DISQUS

jcieplinski · 1 month ago

Nah. Don already ran away in season 2. No need to repeat that plot line.

I have to disagree with you about Betty. I didn't see her as standing firm to learn the truth. I saw her as once again the selfish, self-righteous child who confronted Don without giving a thought to her own fault in the situation. She completely disrespected Don's privacy by snooping into his things, and then she immediately assumed the worst instead of giving Don a chance to explain his past to her. The pictures of his family in the box should have given her a clue that there was more to the story than just an affair and a past marriage.

And it's not like Betty has been completely faithful to Don over the past three seasons, anyway. I'm not saying she doesn't have a right to be upset, but most people would at least be slightly embarrassed at how they came about the information; Betty doesn't even conceive of the possibility that she's done anything wrong.

As far as the future goes, if anything, I think now that the truth about Don is finally out, the two of them will likely become closer than they ever have been. The real reason Don has never felt loyal to Betty, or his company, or anyone, is that he's been carrying around this secret for so long. You can't be close to people who don't know who you are. Now that the big burden is off his shoulders, and now that Betty knows something about him that very few other people know, they can finally be more intimate.

This is why Don immediately ends the affair with Suzanne. After all, he hasn't been "caught" in this affair. So there's no reason to end it completely, unless he suddenly realizes that staying with Betty is inevitable now.

Just as Burt Cooper's knowledge of Don's secret forced Don's hand into signing a contract, Betty's knowledge forces his hand into finally taking his marriage seriously.

So season three has been mostly about Don losing the considerable power he's enjoyed over everyone in his life thus far. He no longer lives life completely on his own terms. It's interesting to watch Don in a vulnerable state; I just hope he doesn't remain completely emasculated for too long.

Meanwhile, I really hope Weiner doesn't just drop the whole Duck Phillips thing. I think Peggy needs to quit Sterling Cooper if her character is to move forward. Campbell is the more obvious person to leave, but he won't, because that's too obvious.

Joan's husband will die in Viet Nam, but that probably won't happen until midway through season 4. She'll come back to Sterling Cooper in some higher capacity, also in season 4.

The Kennedy Assassination, on the day of Sterling's daughter's wedding, has to play some part in the finale. What effect that will have is hard to say. I'm looking forward to it.

webomatica · 1 month ago

Well, despite thinking Betty is pretty immature, I'm more on her side than Don's. Dick became Don before he ever met Betty, and Don's affairs were what instigated her investigations in the first place. And I don't think it's Betty's fault that Don cheats.

I don't foresee their marriage becoming stronger. I could see Don thinking his confession will bring their marriage closer together, but it seems Betty is going in the opposite direction, becoming more aware and testing the waters of an affair herself. She's really close to having Harry on that fainting couch.

I'm pretty certain Don is representative of the dying ways of fifties, and his character will inevitably become more marginalized and as you say, emasculated, as the sixties wear on - unless his character reaches some epiphany or transformation that allows him to change with the changing times. He does seem to be okay with drugs and likes California.

But I definitely agree Peggy will rise in a big way. Duck, yeah, that's got to be important, and very soon. Maybe she'll work for Duck and hire Sal. I'd love to see Peggy, a duck, and an Ann-Margaret wanna-be competing with Don for clients.

jcieplinski · 1 month ago

That's exactly what I see. Peggy becoming the Don Draper to Duck's Roger Sterling. Adding in Sal would be a very good move. I was hoping he wasn't written off the show permanently.

I also don't think it's Betty's fault that Don cheats. But Don's secrets about his past made it impossible for him to bond with anyone. Now that the secret is out, he stands to lose more by leaving Betty than by staying with her. Whether or not she is strong enough to move on without him is another matter. I don't give her that much credit. She's no Rachel Menken.

I agree that Don's persona won't blend well with the new freedoms of the 60s. But that's the beauty of his character. It's easy to forget that the counterculture in America was the minority throughout the 60s. There were a lot more Don Drapers than Paul Kinseys. And yet the freedom was what caught the attention. It dominated the press. It changed the country, even if the country wasn't ready.

I think a character like Don is always able to adapt to the times in which he lives. And, because he's the ultimate pitch man, he'll be able to cut through the crap of the hippy movement the same way he saw through the beatniks in season 1. He has his faults, but we admire his keen knowledge of human nature and his innate talent for getting the most out of any situation. So I vote for an epiphany over continued emasculation. Weak male characters surrounded by smarter women are all too trendy nowadays. I'll take Don Draper or Tony Soprano over Ray Romano any day.