Pete's in Shock on Mad Men
Photo Credit: AMC TV
It’s re-watch time again! Throughout the next few months we
will continue our look at Mad Men with its second season. Every Saturday It’ll
be a Season 2 episode in the hot seat ready for tons of discussion. Without
Further due let’s get right into the Mad Men Season 2 re-watch!
Thoughts on “Flight 1” as soon as I crush the cherry…
“It’s the strangest thing. My father was on that plane.”
-Pete
Everyone’s got family issues. Whether it is Pete’s confused
emotions about his father passing, Peggy’s overbearing mother and kind of nasty
sister, and Don’s lack of family provide our characters many dilemmas throughout
“Flight 1.” Not only has that but it all happened at a time of an airplane
crash one that provided much heart break and opportunity that helps push the
characters and the story forward into new and interesting territory that helped
kick off the character arcs of the season.
Let’s start with poor Pete who is clearly confused by the
idea that his father has passed (due to the passing of Christopher Allport
Weiner decided to write him off by putting him in the famous American Airlines
crash), and not for reasons that seem obvious. Pete really doesn’t know how to
feel about his father passing mostly because as we find out throughout the course
of the episode (and as was shown to us briefly last season) that Pete’s father
probably wasn’t the greatest person on earth and was probably terrible to Pete. So we get an episode of Pete struggling to find what to do which results in his
epic quest in finding a sort of surrogate father figure. We saw this a little
bit at the start of the first season with Pete trying to be better than Don but
it never (in a wise form of course correction) really developed all that much.
This time Pete is a little bit emotionally broken and confused and he’s looking
for someone to fill the role that his father never did. Of course being kind of
distraught and thrown of guard in his own right Don (more on that briefly) isn’t
going to fill that role all that well (Don’s kind of bumbling almost confusion
when Pete tells him his father died was a little bit of fun dark comedy) so off
to Duck Pete heads near the end of the episode.
Of course Duck is out to get American Airlines after the
crash seeing opportunity in the face of the recent tragedy. This causes Don vs.
Duck volume two as Don with his new found sense of melancholy and loyalty (ain’t
that ironic) wants to stick with the smaller Mohawk Airlines while Duck wants
to chase the gold. It all leads to Don getting very grumpy and thus chasing the
whole father figure for Pete thing out the window and at the same time getting
a disappointed speech from the leader of Mohawk Airlines. Duck on the other
hand doesn’t care about the loyalty factor, only looking for new opportunities when
they arise, manages to court Pete into using his father’s death as an opportunity
to get American Airlines. It’s a big move, one that will separate Pete from Don
and play on Duck’s side. Duck one Draper nothing.
Peggy is also going through some family troubles of her own
but for various different reasons. It was hinted at that Peggy was
institutionalized a little bit after the surprise birth (her sister mentions it
in passing) and so she has to visit her overbearing family once and a while.
Her mother is very old fashioned stressing the church and demeaning Peggy’s lifestyle
out in the city. It doesn’t help Peggy the more modern version of a woman to be
in the 60s to deal with two people who are trying to institutionalize her (ie
make her more like them) and make her more “old fashioned.”
The other part of the drama comes from the mysterious child
that has popped up into Peggy’s sister’s arms. It seems that Peggy is hesitant
around the child either because that’s her child, or the fact that after having
a child she’s a little timid around them. The mystery continues as to what happened
after the pregnancy but clearly Peggy is damaged in some way in her personal
life that may take a lot of fixing in the episodes to come.
Finally we have Don Draper and his magical emotional
problems. It seems that the death of Pete’s father hit Don heavier than it hit
Pete, causing him to become very moody throughout the episode. He has a tense
game of cards with Betty, Francine, and Carleton and has numerous arguments
with Duck and the Roger. Don’s going through interesting times mentally and
seems confused about where he is and what his identity is. He has certain
values that he pretends to have for the moment and tries to act upon those
while at the same time dealing with the world around him. Don is a little lost
in his own skin and is starting to be baffled by the world around of them.
“Flight 1” begins to take the characters on the journey of
the season providing different situations to help set up the strife and the
emotional journey that will be felt along the way. It allows us to get into the
head of the characters outside of Don and see how they are holding up in the
ever changing landscape of the 1960s. The times they are a changing and it will
only get more challenging character wise as the season goes on.
Some other Musings:
- Joan doesn’t seem happy in her situation at all and she takes it out on poor Kinsey. Kinsey is trying to stay modern and even has an African American girlfriend who gets chewed out by Joan. Joan is angry and going through somewhat of a confidence crisis that isn’t helping the people around her, especially if she’s as nasty as she was to Kinsey throughout the episode.
- Also it seems to be a fun gag but still poor Don’s secretary who keeps doing all the wrong things with a very irritable man.
Coming Up Next Week: “The Benefactor” where Don ditches work….
Again
That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?
