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Season 7, Episode 5 - The Runaways Written by David Iserson & Matthew Weiner, Directed by Christopher Manley Michael Ginsberg posted:GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN! Early one morning at SC&P, Stan Rizzo goes to make use of the photocopier, a device that much like the computer was only a few years ago a technological marvel that had people lining up to see it. For Stan just like everybody else, however, the copier has just become another device, another tool in the arsenal of the artist... and indeed an artist has been using it, just not Stan himself. Lou Avery. To his astonishment and malicious delight, Stan finds his "Creative" Director has left the originals of something he was photocopying behind: "Scout's Honor", a comic strip that appears to be borrowing rather liberally from Beetle Bailey. He looks over the first in a pile of three panel strips, featuring what appears to be a cartoon monkey who is in the Army, grins around his joint and carries the folder away from the photocopier with him. Don Draper arrives in the lobby of the Time Life building and hops into an already crowded elevator, joined moments later by Peggy. They greet each other politely and make brief small talk about his weekend plans: None. He intends to fly up to California the following weekend. But in what might simply be a moment of thoughtlessness from the always working Peggy but seems to have been a deliberate humiliation, Peggy makes a point of letting her former mentor (and a current Partner in the Agency she works for!) that SHE has taken on board his request to work on the Handi-Wrap account, and SHE has cleared it with Lou and SHE is also happy to have him on the team. Simply smiling and talking as little as possible, Don simply agrees that this is all he asked for. They arrive on 37 and he walks behind her, or perhaps more specifically she walks in front of him, another little symbolic demonstration of how their power dynamic has shifted. But any glee she has over putting Don in his place, or whatever frustration he might feel at being leashed like this, they both soon forget it. Because through the main doors they first hear and then see Michael Ginsberg standing outside the former Creative Lounge, screaming through the glass walls at a bewildered secretary stationed inside next to the computer to stop humming, insisting she is NOT happy. Peggy approaches and gently touches his shoulder, Michael giving her only the briefest notice before locking his eyes back on the computer room. Trying her best to be diplomatic, Peggy says she could introduce him, mistaking his bizarre behavior for an appalling effort at flirting. Michael sneers that he isn't interested in HER... he's interested in IT! What it? Bellowing that he isn't Cassandra, he elaborates on what he thinks should be obvious to all: the machine is coming to take all of their jobs! He storms away, Don grinning at the odd behavior before he and Peggy both are distracted by their secretaries approaching to collect their things for them. Another secretary is getting some unwelcome attention too though. Shirley is brought into Stan and Michael's office (it may be full of farts, but their couch is MUCH nicer than the one Michael wanted to keep!) where Mathis and Ed are seated while Ginsberg tinkers with the radio. Stan passes her the folder and she's shocked at what is inside, demanding to know where he got it. He explains he found it on the Xerox machine, chuckling that she's going to be in a lot of trouble for leaving it there. She didn't, though she doesn't come right out and say that it was clearly Lou doing something for himself for a change and thus loving it up by leaving the originals there. They've all had a good read through, noticing that a strip about Eisenhower's funeral (hilarious stuff!) indicates he's been continuing to work on this recently. She insists that everybody pretend they didn't see the folder, and they all burst out laughing as they promise not to... before giving a scout's salute and declaring,"SCOUT'S HONOR!" Ginsberg doesn't take part in the fun, or acknowledge Shirley's demand, continuing to tinker with the radio, insisting it is broken. Having to be satisfied with making the best of a bad situation, knowing there's a good chance Lou would take this out on her somehow, she leaves, while the Creative Boys - no longer able to have their fun in the Lounge - continue to snicker about the appallingly bad work of their Boss.   Don is recording dictation notes for Meredith, spelling strategy for her but having to explain he doesn't want her to type it out as 8 separate letters, a wonderful bit of shorthand indicating she has had some comical mistakes in the past already. But he's interrupted by the real thing, Meredith buzzing through to him to let him know that there is a collect call for him from his niece: Stephanie Horton. Surprised but pleased, Don tells her he'll accept the charges and answers the phone. Stephanie admits she is pleased he remembers her, which he laughs off: of course he remembers her, she IS technically speaking his niece... or she was the original Don Draper's at least, by marriage. This is Anna Draper's niece who wowed Don with her maturity and independent spirit, the last little piece of Anna he was happy to know was out there living her own life in the world. She's calling from a payphone, the Capitol Records building taking up the skyline behind her, dressed in very "hippy fashion", but when he asks how she has been, the camera cuts to a wider shot to show she's been having a good time at some point, because she's also VERY pregnant. She explains that this isn't an emergency even if it sounds like one, which of course makes him point out that now it really does sound like an emergency! So she explains her situation: she's pregnant and she's running out of money, and she hates that she's calling him after all this time to ask for money. For Don though, there isn't a hint of despondency at this revelation, of either her pregnancy or her calling him for cash. The smile on his face is utterly genuine, he actually seems to be beaming as he reminds her that this is exactly what he is here for, and he was obviously delighted that she identified herself as his niece, pointing out this is what he is. She explains she is in LA, no longer at Berkeley, and he gives her Megan's address in Laurel Canyon and insists she go there, and he will fly out and join them tonight. When she tells him he doesn't need to go out of her way to do that, he promises her that he wants to see her, the only cloud on his sunny disposition coming when she notes that he got married again, which reminds him of course that things aren't exactly going swimmingly in that situation. But it's apparently not as bad as it seemed when Megan booted him out of the city last episode. Because when he calls her, she takes his call without concern, though with help needed as a friend is doing her nails and she can't really pick anything up herself! It seems he wasn't lying to Peggy about plans to fly to LA next weekend, because Megan really was expecting him then. Despite her calling him out on his failure to grasp he needs to decide between her or his job, it seems she is still willing to try and make their long-distance, bi-coastal marriage work. He explains the situation regarding Stephanie and that he'll be flying out tonight, but she'll need to look after Stephanie until then. Megan takes this sudden imposition well enough, obviously sympathetic towards Stephanie for her situation, remarking that she'll cancel her party. Don is confused, and she reminds him that since he wasn't coming this weekend she arranged a party for her Acting Class for the following night, but she'll cancel now.... or he and Stephanie could come? He obviously isn't keen on that idea, promising the two of them will stay out of her way. He asks who the woman who answered the phone was, and Megan explains she is "Amy, from Delaware" as if that answers everything. She's obviously another actor friend, but Don asks if she can make sure she isn't around as he'd rather keep this in the family as much as possible. She agrees, and before they end the call she reaches out somewhat, letting him know that while she isn't glad THIS is how they are going to end up seeing each other this weekend... at least they WILL be seeing each other. He agrees, saying goodbye and hanging up, his marriage somehow still alive in spite of everything. In Stan's office, Ed is complaining to Mathis that Burger Chef's mascot Little Chef makes no sense.... they should replace him with a "saucy little retard" called Scout! Mathis delights in declaring that this won't work because Scout can take anything.... but an order! They all giggle happily, and then Don joins them, noting the laughter and the smell of marijuana smoke and asking Stan to please get him some work on Handi-Wrap done by 4. Stan chuckles that he's busy though, and shows them what he has been working on all this time.... a cartoon of Scout brandishing a rifle at a horrified Lou who is complaining that he created him! Don is bewildered by this, and they pass him a folder... yes, of COURSE they made copies of the work they handed back to Shirley. Stan laughs that Lou thinks he's Mort Drucker, Ed having to correct him that it's Mort Walker (everybody wishes they were Mort Drucker!). They offer some of the "hilarious" antics of the strip, like Scout mistaking grapefruits for potatoes while on KP, and an amused Don declares he is confiscating the strip. Stan chuckles that this is just forcing him to make more of his own, and Don points out he has a flight to catch tonight so he wants his work done. He leaves, and Ed points out that - despite Don's obvious fall from grace - he is still part of the faculty, but Stan grins that he's probably just taking the strips back to his office so he can "stroke" to them later. They're all having a wonderful time at Lou's expense, and surely nothing bad could possibly come from this!   