| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.So just a note before we begin: A few people have been added to the opening credits as series regulars, including Henry, Stan, Ginzo, Chaough, and Mason Vale Cotton, a.k.a Bobby Draper No. 5717. And now:
Although it's not explicitly referenced, it's Christmastime 1967, and against the backdrop of the still-incipient Vietnam conflict, the season begins with a VO from Don quoting Dante's Inferno, in case you were new and thinking things were going to be strife-free here. Of course, everything seems chill enough at the beginning, with Don and Megan sunning themselves on a Hawaiian beach and generally enjoying everything the locale and their client-sponsored hotel have to offer, but when we learn from a fan's gushing approach that Megan is now a TV star, it's not hard to figure there might be trouble in paradise, even with the ready availability of soothing island pot. Throw in a Don day-drinking episode, poorly handled from a gastric standpoint, and a pitch that unwittingly yet EXTREMELY obviously evokes death – and not, despite what Don backpedalingly would have you believe, in a good way – and it's pretty clear whichever Don emerged from the end of Season Five has a mortality issue or two to work through. And all this before we learn he's sleeping with a doctor buddy's wife – who lives downstairs from him, which is always, always a great idea.
Roger is in therapy, which is just as well, given that his mother passes away. As referenced earlier, Don drunkenly vomits at the funeral, but that's not the most inappropriate thing that happens, as Roger chooses this moment to call out Mona's current husband. Despite this, Mona later gives Roger some words that manage to be both sugar-free and kind, and soon, he's bonding with Margaret – but she also pitches him on an investment opportunity involving her husband and refrigeration trucks. Roger complains about all this to his therapist, saying he doesn't feel anything other than the pointlessness of existence – but a dead shoeshine guy then unleashes Roger's waterworks. Wasn't sure we'd ever get to see John Slattery ugly-cry, but it is Season Six here.
Peggy has apparently turned into the client whisperer for MIA Chaough, who's off on some religious retreat somewhere. Peggy channels her inner Don to solve an externally-induced ad crisis, and Chaough returns on New Year's Even to tell Peggy how great she is – but also to let her know that she's driving her staff too hard. Also, Stan and Peggy are still friends, and I'm not going to mince words – it's pretty awesome.
Chez Francis, Sally has a new motherless violin-playing teenage friend, Sandy. Sandy and Betty discuss Betty's experiences growing up, and despite the former's prickliness, when Betty hears Sandy's "left early for Julliard" – a place to which Betty knows she didn't get in – Betty tracks her to an abandoned building, and although she doesn't find her, she does retrieve her violin and tells off a douchey hippie in the process. She celebrates this last by dying her hair black, and Henry's like, va-va-va-voom, for which I can't really blame him.
Finally, some cleanup details: Peggy's still with Abe, who has a huge 'stache and hair, Ginzo's also sporting a 'stache, while Stan has a full beard. Most importantly, photo ops are taking place on the stairs to the actually-existent second floor. Welcome to 1968!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Welcome to Season Six! It's a bit of a jolt for me, as I've gone from the period-England soap of Downton Abbey to the backwoods slow-burn of Justified and now into the polished repression of Mad Men without a chance to catch my breath, but at least they're not throwing us into another two-hour episode to sta...oh. Right. Well, will they at least promise no reprise of "Zou Bisou Bisou?"
After we hear a woman shriek, the opening shot is of a character we haven't met before, a fiftyish bald man who's administering CPR to the camera. We hear the woman cry "Oh my God" a couple times, and as we fade back out, we hear sirens...
...and then Don's voice, as he VOs from Dante's Inferno: "Midway in our life's journey, I went astray from the straight road, and woke to find myself alone in a dark wood." I'd imagine, given its prominent placement that themes from the book are going to pervade the season; it's not like it would be the first time a literary work has been used in this manner on this show. We see that he's reading this while reclining shirtless on a beach, to him a tanned and bikini-clad Megan, who takes a blue umbrella-ed cocktail - not her first -- from a passing waiter with a bright "Mahalo." After giving the guy their "suite" number, Megan asks Don how long they've been out there, adding that she can't get too tan. "They'll fire me." So it looks like the favor Don did for Megan has been parlayed into an actual career here. I'd guess she's most excited not about the work or the success but the fact that she gets to stick it to her mother. Don checks his watch, but realizes it's not functioning at the moment, prompting Megan to guess that he got it wet before adding that she doesn't actually care what time it is. It's easy to be flip lying in paradise, Megan, but in my line of work I've seen an entertainment contract or two. Might want to find a robe, there.
Sometime later, Megan returns to their room and reports to Don, who's just emerging from the bathroom in a robe that shows off an appealing percentage of his legs, that he would not have liked the seedy neighborhood she just visited, but with a smile, she pulls from her bikini bottom the object of her errand, which is two joints, already rolled. Don stays silent, so she coaxes him, saying she knows he's tried it, but he hasn't had sex high, and it'll make it so much more intense. With that, he lowers her onto the bed and gets on top of her, so it looks like sex is happening, with its level of intensity to be left to the imagination.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
On the beach, a man dressed in island garb blows a call through a conch (too bad there wasn't an island train going through a tunnel they could have shown), which signals the beginning of a luau, with of course an attendant music and dance performance. Seated at a picnic bench with other hotel guests, Don and Megan watch enthusiastically (with the expected difference in level between the two of them) as a large roast pig is carted by, and then the emcee tells the crowd that everything on their plates is what they'd see at a royal Hawaiian feast. After a little Catskills-come-to-Waikiki about the word "ono," the dude to Don talks about the Royal Hawaiian, which apparently is the hotel at which they're staying; he counsels them just to eat the pig, as the poi is "wallpaper paste." Being that he's apparently one of the hotel's executives, I'd think he'd default to a little more culturally sensitive setting, but I have to admit I've never actually had poi. The emcee jabbers about guided tours for a bit...
...before we cut to later, when day has given way to night but the show is still going on. One of the local women encourages Don to join the dance, but although he expectedly refuses, Megan gets up to participate. Don watches, his face ranging from disapproving to mildly enthusiastic, as the emcee, who describes himself as "the Hawaiian Elvis," gives Megan some instruction in moving her hips like a local. Then, no sooner has Megan returned to the table than does a middle-aged blonde woman accost her and address her as "Corinne," so I guess Megan's now famous enough that she's experiencing the joys of people calling her by her character's name instead of her real one. The woman babbles about how she must be bothering Megan while continuing to bother her, hilariously asking her if she knows how much "trimmer" she looks in person than on TV before saying that "To Have And To Hold" is just her favorite, and while she knows Megan is new to "Berkshire Falls," she can tell - Megan just "has a way." Like most actors, Megan has to project some air of being inconvenienced to cover how much she actually loves this, and she consents to sign an autograph for the woman's niece as Don looks like he'd be checking his watch if the thing still worked. It's as good a time to get this out of the way - I found this episode a disappointment; it's uncharacteristically ham-fisted with the points it makes and is far too long for what it accomplishes. Pursuant to that, I'll point out that this is the fourth scene of the episode and Don, other than his VO, literally hasn't said a word; it's fine for him to be generally taciturn and to have death on his mind, but the hotel's paying for everything as an SCD(P?) client. A little schmoozing goes with the territory, and he's acting like he's hourly. The fan babbles a bit about show plotlines, but Don's attention is on a dancing Hawaiian woman...
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
...but later, Megan, clad only in bra and panties, is taking a toke from one of the joints before climbing on top of Don, who's in bed, and handing it off as she remarks that one of the women she talked to was from Minnesota, and she didn't even know they had the show there. After he takes a couple puffs and puts the j down, Megan leans in for a kiss and then tells him how much she loves it there, and then they start their round of "intensity," if you will...
...and then we cut to later, as it's dark in the room, and Megan is asleep, but Don, despite an all-day luau, alcohol, pot, and sex, is wide awake. Of course, he must have conserved some energy by not uttering a word all day. I wonder if he might consider learning ASL?
