They call it "aftershocks" - that slightly too-long moment of reaction, in which time most shows would have cut away. Particularly for the female characters, the device is revealing and crucial. As Variety points out, even those interactions that would seem to exclude women give them a "voice" in these scenes - often the loudest one. These moments are carefully plotted: each episode is preceded by a "tone meeting," in which the editors plan the distinct feeling they're going for. And while "dead air" is normally anathema to television - and was initially deemed "too slow" by AMC - the silences are a big part of the show's power.


Take this moment: on the page, it might look like Don's in complete control, displaying his sophistication and shutting down Peggy's attempt at small talk. It's in the silence that we see Peggy decide it's not worth it, and take the situation back - and in Don's look at her departing back that we know he knows it, too, and that a power shift has occurred.


This scene - in which Joan's husband tells her he hasn't gotten a much-desired promotion - would be effective anyway. But it's the moment of silence, in which we see Joan drop her ever-present game face and admit defeat, that makes it devastating.


There are only three lines here, when you think about it: all the tension comes from the silences and the pauses - and it's really tense; you feel a physical relief when Grandpa Gene reveals that he's not going to yell at Sally for stealing his money - or even mention it. His look says: I know, I have the power, and I'm wielding it benevolently. It's over. And somehow it's more suspenseful than a procedural packed with corpses and nonstop dialogue.

'Mad Men' Cutters Cue Subtle Moments [Variety]

One minute Grandpa Gene's here, the next there's a baby living in his room. One minute you think you might be moving to London, the next you find you're not. One minute you think your husband's about to be a chief resident, the next you find he'll never be a surgeon. One minute you think you're running a glamorous New York office — the next you're howling over a bloody, shredded appendage.

Last night's episode began with Sally voicing her fear of the dark. Or, as she put it: "I'm afraid of what's going to happen when you turn the lights out." It's not that she's afraid of the unknown: She's afraid of her worst fears lurking there, in her own house.

When Betty was cuddling with the new baby, Bobby asked, "Can I pet him?" Sally, on the other hand, stayed far away. Later, Betty told Don, "She won't even go in his room." Change is not always easy.

At Sterling Cooper, we learn it's soon to be Joan's — Mrs. Harris' — last day. But when her husband comes home late — and drunk — Joan finds out that he didn't make chief resident. "You're not going to be able to leave your job," he says, but she replies, "that's done." Things have changed: Joan thought she was leaving the job behind and starting a whole new life, but now she realizes she'll have to alter her plans. Her face before turning out the light was amazing: Sadness, anger, weariness yet strength and resolve, all in that one moment, one expression.

The arrival of The Brits at Sterling Cooper was also a sign of change. Sometimes change comes in a neatly wrapped gift. But just as inside Layne Price's "gift" box was a snake and the message "We're sending you to Bombay," not all change is welcome. Earlier, Bert Cooper - who seems to be woefully out of touch - hinted that Don might be transferred to London, but at a meeting, dashing newcomer Guy McKendrick informed the department heads that things will, for the most part, stay the same. Or, as Pete explained it to Harry: "They reorganized us and you're the only one in the room who got a promotion." Sometimes change sucks!

Meanwhile, Betty was trying to change Sally's mind about the baby, using "fairies" and a Barbie doll. Sally, an astute realist, declared: "Baby Gene can't write." The doll seemed to know that she was also a snake in a box, so to speak, and couldn't even look Sally in the eye. (Related: Could Sally's disinterest in the Barbie be evidence of a growing disinterest in all things "girly"?)

One thing that was odd — when dashing Guy McKendrick addressed "Mrs. Harris"…

…Joan — who always keeps it together — broke down and cried. For a change.

Thinking that it was Joan's last day, Peggy made the effort to tell her that she appreciated Joan's efforts, although, "It's just we can't all be you." But Peggy's heartfelt expression of gratitude was interrupted by the creatives getting splattered with blood. The dashing Guy McKendrick's foot! Mangled by a riding mower! Peggy fainted — in Pete's arms — but Joan! Joan was grace under pressure, quickly making a tourniquet (perhaps she would make a good doctor!). Surely having her hubs fail at the hospital while she managed her keep her composure while covered in blood was no accident on the part of the writers. In any case, the foot-mangling: How can something so horrible be so hilarious? One of the best lines in this episode was actually Roger Sterling, later saying, "Somewhere in this business, this has happened before." (Plus! the title of this episode is basically a joke: "Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency.")