At the spooky ol' Francis Mansion, Henry finds Betty in the kitchen laying out the silverware, and with a long suffering sigh points out she could let Loretta do that. Betty is old fashioned though, Loretta can handle the kids but NOT the silverware! Henry puts it aside with a grin, his frustration immediately replaced by amusement as he asks her to explain what she's decided to serve to their guests tonight. It's quite a bit, and he reminds her that their guests have four more houses to visit tonight after them. It's not entirely clear WHAT this is all about, presumably something related to Henry's politics? But Betty insists the lavish spread is to put their guests at ease, taking the opportunity to wallow in her and Henry's own status by proclaiming their neighbors can only pretend they're "regular" for so long. She sends him off to stock the bar, another clear delineation of roles that wouldn't be out of place back in season 1 when she was married to Don... except now she's not thrilling to having the most handsome husband on the block, but the reflected glory of being the wife of a political insider. In LA, Megan opens the door to Stephanie, and they're all smiles to each other until the introductions pass and Stephanie is inside, and the ludicrousness of the situation gets to them both. They have never met, they don't know each other at all, their only commonality is Don, who is literally on the other side of the country right now. So what do they do? They compliment each other! Megan thinks she's beautiful, Stephanie thinks she is magnetic. Megan wants to feed her, Stephanie wants to talk about how "out of sight" the apartment is. It's all their way of fumbling around in the dark looking for a connection without the connective tissue that brought them together in place to do the job for them. She explains she's currently based in a "flop" in MacArthur Park but is hoping to get up to Oakland where she has friends, one of whose old man is a doctor who can help with the pregnancy, which is already 7 months along. When Megan suggests she can make her grilled cheese or spaghetti (her specialty!), they do find something to latch onto though, as they share a little laugh over Stephanie admitting she wouldn't mind having meat for the first time in months: presumably she's a vegetarian now. Megan is happy to agree, playing the gracious host just like Betty Francis is doing on the East Coast, offering her a chance to go lie down in the bedroom or wash up if she likes. Stephanie heads to the bedroom, and as she goes Megan's face falls. Is she jealous of Stephanie? Not perhaps in the crude sense, I don't think she thinks Don has slept with her (though he did make a pitiful attempt to kiss her once), but perhaps more that Stephanie clearly has a connection with Don, one that Megan fears she herself has lost or is losing. Beyond that, she is pregnant, something that Megan has had mixed feelings about for herself in the past. Stephanie is an unwelcome reminder of many things that Megan does not have, cannot have, or had and lost... and it's many hours till Don will arrive to put a buffer between them. In New York, Stan is using a urinal where Mathis enters the bathroom and proclaims that Stan KNOWS he wants her. Well it's too bad, sighs Stan, because.... "SCOUT'S ON 'ER!  "They chuckle at their terrible joke... and then the toilet flushes in the stall and Lou Avery walks quietly out, washes his hands, dries them and leaves the bathroom.... Stan and Mathis wide-eyed at the realization that he would have overheard every word as they mocked a creation he has put his heart and soul (presumably) into. To make matters worse... they're going to a meeting WITH Lou. They join Peggy, Ed and Don in Lou's office, followed by Shirley who shuts the door behind her. Lou still hasn't said a word about the joke, simply commenting it is nice of Stan and Mathis to join them at last before asking Don to report back first. Don, being professional and "doing the work" like Freddy Rumsen admonished him, prepares to lay out his Handi-Wrap ideas, looking irritated when Stan doesn't join him to show the preliminary work he did at Don's insistence and asking if he should join him over on that side. "I don't know, Stan," grunts Lou, in his first nod to his awareness of what has happened,"Can you be smug from over there?" Ohhhhh poo poo. Stan starts to try and insist that Lou didn't hear what he thought he did (oh this'll go over well) and now Lou erupts, snapping grumpily that he heard EVERYTHING from Stan's first fart to his dying breath, a line which actually gets Don giggling... about the worst thing possible as now it lumps him in with Stan and Mathis in Lou's mind. Peggy of course has no idea what is going on, while Lou continues to go off, complaining that Chet Stover at Dancer Fitzgerald invented Underdog (well that's not the entire story) and now makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from it... and Lou who once worked at Dancer Fitzgerald thinks Stover was nothing special... so obviously he thought HE could make a fortune from Scout's Honor himself! "I can tell you right, it's a winner!" proclaims Mathis, the unbelievable little kiss-rear end. Everybody just stares at him for a second, saying nothing, except for Lou who keeps his hateful gaze locked on Stan. Finally he speaks, asking him if he knows who else had a dream and got laughed at for it? "You?" asks Stan. Oh my loving God, Stan. Lou is momentarily stunned while Don, Mathis and Ed can't help but giggle again, Don giving Stan a little,"What the hell, man!?!" gesture even as his smile lights up. It's hard to tell if Stan is being genuine or just trying to cover his rear end as he quickly explains that sounded wrong, he was trying to say that he's sorry if he poo poo all over a legitimate dream of Lou's because he wouldn't ever want to be one of those naysaying idiots who tells other people to give up on their dreams. Lou isn't buying it though, answering his own question by explaining that he was referring to Bob Dylan, a genius who wrote Blowin' in the Wind at the age of 20. "Look at where he is. Look at where you are," snaps Lou, a little body-blow of his own delivered to Stan in revenge at his own humiliation. But in the uncomfortable silence that follows, Lou's rage boils over, as he declares that they're "flag burning snots" who need to learn about patriotism and loyalty. It's... a monkey. In an army uniform. But Lou intends to have his revenge, and declares that he wants finalized work.... TODAY. That means none of them are leaving work (technically speaking that's illegal, I'm pretty sure) until he signs off on something, and if they don't like it then they can thank their "hilarious friend" Stan. Now everybody is pissed, filing out of the office, Mathis shoving Stan who shoves the much smaller man back. Don though has bigger concerns on his mind, telling a waiting Meredith to book his flight for 9pm. When she says she'll cancel her own plans, he insists that she just needs to cancel his, she can finish work at the normal time - he hasn't been above forcing people to work late himself when he was Creative Director, but in this situation he can afford to be the guy who actually thinks about other people and doesn't screw up their own day just because his was.   But while Don and the others continue to work late, dinner proceeds as planned for the Francis'. Henry listens in the foyer of their ridiculous house as a couple discuss recent vandalism while other guests mill about the dining room. Betty joins them with drinks for the couple, asking what is being discussed, and when she learns about streetlights on Peck Avenue being shattered she assumed they've come to Henry to request he help get them fixed. Not at all, Henry explains, the man - Mike - was telling him that the wildness of kids has become a national disease. Mike really demonstrates he's got a solid grasp of priorities as he notes that while everybody wants to talk about Vietnam... things are falling apart in Westchester too! There's a few moments of silence after the deadly "V" word got mentioned, and then Mike's wife compliments Betty on the rumaki. Betty thanks her... but she's also keen to share her own thoughts on Mike's proclamation, pointing out that the two might be related: if the kids are all out protesting, then it means ALL authority is up for grabs, and if they just learned a thing or two about service (She's sounding a little like Lou now!) then the USA would have the morale it needed to win the war! Oh my God, Betty. Wisely, Henry simply smiles and then asks Mike what his plans for the summer are... but now Mike is intrigued himself, pointing out that even Nixon wants to end the war, so he's surprised Henry is pro-war in Vietnam. Henry, still keeping a smooth and relaxed political face on, explains that actually he agrees with Nixon: the war has gotten too costly, and while any withdrawal would need to be handled correctly he thinks the USA should get out while the getting is good. Unfortunately, Betty is nowhere near as practiced as political expediency, and wears her shock and disbelief openly on her face, straight up asking Henry since when has he been in favor of ending the war? Henry simply responds that he supports the President, and in the uncomfortable silence that follows, Mike's wife suggests that they just get everybody to fill up here since she isn't sure how her lamb turned out. Okay, so they're doing a neighborhood roving party of sorts, each home entertaining at different points, presumably as a community building thing? But Betty is NOT pleased at how Henry has largely ignored her and made statements she disagrees with and obviously thought he did too... hell, maybe he DOES disagree with them, but he's a Republican politician and of course he isn't going to openly disagree with the Republican President's stance on the war in Vietnam! So he mutters that she's going to go check on the Sterno on the buffet and moves away, Henry keeping up the politician's facade, Mike and his wife both trying to pretend they didn't just witness this whole unfortunately episode. At SC&P, Don - wearing his coat & hat and carrying his briefcase - pops into Lou's office with a little knock, handing him a folder of his work on Handi-Wrap and saying he's worked the strategy from every angle. Lou, calmer now that he's stamped down his authority and ruined everybody's evening, removes his glasses and with a grin that is half genuine and half mean points out that Don has been the Boss before, he knows the briefcase and hat bit is a rookie maneuver... does he have someplace to be? "I'm afraid I do," Don nods, and Lou shrugs and points out it would look bad if he let Don go before everybody else. Don counters that it wouldn't look bad if he let EVERYBODY go, and when Lou asks if that is what Don would do, his response is a somewhat chilling,"No. I'd let YOU go, Lou". On the face of it it might simply be Don saying he'd let a fellow Creative Director go home... but it's easy enough to read it as Don saying if he had his way he'd fire Lou himself. Which in turn makes Lou's,"Well, I'm afraid it's too late for that," response similarly loaded with double-meaning. He takes the folder from Don, explaining he is going to give him the "courtesy" of reading it so Don can continue to work on refining the ideas instead of being forced to come up with new ones.... but Lou intends to "tuck you in" tonight - in other words, Don can expect to be at work for the rest of the evening regardless of how good the ideas he comes up with it are. With a resigned smile Don turns to leave, but then can't help but turn back to offer a piece of unsolicited advice about his comic. Lou probably assumes he's going to either pull a more sophisticated Mathis or a more diplomatic Stan, but instead Don explains that the office is made out of people who have problems with authority... so while Lou shouldn't let them get away with everything, nor should he abuse his position and give them further reasons to have problems. Lou though, obviously taking quite a lot of satisfaction from having Don under his thumb and feeling secure that his own position is safe, simply replies that he doesn't plan to take management advice from Don Draper. With that same resigned smile, Don leaves, because while it is true he has hosed up many times as an authority figure, the advice he just gave Lou was actually good, and if Lou chooses to be petty instead of take it in the spirit it was given... well that's HIS problem, not Don's. The sun is still up (well kind of, it's hidden behind the smog) in Los Angeles when Megan gets a call from Don, letting her know he can't make it out there tonight after all. She's disappointed but not mad, explaining that Stephanie has arrived and is currently taking a bath.... and that she's beautiful! Don doesn't do anything foolish like get defensive about that, simply explaining that he doesn't want to bother Stephanie in the bath but he will fly in tomorrow morning as soon as he can. Megan assures him it is fine, explaining she just made a steak, and he thanks her sincerely for being so supportive. But when Megan spots Stephanie stepping out of the bathroom in a robe with her hair wrapped in a towel, he makes a point of simply