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Mad Men: The Gypsy And The Hobo

October 28th, 2009

Season 3, Episode 11

Synopsis

Preparing to take the kids out of town, Betty asks Don for money. He doesn’t respond.

Bertram, Don, and Roger meet with Annabelle Mathis from Caldecott Farms, maker of dog food using horse meat. She’s an old flame of Roger’s, and they set a dinner date.

That evening, Miss Farrell and Don plan to go out of town together while Betty and the kids are away.

Joan preps a nervous Greg for a psychiatry job interview. He becomes more confident when he mentions his father’s nervous breakdown.

Joan calls Roger to ask for help in a job search. He says he likes being thought of by her.

Betty meets with her brother William and a lawyer about selling Grandpa Gene’s house, which is in her name. She asks the lawyer about divorce. He says if a husband is a good provider and there isn’t evidence of adultery – why bother.

Over dinner and drinks, Roger and Annabelle recall their fling, and the sad ending to Casablanca. After dinner she propositions him, but Roger turns her down.

After a terrible interview, Greg complains to Joan that she doesn’t understand what it’s like to want something your whole life and not get it. She hits the back of his head with a vase.

Annabelle watches several pet owners freak out after learning her dog food contains horse meat. Don and Roger suggest a new name. She storms out, telling Roger she’ll find another agency. He mentions she broke his heart all those years ago.

Don tells Suzanne to wait in his car while he gets his things. He walks into his house to find Betty and the kids home, earlier than planned. Betty orders him to open his desk drawer. Scared, he offers to explain.

Don gets a drink, fumbles with a cigarette, and explains how his real name is Dick Whitman. He took Don Draper’s identity during the Korean War. Anna was Don Draper’s wife, so he bought her a house and got divorced so he could marry Betty. Betty is more concerned with why he hid the truth for so long.

Betty asks him if he saw Anna while he was in California. She says he can’t trust him and doesn’t know who he is. He meekly replies, “Yes, you do.”

Don carries the box of old family photographs into the bedroom, and tries to open up to Betty. He says his mother was a prostitute, and his father Archie and wife Abigail raised him. Archie died when he was ten, and Abigail took up with Uncle Mac. All are dead, even his step brother Adam who committed suicide. Don sadly admits this was because he didn’t want Adam in his life. Betty silently takes this all in.

Roger makes some phone calls on Joan’s behalf.

Greg comes home with flowers, and tells Joan that he found the solution. He joined the army as a surgeon.

Forgotten, Miss Farrell gets out of the car and walks away. The next day, Betty and and kids act as if nothing happened. Don calls Miss Farrell from the office and says they can’t see each other anymore.

Betty and Don take the kids out for trick or treat. Francine’s husband Carlton recognizes Sally and Bobby’s costumes as a gypsy and a hobo. He asks Don, “who are you supposed be?”

Then And Now

Thoughts

Nice to see more of Joan and Roger. Roger’s reaction to his old flame and glee at Joan’s phone call hints at continued feelings for Joan. Meanwhile, Joan’s marriage to Greg continues to deteriorate.

Loved Betty and Don’s confrontation. She emerges from the shadows and is firm about learning the truth. Great acting by Jon Hamm as Don is stripped away, revealing a scared Dick Whitman, stumbling with a cigarette and speaking with a soft, nervous voice.

I don’t think his explanation completely satisfied Betty. His last confession on the bed may have been a calculated ploy for sympathy. Note he didn’t admit to his numerous affairs, which was Betty’s reason for searching through his things and trying to open the desk drawer in the first place. I think she’ll do more digging in the next two episodes, especially since the lawyer mentioned “proof of adultery” as necessary for divorce.

It didn’t strike me until now, but Don’s shoe box filled with old, black and white photos contrasts with his color, slide projected ones of his new life with Betty in The Wheel.

I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Suzanne; perhaps something terrible will befall her brother Danny, and she’ll rightly blame Don, underlining the damage of his continual lies. Perhaps too dramatically obvious, but so was the entire affair.

The episode’s last line was an uncharacteristically silly joke, but saved by a quick cut to the credits.

With only two episodes left, thoughts turn to a possible season finale: Betty finds out about any of Don’s affairs. She gets cash from selling Gene’s house, and serves Don with divorce papers. Don takes his cash hoard and runs away with Suzanne, leaving everyone hanging. Meanwhile, Sterling Cooper is bought by Duck’s firm – Peggy is mysteriously promoted as Don’s replacement. This is the season where all of Don’s lies catch up to him, and his reaction may be to run.

