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Friday, May 18, 2012

"Mad Men" Week 8: Roger and the Chosen Wine



"Dark Shadows" (a title hopefully not inspired by the recent release of the Tim Burton-Johnny Depp theatrical remake snoozefest of the same name) was true to its title, as it involved several key characters (mostly Don and Betty) retreating to the darker corners of their souls in desperate grabs for self-preservation. Roger Sterling, of course, is no stranger to this kind of thinking; after all, he declared to Peggy that within the agency it's "every man for himself." Roger wasn't concerned about self-preservation in this episode, but the darkest, ugliest traits of his character definitely drove his share of the plot.

For starters, there was Roger Sterling the bigot. Not since he donned black face in season three has Roger's insensitivity been so openly displayed. Needing ideas for a secret (damn that Pete!) pitch meeting/dinner with reps from Monarch Wines, maker of the Jewish-targeted Manischewitz brand, Roger calls upon — gasp — Michael Ginsburg for creative insight. He tells Ginsburg that Monarch is looking to market a wine to "normal" people like himself, and during the course of their meeting proceeds to direct several more anti-Semitic cheap shots at him. Ginsburg is unfazed by Roger's quips, but is concerned that this side work might get him into hot water with Don. Ever the pragmatist, Roger hands Ginsburg the remaining wad of cash in his pocket exchange for Ginsburg's services and silence (It must be Roger Sterling Sr.'s money that's truly bankrolling the entire outfit). Ginsburg is not silent about the arrangement, however, and when Peggy finds out, she is disappointed that Roger did not call on her for this secret project like he did for Mohawk Airlines.

Roger isn't finished using (Jewish) people as a means to an end, as he needs ex-wife Jane Siegel to be his pretend-wife at the client dinner (to be fair, this was at Mr. Cooper's initial insistence). Roger was never comfortable mentioning Jane's ethnicity when he was actually married to her, but once he's at the dinner table with the Rosenbergs, he's extolling the exceptional beauty of Jewish women, lamenting the prejudice in the world and expressing his "envy for the humor, the closeness, the way your people keep track of each other." This hogwash, combined with Ginsburg's bus ad idea, wins over the Rosenbergs. Despite the presence of handsome Bernie, Jane must keep up the facade of being married in order for Roger to lock down the account.

Jane's compliance in this dinner scheme meant that Roger purchase her a new apartment, mainly so she could escape the trappings of their failed marriage and start anew. After the dinner, Roger wants to see the apartment, "the better end of the deal." Once inside the barely furnished flat, Roger's libido takes over and he and Jane end up having relations, despite her brief protest. The morning after, Jane is in tears, having realized that her new apartment has been sullied with the memory of a one-night stand with her ex-husband. "You get everything you want and you still had to do this," she tells him. Roger answers with "I feel terrible," an act of contrition so hollow and insincere that it's laughable. While Roger didn't sink to any particular "new" kind of low this week, this episode leaves the impression that any hope for the redemption of Roger Sterling's soul now has a snowball's chance in hell.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

"Mad Men" Week 6 and 7 Recaps


I've sucked at keeping my personal blog up to date with these "Mad Men" entries. If you've followed this blog in weekly anticipation of my thoughts on Roger Sterling and have been disappointed, I apologize. (Remember that you should read it here first anyway.) On second thought, I'm pretty sure you people don't exist. 

Week 7: "Lady Lazarus"

"It's what I've always wanted. Sit back and watch the business roll in while you pass the jug with some shmoe from Lutherville, Maryland." — Roger Sterling

Roger wasn't much of a prime mover this week, having but a few minutes of screen time (thus making this week's blog post for some shmoe in Frederick, Maryland, a little less fun). While the "previously on" teaser suggested viewers would be treated to another skirmish in the Roger versus Pete feud, their interaction ended up on the lighter side. But as with almost any "Med Men" scene, it was not lacking in subtext.

