The first time I remember seeing Lesli Linka Glatter's name was in a directing credit on "Twin Peaks." She directed four episodes of David Lynch's television masterpiece, 13 installments of "E.R.," eight of "The West Wing," five of "Gilmore Girls" and segments of other series, including "Freaks and Geeks," "House, M.D.," "Law and Order: SVU," "Numb3rs," "Weeds," "The Mentalist," "The Unit" and "True Blood." She's worked a lot. "The Crysanthemum and the Sword" is her sixth episode of "Mad Men" -- and the one that reminded me the most of "Twin Peaks," mostly in little visual touches.
(Although, come to think of it, she also directed the episode with the riding lawnmower accident, which could be seen as a Lynchian in-joke about "The Straight Story"...)
A few images, and then a few thoughts about other possible "Twin Peaks" connections:
... the bizarre magnifying apparatus Miss Blankenship (Randee Heller) attaches to her glasses while doing crossword puzzles (Miss Blankenship herself is straight outta "Twin Peaks," probably related to Gordon Cole, whose speaking voice was similarly soothing)...
... Sally Draper discovering strange and wonderful feelings while watching Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum, of course) on "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." (this could be a reworking of the scene with Jeffrey's mom and aunt hypnotized by the gun on TV at the beginning of "Blue Velvet")...
... the Honda executives receiving guest gifts from Sterling Cooper Draper Price, and the senior exec exchanging his cantaloupe for a bottle of Johnny Walker (the whole culture-gap business thing reminded me very much of Ben Horne and the visiting Norwegians at the Great Northern)...
... Peggy, with her proper posture and cute little skirt, riding a red Honda around and around on an empty white soundstage...
... And it wouldn't be "Twin Peaks" without the obligatory tight-sweatered visual pun on the title. This is one of the great shots of Joan (Christina Hendricks) -- and not just because they don't make voluptuous female bodies like that anymore. It's another moment of grace (like the glances exchanged through the glass doors by Peggy and Pete in "The Rejected") in which Joan stands on equal footing with Roger, calms him, reassures him, scolds him, and puts him in his place. One of the joys of "Mad Men" (one of Roger Sterling's redeeming attributes) is his affection for Joan, and his well-earned respect and admiration for her judgement. To him, hers is often the only opinion that matters.
* * * *
If you recall the unforgettable pilot of "Twin Peaks," you will no doubt remember the symphony of grief that seemed to engulf the whole town upon the discovery of Laura Palmer's body. Most devastated of all, perhaps, was Laura's mother Sarah (the incomparable Grace Zabriskie), whose agony manifested itself as abject hysteria. She was subject to nightmare visions -- including the first glimpse of the figure later to be known as "Killer Bob," crouching in the corner. Later, her husband Leland (the transcendent Ray Wise) snapped out of his own despair and went manic (while his hair turned white overnight).
You should stop here unless you want to read "Twin Peaks," "Dexter" and "Mad Men" spoilers.
Last year, after the first episode of the fourth season of "Dexter," in which Dexter's world began to disintegrate due to sleep deprivation while Rita accused him of "not being there" for her (hey, he has people to kill -- serially! -- and his moonlighting helps put meat on the family's table!), I made a comparison to the increasingly brittle and crazy Betty Draper. Both of these blonde homemakers were slowly being driven insane because, whether they were consciously aware of it or not, they weren't married to the men they wanted their husbands to be.
The thing is, that's probably one of the things that attracted them to their men to begin with. Women like Rita and Betty love the idea of "taming" their mystery men. They think they can fill their mate's unknowable empty space with... themselves. Until they find out they can't, and it drives them mad.
I'm not saying it's the women's fault, but these couples have what you might call dysfunctionally symbiotic relationships. In the first season, Dexter introduces Rita as his "safe" girlfriend -- so damaged by her broken relationship with her abusive drug addict ex-husband that she's not likely to make intimate demands or require much of his time. She's good for maintaining a "normal" cover.
And so was Betty. Don Draper wanted the picture-perfect wife/mother accessory that Dick Whitman couldn't have had, and Betty probably thought she could be that. But neither of them could fulfill the other's dream-image of the ideal spouse -- Don because, well, he's both "Don Draper" and someone else; and Betty because... well, who knows what Betty's deal is? Perhaps we'll find out this season, through Sally's Dr. Edna. (And Betty isn't as mysterious as Peggy, whom I consider to be one of the most fascinatingly enigmatic characters I've ever seen in film or television.)
