I was describing something that is absolutely what happens to [del]every single[/del] a great many extremely successful writers when they get to the point that nobody can edit them anymore.
How could he be doing anything but making a choice that he believes is better?
You think he can’t write those scenes well, sure, but what makes you gunk that’s (1) what he thinks and (2) fact as opposedto opinion?
Right. I don’t mean to imply that Pete is not talented, but I would argue that he is less talented than Peggy who’s been shown to be instinctively good at doing creative ad work. Pete has the same instincts as Peggy when it comes to predicting what lies in store for the future of the advertising world, but does not have the charm and personal skills to make him a powerhouse in accounts. He lost to Ken in the head of accounts cage-match last season and even on the creative side, he’s constantly smacked down by the actual creatives when he suggests his own ideas. Pete, however, is still an insightful character who has the potential to be just as good at accounts as Peggy is at creative currently. It’s two different skill sets so it’s a little unfair to Pete to compare them, but I could imagine Peggy thinking that she’s more professionally successful than Pete, yet have none of the things Pete’s already attained.
Maybe I’ve lost track of the flow, but is Pete’s job really involved with doing much “creative” at all at this point? It was my impression he’s mostly focused on brand placement analysis, networking and generating new business. I was under the impression that Peggy and Pete have fairly different tasks and job descriptions.
I get the feeling that Cooper’s been taking much better care of himself than Don ever would. I would like some sort of flash forward regarding everyone’s eventual fate. Peggy would be 70 this year, Pete 76, and Joan’ll be 79. And Betty would be about 77 and Sally would be 56. Of course how can Weiner pull this off without it looking like he ripped of the finale of Six Feet Under.
I don’t think we’re meant to think of Peggy’s sidekick as an adult. I think he’s there to show how mature Peggy has become, and so he acts kind of childish.
Was it just me, or was Joan behaving a little passive-aggressive annoyed at Dr. Fay(e) and the market research? In my head, I imagine Joan deliberately having Fay(e)'s nametag spelled correctly, just because the woman is so irksome.
I think the show is still one of the best written dramatic shows on the air. I will give you that Weiner did seem somewhat self indulgent with the slow paced, meandering storylines last season not adding much to the context, and taking* forever *to be resolved, but this season seems much tighter overall.
Exactly. “I’d make her so pregnant” is the kind of thing my friends and I would say to each other when we’re being stupid. It makes sense given what we know about Peggy’s interaction with what’s-his-face (whose haircut, incidentally, bugs me).
They don’t have to show their demise. I would be happy with a finale showing all of them living in the present. Don would have to be somewhere in his 80s, so it’s possible he could live to see modern times.
Did anyone notice Harry order Caesar salad without the dressing?
Pete’s in accounts and Peggy’s creative, it’s two entirely different jobs with different tasks. Pete did get smacked down by Don in season one for suggesting a creative idea to a client and I think it was season two when he tried to suggest some ideas for an ad and had Peggy reject them. He hasn’t attempted any more meddling in creative since season three, I think.
All I’m saying is that Peggy seems to be excelling at her job and getting very little reward socially while Pete managed to land everything he wanted while doing an adequate job (although he had more growth this season). It’s partly the nature of the job (see last season’s Kentucky Derby episode where all the accounts and media are invited to Sterling’s shindig while creative had to work overtime in the office) and partly gender politics. Still sucks for Peggy.
It’s tempting to put them as parallels precisely because of the strong male/female dynamic as well as the creative/accounts divide and of course, their previous relationship.
Edit: Yes! No-dressing Caeser salad is just the kind of guy that Harry is!
I gunk that because I get to toss out my gunking notions about the show just like everybody else. 
Well, there’s the quite routine gunking your own opinion about the gunk of the output, and then there’s gunking that Weiner is intentionally writing a bad show, which can only be grokked if you’re joking. How’s that gunk?
Let me drag this kicking and screaming back to my point.
I didn’t mean for anyone to think that I was accusing Weiner of writing a deliberately bad show.
I thought I was clear in saying that he was exercising his prerogative to write the show he was most interested in writing, the show that was most personal to him, the show that showcased his individual vision for what the show was to be.
That show happens to contain the elements that fans have been vocal in denouncing: the slow-paced Draper-family-away-from-the-office scenes. Apparently those scenes are important to him and his vision of the show. So he will write them regardless.
You may consider that a courageous way of preserving one’s independence in a world that normally kowtows to compromise. Or you may dismiss it as stubborn blindness to a plotline that isn’t working. Or think that the hubris of success has turned his head to the dark side. All legitimate views. If it weren’t so late I’d come up with others.
Me, I think he’s on a riding mower and Don Draper’s foot is all too close for comfort. But that’s just me. And gunk. Kill Don off. Make Peggy a partner. Have Harry drown Betty. Give Cooper Tourette’s. Have Joan in every shot. But don’t make the Velvet Underground the background music, even if you use the apposite title "All Tomorrow’s Parties"for the wow now modern party because the homemade recording was from July 1965 and the single didn’t come out until 1966 as their very first release.
In short: More fun, less moping.
My wife said Harry’s spending too much time in California.
Bolding mine. I think it’s always been Peggy’s show. She’ll ultimately be the character with the greatest growth arc; Don’s something of a red herring.
Was Peggy more offended by Allison’s assertion that Don is an alcoholic or by her assumption that she had had an affair with Don?
Pegs isn’t that close to Don to know or care about his drinking. All the men drink like fish. She was offended by the assumption they had an affair, as well she should be.
I think even more so than “an affair”, it was Allison saying that Peggy “must have” gone through the same thing. Which would either imply that Peggy can’t take care of herself or that she slept her way to her position. It wasn’t so much an attack on Peggy’s moral character (like a consensual fling) but on her personal strength and ability.
Which is probably why Allison was so distraught over the thing with Don – she had assumed that Peggy had slept with Don and been showered with rewards such as a good job and Don’s support and patronage. All Allison got was $100 and some really awkward conversations.
I think at some point Harry is going to relocate to the left-coast. He’s really embracing the television side of things and at some point SCDP will either open an LA office or Harry will get a job out there w/ another firm.