Maybe it’s just the comedown after last week’s stellar episode, but “Lady Lazarus” was not my favorite episode of Mad Men we’ve seen this season, despite the exciting presence of one Rory Gilmore.*
*Only recently I had a conversation about why Alexis Bledel isn’t more famous. I loved her in Gilmore Girls and she’s a stunning woman. I surmised that maybe she got typecast in the goody-two-shoes type role and had trouble getting good roles. Hopefully her spot on an esteemed show like Mad Men will help her find some better roles. She’s 30 years old now, but her angelic looks make her seem much younger.
“Lady Lazarus” had a lot to do with Megan, which I’m usually OK with. She’s been a polarizing character this season – some people really dislike her presence, but I find her and her relationship with Don quite fascinating. We also had a pretty good Pete Campbell storyline, some good material for Peggy, and some classic Joan cattiness.
“No one can keep up; it’s always changing.”
That’s what Megan said to Don about pop culture, but it’s true for so much more during that era. Everything is changing, fast. Peggy began as the only woman in her position in the office, but now she has Megan (well, not anymore) and Joan has risen in recognized importance as well. Remember what a shock Sal’s sexuality was? (Poor Sal. I keep wishing Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce would hire him back.) Well now, a client is quite obviously gay and the attitude (jokes that wouldn’t fly today) is clearly different than it was six years prior.
Another interesting change in culture that we heard about in this episode? New pictures of what the earth looks like from outer space. I can’t imagine how that would seem, as I’ve grown up knowing what the world looks like. But I can understand how that would change your outlook on the world and your existence. I liked how it was tied into Pete and Rory Gilmore’s affair.
“That’s the kind of girl Don Draper marries.”
We’ve been building towards Megan leaving the advertising world for a little while, and I found myself wishing it had been dragged out a little longer. However, it is a testament to how secure and smart Megan is. Betty never truly realized why she was so miserable, or really did anything about it. Megan figured that out pretty quickly, and she did something about it. She’s unhappy working in advertising, she knows she’ll never like it, and she decided to quit so she could give acting another try. And Don, after seeing what happened to Betty after giving up her dreams, didn’t want to stand in her way. He was supportive, even though he wasn’t happy.
The most fascinating part of this was Don and Peggy’s reactions. They both got roped into Megan’s internal struggle when she lied to them to hide that she was going to a call-back for an audition. It was a stupid lie, because of course Don would call the office once he got home from his business dinner.
I loved the conversation Peggy and Joan had about Megan. Joan hasn’t engaged a lot with Megan, she was at home with the baby for a long time and even now doesn’t work side by side with Megan. She had low expectations and, despite Megan’s success in the office, sees her as just another pretty girl with dreams of modeling or acting or singing that Don has bedded and betrothed. But Peggy knows better. Peggy sees Megan as one of those girls who’s good at everything. Megan is the girl from high school that was your worst nightmare because she was head cheerleader and student body president. She was popular and had clear skin and she was nice to everyone.
The Cool Whip pitch was a quite literal example of how Peggy cannot fill Megan’s shoes. She botched the lines badly and didn’t have the sweet charm needed to sell the product. Megan’s “Just taste it” was winsome and loving. Peggy’s “Just try it” was nagging and annoyed. They argued – Peggy thinks Megan quit because she thinks advertising is stupid, Don thinks she quit because she thinks everyone who works in advertising is jaded and mean. They’re both wrong, but Peggy is less so.
Megan holds all the cards right now. Don needs her to make him seem cool, and without her he seems lost. When she left the office (for good, as an employee anyway) he almost stepped into an empty elevator shaft. At the end of the episode he tried listening to the Beatles record she recommended, but he hated it. He was alone and out of touch, and she was off at her acting class being young and beautiful.
“After two years, it covers suicide.”
The foreshadowing for a potential Pete Campbell suicide continues to mount. This week, he discusses death, suicide and insurance with his train buddy Howard – and then he sleeps with his wife, Beth. This was Pete in his Creepy Mode, the way he just came into Beth’s home to make sure she wasn’t “hysterical” and later invited himself over for dinner with Howard.
Pete knows Howard is unfaithful to Beth, which perhaps helps him feel less guilty. It was about the way he treated Beth, a vulnerable woman who was like a child in adult clothing. He wants someone he thinks he can control, and that’s not Trudy.
Beth wanted it to, the first time, but she did not want an ongoing affair. That wasn’t what she signed up for, and when she didn’t show up to the hotel room Pete was furious. Once again, Pete and his desires are thwarted.
Stray Thoughts:
- Alexis Bledel was a bit wooden here, wasn’t she? I still hope the role helps her find more work, but she didn’t dazzle. I think part of the problem was how melancholy her character was, though.
- PIZZAHOUSE!!!! Amazing.
- Don saying “Yes, we’re playing a hilarious joke on you,” when he calls for Megan and Peggy says she’s with him, was almost as amazing.
- Roger and the skis – do we think he’s messing with Pete? I hope so.
- The “scenes” from next week really only indicate who will be in the episode, but I’m looking forward to spending some more time with Sally Draper.
