-Opens at a party in Paul Kinsey's fashionably unfashionable apartment in Montauk, New Jersey. Joan is disgusted by Paul's boho chic, his stealing a typewriter, and his black girlfriend. (Remember, they used to go out...) I'm kinda grossed out by his posing, as well. I wanna see more of Sal's relationship with his um, 'beard'...
-The big story is the crash of American Airline's flight to Los Angeles, and how it affects the working relationships in Sterling-Cooper. Turns out Pete Campbell's dad was on the flight, a fact the increasingly soulless Duck nudges Pete to use to Sterling-Cooper's advantage in getting American Airlines as a client. As disgusting a stunt it was, I'm reminded of how Pete's dad treated him when Pete asked for a loan for a New York apartment down payment in season one (And given his parent's finances, why Pete's dad turned him down), and so, in retrospect, in Pete's position, his exploiting his personal tragedy for Sterling Cooper's benefit is the most logical action that Pete can do...
-The scene where Pete's with his family has a creepy vibe to it. They're like zombies robotically reciting a script. This resonates with Pete's attempt to reach out to Don earlier. ("How does someone react to this?")
-Betty's behavior towards Don at the bridge party. I suspect she's channeling her aggression towards Don towards her bridge game. Note how hostile she is to the kids this season. I bet her hostility becomes more latent as this season progresses...
-We get to see the fate of Peggy and Pete's bastard child. He's being looked after by Peggy's sister. When Peggy tells her mother that she's capable of making her own decisions, her mom counters that, "The doctors and the State of New York didn't think so!". Note how in the final scene, when Peggy's mom hands Peggy her son to receive communion, that the kid starts crying and won't stop. Other churchgoers head out of the frame to receive their communion, leaving Peggy and her son alone...
- Chris Manley's work for season two is exceptional. He's captured that soft, unnatural lighting in the office that you'd see in 60's movies perfectly. The final scene with Peggy in the church has a dark visual counterpoint to the rest of the show.
-Don, for all his lying and cheating, is a man of deep integrity. It's hard to watch the scene where he cuts the Mohawk client loose. Don's assurances that it wasn't his decision don't give the client any comfort. Does Don turn down the Asian waitress as a form of self-punishment, or is he being corralled by Betty's callousness and Duck's heartlessness?
No comments:
Post a Comment