My father was a WW2 vet–8th Air Force. He was called back on active duty in 1948, at the time of the Berlin Blockade, & served in SAC. Churchill personally seemed to think the Cold War had begun on VE Day–but it was obvious to everybody by the late 40’s.
Then there was the Hungarian Revolution of 1956–crushed by Soviet tanks…
Sally also idolized Roger until she caught him getting a blowjob from Megan’s mom.
That’s quite a streak of bad luck.
Also, if Sally was infatuated with Sylvia’s son in a “Let’s write Mrs. Sally Rosen on my notebook” sort of way, learning that your dad is sleeping with your affection-object’s mom is more than a little unsettling, I’m sure. Not that I assume that’s the root of Sally’s upset but it can’t help.
I’m sure there’s a point here but I’m missing it.
My favorite line:
Ted: “I know you can’t have many friends, so this must be important.”
I liked the draft plot but it’s a pity the character was only parachuted in for this episode. I know he is referred to in previous episodes but it’s a bit “Who the hell is he and why should we give a shit?”
Who played the son anyway? He looked very familiar.
He’s there for the plot. I thought whatever strength this episode had was that it so nicely put together things we already knew but couldn’t know would intersect. We knew that Don and Sylvia were having an affair. A lot was made of the fact that he used the service door and they screwed on the servant’s bed off the kitchen. We knew that Arnold and Sylvia had a son who was in college. We knew that Don made him his first male friend. We knew that Megan was Canadian. We knew that Sally stayed over in Don’s apartment frequently. We saw the doorman altogether more than a minor character warranted. Gluing all those things together to make it vaguely possible that Sally could catch Don and Sylvia was by far the nicest plot work they’ve done all year, and probably in several years. (Better than Lane’s suicide last year.) That this is the second time that Sally caught an adult having sex is harder to believe, but television defies probabilities daily.
We’ve been waiting all year for the ton of bricks they’ve been laying to coalesce into walls. There are only two episodes left, so the walls need to start closing in.
I was helping you correct the dates for the Cold War. Your grasp of history is better than your command of the English language…
Ouch. Too mean!
That was a very good line. But the BEST line was “I don’t what his juice! I want MY juice!”
I’m not so sure. All it tells us is that he’ll do WHATEVER it takes.
Here is my question: if you don’t love your wife enough to be faithful to her, why would you care if you get caught cheating on her? The worst she could do is leave you. And if you don’t love her enough to not cheat on her, is that really a problem?
Obviously, this argument breaks down if you are a freeloader living on her largess, but that is clearly not the case for Don and Megan.
That’s exactly what I thought: B&W Five-O and then Living Color Five-O. I assumed that was to show the difference in incomes between those who can afford color TVs and those that can’t.
Overall, this episode earns a “loved it” from me because Don gets his comeuppance, and gets it in such a spectacularly preordained fashion from his own daughter. I laughed my ass off for about five minutes.
Yes, he may well tap-dance his way out of any consequences, but it was still a spectacular setback that seemed pre-ordained by the universe.
Why are you so upset about Sylvia? Sylvia isn’t Sylvia. Sylvia is Don’s inability to let himself be happy no matter how wonderful his life is. Beautiful, loving, sexy wife Megan who is devoted to him beyond words? Tough shit, not good enough! He needs a Sylvia to help him destroy his chance at happiness.
Don’t blame this particular Sylvia. She is just the latest incarnation of Don’s narcissistic need to harpoon his own future. She is just a convenient place-holder. If it wasn’t her, it would need to be someone else.
Favors: Usually, I have trouble relating the title to the episode. This time it was uncharacteristically easy:
Any others?
Interesting post, but not really addressing my comment you quoted.
It’s not just that he was caught, it was also who caught him. He would have taken it differently (probably better) if pretty much anyone else had caught him with Sylvia. But this was Sally. Even though she knew that he wasn’t perfect and he knew that she knew that he wasn’t perfect, Don had never so thoroughly and unquestionably screwed up in front of his own child before.
It threw him and Jon Hamm played it really, really well.
I like the Peggy and Pete friendship scenes when they show up. And the Peggy and Stan ones as well. And Pete’s “Do not be more specific” was my favorite line of the episode.
Ever hear of wanting to have your cake and eat it too? Megan is Don’s home life. He loves her, just not in a way to stop him from sleeping around.
Because she’s boring and scenes with her are boring. She’s no Rachel Menken. Hell, she’s not even Dr. Fay Whositsname.
Don’s more interesting lovers are ones with enough strength or spirit to stand apart from him. Sylvia doesn’t have that. She had her one moment of will and now she’s wilted and is back to same ole dishrag Sylvia.
My favorite line: “Did she go to China for that tea?”
Peggy was channeling a Borscht-belt comedian with her timing and inflection.