Season 6 Episode 13: In Care Of

The episode, In Care Of, centers on family relationships leading up to Thanksgiving. It is also plays on the phrase that the U.S. Postal Service uses for forwarding mail to another person or location. Part of the drama of the episode is finding out who will be moved (forwarded) out to Los Angeles to start a new life. Stan volunteers; Don decides to go; Megan wants to go; Ted wants to go to save his marriage; Don swaps places with Ted; Megan will go without Don. Then we find out that Pete will be going with Ted.

Don gets drunk on the fifth anniversary of the assassination of JFK. Don says that God must have had a bad year because of the assassination of JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King (God was not taking care of them). When the evangelist says that they were not true believers, Don (off camera) hits him. Don  spends the night in a drunk tank. In the morning, he quits drinking. Part of his "12 step program" is to tell the truth, which he does at the Hershey meeting and with his kids when he shows them where he grew up. Don's drinking is mirrored with Sally. Sally is caught drinking and being drunk at school. Both are suspended from their respective workplaces. Sally also uses a fake ID to buy alcohol. She, like her father, assumed another's identity. 

Before Don's turnaround, he hears Stan's pitch to go to California. When he stops drinking he tells Megan his idea for moving to California and repeats Stan's words saying that he would like to have a "one desk office" and "build it into an agency" and being a "homesteader". Don doesn't have his own dreams, he copies the dreams of others because he has not come to terms with who he is or what he wants.

When Dot is lost at sea upon the S.S. Sunset Princess*, Manolo, as a nurse (and we find out as a husband) failed to take care of her. When Pete and Bud talk about the expense it would cost to bring Dot's "killer to justice" they decide not to spend the money, justifying that "she liked water" and now she is "with Dad" who died in a plane crash in the ocean. Pete and Bud also did not take care of their mother in life, by out sourcing her care taking, and in death, by pursuing "her killer" (if indeed she was killed). 

Roger also does not take care of his daughter and son-in-law. When Brooks (his son-in-law) asks for money for a business venture, Roger declines. Margaret asks how to get on the "list of girls that you give money to." By not taking care of her family, she bans him from Thanksgiving. 

Roger and Ted are both mirrored in their jealousy for women: Roger is jealous of Bob when he sees them talking together. Ted is jealous of everybody and he shows up at Peggy's apartment saying that "I don't want anyone else to have you". What was humorous was when Roger is invited over to Joan's house for Thanksgiving and sees Bob carving the turkey. It is almost a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting except that Bob is wearing an apron like a woman.

When Don is told to "take time off" from his job, Peggy moves into his office. Peggy, Don's protege, will take care of the creative accounts while he is gone. 

During the Hershey meeting, Don says, "the wrapper looked like what was inside." Don came clean because his "wrapper" (persona) did not look like what was inside. It was not the Norman Rockwell family painting. The season plumbed the depths and darkness of Don's world. The final episode has Don looking up (hope), surrounded by his children. He has rediscovered that his salvation is through his sense and belonging to family, which for him, is a day of thanks.

* a fitting name for a ship for an elderly WASP matron to disappear from.

Season 6 Episode 12: The Quality of Mercy

"The quality of mercy is not strained; 

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 

Upon the place beneath.

It is twice blest It blesseth him that gives and him that takes"

- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

The episode begins and ends with Don in the fetal position: a symbol of his regression and depression. When he is not lying down, Don continues to disappoint the women in his life: Sally refuses to come visit any more and wants to go away to boarding school; Megan sleeps alone; and Peggy considers him a monster because he brought to Ted's attention Ted's infatuation with Peggy and it's impact on the firm.

Don also broke his promise to Ted by calling Harry back to pursue the Sun Kist account. Don only changed his mind after seeing Peggy and Ted at the movie theater and when Ted touched her waist during the play acting of the St. Joseph baby commercial. Don became jealous of Ted's attraction to her.

