Category: Mad Men

This episode begins with Betty lying on the chaise longue, being caressed by an unseen man. Just as he leans over to kiss her, her dream is interrupted by a ringing telephone. It’s Connie, who asks Don if he ever prays over difficult problems. Don, confused by the late call and a now screaming Eugene, takes notes as Connie offers him all of Hilton’s international business. Connie sees Hilton as an outpost of America everywhere, and says that he wants Hilton Hotels all over the world, even the moon. He tells Don to write up a proposal for the the New York hotels as convention centers and get it to him by noon the next day.

Don can’t sleep, so he gets dressed and starts driving to work. He only gets a little way from home when he sees Suzanne Farrell jogging down the road. He asks what she’s doing, and she says that she likes jogging in the early morning because it’s quiet and no one bothers her. He offers her a lift home, which she accepts. On the way to her house, she listens to Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech with rapt attention. She says that she’s going to read the speech to her students. An amazed Don then asks if she’s “dumb or pure”. Don then invites her to get a cup of coffee; she declines, saying too much coffee might be the reason he can’t get to sleep.

Continue reading “Mad Men: “Wee Small Hours””

This episode kicks off with Pete sitting at his desk, reading a copy of Ebony. Hildy comes in to drop off some papers, and only then does he realize that it’s 5:00 and time  for her to go. He asks what she’s getting into that weekend; she replies that she’s gotten a cabin in Saltaire with some friends. Pete mentions mosquitoes’ Hildy says that they don’t bother her. Harry and Paul then walk in the office, and ask her if Pete’s making her work since he’ll be alone this weekend. She says no, then leaves. Pete wonders why a man alone is something to be pitied, while Hildy is really the one you should feel sorry for. Harry says that he doesn’t feel sorry for her, since “those girls” get to do what they want. Ken then walks in, and asks Pete if he’s still working, and if so not to, since none of the senior partners are in town. Pete says that Don isn’t on vacation, that Conrad Hilton sent him to “Dallas or Denver or something… every armpit he has”. Harry wishes he could get out of New York in August just once. Pete says that he likes the quiet. He then offers to take the boys out for a drink.

At the Draper home, we see Betty going through some Junior League paperwork about saving the reservoir. Don walks by with some dirty laundry, and Betty mentions that she’s poured him a beer. Don stops to have a sip of beer, then looks at all of Betty’s paperwork and says that she should be getting paid for her work. Betty says that there’s a hearing about the reservoir coming up, and that she’s “paid” plenty. Hearing a commotion outside, Don asks what’s going on. Betty says that the kids are catching fireflies and that he should join them. Don puts his beer down and walks outside to play with the kids.

Continue reading “Mad Men: “Souvenir””

Hey folks! I just wanted to let you know that I’ve been slack on the Mad Men recap this week (in fact, I didn’t even watch last night’s episode until this afternoon!)

I hope to get the recap started in the morning and posted late tomorrow night.

This episode begins with three mysteries: Peggy in bed with an unknown man, a radiant (but sad) Betty lying back on a chaise longue, and a bloodied Don lying on the floor of a cheap motel.

We immediately skip backwards in time a few days and see a more dapper Don getting ready for work. He puts his tie on, brushes his shoes, and carefully combs his hair. He walks downstairs, where Betty and her interior designer are looking at the newly redecorated sitting room. The designer asks him about it, and Don jokes that “it’s hard for me to judge when I can’t see a price tag”. She shows him the pieces she has chosen, then Betty asks what will go directly in front of the fireplace. The designer says nothing goes there, that the heath is the soul of the home, and that people gather there regardless of whether there’s a fire or not. Betty asks Don what he thinks; he says it’s “fine”. She counters that all he does at his job all day is “evaluate objects”. He looks around the room again and suggests that they move the end table a lamp to the other side of the sofa. He kisses Betty and walks away, and after he’s gone the designer agrees with his assessment.

Continue reading “Mad Men: “Seven Twenty Three””

This episode begins with Don walking in to Sally’s room. He goes to turn the light off, but Sally begs him not to. Don says that it’s 10:30 and asks why she’s still awake. She says that she’s afraid of what will happen when he turns off the light. Don says that nothing will hurt her… except for the mess in her room. He then picks up her desk lamp, turns it on, and puts it on the floor. He tells her that if she cleans up her room, he’ll buy her a night light. He kisses her goodnight and walks out of the room, turning off the overhead light on his way out.

The next morning the guys at Sterling Cooper fret over a memo that has been circulating throughout the agency:

Pete, Paul and Harry wonder what the meeting is all about. Pete laments that Ken hasn’t arrived yet. John, Lane, Roger, and Bert emerge and stand on the steps. Lane announces that the director and chairman of the board of Putnam, Powell and Lowe will be visiting Sterling Cooper, both as a friendly visit, and to also “evaluate our performance”. John says that the men are due to arrive tomorrow (Tuesday, July 2) at 10:00 am, and that they will stay through Wednesday, July 3. He then apologizes to the employees, because July 3rd was originally meant to be a holiday, but neither he nor the PPL employees were aware of the holiday. Lane then urges everyone to work “at the height of their productivity” and that everything  be in perfect order.

Continue reading “Mad Men: “Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency””

Congratulations to Matthew Weiner, AMC, Lionsgate, and the cast and crew of Mad Men for winning the Emmy Award for Best Drama for the second year in a row!

The show is simply amazing, and the sheer depth and care everyone puts into it is obvious. Congrats, guys… you deserve it!