Next Episode: The Grown Ups
Previous Episode: The Color Blue

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  • jcieplinski
    Nah. Don already ran away in season 2. No need to repeat that plot line.

    I have to disagree with you about Betty. I didn't see her as standing firm to learn the truth. I saw her as once again the selfish, self-righteous child who confronted Don without giving a thought to her own fault in the situation. She completely disrespected Don's privacy by snooping into his things, and then she immediately assumed the worst instead of giving Don a chance to explain his past to her. The pictures of his family in the box should have given her a clue that there was more to the story than just an affair and a past marriage.

    And it's not like Betty has been completely faithful to Don over the past three seasons, anyway. I'm not saying she doesn't have a right to be upset, but most people would at least be slightly embarrassed at how they came about the information; Betty doesn't even conceive of the possibility that she's done anything wrong.

    As far as the future goes, if anything, I think now that the truth about Don is finally out, the two of them will likely become closer than they ever have been. The real reason Don has never felt loyal to Betty, or his company, or anyone, is that he's been carrying around this secret for so long. You can't be close to people who don't know who you are. Now that the big burden is off his shoulders, and now that Betty knows something about him that very few other people know, they can finally be more intimate.

    This is why Don immediately ends the affair with Suzanne. After all, he hasn't been "caught" in this affair. So there's no reason to end it completely, unless he suddenly realizes that staying with Betty is inevitable now.

    Just as Burt Cooper's knowledge of Don's secret forced Don's hand into signing a contract, Betty's knowledge forces his hand into finally taking his marriage seriously.

    So season three has been mostly about Don losing the considerable power he's enjoyed over everyone in his life thus far. He no longer lives life completely on his own terms. It's interesting to watch Don in a vulnerable state; I just hope he doesn't remain completely emasculated for too long.

    Meanwhile, I really hope Weiner doesn't just drop the whole Duck Phillips thing. I think Peggy needs to quit Sterling Cooper if her character is to move forward. Campbell is the more obvious person to leave, but he won't, because that's too obvious.

    Joan's husband will die in Viet Nam, but that probably won't happen until midway through season 4. She'll come back to Sterling Cooper in some higher capacity, also in season 4.

    The Kennedy Assassination, on the day of Sterling's daughter's wedding, has to play some part in the finale. What effect that will have is hard to say. I'm looking forward to it.
  • Well, despite thinking Betty is pretty immature, I'm more on her side than Don's. Dick became Don before he ever met Betty, and Don's affairs were what instigated her investigations in the first place. And I don't think it's Betty's fault that Don cheats.

    I don't foresee their marriage becoming stronger. I could see Don thinking his confession will bring their marriage closer together, but it seems Betty is going in the opposite direction, becoming more aware and testing the waters of an affair herself. She's really close to having Harry on that fainting couch.

    I'm pretty certain Don is representative of the dying ways of fifties, and his character will inevitably become more marginalized and as you say, emasculated, as the sixties wear on - unless his character reaches some epiphany or transformation that allows him to change with the changing times. He does seem to be okay with drugs and likes California.

    But I definitely agree Peggy will rise in a big way. Duck, yeah, that's got to be important, and very soon. Maybe she'll work for Duck and hire Sal. I'd love to see Peggy, a duck, and an Ann-Margaret wanna-be competing with Don for clients.
  • jcieplinski
    That's exactly what I see. Peggy becoming the Don Draper to Duck's Roger Sterling. Adding in Sal would be a very good move. I was hoping he wasn't written off the show permanently.

    I also don't think it's Betty's fault that Don cheats. But Don's secrets about his past made it impossible for him to bond with anyone. Now that the secret is out, he stands to lose more by leaving Betty than by staying with her. Whether or not she is strong enough to move on without him is another matter. I don't give her that much credit. She's no Rachel Menken.

    I agree that Don's persona won't blend well with the new freedoms of the 60s. But that's the beauty of his character. It's easy to forget that the counterculture in America was the minority throughout the 60s. There were a lot more Don Drapers than Paul Kinseys. And yet the freedom was what caught the attention. It dominated the press. It changed the country, even if the country wasn't ready.

    I think a character like Don is always able to adapt to the times in which he lives. And, because he's the ultimate pitch man, he'll be able to cut through the crap of the hippy movement the same way he saw through the beatniks in season 1. He has his faults, but we admire his keen knowledge of human nature and his innate talent for getting the most out of any situation. So I vote for an epiphany over continued emasculation. Weak male characters surrounded by smarter women are all too trendy nowadays. I'll take Don Draper or Tony Soprano over Ray Romano any day.
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