Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men, "The Flood"

Three Up

1. Peggy Olson. It doesn't all go her way - she doesn't win the local ad award she's up for, and the apartment she wants to buy goes to someone else - but in talking about the apartment with Abe she learns that he has envisioned a future with her, with kids, living somewhere more diverse than the Upper East Side. Betty is visibly moved by this, not that Abe notices (he's working on article related to the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination, which frames the episode).

2. Henry Francis. He goes with Lindsay to Harlem, and while he's invigorated by being on the front lines of unrest, he's not happy with how the mayor laid the groundwork for limited unrest by previously cutting deals that allowed for police corruption and giving breaks to thugs. His growing distaste with this sort of dealing leads him to a potential state senate run (with an eye to becoming state attorney general). Betty is pleased, as she says its what she's always wanted for him.

3. Bobby Draper. It doesn't start easy for him - Betty discovers he's been peeling wallpaper and gives him a week without TV as punishment - but between some kind words to a movie theater usher and concern that Henry will get shot (which Don typically dismisses saying Henry isn't important enough to get shot), we see some unexpected empathy from Bobby. God know where he got that from.

Honorable Mention. Megan Draper. She actually does win a local ad award, not that anyone cares at that point, but things get tough for her between the actual assassination and the responses of both her father (who comes up with some sort of Marxist interpretation that infuriates her) and Don (who ditches her, Sally and Gene to keep an eye on "sick" Bobby, meaning they go off to the movies and Don has a few). She has the strength to confront Don on this, and in return gets a pretty stunning revelation that helps Megan understand Don better (and help Don understand himself in the process). That's better than some Lucite-encased plaque.

Three Down

1. Don Draper. His lover is stuck in DC with her husband, Betty forces him to bring his kids into the city (regardless of the danger), and Megan calls him out for letting alcohol create a buffer between him and those he loves. Don suggests Megan is better with the kids, but after further prodding Don admits that he doesn't love his kids, but acts as if he does. He lays the blame here on his childhood, which we've seen was not great, and questions about his father having the same lack of feelings for him. He does mention that Bobby did something to help melt the ice, but Don still has to deal with this reality.

2. Betty Francis. Her Parent of the Year campaign continues with her overblown reaction to Bobby's peeling of wallpaper (not so much in the actual punishment but in her description of his behavior) and her demand that Don drive up, get the kids and bring them back into the city through the riots. She is pleased to hear that Henry is entering politics, but has doubts at the end as she compares dresses to her larger frame, fearing her role in Henry's potentially public new career.

3. Michael Ginsburg. He returns home from work to find a young woman sitting with his father. Turns out his dad plays chess with the woman's dad, and he's trying to set them up (she was told Ginsberg knew, which he clearly did not). Their date is awkward (Ginzo admits to being a virgin, for example), and ends abruptly when news of the assassination breaks. But there was some small glimmer of headway there, which is a good thing considering Ginzo's dad is apparently fixated on finding his son a wife. Ginzo says he can find his own women, but hasn't quite demonstrated that yet.

Honorable Mention: Harry Crane. Harry and Pete comisserate over the lack of secretaries,but things quickly goes sour when he talks to Pete about how business is being effected by the assassination. Pete calls him racist, and while Cooper get the two to shake and "make up" (though that's an abject failure), there's something sad about not being able to take the moral high ground against Pete Campbell. This should have landed him in the bottom three, but then you remember it's Harry Crane, and figure this may be the best he could have done in the circumstances.