"Mad Men" Season 3: The rise of the women

Loved, loved, loved it!

I don't see Betty going back to Don.  Unless Henry turns out to be a psycho (which seems too melodramatic, and I don't see the show going there).

1965 will be very different than 1963 for all the characters involved, if they move forward eighteen months like they did at the beginning of this season.

Joan will be a war widow (one can hope that Dr. Rape gets fragged by a fellow soldier), and Peggy is on top of her game.  Roger is there for comic relief.  Cooper is his curmudgeony self.  And Pete is still unsatisfied. Don, well, I don't think Don changes, really. I don't think he can; he's too stuck in the past.

AMC and FX have the best shows going.  I'll tune in for any of them.

Whenever I'm not sure what's going on, they wrap up the season in a completely unexpected way and make it all okay.  Why must we wait so long for season 4?

When Joan came back to save the day, I just jumped for joy!  I had to rewind her scenes a few times because I was too busy drooling to pay attention, but it was totally worth it! ;-)

Let the countdown to August 2010 begin!

Nobody objects to a woman being a good writer or sculptor or geneticist if at the same time she manages to be a good wife, good mother, good-looking, good-tempered, well-groomed, and unaggressive. - Leslie M. McIntyre

In a early interview for the first season of "Mad Men," creator Matthew Weiner said, "'Mad Men' is about the conflicting desires in the American male, and the people who pay the price for that: the women."

It takes a truly mature series to own up to and depict the fact that men fail women in a lot of ways -- whether emotionally (Betty and Don), intellectually (Joan and Greg), or even professionally (Peggy and Don/Pete) -- and that that reality has nothing to do with man-hating; rather, it has everything to do with the simple reality of being a woman. (Incidentally, that was also a theme in the most recent season finale for "Weeds.")

Joan, Betty, and Peggy have been paying the price for the male characters' faults and treacheries for three seasons now. And it's nice to see each of them become agents of thier own destinies at this point.

Last Sunday's finale redeemed an otherwise plodding season. I look forward to Season 4.

Joan's staying with Dr. Rapist was not for "unknown reasons."  The women are as ambitious as the men and the only way they can acheive in this particular time and place are the qualities (high powered status, that is) of their marriages.  You can point to Peggy as different, but even Peggy was something of an accident in terms of how she became a copy writer. Societal pressures can be immense, and Joan's a fantastic demonstration of how even the very best of people fall prey to them. 

Sex without consent or not, "handsome successful surgeon" was what Joan wanted to project.  I always remember her reaction to the female roommate who hit on her in Season 1: it almost seemed as if she didn't care about the desire being directed at her in itself. It was the whole unforgiveable faux pas of the thing.  Lesbianism was not done.  That having been said, I think she's going to develop personally and professionally a lot over the next couple of seasons.  I often have fantasies where she takes a tumble with Peggy (I love their growing friendship), maybe in the late 60's when the narcotics show up. But I wonder whether they're going to put her back with Roger.

On a couple of other boards I read complaints about why Betty got so much screen time this season. It's because there are people who don't get it, and never will: after all of Don's outrageous behavior, there's still an attitude of "you never had it so good" in some viewers eyes when it comes to the idea of Don as a husband. As though money is everything.  The extra scenes were to give context to her decision to divorce him.  But she's not going to be fufilled by life with Henry.  He's going to be a catalyst.  Before Betty thought it was her bad marriage that made her unhappy.  Now she's going to have somebody who doesn't cheat and is still going to feel restless.  And she's going to wonder about it.  She's going to think back to that degree in anthopology...I have to say though, the look on her face, the thaw, when she started to see Henry, made me happy. With Don she would have shriveled and died inside.

And again, Henry is a huge plus on the "status" scale...assistant to Rockefeller (later U.S. Vice-President), lives in Manhattan, blah, blah...

I still don't feel that Peggy has gotten her due.  Don's lucky I'm not Peggy.  I was still pissed after his apology. With Pete he apologized, but also mentioned the word partner. There was not enough beef in Peggy's.

I noticed this with Peggy's apology and Betty going along with Henry about not taking any of Don's money at the divorce. Words are just words, ladies.

