Mad Men Round Table — “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword”
Pete’s not that great with the gift giving (he’s more like a kid at a birthday party who can’t wait for you to open what he got you), but he’s sure come a long way in standing up to Roger, who walks in on the tail end of the Honda meeting all drunk and inappropriate, making Word War II references left and right, including asking for there to be no rules for the presentation (“We want it unconditional.”) There are a lot of parallels to be made between Roger’s refusal to do business with “Japs” and current feelings towards the Middle East. It’s more than I want to get into here, but it bears pointing out anyway.
Everyone’s furious about Roger’s sabotage, but it’s Pete who let’s him have it, and he’s taking it personally, too, “You know that every chip I make, we become less dependent on Lucky Strike and less dependent on you. The rest of us are trying to build something.” Never has Pete been more on point. And who thought we’d see the day Don would back him up?
Later, when Joan stops by his office to tell Roger that the voice over guy for Lucky Strike has chest congestion (foreshadowing, anyone?), she doesn’t want to hear Roger’s war stories. She’s worried about Greg, and tells Roger he got to make the world a safer place and he should be content with that. Something tells me Roger isn’t content with much these days.
Speaking of discontent, all the civil rights talk that seem like throwaways in the episodes so far must come to something in all of this; Matthew Weiner wouldn’t keep dropping it in otherwise, just because the show is set in 1965. If that were true, someone would have walked in sporting a Beatles haircut long ago.
The wrestling match between Pete and Mrs. Blankenship over Teddy’s Chaough’s “Help me Honda” gag gift was a rare piece of physical comedy gold for this show. In that same scene, we saw Don rejuvenated by the chance to best Chaough ,and for the first time in a while, we get to watch as he works out a way to beat him at his own game. He’ll bluff CGC into making a spot by tricking Chaough into thinking he’s making his own. It’s so fun to see these mindgames that were a routine part of Madison Avenue back in the day. Now, with the proliferation of multi-national conglomerates (by one of which I’m happily employed), these upstart agencies are few and far between.
Don rallies the troops (loved the throwaway scene with the desk toy) and uses a quote from the book they’re all supposed to have read to make his point: “A man is shamed by being openly ridiculed and rejected; it requires an audience.” Joan is in the midst of sweet talking the director, Howard Morris, (whom Chaough hired for Clearasil and name dropped to Don), when Don knocks on the door with a motorcycle. The Draper mystique has returned. All Joan has to do is utter well-placed words like “Staten Island Ferry”, and “close 5th Avenue” to seal the deal. Morris is intrigued. Our old pal Smitty, who now works at CGC, calls Draper a genius who doesn’t think the rules apply to him, and someone who’s always “thinking on the edges of where you are,” whatever that means. Peggy & Joey make sure the CGC guys see them wheeling a Honda onto a closed set that they rent just so Peggy can ride in circles on an empty soundstage. It’s the season three finale all over again!
Don struts into the Honda meeting with his former confidence intact and withdraws SCDP from the running with a personal check for $3000. Back in his office, it turns out that Don’s bravado impressed Honda, who’s account review was all a ruse…they were never leaving Grey. But, SCDP is now first in the door on the car the company is developing, which isn’t much to speak of at this point, but something tells me it’ll improve. And CGC is out. Don Draper is back, baby!
EJ
Is it too early to proclaim Mrs. Blankenship the Sensational Character Find of 2010? (Or 1965, I guess.) I love her so much. She’s just on the edge of being too broad for the show, but never quite gets there, so everything she says is hilarious. Actually, this was one of the funniest episodes of the series, except for the horribly uncomfortable bits.
We first see Bobby and Sally this week during a rather depressing weekend at Don’s. Once again, they’re stuck in front of the TV, only this time Don’s going out and leaving them with Nurse Bonnie. I’m curious as to how well Don really knows her. At this point, we just know that she’s sort of into Don, but also thinks he’s a sad drunk. That may not be a foundation of trust on which you can build a proper babysitting relationship. On the other hand, who else would Don get? At one time, Peggy may have been a possibility, but those days are gone. The only person in his life who’ll watch his kids is the woman who lives across the hall and helped him get his shoes off when he was liquored up.
So Sally does the only rational thing and tries to give herself a haircut when Don leaves. Bonnie’s freak-out is great – she isn’t necessarily comfortable with kids and does not know how to deal with weirdness. And Bobby says she “looks like a Mongoloid”, which means he’s competing with Roger Sterling in the Sensitivity Sweepstakes this week. There’s so much good stuff in this scene. Did Betty cut her hair for her stated reason – “You have short hair, and Daddy likes you”? Or is it simply that she’s a kid going through a turbulent time and sometimes she just does things. It’s not like kids think these things out.
