Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men, "A Tale of Two Cities"

Three Up

1. Jim Cutler. With Don and Roger in L.A., and after an exchange with Ginsburg that's insubordinate at best, Cutler suggests to Chaough that's it time to get rid of some of the SCDP people and bring back some CGCers. Ted is resistant, but Cutler sets his sights on Bob Benson, sticking him with a meeting that winds up with the firm on review. As a "reward," Cutler puts Bob on Chevy, who have finally bought into the firm's plans for the new car. And in the end, Cutler gets to announce a name change to Sterling Cooper and Partners, which makes him look magnanimous for taking his name off of the firm.

2. Joan Harris. When a friend sets her up on a date, it turns out to have a very different purpose than what she thought - it's with an executive at Avon who is looking to boost sales. Joan handles the shift from the personal to the professional well, and tells Peggy about the potential client. Peggy goes to Ted, who puts Pete on it, cutting out Joan. But Joan snags it back by changing the meeting with Avon and not telling Pete. Peggy thinks that's a bad idea, and Pete things it's a horrible idea, between being cut out and how this violates the "fundamental rules" of accounts. Some quick subterfuge by Peggy gets Joan out of trouble, but puts her squarely on the hook for landing Avon as a client. It's a chance Joan's willing to take to finally get some stake in the firm that isn't based on her physical features.

3. Ted Chaough. Ted's against Cutler's "coup," looking to move forward rather than be divisive. His trip to Detroit bears fruit when Chevy accepts the firm's campaign strategy for their new car, which Ted even gets to see (if in clay only). This plays into Cutler's plans, but Ted either doesn't see that or is happy enough to have made progress to not care. He backs Joan over Pete on Avon based on the apparent connection Joan has with the Avon exec, and while that might subvert the normal order of things, it's likely the right move in a pragmatic sense.

Honorable Mention: the Ford Mustang. As much ire as it causes Don and Roger, the Mustang they get as a rental is pretty sweet. And underscores that whatever Chevy comes up with isn't going to match up.

Three Down

1. Pete Cambpell. The marginalization of Pete continues, between getting squeezed out on Avon to having the squeeze made permanent by Ted to not having his name on the firm. And when he's not blustering about these indignities, he's being smarmy and condescending (such as when he dismisses Joan from meeting with Avon before she cuts him out). And when no one but him seems to care that the merger has changed the business, he apparently decides that if you can't beat them, join them, by taking a joint off of Rizzo and taking a toke. It appears to be eye-opening to Pete from the first, but I'm going to be he's the type who gets paranoid high.

2. Don Draper. Don's cynicism over politics (he's less moved by the violence in Chicago than most, though he does seem sufficiently chagrined by it) and disdain for the rental (he's hoping no one from GM is in town) bleeds over to the meeting with Carnation, where his pitch to advertise their Instant Breakfast alongside cereal doesn't appear to gain traction. Harry takes him and Roger to a party where Don smokes hash, which makes him cotton-mouthed, prone to hallucination, and almost dead when he winds up in the pool. So kind of a bust of a week for Don, though he seems to be making some rapproachment with Megan.

3. Michael Ginsburg. The lack of a peace plank sets Ginzo off, most notably on Cutler, whom he calls a fascist (among other, even more charged things). Cutler does remind Ginzo that he seems OK with getting paid with money from Dow and other companies who produce war materiel, which apparently hits home later, as Ginzo has a full-blown freak out before meeting with Manischewitz. Benson is able to talk him down by using a lot of power of positive thinking-type jargon and a reminder of just who their client is. Ginzo was lucky not to be fired, and will likely walk that line (due to his personal connection to what war does to people) and the line of being in business with pro-war elements for some time.

Honorable Mention: hashish. As peaceful as the people smoking it seem to be, the hallucinations and near-death experience it gives Don isn't exactly an advertisement for its use. It makes the LSD trips we've seen before (and see in this episode in the persona of Lotus) seem benign by comparison.