Forgive the pun, but I found To Have and to Hold a bit hard to swallow which is why I commend Mad Men producer Erin Levy for penning such a smart episode that revolved around the theory that for all the strides Mad Mens principal and supporting female characters have made in their professional and personal lives, at the end of the day, theyre still viewed as little more than whores. Meganscontinued success on THATH (anyone else notice that was her shorthand for her soap opera?) garnered her a love scene and a scathing rebuke from Don, whose ever-present double standard has him condemning his wife (You kiss people for money) while slinking off for more trysts with Sylvia. Joan, who re-emerged from the sidelines this episode, is starting to experience the repercussions of last seasons business decision, whereas her married, visiting friend, Kate (nice to see you again, Marley Shelton), having admired Joans seemingly flawless ability to land any man, wants to dabble in the emerging sexual revolution, just for one night. Peggy, an unwitting pawn in CGCs plot to steal the Heinz empire away from SCDP, not only stole a Draperism for her pitch but lost Stans trust. Even Dawn, who has deservedly been bestowed her own story line, has no choice but to compromise her self-worth for the sake of keeping her job.
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The seedy aura of this episode hit us from the get-go as Don and Pete staged an illicit meeting with Heinz Ketchup representative Tim Jablonski in the most appropriate setting possible: Petes Manhattan pad (anyone else in love with those frosted blue and green sliding doors?). The SCDP admen, along with Stan, arrange to put together a campaign for, as Ken put it last episode, the Coca-Cola of condiments, but it has to be done under the radar lest Raymond Geiger, a.k.a. Beans, go all Lee Garner Jr. on the firm and whine that hes not getting enough attention. Everything goes according to plan until the SCDP crew emerge from their ostensibly victorious pitch meeting with Ketchup only to find Ted, Peggy and another associate waiting in the wings. To add insult to injury, Don listens in on Peggys presentation, and is visibly crushed when she uses an acutely familiar phrase: If you dont like what theyre saying, change the conversation. Don first uttered these words in Season Three, only to be reminded of them again by Peggy in Season Four in the aftermath of losing Lucky Strike perhaps a hint that one day she would take them as her own. But the big build-up to CGC vs. SCDP over Heinz Ketchup wound up being a red herring: Ted and Peggy sidle up to a dejected Don, Pete and Stan at a bar to announce that neither firm got the account. Plus, both parties are further chastised for their unfaithful behavior: Beans, having gotten wind of the secret meeting with Ketchup, dumps SCDP, and Stan returns Peggys sheepish grin with a raise of his middle finger.
Dons in a plenty rotten mood by the time he makes it over to the set of To Have and to Hold where QubcoiseMegan has totally been typecast as a French-maid-uniform-clad domestic so he can watch his wife make out with her co-star and then berate her for it. The climactic scene in Megans dressing room continues the all-women-are-whores theme that was brought more into focus last episode. Even though Megan proved her commitment to her marital vows the night before by declining a post-dinner chemistry experiment invitation (a.k.a. swinging) from THATH actress Arlene and her husband and head writer, Mel (Ted McGinley tempting Jump the Shark fate, are you, Mad Men?), in Dons eyes, what Megan is doing for her paycheck is no different than what his prostitute mother and Abigail Whitman did to survive. But ever since Don strode away from Megan on the set of the Butler Shoes commercial, effectively ending his fidelity toward her, weve been counting the minutes until the fallout. The first salvo was fired when Megan, following in Trudys footsteps from last week, retaliated against her husbands apathy over her career: Im sick of tiptoeing around you every time something good happens to me! At the end of the episode, Don retreats into Sylvias arms, slipping her gold crucifix pendant behind her head and hiding it from view. She confides that she regularly prays hell find peace in his life, but thats just too much reality for Don to bear. In that small gesture of removing the crucifix from his sight, Don, immune to the fact that Sylvia is the one person who understands his inner torment better than anyone else (shes the one who gave him Dantes Divine Comedy) has reduced her from compassionate human being to whore.
The Grass Is Always Greener
The dark side of Joans decision to sleep with Herb Rennet from Jaguar in exchange for a partnership has started to rear its ugly head: Harry, executing some pretty brilliant damage control, sold a musical variety show to be sponsored by Dow Chemical, new SCDP client and currently suffering from a litany of bad press (napalm will do that to you in 1968). But for all the business hes been bringing in, Harry is still denied a partnership and relegated to the second floor, and he feels that unlike Joan, hes earned it. The truth that she slept her way to the top haunts Joan throughout the episode, as the majority of the SCDP still treats her as if shes a secretary, overriding her decisions. Joans pal Kate, a sales director for Mary Kay (but in town for an interview with Avon), thinks that Joan has it all, an executive position, a baby and can still attract any man with a single glance. The two go out on the town, if only so married Kate can know what its like to be Joan Harris for one night. They end up at East Village psychedelic club the Electric Circus, decorated in Day-Glo lighting and Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardots y-y classicBonnie and Clyde on the speakers. Kate gets to make out with a handsome stranger named Leo, while Joan begrudgingly locks lips with a dude named Johnny. In the morning, the two girls wake up in bed together, fully clothed I know, I was disappointed too and Joan continues to play down her role at SCDP (its a title), because she doesnt think it warrants Kates admiration, especially because Kate achieved her success entirely on merit. But its a dog eat dog world out there, so when Joan arrives at work that day, she wields her power over the only person she can take advantage of: Dawn.
Wrap-Up
This was the first episode of considerable screen time for Dons secretary since last seasons Mystery Date,and Teyonah Parris turned in a beautifully nuanced performance. Quite the challenge given that Dawn is both a background character and Mad Mens sole representative of the African-American womans experience in 1968. Dawn, like Joan, is in envy of her engaged friend Nikki, because if she had a husband, she wouldnt have to work, and she could leave the treacherous minefield of office politics, where there appears to be a separate set of rules just for her, behind for good.
Previously: Sloppy Seconds