In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.
Paul throws a party, which gets the city folk out to Montclair and affords us the chance to see a few new on-screen interactions, and the fact that Paul is dating an African-American woman, a revelation that brings out an ugly side of Joan. An American Airlines plane crashes, which stirs Duck to try to bring American in as a client, with Bertram and Roger's approval. Meanwhile, we learn that Pete's dad was on the plane, and when he finds out, he goes to Don of all people for guidance, in a scene that shows that in some ways, Pete has Don pegged better than anyone. Perhaps affected by the news, Don registers his extreme distaste for the idea of wooing American, both because of the timing and the fact that they'd have to dump Mohawk, which puts fuel on the fire over the clash with Duck, as does Roger's eventual order to Don to cut Mohawk loose.
Carlton and Francine come over to the Drapers' for cards, and when Betty is rather abrasive about a wide range of subjects, Don later calls her out for trying to pick a fight with him. Peggy pays her Brooklyn-accented and Catholic mother a visit, during which we get a quick allusion to the fact that Peggy was committed for a time, presumably during those two months after her pregnancy for which she wasn't around, and that her mother, sister, or both are raising her son. Duck odiously tries to get Pete involved in the American Airlines play, making his state of mind even more fragile, but when he goes to Don again for solace, Don, seething over the Mohawk business, bites his head off undeservedly. The cruelest irony is that the Mohawk president blames Don for dropping them. Meanwhile, Don's reaction to Pete sends him straight to the meeting with Duck and the American guy, and Pete doesn't hesitate to use his personal tragedy to advance Sterling Cooper's cause. In the end, Peggy goes to Mass and grips her son while people take Communion around her. Oh, and Joan is over thirty, and the whole office knows it. Ha!
Discuss this episode in our forums, then see why Mad Men makes vloggers Val & Beth think TV is the Answer!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Amazing episode, after an understandably slow start. Let's get to it.
Pete and Trudy enter a long hallway, from down which they can hear loud music playing, and we learn that while they find the neighborhood a little sketchy, Trudy feels that it's important for Pete to be there, as the attendees include people that work for him. Pete asks her to rein that assessment in: "Some of them don't feel that way." Heh, I like that he's aware enough of how things really are to warn her, and yet manages to spin the truth into a story that will satisfy her. Maybe he really should be moving up in the advertising world. Once they reach the main room, we note that the party is crowded and rather noisy indeed, and Trudy makes a beeline for Harry and his heretofore-unseen wife, Jennifer. Incidentally, I neglected to point out that in Trudy's bitter griping last episode about not yet being a member of the Mommies-To-Be club, she mentioned that Jennifer is pregnant, right before Harry told us the news as well. There's some slightly awkward discussion of the lack of a place to put coats and the fact that Harry's kind of hammered, and while I can understand if Jennifer isn't too thrilled about office parties given Harry's affair, her attitude makes me hope that Hildy's home sitting this one out. Trudy and Pete head over to greet Peggy, who's being hit on by a bespectacled guy who asks if she really works for these "stuffed shirts." Weird angle to take, given that he turns out to be a buddy of Paul's and also went to Princeton, but regardless, Trudy, with genuine warmth, greets Peggy and asks her to introduce them to her friend. Peggy: "Eugene, whom I just met [hee] was telling me that at Princeton, Paul used to dress up like a girl." The host himself then appears, and if the makeshift ascot around his neck is representative of his sartorial choices outside the office, I'd appreciate it if he'd give dressing in women's clothes another try. I'm sure he could come up with an appropriately literary drag name. "Harlot Bronte," perhaps? Pete dismissively asks if there aren't enough "subterraneans" in the Village that Paul had to come out here (we'll learn that he's residing in Montclair, New Jersey), and Paul, brandy of course in hand, pompously responds, "I'm here because this isn't Greenwich Village. This is America." I'll use my own Princeton education to come up with this witty rejoinder: Baaaaaaaarf. Quick cut back to Eugene, who slurs that Peggy is a "button," and then we're on to Ken, who's grossly hitting on a girl whose gender isn't the only reason she wasn't one of Paul's classmates. Sal and a woman (not his live-in, I don't think, not that it matters anyway) flee the scene none too soon, and then we're with Joan, who's bitching to Paul that her man actually has to be at the hospital when he's on call. Paul babbles pretentiously for a while about the booze he's drinking, and then they're joined by a young woman who just happens to be African-American, and works at the "Food Fair" in South Orange and also is Paul's, as he puts it, "baby." Paul then gets called offscreen to deal with a crotchety neighbor, but before he goes, he tells the women not to talk until he gets back. I didn't think I'd say that about someone sporting that neckwear, but you have to admire his instincts. Joan, however, doesn't obey, soon coming out with this sentiment: "When Paul and I were together, the last thing I would have taken him for was open-minded." Wow, accomplishing the twin goals of revealing you had Paul first and dropping a racist bomb, all in one sentence. Too bad Joan's not interested in writing copy. Sheila, being nice and also somewhat at a loss, compliments Joan's shiny new purse, and Joan insincerely thanks her. This seems like a good time for a new paragraph and a shower.
