Outstanding conversation about one of my all-time favorite shows. In late 2022 and early this year my wife and I embarked on a full rewatch of the series, my first since watching the original run. Arielle, your line "I think the power of the series is that Don is both well-meaning and a person who has caused great pain" nails the crux of the character and the series. Many of the show's main characters are selfish and oblivious, especially by modern standards. But many of those same characters genuinely care, in ways that are clearly stunted by the environment and times they inhabit. Take Pete - a woefully underrated character - he's a slimeball, but he's also capable of great self-awareness, and by the end of the series, an ability to put others' needs before his.
Loved this! Aging with a show made me think of watching Gilmore Girls in 2013-2014 (it couldn't really be called a rewatch because I didn't see all of it) and identifying more with Lorelai than Rory. And then that sequel came out and revealed what I somehow missed: they were both terrible.
"And to turn it into a soda commercial seemed like a cynical move." I did feel this way too, but agree they are making peace with work-life.
My favorite scene in the entire series was when "Father Gill wishes Peggy a happy Easter and hands her a painted egg. 'For the little one', he says."
Outstanding conversation about one of my all-time favorite shows. In late 2022 and early this year my wife and I embarked on a full rewatch of the series, my first since watching the original run. Arielle, your line "I think the power of the series is that Don is both well-meaning and a person who has caused great pain" nails the crux of the character and the series. Many of the show's main characters are selfish and oblivious, especially by modern standards. But many of those same characters genuinely care, in ways that are clearly stunted by the environment and times they inhabit. Take Pete - a woefully underrated character - he's a slimeball, but he's also capable of great self-awareness, and by the end of the series, an ability to put others' needs before his.
Loved this! Aging with a show made me think of watching Gilmore Girls in 2013-2014 (it couldn't really be called a rewatch because I didn't see all of it) and identifying more with Lorelai than Rory. And then that sequel came out and revealed what I somehow missed: they were both terrible.