MAD MEN: "THE BETTER HALF" S6 E09 REVIEW at FORCES OF GEEK

The family dynamic is explored in depth on the latest episode of Mad Men.

Now that Don (Jon Hamm) has more time to focus on his work and relationships, will he drown in a sea of margarine, or stay afloat on his bourbon ice cube?

Who will Joan (Christina Hendricks) trust to be the father figure to Kevin?

It’s not that smiley Bob Benson (James Wolk) is it?

Roger (John Slattery) has difficulty connecting with the children in his life, but Don and Betty (January Jones) re-connect at Bobby Draper’s (Mason Vale Cotton) upstate summer camp.

We open on Don and Ted (Kevin Rahm) arguing over the price of margarine, or rather the strategy to woo the Fleishman’s Margarine account.

 

Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) , Harry (Rich Sommer) and Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) try to stay neutral, but Don’s insistent on Peggy’s input. She doesn’t relent, as she is loyal to both men and the company itself. In fact, her loyalty to Ted may be romantic. The two have feelings for each other, but Ted does not want to have an office romance (though his feelings for her are strong).

Harry recommends Pete see a headhunter, a familiar face, Duck (Mark Moses) from Season 2. The men are weigh their options on leaving the firm with no name but Pete’s not worth much to the market these days, he’s not a partner.

On the set of Megan’s (Jessica Paré) soap, we find Megan in a blonde wig, playing double duty as Collette, her character Marie’s twin. Megan opens up to Don about work drama over a drink, as we hear the din of sirens in the city as the ‘60s youth revolts and a crime wave hits Manhattan.

Don hits the road for the weekend to visit Bobby at summer camp. Along the way, he runs into a slim Betty at the gas station. The two make love at the Motel and talk about Don’s relationship to Megan and his disconnectedness to the act of sex. Betty has a line that steals the episode, “That poor girl, she doesn’t know that loving you…is the worst way to get to you”. Betty admits that she’s forgotten about how upset she was with Don over the events of the last episode, leaving his kids alone in the apartment as it was robbed.

Megan invites fellow actress Arlene (Joanna Going) over to talk about the acting craft, but Arlene is more interested in making more passes at Megan, which Megan denies. Arlene’s husband, also a swinger is Megan’s boss, so she fears recourse. In the end, there are no hard feelings as Arlene leaves to walk back home.

Uptown, Peggy and Abe (Charlie Hofheimer) are feeling unsafe. Abe has been stabbed and mugged, but refuses to tell the cops what the race of the perps were. Peggy feels uneasy in her new home, and Abe stays on the side of the oppressed.

Peggy sleeps with a homemade harpoon by her bed with a knife attached to a broomstick. A smash and grab outside startles her from bed, armed with the harpoon. Abe is there to ask what is up, and Peggy ends up stabbing her boyfriend…with a harpoon! This unexpected violent act was comic relief for many, I’m sure.

On the way to the hospital, Abe breaks up with Peggy. He does so not because his girlfriend stabbed her, but because he sees her as part of the establishment, and he is a cutting edge journalist. They simply cannot exist in the same world. Peggy is left alone at the end of this chapter, as Ted pushes her away when she confides in him of the breakup. Poor Peggy, but we’ve seen her on the prowl as of late, she will bounce back.

Hey, how about that Bob Benson? He’s swell and certainly has found himself at Joan’s apartment for a trip to the beach! As Joan (elegantly) is packing beach blankets for the trip with Bob and baby Kevin to the beach, Roger pops in with Lincoln Logs for the little tyke (Roger is Kevin’s biological Dad). Roger doesn’t recognize the brownnose Bob from the office, and feels awkward coming by unannounced. Joan flawlessly conducts Roger’s exit and makes Bob feel at home. Oh Joan, you are so independent and wonderful. And a supermom at that! Yay Joan!

Poor Roger, this is his second failing with kids this week. His daughter Margaret (Elizabeth Rice) wasn’t happy with Roger taking 4 year-old grandson to Planet of the Apes. Maybe 4 years old is a bit young for that movie, but that’s when I saw it…and I’m obviously perfectly fine!

When Don returns home to Megan, they talk about their relationship.

Don promises to be more present, though we will have to see if anything else distracts him. Let us not forget, the main motivation to having this talk with Megan was an affair he had with his ex-wife.

This episode explored how close we can get to people in our lives, and once again we see how being close to people makes it easier to hurt them. Quite literally in the case of Peggy and Abe! Pete searches for something, we don’t know what, but Bob Benson has come to Pete’s rescue with a nurse recommendation for Pete’s senile mother. Don and Megan have some issues to work out, and both seem willing.

