By Andrew Johnston
I was almost a little disappointed when a literal new girl showed up halfway through “The New Girl”, as I was having so much fun decoding the ways the title applied to Peggy, Joan, and the visitig Bobbie Barrett (surely one of the sceries’ most fascinating-ever characters). It’s yet another entry in a very strong run of episodes and one which, in tandem with next week’s installment (don’t worry, you’ll find no spoilers for it here) provides more in the way of semiconventional character development than the series has in quite awhile.
The opening scene suggests another “new girl” candidate: A potential daughter from Pete and Trudy, who go to a fertility clinic in the hope of realizing the pregnancy she’s long desired. The whole process turns out to be Pete’s latest emasculating embarrassment, as he’s peppered with awkward questions by the doc (he’s of course completely sincere when he answers “no” to “Have you ever fathered a child?”). The 1962 nudist mags he’s given to stimulate himself into yielding a sperm sample are good for an ironic snicker, but the best joke in that scene is the presence of a copy of U.S. News & World Report with a cover story that even then was completely irrelevant to the day’s headlines. Industry wags have long referred to the mag as Useless News & World Report, and it was fascinating to see that was as true 46 years ago as it is today.
Bobbie plants herself firmly at the center of the action by coaxing Don into meeting for drinks at Sardi’s,where a symbolic passing of the torch from Rachel Mencken to Bobbie occurs (Rachel has gotten since we last saw her, and her husband has one of the greatest polyglot WASP-Jewish names I’ve encountered in either fiction or reality: Tilden Katz). Bobbie isn’t the “new girl” just because she’s the closest thing to a mistress Don has had since Rachel left, but also the first woman he’s encountered since then who could qualify as his female counterpart.
In the great tradition of men who change their minds out of petulance when they see something they don’t like, Don is soon en route to her beach house at Stony Brook, Long Island, a picturesque village in Suffolk County on the North Shore. On the way, Bobbie provides an abbreviated account of how she achieved success as Jimmy’s manager. “This is America,” she says. “Pick a a job and become the person that does it.” Needless to say, that’s exactly what Dick Whitman did when he became Don Draper (it’s also a philosophy Bert Cooper shares, as he reveals at the climax of “Nixon versus Kennedy”.) But being Don’s female counterpart doesn’t make Bobbie his female analogue--there are key differences in their worldview. She’s got a Roger Sterling-esque love of negotiation, an activity Don says “bores” him (he clearly does everything he can to avoid negotiating on the job at SC), and her subsequent conversations with Peggy suggest she’s a lot more cynical than Don.
Peggy’s arrival at the courthouse is staged like a mystery with a big reveal, and indeed, as Bobbie observes, it initially does sort of seem as if she’s gone a little too far above and beyond the call of duty for Don. Cue the flashbacks which shine light on what happened to her between "The Wheel" and "For Those Who Think Young" and reveal that, as Peggy sees it, she’s repaying a debt. In some respects, the insertion of the flashbacks feels clunky, but as discrete scenes they play quite well, in addition to providing us with some useful info. Peggy’s mom’s tendency to fawn over Pegs at Anita’s expense was standard procedure long before Peggy’s kid came along, apparently, and Anita herself seems to be about eight months pregnant at the time of Peggy’s delivery. If Peggy’s kid is being passed off as Anita’s, then they’re presumably being presented to the world as twins (this may have been stated before; if so, I missed it).
As Peggy drives Don and Bobbie back to the city, Peggy alternates between deferring to Don and acting in a way which suggests that she now has leverage over him, and knows it. It’s this side of Peggy’s personality which Bobbie is intent on cultivating. During their day at Peggy’s apartment, she gives Peggy advice that once again reflects her "Anything’s possible when you-go after what you want" worldview. “You’re never going to get that corner office until you start treating Don as an equal,” she tells her. “And don’t try to be a man--it won’t work.” And so it is that another, more abstract idea of “the new girl” enters the mix--the Helen Gurley Brown-influenced proto-feminist, an archetype that, surprisingly, Peggy may turn out to embody more completely than even Joan (who, in her conversation with Roger, displays a somewhat uncharacteristic-seeming shortage of ambition).
The flashback to Don visiting Peggy in the hospital makes it possible to argue that he, more than anyone, is responsible for Peggy’s tendency to aim high. After she tells Don that she doesn’t know what to do to get out of the hospital, he offers instant, decisive advise rooted in his rejection of the Dick Whitman identity, advice that’s sort of the inverse of what Bobbie says about picking a job and becoming the person who does it, yet which ultimately arrives at the same place: “Move forward. This never happened. It will shock you how much it never happened.”
