Eugene is a toddler now, probably around two years old. I’m sure the gift shop has stuffed animals or rubber balls or something he can hold and toddle around with.
I have an 18 month old so it might have struck me as more cruel than the average.
Gene is going to see that his siblings got something so he’ll be upset. Doesn’t matter that it’s a useless, plastic backscratcher. As for the reason for the scene, my guess is that it’s because Don forgot about Gene, because he’s been separated from Betty almost from the time Gene was born. Perhaps he doesn’t think that he’s Gene’s father.
I suppose it’s possible that Don thinks he’s not Gene’s father, but I don’t think so. I do think that he just doesn’t feel the same way about him as he does about Sally and Bobby, partly because he’s not much of a person yet, but mostly because like you mentioned, he doesn’t have the bond with Gene that he has with the elder two, having not lived with him much, and he’s not the product of happy times. Regardless, total dick move. Buy the kid a toy.
I completely understand why Megan left. She’s not the type to sit around helplessly waiting for the guy who put her in this position to get her out of it. I like Megan. That said, I really could have done without the “chasing each other around the apartment” scene. What are they, 12?
Jane’s father is Jewish? Really? I feel like that would have come up at some point. Also, while the rest of the trip was too silly to really enjoy, I did get a kick out of the booze bottles singing to Roger.
Heck, I think “12” is generous considering that Don was acting like a five-year-old throughout the entire episode. He was selfish, inconsiderate, and mean, and he threw a giant temper tantrum the minute he didn’t get exactly what he wanted. I’ve been really impressed by how smarmy, unlikable, and repellant Don has been this entire season, and I’m wondering if Burt’s intervention is going to be a turning point for him.
It’s interesting; Don is treating Megan like a child, which is basically how he used to treat Betty. That worked in his old marriage, but Megan is chafing, and Don is clearly totally unable to deal with it. He’s scary; I honestly thought he was going to hit Megan, or that she was going to wind up injured by falling over something in the apartment.
I like Megan, too. She’s in a tough position. On one hand, Don clearly doesn’t take her career ambitions at all seriously, and his constant meddling makes it impossible to do her job well, which breeds resentment in her co-workers. On the other, no matter what she does everyone’s going to assume preferential treatment because she’s Don’s wife. She’s also not just rolling over for Don; she’s continuing to live her own life.
I can’t wait to see what happens with Roger. Before last night’s episode, I thought he’d be dead before the end of the season.
Megan was not acting twelve years old in that scene. She was acting like a woman in fear for her immediate safety. Don had just kicked the door in and was clearly not happy. I too feared he would hit her.
The entire drug sequence was the most boring thing I’ve ever seen on AMC.. and I used to watch Rubicon. I did like the juxtaposition of Roger and Jane laying next to each other on the floor during their trip and Don and Megan laying next to each other on the floor after their fight.
The restaurant that subbed in for the HoJos was “Rod’s Grill” in Arcadia, CA. My wife recognized it before I did. I’ve spent a fair amount of time there. I have to assume the exteriors were either an effects shot or they found a surviving Howard Johnson’s restaurant facade elsewhere and fixed it up.
Peggy was pretty awesome in the Heinz presentation. It was probably the best thing they’ve given her to do this season.
I’m now leaning more toward Ginsburg actually being a nutjob.
I like Megan, but I don’t see her marriage to Don working out unless he changes his attitude towards marriage. He expects her to drop everything and come running every time he wants her, and she seems to be getting tired of the treatment. I usually like Don, but he’s been unlikeable and downright unreasonable this season.
I’m not sure of that. Remember her on her hands and knees in her underwear cleaning the apartment? They enjoy their little games.
So much of this season is highlighting the generation gap brewing. Don is old school. He’s no longer the hip, youthful one. His ideas are getting dated. Megan wants a more equal relationship- she wants her work and intellect valued and be on an even playing field. Don is trying, and failing, to cope.
I didn’t get the vibe that this was one of there little games, but I also didn’t get the vibe that she was seriously in fear of her safety. I think she started running before Don started chasing, if that makes sense.
Ha!
I think it could have survived being half as long.
I think we’re meant to compare what happened last night with the S&M game from the premiere (it was even on the “Previously, on Mad Men…” segment), but I don’t think this was like that. I think Megan was genuinely afraid that Don was going to hurt her, and considering that he just kicked down her door, I don’t blame her. I don’t blame her for not wanting to let him in the apartment, either, considering that her latest interaction with him involved him leaving her stranded in the middle of nowhere for having the temerity to object to Don ruining her career with his sex whims. But I do think it was meant to be somewhat ambiguous.
I did think it was a little odd that they apparently made up by the next morning.
Don’t underestimate the emotional impact of the crotch hug.
She turned to leave the room. Don started to follow her. She thought “Oh, shit,” and began running. My first thought on seeing this scene was that Don might well be angry enough to turn violent, and my second thought was that Faye (his blonde consultant girlfriend from last season) really dodged a bullet.
Don literally kicked the door in. A sensible person starts worrying at this instant. The chase was certainly designed for those who watched the sex games earlier in the season but if the ending had been the same, that would have been the end of the show. From Megan’s POV, Don abandoned her a 6 1/2 bus trip from NYC and now is coming back for the kill.
What does Don want? Previous seasons played this as the central question. He was always questing for something beyond his marriage and sometimes beyond his job. And he got enough screen time for us to explore it with him. This year he’s an enigma. He plays at being satisfied for the first time but we aren’t being given the glimpses inside his head. That needs to change.
Probably will. The title of this episode was “Far Away Places,” a song reference.
That’s Don in the first four seasons. And Roger this season. (Is Jane (Peyton List) the most beautiful woman on the show? Discuss.) And Peggy. And Ginsberg. But mostly Don.
Whether Ginsberg was born in a concentration camp or not, he’s certainly estranged from all his past history. Maybe it’s another science fiction reference, since Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land - about a human brought up on Mars coming to Earth and learning the anthropology of its weird inhabitants - was a huge book for younger readers, with a new paperback edition published in Jan. 1966. What was the Martian’s name? Michael. What is Ginsberg’s name? Michael. We’re also supposed to remember Peggy’s baby, given up for adoption and cut off from all its history. Ginsberg would be weird if this didn’t prey on him.
Did they call the LSD guy Dr. Leary? I thought I heard that. For some reason there’s no credit for him on IMDb.
What do you mean she was awesome? She almost blew it, her little tantrum was totally inappropriate.
Up until the tantrum it was awesome. And if Don had done the same thing, which he has in the past, it might have worked (maybe not with this client, who is a dumbass).
Innaproriate is standard operating procedure for this show. That’s why it was awesome; it was even less appropriate that anything she has done this season.
Who cares if it was inappropriate? It was a gamble and a great scene for her. Fuck that Heinz guy he was being ridiculous and she called him on it.
Yeah, the LSD host was “Dr. Leary.” Timothy?
Did anyone recognize the music played over the closing credits? I feel like I should have recognized it… like it was the soundtrack from a movie or something.