However he conveyed his order, Don is sitting at the hotel bar, with a soft background rendition of "O Christmas Tree" letting us know it's the holiday season. Don's attention is then grabbed by a guy at the other end of the bar asking his buddy "Galloway" if he'd like another drink, but given that Galloway is spread out on the bar like it's a king bed, it's no surprise he doesn't reply. The conscious guy, looking fairly sweaty and inebriated himself, turns to Don, addressing him as "Mister," and asks if Galloway has moved at all, and even in response to this direct question, Don's reply is silence. However, when the guy observes Don light his smoke with his Zippo, he recognizes it as a military issue, adding that he's got the same one, and stumbles over to sit to Don, asking him what branch he was in. Don's reply of "Army" confirms that his larynx was not removed in the offseason, and the guy enthusiastically lets Don know that he was too before babbling (hitting that drunk-loud pitch expertly, btw) about how everyone's been friendly even though he was expecting a fight (presumably referring to the state of the Vietnam conflict). He goes on that "this" is his bachelor party - he's getting married the day - so Don offers to buy him a drink, but the guy reverses the order, saying he's got lots of combat pay. Looking at Don's linen jacket and, well, looks, he asks if Don's "some kind of astronaut," and given that SCDP has worked with aeronautics companies, this can't be the first time anyone's ever had that idea. Too bad about the smoking, I guess.
Don asks how much time the guy (the character's name, as we'll learn, is "PFC [Private First Class] Dinkins") has left, and the reply is that he's getting married at "0800," but Don gently clarifies that he was referring to his tour in Vietnam, and that answer is eight months. Going back to his nuptials, Dinkins explains that someone told his wife married guys in war live longer, since they have something to live for. By that logic, I'm guessing the soon-to-be Mrs. Dinkins is going to make you work hard to put a bun in her oven. After some more drunken chatter about marriage, PFC Dinkins invites Don to get into some trouble with him - not sure Dinkins has any idea what he might be signing up for here - and asks him if he'll give away his bride. Referring to the still-comatose Galloway, Don asks if he doesn't think he's going to make it, but Dinkins tells him that Galloway's his best man, and since his fiancée's family is back in California, he'd like Don to do it, as he wouldn't want to resort to giving the job to a hotel employee. "They look just like the enemy." Well, if nothing else, that makes the cultural insensitivity about the poi look like nothing. Don tries to put the guy off, but his drunken enthusiasm continues unabated as he babbles about, essentially, paying to forward. "One day I'll be the man who can't sleep and talks to strangers." Don does not look like he's relishing the thought of how old he'll be when that day comes. Then again, this episode makes it seem like he's sure he'll be dead by then.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
But speaking of the day coming, Megan wakes up, squints into the sunlight pouring in through the balcony door, and sits up. After giving the viewing audience a little side-boob action, she steps into a robe and out onto the terrace...
...and then we cut to her walking out onto the beach, where she sees the wedding ceremony happening, and apparently Dinkins managed to pour a pot of coffee down not only his own throat but Galloway's as well, as they're both in uniform seeming at least minimally functional. Seeing Don in the tableau, Megan snaps a photo, and I really wonder what the accompanying update would be if Twitter existed here.
Cut to New York, where Pauline, Betty (looking thinner but not nearly back to her model body), Sally, and some girl around Sally's age are watching The Nutcracker, if the accompanying music is any indication. Sometime later, Betty has just been pulled over, and Pauline wonders what moving violation she committed. Declining to answer, Betty hands her license to the officer and apologizes, saying that it's hard to see (it does look quite cold, and defrosters weren't what they are now). The officer replies that going more slowly might have been a good idea, then, so Pauline gets involved, all "Do you know who she is?" about the whole thing. The officer isn't impressed with Pauline's sass, which only results in twice as much of it, and as the girls giggle in the back seat, Pauline instructs the officer to issue "a stern warning" and let them be on their way. The officer replies that he's merely trying to avoid taking them off the road with a shovel, one of the more graphic of the 3,495 death references in this episode, but he does take off without issuing a ticket, although not without muttering that Betty was driving "like a maniac." Sally then laughs that she hates cops, but Pauline surprisingly says the guy was just doing his job. She then says the whole incident ruined the evening, and she can't imagine it getting darker than this, whereupon Sally's friend "Sandy" pipes up that her mother is dead. Even Betty joins in on the giggling at that one, which is pretty hilarious...
...and then we cut to Henry, who's sitting with Bobby on the couch with Gene playing at their feet when the women arrive home. No sooner have they all sat down before Bobby runs off, leaving Sally to gleefully tattle that "Betty" got a ticket, and Pauline chimes in that she'd like Henry to tell "your wife" that mentioning his name to a state trooper is acceptable policy. Henry protests that it barely works for him, and then Bobby returns with a violin case belonging to Sandy, apparently. Sally dismissively tells "you little weirdo" to put it back, but he says he likes the case. "It looks like a coffin." I mean, when even Bobby is getting in on the death imagery, I think it's safe to announce that WE GET IT. Henry asks Sandy if she'd play a little, and when Sandy balks, Betty smiles and adds her own request. "It makes me feel so much." Sandy silently assents even as Sally proclaims the pressure they're putting on her "disgusting" before telling Pauline that Sandy is going to Julliard semester. Pauline's suitably impressed, and then after it's established that she's fifteen (which is a year older than Sally), Sandy gets up and plays. I couldn't tell you if she's any good, but everyone seems into it; Henry and Bobby particularly seem enthralled. Don't worry, I'm not the only one who noticed.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
Don and Megan have returned from points warm to New York, and when they walk into their building, Megan tells the doorman a bit about the weather before asking how he's feeling. You probably would have come to this conclusion on your own, but the episode immediately hurls us into a flashback in which we see the doorman had a heart attack right in front of Don and Megan - it was Megan's scream we heard at the beginning - before the bald guy, who we'll learn is a "Dr. Rosen," intervened and saved him, co-opting Don as his nurse in the process. And no, before you ask, I couldn't mention Don as a nurse without picturing him in scrubs, but given certain pictures of certain areas of Jon Hamm's anatomy that have popped up around the internet for the past year, I have the feeling he'd kind of take to that attire. Rosen tells his wife "Sylvia" (Linda Cardellini!) to call an ambulance, but it's Megan who springs to action as Rosen exhorts "Jonesy" to snap out of it...
...and then we're back in the present, with Megan expressing slightly discomfited surprise that he's back to work already and Jonesy giving her a new script that came in for her the day before. Don, for his part, doesn't ask Jonesy if he's ever read Dante's Inferno, but I bet he's wondering.
Betty's brushing her hair as she lightly teases Henry about the look he had on his face while Sandy was playing, which she says was very similar to Bobby's. "She's a year older than Sally. Shame on you." Henry wryly replies that no one would blame him for leaving Betty for a teenage musician, and I'm sure much of the viewing audience thinks it was awfully nice of him to qualify that sentence, particularly given Betty's follow-up that Sandy's just in the room, and Betty's happy to hold her arms down while Henry rapes her. Henry's like, ummmmmmmmmmm, but Betty, recalling that he said he wanted to spice "things" up, continues in this vein about sticking a rag in Sandy's mouth so she won't wake the boys, and when Henry tells her that's enough, she smiles and notes he's blushing. On the one hand, I find this an interesting and non-clichéd little development - she obviously trusts Henry quite a bit to say something this fucked up to him in jest, which I don't believe is something I was convinced of before. On the other hand, the actual words make me feel like going to Confession after merely hearing that speech, and like Peggy these days, I'm not even Catholic.
Back in the city, Don is complaining about the maid (ostensibly) having left the terrace door ajar while Megan, eyes on her script, basically gives him a "That's nice, honey." She's bummed that she's only in one scene, and a fairly inconsequential one at that, but Don doesn't look particularly sympathetic. Given what percentage of scenes Jon Hamm is in on this show, he probably didn't have to dig too deep for that one.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
In the dark, Betty enters the kitchen and sees Sandy sitting at the table with a cigarette. Sandy, who by the way is played by Kerris Lilla Dorsey, better known as Sarah's daughter Paige on Brothers and Sisters, says she couldn't sleep, making a comment about the creaky floors that makes me think I didn't call this place the Rye Town Francis Spookhouse for nothing, and Betty offers her something to eat, adding that she'll have something too, although she's "trying to reduce." Rather passionately, Sandy asks why Betty doesn't just be the way she is. "You're beautiful." Betty blithely says that's charming "and you know it," but Sandy goes on that her mother wore a girdle all the time and as a result always had a stomachache, and Sandy thought, "You'd rather have a stomachache just so dad would like you." Of course, Sandy doesn't know that Henry was perfectly accepting of Betty even when her fat suit was considerably bigger, but Betty cuts through to the actual issue as she sympathetically tells Sandy that her mother passed away too, only a few years ago. "This time of year is the hardest."
