Mad Men: For Immediate Release Rewatch
January 25, 2015 7:00 AM - Season 6, Episode 6 - Subscribe
Roger changes tack to make new business. Pete has an awkward run-in with a client.
So many great small moments:
"I love puppies."
Pete falling on the stairs.
Ted, in Peggy's fantasy, reading "Something" by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
And the big thing, the straw that broke Joan's back as far as Don's concerned. (I want them to be friends again when this wraps up.)
posted by Sweetie Darling at 1:12 PM on January 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
"I love puppies."
Pete falling on the stairs.
Ted, in Peggy's fantasy, reading "Something" by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
And the big thing, the straw that broke Joan's back as far as Don's concerned. (I want them to be friends again when this wraps up.)
posted by Sweetie Darling at 1:12 PM on January 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
I have a lot more sympathy for Joan this time around. First watch, I was all "Of course Don should have fired Jaguar! That guy is an asshole!" But this time, it's striking to me that Joan's partnership of what, just over a year?, was about to set her up for life, and Don fucked that up. I don't know if I would've gotten over that, either.
Of course, this being Mad Men, there are shades of ambiguity. Don had no idea about the IPO and if he had known, he might have sucked it up and dealt with Herb long enough not to kill the deal. I'm not sure why Cooper, Pete, and Joan were keeping it a secret anyway.
Also, back in "The Other Woman", I found the plot extremely patronizing in that it was implied that if Joan had known that Don didn't want her to sleep with Herb, she wouldn't have done it. Joan makes her own decisions, dammit. She doesn't need anyone's permission. And now Don has made a decision that diminishes Joan's decision to sleep with Herb. She's still a partner, but thanks to Don, she doesn't have the security that she needs.
posted by donajo at 9:19 AM on January 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
Of course, this being Mad Men, there are shades of ambiguity. Don had no idea about the IPO and if he had known, he might have sucked it up and dealt with Herb long enough not to kill the deal. I'm not sure why Cooper, Pete, and Joan were keeping it a secret anyway.
Also, back in "The Other Woman", I found the plot extremely patronizing in that it was implied that if Joan had known that Don didn't want her to sleep with Herb, she wouldn't have done it. Joan makes her own decisions, dammit. She doesn't need anyone's permission. And now Don has made a decision that diminishes Joan's decision to sleep with Herb. She's still a partner, but thanks to Don, she doesn't have the security that she needs.
posted by donajo at 9:19 AM on January 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
Going back to check the dates, "The Other Woman" (when SCDP wins Jaguar and Peggy goes to CGC was in January 1967 and "For Immediate Release" is in May, 1968.
Also - it occurs to me that Don's decision to merge SCDP with CGC overrides Peggy's decision to distance herself from him.
posted by donajo at 9:24 AM on January 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also - it occurs to me that Don's decision to merge SCDP with CGC overrides Peggy's decision to distance herself from him.
posted by donajo at 9:24 AM on January 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, (and sorry for the triple post), can I just say that I love a good caper? Which is totally what this episode was, from Roger hanging out in the airport lounge hoping to lure in clients to Don making a midnight deal to merge with CGC.
posted by donajo at 9:26 AM on January 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by donajo at 9:26 AM on January 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
The gap added more impact to the scene in Ted's office. Breezing through the episodes, Peggy's time at CGC just feels like a brief detour.
I agree. It makes it seem that Peggy has been at CGC only two or three months. When in fact, as donajo pointed out, Peggy as been there well over a year.
I have a lot more sympathy for Joan this time around.
Me too. I can empathize with both standpoints. With Don and Joan, that is. And yeah, it is ambiguous. Joan has been in the ad business long enough to know that no client is permanent. Jaguar would no longer be a client at some point in the future no matter what. OTOH, as you noted, Joan had a real chance for permanent financial security; something she never really dreamed as being possible. And now, in her eyes, that has gone out the window. Also, when Roger arrived with the news about Chevy the first thing he said was that he had bad news and good news. When he found out that Don had fired Jaguar he said he only had good news then. I assume that the bad news was that in order to make a pitch to another car company , Chevy, they would've had to get rid of Jaguar. That's the way it has worked previously in the show, as per conflict of interest. So Herb and Jaguar would have had to go if there were enough partners agreeing to pitch Chevy. That's the way I parsed that.
