Mad Men - 10/11/09 - "Wee Small Hours" [Text View]

TiVo'Brien

10-12-2009, 10:01 AM

Now that was a good episode. Great drama combined with titillating events.

Betty can't decide if is or isn't having an affair with Henry. By the end of the episode she isn't, but my guess is that once again she's playing hard to get. She does this a lot so it wouldn't surprise me if we see her together with Henry again, maybe when Don's on a business trip? I think it's September by the end of the episode, so maybe as everyone else seems to think, Don is going to Dallas and that's when Betty and Henry will get it on.

Speaking of surprise (not to many here, but to me), Don finally hooks up with Suzanne, Sally's teacher from last year. I guess the stress of Connie's constant bullying finally got to Don after Connie sandbagged him with the "I want the moon" campaign. Connie treats Don like the son Connie always wanted but could never get. It's interesting to see the father/son dynamic going on between them. Connie could be the father Dick never had. I'd never want to be Connie's son. It'd be nearly impossible to not disappoint him.

Poor Sal. He did the right thing, but pays dearly for it. :( This is a good storyline. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

What did everyone else think?

tiams

10-12-2009, 10:22 AM

I take it Sal was planning on picking up a strange man in the park for sex at the end? So sad the way the whole thing turned out for him. And Don's "you people" comment made me cringe. Don is less and less likable. The way he has recently treated Peggy, and now Sal, and he's cheating on Betts again. Ugh.

eMarkM

10-12-2009, 10:37 AM

I didn't initially like idea of Don with the teacher since her drunken call to him, but the way they set it up with Don getting more desperate made it a bit more plausible. Don not obeying his own version of the "50 mile rule" is definitely going to come back and blow up in his face. Two miles from your own home? Dude! No way that psycho-teacher is going to go off quietly when Don inevitably breaks it off.

Bets has to stop giving that guy blue balls. Get it over with already or be done with him for good. This back and forth with the guy is getting a little tiresome.

Poor Sal. I'm not sure how they're going to keep him and Joan in the loop now that they're both out at SC. Two of my favorite characters, too. If they write them out of the show, I'm gonna be pissed.

tiams

10-12-2009, 10:58 AM

Poor Sal. I'm not sure how they're going to keep him and Joan in the loop now that they're both out at SC. Two of my favorite characters, too. If they write them out of the show, I'm gonna be pissed.

I really hope we don't lose those two characters. I really thought Don would leave SC and start his own firm and take the Hilton account, Peggy, Sal, and Joan with him. But now he has pissed off crazy Connie, belittled Peggy, offended Sal, and signed a contract with SC. He's stuck there I guess and that's whats causing him to lose it.

DeDondeEs

10-12-2009, 01:06 PM

I was really hoping we would see a meeting with Don and the Lucky Strike guy who made a move on Sal. I could see Don expressing his frustration to Lucky Strike guy saying that he had to let one of his best guys go because of him. I think that the "you people" comment was more directed at Lucky Strike guy, not Sal, but Don had to let Sal go because he didn't want to lose the contract, and due to the at the time social norms.

This does make you wonder how they are going to pull it back together with all of these regular cast members out of the company, Duck, Joan, and now Sal, and how Peggy will fit into all of this since she is on the fence.

I could see them moving over to another firm (Duck's?) or starting another one to add the dynamic of different firms competing with each other to the show. They sort of did that internal competition thing, but that seems to have run its course.

gossamer88

10-12-2009, 01:47 PM

Felt really bad for Sal. Don saying "you people" was definitely directed at Sal and his assumed homosexuality. After all Don did catch him in a compromising position earlier this season. Remember this is 1963. Not surprising he's homophobic.

BriGuy20

10-12-2009, 02:29 PM

I think it's September by the end of the episode, so maybe as everyone else seems to think, Don is going to Dallas and that's when Betty and Henry will get it on.

I thought I saw October 4th on one of the letters that Betty wrote.

ElJay

10-12-2009, 08:04 PM

I guess Don's patience with Sal's homosexuality ends when it starts costing him clients. What was Sal supposed to do? Whore himself out for the company? That's way past Don doing "moon" ads for Connie.

