yeah, sorry
― wk, Monday, 10 June 2013 21:23 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/by-name/b/bob-benson.html
― wk, Monday, 10 June 2013 21:29 (eleven years ago) link
pretty sure the virtue of these threads is that it's cool with everyone if we think out loud, so to speak, rather than have totally original analyses to offer. the off kilter strangeness of this show puts me on the back foot enough that unpacking it this way is really fun.
― ryan, Monday, 10 June 2013 21:50 (eleven years ago) link
re: Bob the homo mole I do kind of expect them to go somewhere a little different with him since he's their fourth gay character, that he's gay in and of itself is not particularly remarkable. I don't subscribe to any of the conspiracy theories really but if all there is to Bob is "he's GAY!" it's going to seem a bit silly.
― Bathory Tub Blues (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 10 June 2013 21:52 (eleven years ago) link
yeah i just want to restate something b/c i think it gets to how this show, while it may not be as different as it thinks from the soap opera plots it likes to make fun of, is remarkably ingenious in its plotting. i admire the craft:
if i were teaching screenwriting and talking about how to properly set up an outrageous coincidence (sally walking in on dad/mrs. rosen) in a way that doesn't feel too overly manipulative, I'd show them this episode.
i mean the motifs of don's affair w/ mrs rosen, the girls having crushes on mitchell, sally's frenemy, don's triumph in keeping mitchell out of vietnam, the back-door assignations, the doorman, sally being forgetful and losing her keys, don stealing away from work midday to schtup mrs rosen, etc. -- some of them introduced long ago, other ones carefully planted earlier in the same episode-- all kind of converge on this one moment, rendering it kind of deliciously predictable rather than out-of-nowhere manipulative. that's good writing IMO.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 10 June 2013 21:56 (eleven years ago) link
it definitely had a puzzle-falling-into-place feel
― Bathory Tub Blues (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 10 June 2013 21:59 (eleven years ago) link
xpost
bob's expression as he leaves pete's office seems telling... of what, i don't know. but his smile very gradually turns into a kind of an almost-relieved "well, that didn't work" grin.
pete didn't seem as aggrieved as, say, don might have been after bob's obvious overture.... maybe that speaks to his being taken totally off guard. or his general state of mind (depressed). or his not really being mad at bob. or maybe he's a little gay. or none of those things. my partner suggested it was b/c pete is "liberal" but "tolerance of homosexuality" is not really a mainstream "liberal" issue until decades later. homophobia was pretty equal opportunity in the 1960s.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:01 (eleven years ago) link
has everyone forgotten that they had an openly homosexual employee in the office for at least a couple years
― Bathory Tub Blues (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:02 (eleven years ago) link
even the "you shouldn't get dressed in the lobby" thing b/t the two doormen is kinda anticipatory in a pure rhyming sense (don getting dressed hastily in the elevator, running into the lobby with his belt still untied IIRC)
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:03 (eleven years ago) link
I don't know! I agree with Seitz: he looked so triumphant that he could afford to not look cocky.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:03 (eleven years ago) link
when was Saul openly homosexual?
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:04 (eleven years ago) link
other than Don, only Cosgrove got any kind of hint.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:05 (eleven years ago) link
*Sal obviously
yeah and ken is basically the nicest guy in the office so there's little chance he would have said anything
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:05 (eleven years ago) link
The german guy was gay and glad S2/3.
― Mr. Mojo Readin' (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:06 (eleven years ago) link
The joke with the Cosgrove-Sal romance was how the sci-fi writer couldn't conceive of anything so alien as another man coming on to him.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:06 (eleven years ago) link
^^^ and it was openly discussed/referenced in the office
― Bathory Tub Blues (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:07 (eleven years ago) link
Bob the homo mole
― i didn't even give much of a fuck that you were mod (forksclovetofu), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:08 (eleven years ago) link
but Sal was married! No one made jokes about him.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:08 (eleven years ago) link
ted elliot or terry rossio had a good thing about coincidence which I thought made a lot of sense. having a character coincidentally fall into good luck is not dramatically satisfying but you can get away with almost any kind of outrageous coincidence if it leaves the character in a worse predicament.
― wk, Monday, 10 June 2013 22:08 (eleven years ago) link
homo slummin Bob-o mole
oh good another Whale fan
― Bathory Tub Blues (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:10 (eleven years ago) link
hahahaha
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Monday, 10 June 2013 22:14 (eleven years ago) link
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, June 10, 2013 5:06 PM (39 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
to be fair prior to the dinner where sal's intentions were (almost) laid bare by his too-intense fixation on ken at the expense of his wife, sal's "come-ons" had mostly been of the sheepish "gee willakers!" high-school variety so one can see how ken did not detect anything.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:47 (eleven years ago) link
ken was clearly upset and uncomfortable but like don he pointedly did not mention anything to anyone about it
don's whole "we won't work with these tobacco companies because they kill!" letter is pretty funny in light of them now having a Dow chemical account!
