# Mad-Men: 4.03 "The Good News", (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-4-03-the-good-news-open-spoilers/549652 "2010-08-09T01:03:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-4-03-the-good-news-open-spoilers/549652/41 "2010-08-09T21:56:14Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > What, Pete and Cooper know. And so does Betty, and maybe Henry too (and Betty’s divorce lawyer?). Not to mention Anna’s sister and niece. But they all met him as Don Draper and the Dick Whitman is just extraneous knowledge to them. He’s a different person when he’s DW. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-4-03-the-good-news-open-spoilers/549652/42 "2010-08-09T22:06:21Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I think Anna knows she has cancer. I had this thought as well–it might explain why she never bothered to repaint that wall. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-4-03-the-good-news-open-spoilers/549652/43 "2010-08-09T22:08:35Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > I can’t think of a more crass or inappropriate relationship than a sexual one between Dick and Anna. Giles & Buffy. ---
**Author:** ![jrepka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@jrepka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrepka)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-4-03-the-good-news-open-spoilers/549652/44 "2010-08-09T22:23:32Z")
“Is that what you want, or what you think is expected of you?” This episode was all about the public faces of these three characters (Dick/Don, Joan, and Lane), contrasted with who they really are. They are all assertive, efficient, and respected in the office, but not in control of their lives outside of it. Joan loves being in charge, but her husband won’t put up with that at home. My question is, does she _want_ kids and to be a housewife, or does she think that’s what is expected of her? Lane has thrown in his lot with the Americans instead of flying back to London to win his wife back. He’s chosen what he wants – based on his first real night out as an American, let’s see how that works out for him. Don/Dick is confused about what he wants, and about what people really expect. Conrad Hilton bragged about his rags to riches background – D/D thinks his success comes more from who he is (or who he isn’t) than from his talents. He is self-hating, so he requires constant external validation. Everyone at work gives him that (to his face), but outside the office he only seems to get validation (i.e., sex) from women he pays – and from Anna. When Dick is with Anna he is comfortable enough to be Dick. He is afraid everyone else will judge him if they know his real story. There is a small community of people who know he is not who he says he is, but I think only Anna – and now Betty – know Dick Whitman’s back story. And of course he believes that Betty rejected him because of his background (while this probably was in the mix, the fact that he lied to her about who he was, treated her like shit, and chased skirts up, down, and across New York state probably had a bit to do with it as well). Anna doesn’t judge him for being Dick Whitman. He’s not being kind to her by not telling her about her cancer. She would be honest with him, and expects honesty from him, and he knows it. And he wants to be honest with her, but it involves being more than “a guy in a room with a checkbook.” He’s willing to pay for specialists, but Don Draper is needed in New York – Dick can come out and visit on holidays, though. So he lies to the only person left who really knows him, and trusts him. ---
**Author:** ![Dorothea\_Book](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dorothea\_Book](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorothea_Book)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-4-03-the-good-news-open-spoilers/549652/45 "2010-08-09T22:35:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Mixolydian;12781710] > > I’m thinking he was stoned…Mrs. Mix agrees with you (looking for another bedpost notch) but I thought it was Don’s best attempt at being sincere - something he’s not used to. Why else would he be talking about how he had felt about Betty? Skeevy yes, and maybe her Mom is an effective cock block, but I predict the niece(?) returns at some point. True that he was stoned but I still think it feels all wrong for Anna’s niece. She was flirting a little but so what? I do realize he’s supposed to be all broken down and spiraling out of control but now they’re just making the character a hopeless lech. This is not gonna cut it with the likes of me and Mrs. Mix ;). Niece returning? I don’t think. My money is on Faye Miller (the marketing expert). Not to say, of course, that anyone will have a monopoly this season. > [@](#): > > So, is Harry’s (TV/media guy) self-assuredness going to play itself out with an inevitable rise to power, or is he in over his head and not the right guy for the job when television advertising becomes a cash cow? Hmmm. Good question. Harry is, comparatively speaking, so likeable it’s enitrely possible. But he’s also a zeroed in TV wonk (remember how he was thinking about loss of commercial revenue after the JFK assassination? ---
**Author:** ![Dorothea\_Book](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dorothea\_Book](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorothea_Book)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-4-03-the-good-news-open-spoilers/549652/46 "2010-08-09T22:37:44Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I wish Don would say **something** to Allison. He has: thank you for bringing me my keys. You would shocked how much that counts for an answer ;). ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-4-03-the-good-news-open-spoilers/549652/47 "2010-08-10T03:53:15Z")
Don/Stephanie is the colliding point between past and present–she’s surf music and he’s whatever the fuck that song was. He put the old style suave and debonair moves on her and she just pretty much failed to notice it and proceeded to knock him over with some flat ugly truth. He didn’t even ping her radar. Cue midlife crisis in 3…2…crunch. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-4-03-the-good-news-open-spoilers/549652/48 "2010-08-10T04:06:03Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > > [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > > > I wish they wouldn’t make Dr. Greg the rapist all cute and nice. I keep expecting him to hit Joan during one of their arguments. > > They made a real point to tell us the year at the end of the episode (“Welcome to 1965”). Wasn’t early 1965 when US combat operations began in Vietnam? \ Troop strength started ramping up in the early 60s. 1965 is when combat units began to deploy there on a regular rotation. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-4-03-the-good-news-open-spoilers/549652/49 "2010-08-10T09:15:49Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Don/Stephanie is the colliding point between past and present–she’s surf music and he’s whatever the fuck that song was. He put the old style suave and debonair moves on her and she just pretty much failed to notice it and proceeded to knock him over with some flat ugly truth. He didn’t even ping her radar. Cue midlife crisis in 3…2…crunch. I don’t see Don’s flirtation with Stephanie as perverse or evil, either. She’s young but has reached the age of consent. If she hadn’t turned the conversation serious, she would have had _no_ problem turning him down–or just wishing him a cool goodnight. She deals with college boys, so she’s had practice in fending off unwanted attentions. (And maybe accepting the wanted ones.) Don hasn’t learned how to market Divorced Don Draper. As a married man, certain women knew what they wanted from him. Midge was cool with an occasional visit; she was cool about most things. Rachel knew he wouldn’t be for her in the long run, even if he was single; so she just tried to enjoy him until he showed he was a weak human. Bobbie definitely knew what she wanted. Suzanne the teacher might have fantasized about breaking up a marriage but was mostly sadly going through the motions of yet another affair with a Dad. (She really needed to leave the burbs for a job in the city.) Now Don is single & dealing with single women–who look at a guy as a possible husband. They might not all be saving it for marriage, but they aren’t into casual screwing around. So he comes on to everybody & gets turned down a lot. If he cut back on the drinking & fixed up his place (or moved), he could probably begin a “relationship.” But he’s not quite ready. He works, drinks, gets no-nonsense visits from a call girl & sees his kids. That’s it. I’m hoping he changes over the season. His Boys Night Out with Layne was probably more fun than the pint he buys on the way home. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-4-03-the-good-news-open-spoilers/549652/50 "2010-08-10T13:48:09Z")
> [@jrepka](#): > > “Is that what you want, or what you think is expected of you?” > > This episode was all about the public faces of these three characters (Dick/Don, Joan, and Lane), contrasted with who they really are. They are all assertive, efficient, and respected in the office, but not in control of their lives outside of it. Great post. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-4-03-the-good-news-open-spoilers/549652.md?page=2)