Idearat

10-13-2009, 12:58 AM

If Don goes to Dallas, I'd guess he will be there the 3rd week of November. The same day as one of the secretaries said was her scheduled wedding date, the 22nd.

AnnaBanana

10-13-2009, 09:29 AM

Isn't Roger's daughter getting married on the 23rd?
I think that was the date on the invitation. :confused:

Idearat

10-13-2009, 09:47 AM

Isn't Roger's daughter getting married on the 23rd?
I think that was the date on the invitation. :confused:

I remembered someone said that was their wedding date. Whether it was the 22nd or 23rd, it'll be an unfortunate date to do it considering the show is currently in 1963.

Cainebj

10-13-2009, 10:34 AM

If you pause the TV when Betty reads The New York Times to check out what she is reading and Don IS going to Dallas - well - it doesn't take a brain surgeon to guess what is coming :)

tem

10-13-2009, 10:40 AM

IJustLikeTivo

10-13-2009, 11:19 AM

God, Don was such an utter and complete ass**** this episode. Get chewed out by Connie (who has turned into an *un*-lovable old coot in his own right), go running to nail the school teacher. Better writing would have had her shut him down as well. But no, we get the hard sell from DD ending with him nailing yet another conquest.

Betty was not much better this episode, either.

Not many likable characters left on this show.

Not sure where Matt is going with this. I love the look of this show but the people are beginning to turn my stomach. No one was likable in this episode they were pretty much all nasty. The only nice person is the Draper's domestic help, Carla.

ElJay

10-13-2009, 12:44 PM

Likable and nasty aren't mutually exclusive in my opinion. I can still like a character even if they act nasty. Don in particular, though I can't say I understand his endless philandering.

Most of these characters are heavily tilted toward the dark side. Would I want to have these people as coworkers or friends? Probably not, but I can still be amused by them on the show. If it were Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, nobody would watch because it would be boring.

kdelande

10-14-2009, 12:11 AM

Finally catching up with this week's ep.

FANTASTIC.

Really enjoying how things played out this week. The Sal storyline was teased to be significant pre-season and it certainly seems to be a major topic. Don basically told Sal to do whatever it takes to please the client, man or woman which Sal wasn't prepared to do at the time.

I too expected the teacher to shoot down Don as well to futher drive home the point after Connie's rejection that wherever he turns, his mojo is no go. But obviously she sucumbed to the charm (and firm imposition).

Still interested to see what comes of the Betts/Henry thing, but they better stop the teasing already.

And although I really miss the jovial Roger and Don banter, I'm enjoying them being at odds for the moment. Roger's comment about Don not being with it must really get to Don after he just signed his life away in the contract commitment.

KD

Dawghows

10-14-2009, 01:15 PM

Likable and nasty aren't mutually exclusive in my opinion.
Absolutely agree. IMO, it's Don's darker tendencies that make him the compelling character that he is, and the same is true to varying degrees for virtually all the others.

DevdogAZ

10-14-2009, 01:24 PM

What exactly what Connie looking for with the "moon" comment? I was totally lost on that one, and it appeared Don was too.

Bummed about Sal. I've got to think that they'll work it out so that he can come back, but that's a crappy way to get fired.

cheerdude

10-14-2009, 01:29 PM

I think that Don figured he wanted "the moon"... as in, everything.
Connie literally wanted "The Moon" ... as in, we'll have a place there as well.

DevdogAZ

10-14-2009, 01:30 PM

I think that Don figured he wanted "the moon"... as in, everything.
Connie literally wanted "The Moon" ... as in, we'll have a place there as well.
OK, but if that's really what Connie wanted, what did he expect Don to do about it?

cheerdude

10-14-2009, 01:54 PM

My guess is to create an ad with the moon as a destination?

Or maybe a space station (Wasn't there a Hilton in 2001?)

cheesesteak

10-15-2009, 08:33 AM

I don't care if it is 1963 suburbia, what woman jogs alone at 4:00 in the morning? That's been a recipe for disaster forever and wherever.

I thought it was rather poor writing to have the teacher give it up as soon as Don asked. He doesn't even have to bring his conquests a box of chocolates. They just give in.

