Category: Mad Men

The folks at TV Squad caught up with Mad Men creator Matt Weiner for a nice, long interview about season 4. Check it out in full here (there are no season finale spoilers in the interview). Here’s his response to the question of Don possibly still being outed as a fraud:

I think that that’s there, but what I was trying to say, and certainly it was a big deal with the clearance and everything, but he’s starting to realize that it’s just so exhausting to try and be that person. Who is he? We learned last year when he got the contract offer that he became this guy in a suit that he always wanted to be. Inside, there was somebody who still — whose father thinks he’s nothing.

That’s what I’m always trying to do. If you give yourself over to the show and sort of take the events away from it and say, “Well here’s a guy now who is living in this apartment that people don’t think is very nice.” Anyone who’s ever gotten divorced will say, “That’s the apartment where that man would live.” He moved to the Village, and he’s working all the time, and focusing on the things he can control in his life. Every part of his personal life does peek into his job, but they’re so closely related to each other that, to me, writing that letter last week is an assertion of the fact that he still is who he is — whatever that is.

The season finale of Mad Men is this Sunday at 10pm on AMC.

This episode begins with Don having lunch with an executive from Heinz, who explains that his business is cyclical, and ketchup has become popular while his division – vinegar sauces and beans – has faded in importance. He further says that they’re not happy with their current agency, and while the man likes Don’s work, he just doesn’t trust that SCDP will be around for much longer. He then leaves, and Don calls a waiter over.

In Ossining, we see Betty making dinner for Sally and Bobby. Sally asks why they don’t have dinner with Henry, and Betty says it’s because Henry works too late to eat with them and because they eat different foods. Sally says that she’d try new food, and Betty smiles and asks if she’d like to eat with Henry. Sally says that she does, and Betty says that she’ll think about it.

At the office, Geoffrey Atherton (Faye’s boss) tells the partners that signing new business is extremely important. He then mentions a new brand of “women’s cigarettes” that Philip Morris will soon be releasing, and he says that it would be a good match given SCDP’s past experience with Lucky Strike. He further says that he’s arranged a meeting between the folks at Philip Morris and SCDP.

Continue reading “Mad Men: “Blowing Smoke””

This episode begins with Peggy getting into Joyce’s car after a weekend trip to Jones Beach. Suddenly, several “hitchhikers” appear, with Abe Drexler being one of them. Peggy is less than pleased at first, but we then see them falling into bed together back at Peggy’s place.

Meanwhile, we see Ken having dinner with Ed and Cynthia Baxter, his future in-laws. The young couple is telling the story of Trudy going in to labor when a BBDO employee named John Flory walks up and offers Ken his condolences for SCDP losing the Lucky Strike account. Ken assures him that they haven’t lost Lucky Strike, but Flory says that they have.

Ken excuses himself, and hunts down Pete at the hospital. He tells Pete about what his friend had said. Pete can’t get Roger on the phone, so he calls Don at home, who is just walking in with Faye. Don tells him to wake Cooper and meet him at the office.

Continue reading “Mad Men: “Chinese Wall””

This incredible episode begins with Roger sitting in his office. Joan walks in and says that she’s late… very late. Roger asks if she’s sure it’s his, and she says that Greg has been gone for seven weeks, so it can’t be his, and she hasn’t been with anyone else. So it must be Roger’s baby. He offers to “take care of it”, and then she apologizes to him. “These things happen,” he says.

We then see Betty sewing at home when the phone rings. It’s Don, and he asks to speak to Sally. Don tells her that he missed her this past weekend, and he says that he has a big surprise for her: tickets to see The Beatles at Shea Stadium this coming Sunday. Sally drops the phone and screams with delight. Betty picks up the receiver and asks Don what’s going on. When he tells her that he’s taking Sally to see The Beatles she smiles, and tells Sally to thank her dad.

Meanwhile, Lane is buzzed by Laurel, the receptionist. He has a visitor. Thinking it’s his son, Nigel, he picks up a Mickey Mouse plush toy and carries it to the reception area. But instead of his son, he finds his father, Robert, waiting for him. He has come to New York to take Lane back to London. Lane refuses, but invites his father to dinner later. Continue reading “Mad Men: “Hands & Knees””

This episode begins with Don in his office making a lunch date. The “date” is an afternoon tryst with Faye. Their lovemaking is so intense that it knocks a lamp off a night stand. While catching the lamp, Don notes the time and says that he’s late for a meeting with a client. Faye says that she has a meeting at 4:00, and is coy when Don tries to get information from her about it. Don starts to get dressed and tells her to stay as long as she wants.