Sandy's hangdog expression prompts Betty to add that they're happy to include her in their family, and I'm trying to remember if we've ever seen this kind of generosity of spirit from her; in any case, Sandy confesses that she didn't actually get into Julliard, and Betty doesn't know what to say at first, but brightly offers that Sandy can try again the year - she can tell everyone she wanted to finish high school first. Sandy snits that it's incredible how quickly some people can come up with lies, and Betty's mildly offended, but it's worth noting that it's not the typical quick-to-anger reaction you might have expected from the Betty of Seasons Four and Five. Anyway, Sandy is not referring to the lie about high school, but to the larger point that she's old for a violinist anyway, and she's kidding herself if she thinks that dream isn't dead. She goes on that her real endgame was to get out of this Podunk town and to New York, but Betty, with an indulgent smile that suggests she thinks she knows better, assures her that plenty of girls do just fine without Julliard. Sandy: "Sure. You go to college, you meet a boy, you drop out, you get married. Struggle for a year in New York while he learns to tie a tie and then move to the country and just start the whole disaster over." Betty's pronouncement that this is an "arrogant exaggeration" doesn't exactly suggest that Sandy lacks a point here, and to put it plainly, she wants to make it on her own, which is an understandable instinct generally but particularly so for a girl who's lost someone so close to her.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
Betty tells Sandy she's got so much, but Sandy snits that she didn't ask for it and doesn't want it. She asks Betty if she isn't curious about people in the Village, adding that she even went and visited them. After a little detour to confirm that Sally didn't accompany Sandy on that particular field trip, Sandy brightens and says that Sally did tell her that Betty lived in the Village and was a model. Betty can't hold back a small smile at the memory, but replies that she "lived with five girls in two rooms and ate soup out of cans." Even knowing the part about the modeling career, I had no idea Betty had quite that bohemian a past. Sandy sighs that she bets it was great, but Betty tries to tell her it was different back then - there weren't all the riots and robberies there are now. Sandy excitedly replies that she visited a building right off St. Mark's Place, and kids were just living there. "People are naturally democratic if you give them a chance." Betty: "Are you on dope?" HA! Sandy is like, no, man, so Betty tells her that Sandy's not her child, so she's not shining her on, but she knows she's talented, and Sandy tries for that gracious expression artists have to use when dealing with the evaluations of laymen. Betty adds that Sally was "crushed" that Sandy was going away, and then the two of them finally dive into the Ritz crackers that have been basking in their product placement.
Hey, it's Peggy, and she's apparently dating Che Guevara...oh no, sorry, that's Abe. Well, handlebar mustaches are confusing! Apparently, the vegetarian meal of which they just partook didn't particularly agree with either of them, but it's Abe who goes running for points porcelain as Peggy announces she doesn't like vegetarian food anyway. "Reminds me of Lent." Heh. The phone rings, and after Peggy checks her watch, presumably noting the lateness of the hour, she picks up to find it's Burt Peterson - you know, the former SC Head of Accounts who fantastically flamed out after getting fired in the third-season premiere ("Drop dead, you Limey vulture!). What I did not realize, however - those are some thick glasses on him - is that he's played by Michael Gaston, who at only 50 has more credits than you could count, but to me will always be the oily, terrifying Ben Zeitlin on my dearly departed Terriers.
Peggy asks if everything's okay, and Peterson's like, "yeah, sure, I just called at midnight to say 'what's up,'" so apparently they're co-workers now at Chaough's company. After asking if she saw Carson that evening, Peterson tells her that they're at DEFCON 3, about to go to 4, whereupon Peggy correctly informs him that the number gets lower the more dire the situation, and given that this scene predates WarGames, I'd let this slide if not for Peggy adding, "I've told you that." Hee. Anyway, Peggy adds that "you sound...under the weather" (heh), but Burt's like, I may be drunk and not know which end of the DEFCON scale is up, but some comedian did a routine about the war, and now Koss Headphones wants to pull their Super Bowl spot. The problem, apparently, is the line "Lend me your ears," and Peggy doesn't understand what the issue could be, but Peterson's like, great, so you'll call Chaough. In his hurry to get off the phone, he doesn't add "Thank you and good night," which if you ask me is a wasted opportunity. Peggy sighs and gets her book out, calling to Abe in the process to see what time it is in Colorado and getting only vegetarian-food-fueled nonsense in reply...
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
...and then we cut to the elevator in Don's building, with Rosen joining Don, who smiles that he supposes he shouldn't wish him a Merry Christmas. Rosen: "Save that for Sylvia." I guess I should restrain myself from commenting, but it's taking some real physical effort here. Rosen asks how Hawaii was, and Don somewhat mournfully replies, "Long ago and far away." Given that I'm now on page seven, I feel qualified to agree. Rosen brings up a camera company that's a client of Don's, and after some back-and-forth Don offers to give him one - he can even come get it now. Rosen, however, says he'll be in surgery until two, whereupon Don tells him that if Rosen comes to his office, he gets to go to his. And I know I said I'd restrain myself, but I'm wondering in light of later revelations just how far Don's willing to take reciprocal agreements. When the elevator door opens, we hear Jonesy's too-enthusiastic Noo Yawk accent belt out "Another glorious morning, Dr. Rosen," prompting Rosen to aside to Don "No good deed..." while keeping a smile plastered on his face. Hee.
Well, the betting event of a lifetime has finally occurred - Roger Sterling is in therapy. Actually, I'm surprised it took him this long, given that he's never seemed to have a problem expressing his innermost thoughts. He babbles some stuff about a woman with whom I suppose he's been dallying, wondering if she reminds him of Jane before telling the guy (Dr. Levy is his name) he thinks he's being hard on him, and seriously, if there's a character with potential for growth in this season, it's got to be Roger Sterling's put-upon therapist. He complains about how his employees don't know anything about him, and rather than count his blessings, he mock-despairingly asks what life is all about before telling Levy, with a Foghorn Leghorn delivery, that that was a joke. Dr. Levy: "We discussed this. I can't laugh at everything you say." Hee. He does at least admit that Roger makes not laughing hard sometimes, but uses the subject to ask why Roger tells so many jokes. "You're obviously not afraid that you're boring." I'm thinking a couple people in this room need to read Sterling's Gold with an unbiased eye.
Roger goes off on a tirade about doors and windows and bridges and gates; his point is that life is supposed to change you, to guide you in growing as a person, but that's not the case. "Turns out the experiences are nothing - they're just some pennies you pick up the floor, stick in your pocket, and you're just going in a straight line until you-know-where." Ironically, Roger's inability to be changed by the events of life is a trait you could point to as a defining reason why he's a comedic character, but Dr. Levy is correct when he tells Roger he sounds afraid. And despite the familiarity of the doorway imagery, this Roger discussion is still quite a bit more subtle than anything that happens with Don in this episode. (Don't worry; the Roger subtlety won't last either.) Roger claims that he's in fact irritated, and goes off on a "What's the deal with New Year's" bit that I think the Hawaiian Elvis might steal if he hears it.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
Peggy enters the CGC conference room, and Peterson asks how her Christmas was. Peggy: "Same as the last five; ruined by work." She turns the question around, to which Peterson sighs that he's a widower - you'll remember that Joan told Hooker about Peterson's wife being ill when he was fired - and Peggy and the other dude in the room are like, ohhhhhhhhh yeah, but Peterson doesn't let them twist for long, instead bringing up the client-related issue - there were a bunch of jokes on The Tonight Show about servicemen cutting off people's ears in Vietnam, which means that their ad - the print version of which shows a dude in a toga with the copy "Lend me your ears for five minutes and change how you listen to music forever" - has to go. Peggy asks what exactly was said, which is the other guy's time to shine - Peterson couldn't get a transcript, but "Lawrence" is a devout viewer. Lawrence also does not appear to be the sharpest tack, but he's all they have to work with at the moment, so he gets up and gives a rambling account of the routines done on the show, and the fact that Peterson is entertained makes Peggy even more impatient than she already was, which is quite a sight to behold.
