Mad Men: The Arrangements Rewatch
September 10, 2014 6:00 AM - Season 3, Episode 4 - Subscribe
Gene and Don cross paths. Peggy is looking for a roommate. A wealthy new client has very high hopes.
A classic case of second (tenth? I've lost count) watch being so much more enjoyable than the first, where I was worried that Sally would crash the car. Now I could watch this face over and over.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 10:36 AM on September 10, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Sweetie Darling at 10:36 AM on September 10, 2014 [3 favorites]
A classic case of second (tenth? I've lost count) watch being so much more enjoyable than the first
I've been enjoying MM more than ever during this rewatch. With only a half season to go, we now know, pretty much, the arc of the entire series. With this knowledge all the episodes seem to "fit" much better. In other words, all the episodes seem much more part of the whole on this rewatch. And this rewatch has also reconfirmed in my mind that MM is a great work of art.
posted by cwest at 4:09 PM on September 11, 2014
I've been enjoying MM more than ever during this rewatch. With only a half season to go, we now know, pretty much, the arc of the entire series. With this knowledge all the episodes seem to "fit" much better. In other words, all the episodes seem much more part of the whole on this rewatch. And this rewatch has also reconfirmed in my mind that MM is a great work of art.
posted by cwest at 4:09 PM on September 11, 2014
Your work is good. But when I say I want the moon, I expect the moon!
The moon belongs to everyone, the best things in life are free.
There's something to gnaw on.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:04 AM on September 12, 2014 [3 favorites]
The moon belongs to everyone, the best things in life are free.
There's something to gnaw on.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:04 AM on September 12, 2014 [3 favorites]
And between those a few episodes from now ... She was an astronaut.
posted by tilde at 10:24 AM on September 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by tilde at 10:24 AM on September 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
In season 5, Peggy refers to Megan as "one of those girls" - the kind that is good at whatever she does, and is beautiful and successful to boot. Joan is also one of those girls. She rattles off a clever and irreverent roommate ad to Peggy on the spot. Even Don isn't always that quick on his feet.
posted by donajo at 11:17 AM on September 12, 2014
posted by donajo at 11:17 AM on September 12, 2014
Let's give Joan full credit where it's due!
"Fun-loving girl, responsible sometimes. Likes to laugh, lives to love, seeks size 6 for city living and general gallivanting. No dull moments or dull men tolerated."
(And then Peggy, of course, having to try so hard to be that girl.)
posted by Sweetie Darling at 3:00 PM on September 12, 2014 [5 favorites]
"Fun-loving girl, responsible sometimes. Likes to laugh, lives to love, seeks size 6 for city living and general gallivanting. No dull moments or dull men tolerated."
(And then Peggy, of course, having to try so hard to be that girl.)
posted by Sweetie Darling at 3:00 PM on September 12, 2014 [5 favorites]
Before these episodes (watching ahead to the season ending while I'm doing other stuff) Don and Roger weigh in on space, too.
In S1, Don pans a Gillette idea by Paul that features an astronaut "he pees his pants"). Talks about fear and rockets exploding. They hit this again when Don attends the military weapon and space conference in California before going AWOL (again).
At the start of S2, when Pete's dad dies in the plane crash, Roger is dissing astronauts, "I'd like to get an award for pulling the car out of the garage and driving around the block seven times" (something like that) and yells at people for listening to what he thinks is a speech about Glen "Colonel Glen is on the earth and will be fore a long time" (something like that).
Don and Roger don't see eye to eye on a lot of things - Roger is older and kind of disses the Korean war as not a real war compared to WWII - but in this case they are pretty well in step.
Bert sees the moon as the future, but one he won't be part of, I think, but one he can help get there - so does Connie. Both went through WWI in one form or another and the Depression (I remember Roger yelling at Bert that he was sorry he missed the Depression).
posted by tilde at 5:55 PM on September 13, 2014
In S1, Don pans a Gillette idea by Paul that features an astronaut "he pees his pants"). Talks about fear and rockets exploding. They hit this again when Don attends the military weapon and space conference in California before going AWOL (again).
At the start of S2, when Pete's dad dies in the plane crash, Roger is dissing astronauts, "I'd like to get an award for pulling the car out of the garage and driving around the block seven times" (something like that) and yells at people for listening to what he thinks is a speech about Glen "Colonel Glen is on the earth and will be fore a long time" (something like that).
Don and Roger don't see eye to eye on a lot of things - Roger is older and kind of disses the Korean war as not a real war compared to WWII - but in this case they are pretty well in step.
Bert sees the moon as the future, but one he won't be part of, I think, but one he can help get there - so does Connie. Both went through WWI in one form or another and the Depression (I remember Roger yelling at Bert that he was sorry he missed the Depression).
posted by tilde at 5:55 PM on September 13, 2014
The DVD commentary for this episode features Weiner, Kiernan, and Ryan Cutrona, who played Grandpa Gene. Kiernan is just delightful and precocious in the most positive, non-obnoxious way, and it's obvious that she and Cutrona had a nice friendship on set. Worth borrowing from a friend if you're mostly watching on Netflix.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 5:55 AM on September 14, 2014
posted by Sweetie Darling at 5:55 AM on September 14, 2014
One arrangement: Sal's marriage. His wife's face when the realisation dawns on her that she's married to a closeted homosexual: his lack of interest in her new nightie, his passionate re-enactment of the Bye Bye Birdie dance. Probably even his behaviour when Ken came to dinner is suddenly making sense to her. Poor woman. Poor Sal, too.
posted by tracicle at 8:48 AM on September 16, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by tracicle at 8:48 AM on September 16, 2014 [2 favorites]
it's obvious that she and Cutrona had a nice friendship on set. Worth borrowing from a friend if you're mostly watching on Netflix.
I thought the show did a great job at showing the strong bond between Sally and Grandpa Gene. Children and old people sometimes have a common bond in being both transgressive and not taken very seriously by everybody else. The show captured that brilliantly. Sally and Gen's copy of Gibbon's "Decline and Fall" will never be parted.
posted by rongorongo at 11:15 PM on August 27, 2019
I thought the show did a great job at showing the strong bond between Sally and Grandpa Gene. Children and old people sometimes have a common bond in being both transgressive and not taken very seriously by everybody else. The show captured that brilliantly. Sally and Gen's copy of Gibbon's "Decline and Fall" will never be parted.
posted by rongorongo at 11:15 PM on August 27, 2019
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posted by donajo at 9:28 AM on September 10, 2014