ending the call rather than letting him know Stephanie is now available. Again, it seems that jealousy is there, and she doesn't want to share her husband in this moment or have to take a step back while he and this "niece" he clearly feels a duty and love for chat on the phone. Stephanie only has eyes (or rather, a nose) for the steak though, catching a whiff and admitting it smells delicious. Megan beams happily as she grabs a knife and fork and moves the plate over to the kitchen counter. She lets her know Don will be arriving tomorrow instead, and there's just a moment of surprise from Stephanie as she grasps that Megan was on the phone with Don when she entered the room but hung up rather than put her on the line. But she quickly moves on from that, pointing out how happy she is to see Megan is wearing Anna's ring. It's a good thing that Don was so (comparatively) open with Megan early in their marriage, because this is not a revelation to her, she already knew the ring was Anna's and she agrees that it is lovely. She regrets never meeting Anna, but Stephanie assures her that she is "around" and is happy the ring stayed in the family. When Megan, who clearly sometimes feels like she is an outsider in Don's family (families!), suggests that maybe Stephanie will pass the ring on to her own as yet unborn child, Stephanie waves that off by saying the ring is hers now... and she might have a kid she wants to pass it on to anyway. Megan is all smiles as she breezily pretends having or not having kids doesn't really matter to her and that Don's own kids are more than enough for her, as well as acknowledging it is difficult having Don in New York. But she is glad the subject changes when Stephanie eyes up the steak and admits that it is probably a bad idea for her to break her year-long vegetarianism on a whim. Talk turns to the man in Stephanie's life, or lack thereof, the two having a moment of genuine kinship when Stephanie explains she was with a musician and Megan laughs that they are "the worst". It seems Stephanie dropped out of Berkeley to follow this musician to LA, and things started well but she was soon out of money. When he got busted for selling marijuana (a big deal in 1969), they "celebrated" the night before he went to jail and... welp, now here she is! He'll be out in a month, but Stephanie hasn't let him know about the child. Megan promises she won't let Don know about this background, but Stephanie is amused, saying she doesn't care since she knows all of his secrets. She immediately regrets saying that when she sees the look on Megan's face, realizing perhaps for the first time that Megan is jealous of whatever connection the two have. She's quick to agree when Megan notes she doesn't know HIM as she takes the plate back to the kitchen, and Megan offers her own understanding of Don's character: he's not going to want Stephanie to just continue to handle things in her own way. She assures Stephanie that Don MEANS to be helpful, and that she wants to help too. Left unstated in that is that Megan's help comes with less interference, but her meaning is clear. Fetching her checkbook, she returns and writes Stephanie a check for $1000 (roughly 8k in 2022), assuring her it comes with no strings. Stephanie is clearly uncomfortable that it has come down to money, but she's also a realist (mixed with idealism) thanks to her pregnancy, so she simply thanks Megan and tells her it is generous. But she knows that "no strings" definitely means strings, just not the immediate obvious ones: Megan is getting something in return for this generosity, as is made clear when she says it is "better this way". She may not consciously be aware of it (I think she is) but she wants Stephanie gone, because she doesn't want to share her with Don... or perhaps to put it another way, she doesn't want to be left out by Don being more interested/committed/concerned about somebody else other than her. Taking the check, Stephanie says she will be leaving, and when Megan assures her she can stay longer and that she should have something to eat, Stephanie gives them both an easy out by sadly stating that she "got what I came for", letting them both cling on to the idea that all she wanted was money and not the support of family (I imagine her mother is NOT happy with her current life decisions). Megan doesn't put up a fight, but Stephanie - obviously understanding on some level the jealousy/possessiveness of Megan - offers what she hopes will be a helpful admission: nothing ever happened between her and Don. Megan laughs, assuring her she knows that, and perhaps she does... but again, this wasn't about sex, it was about intimacy. About relationships. About the fact that Don pushed back a weekend trip to see her but then immediately made plans to fly out that night to see Stephanie. Stephanie is a rival for Don's attention/affection, and the fact that she isn't intentionally so just makes it all the worse, because she apparently has without trying what Megan once had and now craves to get back.   In Rye, an irritated Henry Francis returns from his trip around the neighborhood, one which Betty pointedly did NOT join him on. He slams the bedroom door behind him and she - sitting up in bed watching television - warns him that the children are asleep. Sarcastically he loudly asks her what happened to her headache, complaining about having to go to all those homes by himself, and she simply offers back acidly that she wasn't feeling well. He moves towards the ensuite to prepare for bed, but can't hold in his anger any longer. Twisting around, he demands to know why she started talking about the war, and she snaps back at him that she wasn't the one who brought it up... but she's glad it was, because otherwise she would have never known where HE stands on it, a stance that obviously she doesn't agree with. Enraged, he points out that he's not just some dinner companion, he's their elected representative, and she spits back something she has been holding back that is contrary to all her own obvious pride in his status as a politician: he ran uncontested. Ouch. "We'll see how long THAT lasts!" he snaps back instantly, putting the blame on her for potentially undercutting his gifting of a career as a politician. Now he fires back with a bit of bile of his own: just like her obvious pride in his status didn't stop her looking down on him in certain respects, so too does his obvious satisfaction with her traditional housewife status not stop him from looking down on her either, as he demands that from now on she restrict her conversational topics to how much she hates getting toast crumbs in the butter... and leave the thinking to him. Oh wow. gently caress you, Henry Francis. With that utterly horrific line delivered, he marches towards the bathroom again, but stops when she calls his name. Not happy but at least willing to offer some concession in this argument, she apologizes and says she was just caught off guard by what he was saying. Henry isn't ready to stop being mad yet though, sneering that she embarrassed herself far more than she did him, before retreating to the bathroom and slamming the door again. Standing outside their bedroom, in the dark, young Bobby Draper listens with dismay to the enraged yelling of his mother and the stepfather who has never been anything but kind and loving towards him and who his own mother has idolized since bringing him into their home. His biological father, meanwhile, is still far from either of his homes and his families. Don continues to work away on Handi-Wrap ideas late into the night, when Lou Avery comes walking by with his own hat, coat and briefcase. Pausing outside Don's door, he declares that he's magnanimously decided the work can wait till Monday, and then simply walks away. His point has been made, HE is in charge. He says who can go and when, and this petty little power-play lasted only as long as he was himself willing to stick around in the office. Once he's gone, Don checks his watch and frowns. He's missed the last flight out to Los Angeles, all for nothing, and will have to go home and spend a pointless evening there before he can fly out to LA to see Stephanie... oh and Megan too! The next morning, Betty is prepping the silverware to be returned to its case when the phone rings. Answering, she's immediately put on guard by the person on the other end, listening in disbelief to what they're saying before giving a long sigh and asking if "she" is okay. By her reaction, the only possible person this call could be about is Sally Draper. Don arrives in LA at last, spotting a strange woman using the sink. Seeing her only from behind and that she has red hair, he calls out a cheerful but questioning,"Hello?", presumably because he's not sure if maybe Stephanie dyed her hair. But the woman who turns around is a complete stranger, it's Amy (from Delaware!), she shakes his hand as he uncertainly asks if Megan is around. Hearing his voice, Megan appears and greets him happily, but asks Amy to give them a moment. Once she's out of the room, Don gives Megan a,"What the hell?" look and she sadly explains that Stephanie has already left. He's astonished and a little mad, asking if she told Stephanie he wanted to see and talk to her, and Megan offers a technically true but EXTREMELY managed version of the events of the previous evening. The subject of the money came up (because of Megan) so Megan gave her $1000 dollars (unprompted!) and she thinks Stephanie must have been embarrassed (because of Megan!) and she couldn't stop her from leaving (which she didn't want to!) because, after all, she is an adult. Don frowns, upset and disappointed, but he can't dispute anything she is saying. But he's also clearly upset that Megan is just continuing on like everything is normal, even cheerfully asking if he wants to join her and Amy shopping. She gives him a kiss when she sees he doesn't want to go, Amy rejoining her as she happily continues about her day. Amy grins and asks Don in a rather direct fashion if he wants anything, and Megan just declares she knows what he likes and leads her friend out the door. Just like that, Don is standing alone in a house that doesn't feel like a home, delayed by a day for some pointless bullshit that has cost him the chance to reconnect and help out the closest thing he has left in this world to Anna Draper, unaware that his loving wife played a part in making sure that meeting didn't happen.   