Mad Men C to Z S3E9 Wee Small Hours Transcript

This is the full, human-edited transcript of our Mad Men re-watch podcast episode for Season 3, Episode 9: Wee Small Hours.
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Mad Men C to Z S3E9: Wee Small Hours Transcript
 
Jenna: Hi, I'm Jenna.
 
Steve: And I'm Steve. Welcome to All Things Mad Men, from Chip and Dip to Zou Bisou.
 
Jenna: There's so much to love about this amazing show, and we're happy to connect to fans like us, who discover new things with each re-watch.
 
Steve: Be advised, while we aren't gratuitous with spoilers, they can pop up as we discuss character arcs through the final season.
Let's get started with Mad Men C to Z.
 
Jenna: Today, we're talking about Mad Men Season 3, Episode 9, Wee Small Hours.
This episode was written by Dahvi Waller, Matthew Weiner, and Kater Gordon. It was directed by Scott Hornbacher.
 
A lot of this episode is about who has the power to act like a selfish baby idiot, and who has to live with the consequences.
As it ever was, I suppose.
 
Surprisingly, though, we're not going to see too much of Pete or Roger in this episode, although they both speak selfish baby idiot pretty fluently,
 
Steve: I would say, going off the commentary of Matt and Scott,
it seems that, you know, impulsiveness is what's at the core of this. And I’m maybe just saying what you just said in a different way:
acting at a moment in time without a lot of thought about what the consequences will be both for yourself and for those around you.

 
Jenna: The episode opens with Betty lying on her fainting couch with a man undressing her. We just get a glimpse of Henry, when Conrad Hilton's phone call wakes her from this dream.
It also wakes the baby, who starts crying.
 
It's three or four in the morning, and Conrad had a thought, so he just picked up the phone, not caring that he's waking Don and his wife and his kids, because selfish baby idiots do that kind of thing.
 
Steve: It also illustrates that for Conrad Hilton, that's his life. That's his everything. So he is up in the middle of the night thinking about his business in a way that Don Draper isn't.
 
And I guess that's a privilege of being Conrad Hilton and being this nightmare client who's a lucrative account, and high profile, and the brand that everyone wants to be a part of.
 
But at the same time, there's a price to be paid. And now the Draper residence is paying the price for that relationship.
And I guess more specifically Betty, who's aroused from a very sexy dream fantasizing about Henry, to the realities of you don't want to wake a sleeping baby in the middle of the night.
 
Jenna: Conrad Hilton wants Don to help him with his international business – well, he wants Don to earn his International business.
It is a great opportunity for Don, but delivered oddly.
 
And I feel - I'm here for quirky personalities, and I'm good with people who challenge you to do your best, but this isn't quite that.
Conrad Hilton quotes Don to Don. He says, America is wherever we look, wherever we're going to be.
 
And Don doesn't even remember saying that, but it stuck with Connie.
And at the same time, he makes these lecturing statements that end in quizzes like, how do we know to do something?
And Don says, instinct.
Connie goes, so you're like a dog?
 
Yes, Don is like a dog.
His instinct answer isn't great, but the way Conrad Hilton is testing him here, it isn't collaborative and it isn't constructive.
It's just an exercise in his ego.
 
Steve: And I'm going to continuously exercise that power I have over you. It feels to me like Connie never misses an opportunity to ensure his dominance with Don.
 
Jenna: After Connie hangs up again without saying goodbye, his trademark, Don apologizes to Betty for the lateness of the call.
And Betty basically sums up the episode:
She's smiling at the baby and she compares him to Conrad Hilton, saying, I want what I want when I want it, and I don't care what it does to the rest of us.
 
After this, Don's awake and he decides to go into the office very early.
Did you get the sense he intentionally is going out hoping to run into Suzanne this first time?
 
Steve: I did not. And to be honest, as a viewer, I kind of forgot about that possibility until the next scene where we're out on Don driving into the office, and of course, there she is running.
 
Plus, the work has to get out. There is a tight deadline that's been given by Conrad Hilton, so he kind of needs to get it knocked out so it can get turned around and sent by noon.
 
Jenna: So as Don, in his car, pulls alongside Suzanne, who's running,
I feel like he is so much to her the way Conrad Hilton is to him.
Don intrigues Conrad Hilton and Suzanne intrigues Don,
and neither is completely submissive.
 
But both recognize the relative power of the other over them,
and it feels like both of them are flattered to be chosen for the attention of the other.
 
Don is trying to boss Suzanne around in this encounter from start to finish. He completely doesn't get running, or more accurately, he doesn't even care that she's living her life right now.
 
He offers her a ride home, and she's literally outside so she can run.
And then when she gets in the car, he offers her a cigarette.
It's such a join-me-on-the-dark-side move to ask a runner that.
 
Steve: I think there also seems to be a lack of transparency here in terms of Don's intentions flirting with her.
She sort of calls him on, well, have a coffee, you know, what will that lead to? And they both know darn well it's not just a coffee.
 
But they're continuing to do this little dance of sort of move and counter move. It feels like they're headed in the same direction, but they're kind of zigzagging along that pathway.
 
Jenna: Suzanne reminds me a little bit of Midge here, because she knows not to expect too much from Don, but she's also into him, or if she wouldn't have gotten into the car in the first place, which she does.
 
And it's not the most noble thing of her to say one thing and do another.
Her words are all saying, no, this isn't cool. But I think her interest is becoming clearer based on her actions.
 
And I wonder a little if this episode is setting viewers up to be judgy and self righteous about Suzanne in the same way that we'll see Don is about Sal later.
Like, who does she think she is? She's a teacher and he's married. And why isn't she doing the right thing?
But let's be clear, why isn't Don doing the right thing?
 
Steve: She definitely has agency and I think she's not naive.
She seems very modern.
 
When they arrive at her place, she gets out of the car and runs off. So it's clear like she's not inviting him in for this coffee.
She's certainly not a passive victim here.
 
And she's also setting limits and controlling the way things proceed, at least at the end of this particular scene.
 
Jenna: I want to back up a little bit to talk about the fact that she is jogging. Carlton had mentioned this before, that he'd seen her out there in this fitness craze, this new thing.
 
Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman's best selling book, Jogging, which encouraged this fitness activity in millions of Americans, wouldn't be published until 1967.
But it's believable that Suzanne is one of the early adopters of running here.
 
And we also hear the radio is playing part of Martin Luther King Junior’s I Have a Dream speech, which he gave in Washington, D.C. in front of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.
 
Suzanne says she's going to read the speech to her students on the first day of school.
Remember when Don said to Roger that young people don't know anything? It was a different context. But I really do think it does not occur to him that his own children have interesting thoughts, much less other children.
So he asks, do you think they can understand it?
 
And I think her answer is supposed to define her character for us. She says, I think they already know it, and it will be nice for them to hear an adult say it. What did you take from that?
 
Steve: Don's lack of interest while all this is happening around him suggests that disconnect of the older generation. You know, Don is this successful white male executive, knows about the civil rights movement and knows that things are changing.
 
But he's so busy dismissing the younger generation and wrapped up in his own world, it just feels to me like he's not realizing what an earth shaking change is in progress here.
 
And it feels to me like he's trying to dismiss her a little bit when he says, you know, are you dumb or pure?
Those are two buckets that seem to preclude a lot of other possibilities there, you know, where you could say, well, I'm just somebody who's pragmatic and interested in fairness and justice or, you know, motivated for societal change.
 
I guess it's difficult for me as a viewer, knowing how significant this movement is and will be going forward to see these white characters ignoring it in their time, in their moment, with their other things . . .
 
I guess I like the writing. It's just so funny, with the benefit of hindsight to watch them, and you almost want to scream at the screen and say, this is one of the most profoundly important speeches of the 20th century in the United States and you're wondering if it should be shared with the children at school.
 
Jenna: Suzanne is completely different from Betty and Don.
Remember, they didn't want to talk about the Electoral College, or money, or the loss of family members.
Those are conversations that weren't for children, they said.
 
And she wants to talk about real things with her students, and not insist that they stuff their questions down and hide them in the dark.
And of course, we know that Betty and Don both are stuffing a lot of their feelings and thoughts down inside and not talking about them with anybody.
 
