Mad Men 6x09 Reaction

Proof positive that no one’s ever really done with the Mother/Father of their children

[sharon tate theorizing intensifies] Betty rationalizing her tryst with Don as something that "happened a long time ago" is such a gorgeous character moment. Obviously she's being unfaithful to Henry, but there's something so "Sliding Doors" to that whole interlude at camp with Bobby -- a world where they stayed together, only if... Of course that was never a real option, but the way can compartmentalize and romanticize their time together feels so true to life to me. If the show is doing a "bad job" communicating Betty's character arc here -- I don't think it is, personally -- I wonder if that's more a failing in their portrayal of Henry. On a show full of complicated, damaged people, Henry just gets to bob along for several seasons as Betty's mostly two-dimensional Good Guy second husband/foil to Don. I think if he were a slightly more complicated character, we'd read Betty cheating with Don more as a messy, complicated character moment than as a symbolic back-slide away from what Henry represents.

for anyone anxious about the overall LM patron community: of those who identify as political, "74% of us are at least somewhat left-wing" additionally, LM are transparently left-wing in values and beliefs. how amusing that patrons so clearly part of the "4% [who] identify as somewhat right-wing, and 13% [who] identify as very right-wing" are showing up in the comments of this specific episode, opining on Abe/peggy in particular *i'm pulling these stats from a survey someone on the discord conducted. also not surprisingly, those who identified as right-wing/very right-wing are all men

Just noticed that Bob Benson said the nurse he recommended to Peter had recently nursed his father to full health. In the season premiere, he says to Ken that the reason he sent the spread to Roger was that it reminded him of what he would have wanted when his own father died.

Very funny episode. "It's me, Bob Benson!", "I'm Bobby Five", "Abe got stabbed 😕", "You will always be the enemy" - "Are you breaking up with me?" Betty and Don's scenes are great in this episode, disappointing but very revealing. The scene with them singing reminds me a lot of the early seasons, pulling back the camera to frame this beautiful scene, with the viewer knowing that it's not as it seems. The shoe is on the other foot here, with Don now realising what he threw away, but that doesn't really make it feel good. Abe and Peggy's scenes are good too. I can understand why Abe wouldn't want to report the crime to that cop, but also why Peggy is sick of him excusing it. I don't think Ted does anything wrong at the end though, it's blunt but he'd already said that they shouldn't pursue it.

Betty being able to view “Marriage To Don” from the outside perspective now with regards to Megan and the issues she’s having is maybe my favorite part of the event

Bobby Draper singing that song with Betty and Don pumping their fists in the air has lived in my head rent-free for the last 12 years. Or however long it's been since this aired.

I love talking about this episode lol. Betty might be one of my all-time favorite characters in fiction. She drives people crazy with her choices, but she tells you her justifications in the text. Your read of her is so spot on. She wants to be desired, but she'd never cheat on Henry with anyone "real", so she implicitly invites Don in instead, because Don isn't "a real person" to her. He's her ex-husband and its not cheating because he's just like that and it happened "a long time ago". She is a genius and her brain is powerful. She is everything. And then the morning after, just like OG Don Draper, shoving toast and OJ in his mouth pretending he didn't shower off someone else's residue hours before. Pointless and depraved and all Don can do is find an empty booth, like all the women he's used and tossed aside. If Betty has no fans I am dead. Abe is a fairly straight-down-the-middle well meaning 1960s leftist. There are elements of performance to him of course... the white guy hanging around Black revolutionaries etc. It doesn't make him bad or wrong, and he's been wrong on issues before (like womens rights). Like many people, he pushes down the central political conflict of their relationship because he loves Peggy and Peggy loves him, but it bubbles up. Peggy - emulating Don again - finds herself magnetically attracted to an unavailable man, ignoring that part of the reason she feels this way is that she knows her relationship with Abe has a core issue. Abe papers over the misalignment in his relationship with Peggy the same way he papers over the walls of their shitty house they never should have bought. "Maybe we aren't cut out to be pioneers" Abe is talking about well-meaning gentrification, but really his entire relationship with Peggy - barely-socially-liberal working class white Catholic "Margaret Olsen", working as Copy Chief for a Mad Av Firm running campaigns for Napalm Manufacturers - is the real attempt at pioneering. Abe isn't a "pioneer". Peggy isn't a radical leftist. It's like a shitty Romeo and Juliet, doomed from the start. It's so difficult to watch Megan. Over and over again we watch a bright, creative, fun 20-something year old girl just have the light ground out of her like a barely-smoked menthol cigarette in a camp bed. She thinks she's failing in every aspect of her life - home, family, work, everywhere. But really we're just seeing what must have happened to Betty before s1e1 - a mid-20s girl experiences what it's like being married to Don Draper. Betty sleeps with Don at camp because he's not a real person to her. Megan can't diagnose the core problem with her relationship because she hasn't realized it yet either: Donald Draper is a performance, obviously. But "Donald Draper, who admitted to me he was Dick Whitman and told me everything" is also a performance. It's performances all the way down. Bonus thoughts: I loved how the girls kept mentioning that Don's mind is "2 floors down", all the Sylvia stuff is deeply resonant even when it's over and off-screen, such good reads. Pete is back into pitiful era for me, love his sad boy "wanna get dinner" yeah no thanks pete, you're not that pitiful. I love "Bob Bunson", my fav mad men character. The parallels (and differences) between Don, Ted and Peggy are so interesting... absolute therapist's field day if we could get the three of them in a room with a licensed professional.