After “Pizza House!” the funniest line of the night was Pete and Harry discussing the photos of Earth from space. “They’re majestic!”
I was hoping for something darker and more interesting with Megan than her still wanting to be an actress. I was thinking espionage-related or a UN call girl. Disappointing!
I liked the Pete Campbell story with Alexis Bledel’s character, but her performance was terrible. It’s like Matt Weiner saw her acting and used it as the inspiration for Peggy’s scene with Don and Ken at Principal Belding’s Cool Whip demo. Very meta. Seriously though, it was almost palpable that she just didn’t know what do with the material, performance-wise. Better luck next time?
There’s far too much foreshadowing for Pete Campbell to be the suicide. I’m calling it again (as I do every week) something terrible is going to happen to Roger. The more I think about it, the more I see Roger’s journey being like that of many characters on Lost. Once he’s sorted himself out, he’ll die. Of course, I’m happy to be wrong, because he’s my favourite character this season.
I’m really sad that Alexis Bledel didn’t do better. She was definitely not terrible on Gilmore Girls, so I don’t know why she couldn’t handle this part.
You’re right about the Pete Campbell thing, and the Roger theory does seem very likely even though I too don’t want to see him go. Man, I wish I could mainline the rest of these episodes.
Well, I think as a standalone episode it didn’t have near the chops of other episodes this season but I have the feeling that in the greater story arc, this episode will prove very important. Sometimes it is like that with Mad Men and other great series of their ilk, sometimes it is hard to review each episode without having the context of the season to do it with. I’ve found that also with the Wire and the Sopranos as well.
At any rate I think it is too tough to really judge Megan as a character until the season is put to bed.
I also didn’t think Alexis Bledel was the right choice to play Beth, maybe you’re right Jill, perhaps it is typecasting or perhaps Alexis Bledel doesn’t have enough range for the part. I know people are down on January Jones, but no one does unhappy better than her and compared with her, Alexis Bledel just didn’t do it. I hope it is a one time arc and we don’t have to put up with more of it.
I also think there is too much foreshadowing for the suicide to be Pete, I am not quite ready to say it is Roger though (at least I hope not as MM will lose some of it’s best acting), I still think Trudy might be a possibility or this Beth or what about Harry Crane? Speaking of Harry Crane, I am not quite sure I love what they have reduced his character to this season. He’s always been a little bit of a boob and the office joke at times but now it is just too much, there was once a more interesting side of him, one that demanded the title of Head of Television and one that muses over cave drawings of hands.
I loved the (non) chemistry and fight between Don and Peggy this episode. These two haven’t had enough time together this season and I think the fight, at least for Peggy was greater than just about Megan leaving. Yes, they had different views on the reasons but ultimately their disbelief was for the same reason, neither of them can understand why someone with talent in advertising would give it up. And if you think about it, it makes sense for both their characters. Many of the people who get into advertising are artist types, writers and artists of some sort who get into the business to get an income coming in. Ken is a writer, both Pete and Paul Kinsey had writing ambitions as well. That is not true for either Peggy or Don. They both kind of fell into advertising and saw they had a knack for it.
Best line of the night goes to Don: “I was raised in the 30′s, my dream was indoor plumbing.”
You’re right, and sometimes I wonder if it would be easier to just review Mad Men at the end of each season. Certainly, there’s always a lot more to say when reviewing the season finale because you can then look back at past episodes and understand them better. It’s also why I love watching these shows on DVD rather than as they air, but I’m too impatient to wait!
I agree – January Jones is great as Betty even if it may be the only thing she can do, and Bledel paled in comparison. Perhaps she can only play Rory-types as well.
I miss Harry being a more prominent character. I used to really like him, now I can barely remember why.
i think if you only review at the end of each season you kind of lose something in the reviews because it is much harder to go into little details on a season review and often talking about those things help you to understand the characters and the story better. Maybe you should do like Alan Sepinwall did with the Sopranos or a few seasons of his wire reviews. He reviewed each episode individually but also did a season review at the end.
I also prefer mainlining a series now than watching it week by week but I can’t wait for that. Shows I really love like Mad Men I watch again anyway as you always learn something else.
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Yeah, that’s definitely true. Hopefully when this season has wrapped up I won’t have many other shows on the go, and I’ll be able to devote some time to looking at the season as a whole. I’d love to do a roundtable with some other viewers/readers or something.
I’m with you in not loving the episode as much as last weeks, it was especially hard for me because I had been catching up on my DVR’d season 2 of the Gilmore Girls earlier in the night so seeing Alexis here made me feel a bit old.
Also this episode I’m thinking Krista could be right about Roger, perhaps him giving Pete the skis and more importantly the account with no real ill will (except for a one liner) could be hinting at the process where people who are thinking about killing themselves start giving away their prized possessions.
I think that if it’s Roger who dies, it’ll be a heart attack or something rather than suicide. Like, he’s finally happy and the he kicks the bucket. But it’s all guess work at this point. I can’t wait for the last couple episodes, that’s when Mad Men always gets incredible.