Special, esoteric "Mad Men" fans only posting

As I've mentioned many times before, I'm obsessive. My latest obsession? "Mad Men." How can I even begin to describe how much I loved last night's episode? My friend and I are hooked on this show. In the early 90s, he and I used to spend every Saturday night in his basement watching "Twin Peaks" and nearly twenty years later, we have another "Twin Peaks" to capture our interest.

First, here's a good quote from an"Onion" critic about the season that reflects what I've discussed with people about the slow nature of the show and is it better to watch all at once on DVD or week by week:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/guy-walks-into-an-advertising-agency,33092/

"I’ve read a lot of criticism—in the comments section here and in other places—that while Season Three has featured a number of memorable moments, it hasn’t really cohered. The leisurely pace that’s been Mad Men’s trademark mode has, at times, seemed a little indulgent, as though creator Matt Weiner were trying to convince us that there’s more happening than there actually is… if only we’d look hard enough. Since I enjoy spending time in the Mad Men universe whether it's drama-filled or not, I haven’t minded the slow-drip, scene-by-scene approach. I think of this show as being like one long novel, and though each chapter has its own careful construction and unique themes, it often feels wrong to judge the individual elements of the composition until we’ve seen the whole picture. Three years from now, when we see how much (or how little) everyone’s lives have changed over the course of Mad Men, those “not much happe
ning” times we’ve spent with them will be all the more meaningful, because we’ll have come to know these people."

I totally agree.

Some things about last night I really liked:

- Pete's reaction when they said that Ken Cosgrove is head of accounts as is Pete Campbell, "for the time being." Vincent Kartheiser has some great, momentary reactions shots, like a few weeks ago when the jai alai guy was talking about "balls coming at his face."

-Peggy fainting into Pete's arms.

- Joan. Joan. Joan. Was she great in this episode or what? How can she leave Sterling Cooper? And how can they let her go? I swore she was going to ask Don to help her get her job back when they were in the hospital but she didn't. Damn. But man, she and Don have some smokin' chemistry. But as Joan noted in the first season, he never went after her. I'll bet Don never has affairs with coworkers. Joan is the one with brains in her fingers, not her husband.

- Betty apparently still doesn't care for Bobby much. "Go beat your head against the wall. Only boring people get bored."

- Evil Bubble Cut Barbie.

- Why don't we know Don's secretary's name? Peggy has Olive, Pete's had Hildy forever, Paul has/had Lois.

- Did you notice the quick shot of Mr. Hooker and a secretary run into the room, all mussed up when the accident happened? Man, I wish Joan would put him in his place.

- Paul Kinsey going crazy over having to cut his beard and then playing the guitar while the top brass comes through.

- And the accident itself. Completely unexpected but this is the way MM always confounds our expectations. Here I was thinking, we now have this young upstart, he's going to cause all kinds of trouble and tension, everybody will hate him. There will be episodes worth of resentment and then blam!, his foot gets cut off by a lawnmower and suddenly the status quo is restored. Brilliant play on the title as well, "Guy Walks Into Advertising Agency" as his name was Guy and then of course, he doesn't walk out.

I love this show.