Which brings us back to Sarah Palmer. When the pilot was made, series creators Lynch and Mark Frost say they didn't know who killed Laura Palmer, because it wasn't that important to them. The show was about a world of Mystery, not just a whodunnit. But if you look back, you find that Sarah knew, somewhere below the surface of her psyche, that something was not right in her own house, with her own husband and her own daughter. Little blonde Sally Draper's daddy issues are nothing compared with Laura Palmer's, but perhaps they are sisters under the skin...
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I'm loving the lower half of this blog comparing Mrs. Palmer, Betty and Rita. They're all pretty mindboggling why they're never willing to ask the questions they need to... in time.
You're right that Peggy is more mysterious... but Betty's craziness seemed straightforward to me. Let's not overthink this: she was taught to believe, religiously, that her mission in life is to be a Stepford Wife. (An apparent powerful image that, despite having heaps of loopholes, is almost inexplicably persuasive to this hour for many women and men.) In other words, there's nothing wrong with either of these two. (Like the couple in "A Woman Under The Influence.") They're as perfect for each other as can be in a post-50's (slowwwly entering rebellious 70's) world that isn't perfect at all but, by and large, continues to assume such situations can exist, nevermind be sustained...
Another, simpler way to say it may be: she's crazy because nobody will let her be or admit that she is, including herself. (Although maybe she's happier that way... even crazier.)
This may be harsh but I'd lay the blame more on Don for not being honest about who he's coming home to... Episode in, episode out, we see him trying to sweep under the carpet that his wife's a nutjob. Probably because it reminds him too much of how he is too, maybe more so. Likewise with Dexter. If you've seen previews for Season 5 you see he's feeling guilty for what happened to Rita, mourning her... An interesting and understandable direction but at some point one has to wonder when he'll admit she was a monster too.
(And I feel like the Dexter of season 2 was just on the verge of those critical thoughts about Rita... I don't know what happened, why he lost his edge and went softer in subsequent seasons, though my guess is its due to a departure of producer Daniel Cerone behind the scenes, resulting in many writer's blocks and a largely unnecessary season 3 leading up to Dex's baby boy being born in 4...)
Laura and I were making our way through FREAKS & GEEKS last year and one of the episodes seemed a little bit offbeat in comparison to the others in the series: the cutting seemed to break up the space in weird ways, things like that. When I looked for the director's credit, that was the first time I became aware of Lesli Linka Glatter.
I have to wonder if TV isn't an easier place for a director to try stuff out - in other words, as long as he obeyed all the creators' directives, there was a little room for play. In one episode of 24 (Season 4), otherwise a risible program in every way, you could see the direction consciously cribbing the visual style of Michael Mann's COLLATERAL. And the thing is, it was working!
Hey Jim,
Enjoyed reading your column, as always.
I remembered reading awhile back in one of your columns that you had started to watch the Wire. The last I had seen, I think you were somewhere in season 3? I bring this up because I'd be very interested to read your analyses of the entire series or isolated moments of the show which stuck out to you (or whatever interests you most from the show really). Apologies if I missed one of your previous columns about the show.
Just a suggestion from an interested reader, but as usual I look forward to your future columns. Keep up the good work!
While Don Draper was far from a perfect husband, from the beginning I found Betty to be a spoiled brat. The two episodes this year in which she didn't appear were relief for me. As for Rita on Dexter (spoiler coming), I hate to say this because it makes me sound like a sociopath, but I was sort of relieved by the fourth season's ending. Every time Dexter's cell phobe rang, I would think "Not Rita again. Leave him alone. He's got work to do."
I felt the same way about Betty and Rita. After that first episode of last season's "Dexter" I wrote to a friend that Rita ought to be Dexter's next victim. And we can see Betty turning into even more of a monster -- the way she slapped Sally after the little girl cut her own hair. She wanted to slap Don, of course, but is taking it out on her daughter because she misses him. It's messed up.