But while it is the weekend, some people continue to work regardless even without being forced to do so by Lou Avery. Michael Ginsberg is jotting down ideas in his office but becomes distracted by a noise seemingly only he can hear. Cartoonishly stuffing wadded up tissue into his ears, he appears satisfied and continues his work. A little later, tissues still stuffed in his ears, he leaves his office to get a fresh cup of coffee, but is started to spot two unexpected figures: Lou Avery and Jim Cutler! They're standing inside the computer room, chatting away about something. He can't hear them, of course, not only are they behind glass but he's got tissues stuffed into his ears! But the unexpected sight causes him to flinch and crouch them so as not to be seen, ridiculous given he has every right to be there (even if he should be enjoying his weekend) and they're not doing anything clandestine. But he watches them, intrigued by observing them without their knowledge, eyes raptly focused on their moving lips, trying to pick up and understand what the two appear to be amicably chatting about together tucked away inside the computer room on a weekend when nobody else is about. He may be paranoid, but one thing is for sure, there is NO way it is good news for anybody other than Lou Avery and Jim Cutler. Henry Francis returns home with a familiar face in tow. He was sent up to Miss Porter's to fetch Sally Draper, who has a bandage across her nose and a sour look on her face, looking braced and ready for the shitstorm she knows she is about to face from her mother. Henry, who for his faults apparently is quick to move past anger, tries to be diplomatic and play things down, assuring Betty that Sally is fine apart from a couple of broken eyes. But while Betty does grab Sally's face to peer at the damage done, her bigger concern is with figuring out what the hell happened to cause this, demanding the REAL story. She gets it, Sally apparently already told Henry and he passes it on now: she and another girl were sword-fighting with golf clubs. Oh Sally  "We're idiots, okay," grunts Sally, which is an entirely justified call to be making. Betty agrees, but unlike Henry she isn't quick to move past anger, wanting to have it out with her daughter some more. She is furious that Sally has damaged her FACE, and Sally of course immediately spits back with venom that she's right, it is HER face. Henry tries to play peacemaker, though his,"Girls, girls..." betrays an obviously paternalistic view of Betty which she saw the darker side of the previous night. He points out to Sally that it is reasonable for her mother (and him!) to be worried about the damage she did to her nose. But Sally's a teenage girl, she isn't interested in being reasonable! She sneers that without a perfect nose she surely can't survive in this world, after all Betty wouldn't have been able to land a man like Henry without her own perfect nose and then she'd be "nothing." loving ouch. Betty snarls back that yes it is a perfect nose, and one that SHE gave her, and she's just lucky that Henry is important enough (suddenly Henry winning election unopposed doesn't bother her anymore!) that they could get Dr. Kramer to fix the damage for her this weekend, asking if she'd prefer to do it in a barn in Farmington. Amused by her mother's dramatics, Sally points out it is a nose, not an abortion, and Betty warns that if she isn't careful she'll break her arm next. Henry gives a sharply worded,"Betty!" at that, while Sally sneers sarcastically that they don't have to worry about her finding a man since she has Betty to keep her in line. This confrontation is going nowhere and they both know it, so Betty reverts to the old standby, ordering her to her room where she will stay till the following morning. "Good! I prefer it!" snaps Sally, who to be fair is being a complete brat... but she also loathes the restrictive blanket of life with her mother and probably viewed a return to this home even if only for a weekend as the worst punishment she could face for her horseplay. She makes a quick retreat up the stairs, while Sally just shrugs in despair at her husband at what to her is her daughter's utterly baffling attitude. In Los Angeles, Don is helping to prepare for Megan's party, which is back on after Stephanie's mysterious sudden disappearance. The phone rings and Amy answers, and Don looks expectantly, clearly hoping it will be Stephanie... but no, it's another call for Megan. She takes the call, while Don goes back to his preparations, disappointed. Somebody else apparently setting up for a "party" is Peggy Olson... in that she's just emptied a box of pretzels into a bowl in her lounge! There's a knock at the door and she answers, alarmed to find Michael Ginsberg on the other side. HE is just as alarmed, because the front door to the building was unlocked and she opened her own door without looking through the peephole first! She demands to know what he is doing here and he starts to explain... then invites himself in, ignoring her protest so he can let her know that there is something going on. Can he read lips? Did he discover some dark and foreboding secret of the Partners while huddled down behind that desk peeking in at Lou and Cutler in the computer room? What has he found out about their clandestine meeting? Why, the most shocking thing of all, of course... he thinks that they're "homos". Oh Michael  "....okay," offers Peggy back to this deranged accusation, breaking out into laughter and asking if he has anything else to report. But Michael isn't done! It's the computer you see! It... does things! It affects people! Curious now, wondering if maybe he actually did see Lou and Cutler getting it on, she asks what he actually saw. Before he can answer, there is a knock at the door. Of course HE makes sure to look through the peephole first, opening the door in confusion to find... a small child on the other side! This is Peggy's "date", it's little Julio! Apparently despite their combative relationship (or perhaps because of it) she's taken enough of a shine to the kid to let him come around and watch television, or she's simply kind enough to do it as a favor for a tenant. Michael comments on how she's never mentioned him at the office, almost seeming to view Julio as a rival, but the small boy just notes he lives upstairs with his mama. That's the problem for Michael, he lives with his pop and he can't get any work done! Since he "had" to flee the office he came to Peggy's so he could work from there instead. Irritated, but seeing it as the path of least resistance (or at least trouble) she agrees that he can say, though Julio forbids him from using the typewriter, claiming it is too loud. I love that, because it suggests that at least once Peggy was trying to work while Julio was watching television and he made her stop   
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Jun 14, 2022 11:49
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In LA, Megan's party is in full swing even if it can't quite compare to Peggy Olson's happening scene in New York. Artists, musicians, poets and hangers-on smoke grass, drink alcohol and dance inside and outside of the home. But while Blood, Sweat and Tears sing about how happy they are about "the one" coming into their life, Don stands unhappily out on the balcony drinking. Inside, Megan is dealing with typical hostess problems... she accidentally invited two different lovers of the same man, because she thought one of them was his daughter! As she giggles along with a very handsome young man about this, outside Amy (from Delaware!) joins Don and offers him a joint but he declines politely, pointing out he's doing just fine with his alcohol. She disagrees though, saying she doesn't think he is fine, and he shrugs that maybe he's just not in the mood. Meanwhile another hostess problem that Betty Francis has probably never had to deal with has cropped up: some musicians have pulled out their instruments and starting tuning up! Sighing that this is why she never invites musicians to her parties (well that's a lie!) she moves over to the stereo and cuts the music, giving her guests free reign to play what they will... so they do: Dixieland! Everybody boos at the joke and they quickly get into something a little more modern and uptempo. Outside, Amy wryly comments on what a "merry band of players we are" and Don asks if she is an actress herself. Demonstrating that she's still out there trying to make it, she admits she would be... if somebody would let her. The music continues, and Megan doesn't take much convincing to join the handsome young man in dancing in the middle of the lounge. Amy and Don watch from outside, Megan aware of them and calling to them to come inside. Don watches the clear physical chemistry between Megan and her partner, clearly not happy about what he's seeing but also not willing to make a scene. Megan though, as she dances, casts him a look, obviously hoping for some kind of response and not pleased to see him looking away elsewhere, appearing more bored and uncomfortable by the general party itself than anything else. Was she trying to make him jealous? She quickly shifts another party-goer to join her dance partner, returning to Don's side. He makes no comment on the dance and she doesn't acknowledge it either, simply asking if he wants another drink... and gets the most unexpected response of all as his eyes suddenly widen and he asks,"...is that Harry?" Yes, of all people Harry Crane has just walked through the door of Megan Draper's home, accompanied by a pretty young woman, looking delighted to be at a hip young party.... until he spots a bewildered Don and Megan looking at him. Immediately he understands what has happened, and explains awkwardly that the woman with him - Miranda - invited him to a party out in the canyon, and he had no idea it was theirs. How does he know Miranda? Why he's helping her find an Agent of course! "You're so helpful," observes Megan, who has had good reason to dislike Harry ever since she walked in on him leeringly detailing how he'd gently caress her if given the chance. But what Don says next surprises them all, as he suggests that he and Harry go and get a drink. Not from the bar, but to leave the party and go somewhere else. Belatedly he asks Megan if she minds and quickly she assures him it is fine, even though it clearly isn't, her only caveat being that Harry has to drive given Don has been drinking. Harry, caught by surprise for the second time in half a minute, clearly doesn't want to go but is too awkward to say no to Don's face, even knowing his current diminished status in the Agency this is STILL a Partner and it's still a man who he has seen wield enormous power and turn the tides of fate against him with a few well chosen words. So he does the most Harry Crane thing possible... he leans forward and whispers to ask if he should bring Miranda! "Do you want to?" asks Don with a smirk, and Megan explains to the confused girl as Don leads Harry away that she'll arrange a cab for her when it is time to leave. She may not be happy that Don has left, but she appreciates at least that the (perhaps) unintended result is that she saved a young actress from Harry Crane's lecherous grasp. In Rye, Sally has a visitor into what must now feel like an alien place to her, her own bedroom. It's her brother Bobby, who whines that he had to sneak in because otherwise he wouldn't have gotten to see her at all. "That's the way Betty likes it," observes Sally, and is amused when Bobby sits on the bed and asks a question that to her - a stranger to this house now - sounds absurd: are their mom and Henry going to get a divorce? "They're the Dynamic Duo," she points out, but Bobby explains that he heard them screaming at each other the other night, and he saw Henry take a pillow down to the den. She's surprised by that, of course, for all her mother's other faults she's never seen anything to indicate her and Henry were ever anything but often sickingly in love with each other. But she also isn't interested in getting caught up in that bullshit, grunting that maybe she should just hitch back to Miss Porter's tonight. Excited, Bobby asks if he can go with her and she's freshly surprised, asked if he REALLY wants to run away from home. With a sigh he moans that he feels like he has a stomachache all the time. She allows him to flop into the bed and lay beside her, though not without warning him first that he better not piss. He grumpily asserts that he doesn't do that anymore, and brother and sister lie side by side for a few moments before Sally - who has largely escaped the day to day suffocating madness of living with her mother - apologizes to him that he cannot similarly escape.... they won't let him like they let her, because he's too little. Bobby, whose earlier