'Mad Men': Don't come home
Well, we pretty well knew that was coming, right? But if the mark of a great show is that it can deliver even when you know what's coming, then Sunday's Mad Men was one helluva show.
These spoilers won't wake up with a different accent.
This week's episode focused on Mad Men's three primary female characters, and there was great stuff in all three storylines. Clearly, though, the centerpiece was Betty finally summoning up the resolve to confront her husband about his various infidelities -- from Bobbie Barrett to using their life together at work.
As always, January Jones underplayed her hurt and disappointment and anger, but the restraint here made Betty's confrontation with Don that much more powerful. Even though this has been a long time coming, and even though she came pretty much completely unhinged the day after the dinner party, the fact that she managed to re-gather her wits and tell Don she knew about him and Bobbie, and then later (after seeing Jimmy's Utz commercial during Make Room for Daddy on daytime TV) told her husband to stay away, showed that our Bryn Mawr Barbie has a lot more spine than previously revealed.
Their fight -- to me, anyway -- casts a different light on what may have happened in the 15 months between seasons. Based on what we've been shown thus far, it really did seem that Betty had found Don out and had struck some sort of bargain with him to keep the marriage together. Now, though, I'm not so sure. The discussion they had after Betty woke Don up on the couch felt like a fresh one; the problem isn't new, but I got the sense they hadn't talked about where to go from here much, if at all, in the past.
I'm increasingly coming around to the idea that what we saw at the start of the season was a Don Draper who had retreated to a quiet domestic life after A) coming home in the season one finale and finding Betty and the kids had already left for the Thanksgiving holiday and B) the departures of both Rachel and Midge from his life. That life, though, hasn't proven enough for Don, and so when someone like Bobbie Barrett comes along he slips back into his old ways. I may yet be proven completely wrong about this, but I believe more than ever that it's possible.
(Side note: I believe that Don believes himself when he tells Betty nothing happened. This is a man, after all, whose entire life is built on a lie and whose job is selling a pipe-dream Good Life to consumers. "Nothing happened" may mean "nothing felt" or "nothing new experienced" to Don, but I really don't think he thinks he's lying.)
Sunday's episode was called "A Night to Remember," a title taken from Peggy's CYO dance flyer (putting aside the idea that some folks in the church might find such a title a little racy, would you really want to name your dance after a film -- less than four years old at the time -- about the Titanic?). And Peggy's story carried some notable parallels with Don's, especially as she stonewalled Father Gill's (the returning Colin Hanks, who occasionally looks and sounds eerily like his dad) attempts to coax a confession out of her.
As with Don, I think Peggy has given herself over so completely to the idea that her pregnancy wasn't real that she may not think there's anything to confess. She seems to have fully embraced the advice that Don gave her in the hospital flashback several episodes ago: that it never happened.
I'm guessing, though, that Father Gill won't be dissuaded. Hanks and Elisabeth Moss have a fantastic sort of anti-chemistry together that allows Peggy to show her discomfort being around the priest and Father Gill to show that he doesn't really care if she's uncomfortable. It's fascinating to watch.
The final bit of business tonight was Joan's unexpected entry into the TV business, via the overwhelmed Harry's need for an operations person to look at scripts and point out pitfalls and opportunities for clients. (One of the night's better lines came courtesy of Ken, after Harry complained about all the things he didn't know were part of his new job: "How could that be? You made that job up.")
Called in as a stopgap, Joan immediately takes a liking to the work ("You won't believe what happens on As the World Turns," she tells her fiance) -- and is good at it, too, pointing out to a client that it'd be a good idea to link up with the soap's special summer storyline. For all the disdain she's shown toward Peggy's career path, Joan actually seems interested enough in this particular gig that the thought of settling down to watch soaps, rather than read them (as her man puts it) suddenly doesn't seem as great as it once did.
And then -- no. Roger tells Harry to hire someone full-time, which Joan finds out in the most deflating way possible as she comes in to get her next assignments from Harry, only to be introduced to the new guy taking over the job (the look that passed across her face as she absorbed the news played all the right notes of anger and confusion and disappointment; great work by Christina Hendricks).
A couple other notes from "A Night to Remember":
- In addition to her rather emotional storyline, Peggy also got to deliver two of the episode's funniest lines. Bringing a new Horatio Hornblower book from the library for Anita's (still) laid-up husband to read, she adds, "I was right -- there is only one book about Moby Dick." And later, pitching the "Night to Remember Line" to the CYO committee: "It's every girl's dream -- it holds the wholesome promise of the kind of hand-holding that leads to marriage."
- One more source of surprise humor -- Pete, upon seeing Father Gill in the office: "Look at this -- did we get Miracle Whip?"