So you can see a little bit more why Suzanne is interesting and intriguing to Don, because that's very different.
And yet for him, not threatening, the way if Roger or Pete were trying to talk about something real, or Bert, it is more threatening, I think, to Don.
 
Steve: Maybe it just really speaks to the generation gap being a real thing.
And even though Don and Betty are young enough that they could be more dialed into where the young generation is headed, they actually fall on the other side of the fence, and are more hostage to or prisoners of the older generation's view of things.
And that's where they're landing on all of this.
 
And, you know, we've seen in prior episodes comments about why do they have to shake things up, or change things or stir up trouble, et cetera.
This sort of defaulting to the peaceful status quo as they perceive it,
this obliviousness to how unacceptable the status quo is for such a large number of people, and how and why that could then create this momentum for change, that it's not going to go away, it's not going to be quenched.
 
Jenna: It's really a great thing about this show that it inspires us to look back and think about, how could you not see this coming? How could you not be part of the change?
 
These real richly drawn people with their own selfish concerns, you know, their own personal lives, going about them. It does really make you think about the way that you are perceiving things happening currently as well, of course.
 
Steve: And it's interesting even from, you know, the modern vantage point, looking back at it.
We hear a lot about people who were on the marches or at the rallies.
We don't hear about the people who were screaming and swearing at little girls trying to desegregate a school, throwing things as National Guard troops guard children to walk into a schoolhouse.
 
You know, nobody's laying claim to those memories and act actions in the past. They fade away, and they become these unidentified anonymous bad people of history, when the reality is there were probably a lot of people who had those views. People we know and are around today.
 
But of course, nobody's volunteering to put their hand up to say, yeah, I helped spit on a little girl trying to attend school.
So to time travel back to that period and see the obliviousness, the lack of interest, it's a little discomfiting because it feels, in a way, it's a mirror being held up.
To me, it raises the question of, okay, where would you land if you lived in that time, and what would you have thought and done or not done, as the case may be?
 
Jenna: I think it's such an important point you're making about which pieces of history we enjoy revisiting, and which we don't.
Those incidents, that ugliness, unfortunately, that would never fade for you, right? That would be formative and a horrible piece of your personal history.
The luxury of not having had to have dealt with that personally - I think it's a little too easy that people forget that.
 
Steve: Yeah. And I think the other aspect, too is, you know, history is what we choose to look at and talk about from the past. And that's quite distinct from what was actually happening.
 
And not to say that people have bad motives, or are deliberately leaving things out, although there's plenty of that going on as well with most history, you could make the analogy to almost any historic event.
 
You know, everybody was in the Resistance In World War II in occupied Europe, but nobody talks about the widespread collaboration with the Nazis and the antisemitism that fueled that.
 
So after the war, we know which side won. And suddenly all the collaborators are quiet and never talked about, or those that are talked about are disparaged and put down as these awful monsters that acted against the right behavior that the rest of us were all doing as members of the Resistance.
 
And it's far grayer and murkier than that. And I think the Civil Rights movement and this history of race in the United States is another topic that's very similar.
There's a real motive with hindsight in terms of history, to try and pump the tires of ourselves or people we want, you know, to look at in a good light.
The reality is so much messier. And I love the writing here because it's not that these characters are doing anything especially wicked,
but they've got lives to live, and they've got other challenges.
 
And those things may be far more relevant or central to their thinking and behavior than more distant concerns or concerns that feel like they involve other people or aren't as relevant to their own lives.
And I just think it's a realistic way we live our lives.
 
 
Jenna: The next scene is a short one. We see Allison going into Don's office, and he startles her. He's already there, lying down on the couch. Of course, he came in early.
No coffee for him.
 
This is a small but really good detail because her whole job is to make his life easier. So she's coming in to set everything up for him, and he's almost always late.
You could say he doesn't think too much about her at all.
 
Steve: And he's got the work done here. So before she's even come in the office, he's completed the recording of the information that he needs to get typed up so it can be sent off to Conrad Hilton before he jumps on his flight.
 
 
Jenna: Back at the Draper household, the kids are eating breakfast with Betty, and Carla brings the paper in from the rain.
You can see that Betty is similar in her relationship to Carla the way that Don is to Allison.
 
Her kids can't go play out in the rain, but she doesn't check in on how Carla's doing as she arrives. She just takes the paper and she's drawn to an article about Rockefeller's election chances.
 
Steve: Yeah, and it feels like this article reminds Betty of her naughty dream she had the prior night. And she's set adrift thinking about it.
 
And in the commentary, Matt Weiner talks about how the Betty is mentally crossing a line here, so she can't necessarily control what she dreams about.
 
But at this point, she is now consciously and willingly indulging in the feelings that inspired the dream and in effect dabbling with those desires consciously, and where she might go from this point.
 
Jenna: Yes, when Carla suggests that Betty go take a nap, Betty goes upstairs and writes a letter to Henry instead.
And she asks, does anybody else read his mail?
 
In the DVD commentary, the writers talk about how this is an old fashioned romantic choice to write letters,
that this is the kind of romance that Betty wants with the guy in the bar.
 
Last season, Betty was cheating on Don.
I don't feel like anybody blames her for that, particularly given, Don.
 
But Don was right there with her in that experience. I mean, she chose the guy because of Don. She did what she thought Don would do, right down to carelessly eating fried chicken by the light of the fridge afterward.
 
This time, Betty is reaching out to Henry because of Don, of course, and also what she's missing from Don.
But it is very different if she's orchestrating something in the style that she wants. And part of that is control, to be sure of somebody, because she never knows with Don.
 
Steve: I really agree with your characterization of her prior fling with the guy in the bar.
It did feel very reactive to her frustrations and situation with Don.
This situation feels a lot more proactive.
 
Like you mentioned, she's pursuing this interest and these feelings the way she wants to. She has total agency and control here.
She's, as we'll see later in the episode, she is setting the tone and sort of the timing of, of how things are progressing.
 
This really does feel like Betty embarking on a path that she's choosing, and thinking carefully about, and sticking to her preferences and her values, rather than an emotional response to somebody else's bad behavior.
 
Jenna: Back at the office, Peggy is presenting a Hilton pitch with Smitty and Kurt. So after Don's awful bullying with Peggy, she is working on Hilton after all.
 
But Don is being picky about absolutely everything they show him. He critiques everything from the art to the tagline, which was his.
 
And then he says,
give me more ideas to reject. I can't do this all by myself.
And that's the creative process, for sure.
You generate lots of ideas so you can select the best option.
 
But this phrasing aligns with this selfish mentality.
He doesn't respect the colleagues in front of him, they're just tools to win Hilton's approval for him. And he doesn't care if they know it.
 
And this line, I can't do this all by myself.
I mean, he isn't. He has a whole team of people, starting with Alison, who are supporting everything he does and making it all possible.
And he doesn't seem to see it.
 
Anna said, the only thing keeping you from being happy is the belief that you are alone. And that's true.
But he also clings to his aloneness so he can claim this fantasy of himself as the guy with all the answers. He's the hero.
 
Just like Betty, it's a romantic version he's trying to craft here, where he's in control and he does it all on his own.
 
Steve: I think Don, too, is guilty of some inconsistencies in his approach because it seems with some prior clients and situations,
he was very happy to sort of be on his own.
 
And then now suddenly it's all about, oh, we need to harvest the creative genius of the entire room and everybody needs to contribute.
 
I think this really emphasizes the fact that Don is anxious about pleasing Conrad Hilton. He realizes this is a demanding client, who's a bit eccentric in his own way and difficult to predict.
So they've got to be on their game and he needs everybody rowing in the same direction.
 
But again, it's so contradictory to some prior circumstances where it seemed like Don would row off on his own or disappear.
It wasn't this smoothly oiled machine, collaborating constructively and demanding the best of each other. So he's trying to stand that up now almost retroactively.
 
And you can see the surprised looks on the faces of Peggy, Smitty, and Kurt, because this just hasn't been the way he's operated to this point. So is Conrad Hilton pushing him to a level that he hasn't had to be at previously, and this is his answer to it? Perhaps.
 
 
Jenna: Next we visit the set of a Lucky Strike commercial, which Sal is directing. So after the Bye Bye Birdie debacle, he has had subsequent work as a commercial director.
 
