Season 3, Episode 13

Synopsis

Conrad Hilton informs Don he’s moving his business elsewhere – McKann Erickson is buying Putnam, Powell, and Lowe, and therefore Sterling Cooper. Draper calls McKann Erickson a “sausage factory,” and accuses Hilton of toying with him.

After recalling how his father Archie, quit a farmer’s co-op, Don asks Bertram about buying company back. Bertram says it’s risky, but Don says he wants to work, and build something. They approach Roger, who manages the lucrative Lucky Strike account. Roger resists, until Don admits he was wrong and bad with relationships.

Betty tells Don that she wants a divorce. He suggests she see a doctor and accuses her of breaking up the family.

Roger, Bertram, and Don approach Lane about purchasing the company. Lane says it won’t happen and apologizes for the situation. Later, Lane asks his boss about his future role at McKann, and gets a business-like, vague reply.

A divorce lawyer briefs Betty and Henry on New York’s strict grounds for divorce, but says Nevada has looser laws – he recommends spending six weeks in Reno to establish residency. Henry tells Betty she won’t need any money from Don.

While watching Sally sleep, Don recalls his father’s death, kicked in the head by a horse after an argument with Abigal over money.

Don realizes Lane has the ability to fire anyone, and asks that he, Bertram, and Roger be let go. Cooper suggests Lane be partner at the new firm as financial manager. Lane calculates they’ll need more accounts, and must lock them up quickly before word spreads. Roger commemorates the day that four men shot their own legs off.

Don asks Peggy to join the new agency. She resists, saying he expects her to follow him around like a nervous poodle, and walks out of his office.

Roger and Pete approach Pete at his apartment. He says he has his own plans. Don commends Pete for recognizing new markets. Pete lists 8 million dollars worth of accounts. Don asks him to line them up over the weekend.

At the bar, Don tells Roger about his divorce, and Roger mentions Henry Francis. Don had no idea another man was involved.

That night, a drunk Don drags Betty out of bed, demanding to know who Henry is. He accuses her of building a life raft, and calls her a spoiled whore. She says she’s going to Reno and orders him out of the house.

On Saturday, Roger, Bertram, Lane, and Pete meet at Sterling Cooper to take materials for the new company. Harry joins them as head of media. Unfamiliar with office organization and what materials they need to pilfer from Sterling Cooper, Roger calls someone who can help.

Betty and Don tell the kids about the divorce. Sally and Bobby don’t take the news well, and Betty holds back tears as Don hugs his son.

Don visits Peggy at her apartment. He admits to taking her for granted, because he sees her as an extension of himself. He says something bad has happened to people, and the way they saw themselves is gone. Peggy understands what this is like, and this is valuable. “What if I say no?” she asks. He says he will spend the rest of his life trying to hire her.

After Don and Peggy arrive at Sterling Cooper, Joan arrives with a list of everything they need to take. They take everything they need for the new business.

On Monday, Don’s secretary finds his office ransacked. Lane is fired. Joan has set up a hotel room as the new office. She takes a phone call as Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce. Meanwhile, at the old office, Ken and Paul piece together what just transpired. Trudy arrives at the new “office” with sandwiches and a cake, saying, “isn’t this exciting?”

Don calls Betty and says he isn’t going to fight the divorce. Later, Betty, Gene, and Henry fly to Reno, while Don arrives at his new apartment.

Then And Now

• Client information is contained in old-school folders, file cabinets, and Rolodexes – no easily copyable computer files.

Thoughts

A tally sheet of my season finale predictions:

• Failed marriage: right.
• Connie Hilton rejects Don: right.
• Return of Miss Farrell: wrong.
• Return of the fainting couch: wrong.
• Pete and Peggy move to another firm: not exactly.

My mistake: I didn’t foresee Don’s resilience; his desire or capability for re-invention. Before the season finale, I felt he might remain stuck in the past and become increasingly marginalized – unless he underwent some transformation to get with the changing times. Don definitively chose the latter. Whether inspired by Hilton’s dismissal, JFK, or memories of his father’s death, Don acted with surprising speed and determination – in just one episode, he devised something new out of the ashes of the old, something that gave him (and others) hope, despite the surrounding chaos.

I underestimated Don Draper.

Don is now prepped for the latter half of the sixties, embracing change while shedding the caustic illusion of a happy nuclear family. He admitted to being bad at relationships and recognized he couldn’t continue alone. He lost Betty, but reconciled with Peggy, Pete, and Roger. All positive, character-building stuff.

And Don’s sudden change makes sense – he did it once before as Dick, when he grabbed the now-iconic dog tags from the dying, original Don Draper. In a sense, the new company (Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce) was created by stealing “dog tags” (employees, clients) from the festering corpse of the old firm. The audacity is that Don convinced several co-workers to join him in this brazen theft, spinning it as only he could, as a very-good-thing; a transformation, for all involved.

Like Betty, I viewed Dick’s identity theft as a very-bad-thing – something Don would eventually have to atone for – and he did, with the collapse of his marriage. But that dog tag grab is now painted in a new light – as an opportunistic, hopeful seizing of a brighter future. He wasn’t going back to that old life then, and isn’t now.

I now anticipate a streamlined, leaner agency, composed of strong, talented personalities. Who needs a bevy of secretaries when you’ve got Joan? Or Paul, Smitty, and Ken when just Peggy will suffice? It’s like a brash start-up emerging from the depths of corporate calcification. Like Don, the show is rejuvenated – or should I say “Rejuvenatored.”

There are questions: what of Sal, Paul, Ken, Miss Farrell, and Duck? Will episodes bounce between McCann Erickson, the new outfit, and Betty’s marriage? What year for season 4? Will bachelor-Don return to serial womanizing?

Who knows, but thanks to a solid, energetic season finale that could have been a show closer, I’m guaranteed to tune in, turn on – and find out.

Next Episode: ???
Previous Episode: The Grown Ups

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Categories: General, Mad Men :: ::

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