Mad Men 1.8: Crossroads

Earlier this week, I claimed that episode 7 - in which Roger vomits in front of Nixon's people - was my favorite episode ever. I accidentally lied. Episode 8 is actually my favorite: Pete and Joan are both coping with the stifling limitations they've placed on themselves by taking the road-more-traveled. A similar choice stares Sal right in the face, and he decides to play it safe too. Meanwhile Peggy takes a chance that pays off, and Don remembers the stranger whose visit opened up the entire world to young Dickie.

Just to remind us it's 1960, the janitor - a black man - asks permission to share an elevator with Pete and Peggy because the service elevator is out of order.

It's 7 in the morning. No one else is in the office yet. Pete and Peggy go into Pete's office. He shuts the door and confesses that he's hot for her. They're on the sofa. He's tearing her blouse. The janitor sees their silhouettes getting frisky through the frosted glass walls.

Pete admits that he didn't read Peggy's copy for Belle Jolie. He's supposed to be at home today, supervising the packing and moving into the new apartment; clearly he has mixed feelings about this.

Lois, the new switchboard girl, has a crush on Sal the artist. She swoonily eavesdrops as he speaks Italian to his mother on the phone.

Cooper calls Don in for a private meeting and offers Don a $2500 bonus. He pretty much admits it's a blatant bribe to keep Don from joining another company. He also tells Don to read something by Ayn Rand. (Considering that Don is reading modern poetry in the second season, I'd say the Rand experience didn't "take.") Cooper trims a bonsai tree.

Lois goes to the art department, pretending to be "lost," so that she can giggle and flirt. The guys smirk knowingly; they know what she's up to, and they're jealous of Sal.

Trudy ambushes Pete at lunch to get him to go home and watch the movers do their thing. He doesn't want to do it, and he's angry with her for coming the office without calling ahead. He sits on the Sexy Sofa and hurriedly turns over one of the cushions to hide any evidence of the morning's festivities. Trudy is insulted by Pete's seemingly hostile attitude.

Peggy doesn't get to sit in on the Belle Jolie pitch. The client doesn't like the "Mark Your Man" concept. Don gets all indignant and says in that case, forget about it, get out. His imperious approach intrigues the client. Don says women want many choices, but they ultimately choose only one - one man, one lipstick - thus "mark your man." It's about ownership. NOW the client likes it!

After the client leaves, the madmen celebrate with drinks as usual. Don calls Peggy in, supposedly to ask for ice. He has her close the door. Then he offers her a big drink!

The switchboard girls all seem to be proud of Peggy. Joan is snotty. I could write a hundred pages on what Joan's problem is, but I'll just briefly say that if you choose a certain path in life and it doesn't work out the way you would like, then putting down someone who took a chance and got what she really wanted is not going to make your own life any better. (I'll try not to make the same exact speech about Peggy's sister Anita when I recap the most recent episode...)

Everyone's planning to go to a party to celebrate. Pete doesn't want to commit.

Lois rings Sal to connect him to an imaginary call. Then she says oops, silly me, I lost it. (In retrospect, this is one of the few times she had to fake making a mistake.) Then she invites him to the party.

After work, Don goes to see Midge. Roy and some other shaggy friends are there. Midge is angry that Don didn't call first. He wants to take her to Paris. Instead they all smoke pot and listen to Miles Davis.

A blond girl is interested in Don. Roy sarcastically praises Don's way with words, but I hear grudging admiration in his voice. The blond girl's boyfriend is just as disrespectful to her as Don is to people in his own world - so much for this crowd being more "enlightened."

Don has a flashback:

Don's a kid - I suppose I should call him Dickie now. A hobo comes to the house wanting food. Dick's stepmother says "food today, work tomorrow." She is a harsh but honest and stingily compassionate woman. She asks the hobo if he's a Communist and says "they are souls, but they can't be saved." She takes a nickel from a locked cabinet and gives it to the hobo. Archie (Dickie's father) takes it away.

Sal's having dinner the Belle Jolie guy, Elliot. He's shy about admitting that he likes showtunes.

Now we're at the party in a bar. Joan is bad-mouthing Peggy to Lois. Lois is more interested in noticing that Sal isn't there. Pete is just staring into space (evidently he let Trudy spend the entire moving day alone). Peggy's happily doing the Twist and tries to talk to Pete. Pete says, "I don't like you like this." (Meaning successful, confident, happy?) Peggy is hurt, but she doesn't let it spoil her fun. She goes back to her dancing. Pete leaves.

Elliot and Sal have been having a great time. Finally Elliot invites Sal up to his room, saying that it has a great view. Sal hesitates. Elliot takes Sal's brandy glass and takes a slow, deliberate sip with eye contact. Sal is taken aback by this harmless yet bold gesture. Elliot tries to reassure him. Sal feels that he has too much to lose, and he flees in terror.

At Midge's everybody's doing the bunny hop when they hear sirens. They speculate that the neighbor has been beating his wife; they'll need to stay put until the cops leave. Don takes a photo of Roy and Midge, and as the flash goes off...

we're back in the flashback. Dickie tells the hobo that the woman isn't his mom - he's a "whorechild." (There's a word I hope never to have to type again.) The hobo describes himself as a "gentleman of the rails." Dickie thinks it's sad that the hobo doesn't have a home. The hobo says he left his home, and his wife and kids, because he couldn't take the stress. "This place is full of death," he says of Archie's farm. He shows Don how to read some of the hobo symbols - the one that means pie, the one that means vicious dog, the one that recommends that you tell a sad story, and the one that means there's a dishonest man. He gives Dickie a piece of chalk.

As the picture develops, Don sees that Midge and Roy are in love. They deny it. Roy changes the subject to ten people killed in Biloxi. (He is referring to a poorly documented event that took place in April 1960, when some number of African-Americans that has been variously reported as anywhere between 40 to 100 people invited themselves to an all-white beach. All accounts agree that during the ensuing riot, eight blacks and two whites were shot; but some reports say they were all killed, while others say they were only wounded. Not that ten people getting wounded in a race riot is a good thing, but it's better than ten people being killed and I'm shocked that the accounts don't all agree.)

Roy seems to think that this sort of thing is the fault of people like Don who wear neckties, or that Don's kind of people don't contribute positively to society. Don says Roy and his friends do nothing either. Roy says "you invent Want." Don says the universe is indifferent.

Midge says no to Paris. He gives her the check anyway and takes his hat. They warn him that he can't leave while the cops are there. He finds this amusing. He has no reason be afraid of the cops.

Don goes home and wakes Bobby. He tells the boy to ask him anything. Bobby asks how lightning bugs work. Don doesn't know, he says, "but I will never lie to you."

Next day, Peggy shows up extra early for work. Pete doesn't. When he finally does come in, he doesn't look at her.

The hobo completes his work. He hesitates, waiting for the coin that Archie confiscated the day before. Archie doesn't offer it. The hobo leaves. Dickie checks the fencepost out front and sees the "dishonest man" symbol. He looks back at his father, who swindled both the hobo and his own family out of a desperately needed nickel.