Tuesday, April 24, 2012

YOU KNOW YOU'VE GOT MY SYMPATHY BUT DON'T SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT THAT THING AT ME: Mad Men is not a show that adheres strictly to the principle of Chekov's Gun. Some guns go unfired (Joan's husband's tour in Vietnam did not end in either of the two ways we thought it would, at least not yet); others miss or fire blanks (Pete rushing in to tattle to Bert Cooper about Don's past). And even when they don't get fired, I get the feeling that Matthew Weiner likes his show to wave the guns around a bit in Act 2 anyway, just to terrify us (cue snippet of Don, brylcream evaporating, making a panicky call to Peggy this last episode, which might have reminded us of another call to Peggy after another road trip that ended badly -- the one with Bobbie Barrett). But I thought it would be helpful to start a catalogue of the Chekov's Guns that the show is stockpiling this season:
  • Pete's literal gun (again)
  • Don and Megan's balcony
  • Don's fever-induced nightmare/hallucination/fantasy
  • Jane's druggy statement to Roger that "I knew you didn't fall in love" (when mentioning that she wasn't even going to ask if he cheated on her)
  • Peggy and Ken's pact to take the other if either leaves
  • Michael's possible dementia, which may or may not be an affectation
Anything else?

16 comments:

  1. Watts2:31 PM

    Betty or Sally's drug use.

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  2. Anonymous2:37 PM

    Peggy's sexual liberation.

    --bd

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  3. Betty's health scare. (Was she lying that she was cleared?)
    Odds of a Roger Sterling acid flashback
    Mick Jagger calls Don back.

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  4. kd bart5:14 PM

    Harry Crane's lust for Meghan. (I'm reaching)

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  5. Benner5:24 PM

    we're now up to two kids fathered by accounts men at SCDP without formal or legal acknowledgment of that.  Pete's infidenlity?

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  6. It's unclear the extent to which folks other than Roger and Joan realize that Joan's kid=Roger's kid (and arguably even unclear the extent to which Roger realizes that).

    The Megan/Peggy conflict.

    Megan's knowledge of Dick Whitman and the potential for her to share it with others.

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  7. Joseph J, Finn7:39 PM

    Jane's being Jewish.  Have we had this revealed before?

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  8. Heather K9:19 PM

    Meghan's mother

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  9. Heather K9:19 PM

    Danny Strong was her cousin, so it was hinted at, but Firewall & Iceberg said it was the first definitive on camera confirmation.

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  10. Joseph J, Finn9:36 PM

    I was listening to that earlier and I think they're dead on that either Weiner and crew made a weird misstake, considering Roger's usual attitudes towards everyone not like him, or something else is going on.

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  11. isaac_spaceman10:49 PM

    A lot of these are interesting, but not every unexplored potential plot point is a Chekov's gun.  It has to be something that is relatively inert or unassuming upon the first appearance that has the potential to become the instrument of a dangerous conclusion near the climax.  Maybe Jane's statement to Roger didn't really fit the bill (my mistake), but my point was that something like Don chasing Megan by that open balcony has a lot of potential bad energy. 

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  12. Anonymous10:34 AM

    Damn. Two days later and I finally recognize the JWH lyric. Are you sure you're not Adam?

    --bd

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  13. Duvall11:14 AM

    Roger's habit of getting out of awkward situations by handing out wads of cash.  Though it's unclear whether that one is still building, or just went off.

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  14. Well, that's why I would argue more for Sally's drug use than Betty's. In the sense that an uneducated child could more easily accidentally abuse or misuse prescription drugs and suffer an overdose or death than an adult. Especially since Sally was given the pill by not just a "responsible adult" but the strictest one in her life currently.

    Granted, any sort of powerful drug isn't necessarily "inert or unassuming" but, then, neither is a hunting rifle. Both are potentially, but not certainly, likely to cause death to a human.

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  15. Anonymous3:27 PM

    Now I remember why. It started as a Violent Femmes lyric, and I recognized it as that first.

    --bd

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  16. isaac_spaceman3:51 PM

    For what it's worth, I meant it as Violent Femmes. 

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