Mad Men: A Night To Remember

February 27th, 2009

Season 2, Episode 8

Synopsis

After a visit to the stables, Betty asks a reluctant Don to help prepare for a dinner party. Meanwhile, Father Gill asks Peggy for help promoting a church dance.

Duck scolds Harry for the placement of Maytag television ads with a movie featuring an “agitator” — the washing machines have a feature called an “agitator.” Duck informs Don that Heineken is skeptical of marketing beer to housewives. Don recommends trial displays at grocery stores.

Betty smashes a wobbly chair to pieces in frustration. Sally and Bobby watch silently from another room.

Harry asks Roger for a dedicated person to read future television scripts for ad placement problems. Roger declines.

Father Gill calls Peggy, saying the church committee thinks the dance’s title “A Night to Remember” is too suggestive. During a meeting where two older church members voice their concerns, Father Gill prods an annoyed Peggy to develop another version of her poster.

At their dinner party, Betty presents a “trip around the world” menu. Betty selected Heineken beer on her own, unaware that Sterling Cooper is working with them. Duck is impressed that Don’s retail placement strategy worked.

Harry enlists Joan to read the television scripts. She takes some home to read, and her fiance Greg teases her about her enjoyment of this new project.

After dinner, Betty scolds Don for keeping the Heineken beer experiment a secret and embarrassing her. She then accuses him of sleeping with Bobbie Barrett. Don denies it.

The next day, Harry introduces Joan to the Maytag representatives, and she provides valuable input during a meeting.

While Don is at work, Betty goes through his closet and desk, searching for evidence of an affair.

Don, Duck, and Pete tell Heineken that targeting housewives could open up a whole new, lucrative market.

After a nap, Betty cuts her foot on a wine glass that she left on the bedroom floor. That night, Don finds her still in bed. She admits she spent the whole day searching the house for evidence. He denies everything.

That night, Don sleeps on the couch. Betty says she doesn’t want their marriage to be this way, and he admits he doesn’t want to lose everything.

Harry introduces Joan to Danny, a new hire who will read scripts and meet with the networks — essentially what she was doing. She’s noticeably disappointed.

Father Gill stops by the office to make copies of the dance poster. He tells Peggy he’s available if she ever needs to talk, and is quite forward with God as being part of the solution for what troubles her.

That evening, Betty sees Jimmy Barrett’s Utz potato chip television commercial. She calls Don and tells him to not come home.

Preparing for bed and alone in his room, Father Gill plays a gospel song on a guitar. Meanwhile, Don sits alone in the office break room, drinking a Heineken.

Thoughts

Style

Heineken is a Dutch beer that dates from the late 1800s. The gospel song played by Father Gill is Early In The Morning which was covered by Peter, Paul, and Mary. Maytag introduced its first automatic washing machine in 1948.

Then And Now

• Foreign foods: Betty’s trip around the world dinner involves mostly European foods (egg noodles), with just one country in Asia, Japan. Not terribly exotic by today’s standards.
• Sexual innuendo: The church members are bothered by the dance title and also the proximity of a girl to a boy in the dance poster. The poster looked about as sexy as a marshmallow.

Developments

I felt sorry for Joan in this episode. Despite being a loyal office manager, neither Harry or Roger entertain the thought that she might be capable of more. Her pain is surely greater knowing Peggy’s recent advancement from secretary to copywriter.

We also learned more about her fiance, Greg, and (no surprise) he shares the sexist views of the time, saying she should be watching television shows while eating bon bons, not reading scripts for them.

Betty made some huge moves, finally sticking up for herself and confronting Don about his affair with Bobbie Barrett. She’s gained a lot of confidence from season one. The final straw is Jimmy Barrett’s Utz commercial — which is quite darkly humorous. An advertisement inspires Betty to instigate Don’s exile.

Father Gill, convinced he can “save” Peggy from her wayward ways, uses a church dance as a pretense to connect with her. It results in a rather aggressive selling of God’s capacity to forgive. But his last words — “do you feel you don’t deserve his love?” — seem to settle in Peggy as referring to Pete, not God. And something about his behavior made me realize that in a sense, he’s an ad man too, selling religion.

But overall, this was an unhappy episode — three women: Joan, Peggy, and Betty, at last realize their solitude and displeasure with their current station. Only Father Gill, who is equally alone, but has religious faith, seems like he’s having any fun. The lyrics to Early In The Morning talk about change, loneliness, and asking the Lord to show the way.

At episode’s end is Don, also alone, who at long last is starting to feel repercussions of his past behavior. With nothing left but his work, it’s only appropriate that he cracks open a Heineken.

Next Episode: Six Month Leave
Previous Episode: The Gold Violin