Season 5 Episode 7: At the Codfish Ball

This episode opens and closes like a flower, with Sally, on the verge of becoming a young woman, talking to her young male friend, Glen, who is away at private school. The episode begins and ends with this artifice, and while as a whole did not gel for me, I have come to realize how much of this show is about the complex nature of women: their interactions with men and with each other. It is this depth of character that makes the show so enjoyable, even if the overall assembly is slightly flawed. This particular episode seemed choppy when put together, especially with the final scene of Sally commenting on the city (life in particular) as being "dirty", which sounded like an echo of her mother. But when looked back upon the intricate range of situations, emotions and reactions, it is indeed a flowering and living organism.

Sally, talking on the telephone, causes the grandmother to fall and hurt her ankle when she trips over the telephone cord. Later, we find out that Sally has blamed her brother's toy for the accident and has taken credit for calling the police (which she didn't). Sally's deception to her father (and extended family) to make herself more important (and blameless), takes credit for something that is not earned. This is mirrored in Don receiving the award from the Cancer Society for the newspaper advertisement that he wrote when they lost the Lucky Strike account. Don receives credit where credit is not due, and furthermore realizes that it is all a sham when he finds out that his betrayal to a client is considered dishonorable, as he broke the concept of trust. This is also the accusation by Megan's father, that she married a man with a beautiful apartment ("exquisite decadence") and wealth, but she did not earn it on her own; that she has sacrificed her personal goals to achieve social advancement by marriage. Sadly, even when Megan does deserve credit (for saving the Heinz account), she does not accept it. Megan walks in a twilight world of wife, co-worker and daughter, and is uncomfortable transiting through the roles.

In this episode, Megan's character is developed with more background about her French father, a left leaning author (and teacher?) who has a current relationship with a young graduate student; her alcoholic mother, who flirts with men in order to make her husband jealous and has an sexual encounter with Roger which Sally observes (but does not inform). Megan's mother is also a youthful competitor with Megan for the affection for Don's attention, which she notices, but he doesn't ("she touched you six times").

The role of the daughter is shown in varying conditions with Megan / Emile, Sally / Don, Peggy / Kathy. Megan disappoints her father; Don doesn't want Sally to grow up ("remove the makeup and boots"); Kathy doesn't want her daughter to be used by the boyfriend and is against her moving in with him. Emile's comment that "they spread their legs and fly away" is the summation. The rancorous relationship between child and parent is offset by the truthful and honest bond of sisterhood that runs through the episode: between Joan and Peggy, when Peggy goes to Joan for advice ("it's a proposal; go shopping"); between Megan and the wife of the Heinz executive ("I like you like a friend") and tips her off that the account is not going to be signing up with the firm; between Megan and Peggy, when Peggy tries to make Megan take credit for her work, but Megan declines ("this is the best it gets"). Even when Kathy, Peggy's mother is about to leave the apartment. While she disapproves of the living arrangement, she still gives advice (re: loneliness) "get a cat. Twelve years later when it dies, get another one". Sally is the only one who does not have a female confidante. Her role is still that of a child and has to rely on talking to another child, Glen, who as a male, can not be told everything she knows. Sally, who at the beginning of the episode wants to be an adult (Rogers' "date" at the ceremony) is deflated, disappointed and depressed by Rodger's and Marie's sex act. It is knowledge itself that is dispiriting. It is knowledge that makes this show so much fun to watch.

Season 5 Episode 5 Signal 30

This was a very interesting exploration about friendships. Don, in his new role as "family comes first" transformation, vehemently does not want to be friends with partners or subordinates. When he is talked into going to the "country" for the dinner party, the "rules" set by Trudy are "no talk about business or clients". As a result, the awkward socializing (visually expressed by the clashing coats worn by the men) is magnified at the dinner table, when it comes out that Ken is a sci-fi writer, no one cares nor understands nor is supportive of his efforts because there is no connection between them save business.

There is also the false friendship that Lane tries to have with the British Jaguar client, with pointers by Roger and Pete on how to pretend to be friends in order to win the business.

There is the failed seduction between Pete and the high school girl, as he tries to seduce her through a false friendship, but she is uninterested and eventually spurns him for Mr. Handsome who is younger and more direct.

The violation of trust between friends is broken when Ken doesn't invite Peggy to lunch and to tell him about meeting with a publisher and about his writing "the vow". 

The violation of trust is broken between spouses with the visit to the brothel. 

