Given the nature of my TV watching habits -- a lot of marathon viewing, either through DVD, the Internet or On Demand -- I find myself watching the designated Christmas episodes of quite a few shows well outside the Christmas season.
It's always a little off-putting: it's 90 degrees outside, and here's this show with a version of, say, "Let It Snow" playing on the soundtrack.
Let's give thanks then to Mad Men, for airing a supremely uncomfortable, out-of-season Christmas episode, timed not to get us into the holiday spirit, but to have its characters end 1964 in unpleasant spirits.
Don, seeming more adrift and disheveled than ever, breaks his long-standing "no sleeping with the secretaries" rule with Alison, than treats it like it never happened, giving her a $100 Christmas bonus and a card thanking her for her hard work.
Peggy's with a guy she's not all that sure about (one who believes she's a virgin and who looks forward to introducing her to "the Swedish way of love").
Freddy Rumsen makes a welcome, triumphant return, bringing a $2 million client and 16 months of sobriety. But he's still struggling, turning down his usual Christmas party Santa gig -- because there's usually a bottle already stashed in the suit, meaning Roger Sterling gets stuck with the job -- and seeming more like a relic from the industry's past. (To his credit, he was Peggy's early champion).
Meanwhile, the rest of SCDP is learning the hard way what it means to have one client representing nearly three quarters of your income. Lee Garner, the spoiled, odious head of Lucky Strike, becomes the de facto guest of honor at the company Christmas party, humiliating the staff by making everyone pose for pictures on Sterling Claus' lap.
And let's not forget Glen: still a creepy kid, yet the only apparent life-line poor Sally has in her lonely suburban existence. Be nice to see her get what she wants this year, even if it doesn't come for Christmas.
Other thoughts:
- The letter to Santa/Don from Sally was one of the best parts of the episode, sweet and funny and sad all at once. The fact that Don shares this moment with Alison makes what happens between them later all the worse.
- Another nice moment: Don and Roger, joking around after their miserable night at Garnerfest. ("Did you enjoy der fuhrer's birthday?" "May he live a thousand years!")
- Anyone else as happy as I was to see Alison Brie again as Trudy? I probably wouldn't have been last season, but that was before Brie was cast on Community, where's she's delightful.
- Ponds played a big role in this week's story, yet the episode I watched featured several ads for Dove. Are they rivals, or have they both been swallowed up by the same skin care conglomerate?
- The episode closes with the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," and something occurred to me as I listened: If we're to buy the song's premise -- a kid sees his/her mom kissing their dad in a Santa Claus suit, but the kid thinks it's the real thing -- than isn't the singer being really, really blase about witnessing their mom commit adultery?
- Funniest line in the episode: Bobby's almost hopeful "Maybe it was a bear!" upon seeing the destruction in the Draper/Henry kitchen.
Tom Coombe
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