Mad Men: Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency

October 3rd, 2009

Season 3, Episode 6

Synopsis

Sally has developed a fear of the dark and has trouble sleeping, so Don sets up a bedroom night light.

The next day at the office, Lane announces a sudden visit of two executives from the British parent company, Putnam, Powell, and Lowe. This will affect the July 3 holiday and a surprise going-away party for Joan. Bertram wonders if a promotion is in the works for Don. He asks Roger to reconcile with Don and sends them to the barber together. Meanwhile, Ken, having just landed their account, rides a green John Deere lawn mower into the office.

Bobby shows some interest in baby Gene while Sally cautiously watches from behind.

At the barber, Roger says he doesn’t like being judged. Don says they won’t need to talk about this again.

Hooker tells Joan the secretaries look rather plain. She sarcastically offers to hire prostitutes. He crudely tells her about her party, spoiling the surprise.

Over dinner of chicken salad, Ritz crackers, and Budweiser in a can, Don asks Betty if she wants to live in London.

Greg arrives home late and drunk, and tells Joan that he didn’t make Chief Resident — he isn’t a good enough surgeon. Joan may have quit her job prematurely.

The next day, Joan greets the British executives Guy MacKendrick, Ford, and Powell. Hooker shows them around the office. Olive mentions how handsome Guy is. They meet with Bertram, Roger, and Don, and then Lane, who is to be transferred to Bombay, India.

In a meeting, Guy presents a reorganization chart placing himself in charge along with Don and Bertram. Roger was accidentally omitted. No one is promoted except Harry.

Betty awkwardly gives Sally a Barbie and says it’s from baby Gene.

At an all-hands meeting, Guy leads a goodbye toast to Joan. She starts to cry, and cuts the cake. Don takes a phone call from Conrad Hilton, the owner of Hilton hotels (turns out he was the old fellow Don chatted with at Roger’s party). Don sneaks out to meet with him at the Waldorf Astoria hotel.

Roger complains to Bertram about being left off the chart. Bertram reminds Roger that the Brits are now in charge since they own the company.

Peggy calls Joan aside and weakly attempts to smooth things over between them. An inebriated Smitty and Lois then drive by on the riding lawn mower. Lois takes over, runs over Guy’s foot, and crashes through an office wall. Blood spatters on several employees. Joan wraps a tourniquet around Guy’s ankle as the other employees look on in horror.

Conrad welcomes Don and asks his opinion on a hotel ad campaign featuring a traveling mouse. Don thinks mice and hotels are a bad combination. He is then urgently called back to the office.

Smitty is reprimanded for letting Lois drive the mower as a janitor squeegees blood off a glass wall. Roger brushes the whole thing off.

At the hospital, the British executives praise Joan for her quick thinking, and see Guy’s career as over. Lane will stay and the reorganization is scrapped.

That evening, Don finds a Barbie doll tossed in the bushes. He brings the doll back inside and places it on Sally’s dresser. Sally wakes up, screams, and screams again when Betty brings baby Gene into the bedroom.

Don and Betty realize that Sally believes baby Gene is literally Grandpa Gene reincarnated, which is impossible because he’s dead.

Sally apologizes for waking the baby. Don explains that nobody knows who Gene is going to be, and this is a wonderful thing.

Then and Now

• Bertram makes a sarcastic reference to Martin and Lewis, the comedy combination of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
• John Deere: see a history of mower / weapons.
• Barber: I’ve been to a barber that still used one of those electric hand-massager things (Oster Stim-U-Lax). And yes, he used a straight razor, too. Don’t go there any more.
• Barbie. Barbie. Barbie.
• Conrad Hilton was a real figure, successful businessman and later philanthropist. Here’s a TIME magazine article that came out in 1963. He’s also the great-grandfather of the infamous Paris Hilton.
• Waldorf Astoria salad: Apples, celery, mayonnaise, walnuts, rasins.
• Dr. Pepper dates from 1885.
• Ritz crackers: I suppose at one time smashed Ritz was considered a legitimate cooking ingredient.

Thoughts

As the episode featuring Grandpa Gene’s death disarmed me with comedy followed by tragedy, this one toyed with my expectations of pacing — the season until now has unfolded rather languidly, so the whole foot-wrenching incident with its quick cuts and graphic violence was a big surprise. It seems an exclamation that although the show is set in the sixties, the subject matter isn’t going to be neutered. Mad Men has toyed with shock before (vomit, war flashbacks) but the foot-mowing certainly upped the ante. And it’s a bit grimly amusing how that particular scene begins with Smitty brushing off the draft for Vietnam.

But the grim occurrence had a definite dramatic purpose: underlining the screwed-up British management. They had a plan to completely change the office hierarchy (Don would have found a compelling rival in the charming “accounts man” Guy), but the threat was dissolved just as abruptly as it arrived. The end result: surely every Sterling Cooper employee is now questioning their role at Sterling Cooper — definitely welcome conflict. Everyone now has ample motivation to jump ship, and I hope some do.

Next Episode: Seven Twenty Three
Previous Episode: The Fog