Edward, you are not alone. (See my post up top.) I really don't know why Dex isn't on to this too. I feel like "the old Dex" would be but he's become much duller and more sentimental compared to his hey days of knocking off his brother and Lila and almost Doaks! ...Rita's blind faith must remind Dex of his clueless sister and he has some mental block there, that's all I can think of. Or he just equates ignorance with innocence but seasons 1 and 2 Dex seemed, to me, smarter than that. The same disconnectedness that twists him into justifying what he does, on the flip side, gives him critical distance to be ruthlessly honest about others. Why not Rita? Maybe there'll be a miracle and season 5 ends up with him doubting he should take on all the blame for what happened to Rita. His son, maybe, but Rita had chances (courtesy of notable liar but honest-in-the-end ex Paul) to expose the danger Dexter was bringing into her home. She just wouldn't let go of her fantasy.
About Betty though, in her somewhat defense: season 1, the first few episodes we're introduced to her, she's in need of a psychiatrist and Don is trying to deny her one, on top of blocking her off from any discussion about what really upsets her -- not to say she couldn't bring it up if she really, really wanted to, she just assumes he wouldn't understand and is also afraid of him reacting violently... But she gets the psych but turns out he's not much better than Don for quality exchanges and Don is still pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Each of them opening up a little more might sort things out, maybe she'd realize how lucky she is overall or perhaps all she really seeks is to know she could speak to Don if something really was wrong, that they are intimate enough to be able to share their deepest feelings and scars. (That's a lot of unknowns, I know, it's tough to tell with these two pieces of work but they surely have communication problems.) Don later pours out of some of his past trauma to a girlfriend on the side, the conversation Betty wishes she could have with him to understand him better... but it never happened that way. Don continued to be Mr. Mystery (with much less good reason than Dexter has) and that basically teaches Betty (who is more or less a child in an adult's body) that she has to feel sorry for herself because nobody else will reach out like that. And as time goes on she exaggerates how much she needs to pity herself.
And of course she would, she's not just trapped inside her house but also her head, her only alternative view to what she's thinking is herself (and the ghost words of her mother telling her how to be a woman). Again, those first few episodes of the show suggest a lot of the ensuing drama could have been avoided by some more willingness to hear each other out. There's an episode in season 2 where Don tells Betty about his father beat him and it didn't help and she understands and stops asking him to beat their son. If he shared more like that, Betty wouldn't have to rely on her own inherited beliefs and shaky thinking. (I feel like I'm a describing a wild child...)
On the other hand, Betty is a brat. Remember that episode where Don tell is telling her Sterling might be dying and she's going on about how living isn't much consolation? There are people in the world who may be able to justifiably say that given their circumstances but coming from her that's disgustingly spoiled princess. And I love that this show is able to see both sides of her imperfect but still mostly luxurious life.
One other thing her life lacks (and many "Mad Men" character's lives are missing) is imagination, a view beyond the everyday and/or perception of overlooked beauties in the everyday. I say this in all seriousness because I think the show has showed time and again that "art" would fill the void for some of its emptier/lonelier men and women... and for Don in his secret time it sometimes does. (He mentions to another gal-on-the-side that he appreciates Antonioni's "La Notte" -- I'm not sure why he thinks Betty couldn't too.) One amateur marriage counseling advice I give the Drapers is to go see more films. From what I can see it'll at least give them something else to talk about, and something more exciting to do than cards with their miserably married neighbores...
I just want to correct one thing I said that, on second thought, doesn't seem true at all: I don't think Betty is all that afraid of violence from Don. It's more the emotional impact of him being cruel to her. She suffers from the Rita syndrome Jim describes in the entry above: holding onto that dream of her man loving her the way she wants, not realizing Don is gonna do what he's gonna do... But because she continuously settles for less than what she wants (wanting it both ways), I suggest that these two are happy with each other after all. Sort of like (to use a contemporarily popular example) Bella to Edward in "Twilight" or (to use a long past popular example) Macbeth to Lady Macbeth in "Macbeth" -- they act all upset towards their spouse but she keep on coming back for more. (But I'll shut up at that because for all I know they finally divorce in season 4...)
Jim-
You may be the first person to pick up on the Straight Story allusion in the infamous lawnmower scene. I've read other commentators use the phrase Tarantino-esque to describe the moment, which, by implication, might just as well mean Lynchian (the odd mix of mundane camerawork, surrealist melding of Americana, and violent grotesquery is vintage DL). There was also a very subtle nod to pre-"Amelia" Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Recall that, just before Guy McKendrick's foot falls victim to the lawnmower blade, he tells the office to, "enjoy the liquor and delicatessen." Indeed.