When we return, Ken has a drunken arm around Paul and points out that he stole the typewriter sitting in the corner. "That dumb girl almost got fired." Paul counters that she didn't, and he needs it, as he's a writer. Ken does not respond by bringing up his Atlantic Monthly story, which means that he must be feeling very charitable, be very drunk indeed, or both.
In the relatively unpopulated hallway outside the apartment, Peggy is making out with Eugene, who breathes, "Hey, Brooklyn. Come home with me." And I thought his line about stuffed shirts lacked nuance. Peggy takes great pleasure in this response: "I'm in the persuasion business. And frankly, I'm disappointed by your presentation." There's got to be a PowerPoint joke in there, but I'm too lazy to find it. Anyway, Eugene does not seem to have a backup pitch, so Peggy strides on out of there...
...and is seen ignoring her alarm in the morning, dressed in the same clothes from the night before. Geez, Paul got the whole office out to New Jersey on a weeknight? Times really have changed.
In the elevator at SC, Roger bitches that Fifth Avenue is a parking lot. "In both directions." Heh, nice little period note -- New Yorkers will know that Fifth Avenue only goes downtown now (it was two-way up until 1966). Don reminds him that there's a parade for "Colonel [John] Glenn," prompting Roger to snark, "It's incredible what passes for heroism these days." Well, I'm no fan of parades myself, but I think I'd give Glenn this one even in 1962. Roger's just been really testy since his cardiac event. Don disagrees, saying he thinks Glenn's a winner, with his square jaw and "false modesty," and Roger replies, "You gonna go down there with your autograph book at lunch?" Everyone else in the elevator's inside voice: "Get a ROOM."
When Don and Roger reach the office, they see everyone gathered around Hildy's desk. (By the way, just so I don't forget again, the other thing I forgot to mention is that Lois, Don's new secretary, was the new girl last season, the one who had a crush on Sal. I guess her working for Don is oddly fitting, in that he's the second-most unavailable guy in the office.) Roger, thinking they're all gaga over Glenn, is annoyed, but it turns out they're listening to the radio because "American Airlines Flight 1" to Los Angeles went down in Jamaica Bay. Peggy, carrying a vacuum cleaner and a less-visible hangover, enters as Don tells Hildy to turn the radio off. Once she's obliged, he tells Harry to pull any Mohawk Air ads, as they don't want people opening the paper "and seeing a Mohawk ad to a picture of a floating engine." Not without a really good tagline, anyway. Don stomps off, leaving everyone else, including Pete, free to make jokes at the downed plane's expense. However, Hildy takes a call from Irony at that point, whose timing on this show is just consistently magnificent.
Bertram! I missed him. Roger is in the coot's office when the secretary buzzes that Duck is there. He tells his bosses that someone should tell Don to pull the Mohawk ads, not-so-subtly trying to sell the idea that Don needs supervision, and then informs them he just had a conversation with an old business associate of his who's now at American, and it's complete chaos over there -- they have no idea what happened to crash the plane, and they're going to need to make a fresh start. The significance of that expression isn't lost on Roger and Bertram, although they fail to steeple their fingers and give a Mr. Burns-esque "Eeeeeexcellent." For future reference, I would have forgiven the anachronism.
The phone call is now coming to light, as Pete tensely wraps it up and looks dismayed as he pours himself a drink...
