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

Three Up

1. Betty Francis. A short but effective appearance by Betty, as the revelation that the kids were alone in Don's apartment while it was being robbed lets her lay into him for neglecting the kids, into Megan for putting Sally in charge, and New York in general for being dirty. She got to throw in that Henry is running for office into the mix, too. And on top of it all, her "reducing" campaign is working. So she gets to look good while feeling good about how everyone/thing she hates has failed her. All she needs now is to shoot at some birds to cap things off.


2. Henry Francis. He's not in the episode much, but he does get to be the only adult in the room when Don comes back and finds out about the robbery. Most of the reason this posting is so late is that I couldn't figure out who, if anyone, should have finished here. I didn't think Rizzo should be higher than third (and wasn't going to be more than an honorable mention except for the lack of positives in the episode). So Henry gets this by pretty much being written to form and not appearing in most of the episode.

3. Stan Rizzo - he finally makes the pass at Peggy we've been waiting for, but she rebuffs him. Turns out he's lost a cousin in Vietnam, and his behavior over the season (drinking, drugs, etc.) is likely related. Peggy gives him some good advice about feeling the loss so you can move on, which Stan will follow... well, not now, as he's busy nailing Gleason's hippy dippy daughter (while Cutler watches like a creep). I suppose that's a win?

Honorable Mention: Whoever taught Aaron Staton to tap. Pretty impressive footwork by the hugely put-upon Ken Cosgrove.

Three Down

1. Don Draper. Don may want to stay away from drugs, as the "vitamin complex" and stimulant shot sends him right into flashback territory, which shows us how young Don became a man thanks to the ministrations of a particularly caring prostitute. Turns out he incorporated the woman into an early ad campaign, which wraps up what Don's been working on all weekend - a pitch to Sylvia to take him back. The other Creative staff don't twig on to this until he runs out of the office, though they have no idea what he's been working on if not Chevy.

His crazy, muttering self gets home only to find Megan, Betty, Henry, the kids, and representatives from the NYPD there. They explain the robberies, Betty gets to yell a lot, and Don passes out. That's probably for the best, as it allows him enough time to either forget or rethink his pitch to Sylvia. The pair wind up sharing a very long and silent elevator ride on Monday, so that's apparently over for good. But the final blow comes when Don meets with Ted and Cutler to say that he's done with Chevy - he'll review work as needed as Creative Director, but he's not going to deal with Chevy's day to day nonsense. He compares the agency when working on a car account to a whorehouse, which just puts a bow on things.

2. Ted Chaough. Ted's feeling the pressure from Chevy, who keep rejecting ideas and have come up with a multi-year timetable for the campaign that includes wanting more ideas on Tuesday. So with the prospect of a working weekend, Ted then finds out that Gleason has passed away, which ruins him. He does get some consolation from Peggy (nothing randy), but he's feeling adrift, as Gleason was the negative force that kept Ted in check. And once Don says he's not going to play Chevy's game, Ted's well and truly cut off.

3. Sally Draper. With the kids visiting on the weekend where Don has to work, Sally winds up minding Bobby and Gene when Megan has to go to a play so her agent can introduce her to producers, etc. Sally's done this before (and gets cool clothes out of the deal, which Betty dislikes), but what she's not encountered before is a large African-American woman who is rifling the cabinets. The woman says she's Sally's grandmother, which confuses Sally but she at least plays along (though her call to the police does get the woman to leave, after taking all of Don's watches and other stuff). Turns out the woman was a thief, and while everyone shows appropriate concerns for the kids, Sally realizes that the thief seemed to know a lot about Don, more than Sally does. This is the first time she's realized this, which makes Don's apology and reassurance that Sally did everything right kind of hollow.

Honorable Mention: The Gleason family. They lose their dad and then the daughter, Wendy, winds up at the agency for the weekend, reading the I Ching and hooking up with Rizzo. She may have been better off in the West Village.