Three Up
3. Jane Sterling. She's getting a new apartment after asking Roger to move her out of their old place (whose landlord is Roger's mom), with a minimum of fuss. She also accompanies Roger to a business dinner with the folks behind Manischewitz, and may have found her new beau in the owner's son, who takes a shine to her. She does get the new apartment, but when she hooks up with Roger after the dinner she feels that the apartment is tainted. So not a great way to end, but she may still be up more than others in this episode.
2. Michael Ginsburg. Don stops by Ginzo's desk to turn off a light and then sees a folder full of ideas for Snowball, which they're pitching shortly. The quality and quantity of ideas gets Don back to work, but his idea (involving a devil) takes a bit of a back seat to Ginzo's idea (disliked people getting an actual snowball in the face). Don leaves Ginzo's pitch in the cab and his idea is bought. Ginzo learns about this from Harry, and confronts Don about this in the elevator. Don tries to treat him like an underling, but it's clear that Ginzo has the moral highground (and, in this case, the better idea). Ginzo also gets hired to work on the Manischewitz pitch, and while that's purposeful (being Jewish) and more of a set up for Peggy to confront Roger once she learns of the secret work, it's also a further indication that Ginzo is on the rise at SCDP. He just may be his own worst enemy.
1. Sally Draper. A good episode of growth for Sally, as she allows herself to get talked into bringing up Anna Draper to Megan by Betty, who wants to cause a rift to make herself feel better (more on this later). This does lead Sally to be rude towards Megan, who tries to explain Anna and Don as best she can. Sally later gets a talking to from Don that both explains Anna and sets Sally straight on why Betty had her ask Megan about Anna, and how Sally can address the situation like the young adult she claims to be. Sally appears to get this, and in the end she thwarts Betty's plan and gets an A+ on the family tree project that started the whole thing. She also gets a little dig in on Betty over Thanksgiving dinner that's subtle enough that I don't think anyone noticed.
Three Down
3. Don Draper. He's feeling threatened by Ginzo, and while he can pull rank (claiming taking in more than one idea is a sign of weakness, etc.), it doesn't change the fact that he pulled his first late night in ages after seeing the wealth of ideas that Ginzo worked up for Snowball. Don also has to sail some troubled family waters with the whole Anna thing, and while it gives him occasion to snap at both Megan (for addressing the issue at all) and Sally (for being Betty's pawn), he does at least manage to do the right thing (more or less) in both cases. The loss here is that he's not only seeing how the tobacco letter has hurt business, but that he now has a very talented underling who could make Don more like Roger if things don't change.
2. Megan Draper. Professional and personal issues for Megan, as she reads through a part with a friend for Dark Shadows, and when Megan knocks the material for being crap, the friend notes that she can afford to be picky, as she doesn't have to wait tables between gigs. Megan takes offense at the suggestion she's not as committed to acting, but the truth at the core - that she can live off of Don - hits home. That the friend later gets the part and wants to celebrate over Thanksgiving dinner just piles on. The whole Anna Draper issue puts Megan in a tough position relative to Sally and Don, and while she tries gamely to breeze over the issue, Sally accuses Megan of lying (which is even worse when you consider that Sally really relies of Megan to tell the truth, as neither Don nor Betty can be counted on doing so). It apparently works out in the end, but the whole thing shows the thin line Megan has to walk with the kids.
1. Betty Francis. The show opens with Betty putting together her sad looking diet breakfast - half a grapefruit, a piece of toast and some cubes of cheese - and it appears her weekly visits to Weight Watchers may not always go as well as she'd like. They do help her sort out some personal issues, but in her usual way she later addresses them inappropriately. After seeing Megan in her bra and then reading a note Don left Megan that Bobby later used to doodle on, Betty obviously feels pain at no longer being young and thin, or having a husband who would write loving notes when he goes out to buy light bulbs. So she casually mentions Anna to Sally and hopes for the worst. When that doesn't happen, she just feels worse about herself. The coup de grace is Thanksgiving, with her sad little plate of food, each piece of which she apparently needs to chew very thoroughly. We are clearly heading towards a winter of Betty's discontent.
No comments:
Post a Comment