Boy, we sure were in a sea of blue for “The Flood” last night. Once we started naming everyone who wore blue at some point, we couldn’t stop (Harry was a notable exception, OF COURSE). He’s really been moving steadily down in our favor, residing now toward the bottom of the shit list (see our flow chart of hatred here). In this episode, we got to see everyone deal with the tragedy of MLK’s assassination in markedly different ways. We see the people who refuse to deal with it at all (Betty), the people who focus their grief elsewhere (Don), and the people who are trying to deal with it somewhat reasonably (Pete, Joan, Peggy, Megan). This episode could definitely be broken down with an in depth analysis of the deeper meaning of eeeverything, but we’re more of the punchy “remember this great line” and “look at that fucking dress” people, because we do have jobs and we do need sleep. So enjoy our Mad Men recap!
Moments:
- Well, now we know why Ted’s trying to fuck Peggy. “Ted. Ted.” His poor canary clad wife never had a chance.
- We liked Ginsberg’s snappy date, but he wasn’t doing himself any favors with “I’ve never had sex, not even once.”
- Betty’s most mature parenting moment with Bobby ever!?
- Ginsberg’s dad, upset that Michael is home so early, “You. You going to get on the ark with your father?”
- Harry, when scumbag Pete is calling you out, you’re doing it wrong
- Joan trying so hard with Dawn, but still coming off pretty fucking racist (not that she was alone there this episode)
- Bobby’s reaction to the end of The Planet of the Apes, “Jesus.”
What happened in Mad Men’s fashion world (for us) this week:
6. Betty in Bed
Oh, Betty. Henry tells Betty that everything’s fine (her favorite words) and she stops caring about the assassination and focuses on what really matters, her ex-husband’s parenting skills and losing the rest of that weight to become Senator’s wife sized. Since her weight gain, Betty has had one dowdy look after another, until... well, another fairly dowdy look. Still, we liked this cream cardigan and navy dress with the rope pattern (or, knowing Betty, barbed wire) and are also hoping from her late-night mirror gazing, that blonde Betty will come back to in the near future.
5. Trudy’s Assassination Blues
You won’t ever see us complaining about more Trudy. After we saw her during the “Previously on Mad Men...” segment, we had a feeling she’d be back. This look wasn’t anything phenomenal, we’re mostly featuring it because we wanted to talk about this scene. Almost all the characters were wearing blue this episode, but Trudy’s simple blue dress helped us to remember the last time Pete and Trudy dealt with an assassination.
In 1963, the Campbells found a new unity following the assassination of JFK, but a lot has happened since then, and they are now separated. We were glad to see Trudy hold her ground and not let Pete come over, but it was still a sad little scene.
4. Sylvia’s Smooth Safari
We’re pretty over Sylvia, in general. We were solidly over Don trying to contact her in D.C./constantly watching the news coverage of D.C. And we’re really fucking over that damn cross that she wears with every damn outfit. Ugh. Regardless, we can’t deny that we were taken with her clothes this episode, in her (thankfully) one brief scene at the beginning of the episode. We’ll never see Sylvia mixing the wild prints from Megan’s arsenal, but this red and zebra-print suit was a pleasing, if fairly tame, combination. We also liked her sneaky wave to Don, if only for the brief spark of personality it provided.
3. Peggy’s Attempted Apartment Purchasing Clothes
It was nice to have the episode open on Peggy, who was in her old power color of mustard. The shot of Peggy silhouetted against the window of the Upper East Side apartment she tried to buy reminded us of the memorable scene of SCDP partners standing in front of their expanding office’s windows. Peggy was not able to share that triumph because she had already struck out on her own at that point, so it was also appropriate for Peggy to experience her feeling of accomplishment here solo (thanks to Abe being late). This might be a familiar look for Peggy, in terms of the scarf detail and the already mentioned color, but she looks good and we love watch her feel fulfilled (perhaps being the only character capable of experiencing that). A much better look for her than that strange watermelon mess awards dress.
2. Megan’s Recycled Awards Dress
Now, this is a new dress, but if you weren’t paying attention (like we obviously were), you might be asking yourself, “Didn’t she wear this extremely loud gold/coral dress last week!?” She is really working that look to its limits, although we think her makeup is improved this week and we love the voluminous extensions. Interesting to note that she whipped out her power color combo for another business dinner that she was again the focus of, being nominated for her work as a copywriter (which, if you recall, she had a natural talent in) at SCDP the previous year. Also of note is the fact that Megan wins the award and nobody cares (including Megan).
1. Joan’s Promotional Picture Knockout
There was a bit of a debate about whether or not this should be the top spot of this week’s Mad Men article. Anya was firmly on Team Joan, but Paul wasn’t completely sold (especially after hoisting her up to the top spot in the previous two weeks’ entries). However, after screencapping and reviewing the season promotional pictures, Paul is ready to concede that Joan is shutting it down. This sapphire dress fits her like her a glove. The fit and color combined with her stellar earrings and the built-in bling of the dress make this dress a home fucking run.