While the Brit was on the verge of bleeding to death, Don was taking a meeting with Conrad Hilton, the famed hotelier whose first wife, Mary Adelaide Barron, had a son named William Barron Hilton — Paris Hilton's grandfather. (Conrad's second wife? Zsa Zsa Gabor.) Conrad — Connie — and Don had met previously; and when Connie asked the loaded question, "So what do you want?" he was disappointed by Don's answer. Connie scolded: "The next time someone like me asks you a question like that, you need to think bigger." Don, who'd gotten his hopes up about a job in London only to be quietly let down, had a comeback for that, and it involved more snake imagery and the moral: "One opportunity at a time."

But change really was the theme of the episode, and Joan had a great little speech at the hospital: "One minute you're on top of the world, the next some secretary's running you over with a lawn mower." She was referring to the dashed hopes of the dashing Brit, but also to her own dreams of quitting her job, which she would now have to abandon.

Sally's Barbie ended up in the bushes, where she meant for it to be: Out of the house.

Don returning it to her room made her scream, and Sally finally explained her fear about the baby and her dead grandfather: "He's called Gene, he sleeps in his room, he looks just like him…" Valid points! But instead of talk of "fairies" — like she got from her mom — Sally got a declarative "there's no such thing as ghosts" from her father, as well as some actual physical contact.

Don finally gave Sally what she really needed: Some reassurance, some parenting, the hand-holding that a child requires when going through a big change (without the bribery of dolls, or "fairy" talk). And maybe we all need someone to gently walk us through change? 1963 was full of change — in this episode there were references to Iwo Jima and the draft — and it's only July. In August, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech — marking a huge, public moment of a wave of change.

Earlier: Mad Men: Blood, Sweat, And Tears
Mad Men: "It's A Dead Man's Hat. Take It Off."
Mad Men: "I'm Peggy Olson, And I Want To Smoke Some Marijuana"
Mad Men: "Just Don't Get Pregnant."
Mad Men: Ann-Margret Gives Master Class In Womanly Arts
"His Name Is Dick - After A Wish His Mother Should Have Lived To See"

One of the most notable scenes took place between three generations: Grandpa Gene, Don Draper, and Bobby. As Gene showed Bobby a Prussian helmet with dried blood, Don said, "Bobby, it's a dead man's hat. Take it off." This was such a layered statement: Not only was Don trying to wrestle the parenting role away from Gene and exert his authority over his, but Don's actually the one wearing a dead man's "hat." Name, identity, etc. A father's warning to a son not to make the mistakes he made?

The episode began with a great segment showing Grandpa Gene teaching Sally how to drive. The gorgeous smile on her face says so much: It's not just that she's having fun; it's not just that she's proud that her grandfather let her take the wheel. She loves being loved, craves the attention that Grandpa Gene gives her — and which she rarely gets from her parents. (An aside: My grandfather taught me to drive and this scene made my heart swell.)

In addition to time and attention, Grandpa Gene tells Sally: "You're smart… You could really do something. Don't let your mother tell you otherwise." Wise words. Parenting from a strong father figure — which Sally clearly relished.

There were parent issues of another sort going on in Peggy's life: She told her mother that she planned to get an apartment in Manhattan, and her mother did not take it well at all. "Family's cheap," Her mother spat. "Someday both of youse is gonna feel this — this broken heart I'm carryin… You'll get raped, you know that." Peggy's sister Anita tried to diffuse the situation, telling Peggy, "The whole Father dying situation… that was hard on her." Lessons are learned through parents — even if that lesson is learning when to walk away (or move out).

Of course, Sterling Cooper was dealing with Fatherhood, as the company's new client, Horace Cook Jr., was looking to spend $3 million of his dad's money on promoting jai alai in the U.S. At a lunch with Don and Pete, Horace talked about being the "father" of the sport, and impressing his father someday by giving him a team. Pete, who has dad drama of his own, was on board for making sure Horace got what he wanted, telling Don: "So he was born with a lot of money> He has a dream and it's out job to make it come true." But in a meeting between Don, Bert, Lane and Horace Sr., Horace the elder said: "Should you be lucky enough to strike gold, remember that your children weren't there when you swung the axe." Quite an interesting take on inheritance and passing things on to your kids.

The crappy parenting Sally's been getting was on full display when a cop arrived at the house to inform Betty that Grandpa Gene was dead. Sally was, quite literally, left out.

Sally's outburst when the adults were laughing while mourning Gene came as no surprise, but its worth pointing out that while Betty brushes Sally off ("Go watch TV"), Sally doesn't move until she gets a silent, motionless okay from Don. Even though Don spends so much time away from home, the thread between father and daughter is somehow strong, trusting, understanding. And when Sally did go watch TV, what she saw was more death, namely, the now-iconic image of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức self-immolating in protest of South Vietnam's treatment of Buddhists.

