An Appetizer Before SEK’s Main Course

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1. Incontinentia Buttocks says:

   April 8, 2012 at 11:24 pm

   I’m generally not a fan of Soprano’s-style dream sequences, but in this case, Don’s fevered state provided just enough of a narrative excuse that I accepted it, especially since it thematically fit the otherwise excellent episode.

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   • Scott Lemieux says:

     April 9, 2012 at 12:21 am

     It was tolerable, although it didn’t add anything. I just worry about what it portends.

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     • Erik Loomis says:

       April 9, 2012 at 7:40 am

       I’d be surprised if dream sequences became a regular feature of the show. After all, it really only works here because Don is very sick and half-hallucinating. Unless Draper is going to die of consumption at the end of the series, it seems unlikely they could go back to the same well. A less good show of course would.

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2. Jonathan says:

   April 9, 2012 at 3:11 am

   When Peggy was talking to the secretary (forgot her name, if it was even mentioned) about if she acted like she was a man… Was I the only one who was hoping it would lead to Peggy making a move on the secretary, a la Don, thus continuing the mirroring between the two?

   Also, it became fairly clear early on that what Don was going through was a dream. I find that sort of thing a cop-out. It was just a way to sexually debase a female character and then salaciously murder her without any consequences to the narrative. Do I really need to point out how sexist that is? It would have been far better to have Don actually kill the woman and then have his wife hide the body. But no; they took the easy, obvious way out. That doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season. It might have just jumped the shark.

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   • Erik Loomis says:

     April 9, 2012 at 7:41 am

     Can we please stop using the “jump the shark” thing?

     Also, people have been looking for signs in every episode since the beginning of season 3 that the show was on its way down. I think that one scene which was not that bad of a scene in any case is hardly evidence of this.

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     • Seitz says:

       April 9, 2012 at 9:11 am

       You forgot her name? They made a big joke about it in the first episode. It’s Dawn.

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       • Seitz says:

         April 9, 2012 at 9:12 am

         Obvious that was meant as a reply to Jonathan, assuming he was being genuine. May have missed the sarcasm.

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     • Eric says:

       April 9, 2012 at 9:43 am

       This. Very few shows jump the shark anyway. They usually just get stale and fade away, instead of flailing wildly with increasingly silly stunts.

       Having a fever dream like that doesn’t even strike me as out of character for someone like Don.

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3. Anonymous says:

   April 9, 2012 at 7:24 am

   The whole show is kitsch!

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   • Eric says:

     April 9, 2012 at 9:39 am

     I do not think that word means what you think it means.

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     • Anonymous says:

       April 11, 2012 at 7:36 am

       While I grant you that this is sort of stretching the definition of kitsch I would argue that describing the dream sequence as “kitschy” does so even more. So, why not call that out?

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4. Mike Schilling says:

   April 10, 2012 at 12:55 am

   Don begins to choke here when she tells him that adultery is a mistake he loves to make. That’s Don talking to himself, and not wanting to hear the truth; the impulse is suicidal, not murderous.

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