Mad Men: The New Girl

February 2nd, 2009

Season 2, Episode 5

Synopsis

Pete and Trudy see a fertility specialist, where Pete seems reluctant about this whole fatherhood thing.

At the office, Joan has gotten engaged. Bobbie Barrett invites Don to dinner, saying Jimmy has landed his television show. At the restaurant, Don runs into Rachel Menken and her new husband. Don is polite and Rachel calls him “all business.” After Rachel leaves, Bobbie propositions Don to run away to the beach and have a fling.

While on the night road, Bobbie distracts Don and the car flips over. Don can’t pay the fine for drunk driving. Bobbie has noticeable bruises on her face. Peggy comes to bail the two out and drive them back.

Once home, Don reluctantly tells a worried Betty that he has high blood pressure and claims the medication which caused the accident. Bobbie stays with Peggy until her bruises heal, trying to hide the accident from Jimmy. She phones Jimmy and claims to be at a fat farm.

Don’s new secretary, Jane Siegel, is greeted by the office men. Don arrives with a hurt arm and barely acknowledges her.

Bobbie asks Peggy why she’s helping Don, to which she replies he’s done a lot for her. Flashback to Peggy in the hospital after her unplanned pregnancy. Later, Bobbie advises that Peggy will be more successful at business if she acts like a woman instead of mimicking men.

Roger reacts to Joan’s engagement by presenting her with a rather dismal view of marriage. She then tells Jane to dress more professionally, which is undercut by Freddy playing Mozart with his pants zipper.

After Pete has done further tests, Pete and Trudy argue about the timing of a child. Trudy calls him immature, reiterating that she really wants a baby.

Peggy remembers the rest of her experience in the hospital. Don visits and tells her that she can forget the past – pretend it never happened – and just move forward.

At the office, Don scolds Peggy on her job performance. He then repays her some of the money she lent him following the accident. Jimmy and Bobbie Barrett stop by, and Jimmy thanks Don for helping him land the television show. He seems to have no knowledge of Bobbie and Don’s affair.

That evening, Betty has prepared a meatloaf dinner – and taken away the salt.

Thoughts

Style

Bobbie invites Don to Sardi’s, a popular Manhattan restaurant where celebrity caricatures hang on the walls. At dinner, she name drops Buddy Hackett and Jackie Gleason, and later on the drive home, Bobbie mentions Spartacus (1960) and “sexy” foreign movies like La Notte, an Antonioni movie from 1961. She obviously has current entertainment on her mind.

Roger plays with a paddle and rubber ball toy.

Trudy mentions Cape Fear (1962).

Then And Now

Drunk / dangerous driving: Bobbie holds a half empty liquor bottle as Don drives down the night road with one hand. Needless to say, neither are wearing seat belts.
The next thing they’re supposed to do: Pete is feeling a bit trapped by the social convention that married people are supposed to have kids soon after being married. Trudy’s reaction is that Pete is just immature, even suggesting that the whole point of marriage is to have kids.

Developments

Pete and Trudy’s struggle to get pregnant has another layer of entertainment (and sadness) in that Pete has already fathered a child with Peggy.

Don’s old fling Rachel Menken from season one has gotten married, and seems rather smugly satisfied to see that Don still at his womanizing ways while she has moved on.

This episode shows a deeper relationship between Don and Peggy than once was evident. Don knew about Peggy’s pregnancy and advised her to pretend it never happened. Because he has kept her secret, it makes sense that she would return the favor by helping Don and keeping this accident a secret from his wife.

Next Episode: Maidenform
Previous Episode: Three Sundays

TV Shows: Mad Men

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