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

Three Up

1.  Jim Cutler. While we don't see much of Jim, the events of the episode help build his position in the office. It opens with an announcement about the computer that he championed, which gets media behind him. He seems to miss the mark when trying to bring Ted back to New York to work on landing a new national account, but wins by supporting Ted's idea to give it to Peggy and then having Don wind up on her team. Any potential fallout there helps Jim, as he's either supported success or gets to blame former SCDPers if things go south.

2. Pete Campbell. He's responsible for getting a crack at Burger Chef, as he runs into one of their execs, a former Vicks man, while out to dinner with girlfriend Bonnie. He also learns that things back in New York changed when his soon to be father-in-law had a heart attack. He's OK, but you can see Pete's taken aback by the news, suggesting he's still thinking about Trudy and Tammy on some level. Finally, this new account would not run through Bob Benson, so it's an even bigger win where Pete's concerned.

3. Freddie Rumsen. He only shows up in the last quarter of the episode - Don calls him to go to a Mets game, Freddie takes him home because he's three sheets to the wind. The next morning, Freddie gives Don a talking to, using his experience to help Don figure out that it's time to play ball with the partners if he wants a crack of getting back to where he was. It's also a rare instance of true friendship between ad men.

Honorable Mention - John Mathis. He's on the Burger Chef account as well and quite pleased to be there, apparently unaware of the larger issues of how the team was set up. He'll write tags all day and be happy to do so! Too bad he's about to be crowded out by whatever Don comes up with.

Three Down

1. Roger Sterling. So that brunch with Margaret where she forgave him has finally led to where we thought it would - she's run off to join a commune, leaving husband and child behind. Roger gets Brooks to go up to get her, but he winds up in jail. So Roger and Mona go up, and while Roger tries to understand what's going on - he stays overnight after Mona gives up trying to talk reason - he falls short after Margaret (now Marigold) wanders off in the night to hump one of the commune's men. Roger tries to physically force her to leave, which results in a savage dressing down from Margaret about his absentee parenting. And he gets mud on his suit, which I suppose will dry up on his walk back to town.

2. Don Draper. He's back but isolated - he doesn't get the memo about the computer, and he's frozen out of partner meetings due to the rules set up for his return. Don hits bottom when he finds out he's working for Peggy and then gets shot down by Bert after suggesting their computer company could become a client. So Don looks to get below the bottom by getting tanked in his office, which is when he calls Freddie to go to the Mets game. Things turn around at the end, with Don working on his tags for Peggy. He's down but working back up.

3. Peggy Olsen. Good news to start for Peggy - she gets a shot at a national account and a $100/week raise. The price, of course, is that Lou saddles her with Don, which effectively get him out of his hair and potentially may see him gone for good if he implodes (almost, Lou!). Peggy broods about this all episode, but in a small talk with Joan gets some good news when Joan suggests that the partners probably didn't even think about anything when they set the team up, never mind sabotage (I'm pretty sure Ted was working off of residual guilt when he suggested Peggy, though). The bonus comes on Monday morning, when she stops in to see Don and he says he'll get his tags to her by lunch. Things are looking up for Peggy, too.

Honorable Mention - Lloyd Hawley. The owner of the company that's installing the computer, he and Don strike up a bit of a friendship, to the point where Lloyd seeks advertising advice from Don. This is what gets Don to propose new business to Bert, who shoots it down as a violation of rules. Don later drunkenly accuses Lloyd of being in cahoots with everyone else. Lloyd has no idea what he's talking about. Welcome to SC&P, Lloyd. Hope they paid you in advance!