Lee Garner Jr. bullies Pete into smoking a cigarette, even though we've never seen Pete smoke. And he protests, it's bad for me.
And then Lee Garner Jr. laughs as Pete can't stop coughing.
 
Do you think Conrad Hilton or Lee Garner Jr. Is the bigger bully?
 
Steve: Oh, that's a tough question.
I think Lee Garner Jr. is, because I think Conrad Hilton to this point is mission focused. It's all about growing his brand, and he's not looking to chew people up on his way to the promised land.
 
Whereas I think this episode presents us with a Lee Garner Jr. who he doesn't really have a vision of the promised land. He just likes throwing his weight around, and demonstrating he's got the power and being large and in charge.
 
So getting Pete to smoke serves no purpose whatsoever except to say, oh, I can make this happen and then I'll laugh at you.
And I think Lee Garner Jr. Is really well cast here because we really get a sense of this bully and this menace.
 
You know, we talk a lot about parent-child dynamics in Mad Men.
Lee Garner Jr. suffers from this. His father doesn't respect him. His father is the one who built up Lucky Strike, and Lee knows it.
And I think that's part of the big chip on Lee's shoulder, that you may not respect me, but you'll know I'm in charge, and you'll never forget it, because I'm going to throw my weight around at every opportunity.
 
As if this is somehow a substitute or a compensation for the fact that he doesn't know the business like his father and likely won't be able to continue growing Lucky Strike the way his father built it up.
 
Jenna: Yes, let's tip the hat to Darren Pettie for making us hate you so much as Lee Garner Jr.
 
Steve: He really does a great job.
 
Jenna: Yeah, he's the bigger bully.
 
So Lee and Sal disagree about the creative vision for this commercial,
which also happens to represent their personal style.
Sal wants the actor to look off into the distance as he smokes, and Lee Garner Jr. wants the actor looking straight into the camera.
 
Sal says, that could make people very uncomfortable. And Lee Garner Jr. of course, does not care about anybody else's discomfort.
I mean, Pete is still coughing in the corner.
He just wants to be able to have everything his way.
 
And it's notable here that Pete can't be the account man because he's coughing.
So there's a moment when Lee Garner Jr looks at Harry and says, what do you think?
And Harry does the ultimate suck up.
He says, I think you're the client and we should do what you want.
 
And people like Harry are so dangerous because he is willing to enable whatever Lee wants, as long as he's not caught in the crossfire, which Lee definitely notices.
But here Sal is being completely respectful. He's honest in his disagreement, and in the end, they do a shot Lee's way.
 
Steve: We could condemn Harry here because he is such a sycophant,
but honestly, let's say he goes the other way and says, no, Lee, I think, you know, what Sal's saying is right.
You're incorrect in this.
He's going to get flamethrown by Lee Garner and he knows it, and Lee knows he knows it.
 
So I think Lee knows the answer even before he asks Harry. And he's just basically teeing him up to sort of dance like a marionette at the end of some strings.
 
I agree it's not a great look for Harry, but he is what he is.
We know that's what he is, especially the way this episode goes.
You know, Harry had no other option here, so I'm going to let him off the hook here.
 
Jenna: I take your point, but this is the type of life and creature Harry is building unto himself here every little moment, every time he does something like this, it's part of the bigger problem.
 
This bully is here, and they work for him.
And I understand that, but I have no respect for Harry.
 
 
We get a brief scene of Don up very early,
driving in the morning along the same route.
He's clearly looking for Suzanne, just like Betty was riding her horse around looking for Arthur in season two. But Suzanne isn't there.
 
We hear that it's Wednesday, September 4th, on his car radio.
 
Later at the Draper house, we learn it was the first day of school and Sally and Bobby are having a snack.
Betty doesn't really ask any questions about their first day of school, which to me is really a problem in parenting.
But Carla does. She says, oh, Bobby, do you like your teacher?
 
And Betty gets the mail, and she sees there's something from Henry, and she doesn't even seem to hear the baby crying.
So Carla says, I'll get him.
 
So we've seen Betty kind of be dismissive of Bobby and Sally, but she's generally been pretty attentive to the baby. But here's a letter from Henry, and that just obliterates any other concern for her.
 
Steve: It is rather telling how quickly her children are cast aside with this focus on Henry's letter.
We don't have to like it, but I think it's clear where her passion is, where her head is.
 
And we've seen many signs of this in many different ways. I do like the shout out to Carla fulfilling this role as a mother figure for them.
 
And we see the enthusiasm Bobby has for his new teacher,
you know, which is every - anyone who's been a parent hopes for that kind of response from their kid on the first day.
And we just see Carla covering off for Betty's absenteeism when it comes to these parental type things.
 
Jenna: But even that – “It's Mrs. Patton. All they do is draw.”
So even when Carla asks the nice question, Betty jumps in to dismiss it.
 
Steve: A class where all you do is draw. That. That sounds good. I could get an A in that one, I bet.
 
Jenna: The letter is Henry's response. And he says no one else reads his mail anymore.
So Betty is smiling, so she's so pleased, now she can be generous with some attention to her kids.
So she looks at them and she says, oh, you're so quiet. You must be tired.
 
And Sally challenges her. She says, I'm not tired.
I told you I would like a pencil case.
 
And Betty's mood instantly changes. She says, we'll see. And she has the tone.
 
And just like Don basically expects Betty to live in a box and be happy with her toys, Betty expects Sally to do the same.
She's supposed to exist as a prop in Betty's life and not have any inconvenient thoughts or needs of her own.
 
Steve: Yeah, absolutely. And it's clear now that this escalation of this flirtation with Henry, it's mutual, it's being reciprocated,
and it's moving along the - socially acceptable is the wrong word, because this is an illicit affair, and is completely inappropriate and socially frowned upon.
 
But the interesting thing is, even in its illicit nature, there are protocols and ways in which Betty wants it to proceed. And I think a lot of those are wrapped up with maintaining the secrecy and privacy of it.
 
And everything's going according to plan. And Henry knows how to play the game the way she wants the game played. So she's obviously very pleased at the receipt of the letter and its contents.
 
Jenna: And what a difference from what she gets from Don, too.
Here's somebody who's interested in her. He's not afraid to tell her he's available to her in ways that Don never has been.
 
Steve: What could possibly go wrong?
 
 
Jenna: The next scene shows Sal, Lee Garner Jr., and Jerry, the reel editor, looking at the commercial footage.
Jerry is played by Jim Hofmaster, and you might recognize him as Kermit from Shameless.
 
We get our truth call out for this episode here, as they're looking at the footage.
So it's a rhythm, Lee observes.
That's true, Sal answers, and it sure is a dance they're doing.
 
In this scene, Lee talks about how he'd like to get into making movies,
but he can't talk like that while his father's alive. Even Lee answers to somebody.
 
And almost immediately he turns around and tells Sal, oh, you should forget that nonsense I was saying before.
And throughout, Sal is respectful, professional, helpful.
There is zero sense that he is attracted to this man.
 
So they look at the shot together,
and Lee puts his hand on Sal's chest.
Sal pulls away. He's clearly horrified.
And Lee is explicit and direct. He says, I'll lock the door. Sal says, I'm married.
So is Lee.
 
There's been a misunderstanding, Sal says. And just like that camera shot, he is talking to the side of the issue, which is he's not out as a gay man, and he's not interested in Lee.
 
And just like Lee's camera shot, he's very direct.
Sal will do him the courtesy of forgetting his movie career talk, but Lee insists, I know what I know.
 
Steve: It's a very surprising moment. As a viewer, I had no inclination of Lee's either homosexuality or at least bisexuality and attraction to Sal.
He's a total bully in this scene.
 
You know, when he says, I know what I know, he's basically rebuffing Sal's denials.
He says, look, you know, I locked the door, you know, nobody's going to come in on us here. He's making it very clear what he wants, and this is not something that Sal wants.
 
And I think Bryan Batt does a great job in his acting in this scene.
You really, as a viewer share his sense of being trapped in a no win situation here now against a powerful client, a bully of a client who's being predatory.
And I think the scene does a great job of putting us in that place as a viewer.
 
We feel Sal's discomfort, which oozes off of him. I think Sal does about as good a job of rejecting Lee as professionally and politely and almost passively as possible.
And we can see Lee's not going to pursue the issue, but we know this bodes ill for Sal.
 