...and then he steps out and looks around uncertainly. After a few moments, he steels himself by downing his drink and heads into Don's office, ignoring both Hildy's and Lois's querulous attempts to get his attention. Don looks up questioningly, and Pete tells him that he just found out from his brother that their father was on the American Airlines flight. (Side note: The actor who played Pete's dad, Christopher Allport, tragically passed away in an avalanche in January.) Don, of course, offers cautious sympathies, but when Pete goes on that he doesn't know what to do, Don gets up and closes the door. Now, we all know that Pete has had a love/hate hero-worship fascination with Don for a long time, but I think, interestingly enough, it's Pete's knowledge of Don's secret past -- knowing that Don is so good at keeping up a front, at acting the way people are supposed to act rather than how they actually feel -- that's drawing him to Don now. Either that, or he figures Don's got the best booze in the office and the occasion calls for a swig of something expensive. Speaking of which, Don pours him a drink as Pete asks what he should do, and Don tells him he should go home. Pete muses that he doesn't even know how old his dad was, and wonders, with scientific dispassion, if he's going to cry. Don, as sympathetic as you could imagine him, given the circumstances, says that Pete just had a shock, and he should go home and be with his family. Pete, looking straight into Don's soul, asks if that's what he would do, and Don says yes, which, given what happens in the rest of the episode, is probably supposed to be the first indication of his new family-man status. Because of that, I'll refrain from pointing out that Don probably danced a merry little jig when his own father bit it. Pete looks genuinely intrigued to hear that Don would in fact go home, and, in a bit of a trance, notes that everything is exactly the same. Well, I'd imagine your sense of self-worth will go up over time, Pete. Don reiterates that Pete should go home, and Pete snaps out of it as Don tells him he'll cancel the meeting they have later. He intones, "There's life, and there's work." Seems like he should have reversed those thoughts for the effect he's going for. Whatever the thinking, however, the conversation is over, and Pete leaves, but not without passing guys who are still making light of the tragedy. Lois tells Don that Bertram would like to see him...
...but it's not just Bertram, as Roger and Duck are still in there with him, and after Roger mentions that the Mohawk guy is an unbelievable poker player, they give Don the news that American might be looking for a new ad house. Given the fact that Don was consoling Pete not five minutes ago, it's not surprising that he's aghast, at least for him, and he bites out, "You'll have to forgive me for not looking at a bunch of bodies in Jamaica Bay and seeing the opportunity." It doesn't take long for him and Duck to get into an argument, with Duck of the opinion that they could land a much more lucrative account if they got rid of their "conflict" by dropping Mohawk, and Don contending that Mohawk is a good client and warrants loyalty: "They don't deserve to be thrown out the door for a wink from American." The argument remains unresolved, and Don withdraws. When he's gone, Roger opines, "He'll be fine." He's already fine, Roger. But if you think he's going to willingly come around to Duck's way of thinking, that highball you just polished off isn't among your first ten of the day.
The Campbell family has gathered together, and Pete's mom worries that Pete's absent brother Bud won't remember everything that needs to be taken care of. She then gets all squirrelly about a small pink clay elephant on the mantelpiece, and insists that Trudy take it. Bud then enters and, off to the side, informs Pete that their father was insolvent, and as for their mother's money, the Dyckman Trust "isn't as solid as one would hope," as their father took out a number of loans against it. Pete wonders how he could have spent so much money, and Bud sighs that he asked someone who's presumably a family friend if there was a woman, and he said no. "It's all oysters, travel, and club memberships." Well, if there wasn't another woman, I don't know what all the oysters were for. Pete asks if their mother knows, and Bud snarks that if he wants to tell her, he can feel free. Mother Campbell says that Father used to refer to his sons as "Salt and Pepper." Trudy opines to "Dot" that that's beautiful, and I'd offer a reaction to that if Bud and Pete's "WTF?" side-eyes didn't perfectly do it for me.
Don gets home, and after being greeted by Bobby, is informed by Betty that Carlton and Francine are coming over to play cards. Also, she made him a ham sandwich, and all I can say is that it's really not fair that Mama Cass is still alive. I have enough trouble coming up with jokes without being hamstrung by stupid things like linear time.
