(S01E08)
"You know you have to leave the village for a decent screw." - Midge, when asked by a friend where she met Don
So Don gets stoned ("I feel like Dorothy, and everything just turned to color" - must have been his first time) with Midge and her hip beatnik friends and has a flashback of meeting a hobo when he was a kid. That was just one of the revealing moments in this episode, which was really about parties. Midge throws a party with her friends, and Don shows up smokes weed with them. Peggy and the girls and the guys from the office go to P.J. Clarke's to dance and drink (Pete goes too, the hell with helping his wife move into the new apartment), and Sal meets Elliot, one of the sales reps for the lipstick company, at a bar. Elliot makes a play for him (yes, readers, your instincts were correct), but Sal is too scared to do anything about it and just leaves after several drinks.
The more I think about this show the more I think its all about freedom and truth. This episode was just so jam-packed with unhappy people: Sal being unhappy living the lie he has live in his life, Don unhappy with his marriage and wanting to go to Paris with Midge, and Pete unhappy with his marriage and doing it with Peggy on the sofa in his office. Note to Pete: if you're going to close the door to your office so you can get it on with your boss' secretary, make sure you have some sort of curtain or lighting so a giant shadow doesn't clearly show what you're doing to the outside.
Speaking of Peggy, what the hell is wrong with her? Maybe it's just my fault for assuming that she's going to be the sweet, innocent, nice one to root for. But she's really messed up. Remember last week when she was turned on by Pete's bizarre hunting story? And then she went and got some giant pastry like she had never eaten before (pregnant maybe?). This week she acts as if she really wants things, namely her work approved and lots of sex, and not necessarily in that order. Her copy is a hit with the lipstick company (after some sharp work by Don to convince the company to go with Sterling Cooper), and that's great (even Don let her drink with the guys), I'm just not sure what we're supposed to think about Peggy and her relationship with Pete. Romeo and Juliet or something creepy and temporary? She tells him at one point "you're not alone in this," meaning his loneliness and dislike of his marriage. Oooooooookay. At P.J. Clarke's, Peggy tries to get him to dance but he tells her "I don't like you like this" and leaves.
Some of my favorite scenes in this ep surrounded the goings-on in that closet where the switchboard operators work. The new one, Lois, likes to listen in on Sal's phone calls from his mom (he still lives at home...cough). She finds him handsome and debonair (I think it's his slick hair and the way he holds his cigarette). Boy, is she in for a surprise. I also liked the one operator who tells Lois not to put her name on a list for the bowling team because they keep track of everything they do there, like Joe McCarthy.
The boss gives Don a $2500 bonus for...something. He makes an odd speech about how he's appreciative of his talents. He also tells Don to take $1.99 and buy Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged (if that comes into play at some point that would be quite cool). Don wants to use it on that Paris trip with Midge, but she decides to stay with her friends (from a picture Don surmises that she's in love with one of them). But Don's flashback to a hobo showing up at his parent's home was...interesting. We learn he was a "whore's child," his step-mom was a religious freak and his dad a jerk. We also learn the "hobo's code:" chalk marks made on homes and fences to tell other hobos if the house was worth stopping at (yup, they're real). A pie drawing for food, teeth marks for dogs that are on the property, and a nasty hook telling people not to stop there. The hobo leaves this last mark at the Whitman home and leaves, but not before instilling some words of wisdom about freedom to young Dick/Don.
I really dig this show, to borrow a phrase Midge's friends might say. The dialogue is just so sharp (watch it again and listen to the conversation between Sal and Elliott and the one between Don and Midge and her friends), the scenes put together so well, a show you don't just watch but really sink into, like a great novel. No Roger or Helen or Betty in this episode, but to be honest they weren't missed a bit. They're back next week though.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-07-2007 @ 12:41AM
MadDeb said...
I wonder if Don's bonus is somehow tied to his humbling of Roger. Cooper is clearly eccentric but I think he knows everything that's going on in the company and perhaps doesn't approve of Roger's drinking and womanizing. Interesting that we didn't see Roger this week.
I just wanted to shake Peggy when she started to cry after Pete made his comment about "not liking her this way." For the first time since being at the company Peggy was happy, relaxed and enjoying herself with "the gang." Why do women care so much about what men think about them? Pete's a twerp!
Don certainly has come along way, and yet advertising is just another form of the hobo's code: at it's best it's shining the light of truth and at it's worst it's used to manipulate other's (nice lady here, tell her a sad story). I think Don telling Bobby that he will never lie to him is in itself a lie. Don can't escape his true self, even though he can look like a respectable businessman who would never smoke pot. I guess the policeman outside the door didn't recognize the smell. Too [].
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9-07-2007 @ 12:47AM
MadDeb said...
