Mad Men: Souvenir

October 6th, 2009

Season 3, Episode 8

Synopsis

Trudy is out of town, leaving Pete alone during a hot August weekend. While Betty makes calls regarding the water tank, Conrad Hilton’s office calls, asking Don to travel to Rome. Don invites Betty along.

Pete spends Saturday alone, watching television. While taking out the trash, he notices the young German au pair Gudrun, who works for the neighboring Lawrences, crying. She spilled wine on her boss’ dress. Pete offers to make things right.

Betty attends a local political meeting where the water tank issue will be decided. Henry requests the project be suspended pending further environmental tests. Francine glances at Betty approvingly. After the meeting, Henry walks Betty to her car and kisses her. At home, she tells Don about the political success, calling the study a “lie.”

Pete visits Bonwit Teller department store to return the soiled dress. He is surprised to find Joan working there as store manager. Pete claims the dress is Trudy’s, and asks Joan to keep this incident a secret. Joan replies “this never happened.”

Don and Betty arrive at a Hilton hotel in Rome. A bellhop compliments Betty on her Italian. Conrad Hilton calls, asking them to try out all the hotel services. As Don naps, Betty makes an appointment at a beauty salon.

Francine drops her son Ernie off at the Draper’s, to be babysat by the housekeeper, Carla.

That evening, Betty sits at an outdoor cafe in an uncharacteristically glamorous hairdo. Two Italian men make conversation and light her cigarette. Don, pretending not to know her, sits nearby and eventually joins her, much to the consternation of the two men, who leave. Conrad Hilton stops by and having met Betty for the first time, calls Don an “indecently lucky man.” After dinner, intoxicated by the romantic location, the Drapers return to their room and slide into bed together.

Back home, Bobby teases Sally after she kisses Ernie. Angered, she attacks her brother. Carla has to separate them.

Pete delivers a new dress to Gudrun, who thanks him profusely. He offers her a drink, but she claims to have a boyfriend. Pete returns to his apartment, alone. Later that evening, he returns, saying he wants something in return for doing a favor. He makes his way into her bedroom and kisses her.

The next morning, Betty tells Don to decline Conrad’s breakfast invitation so they can cuddle in bed a little longer. They return home late in the evening, and Carla tells them about Sally’s temper.

Neighbor Ed Lawrence, pays Pete a visit and asks him to leave Gudrun alone. He’s less concerned with Pete’s infidelity than losing a nanny who gets along with his wife, and actually suggests Pete find a different nanny in another building.

The next day, Betty asks Sally to apologize to Bobby. Don lights Betty’s cigarette, a reminder of what happened in Rome. Betty brushes the front of her outfit, noticeably less glamorous than the getup she had while abroad.

Back from her trip, Trudy kisses Pete, saying she missed him terribly, but he is unresponsive. She identifies his “guilty look” and storms out of the living room.

Betty looks at the fainting couch and then talks to Sally about kissing boys. She says the first kiss is special, and girls shouldn’t kiss boys, but instead let them kiss you.

Pete arrives home from work and sullenly sits at the dinner table while Trudy discusses her day. Pete takes her hand, but instead of admitting what transpired, asks her to not go away without him anymore. She agrees.

After a brief visit with Francine, Betty tells Don that she hates her life. Don gives her a souvenir bracelet charm from Italy. Betty accepts it resentfully, sarcastically saying it’s something she can look at whenever she tells anecdotes about the time they once went to Rome.

Then and Now

• After Pete puts the moves on the au pair, her boss merely asks him not bother her, not blaming him or admonishing cheating. Damn guys got all the breaks back then.
• Bonwit Teller; real department store; no longer exists.

Thoughts

Overall, wasn’t as into this episode as the previous two. While I liked the style of Betty and Don’s vacation, seeing them reconnect felt a bit off since previous episodes had them snippy and short with each other. But I suppose it could be chalked up to the warm romantic setting with touches of Roman Holiday and La Dolce Vita.

Joan is on an opposite trajectory from Peggy; instead of advancing up the office ranks she’s now working retail. The key difference is her marriage, which hasn’t turned out as planned — she had expectations of being a stay at home doctor’s wife.

Yet this is the life Betty feels walled in by (I hate this life, place, and friends). Betty’s disappointment upon returning home is near immediate after dealing with Sally’s misbehavior, brushing her frumpy dress, and Francine insinuating something happening with Henry.

Some parallels between Henry the politician, who does a favor for Betty and fished for a kiss, and Pete, who did a favor for the German au pair and also expected a reward. And it’s the same for men lighting women’s cigarettes, expecting the chance to make conversation and beyond.

Henry also mentioned a political theory that when you have no power, a good tactic is to “delay things.” This could tie back to Don’s mention in the previous episode about “no contract means power.” Perhaps Don will find something to drag his heels on for three years.

In the previous episode, messages were communicated through implication, and Pete does exactly this with Trudy. He doesn’t explicitly admit his infidelity, but merely says he doesn’t want to be left alone in the future. Pete is unquestionably an immature slime ball; he may even blame Trudy for his infidelity — she shouldn’t have gone traveling without him.

But then one wonders what Don have done in Rome if Betty hadn’t joined him (recall his other business trip). And it’s possible if Betty had stayed behind, she would have done exactly what Pete did, except with a politician instead of an au pair. Both Betty and Pete demonstrate a nearly equivalent amount of sulky, spoiled immaturity.

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