Mad Men Roundtable – “The Summer Man”
Anything I ever found remotely cute or endearing about Joey vanished when he was called into Joan’s office. He joked he was getting a spanking (“like in my dream”), but once the door was shut, he made one of the more upsetting comments I think I have ever heard. “What do you do here, besides walking around like you’re trying to get raped?” I’m pretty sure I gasped. Joey was behaving like an obstinate child after being reprimanded. Even at his most deviant, no one from Roger’s or Don’s generation would have talked to her like that, and certainly not with so much thinly veiled contempt. His follow up comment, about not being told what to do by a “madam from a Shanghai whorehouse”, was equally offensive. And we finally saw the kind of viciousness that could cause our Joanie to wilt.
I just rewatched this episode during its rerun on AMC Sunday mornings – the first time I saw it, I noted that it was the first time “Mad Men” ended with the credits rolling but no music playing over them. I wondered if there was something particular in the episode that made it special (like the silent clock in “24”). However, I wasn’t certain, so I’d be interested in hearing what you or other readers have to say about the matter.