The outward surface of business friendship and civility is broken between the partners when the fist fight breaks out between Lane and Pete (perhaps the funniest scene for me since the Managing Director loses his foot in the tractor episode and gets fired because he can't play tennis anymore {or was it golf?}). 

The platonic friendship morphs towards the beginnings of a sexual relationship between Lane and Joan. Joan's response is get up to open the door for propriety, but it is also a visual metaphor for leaving the door open for a relationship between them.

There is also the complete humiliation of Pete in this episode. He can't score with a girl unless he pays for it; he can't fix the sink; and he can't fight. He is completely emasculated and as he says in the elevator, crying, he is nothing.

In contrast to the broken and damaged relationships above, the relationship between Don and Megan shows her to be a wife but not a mother. (I don't even remember her being in the same room as the kids this season). In the car, Don asks her to have a baby. She says impossible. As Don becomes family centric, my guess is that she will become more independent and either have an affair or leave him.

On a technical level, I really didn't like the editing. Good editing is not noticeable. I haven't looked, so I don't know if the editor is new or if it was done on purpose, but there were a lot of jump cuts that were jarring and reminded me that I was watching a costume drama. There was only one interesting edit that had Ken reaching for the doorknob to leave his office and cut to Lane in the same position opening the door to his office. There were also some tracking shots that I found gratuitous and unnecessary. 

As an aside: I'm 99% sure that the exterior shot that was used as Betty's home with her new husband (a large 3 story brownstone), is located on So. Figueroa down by USC in Los Angeles. Can someone confirm? I use to live down there years ago, and that's my memory. 

Great viewing!

Season 5 Episode 6 Far Away Places

At first, I thought this episode was pretty depressing. But upon reflection, it really was a powerful look at women and their multifaceted roles and relationships with men.

Peggy's relationship with her boyfriend starts the episode with him stating (indirectly) that she is the alpha male and he complains about this, as it violates the traditional roles of the sexes. When the pitch to Heinz goes awry, she leaves work to go to a movie, gets high with a stranger and has anonymous sex with him. But the sex act is her way of re-gaining her dominance in her world with men and she becomes the sexual aggressor by refusing to be submissive.

During the pitch to Heinz ("Home is where the Heinz Is" (where product replaces the human heart), Peggy tells the executive the "truth" that they don't know what he wants, that he knows but won't tell them, and just wants to complain. The executive in response, compares her to a daughter figure, that he dismisses by having her fired from the account. Peggy is not treated as a associate or on equal status as the men, which is echoed by Sally's phone call to Don to complain that she is treated like a second class citizen.

There is also the powerful underlying theme of motherhood that runs through this episode. Ginsburg was born in a concentration camp and reared in an orphanage. This is told to Peggy, the unwed mother, who gave up her baby at birth.

Roger goes to the dinner party with his wife and takes LSD with Prof Tim Leary. This sequence is about "truth and lies". What better person than Roger, who works on Madison Ave and deals with illusion, to appreciate the effects of the drug and welcome the ability to talk truthfully with his wife about their failed relationship. Roger sees himself both young and old and his relationship with his wife more father / daughter. When they finally break up, she says "you never liked me." His response, "I use to." Love was never part of the marriage.

There is also a reference to the 1919 World Series, which was the famous baseball gambling scandal that showed the frailty of men and broke the illusion of baseball as a "pure" sport. The mother theme is also echoed with the woman therapist, who advises the wife/ daughter in her relationship with Roger.

Don and Megan's road trip, dominated by the color orange (sherbet, her dress, Howard Johnson) is a disaster, echoing Peggy's pitch to Heinz. Megan tells Don what he doesn't want to hear: that she has multiple roles: a job with responsibilities to her co-workers, to him as a husband. However, he only lets her have these roles at his convenience. She chafes at being the submissive partner and wants to be an equal, which he doesn't allow her to be. The trigger is when she tells Don to call his mother (last episode we find that he was reared in a brothel and his mother a whore), which sets him off and he leaves her stranded at the motel. Don, being the petulant child, regret his decision to leave his wife (mother), and tries to find her without success, even calling Megan's mother. Driving home, he remembers a prior trip in the car with Sally and the kids in the back seat, and he tells Sally that they are going to their new home. When Don reaches home his finds Megan, they fight, and Don ends on his knees with his head on her womb, declares that he thought that he had lost her. She, reluctantly, assumes the mother role and comforts him.

The episode ends with Sterling, with a drawing of a woman in lingerie crossed out that has written on it "Do Over", tells Don that the firm is having problems because he's been on a love leave. Don by himself in the empty conference room, contemplates the future.

Rich and dense stuff.