protest was that of a young boy who doesn't want people to think of him as a kid, doesn't dispute it, because even as a child he's aware of a few stark realities: his mother controls his entire life. Somebody else getting an unexpected visitor as they try to sleep is... Peggy Olson! Yes, she fell asleep on the couch and is suddenly woken by the looming presence of Michael, far too close for comfort. He explains that Julio left an hour ago, staring with uncomfortable intensity at her as he explains the details of her sleeping pattern, indicating that he has been watching her sleep for a looooong time. First she was "dead", but then her eyes starting moving under her eyelids, fascinating him. Creeped out, she tells him it is time to go, but Michael isn't done, unloading all on his unexpected muse. He explains that he feels immense pressure in his head, but he's realized what is causing it: the hum in the office from the air conditioning for the computer. It's starting to get to him, he rants, admiting that just recently he found himself staring at Stan's shoulders and found himself..... excited. "That's the computer's plan!" he seethes,"Turn us all homo!" And then, just when you think he can't get any crazier, he declares that he and Peggy have to reproduce and kisses her! Horrified, she immediately pulls away, ignoring his protest that he'd do it without sex if that was possible. Leaping to her feet she demands he leave, and he appears more frustrated than anything else when he complains to himself that he's done something stupid, blaming it on the "build-up" caused by the computer. Trying her best not to justifiably lose her poo poo at him, Peggy suggests as gently as possible that he go and see a doctor, but he insists that there is nothing wrong with him... it's the computer! He reminds her that the radio doesn't work in his office anymore, somehow latching onto that as definitive proof of the computer somehow messing with him, but when she roars at him,"IT'S JUST A COMPUTER!" something finally seems to penetrate his bizarre state. Freezing in place, his face falls, and then gathering himself he admits that she is right and that he has to go home. As he shuffles through the door, he turns and looks back at her, and sadly it's all too clear that this sudden insight is more a defense mechanism than actually grasping her has a mental health issue. "You don't need to report this information," he says, his sudden controlled state obviously his attempt to avoid hospitalization. Peggy closes the door and locks it, then takes a moment to try and regather her wits. What she just encountered quickly rode past Michael's usual quirkiness, and a dynamic that was funny and amusing took a quick dark turn into a man suffering a breakdown who could have done much, much worse if she hadn't been able to temporarily get through to him. He mentioned pressure in his head, it could be a brain tumor, but just as easily it could just be the endless, relentless pressure of a highly creative mind in a high stress situation who is seeing the one positive and creative outlet he had for expression being dismantled finally cracking him. Whatever the case, it isn't funny, and Peggy sure as hell isn't laughing.   An appropriate enough song is playing in the bar that Don and Harry have retreated to. The bar is quiet, lightly populated, and Harry admits that this relaxed, quiet drinking is a lot more his speed than the high energy of a party.... even if it remains obvious that he is deeply, deeply entranced by being even tangentially involved in that scene. When Don simply continues to nurse his drink, Harry grumpily asks if he doesn't want to talk given how happy he acted to see him at first. Don quickly assures him he was happy and still is, even if it seems what really thrilled him was an excuse to leave the party and go somewhere where he could not only drink in quiet but do it with somebody else so it didn't feel quite so... well, alcoholic. But Harry is more than capable of talking for the both of them. He agrees he is happy to see Don too, before admitting that this chance meeting has put him in an awkward position but he wants to make it clear he respects him, tapping his head to indicate Don's creative chops. At first as he talks, it seems like he's just talking about the general vibe of Don's diminished status in the office, as he speaks about how Agencies change and guys like Don and Harry (who are NOTHING alike) have to look out for each other. Don grins and assures him he isn't going to tell Harry's wife about Miranda. Harry waves that off, insisting that Don wouldn't do that (sounding like he's trying to convince himself really)... but then he promises that he will make sure Don is important, and the first inklings start to settle in that something more is going on here. Harry admits it will take major brain power to figure out HOW to do that, even noting that Don might have to think up the strategy FOR Harry! But he thinks he has the ultimate solution: rather than get rid of Don they should set him up in LA to replace the "useless" "broken man" that is Ted Chaough. ".....what solution?" asks a confused Don, because this sounds for all the world like Harry is privy to information about Don getting fired. The information he gets next all but confirms that, though not in any direct way... but a born survivor like Harry who can sense danger AND opportunity and is always on the lookout for how things might affect him has seen the writing on the wall: Don will have to go if Lou and Cutler are successful in their efforts to get Commander. Commander who? Commander Cigarettes. Philip Morris. The implications IMMEDIATELY sink in for Don. SC&P is pursuing a tobacco company, a direct refutation of Don's unprecedented public declaration in the news from a few years earlier claiming his Agency would never sell cigarettes again, decrying them as a monstrous health hazard knowingly sold in spite of knowledge of their potentially fatal health issues. Not just any tobacco company either. Philip Morris, one of the giants. There is no way they would tolerate Don Draper in any Agency working for them, and SC&P is a "new" enough Agency that it could argue it isn't the same place as the one that publicly denounced tobacco.... especially if they can also say that the SCDP partner who made that call no longer works for them. He asks how far along this pursuit has gone, has any actual work been produced? Harry winces, asking Don not to make him regret telling him... and suddenly Don flips a switch. He's in work mode now, and he treats Harry like a client but also like an employee (which he still technically is), all smiles and a bracing clap on the back as he assures him he appreciates what Harry has done for him. Harry, who of course craves approval or at least acknowledgement, drinks it in and immediately lowers his guard, letting Don know that so far only phone-calls have been exchanged... but he did hand in a Media Plan to Lou and Cutler yesterday. Don immediately orders another round, ready to ply Harry with alcohol, to continue to butter him up, and to wring as much information from him as he can to figure out just how hosed he is... or if there is still a last desperate play he can make to turn his fortunes around. Later than evening the party is over and only Megan and Amy (from Delaware!) are left at the house, giggling drunkenly as they start to clean up. Don returns, Megan happily telling him that everybody just left. "Not everybody," he grunts, an obvious nod to Amy's continue presence, and heads straight to the drinks to pour him one. Amy, not offended by Don's remark, playfully whisper-roars,"WILMMMMA!" to liken Don to a caveman, causing a giggling Megan to slap at her waist before she steps out of the kitchen and asks Don how his night on the town with Harry Crane was. "Educational," he notes, and Amy joins Megan to point out that she knows exactly what Don needs to pick his mood up.... drugs! Not for the first time this evening, Don declines her friendly offer of a joint, simply sighing that he's tired and is going to bed. Amy pouts that he only just got here, but he simply walks to the bedroom, Megan watching him go while Amy moans that now the fun is gone. But once Don is in the room and halfway undressed, Amy steps into the room with a little grin, apparently planning to bring the fun to her, telling him she was sent in to tuck him in. Amused by the utter audacity of this woman, he asks her what her "friend" has to say about this, assuming she can't be this stupidly brazen to try and seduce him while his wife (and her friend) are only in the next room.... and then Megan steps through the door as well, also grinning before she crawls onto the bed and tells him she doesn't want him to be in a bad mood! "Stop playing around," he warns her,"You're stoned." But Megan just giggles, asking if he doesn't like Amy before slapping the bed next to him to motion her friend over. Running her fingers over his chest, she tells him that this is the best place to be right now, encouraging him to kiss Amy, telling him she knows he wants to. "I don't want anything right now," he tells her, stone-faced, but she simply reaches down and cups his crotch, telling him not to lie before kissing him herself. Breaking away, she turns him towards Amy, and almost seeming t go along with it more out of stunned disbelief than anything, Don kisses her. This odd embrace over, he watches still disbelieving as Megan kisses Amy next. But this isn't the shocked but excited disbelief of a man who can't believe his luck, but a frozen, almost horrified reaction. He can't deny his arousal, but as Megan lays him back on the bed, strips to her underwear and straddles him, moves his arm up between Amy's legs etc, Don appears to be a man who has just surrendered to allowing this bizarre event to happen, taking almost no active role in it.   The next morning, Don wakes with Megan lying beside him, and Amy lying beside her. He peers at the latter in surprise, almost as if he can't quite believe what happened last night ACTUALLY happened. Dressing, he moves into the kitchen, looking about for coffee when Megan joins him and grabs it from the cupboard where she keeps it (and clearly NOT where Don expects to find it). As she gives it to him, though, she holds onto it and offers him another,"Morning," wanting acknowledgement beyond simply asking for coffee. He gives her a "Morning" back and they kiss, and she is over the moon with happiness in that moment until the phone rings, and of course when she answers... it's Stephanie. Happy, he takes the phone from her and walks right by her. Suddenly Megan is no longer the center of his world, hell he walks right by her without a second glance, happily chatting away to Stephanie to ask her where she is now. As they talk, Megan clatters about in the kitchen making more noise than she should, unhappy about having Don's attention taken away from her. Stephanie is careful to couch things diplomatically, apologizing for not being there but telling him it was due to her promise to Anna to let him live his own life rather than Megan essentially paying her off to leave early and telling her that Don would be helpful in all the wrong ways. Don isn't mad at her though, outside of admitting he had wanted to see her, just happy to hear she made it Oakland okay and insisting she call when the baby arrives so he can make sure she is taken care of. She tells him she appreciates it, pointedly NOT agreeing to do as he just asked, but does ask him to thank Megan for her and lets him know she thinks Megan is a "solid" one. Don, interestingly, chooses not to comment on that or to