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[The Elite]

I hope somehow Peggy is the last one standing out of these animals. Girl is just lost in a sea of inhuman jerkoffs!

Last episode should just be her spearing motherfuckers at SCDP...LSSSJ@#(*&@(* whatever the fuck the company names end up as

She's the only one we've actually seen jerking someone off on the show.

 

[Ghizz]

Looking for a new series to start. Could someone briefly give the pros and cons of the series so far? Thanks

 

[ChanHuk]

Looking for a new series to start. Could someone briefly give the pros and cons of the series so far? Thanks

Go watch The Wire.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Looking for a new series to start. Could someone briefly give the pros and cons of the series so far? Thanks

Slow start, much of whate makes it interesting is understanded or implied, some people liken it to a soap opera (although if so, it's the best-written damned soap opera ever).

Stylish, cool-as-fuck protagonist, cool period stuff, fun product pitches, the acting and writing are top-notch.

BTW, I love the Wire, but it wishes it could have the acting on this show.

 

[maharg]

As a kid, I always remembered them playing up the supposed health benefits of margarine. I'm surprised they didn't go with that.

Of course, it turns out it's worse for you.

I don't remember hearing that a lot, but when I was growing up fat of all sorts was being villified. I think margarine was so successful because during and post-war farm capacity wasn't able to keep up with the booming middle class' demand for butter. All those war families with 5 kids couldn't afford the stuff. Now we've got much more efficient farming so things have become a bit more equal.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I don't remember hearing that a lot, but when I was growing up fat of all sorts was being villified. I think margarine was so successful because during and post-war farm capacity wasn't able to keep up with the booming middle class' demand for butter. All those war families with 5 kids couldn't afford the stuff. Now we've got much more efficient farming so things have become a bit more equal.

It was definitely a thing. Butter was fatty, therefore bad for you, therefore eat margarine instead. This article references it, I'm sure digging could find more examples.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/23/margarine-butter-health-wars

I'm approximately the age of Joan's kid, btw, give or take a few months.

 

[maharg]

It was definitely a thing. Butter was fatty, therefore bad for you, therefore eat margarine instead. This article references it, I'm sure digging could find more examples.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/23/margarine-butter-health-wars

I'm approximately the age of Joan's kid, btw, give or take a few months.

Fair enough, you've got a few years on me for sure.

 

[Cornballer]

Yeah, back in the day, it was margarine for every day use for health reasons (as my parents explained it), and we'd occasionally get to use butter for something special.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Actually, Kevin is about 8 months older than me.

 

[Evilcrane]

Aww man, I have a bad feeling that Roger is going to take it out on Bob next episode...

There goes the coffee

 

[BertramCooper]

It probably goes without saying, but when you grow up on a dairy farm, margarine is basically a four-letter word.

Growing up in the 90s, we would frequently have to ask for butter at restaurants that only served margarine with bread/rolls. That appears to be a thing of the past, though. Only crappy restaurants serve margarine exclusively these days. High-end restaurants won't touch the stuff, thank God.

 

[maharg]

Yeah, back in the day, it was margarine for every day use for health reasons (as my parents explained it), and we'd occasionally get to use butter for something special.

Well, I stand by my stated reason for the original massive commercial success of margarine. Sometimes society likes to retcon itself, especially when the real reason makes people seem cheap while they're trying to climb the social ladder.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

I prefer margarine to most butters. I don't even give a fuck.

 

[Jackben]

Margarine is a single molecule away from being plastic. Nice try, SCDP.

 

[tedtropy]

Margarine is a single molecule away from being plastic. Nice try, SCDP.

Alot of things we eat are a few molecules away from something we'd probably consider unappetizing.

Some fun lunchtime reading: http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/butter.asp

 

[Fonz72]

It sucks that Abe was the one to break up with Peggy.

Peggy deserved to be the one dumping him, after all the dumb shit he pulled.

Indeed! So glad to get rid of that douche! Hopefully, the character is just done. After he got stabbed by the punks, I was lamenting to the wife about how lame his character was and that Peggy should ditch him, then BAM! Happy day. Also Betty. Betty, damn.

 

[The Elite]

I prefer margarine to most butters. I don't even give a fuck.

I don't like either that much, but if I have to choose one, it's butter. Even if it costs more than margarine.