Anyway, the joke in question was about GIs cutting off Vietcong soldiers' ears and wearing them around their necks like trophies; Peggy winces and asks if they really did that, and Peterson grimly informs her there's an upcoming court-martial. The punch line involves a general telling a GI that the ear isn't regulation, at which point the GI asks the general if he could speak into his necklace. Peggy's like, offended on behalf of actual humor everywhere (and also surely can't believe that something so ridiculous is causing them such problems). After establishing that the client is coming at one, Peggy declares it an emergency meeting, so there will be no need for any wining and dining; then, when Lawrence offers that he'll practice, Peggy's like, the client already saw it, numbnuts. "Go home. There's no second show." But Peggy, what about the two-drink minimum? Given the day you're having, you really don't need to restrain yourself. Peterson asks what Chaough said, and Peggy tells him she left a message. Peterson counsels her, essentially, not to fuck it up, as it's a Super Bowl campaign - I think the subtext is that she needs to check her ego at the door, and Peggy, reluctantly but sincerely, says she gets it. She then mutters about Carson, but Peterson displays some surprising clear-headedness: "I think it's the Army that's really at fault here." It's a truth that's so obvious that it got lost, which is why I don't have a problem with him saying it.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
In the elevator at SCD(P?), Don is counting the seconds until the elevator closes when a handsome young man holding two cups of coffee hops on and asks him how his trip was. Don baldly replies, "I'm sorry, but your name escapes me," but the guy is undaunted, enthusiastically telling him he's "Bob Benson" from upstairs in Accounts. And I didn't realize this on first viewing, but the actor, James Wolk (I did at least place his name without help) was the lead on the critically acclaimed and VERY short-lived Lone Star. Benson chatters on a bit about how they spoke at the Christmas party, recalling that Don seemed to know his way around Pennsylvania before offering him one of his cups of coffee. Don's a bit bemused by this bait without a clear hook, but accepts, whereupon, after they get off the elevator (we can see on the door that they kept Pryce's name, so that's that question answered), Benson goes on that "through low-level corruption" he has tickets to the Cotton Bowl - Crimson Tide vs. Texas A&M - before asking Don if he plays football. Don: "What's in that coffee?" Hee. Realizing Don is asking, as my friend's grandmother used to say, "Who put a nickel in you?" Benson admits that he's trying to schmooze Don for business purposes, whereupon Don saunters into the common area to greet his team with an appropriate amount of skepticism: "I smell creativity!"
And I smell awesomeness, for when he turns, we see Ginzo is sporting longer hair and a huge 'stache, while Stan has opted for a full-on beard. There are two other members of the team - one a middle-aged woman we haven't met before - and after Benson goes off probably to give his remaining cup of coffee to another partner, Stan grins that he can't believe Don just got off a plane given how great he looks. Don replies that Stan looks great, and neither of them are getting any arguments from me, so let's turn to Ginzo, who asks Don to settle a bet - on the plane, are mothers allowed to hold their babies in their laps for the whole ride? Don's pretty sure the answer's yes, to the woman's dismay; Ginzo (has his accent mellowed out? Further research is required, but this has tragic potential) replies that she couldn't know, because she never had kids. "And the last time you left town was in a covered wagon." Kind of refreshing she's getting as much shit as anyone else right from the get-go. By the way, a guy who may or may not also be part of the team is asleep on the couch - I might not have noticed if I hadn't paused it at a particular moment - as the team turns its good-natured ribbing toward Don before Stan asks if Don brought anything back that could help him with his art concepts. Don, however, replies that he had an experience. "I don't know if I can put it into words." Don, to borrow a phrase from your ex-wife: "Are you on dope?" When Don's gone, the dorky new guy points out that Sheraton (suck it, Connie Hilton!) is coming in on Friday, but Ginzo defends his hero, saying he just got back and is still thinking. Don't worry, nerd, you'll worship at the altar of Don Draper soon enough.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
Don reaches his office, and our vantage point lets us see the SCDP space has been restructured - there's now an internal staircase going up to the second floor, referenced earlier by Benson. Dawn, looking from her outfit like she's gotten a raise or two since last we saw her, explains the crowd gathered around the stairs by telling Don they're taking portraits for publicity purposes, and Don then goes over and greets Joan while Pete, posing on the stairs, welcomes Don back in that inimitably pompous tone of his. Joan takes Pete's place (the photographer addressing her as "Gorgeous" indicating that the glass ceiling has not exactly disintegrated), and then Roger appears and, after asking Caroline about his shoeshine guy - he just depends on him, don't you know - he greets "Don Ho" before looking at Joan and saying he thinks he's , "but I don't want to follow that act." Pete ribs Don for a bit, which Don does not take as well as when it's coming from his Creative team, and then Harry appears and notes that they're taking new pictures. Roger: "Yeah, we'll be done in a second." In case you were wondering if the hiatus brought any change to Harry's whipping-boy status.
Don enters his office and freezes in horror, and Dawn is like ohhhhhhhhhh, right - they rearranged your furniture for the pictures. Don isn't thrilled, but merely sends Dawn off to get the files he was working on when he left. He then steps back into his office and looks out the window, and the city sounds give way to surf noises. Damn, Foley guys. Now I want to go to the beach.
At the emergency meeting, Peggy is trying to tell the Koss guy that no one has really made the connection he's so worried about. He points out a flaw in her argument, that being that no one has actually seen the TV spot yet, but Peggy replies that the print ads have been going for three weeks, and they've heard squat. The client acknowledges that, but it's clear he's not going to let the TV spot proceed as planned, so he wonders if they could cut the "Friends, Romans, countrymen" part and just talk about how great the headphones are. Peggy's face is like, it's true that meets the definition of an "idea" in the dictionary sense; her mouth is more diplomatic, but she does offer that this play would make the whole toga idea a non sequitur (they've already filmed the spot, which is why their hands are tied on a lot of fronts here). Peterson doesn't give Peggy any help, and the client is like, I'm handing you a solution here, but Peggy sticks to her guns: "It needs more than a solution. It needs to be a great ad." Peggy, having watched the Super Bowl for many years, I'm not prepared to go that far, but I agree it should at least be the goal. She asks for a little time, pointing out that the idea they just scrapped took a while to come up with, and when the client asks if it didn't just come to her, she evenly tells him no, it didn't. "You rejected a lot of things." She leans forward and gives the client some...I won't say "Draper-esque" - for one thing, there's no theme music playing - but inspiring words, and when the guy agrees to give them a couple days, Peterson's like, great meeting, let me walk you out - only to turn back to Peggy when they're alone and drop the smile: "You gotta get a hold of [Chaough]." Heh. And indeed, Peggy does not look nearly as confident as her words would suggest. Another thing she and Don have in common.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
Don is reviewing artwork for a Dow oven cleaner, but all the versions have the tagline "Love Is In The Air," which Don doesn't like, nor does he fancy the one drawing of a guy carrying his new bride, saying that "anything matrimonial feels Paleolithic." The two new Creative types take the opportunity for some hippie-bashing, but as much as Don would like to join in - and I really, really think he would - he tells them to focus their attention on using the word "love" more substantially. The woman counters that she's not sure that's possible in this context, but Don argues that if that's the case, they should contribute to the trivialization of the word, as, essentially, it's powerful when used properly, and they don't want to diminish that. Of course, diminishing love isn't something Don's proven opposed to in the past or present, but Bertram will be relieved that he's back to taking his work more seriously than his wives.
