Mad Men Discussion: Mr. Belding Does Not Care For Your Cool Whip Pitch

I can’t wait for the next time one of my UPROXX overlords calls me — I’m just going to yell, “Pizza House!” and then hang up the phone. It’ll be glorious. Thanks for the idea, Peggy!

With that said, here are a few notes I made during last night’s Mad Men about characters, scenes, etc. I found interesting for one reason or another.

- “Look, I already have life insurance. It came with my junior partnership. It’s six times my annual salary and after two years it covers suicide.” — Pete Campbell

A few weeks back, in one of these here Monday Mad Men discussion posts, I laid out a theory I’d been chewing on about Pete Campbell ultimately committing suicide. While Pete’s been sort of in the background in the episodes that have come since then, last night he was back as a major storyline player and once again there were clues pointing to Pete drifting into a mental spiral ending in suicide. Hell, as I noted in the quote above, he even cryptically mentions suicide when talking to that goofy life insurance salesman whose wife he later boned. Obviously, he needs a solid triggering mechanism to push him over the edge — maybe this frustrated, horny housewife’s unwillingness to enter into an affair with him will be the thing to motivate Pete to off himself?

So how long has it been since Pete was made a partner?

- “Since when did music become so important?”– Don Draper

- Another reason for me to love Don: he and I both don’t “get” the Beatles.

- Speaking of Don, let’s imagine what was going through his head immediately after almost falling down an elevator shaft, shall we?: “Oh sh*t. That’s an open elevator shaft. I could have stepped in and F*CKING DIED! What should I do? Should I tell someone to call maintenance while I stand here in the meantime to guard the entrance and make sure no one tries to use this elevator? Should I put a note up to warn my co-workers so that one of them doesn’t plummet to their death? Nah, f*ck it, I think I’ll just go back to my office and pour myself a drink.”

-Mr. Belding, Head of Desserts. I almost stood up and cheered when he entered that Cool Whip scene.

- Okay, could it be any more obvious that Matt Weiner truly loathes January Jones? I mean, she’s been a presence in one episode all season. We haven’t seen her for weeks. Hell, Betty Draper’s bloated gasbag of a mother-in-law has had more screentime than she has. And let’s not forget that when she did make an appearance she was FAT, FAT, FAT! I can actually smell the contempt Weiner has for Jones.

- Indiewire noticed something interesting in last night’s episode: In an episode from season two, Betty wakes Don in the middle of the night to confront him about his lies — a conversation that leads to the end of their marriage. In last night’s episode, Megan wakes him in the middle of the night to confess her own lies. Will the conversation trigger the same fate for Don and Megan? Regardless, Don has come full circle with the women in his life in regards to lying.

- “Second wives…it’s like they have a playbook.” Joan Holloway

- It cost $250,000 for Mad Men to play that Beatles song at the end of the episode. That sh*t cray.

- And finally, here’s a random pic of Jon Hamm on a red carpet with one of the LMFAO dude, just because…

(GIFs via Chet Manley)

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