Just watched the ep.

Want Duck to suffer the tortures of the damned, preferably public. I sat there, through that whole ep, with a feeling of dread because I just knew that the selfish SOB would do something.

The final shot of Don was brilliantly framed, with the reflection.

I'd have to rewatch to remember exactly, but my impression was that Sally (the daughter) said something to him that echoed something Bobbie had said to him earlier.

He kept telling Bobbie to stop talking and she didn't, continually exposing his "reputation." (I love the ambiguity of not being sure whether he really didn't remember the Random House hookup or if that he's got a rep to the point where people are bragging about having slept with him.)

Then, when Sally said that she wouldn't talk, because she didn't want him to cut himself, I think hit him hard on a lot of different levels, the first being of course, echoing his words to Bobbie.

I think, too, that some of it may well have been wrapped up in his reaction to Betty and her bikini. Lots of layers in this ep.

I also found the Decembrists jolting. Though the use of Dylan at the end of S1 was anachronistic too.

I'm not sure exactly what was going on with Don and Sally there. Definitely related to him telling Bobbie not to talk. Also, when the servicemen stood up, his daughter was looking up at him with such undiluted adoration and he clearly didn't feel worthy of it. Though he did serve in battle, he doesn't feel like a war hero and knows his whole identity is false.

I think it's him feeling a hollowness very acutely.

You ever noticed how Don never apologizes? Like when Peggy has to remind him to pay back the bail money?

The more I watch, the more I'm taken with VK's performance. Pete is no generic weasel. Ken is closer to that - though he has the fiction writing dimension. Pete's got that weird knack to always say or do the thing which is exactly wrong by a quarter inch.

I'd like to think that when Don's daughter said thr line about not talking that Don was thinking that he hoped no one would ever treat his daughter the way he treated Bobbie.

The more I watch, the more I'm taken with VK's performance. Pete is no generic weasel. Ken is closer to that - though he has the fiction writing dimension. Pete's got that weird knack to always say or do the thing which is exactly wrong by a quarter inch.

I think it goes back to what we were talking about last week, with Pete-- it's an act. He so clearly doesn't know who he is and I don't think that he even knows who he wants to be, other than not like his own father.

The pervasive image I always get of Pete-- odd though it may be, is that of when a little girl clomps around in her Mommy's oversized heels and haphazardly applied makeup, talking to her dolls the way she hears her mother talking to others.

The final shot of Don was brilliantly framed, with the reflection.

I thought that shot was a beautiful contrast to the episode's theme and title - "Maidenform". Throughout we see subtle and blatant references to the female body - from the first shot of Betty and Joan dressing, to the bra models, to the fashion show, to Betty's swimsuit, to Peggy's dressing like a girl then a woman - I'm sure I'm forgetting some. But the last shot was Don - male, naked and vulnerable.

I think it goes back to what we were talking about last week, with Pete-- it's an act.

This is my read too. He's constantly trying to measure his behavior and appearance and comes off as awkwardly unnatural. Last week, when the fertility doc was questioning him, I think he kept looking for assurances that his answers were "normal". He also tries to latch on to a mentor so badly, whether Don, Duck, or whoever - a boy who had a father but clearly lacked a daddy.

He so clearly doesn't know who he is and I don't think that he even knows who he wants to be, other than not like his own father.

This showed up so well when he asked Duck if he should bring a dog to the office, yet he doesn't have a dog. It would all be for show, which is all Pete is capable of. When his father died and he said he didn't know how to feel, it's not just about his father, it's everything. When his brother said to him that his mother had been saying nice things and then took it back, Pete had no problem with it. He's never been encouraged to believe in himself or that he has anything positive to contribute. As much of a shitweasel as he is, he's the one I can most forgive.

But the last shot was Don - male, naked and vulnerable.

Not just that, but he was wearing a pink towel. Naked and feminized. Helpless. Something Don does not like feeling at all.

Yes, after all the shots of women being objectified it ended up with Don in the form of maiden.

You know what struck me?

how much Pete's wife and his brother's wife look alike. I couldn't tell the difference between the two when they were at the dinner table.

Finally saw the new episode - thought it was great, but nothing much to add to what everyone has already said (especially about the last scene).

What Decemberists song was that, and where is it available (or was it specifically for the show)? I really liked it, but it may not have been as jarring if you weren't aware of who it was. I am shamefully under-educated when it comes to the Decemberists.

Why is Don surprised he has a reputation?

Because Don isn't one of those guys who just sleeps around - every one of Don's extra-marital conquests has been a beautiful unique snowflake affair that were all very meaningful for him! They're not notches on his bedposts, damnit!

t /rolls eyes FOREVER

I knew that dog wasn't gonna make it the moment Pete said he liked having one around the office. For a second there I thought Duck was going to get the dog drunk, but kicking him out into the street was much worse. (On a different show, Peggy would find him begging for scraps and take him home next week. But I'm pretty sure Chauncey's gone for good.)

I think that Peggy doesn't really know how to act as a grown up business woman so she's still testing the waters.

Yep. I think this is why she and Pete clicked in S1, actually - neither of them has/had any idea who they really are, but they both had this vague notion that they were doing it wrong. The big plus to Peggy's promotion wasn't the money or extra responsibility so much as it put her in a position where there isn't a strict set of predefined social rules. She spent all of last year wishing someone would just hand her the script, now she gets to improv.

Pete's got that weird knack to always say or do the thing which is exactly wrong by a quarter inch.

And then smile hopefully as if he's expecting a treat. ARGH!

I loved the way the reflection theme was carried through the ep (up until the last scene which was just a wee bit on the nose for my tastes). I want to watch it again with an eye towards that.