Don enters a meeting on Mad Men
Photo Credit AMC TV
A review of tonight’s Mad Men as soon as I give you my
nipple in a box…
“You think this is going to save you, don’t you?”
-Cutler
So computers make people insane correct? And poor Ginsberg,
all he wanted to do was give Peggy a thank you gift and she utterly shut him
down and resented him. Sure the gift was the nipple that he got taken off but
still poor Ginsberg…
Okay anyhow back to “The Runaways” as a whole which was a
wildly strange episode of Mad Men, sometimes for the better sometimes for the worse
that ultimately built to an awesome final sequence. The episode was ultimately
a chance to set things up, get the rest of the season in motion and move
towards what seems to be a big final confrontation. “The Runaways” was
ultimately a messy episode of Mad Men but one that had and set up many intriguing
events.
Most of the set up in “The Runaways” focused around Don in
one way or another. The most important of this set up involves Don’s role at
Sterling Cooper and Partners as they begin to look to get back into the Tobacco
scene. Don wrote the now infamous New York Times article that slammed the
Tobacco industry and ultimately ended the firm’s relationship with the big
Tobacco companies; thus if the firm were able to potentially land Commander
Cigarettes Don would probably have to be let go. Of course the two driving forces
behind the Tobacco deal were Lou and Jim Cutler, the two who want Don out of
the company the absolute most. The two sneak around and have secret meetings in
the computer dungeon (which poor Ginsberg misinterprets, more on that in a
second) and try to get the deal through without much of a fight.
Of course Don has to find out somehow and how he does is
strangely through an accidental trip to California. Stephanie, one of the relatives
of Anna Draper calls Don lost and pregnant and Don sends her to Megan. Of
course not knowing too much about Don’s dueling identities this causes Megan to
worry about who this person is and how the heck Stephanie actually relates to
Don. The whole sequence where Megan sends Stephanie away is one filled with a
great sense of tension as Megan is worried about Don’s past life coming and
haunting her and Stephanie is worried about the pledge she had given to Anna to
stay out of Don’s life.
The uncertainty of Stephanie, the uneasiness of
Megan and yet another 1960s party drive Don into being a little bit down and he
ends up getting a drink with the very reluctant Harry Craine. The two end up
conversing about the Tobacco situation (again with the wonderful awkwardness
one can come to expect from two people who have worked together for a long time
but never really got along) and thus we get the wrench in the Lou and Cutler
plan. It leads to the spectacular final sequence where Don actually gets to be
Don the super ad man again for the first time in what seems like forever to try
and pitch himself back into a job, whether the company lands the Tobacco or
not. It’s fantastic to see Jon Hamm get to play confident Don Draper again, and
the final pitch that ended the episode was absolutely gangbusters, with another
great cut from the last line to the music and the credits to end the episode (which
saw Cutler at his most supervilain looking).
The rest of the episode I could take or leave. I don’t
really care at all about the relationship between Betty and Henry, but when put
through the eyes of Bobby it’s a little more interesting. Anytime we get sequences
with Sally and Betty yelling back and forth and Sally and Bobby plotting to run
away together it’s fantastic but other than that I couldn’t care less about
where the Betty marriage ends up going in the end. Nothing about talking about Vietnam
or Betty telling Henry that she isn’t dumb interests me too much and I felt
that everything about that storyline that didn’t set up anything with Sally and
Bobby fell a little bit flat.
The final and strangest of the storylines this week focused
around Ginsberg. I’ve loved Ginsberg when he was used in small doses earlier in
the season (including having the line of the episode for the last two episodes)
and here, when he had more to do, the character worked most of time but felt a little
too out there at others. The computer drives Ginsberg insane arc seems like a
blow off for the character this season and as such I think it worked in some
ways and went way too far in others. The worst of the out there part was that
Weiner and company kept hammering the” computers are metaphors for our worst
fears” idea way to far, making Ginsberg seem over the top wacky and a little on
the nose. On the other hand though we get a really interesting look at Ginsberg
as a human and his anxieties and feelings (especially for Peggy) in a ways in
which we’ve never really gotten before. Ginsberg battling with his desires and
the lengths he’s willing to go to do it (severing his nipple) are really
curious and interesting from a character stand part I just wish it wasn’t
washed up as much in the computer metaphors.
Finally we’ve only
got two episodes left before this season is over until sometime next year. I’m
really curious and almost concerned for how the next two episodes will feel
plot wise considering Mad Men (even at this point) feels like a show that isn’t
built for a seven episode stand alone half season. I’m not doubting the ability
of Matthew Weiner at this point but I am questioning the decisions of AMC and
the parties involved as it seems like this season is going to either end in a
really strange feeling pace or move at a pace I may not be comfortable with for
this show.
We shall see...
That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?
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