- There were a number of great images from Betty's meltdown, from her slow dismantling of the wobbly dining-room chair to her sitting forlornly on the floor of the bedroom after her search turned up no evidence of Don's affair. The one that's sticking with me is the shot of her at the breakfast table, still in her party dress, staring into space as Don exchanges chipper goodbyes with the kids.
- Hearing Betty's round-the-world dinner party menu, I wondered if she'd lifted it from some women's magazine of the day. How do you figure she's going to react if she sees that menu as part of a Heineken campaign?
- Father Gill is playing Peter, Paul and Mary's "Early in the Morning" at the end of the episode.
What did you think of Betty's confrontation with Don? Too little, too late, or will she succeed in getting Don back on the straight and narrow?
I thought the episode was amazing, I think Betty put Don right in his place. He thinks he's above everyone which he's not! I've been waiting for the show to steam up and they came through! Great episode.
What it is doing to people --- his ways. He doesn't just cheat on Betts, he cheats on his family. He's caught in a lie and she throws up. The only way out? Keep lying.
Excellent episode. Loved the all-female focus this time around. January Jones deserves an Emmy nomination for tonight's episode. A++ acting.
I have a few questions though...what specifically was it about the Jimmy Barrett commercial that pushed Betty off the couch to call Don? Was it just seeing Jimmy on TV and that triggered the memory of what he had told her about Don? Or was the Utz tagline something that Bets had said to Don in the past? I was a little confused why seeing that commercial was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Also, did you guys get the sense that Roger Sterling agreed to hire someone full time for that script reading job to put the screws to Joan? I felt so bad for her. There's still hope. All of the (male) clients commented about how valuable she was, so maybe the agency will be forced to give her that job to make the clients happy. I'd love to see Joan start using her feminine power in a different way.
I loved the insight into the housewife 'menu' Betty presented. It was seriously in vogue at the time to hold 'Around the World' parties. A large number of cookbooks at the time focused on this mutli-culti angle. Generally, though most of the recipes were heavily Americanized, slightly racist and given 'exotic' names to entice the homebound girl.
Funny thing, Rick. I see the Don and Betty experience just the opposite of you. I had previously leaned toward the interpretation that Don had just returned to his simple domestic life, for the most part anyway, perhaps because Rachel and Midge were gone. Now I do think they had a previous blow-out 15 months ago.
My reasons are: Betty seemd overly sensative to whatever Don did regarding her buying Heinelin for the party. So what if he had correctly anticipated she would buy that brand? Why not just laugh it off, rather than feeling "humiliated?"
Also, why would she believe Jimmy if Don had not been exposed earlier? There was no obvious evidence of the affair with Bobbie. "I saw how you looked at each other" is pretty weak, and Don would be absolutely correct to say that is the kind of schmoozing his job requires every day.
No, to me this means Betty and Don had a confrontation in the past, and as a result, he needed to be on his best behavior to preserve his home, but he blew it.
One more thing: How could Betty state so forcefully and correctly that Don was lying, if they had not been through this before?
I think you've missed the boat on Joan. She's so powerful and ***ured in her role as office queen bee that she's suddenly discovered that her moxy translates to the greater male world.
She uses her sexuality at first to get attention and then floors the boys (clients et al) with her astute analysis. The only issue is that she makes Harry play catchup. One of the sweetest moments in all Madman history for me is when Harry's lost in her wake (and to tell you the truth, what male isn't?). And it is her devastation (literally the combination of her sexuality and brilliance wrapped up in a moment of utter dominance ...) that probably leads Harry to the most 60's male of responses, he castrates her, guts her like a fish and you get to watch him spieling with his new gelding. That is simply a rare tv gestalt. Watching her face, we can only imagine that she is seeing her fall from halcyon heights all the way back to the coffee room/bedroom. And although Peggy ascends under Don's wing, one wonders if there is enough room in the men's club for Joan's reincarnation.
She's seen Paris, I think she hesitates, she crumbles, cuz she's going back to the farm.
The Utz commercial with Jimmy reminds Betty of the humiliation she felt when he made his ugly accusation against Don at the party. Not only does she realize her husband is having an affair with a rather coarse, older, married woman, but she was completely manipulated by Jimmy. She makes a comment about being happy to help Don secure his business relationships by tolerating Jimmy's attentions. But the joke is on her in the same way that she's left out of the joke at her own dinner party. She feels like a useless, pretty accessory in her husband's life. Which she basically is. A beautiful piece of the perfect image that Don Draper presents to the world.
I must say I really enjoy reading the high-level quality of reader comments that I see here each week on the Mad Men summaries. A lot of sharp, intellectually curious people are watching this show. Keep those great comments flowing, guys! They are a pleasure to read. Thanks!
I think what EmilyE said is correct - especially notable is that Don said that he didn't want to lose "all of this" instead of saying that he didn't want to lose all of them (his family). He views them or at least has convinced himself that they are a key accessory in the life he is striving to achieve.