Roger summons Pete to his office to present him with a pair of skis, courtesy of Roger O'Hara at the Head ski company. He informs Pete that the client specifically asked for Pete to handle the account, even as they dined with Roger. Naturally, Pete is wary of Roger's generous handling of this situation, but Roger isn't being magnanimous so much as being mischievous. It's clear from the above referenced quote that Roger could care less about this particular client, even if they were the leading ski manufacturer in the U.S. and UK at the time (thank you Wikipedia). From his  non-X-rated adventures at the cancer society ball last week, we know Roger is set on capturing the prestigious accounts, the accounts that will not only fill the coffers of SCDP but wholly restore his importance in the agency. If Pete is occupied with small fish like this, that keeps him out of Roger's impeccably silver hair. And besides, Roger doesn't know a damn thing about skis (and we see that Pete, in most comedic fashion, doesn't either). From a metaphorical standpoint, the skis could also symbolize the downhill descents experienced by Roger and Pete this season (and throughout the series, for that matter).

Roger's only other scene involves another heart-to-heart with Don (booze in hand, of course) regarding Megan's exodus from SCDP. Both men are stupefied by youthful Megan's desire for self-actualization, with child of the Depression Don viewing aspirations as impractical flights of fancy, and Roger unable to relate to them because his vocation was determined by his father. Roger's theory that Megan is acting out because she wants a baby is dismissed by Don, but not without Roger providing a little comedic irony for the viewer ("Jane wanted a baby, but I thought, why do that to somebody?"). In the end, Roger's advice for Don is to go home and impose some sort of routine "to keep you both out of trouble," which is advice that came from Mona's father, of all people. Not surprisingly, Don tunes out this tenuous piece of advice just like he does the Beatles at the end of the episode.

A random side note: Why weren't we treated to Roger taking another hit of LSD during the "Tomorrow Never Knows" montage? Would that have been too spot on?

Week 6: "At the Codfish Ball"

Roger Sterling was the only member of the "Mad Men" ensemble to not to be confronted with an unpleasant turn of events this week. After a "life-altering" journey to the center of the mind with LSD and the end of his tenuous union with Jane, Roger is full of an infectious joie de vivre that endears him to Sally Draper and especially to Mrs. Calvet. He's isn't really a new man, but seems to have reclaimed the confident swagger that he's lacked since losing Lucky Strike.

Even if he is in the honeymoon stages of divorce with Jane, Roger does understand the "expensive" implications that she warned him of last week. Thus, he needs to sink low once again by taking advantage of spurned ex-wife Mona's connections to powerful business executives to gain a foothold on leads at the upcoming American Cancer Society ball. Mona's conciliatory response to Roger's fishing for leads is out of pity, but ultimately pragamatic. After all, he is still financially supporting his first family and new advertising clients would ensure that she will continue to live comfortably. As for pity, Mona tells Roger "I thought you married Jane because I had gotten old, and then I realized it was because you had." With a glint in her eye that suggests she too uses carnal knowledge as currency, Mona assures Roger he'll be "suprised" at the info she can find out by Friday.

Roger's renewed sense of confidence is put to great use at the Cancer Society ball and the scenes leading up to it. Not to get hung-up on the whole "like-ability" issue once gain, but Roger Sterling hasn't been this fun to watch, since well, ever. From the moment he strolls in to the Drapers' apartment with an undone bow-tie hanging around his neck like some annoying but endearing child, his charisma buffs a likeable shine on his often rough exterior.  His avuncluar bonding with Sally Draper as his "date" is heartwarming and begs the question as to what kind of father he was to Margaret at the same age. For Marie Calvet, Roger's impish charm stands in stark contrast to the (figurative) impotence of her husband, thus ratcheting up the sexual tension between them. From the moment they meet eyes, we know it's but a matter of time.

