Thursday, June 17, 2010

It all started with the third season of Mad Men, if I'm going to be honest about it.

It may come as no surprise to you that I have a visceral reaction to just about everything.

I get very invested. My heart can be broken in the span of two popcorn- and soda-filled hours. I don't watch scary movies because I hate the heart-pounding anxiety they provoke.

Turns out that not everyone has physical reactions to things they watch. Huh.

So anyway, I can't really blame the Drapers. Because they were just the trigger, in the same way that you might hear about friends who have been married forever having problems or an affair and that causes you to examine your own relationship critically.

Recognizing, of course, that they're not our friends. They would suck as friends.

And, um, that they're make-believe. Because it's television.

Although if we were friends, I would love to borrow some of Betty's clothing. Her make-believe clothing, of course.

So.

So our non-friends Don and Betty went off to Rome and had this fabulous weekend together and it was all romantic and flirty and perfect and lovely. It made me so hopeful for them. And then they came back and he gave her a charm for her bracelet.

And she was all, "Great. Now I've got a memory of one trip to Rome and here we are stuck in the same old and it sucks and life is just life and whatever."

I'm paraphrasing, obviously.

But Nick turned and looked at me.

"What?"

"It's uncanny."

I knew, I knew what he meant.

"What? We haven't been to Rome together. In fact, who knows if I'll ever make it back there?"

"Exactly."

And then last Saturday night we watched the penultimate episode, and when it ended, I wanted to watch the last one. Because, you know, it was the weekend, and it was only 10:30. We should live it up.

And Nick said, "It's 10:30."

"It's the weekend!"

"OK. We can stay up. If you'll get up with Jordan tomorrow morning, we can watch another. If we go to bed now, I'll get up with him."

I had to give it some serious thought. Because 5:00 am arrives fast. And it sucks.

"Fine. Fine. Have it your way. We'll go to bed."

"OK."

"And now we'll never know what happens."

I don't just say these things for dramatic effect. In the moment, I really feel them. I will die never having returned to Rome and now we're never going to know how the season ends.

And it's always going to be like this forever and ever.

"Right, Lisa. Until tomorrow night. When we watch it and find out what happens."

"Whatever. We never get to have fun. We haven't had fun since our honeymoon..."

And you know where it went from there.

Thanks, Drapers.

8 comments:

  1. despite the angst, i *luv* the drapers, but i think you need to add "Breaking Bad" to your queue . . . it will make you thankful that you are not involved in meth production. :)

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  2. OK, cool! I suppose if I thought about it, I'd already be thankful I'm not involved in meth production, but like Big Love and polygamy, it's something I don't really think about daily, so probably good to have a reminder. We are always happy to have a good show recommendation!

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  3. the more i read your writing the more i think we have in common! "and now we'll never know what happens" is so totally something i'd say too. and i wouldn't be saying it to be dramatic or to make him upset, i'd be saying it because at that very moment, in that instant, i felt like we'd never watch the rest of it and everything then sucks. just like a few weeks ago when i was talking to manfriend about planning a long weekend away, and he wasn't in the mood that night to look at fifty different websites online that i'd bookmarked, but suggested another day, and i said, "fine. you don't even want to go away, do you?" see what i did there? in the moment, it seems so urgent that i can't not say it! and then it's like a domino effect.
    sorry, ive gone off on my own tangent!
    all this to say, i get you!

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  4. First, a post about Mad Men makes my day. You and Nick will make it to Rome and have a beautiful adventure!

    I don't just watch Mad Men, it's as if I'm consuming the episodes. The Drapers feel real to me, too. The episode in Rome is one of my favorites - a different side of Betty - and the season 3 finale is as tough as watching The Way We Were.

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  5. brookem - Oh, I'm so glad! That is exactly how I would be with the trip. You don't want to go away and you're never going to want to go anywhere and all my dreams of travel are just going to shrivel up and die.

    HKW - In this moment, I do believe that! And if it's not Rome, somewhere else.

    Yes! We go to bed and talk about them. Nick will be falling asleep and I'll be all, "But do you think Betty..." The finale killed me! I've been totally fretting about them. It's ridiculous.

    And I've never seen The Way We Were...

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  6. I totally missed the season 3 finale episode on broadcast TV and I don't have Netflix so I have no idea how it ended... I hope to catch a replay when the new season starts again.

    I read through all your wise reader's comments to your "point" post. Thanks for putting that out there. Love your site!

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  7. Jamie and I are convinced that TV characters are real. Particularly those on Grey's Anatomy. Like, we discuss them as if they're our friends. Our real life friends. Sick sick sick.

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  8. Too funny. And I get this. Our "trips" abroad involve whatever dvds we've checked out of the library. England and murder. Tres romantique.

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