I just watched this episode last night and thought the same thing about the Twin Peaks connection. In fact, through most of the third season I felt like the series could benefit from a Twin Peaks touch - a little more humor and mystery to make each episode more individually enjoyable and less strictly narrative-driven. All we need now is a groovy little theme song whenever Joan appears onscreen...
One other six degrees of separation: Patrick Fischler, who has unforgettably straight eyebrows, told a friend about a nightmare in Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" and also plays the comedian Jimmy (with a Scorsese-esque accent and dynamic verbal energy masking hostility) in "Mad Men" ...and, in limited time to make his presence felt, is fabulous in both!
This is a random question that I wouldn't have asked if you haven't mentioned the director. But, as you said, she's worked a lot, as it seems, on TV. You didn't mention it, but you must know that she also directed a movie I treasure: "Now and then". I watched it when I was a kid for the first time and I bought it recently to revise it... It's not the same, but I still think it's quite magical. I just wanted to know what you thought about the film. I mean, the woman that inspired this post directed it man!
I haven't seen "Now and Then" (1995), but what a cast! I've added it to my Netflix Instant queue.
All due respect to talented TV directors like Lesli Linka Glatter, the thing that always truly amazes me about extraordinary shows like MAD MEN and TWIN PEAKS is how much control the writer-producer-creator exerts over the tone and the tiniest details of each episode, even on episodes where he may have no writing or directing credit. Matthew Weiner is not shy about taking a writing credit for himself on nearly every episode--a practice of which one of his mentors David Chase did not partake--but from all the behind the scenes interviews I've seen, it seems Weiner might also take a co-director credit. By the time the episode is ready to shoot, the director has been inculcated by Weiner with the precise notes on how nearly every second of the show will play. Or take TWIN PEAKS where each time I rewatch it I am astonished at how some of the most Lynchian moments in the entire series come in episodes on which David Lynch himself has no writing or directing credit--the jailhouse death of Leland Palmer, for instance. And yet Lynch's influence and artistry is felt in every frame. And by all accounts his management style is less obsessive and controlling than Weiner's. But his mastery of tone and his ability to effectively work through other people--even at one remove, even while not on the set--is perhaps even more impressive.
Yes, Tim Hunter -- who, in addition to his features like "Tex" and "River's Edge," has directed episodes of "Twin Peaks," "Homicide," "Deadwood" and "Mad Men" -- is quoted in the "Mad Men" Wikipedia entry talking about the show's process and how Weiner goes over every scene for "tone" with the director. He's very hands-on -- a showrunner in addition to being the creator and executive producer of the series.
Hunter also directed two "Dexter" episodes: "Slack Tide" and "About Last Night." And now that I know he's the director, "River's Edge" just went up a few notches in my movies-to-watch queue...
"River's Edge" was released the same year as "Blue Velvet." Dennis Hopper got a lot of attention for Lynch's film, but his performance in Hunter's is even more fascinating because he's actually playing a character, not just a concept of Evil.
That's why I find "Blue Velvet" to be the most boring of Lynch's films.
Thanks for mentioning that Jim. Before Tim Hunter, Dennis Hopper was the only reason I had "River's Edge" in my "movies to hopefully see before I die" queue.
And not that anybody asked but as for Hopper in "BV" and this thing we call "Frank" (not to be confused with the giant alien rabbit projection), I feel Hopper's embodiment of "utter scumbug" transcends concept and even if it never quite becomes a life-like character then at least works on the level of creature, like Max Schreck's Nosferatu. Both performances are trapped in movies that don't have much interest in these entities beyond them being monstrous (Herzog's chickens)... and that goes the same-but-inverted for The Good Ones in "BV," Kyle McLaughlin and Laura Dern are Eloi to Hopper's Morlock. Rosellini's role is more challenging playing something between, but it's sadly underwritten too... Back to Hopper's Nosferatu, I think Herzog and Kinski's vamp does give us something more, even if it's just ruthless self pity, their Dracula becomes a creature-character, whereas Lynch doesn't give Hopper much else to work with besides an animal. And Hopper goes to work playing just that, just like Nic Cage accepts his role as an Elvis impersonating criminal in "Wild at Heart." The performances have bite... but these earlier Lynch films, unlike his later work, don't give the actors much to chew on.
