Team Joan, all the way, and I suspect that Roger, if pressed, will be as well. He’s genuinely fond of Joan, who just happens to also be an excellent office manager. Jane is a piece of ass, and Sterling has a nearly endless supply of those.
Jimmy Barrett is a magnificent asshole. Well played.
And this is driving me crazy, who is the actress who plays Jane? She’s not listed on IMDB, or in the Mad Men cast and crew on amc.com. I’m certain I’ve seen her in something else, but I can’t think what.
Peyton List. Her other credits are 27 Dresses and As the World Turns. She’s 22.
Thank you! I’ve never seen either of those, but I checked her IMDB profile, and she was in Big Shots, which I’m just as embarrassed about having seen as I would be 27 Dresses or As the World Turns. Or at least I would be, if Dylan McDermott weren’t so hot.
Dang, Peyton List is Jane! She played Lucy Montgomery on ATWT (before the last incarnation, played by Spencer Grammar, Kelsey’s daughter)–and I never would have recognized her!
I’m still trying to catch up on who is who in this show, as I just started watching it last weekend. So much to comment about. The littering was definitely -not- par for the course, early 60s. At least not in my family - if there wasn’t a trash can, you took it with you until you could dispose of it properly. That was just nasty, what the Drapers did. Poor Sal and Kitty - Sal’s definitely got a crush on Ken; I wonder when Ken is going to realize where he “left” his lighter? That Jimmy was awful – but wasn’t Mrs. Draper supposed to be part of his “deal” that Bobbie negotiated with Don? I think so, and when she kept rejecting him, that’s when he spilled the beans. I may be wrong, though – as I said, still catching up.
Do love this show, though, and especially love seeing the early 60s. It was definitely a fun time, at least before the JFK assassination–for a 10 year old. 
Betty was expected to charm Jimmy at Lutece, but no way would Don pimp her out. He was upset with her in S1 when he thought she was too friendly with Roger when he came to dinner. He’s okay with people admiring his wife, but that’s all.
Yeah, Don would never pimp Betty out, but Jimmy may have thought that, since Don was screwing his wife, well, fair is fair.
I think he was trying to get back at Don by ruining the marriage through telling Betty. I don’t think he ever for a second thought he’d end up screwing Betty.
Joan’s great at strutting around like a cock in the hen house and giving the figurative smack-down to anyone who dares to get in her way. If she never has a foil- never faces a worthy competitor- it’ll get boring to watch. It will be much more interesting if they present her with a character that sort of rattles her a bit, makes her work for it a little, makes her worry that she might be losing her touch. After all, she is in her [gasp!] thirties. I think they should show a power struggle* between Jane and Joan.
*Culminating in a catfight. In bath towels.
Part of the reason I like this show is the attention to detail by the prop people. When Don finished his beer (Schlitz?) and was getting ready to toss it, you could briefly see the top of the can, which had two punctures in the top created by the ubiquitous church key.
Draper’s mother was an actual prostitute. His father was one of her johns. After the mother died, he went to live with his biological father and his wife, who never let Don forget where he came from. I believe Don told Rachel all this.
I believe that Adam was the legitimate child of Don’s father and his father’s wife, but I think that their father died before Adam was actually born. Adam’s mother then married “Uncle-something,” who I believe was just as abusive to Don as his own father had been.
I think the “at least not in my family” is the key. Even now there’s some litter. In the '70s, things were worse. There’s a reason that there were actually massive advertising campaigns to get people not to pull that shit – Give a Hoot, the crying Indian.
Seemed to me that he was pretty righteous in that scene. Why should he play along?
Definitely not.
Self-righteous. It was cruel of him to tell Betty but I get why he did it. I think he’s truly hurt by Bobbi’s affairs, and he wanted to hurt Don. And maybe he wanted to hurt Betty too, kick her off of that cloud she’s on.
The casting helps with this story line. If Jimmy was a big handsome guy like Don, it wouldn’t have worked.
I’ve wondered about that part of Don’s story. What was the exact timeline of Adam’s conception, Don’s father’s accidental death & the marriage to Uncle So&So? Don shares his father’s swarthy good looks but Adam resembled neither of them. Was Don escaping from something darker than a bunch of no account, Bible-thumping, kid-beating yokels?