And Salvatore - so sad! He clearly was intrigued and interested in the sales rep, Elliott - sought him out at the hotel instead of going to the company shindig. I think Sal recogized him as a kindred spirit, appreciating the finer things of life. Drinks, dinner, liquor but couldn't make the next step back to the hotel room. Denial is just not a river in Eygpt.
Also, would love something about Atlas Shrugged in future epi. My favorite book of all time!
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9-07-2007 @ 2:27AM
khamel said...
great episode. i think this show is mostly about self destruction though. don is clearly self destructing; so are pete, roger and to a lesser extent peggy. don's 'moms' line about it fitting that the hobo and don seem alike was very telling: he seems to be destined to destruct. the hobo was very much like don is now - living in NY with a wife and family, and it wouldn't be surprising if he just up and left (to paris?) this show is like the anti-rescue me now, rescue me is about tommy finding himself and mad men is about everyone losing themselves. they lose themselves in other people, booze and their work. god, i've only been working for a few years now and i'm ready to become a hobo. still, really liked the writing and how its shot. the scenes with salvatore - GREAT writing.
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9-07-2007 @ 3:58AM
BC said...
"he still lives at home...cough"
Well, at this time (and indeed, still) good Italian boys and girls normally lived with their parents until they were married. The question which I am sure Mama has asked many times, is, why hasn't Salvatore found a nice Italian girl to marry? Well, he works very hard and doesn't have time to date, I'm sure. But I'm also sure Mama has many friends with daughters who are frequently paraded as possibilities.
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9-07-2007 @ 4:14AM
chet said...
What you may have missed:
Robert Mitchum's name is dropped- Mitchum is notorious for being arrested for marijuana possession. A habit he developed as a hobo...
http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/writer/robertmitchum.html
(n.b.- before it's being made illegal, hobos often grew cannabis on the outskirts of "hobo jungles", by the railroad tracks...)
The reference to Ayn Rand: Before she wrote "Atlas Shrugged", Rand made her name with the novel "The Fountainhead", whose topics include artist's rights... and architecture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountainhead
What did Sal and Eliot connect about? Architecture.
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9-07-2007 @ 7:32AM
draper said...
For once, I enjoyed the flashbacks. They were a bit more obvious and revealing than the previous ones.
Don is a "whore's child". Didn't see that soming. No surprise he has daddy issues though. I did not think I'd say that but I do want to know more about his family now.
I guess that people who disliked Midge got their wish because I think she's gone for good. I had not seen that Rosemarie DeWitt as only a guest star in the opening credits. Anyway, Midge's party was a bit strange but it helped Don realize she loves another man.
We finally got the confirmation that Sal is gay although he doesn't want to face the truth. That was quite surprising to me. I thought that he had been with other men before. It's getting hard to believe that his coworkers have no idea that he's gay. Anwyay, sooner or later they'll figure it out. I'm thinking Lois will the first one to join the dots.
Ah, Pete and Peggy... I guess they're perfect for each other because they're both kinda creepy and strange. It's like they'd be happy be if they were together but they can't so they make each other miserable (or Pete makes Peggy, his wife and himself miserable to be fair).
To be honest, I still have no idea why Don got a bonus from Cooper or what the old man's speech was about. Not sure why exactly Don woke up his kid either. There's so much going in his head which is one of the great things about this show.
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9-07-2007 @ 9:09AM
Georgia said...
So many things happen on this show that make you want to comment on them.
Every time Don kept saying let's go to Paris right now, I kept thinking - "Uh.... what about the wife??"
Does anyone know what the comment about the "ten kids in Biloxi" was referring to?
I thought Don should have kept his bonus money to refurbish his stash after getting rid of his brother.
I keep expecting Pete to take his gun and go "postal" on somebody. Poor Peggy - it will probably be her for dancing and having a good time.
As far as Rosemarie DeWitt, I want Fox to put Standoff back on!
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9-07-2007 @ 10:38AM
Nancy said...
This was such a good episode. Sal just broke my heart. That whole scene with he and Elliot at the bar and at dinner was a perfect masterpiece - so much more heat that any of the scenes with Pete and Peggy.
I can't wait to find out more about why Don's a "whore child". Is his mom really a prostitute or is it just that his Dad got a mistress pregnant or something else?
One nitpick - just how did that hobo get the "dishonest man lives here" whittled so fast? Why didn't he just use the chalk?
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9-07-2007 @ 11:07AM
matt said...
The dishonest mark was already there and the hobo didn't see it because of the tall grass. Great scene because Don suddenly realizes the hobo world considers his dad dishonest. Not just that one hobo.
Also, I was really happy to see a Polaroid land camera used in this episode. I'm guessing model 700/800. They stopped making polaroid roll film years ago so the props guys really shinned here. Very close to the original.
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9-07-2007 @ 11:08AM
Roberta said...
I have SO MUCH to say and no time to say it.