The receptionist, with Rosen in tow, then gets Don's attention, and Don quickly leaves his team to greet Rosen, who tells him he got out early. Don: "Is that good or bad?" Hee. But hey, Rosen, you're saying that you can get out of surgery early? Given the arrangement we see at the end of this episode, Don, what a cliché you are asking to be. After Rosen confirms that the operation was a success without the patient dying on the table, Don leads Rosen through the office - that same guy is still asleep on the couch, by the way; I hope someone checks his pulse soon - as Rosen admits that he was a little discomfited seeing Don working on ideas just now, as "part of me was hoping that head was empty." Wrong Jon Hamm character, Rosen. If we were on 30 Rock, your wish would be fulfilled. As Don rummages through the supply closet, Rosen subtly checks out a passing woman's ass, and we may be meant to think this makes him a dog on the level of Don, but all it does for me is confirm his heterosexuality. Rosen says he doesn't know how to thank him, so Don suggests he become the first American to complete a successful heart transplant and then give the credit to his camera. Dawn then appears and tells Don the photographers are ready for him, so after they establish that their wives are "cooking something up for New Year's," Rosen takes off. Aw, Don has an actual male friend! It's going to be ugly if Roger hears about this.
Speaking of whom, Roger's on the phone with, I'm assuming, the woman about whom he was babbling to poor Dr. Levy earlier when a flushed and crying Caroline enters and apologizes for the disturbance, saying it's urgent. Roger gets off the call and pours Caroline a drink as she pulls herself together and tells him she has tragic news - according to his aunt Jessica, his mother has passed away. Roger's eyes seem to go wide for a brief moment, but after that, he's perfectly stoic, comforting Caroline with a pat on her shoulder as he tells her she was ninety-one, and it's hardly a shock. Caroline cries that she was so sweet, and she knows how close she and Roger were, but Roger kindly tells her that she'd been saying every Christmas for the past twenty years was her last. Caroline: "She was always so polite to me. When she could hear me." Hee. Roger supposes he's in charge of the arrangements before asking what the cause of death was, and Caroline tells him she had a stroke -- in the bathroom. Roger: "Well, I asked, didn't I." Roger instructs Caroline to talk to Joan, as she'll know what to do, but before Caroline goes, she downs the whole drink in one gulp. Atta girl, but you look like you've got some more crying in you. How's about a roadie? Nope, after she collapses sobbing onto Roger for a moment, she gets out of there, whereupon Roger raises a glass skyward and simply utters "Cheers." I hope he puts a little more thought into the eulogy.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
Peggy calls for Chaough again, and after listening to the response, fake-laughs: "Let's not exaggerate. I've only called twice." Heh. She addresses the other party as "Father," but then amends it to "Pastor" - "I was raised Catholic" - and after giving some family history, she tells the guy that she's sure he gave Chaough the message, but the matter on which she's calling is urgent. We don't hear the other voice, but I'm guessing it's unimpressed, so Peggy sharply consents to leave a message. When she's done, she snits, "How could you possibly have written that down that fast?" Heh. She's not showing much deference for authority, but maybe the guy's a Unitarian. In response to another question from the guy, Peggy gives her Super Bowl prediction ("Oakland or Houston against Green Bay," which is absolutely correct; she then gets off the phone, but not without an "and also with you." Hee. She looks out the window and takes a sip of coffee before calling to "Phyllis" to get her some more, as hers has gone cold. I wonder if this Phyllis regularly goes into the bathroom and steels herself not to cry?
Don is getting made up as he protests that it isn't necessary, but before I can reflexively agree, the photographer tells him that with the backlighting, even his tan by itself won't be enough to prevent him from looking like he hasn't slept. The clairvoyant photographer then gives him some instruction about appearing lost in thought, so Don stands behind his desk and lights a cigarette - whereupon he realizes he must have traded lighters with Dinkins, as his is inscribed with Dinkins' name and the motto "In life we often have to do things that just are not our bag." I mean, I've never served, but that doesn't sound like an official Army saying to me. Of course, you'd think this development would work for the shot's lost-in-thought motivation, but the photographer asks what's wrong, and Don takes a minute to come back to Earth and ask what the guy wants. He tells Don to be himself, but the terrified answering look isn't sufficient to let the guy know that after five-plus seasons, we're still searching for this Don's identity.
Don's lying in bed when Megan enters in the early-morning light and gently tells him that she waited as long as she could, but she has to go - she's sorry about the funeral, but the show wants her to work the entire week. Don takes the news with good enough humor - maybe he's too tired to be combative at the moment - and promises to give Roger her condolences. She leaves, but instead of going back to bed, Don sits up and once again contemplates Dinkins' lighter; he then gets up and heads for the bathroom, throwing the thing in the trash as he goes. What, Don, you couldn't be bothered to put it in the mail to Vietnam? You have a secretary! She's even in this episode!
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
Betty comes home to find Sally eating at the kitchen table and wonders why, as Sandy is coming over. Sally's dismissive, but Betty pays attention when Sally continues that Sandy went to Julliard early. Betty's like oh, is that so, to which Sally asks if Betty wanted her to say a tearful goodbye. Even though that reads as obnoxious on the page (and it is; Sally's turn toward bratty teen may be realistic, but it's also a cliché and not one I'm looking forward to experiencing), once again, it's apparent that Betty's in a lot better control of herself when it comes to Sally these days, as she replies with a touch of dryness, "Well, frankly, yes." Sally then proves she is definitely a teenage girl by talking about how stuck-up Sandy was. "She kept saying how she really was going to look back on this time fondly." With obvious worry, Betty leaves the room and wastes no time in grabbing a photo of Sandy and Sally together...
...while Don, dressed to go to the funeral, is looking pretty sloppy as he watches TV, oblivious to the maid vacuuming around him...
...and then Roger is fielding compliments from some older ladies and Bertram when Jane arrives. An elderly woman in a wheelchair, who I'm guessing is Aunt Jessica, demands to speak first, to which Roger replies, "I think you just did." Hee. But she's talking about the eulogy, of course, and after Roger agrees, he squires Jane safely away, whereupon she reminds him that she has his mother's ring and inquires if he wants it back. It's a thoughtful gesture, to be sure, but Roger thinks Jane should keep it, as his mother liked her anyway. "You always paid your rent on time." Hee. A delivery of some "victuals," as Bertram refers to them, arrives, and Roger is confused, as he didn't order them. He looks at the card from Benson and asks who the hell that is - heh - but Ken covers that it's from them (he, Harry, and Pete are all standing there) before Margaret suggests they get things moving. After a comment from Harry that suggests his continued low spot on the SCDP totem pole continues to be deserved, Don enters, drink in hand, and he actually looks like shit and this time can't even blame backlighting. After Ken takes a little survey on whose mothers are alive, Don, who is WASTED, is like, I'm going to go stand over there now, and then Roger gets started, first apologizing for the dry atmosphere, "but as I've been reminded many times today, Mother did not approve of libations." Looking like he's going to pass out, Don toasts that, and that reminds me that this revelation makes Roger's earlier gesture to his mother seem even less adequate.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
The crazy aunt then pipes up that she's got a few words to say, so Roger invites her to "roll on over here" just as Mona and her current husband turn up. After they greet Margaret and her husband Brooks, Roger introduces "Mrs. Hazel Tinsley" - so much for the Aunt Jessica theory, and WHERE IS SHE - who flew up from Palm Beach for the occasion. Hazel launches into a speech about how Roger's mother spent her life "devoting herself to one man but loving another," and goes on that when Roger Sr.'s "brief life" ended, it was Roger Jr. to whom his mother devoted her existence; her friends counseled her to find another man, but she told them her heart was full, "because my son is my sunshine." And with that, Don's stomach gives up the ghost, and he horks right into a nearby umbrella stand. Well, at least they're built for this kind of thing. The SCDP boys hurriedly get Don out of there as he mumbles a drunken but sincere apology, but while all the death and mother talk may have been difficult subjects for him to hear discussed, I think "my son is my sunshine" has to accept its share of blame for this mess. Roger invites Hazel to resume (by the way, you'd never recognize her, but the actress, Barbara Tarbuck, recently played Mother Superior Claudia on American Horror Story: Asylum), but she wonders if Don's all right, and then Roger decides that he's not done with scenes, as he decides to call Mona's husband "Bruce Pike" out for showing his face there. He barks that the gathering is supposed to be for family only, and I guess it's convenient for his argument that the SCDP people just bailed, but no one supports him, so he pulls the ultimate acting-out move and yells for everyone to depart. When no one moves, he runs out himself, leaving everyone to wonder how ugly that would have gotten if he'd actually been lubricated.