What's interesting in this episode is the dual roles the characters play or how other character's mirror one another: we find out that Bob is also a fiction like Don, with a made up family and work history; Don watches Megan's dual role of the French blond maid on her television show. Sally is becoming the consummate liar like her father, when she tells Betty in the car that the reason she wants to go to boarding school is "to be an adult" as opposed to telling her the truth that her father is a adulterer. Don and Megan discuss Jackie Kennedy who became Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who with a name change became the wife to two different famous men. In the background we have on the TV set, Patty Duke, who played two roles as identical cousins on her name sake TV show.

Shakespeare's play, The Merchant of Venice, is (among other things) about justice and revenge. In this episode, Ken shows mercy to Pete when he transfers the Chevy account after the hunting accident and Pete feigns reluctance to accept it. In reality, both are benefiting from the transaction and it is not "pure". Pete sort of shows mercy to Bob, when he finds out that Bob is a fraud, but we don't trust his motives. Don shows justice but not mercy to Ted (and Peggy) when he embarrassed him* during the client meeting with St. Joseph**.  Byron, the executive from St. Joseph, shows mercy to SC&P, by increasing the ad budget after Don tells him it was the idea of Fred Gleason before he died. Only Glen and Sally show the true spirit of Shakespeare's quote, as giver and receiver both benefit without it being one sided for either one.

The current crop of death and accident references: Bataan Death March while hunting; Megan tells Don to "pull back on the throttle" a flying  reference, which may signal an accident for Ted; references to the Kennedy's; Roll yells at Glen "are you suicidal?"; Ted asked Don to attend the meeting to provide for more "firepower"; Pete cleaning his rifle at the office.

* In Christianity, St. Joseph is the father of Jesus.

Season 6 Episode 11: Favors

Favors is at once complex on many emotional levels for the characters but simple enough to move the plot forward.

Roger's juggling at the beginning of the episode represents the upcoming conflict with the Sunkist and Ocean Spray accounts.

For Sally, her continued education into the realm of the sex is tainted by adultery and betrayal. As a favor for Sally, her friend, Julie, forges her name on a note listing the reasons why she and Julie admire Mitchel. This betrayal leads her to the Rosen's apartment where she sees her father having sex with Sylvia. Sally had previously come upon Marie Calvet, Megan's mother, performing fellatio on Roger at a wedding reception. Both of these were adulterous affairs. When Don tries to convince her that he was just "comforting" Mrs Rosen, Sally knew he was lying, but she lied also by agreeing with his story. This does not bode well for Sally first sexual experience or with her relationships with boys.

The funniest part of the episode is when Peggy offered sexual favors to Stan if he came to remove a dying rat. When she asked Stan why he was using his "sexy" voice, she realized that he was not alone but with his girlfriend. "You can bring her too, if you want," she says. Peggy at that moment embodied everything her ex-boyfriend hated about Madison Avenue: that she was willing to sell herself and her self respect. In fact, the image of the blood trail under the couch as a reminder of the previous episode when she stabbed accidentally stabbed Abe with her homemade spear. 

As predicted, Bob came out of the closet to make his move on Pete and Pete rejected it. What are the chances Pete will respond to Bob in the future? And regret it? Pretty high. The favor that Bob did for Pete by providing a nurse for his mother was initially welcomed but now rejected. But Pete has become completely isolated from family and associates at work. Even his mother described him as unlovable and sour. It would not be surprising if he turns to someone who shows him affection, like Bob.

Don's change of heart to offer a favor to Mitchell after having a drink in the bar with Arnold Rosen (with the boxing photos over both of them) makes one wonder if his decision to help was for Sylvia or himself. I was under the impression that Don felt guilty for his actions in Korea and his subsequent life lie (when he assumed another man's identity) was his reason for helping. It was an act of selfishness and not because of concern for Arnold's and Sylvia's child. Don's relationship with Sylvia has always been sexual, but his affection is more rooted with his need for a mother figure than another sexual partner / conquest. 

When Don is in the living room pouring a drink, what is on TV? Run for Your Life. The series which ran from 1965-1968, was about a man who had only one to two years to live, and decides to go experience life before his death. These continued signals to Don's demise are also pointing to other characters in the series. More death references: Ernest Hemingway's suicide by shotgun during the dinner with Chevy; Ted's wife reminding him that their pastor told them that "God can turn out your lights at any time." Mitchell becoming 1A in the draft ("his number is up"). Pete's father dying in an airplane crash. The bloody rat. 