That’s it for the flashbacks, but it’s not hard to infer what happened next. Peggy followed Don’s advice, in the process taking a few months off from SC, during which he covered for her before re-hiring her as a copy writer. Somewhere along the way, she dumps the roommate and gets her own place (I’m sure I’m not the only one who initially mistook the absence of Peggy’s roommate for a continuity error.)
Once again, there’s plenty of ambiguity about Don’s menschiness. His betrayal of Betty as a pouty response to Rachel’s marriage is hardly an example of maturity, but his standing up for Peggy is admirable, and I was reasonably impressed by his resignation to facing the music when it looks like Jimmy is going to call him out over the incident with Bobbie. The most grown-up thing he does, however, is treating Peggy with respect when follows Bobbie’s advice, first asking him to repay her ASAP and then calling him “Don” instead of “Mr. Draper.” (Sure, he has a surprised look on his face, but it says “I didn’t know she had it in her” rather than “How dare she!”). I was fearful that Peggy’s arc this season would be more about the baby than her career, but "The New Girl" (and next week’s "Maidenform") prove that when she’s got some fire in her belly, Peggy’s journey is every bit as interesting as Don’s.
Miscellaneous Notes: Many people will take Don’s $150 fine for drunk driving to be another of Mad Men’s periodic cheap, “Ho ho ho, look how far we’ve come in 40-some-odd-years” jokes. The truth is more complicated: According to the Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator, that fine comes to $1,092.54 in 2008 dollars. New York DWI law is pretty complicated--it seems that those charged with drunk driving are actually charged with two separate different offenses, “Driving While Impaired by Alcohol” (a noncriminal “traffic infraction” with a minimum fine of $300 and a max of $500 for a first offense; these charges are handled by the DMV rather than the DA, apparently), and “Driving While Intoxicated”, (a criminal violation for which first-timers face a minimum fine of $500 and a max of $1000). Point being, if Don had a clean record, he could theoretically be hit for a fine that’s almost $400 more (in modern dollars) than what he would face in 2008. If the accident led the cop to upgrade the offense to an “aggravated DWI” (which is done at a police officer’s discretion, I think), they’d be more likely to throw the book at him.
The good ol’ inflation calculator also reveals that the $110 or so that Peggy scrapes together to pay Don’s fine would be $801 in 2008 money--no small sum at all, and one I dare say she shouldn’t need Bobbie’s encouragement to pursue its speedy return. In another Peggy note, I really liked how, as the only person on the drive home who was actually born and raised in the city, her knowledge of local freeways put Don’s to shame.
During the first season, a few people complained about a product placement deal with Jack Daniels that got the whiskey shown on camera and/or mentioned verbally in three or four episodes (it was really quite subtle, especially compared to stuff like the appallingly blatant shilling for the Red Robin burger chain on Psych a couple of weeks ago). Well, Don and Bobbie weren’t swilling a bottle of Jack Daniels as they tore it up on the road--the label is blue, not black--but the shape of the bottle sure as hell makes it look like one. Coincidence, or inside reference to last season’s plugs (which I don’t think are being repeated)? You be the judge.
Speaking of color changes, being the hopeless geek that I am, I couldn’t suppress the urge to do a Google images search to find out if the seals of either of the Long Island counties corresponded to the patches on the cop’s shoulders. The patches showed a lion against a red background, and, sure enough, the emblem of Nassau County is a lion, albeit one on a blue field. Would the producers have to get permission to use the Nassau County seal on the show? The blue-to-red switcheroo seems like the kind of thing they’d only really have a reason to do if the county had said no.
Finally, there’s the actual “new girl” of the title, who didn’t make much of an impression as a character (though she certainly is cute). The bit where Ken, Paul and Harry move in like sharks smelling blood was predictable, but still very funny. It also came off as fairly creepy in light of Ken’s even-more-lecherous-than-before portrayal in recent episodes. I therefore enjoyed seeing him crash and burn as a result of Freddie Rumsen’s impromptu performance, which was the most random, Twin Peaks-esque gag that the series has offered since the Chinese family left their rooster behind at the office back at the beginning of season one. My first instinct was that some great advance in zipper technology took place circa 1962 and Freddie was trying out a brand of slacks for which Sterling Cooper was preparing a campaign, but a quick glance at the abundant online articles about the history of the zipper suggests that, from an engineering viewpoint at least, by the 1920s the zipper had been taken about as far as it could go. Rather, to paraphrase one of the most memorable descriptions in (semi)recent sports journalism, this was just Freddie being Freddie.
Andrew Johnston is the television critic for Time Out New York.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Mad Men Mondays: Season 2, Episode 5, "The New Girl"
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18 comments:
Loved the episode, but for some reason, I simply cannot get into the Bobbie character. Specifically, Don's attraction to her. Based on his behavior and female preferences last season, I just don't see it.