More importantly, given what’s to come, she has sex questions. Are Phoebe and Don doing it? You know what? If Sally does, in fact, know what “it” is, she totally learned if from Glenn. Let’s face it, the poor kid grew up with Betty and Don as parents, and they’ve each got their own massive issues with sex. Throw creepy little Glenn into the mix, and Sally’s the perfect storm of weird lessons about sex. Also, “I know that the man pees inside the woman” is sad and hilarious at the same time. She claims she heard it from a girl at school, but I’m convinced it was that Glenn. Phoebe suggests she talk to her mother, and this is where you can tell that Phoebe has never met Betty. “Want to know about sex? Ask you mom. You know, the one who fantasizes about a stranger asking her to trade her body for goods or services.”
Phoebe is really scared, too. Bottom line is, she doesn’t know what kind of guy Don really is. What does he do when he’s mad? And she’s so skittish when he comes home. She’s drawn to Don, but she is afraid that he’ll smack her. There’s a weird dynamic between those two. (Also, “I could have left them alone!” is a great line.)
Holy Lord, is that really Baby Eugene? Kid did some growing up in between seasons. I think he’s old enough to smoke now! Anyway, when the kids return to the Francis Love Nest, that’s when it hits the fan. Betty is mad. I’m still kind of shocked that she slapped Sally like she did. Even Henry thought that was going over the line. Sally walks a fine line with her mother at all times – Betty is going to go off on her for any reason she can, and I think I might know why. Back in Season Two, Bobby was a more frequent target for her wrath, but then her father moved in and befriended Sally. Well, as much as Gene was capable of befriending anyone. Betty has father issues, clearly. We don’t know much about their relationship growing up, but I keep coming back to the image of Gene mopping up blood in Betty’s dream. Something is wrong there, either an actual event or Betty’s perception. But I think she’s jealous of Sally’s relationship with Gene. Sally got to enjoy Gene in a way that Betty never did. And now Sally is going to spend years paying for that.
Now, it’s important to note that Myndi and I decide every week how to split up the episode. Since she works in advertising, she managed to play the “I should totally write about the professional angle, since I know what I’m talking about” card, and left me with the scene where Sally Draper… discovers herself. Thanks, Myn!
She’s the last one awake at a sleepover, watching The Man from U.N.C.L.E., when she starts to play with herself. In all honesty, this scene was executed as tastefully as possible. But, man, I was not expecting that. The host mother walks in and totally overreacts, yelling at Sally and then bringing her home. Here’s the thing – this is something kids do. I don’t think it’s as scandalous as she made it out to be, but you have to remember – Sally’s a kid from a broken home, and Betty was ostracized for giving Glenn a lock of her hair not that long ago. People are just looking for anything weird when it comes to the Draper-Francis family. Any other little girl would have been gently chastised. She was looking for something to be wrong with Sally to confirm all the gossip.
As is her wont, Betty continues the overreaction, including saying “I’ll cut your fingers off”, which is such perfect castration symbolism that I just have to applaud. While a normal parent would talk to their child about what happened, Betty goes straight to threats and recriminations. Thus, Sally learns the important lesson that our bodies are disgusting and pleasure is a source of shame. Mother of the Year!
There’s an interesting dynamic where Henry is the reasonable one, and the one who, time and time again shows some compassion. He suggests therapy, and it comes off as something they’ve talked about before. It’s not a bad idea – not because Sally has something wrong with her, but because there is so much that’s wrong in her life and nobody who can help her deal with it. The poor kid needs somebody who will listen without shouting.
I shouldn’t find it funny that when Betty calls Don to tell him that Sally was “masturbating in front of a friend”, his question is “boy or girl?” I shouldn’t find it funny, but I really do. Don’s not convinced that she needs a psychiatrist, but then, the practice didn’t do much for Betty back in Season One.
It’s pretty clear in Betty’s meeting with the psychiatrist that the doctor is picking up on the real source of the problem. “I feel like she did this to punish me”, says Betty. Interesting that the doctor won’t tell Betty what she and Sally talk about, when Betty’s therapist was only to willing to talk to Don. Did the practice of psychiatry change that much in four years, or did Don find the sleaziest doctor he could? Oh, don’t even answer that.
So Don’s personal life spins out of control just as he regains his momentum at work. And since we’ll be saying it many times before the season is over, Poor Sally!
Next week, well, it’s hard to say. The trailer is a bunch of single, out-of-context lines of dialogue. We assume it will be really good, and that Mrs. Blankenship will continue to be hilarious.