Season 6 Episode 10: Tale of Two Cities

“There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.”

- Charles Dickens "Oliver Twist"

I've always felt that this series (as well as the Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire) suffer from a creative malaise: three to four well crafted beginning and ending episodes but the middle ones just meander. This was one of those middle ones that feels like filler until the end approaches. The only interesting developments were from the supporting characters: Joan's ambition; Ginsburg's (possible future) breakdown, and the continuing ambiguity of Bob Benson's sexual orientation.

The episode is titled "A Tale of Two Cities". Dickens's novel of the same name was about the class system in France leading up to and after the French Revolution. The theme of revolution is played out in this episode with the Chicago Democratic National Convention of 1968 as political background. We have multiple characters following the convention and subsequent protest on TV. In real life, the protesters in Chicago chanted "the world is watching, the world is watching" as the police beat the non-violent protesters. This gives some interesting depth, as we watch the characters watch the riot as the protesters chant. It is a history lesson with touches of voyeurism. The 1968 convention witnessed the fracturing of the Democratic Party which in many respects echo the fracturing of the Republican Party today: old alliances and deal makers were pushed aside by younger and more vibrant participants. 

Ginsberg begins to echo Abe, Peggy's ex-boyfriend from the last episode, with his wild rant on the corruption and decay of the corporations they represent. Ted describes Ginsberg as "lightening in a bottle" when Jim wants to fire him. While Ted means that Ginsberg has a spark of creativity, lightening also represents a volatile, dangerous and unpredictable substance. Of interest to us, is Ginsberg's mention of "the destroyer" a reference to the god Shiva in Hinduism. Eastern philosophy is also represented in Hollywood with Lotus, the girl that Roger and Daniel fight over. The lotus flower is revered by many Eastern religions as a physical form of beauty and purity.

One thing we have learned about Ginsburg is his sharp and intuitive perception (and judgement) of people. When he asked Bob Benson if he was a "homo", Bob did not answer directly: he said, "there's your sense of humor" as though it was a joke. Since we haven't had a gay character for awhile, I'm guessing that Bob will come out of the closet, which will cause some problems, probably with Pete.

In Homer's Odyssey (one of the keystones of Western literature), Odysseus tries to return home to his wife after ten years of war. One of his many experiences (obstacles) was when he visited an island inhabited by the Lotus eaters. When the lotus flower was eaten, the sailors discovered that it was a narcotic and made them blissfully apathetic to life and their journey home.

The Hollywood party that Harry takes them to, may reference this, as well as Alice in Wonderland. When Don meets Daniel (Roger's in-law and ex adman) Daniel mentions that there is a movie being made called Alice in Wonderland. A few minutes later, Don goes into a room where people are smoking hashish from a hookah, a scene from Alice in Wonderland (with the caterpillar). Don's interior journey has him see and talk to Megan (who quits her job and is barefoot and pregnant). He also talks to the soldier that he met at the bar in Hawaii where he gave away the bride.

When Don is floating face down at the pool, it's seems like a nod to the film, Sunset Blvd, which is narrated by the deceased screenwriter, played by William Holden. But there was a foreshadowing before, when Joan and Peggy were arguing back in the office and Joan says to Peggy that Don carried you "down to the deep end of the pool." The floating figure is more of a visual reference than a direct connection.

Joan's ambition to become a participating player at the firm is welcome but threatens Pete. Pete is the quintessential WASP. In the final sequence, he is ogling the legs of a secretary in a miniskirt, a vision in which he only sees her as a sexual object. He like Don's vision of Megan as barefoot and pregnant, is out of step with the times.

Season 6 Episode 9: The Better Half

"It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are."

- Roy Disney

The episode is called "The Better Half" and the main characters are given sexual, emotional and work choices within their triangles: Don with Betty and Megan; Betty with Henry and Don; Peggy with Don and Ted; Peggy with Abe and Ted; Joan with Bob and Roger; and Joan with Bob and Pete. Megan also has the distinction of playing two roles on the TV show, a brunette and a blond against Arlene, a bi-sexual, who chooses pleasure between a man and a woman (or perhaps both at the same time).