On the next Mad Men puzzle game we hear Ted talking about “kissing the ring”, perhaps Don’s ego is pushing his business acumen from the subtle to the blunt. Ginsberg talks of body bags from the war and Roger calls a partner’s meeting. Let’s hope Peggy gives up her dream to be a whaler and concentrates on what she does best, writing copy and breaking hearts.

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MAD MEN: "MAN WITH A PLAN" S6E 07 (RECAP) AT FORCES OF GEEK

Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and CG&C have merged to handle the Chevrolet account and bring the forces of both firms together.

Not everyone is able to keep their jobs as the union comes with some redundancies. In this episode we marvel at how the higher ups at the company deal with the power shifts in the workplace and at home.

All the while, those at the bottom of the totem pole scramble to prove their worth and save their own jobs.

The story opens with the recurring elevator scene in Don Draper’s (Jon Hamm) building. On his way in to the new company’s first day, the elevator door opens to Sylvia’s (Linda Cardellini) floor. We hear her argue with husband Doctor Arnold Rosen (Brian Markinson) who is leaving his practice and headed to Minnesota. Don closes the door, just before the doctor turns the corner for the lift.

At Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, the as yet unnamed amalgamation of the two firms is physically taking place. Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) is shown to her new office by a put upon Joan (Christina Hendricks). Joan assigns new offices to the salesmen and the secretaries.

Sterling moves upstairs, as Ted (Kevin Rahm) takes the office directly across from Don’s. This positions these two gentlemen at an equal level psychologically.

The first board meeting divides the client base among reps. Ted Chaough shows an assertive and clear headed side.

Pete (Vincent Kartheiser), the last to the meeting and temporarily without a seat is called away to deal with his senile mother. This accompanies the theme of any self-imposed punishment he’s carved out for himself these past weeks. He is, in his own way, compassionate toward his mother, and puts her up in his stag apartment, offering her the bed.

Don leaves the partner meeting for a different calling. He and Sylvia have a hotel quickie that devolves into a master/slave BSDM power play. It’s clear that while she plays along, this is Don’s game, not her as he demands she stay naked waiting for him to be done with work.

After blowing off a meeting with the creative department and Ted about Fleischmann’s Margarine to have his affair, Don returns to the office. Ted dresses him down about the tardiness, and Don slams the door on Ted.

In a power play, Don visits Ted’s office with a full bottle of Canadian Club. Not being as much of a drinker as Don, Ted is quickly hammered and unable to do any more work. They visit the creative suite in the middle of the offices where Peggy, Stan and Ginsberg are still meeting.

 

Ted passes out, with Don assuring everyone that Ted will “Sleep it off”. The move to embarrass the new partner gets Peggy irked, and she says as much to Don later in the episode.

Our new pal, Bob Benson (James Wolk), the man who has been sticking his nose in everyone’s business, but in a friendly ass-kissing sort of way has moments with Joan that redeem the character in the eyes of the viewer. Joan is not only dealing with the merger of the two companies, but is doing so under incredible pain. Bob takes her to the hospital and is able to use his sideways smirk to get her immediate treatment for what turns out to be an ovarian cyst. When it comes time for Joan, Jim Cutler (Harry Hamlin) and Pete to fire redundant employees, Joan saves Benson.

What mysterious reveals about Bob will we see in the second half of the season? He is certainly having many people talking about him and some important allies in the office (Ted and Joan). 

Don has imposed an imprisonment for Sylvia as he leaves with Ted in a two-seater plane to deal with the Mohawk plane account upstate. In this instance, Ted has the upper hand, being a pilot and identifying more closely with the client, trumping Don’s history with the client.

When Don returns to the hotel to boss Sylvia around and get kinky, she is about to leave and calls off the affair. She realizes that she needs to end the whole thing, and Don protests. In the end, that’s where it leaves off. Drenched from a downpour, Sylvia returns home on to the floor below Don’s, departing the elevator without a word. Don returns home, and Megan (Jessica Paré) fixes him a drink.

Megan asks Don to go on vacation with her, but Don can hardly focus on her words. His world seems to be falling apart. Can he reinvent himself again?

Pete’s mom awakes him to tell him the news of the RFK assassination, but also that he is going to be late for school at 6AM. Chalking this up to her senility, Pete returns to sleep on the couch in his apartment. A grown man who is also powerless, though in a different way that Don.

The story ends with Don staring into space as Megan cries, touched by the loss of Bobby Kennedy.

In a world where freedom rings, there is a sense of unknown powerlessness. Don has lost some control of his business and creativity and his mistress. Is he losing control of everything? Time will tell.

What do we have to look forward to in episode 8 from the teaser?

Furrowed brows, a reaction to the RFK shooting, tired partners and the return of Ken Cosgrove from the midwest with what seems like dire news. Is this merger a success? We’ll see in the long-tail, this new super agency doesn’t have a name yet!

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