Of course, it wasn't all doom, gloom and daddy issues on Sunday night:

Don broke the ant farm! Is it the end of the "gynocracy"? Ant colonies need queens to survive…

…And Joan killed them all. Dead.

Joan taught Peggy a thing or two about copywriting.

The Patio commercial was ear-piercingly awful…

Although Peggy's "I told you so" look was amazing.

And watching Sal act out the Patio routine was hilarious, even if his poor wife suddenly realized the truth about her marriage.

Earlier: Mad Men: "I'm Peggy Olson, And I Want To Smoke Some Marijuana"
Mad Men: "Just Don't Get Pregnant."
An Open Letter To Jon Gosselin From Don Draper
Mad Men: Ann-Margret Gives Master Class In Womanly Arts
"His Name Is Dick - After A Wish His Mother Should Have Lived To See"

[New York, August 3. Image via Bauer-Griffin]

The Mad Men publicity frenzy isn't quite tiresome yet — I like how they seem to be rolling out the interview subjects for mini-blitzes so we're left wanting more. Today there are two new interviews with Christina Hendricks, who of course plays Sterling Cooper's alpha-female Joan Holloway. In both, she comes across as sweeter and more reflective than her character. (As anyone would, I guess.) And though both articles seem to have buried last season's Big Question for all female Mad Men characters — about how the show's creator Matthew Weiner won't let them work out so their bodies will look historically appropriate, they still can't stop talking about Christina's body. I'd love to read an interview that didn't mention it at all!

Esquire:

On her body:

"This is the way I'm built, and I feel beautiful. It's funny, because I don't feel like I look that different from anybody. Everyone's always like, "You're so much smaller in person!""

On bacon and deep-frying:

CH: Oh, my gosh, you've had chocolate-covered bacon, right? It's so perfect."

ESQ: "Do you like to cook?"

CH: "I love to cook. I just got a deep fryer, and it's amazing. The first night we got it, we made homemade poppers. I mean, what's the best deep-fried thing ever? Cheese poppers."

On boning:

ESQ: "Do you wear the undergarments of the day?"

CH: "Oh, yeah, they're all the authentic girdles, and we wear the longline bras, with boning."

ESQ: "Boning?"

CH: "It's like what's in a corset - it has these long strips of plastic or metal that keep everything [pauses], you know. Oh, yeah - it's supercomfortable. And then the authentic stockings, with the garters, and then a slip and then our dress. From my girdle and my garters last night, I have two bruises on the top of my legs. From being in it for seventeen hours. Women did that."

In her New York Magazine profile, Hendricks talks more about her character.

On Joan's voice (which can often be babyish):

"I'm a lot more girly than Joan. When I'm her, the register of my voice drops significantly"

On her curves, the attention to which New York Mag calls "bewildering"...in an article titled "Dangerous Curves" (Ha!):

""I've been on TV shows for years and no one said a word about it. All of a sudden everyone says, ‘Oh, it must be so great to be on a show from the sixties, because now you can be on TV.' It's strange how astounded people are that I have breasts."

Funny how the monkey on Christina's back in interviews used to be her body, and now it's the attention paid to it by the media, as if that's a higher subject. We're still just talking about her body — and we should expect even more of the same after the Season 3 premiere airs, as Joan is portrayed as even curvier in the new season (that's not a spoiler!)

And here's a treat: way back in the '90s, Christina Hendricks (with a red bob) starred in an Everclear video. Personally, I preferred to watch with the sound off:

Christina Hendricks Isn't All That Fussy [Esquire]
Dangerous Curves [NY Mag]

Don will hear a familiar canine whimper during a smoke break. Is it— could it be— Chauncey?


Betty will stand by her (super) Man.


The Sterling Cooper gang will prepare for their network-synergy dance-off with the cast of Breaking Bad.


These men will be old.


Peggy will be smug.


Betty will become disillusioned with material possessions.


Really disillusioned.


Like, "Who am I, really, inside?" disillusioned.


Joan will wonder why all the good-looking men are either married or rapists.


Sal will wish he could just find the right lady to settle down with.


The guys will prepare for their skill-matched dance-off with the cast of The Big Bang Theory.


And, finally, an actual spoilery-type-thing: Don and Sal will have dinner with stewardesses (for Don) and a pilot (for Sal)!

I tried to be as self-appraising as possible, and it does actually look like me! Except I dress like Juno and I recently quit smoking (but the smoking-lips choice looked so much, you know, cooler.) At the end, the application lets you choose from a variety of settings and unceremoniously plops you into them.