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:49 (eleven years ago) link
sorry that was kind of a non-sequitir, just got to thinking about sal and the tobacco dude
I'll have to watch the pre-dinner scenes again. The shrewdness with which the dinner was written, acted, and directed was in implicating the audience as Kenny allowed himself to doubt. There's never a wtf moment on his part -- just a steady accumulating awkwardness.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 June 2013 22:50 (eleven years ago) link
that sounds right.
the thing about the pete'n'bob thing is... could you think of many worse moments to make a pass at someone?
quiz: how many think manolo is actually, um giving pete's mom "pleasure"?
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 10 June 2013 23:05 (eleven years ago) link
manolo's gay dude.
― i didn't even give much of a fuck that you were mod (forksclovetofu), Monday, 10 June 2013 23:19 (eleven years ago) link
um, i know
you can't imagine him... never mind.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 10 June 2013 23:22 (eleven years ago) link
manLOLo
― Treeship, Monday, 10 June 2013 23:41 (eleven years ago) link
manolo bob-lick
― ed ASMR (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 01:32 (eleven years ago) link
Just saw this episode. HOLY SHIT. Best ever!
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 03:15 (eleven years ago) link
There is some really funny, really subtle dark humor in the last half. Sort of felt like the end of A Clockwork Orange. The anti-hero living the hell of his own hypocrisy.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 03:23 (eleven years ago) link
Has anyone mentioned Stan's poster of Moshe Dayan?!?
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 03:41 (eleven years ago) link
yeah wtf up was that--some misguided pop art thing? maybe he just admires badass jews?
also the drapers have the best doorman in manhattan. dude takes his job incredibly seriously.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 04:03 (eleven years ago) link
Feel as though some of you ppl are misreading Bob's reaction to Pete's rejection. Afaict he walked away with a kind of glazed, stiff upper lip expression, a closed door away from crestfallen.
Mostly enjoyed this episode, but Pete has become too easily caricatured. I liked the drinking camaraderie between him, Ted and Peggy, but he hasn't really been offset or layered by characteristics such as we saw with Trudy in earlier seasons. Granted he is a shitheel, but I preferred the ambiguity of his earlier development, when he wasn't so easily derided as a selfish, petty, frustrated jerk, and even came off favourably compared with some of his colleagues.
― s club 77 (qiqing), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 04:14 (eleven years ago) link
Thought Pete was amazing this episode.
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 04:17 (eleven years ago) link
still hoping Don ends up back with Rachel Menken for Season 7.
― piscesx, Tuesday, 11 June 2013 04:35 (eleven years ago) link
I did twice cuz... yeah, idgi
― Bathory Tub Blues (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 05:00 (eleven years ago) link
pete was really pissed off and frustrated there at the end, throwing his raisin bran around. are we to read this as him being frustrated about his repressed bi-curiosity or is he pissed that he's not as important as peggy, isn't on chevy yet this disgusting homo is, etc.
― 1 P.3. Eternal (roxymuzak), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 06:12 (eleven years ago) link
manolo totally checks out pete's butt in his first scene. manolo and bob have totally gabbed about pete's butt
― 1 P.3. Eternal (roxymuzak), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 06:13 (eleven years ago) link
http://24.media.tumblr.com/d910be35fc15ca87e0bb81ab170eeed5/tumblr_mo7hfqUxtR1rhamw6o3_500.gif
http://24.media.tumblr.com/a656157b0c798e9dd3d777a55337415a/tumblr_mo7hfqUxtR1rhamw6o2_500.gif
http://25.media.tumblr.com/7ebb198b289ebd0cf3ff13ab810f8af1/tumblr_mo7hfqUxtR1rhamw6o1_500.gif
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 06:23 (eleven years ago) link
I think Pete's mad about the realization that the easiest way for him to get laid and not pay for it is w/guys. On top of that, the fact that it was BOB, whom he had gotten along with and had no real rivalry with (aside from the Chevy thing, which hasn't been addressed yet). He has no friends.
xpost: haha, speaking of homoerotic themes...
― Mr. Mojo Readin' (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 06:24 (eleven years ago) link
first person who has ever really wanted him and pursued him tbh
― 1 P.3. Eternal (roxymuzak), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 07:32 (eleven years ago) link
great episode, loved that juice scene.
the music after sally finds don and silvia is kinda ridiculous - obv it's traumatic but it is like as if she just found him beside a pile of bodies with a knife.
― ... (LocalGarda), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 07:55 (eleven years ago) link
I have so much less respect for Bob Benson after all that, months of Mr Perfect and after all that he's hot for Pete? Literally any other person in the agency would be preferable, including Bert Cooper and he has no balls.
― Matt DC, Tuesday, 11 June 2013 09:09 (eleven years ago) link
i like that don knows so little about sally these days that he thinks the old "she was very sad, so i was comforting her (in the vagina)" play would work.
― caek, Tuesday, 11 June 2013 10:44 (eleven years ago) link
jim cutler looks like the old man from up when he was youngeer
― caek, Tuesday, 11 June 2013 10:45 (eleven years ago) link
"she was very sad, so i was comforting her (in the vagina)"
and Don is silver-tongued enough to know how to insert the parentheses.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 11:16 (eleven years ago) link
Don't think Don really expected to convince Sally, more like he just wanted to give her an alternate theory they could both pretend to believe. "You won't believe how much this never happened" all over again.
― Sir Lord Baltimora (Myonga Vön Bontee), Tuesday, 11 June 2013 14:22 (eleven years ago) link