Jenna: And of course, this scene is an echo of Pete abusing the au pair in the last episode, too.
He claims his power over her in the same way Lee is attempting to do with Sal here.
 
I agree with you. I think Sal is 100% professional through the whole thing.
And I agree with you that it is absolutely shocking as a viewer that this is happening.
Lee seems very calm as he exits, but we also see Sal left alone. He's breathing hard and he's totally violated by this important client.
 
There's not a single thing he could have done that would have been better or improved the situation.
And I absolutely agree: let's applaud Bryan Batt for this fantastic work,
especially the end of the scene, the pain on his face.
You see rage and fear and trauma. It's all there.
 
Steve: I think the scene also does a good job of showing how sexual harassment doesn't necessarily need to be the consummation of a sexual act.
It's this power dynamic that's abusive and disrespectful and putting this pressure on a person, you know, where it's unwanted.
 
And I think the scene does a really good job of conveying that reality in a very compelling way, which, again, I think is unusual in most TV and movies.
 
And given all the sexual harassment we've seen to this point of men against women in this series, and as you pointed out, very often it is that disparity in power which is so central to the harasser’s lack of fear or worry about behaving in this way, and so central to the victim's concerns and fears and trouble with this interaction.
 
To me, it really flips it on its head a bit to present this scene between two men.
 
 
Jenna: Back at the Draper house, the kids are watching TV as Betty writes another letter to Henry.
She admits she thinks about him too much, and she says, we've only met three times. Isn't that strange?
 
That would be at the garden party when he said he wished she was waiting for him. And at the bakery when they talked about the water tank. And at the council meeting, when he kissed her afterward.
 
When Don comes home, it's late and it's dark. Betty's asleep in a chair with a wine glass.
Don takes the glass and sets it down and he looks at Betty for a minute.
Take a good look, Don. [Laughing]
I feel like this view is not going to last forever.
 
Steve: It's interesting too, coming right after the prior scene where we have sexual harassment in its clearest, ugliest form without a lot of physical interaction. This scene, to me says the same thing about cheating, but there isn't any physical interaction. This is emotional cheating.
 
And it's just that excitement and passion that Betty's expressing with Henry through letters, which, you know, it feels very Victorian,
but we know exactly what's going on here. She's now cheating on Don and Don is completely oblivious to it.
 
And we don't have a lot of sympathy for Don because we know what he's been up to for two and a half seasons, and he’s driving by Suzanne's house in the wee hours of the morning.
So we know even where what direction his antennae are pointed.
 
Jenna: I can't remember where I read - it was something about Matthew Weiner said in an interview somewhere about when the woman cheats on the man, then the fans hate her, whereas the man cheats on the woman, and it's just like, well, you know, guy’s gotta do.
 
But it does take a turn. And it's funny because I don't perceive it that way. I don't look at Betty and go, wow, you know, you're a really low kind of person.
I don't love that she's going behind Don's back. I don't respect it.
But I also a hundred percent understand it.
 
And I don't particularly feel sorry for Don either because of where he's been.
I get that he's got trauma in his past that's informing his behavior and his decisions and all of those things, but I also, I don't look at Betty and go, wow, you're treating Don really badly right now.
 
Steve: How differently do you view Henry and Suzanne at this point?
Because in many ways their relationships are at a similar point.
They're both engaged with someone who's married.
Nothing has really happened yet. They're on the highway towards it.
 
Jenna: Yeah, I mean, I think it's the responsibility lies with Betty and Don to those relationships. So I don't feel like either Suzanne or Henry is actively disrupting a relationship in a way that Betty and Don don't have control over.
I think that Betty and Don choose those things, not Henry and Suzanne orchestrating them.
 
Steve: So you don't view them any differently. You don't think better or worse of Suzanne or Henry. They're equivalent to you?
 
Jenna: Yeah, I mean, am I giving the wrong answer? I don't. Do you?
 
Steve: I don't know.
I find myself - I agree with that point. You know, the person with the relationship is the one who's betraying that commitment by indulging in this.
 
But I look at Henry and Suzanne, and in both cases they know that the other person is married, and knows that they're making this choice.
It's not that I think they're responsible to say, hey, don't forget about your spouse.
 
But at the same time, I struggle a bit with what Is their culpability here? You know, should they put up more of a stop sign or should they control themselves?
Are they being selfish to say, well, I'll mess up other people's relationships, that's not my problem, I don't need to consider that.
 
I struggle with it because I kind of find myself on both sides of the question.
 
Jenna: Oh, for sure, both of them are exercising selfishness.
I don't see Henry as being more selfish than Suzanne, or Suzanne as being more selfish than Henry.
 
And I think that the selfishness that Betty and Don exude is so palpable that it's really hard to - I mean, other people's selfishness really kind of doesn't register on the scale yet.
 
Even though I agree it's certainly there, it's not a kind thing to do, it's not respectful to do because they do know that they're married.
So of course that's true.
It's not admirable, but it pales in comparison.
 
Steve: The next scene cuts to Paul and Harry in the office.
They're watching TV and checking ads. The phone rings. It's Lee Garner Jr. calling Harry.
He tells Harry, I can't work with him, referring to Sal. Just between us.
 
Harry, being the weasel he is, tries to say that it needs to go through account management, and it's not something he has the authority to do.
But Lee Garner Jr. Insists he needs Harry to take care of this.
 
Jenna: Harry tries to get information. He says, what happened?
And all he gets is, I can't work with him. Get rid of him.
 
And no client has ever had trouble with Sal that we've ever seen. The Bye Bye Birdie ad didn't go so well, but that wasn't Sal's fault.
 
So even though Harry is surprised to be the one getting the call and surprised at this request, it also goes against what he knows about Sal. Everybody can work with Sal.
 
When Harry says, oh, Pete and Roger handle Lee's account and Lee insists, no, Harry, you handle it. Keep it between us.
Why do you think Lee insists on this?
 
Steve: My interpretation was it was just Lee trying to have it done expeditiously with the least amount of questions and noise around it.
Because I don't think this is something Lee wants getting out and around, even as just gossip.
 
He's trying to get Sal disappeared here as quietly as possible.
Which of course is much to the chagrin of Harry, who does not want to be put in this position.
 
Jenna: I agree. I think Lee knows that Harry can be browbeaten into agreeing with any decision.
And Pete and Roger would try to smooth talk him out of whatever he wants.
 
Steve: I love Harry's line, “I'm not going to panic and do something stupid like I usually do.”
 
Jenna: I like that also.
And Paul goes, “that's a good start.”
 
But I also like Harry's line, “He was drunk as a skunk and he's scary anyway.”
 
Lee Garner Jr. is scary and he's menacing, and everybody knows a bully when they see him, but they're only talking about it behind his back.
And then they suck up to his face, especially Harry.
 
Paul is like, well, what's going on?
And of course Harry tells, and ultimately he decides not to do anything that Lee was really drunk.
Probably everything's going to be fine, right?
 
Steve: There doesn't seem to be a lot of concern about Sal in all of this. It feels to me like it's Harry concerned about how this is going to play out for Harry.
 
Jenna: Can we agree, though, this is a terrible decision right away? Shouldn't he call Roger on this, like, immediately?
It seems clear that his loyalty should be to Roger and ignore whatever Lee is telling him.
Doesn't this just feel obvious?
 
Steve: I think it is.
And he could also make it clear that Lee had said, oh, you know, don't involve Pete or Roger so that they are aware of it and then they can take control and work through Harry to deal with Lee.
 
So instead of panicking and doing something stupid,
Harry has panicked and not done something that turns out to be stupid.
 
Jenna: He's such a great story of bumbling around and failing upward. Every time he has a decision point, it feels like he does the dumb thing.
 
Steve: Yeah. This is really Harry's level of competence, or incompetence, if we'd prefer.
 
And this is going to be his limitation organizationally, you know, he's not cut out for a more senior leadership position.
And this scene illustrates exactly why.
 
Jenna: Back at the Draper household, it's 11:30 at night,
they're asleep, and the phone rings.
When Don answers, it's Conrad Hilton wanting to have a drink.
You can say no, he says. I've heard it before.
 
But Don can't sleep, and he really wants this man's approval.
So he really can't say no to this.
 