Later, Sally brings Don a drink, and I'm not easily offended but the fact that he disapproves of how she made it is really a little much, and the fact that Carlton, of all people, plays good cop here sort of makes my point for me. Don sends her off to "take Mommy and Francine's orders" and shoos Bobby off to watch TV. Carlton muses that the kids are growing like weeds, and tells Don that they have "the Carruthers girl" over to babysit already. He gets skeevy about the uniforms she and her classmates used to wear, and Don replies, "I'm enjoying the story so far, but I have a feeling it's not going to end well." Words this series lives by. Carlton complains that everything he does rubs Francine the wrong way. Here's an idea: Stop being a disgusting lech and see if that helps. Sally then returns with an order for "two Tom Collins," and Don tells her how to make them.
Peggy, vacuum still in hand, shows up at an apartment that just so happens to belong to her mother, who's seated at her kitchen table with Peggy's older sister Anita. Mother and Anita both have Brooklyn accents, but it's the mention of church that really seems to make Peggy uncomfortable. After Mother Olson tells Peggy to light a candle for her father, she leaves, and Anita lets Peggy know that their mother tells people at church that Peggy goes to Mass in Wilkes-Barre. She's not going to fit in on this show if that's her idea of a believable lie. Anita goes on that their mother isn't going to be around forever, and asks if it would kill Peggy to go. Peggy counters that she doesn't want to, and she's capable of making her own decisions. Anita: "Really. The State of New York didn't think so. The doctors didn't think so." I guess we're to conclude that Peggy's despair over her new son was merely the beginning of a downward mental spiral. I'll also conclude this: That was cold, Anita. Mother returns and asks if Peggy returned the vacuum and emptied the bag, and Peggy tells her she did indeed.
Pinochle is the game, and after some card talk, the adults discuss a nearby proposed housing development while, unbeknownst to them, the kids sit on the stairs in their pajamas. The game and chatting continues until Bobby makes and appearance. Betty orders him back to bed, but he tells her he's scared, as he heard something. Don reiterates that he should return to bed, and when he doesn't obey, Betty gets annoyed and casts a "deal with this" look at Don, who obliges, picking him up and carrying him upstairs. Betty snits: "When I was a child, I would have been way more afraid of my father than of going to sleep." No one even raises an eyebrow at this declaration, which is both comforting and deeply upsetting, and Carlton tries to adopt a "boys will be boys" defense, saying that when he was Bobby's age, he would be under his covers with a flashlight and a stack full of comics. Betty, however, has a response: "I don't care what they do when they're up there. I just like a few hours of quiet." I have enough friends who have kids to react to her thusly: Fair enough. When Don returns, however, she says that Bobby is a little liar, and goes on about how he drew a lovely picture of George Washington for school the other day -- only he cheated by tracing it, and he accepted praise from the teacher for something he didn't do. Francine and Carlton don't take any of this particularly seriously, but Don regards Betty appraisingly.
Peggy's getting ready to leave, and offers to run any errands at the library her mother might have. Her mother sighs that she should probably renew The Agony And The Ecstasy. "It's takin' forever!" Heh. Peggy's almost out the door when Anita whispers, "Aren't you gonna say goodnight?" And here you thought the loony bin was news. Peggy stiffens, but goes off to one of the bedrooms, in which we see a crib with a young boy who can only be Peggy's son, and a bunk bed with another boy of about eight, who brightly greets her: "Hi, Aunt Peggy!" I'm not completely sure if it's the mother or the sister who's raising the child, although for appearances' sake alone it seems far more likely that it's Anita. And it's not like it matters, anyway, because this would be effed up even for non-Catholics either way. Anyway, Peggy looks guilty, closes the door, and strides on out of there.
As she cleans up in the kitchen, Betty tells Don some random gossip about Helen Bishop. Talk then turns to weight and the fact that Carlton has put on a few pounds, which Betty thinks indicates he's happy. When Don disagrees, though, she takes that to mean Carlton said something, and snits that he should be not merely happy but should be showering Francine with love, "after what he put her through." Of course, the undercurrent is that Betty is still seething at Don for what she perceives he put her through, and Don, picking up on the mood that's been building through the evening, tells her that he's not going to fight with her. "I'll say whatever you think I should say, but I'm not gonna fight with you." Duck only wonders what he has to do to get the same deal. Betty, her anger only augmented by being called out, stomps away with the kitchen trash to the porch, where Don can see her light a cigarette and sit in silence. He sighs raggedly and heads out of the room...
