Mad Men and a Baby

SPOILER ALERT!


Mrs. and I were on vacation in Maine on Sunday, and we feared we’d have to wait to watch Mad Men until we got back. But as luck would have it our inn had AMC, so we were able to catch the show at its regular time.

One of the themes this week was sacrificing time with your family for work. We saw this right off the bat with Ken leaving dinner with his wife and in-laws to address the Lucky Strike rumor, and then later when Don left Faye at his apartment to go back to the office, and of course with Pete missing the birth of his daughter. This was most evident at the funeral for a rival ad man that Don, Pete, and Freddy attended (to try to find new clients for the firm, naturally). It was telling to see all of the speeches given where the dead man’s coworkers discuss his love for his family and describe the presents he bought them when he was on the road (and not, you know, with his family). Don and Pete might need to evaluate their priorities.

Another theme was various characters getting seduced and their reaction. We had Joan rejecting Roger’s advances and basically telling him it’s over. Multiple men were throwing themselves at Peggy, including her new boyfriend Abe (not so excited to see him back), and Stan, who she quickly rejected herself. And of course there's Don and Megan. It’s been foreshadowed for weeks, but Don once again broke his rule and slept with his secretary (not much of a rule at this point, more of a suggestion). It seems that Megan might be one of the people in the office who think that Peggy slept her way to the top and that if she wants to move up she’ll have to do the same. Only time will tell if this is an Allison repeat for Don.

A few other notes:

I can’t imagine the firm going under and having to start over again in Season 5, so a deep pocketed client is going to have to appear in the next two weeks. Any chance that Ken’s wealthy father-in-law has some business to throw SCDP’s way? Doesn’t he own some company? This could make for an interesting power struggle with Pete.

Is Don and Faye’s relationship headed for an end? She sacrificed her professional ethics for him and she knows his secret, but Don seemed to be wrestling with himself at the end. Did he think he made a mistake with Megan or is he unsure of his relationship with Faye? Is there any future with Megan? And where is Bethany in all of this?

There didn’t seem to be any definitive answer to the Joan abortion question this episode. I wonder if we’ll have some clarification next week.

I bet Pete named his baby Peggy, a hat tip to the mother of his first child.

I like how Peggy was late for the meeting where the partners announced the loss of Lucky Strike. She’s becoming more and more like Don – working all hours of the night, sleeping around (including in the office), coming in to work late, and we saw her nail the Platex pitch. She doesn’t seem to have an alcohol problem yet, but that’s something to aspire to.

Both Mrs. and I have some concerns that we might see the end of Roger this season. I’m hoping this isn’t the case, but the writers seem to be foreshadowing his death.

Only two episodes to go. Hopefully the writers take us out with a bang yet again.