As I promised I'd come back when I had finally watched these two eps, here I am! I hope you don't get annoyed by my tardiness.
The voiceover didn't annoy me at all. Like you, I find it plausible for Don to keep a diary in such a situation, just as swimming. It was a way to emphasize that he's trying to change. And what he wrote didn't seem to jar with what I hoped he would write in such a situation. He was still Don Draper, he was still elusive in his writing. I agree with someone above who compared this dramatic device with a POV changing in a story, or in a series. It may be jarring, but I like jarrings, now and then :-)
The ghost was a surprise, but I could totally buy it, too. Anna was a very special friend for him, an exception in Don's otherwise cynical existence. He has always seen her as a kind of angel. And, well, he was way over drunk... Although I said it was a surprise, it was to be expected. It was a natural development. He was drinking non-stop because he knew he was going to receive a phone call saying that Anna had died.
As for the handhold, I agree with what you wrote: part of the point of it was that it was supposed to be awkward and overt. It worked for me.
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Date: 2010-11-30 10:11 am (UTC)The voiceover didn't annoy me at all. Like you, I find it plausible for Don to keep a diary in such a situation, just as swimming. It was a way to emphasize that he's trying to change. And what he wrote didn't seem to jar with what I hoped he would write in such a situation. He was still Don Draper, he was still elusive in his writing. I agree with someone above who compared this dramatic device with a POV changing in a story, or in a series. It may be jarring, but I like jarrings, now and then :-)
The ghost was a surprise, but I could totally buy it, too. Anna was a very special friend for him, an exception in Don's otherwise cynical existence. He has always seen her as a kind of angel. And, well, he was way over drunk... Although I said it was a surprise, it was to be expected. It was a natural development. He was drinking non-stop because he knew he was going to receive a phone call saying that Anna had died.
As for the handhold, I agree with what you wrote: part of the point of it was that it was supposed to be awkward and overt. It worked for me.