 

[Cornballer]

Well, I stand by my stated reason for the original massive commercial success of margarine. Sometimes society likes to retcon itself, especially when the real reason makes people seem cheap while they're trying to climb the social ladder.

You might be right. I haven't looked into it at all - just presenting anecdotal evidence from my upbringing.

 

[ZedIndyLil]

Aha, the end of the Sepinwall review points out that Bob has in fact lied about his dad this season. So cracks are appearing (at least to us) in the facade...

 

[AnotherNils]

Peggy has always been torn between the 60s counterculture and her desire to succeed in the ad world. Her relationship with Abe was the manifestation of this.

Abe is a hypocritical idealist, admirably concerned about racial inequality but oblivious to gender inequality. He was unconcerned about Peggy's struggles to succeed in the advertising because he found her entire industry reprehensible. What he failed to grasp in his ignorance is that Peggy, as a progressive woman, had the potential to change the industry in ways he would have admired. But he was too arrogant and pig-headed (and perhaps sexist) to see any of this.

That's a great summary. I forgot about how sexist Abe was in the beginning.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Aha, the end of the Sepinwall review points out that Bob has in fact lied about his dad this season. So cracks are appearing (at least to us) in the facade...

yeah this show is way too deliberate to have made a mistake like that. Bob 2 cups Bunson Burner Benson is definitely a snake.

 

[AnotherNils]

So is the door now open for Stan to execute Operation: Killmachine on Peggy's ladyparts?

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Yeah, I have no idea if health was a reason for margarine's popularity. But it was a common belief in the era. Pretty much two things I remember from time, which I assume are purely from the marketing:

Margarine is healthier for you (since debunked)
it tastes so good you can't tell it's not butter!

I don't every remember people talking about it being cheaper, although I didn't spend money, so who knows. I heard the other two things often enough.

For fun: Remember these?

1973: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACFO_jtzbfg

somewhere between 73-76: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLrTPrp-fW8

1970: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGGtU28skko

 

[Cornballer]

So is the door now open for Stan to execute Operation: Killmachine on Peggy's ladyparts?

 

[Altazor]

What a great episode - lots of parallels and "halves". Don and Ted, Abe and Ted, Megan and Betty, Don and Henry, Roger and Don, Roger and Bob, Duck and Pete. Loved it.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

And of course, Margarine/Butter.

 

[Altazor]

And of course, Margarine/Butter.

oh, of course. I can't believe I forgot that :lol

 

[AnotherNils]

Bob Benson's Dad & Pete's Mom.

 

[aronnov reborn]

so if sex means nothing to Don why the hell does he keep tagging anything with legs? I'd like to really see him grow and become a better person... I just dont know if i'll see it before this show is over

and I really wish him and betty get back together before it's over. I dont know why but i just want them to work.

*EDIT*
and what did betty mean when Don asked her if she felt guilty and she said "No. This happened a long time ago."?

 

[pigeon]

so if sex means nothing to Don why the hell does he keep tagging anything with legs?

Yeah, he's lying, or at least being deceptive, and Betty calls him directly on it. It's possible, maybe probable, that sex doesn't make Don feel close to people -- but if that's the case, that's exactly why he does it, to distance himself from people he feels too close to. Don doesn't have sex to develop intimacy, he uses sex to control people.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

I don't think he was saying sex doesn't mean anything, he was just saying that to him it doesn't define closeness.

 

[AnotherNils]

I can't chip in on that discussion but the way I read it, the root of Don's problems is that the only person during his childhood that treated him well/acted like a mother slept with him (perhaps forced herself upon him)?

 

[Kaladin]

So did anyone else think Abe was dead? It wasn't a deep stab but it was a stomach wound....he could have bled out easily.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Well, not exactly. I did think "they won't have him die" and every other thing that I thought wouldn't happen *did* happen, so I really didn't know.

 

[Jackben]

I think he lived. Peggy would have acted much differently if he ended up dying. It was just a hilarious and metaphorical way to end their relationship: while peggy actually stabbed him, Abe was the one who cut a deeper wound by stabbing her with his conclusions about who Peggy is and what she does.

 

[Kaladin]

I'm sure he lived, but I thought for sure he was dying with where she got him. The medic's shrug when Peggy asked if he would make it was part of it I think.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Oh, I am sure he's alive. I just wasn't sure if he was going to make it.

