Betty’s still an awful mother. The more she adores baby Gene, the colder she is towards Sally and Bobby. Especially Bobby. “Go bang your head against a wall. Only boring people are bored.” Poor Bobby. I foresee lots of therapy for him in the future.
And, though she is nicer to Sally, Betty doesn’t really understand the complexity of her daughter’s grief over (Grandpa) Gene’s death—i.e. when she misinterprets Sally’s standoffishness around (baby) Gene as mere jealousy and tries to pacify her with a note suspiciously ‘penned’ by baby Gene and a Barbie doll. I don’t blame Sally for throwing that Barbie out her window.
Anyways…I was delighted that this episode was very Joan-centric.
I know I could say it about almost every character on this show, but Joan is such a fascinating character to watch. She’s like…a witty super-hero, who can do practically everything. Even the annoying Mr. Hooker acknowledges in this episode that “Mrs. Harris knows everything…” I don' t know about you, but I still have trouble when people call her 'Mrs. Harris.'
Maybe (just maybe) the superhero thing is an exaggeration, but there is much to be said about Joan’s secret gamut of skills, which have been revealed to us over the past few episodes. Remember when she helped revive Peggy’s sad roommate ad off the top of her head? Or when she begrudgingly, yet beautifully, played accordion and sang for her pushy husband and his colleagues at their dinner party? Well, it turns out Joan’s hidden skills don’t end there.
In this episode, another one of Joan’s talents is revealed! Mainly, her ability to quickly patch up a man’s foot after it gets mangled by a John Deere’s tractor blades. I am convinced she is the 1960s female version of MacGyver. Geez, at this rate, she could probably become a surgeon more quickly than her husband--if she really wanted to. But, the thought has probably never crossed her mind (that's not meant to be an insult, it's just an assumption; her goals just don't seem to include being self-sufficient and single at this stage in her life).
It was difficult to see Joan burst into tears once MacKendrick made a toast congratulating her on her ‘new life’. A life that is falling shorter of her expectations every time she tries to move forward.
Despite all of her talents and charm, she seems to be getting ‘stuck.’ And it’s hard to surmise exactly who/what is to blame. On her own, she could be almost anything. Sometimes, I think that if Joan were transplanted into the present, this could be especially true. But she isn't. “If [she] only knew what was possible…,” right, Grandpa Gene? But then, I wonder: even if she did know what she could achieve, would she even want it? I’m not an expert on 1960s social thought, so I’m just gonna say I really don’t know.
Needless to say, she’s just pretty awesome. And how about that scene with her and Don?! Watching their exchange while they’re sitting together at the hospital was like beholding the king and queen of the universe (if said universe was Sterling Cooper). They are the greatest couple that never ‘officially’ was.
Another great exchange occured between her and Peggy. Though both women have shown themselves to be widely different in terms of goals/desires, they both seemed ready to wish each other the best, ready to effectively part in a nice tie-it-in-a bow way. And wouldn't you know it...just as Peggy was about to express heartfelt gratitude to Joan, the John Deere started veering out of control, and well, you know the rest... Mad Men is not a tie-it-in-a bow show.
Anyways, if you couldn’t tell, I loved this episode. It was crazy good. But, enough about what I thought.
What did you think?
6 comments:
*flail* This review was so good omg!
On the episode, I absolutely loved it. Maybe one of my favorite episodes of this show ever. I still kind of can't believe the tractor thing even happened. It was so bizarre. But that's why I love this show. Nothing that you expect to happen, happens. They lull you into a false sense of security and then BAM! Someone gets their foot run over by a tractor.
I was actually surprised at how sad I was over the prospect that Pryce was leaving the company. I didn't realize how much I had grown to like him. He does have a fantastic accent ;)
Betty’s still an awful mother.
I kind of don't really like Betty anymore. She really is an awful mother to her kids. Especially Bobby lol. Poor kid. Don on the other hand? Proved to be an excellent father. I loved that scene at the end with him, Sally, and baby Gene.
She’s like…a witty super-hero, who can do practically everything.
This is so true! I love Joan so much and this was a fantastic episode for her. What's going to happen with her though? I'm scared, Zozizzle. I was hoping the whole time she was going to ask for her job back, but then she walked out the door at the end and I was so sad. What is this show without Joan?
Oh, and yes yes. Joan/Don would be the most perfect couple in the whole world :)
I'm gonna stick up for Betty here.
I think we have to be careful about realizing that the scenes we see with Betty and her kids are not the "whole story" of her as a mother. We are only seeing scenes that highlight the conflict between Betty, baby Gene, Sally, Betty's depression/stress, etc.
We don't see all the normal, everyday interaction between Betty and her kids because that would be boring and not dramatic. WATCH as Betty feeds her kids lunch! WATCH as Betty helps Bobby paint a picture! WATCH as Betty takes her kids to the park!
yeah.... not exactly thrilling TV.
Betty might be a little touchy in the scenes with her kids, but I think we can't forget that she's just coming off of a highly stressful period in her life where her father died, she had a difficult birth, found out her husband was cheating on her, and had a lengthy separation from her husband. I'm reserving judgment on the Betty = Bad mother thing until we see more.
Also: My mom used to say the same thing about only bored people being bored and frankly, I didn't find it mean at all. Betty can be a little short with Bobby sometimes, but I didn't feel like this was one of those times.
Anyhoo, awesome bunch of Mad Men posts!!!
Oh, also: I thought Betty giving Sally the doll "from baby Gene" was cute and an instance where Betty was being a good mother.
Just because Betty doesn't understand Sally's grief and fear doesn't mean Betty doesn't care about her daughter.
What is this show without Joan?
Mad Men without Joan?...I shudder at the very thought of it! I really wanted her to stay at Sterling Cooper, too! But, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens... Where will she go? *the suspense is killing me!*
I think we have to be careful about realizing that the scenes we see with Betty and her kids are not the "whole story" of her as a mother.
That's a good point. I hadn't thought of it that way. Taking another look at the scene where she gives Sally the doll, I can see that Betty does care about her daughter. If she didn't, she probably wouldn't even try to talk to Sally, and she wouldn't voice her concern over Sally's avoidance of baby Gene to Don. In these instances, I think we can definitely see that Betty is trying to be a good mother; it's just that her attempts to smooth things over don't always go as she'd hoped, and she comes across in a somewhat cold way.
I suppose the more I think about it, the more I realize that, just as with many of MM's characters, I can't peg Betty as one thing all the time. (Which is one reason why this show is awesome :)
Yeah, I think you are exactly right. It's not that Betty doesn't care, she's just not very good at the whole "nurturing mother" thing. She's not a super-affectionate person and she can come across as cold to our more touchy-feely 21st century culture. Betty is a product of her upbringing as much as anything -- I mean, remember her parents weren't exactly warm and fuzzy!
Joan should go to the agency that Duck works for now, along with Pete and Peggy and it will be awesome! They will be the hip, fun agency and Sterling-Coop can just be the stupid old fuddy-duddy place. ;)
PEGGY/PETE/JOAN SPIN-OFF OMG. THAT SOUNDS LIKE THE GREATEST SHOW EVER!
Ahem...yeah, actually Jenni, I do agree with you that we can't judge Betty solely on what we see on the show. I was talking to my mom as well and she was defending Betty b/c that's just how people acted back then. They didn't have self-help books they could just pick up telling them how to raise a child. I do think she really was trying to help Sally.
Bobby on the other hand? He can just go and bang his head on the wall for all she cares ;)
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