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 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.

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* 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.