Last night's episode was titled,"The Color Blue," referencing this post-coital conversation between Don and Sally's teacher Suzanne,, wherein they ponder a question one of her students asked, "How do I know if what I see as blue is the same as it is to you?" Don remarked, "People may see things differently, but they don't really want to."

Part of the shared human experience is the desire to be understood, to have others (or at least someone) see things as we do. But another part of the human experience is that we each have a different lens—shaped by our individual experiences—that renders a worldview unique to each person. So, basically, we're all doomed to misunderstandings.


Exhibit A: The teacher's brother.
He has epilepsy (or "fits") which is making socialization/work/life difficult for him: it freaks out those who don't understand the disorder. As the brother, Charlie, sees it, "Other people are the problem." He's tired of being misunderstood to the point that he doesn't want to even try to assimilate anymore. His sister tries to renew his faith in humanity when she tells him, "People are ignorant. They're scared of things they don't understand." But he may not have understood.


Exhibit B: Paul Kinsey
He's in the "other people are the problem" camp as well. And when he says "people" he means women, specifically Peggy. As Peggy pointed out to Don when she was asking him for a raise a few episodes back, Kinsey makes more money doing the same job as he does ("and not always as well"). In this clip, Paul's pitch for the Aqua Net account falls flat, but Peggy comes to the rescue with some good ideas. Paul sees her good work as a negative reflection on himself, rather than a positive reflection on his team.


Paul thinks he's telling Peggy something she doesn't already know when he says, "Wearing a dress isn't going to help you with [the] Western Union [account]." Clearly he thinks being a woman is a benefit for Peggy's career, rather than a hurdle.


While Kinsey was jerking off and getting wasted, Peggy was actually hammering out ideas, and making sure to keep track of them. If Peggy views her gender to be a hurdle in this business, maybe she understands that she can't do anything to fuck it up.


Once Kinsey finally has his inspiration, he's too busy being proud of himself to write it down. Perhaps, since he hasn't had to deal with the same setbacks as Peggy in this business, he isn't as prudent about his work. So, in that way, perhaps Peggy "wearing a dress" does help her with the Western Union account.


While Don is busy acting like Tony Soprano (sleeping over the goomah's house and lining his desk drawer with cash), Betty is busy reading The Group by Mary McCarthy, which was on the New York Times best-seller list in 1963. It's a novel concerning a group of women who come from affluent backgrounds and graduated from Vassar together in 1933. They find that the Great Depression has given them a more autonomous lifestyle, as they are encouraged to work and have careers. Again, the Depression was viewed by many people one way, and by this "group" as something completely different. Amazon says:

Mary McCarthy filets Ivy League society, socialism, 1930s child-rearing practices, sexual double-standards, psychoanalysis, and men in general.

Betty probably relates to the character Kay (which was loosely based on McCarthy's own life), as Kay "subsumes her own talent to the artistic 'genius' of her egocentric and philandering husband." Interestingly, since last night's episode, the book has gone from a ranking of around 64,000 to 3,200 on Amazon.


Interestingly, Sterling Cooper was founded in 1933, the same year The Group takes place.


While doing the laundry, Betty happens upon a set of keys that belong to Don. She seems relieved at first that they fit into is desk drawer (and not some women's apartment), but then she finds Dick.


He's gonna have some explaining to do. But after Don doesn't return home from work, Betty rethinks rocking the boat with a confrontation, and returns the box and key where she found them.


Does anyone else think that Don made a huge mistake giving his card to the teacher's brother, who "always" needs money? I have a feeling this guy is gonna blackmail Don for his drawer cash.


In the end, Kinsey, realizes that he's not so misunderstood, when Don and Peggy both empathize with his "lost idea." And in the end, he realized that Peggy's intelligence is what helped her out with the Western Union account.


In the car, on the way to Sterling Cooper's anniversary party, Roger's mother, who seems to be suffering through a bit of dementia, manages to drop a super insightful (not to mention, heavy on the foreshadowing) quip when she told Jane, "Enjoy the world as it is. They'll change it, and never give you a reason." November 22, here we come.

