Mad Men returns. Thumbs up or down?

Some wonderful moments in this one. If you believe that inside every joke there is some truth, how about the happy couple before Don is headed to California?

Don: "Come with me. We'll go back to Disneyland. From what I remember, something amazing happened there."
Megan: "I made the biggest mistake of my life."
Don: "That's true."

-- -- --

Roger, ordering another round on the plane: "And send one to the pilot."

-- -- --

Bob Benson playing the game, still, again and again, and getting a chance "to shine." And, 12 minutes in, after giving him his assignment, Jim Cutler's body language: He turns back to the window, popping some gum into his mouth, and with his back to the camera, does a quick calf raise that I missed the first time around. Perfect.

And Harry Hamlin is vastly under-appreciated as Cutler. Cutler and Ted, but mostly Cutler, have to constantly reassess the office dynamics during this episode. Artfully crafted.

-- -- --

Joan having to reassess on the fly during what she thought was a date.

Andy Hayes of Avon: "Anyway, what should I look for in an agency?"
Joan: "Oh, well, a good agency should tell you."
Hayes: "Go ahead."
Joan: "Me?"
Hayes: "That's why I'm here."

The transition on Joan's face, as is her regrouping, is telling -- and well played.

-- -- --

Joan thinking on her feet when asked what her job is at the agency: "I'm in charge of thinking of things before people know they need them."

-- -- --

Megan, on the phone with Don while he's in California: "We should hang up. This is costing a fortune."

How many young viewers was that lost upon?

-- -- --

Roger, with a line that is just splendid on more than one level, in the meeting with the Carnation execs: "Look, we're sorry your last girlfriend hurt you. We're in your office now."

-- -- --

Peggy setting Joan straight, and then bailing her out with a master stroke.

-- -- --

Meredith, barging in clueless as Peggy is eavesdropping on the meeting in the conference room: "Does this color look good on me?"

And it's interesting that Meredith, the target of much derision from Joan in previous episodes, helps Peggy save Joan (for now) with the ruse about the phone message (which I think may to prove to be only a temporary reprieve for Joan).

-- -- --

A telling (yet not surprising) glimpse at Bob Benson a few generations too soon for Tony Robbins, kicked back and listening to an album version of Frank Bettger's "How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling."

-- -- --

And this playing in the background when Don, Roger and Harry arrive at the party:

 

The other part that I thought was cool was when Joan and Peggy are meeting with Andy, and Joan suddenly can't come up with any answers and asks Peggy for help. Peggy starts selling him. It looked like all those years learning from Don bailing others out paid off there.

 

I never saw that shot to the balls coming. Sure Roger didn't either. The short insults he threw at the guy, plus the way he fired he dude a few weeks ago, are high-grade Don Rickles stuff.

 

The whole episode seemed disjointed. There were good scenes, but it never came together thematically.

 

Sometimes life is like that.[/deepthoughts]

 

Sometimes life doesn't make for great TV, though. I thought it was the weakest episode of the season.

 

I haven't updated my episode rankings yet, but the season did not get off to a strong start.

 

Harry, explaining to Don and Roger where the party is

"It's in the Hills."

Roger: "Beverly Hills?"

Harry: "No. THE Hills.

How out-of-place did Roger and Don look at that party?

 

Weak episode. That rare combination where it's a weak episode and there is NO Betty.

"The Better Half" (May 26) was such a solid episode - on of the best in the series - and the May 19 episode was just as disjointed as the most recent one.

Almost like there is a "masterful" episode followed by crap than another masterful one.

 

I liked the episode a lot, save for the latter part of the party scene.

It wasn't a dynamic episode, but it did play a lot on the themes of individuality vs. loyalty as well as hypocrisy.

 

The strange thing about this season is I'm more invested in side characters than the main ones right now.

Ginsburg is about to have a psychological breakdown.

Bob Bunson Benson is clearly either a psychopath or Weiner's joke on all of us.

And Stan Rizzo has reached God-like supporting character status in that he never misses with a single line he delivers.

 

It didn't help that Roger channeled Thurston Howell III when picking out his suit. The Wayfarers looked cool, though.