Steve: Yeah. And I think the fact that he's not asleep was part and parcel of it.
His mind's astir. Presumably he's thinking about Suzanne.
He might as well go talk with Connie.
 
I guess Connie's such a wild card. Who knows what Connie Hilton wants to talk about in the middle of the night?
 
Jenna: Yeah. They get together, they're drinking some Prohibition liquor.
And just like Lee Garner had a drink and confessed to Sal that he wanted to work in the movies instead of cigarettes, Connie is confessing his loneliness and ambition to Don here.
 
Did it feel to you like Connie has a lot of trust in Don to be talking like this?
 
Steve: It did, especially my first time through. And I found myself as a viewer wondering why Connie has so much trust and enthusiasm for Don out of the shoot.
 
Coming to it now on a rewatch, and knowing that fact, I've found it less troubling. As a viewer, I do struggle a little bit with what is the connection between Conrad Hilton and Don in Conrad Hilton's mind?
I don't really have an answer for it, do you?
 
Jenna: Connie has this line,
“It's my purpose in life to bring America to the world, whether they like it or not. You know, we are a force of good, Don, because we have God. Communists don't.”
 
And Don's stepmother had a similar line about the communists in The Hobo Code. She said, they are souls, but they can't be saved.
So this augments this whole setup of Connie, I think, as a parental figure.
 
So I think Connie is getting out of Don that, oh, here's just somebody I can talk to who can listen to me ramble.
 
But for Don, I think it's different. It means something else. In spite of himself, in spite of his guard, when Connie tells Don he's like a son to him - even more, because Don didn't have what his kids had.
And Don, quote, understands.
 
They share what it's like to work your way to the top of corporate success from poverty, and not too many of their colleagues do.
 
So it's somewhat believable that Conrad Hilton would find something special in Don just for that shared understanding.
 
Steve: I think that is the connection.
I guess my question, though, is how did Conrad Hilton become aware of that?
Because Don works very hard to conceal it. So are we saying Hilton is so shrewd in his observations that he can see it written all over Don's face?
 
Jenna: Remember, they talked about it at the bar before he knew who Conrad was.
So he said, oh, I used to work parking cars.
 
And Conrad Hilton also talked about his jobs growing up. So they might not know the extent to which each of them suffered, but they know they didn't grow up in a house full of rich perks and household help.
 
Steve: Yeah, it wasn't Pete Dyckman Campbell, you know, he never parked cars for anyone. So maybe that's it. And it just goes back to that moment.
 
Jenna: And you can tell that this conversation means something important to Don.
He doesn't know how to receive anything this genuine from someone who's not Anna, I think, but he's trying.
Thank you. I mean it, he says.
 
I do think he still has his guard up, but it feels like something close to sincerity between them here late at night over drinks, it feels like they've just gotten a little bit closer as human beings.
 
Steve: Do they share some imposter syndrome on both their parts? Which sounds absurd to say about Conrad Hilton, because he's achieved so much.
 
But when you come from a hardscrabble background, and just his answer back to Don, when Don says, oh, you're working too hard, and he says, I'm not working enough, made me think, oh, maybe there's some imposter syndrome there, where it's just never enough for Conrad Hilton.
 
And I wondered if Don Draper has something similar in that he's running so hard from his past, he's achieved so much, but there's more to be achieved. Is that another connection between the two of them and here in the middle of the night, in confidence?
 
Their masks are still in place to each other, but they both are aware that there's a mask that each is wearing, and they can talk around it, and to it a little bit more openly, perhaps, than they can in most other circumstances, at least in their professional lives.
 
And with Conrad Hilton, we get no sense of any personal life in his world.
 
Jenna: Maybe on first watch, you could suspect that he has some doubts about himself or imposter syndrome, but I think when you see what happens later, it feels like narcissism to me.
 
This is just how he gets Don where he needs him to be. So that's what he says.
 
Steve: I don't feel like Conrad Hilton is trying to be manipulative in this moment. So I can accept that that is an outcome perhaps of the conversation.
But my sense in this scene is that he is legitimately lonesome.
 
He is concerned about this honest desire he has of spreading the American way of life.
And I do get the sense he perceives Don as a kindred spirit at this point.
 
Jenna: I felt that the first watch through, but knowing where it's headed, I think it's really hard to see it anything other than this is a bully.
 
Lee Garner Jr. is a bully. And here's Conrad Hilton toying with Don.
And Don is somebody we usually see toying with other people.
So it's just new to us to see him being used this way, because his guard is always up against exactly this type of thing.
 
And here's somebody who's slid in and figured out a way he's playing with him. You don't have to say that. You don't have to say you're like a son to me.
 
I mean, remember, Betty's like, Henry, we've only met three times. How many times have Hilton - ?
I guess they talk on the phone a lot at night.
So it is kind of an intimate, growing relationship.
But it feels like he is just a dog to him, basically. You can come when I call.
 
Steve: It's an interesting point, and I think it ties in nicely with the presentation scene later in this episode.
 
Jenna: The next day, Betty is coming downstairs with a basket of laundry in a tank top and shorts when the doorbell rings.
It's Henry.
 
She's instantly worried she's not dressed up cuter, and she hurries him in so that none of the neighbors see him on her doorstep.
He admits that he drove past her exit a dozen times, but he wanted to see her.
 
Steve: And he's crossing the line now, because this Victorian courtship of this illicit affair had been evolving at exactly the right pace and distance to Betty's pace, and he's completely messed that up now.
He should not be here.
 
So as gratifying as it probably is to Betty to see that he's got that passion and desire to see her, he's simultaneously screwing things up.
Carla's presence is just the start of it.
 
Jenna: Yes. Carla comes in right after he arrives, and Betty's nervous. She introduces them.
He shifts into some fundraising venue talk,
and she asks Carla to show him out as if he's any other person.
 
And they're just standing in the entryway. It's not anything really suspicious, but Betty isn't a smooth liar like Don is.
She's trying, but her nervousness gives her away.
 
And she says, oh, I think I left the bath running,
but there's a laundry basket at the foot of the stairs.
Betty didn't leave the bathwater running when she was bringing the laundry downstairs to answer the door. Carla's no dummy.
 
Steve: Yeah, Carla's no dummy, and you can tell by the look on her face she can perceive the electricity and she immediately understands what's going on here.
 
What I love about the scene, though, is we simultaneously see the fear on Carla's face because of this power disparity that she now knows something that she shouldn't, that she knows Betty doesn't want her to be aware of.
 
And she needs to be very careful because this poses a threat to Carla's employment. It's not fair. It's not right.
But Carla realizes the peril she's in here.
 
 
Jenna: Back at the office, Roger, Harry and Sal are waiting for the Lucky Strike meeting to begin.
Harry is visibly nervous.
 
Pete brings Lee in, laughing about a joke. But the moment Lee sees Sal in the meeting, he sobers up and stalks out of the room.
Roger demands to know what's going on.
 
Harry says, Lee called a couple of days ago. This is the first Roger is hearing this, and he says, you made an executive decision to do nothing.
What exactly do you think account men do here, Crane?
 
Roger turns and says, Sal, you're fired.
 
Honestly, I think Harry should have been the one to go for this.
 
Steve: I think Harry's in real jeopardy here.
But the immediate problem is their biggest client wants Sal out. And that's the lowest hanging fruit. That's the easiest problem to solve.
 
Whether Harry survives, I think can be resolved at a later point.
I love Roger's lines here because we haven't had a lot of Roger this season, but when we've gotten him, you know, he's been action packed.
 
So you get in trouble, you call Mommy and Daddy.
What do you think we do here, Crane? We handle clients.
 
We know Roger has insecurities about his role as an account man and what he is or isn't doing.
Now their biggest client has stomped away from a meeting, and he was blindsided by it. So his anger and frustration with this is palpable.
 
I love Pete. In this scene, he goes running after Lee, and when he can't retrieve, Lee comes back.
Even as Roger is crapping on them, Pete is standing there continuously asking, what's going on here? He has no clue.
 
Jenna: Everyone is stunned by this turn of events. And then Roger tells Harry to go tell Don to fix Lee's problem with creative.
Sal follows Harry to Don's office.
 