There is no surfeit of conflict here: it begins and ends with Peggy between the two creative heads Don and Ted. She does not take sides and is criticized for it by Don, and later by Abe who calls her "complacent". Peggy later accidentally stabs Abe but does not blame her, yet calls her the "enemy". Roger and Pete are bookends to each other and are both estranged from their families; Betty and Don rekindle their sexual attraction to each other; and every time we see Don with Megan, we hear police and / or ambulance sirens, signaling trouble. 

At summer camp, Bobby teaches Betty and Don a song, "Father Abraham had Seven Sons." When they sing, they raise their right arms, which is the symbol of the raised fist, a gesture used to signify unity, solidarity and resistance. It was most famously used in 1968 (the year of the episode) during the Summer Olympics, when the African American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, stood on the platform and received their gold and bronze medals with their fists raised and heads bowed while the Star Spangled Banner played. At the time, this gesture was a symbol of Black Power for African Americans. Their non-verbal communication became front page news around the world.

We are also given an abundance of political references to external conflicts: when Duck Phillips is talking to Pete about a potential job, Pete asks a question instead of answering one. Duck calls it a "Yankee wrinkle" a reference to a New Englander from a Southern perspective. The Civil War is also brought up when Arlene is rebuffed by Megan and says "status quo ante bellum, everything as it was" a reference to a time before the (Civil) war. Race too is referenced with the mention of the Planet of the Apes movie, a parable about race relations in America, and when Abe reminds Peggy that the neighborhood youth (criminals to Peggy) were brought to America in slave ships. And as Abe becomes more radicalized, he calls a NYPD officer a fascist and voices his solidarity with the May strikes in Paris (France) and the Prague Spring (Czechoslovakia) against the Soviet Union. When Don comforts Megan on the balcony, she is wearing a t-shirt with a red star, which is the trademarked symbol of Macy's department store*, but the red star has also been associated with Socialism and Communism since 1917**. When Abe agrees to move from their neighborhood and sell the building, he says "not everyone is a pioneer." While we take this to mean a reference to their failed attempt to gentrify the neighborhood, we should not forget that the "pioneer" movement was an organization for children modeled on the Scout movement and run by the Communist Party. The Vietnam War is also obliquely mentioned when Joan reminds Roger that Kevin's father is an Army doctor "a hero over there" and the nurse that Bob Benson recommends to Pete is "Army trained."

The conflicts of East and West (Cold War and Vietnam War), Black and White (race relations in America), Culture and Counter Culture (Tradition and non tradition) and the rising emergence of women breaking the glass ceiling in corporate America are the recurring sub themes of the show. And while we shouldn't give too much weight to these signs and symbols, we should acknowledge them as cultural shadings for the overall development of the plot and tension between the characters.

---

* When R.H. Macy was a sailor, he received a star shaped tattoo. He used this symbol as branding when he opened his eponymous store in 1858.

** Megan's father is also a Socialist / Marxist.

Season 6 Episode 8: The Crash

My heart leaps up when I behold

A Rainbow in the sky:

So was it when my life began;

So is it now I am a man;

So be it when I shall grow old,

Or let me die!

The Child is father of the man;

And I wish my days to be

Bound each to each by natural piety.      

- William Wordsworth, "My Heart Leaps Up" 1802

When Peggy quotes Wordsworth's poem with the line "The Child is father of the man", she is giving us an idea of the structure of the episode. Wordsworth wrote how a child sees the world, so sees the man, i.e., our experiences in our youth, shape our perception and emotions in the future as adults. When Don sees Peggy comforting Ted, in his drug induced state he is reminded of his illness as a teenager. Amee Swenson, a prostitute in the brothel, takes care of him during his fever and coughing* attacks, spoon feeding him soup. Don's memory of this reminds him of the Granger Oatmeal ad campaign that he previously designed, showing a Norman Rockwell type illustration of a mother feeding a small boy. Don finds it "in the archives" i.e., his memory. When Ken performs the song and dance routine, Don asks, "where did you learn that?" Ken answers, "My mother, no, my first girlfriend". Here is the key to Don's attraction and conflict with Sylvia: it reminds him of Amee Swenson, the mother figure / prostitute who was also his first sexual experience. Amee also betrayed him by telling his family of their experience resulting in the young Don being beat with a spoon by the step mother. 

