Mad Men: Field Trip Rewatch
March 1, 2015 7:08 AM - Season 7, Episode 3 - Subscribe
Don takes an impromptu trip. Betty has lunch with a friend. Harry lobbies for a cause. The partners consider a questionable asset.
When Megan was accusing Don of cheating, I had to think back. He hasn't cheated since Sally caught him, has he?
posted by drezdn at 7:45 PM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by drezdn at 7:45 PM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
He hasn't cheated since Sally caught him, has he?
I don't believe so.
Harry: "You know what? This conversation is over. I'm really not interested." I'm saving this in case I ever need it.
I like this comment from George_Spiggott: "There's something incredibly epic about the way he walks back in and lets them wrap him in chains. It comes across as a victory, like he's some kind of demigod they have to chain to the rock in order to gain his power without being destroyed by him. And he lets them do it. They did their worst and he didn't even blink."
posted by cwest at 11:58 PM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
I don't believe so.
Harry: "You know what? This conversation is over. I'm really not interested." I'm saving this in case I ever need it.
I like this comment from George_Spiggott: "There's something incredibly epic about the way he walks back in and lets them wrap him in chains. It comes across as a victory, like he's some kind of demigod they have to chain to the rock in order to gain his power without being destroyed by him. And he lets them do it. They did their worst and he didn't even blink."
posted by cwest at 11:58 PM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
My LOL moment of the episode: Jim Cutler's takeaway message from reading Jessica Mitford's The American Way of Death. "I know this isn't the message, but we can all learn something from the funeral business."
posted by ChrisTN at 3:38 PM on March 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by ChrisTN at 3:38 PM on March 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
Well, I missed most of the re-watch but I've started with this one to catch myself up before next week. One thing I don't recall from originally watching is how Roger telling Don to come in and then totally forgetting about it echoes the way Don got (sort of) hired by him in the first place.
posted by mikepop at 5:50 PM on March 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by mikepop at 5:50 PM on March 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
This episode puts a lot of Peggy's "Total Asshole" crown from the previous episode into relief. She'd gotten over Don with Ted, who was a kinder and more nurturing mentor (if not at Don't level of "genius," at least he was more supportive and appreciative of Peggy's own brand of brilliance) and she still blames Don for shipping Ted off to LA, and Ted for going along with it, and if Lou's going to be as worthless as he's shown himself to be, well maybe she's outgrown mentorship once and for all.
Except that she still kind of wants it, and the realities of the industry and the era mean that she's not going to get from Copy Chief to Creative Director without it, though she's definitely not going to get there with Don between her desk and Lou's, as I mentioned, worthlessness.
Betty, meanwhile, is so good until she feels slighted by Bobby, who clearly adores her. Talking to him about his favorite monsters, drinking the fresh milk... that whole subplot could have been an incident-free day at the farm and this show, if none other, could have pulled that off. But even this Bobby-centric plot is about Sally, really. I don't think Sally is ever even mentioned in the episode, but Betty wants her love badly, and can't get it, and can't punish her in a way that matters, and so she tries to lavish herself upon her second child, turns to emotionally terrorizing that child when he doesn't live up to it, and then pre-emptively gives up on the toddler in her arms. She never sees how much Bobby loves her. Even Don has given up on trying to "perform" love at this point, at least with Sally, just being painfully honest with her and hoping that she'll understand that gesture for what it means. Betty has no big secrets of her own to reveal, except that she's kind of still a child herself (though remember how she cared about Sally's friend who didn't get into Julliard...)
Oh and finally, shithead though he is, I love Harry Crane.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:45 PM on March 6, 2020
Except that she still kind of wants it, and the realities of the industry and the era mean that she's not going to get from Copy Chief to Creative Director without it, though she's definitely not going to get there with Don between her desk and Lou's, as I mentioned, worthlessness.
Betty, meanwhile, is so good until she feels slighted by Bobby, who clearly adores her. Talking to him about his favorite monsters, drinking the fresh milk... that whole subplot could have been an incident-free day at the farm and this show, if none other, could have pulled that off. But even this Bobby-centric plot is about Sally, really. I don't think Sally is ever even mentioned in the episode, but Betty wants her love badly, and can't get it, and can't punish her in a way that matters, and so she tries to lavish herself upon her second child, turns to emotionally terrorizing that child when he doesn't live up to it, and then pre-emptively gives up on the toddler in her arms. She never sees how much Bobby loves her. Even Don has given up on trying to "perform" love at this point, at least with Sally, just being painfully honest with her and hoping that she'll understand that gesture for what it means. Betty has no big secrets of her own to reveal, except that she's kind of still a child herself (though remember how she cared about Sally's friend who didn't get into Julliard...)
Oh and finally, shithead though he is, I love Harry Crane.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:45 PM on March 6, 2020
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posted by tracicle at 7:10 AM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]