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Mad Men, Season 6, Episode 9 (Patreon)

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2024-04-24 21:15:19
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2026-06
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Content

"The Better Half": Appropriately named, because Betty was on her A-game in this one.

Comments

Jesus

I’m saying their opinion is wrong, Joe

Actuarial Lurker

So everything happens in twos- which view is right, You called it on Abe and Peggy- is he Existentially" "authentic" as Sartre would say a waiter is authentic in as much as he plays his role of waiter or is he really an actor who has to wait tables..Did Abe "righteously dump Peggy"? Is Abe just a driven reporter who spews liberal aphorisms?..Is Peggy as much an Ayn Rand woman as Bert Cooper or Don are and she just hates to admit it?...she did tell Abe when they first met in 1964 that it would be fantastic for the new SCDP if it had been hired by Goldwater...and then recoils after she says it.... We see 2 sides of Betty...is it a "better half" that emerges who now knows how to manipulate Don for the interesting sex that Henry can't give her?....she has definitely grown in that she asked her Season 1 therapist "what is wrong with me that he has to cheat?" and now she gets that its "all him". That said, is doing this since Henry either treats Betty like a daughter or as trophy? There are two roles Megan plays in her soap opera- which will the TV audience prefer? Great premise true to the title and apropos of how the new merged firm has jolted every character from their prior role from earlier seasons- they are over-abundant in messy way

Actuarial Lurker

From what we've seen so far Gleason (who died) was cut-throat telling Ted to act like he owns half the place and quotes Sun Tzu. Cutler is more Ayn Rand like a blend of Bert Cooper and Roger, while Roger always had a kind streak and is now enjoying life rather than exploiting others....landing Chevy shows us how Roger could have saved American Tobacco and why Bert criticized his laziness. Again two sides of Roger and now a better half. We have seen Ted as "nicer" Don who collabs with the staff rather than dictating over them...is he really that...he and Don both close the door on her at the same time- a bit reminiscent of the way Al Pacino shuts the door in Kate's face in the Godfather. Time will tell whether Bob has two sides- will not spoil that...

IThe AuthorityI

I believe the general consensus is each season is great television (or that's what I think, I don't want to project). There are just some that are favored more than others. I've watched the show multiple times and love it all the way through, but I favor the middle of the show, or 3-5. But the other seasons are still fantastic. I don't even think the show has a single "bad" episode. I don't know a show that ran this long and maintained such quality throughout.

Actuarial Lurker

Yes- Duck is back as a "headhunter" i.e. executive recruiter...and actually has some sage advice for Pete

Actuarial Lurker

Part two of the Swingers with the consolation wine drinking with Megan's coworker

Actuarial Lurker

They could have named this episode "The Search for Validation". Henry is validated by men hitting on his "relatively new" wife. Don, Ted and Abe seek Peggy's validation but none truly care about her. Megan has risen- it seems- as far as her talents can take her- and seeks validation from the swinger woman. Pete seeks validation from Duck. etc etc

Actuarial Lurker

And Megan ends the episode dressed like the famous Sharon Tate photo of 1967 who later is a victim of the Manson Family...yes that was one of the "memes" when the show was running for those who were vigilant

Actuarial Lurker

Joe and Kevin: when the show ends I'll point you to some contemporary proto-"reaction" channels from 2013 that were analyzing seasons 5, 6 and 7 as they aired in the role of film critics...

Youtalkingtome
>>136133452

The theme of duality in this episode was very strong. It runs through the whole show but it was bleeding through in this episode. Peggy for sure doesn't want to admit that she is one of them. She definitely is though

Youtalkingtome
>>136134724

Can't wait to get into the Bob stuff. It's starting to become obvious that something is up. I like The Godfather reference, instead of her being on the outside from her husband, she's on the outside of these two men who are pulling her back and forth.

