Some hamfisted writing, but it still seems to have gone over the heads of most viewers.
I'm somewhat amazed at how the Mets pennant in this episode is being missed for being the obvious metaphor that it is. Yes, many people have realized that the '69 Mets were improbable champions but that is not the primary metaphor for the pennant in this episode:
When Don finds the Mets pennant, what does he do with it? He throws it in the wastebasket. Then he proceeds to throw himself in the wastebasket by purposely breaking his contract. But what do his eyes alight on when awakening in his stupor? The very same pennant he earlier threw in the garbage pinned to his office wall.
What better metaphor for Don Draper, foreshadowing his being rescued from the garbage heap himself? Don's humbling of himself in Season 7 to first of all return to the agency and then to "do the work" as a "mere" copywriter under his former underling Peggy Olson, is just one improbable move in the ultimate survivor, Don Draper, who survived the Korean war by adopting the identity of a fallen comrade. Should we really be so surprised?
Similarly, I originally thought the low point of the episode was when Roger and daughter fell in the mud. I first dismissed it as simply unnecessary slapstick. Then I remembered the George Bernard Shaw quote: "Never wrestle with a pig. You'll both get dirty and the pig will like it." Mona was smart enough to realize that and left early.
This entire series is a bit of a misdirection. "Men" is in the title but the real stories are the women characters. This whole series is about how American society changed after the widespread adoption of "The Pill" (particularly how it changed the lives of the women). You'll recall that it was revealed that it was Joan who sent (the nominally Catholic) Peggy to the doctor to get on "the pill" in the very first episode. Freedom, like anything, can be used for good or for evil.
A great, great episode.
I'm somewhat amazed at how the Mets pennant in this episode is being missed for being the obvious metaphor that it is. Yes, many people have realized that the '69 Mets were improbable champions but that is not the primary metaphor for the pennant in this episode:
When Don finds the Mets pennant, what does he do with it? He throws it in the wastebasket. Then he proceeds to throw himself in the wastebasket by purposely breaking his contract. But what do his eyes alight on when awakening in his stupor? The very same pennant he earlier threw in the garbage pinned to his office wall.
What better metaphor for Don Draper, foreshadowing his being rescued from the garbage heap himself? Don's humbling of himself in Season 7 to first of all return to the agency and then to "do the work" as a "mere" copywriter under his former underling Peggy Olson, is just one improbable move in the ultimate survivor, Don Draper, who survived the Korean war by adopting the identity of a fallen comrade. Should we really be so surprised?
Similarly, I originally thought the low point of the episode was when Roger and daughter fell in the mud. I first dismissed it as simply unnecessary slapstick. Then I remembered the George Bernard Shaw quote: "Never wrestle with a pig. You'll both get dirty and the pig will like it." Mona was smart enough to realize that and left early.
This entire series is a bit of a misdirection. "Men" is in the title but the real stories are the women characters. This whole series is about how American society changed after the widespread adoption of "The Pill" (particularly how it changed the lives of the women). You'll recall that it was revealed that it was Joan who sent (the nominally Catholic) Peggy to the doctor to get on "the pill" in the very first episode. Freedom, like anything, can be used for good or for evil.
A great, great episode.
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