" it's good to see that he loves the teenybopper enough to respect his vows.
Count me in with those saying that this isn't the last of Susie. The parting of ways was just a little TOO neat, so something's gotta give. That said, I really don't care much for her character. I get that she's supposed to be the doe-eyed innocent helplessly caught in Don's crosshairs, but she isn't really interesting, or memorable. What I loved about Don's earlier dalliances is that, for the most part, they were evenly matched. And they weren't afraid to challenge him. But maybe that's because they knew their power, which is something Susie has yet to discover.
Can I say that I miss Sal? Because I do. I hope they bring him back somehow.
I think what is attractive about her is she is completely at ease with herself and comfortable in her own skin, Rachel was just as confused about herself as Don in a lot of ways.
None of the rest of his girlfriends has been more than just sex.
I can see that, in regards to Susie. I think in some ways she reminds him of Betts, before the marriage.
Agreed. I think a few episodes when Don first saw Susie, she was dancing around a maypole for May Day with flowers in her hair. (If that doesn't symbolize innocence and purity, I don't know what does) He seemed fascinated by Susie's innocence, as he was by Betts' happiness and joy when he first met her, as he explained to Anna Draper in California. In a way, Susie's innocence makes her a bit more interesting than Don's past lovers. Except for Rachel Mencken, who is my personal favorite.
I'm sorry, but the beginnings of the feminist movement arrived on Mad Men last night. When Betty told Don - "you don't get to ask any questions!" I was like - hell yeah! Sit there and shut up. And when Joan clanked that panty-waist husband of hers over the head after his selfish statement and dipped out of the room, it was awesome! It was a great joy to see the women of Mad Men lower their "proper" masks last night, just like it was fun to watch Peggy exhibit her natural talent for advertising last week crushed her male counterpart. The world changed for women when women began rejecting the roles society created for them.
I agree, Professor. The women came into their own in this episode. I was on the floor when Joan bashed Dr. Cutup (Roger's nickname for him) in the back of the head with the vase and then walked out of the room. When he came home and told her he found the answer by joining the army -- I knew his character will soon depart -- for good. Under that smile, Joan knows it too. After Johnson assumed the presidency, the Vietnam War escalated. This means Dr. Cutup will be sent (..."Vietnam, if it's still going on.") and he will not return. Then, Roger will get a second chance when he comforts Joan through her loss.
As for Betty, she's evolved from the loving, passive housewife who drank her milk and watched out the window with baited breathe for her handsome Don to come home (after all those long nights working) into a prosecutor. When she snapped on him about the date of his "divorce" from Anna; and then told him he did not get to ask the questions here..... she had arrived.. she was an equal. Unlike the episode last season when she confronted him over his relationship with the Utz-spokesman/comedian's wife; and she backed down, broken, when he would not admit to the affair. But now, she's grown a pair and if there was a vase around -- she might have gone for a smack down, too.
QUESTION: Does anyone have a clear explanation of why it was in Dick Whitman's interest to assume Don Draper's identity, as far as getting out of Korea? If he was injured, he was injured... Maybe Draper was "short" and about to go home anyway? Something about being married? Did I miss something?
Responding to above, I think most of Don's girlfriends have offered him something more than sex. The bohemian illustrator, the entrepreneurial department store heiress, the innocent-seeming teacher, etc, they are all parts of himself.
I hear echoes of Walt Whitman in his original name, and then he "draped" himself in something else... Which is hardly even something else. It's all so American.
I love the forshadowing, when he interjected, "I've eaten [horsemeat]."
IIRC Dick Whitman had only been in Korea a short time, he joined Draper who had been there for a while. So I assumed it was that Whitman would have gone through rehab and sent back, but Draper was close enough to the end so it was sent home.
Also, I think he was definitely interested in not going back to his old life, in shedding that identity. I think it was more than wanting to get out of Korea, but to get out of being Dick Whitman.
Cheers. Yeah, the short-timer switcherooni. After posting that, I read Don Draper's wiki-p section about the gas-soaked pants, and was like "where did that come from?" but there was a flashback sequence about that, wasn't there? So much to keep track of.
So do you think they kill Kennedy next week or wait till the season finale?
Wiseguise -- he wanted a clean slate... he wanted to start over as someone completely new and used the opportunity of the real Don's death to take his identity. As you said, he got out of the army due to injury, but he did so as Don. Dick Whitman was released as DOA.
A couple of things I haven't seen mentioned... did everyone notice that Betty was wearing (MTM-style) pants during the interrogation? She almost always wears only dresses. Clearly not an accident. And I was also struck by the big embracing hug he gave his daughter at the beginning to say goodbye to her. I'm pretty sure it was a reminder to us of how much his family means to him, even as he fails them.
I do not see this event as improving his marriage in the long run, though. Betty is nothing like the other women he's been really close to (Rachel & Suzanne). And does Don really have monogamy in him? I'm not convinced. At least, not until old age.
Someone mentioned on another blog, that even when confessing to Betty that Don still did not tell the complete truth. Don says that the Army made a mistake and mixed up his identity with the real Don Draper. But, in fact, Dick/Don switched the name tags himself, causing the identity switch.
Great episode. One of the best that I've seen.
However, going forward, I have decided not to read the commentary here BEFORE I see the episodes myself.
Like I said, the episode was excellent. But having already read about how emotionally intense the scenes between Don and Betty were, and how great their acting, the impact of both was blunted for me when I finally watched it.
I don't so much mind knowing what is going to happen, in advance, plotwise. But, I don't so much enjoy losing the thrill of being able to appreciate the emotional intensity and fine acting the characters are bringing to a given scene.
One thing I really appreciated about this episode was that once they got to the big reveal scene, they stayed with it and didn't continue the chopping-up, moving from one storyline to another, like they do in soap operas.
Does anyone else think that the re-branded dog food will be Alpo? Or was this just a MacGuffin to get to the Roger's old flame story?
Anybody noticed that when Annabel mentions her husband died of lung cancer Don lights up, and there's a small pause? This might be one way for this character to go...
I've always thought Hamm was a rather wooden and uncomfortable actor, but in this episode he really laid it on the line--extraordinary acting. It's -- to me, at least--the moment when the series is no longer driven by the images or the attempt to capture the Zeitgeist and instead delves into deep psychological dimensions.
I'm researching 19th century serialized novels at the moment, and I'm struck how similar the mechanics of production (the writers don't necessarily know where the show is going), and the mechanics of reception (people forming communities to discuss the latest installment and speculate on the next) are to our predicament.
Hamm threw down the gauntlet for the Emmy with this episode. I had always been entertained by Don - never touched. I was shocked by how moved I was, once they took 'the talk' into the bedroom, and he opened up about his family.
and yes, JOAN is the one that 'got away' - Roger doesn't fool me.