I saw this at Sundance in 2019 when the film was in black and white—which I wish the film would’ve retained. There are some really charming moments, but yeah. It’s a bit ham-fisted. I will say that, for me, the clanging melodrama that comes at the end works if you look at it as setup to the punchline of a weird brick…

to Betty (and us), her disinterest in engaging with Phyllis seems naïve.

Is it a coincidence that his name is an anagram for Enlarge Slot?

Donger?  Dong, yes.  Donger?  No.

As a more positive note, the John Birch Society discussion in Phyllis’s newsletter office was genuinely hilarious. I think my favorite moment was ‘I’m not with the John Birch Society, but they are totally fine and not racist at all. Again, not taking money from them.” approach by Phyllis. Also, she was totally getting…

I’m a Brit so don’t know any of these people (except for Gloria Steinem). Cate Blanchett is like the Dolores Umbridge of the story. So charming and nice and pretty much the devil! She manipulated Sarah Paulson’s character into being the one to call out the racists Southern women so she could save the day and I…

Tracey Ullman’s having a ball as Friedan and I love it. She’s really captured that sort of bull-in-the-china-shop who nonetheless knows more than everyone else vibe.

I thought that was a really good character beat when they showed Phyllis lying about getting into Harvard Law. Because the thing is, for all her many (many, MANY) faults, Phyllis Schlafely was very often the smartest person in the room. Certainly smarter than her husband and the army of housewives she corralled into a…

As a sidenote, as much as I loved the episode, there was a narrative decision that bothered me during it and really stuck out to me while reading the recap here. The 1972 Democratic Primary was extremely contentious and there was a really strong ‘Anyone but McGowern’ southern Democrat movement that actively that tried…

The show’s take on Chisholm was fantastic and everyone deserves a lot of credit. I think I disagree with the review a bit, but actually towards the positive, as I felt Aduba’s Chisholm was shown as an intentionally flawed individual. There was a lot to admire in her, but she was as deluded as the others, just in a…

You are young, aren't you? 

Blanchett continues to be magnificent in her role and the episode was absolutely ruthless towards Phyllis. My three favorite scenes were:

Something I really loved about this episode is that while the show clearly despises Phyllis, and rightfully so as man is Blanchett having fun selling her awfulness, it also showed the seeds for why the Women’s Liberation Movement failed. It wasn’t even the abortion or them constantly ignoring Friedan’s attempts to…

Eleanor is Phyllis’ sister-in-law, not sister.

As a St. Louisan who has loathed Schlafly since I knew who she was (thanks partly to my mother’s staunch feminism and love of Gloria Steinem) - I’ve been eagerly awaiting this series. STL sees Phyllis Schafly and her legacy as something of a joke (at least anyone with half a brain), so I’m glad we can see the true…

I like Gloria Steinem but on some level I do suspect that if Betty Friedan was more conventionally attractive (or younger?) we would have never heard of her 

I assume it’s because these are terms that are derogatory and unfairly applied to women (whereas men who act the same way are seen as normal or commendable), and women have decided to try to reclaim these terms to reduce their utility as insults.

Am I the only person who found season two to be a big let-down? I’m happy it will be back for a third season, but season two lost significant momentum for me. The episodes that don’t focus on Annie’s love life (the wedding, the women’s convention, any scene with Emily and Fran) were the strongest of the bunch. But far…

It’s based on a memoir of the same name. 

I think the best episodes are where Annie navigates her way through things like her roommates cousins wedding or the episode where she goes to the women’s conference. I find her most relatable in those situations. Her personal life I find a bit harder to connect to. I’m sure her superiority issues/victim mentality are…