Bierboy

10-15-2009, 09:36 AM

... Don's "you people" comment made me cringe.....

Why? It was appropriate for the time period. That's just the way it was in the early 60s. Didn't bother me in the least...it fit.

Bierboy

10-15-2009, 09:39 AM

...Not many likable characters left on this show.

And that's what I like about it....:D

cheesesteak

10-15-2009, 11:37 AM

Pete coughing his lungs up during the Lucky Strike commercial was funny.

DevdogAZ

10-15-2009, 01:42 PM

After reading this thread, I figured I had fallen asleep at the end of this episode and missed something, so I went back last night and rewatched the last few minutes. I didn't miss anything the first time, so now I'm wondering why everyone thinks Don is going to Dallas. There was some mention of him going there early in the episode, but it was talked about as if he had already been there, not that he'd be going in the future. Is everyone simply speculating that Don will be in Dallas on Nov. 22 or did I miss something?

brianric

10-16-2009, 11:40 AM

I don't care if it is 1963 suburbia, what woman jogs alone at 4:00 in the morning? That's been a recipe for disaster forever and wherever.

How about 2007.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070504/NEWS/705040374/-1/NEWS11

tem

10-16-2009, 12:00 PM

Don Draper was on the grassy knoll.

nyny523

10-19-2009, 08:37 AM

Just watched this episode yesterday - a couple of things jumped out at me:

1. Betty telling Henry having sex in his office was "too tawdry". This from the woman who had sex with a total stranger in the storeroom of a bar. I have tried to have sympathy for Betty and her trapped existance, but sometimes it is really hard not to hate her and her hypocracy.

2. The Sal story - while I found the storyline appalling, I kept thinking how many women back in 1963 probably faced the same situation and similar outcomes. I doubt there were nearly as many "Sals" in this situation back then as there were working women with no recourse.

BobB

10-19-2009, 09:45 AM

The Sal story - while I found the storyline appalling, I kept thinking how many women back in 1963 probably faced the same situation and similar outcomes.

You mean gay women who had to stay in the closet or straight ones who were fired for not sleeping with clients?

nyny523

10-19-2009, 01:08 PM

You mean gay women who had to stay in the closet or straight ones who were fired for not sleeping with clients?

Straight women fired for not sleeping with clients/bosses.

Wheens

10-19-2009, 03:26 PM

DevdogAZ

10-19-2009, 03:30 PM

Don't forget, also in the front seat of a car with the neighbor.
When was that? I remember the bathroom one, but I was thinking that was the only time we'd seen her stray to that extreme.

Bierboy

10-19-2009, 05:43 PM

...This from the woman who had sex with a total stranger in the storeroom of a bar....Don't forget, also in the front seat of a car with the neighbor.

T T I W W P!!

Haps

10-20-2009, 08:14 PM

Don't forget, also in the front seat of a car with the neighbor.

You confusing Mad Men with Reservation Road?

This show continues to amaze me how Don acts like a dick all the time and yet somehow manages to woo women and clients like crazy. I see very little likable behaviour outta the guy and can't figure out what I'm missing.

Wheens

10-21-2009, 12:09 AM

You confusing Mad Men with Reservation Road.

You are right. Must have had a brain fa**. :confused:

DevdogAZ

10-21-2009, 03:07 PM

You confusing Mad Men with Reservation Road?
I assumed you meant Revolutionary Road so I looked to see if January Jones was in that. She wasn't. Then I saw that there is a movie called Reservation Road, but January Jones wasn't in that either. Why would someone confuse the Betty Draper character from Mad Men with a character in another movie not played by JJ?

Haps

10-21-2009, 05:00 PM

I assumed you meant Revolutionary Road so I looked to see if January Jones was in that. She wasn't. Then I saw that there is a movie called Reservation Road, but January Jones wasn't in that either. Why would someone confuse the Betty Draper character from Mad Men with a character in another movie not played by JJ?

Revolutionary Road is the correct movie. And the confusion comes from the similar story lines and time period. I don't want to spoil it for anyone that hasn't seen the movie. But there are similarities.