include Megan in the conversation even tangentially, simply saying his goodbyes. Stephanie hangs up and leaves her payphone in Oakland, the surroundings not looking the best but at least now she's clean and has money, two things she was lacking before yesterday. Now that she has Don to herself again, Megan's bad moon disappears as she rejoins him. Don though tells her sadly that he's going to have to leave, explaining that Harry told him some things he shouldn't have heard and they mean he MUST get back to New York as quickly as possible. Megan's guard is immediately back up, not angry at Don but at Harry, wanting to know what is wrong with him, assuming that whatever Harry said was something stupid or undiplomatic. Don though defends the man he has little sympathy and no respect for, explaining it is GOOD that he heard these things, but nonetheless they mean he needs to go. He's not the only one, either. Amy emerges from the bedroom, fully dressed and looking a little sheepish as she greets them and then says goodbye, hoping to slip out the door and escape. Megan lets her know she's making coffee, but she simply replies that she is going to split, offers nervously that it was a great party... and then is out the door. That leaves Megan and Don, who tells her he is going to have a shower. He leaves, and now it is Megan all alone, and suddenly the triumph of the night before feels desperately hollow: her friend is clearly uncomfortable being around them now that she's sobered up, Don is leaving anyway, and that leaves her once again alone in Los Angeles. What WAS Megan thinking this episode? It's easy to look at this on the surface level as just an example of the difference in age, culture and values of Megan and Don highlighted through the East Coast/West Coast divide: she's willing to do drugs, experiment sexually, and especially how to rescue young women from the intentions - good and bad - of men, like Harry's sexual interest in Miranda and Don's overly-paternal instincts with Stephanie. But there's more to it than that. One of the things I love about Mad Men is that - appropriately given it's a show nominally about advertising - it shows the unsettling truth beneath the surface veneer. What was Megan doing in this episode? She was trying to save her marriage. In an rear end-backwards way, yes, but look at everything that happened. Things were bad between them in New York and she didn't understand why, but then Don came to her and offered them both the chance of a fresh start and a second chance to be happy.... and then he abandoned her to LA while he remained in New York. She later discovered he was all but fired from SC&P but chose to stay in New York pursuing them instead of using the opportunity to join her in LA and for them to be together once more. So what does she do? She issues an ultimatum, all in the hopes of shocking him into a return to her side. She kicks him out of the house, and when he calls and tells her he has "fixed" things by orchestrating his return to work, she explains that "fixing" things would have meant he joined her in LA permanently. He was supposed to be in LA this weekend but changed his plans to the following... but then announced he was rushing to LA to see Stephanie. Suddenly there was a rival, somebody who Don would upend all his plans to see while he seemed to need to be convinced to spend that time and attention on his wife. So Megan paid Stephanie the money she needed to leave, sending her off early but not telling Don so that when he arrived it would just be the two of them. But despite Don being there... he wasn't really there. At the party he was distant, seemingly uninterested, literally standing apart by being outside on the balcony. So she tried to make him jealous by dancing with the handsome man... but he seemed either unbothered or didn't care enough to make anything of it. Then he flees the party at the first chance with Harry Crane of all loving people! So what does she do next? He comes home tired and miserable and she orchestrates a threesome. She indulges in an adolescent fantasy, the stuff of Playboy magazine and softcore pornography. She makes out with another woman in front of him, but more importantly she gives him permission: SHE wants him to kiss the other woman, SHE directs his arm to Amy's crotch, SHE takes control of the sex to make herself the active, driving force. Why? Because she knows (or strongly suspects) Don has cheated on her, and at this point - ironic given she didn't want to emotionally share Don with Stephanie - she is willing to sexually share him with Amy. At least this way SHE is involved, he isn't having an affair somewhere and why would he, he can have sex with woman other than his wife.... WITH his wife. She wants Don to want her. To want to BE with her. Megan Draper is no longer a copywriter, but she's still trying to sell a product. It's just that, miserably, the product is their marriage, and the only customer she wants is Don.... and she fears she can't hold his interest anymore. The end result of all this? Of allowing another woman into their bed, of giving him permission to be with somebody else? He's still going back to New York anyway, and now it appears she is down a friend as well as a husband. She's miserable and it is no surprise, because she is genuinely trying EVERYTHING to make her marriage work, all seemingly to no avail. She hasn't done anything wrong, she isn't to blame, and yet somehow it is clear that on some level she thinks there MUST be something she can do, some magic button, and it's devastating to her that she can't figure out what that is. In far off Rye, Henry returns to the house and finds Betty in, of course, the kitchen. He explains that Sally won't need an operation and her nose isn't even broken, and then with a sigh tells her to come "inside" with him.... and she mutters that she's fine where she is and goes back to reading her newspaper. Irritated Henry points out that he just drove to White Plains and then back up to Farmington, and he doesn't want to sit in the kitchen "like the help". Oh. gently caress you, Henry! "The help!?!" she growls, asking if he's referring to her. Pissed off himself, he demands to know what has gotten into her and she lets him have it, snapping that she's comfortable reading her paper here in the kitchen and doesn't appreciate being told to move just because HE wants to sit somewhere else. When he warns her to "knock it off", seemingly taking this just as an over-dramatic temper tantrum, she growls that she's tired of everybody telling her to shut up, reminding him that she's not stupid... she speaks Italian! Biting his tongue, Henry tries to take the high road, apologizing about embarrassing her at the dinner... but that just makes her madder, as bitterly says that what he's really sorry about is that he forgot to inform her what she was supposed to think.... but guess what, SHE can think all by herself. As an aside, remember back in season 1 when she told Helen Bishop that Don hadn't told her who to vote for between Nixon and Kennedy yet? For an "old-fashioned" and "traditional" housewife she really has come a long way. Angry himself, feeling like she doesn't appreciate the complexity of the minefield of positions he has to navigate with voters, Henry jeers that if she's so smart she should run for office, and she bites back that she doesn't know what she is going to do but that isn't a bad idea! Finally he's had enough and leaves, to sit alone elsewhere inside their cavernous mansion. That leaves Betty sitting fuming in the kitchen, furious at the man she has for so long thought of as a fairy-tale prince who saved her from the misery of an unhappy marriage to a man who turned out to be a fraud in a perfect, hollow shell. Two wives of Don Draper, one former and one current, separated by the entire continental United States, both miserable and alone in the kitchen.   Monday morning at SC&P, Peggy is working at her office when she is graced by the unwelcome presence (again!) of Michael Ginsberg. He appears far the better today though than he did on the weekend, dressed comparatively well, his hair groomed and his facial expression and body language relaxed in contrast to the highly agitated state he has largely been in the last couple of episodes. Carrying a small box, he greets an uneasy Peggy and explains to her with great satisfaction that he has finally had a breakthrough and is much better now.... the problem was the data, it was piling up inside of him but now he has found an outlet for it and it simply flows freely through him. But, in the clear light of the day, with his mind relaxed and in a better place, he DOES want to make it clear that he really, genuinely does have feelings for her. He passes her the box as she thanks him for the nice words but explains this is just a natural response to working closely together with somebody (as she sadly knows all too well), and it isn't really real (as she also sadly discovered). Still, a gift is always welcome, and she opens the box up as he watches eager to see her reaction to his heartfelt, genuine gift of admiration.... Oh sweet Jesus it's a nipple. She screams in horror at the sight of the mangled flesh, only becoming more horrified when he excitedly unbuttons her shirt to reveal a bandage with blood seeping through it strapped to his chest. "It's the valve!" he explains, and most terrifying of all he's still completely calm and relaxed, conversationally explaining as he rebuttons his shirt that while a hospital will sew one up they won't remove it... why he had to do it himself! Hand to her mouth, utterly appalled but also acutely aware that she is dealing with a crazy person, Peggy takes a moment and then gently stands and quietly tells him to take a seat because she'd like him to wait here. He does as he's told, utterly serene, believing with all his heart that he's made things right, that she appreciates and understands his "gift", that maybe this will be the start of a long-term relationship between the two of them. Outside of the office, Peggy gently closes the door and quietly moves to her secretary's desk, ignoring her question about if Mr. Ginsberg found her to pick up the phone to dial it herself. Michael has always been odd, and there have been times where he has seemed to go beyond that into the bizarre, but nothing she has seen - not even his subdued explanation of his concentration camp birth and insistence that he is an alien - prepared her for what just happened. Unaware of the drama unfolding at work, Don Draper is preparing to create a little drama himself. Arriving at the Algonquin hotel, Don is dressed to kill as he approaches a door in the restaurant, pausing only to collect himself and check his hair before he opens the door and enters without knocking, as he if he belonged, as if he was invited, as if he owned the place. It's Philip Morris. Three executives sit across a private dining room table from Jim Cutler and Lou Avery. All five are surprised to see him, but Don simply apologizes to Cutler for being late and then greets the central executive by name - Les - extending his hand and causing courtesy to dictate that Les reciprocate despite clearly being uncomfortable with Don's appearance. This of course means the other two men have to shake his hand as well... and thus Jim Cutler is now caught too and has to introduce him to Steve and Tony as if this was all part of the proceedings. Less concerned by protocol, perhaps because he isn't a Partner, Lou's diplomacy extends only so far as to state they weren't expecting him, though of course he doesn't outright admit that this was an ambush. Don agrees