...and is then checking on his kids, which is another indication that he's become a family man just at the moment his wife thinks the least of his spousal and parental abilities. If the irony is making you feel bad for him, I'd suggest you ration your sympathy.
In their bedroom, Pete laughs a not-entirely-mirthless laugh and tells Trudy about a trivial argument he and his father had the last time they saw each other. He goes on that he and his dad would "fight about facts," as his mother described it -- they'd argue about things that had proven and verifiable answers. Trudy, upon hearing the specifics, settles the fight in Pete's dad's favor, prompting Pete to tell her that when he woke up that morning, he felt fine for a minute, but then he remembered. She encourages him to focus on the good times, and she's being very supportive but I still think Pete's going to need to occupy his mind with something more substantial. Or at least existent. I should note, though, that despite her desire for a kid, Trudy and Pete seem to have settled into married life far more harmoniously than I would have guessed from last season. Who knew?
At the office, Joan is gossiping to some secretary when Paul comes up and sends the girl on an errand. He then marches off, and Joan, picking up the vibe, follows and asks if something's wrong. He tells her he's avoiding her, and she responds by asking if he's worried about the typewriter. Heh. Paul's seething, though, and asks Joan what she said to Sheila, so Joan parries, "Describe her to me." Paul's stunned at what he takes to be her overt racism, and starts to say he knew Joan was a lot of things, to which she retorts, "I'm not a phony." With a sunny smile, she lights into him, saying that it's so obvious he's only with her in an effort to prove how interesting and bohemian he is. At a loss for words, he looks a combination of angry and devastated, and Joan taunts him further, asking him what part of what she said was wrong. He stomps off, and Joan watches him go with a satisfied look on her face. Now, I rarely mention media discussion of my shows in the recaps, because I rarely care about what a showrunner or creator was trying to do -- it's whether he actually succeeded that matters. In this case, however, I think I should mention that Matthew Weiner said he didn't intend for Joan to come across as racist -- just honest enough to call Paul on his crap. I think Joan did come off as racist in her interaction with Sheila, or at least willing to use racism to make her point, neither of which is acceptable, but I'm willing to give her the benefit of some doubt based on Weiner's stated intentions. It's not like I watch this show for the amazing likeability and political correctness of the characters, anyway.
Speaking of whom, here's Pete in his office. Actually, this episode is about the most likeable Pete has been, not to mention the fact that Vincent Kartheiser is brilliant as always. He may have succeeded at simultaneously being my least favorite character and my number-one actor on the show, which is quite an accomplishment. Duck enters and offers some empty words about when his own father died, and implies that he's kind of hurt that he had to hear about the news secondhand. He'd be really bummed if he knew that Pete went running in to Don as soon as he found out. And I would love to be the one to tell him. Shut up, Duck. Pete simply says there's not a lot to say, and then, after recalling that Duck's dad was in the business, says he didn't know a whole lot about his own father besides the fact that he did not like advertising. That's not entirely true, Pete. We also know he didn't like you. Duck guesses that he was proud of Pete, and offers that some people just have trouble saying it. Pete: "Yes. That was a problem for him." Hee. Duck unctuously slathers on some compliments before trying to get Pete on board by using the tragedy of his dad to hook the American Airlines people. Pete, interestingly, says he thinks he's uncomfortable and he doesn't think he should do that, and his choice of words and tone of voice suggest to me that again, he doesn't know what to do, really, so he's making it up as he goes and doing what he thinks he should do, not what he wants to do. He adds that he hasn't even cried yet, and Duck takes this as his cue to leave. What a dweeb.
We see a closeup on a purse that looks awfully like Joan's being taken out of a locker...
...and then Don's in his office barking at Lois over the intercom. Roger then enters and, with no fanfare, tells Don that they're cutting Mohawk loose, so Don needs to set up a meeting that night with the Mohawk president and break the news. Don is livid, but he has no choice in the matter.
Pete hangs his head in his office, and then comes out and asks Hildy to get Trudy on the phone. He quickly changes his mind, however, and, after a look across the office at Peggy, heads in to see Don. Don, however, is in no mood, and barks that it's not a good time. Looking more lost than ever, Pete leaves, and Lois watches him go with sympathy all over her face. She's never going to make it in this place.
