"Mel Gibson was nicer to Jesus than the Mad Men writers are to these dudes."
Joe Warminsky, to me, on Twitter during this episode
And yeah, "Hands and Knees" was a particularly brutal hour for the folks at SCDP, as many of the characters struggle under the weight of knowledge they'd rather not have. Forget Dexter and Boardwalk Empire, this was the most violent hour of TV Sunday night, even without Lane's cane thumping at the hands of his father.
Sure, it was mostly emotional violence, but it was still quite devastating. By the end of the episode, we've seen:
- Lane chastened and humiliated by his father (cheers to Jared Harris -- newly cast as Moriarty to Robert Downey Jr.'s Holmes, by the way -- for making this character so sympathetic).
- Joan learn she's pregnant, with Roger's child, and undergoing an abortion.
- Roger discover that the company will lose Lucky Strike, and therefore 70 percent of its business.
- Don on the cusp of going hobo yet again when the FBI starts digging into his past.
Heavy, heavy stuff. The firm is pretty much fucked* if it can't change Lucky Strikes' mind/land a client of equal/greater value, and Joan is suffering through yet another traumatic situation with a smile on her face.
Only Sally -- of all people -- seems happy, unleashing a moment of Beatlemania when Don tells her she's going to see them at the famous Shea Stadium show. (Note that he tells her this before he has the tickets.) Even Betty seems happy here. That should've been our tip off that bad stuff was to come, both in this episode and the rest of the season.
Tom Coombe
*I tend not to drop casual profanity -- in writing or in real life -- but in this case, I think it's called for.
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