that he wasn't, but makes that part of the reason he IS there, his charm and confidence at the full, formidable 100% as he tells them he decided to come along today (how much groundwork did he have to do to find their location? did he chip it out of Harry? Request the information from Dawn? Charm it out of a secretary?) to acknowledge something he suspects Philip Morris themselves are too polite to say. Les acknowledges the elephant in the room (that indeed just walked INTO the room!), stressing that at the moment they are only talking about seeing a presentation from SC&P.... but yes, it goes without saying that they're hesitant to work with the man who cut their throat in the New York Times. Don nods, acknowledging obviously that he understands this, and then offers a surprising enticement: if they're willing to work with SC&P, then Don is willing to quit the Agency to allow that to happen. Holding down his shock and glee, Cutler notes courteously that he appreciates Don being the one to say this so that he and Lou didn't have to. But of course this is business 101, Don has made an initial offer so he can then adjust it, as he points out that of course he only wrote that letter in a bid to save HIS business, not destroy theirs. Next comes another old trick, as he compliments Lou as a way of complimenting himself, pointing out that the two of them BOTH have 10 years of experience working with the tobacco industry... before he quickly streamlines that down to only talking about himself. Painting a picture with words like only he can, Don reminisces how even back in 1960 the Government was "building a scaffold for your whole industry".... but he (HE! Just him, no one else at Sterling Cooper, no other Agencies, just Don Draper!) found a way to "stay the execution" in 1960, 1962, 1964 & 1965... plus of course he is the ONLY cigarette man (here making them identify Don as one of them, a "cigarette man") who sat down with the opposition. The American Cancer Society told Don their entire strategy for combating tobacco, and thus he is also the only man with that inside knowledge to beat it. Everybody in the room is listening with rapt attention now, even as Les offers back his own perspective this entire meeting has become about Don Draper and Philip Morris, not SC&P. Les points out that they don't turn on their friends as easily as Don does, but of course Don was prepared for that as well, as he ponders out loud just what their "friends" at American Tobacco would think if they saw that Philip Morris managed to get Don Draper to apologize for his thoughtless and untrue words denouncing their industry? Or that they managed to "force" him into their service? Les doesn't reply to that. He just sits and stares, a little smile on his face, gears turning in his head as he considers implications he had never thought of. Obviously they agreed to this presentation with SC&P with reservations, ones that Cutler was probably seeking to undercut by presenting Lou as the established Creative Director with a decade of tobacco experience and assuring them Don was as good as gone (certainly he had been neutralized at least, but with Philip Morris money coming in they could also probably afford to eat the cost of buying out his Partnership). Instead, Don has arrived out of nowhere and pointed out that making him a central focus of giving their business to SC&P would be a massive PR coup for them. In the silence that follows, Don sees the perfect moment to make his exit. Thanking them for their time, he stands and with perfect poise and control and the briefest satisfied nod to Cutler and Lou, he makes his exit and leaves them to continue without him... confident that even though he's now left the room, he is ALL that is on anybody's mind.   At SC&P itself, stunned employees watch as Michael Ginsberg is wheeled out strapped down to a gurney by orderlies. Stan walks alongside him, telling Peggy that he will ride down in the elevator with him. Peggy weeps into her handkerchief, the person who called them in to take her friend, co-worker and sometimes creative rival away to presumably a psychiatric ward. She knows all too well the horror of those places, she has been in one herself, but she had no choice. Now in his absence, she stares at the computer that continues to work away tirelessly, untroubled by the insanity, the chaos, an unthinking and unfeeling machine that works forever, never complains, never makes a fuss... and also never thinks. She was right when she told Ginsberg it was "just" a computer, but in the midst of his madness he had a point too: the computer has changed what it means to work on the Creative side of SC&P. Ginsberg's oddness was seemingly just a byproduct of his runaway creative vision, but despite what now seem in hindsight clear warning signs, none of them - especially her - saw this coming. SC&P's changes have affected the Creative Floor in various different ways, but obviously none felt it quite so much as Ginsberg, and I guess the question now isn't just whether he can ever return... but if he would even want to after what the place he dreamed of working for in saner times has become. Outside the Algonquin, Don smokes a cigarette as he waits for a taxi... though the waiting is mostly for effect. When Lou and Cutler emerge as he knew they must, he's ready for them, wanting this "confrontation", even this all theatrics as he sends a clear message about his intentions. He waves down a taxi as Lou immediately confronts him and growls with disgust that he's "incredible", which Don pretends to think was intended as a compliment, thanking him, the two facing off almost like cowboys in a town that isn't big enough for the two of them. The cab arrives and Don makes a point of holding the door open for Lou, the "subservient" act making it all too clear to the man who forced him to stay late on Friday that Don is - for the moment at least - running things despite appearances. Because of course it isn't enough for Don to have pulled off his act and infected Philip Morris' mind with the tantalizing prospect of getting one over on American Tobacco AND the American Cancer Society, he has to both enjoy seeing Lou's discomfort as well as put the idea in Lou's head that Don is a dangerous rival and not a tamed house-cat. Cutler though is no fool, and not as quick to emotional outbursts as Lou even if he does share a deep distaste for Don Draper. He keeps his cool, simply hopping into the car before turning to look up at the man who just inserted himself with smooth casualness into his well-orchestrated clandestine affairs, and with simple amusement asks,"You think this is going to save you, don't you?" Don simply closes the door, letting the cab drive away before whistling loudly for another. As Waylon Jennings begins to play singing about getting tired of people walking all over his toes to lead into the credits, Don Draper has clearly decided that he is tired of his all too brief time "walking the line". Because Don is trying to take back some level of control of his (business) life. You could say he is doing so by violating his principles and going back on a vow... except when have vows ever stopped Don from doing what he wanted? And especially since those "principles" were themselves his in-the-moment attempt to take control of his business life in the first place. No, this isn't Don turning his back on his ethical objections to cigarettes. This isn't Don simply "doing the work". No, for Don Draper... ....this is business as usual.   Episode Index
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Jun 14, 2022 11:49
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Computers were a mistake
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Jun 14, 2022 12:07
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God, Ginsberg's scenes in this episode are heartbreaking. For so much of his time on the show he was just "quirky," and it all builds up so quickly to this psychiatric break. On the brighter side, Ben Feldman kept the nipple prop
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Jun 14, 2022 13:22
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The scene with Ginsberg watching Lou and Cutler lips in the computer room is a direct short recreation of HAL lip reading in 2001 A Space Odyssey
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Jun 14, 2022 13:48
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SCOUT'S HONOR!Harrow posted:God, Ginsberg's scenes in this episode are heartbreaking. For so much of his time on the show he was just "quirky," and it all builds up so quickly to this psychiatric break. Yeah, Ginsberg's breakdown here feels rushed but it's not like those characteristics weren't always there. I wonder if Feldman booking a network sitcom gig (the short-lived A to Z) compressed the timeline for Ginsberg's arc...seems like a very similar situation to James Wolk getting a lead role in The Crazy Ones and Bob Benson receiving a "promotion" between seasons to be SC&P's man on the ground in Detroit long-term.
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Jun 14, 2022 14:31
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aeiou posted:The scene with Ginsberg watching Lou and Cutler lips in the computer room is a direct short recreation of HAL lip reading in 2001 A Space Odyssey Oh man I should have picked up on that. Also holy poo poo it always blows my mind when I remember 2001 was made in 1968, it was so incredibly far ahead of its time.
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Jun 14, 2022 14:36
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Given the quality of long running syndicated newspaper comics when I was a kid Lou's dream actually seems very achievable. I can easily imagine Scout's Honor by Lou Avery sandwiched between Family Circus and Marmaduke.
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Jun 14, 2022 18:50
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Stan's "you?" is just so loving hilarious
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Jun 14, 2022 19:08
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Randallteal posted:Given the quality of long running syndicated newspaper comics when I was a kid Lou's dream actually seems very achievable. I can easily imagine Scout's Honor by Lou Avery sandwiched between Family Circus and Marmaduke. Crossposting with the BSS newspaper comics thread; Imagining Scout's Honor limping along as a zombie strip for a few decades before getting a modern reboot by a webcomic artist who routinely inserts anti-military messaging into Scout's antics.
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Jun 14, 2022 19:39
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the ultimate fate of scout's honor is so, so much worse, and it's why Lou is the true evil villain of the series
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Jun 14, 2022 20:06
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kalel posted:the ultimate fate of scout's honor is so, so much worse, and it's why Lou is the true evil villain of the series In my head I maintain that he was getting pranked and he was due a very short, expensive and embarrassing trip to Tokyo
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Jun 14, 2022 20:23
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UNRULY_HOUSEGUEST posted:In my head I maintain that he was getting pranked and he was due a very short, expensive and embarrassing trip to Tokyo I believe the opposite, where it became one of those things that turns up in Facebook listicles as a "hey remember this" thing and there was a critically panned live action reboot by the Wachowskis.
