Draper seems to be a man who has some serious soul searching to do. he seems much less self assured. He has a willingness to let other people do things, for better or for worse. This feels very different from the draper of season 1-4.
most distressingly, he seems willing to be overwhelmed by a woman. there has only been one other woman in the history of the show that seemed to have this power over him. (i can't recall her name, but she was older and maybe a redhead).
also of note was the shade of gray with lane and how he deals with minority. final point of interest, pete is don ten years ago.. at least in terms of his ambition at work, not his conquest with the ladies.
Starting with your last point first, Pete is an absolute bitch. He wants to be Don 10 years ago, but he lacks the "Draperness" that made Don, Don. Draper in his prime was assertive, unfettered, irreverent, cool, and in total control. Pete wants the power Don had, but he doesn't possess the "Draperness" to do it. He's petty, jealous, and a sore loser. Now, you could say Draper, deep down, is all those things, but he always masked them behind is ultra cool "I'm Don" facade. Pete wears that shit on his sleeve.
On to Don, I've always felt that the only time we actually saw the real Don (Dick Whitman) was during the flashback scenes and with Anna Draper. In those scenes Don always had an awkward, very un-Draper like smile on his face. It felt and looked like his guard was down. Flash forward to Don of seasons 1-4 and we have the non smiling, no bullshit Don we've all come to know and love.
The Don from last night was a mix of the two. He was really all over the place. Flashes of old, shades of new, Draper is as complex as ever. He wasn't as awkwardly happy as he was in those aforementioned flashbacks, but there was a marked difference in his demeanor and attitude. He just doesn't give a fuck anymore, hates his job, hates (most) of the people he works with, and openly sides with clients with none of his previous "I'm right, you're wrong, Get Out!" bravado. At the same time, he still had some of that cool Draper going on - absolutely shooting Megan down after the party so he could pass out. I admit, I was surprised he did that, given what we had seen so far from the new Don that episode. And then, just when we thought we had it figured out, Don left work to chase Megan down, something unthinkable under the old Don regime.
Where he goes now is anyways guess, but Megan definitely seems to have the power to bring down the Draper wall. Klosterman wrote a good piece on Grantland this morning about the lack of fear being the major impetus, and that makes a lot of sense. I'm not going to plagiarize what he said, so I'll just say I agree with it.
I also liked the subtle emphasis on detail that drives Mad Men. Scuff marks on the doors, worn out paint on the walls, all hints that things are not well at Sterling Cooper Draper Price.
Draper seems to be a man who has some serious soul searching to do. he seems much less self assured. He has a willingness to let other people do things, for better or for worse. This feels very different from the draper of season 1-4.
ReplyDeletemost distressingly, he seems willing to be overwhelmed by a woman. there has only been one other woman in the history of the show that seemed to have this power over him. (i can't recall her name, but she was older and maybe a redhead).
also of note was the shade of gray with lane and how he deals with minority.
final point of interest, pete is don ten years ago.. at least in terms of his ambition at work, not his conquest with the ladies.
Starting with your last point first, Pete is an absolute bitch. He wants to be Don 10 years ago, but he lacks the "Draperness" that made Don, Don. Draper in his prime was assertive, unfettered, irreverent, cool, and in total control. Pete wants the power Don had, but he doesn't possess the "Draperness" to do it. He's petty, jealous, and a sore loser. Now, you could say Draper, deep down, is all those things, but he always masked them behind is ultra cool "I'm Don" facade. Pete wears that shit on his sleeve.
ReplyDeleteOn to Don, I've always felt that the only time we actually saw the real Don (Dick Whitman) was during the flashback scenes and with Anna Draper. In those scenes Don always had an awkward, very un-Draper like smile on his face. It felt and looked like his guard was down. Flash forward to Don of seasons 1-4 and we have the non smiling, no bullshit Don we've all come to know and love.
The Don from last night was a mix of the two. He was really all over the place. Flashes of old, shades of new, Draper is as complex as ever. He wasn't as awkwardly happy as he was in those aforementioned flashbacks, but there was a marked difference in his demeanor and attitude. He just doesn't give a fuck anymore, hates his job, hates (most) of the people he works with, and openly sides with clients with none of his previous "I'm right, you're wrong, Get Out!" bravado. At the same time, he still had some of that cool Draper going on - absolutely shooting Megan down after the party so he could pass out. I admit, I was surprised he did that, given what we had seen so far from the new Don that episode. And then, just when we thought we had it figured out, Don left work to chase Megan down, something unthinkable under the old Don regime.
Where he goes now is anyways guess, but Megan definitely seems to have the power to bring down the Draper wall. Klosterman wrote a good piece on Grantland this morning about the lack of fear being the major impetus, and that makes a lot of sense. I'm not going to plagiarize what he said, so I'll just say I agree with it.
Just my thoughts.
Side bar: Lane is one creep/kinky mother fucker.
I also liked the subtle emphasis on detail that drives Mad Men. Scuff marks on the doors, worn out paint on the walls, all hints that things are not well at Sterling Cooper Draper Price.
ReplyDeletei will briefly agree with your assessment of Klosterman's boiling down of the episode, adding my note that Klosterman is a genius.
ReplyDeleteI will add more of my own thoughts after dinner