Mad Men – The dirty city

Family was in focus this week on Mad Men. Megan’s parents were in town, and an accident at the Francis house sent Bobby and Sally to Don’s apartment as well. Elsewhere, Roger reconnected with his ex-wife and Peggy’s relationship took a big step forward, even if her mother didn’t like it.

I thought it was very interesting meeting Megan’s parents, particularly after their big fight. It was hard not to be reminded of last week’s episode and the huge scuffle between Don and Megan. It would seem that her relationship is not so different than that of her parents. Interesting how that seems to happen quite often. It’s also a lot easier to see why Megan is such a “sexpot” — it clearly comes from her flirtatious mother.

Poor Sally. She so wants to be an adult, but whenever she gets a taste of it, I think she realizes that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. A couple weeks ago it ended with her too afraid to sleep, reading the news about the kidnapping and rape of women in Chicago. This week it was a trip to an awards dinner with Don and his in-laws. At first it was charming watching a newly single Roger treat Sally like his date, but when she walked in on him getting a little oral attention from Megan’s mother, reality set in once more. The end of the episode was really perfect, with Sally telling Glenn that the city was “dirty.” No kidding.

It was a little strange seeing everyone be so nice to each other and supportive in the office this week. It was a great moment watching Joan assure Peggy that moving in with Abe was a good thing, and that she should be happy about it. With Joan’s recent relationship issues, I was a little surprised at her reaction. I’m so used to seeing bad feelings and fights transferred from one person to another on this show, so it was nice to see it turned around and have Peggy go right up to Megan and congratulate her on the big win with Heinz. Can these warm feelings really stick around on a show like Mad Men?

Did anyone really think that Peggy’s conservative Catholic mother was going to happy to hear that her daughter was shacking up with a guy before being married? I know people whose parents wouldn’t be thrilled with the idea today, let alone in the mid ’60s. Peggy’s relationship with her mother has always been rough. I was a little shocked that Peggy expected any other reaction to the news than the one she got. I was happy to see Abe and Peggy take a step forward though, with her near insane dedication to work, I thought for sure that Abe was going to be pulling the plug on the relationship.

I’m very curious about Megan’s future — both with Don and at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Her father clearly got to her at the awards dinner when he chided her for not following through with her dreams. I am assuming that he was referring to her acting ambitions. She certainly didn’t seem to enjoy her big success with Heinz as much as the rest of the office. Even Peggy was more excited for her than Megan was herself. Is her zeal for the ad business running thin? Then there is all the fighting with Don. Clearly he wants to make a go of it. Are we going to see the tables turned a bit here? Is it going to be a woman breaking his heart for once? That would be refreshing. In any case, all the squabbling did give us the fantastic shot at the end of the episode with the group sitting at the table together at the awards banquet, almost all of them angry or embarrassed and not a single one of them wanting to be there at that moment. It was a great visual.

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Apr 29, 2012 @ 23:24 EST5EDT