




All photos by Karen Neal for TNT
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All photos by Karen Neal for TNT
Check out my blog home page for the latest information, at I Like To Watch TV, here.









All photos by Danny Feld for TNT
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All photos from TNT
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At the focus group, Faye easily gains the confidence of the secretaries while Don, Freddy, and Peggy watch from behind mirrored glass. But when the group turns to sadness as one of the secretaries talks about her failed relationship, Don’s secretary Allison (Alexa Alemanni) gets upset, focusing internally on her fling with Don and his later indifference and avoidance. It seems clear that Don is squirming as well, and quickly Allison can’t keep herself glued together anymore and she sobs and quickly exits the room. Peggy follows her to calm her, and tells her that "People cry in these things all the time." But Allison, seeming thinking that Peggy knows what she and Don did, says, "I can't even say anything because I know he's right out there…You must have gone through everything I've gone through." Peggy seems to have a realization to what Allison refers, and, wanting to distance herself from any thought that she has gone through that, responds that "Your problem is not my problem." Clearly, Peggy doesn’t want anyone to think that she had to sleep with Don to get where she is today.
Later, Allison tells Don she can’t work with him and is quitting, asking for a letter of recommendation. When Don tells her to “Type up whatever you want, and I'll sign it," she picks up an object off his desk and throws it in his direction, breaking some glass, and she storms off, most of the office watching. This includes Peggy, who has stepped up on her office furniture to peer into Don’s office through the windows at the top of their shared office wall.
When Pete and Harry meet Ken (Aaron Staton) for lunch, Ken accuses Pete of speaking ill about him behind his back, and Pete apologizes. Later, Pete and Trudy have Trudy’s parents over for dinner, and Pete uses the opportunity to tell Tom that SCDP must dump Clearasil but now he wants all of Vicks Chemical. Tom knows full well that Pete is using the baby news to strong arm him into getting a bigger account, calling him a son of a bitch.
Meanwhile, Joyce has invited Peggy to a party in a large loft, and she offers Peggy a joint and then makes a pass at her. Peggy pulls back and tells her that "I have a boyfriend," to which Joyce responds "He doesn't own your vagina. " Peggy quips right back, "No, but he's renting it. " Later, Peggy seems to show interest in the indie movie that is showing, and when she meets with Joyce’s friends Abe Drexler (Charlie Hofheimer) and Kellogg (who did the nudes), both men scoff at Peggy’s profession in advertising. But when the police raid the loft, Abe pulls Peggy into a closet to hide, and they share a kiss. Peggy later seems to be very interested in the bohemian lifestyle and what seems to be the budding counter-culture. The next day, though, Peggy gets the news that Trudy is pregnant, and after congratulating Pete, she heads to her office and bangs her head on the desk.
Don spends the night home alone, trying to type a letter of recommendation for Allison and stopping after completing even one line. When he gets to the office the next day, his new secretary is an old, gray haired, and cranky-ish Miss Blankenship (Randee Heller). The only good news that Don hears is from Pete – he’s on the verge of signing Vicks Chemical. When Blankenship screws up the scheduling and Faye shows up to tell Don that the focus group rejected Peggy’s “indulge yourself” concept and wants to focus on connecting Ponds with matrimony (something I think Freddy was angling for all along) Don says "Hello, 1925,” he puts down her methods and getting people to talk, saying “Not only does it have nothing to do with what I do, it's nobody's business." Don also wants the campaign to help people think about a product in a new, different way.
When Peggy leaves for lunch with Joyce and her friends, she and Pete, who is also in the reception and lobby area, share a gaze.
At the end of the day, Don is still at the office when the floor is being cleaned, and he heads home to his dark and lonely apartment. As he approaches his door, an elderly couple who lives next door are in the hallway, the old lady wheeling in her groceries, and the old man, standing at the open door, hung up on asking her "Did you get pears?" Seemingly exasperated at his repeated asking of the question, she tells them they will discuss it inside.
It’s a lonely end to and episode that offered rejection for some, but advancement for others. Pete, who had to give his father in law the news that SCDP was dumping Clearasil, turned that rejection into landing an even better account. Of course, the opportunist Pete used the news of a baby on the way as his leverage. Pete may actually be more cold and calculating than Don, as Pete seems to do whatever he needs to do to advance his standing in the business, even if if means using his family.
Peggy has to reject the advances of another woman, but the encounter also nets her a new experience into a more bohemian culture and maybe a relationship with another man. Somehow I think that the counter-culture movement will eventually draw Peggy even further in, and whether it will change her or just help her to change in the world of advertising is yet to be seen. Of everyone at SCDP, Peggy seems to be the only one who may be prepared for the cultural upheaval that will soon be upon them.
Allison is feeling the ultimate rejection and betrayal from her boss, Don, and later completely rejects him by quitting. Don clearly feels something about what happened, but when he struggles to write a letter of recommendation, we can only wonder if he feels guilt or if he isn’t quite sure what he feels – maybe he feels nothing. At the end, when the elderly woman wanted to save the discussion about the pears for the inside, it may mean that sometimes even the simplest, mundane things don’t belong aired out in public, echoing Don’s sentiments with Faye. Don, of all people, knows that sometimes the leaking of even the smallest secret can have devastating effects.
