tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post6488211741668581715..comments2024-03-28T23:03:57.917-04:00Comments on Doux Reviews: Mad Men: Dark ShadowsBillie Douxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17141769005175631213noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-10898757559008581412012-05-23T10:55:41.491-04:002012-05-23T10:55:41.491-04:00I just wanted to apologize for not replying to you...I just wanted to apologize for not replying to your comments for so long, especially since they're all so interesting...<br /><br /><b>Josie</b> That's a crazily good point about always having Betty react to external situations. I mean, they're undoubtedly aware by this point that January isn't the strongest of actors, so they seem to be making it easier for her. To further that, notice how she has to throw something at the end of this episode in order to depict her anger. Because I guess it's harder to convey that emotion through a simple facial expression or whatever. I like January a lot, but she's definitely limited, and that was a great point you made.<br /><br />I also agree that the anti-Semitism was jarring, but I take the lack of feedback as more a comment on the time, when people weren't confident enough to actually say "you know what, you can't say that".<br /><br /><b>Jess</b> Agreed about Pete. As funny as he is, his total lack of self-awareness is ridiculously ugly.<br /><br />And I agree that the writers have done a disservice to Betty, and I remember writing about it vaguely back in Tea Leaves, how they sort of stopped giving her the emotional depth to explain her casual cruelty. At the same time, though, I still enjoy her character, and I think her behavior still makes sense when you think about her history and her general naivety.<br /><br />And something tells me that Sally will come out the right way. She's gradually seeing the badness that people do, but I think she's smart enough to realize its power and how cruel it can be, as well as how negative it is for the person acting that way.<br /><br /><b>Mani</b> You're not alone in feeling the show has gone downhill this year. It seems to be a recurring comment on certain blogs. But, personally, I don't think it's any better nor worse than what we've seen before. It's arguably not as subtle, but I don't think it's hit Dexter levels of contrivance just yet. Not at all.<br /><br /><b>Anonymous</b> That's a problem with having such a large cast, but I'd rather they split the characters off and allow people to take a backseat for a couple of weeks rather than awkwardly stuff them all into each hour, everybody in their own little subplots, like Glee or True Blood, both of which are ridiculously messy in terms of narrative.<br /><br />Thanks for the insightful comments, guys. It's hugely appreciated.maxpower03https://www.blogger.com/profile/11951553958753040457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-44535471830071616942012-05-17T04:16:15.082-04:002012-05-17T04:16:15.082-04:00I have no problem with Betty being back but what I...I have no problem with Betty being back but what I don´t like this season is that some character arcs get interrupted for several episodes and suddenly they are back on. What happened with Lane after the fight? What about Joan? (I wish she had more to do this season). <br /><br />Betty´s scheme was awful and it was a little satisfying that it fired right back. But as Jess said that sheds no good light on Sally. Hopefully she won´t evolve into some kind of Veda Pierce character (Mildred Pierce).<br /><br />Ginsberg had it coming and although Don behaved kind of childish, I´m glad he did. <br /><br />Overall I share your opinion about this episode.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-42355351181054912672012-05-17T00:09:48.903-04:002012-05-17T00:09:48.903-04:00to do that in. Who knows, maybe they'll shock ...to do that in. Who knows, maybe they'll shock us!Maninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-56188048280612128782012-05-17T00:08:07.106-04:002012-05-17T00:08:07.106-04:00The overall quality of the show has stopped being ...The overall quality of the show has stopped being 'must see'. There are no 'hooks'to the stories even after 9 episodes and that's baddd. I think the long hiatus between seasons has done 'Mad Men' more harm than good.<br /><br />Glimmers of cleverness with the dialogue and some characters still exist, but as with the show 'Dexter' there are also a lot more amateurishly contrived situations to get the characters where the writers want them to go.<br /><br />In the beginning what made the show interesting was the way it peeled away the layers of the onion from these really interesting, flawed and complex characters.<br /><br />The new characters just aren't as interesting to find out about as early Don Draper and crew were, and there are not that many episodes left.Maninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-61076783943387513802012-05-16T17:07:42.724-04:002012-05-16T17:07:42.724-04:00I find Pete's disgust with Howard amusing, bec...I find Pete's disgust with Howard amusing, because he's basically doing the same thing to Trudy that Howard is to Beth. He's every bit the d-bag that Howard is. And if Beth was receptive to him, then he probably wouldn't give a flying fig how Howard treats/talks about her.<br /><br />I used to sympathize with Betty in the beginning, because what Don was doing to her was awful and she was so obviously depressed with where her choices in life had led her. But then they pushed her hard into the childish zone, and even harder into the God-awful mother zone, and now it's impossible to like her. What she did in this episode to Sally to assuage her own jealousies was horrible. Sally is the one who suffers when Betty does crap like that. It made it rather satisfying to see Sally hurt her right back. But then I realized what that meant about the kind of person Sally is becoming, and I just got sad and angry all over again.<br /><br />Betty sucks, dude.Jess Lyndehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14165015932507376656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-28675388393621527242012-05-16T15:28:59.800-04:002012-05-16T15:28:59.800-04:00"I don't know, there was just an on-the-n..."I don't know, there was just an on-the-nose quality to a lot of the story, lacking in traditional Mad Men subtlety. Again, I don't think it's a Betty-related problem, but it is interesting that the last time this occurred was with the Betty stories back in Tea Leaves."<br /><br />I agree, although I think I might be more willing to blame Betty than you are. Or rather the mix of circumstances that makes her story hard to tell, which I have broken down into a list because I love lists:<br /><br />1. She's so childish and petulant that it's difficult to create stories around her.<br />2. January Jones isn't a great actress, so the writers have to give her more to play off of. The Megan/shirt scene and family-tree scene were both external situations to give her something to react to, because her just sitting in a room (like Peggy often does) wouldn't be enough to make clear to us what she's going through.<br />3. That seems to be what they're doing with the dieting plot. (Which is obviously inspired by baby weight.) They need an external marker of internal dissatisfaction for Betty in a way they don't with the other characters.<br /><br />(Okay, it's a short list. :-) <br /><br />Roger's casual anti-Semitism was so weird, especially since the wine people took it so much in stride. I sort of expected them to say, "You people?! Do you know how offensive that is?!" It would have been interesting to watch Roger talk himself out of that one.<br /><br />I'm so glad you're reviewing this show, Max!Josie Kafkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17892717530356699008noreply@blogger.com