Joan's heading for the elevator when she hears giggling. She turns back and sees two secretaries looking at one of the postings up on a corkboard. The girls make themselves scarce, so Joan, in sight of Peggy (I guess this her office/the copy room) checks out what they were looking at, and is chagrined to see it's a photocopy of her driver's license, which shows her birth date as February 24th, 1931. Didn't see that one coming when you were on the phone with Xerox, did you, Joan? Joan rips down the paper, tosses it, and asks Peggy if she happened to see who hung it. Peggy, with visible amusement, says she didn't, and adds that she never would have guessed Joan was in her thirties. The smile is wiped from her face, however, when Joan surprises her by saying people should leave their personal problems at home, and just come in and do their jobs. Peggy, catching the snap, says she looks forward to doing just that, and Joan tells her that "they" can't stand that, and they'll drag her into the muck with them at every opportunity. "They just want you to be as miserable as they are. I say let them have it." She leaves, and Peggy looks chastened.
Don's having a drink at a table in a Japanese restaurant when the Mohawk guy (Henry is his name) shows up. They've barely shaken hands before he tells Don that the restaurant reminds him of Pearl Harbor. "For many reasons." So much for a friendly drink before he breaks the news. Don gets right to it -- SC is terminating its relationship with Mohawk. Henry tells Don that when he first went to SC, he was told that the firm was Don Draper. "That's what you get." He goes on to recall that Don told him that SC didn't need a big airline -- they were going to make Mohawk a big airline. This is killing Don, of course, as he's the only one who wanted to keep Mohawk and he's getting blamed for dumping them. Add in the Betty stuff and he's having one bitch of an episode. Don takes it like a man, though, simply saying that he wishes things had worked out differently, and Henry the poker player lands the haymaker as he stands and puts his hand on Don's shoulder: "I'm almost embarrassed to say this. You fooled me." Appropriately enough given the setting, Don looks like he wants to commit hara-kiri.
Duck is meeting with the American guy, who's dancing to a rather noncommittal tune. That changes, however, when Pete unexpectedly shows up, much to Duck's pleasant surprise. Duck introduces Pete as "the best," and Pete proves that, saying SC's commitment to American is second to none, and there will be someone on his account who knows exactly what they're going through. He gives up the news about his father, and the American guy is both appropriately stunned and impressed as he says he'll pass that information on. Duck suggests they all head in to dinner as Pete's dad thinks, "It's bad enough I had to die, but my death is being used to further my idiot son's advertising career?" Hey, Irony doesn't ignore you just because you bought it.
Don's still sitting in the restaurant, dealing with the unclean feelings washing over him, when a pretty waitress comes up to him and makes her meaning plain with a few well-chosen words. Don smiles, but turns her down, and heads home to be with his family.
We're now in church, and a slow pan across reveals Anita, who's holding Peggy's son, Peggy's mom, and then...Peggy. Peggy declines to take Communion, so Anita leaves the boy with her as she goes up to receive the Sacrament. Her son cries loudly as she watches uncomfortably, and we go to closing credits.
Duck is meeting with the American guy, who's dancing to a rather noncommittal tune. That changes, however, when Pete unexpectedly shows up, much to Duck's pleasant surprise. Duck introduces Pete as "the best," and Pete proves that, saying SC's commitment to American is second to none, and there will be someone on his account who knows exactly what they're going through. He gives up the news about his father, and the American guy is both appropriately stunned and impressed as he says he'll pass that information on. Duck suggests they all head in to dinner as Pete's dad thinks, "It's bad enough I had to die, but my death is being used to further my idiot son's advertising career?" Hey, Irony doesn't ignore you just because you bought it.
Don's still sitting in the restaurant, dealing with the unclean feelings washing over him, when a pretty waitress comes up to him and makes her meaning plain with a few well-chosen words. Don smiles, but turns her down, and heads home to be with his family.
We're now in church, and a slow pan across reveals Anita, who's holding Peggy's son, Peggy's mom, and then...Peggy. Peggy declines to take Communion, so Anita leaves the boy with her as she goes up to receive the Sacrament. Her son cries loudly as she watches uncomfortably, and we go to closing credits.