But I think he gave his chalk to Dick.
Which doesn't explain how fast he carved.
And I thought the other sexually hot scene (I'm with you on Sal and Elliot) was Peggy dancing for Pete, before he basically spit on her. She was so sexually whole.
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9-07-2007 @ 11:16AM
Roberta said...
PS... I believe Lois's line while she was flirting with Sal was something to the affect of... It's good to get out of that closet and walk around once in awhile (referring to the tiny switchboard room).
tee hee!
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9-07-2007 @ 12:29PM
Katie said...
I hate to drag this up again, but don't these flashbacks do anything to dispel the idea that Don was Jewish? Everyone seemed to get so hung up on this idea during the Babylon episode, but it looks like it was more of a red herring now. Especially after the "whore's child" line
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9-07-2007 @ 2:48PM
chet said...
GEORGIA ASKS: "Does anyone know what the comment about the "ten kids in Biloxi" was referring to?"
My guess; this is referring to the "Freedom Riders"... which actually took place in 1961.
http://books.google.com/books?id=AeU-m7YHL6oC&pg=PA332&lpg=PA332&dq=mississippi+biloxi+freedom+riders&source=web&ots=bDGsP0tP3G&sig=zJ2YKhH-FjuLQAWEh4AEdvSH33c#PPA334,M1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095647/plotsummary
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9-07-2007 @ 2:57PM
chet said...
Another thing about the Don/Peggy/Pete triangle...
Don is very appreciative of Peggy's contributions. And it's pretty obvious that Don and Midge hooked up over work. I'd actually would like to go into how Don and Midge started seeing each other.. We might find some parallels between Peggy and Pete's affair.
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9-07-2007 @ 6:13PM
Jon88 said...
You might want to investigate what happened in Biloxi on 5/14/59. Or just trust me: there were murders.
Public acknowledgment here to the improved captioning. Other than "Idyllwild" for Idlewild Airport (now JFK), no howlers. Extra credit for using the Hungarian spelling of Tokaj wine.
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9-08-2007 @ 8:22AM
tbc said...
Gotta agree with Matt, the mark was already carved. If it were recent if wouldn't have faded to match the post. They had other hobos before. The father was pissed when this one showed up and didn't want to help anyone else out...I even think the mother had the tin of change for such "visits".
Don't know why he referred to himself as a "whore's child", but it was obviously pre-Adam.
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9-08-2007 @ 1:14PM
marilyn said...
i always watch mad men on "on demand'. no commercial interuptions. also because i hate to missBurn Notice. am i the only one that thinks pete and peggy,s connection is hot? for two mediocre-looking actors, their passion is unsettling. and the hunting story scene was completely ero tic. as for don, i think he just needs to speak to an adult. his wife has nothing going on in her head- she's so obviously jealous of the neighbor's freedom , brains and sexuality.
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9-09-2007 @ 8:33AM
Roberta said...
Dick/Don didn't refer to HIMSELF as a 'whore's child'; it was obvious that it is what he is CALLED. "Haven't you heard? I'm a whores' child" is what he said to the hobo. Like he's heard this for so long he assumes it is common knowledge. This family life, as it continues to be revealed, will be more and more tragic.
(The father was so well cast, in terms of looking like Don.)
Also, the irony of Don swearing to his son that he will never lie to him. Don's lies are so ingrained in him that he doesn't even think of them as lies. He has a past that is secret from his own family. I'm sure he told his children that their grandparents were dead (kids always ask). And while yes, they are, he only just found that out from Adam.
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9-09-2007 @ 2:47PM
Roberta said...
Sorry, I keep having more to say. First of all, the more I watch this show, the more immersed I become. Each episode is like being in a dream. And as I've said, each line has so much thematic importance. So one that stood out to me this week:
"You realize at a certain point in your private life that seduction is over and force is actually being requested."
Poor Sal.
And poor Peggy. She is otherwise so cool... kind of an odd duck, and obviously bright, and so right right right about who she is and what she will and won't be... and so WRONG WRONG WRONG about Pete! For some reason, she elicits moments of vulnerability and humanity in him, and that is all she sees and responds to. The rest she is excusing.
I also like how there were a couple of mentions from the men how Joan is kind of a tyrant. They all see through her; playing both sides of things.
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9-10-2007 @ 9:34PM
Carrie said...
I agree with the Peggy and Pete liason being completely hot. Pete is such a jerk but that whole scene was beyond impossible to get out of your head. As for the Midge//Don thing, I think she and her new freinds are representative of the whole Beatnik generation of poets and horoin adicts and it's good that Don doesn't seem to be mixed into it anymore.
The hobo thing - hah I too wondered how he put the symbol up so quickly but yes, it must have already been there.
I love this show. PS, if anyone has a video link to just the Peggy/Pete thing, please post it!
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