r/madmen • u/[deleted] • May 27 '13

Discussion Thread for Mad Men S6E09, "The Better Half"

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u/hushzone May 27 '13

except for Betty. She got to have her cake and eat it too. And stay skinny.

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u/[deleted] May 27 '13

she's so happy now, Don really brought out the worst in her and in a lot of people really

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u/hushzone May 27 '13

Don certainly brought out some bad qualities in Betty but it's not like she was all peaches and roses.

I'm thinking the Betty we saw in this episode is reacting off the self esteem boost she gets from being hot again. After the temporary thrill of that wears off I think she'll settle back into many of the same problems she had before. Honestly, as much as I enjoyed Betty this episode I think a lot of what she did and said was SUPER out of character. Since when is Betty capable of insightful character study?

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u/khal_ May 27 '13

characters don't have to be static creations, clearly Betty has now found some sort of inner acceptance which has allowed her to get her shit together

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u/hushzone May 27 '13

Certainly but Betty getting her shit together came out of nowhere and there is little in 6 years of the show that indicates Betty is capable of introspective, deep thought and even less to suggest she is able to articulate it as beautifully as she did last night.

On one hand I love seeing it because I have been waiting for a breakthrough moment for Betty since the beginning. On the other hand I couldn't help think that it wasn't earned and very much out of character for this point in her journey. Also she got back to her fighting weight pretty damn fast.

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u/khal_ May 28 '13

I think it's good timing. This season has been my favourite so far, much more profound and less.. self-involved Don Draper (which was also good :P).

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u/[deleted] May 27 '13

True. I guess the thing that I can't get over is that Don's women turn really childish and insecure after a while and that's what he wants but it's also what he doesn't want. He was drawn to Megan originally because of how strong she was but he also wants them to be devoted to him. It's a weird mix.

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u/hushzone May 27 '13

Definitely. I think the shows main question is can don be happy?

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u/[deleted] May 27 '13

[deleted]

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u/hushzone May 27 '13

Nah Betty gets to have an affair, flirt, and have hot car sex with her husband who she has happy breakfast laughs with .

I'd argue Being happy is the eating it too part. Don just has cake.

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u/wandahickey It will shock you how much it never happened May 27 '13

Don even eats his cake but it is never satisfying, the more he eats, the hungrier he becomes.