Sunday, April 08, 2012

Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men

Three Up

3. Michael Ginsburg. He shows his genius during a pitch to a shoe company, but almost blows it when he goes into a long discourse about the darkness of the Cinderella story, which results in the company keeping SCDP on but changing the campaign from what was presented to the Cinderella thing, which Don doesn't like as it's cliche. Don dresses down Michael afterwards, and Ken has to clue Michael in on the fact that he almost got fired, but all in all Michael gets to show his creative genius in a couple of different ways. He just needs to learn when to turn it off. 

2.  Sally Draper. She's stuck with her step-grandmother while Betty and Henry are stranded due to an airplane mechanics strike. She doesn't like her discipline (which isn't all that bad, really), and wants her to tell her about the Chicago nurse killings that are all over the papers, but grandma refuses. When Sally sneaks the paper into bed she freaks out and can't sleep until given one of grandmother's little helpers. She's still zonked under the couch when Betty and Henry return. Nice to see Sally forge some sort of maternally-based relationship, even if does include serial killing and abusing prescription drugs. That is actually a step up from Betty's approach.

1. Don Draper. He starts off the episode with a cold, which kind of sucks, but he then he runs into a freelancer that he had an affair with and she's clearly interested in restarting a relationship, to to extent that she finds out where he lives. She goads him into having sex, and when she suggests their affair will continue, regardless of Don't protestations, he strangles her. But wait!  It appears that the entire sequence with her (after their initial meeting) was some sort of fever dream, and when Megan says she was worried about him for being sick, his reply that she has nothing to worry about goes deeper than she knows. It's an odd kind of win, but given how widely he played the field when married to Betty, it's a win.

Three Down

3. Roger Sterling. The anti-roll continues for Roger, as he completely forgets to put Michael on to some emergency work for Mohawk, who is unaffected by the strike and picking up more business covering for other airlines. So he has to buy off Peggy to do the work (she gets $400 out of him, thanks in no small part to the liquid courage coursing through her veins). He's worse with almost nothing to do than he was when he actually had nothing to do.

2. Peggy Olsen.  She starts off on a roll getting the $400 off of Roger, and then builds on it when she finds Dawn sleeping in an office (it was too late to get the subway home, and cabs won't go into her neighborhood). Peggy invites Dawn to stay the night, and they have an interesting conversation about being different in the office,  and everything goes well... until Peggy take a too-long look at her purse before going to bed, giving Dawn the obvious cue that Peggy has some concern that Dawn will steal from her. Dawn is gone before Peggy gets up, leaving her alone with her unexpected racism.

1. Joan Harris. Glenn is home from Vietnam, but the happy return is short-lived, cut off when he announces that he has to go back in 10 days and do a year-long tour. Joan is upset by the news but is working through it when she learns from her mother in law that Glenn volunteered to return. When arguing about it afterwards, Glenn notes that he's needed in Vietnam, where he gets to command a number of doctors and other medical personnel. With the suggestion that his family isn't enough, Joan says he's free to go - right now. Glenn threatens to never return if he walks out the door now, to which Joan just shrugs. He goes, and she knows it's over (and will be permanently when he is inevitably killed over there). She puts on a strong face, and even gets to bring up his rape of her during their fight, but in the end, in bed with her mom and Kevin, it's clear she's unsure if she's up for single motherhood.

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