Mad Men: The Benefactor - VIDEO

I think the Jimmy character is modeled on either Jerry Lewis or Soupy Sales, or a conflation of both. Both men were clearly inspired and seriously disturbed. Soupy even looked a little like Jimmy.

You all clear give the characters in this show too much credit. Very few of them have anything approaching a healthy psychological existence.

Don whores around because he has little conscience, and doesn't particularly care about the effect his actions have on others. In the words of Sterling, he's "been living like [he's] on shore leave for the last twenty years."

The point of this show is to expose the emotional immaturity and pervading prejudice of the characters. We are supposed to dislike them even as we relate to them. They are pre-modern humans shown to us "moderns" so we can revel in our superiority.

My first impression of Jimmy was that he was patterned after Jerry Lewis. Jerry was known for insulting people, being a notorious bad boy, doing bits with food, AND having an overinflated ego.

This show can be disturbing but it makes you think. In fact it's one of the more thought provoking TV shows since the first season of The Sopranos. My wife I actually discussed this show for quite awhile after watching it.
I wish there were more TV shows like this one. One more thing, this was a great episode. Great writing and great acting.

Another great episode.

Maybe I'm spoiled by the attention to detail, but I couldn't help notice two jarring anachronisms in the show:

First, the Utz bags. These are much later designs and the wrong material. Utz chips at the time came in stapled waxed-paper bags (printed on the outside, waxed on the inside).

Then the phone in Don's den. The clip-connector on the handset wire was at least 10-12 years ahead of itself.

Little things, but in a show this careful with the set-dressing, I wondered whether somebody in the props department took a sick day.

I think Don is trying to do the right thing, but in that business environment, screwing Bobbi would get him what he wanted, so while not morally ok, it was the right thing for the job. He felt bad. You could tell from when he walked in the door and was faced with the inscription on the watch.

As far as how he treated Bobbi when she went too far...that was PERFECT! She is crass and that is the language she understood. I wasn't offended by it at all, and actually cheered him on.

I think the fatalism comments are right on.

I don't think Betty buys into the fantasy of her marriage at all. She doesn't buy it, but she is desperate for it to work and be real. She realizes she is of little value except to look pretty. That is aslo why she asked if if she was supposed to talk or not and when she thought the night went well, why she wanted to take some credit for it and call them a team. She needs to have value in her life. But then again, so does Don.

The music choices were fantastic. This is just a great show!

I was sickened at this episode. Don is very disappointing, and for the first time, I can see why lifestyles changed quickly after the Kennedy years.

Bobbi was a horrific character and did need to be put into her place. The method which Don chose was close to evil, in my humble opinion. He is really hitting the dark side, not only in his home life but with his coworkers. Whatever happened to him in the 18 months since the last episode changed him forever. Was it his brother's death? Was it that profound? I'm sure we have much to discover.

It still amazes me that this show and all of its crudeness, and lying and infidelity doesn't get the scorn shown for Swingtown. Both period pieces examining lifestyles that are much different than things today. At least in Swingtown the women get to take part; in Mad Men I actually feel degraded when I am watching sometimes. That's powerful television, to be certain.

Like the others, I thought that Don was clearly just screwing her to get the edge in the Jimmie-Shilling affair. I think he's beginning to slip back into his Season 1 fatalism after he saw how the company treated Mohawk. Skipping work to watch an artsy movie? It's clear to me that, despite what he's said to the contrary, Don's searching for some kind of meaning in his life, and failing to find it.

I saw some parallels in Harry's storyline this week and Pete's last week. Both of them seemed to compromise their principles in order to get ahead. Notice how Harry didn't want to talk about the show he pitched to Bell-Jolie with his wife.

Sal and the Bell-Jolie salesman are bound to hook up at some point. The real question is: Is Sal's wife just a beard, or will his coming out surprise her and ruin his life?

Anyone wanna start a Freddy Rumsen dead pool? The man's clearly a crazy alcoholic, and I could see a plot where the Sterling-Coo guys have to deal with his death.

Was it just me, or did it seem like everyone was dressed down in next week's preview? Is Sterling-Coo gonna have a casual day, or a bring your kid to work day? (Becky was shown talking to Joan in the break room) Either way, it's yet another indication that times are changing.

My interpretation of Harry's description to his wife and Sal of what happened was that the envelope was delivered to his desk and he assumed it was his and opened it without looking at the cellophane window--I've certainly done that with neighbor's US mail mistakenly delivered to my mailbox. Big props to the props people for finding a vintage bottle of rubber cement--I recognized the label from my childhood.

Actually, I think Jimmy was an homage to the character "Chuckles the Chipmunk" in the play/movie "A Thousand Clowns" played by the great Gene Saks. Chuckles, a children's television star with a dirty mind, also had a potato chip sponsor and did a very a very similiar comic bit with the chips as Jimmy did in this episode. A subtle reference, but I bet it's real.