Peggy is also the mother figure / girlfriend in this episode, first comforting Ted, then being sexually attracted to Stan. Peggy's advice to Stan, to experience grief and not bury it with drugs and sex is what Stan (and Don) should be doing, but don't. It is the road not taken, as she and Ginsburg quote Alice** to give us a literary equivalent to the surrealism they are experiencing in the office.

Christian symbols pop up: "I hate how dying makes saints out of people" when describing the death of Frank Gleason; Ginsburg comparing Stan to St. Sebastian (death by arrows) and then throws a Xacto knife to his arm; Stan says that he's come up with 666 (the numeric symbol of the Beast in the Book of Revelation) ideas for Chevy: Sally reading Rosemary's Baby***. However, the symbols seem more cultural flotsam than a meaningful plot line.

We also find that Wendy, who offers herself sexually to Don and then she sleeps with Stan, is Frank Gleason's teenage daughter. She is the mirror to Sally and we can only assume that she is using sex, as mentioned by Peggy, to dull the emotional loss of her father. Sally is also beginning to be aware of her sexuality and dressing provocatively. Betty asks how she earned the money to buy the skirt "from working on a street corner?".  We have the tension pitting the jealous (and protective) mother with the daughter and morphing Don's memories into the mix that combines the confusion of emotions of mother and girlfriend.

When Ida robs the apartment, she tells Sally that's she's Don's mother. Ida is a counterfeit mother to a counterfeit son. And even though it's preposterous, Sally believes her, because she doesn't know her father. Ida also becomes the embodiment of advertising, as discussed by Don and Ginzburg, which is to say anything to get your foot in the door. And when she steals, what does she steal? Time from Don (watches)****.

The Crash, starts with a car crash and ends with an emotional one. Wendy uses divination of the I Ching to arrive at Don's silent emotional question: "does anyone love me"? Don's self realization leaves him cold to Sylvia, Megan and to his co-worker and rival Ted, who he dumps the responsibility of the Chevy account on.

---

* Don's coughing and smoking makes me think that the show may end with Don dying of lung cancer.

**
“Alice came to a fork in the road. 'Which road do I take?' she asked.

'Where do you want to go?' responded the Cheshire Cat.

'I don't know,' Alice answered.

'Then,' said the Cat, 'it doesn't matter.” 

-Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1865

*** In the book and movie, the husband is an actor (like Megan) who "prostitutes" himself to Satan and pimps his wife to have his child. Betty says that Megan was on the "casting couch" (prostituting herself) in order to get a role on Broadway. The implication is that Megan is "preparing" Sally for sex .

**** We also learn that they work in the "Time Life" building.

Season 6 Episode 7: The Man with a Plan

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men*

Gang aft agley,

An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,

For promis'd joy!

Modern Translation 

The best laid schemes of mice and men

Go often awry, 

And leave us nothing but grief and pain, 

For promised joy!

- Robert Burns, from his poem, To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough, 1785

Don's brilliant plan that landed the Chevy account becomes real and the (painful) merger of the two firms is played out (perhaps represented by Joan's cyst which was benign but painful?). The effects and repercussions of it shake the identity and insecurities of several characters. We are given a preview of the conflict during a meeting with the partners. Bert Cooper reads a draft press release about the union where he says, "and in closing" and stops: he's missing the ending. He doesn't know it and neither do we because it's ambiguous and changing.