If I ever had the chance to toast with Don Draper, you'd better bet I'd be levitating and staring off into the middle distance.


I call this one "Lonely Picnic."


"Let's just stare at that drunk new girl until she goes away."


"Fuck you and your tea, Birdy. I need the hard stuff."


I call this one "Lonely Bedroom."


Wait a second, I thought I chose the "Joan Holloway" body. Why does she get to be so much thinner? Is that in her contract? No fair.


Here I am giving a presentation about to get an intervention.


Andrew Wyeth's little-known masterpiece, "The Drunk Avatar's World."

[These avatars are based on the brilliant illustrations of the artist Dyna Moe.]

1.) Self-Pleasure
Housewife Betty Draper learns what else a washing machine can do for her.

2.) Marketing Self-Pleasure
Don Draper learns that women can be beneficial in non-secretarial positions.

3.) It's About How Women Want To Be Seen By Men
You'd think it'd be easy for men to market products to women, since they know how women think.

4.) Sexual Harassment
Pete offers Peggy some fashion advice.

5.) Be A Woman
Bobbie offers Peggy some real advice.

6.) Don't Be A Single Woman In Her Thirties
Joan is embarrassed that she's over 30 and that everyone knows it.

7.) The Pill
The Pill won't turn unmarried women into "strumpets."

8.) Abortion
Sometimes women don't want to have children for reasons other than "getting fat."

9.) Chivalry?
It's nice that some men would stick up for some women, but it sucks that the women couldn't stick up for themselves.

10.) Single Mothers
Divorced women are dangerous for real estate. Plastic bags are safe for children.

11.) "It Looks Complicated, But The Men Who Designed It Made It Simple Enough For A Woman To Use"
Joan shows Peggy around the office, and tells her to stare in the mirror naked.

12.) Peggy Wants To Be Treated Like A Xerox Machine
Modern women of the '60s were aggressive. And that's cute.

13.) Husband-Monitored Therapy
Women went to therapists so their husbands would know what their problems were.

14.) "Let Them Know What Kind Of Girl To Be"
Men knew that women needed the most basic instructions, like how to be.

15.) And More Sexual Harassment
There was always more than enough to go around.

Is Mad Men a Feminist Show? [HuffPo]

According to a new tell-all, Jennifer Scanlon's Bad Girls Go Everywhere, Hearst bigwigs had long been eager to get the famously thin editor, who took Cosmo from a genteel ladies' mag to the Man-ual we know and love-hate, out of the head chair after her numbers slipped. When they finally forced the issue in '96, it was due to the following:

When asked if sexual harassment existed at Cosmo in the wake of Anita Hill's testimony that Supreme Court pick Clarence Thomas had harassed her for years, Brown cheekily responded: "I certainly hope so. The problem is that we don't have enough men to go around for harassing."

-She referred to Oregon Sen. Bob Packwood, accused by 10 women of making unwanted sexual advances, as "poor old Senator Packwood," and scolded one journo, "My darling, would you please remember that he was one of the congressmen who supported legal abortion. He was one of us, so we have to forgive him for being a jerk."

-She ran a piece titled "Reassuring News About AIDS" reporting that women whose lovers were neither homosexual, bisexual or intravenous drug users faced little risk. Brown said, "We spent such a long time getting sexual equality for women, and just when we're beginning to enjoy ourselves, somebody's got to come along and say sex kills."

Although the sting was lessened by a raft of cards, flowers and checks, it's still got to have been a humiliation for a woman who made her name on a sassiness that eventually spelled her end. Helen Gurley Brown revolutionized women's magazines with a frank, flirty attitude towards female sexuality; the kittenish bachelorette persona made her genuinely progressive positions much easier for the general public to swallow. Yet as the feminist movement progressed and evolved, Cosmopolitan stayed the same — an almost-quaint reminder of early-women's lib that celebrates a nominal "liberation" on very old-fashioned terms, and has become a feminist bete noire.

In today's HuffPo, however, Betsy Perry, a former Cosmo staffer, defends Brown as a strong, warm woman who may have been of an earlier generation but had the sense to know it:

There wasn't a staff member who didn't adore her and while we did question some of her stands on relevant issues, her take on them was always with a twist. Because of my television background, she knew enough to ask me to do some of the tougher talk shows, on subjects where her judgment might be questioned — date rape, AIDS, silicone implants. There was always her side to the story too and try as she would, she just didn't understand why a guy wouldn't take no for an answer....but we pitched in to help out in those sticky times...Helen loves men and she made me love and like them too; she taught us how to get one IF we wanted one. I learned to soften the tough side of me; the art of flirting, deflecting sexual harassment comments with humor, exercising - which she did every day with her little dumb bells, and learning to listen without passing judgment. Fun had come back into my life thanks to her.

