Tonight: hair color.
Something has been striking me as odd about the women this season. It's not that Betty is a bad mom (we knew that already.) It's not that Peggy is way more headstrong and assertive than we've seen her in the past (a lot can happen in a few months and a change of venue). I finally put my finger on it yesterday: there are more blondes this season than we've ever seen before.
Don was married to Betty--the epitome of the blonde early-sixties housewife--for years. And besides her, we never saw him with a single blonde. Not one...except Anna Draper (more about her later). As far as I can recall, all of the women he's related with except Joan (more about her later) have been brunettes. And that's completely changing this year. After the jump is my breakdown of the women in Don Draper's life, categorized by hair color. Just see if you notice the same pattern I did...I put way too much thought into it. :)
Betty- Married. Lots of sex. Much of it probably not great.
Sally- Daughter. Very 1960s dad relationship.
Anna- Wife of the real Don Draper. I think Anna is the mom Dick Whitman never had, living the life he wishes he could--and is glad he can escape both to and from. Never a sexual relationship, but she does "know everything about [him] and loves [him] anyway." She's the one person who lets him be who he really is, with no veneers and no facades. Probably Don's perfect woman, but he knows she's better off with him 3,000 miles away.
Bethany-the-actress- Fixed up over Thanksgiving. He makes a move; she turns him down.
Psychologist Faye Miller- He makes a move after she psychologizes him; she turns him down. (For what it's worth, I do think she's right, and he'll end up married by the end of the season.)
Patty (Anna's sister)- Super-uptight. He wouldn't dream of it.
Stephanie (Anna's niece)- The first Berkley proto-hippie we meet. He makes a move; she turns him down.
Sexual-relationship count: 1/7. Not for lack of trying.
(Note that only three of these women ever appeared on our screen before season 4.)
Peggy- He wouldn't dream of it. Not his former secretary-turned-protegee.
Midge- His Beatnik lover. I hated her, but they probably had really good sex.
Rachel Menken- Not only a brunette but a Jew. Who owned her own business. I loved Rachel. Don loved Rachel. I think they could have been really good for each other--if he hadn't been married. What a great character.
Bobbie Barrett- This one was crazy. A total power struggle. And the scene in the hallway at the restaurant...Whew! But gross. And wrong. The whole relationship.
Crazy Teacher Ms. Farrell (What the hell was her first name? Couldn't have been Suzanne...)- Don so wanted to get caught with this one. His kid's teacher, who lived right up the street? And she was nuts. I was surprised she didn't go Fatal Attraction on him.
Allison- Oh, Don. Breaking your "anyone but my secretary" rule. Totally consentual, but still...Poor Allison. (She does seem to have made it out OK so far.)
Candace- The slapping hooker! They've had a "relationship" for a while it seems. And at only $25/night.
Sexual-relationship count: 6/7. Not too shabby.
(Note: All of these women except for Candace, have appeared in at least one of the last three seasons.)
I'm not sure what to make of this right now, the fact that Don had never hit on another blonde before, and this season alone, he's tried it with three. Is it that he's trying to reclaim his marriage with Betty, or find another woman like Anna?
Joan- OK, here's the thing I realized about Our Mrs. Reynolds...ahem...I mean, Harris. She's the only redhead in the world of SCDP. And if she and Don were to have even a little fling, television sets everywhere would instantly explode. But there's a mutual respect thing, I think, and she's "Roger's." She's out of the running for sheer reason of being uncategorizable--not a blonde, not a brunette, not like anyone else in our insular TV universe. And I think it should stay that way.
Also, may I please mention: she was wearing blue eyeshadow and pink-nude lipstick on this week's episode, and she looked amazing. We've never seen a color like that on Joan's eyes; she tends toward winged eyeliner with no noticeable color on her lids. I might have to try this new look.
2 comments:
What about the blonde TWA stewardess that Don hooked-up with?
I'm rewatching the show and noticed this as well. Thank you for organizing my thoughts in your blog. My compliments on the Firefly ref as well, of course.
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