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Jun 14, 2022 21:34
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i disagree with above posts that ginsberg's fate seemed rushed or out of left field, in literally every single episode he appears in he says something pretty out of pocket in some regard. usually its brushed off as mild eccentricity, or a particularly dark joke of some sort, and over the seasons you get used to it. but when you look back and recall his insistence that he was a martian (not so metaphorical for concentration camp survival now), his inability to connect with the school teacher his dad set him up with or any women really...all the pieces were there. they just went unnoticed because thats how this kind of thing went, and to some extent still goes. everythings totally fine until one day god tells you to decapitate the guy sitting next to you on a bus and suck the eyeballs out of his head
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Jun 14, 2022 23:48
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Randallteal posted:Given the quality of long running syndicated newspaper comics when I was a kid Lou's dream actually seems very achievable. I can easily imagine Scout's Honor by Lou Avery sandwiched between Family Circus and Marmaduke. It certainly looked to be as utterly bland and inoffensive as most strips, but it also looked like a clear rip-off of Beetle Bailey which were probably a dime-a-dozen for newspaper editors receiving submissions. You can guarantee there was a bombshell secretary somewhere in the mix there, and nothing to really distinguish it as worthy of publication over something else. Paper Lion posted:i disagree with above posts that ginsberg's fate seemed rushed or out of left field, in literally every single episode he appears in he says something pretty out of pocket in some regard. usually its brushed off as mild eccentricity, or a particularly dark joke of some sort, and over the seasons you get used to it. but when you look back and recall his insistence that he was a martian (not so metaphorical for concentration camp survival now), his inability to connect with the school teacher his dad set him up with or any women really...all the pieces were there. they just went unnoticed because thats how this kind of thing went, and to some extent still goes. everythings totally fine until one day god tells you to decapitate the guy sitting next to you on a bus and suck the eyeballs out of his head Yeah I agree, Ginsberg is always shown as quirky but there are moments where it clearly goes beyond that - the Martian bit in particular - which can kind of be laughed off or dismissed as him just being "weird" until he has a full-on breakdown and suddenly all those little "eccentricities" become warning signs that make you wonder how you didn't see it coming earlier. Also Jesus Christ that Vince Li story 
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Jun 15, 2022 00:41
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i agree the warning signs were there, but i also dont think ginsberg was shown as capable of a breakdown like this. not that I consider this completely out of left field or anything (in fact I don't think any posters did??) but to me Ginsberg also rang as just someone who could be very manic and off-kilter, not someone who exhibits symptoms of.. im not sure what this would be? schizophrenia? remembered this gem while pondering my thoughts on the Ginsberg situation. someone trying to get a random own in on Jerusalem without actually reading Jerusalem's post 
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Jun 15, 2022 07:03
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I vaguely remember a website had a psychiatrist talk about Ginsberg's breakdown, and one of the things that got mentioned is white noise (like the humming on a computers AC) can trigger folks' schizophrenia to get worse. He said he got messages from mars during his martian speech. Another big sign foreshadowing his breakdown is his mini break down before a meeting. "Come on, Buddy, You're not death"
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Jun 15, 2022 07:09
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I’d love to see a write up like that, since I have enough faith in the Mad Men writers to guess they based it off something.
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Jun 15, 2022 07:16
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I can't remember who, but someone joked a while ago that the end of this episode suggests that the rest of the season will be episodes of "that rascal Don escaping the clutches of the wily Cutler and his stupid henchman Lou" like some kind of Hanna Barbera cartoon, and I can't stop thinking about it. now that should be a comic in the Sunday funnies
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Jun 15, 2022 11:41
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Lady Radia posted:i agree the warning signs were there, but i also dont think ginsberg was shown as capable of a breakdown like this. not that I consider this completely out of left field or anything (in fact I don't think any posters did??) but to me Ginsberg also rang as just someone who could be very manic and off-kilter, not someone who exhibits symptoms of.. im not sure what this would be? schizophrenia? I had a family member experience a schizophrenic episode of this nature, and all the lead up was just little stuff we could explain away as being quirky and then one day it was like a switch flipped and all the "little stuff" went into overdrive. I get the feeling that's more common in real life than the dramatic foreshadowing we typically see in media.
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Jun 15, 2022 12:46
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Devorum posted:I had a family member experience a schizophrenic episode of this nature, and all the lead up was just little stuff we could explain away as being quirky and then one day it was like a switch flipped and all the "little stuff" went into overdrive. Same, p much. Seemed realistic enough.
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Jun 15, 2022 12:56
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Lady Radia posted:i agree the warning signs were there, but i also dont think ginsberg was shown as capable of a breakdown like this. not that I consider this completely out of left field or anything (in fact I don't think any posters did??) but to me Ginsberg also rang as just someone who could be very manic and off-kilter, not someone who exhibits symptoms of.. im not sure what this would be? schizophrenia? I am correct 
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Jun 15, 2022 23:46
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I had forgotten about Ginsberg having a little breakdown after Cutler pointed out that he does work for companies like Dow. It really is a matter where in hindsight the signs seemed obvious, but at the time it was just "Oh that wacky Ginsberg!"
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Jun 16, 2022 00:03
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yeah, ginsberg is the right age for that kind of sudden onset too. between his childhood, age, spending a bunch of time around second hand pot smoke, the stress hes been under, it really just all clunked into place suddenly with the computer. schizophrenia comes at you fast. also, during that breakdown when bob benson tries to comfort him, one of the first thing he does when he comes out of his episode is point blank ask him if hes gay lol
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Jun 16, 2022 03:58
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I always assumed that Ginsberg was MK Ultraed
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Jun 16, 2022 14:13
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really loving funny how Don perks up when Harry shows up at the party. I can't think of a better way to show my contempt for someone than to leave to grab a drink with someone they know I hate
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Jun 16, 2022 14:31
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Lady Radia posted:I’d love to see a write up like that, since I have enough faith in the Mad Men writers to guess they based it off something. I found the article https://www.vulture.com/2014/05/psychiatrist-analyzes-mad-mens-ginsberg.html the article posted:But then he also talks about the computer’s background humming. Now, with people that have a meth addiction, which can very much look like schizophrenia at times, what’s interesting is that a white noise generator, or even a washing machine, can actually bring on hallucinations in some people. They hear things within that. And so I thought it was very interesting that it’s really the hum that pushes things over the edge in this most recent episode. He even tries to use tissues for ear plugs, and he talks about how the computer is whispering. I’m making a leap here, because we don’t quite have the evidence to support this, but it’s almost as if he’s hearing messages in the humming sound. So I remembered it slightly wrong. But they did bring up white noise can bring hallucinations. Edit: Oh, and while we can't hear what Cutler and Lou are saying. They are reciting the first scene from King Richard 3rd. KellHound fucked around with this message at 19:50 on Jun 16, 2022 |
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Jun 16, 2022 19:38
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well yeah, what else would they be doing???
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Jun 17, 2022 01:04
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having gay sex obv
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Jun 17, 2022 01:40
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also I swear Lou pretty clearly mouths "Don Draper" at one point
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Jun 17, 2022 01:41
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kalel posted:also I swear Lou pretty clearly mouths "Don Draper" at one point "Now is the winter of our Don Draper, made glorious summer by this Benson of Detroit."
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Jun 17, 2022 02:47
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Jerusalem posted:"Now is the winter of our Don Draper, made glorious summer by this Benson of Detroit." 
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Jun 17, 2022 02:51
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kalel posted:having gay sex obv This was kinda my take on Ginsberg's breakdown at the time -- I correlated his disastrous date with the teacher, him asking Bob Benson if he was "a homo," and his confession to Peggy that he found Stan attractive as something about the computer installation forcing him to reckon with repressed same-sex desire, and not being able to deal with it anyway other than inventing a fantasy of mind-control that could only be remedied with self-harm. There were definitely plenty of breadcrumbs, but the computer somehow became a tipping-point where the tension building up in the back of his mind suddenly boiled over.
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Jun 17, 2022 03:54
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_the_%22Influencing_Machine%22_in_Schizophrenia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tilly_Matthews The idea of an influencing machine fascinates me. It seems ever since humanity invented machines more complicated than rocks, that people had mental breaks and started believing them to be unduly influencing them.
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Jun 17, 2022 04:05
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Ginsberg wanted to reproduce without having sex, which I don't know what that means but it has to mean something
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Jun 17, 2022 18:37
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Starting to suspect that Mr. Ginsberg may have had some significant mental health issues!
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Jun 18, 2022 04:18
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Also sorry for the bump but just to make all aware, this week marks the end of fairly hefty time commitment for a work project so the next write-up probably won't come till midweek at earliest. The good news is that after that I should be able to up the rate of new episodes to something a little higher than one every 7-9 days like it has been.
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Jun 18, 2022 13:00
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Thank you Jerusalem. I just wanted to say I look forward to these writeup everytime there is a new one, they are a bright spot in my work week time wasting.
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Jun 20, 2022 18:39
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hey Jerusalem I just wanted to bump this to let you know to keep crushing it, we're all super excited for when you wrap up your big project and then come back to make some of our favorite weekly reads 
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Jun 21, 2022 05:19
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yeah no worries jerusalem. said it before it's it's always worth saying again - i enjoy reading the thread and all the various thoughts you have, then others have on your thoughts etc. it's very nice to have a mad men episodic compendium on the forums, and you did that. imagine if we didn't have that. everyone would be asking where the gently caress it was. the latter half of s7 is one of my favouriote stretches of the show, tied with s5, so i'm excited to talk about that.
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Jun 21, 2022 09:13
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