Ps. Some of the themes of "Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks" and, I think, the lower half of this blog, narrated by Dennis Hopper in this Gorillaz song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nf9IkoxwMs
Watching Fassbinder's BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ right now and wondering how come no one in America ever does it this way, directs all the episodes himself/herself. It can't only be union rules or TV production conventions. Now that most cable seasons are 10-13 episodes, it would be entirely feasible for a great director or hyphenate to truly write-produce-direct a whole season of one show. Not that it's necessarily going to be all that interesting, but imagine Scorsese shooting all of the first season of BOARDWALK EMPIRE, instead of just the pilot.
Well, "Berlin Alexanderplatz" is based on a book, a little easier for one person to do than a continuing TV show with no set ending. Having said that, Nova Scotian Mike Clattenburg directed every episode, both specials and both movies of Canada's "Trailer Park Boys," and that show feels more "of a piece" than any other I can think of right now. It would be great to see a renowned director like Scorsese take on a project like that, but there's always the chance it'll go "Twin Peaks" nuts on you. TV shows should generally be able to...last.
I have recently been re-watching all seasons of THE SHIELD, and from the commentaries and documentaries I've picked up a bit about how the show worked, and it seemed to have been similar to MAD MEN. There were tone meetings held with each director, in which they went over every scene and every beat of every scene. One of the writers (usually the person credited with a particular episode) was present on set each day during shooting. Shawn Ryan, the creator, would often write certain scenes or a particular story line, even when his name wasn't on the writing credit. So I gather in TV, at least some of the better shows, the writer-producers are extremely important, far more than in movies, where the director rules.
Twin Peaks was a masterpiece of absurdly diverse wonderful characters. The people I know who followed it weekly all saw the initial episode and so quickly caught on to the character development and interrelationships.The excellent mood music was perfect for the bizarre scenes as in the doppelganger and midget episodes peering into the powers of darkness of the subconscious mind and hinting at either madness or the supernatural (take your pick). You can see episodes on-line at CBS classics. Lynch et. al. can grab you with hilarious little off-guard mini-scenes that can make an episode well worth watching. Twin Peaks and Kung Fu (with David Carradine as Caine) were two of the most creative shows to come out of television. Who will step up to produce more? Its humorous to hear people who think the characters in Twin Peaks were just too weird- a quick look at the plethora of ideologies, personalities, delusional beliefs and insane constant violence in the real world should tame those characters down considerably. Reality shows indeed- where's the beef?
Weird. I wonder why "Twin Peaks" at CBS Classics when it was aired on ABC...
Also, the Gold Box Edition of the "Twin Peaks" DVDs was released by CBS DVD.
Coming in very late... I love all the characters on the show, but Peggy is the easiest to appreciate. It sort of pains me to see people say so often that they're glad we see less of Betty, because her story is just as important. Of course everyone loves Peggy--hers is the viewpoint story of overcoming obstacles and learning from the past. Peggy represents all the strides we've made since the 60s, and it's right that we should be able to celebrate them.
But Betty is a window into our failures. From everything we see in the show, she's a woman of exceptional privilege--she's wealthy, well-educated and well-read, beautiful and intelligent. And yet she's still a child, because that's all that she was ever taught to be. It's how her father and her husbands treat her. She did everything she was expected to do--marry a successful man and raise children--and yet none of the things she wanted to do, and she is miserable and alone.
If Betty had seized control of her life before she met Don, maybe she could have been a Peggy. She lived a free and glamorous life once. But now every time she looks for a way out of her cage, a man is there to put her back. Be it the doctor who tells her abortion isn't an option, or the lawyer who gently and patronizing explains that getting a divorce would ruin her. And when the divorce finally came, Don was set free, while Betty is thrust back into another doomed marriage.
These obstacles aren't as far in our past as we like to think. New York just implemented no-fault divorce recently. Betty's story is painful to watch, but I think it's necessary.
A thought came to mind as I watched the first episode of Dexter: season 5 earlier tonight...
The Shakespeare factor. (He's everywhere folks!)
I dunno why I never saw it before but there's traces of an Ophelia-Hamlet thing going on with Rita-Dexter... One is sheltered... and definitely mad. The other has a lot of mind... and is just a bit crazier than the rest of us, so we somehow empathize with him despite killings. And for all the reasons he should have not to say he loved her, Hamlet says he loved Ophelia, Dex feels he loved Rita...
Ps. Ya know I'd really like to see Dex for a girl that's a nice, mature balance between Rita and Lila. Maybe Julie Stile's character later this season? (Who, to tie this all up in a pretty bow, played Ophelia in the Y2K "Hamlet.")
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