Mad Men Roundtable: “Christmas Comes But Once a Year”
Between all the stalking and creepy sexual politics, this was one of the darkest Christmas episodes I’ve ever seen.
MYNDI
The return of Joan and Roger’s flirtation was a delight (“why don’t you wear that dress with the bow on the back? The one that makes you look like a present.”) The way Joan can effortlessly handle a situation like a low-key office Christmas party being crashed by a client–and an obnoxious one to boot–is what makes her everyone’s favorite character.
How agonizing were those party scenes with Lee Garner, Jr? His forcing Roger Sterling to wear a Santa suit and then having a flah (just a flash) of genuine gratitude when Santa Sterling handed him a state of the art Polaroid camera before reverting to his smarmy, entitled type once more. OF course, I’m sure I’m among the small army of Mad Men viewers who can’t look at this guy without thinking he cost us our sweet Sal. And we’re waiting for the day when SCDP can stop kissing his ass, or resign the Lucky Strike account altogether.
Maybe ol’ Freddie coming back bearing the Pond’s Cold Cream account will help to that end. It clearly sparked some ideas for Peggy, who was not once addressed by her name in this episode. From “cutie” to “precious” to “ballerina” and a surprisingly heartfelt “sweetheart” from Don, she continues to be a conduit for the changing times and a true trailblazer, even though she hardly knows it yet. As far as Peggy Olson is concerned, she’s just doing what comes naturally and what she feels is right. She knows she has the right angle with her concepts for the Pond’s spots, and she knows that if she sleeps with Mark, she’ll probably get some instant gratification and then potentially lose the albatross of the relationship she really doesn’t want long term. Who cares if he respects her? She respects herself.
Meanwhile, Don is spiraling into dangerous territory. The respect and reverence his underlings once had for him is all but gone. New guy Joey calls him “pathetic” as his secretary Allison discovers that he left his keys behind at the office, so drunk was he when he ducked out. Alexa Alemanni has given Allison so many layers in such little screen time. We got only glimpses of her last week; enough to know she was a competent secretary. Now, we’ve learned that she was clearly still in awe of Don Draper, even as he was crumbling, something he never would have let anyone in the office see before now. What will the fallout be from this liason? Will it be explosive,or just sad? Does Allison fancy herself the next Jane Sterling, or is she just a casualty in Don’s next tranformation?
So, Don’s off to Acapulco for some much needed sun and surf and we’re finally going to see what’s become of Joan’s marriage. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear he stepped on a landmine–yet.
