The Mad Men Season Five Thread

anyone else kinda feeling unsettled after watching tonight's episode of Mad Men?

Felt weird. I have no idea why they showed Betty suddenly heavy, but since I struggle with this issue myself, I found I wasn't feeling like I was indulging in one of my favorite shows. I felt like I was being shamed. My own demons, I know, but still.... Wasn't sure where they were going with that episode. Just to show a little come-uppance with Betty? To contrast Betty with Megan?

And by the way, did many women have the name "Megan" in the sixties? Ones who weren't Irish or Scottish or something? Just curious.

... Because I don't have any friends in my age group named Megan. A few Heathers, but no Megans.

Well, January Jones was pregnant in real life, so it might have been out of necessity. But it also fit with the episode's larger recurring theme of people being replaced, or being afraid of being replaced.

No girl I went to school with was named Megan. Back in those days names were pretty simple.

I don't remember a Heather either.

Oh, I didn't realize January Jones is pregnant in real life. That was actually what I first thought when I saw her appear in the episode, that Betty is now pregnant. Yes, that's what they started with then: a necessity, and then turned it into something a little more poignant than usual.

As much as I disapprove of how Betty and Henry got together, he's amazingly good for her if she's only let him be good for her.

Charisma Carpenter was prego in Angel, which forced the writers to create a storyline around that, which led to her being let go from the show.

i dunno. i found pictures of January Jones straight after having her baby. she was nowhere near big at all.

*she'd

I assume they have no intention of letting January Jones go from Mad Men. I'm still unsure if I don't think she can act or if it's just that her character is so shallow to begin with... but I'd still like her to stay. She adds a depth to Don's life that would be woefully missing in plot lines if she were written off the show.

It's possible they thought they'd have to account for it, wrote the weight gain, and it turned out it wasn't terribly necessary.

yeah, i felt like that too! i know that's a little silly but it felt really out of place and really out of character as well.

i think the whole 'feeling shamed' thing might be because of the way it was done. it was really obvious they were trying to make her look unattractive not just cause she was bigger, but they added old lady clothes and hair, and i'll be damned if that wasn't a body double when she got out of the tub. as usual they have to associate those things together.

but yeah, the whole health nodule thing was so fast-paced and out of nowhere.

they aren't going to get rid of Betty, i mean, unless they kill her off. there's no way they are going to get rid of Sally because she's too vital a character and with Sally you have to keep Betty.

Thyroid issues can account for weight gain, so if they deal with her thyroid problems (unsure if they had the meds back then that they do no), she might have no trouble losing the thyroid-weight.

But then again, they've shown her eating crackers and her daughter's ice cream in addition to her own... so it's likely a combination of things in her case, just as the 1960s doctor told her.

I also appreciated the reaction to possible cancer -- so different from now. The "C" word back then much more often spelled disaster. As usual, they did a good job showing that. I love the way they blatantly show the differences in attitude on all sorts of topics from what we'd think now.

And yes, I assume that was a body double too. Rewatched it today, and the scene cut is so obviously done to allow for that body double to step in.

the last scene where it showed her scoffing down her daughters sundae seemed to be implying that the weight gain was mostly from depression and not a thyroid issue. if they're trying to make me suddenly sympathize with the character, it's working.

it didn't even dawn on me why people were reacting so frantically about the "C" word til you just said that actually. the way Betty flew into the house and called Don, i was like, "geez." that makes a lot more sense. Don's reaction was so well-done too, i didn't expect that.

i'm still trying to figure out Megan. she's a wild card for me right now.

I like Megan a lot -- she is such a natural with Don's kids, and frankly, they need that sort of charm and sweetness, especially when they're with him because he can be a bit clueless as a dad sometimes. (Not always, but sometimes his "home" with the kids seemed sterile and cold and devoid of a feeling of "home.")

And she really seems to be good for Don -- in ways Betty wasn't (and yes, I mean in bed too). We haven't seen Don stray since being with Megan, even with the girls backstage at the Stones concert. Harry seemed like a total idiot the way he's constantly whining about how awful his home life is, and Don actually seemed like the stalwart good guy in those scenes.

Remains to be seen, though, if the right temptation came along, how Don would handle it. He never much went for young groupie types. He was more into smarter, stronger women.

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Oh, by the way, I'm planting this flag right now:

I say Betty actually has cancer.

Aha, a case of missing the diagnosis, as might have happened back then more often too?

I was thinking more a case of her lying about what was told to her over the phone.

Puts a new spin on her eating that sundae, too. And how unenthused she seemed afterwards. And why she didn't update Don.

Wow, I hadn't even thought of that. I'll have to rewatch that scene to see if it makes sense... because I'm wondering how good a liar Betty is. Plus, she tends to want sympathy -- well, no, empathy -- and frankly, it would be a little strange for one conversation with an old friend over lunch to change her entire attitude about death. I remember in the first season when she couldn't get over her mother's death without therapy....

All that you say makes sense, and it's certainly something the writers might do, but I'm trying to think how they would work that all out. Does that mean she wouldn't go for treatments (as her friend was doing)? She'd just ignore it completely? Eventually that would catch up with her, of course. And frankly, I think an awful death due to cancer would really skew the show away from its core plot lines these days. Betty's almost a secondary character now....