"Fun" of course, is the operative word: is it enough? As Perry finishes, as breezily as her mentor might, "Who cares about the incidental boo boos along the way? You'll never find a Cosmo girl who hasn't learned to get what she wants using a few tricks learned between the pages of her bible." But, as a self-styles icon of female empowerment, albeit an early version thereof, did Brown have that luxury? Or, in the age she'd helped usher in, was this kind of irresponsibility unacceptable? And what, ultimately, is her legacy: an open attitude towards sexuality or a bunch of college girls putting rouge on their nipples — or are they the same thing? Helen Gurley Brown, to the end, has held to the gospels of "skinny is God" and while we don't see that Cosmo has changed much in the years since her ouster, it's easy to see why that level of evangelism would be problematic in an increasingly secular society.

HOW COSMO QUEEN GOT BOOTED [New York Post]
A Former Cosmo Girl Defends Her Beloved Mentor Helen Gurley Brown [Huffington Post]

Earlier: Helen Gurley Brown Still Alive & Kicking; Still Hates Her Muffin-Top

• Happy New Year, little Jewzebels. It's starting off pretty rocky, but we guided you through the rough shoals of the VP debates with a steady hand and a drunken heart.
• This Palin supporter sounded like she was drunk with her garbled endorsement of the moosetest with the mostest.
• Times are tough for this country, and for weepy Prodge Run contestants.
• You know who always has a stiff upper lip and a lot of fun? "Spinsters."
• Thankfully we can reminisce fondly about the days before we knew what a mortgage was. Check out the Jezebel school pictures and remember this: the older they are, the cuter they ain't.
• You know what else ain't cute? Elisabeth Hasselbeck when she gets all yelly.

• Even less cute: a mother and son who do it. That's like, the inverse of cute. That's etuc.
• You know, some people think Michael Cera and his Earnest Fumbling Manchildren are pretty adorable, but we beg to differ.
• We might be irked by EFMs, but they're still more enlightened than what ladies had to put up with in the days of Joan Holloway.
• But you know, it's Friday, and guess what? WEEKEND JEZEBEL is here! So kick back, relax, and enjoy the new content.

Let's start with my new obsession: Betty's equestrian style. It makes me regret that I have nothing saved from my horseback riding days, because I've spent upwards of 3 hours (that's not an exaggeration) on equestrian clothing sites and realized that building this look will probably cost me about $800. Howevs, I'm totally getting one of her shirts. But I would kill for this bag:

And her winter coat goes so perfectly with all of it:

As do those gloves:

And speaking of gloves, I think it's about time that we bring back opera gloves and costume jewelry.

The accompanying dress was also awesome. Other than New Year's and maybe Halloween, I can't think of an occasion to wear those where I wouldn't look like a total tool, though. Oh, and dresses! Peggy's was adorbz:

And duh, Joan's ruled, too. Now I'm thinking about investing in some serious foundation garments this fall:

Now, on to set design. Obvs this shelf is choice:

I dug this blond wood headboard:

And the matching lamps on the nightstands:

Now I need multiple silk pillows with large buttons:

And for some reason I was really drawn to this stupid framed art of a metal dog:

I also wouldn't mind a globe in my house. I suck at geography, so it would actually serve a dual purpose. I imagine that Betty went all out to make Don's office cozy and official. And smoked the whole time. Christ, I wish I could look that glamorous while chain smoking. Instead, I'm in a muumuu and my hair and face are competing for the Greasiest Surface in Brooklyn award.

Lastly, Roger Sterling's office is all kinds of awesome. I want to have that wall art.

And I wouldn't mind having him, either.

• Megan got some airtime with feminist grand dame Gloria Steinem and we were all a little awestruck.
• We suspect that Ms. Steinem would not approve of John Edwards' wandering willie.
• You know what else she's probs over? The annoyingly quirky and underwritten Manic Pixie Dream Girls littering movies today.
• However, she might like Mad Men's sassy, gorgeous Joan Holloway.

• What would the gross sexist dudes in the Mad Men office think of Erin Andrews' controversial outfit? Nothing good. Ugh.
• Maury tortured some poor lady with cotton balls. So that happened.
• We hung out with admitted Mathlete Danica McKellar.
• The Prodge Run Olympics challenge was cray cray!!
• And speaking of the Olympics, they began today. So remember these lady Olympians to watch and tube out with some amazing athletes. It's Friday!