Chaos reigns as Ted's firm moves in. Space is tight, compressed and claustrophobic. People are let go (Roger lays off Burt Peterson to protect himself), jockey for power (Joan and Moira) or maneuver for territory (Peggy gets a windowless office with a hand made door sign that says Chief Coffee Writer and Harry complains about being moved again to a smaller space). The creatives with the two firms could also not be more different: Stan and Ginsberg represent the hip, smart, pot smoking creative team for SCDP versus the white shirt and tie, whispering to each other CGC team. The only two people who seem to enjoy the merger is Roger and Jim, who both act royal and imperialistic. During the commotion of the office, there is also an odd moment when movers bring in a "modern" chaise and it is carried up the stairs. We later see it in Roger's office when he fires Burt. Burt can't figure out how to sit on it and asks if it's a bed.**

Don is the primary focus in this episode and his world goes upside down. In fact, we are told this twice: once, when he says to Sylvia that he wants her to please him, she replies, "I can stand on my head and do that at any time". And again, in the plane while flying up to visit the Mohawk Airlines, Ted tells him, "you think you're right side up, but sometimes when you're flying you're upside down". The merger has caused Don's world to become unsteady. We see Don's jealousy of Ted when he gives up his chair for Moira and when Ted asks the secretary taking the meeting notes a question she makes "goo goo" eyes at him. Don doesn't like it. And on the plane trip, Don looks disgusted and says that it doesn't matter what he says to Mohawk, because "you just flew your own plane to see him". Don is not the alpha dog any more.

When the episode begins and the elevator door opens to Arnie"s and Sylvia's hallway, we see a suitcase and a hat in the middle of the floor. We hear Sylvia yelling, but we never hear Arnie. It's as if he's not there. The conversation is one sided and she says "you are not taking care of me, you are taking care of yourself". When she calls Don at work and wants to see him, he does the same thing to her, symbolically locking her up in the hotel room (when he takes the key) and effectively putting her into solitary confinement with no food or entertainment (before hotel rooms had TVs). This becomes apparent when he cruelly takes her book, The Last Picture Show***, away to read on the plane. Don has gone to a dark place. We have not seen him treat a woman like this before.

So where is Don during the merger? Absent without leave. As one of the key figures and partners, he doesn't care. He's more interested in playing mind and sex games with his mistress than running the agency. Sylvia finally tires of him when she imagines him dead.**** Only then, does Don feel anything. Sylvia's problem is that she confused sex with love. Don doesn't know the meaning of love, only the meaning of sex. The most important thing to happen to the firm and he is not there, mentally or physically. Don's secretary is also absent. Don repeatedly looks for her. When Peggy says that she spoke to Dawn on the telephone, Ted says "which one? Black or white?."

Other absentee players: Pete and Pete's father who is a ghost in his mother's memory. We learn from his mother, who appears to have Alzheimer's, that he, like Pete, was a womanizer and also had an apartment in the city. We realize how detached Pete is from family and not just with Trudy: he didn't offer his brother the chance to take SCDP public and lies to his mother repeatedly about dates and events. He has become her caretaker because he could not admit that he is separated from his wife due to adultery. He also lost his accounts due to adultery. He sees his position at the firm as tenuous and missed the Mohawk meeting because of his mother. Pete is caught in a hell of his own making.

The Man with a Plan, has many guises: Pete's swinging bachelor pad has become a small cramped apartment that he shares with his senile mother. The plan to go public fell apart and the partners will not become millionaires. Arnie's plan to become the first American heart transplant surgeon doesn't pan out and he wants to move to Minnesota. Don's plan for the company merger is realized, but Don didn't realize the affect it would have on him or others.

---

*John Steinbeck, in 1937, named his book "Of Mice and Men" from this stanza. The book was about unfulfilled dreams and plans that go horribly wrong.

** The chaise longue is a LC4 Villa Church and designed in 1928. For years Le Corbusier claimed exclusive credit for it. However, Charlotte Perriand, who worked with Le Corbusier in his architectural practice was the actual designer. It has only been in the last few years that she is being given proper credit for many of his iconic pieces. This piece of furniture, like the women of the time and shown in the series, are mostly uncredited or invisible. For more information on her please visit:

http://designmuseum.org/design/charlotte-perriand

*** The book is about loveless sexual alliances in a small dying town.

****Don's death is also alluded to by the dying Gleason when he speaks to Ted from his hospital bed. He quotes Sun Tzu (The Art of War) "if I wait patiently by the river, the body of my enemy will float by".