Actuarial Lurker
>>136140924

Remember that I hinted the Henry was pursuing pregnant Betty in Season 3 because he was already divorced with a grown daughter and needed a "Leave it to Beaver" type image if he ever wanted to run for office. Now the payoff- he HAS a trophy blonde wife with 3 "cute kids" as he runs for a seat in the NY State Assembly as a "Rockefeller Republican"...i.e. what would be a centrist Democrat in today's politics

Actuarial Lurker
>>136142249

And the show's costume designer later admitted that Matthew Weiner wanted to throw that red meat out to the audience and they purposefully looked for and found a similar white T-shirt with a red star that looked like that Sharon Tate photo shoot....you have to watch for red herrings and Easter eggs in this show all the time....the same way the shooter on the Texas campus clock tower referenced in Signal 40 was named Whitman

Actuarial Lurker
>>136134724

I should have said how Al Neary shuts the door on Kate as they kiss Michael's ring in Godfather 1, but I was also thinking a bit of how Michael closes the door on Kate in Godfather II so she can't see their kids...the latter has a more appropriate coldness

Actuarial Lurker
>>136142249

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/05/mad-men-megan-draper-sharon-tate this link has no spoilers and goes to a Vanity Fair article from 2013 that ran a few days after this episode aired and confirmed that the story, if you read the article you see that the prior week's flashback was NOT just Don being the victim of a non-consensual act with Aimee, but that when he was peeping through the keyhole earlier in the episode it was his very religious step-mother who was having sex in the brothel. So he watched her turn into a prostitute to get a roof over their head after his father was kicked in the head by the horse

Weird Magic

Originally airing on May 26, 2013, 'The Better Half' is Episode 9 of Season 6 of Mad Men. It is the 74th episode overall and has an IMDB rating of 8.3, placing it as the #6 ranked episode of this season and #33 out of all the episodes shown so far.

tom

I've been waiting for that final sequence of Peggy, caught in between the two male authority (and perhaps paternal) figures in her life. Sources of validation. And she finally realizes it at the end. Miss Blankenship's line to Peggy comes to mind for me: “It's a business of sadists and masochists, and you know which one you are.” A few episodes ago when the merger happened I thought the shot might happen there, colliding with Ted and Don having to work together, so it gave a lot of anticipation to that scene for me and it's even better than I remember. I love how Abe factors into all of it (for a break-up you guys have been anticipating for a while, what a spectacular way for it to finally happen!). And the scene where Peggy (lying so badly, mind you, her face when she says "It's done, we're over" cracks me up) tells Ted and being shot down is so striking. Unlike her, Ted is a fantastic liar and he absolutely gives her nothing. No acknowledgement that he understands what she's trying to do, it's as if their previous conversation was completely wiped from his memory. A dishevelled, stunned Peggy walks out and the similarities between Ted and Don become absurdly clear, the two of them literally parallel as they go into their offices.

tom

Another misunderstanding / false memory I had -- maybe I even commented this, I should stop doing that -- was that Bobby ended up being scared when Don took him to the movies in the MLK episode, and we had a scene of Betty yelling at him for it. Completely different kid! The fact that Roger even brings up that Don did it too as a defense is fucking hilarious, though. He's such a child, doesn't he do the same thing when breaking up with Mona?

tom

Ah, Betty, Betty, Betty. Layers forever unfurling, morals forever ambiguous. We see a new side of her this episode. Her difference in demeanour and presence are and I think it's important as it's our first time seeing her both settled into her marriage and having lost the weight that plagued her for so long. Morals aside, it's interesting to think about what this proves. If we go a pessimistic route, all three characters are worse off. You could say that the first thing Betty does after losing the weight is seek external validation by seducing another man, that Henry is confirmed inferior to Don by being cheated on, that Don has to watch from the sidelines as the happy marriage that he could never have prospers. But looking at it more authentically, I think there's an odd integrity to Betty sticking by who she is, and for her this was a very affirming moment. In one fell swoop, what she truly proves to herself is that she wasn't the reason Don cheated on her in their marriage, and that she is capable of being "the other woman", an end of the power dynamic she appeared to very much enjoy. She also finally gets to actually see and know Don, being in the eye of the storm of his infidelity means there's no lies or illusions or barriers. Just two people who knew/know each other and their thoughts. Their talk on the steps was also nice, the two of them discussing who Sally is and giving the audience a much-needed glimpse at their dynamic with so much time separated from the nightmare that their marriage was. It also reminds us how these two are temperamentally very much stuck in the past. Yet, even though Betty as a 50s woman should be the one person connected to Don the 50s man, she HAS moved forward by finding happiness, leaving him again isolated and confused. It's not a positive message at all, but I find it fascinating how efficient Betty is at making a very emotionally guided choice, and how this is the second time she's done this. In Season 2 she also has sex outside of her marriage and then immediately returns to it with a renewed sense of purpose. However, the following scenes are completely different, and unlike last time she isn't in a rough patch in her marriage this episode -- we even have a scene dedicated to showing Henry isn't as insecure as Don was. I also remember reading somewhere that there's a subversion in roles going on. The way she tells Don "Let's just enjoy this" which seems like something Don would say to one of his doting lovers. The way she's gone before he wakes up, dressed and at breakfast, moved on as if it never happened. The bedside scene's overall implication that Don doesn't need sex for intimacy to be meaningful, which is so jarringly contrary to what we've seen. I still wonder what Betty means when she says "This happened a long time ago". Sometimes I think about that even more than the memorable "That poor girl, she doesn't know that loving you is the worst way to get to you". The scene is full of fantastic lines and yet again it's a great episode for Betty.