 

[pigeon]

Well, not exactly. I did think "they won't have him die" and every other thing that I thought wouldn't happen *did* happen, so I really didn't know.

One of the zeitgeisty things that's happening this season is that people are doing things and ending up in situations that are much more likely to just straight kill them than previous years and we're being kind of left on the hook until future episodes each time. Note Roger and that one dork going to the hospital last episode, Ken going out with the Chevy folks, etc. They're deliberately avoiding telling us that everything will be all right immediately, presumably to create that sense of fear and uncertainty.

 

[Leona Lewis]

and what did betty mean when Don asked her if she felt guilty and she said "No. This happened a long time ago."?

I was wondering the same thing. I'm thinking that she meant that she's imagined sleeping with Don while still with Henry, which she could equate on some level with actually doing it.

 

[brianjones]

i think it was just her way of rationalizing it

sleeping with don is something she did a long time ago when they were married

 

[Jackben]

i think it was just her way of rationalizing it

sleeping with don is something she did a long time ago when they were married

This is how I interpreted it as well.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

I thought Betty just meant that what she's feeling and what he is feeling is how they used to be a long time ago, so it's a familiar experience for her, and it doesn't really affect her now because she's content with her life.

Or something along that line.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

One of the zeitgeisty things that's happening this season is that people are doing things and ending up in situations that are much more likely to just straight kill them than previous years and we're being kind of left on the hook until future episodes each time. Note Roger and that one dork going to the hospital last episode, Ken going out with the Chevy folks, etc. They're deliberately avoiding telling us that everything will be all right immediately, presumably to create that sense of fear and uncertainty.

Yes. I'll go one more by saying that they are also doing things that might cross one's mind, but you wouldn't think would actually happen. To both viewers and characters

- Abe being stabbed (I thought, nah, that's not going to happen, and then it did)
- Don sleeping with Betty (thought about it when he was scoping her at the gas station, and then BAM, it happened)
- The agencies merging
- Bob turning out to be a serial killer
- Peggy and Ted kissing
- The lesbian come-on
- The swinging invitation in the first place for that matter
- Pete's father-in-law not following the mutually-assured-destruction default


Lots of "oh no they won't, oh wow they did" things this season. Very unsettling.

 

[Nitemare1]

Anyone else feel like they have changed Don this season into a straight up asshole!
In the other seasons he seemed like a guy on the edge who at the last minute would do something redeeming.
I just feel like this season so far they are just writing him like a complete tool.

 

[bigmase84]

Well, at least she got to stab this one.

I read that in this man's voice in my head lol

 

[Kaladin]

Anyone else feel like they have changed Don this season into a straight up asshole!
In the other seasons he seemed like a guy on the edge who at the last minute would do something redeeming.
I just feel like this season so far they are just writing him like a complete tool.

To be fair to Don, there isn't a whole lot going right for him this season aside from the merger which might not be a good thing in the end. Megan is becoming more distant from him with her acting career (though he isn't helping in that department), his convenient affair with the neighbor (forget her name) ended and aside from merging the two companies, he hasn't had that big success moment at work he thrives on.

 

[Nitemare1]

To be fair to Don, there isn't a whole lot going right for him this season aside from the merger which might not be a good thing in the end. Megan is becoming more distant from him with her acting career (though he isn't helping in that department), his convenient affair with the neighbor (forget her name) ended and aside from merging the two companies, he hasn't had that big success moment at work he thrives on.

That's very true. Maybe it will all come full circle by the end.. There's what, 4 episodes left?

 

[Kaladin]

That's very true. Maybe it will all come full circle by the end.. There's what, 4 episodes left?

Nobody major has died this season, right? (unless I'm forgetting something)

 

[pigeon]

That's very true. Maybe it will all come full circle by the end.. There's what, 4 episodes left?

I wouldn't anticipate it.

Don's had two chances now -- he got a new agency, a new wife and a new home and tried to start over and figure out how to have a happy life. That's what last season was all about -- but, as we saw at the end of that and the beginning of this one, it failed. Don is having the same problems with his agency and his marriage that he did way back in the first few seasons (returning to the past is a huge, huge theme this season). That's probably because the problems aren't with his agency or his wife, but with Don.

I don't think he'll get another chance. Remember...you only live twice.

 

[Nitemare1]

Nobody major has died this season, right? (unless I'm forgetting something)

I'm pretty sure the only death was Frank and he was only in 2 episodes