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]

• Model Liskula Cohen has confronted the woman revealed as the author of a hate-blog directed against her. Cohen told the woman that she forgave her, but the blogger did not apologize — probably because a defamation suit is pending. [P6]

• Brett Favre is going to be the new face, and presumably butt, of Wrangler jeans. [WWD]
• Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone are reportedly eloping to Massachusetts this weekend. [P6]
• Elisabeth Moss, who plays Peggy Olsen on Mad Men, is sick of wearing mustard, says costume designer Janie Bryant. [W]
• Stella McCartney's perfume, Stellanude, will launch as planned, because Ali Hewson's court bid to prevent it has failed. Hewson runs a company called Nude Brands, and markets a line of skincare under the Nude trademark. [Telegraph]
• The headline — "David Bailey: Still Snapping Away At 71" — might as well just read "David Bailey, Amazingly, Still Alive." But the legendary British photographer actually has plenty to say on the topics of retouching and American Vogue: "D'you know any model over the age of 23 has to be touched up these days. Twenty-three? It's fucking ridiculous but that's what you have to do for American Vogue and it's getting to be the same over here." [ToL]
• Anna Wintour personally approves every photo published by Vogue's blog. [The Cut]
• Meanwhile, sources say that Vogue attracted early attention from the consultants McKinsey because they believe it is a model of a larger Condé Nast title, and that the lessons learned from studying Vogue will be applicable to other magazines. Vogue, representative? More likely it drew the money-savers' eyes first because of its legendary profligacy. [NYObs]
• Michelle Obama's principal hairstylist says, "I believe hair is a language, if it's not moving it has no voice." [W]
• Meanwhile, is there any reason Simon Doonan might be measuring the White House drapes? Or shall we just assume the Obamas have hired the wittiest interior designer ever? [VF]
• Ed Hardy designer Christian Audigier says there will be no Jon Gosselin clothing line. And we were so hoping. [E!]
• Sex-era Vivienne Westwood punk clothing is so popular that people are counterfeiting it now, a generation later. Three people were arrested in London and charged with fraud for allegedly selling clothing they claimed had come from Malcolm McLaren and Westwood's infamous store. [WWD]
• If you want to be an It Girl, Refinery29 created a handy charticle for your edification. It helps if you have the Cobrasnake's number. [Refiner29]
• Mario Grauso, the president of Puig Fashion Group, which owns Carolina Herrera and Nina Ricci, among other houses, is rumored to be resigning. [WWD]
• This fashion blind item is kind of generic, but anyway: "Which designer won't be showing in the Tent this year, like he usually does? Rumor has it he'll send his gorgeous gowns down the Salon's runway instead." Could be almost anyone, in this economy. But perhaps it's Zac Posen? [Fashionista]
• Earlier this month, the Michael Kors boutique on Prince Street in SoHo was burgled. A man distracted the security guard at the neighboring Apple store and made off with $13,000 worth of merchandise. [Villager]
• Pop-up stores are barely news these days, but if Rodarte is doing one at Colette in Paris this October, and selling DVDs of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and stuffed knit animals, that actually sounds cool. [WWD]
• Two men have now been arrested in connection with the $66 million jewelry robbery at the Graff store in London. [NYTimes]
• The Humane Society wants the FTC to investigate Bergdorf's and Neiman Marcus for allegedly mislabeling fur products. The Society alleges that both stores sold Manolo Blahnik boots made from ocelot fur, an endangered species. [WWD]
• The Limited's second quarter profit declined by 27% on last year's numbers. [WSJ]
• L.L. Bean is shaking things up with a new creative director, Rogues Gallery's Alex Carleton. [NYTimes]
• The Buckle has continued its trend of positive results, despite the recession. The last quarter saw its profits rise 12% on the same period last year, to $25 million. [WSJ]

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]

A profile of January "Betty Draper" Jones reveals that the actress is being offered “a lot of dramatic roles as a sadder, more neglected housewife.” Meanwhile, Elisabeth Moss has taken on yet another Peggy Olsen style good-girl in Speed The Plow: "They're both sort of guileless. They have something that can be mistaken for naiveté, but it's not. It's just enthusiasm." You can't win. [Vanity Fair, Playbill]