So, I’m not going to lie. I felt that last night’s episode was pretty underwhelming for the first hour and 2 minutes (my TiVo clocked its running time at an hour and 4 minutes). Spoilers beyond this point.
We see Freddy Rumsen at the outset of the episode in a meeting with Peggy where he was pitching a TV spot for a watch. Excuse me, a conversation piece. It’s been a while since we’ve seen good ol’ Freddy. (If you’ve forgotten, he’s most remembered for getting so drunk he pissed himself in his office. He’s since cleaned up and gotten sober.) Is it ironic that he was the last person to get put on a “leave of absence” due to his drunken behavior? More on that in a minute.
Peggy’s stay in Don’s office was short lived. Some fuddy duddy named Lou Avery has taken over as the Creative Director at SC&P. He apparently does not appreciate Peggy’s brilliance the way Ted and Don did and dismisses all of her ideas, including the one from our new favorite freelancer Freddy. There is nothing about Lou Avery that makes me think that he’s good at his job. For now, he’s going on the list of characters that need to die ahead of Harry Crane (which says a lot if you ask me).
Then we see Don getting off a plane on one of those moving walkways – where is he? L.A.? New York? We see him walk outside to be greeted by Megan. I loved that shot of them seeing each other. They’ve really gone bi-coastal. Apparently Don can’t stay longer than the weekend because of work. (What work? Lou’s in his office, so probably not work at SC&P.) Megan and Don have dinner with Megan’s agent, who has some great news for her. (He mentions fixing her teeth, which, awkward, and I can see becoming part of a complex for her throughout the rest of the show. I think part of her hesitation to later sleep with Don is due to L.A.’s standard of beauty that Megan is trying to live up to. Of course, the other part is that her marriage is one breath away from falling a part and the only thing saving it is that she and Don live on opposite coasts now.)
I wonder how long Megan has been out there. Season 6 ended at Thanksgiving (1968) and it’s now January of 1969. Presumably this is Don’s first trip out since she’s showing him around and Don seems to be startled by the sound of the animals (wolves?) in the canyon.
Let’s see — Pete is also out in L.A. and he it seems to be fitting him very well. His hair is a bit longer, he looks relaxed and tan (a big difference from Ted, who everyone remarks is pasty despite his move) and seems to be enjoying his new life free of his family. He seems to have a girlfriend in his real estate agent. The L.A. office, though small, is not too bad. Not the deserted island Don made it seem like it would be in the onset of last season’s finale.
Roger is into some new weird sex shit. The first time we see him, he’s naked on the floor with a slew of girls (and possible guys) as he takes a phone call from his daughter. Immediately, this struck me as odd since the last time we saw her, she wanted nothing to do with Roger any more. When he goes to meet her, she tell him that she forgives him for everything. Everything about what she is saying is confusing and her behavior is also strange. I’m wondering if she’s gotten herself into a cult.
Kenny is still sporting an eye patch from his hunting incident with the Chevy people and he seems to have turned into something of a monster. The first time we see him, Joan needs to meet with him about something regarding Avon and Kenny is yelling at two girls in his office. He’s the Head of Accounts now that Pete is in California. I think we see him effected the most by the SC&P diaspora. A call from Bob in Detroit (yay, Bob’s still around!) at noon and from Pete at 2 p.m. and Kenny doesn’t have time to poop. Maybe that’s why he’s so cranky. Though, now that I think about it Detroit is in the same time zone as New York, so I’m not sure what all the fuss is about.
While Joan goes to Kenny to talk about Avon, a meeting with their shoe client comes up. Kenny doesn’t want to meet with their Head of Marketing because he feels that making that meeting would some how put him lower on the corporate ladder than he really is. So, Joan takes the meeting alone. And when she gets there she’s met by their 12 year old Head of Marketing that has set up the meeting because he wants to take their advertising in-house. “There’s someone above you and someone below you and everyone is buying everyone else dinner,” he says to Joan. Needless to say, the meeting is short. Knowing she’s a bit in over her head and not wanting to lose the client, Joan sets up a meeting with a local university professor. He’s doing her a favor (even though she’s paying him for his time) and then asks what she might have to offer him. Still stuck with the nasty taste that Jaguar and Herb left in her mouth, she reminds him that this is a business transaction. This is a university, he reminds her, and he has a study where her input can be of use. The professor isn’t sure how much help Joan can be, but when he asks her the question of commission vs fees, she’s right at home.
Peggy’s ideas and apology continue to be shot down by Fuddy Duddy Lou and she receives a call at work from a problem tenant about a clogged toilet. Fuck you, Abe. Fuck you with that knife Peggy accidentally stabbed you with for letting Peggy buy this building and then leaving her to deal with the fallout.
We see Don get on the plane back to New York for “work” and he’s seated next to a pretty brunette (played by Neve Campbell). Of course he can’t help, but flirt with her, but she’s on a plane after scattering her husband’s ashes at Disneyland (or is it DisneyWorld? I can never keep those straight). He died of thirst, she tells Don. He’s gonna die of thirst too if he’s not careful.
When Don gets back to his apartment, there’s a knock on the door and in walks Freddy. He’s got lunch and Don asks him how the watch pitch went. They also talk about a few other work related ideas and we realize that Freddy is Don’s freelance voice. Don, presumably with a non-compete clause in his contract, can’t go out and pitch ads for other advertising companies and he’s still persona non grata at SC&P. Freddy notices that the door to Don’s balcony is open and mentions that he should close it because it’s freezing outside. Don goes over to close it but can’t. It’s stuck.
We go back to Peggy and see her brother-in-law greet her at home. He tells her about the repair to the tenant’s toilet and she seems sad to see him leave. She locks the door behind him and just collapses. Bad day at work, bad day at home, (I didn’t even mention her interaction with Ted in the office, which will best be described as awkward) and now she’s alone with no one to share any of her troubles with. Then we go back to Don in what seems like the middle of the night. He’s sweating (from detoxing maybe) and trying to fix that door. Without any luck, he sits down on the porch and realizes that he, too, is alone. No wife, no kids, no (real) work. Peggy and Don seem to be at their lowest here. And at that moment, I came to appreciate the slow burn that is Mad Men and I became excited all over again for this upcoming final season.
I know there was more that I missed, but I wasn’t expecting to churn out 1,300 words on Mad Men today. What are your thoughts on last night’s episode?