The real problem is that there was no overriding vision for the company. Bert, Pete, and Joan are trying to take the company public while Don and Roger are off on their own tangents. A complete lack of communication, and vision, has hindered any unified way forward. Which brings us to the title, "For Immediate Release." Ostensibly it refers to the merger, but it really refers to everyone's behavior. Everyone is acting impulsively, they want immediate release. I'm going to fire this client, right now. I want sex, right now. We're pitching this new company, right now. We're merging with another agency, right now. Ect. It's no wonder that Cutler came to the forefront after the merger, as Bert noted in the first half of season 7, he had a vision for the company and acted on it while the other partners had separate agendas and/ or were personally falling apart.
However, with all that being said, it was great fun seeing Don tell Herb to go screw himself.
posted by cwest at 11:36 AM on January 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
I agree. It makes it seem that Peggy has been at CGC only two or three months. When in fact, as donajo pointed out, Peggy as been there well over a year.
I have a lot more sympathy for Joan this time around.
Me too. I can empathize with both standpoints. With Don and Joan, that is. And yeah, it is ambiguous. Joan has been in the ad business long enough to know that no client is permanent. Jaguar would no longer be a client at some point in the future no matter what. OTOH, as you noted, Joan had a real chance for permanent financial security; something she never really dreamed as being possible. And now, in her eyes, that has gone out the window. Also, when Roger arrived with the news about Chevy the first thing he said was that he had bad news and good news. When he found out that Don had fired Jaguar he said he only had good news then. I assume that the bad news was that in order to make a pitch to another car company , Chevy, they would've had to get rid of Jaguar. That's the way it has worked previously in the show, as per conflict of interest. So Herb and Jaguar would have had to go if there were enough partners agreeing to pitch Chevy. That's the way I parsed that.
The real problem is that there was no overriding vision for the company. Bert, Pete, and Joan are trying to take the company public while Don and Roger are off on their own tangents. A complete lack of communication, and vision, has hindered any unified way forward. Which brings us to the title, "For Immediate Release." Ostensibly it refers to the merger, but it really refers to everyone's behavior. Everyone is acting impulsively, they want immediate release. I'm going to fire this client, right now. I want sex, right now. We're pitching this new company, right now. We're merging with another agency, right now. Ect. It's no wonder that Cutler came to the forefront after the merger, as Bert noted in the first half of season 7, he had a vision for the company and acted on it while the other partners had separate agendas and/ or were personally falling apart.
However, with all that being said, it was great fun seeing Don tell Herb to go screw himself.
posted by cwest at 11:36 AM on January 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
The real problem is that there was no overriding vision for the company. Bert, Pete, and Joan are trying to take the company public while Don and Roger are off on their own tangents. A complete lack of communication, and vision, has hindered any unified way forward.
You really nailed this. Thinking about it, most of the characters also suffer from this same lack of vision in their personal lives at this point in their story. They don't know where they want to end up, and so they meander from meaningless relationship to meaningless relationship (or from marriage into affairs).
posted by drezdn at 5:19 AM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
You really nailed this. Thinking about it, most of the characters also suffer from this same lack of vision in their personal lives at this point in their story. They don't know where they want to end up, and so they meander from meaningless relationship to meaningless relationship (or from marriage into affairs).
posted by drezdn at 5:19 AM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you consider that one of the main reasons why Don proposed the merger was to bring Peggy back, it seems like Peggy is the only woman in his life that he's ever really fought to keep.
posted by drezdn at 5:20 AM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 5:20 AM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
Bert asks for brandy or spirits of elderflower.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 5:58 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 5:58 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by drezdn at 9:26 AM on January 25, 2015 [2 favorites]