Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men

Three Up


3. Trudy Campbell.  She's apparently past her post-partum depression, as she plans a dinner party and even gets Don to show up, much to everyone's surprise (and glee). She makes a gracious hostess, and even has a spot of fun when the kitchen sink blows due to Pete's incorrect, though temporarily successful, repair of a drip (though she was clearly unaware of how Don's quick and more permanent fix would cut Pete off at the testicles). And she even gets to show off the baby!


2. Roger Sterling. After weeks of having nothing to do, Roger gives Lane some unsolicited but useful advice on how to handle a dinner with a new-found friend who intends to bring Jaguar to SCDP as a new account. When Lane can't seal the deal, Roger comes to the fore when the new friend says he wants to have a little fun after a second dinner. Roger's knowledge of a local high-class house of ill repute just about seals the deal... until the friend's wife discovers the next morning that her husband has chewing gum on his nether region. Roger also gets to chew out Ken on his secret writing career, using his past experience as an account exec (and more recent past as a failed author) to tell Ken that if he's doing his job right, he doesn't need the writing. And Roger gets a couple decent one-liners, so a nice week for him, finally.

1. Don Draper.  OK, it's a bad sign that Don can't excuse his way out of a dinner party against Trudy Campbell. But when he actually shows he's treated like royalty, as Pete and Ken know it's a big deal that he's there. Don also gets to drink as much as he wants, make Peter look like a boob due to his lack of home repair skills, and have sex with Megan in the car on the way home. Not a bad night. Later, while at the classy whorehouse, Don earns the approbation of the madam when he talks about growing up in one that was much less classy and doesn't stray. He gets to further put Pete in his place by noting that Pete has much to lose if he fools around on Trudy, but mostly gets attitude from Pete, due to the irony of one of advertising's greatest swordsmen giving disapproving looks and advice regarding infidelity. It's kind of a fair cop, but Don saves it by noting that if he'd met Megan first, he would never have gone the way he did.

(Though Megan was probably a gawky Quebecois pre-teen when Don met Betty.)


Three Down


3. Ken Cosgrove.  Ken runs into Peggy at the diner near the office, and he's trying to sneak a stranger by her. She browbeats him at the diner and later at the office, and he finally admits that the man works for a publisher, and they were talking about printing a collection of short stories Ken has been writing under an assumed name. Turns out he's now writing sci-fantasy stories. The meeting didn't go well. Later, at Pete's party, we see Don and Megan try to dance around not knowing Ken's wife's name. He does get chewed out by Roger about the writing as the episode is closing (Pete apparently mentioned it to Roger), and he admits to Peggy that his writing career is over. But at the end, we see Ken writing a new story, under a new pen name.

2. Lane Pryce. At the start of the episode Lane is grousing about having to go to a pub to watch soccer with a bunch of ex-pats he doesn't know. Turns out they're going to watch the World Cup final where England defeated Germany, and Lane's mood is much improved. It's here he meets the man who has the Jaguar account to move, and they develop a bit of a friendship. But that takes a serious hit at the dinner where Lane is trying to get information about the account. Turns out Lane doesn't get his friend's hint about finding some fun, which indirectly leads to the loss of the account. Lane is furious about this, and the response of the other partners - laughing, due to the circumstances of the loss - makes him even madder. The one saving grace is that when Pete dismisses Lane as unnecessary, Lane challenges Pete to a fight to avenge the insult. And Lane gives Pete a good pasting, which is always a good thing.

Lane does feel badly about the fight, but manages to make himself feel even worse when he makes a pass at Joan after she brings him some ice. She handles it quite gracefully, giving Lane a little dignity back. Still, not a good week for Lane.

1. Pete Campbell. Nothing goes right for Pete. His kitchen handiwork goes kaboom, and he's upstaged by Don when trying to fix it. He gets his ass kicked by Lane, and has no one in the office to commiserate with (the best he can do is telling Don in an elevator ride that he has nothing, a reference back to their discussion after the whorehouse visit (where Pete indulged, but only when the woman goes all "you're my king" on him). But the worst thing, from Pete's perspective, is that the high school senior he's been chatting up in driver's ed (he's finally getting his license now that he lives in the suburbs) throws him over for some jock who missed the first couple of classes. Pete seems to realize then that he's no longer the young ad exec who can get the girl and succeed in the office. He's marooned in the 'burbs and isolated at work. From his perspective, he really doesn't have anything.