Harry admits, I screwed up with Lee Garner Jr.
And he can't seem to explain it further. So Sal says calmly,
he told Harry to fire me.
Harry adds, I didn't. But now Roger did.
 
And Don keeps going, what?
Who died? I screwed up. What?
How do I explain this? Roger did what? Fire me.
So Don throws Harry out.
 
Now Sal and Don are talking. Sal doesn't come out immediately and reveal what happened, because he'd rather not talk about it. But this is a trusted advisor.
Don has known Sal is gay since their trip out of town in the first episode this season.
 
He has kept the secret. He kept treating Sal professionally. He gave him the chance to direct commercials.
So Sal has some ground to feel reasonably safe with Don about this.
 
Steve: And we as viewers know how blameless Sal is in this whole thing. He was not flirting with Lee Garner Jr.
He was totally professional.
We saw his reaction to the sexual harassment.
 
He was again,
as professional as he could be extricating himself from that situation.
We know as the viewer, he is completely blameless.
 
I think that's what makes it all the more tragic and unfair to us as viewers because we have this complete knowledge of what's happened here. There's no question in our mind.
Whereas Don Draper jumps to a different conclusion.
 
Jenna: As the truth comes out - and Sal does tell the truth -
Don looks disgusted, not sympathetic.
And I find this so surprising.
 
I keep looking at Don's reaction, trying to figure out if there can be any reason other than homophobia to explain it.
Don wasn't offended, particularly when Joy's dad was expressing interest in him. But now Don is self righteous.
 
You kind of think, oh, maybe it's just business, that this disgust is because Sal couldn't keep his secrets as well as Don,
and now it's a mess and you get what you get.
 
But when he says “you people,” and his lip curls in a sneer, it's a real low. And it's beyond hypocritical for Don Draper to be judgmental about promiscuity, or keeping secrets about yourself here.
 
Steve: I love that Sal points out, he says, he's a bully.
And that's such a true statement, and we know it through and through.
 
But Don's point back is, Lucky Strike can shut off our lights. I think you know how this has to be.
 
I don't want to lean too much on Don's homophobia here. I think there is some of that, or at least prejudice.
And I think the you people comment exactly captures that.
 
But I guess my thought was I really parallel it to so many other victim blaming sexual harassment situations because it's Lucky Strike.
The bullseye goes on to the victim of the sexual harassment, and it becomes, oh, you know, were you flirting? Was your dress cut too low?
 
It's a little different because obviously this is a homosexual sexual harassment situation, but it seems to me to be that exact same victim blaming.
 
And maybe Don Draper doesn't say you people to a young female admin who's caught up in the same circumstance.
But I think the outcome would be identical.
They would fire her. The bully prevails here.
 
The perpetrator prevails for reasons unrelated to any merit. It's simply a business decision that then gets dressed up and rationalized with victim blaming.
And is that victim blaming sprinkled with some homophobia, or sexism in these cases? Absolutely it is. And maybe that's at the heart of how easy it is to blame the victim.
 
But I. I've thought about a lot about it, because until it becomes a business problem, Don is willing to look the other way.
I think he would continue to be willing to look the other way.
But when push comes to shove, Don will not risk Lucky Strike.
And anybody who gets in the way of that is going to get thrown in the meat grinder.
And in this case, it's Sal.
 
Jenna: I feel like it's more than a sprinkle of homophobia here because Sal pushes back and says, what if it was some girl?
He asks that question, which I think is valid,
and Don talks about it would depend on what kind of girl and what I knew about her.
 
And we need to think about this too, because Don knows Sal got together with a guy from the hotel.
Even though we know they were interrupted and we have the sense that that was his first time ever physically being with a man,
he doesn't actually know that.
 
Sal never, to 0ur best inference, was with a man before. And Sal works so hard to hide that part of himself, even to himself,
that he isn't acting on it.
 
But Don, I think, assumes that he is promiscuous in his private life. I mean, Don certainly is.
So I think that Don assumes Sal is careless and it's costing him money.
And additionally, I think Sal being a gay man does make him uncomfortable and he feels like he has the power to judge Sal for that.
 
He feels like he is right to express his disgust at Sal and it's so ugly of him, because he and Sal have worked together for years through all kinds of clients.
And I can't watch this scene without thinking, oh, Don is going to step up and defend Sal.
And that defense never comes.
 
Steve: Yeah, I don't disagree with any of that.
But I guess my perception is Don is wrapping this moral outrage around a cold hearted mercenary business decision.
 
And I think that gives him the ethical escape or loophole to victim blame here.
Whereas if he doesn't have that, what is he left with?
I'm going to throw you under the bus, Sal, because this is $25 million a year, this account.
 
In terms of the comment about it would depend on who the woman was.
Let's play that one out. Let's pick any name of any woman in the office there at Sterling Cooper who would survive this, where they would say, oh, we know she's as pure as driven snow.
 
We're not going to victim blame here. This is on Lee Garner Jr., no, we're not going to fire her. I have trouble imagining that scenario.
I think they're going to blame the victim and turn her into someone who brought this on herself or lured Lee Garner Jr., whatever.
 
They have to rationalize what is truly just a business decision.
 
Jenna: Let's talk about the business.
Don slept with Rachel Menken,
and Bert had to call him in and say, it's her father. It was the tone of his voice. Get it together, cowboy.
 
And Don slept with Bobbie Barrett,
both of which could have been very harmful to Sterling Cooper.
 
And then he took off with Joy in California and wasn't around when Roger wanted to sell the company.
So I don't know that it’s Sal’s indiscretions that need scrutiny at work.
 
Steve: I'm not agreeing that the victim blaming is correct. I'm saying they're victim blaming because it lets them off for an awful business decision that basically abandons their values and principles and just says $25 million a year? Yeah, we're going to go with the bully on this one.
 
Jenna: I understand that point. I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy of Don Draper –
 
Steve: Yeah, it totally is. But again, as unsatisfying as it is, because as a viewer, I'm with you. Like, you know, the professionalism of Sal, it's been proven over years.
Stand up for this guy.
And the tragedy is they cannot. They cannot lose Lucky Strike.
 
And Lee Garner Jr. Is the perfect bully, because he knows that fact and he knows he can get away with this and behave this way. And the little people who get chewed up along the way don't matter to him.
So now they're complicit in Lee Garner Jr's bullying.
 
Again, I can't recall seeing something similar in the media presented in this way, and I think it's a really fresh and brilliant look at it.
 
Jenna: I so hate that Sal is fired. I thought his scenes with Kitty were so interesting, and I wanted more about his life story.
I feel like we got less of him than any of the other office guys in terms of time on the show, but also in terms of backstory.
 
We saw Ken writing on the side and Paul's college days in his music and Harry's cave drawings, photography, story.
But with Sal, we really only get his work snark. And he makes the spaghetti sauce.
And what it means to be a closeted gay man on Madison Avenue in the early 60s. There's more to him than that.
 
And even though that representation is an important story, and we're missing other facets of Sal's character, I think we're still so touched by Sal because of Bryan Batt's performance.
 
Steve: Yeah, I would tip my hat to Bryan Batt because I think he just does a fantastic job with the character. Even these scenes where he's defending himself in Don's office, the hurt, the shock,
the pain on his face is just all conveyed so well non verbally throughout it.
 
He's totally professional in his conversation with Don,
yet we know his soul is breaking inside and his entire world is being taken away from him.
The acting performance is so central to convincing us as the viewers to feel that pain along with him and to feel the tragedy of this outcome.
Yeah, it's a tour de force.
 
Jenna: He doesn't even have that much total screen time in the show, but his departure is such a big thing. He's the first of the main regular cast to go, and it's so abrupt, but he leaves with his dignity.
 
Oh, it breaks my heart that this is his ending. I wanted better for him.
 
Back at the Drapers’, Carla brings plates of food to the kids as Betty smokes. Bobby doesn't like the food, and Betty corrects him about it. Carla works for me, not you.
 
So Roger has a power play over Harry, and Don has one over Sal, and Lee has it over everybody.
And Betty wants to assert dominance over Carla, because she's nervous about her relationship with Henry.
 
Steve: We've talked about it, but this just further illustrates to Carla, you know, she needs to watch her step because of this bombshell information that she possesses.
 
