No matter what else happens this season on Mad Men, I doubt I'll find a scene as charming as Peggy's Ann-Margaret impression in front of the mirror. At work, she'd been part of a team working on a new campaign for something called "Patio," which apparently was an early version of Diet Pepsi.
The plan is to put together an ad that rips off the opening scene of Bye Bye Birdie, with an Ann-Margaret look-like running toward the camera. Peggy's put off by the whole thing: the way her male colleagues respond to the actress, the way ad seems to be selling a product meant for women to men, the way Ann-Margaret sings. ("Shrill," says Peggy.)
Yet when she's back home in her apartment, she can't resist acting out her own version of the scene in front of the mirror, and it's a joy to watch, just as it is to watch her try out Joan's lame subway joke at the bar (her own robot joke was much better), and flirt with -- and pick up -- the college kid.
While Peggy seemed comfortable with this transformation, other characters spend the episode struggling with change. The Drapers find themselves playing host to Betty's unpleasant family; Paul Kinsey almost costs the firm the Madison Square Garden account because he opposes their plans; Roger's daughter doesn't want her new young-enough-to-be-my-sister stepmom at her wedding. (A wedding, the camera shows us, scheduled for Nov. 23, 1963). *
Originally I'd written "Nov. 22".
It's mostly Don and Betty's episode. At home, he's still trying to be a good husband (and I noted that this episode saw Don seeming more dad-like than usual, from his threatening/bargaining with Bobby and Sally to his off hand "Knock it off!" to the rowdy brood of kids his in-laws helped create).
He even offers to allow Betty's father -- whom Don has never really gotten along with -- to live with them, mainly in the interest of letting Betty feel like a good daughter, with the added bonus of being able to shut down her whiny brother Bill. (One of my favorite moments of the episode: Bill, railing at not being treated like an adult while sleeping in a bunk bed under cowboy-themed sheets.)
Of course, Don's plan probably won't go as smoothly as he'd like. Gene's condition has devolved enough that he thinks he's back in Prohibition (or still in the army), meaning the Drapers are going to have to juggle a new baby and someone suffering from dementia. There's just no good solution here.
Don has a little more success with Madison Square Garden, talking them back into business after Paul drives them away. But his efforts are cut short by PPL, which decides it's more cost effective not to have to pay people to run the account. When Don points out that having MSG as an account opens the door to decades worth of business, Pryce -- who's basically a messenger for the home office -- has no good answer for him.
"Why did you even buy us?" Don asks, disgusted.
Again, no good answer. Are there ever on this show?
Other thoughts:
- Roger Sterling's line of the night: "Do you ever get three sheets to the wind and walk around in that thing?" (to Lane Pryce, referring to the suit of armor in Pryce's office.)
- Once Don made the New York = dirty comparison, I found myself noticing little examples of that popping up. Betty says his coat is "covered in suit," and we see trash all over the street as Peggy emerges from the subway.
- I figured we'd get a few scenes of Betty smoking or drinking while pregnant, but didn't expect her smoking and drinking. In bed, no less.
- Bye-Bye Birdie is the perfect cultural touchstone for this episode. It's a movie -- and play, as Sal would tell us -- about parents and children, changing times and -- in some ways -- the frustration in not seeing what makes someone so attractive to everyone else.
- I loved the maypole scene at the end, with Don's (one-way) connection to Sally's young teacher. Was he thinking about California, or just about the rebirth the dance represented?
- Another question? Why did Betty and Don give different answers when asked how long they'd been married?
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