Monday Morning Mad Men Blogging: The Gold Violin
This week's ep opens with an interesting twist...an upscale car salesman trying to sell Don, the master salesman, on a Cadillac. Later on, we see Don's secretary, Jane, trying to upscale her position, and being confronted by Joan.
Plus, a sneak peek at next week's Mad Men episode, "A Night to Remember"...
It's refreshing to be reminded on TV that actual writers exist. Ken's an actual writer, who's been published in The Atlantic. That's cool. When's the last time The Atlantic has been used as something other than a punchline for a New Yorker cartoon? Ken's fictional story, "The Gold Violin," is also, btw, the name of this week's ep.
There's a nice Joan moment. As conniving as Joan is, she's got a certain sort of steel that makes me root for her. Jane, Don's secretary, is hopelessly outclassed. Jane's got some skills, and she's not through, but whatever happens in this ep or the following, Jane seems so crude and clumsy.
And I'm undecided if this exchange between Betsy and Jimmy is a sideways nod to the anti-Semitism of the era (I'm not sure if the Jimmy Barrett character is supposed to be Jewish or not)...Jimmy's just told Betsy something most unwelcome, and she says, "You people are ugly and crude," to which Jimmy replies, "What people? You mean comedians?"
Blast from the Past: As some of the office lads hit on Miss Siegal, Don's secretary, we see a glimpse of her IBM Selectric typewriter in the foreground. Typewriters may seem antiquated now, but anyone who has used anything from an Underwood to a Royal and who has tried a Selectric knows how whiz-bang they were. When emboldened by the machine-gun rapidity of a 100-word-per-minute typist, that shiny, metal ball spun around as fast as an atom. And that sound made you feel like you were faster and more powerful than mere mortals. Like it was a wrecking ball and you could demolish a 50-story building with your fingers. You're never going to get that with a Mac.
Blast from the Past 2: Watching the Draper family mindlessly leave their trash around a picturesque picnicking spot they've just enjoyed. Wow. So clueless. Is there anyone out there who remembers when motorists just launched their styrofoam cups and cartons out the window at 60 m.p.h.? Boy, they made a lot of native americans cry in those days.
And now, a sneak peek at next week's Mad Men episode, "A Night to Remember"...
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