Betty is in the Village, apparently having gone to the intersection about which Sandy told her, using the photo to inquire if anyone's seen her. No one's particularly helpful, and all that ice on the ground doesn't look fun, but Betty doesn't appear like she's going to be dissuaded...
...while, speaking of determination in the face of unpleasant errands, Mona enters Roger's bedroom and tells him everyone has left. Roger, face down on the bed, sulks that not everyone is gone, but Mona lightly remarks on the "touching tribute" before saying how Don "never tires of embarrassing himself." Roger: "He was just saying what everybody else was thinking." Hee, but it's a fairly telling comment - Roger may have acted out due to embarrassment over Hazel's speech more than anything else. Roger petulantly tells Mona she shouldn't have brought her husband, and she admits to that before offering, her eyes sympathetically filling a bit, that the loss must be very difficult for him. He claims not to feel anything, but Mona ignores this to tell him that his mother lived a long time, and she knew Roger loved her. Roger feels like she always wanted to spend time with him and he never granted that, but Mona suggests he could consider that in the context of his family. He complains that he looked at the crowd and only saw the faces of women he's disappointed, but Mona brightens as she tells him that no matter what he does, everyone loves him. "What you're seeing is them worried about how you feel about them." And this episode may be uneven and heavy-handed in spots, but the Roger-Mona relationship has always been extremely strongly written, and this scene is no exception; it's amazing to see the depth of caring the two characters have for each other even with everything he's put her through. Plus, Talia Balsam just rules. Mona explicitly counsels him to spend more time with Margaret, and when he then not-very-subtly invites her to bed, adding that it would be "soothing," she once again shows why she's the best: "Soothe yourself." She tells him he's going to clean up, and leaves the room...
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
...while another cleanup is happening in the form of Pete and Ken dragging Don into his building, at which point he slurs the question to Jonesy - what did he see when he died? It obviously makes Jonesy uncomfortable to discuss, but he offers that there might have been a light, and Don latches onto that, wondering if it was a hot, tropical light. "Could you hear the ocean?" This is not a line of inquiry the Hawaii Tourism Board is going to be too jazzed about. Pete and Ken finally get Don into the elevator...
...while, at a different building by St. Mark's Place, Betty is showing the photo to two young men. They don't claim to recognize Sandy, but when they go inside, Betty asks if she can join them, and they're essentially like, "Free country." Inside, it's not quite Grey Gardens, but there are rats and homeless kids bunched together; regardless, Betty soldiers on, and soon she's found Sandy's violin. Retrieving it, she heads to the kitchen, in which the two young men from outside are preparing to cook something, and tells them it proves Sandy was there. They remain unhelpful, however, until one of them is moved by the worried look on Betty's face, whereupon he calls out to the other residents and asks if they've seen Sandy before asking Betty if she knows how to make goulash. Betty hesitantly offers some advice and is then discomfited to hear that they don't even have access to running water; the two men then go to retrieve some snow and an Army knife, leaving Betty alone. And the longer the show drags on, the more people you expect to quit smoking, but I can't say I begrudge Betty a cigarette at this particular moment.
Roger comes back downstairs and finds Margaret, who tells him Mona left and she sent Brooks and, I'm guessing, their son on a bike ride while she waits for the servants to wrap up the deli. She's not angry with him, it's apparent, and after they chat a bit, he tells her he wants her to have something. My first thought was that Jane returned the ring anyway, but no - from a cabinet, Roger retrieves a jar he tells Margaret belonged to his mother, which was a present from his father. He goes on that it contains water from the river Jordan, with which both he and Margaret were baptized. Margaret thanks him, but does wonder if her grandmother left Margaret anything else; Roger tells her she bequeathed essentially everything to the zoo. "Her will looked like the manifest from Noah's Ark."
Margaret plows on, however, that Brooks didn't start where Roger did, and that's an issue because there's this really great investment opportunity. In response to the outstretched hand he knows is coming, Roger reaches for his cigarettes, but Margaret admonishes him not to before pitching him on refrigeration trucks. Roger seems amenable to the investment, pending a chat with Brooks, and you know he's going to end up making a fortune while complaining about the whole experience, because that's how Roger Sterling rolls. Fortunately, he's got a therapist and won't be particularly sensitive to what he pays him. Margaret's overjoyed, and gives him a big hug before going to check on the staff, leaving Roger to contemplate the meaning of it all. Well, at least you bought a nice eulogy from Margaret just now.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
Megan returns home after dark and finds Don in bed; she wonders if he even made it to the funeral, and he replies that he put in an appearance. "I just should have had lunch." Megan's familiar with this shorthand, and asks if he needs aspirin, but he claims to be feeling better now. After some talk about the turn toward evil her TV character apparently took that day, Megan goes to fix Don dinner - but not without returning the lighter "Rosa" found in the trash. When Megan's gone, Don looks at it like it's a bad penny. U.S Mail, Don! This is what it's there for!
After a close-up on the pot full of dirty goulash, one of the guys offers Betty a toke off his joint, which she declines before asking him if marijuana is expensive. He doesn't answer, and soon, they're joined by two other dudes who are there for dinner. The one guy asks the new arrivals about Sandy, and the speaking one tells Betty that the violin is his now - Sandy sold it to him, as she's trying to get enough money to go to California. Betty asks "Zal" where Sandy might be, but he dismissively calls her "Blondie" for the second time and tells her to run along, prompting her to ask why he's being so rude. He talks about control and how she can't "grok" the notion that people like him are her garbage, the waste product of a broken system, but Betty in no uncertain terms informs him that she came looking for someone she does want. Zal grabs her purse and examines the contents before handing it back to her with a snide comment about her "bottled" hair and how they don't like her life any more than she does. Betty: "You have bad manners. You deserve to live in the street in this pigsty." He tries to tell her the violin is his, and when she asks what he wants with it, he tells her he's going to learn to play it. Betty spits, "Because it's so easy," and storms out, the violin still in her hand, and the fact that she rips her coat on the way out doesn't diminish how great an exit that was. Once she's left the guys behind, though, she reconsiders, and whether or not it's because she's realized that this whole effort was an exercise in, as Sandy would probably put it, kidding herself, she sets the violin down on the floor and gets the heck out of there.
Abe enters Peggy's office with two hero sandwiches, both decidedly non-vegetarian, and asks how it's going. She tells him she's doing an exercise Don taught her, which is to write a letter to a fictitious acquaintance describing the wonders of her new headphones. It doesn't sound like a bad idea in theory, but I have to wonder whether its efficacy is going to be compromised by the fact that Peggy doesn't really have any friends. Abe is happy that "this unjust war is finally having an impact on commerce," and I found Abe's hippie babbling a lot more tolerable when his appearance was more presentable. Two flunkies enter and ask if dinner was ordered for them, and Peggy's like, "No," but Abe offers to share, which is nice, but then again, with all the Commie ideology he spouts I guess he kind of has no choice.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
The two guys claim to have three separate ideas, but in reality, they merely pitch three variations of the same concept. Peggy's right to point this out, but this is the way she does it: "If you can't tell the difference between which part's the idea and which part's the execution of the idea, you're of no use to me." Sounds like her execution could use a little work, but Peggy's not about to stop there, as she goes on that she's been in their shoes, and they're hoping that their ideas will spark her imagination, she'll come up with something brilliant, and then everyone can go home. That doesn't actually sound so bad to me, but her point, I guess, is that they need to work harder to get her ideas going, and she punctuates that by handing over her sandwich and saying they can split it, "because you're not going home." From their reaction, I'd guess this isn't the first time something like this has happened, but when they're gone, Abe notes that she was "a little rough," and some workers don't respond to that. She's not offended, but does tell him the guys know they're lazy; she then lets him get back to listening to the music (as she enlisted him to come up with relevant adjectives for the headphones). As she watches him chair-bop, she looks loving at first, but her face suddenly gets serious, signaling An Idea has formed. And those two underlings may have gotten a talking-to, but it looks like their little plan worked, more or less. And they got a free sandwich out of it!
