Pete trying to discuss improtant matters with his parents on Mad Men
Photo Credit: AMC TV
It’s rewatch time!! For the first time ever this summer we will be watching an old season of a television show over the course of several weeks. Installments will be posted Sundays and Wednesdays with the posts spoiling only the episode that is being talked about. This summer the rewatch is on the first season of Mathew Weiner’s 1960’s period piece Mad Men, one of the great first seasons of television.
Thoughts on Mad Men’s fourth episode “New Amsterdam” as soon
as I become both a babysitter and a maid…
“I have ideas”
-Pete
Before we get into the meat and potatoes of “New Amsterdam,”
hey look it’s Trudy! Yes after falsely remembering when Trudy came into the
fray not once but twice it finally happened in episode four (which is of course
a Pete centric episode). Alison Brie gets to be on screen for the first time in
the entire series (she will be back) and she’s very good here as Pete’s
slightly spoiled wife. Trudy will become a great character down the line and
Alison Brie’s regular appearances will become something of a treat as the
series continues onwards.
On to the rest of episode which mostly consisted of a cry
that Pete has problems too! A few of them none the less! Pete gets to be a
troubled this week instead of that guy who gets shut down by Don (although that
happens a bit here as well) and his troubles at work and at home are the main
focus of the episode. Vincent Kartheiser gets to be super good here and allows
us a look (and provides a little sympathy) into the life of the flawed Pete.
First are Pete’s problems at work. Pete has been established
as a social climber and his desperate attempts to climb up the ladder to
potentially become the new Don Draper hit a breaking point in this episode. Yes
Pete actually tries to get his own pitch to a client at a bar. It works and his
idea is well liked but boy does that not work for Don who had a good idea of
his own that Pete set him up to fail on. This leads to Pete almost getting
fired and only being saved by the fact that his family has a history of being
rich. This hits Pete hard and nearly sends him to a depressive edge. Then in a
move of brilliance of Roger (and by the writers as they move away from the
storyline of Pete creeping up on Don) make Don Pete’s hero by telling Pete that
Don was his savior at the company. The whole work idea really defines Pete as a
character and allows the viewer to take a more inside look on a character who
was still being felt out in the first three episodes.
The other way Pete is made more sympathetic is through his
troubles in his family life. Pete has to deal with swallowing his pride as he
has to take some money from Trudy’s parents to pay for the apartment they are
trying to buy. We get to see for the first time that Pete’s pride in the
workplace carries over into his outside life. Trudy’s parents are more than willing
to help out, but he doesn’t just take the money easily. Pete wants to do things
himself or with the help of the money that’s coming to him (in the case of him
going to his very disapproving parents) and doesn’t like people tampering in
his business (as one can guess a common theme as things move on). It works well
and really gives us a since of who Pete is as a character.
The other part of the episode involves creepy Glen who is
creepy. My goodness he is creepy and Mathew Weiner’s son does a good job at
playing this lonely and a tad obsessive kid as he develops a crush on Betty as
she’s babysitting him. The sequence is truly creepy as Glen not only watches
Betty as she’s on the toilet but also wants locks of her hair and everything.
Sure he’s nine but man (shivers) that sequence is just as difficult to watch as
it was the first time as it’s just so creepy.
Ultimately the goal of the fourth hour of Mad Men is to establish
Pete as a bigger presence on the Mad Men roster and it succeeds very well. The
focus on Pete allows for a so far mostly detestable character to be developed
into a fully rounded human being with real issues. Mad Men just keeps getting
better as the cast gets defined and this is the best hour so far for the show.
The best part is that it only goes up from here.
Some other musings:
- Don mostly gets the week off other than to set himself in motion for a few developing plotlines. He gets a super awkward encounter with Rachel and he also gets a super triumphant victory in the mal placed battle with Pete.
- We get introduced to the apartment set that will be used in many episodes of the future.
- Not much on the office end other than Bethlehem steel. Again another laser focused character episode
- Glen is really creepy!
Coming up on Sunday: It’s a great one “5G” the episode that hooked
me on Mad Men my first time through! Can’t wait to revisit it!
That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?
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