Don coming home in a bad mood isn't helpful.
I think that's important to see, because as we were talking about,
Don knows that they have not treated Sal fairly at all, and he feels bad about it.
Even though if he were to make the decision again, I think he'd make the same decision for the same reasons we just outlined.
 
Jenna: So Don walks in the door, and Betty immediately brings up Henry's visit.
She lies that Francine sent him over and says, oh, they want to have a fundraiser at their house.
And Don literally says, I don't care, as long as I don't have to go.
 
Don goes upstairs to lie down. Carla leaves as soon as she can,
and Betty smokes, thinking she's been so clever with her secret.
 
Steve: And I felt that Betty's comments were very much for the benefit of Carla, you know, further emphasis and explanation trying to sell this fib to her,
because as we can see Don's head is elsewhere. He's not even paying attention.
 
 
Jenna: There's a very short scene that evening where Sal is at the office. He stacks up his former campaigns and Marty pokes his head in. Do I have to be here? No, Sal answers.
 
Good night, boss. Marty says.
Ugh, that he calls him boss. That whole identity is gone now for Sal. Alone, he looks at the history of his work at this company, and he puts his face in his hands.
It's so unfair.
 
Steve: We weep along with Sal here. It's a heartbreaking scene. That goodnight, boss line is just the dagger to the heart.
 
 
Jenna: Later, Betty makes a formal phone call to Henry, and he begins to say, oh, I shouldn't have come by. But she's all business.
She's trying to book a fundraiser for the 17th, and we see Don on the couch in the next room while Betty's on the phone.
 
He is not interested in what Betty does, so this performance is probably not even necessary. But it feels like maybe Betty is enjoying the subterfuge just a little bit.
 
Steve: I think so. And I think Henry's somewhat surprised, thinking, hey, you know, that was just our cover. We don't have to keep playing along here.
 
 
Jenna: At Sterling Cooper, the next day, we see Don presenting his international pitch to Hilton. It's a great campaign,
and it absolutely ties to that selfish desire Betty named at the beginning of the episode: I want what I want when I want it.
 
So U.S. travelers can visit Athens and have everything the way they're used to having it.
I want to give a nod to Elisabeth Moss in this scene. She doesn't have any lines, but she does great work reading the client. She's pleased when he seems happy and concerned when he voices critique.
 
And she waits for Don's okay when Conrad Hilton says to clear the room.
She's just so astute as a character and as an actress.
She would never have made Harry's mistake. She would have called Roger and told him the truth.
 
Steve: It is such a great campaign. And I think if impulsiveness is a theme of this episode,
the idea of the impulsive American international traveler going abroad and wanting all the conveniences and luxuries that they're used to.
 
I think that's part of what makes the campaign so brilliant, because we know that's how the American international traveler is. And this is going to be a huge hook to get them into a Hilton in any one of these places, like Tehran or Athens or Istanbul.
 
I think the scene gets really interesting once Connie dismisses everybody and it becomes clear he's not blown away by the campaign.
 
Jenna: It's good, he says, but what about the moon?
I said I wanted Hilton on the moon. I couldn't have been more clear about it.
Lee Garner Jr. wants whatever he wants, and so does Conrad Hilton.
Don points out right now the moon's not an actual destination.
 
It's not about what's wrong with the campaign, even though that's what they're talking about. It isn't that Don didn't listen to the brief.
It's that Conrad Hilton is capricious and he wants to be able to demand anything from everyone around him.
 
He could get the world's best ad campaign for his company and he would still complain, just like Betty could be the world's best partner and Don would still find an excuse to cheat.
 
Steve: And Don tries his tricks. You know, he tries to leverage that personal connection with Connie to back him off,
and it doesn't work at all. And I think that ties into your earlier point that is Connie just manipulative from the start.
 
So this is a one way path where Connie can become personal to manipulate Don. But when Don tries to reciprocate, he hits a brick wall and is just left with an unhappy Conrad Hilton asking where the moon is.
 
It's such a fun table turn because I think in the past we've seen a lot of examples where Don Draper has known exactly what buttons to push with a person to get what he wants, or at least back them off long enough for him to gain time and think about it.
In this case, it doesn't work at all.
 
Jenna: So when Connie clears the room and gets Don to himself, he says, I'm going to speak honestly with you. I don't think folks do that very often. Probably scared. Which is ironic, because of course that's the same thing that's true for him.
 
And then he takes the knife and he twists it in here. It isn't professional.
He says,
I'm deeply disappointed, Don.
Now that's a parent thing right there.
 
And then he says, what do you want from me, love?
What vile treachery is that from the man who said, you're like more than a son to me in the middle of the night?
And now he says, do you think you're special and I'm supposed to love you?
You didn't get me what I wanted.
 
Two episodes ago, Don was in the motel room hallucinating about seeing his father,
who was criticizing him for doing a nothing job.
This failure voice in his head. Even when Don Draper looks like a success.
 
And I don't like Connie Hilton.
But isn't this exactly what Don does to everyone, too?
He draws people in, he showers them with attention, he uses them, and then there's always some flimsy excuse to reject them.
That's a you thing, Don.
 
Steve: It's interesting because he denies Don love.
And like you pointed out, he's the one who said, oh, you're more than a son to me.
But there is really a strong sense of some sort of almost parental or personal disappointment here. It is gone far more emotionally than any sort of professional thoughts about the ad campaign that's integral to this control that Conrad's trying to exert over Don Draper.
 
He's got to get him out of that professional space because that's going to put Don on his back foot and then allow him to be manipulated.
 
So if he was manipulated in a positive way with the compliment in the wee hours of the morning discussion about being more than a son,
now he's being manipulated in a negative way with a slap to the side of the head here in the boardroom.
He's removed all the other co workers,
so it's made it that much more intimate and personal.
 
So to me, it really fits with your earlier point about this manipulative narcissist who's got Don dangling by a chain.
How much sympathy do we feel for Don Draper?
Probably less than we might feel for somebody else in a similar circumstance.
 
Jenna: That evening at the Drapers, Betty is hosting a Rockefeller fundraiser where the neighbors are openly discussing their plans for voting.
The next presidential election will be in 1964, and Nelson Rockefeller wants the Republican nomination against John F. Kennedy.
Of course, the election would actually be between Barry Goldwater and Lyndon B. Johnson.
 
The women are talking about civil rights, and the south,
of course, the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous I Have a Dream speech – that happened a few weeks ago.
 
And it feels like a lot of the characters on Mad Men aren't touched or by the changes happening nationally on a day to day basis.
 
Steve: You know, a bunch of affluent white women in the burbs in the north, it makes sense to me that the civil rights movement is a little distant.
So even here at a fundraiser where they're, you know, directly talking about politics and how things are headed, you don't get a sense of much being at stake. For them personally, it's a more esoteric question.
 
When Henry doesn't show,
we can see Betty's frustration and disappointment.
This whole farce of a fundraiser. I guess the one payoff for her in it all was she'd have an excuse for Henry to actually come to her house, and it would be under the auspices of the fundraiser, so everything would be on the up and up.
And when that's dashed, her disappointment is very visible.
 
Jenna: Yes, Henry’s substitute is a woman who introduces herself as Elsa Kittredge. She's the governor's representative.
This actress is Ann Ryerson, and you may recognize her from Curb Your Enthusiasm or possibly from Caddyshack.
 
It is funny that Betty is so disappointed that Henry's not there,
even though this is the woman who briefs Henry about the issues.
And that's my disappointment with Betty.
In addition to her treatment of her kids,
she doesn't have interests outside of herself,
and we hit Don for that all the time.
 
But in the first few seasons, it seems like Betty is so boxed in that she can't explore her own life because social expectations and her role as a housewife are so limiting.
But she has a chance to be civically active about the water tower or to care about politics.
And she's so disinterested.
 
Everything seems like a pretense to how much attention she's receiving.
She could simultaneously be disappointed because she can't see Henry and be curious about political issues, but she's not that.
 
When you write a letter and you have to say,
I do have thoughts,
it's sort of like Game of Thrones. If you have to run around telling people,
I am the king, there's work to do.
 
Steve: I hope nobody poisons her.
 
 
The next scene cuts from the disappointment of the fundraiser to Betty driving up to Albany to deliver the fundraiser money to Henry.
It's a pleasant surprise from Henry's perspective.
 