Betty finally returns to the Rye Town Francis Spookhouse, the Christmas tree lights giving the only illumination of the first floor, and heads up the stairs, where she sees Sally on the phone. Betty approaches Sally's doorway and greets her, but Sally holds up a finger and mouths for Betty to give her a minute before shutting the door. Betty's like, whatever, and heads in to see her husband, telling him she had some errands to run. He doesn't seem suspicious, although he does take note of the large rip in her coat, and she lies with him and tells him she's happy he already ate, "because my feet are frozen." I'd imagine, but the point seems to be that she looks grateful for what she has, even if one of the things she has is an all-too-typical teenaged girl.
At SCDP, Pete and Don greet each other in front of the latter's office with their typical low-level dislike, and then Pete informs Don that since he was "under the weather" the day before, he thought he'd remind him about the Sheraton meeting. Don tells him to cancel it, but Pete's like, their bosses are in week and they just sent you to Hawaii, so how about no on that? Don doesn't have a reply, so when Pete's gone, he asks Dawn to get Stan into his office before handing over Dinkins' lighter, explaining that he got it by mistake, and could she get it back to him? NOW WAS THAT SO HARD, DON? All the unnecessary agita over it is an example of how this episode seems really forced in spots. Dawn asks if Don would like to enclose a note, but he declines...
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
...while Roger is relating the gory details of the funeral. Unlike last time, he's facing the therapist, and I wonder what kind of conversational battle that concession entailed, but Roger goes on that he "used to jump off mountains, and it never occurred to me that I had this invisible parachute." He clarifies that his mother loved him "in this completely pointless way," and now that love is gone, which signals to him that the remainder of his life is going to be filled with loss. He claims not to feel anything and that this is an intellectual rather than an emotional epiphany, but you probably don't need me or the therapist to tell you that anyone who acted as he did at the funeral has not exactly wrapped up this experience on any level.
On the second floor of SCDP, Ken passes Benson, who greets him, and it looks like his typical slightly inappropriate enthusiasm is the trigger for Ken to decide that a little come-to-Jesus Accounts Department meeting is warranted, so he turns back to ask Benson what he's doing out in the common area. "You have a meeting with someone important?" Benson either doesn't detect or chooses to ignore Ken's tone, but Ken goes on that maybe Benson is looking for customers "for your catering business," to which a nearby secretary looks up like, "No one told me it was going to be on so early in the morning." Benson, the smile finally draining from his face, stands and asks if Ken is "cross" with him, but Ken doesn't play around, telling him that someone sent "a royal spread" to Roger's, accompanied by a card with his name on it. Called out, Benson tries to claim that "it just seemed like the thing to do," but Ken tells him it was too much: "It was almost like you were invited. But you weren't." How I do love Ken Cosgrove. Benson tries to tell him that when his own father died, any gesture meant something to him, adding that there wasn't supposed to be a card. He'd be better served just to admit to an error in judgment, as he's surely lying and Ken knows it, so Ken tells him to head back to his office. "Sitting out here makes people think you have nothing to do. And I suspect you're hoping it's the opposite." That's pretty hellacious, and when Ken's gone, Benson tries to tell the understandably interested secretary that he'd better catch up on his phone calls. After that little dressing down, maybe one of them should be to Roger's therapist?
Oh, boy, it's time for the Sheraton meeting. The older of the two clients apologizes for the between-holidays timing and says that of course they're not expecting a full presentation, and after some typical Accounts bullshit from Pete and Roger, Don begins: After the requisite compliments to the Sheraton hosts, Don says that since he returned, he's had a feeling he can't shake that feels unique to Hawaii, and goes on that he thinks they're selling not a geographical location but an experience. "It's not just a different place -- you are different." He goes on that you aren't homesick and don't miss anything, and I don't know if this is an acting choice on Jon Hamm's part, but his "organic flow of ideas" faces are coming off to me as uncharacteristically labored and false. He goes on about the sensory experience, and this is all well and good, but now it's time for the artwork, and this isn't the first time it's been said this episode, but I hope you're sitting down. Above a tagline that reads "Hawaii. The jumping off point," we see a man's discarded jacket, shoes, and tie, with footprints to them leading to the water, only a tiny bit of which is depicted.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
If I start now, I'll never stop, so let me just let Don talk about Hawaiian legend stating that the soul can enter and leave the body, but it usually departs from a leeward point - into the waves. I mean, there are SO MANY things wrong here that I can hardly blame the Sheraton guys for taking a few moments to categorize their thoughts, but the older dude finally gets to the point, if diplomatically: "What happened to him?" Don proudly tells them that he got off the plane, shed his skin, and "jumped off." I can't contain myself here: "Jumping off" evokes suicide! The tie looks like a hangman's noose! Disappearing footprints are like Death In Art 101! I'm so bent out that I can't even bother with the fact that "jumping-off point" needs to be hyphenated as a compound modifier.
Still trying to wade into (forgive me) the problem, the younger guy, who by the way is British, says the art feels cinematic to him, "but mostly I see James Mason at the end of that movie walking into the sea." Don claims not to know what he's talking about, and I can't really decide if it's less credible that Don, who you'll remember used to be obsessive about keeping up with pop culture, never saw the 1954 version of A Star Is Born, or if he honestly doesn't get how the artwork is evocative of the fate of that character. As I may have alluded to, I think Don's sudden obsession with death manages to be both a retread story-wise and kind of unearned - he cares about a doorman? - but that's not my biggest problem with this scene: It's Don's steadfast refusal to Get It. I like my Don Draper smart, not an obtuse idiot, and he's acting slower to grasp what's going on than he did with Megan and the fucking orange sherbet. If the point is that Don has over time gotten terrible at his job, we've been there too, to be honest. I respect the craft that goes into this program something fierce, but I've seen this trap on many shows that have lasted this long: You can never assume that the audience is so invested in your characters that they'll care about them no matter what story you tell. In this case, the death obsession, beyond being clankily depicted, doesn't break any new ground and doesn't make any clear connection to the zeitgeist (not that the connection doesn't exist, but the show has excelled at making such connections explicit in the past), so what's the point? And obviously, it's early in the season and the plan doesn't have to be fully revealed at this point, but this was a two-hour offering that, as my great friend Sars mentioned on Twitter, "felt more like a parade than an episode."
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
Anyway, to get back to it, Don defensively tells the younger guy that A Star Is Born, which garnered (sorry, again) nominations for Best Actor and Actress for Garner and Judy Garland, must just be a "personal association" for him, but the older client brings up another issue, more mundane but equally valid: Where is their hotel in all this? Finally reading the room, at least a little, Don says they could adjust the angle of the shot to feature the hotel, which is a step in the right direction. However, when the team suggests they see the man, Don balks, so the older guy has to explicitly explain again that people might think the guy died if they can't see him, and apart from everything else wrong with this scene, it feels like it started the last time I was in Hawaii. Don is like, maybe the guy did die and go to Heaven, and OH MY GOD is this uncomfortable, so I thank the older guy for making it as plain as plain can be: "We don't want that in the ad."
With some optimistic words that frankly are not supported by what we just were forced to witness, the Sheraton guys leave, shepherded by Pete, whereupon Roger injects some much needed fresh air: "What's the matter, you didn't get all your vomiting done at my mother's funeral?" HA! Don apologizes for the incident of the day before, but he hides behind saying he had a bug, so, much like with Benson earlier, it loses any import. Regardless, Roger deflates and tells Don he didn't miss anything, whereupon Don turns to Stan and asks him if the ad makes him think of suicide. Stan, his mouth wonderfully stuffed: "Of course! That's what's so great about it!" If Stan isn't already in my top five favorite characters on this show, I predict he will be by season's end. He exits, leaving Roger, as usual, to put things in a way Don can understand: "We sold actual death for twenty-five years with Lucky Strike. You know how we did it? We ignored it." He leaves Don to contemplate the ad once again, and I know I already mentioned 30 Rock, but an "Okay, I see it now" would make me forgive a lot.
Sally's on the phone in the Francis kitchen when she asks Henry if she can go to "Becky's" for New Year's Eve; getting the predictable "Talk to your mother" in reply, she tries to bargain, staying she'll stay long enough to put the kids to bed and then go to the party. Betty then arrives home, and when she comes into the kitchen, she gets everyone's attention - she's died her hair black. I'm not sure if it's a knee-jerk reaction to that idiot's "bottle blonde" comment - if this is supposed to be her natural color, I suspect it's more tied to Sandy's suggestion that Betty should be herself - but either way, Bobby seethes that he hates it. "You're ugly!" Betty is unfazed by Bobby's (and Sally's) comments, but she certainly lights up when Henry asks, "Elizabeth Taylor, what have you done with my wife?" He may not be the most exciting, but that's a pretty solid husband. Now if you'll excuse me, Joe R and I will just be in the corner singing "Oh Black Betty, bam-ba-lam!"