tom

What are the chances that you two talk about Duck in the intro and he shows up here after so many episodes?!

tom

Bob is so funny standing around in his shorts. I love how Roger flubs his name in the next scene.

Youtalkingtome
>>136175478

I have come all the way around on her character. I truly look forward to her scenes. I think this is the best scene between their characters. She said so many things that he needed to hear.

heheheheheh

I'm a little behind with my watching and I've just finished this episode, so I am going to comment under here. This and the last episode were one of my most memorable and favourite ones in this season, if not the whole show. I started watching Mad Men in 2008 when I was 18 and have rewatched it almost yearly since it ended. I am now 34 and a woman. And It is strange, growing up with this show and watching it, because your own ever-evolving life experience gives each scene and character and action a different meaning. I work in an artistic profession, in a huge corporation, not dissimilar to Peggy and Stan, and my friend group consists mostly of likeminded people, musicians, artists and yeah, that sort of crowd, but not exclusively. So for me, the hedonistic aspects of the show are not so jarring and not so unfamiliar. I don't clutch my pearls every time I see anyone under the influence or cheating. Is it always nice, always pleasant? No, but it's life and it happens. High time to stop pretending it doesn't. When I first started watching the series, Don Draper definitely came off cooler than he now is (we also didn't have the benefit of seeing the later seasons). I very much took his ethos to heart: you can be anyone if you sell yourself well enough. And it has helped me in my career, I am not going to lie. Of course, with my own maturing and seeing the subsequent seasons, I don't put him on a pedestal anymore. I actually know a person in real life who is very much similar to Don in his interpersonal relationships and his inner demons and struggles and is inability to break free. It is fascinating and also very sad to watch. I (and many other women I know) have also been in similar situations like Peggy in the closing scene - feeling you're merely at the whim of the men in your life, changing direction and moods like a leaf blowing in the wind. Of course it is up to the person to grow up and take the power in their own hands. Be interesting to see how Peggy handles that. - I feel like the "I'm Bobby number 5" joke was poking fun at the fact that Bobby was recast like 3 or 4 times since season 1. - I like the dynamic Henry and Betty have. Seems like they are very compatible sexually and Henry actually gets off on the fact that his wife is gorgeous and wanted - and that is what she likes too, because she was raised to be admired. She may have cheated on him physically with Don, but she is not actually being unfaithful. " This happened a long time ago" - she is getting her comeuppance and her power back, but is emotionally detached from Don. She got her closure and will never go back. I don't see it as black and white 'cheating'. -In earlier seasons, I came to Betty's defence precisely because I know from personal experience, that being with someone emotionally unavailable can do a lot of damage to a person and make them stressed, anxious and agitated. Henry is stable and mature enough for Betty to relax and also to grow. She will still be Betty - but she has come a long way.

Youtalkingtome
>>136845516

I honestly love this comment, I couldn't agree more. The way that we've completely pulled a 180 on her. It's crazy how our perceptions of these characters in the first few seasons are so different now. Don Draper isn't cool. Was he at first? Maybe. Definitely a horrible person. Betty was definitely a product of him coupled with a broken childhood where she never had emotional support. Henry is amazing for providing that for her. I've actually known people that think it's awesome that people are attracted to their partner. Good for them, it's not a fault. Different strokes for different folks. I love the overall arc of all the characters. Let's see where this goes.