Abe is such a worm, I can't stand him. Happy to leech off Peggy whilst hating on what she does for a living. Absolute hypocrite. "Look at me, I want to live in a rundown, dangerous neighbourhood full of minorities just to prove a point".

I think this is my personally least-favorite episode of the entire series, because I don't "get" it. And I'm not saying that I don't understand it, because I follow all of the internal logic for each character, but I don't GET it. That lightbulb in my head never lights up. Each time I watch it, it's like reading a TV guide summary of the episode: I know the facts of what happened, but it's a very dry knowledge instead of an emotional connection or immersion. Don seducing Betty -- or Betty allowing herself to be seduced if you want to frame it that way -- is awkward and feels like it's from two seasons ago. Abe breaking up with Peggy is weird, because he frames it as a deep-seated revulsion of her entire personality when he's spent almost their entire relationship pushing for deeper connections. Why did he ask her to move in together and talk about raising kids with her if he's felt this way all along? Although I will also say that Don's reaction to Megan at the end does support something I've said all along: As poorly as Don treats all of the people in his life -- especially the women he dates/marries -- he doesn't bear them any ill will. He doesn't WANT to hurt them. He's just so self-centered and emotionally stunted and drunk and lustful that he can't help but hurt them without intending it. The only parts that worked for me are Roger and Pete and Joan. We see Roger burn his relationship with his daughter by being the fun grandpa instead of being the responsible grandpa. We see Pete continue to spiral, and I agree that he's not actually doing his job poorly but he THINKS he is because he's so overwhelmed personally (And I do LOVE when Joan recognized that he's the only one who never lied to her or let her down). We see Joan forging a close friendship (romance?) with Bob Benson, and like we said last time, if Bob is just trying to advance his career by sucking up, at least he's doing it nicely. This is the last "bad" episode in my opinion for the whole series, and it's not even that bad, but like I said I just can't meet it halfway.

I think Roger was just trying to reach out to Kevin after losing his relationship with his grandson. He's not looking to get back with Joan.

This episode feels like the writer accidentally submitted their fan fiction to the director

I'm kinda disappointed in LM's analysis of the Don & Betty scenes ngl Those scenes, especially the bedroom ones, have generally received overwhelming praise for what they did for Betty's character

Now THIS is the type of Don and Betty mess I enjoy watching. Obviously they're both horrible to varying degrees for doing that, but it's nice to finally see their relationship be deeply honest and lack the pretences that have plagued it. They can finally have sex and be on equal terms and Betty is finally able to reclaim this power dynamic after she's suffered so much because of it. She's finally the other woman as crazy as that sounds and again I understand that this is so toxic and doesn't actually help them both heal but there is some sweet irony in this entire thing

I really love Abe's scenes in this episode. They really show the derangement that bleeding heart liberals go through. Willing to protect criminals and/or ignore their crimes, distrusting the police, believing they're living in a fascist state. Willing to forget about justice, self-preservation and common sense just to be able to say "Ha! See, we are living in a police state!"

"I'm Bobby five" lmao

Shoutout to Milena for performing the worlds first ‘6 7’ using closed fists

Betty and Don sleeping together is what finally makes them stop fighting is hilarious and oddly apt especially when we consider Don’s view of sex and love contextualized since last episode

“Bob Bunson”

I confess I laughed so hard when I realized what was going to happen between Don and Betty, must have been my most genuine laugh in the whole show

Abe got stabbed 🫤