On Footnotes of Mad Men: The Swimmer
Did my eyes trick me, or was that Duck in the pool swimming next to Don? If so, what does it mean? That even Don's attempt at putting himself back together is just a cliche? (If so, his going out with Dr. Faye might mean he's not going to let that aspect of his pride stop him this time, since she was the one who could reduce him to a type instantly.) Or is it that Duck still thinks he and Don are in some kind of competition, for Peggy, or work, or just in general?
Also, does Betty really think Don is "living the life" and just pretending to be sad? If so, she really is deluded and lost in her own head.
I liked the episode, there was a lot to think about.
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On Footnotes of Mad Men: The Promethean Woman, or, Our Dog in the Parthenon
I thought it was interesting how Joan waited to come in and ask them to clean up until after Peggy had left. In an early season I feel like this would have turned into another one of those scenes where woman may have better jobs, but they're still expected to tidy up and fetch coffee. (Actually, last week's episode, Joey asked Joan to make him a drink when she was making Don's and she said "you've got legs" -- maybe she just doesn't like him?)
Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it could be an allusion to how a younger generation of men were more willing to accept women as colleagues, but that doesn't mean they were willing to change themselves to fill in the gap left by women moving up. Joey's comment that "I may get paid less but that doesn't make me the janitor" could be a sort of parallel to how working motherhood creates a greater dependance on domestic help, nannies, babysitters, daycare.
It could be setting Joan up as part of the "older" generation (Don makes a comment about "the kids"), but I wonder if that will be shaken up if/when her husband goes to Vietnam? Maybe they're setting her up for an ambiguity then about which generation she belongs to.
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On Footnotes of Mad Men: The Promethean Woman, or, Our Dog in the Parthenon
Did anyone else keep worrying that this would finally be the episode where the show's opening credits came true, and Duck jumped out a window, or either he or Don fell out as they were drunkenly fighting?
One of my favorite parts of the episode was the very end, when Peggy asks if she should close the door, and Don says "leave it open." To me that meant that Don is back. I think maybe what I had been interpreting as post-divorce alcoholism in the last few episodes was actually Anna's-impending-death-related alcoholism... he made other mistakes before, but when you think about it he started to really get worse when get got back from that trip and went out with Lane. I feel like maybe after this 9-rounds argument/conversation with Peggy, he may have it all out of his system, and now he has her as the "person who understands him."
I think your analysis is correct and what Peggy really needs is a platonic relationship with a strong male role model (especially knowing now the trauma with the death of her own father in front of her), but Don really values and needs that platonic relationship as well.
There are a lot of parallels to the first episode of the show, as someone else mentioned -- another thing it reminded me of was him and Midge. He says something along the lines of "You have your own business, you can take care of yourself, we should get married." I think he can only really respect women who are "Promethean," like himself. Not saying he and Peggy will become romantic, but all his "successful" affairs over the show have been really headstrong, capable women. Anti-Bettys.
Ok sorry this comment got really long...
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On Footnotes of Mad Men: The Two-Way Mirror and Social Anomie
Just realized another "mirror" too: Peggy got her big break from secretary to contributing ideas specifically in an in-company focus group for lipstick way back when. She distinguished herself by having an original idea and the bravery to say it; Allison cried.
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On Footnotes of Mad Men: The Two-Way Mirror and Social Anomie
I think that violence during police raids could certainly have been common, if you think of something like Stonewall, which was a different situation and wasn't until 1969 anyway, but I doubt that kind of violence came out of nowhere.
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On Footnotes of Mad Men: The Two-Way Mirror and Social Anomie
I think another reason why Peggy reacted so harshly to Allison, is because finding out that Pete is having a baby brings up what happened between her and Pete a few seasons back. No she didn't sleep with her boss, but she did sleep with him, and the consequences were much much worse than just hurt feelings. Not that I think she expected to end up with Pete, but seeing him take this next step casts her again in an unpleasant light: the rejected one, as the title of the episode suggests. I imagine it made her feel like a bit of a whore, for lack of a better word, particularly with her current preoccupation with getting married. Maybe she's wondering if she screwed up her prospects in life by what happened back then, even though it's a secret? She's certainly concerned about her reputation and trying to start over, which I guess is why she lied to her current awful boyfriend about being a virgin to hold him off. Maybe she's thinking about what happened with her and Duck too? It's interesting how she's sort of toeing the line of being in the "new" generation in a lot of ways, such as at this "happening" downtown, and some of her past affairs, but now with her current boyfriend she's taking the completely traditional line, "so he'll respect her" as I think one character put it a few episodes ago.
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On Footnotes of Mad Men: The Youth Machine and Godzilla Handjobs
I always find it interesting when the show goes to California... each of these episodes builds up a stronger dichotomy of California being the future and NY the staid, bourgeois (for lack of a better word) past. One thing I was thinking about was how the groups of people we've "met" from California are from a very high class (those Palm Springs nomadic "aristocrats") and a lower-, closer to working-class (though clearly still educated, comfortable, etc). And yet the ethos between both classes is fairly similar, and ironically it seems to be Don's lowly origins that make it easier for him to be "cool," to fit in with the rich pretty well, and as we're starting to see I think, have a foothold into the future generation. I think it also was what helped him ingratiate himself with Mr. Hilton, while that lasted. Compare Pete Campbell back on that astronautics trip, who met the Palm Springs people and responded with businessy East Coast etiquette, and they couldn't have found him less cool -- or in this episode, Harry just tries to get Don to take a meeting at a trendy restaurant. Obviously it's a very New York-centric show, but it'll be interesting to see how they bridge this sort of geographical-temporal divide.
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On Footnotes of Mad Men: The Swimmer
I was thinking there was going to be some plot element as a reason he was writing a journal, like maybe he was in AA, or writing letters he wished he could send to Anna, or that he'll actually send to someone like Stephanie perhaps. But at the end of the episode there was no "explanation," so maybe it is just personal thoughts.