Every time she appears in an episode and goes after Don it just seems like the exact kind of move that Don would reject. I must be missing something, if someone could enlighten me I'd really appreciate it.
IMO, she is simply not a likeable enough person to be that much of a sexual attraction to Don. So if it's primarily based on business, then I dont think the show has done a good enough job explaining and demonstrating the overall importance of the Jimmy character and his account. perhaps i just find the character herself to be a bit too cliche and mis-characterized, something i've found to be a problem on this show occasionally.
I love the show but that storyline is really killing this season for me. I'll reserve judgment for now and hope someone can send me the key to the mystery.
I think the key to understanding the Bobbie/Don relationship comes from his current situation with Betty. Because he has obviously agreed to curtail his extracurricular activities in order to keep his family together, he feels emasculated as symbolized by the impotency of the first episode this season).
With Bobbie, he is in a power battle from the beginning (and attempting to remain true to his vow to Betty, thus elevating Bobbie to a truly forbidden option). As a result, he regains his manhood when she comes on to him in the car, and even more when he realizes he has power over her in the scene in the restaurant.
Don sees a lot of himself in Bobbie, and thus he sees her as an equal, something which has been important to him before with both Rachel and the beatnik girl. I think he's conflicted about her, as he wants to hold on to the life he's created, but he's seeing her as a connection to a different life, one with a woman as inventive and in command as he is.
I agree with Mark. I absolutely do not get the attraction and she gets on my nerves. This was made especially clear for me with the run-in with Rachel Mencken Katz. Seeing Rachel and Bobbie next to each other was jarring. Can't stand Bobbie and don't see what Don sees in her.
The way the Rachel scene was played suggests to me that Rachel did not receive the O'Hara book Don mailed off in the season premiere.
Steve's analysis of the Don-Bobbie attraction is right on I think, though I was surprised when they had sex in the office last week. That seems like a risk Don would never take.
One other thought on the Don-Bobbie thing.... With both Rachel and Midge, Don was being intimate and emotional, or at least as much as Don ever can be those things. It seemed to be more then just sex to him. Maybe what he’s doing with Bobbie feels less like “cheating” to him... It seems that there’s almost a self-punishing aspect to his attempt to keep his agreement with Betty...
the interpretations you've all provided certainly make sense. i suppose it's personal with me, i just do not like the character or the storyline. perhaps i am a bit bored of Don's cheating all-together.
i've also still had problems with some of the actor's/writer's characterizations of certain characters. just a bit too cliche. Sal is obviously way too gay to fool anybody. Jimmy is way too unlikeable to be found that funny by anybody (oh, and he's also not funny). Bobbie is interesting, but aside from being tired of storylines involving Don's cheating i still dont buy Don's attraction (a problem i never had with Mr. Soprano).
but i swear, i really do love the show!
Another angle on Freddie's slacks, and zipper concerto, admittedly based only on my first observations and impressions:
Freddie's slacks were clearly a Sans-a-belt type (no belt loops, a reinforced waistband, and elastic in the waist and upper hips to sit correctly on even a corpulent man without sliding or rolling). However, such slacks did not roll out (pardon the expression) in 1962. Rather, they debuted a few years earlier, in 1959:
http://www.sansabelt.com/
What might have been novel for 1962 was the polyester coil zipper. First invented in the 40's, but only becoming commonplace in the 60's according to:
http://www.vintagefashionguild.org/content/blogcategory/50/86
It's plausible that such non-metal zippers were only then becoming common in men's professional clothing. In that scene then, Freddie could have been making the novel observation that the tension of the synthetic-fabric-blend-and-elastic slacks along with the polyester zipper had great potential as an impromptu musical instrument, perhaps more than that of a metal zipper on looser, belted or suspendered, slacks from the 50's.
I really love Mad Men. One thing, however, is like a tic that bothers me. Joan seems to wear the exact same totally formfitting dress in every episode. The colors are different, the exaggeration of Joan's "charms" the same. I find it hard to believe Joan would never, ever wear something with a pattern in the fabric.
Sometimes I am really surprised by the amount of speculation that goes into a pretty simple concept. The Don/Bobbie thing seems to me to be a simple matter of unwillingness to repel. Don isn't willing to shoot her down. The reasons for his unwillingness might be complex, given the show they probably are, but that doesn't make the moments nor Bobbie's character all that difficult to comprehend.
Hasn't anyone else ever had a member of the opposite sex pursue them aggressively and eventually give in, just because it is difficult not to? That seems to be the whole deal here, to me. Bobbie wants Don, Don likes being wanted and doesn't feel like trying hard to turn her away. So he takes it. For a man who runs away from problems it seems very in character.
