Mad Men Roundtable: “Christmas Comes But Once a Year”

Some nice moments accompany his return – Don’s cluelessness about his alcoholism, Peggy’s legitimate joy to see him again, and of course, his continuing mistrust of Pete. But we see Freddy takes an old-school approach to the Pond’s ad – it’s not as misguided as a lot of what we’ve seen, but he just seems hopelessly out of date. (Even in 1964, Talulah Bankhead was not a sought-after name for endorsements.) It really stands out when he’s working with Peggy, one of the masterminds of the Great Ham Fight. Though he does get the great line “I’m sure yours will be better, because you’re girlier”. It’s interesting to watch his tension with Peggy as the episode goes on, though. Freddie’s still got some of that old-time sexism, which is a hot-button with Peggy. (“Use Pond’s and you’ll get married. Or we can go the other way – Don’t use Pond’s and you won’t get married. Which is better.”)