At the office, Roger is on the phone with his agent, Ira, who is apparently having trouble selling Roger’s book. His phone call is interrupted by his secretary, Caroline, who says that Jane is on the phone. An annoyed Roger tries to go back to his call, but find that Ira has hung up. He reaches for a cigarette, and there’s a knock at his office door. It’s Joan, with some papers he needs to sign. He flirts with her and fails miserably. After Joan leaves Caroline comes in to say that Greg is being sent directly to Vietnam after basic training.

Continue reading “Mad Men: “The Beautiful Girls””

This episode begins with Don alone in his apartment. He is now keeping a diary, and we hear his thoughts via his narration. He talks about his drinking problem, and how it’s affecting his work. He talks about how little he writes, and how he wishes he would have finished high school. We then see him having an early morning swim (and having a coughing fit whilst doing so!) and then getting dressed and heading into work. On his way in, he asks Ms. Blankenship, who has just gotten cataract surgery, for Bethany’s phone number.

Meanwhile, Joey and the boys are up to their old antics. SCDP has apparently gotten a new vending machine, and Joey has gotten his watch stuck in it while trying to get a Clark bar out for Ken. A couple of the women, including Peggy, stand and watch as Joey and Stan pick up and drop the machine, and Harry offers the guys ideas for getting the watch out. They create such a ruckus that Joan comes to investigate. She orders everyone back to work, and Joey replies to her with a sarcastic “sorry, mom!”. Joan asks him to repeat that, and Joey asks her what he was supposed to do. She tells him to call the complaint number and “let an adult” handle the situation. Pete then walks into the hallway, asking what all the noise is, as he was on an important call. Joey tells Pete that Joan was “handing out demerits”, which makes Joan call him into her office.

In her office, Joan tries to dress down the cavalier Joey. But when she says that Stan might be better at his job than Joey, he asks her what she does around the office, “besides walking around like you’re trying to get raped?” He then calls her a “madam from a Shanghai whorehouse” and leaves the office. Peggy then walks in, attempting to use Joan’s office as a shortcut. Joan snaps at her and tells her to stop doing that, and that she could “use the extra steps”. Peggy, seeing that Joan is upset, quietly apologizes. Joan leaves.

Continue reading “Mad Men: “The Summer Man””

This episode begins with Harry handing out tickets to a screening of the rematch between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston. He gives the tickets to Pete and Ken, but makes the newer SCDP employees pay for theirs. Harry laughs at Danny and calls him a Jew, to which Danny asks if Harry’s Hollywood friends know that he talks like that. The gang then argue over who’s going to win the fight. Don walks in, gets his ticket, and puts $100 on Liston. Harry invites him to dinner and drinks at The Palm before the match. Don says he will be there, then orders people working on Samsonite to follow him.

After Don walks in his office and asks Ms. Blankenship to get him and Roger dinner reservations at any restaurant except the Palm, Peggy, Stan, Joey and Danny walk in to give their pitch for the luggage company: a commercial with Joe Namath. Don calls celebrity endorsements “lazy” and says that he doesn’t care for their execution of the ad. When Peggy insists that Dr. Miller says that women buy suitcases, Don asks everyone else to leave the room. Once alone, Don tears into Peggy, who stands there and takes it, and then leaves.

In her office, she finds flowers and a “gift” from Duck: business cards for “Philips-Olson Advertising” in which she is listed as “Creative Director”. She calls to thank him, and he begs her to join him at his female-centered agency. Happy at first, Peggy soon figures out that Duck is drinking… and has been fired from Grey. She tries to console him, but Duck says that he’s falling apart.

Continue reading “Mad Men: “The Suitcase””

From “Meditations in an Emergency”:

“One day you’re there, and then all of the sudden, there’s less of you… and you wonder where that part went… if it’s living somewhere outside of you… and you keep thinking maybe you’ll get it back… and then you realize… it’s just gone.”