BTW,

did anyone think when they saw Ms. Kittredge (the person the governor's office sent to talk to Betty's party), that I could envision Joan in her spot in 20 years?

Otherwise, I'm just repeating "Poor Sal!" over and over again.

Me, three, *sigh*

Yeah, it was just kind of awful all the way through. Things are moving along!

I love trusting that we're going somewhere with all this.

GodDAMNIT, DON. BE A FUCKING MAN FOR ONCE.

Just finished watching it this afternoon...am still, to poach a Fay-ism from Fay, totally gutted. Oh, Sal. Oh, Sal. And Don being so cruel--he's cornered, backed into signing the damn contract and now trapped, writhing in the misery of Hilton's rejection, feeling totally beleaguered and powerless, and getting colder and uglier by the minute toward everyone with even less power and less control (though, once he gets home, still courteous to Carla).

Wandering around various other message boards (I love Alan Sepinwall, but his commenters are mildly cracked: so many of them pushed back against seeing anything like rape in Pete's vileness last week, and this week they're all about what an obvious bunny-boiling lunatic the teacher is and how she's going to stab Don in his sleep one night--bzuh?), I wandered off on a tangent after someone pointed out that we've heard that cold, contemptuous "You people" twice before -- once from Betty's father, directed at Don himself, and once from Betty directed at Jimmy Barrett.

Which got me thinking about the whole Barrett storyline, and how the first sexual encounter between Don and Bobbie had struck me. I remember Don's polite but cold, mildly superior distaste for Bobbie, and then Bobbie in the car with him, bluntly laying out the expected quid pro quo: You want Jimmy's apology to smooth things over with Utz and keep the very pricey client from walking; I'll get you that apology, any wording you want, but it'll cost you sex. And Don looked queasy, then resigned, and then he moved in on her. And it was totally creepy and coerced, and however consensual (and dark and brutal) it became later, my main feeling on watching that very first moment was that this was coerced, manipulated, blackmailed sex, and if the genders had been reversed I would have come damn close to calling it rape.

And that's in the back of my mind watching Don's scene with Sal -- of course "you people" are all mindless sexual animals and I can't believe you would have turned down a quick fuck in the editing room from anyone on earth, but even if you did, who did you think you were? What the client wants, the client gets, and if it's a $25 million contract you damn well find a way to make the client happy, whatever it takes, even if it sickens you; whatever violation you may feel is always worth less than the client's satisfaction. Quid pro quo, for the agency, the client, the contract. Suck it up and make the client happy. I did.

Whoa, JZ. Just watched the very same episode tonight and OMG I think you nailed it about Don.

Interesting question - if Don hadn't caught Sal during that fire drill, what would his reaction have been? Would he have been sympathetic and dealt with it, or would he have picked up on Sal's proclivities, buried as they may be?

Alternate interesting question - what would have happened if it had been Pete that the guy wanted and somehow worked out a way to get him isolated?

Ohhhh, good question. Not one that would have likely come up in a real episode -- I'm pretty sure Lucky Strikes Jr.'s advances were not just manipulative and predatory, but because his gaydar had honed right in on Sal. I don't think he would have been willing to take the risk of trying to sexually extort Pete or any other non-gaydar-pinging SC employee, but oh how I would have loved to see Pete on the receiving end of those advances and what he would have made of them.

Except that I don't think Pete has enough self-awareness or awareness of the reality of other people's experiences to draw any connection between his own misery in that situation and poor Gudrun's with him.

Ohhhh, good question. Not one that would have likely come up in a real episode -- I'm pretty sure Lucky Strikes Jr.'s advances were not just manipulative and predatory, but because his gaydar had honed right in on Sal. I don't think he would have been willing to take the risk of trying to sexually extort Pete or any other non-gaydar-pinging SC employee, but oh how I would have loved to see Pete on the receiving end of those advances and what he would have made of them.

Totally agree with you there that Sal definitely was...targeted. It was just a random possibility that I would have loved to see the outcome of, especially since the guy was a heavy drinker.

I suspect, on my first question, that even if Don hadn't seen Sal in a compromising situation, he would have pinged on what was the what and done THE EXACT SAME THING. Bastard.

Damn. Poor Sal.

in non Mad Men news - Eyes has shown up on On Demand with an ION logo in the corner. I'm pretty sure that b.org is where I'd seen it mentioned before, so a heads up for anyone who has ION, I guess. I'm four episodes in and really enjoying it.

Eyes was an excellent show. Should appeal to any Leverage fans.