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Don, meanwhile, has planned a trip to Acapulco, with a stop in California first. He’s there to see Anna Draper (Melinda Page Hamilton) and is surprised to find her with a huge cast on her leg from a bad break. He’s there as Dick Whitman, and meets Anna’s sister Patty (Susan Leslie) and Patty’s daughter Stephanie (Caity Lotz). They are both there to help Anna with her chores since her broken leg hinders her ability to move around easily. Stephanie is college age and beautiful, instantly making me worry that Don will make a move on her. In fact, I was a little surprised that Anna seemed completely unconcerned that Don would do exactly that. Knowing what she knows about Don, if I were her, I would keep any female family member away from him.
After spending some time with Anna and Stephanie at a restaurant, Don offers to take Stephanie home and of course makes a move on her. Don can’t seem to control himself when he’s attracted to someone, even if she’s young and the niece of his friend Anna. Stephanie resists his flirtation and then drops a bomb on Don that Anna has advanced bone cancer – the one thing that seems to stop the sex addict in Don right in his tracks. The other big problem is that Anna does not know she is sick and Stephanie swears Don to secrecy. He is appalled that they are keeping Anna in the dark and we see Don sitting up all night, seemingly thinking about what to do next.
He decides not to go on to Acapulco and spend some quality time with Anna, which included painting a water stain on her living room wall. (Nothing like waking up and seeing Don Draper in your living room in his skivvies with a paint roller in hand. By the way, maybe it was just me, but in this sequence of scenes, it seems Don’s paint job on the wall looked different in a few of the shots.) When Patty arrives and sees Don in his underwear, painting, she gets upset and storms out. Don follows her outside – of course he had the sense to put on pants before doing so – and Patty tells him he does not have a say in what happens to Anna, all he is to Anna is a “checkbook.” Don does the right thing and leaves, signing "Dick + Anna '64" on the bottom of the wall he painted. In my opinion, I think Anna knows that she has something more than a broken leg and she wanted Don to go so he wouldn’t have to have any guilt about doing so.
Rather than go one to Acapulco, he heads back home and to the office. When he gets back to the office, he is surprised to find Lane there. Lane was supposed to head to England with his family for the holiday. Earlier in the episode, Lane had sent flowers to Joan to apologize for his earlier behavior towards her, and also wanted to send flowers to his wife as well. There is a huge mix-up with the flowers, causing Joan to receive a dozen roses from lane saying, "Darling, I've been an ass. Kisses, Lane" (which were meant for his wife) and Joan flings the flowers at him in a rage. When he questions the secretary and she blames the florist, Joan fires her on the spot. Needless to say, with Lane’s marriage already in a precarious position, the flower mix up didn’t help - his wife got the note and flowers meant for Joan.
After Lane commiserates with Don over some liquor, Don decides they should hit the movies. After an extensive review of what was currently playing, they land on a (I think) Gamera movie, with Lane having a blast, yelling out Japanese gibberish to the annoyed theatergoers. He and Don later have dinner, with Lane drinking ever more, and using a huge porterhouse steak over his groin, he yells out to the other diners, "I got a big, Texas belt buckle. Yee haw!" Lane also tells Don that his wife has left – and that he loves New York City.
Later, at a nightclub, a comedian sees Lane and Don together and makes jokes that they are gays, but changes his tune when two lovely ladies arrive to keep Lane and Don company. The foursome makes a quick exit for Don’s place, where both Don and Lane are "serviced.” The next morning, Lane pays Don back for the girl – Don saying it was only $25. Lane, back to his reserved demeanor, tells Don "Thank you for the welcome distraction."
Back at the office, the holidays over, Joan sits at the head of the conference table with Lane, Don, and other key staff members saying, "Gentlemen…Shall we begin 1965?"
“The Good News” was an excellent episode bringing a whole range of emotions, moving from seeing the heartbreak on Don’s face when he finds out Anna is dying, to Lane having huge fun and letting loose. We also saw a different side of Joan – usually portrayed as a woman in complete control, she completely panics when she accidentally cuts herself. But there was also a sort of depressing cloud hanging over the happy parts. We all know what Vietnam will likely mean for Greg – even if he doesn’t get killed, he will see a lot of senseless death; and even though Lane has his moments of fun with Don, he still seems lonely and empty. And Don, leaving Anna when he knows he will likely never see her again, goes on with his life of hookers and booze. When all is said and done, it may be a new year, but not much has really changed.
All Text Content (Recaps, Review, Commentary) © iliketowatchtv.blogspot.com unless otherwise noted
Check out my blog home page for the latest information, at I Like To Watch TV, here.
All Text Content (Recaps, Review, Commentary) © iliketowatchtv.blogspot.com unless otherwise noted
Check out my blog home page for the latest information, at I Like To Watch TV, here.
All Text Content (Recaps, Review, Commentary) © iliketowatchtv.blogspot.com unless otherwise noted
Check out my blog home page for the latest information, at I Like To Watch TV, here.