Mad Men: Indian Summer

December 12th, 2008

Season 1, Episode 11

Synopsis

Don’s estranged brother Adam gives a hotel manager a package, addressed to Don. Back in his hotel room, Adam puts a note saying “Enjoy” next to a pile of money and hangs himself.

The Sterling Cooper men examine a plastic woman’s undergarment attached to an electronic control box — it’s a weight loss device. They jokingly call it the “Electrosizer” and decide Peggy is the ideal person to test it out.

That night in her bedroom, Peggy gives the ridiculous contraption a try. After she realizes its effect, she abruptly pulls it off and kicks it onto the floor. Meanwhile, Rachel and Don spend another night together.

The next day, Peggy briefs Don on the Electrosizer. He asks Peggy to put its “benefit” into words without being too forward.

Cooper tells Don that Lucky Strike people are worried about Roger’s absence due to his heart attack. He calls a big lunch meeting with the client and expects Roger to attend.

Betty is visited by a door-to-door air conditioning salesman. She isn’t interested but allows the man in for a glass of water. She nearly invites him up to the bedroom to measure a window, but at the last moment asks him to leave.

Over lunch with her sister Barbara, Rachel wonders where her affair with Don is going. Barbara calls Don a “goy.” The fortune cookie says “you are your own worst enemy.” Meanwhile, Don is angry to learn Betty invited a strange man into the house.

A deathly pale Roger arrives for the big lunch meeting. Joan applies makeup to his face, adding some color. Roger says he was grateful to have slept with her. At the meeting, Don and Roger assure the Lucky Strike executives everything is okay. As Roger prepares to bite into a sandwich, he gasps in pain — another heart attack. His wife, Mona, glares angrily at Cooper as Roger is wheeled back to the hospital.

Harry, Paul, Pete, Ken, and Salvatore all gossip about potential changes to company, and wonder if Don will make partner.

Peggy is on a dinner date with Carl, a truck driver from her neighborhood. Talking up the glamor of Manhattan, she becomes condescending to Carl, and he returns the favor. Peggy leaves the restaurant alone.

Don angrily tells Dr. Wayne over the phone that the therapy has achieved nothing — Betty is unhappier than ever before. Dr. Wayne suggests increasing her therapy to three visits a week.

Peggy gives a presentation on the Electrosizer to the office men. She has renamed it the “Rejuvinator” and says women will love the way it makes them feel. The men are confused, and Don suggests a new name, consisting of a code word that only women would understand.

As Betty does laundry, she presses herself against the washing machine, enjoying its vibrations. She fantasizes about the salesman from the other day.

At the office, Peggy asks Don if she can have her own desk. Cooper then calls Don into his office and makes him partner. Pete tries to butter up Don, jockeying for a promotion of his own. Seeing an opportunity to embarrass Pete, Don gives Peggy a raise.

Pete sneaks into Don’s office to test out the desk chair, imagining that it might someday be his. He notices a package on Don’s desk. Curious, Pete shakes the box — and on an impulse, takes it home.

Peggy, alone in her bedroom, reaches for the “Rejuvinator.”

Thoughts

Style

Roger mentions the bad television debate betwen Nixon and Kennedy, which proved pivotal to the election as Kennedy was much more photogenic than Nixon.

Then And Now

• Ridiculous weight loss solutions: Before we judge the “Electrosizer” too harshly, consider today’s cornball diet aids. Many dubious products are advertised via late-night infomercials, which the Sterling Cooper folks would surely consider a sort of sick genius.
• Vibrators: The office men, and Peggy especially, dance around the subject of women’s sexual aids. Today, people are much more open about this subject — I could see ad folks stating bluntly, “It’s a vibrator” and avoid the beating around the bush — no pun intended.

Advertising

Peggy’s date Carl raises a good point about the difficulty in measuring the effectiveness of advertising. This is a large reason why ad agencies are able to charge a lot of money for their campaigns. The inherent mystery of advertising’s power is sort of like an arms race: everyone feels obligated to advertise because their competitors are. Meanwhile, since consumers may totally ignore the ads, the ad agencies laugh all the way to the bank.

Developments

On second viewing, I noted the deft direction of the scene where Betty gets a visit from a salesman. Initially, we only hear the saleman’s voice, adding some mystery as to his physical appearance, which is good for creating sexual tension. Their dialogue about air conditioning and air is rather cornily laced with sexual innuendo — Betty repeatedly mentions needing her husband’s approval — and then she nearly leads the strange man to her bedroom. Later, the “electrosizer” vibrating undergarment finds a parallel in the vibrating washing machine that Betty leans against. After her encounter with the domesticating appliance, Betty cools herself before an electric fan, blowing cool air — the product of her fantasy salesman.

Another excellent moment is when Pete snatches Don’s package — the camera focuses on the box, sitting on Don’s desk, and Pete’s hand zooms in to grasp it. That little moment had me oscillate between, good, he didn’t take it, to — oh no, he does!

I found it quite funny how angry Don becomes upon learning Betty talked to another man. It’s quite hypocritical, since he’s currently embroiled in several affairs. I suppose the men of this time period are entitled to basically everything while women are supposed to stay home and shoot pigeons.

I felt Roger’s brief conversation with Joan was quite pathetic, because the most profound compliment he could pay her, was her being a fine piece of ass. His heart attack failed to inspire any sort of life-lesson. Roger’s obliviousness continues as he suffers a second heart attack, surrounded by cigarettes and meat sandwiches, all of which surely contributed to his medical state. Unable to see the lessons placed before him, it’s no surprise Roger continues his womanizing ways well into the next season.

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