I'm really fascinated by the Don/Peggy relationship and see some real magic in the interactions between them. More than in any of his other relationships, Don is getting immediate results for what he puts into his relationship with Peggy because she's consistently proven herself and risen to meet each challenge he brings to her. In Season 1 when Peggy asks for a raise and he pushes her to ask like a man, and she does. In "For Those who Think Young" he counters her "sex sells" assertion with an eloquent explanation of what really makes their advertising work. Peggy takes it and is able to produce a line that proves that she has talent. When Don advises her to "move forward" after her baby, she does just that. I'm really interested in seeing how their relationship will evolve further in the season.
Pitrone, the motivations the writers have for the character are fine, and i really do like your suggestion alot. but that's not where i personally veer off. if what you say is true and it's so "simple" then why do we need 5 episodes and counting to address it?
i guess what i'm saying is what i said before: IMO, she just isnt that interesting; and finding out info about Don character through another dalliance is getting a bit tired. i'd like to learn more about Don through office interactions and more Dick Whitman-ish storylines.
I just want to point out that Peggy's sister Anita has three children in her household: two older kids and Peggy's child. So something horrible has happened to the child she's carrying in her scene in this episode. I'm guessing a late miscarriage or a stillborn child, meaning that she has even more reason than sibling rivalry to resent Peggy.
I'm also not taken with the Bobbi character. I get that Don is with her mainly out of boredom (as his "I feel nothing" lines attests), but given that they've established that he's making such an effort to be a good family man, it seems like a betrayal of the character to let him be pushed into sex with someone he doesn't even seem to like much.
I see a long term story arc coming up: Peggy moves to the top of the Sterling Coo pile - I see her taking over Bobby Morse's Asian inspired office by the end of the decade. And poor Don, the right thinking dinosaur that he has made himself, takes the (metaphorical) fall that we see in the oprning credits every week.
"Sal is obviously way too gay to fool anybody."
By our standards, maybe. In the early 60s, however, the term homosexual had barely been coined, and was not remotely a possibility for 'decent people' with jobs and suits and g's at the end of their gerunds. I don't find this difficult to believe at all. This was a time when you could say "He's not gay. He's married!" without irony.
"Jimmy is way too unlikeable to be found that funny by anybody (oh, and he's also not funny)."
Have you watched many Brat Pack videos lately? Or Don Rickles? Jimmy's schtick reminds me of my grandparents record collection, complete with the corny, easy zingers and the ice clinking in the glass between jokes. Humor has come a long way since the 60s, man.
hey rottin', thank you for your thoughts. i am, in fact, a big fan of don rickles and comedians in general and the time period of Mad Men is not lost on me.
but even don rickles at his worst was charming. you absolutely cannot pull off being that type of comedian without having an aura of likability about you; people NEED to want to be around you to face your wrath. otherwise, every clever jerk on earth has a shot. jimmy comes off as a barely clever jerk, if not completely miscast. he is simply NOT funny nor are his jokes all that funny. is that to say there arent or werent any Jimmy-ish comedians out there? no. but they weren't so successful that a Don Draper would have to fawn over them and their business. alas, it's an interesting debate.
i'll concede the point about Sal, though i don't necessarily see your argument as any more airtight than mine. that situation could just as easily go the other way, with everyone in the office whispering about Sal being gay, and i doubt you'd question the veracity.
obviously, the creators (whom i greatly admire and trust) made these decisions, so i do not doubt there are excellent reasons behind them (unless AMC is afraid of being too vague). but until i hear them, i remain a tad dubious.
last thing on Bobbie; if she is an instrument to show Don's boredom and his inability to say no to a sexual advance, that's fine. if she was simply a plot tool to set up the Peggy-Don secret dynamic, again, thats fine. either way, id personally like to see less of her.
Am I really naive to assume that Peggy's baby really was given away to a new family and that maybe Anita resents Peggy for releasing herself of the obligation to raise it? The little boy could be no worse than a third boy Anita just doesn't want. Peggy getting away with not being a mother is enough grounds to hate her.
Duh. And I meant to say if anyone is wondering how Sal's gayness is being overlooked, it's because he's also Italian. Italians were a suspicious crew, you know. Capable of all sorts of extravagances and displays and emotions.
Sorry I forgot to say that above.
“Move forward. This never happened. It will shock you how much it never happened.”
Five days later and I'm still thinking about that scene. After spending lots of time "healing the past" I came to this conclusion years ago. Keep walking and pretend it never happened is sometimes the wisest counsel you could give anyone. I have a mental picture of Don Draper as Dr. Phil. People sit on his stage while he admonishes them to keep moving--"it never happened, just keep moving."
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