Mad Men on AMC • Fifth Season Thread

really wanted a fire island scene

not on board with this "pete is a likable character now" thing

who said he's likeable? he's such a snake!

Pete the character is AWFUL in all ways, but the actor is really good at making him so desperately horrible, it's fantastic

and you can tell he could be a really good dude if he just unwound the crazy spring in his head

thought someone did upthread? i USED to like him. and i still probably like him better than harry who seems almost irredeemably schlubby

Harry is a funny dork, I feel a lot of sympathy for him – he's clearly talanted, but so graceless and socially inept that he just ends up tanking his own career.

in what way is Harry "talented"

we never see him do anything or come up with any ideas

The best idea Harry ever had was to con his bosses into creating a television department. Hasn't done anything since.

Harry is def. a bit good at the creative stuff, I think? Hasn't it been intimated that he's okay at that, but kinda crap at business?

I think you are making that up

he runs the tv dept, also invented it, what more do you want from him

you all just hate him because he's an overweight schlub, admit it

he's not overweight anymore, he's practically svelte

you hate him for his effortless weight loss

I hate him because he invented the television

Yes, without Harry there would be no Mad Men for us to watch.

Mad Men as Doonesbury hmm

I love Pete not because he is likable but because his character is just so delicious to watch, complex.

^^^

Pete is like a multi-layered artisanal sandwich. Harry is like a pile of mashed potatoes.

I always anticipate seeing what kind of weasely thing the character is going to come up with next.

I have always hated Harry and I am really pleased people are now seeing his awful ways. He has done almost zero anything innovative at SDCP. I mean, he's the dude that somehow hangs on and people sorta respect (to a degree) and you wonder what the fuck it is they do. I work at an advertising agency and there are like 15 of these people who have their own offices and vague titles and kinda just dink around and stare at the walls.

Not sure why s1ocki likes him so much!!!!

Roger is also becoming one of these people.

totally hope Harry gets herpes. or takes acid and throws himself out a window.

s1ocki and harry sitting in a tree, watching T E E V E E

Harry Gets Herpes: new Mad Men spinoff coming this fall!

lol

i like harry. he's a confused dork, but seems basically harmless underneath all the boobery. not a good man, not a bad man, just sort of there. holding down the middle.

pete i loathe, but agree that kartheiser does a good job enriching his loathability.

idg why yall hate on harry hes not a rapist like pete yeesh. in the mad men universe, hes a minor lecher

harry is probably the most typical dude on the show

i dont really care for him one way or another but the way yall pile on him like he's so UNTALENTED and HORRIBLE, u have to admit, is 100% about the way he looks

what did he do? HE STARTED THE TV DEPARTMENT. that's probably a pretty big part of an ad agency's business.

no it doesn't have anything to do with the way he looks and everything to do with his actions

note my stanning for other overweight schlub Paul the Beatnik upthread

that's probably a pretty big part of an ad agency's business.

again you're basing this on... nothing. all the talk about who brings in the most business for the company points pretty squarely to Pete (esp post-Lucky Strike)

im basing this on logic and reality, why do you think they brought the schlub over from the old agency and not your beloved beatnik

why do you think Pete was made a partner, whereas Harry was just told to "come to work over the weekend"

the idea that Harry's crucial or creative or has any redeeming qualities is just not supported by the show. sorry.

he was just forced out of his office fyi

forced?? Really??

pretty much. it's all about keeping pete happy, since he has ALL the accounts.

pete's job is to bring in new clients and to manage existing ones. that kind of thing will always seem sexy and pete's obviously pretty good at it (for reasons that aren't ever made clear: clients don't seem to like him, and he's never shown any great insight, intelligence or understanding of the business).

harry probably does some marketing to broadcasters (?), but we've never seen much of his day-to-day work. we presume he makes TV ads? honestly, i don't think we can say much about the kind of work harry does, what kind of revenue it brings in, or whether he's any good at it. the show simply doesn't care about him. he's a cartoonish shlub designed to set off the more attractive and important characters.

as i see it, pete is a classic striver: extremely ambitious, tirelessly dedicated to his work, sharp & bold enough to get what he wants.

we saw that joan could do his job 10x better than him w/o breaking a sweat but that applies to alot of characters

his job = harry; pete's probably the most insightful person (maybe peg) at scdp, though this maybe purely an aspect of his relative youth (though considering harry's about the same age maybe not). sterling cooper's always been depicted as at least a step behind - the first season had draper being skeptical of ddb.

he's never shown any great insight, intelligence or understanding of the business

what about when he exploited his personal loss to attempt to get the airline...? or screwing over his father-in-law to get bigger accounts? Or telling Ted Chaugh to go fuck himself? Or milking the jai-alai moron? Pete is plenty insightful/intelligent.

Harry can be a schmuck, but there's a haplessness about him that I find sympathetic.

forced?? Really??

did you even watch the premiere episode?! Roger said "move out and give your office to Pete" and Harry was like "uh okay please don't fire me"

what about when he exploited his personal loss to attempt to get the airline...? or screwing over his father-in-law to get bigger accounts? Or telling Ted Chaugh to go fuck himself? Or milking the jai-alai moron? Pete is plenty insightful/intelligent.

i see him as sharp and wily: clever enough to recognize the openings and weaknesses around him, unscrupulous enough to exploit them. this doesn't make him brilliant, but it does make him a very successful jr. shark.