Mad Men: Episode 12
Add comment November 2nd, 2009
A bit of a disappointing episode this week (titled “The Grown-Ups”) by Man Men standards as we answer the question: “Where were you when Kennedy was shot?”
We see Harry and Pete were discussing Pete’s future with Sterling Cooper (more on that later) when the news broke, which makes sense because Harry’s job requires a television at all times. Duck was in a hotel room waiting for Peggy to show up for a mid-afternoon hook-up. Don was arguing with Mr. Pryce about hiring an expensive replacement for Sal (who Don brutally fired a few episode’s before).
Every other character was busy leading their daily life. Especially Roger, whose daughter’s wedding wasn’t going to stopped for anything.
I don’t think anyone on the podcast thought this was a bad episode. It’s just a bit of a letdown after such a terrific show the previous week. “The Grown-Ups” had some nice touches, such as every ringing phone in Sterling Cooper shutting down in unison once the lines overloaded. And Jane’s line about never getting to vote for the handsome Kennedy was especially spot-on (the voting age was 21 at the time - Jane still was only 20).
But the Kennedy assassination has been covered to death and it’s not all that interesting to spend 30 minutes watching characters watch their televisions. Once news of the assassination broke, it was tough to find a character doing anything else.
In the previous two seasons of Mad Men, the finales were a bit of a let down after stunning set-ups the week before. Maybe we’ll get the opposite this year, especially with Betty’s telling Don she no longer loves him at the end of this episode. We see Roger get a little fed up with his bratty bride, calling Joan for solace at the end of the stressful wedding. And we have Pete and Trudy deciding it would be best for Pete to work for Duck.
As always, you can e-mail the show at podcast@rrstar.com or just comment on any of these posts.
*Production note
We use a two microphone system for these podcasts. Unfortunately, we had a connection problem with the microphone nearest to me and didn’t realize until the recording was over. As a result, my volume level is significantly lower than the Will and Sean. I’ll have this corrected in time for the finale.