Since Don’s father supposedly died after being kicked by a horse, it’s not strange that he does not share Betty’s equestrian interests. He probably shoveled too much horseshit in his day to have any fantasies of riding to hounds with the landed gentry. Could she have found a more boring hobby to soak up the time not spent being annoyed by her son? She went to college & lived in Europe but we’ve only seen her reading Fitzgerald–because of the pompous dweeb in the stable. Don does have intellectual interests–along with his “other” pastimes. Perhaps her encounter with “those (non-Nordic) people” woke her up out of her daze. Or maybe she’s still gobbling the pills prescribed by the psychiatrist she saw in Season 1.
Finally–is Don Draper really the toast of all the frisky ladies in Manhattan? Or did Bobbie discover his connection with the mysterious Random House lady & decide to screw with him? (Some more, that is?)
I love this show…
I don’t know why that surprised me – learning that Don’s been a hound for awhile – but it did. I guess I thought he only started straying when we first met him, in 1960.
My guess is yeah, he’s the toast of the town. He has no competition on the show, except maybe Roger, when it comes to looks and charisma and sex appeal.
Really? Looks, I’ll give you that. Sex appeal, I’ll take your word for it. But charisma? He projects an aura of “I’m a prick”, almost going out of his way to be joyless and unapproachable. Do people really see that as charismatic?
I do. It’s almost a bad boy vibe, his aloofness, like he can’t be touched, emotionally. Women like Bobbi would see him as a challenge. Not getting him into bed – that’s easy – but keeping him interested, like she said.
I disagree on both counts. It was neither self-righteous nor cruel. Draper’s sleeping with his wife, for pete’s sake. Telling his wife is not only justified but practially a moral imperative.
Even if none of this was true, I think he should had would have done exactly what he did.
But Jimmy’s not a moral person – he’s just vindictive. He doesn’t care a fig about Betty. And he didn’t confront anybody until his deal with ABC was accomplished.
The texturing and layering of this show is wonderful. The way they have fleshed out so many characters in such a short time. I know the primary focus is Don and Betty but I keep forgetting about folks like closeted Ken and Sal. That dynamic is great. Peggy remains a mystery and yet she is likeable and has been successful. I noticed that the ponytail made a comeback this episode. She does need a more “mature” hairstyle for the office. But she has done well for herself there so far. I think her comment about the new far-out, happenin’ jingle we heard was “It stays with you” which was very diplomatic!
I still want to know if Duck is on or off the wagon. I thought that Jane (that’s the new secretary, right?) finagled her little situation quite nicely to her advantage although I’m not sure she knew what an enemy she would make out of Joan.
And it is about time that Betty learned something of Don’s hobby. The repercussions will be very interesting to see.
I, too, am a huge fan of this show!
Based on what? He’s an abrasive jerk, but have we seen him do anything immoral? Don and Roger and several of teh other charactes have been shown doing far less moral things than we’ve seen Jimmy doing.
Of all the bad behavior you’ve seen on this show, you’ve decided that Jimmy’s sole character trait is that he’s vindictive?
I don’t think either “vindictive” nor “doesn’t care a fig” is a supportable conclusion. He was angry at being victimized by Don, justifiably so, and what he did was tell Don that he knew it and he clued in the other victim (Betty). Betty’s reaction is really not Jimmy’s responsibility.
Frankly, I think he deserves a medal for his restraint.
That indicates neither immorality nor vindictiveness. What was actually immoral about getting what he wanted – his success ultimately relies on his own talent, after all – before he said anything?
He had already been injured. Why not use Bobbie and Don for what he could get out of them before spilling the beans? Don and Bobbie have gone ahead and taken what they want. Why shouldn’t Jimmy be allowed to earn what he wants?
Hmm… I dunno. We’ve seen Don be caring sometimes, or kind. He didn’t have to actually give Pete advice when his father died after Pete was such a little turd to him, he didn’t have to go find Peggy in the hospital and he’s as decent a dad as most for that day and age. All we’ve seen Jimmy do is be needlessly cruel to a fat lady.