Mad Men – Episode 3-2 Review

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After relentless urging, a friend of mine finally picked up the first season of Mad Men to see what all of the hype was about. I excitedly asked her what she thought of it. “Well… it’s a little slow,” she replied, obviously not wanting to disappoint me.

“A little?” I probed.

“A lot,” she admitted.

I explained to her that the pace changes throughout the season. Usually, the few first episodes reveal exactly where the story picks back up and then it continues on accordingly. I said that on Mad Men, things start small and gradually build. The episodes that are short on action tend to have more character development, as they’re not so focused on plot development.

This was one of those character-heavy episodes.

Don’t get me wrong: things happened. Kinsey alienated himself from a client. Roger met with Mona and Margaret. Don was forced to pass on a profitable account. Peggy seduced a stranger. Betty and William fought over what would happen to their father, and the Drapers officially took Gene under their wing.

Within these occurrences, we learned quite a bit about each character. We already knew that Kinsey was a crusader against injustice and defender of the underdog, and he reaffirmed that by blasting the Madison Square Garden people over their plans to tear down Penn Station. He has made several outcries and odes before that have reduced his popularity, but this actually landed him in hot water at the office. The Madison Square Garden people insisted that he be removed from their account, and Don and Roger had to charm them into sticking with the firm.

When Roger met with Mona and Margaret to discuss Margaret’s impending nuptials, it was revealed that Roger and Jane are now married. Margaret unhappily attended their wedding, and she did not want Jane to be present at hers. Roger of course found the idea preposterous as he is the one footing the bill. It really didn’t seem to bother Roger much, as he knows what he’s done to deserve such resistance. He even remarked to Don that he has made his bed and now must lie in it. The hostility between Roger and Mona has led to a competition for Margaret’s affection, of which Roger commented, “I don’t even care about the wedding anymore. I just want to win.”

Price got word from the UK that they wanted to pass on Madison Square Garden. Don was infuriated by this, as Price was initially the one who forced him to go after them. It seems to me that Don prizes loyalty very highly, at least in business. His response to the news of their passing on Madison Square was the same as when he was instructed to cut ties with Mohawk Airlines. Don prides himself on being a man of his word, while the executives at Sterling Cooper pay little heed to honoring theirs.

The previous episode caused me to suspect that Peggy longed for some male attention. Not for companionship, but in order to feel appreciated as a woman, exactly as she was. She accomplished this by meeting a man in a bar and promptly going home with him. I was impressed that she declined to sleep with him since he did not have protection. Often, characters make the same mistake twice, as I suppose is realistic. Instead, she chose to do “other things,” (which we can really only speculate about.) She left in the middle of the night without offering so much as her phone number, which further demonstrated her simple need for validation.

Betty and William’s father, Gene, was a subject of serious tension and much debate. Gene’s wife Gloria ceremoniously left him, though Gene seemed convinced that she would come back to him. William and Betty had polarized views on what should be done with Gene. William proposed a live-in facility, more specifically, a retirement home. Betty was incensed by the idea and refused to see it happen. William then said that the only alternative would be for he and his wife to sell their house and move into Gene’s so that his wife could be his caretaker. Betty shot down this idea as well, as she thought William’s motives may not be entirely pure. A compromise was not immediately reached and the two ruminated separately.

Ultimately, Don decided Gene’s fate. He took William aside and told him that William was to explain to everyone that he and his wife would take care of Gene financially while Gene would live there with the Drapers. Don was unyielding and William had no choice. At this announcement, Gene was chagrined, feeling that “the animals are running the zoo,” but all involved insisted that it was the best thing for him.

I was rather surprised by this move, as Don and Gene have never gotten along, and earlier in the episode, Don even referred to Gene as a “son of a bitch.” I felt that Don made this decision in support of Betty, who dearly loves her father and is seriously affected by his well-being. It is not a happy arrangement for Don, but perhaps he feels that he owes Betty something after having cheated on her so many times.

Betty and Don are later awakened by the sounds of Gene pouring their arsenal of booze down the drain, fearing the doom of prohibition. This forebodes rough times ahead with Gene.

Overall, it was a terribly slow episode. Reading this now, these few scenes don’t seem to be enough to fill an hour, but as I mentioned, they were rife with character development. And in order to fully process what people are doing, we have to have some idea of who they are.