Set your DVRs! Jon Hamm and January Jones will be on The Oprah Winfrey Show this Monday, September 21st. I don’t know exactly what they’ll be talking about, but the theme of the show is “Oprah Goes Back in Time: The 60s”, so expect a lot of nostalgia about the Cilvil Rights Movement.

Also, media buyers and planners have predicted that Mad Men will not only win the Emmy for Best Drama, but that Jon Hamm and Elizabeth Moss will win Emmys for Best Actor and Best Actress, too. They also have predicted that 30 Rock will win for Best Comedy, and that Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin will win for Best Actress and Actor in a comedy series as well.

Fingers crossed!

This episode begins with Don and Betty having a conference with Sally’s teacher. Apparently, she’s been acting up and causing trouble since Gene died. Sally’s teacher, Miss Farrell, knows that Betty is pregnant but also knows that she has a little brother… so she asks if anything else has changed in the home. Betty says that her father died “last week.. the week before, two weeks now”. Miss Farrell apologizes for prying, the asks why they didn’t send a note along with Sally. She also notes that Sally didn’t miss any school from it, to which Betty says that they “didn’t want to put her through that” and Don says that “children don’t belong in graveyards”. Miss Farrell also says that this explains why Sally has been asking so many questions about the death of Medgar Evers. Betty excuses herself to go to the ladies’ room, while Miss Farrell talks to Don about “the pain of losing someone at that age”.

Meanwhile, back at Sterling Cooper, Lane heads a meeting where he takes everyone to task for wasting money on expense reports and office supplies. Don, having been at the teacher conference, walks in late. Lane complains about the discrepancy between Don and Sal’s expense reports from the Baltimore trip ($70 vs. $82), to which an irritated Don notes that he signed all of Sal’s receipts. Lane sighs and then complains that the amount of pens, pencils, pads, paper and postage “suit a company four times our size”. Don, having heard enough, gets up and leaves.

Continue reading “Mad Men: “The Fog””

Gene and Sally continue getting closer and closer. We see Gene and the Draper kids walk out the front door, and Gene has a stack of phone books in his hand: he’s taken it upon himself to teach Sally how to drive.

In Brooklyn, Peggy’s mother complains about the lack of coverage of the death of the pope. The TV seems to be on the fritz, so she repeatedly hits it. Peggy complains to Anita that the shower in her apartment is broken. Anita offers to have “Jerry” come over and take a look at it; Peggy thinks her landlord purposely breaks things in her apartment. Anita says that she’d offer Peggy a room, but doesn’t have teh space now that their mother moved in. Peggy says that she wants to move to Manhattan. “It’s so far away”, Anita says.

At Sterling Cooper, Pete is holding a meeting with his friend “Ho-Ho” and the rest of the Sterling Cooper team. Ho-Ho (real name: Horace Cook) is a trust fund baby who thinks he’s found the next big thing: the Basque sport of jai alai. Ho-Ho says that he’ll leave them a notebook with more information about the sport, and that in seven years it will eclipse baseball as America’s most popular sport. He then asks the Sterling Cooper boys how he’d sell the sport to America. Harry says that most of the money would end up on television. Ho-Ho agrees, and says that he wants a jai alai show. Lane assures him that Harry has excellent relations with all the networks, but Harry says that any show would probably have to be on ABC. Ho-Ho says that he wants the show on all networks at once, like a presidential address. The Sterling Cooper crew sit at the table, stunned. Harry says that it’s never been done before… but can’t think of a good reason why it can’t be done. Paul suggests a big musical show with Desi Arnaz, with a jai alai match as the centerpiece. Ho-Ho asks what other ideas that might have. Paul suggests advertising in woman’s magazines, selling the idea as a glamorous night in (the still exotic) Miami.

Continue reading “Mad Men: “The Arrangements””

This episode begins with Paul, Peggy and the rest of the Creative team auditioning Ann-Margret lookalikes for the Patio commercial. Harry annoys Peggy by asking the actress, Hillary, to “do the twist” one more time. Peggy tells him that he is not part of Creative and his input is not needed. Hillary leaves, and Pete and Ken walk in to announce that Bacardi is coming in on Tuesday, and that Don wants copy by Monday morning and art by Monday night. So it seems that Creative will have to work over the weekend. Ken points out the “good news”: that he and Pete will be attending a party hosted by Roger and Jane on Long Island and thus will be “out of your hair”. Harry asks if Ken and Pete will be wearing seersucker, because he “doesn’t want to look like a barbershop quartet”. The rest of the Creative team seems surprised that Harry was invited, and after Ken, Pete and Harry leave, Paul whines that they were all hired at the same time. Sal points out that he worked there six years before Paul was hired. Peggy says that management hates Creative.

Meanwhile, we see Jane walking through the office. She spies Joan and a couple of the other “office girls” and stops to talk. She says that it’s great to see them… but then she cattily says that she’s at the office because Roger was getting her rings re-sized because she “keeps losing weight”. She then dismissively asks Joan where she and Greg are living now (when Joan says that they’re looking at places in The Bronx, Jane snootily says that she “gets a nose bleed above 86th street!). Jane then asks Joan for a favor – there is construction in front of Sterling Cooper’s building, and Jane had her driver circle the block. As if to show her complete dominance over Joan, Jane asks if she can “send one of the girls down” at 1:15 to flag him down.

Continue reading “Mad Men: “My Old Kentucky Home””