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
At SCDP, Caroline gives Roger some more bad news - "Giorgio" died, and his family sent over his shoeshine kit because Roger was the only one who ever called about him. That's touching as far as Roger's actions go, but a second death in the same episode that involves the same character? What is this, amateur hour? Roger takes the box into his office, opens it, and promptly breaks down, and no offense to John Slattery but let's just say this is not playing for me like it's supposed to. But Roger, there are some words of Joan's that may have faded from your memory, so allow me to remind you: One day, you'll lose someone who's important to you. You'll see. It's very painful.
It's New Year's Eve, I presume, and Don and Megan, the Rosens, and another couple are sitting around a low table in the Draper sunken living room having fondue (of course) as we see snow falling steadily outside. The third couple is already sounding a little slurry as they talk about staggering downstairs at the end of the evening, which makes me think they're competing against each other for the Petra Colson Drunk Of The Party Award. A mention of Bloomingdale's as the place from which Megan got the fondue pot leads to Boozy Husband telling a story about a "flamboyant" co-worker of his who got arrested in the men's room for some stall-shielded oral sex. Apparently the Bloomingdale's men's room is known for this, in case you were still thinking of potential ways to reintroduce Sal. There's some talk of kids and the Rosens' empty-nest syndrome before Megan, looking pointedly at Don, tells the room it's time to take a trip to Hawaii, to which Don sighs. "We were having such a good time." Heh. Megan, however, gets sufficient support from the room to get the slideshow going...
...while Stan is on the phone catching Peggy (both of them still at work) up on the goings-on at SCDP Creative (you won't be surprised to learn it involves a disastrous meeting between Ginzo and a client), which is adorable and also proves my earlier contention that Peggy has no friends wrong. Stan then wonders if Peggy thinks Joan and Roger are still sleeping together, "because his mother croaked and she completely ignored him." She did, didn't she? Considering how much slack Mona cut him, that is pretty telling. Stan then goes to grab some coffee while leaving the phone off the hook, and then who should appear in the doorway but Chaough himself, dressed in formalwear with that usual vaguely impish smile on his face. She asks what he's doing there, so he explains that when he heard he had four people working on New Year's Eve, he figured he owed it to the team at least to stop by. Peggy starts to explain about the crisis, but aborts in favor of asking if he got her "message," and he dryly replies that he got "them all" (heh), but he and his wife were on a retreat motivated by the notion that he works too much, so she can see how answering business calls might have defeated the purpose. He asks if she's found a solution to the problem, and she says she has one idea before showing him outtakes of their subject (in close-up, rendering the wardrobe issue irrelevant) listening to music via the headphones and just clowning around in much the same way Abe was earlier. She suggests that they show him making those faces with no music, with the tagline something like this: "Koss Headphones: Sound so sharp and clear you can actually see it." It's pretty brilliant, using one sensory medium to sell another, and Chaough gives it the high praise it deserves, but does chide Peggy for not letting her staff go if she knew she had something. Peggy tells him they know they're free to leave, but Chaough cures her cluelessness: "No. They don't." Peggy's face falls, but Chaough smiles again and leaves things on a positive note, telling her she's good in a crisis before heading back out. When he's gone, she basks in the glow of having a boss who genuinely appreciates her...and then, from the phone she never hung up, Stan's voice singsongs, "He likes you!" HA! He chuckles, but while Peggy's momentarily embarrassed, her praise-derived pleasure quickly eradicates that feeling.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
Boozy Couple (their names, we'll hear, are "Dave" and "Cathy") have apparently been counted out, so it's just four of them having some Galliano, courtesy of Jonesy. Rosen makes a disparaging remark about Jonesy's "constant bootlicking," for which his wife mildly chides him before making the Italian toast "Cent'anni, and Megan, who you'll remember grew up speaking FRENCH, asks what that means, so I wonder if she drank like another bottle of Galliano when she was getting the fondue ready. Anyway, after some typically New York discussion of the prices of their apartments, the phone rings. Megan notes that they missed midnight - it's one o'clock - and wonders if it's her mother, but no - Rosen's on call, and it's his service. Don't know how doctors do it - forget the alcohol, but it's one AM! How will he keep his eyes open? Don says he needs cigarettes, and moves to accompany Rosen; Megan points out that it's the middle of the night on a Sunday and a holiday, but Sylvia is like, don't bother...
...and we cut to downstairs, with Don and Rosen in the building's storage area - Rosen is going to cross-country ski to the hospital. Well, I suppose that'll wake him up, at least. Don wonders what it's like to have someone's life in his hands, and Rosen, after taking a moment, replies seriously that it's a privilege and an honor. Don opens the door and regards the snowstorm, and Rosen, referencing all the cardio he's about to get, pointedly tells Don it'd be a good New Year's resolution to quit smoking. He goes on to tell Don that "the whole life-and-death thing" doesn't bother him, and that's why he and Don have jobs. "You get paid to think about things they don't want to think about, and I get paid to not think about them. People will do anything to alleviate their anxiety." With that, he steps out into the night and skis away...
...unaware that, presumably to alleviate some kind of anxiety in himself, Don has been having an affair with Sylvia. I'll reserve judgment on this revelation to a point, but a lot of people I know see this as fan service and not character development, and while I've never judged Don, at least not on a blanket basis, for his infidelities, I do think it's a bit morbid to be turned on by them. I think even he would admit that he's not a character people should aspire to be. Regardless, he's on top of her - presumably afterward, if the stillness of movement is any indication - and she asks if he read "my Dante." He tells her it made him think of her, as it was beautiful. After she kisses him, she asks what he wants for the New Year, and he admits, "I want to stop doing this." Tinged with regret, she tells him she knows, and this admission may seem like awareness, but we've lived with the character long enough to know that it's actually weakness. For five-plus seasons now, much like Tony Soprano, Don Draper has been a strongly-portrayed weak man, interrupted by short periods of action that are often ill-advised and always seem to fade away. Maybe in that context, death should be on his mind, as every moment that passes makes his chance to find meaning in his life diminish. But the show is running out of time to make Don Draper truly meaningful too; I only hope it knows it.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
Don trudges back to his door, and in front of it, he picks up his copy of The New York Times, one headline of which reads "World Bids Adieu To a Violent Year; City Gets Snowfall." Nice try, headline writers, but as Kim Carnes told us, New York snow isn't going to purify anything. Elvis' "Hawaiian Wedding Song" somewhat ironically kicks up as Don crawls into bed to an obliviously blissful Megan, to whom he wishes a happy New Year, and we're out. See you week - for only one hour, thankfully.
John Ramos is a writer and film producer living in Los Angeles. His new film, a documentary on online privacy and the sale of personal data called Terms And Conditions May Apply, recently premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in January. You can get news on it from the film's Twitter account. Also, you can email John at couchbaron@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/couchbaron, or check out his blog, "Pull Up A Chair," which he'd just love for you to stop by.
| Season 6 | Episode 1-2 | Aired on 04.07.2013
Don trudges back to his door, and in front of it, he picks up his copy of The New York Times, one headline of which reads "World Bids Adieu To a Violent Year; City Gets Snowfall." Nice try, headline writers, but as Kim Carnes told us, New York snow isn't going to purify anything. Elvis' "Hawaiian Wedding Song" somewhat ironically kicks up as Don crawls into bed to an obliviously blissful Megan, to whom he wishes a happy New Year, and we're out. See you week - for only one hour, thankfully.
John Ramos is a writer and film producer living in Los Angeles. His new film, a documentary on online privacy and the sale of personal data called Terms And Conditions May Apply, recently premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in January. You can get news on it from the film's Twitter account. Also, you can email John at couchbaron@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/couchbaron, or check out his blog, "Pull Up A Chair," which he'd just love for you to stop by.