The illusion of like-ability is ultimately shattered when Sally, in an attempt to find the ladies' room, instead finds Roger in a particularly jarring sexual situation with Mrs. Calvet. Now that Marie has gotten a taste (for complete lack of a better word) of Roger, might she pursue further trysts with him? It would be bad enough for Don and Megan to discover what happened at the ball, let alone the makings of a full-blown affair. To paraphrase Roger's musings on Jane earlier in the episode, he's now in a position to seriously blow up Don and Megan's lives.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

"Mad Men" Week 5: "Go Ask Roger When He's 10 Feet Tall..."

This summation of Roger Sterling's maiden voyage on acid is almost two weeks behind schedule on this blog.  Check out the "TV Without a TV" blog for (somewhat) more timely analysis of "Mad Men" and its characters.

As "Mad Men" is so faithful to its 1960s setting to the point of fetishism, the show would be remiss if it never touched on the psychedelic drug use of the time. In the advertising realm, it made plenty of sense to see younger generation creative types like Peggy and the sadly departed Paul Kinsey experimenting with marijuana as a muse, and it seemed inevitable that "mind expanding" LSD would be utilized for a creative breakthrough in the boardroom. However, instead of witnessing the profound or perhaps unintentionally comic influence of LSD on adventurous copywriters, Matthew Weiner and company decided it would work better on Roger Sterling as a plot device to manufacture his divorce with child-bride Jane Siegel. As if their marriage wasn't already dissolving like a sugar cube ...
 
Roger becomes the first "Mad Men" character to turn on, tune in and drop out thanks in part to Don. With a potential new client in the Howard Johnson's hotel chain, Roger proposes that he and Don partake in a weekend fact-finding mission to an upstate location, for reasons having little to do with business and more with acting like "rich, handsome perverts." Of course, this means the wives stay at home, but newly-chaste Don rebuffs Roger's debauched scheme in half-hearted favor of a couples weekend with Megan and Jane. Naturally, Roger backs out of the deal, leaving Megan and Don to go upstate while he is forced to go to a dinner engagement with Jane and her snooty friends. There's a telling scene where Roger catches a glimpse of Don and Megan hand-in-hand as they depart for the sunshine and sherbet of HoJo's, the look on Roger's face illustrating his envy for the wedded bliss that he's never experienced with Jane. 
 
Thankfully, Roger doesn't have to intentionally mispronounce Frank Lloyd Wright's name for petty amusement, as Jane's dinner party gathering of snooty intellectual friends are a merry band of headshrinkers with a serious jones for the teachings of Harvard psychologist-cum-acid guru Timothy Leary. It turns out that Jane's friend and psychotherapist has invited them to try LSD as a means to discover the "truth." Roger is nonplussed by the endless psychobabble and references to Tibetan Books of BS and wants to leave after dessert, but Jane guilts him into taking a trip. While Roger is skeptical of the drug's effects, the requisite sound and sight gags eventually ensue, signalling Roger's awareness of his situation. As Brian Wilson plaintively emotes "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" ( a very fitting song for Roger's plight in the office in the last few episodes), Roger is told by a hallucinatory form of Don to go and be alone in the truth with Jane. 
 
Several hallucinations later and back at home, Roger and Jane finally discover the painfully obvious truth of their wedded misery, with Jane confiding that her therapist was waiting for her or Roger to end the marriage. Other "truths": Jane's attraction to older men isn't exclusive to Roger and she almost had an affair; Roger never really loved Jane, but "used to like her" (read: "stopped caring after the sex became routine").  After the acid wears off in the morning, shrewd opportunist Roger declares to Jane that the marriage is over, framing the LSD trip as a "beautiful" moment of mutual agreement to part ways without the lawyers and acrimony. While Jane is hurt but relieved, she warns Roger that "it's going to be very expensive." 
 
Roger married Jane in a (horn)dogged pursuit of midlife happiness. Now that he is free from her, will he finally be able to unite with recently divorced paramour and baby mama Joan? It's easy to assume this will happen, but "Mad Men" isn't a show known for predictable plots.