Mad Men: The Fog

September 24th, 2009

Season 3, Episode 5

Mad Men: The Fog

Synopsis

Don and Betty meet with Sally’s teacher (Suzanne Farrell), because Sally got in a fight with another student and has been asking questions about the recent murder of a civil rights activist. She’s been acting out since the death of Grandpa Gene.

At the office, Lane Pryce nitpicks every business expense, while Don says the creative department needs the space to be “creative.” Meanwhile, Paul and Pete notice that African Americans are large buyers of Admiral television sets. Later, Duck Phillips – now employed at a competing agency – invites Pete to lunch.

Don arrives home to receive a phone call from Miss Farrell, who says her father died when she was young, and then admits to not knowing why she’s calling. After Don hangs up, Betty calls out “it’s time.”

Betty is wheeled away down a long hospital hallway while Don is directed to a waiting room. Betty mistakes a janitor for her father. In the waiting room, Don meets Dennis, a prison guard, nervously waiting for his wife to give birth. He offers Don a drink from a bottle of scotch. Later, Dennis says prisoners used to be young once, and all blame their parents for their criminal behavior.

Betty is given a sedative and goes under. She imagines walking down a suburban road, catching a silkworm in her hand.

While Don and Dennis share a cigarette, Dennis admits to being afraid. Don says our worst fears lie in anticipation. After hearing his baby has arrived, Dennis tells Don he will be a better man.

As Betty goes into labor, she imagines Grandpa Gene mopping up blood in the kitchen. Her mother holds a bloody cloth and tells her to be happy with what she has. Gene calls Betty a “housecat” that is very important, but has little to do. Betty awakes in a hospital bed, holding a baby boy and Don standing there. They name the boy Gene.

The next day, Don finds his office full of baby gifts, and Roger congratulates him over the phone.

Pete arrives at a restaurant to have lunch with Dick, and finds Peggy there also. Duck wants to steal both of them from Sterling Cooper. Pete walks out while Duck complements Peggy further, saying she should “strike while the iron is hot” – she a young “career gal” with no responsibilities.

That night, Don prepares hash and eggs and serves some to Sally, who had no idea her father could cook.

On the way back to Sterling Cooper, Pete has an awkward conversation with Hollis, the elevator operator, about televisions. Pete then advises the Admiral representatives to advertise directly to African-Americans. They are not pleased with this idea. Later, Pete is reprimanded by Bertram Cooper, Roger, and Lane.

Peggy nervously asks Don for a raise, to which Don says now isn’t a good time. Peggy looks at Don’s baby presents longingly, admitting she wants what he has.

Don and Betty arrive home with baby Gene, where Francine is waiting with the kids. Betty describes the entire experience as a “fog.”

Then and Now

Medgar Evers was a civil rights activist, murdered in 1963.
Husbands weren’t allowed in the delivery room. Instead they smoked cigarettes and drank scotch for hours on end.
Admiral was an electronics appliance manufacturer.
Ethnic advertising is an accepted strategy today.

Thoughts

Pretty neat direction when Betty is wheeled away: Don vanishes and an old janitor is mistaken for Grandpa Gene. During the dream sequence, a worm falls into Betty’s hands, which I’ll interpret as the newborn baby Betty must care for. A little David Lynch crept in with the bloody mop. Betty’s mother implies the civil rights activist was murdered because of “speaking up.”

After Gene is born, Don leans forward to kiss Betty, but a mirror frames her, alone. Don’t think for a moment a new baby will bring them closer together: signs all point to Don getting it on with Sally’s teacher. Yep, that’s why he was fondling the grass while watching Miss Farrell dance around that phallic maypole.

Duck returns: he’s working at another ad firm, and intends to poach both Pete and Peggy. I’d really love to see Pete and Peggy at another agency in direct competition with Sterling Cooper; it would pit new against old. Note the age of those who objected to Pete’s racial advertising idea.

Don squashes Peggy’s aspirations for a raise. She says Don has everything and so much of it, but the undercurrent of her envious glance over Don’s baby gifts is how she never got to experience the same, what with her secret child given up for adoption. Many Mad Men moments have other, implied meanings.

Next Episode: Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency
Previous Episode: The Arrangements

TV Shows: Mad Men

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