With this’s weeks episode of Mad Men, it feels like the season has really taken off. “Signal 30″ was far and away the best episode of the season so far and it took a good hard look at a few of the supporting characters and where they stand. In the spotlight were both Lane and Pete, and neither of them looked too good under it’s stare. What started as a promising business opportunity somehow degraded into a (hilarious) conference room fist fight. Needless to say, I don’t think Sterling Cooper Draper Price is going to be working with Jaguar any time soon.
Pete was definitely front and center this week, and frankly he’s never looked more pathetic. First there was the dinner party that he and Trudy hosted. Pete showing off his stereo, home, and baby came off as a little show-offy, but by the end of the episode it was clear that he was trying to convince himself of how great his life was, not Don or Ken. I enjoyed Trudy conning Don into actually showing up to an evening in the suburbs. With a wife like that it makes me wonder why Pete is so miserable. We’ve seen in past seasons, though, that Pete is not getting what he needs out of his relationship with Trudy. That’s probably why he so easily got seduced in the brothel and why he was desperately trying to hit on a teenager at a driver’s ed course.
I’ve always enjoyed the juxtaposition of Don and Pete. It has seemed to me that Pete has always had the same urges and lusts that Don had, but was just never smooth enough to pull off the Draper lifestyle. For me, at least, there has always been a strange divide between the two characters. Pete hasn’t done anything that Don hasn’t done four or five times over, yet it seems so much worse when Pete does it. It didn’t help that in this episode Don was actually taking the moral high ground, making Pete look all the worse.
Pete is struggling for control. We have seen he has overbearing parents and he has probably never felt like his life is his own. Even Trudy pretty much dominates their relationship, eventually getting things her way no matter how Pete fights it. Even at work, even as he continues to excel there, it is always a fight. Whether it’s a literal fist fight with Lane or jockeying to be the lead account man with Roger (which continues to be fun to watch) everything seems like a struggle for Pete. This is another great contrast with Don, who seems to accomplish everything he wants with ease. By the end of this episode though, Pete was a broken man, both physically and emotionally, crying in the elevator and telling Don that he had nothing. How horrible to feel that way. I’m curious to see how he acts out. Is he going to ruin his marriage? Take it all out on Roger? I feel like we’ve seen Pete go through cycles like this before, but this certainly seems like his most extreme low. I can’t picture him doing the Charleston with Trudy again.
Then there’s Lane, almost as much of a sad sack as Pete, but somehow more likable. The poor guy — I don’t know if I’m the only one who feels this way, but the more pathetic he gets, the more entertaining he is. Whether it’s getting bashed on the head by his elderly father’s cane, getting completely shit-faced with Don and pretending his steak is a belt buckle, or challenging Pete to some fisticuffs in the conference room, I just can’t help but laugh at Lane in his most dire moments. There are times that guy just can’t get a break. He’s a bit of a creep, isn’t he? He stole a picture of a girl from a guy’s wallet, enjoyed a night of debauchery with Don (and a prostitute), and kissed Joan in this episode. He’s trying to find something in his life. I’m not sure what it is, but I hope he finds it.
One thing that caught my attention this week was all the characters looking back on their pasts and dealing with moving on. In the beginning of the episode you had Lane going out to watch The World Cup, cheering on his home nation. He was reluctant to do so; as his wife said, he’s been going through a divorce with England. I also believe that Pete was trying to rediscover something by trying to seduce the teenager, trying to recapture something in his past. Of course, being completely rejected and passed over for a young athlete probably didn’t do anything for Pete’s mental state. I’m guessing it was a familiar feeling.
I think the reflection on the past was most powerful with Don, though. I got the sense that he was avoiding seeing Pete’s house (and life) in the suburbs because it reminded him too much of what he had with Betty. I loved how he stepped up and fixed the sink, at once falling back into his “man of the house” role as well as completely emasculating Pete. You could tell he was not comfortable doing it, as it was another connection to his previous life. Again, it was reiterated with this episode that Don is really making a go of it with Megan. As unlikely as it seems, they may be perfect for each other. I’m very excited to see if Don can stay loyal and be the loving husband that he couldn’t be with Betty. Of course, if it ends in a fiery blaze of yelling and fighting, it will at least make for good TV.
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Apr 16, 2012 @ 09:42 EST5EDT
- Lane and Pete did not grow the proper handlebar mustaches that are necessary when two people partake in such style of fisticuffs.
– Pete is just too awkward and too much of a weasel to pull of being the suave adulterer that he keeps trying to be. He is like the school geek deciding to one day get up and try being a bully. He looks like he is just forcing himself into this type of behavior just to fit in.
– Also no one married to a character played by Allison Brie gets to complain.
– Pete’s Game of Thrones roleplay with the hooker analysis: He won’t rest or stop acting like a douche until it is only his name on the door. That is never gonna happen. *cue him jumping out the window*
I was talking to my boyfriend about this last night while we were watching the episode and we both agreed that with Pete, he will always feel like he’s entitled to more than what he has. I think we can all empathize with his struggle with his family in season 1, but for the most part he will always find something else that he believes he deserves. It’s like in the first episode of the season when he complained that Trudy can’t possibly understand what he goes through… yes Pete, you’re a straight, white, upper middle class male in your early 30s (I think) in 1960s America… your life is SO HARD.
I find it very funny that he whines about not being friends with the people he works with when he just told Lane that their client thought he was “a homo.” Gee, who WOULDN’T want to be friends with Pete!
Also, I found this GIF https://gif.mocksession.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/PETE-CAMPBELL-KTFO.gif
Pete getting injured make the best GIFs
https://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/tumblr_m1h1id6xvN1qa5dldo1_500.gif
You know, when you see it 5 times in a row, that stumble was so freaking RANDOM!
I think this might be the most episodes we’ve seen Don be faithful in a marriage… as long as you don’t count the fever-hallucination sex-murder (which I don’t). It’s odd to see Don happy and faithful and maybe almost genuinely likable… which makes me think this won’t last.
I feel for Ken, if only because he’s become far less of a heel as the seasons have progressed. I think most of my liking of these characters is directly proportioned to how they treat Peggy, so his friendship with her has certainly helped. And as someone who does balance a day job AND part-time writing (like most of the Clackers), I get why he doesn’t announce his accomplishments at the office … especially when there are two less-than-successful writers there in the form of Pete and Roger. While we only got a hint at Ken’s writing in the episode, something tells me it was slightly more profound and better written than Roger’s traipse with Miss Blankenship.
Also, this episode had me researching the “New Wave” of sci-fi short stories from the era. Pretty interesting stuff.
Also (because I seem to love to comment on this show, Bob), the reveal of Ken at the end reminded me of a quote I read during this past week that I can’t find now so I can’t attribute so I’ll paraphrase … real writers can’t be talked out of writing. They NEED to write. So I have to admire Ken at the end … you tell him his job is at stake, he’ll just create another alias. He’s going to keep writing.