bettysdryer replied to your post: Good Lord that was an underwhelming season finale

Yeah, that really was… nothing really happened?

Not anything like the events in “The Other Woman” and “Commission and Fees.” I think something DID happen, but not like anything that’s really show-altering. Thoughts behind the cut.

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Good Lord that was an underwhelming season finale 

Maybe I need to rewatch it again, but did anything happen? Anything at all? Other than confirmation that Don Draper is a motherfucking asshole, but. We already knew that.

shes-a-voodoo-child:

red-sky said:

This episode and last week’s episode have given me a fuck ton of…wait for it…JOAN/PETE FEELS. Not in the romantic shipper sense, but the platonic PETE REALLY JUST WANTS A FRIEND kind of way.

You know I love you, darling, but FUCK NO. If I were Joan, I wouldn’t be able to stomach being in the same room as Pete without other people around. I will ship Christina/Vincent until the proverbial cows come home, but I can’t ever see Joan/Pete.

It’s not shippery feels, and I don’t think Joan will ever see him as anything other than slime, but watching their scenes after the deal went down has me convinced that PETE thinks they’re friends. 

Because see, Pete doesn’t think that he did anything wrong by mentioning the Jaguar guy’s offer. And I don’t think he understands why everyone was so appalled by it, because if the guy had propositioned PETE, Pete would have done it. He doesn’t view it as immoral or a violation because he would have done the same thing if he were in Joan’s position. He already HAS done something that would be considered immoral, i.e. using his father’s death to secure Mohawk. Pete sacrifices his sense of self every day to secure accounts and keep these fat cats every day. Obviously it’s not the same situation, but I don’t think PETE realizes this. In Pete’s mind, Joan’s decision to sleep with the Jaguar guy was a business decision. Nothing more, nothing less.

And because he views it as a business decision, and in his mind he makes decisions like this all the time, I think he sees Joan as someone who’s like him; the kind of person who will do the dirty things necessary to secure SCDP’s survival. He agrees to Joan’s conditions for partnership with very little fight. He begins to speak up, but when she states that there is no room for negotiation, he agrees immediately. The next day, HE’S the one who goes to get Joan for the partners’ meeting. He asks Joan specifically to break the news to the staff and follows her happily. In the next episode, he makes a joke to Joan, as if nothing has happened and they are simply partners. Pete has never viewed Joan as the hot secretary/office manager, but in his eyes, she is just as tough, just as cutthroat, and all about the bottom line, just like he is.

In my opinion, Pete’s entire story arc throughout the series is that he is so desperate to belong, to be someone to ANYONE. He knows that the others don’t respect him. The other partners dismissed him at first as someone who got the job through nepotism, and they dismiss him as worthless until they get the idea to start SCDP and realize that oops, they really kinda fucking need him because he’s the one with all the accounts. So they get him, plactate him with a small percentage of partnership, and then dismiss him again. They dismiss him as scum, they dismiss him as immoral. They treat him like Judas, but they sure don’t mind reaping the benefits of the way Pete conducts business. Pete is a lot of things, but a betrayer he is not. He’s terrible, but he doesn’t break his own moral code. Unlike Roger, who hated the idea of Joan going through with the proposition but didn’t step up and say a word to her or anyone else (his argument of ‘I don’t agree with this and I’m not putting a dime towards this but…’ is so fucking weak). Unlike Lane, who Joan actually considers a friend, who Joan actually TRUSTED, who gave her the idea to go for partnership to cover up his embezzlement. Unlike Bert, who also took the weak stance by saying ‘Let her know she can say no.’

So yeah, I don’t think Joan will ever think of Pete as anything other than a sleazeball. And Pete is a sleazeball, but he operates on a completely different plane than everyone else. In his mind, the only thing that matters is the business, because the business is all he has, is all he is. Which is why I think Pete is trying so hard to be Joan’s friend, to be a partner with her, because he’s never been a true partner with any of the others. It’s his chance to start anew, to cultivate that work relationship he desperately craves.

Does that change the fact that he’s an asshole? No. Does that change the fact that what he initiated was terrible, gross, and vile? No. But Pete as a character will always give me feels, even though I think he’s terrible. And seeing him with Joan in the past two episodes has given me a TON of feels, even though I don’t think that they’ll ever have any kind of true relationship, in a business setting or outside of that.

LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANE 

OH MY GOD WHY ISN’T THERE A LINK FOR MAD MEN YET?!!?!?!?! 

OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD I NEED IT OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD

Even though he’s on my shit list, even though I DESPISE what he did in last week’s episode, I still kinda love Pete Campbell. 

And by love, I mean that I love the dynamic Pete brings to the show, I love how interesting of a character he is to watch (even though I hate almost 90% of the things he does), and I love so very, very much how Vincent Kartheiser plays him.

Pete may be a terrible person, but he’s consistent, and I understand why he’s so terrible. So.

daensonnet replied to your post: Things I need in my life, Volume 3525052

That show seriously makes my blood boil. Joan needs to punch everyone with a penis STAT on this show.

I concur. When Don Draper is the Voice of Morality, THERE IS A SEVERE FUCKING PROBLEM.

They all need to line up in a row, and Joan can just punch them in the face, one by one. Except for Sal and Ken, who have proven that they are NOT douchebags. Ken especially has proven that he respects ladies for their TALENTS, not their “assets.” 

Although I really, really believe that Pete is the only one who actually respects Joan MORE and sees her as his equal. The other three partners have ALWAYS treated Pete like the scum of the earth, but they were sure glad to reap the benefits of Pete’s methods in securing clients. Hell, they even encouraged him to use the death of his father to secure Mohawk. Pete’s entire sense of self is entwined with his identity at work; without work, Pete views himself as nothing. In his eyes, he’s the one who will make the sacrifice, the one who will sell his soul for the business. And now that Joan has done the same, I think he views the two of them as being alike, as being the players that will do the dirty shit. He may even see himself and Joan as the new Sterling/Cooper or Sterling/Draper, as he’s always been desperate for a partner throughout the entire show.

What Pete did is BEYOND shitty and grotesque, but it is actually in character for him. Now Lane and Roger? FUCK THEM BOTH SO GODDAMN HARD. Roger has a HISTORY with Joan, and said nothing to stop this. And Lane encourages Joan to make a different deal in order to save his own fucking ass. He probably thought he was helping her make a terrible situation a bit more bearable, but you know he was relieved that Joan went through with his idea instead of demanding the $50,000 he’s embezzled. 

But really, the parallels between Peggy and Joan last night are what makes the episode so great, and so tragic as well. When they first met, Peggy was the bright,  ambitious girl who wanted to be recognized for her talents. Joan was the jaded, cynical woman who wanted to find a husband and create a family. How terrible and tragic is it, that at the end, Joan got the position that Peggy wanted, but Peggy got to walk away while Joan is forever trapped?

Things I need in my life, Volume 3525052 

-For Peggy to realize that she needs to step out on her own and start her own agency

-For Peggy to call Joan, Ken, and Sal and recruit them

-For Joan to punch EVERY SINGLE MAN AT STERLING COOPER DRAPER PRYCE IN THE FUCKING FACE

-For Joan to invite Sal to the building so he can PUNCH DON DRAPER IN THE FACE

-For Ken to stand in the background and cheer Joan and Sal on

-For the three of them to walk out

-For the three of them to join Peggy

-For the four of them to start Olsen Holloway Cosgrove Romano (because in my head Joan goes back to using Holloway instead of Dr. Rapist’s surname)

-For them to STOMP STERLING COOPER DRAPER PRYCE INTO THE MOTHERFUCKING GROUND, PLACE THE DUST FROM THE RUBBLE IN AN URN, AND PLACE IT AT THE FRONT DESK OF THEIR FINE ESTABLISHMENT AS A WARNING FOR ALL WHO WOULD DARE TO GO UP AGAINST THESE QUEENS AND KINGS

PETE CAMPBELL WHAT THE FUCK 

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS

WHAT ARE YOU DOING

I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU PETE

I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU

vanasshole replied to your post: WHAT THE FUCK

This would never have happened if Don had a sassy gay friend.

HENCE WHY HE SHOULD HAVE NEVER SACKED SAL SAL WOULD NOT HAVE ALLOWED THIS TO GO ON