My favorite episodes of Mad Men involve Don Draper and the firm being in crisis. The show is at its finest when all the chips are down and then suddenly, Don gets a quick and sudden stroke of genius that changes everything in its path. This is an episode that starts off seemingly like any other episode, and then during a pivotal scene, Ted sits down for a drink with Don. By the end of their conversation, we know that everything at SCDP has changed.
The episode starts off with Bert and Pete discussing their stock value if they go public. Unfortunately Don is not aware of Bert’s motivations and gets pulled into a dinner with Herb, the representative at Jaguar. Don tells Herb off, something that’s been boiling in Don and with us ever since Herb got his way with Joan last season. Meanwhile, Pete runs into his father in law at a whorehouse and assumes everything is okay because Ken explains to him that they’ll both be harmed if the truth is revealed. Everything isn’t ok, Trudy’s father care more about his daughter than harming his own self image. SCDP ends up losing Vicks and Jaguar when they need them the most. That’s when Roger and Don basically come in and save the day.
The last time business at SCDP was this exciting was in the Season Three finale “Shut the Door, Have a Seat”, which is universally regarded as one of the show’s best episodes. If you don’t remember, this was the episode where Sterling Cooper was on the verge of being sold to the English, so Don convinced Lane to fire him and all the important members of the firm and thus, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce was born. Now the firm is changing again, but this time merging with Ted and Peggy’s ad firm. There are changes in store for almost all of the characters from this. Much like its main character, Mad Men is a show that takes risks and just like with Don, those risks usually pay off.
Observations:
-Was Pete hitting on Joan and trying to get her drunk? Pete couldn’t handle that.
-Roger shows us why he’s a good businessman; it’s good to see him successful again.
-Megan got kinky this episode, at the suggestion of her mother.
-“I love puppies.”- Don
-“If I could deal with him, you could deal with him. And what now? I went through all of that for nothing.” I liked Joan telling Don off. Its pretty much true, Don does whatever he wants without thinking about the firm.
-I knew it, Peggy and Ted have a thing for each other.
-How weird must have it been to be Peggy, getting called into her boss’s office and seeing Don there.
-Bonus: Here’s a gif of Pete stumbling on the stairs. http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/stg.ign.com/2013/05/oQnzqR3.gif
No comments:
Post a Comment