OK, here is my two cents' worth:

Joan:  Her loser husband decided to join the Army, because they are desperate for doctors and will take even him?  The minute that happened, I knew for sure that Joan was going back to Sterling Cooper.  She never should have left anyway, she ran the place.  I hope next season she leaves her husband and concentrates on her career.

Peggy:  Still don't know what she sees in Duck (yuck), but she finally stood up to Don, which is a good thing.  She needs to be more assertive at work, which in the 60s was pretty hard to do as a woman.  By the way, whatever happened to her baby boy?

Betty:  Where is the progress, the growth?  She goes from one workaholic husband to the other?  OK, maybe Henry won't cheat on her like Don, and she can't support 3 kids by herself, but exchanging one pair of pants for another is NOT an improvement.

I would also like to comment on how "Mad Men" handled the Kennedy assassination.  I was 4 years old at the time (yes, I'm an old lady, who cares), but I distinctly remember the day Kennedy was shot because I had never seen so much excitement in my house before, nor had I ever seen my mother cry before.  It was exactly like they showed it; everybody was glued to their small black and white TVs, hungry for news.  And when Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald, it was like the whole country gasped at the same time.  I have to say, Kudos to Matthew Weiner and the entire writing staff of "Mad Men" for portraying such a sensitive part of American history in such an accurate, yet respectful manner.

Thank you for a concise review that just narrows in to the most important revelations of the show, Mad Men, which just happens to be my favorite program on television.

For any of us women who were of any age of awareness then, we understand that the steps each of these women took and the accomplishments they managed to achieve are monumental. 

Even though there was the second-wave feminist movement in the '60's, it truly was not until the late '70's and mostly the '80's that the effect began to actually benefit women. That delay is one reason why the feminist movement does not get the credit it really deserves for all that women have in today's U.S. society.

I was a decade younger, but I may be close enough to Peggy's situation to really empathize with her situation and struggles. I was still young enough to not exactly know what I was all about, I knew I wanted a career instead of the married life so I knew I'd have to support myself (and I didn't know about lesbianism then), and, of course, I was considered odd for not wanting "the natural things".

Like any woman with similar desires of independence, I was constantly confronted every inch of the way by male chauvinism and societal misogyny. Women were simply and systematically  (sometimes subtly) directed away from seeking a college degree, military or criminal justice careers let alone any creative pursuits. Women were geared and steered towards marriage or secretarial, or at best, teaching jobs and therefor paths that did not lead towards that were thwarted.

I was thrilled for all three women, and I do feel Betty will ultimately choose not to marry Henry. It was his idea to marry her, not hers to marry. She is leaving with Henry to live in Reno in order to get the "six week cure"--a divorce. (Now if she'd only meet her "Kay" like in Desert Hearts)

Peggy's story was the most satisfying because she stood up for herself and Don had to convince her to come on board and that he needs her and he apologized. Season four will be Peggy's time.

Joan, the wonderfully capable Joan? There was no question she was the only one to call. I do think either husband will conveniently go off to war and not return or she is at least done with him. Her walking into that office was putting that marriage disaster behind her.

Sally has a rough road ahead of her for a good number of years.

Oh my, what a great season finale!  I hope that Betty decides to get some counseling and stops trying to get a quick fix to her life. I truly feel for Sally; she is especially close to Don and has to suffer through her mothers' parental shortcomings.  Don't get me wrong, Don is no innocent in this whole scenario; he too has some atonement to accomplish, but I don't want him back with Betty!  To me, they were two "pretty people" trying to be something they thought the other wanted. They were so intent on presenting the veneer of a so-called perfect life, and at the end of the season all the secrecy uncovered just how superficial their relationship really was!!  Don needs to forgive himself about his past and work on just being more open and honest.  Betty, needs to go back to work and become a working mommy; she really does need to find her self-worth without a man!  As for Joan,( my all-time favorite) hopefully Roger will one day realize what a prize she is!  That husband of hers is an infant compared to her, and hopefully Viet Nam will provide the extensive "time-out" he needs! What can I say about Peggy....I hope the writers continue with her storyline, in particular that complicated relationship she has with Pete.  The writers really should re-incorporate the illegitimate child storyline some time in the future... But that's enough for now.  To me, this has to be the best series currently airing on any network!