Mad Men: Flight 1

January 17th, 2009

Season 2, Episode 2

Synopsis

Paul throws a party at his apartment, and some of the Sterling Cooper men attend. Paul introduces Joan to his new girlfriend, Sheila, who is African-American.

The next day, an American Airlines plane crashes. Don pulls the Mohawk airline ads as damage control. Duck suggests using the event as an opportunity to snare American Airlines as a client.

Pete learns his father died in the crash. He approaches Don for advice, and is sympathetically told to go home. He soon learns his father spent all of the family’s money, leaving his mother broke.

Peggy visits her mother and sister, who prod her to attend church. We learn they are caring for Peggy’s child.

Don and Betty invite Francine and Carlton over to play cards. Bobby tries to sneak some candy. Betty calls him a liar, recounting a story where he traced a drawing and passed it off as his own at school.

At the office, Joan confronts Paul about his new girlfriend, saying he’s just dating her to seem “interesting.”

Duck invites Pete to meet with an American Airlines executive. Roger tells Don meet with someone from Mohawk Airlines and cut them loose from Sterling Cooper.

Joan finds a copy of her driver’s license with the date circled — revealing her true age — pinned to the office bulletin board.

Don tells Henry, a Mohawk Airlines representative, that the relationship with Sterling Cooper is over. He’s is unhappy and feels Don has broken a promise.

Duck and Pete tell Shel, the American Airlines representative, that they want to represent his airline. Pete mentions that his father died in the plane crash, hopefully indicating any ad campaign from Sterling Cooper would have a hefty amount of empathy for the crash victims.

Don finds a waitress at the Japanese restaurant particularly attractive, but he resists.

Peggy attends Sunday mass as her sister takes communion. She reluctantly attends to the baby.

Thoughts

Style

American Airlines is still around today. The company was started back in the 1930s.

Then And Now

• Interracial relationships: Paul dating an African-American woman evokes a bit of condescension on Joan’s part.
• Single parent: Peggy’s family is quite religious and they surely weren’t pleased with Peggy’s accidental pregnancy. Their solution is the expected one — go to church. It’s a different sort of condescension than the public disapproval endured by Betty’s friend Helen Bishop.

Developments

I found it rather funny how Betty scolds Bobby for being a liar, recalling the old adage “like father, like son.”

Pete’s willingness to use his father’s death as a means to impress a client shows just how far he’ll go to get ahead at Sterling Cooper. The move is certainly in character in terms of its distasteful opportunism. But Duck and Don are certainly not much better, namely in the way they quickly decide to cut the loyal Mohawk Airlines loose.

Spoiler: Let’s make something clear. At this point, it’s assumed the child Peggy peeks in on is hers and Pete’s — but it’s actually her sisters. This was kept intentionally vague, but the word comes from Matthew Weiner himself. Peggy’s child with Pete was given away.

Next Episode: The Benefactor
Previous Episode: For Those Who Think Young