Jenna: Until she stomps in and she throws the cash box at him.
Betty throws a full on tantrum.
Where were you? Why did you send that woman?
 
She's embarrassed, she's yelling. She's not caring about Henry's secretary outside.
Let's just say Henry knows full well what he's getting with Betty from this entire scene.
This is Betty unleashed. It's not the pretty Valentine's Day picture.
She's being selfish baby idiot here.
 
Steve: Yeah. And she throws the cash box across the room at him, which makes a crash. And then Henry's got to explain to his receptionist that everything's okay.
 
But he very quickly explains to her, you know, why he didn't present. And he says, look, you had to come to me because you're married.
In some ways, you know, Betty's been calling the tune to this dalliance between the two of them.
 
It seems in this case that he's got some legitimacy in his point that she's got to make the step at some stage.
He can't be the one doing it in her direction.
I think that response lands not too badly with Betty, given how frustrated and angry she is having to drive up to Albany.
 
Jenna: Well, and the fact that he is so into her, tantrum and all, that has to score him some points, I think, too.
And she realizes here she's about to enter a physical affair here, and she hesitates.
He locks the door, and she's not going to settle for anything, tawdry is the word she uses.
 
So she says, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I started this.
And when she leaves, she seems resolved and calm,
and she's just messed around with Henry's time and his feelings. But I don't think she's playing hard to get when she leaves. I think she does seem to be having an attack of conscience about what this means.
 
Steve: I agree with that. And I also think that she's just putting it back on to a schedule and a program rather than having it accelerate and spiral out of control.
 
I do detect a certain amount of frustration in Henry when he says,
I don't know what you want.
And as the viewer, I'm looking at Betty in that scene thinking the same thing. You know, what do you want?
 
Because as you mentioned, you know, he is totally into her, and happy to lock that door and get busy, but she's not going to take that step at this point.
 
Jenna: So there are Mad Men fans who don't like Henry. And I'm like, okay. Henry's like, I don't know what you want, and he would listen if she told him.
 
Whereas Roger is like, what do women want? Who cares?
So I just –
 
Steve: Is that the choice, between Henry and Roger?
 
Jenna: Those are the only two options. [Laughing]
 
But I just feel like Henry is trying to be decent to Betty. I get that this is an affair, and that's not cool, but in the Mad Men world,
I feel like he seems - except for this infidelity - he seems like a decent guy that people are so put off by him touching her pregnant belly.
 
I just feel like at every turn,
it looks like he's trying to do the right thing more often than many other characters in the show do.
 
Steve: I like the choice of decent as a descriptor for Henry, too, because that's what comes to mind for me.
 
And going back to touching her pregnant belly,
you know, in an episode where we've talked about sexual harassment, one of the key elements is it has to be unwelcome.
 
And when he touches her belly, it is not unwelcome.
I don't hold that against him in any way. And as you mentioned, he seems decent enough, and he's got some passion and emotion for her.
 
And at the same time, he knows how to behave properly and stay in control for the most part. I don't share the Henry hatred at Sterling Cooper.
 
 
Jenna: Roger enters Don's office.
Remember that after Don signed his contract, he told Bert he didn't want any more contact with Roger, so they haven't been in any meetings together, so we can assume this is their first interaction in a while.
 
And Roger straight up tells Don he messed up with Conrad Hilton. He might be a great ad man, but account managers do real jobs, and Don isn't that.
 
Honestly, I blame Roger and Bert and Lane for this, anyway. They should have forced Don to have them be in on Hilton. Don isn't an account man.
Roger never would have been sucked up into Connie's “You're like a son to me” speech.
 
Steve: Yeah, I think Roger's got good points here. You don't really see much of a defense or argument out of Don.
And the clients are both so important, right?
 
Roger's justifiably angry at this and drawing a line in the sand for Don laying down the law here and saying, you know, you've got to get these sorted out.
 
Jenna: I do love scenes between Roger and Don, though.
He says, you won't even let me meet the man. Meaning Hilton.
What do you think accounts does besides limit your brilliance?
 
And Don goes, I tell you, but I don't want to hurt your feelings.
So their back and forth, I love.
 
But Roger's right. I mean, Don's mistake wasn't that the campaign wasn't great. His mistake was the account side.
It was keeping Hilton all to himself just to get back at Roger and prop up his own ego like a selfish idiot baby.
 
Steve: And I like to, you know, because Roger's the master of the one liner as well. He wants Don to be serious and address the problem.
 
But Roger's the last one in the world who can chafe at somebody giving a smart aleck response to something.
 
 
Jenna: Back at the Drapers’, on the radio, Carla is listening to news about the Birmingham church bombing that killed four girls on September 15, 1963.
 
A fifth girl survived, but she lost her eye and her sister in the bombing.
Over 8,000 people attended the funerals, shocked by the violence.
Four suspects belonging to a branch of the Ku Klux Klan were identified,
but the first wasn't arrested until 1977, and the others not until the early 2000s.
One died in 1994, never having served time for the violence and the killings.
 
Steve: It's such a horrific act of violence, victimizing children,
given the timing, seems to be in direct reaction to this I Have a Dream, you know, this incredible speech advocating for the better angels of our nature and to be better as a society.
This duality, I think, is so central to the American identity.
 
I just find Betty's comments in this scene so offensive,
where this awful thing happens.
And then she says, well, maybe civil rights are not meant to happen right now.
I just think, okay, that's exactly what these monsters who harmed little girls in a church basement want to happen.
 
So their violence is going to succeed because we're going to scare off the people who don't have a direct stake in this and don't see this as important or central to their lives.
 
To express that to Carla in that moment, it makes me angry,
being reminded of the carnage and the harm that was done in that church bombing to have someone suggest, oh, well, maybe we should back off or not do it. It's just - it gets my blood boiling.
 
Jenna: And it's a little similar to this idea with Don being tolerant of Sal being gay, up to the point that it doesn't inconvenience him, and then it becomes “you people.”
 
So Betty's like, I'm sure civil rights are fine, but if it's going to cause trouble, maybe it's not worth it.
 
For you, Betty. Maybe it's just there's a whole rest of the world out there, and this system isn't making you so happy or fulfilled, when we come right down to it, so maybe you would do well to question that a little bit.
But Betty Draper doesn't.
 
Steve: I guess the most charitable interpretation I could make would be that this incident is so horrific that who would willingly suffer more of these types of losses for any cause because it's so awful.
 
And maybe it's just an expression of humanity and concerned about stopping it, you know, without thinking about the political implications of it or whatever.
 
Jenna: Okay, you don't blame that on civil rights.
You blame it on bombers.
Like, you know, what's not supposed to happen right now? People who bomb churches.
There's no excusing saying, oh, well, civil rights is causing this.
No, bombers are.
 
Steve: I'm not saying that she's making that connection. I'm saying maybe all she's saying is, we can't have any more of this happening, so whatever that means, you know, let's do it.
 
That's not where I land personally, but I'm just trying to put myself in Betty's head, trying to make an excuse for,
again, something that seems really insensitive to say, you know, especially to Carla in that moment, because we've had multiple scenes now where we've seen characters suggest that people should just stay quiet and stop stirring up trouble and this and that.
 
And it's like, who are you to tell them what to do here?
 
 
Jenna: Next we have a scene with Sal at night.
He's calling Kitty from a pay phone. He lies to her, saying they've got Chinese takeout and Marty needs him to look over his work.
He never tells her he was fired.
 
We're meant to understand, which I didn't when I saw it, but that Sal is calling from an area of Central park known for a place that gay men hook up.
So apparently, Sal is going to go looking for a hookup after all this time, when, to our knowledge, he hasn't done that before.
 
But I want him to call Elliot from Belle Jolie, and go on architectural tours together, not just disappear into his seedy park.
 
Steve: Yeah, it's. It's a sad scene. I think we see the devastation that is his life.
His wife doesn't even know that their world has been destroyed.
It feels he's just throwing caution and discretion to the wind now.
 
Where has it taken him? You know, he's lost everything, despite having all this caution and discretion and professionalism.
 
 
Jenna: Back at the Drapers’, Don comes up to bed. Betty's already asleep. He pauses for a minute, and then he touches her elbow, saying, Hilton called. He's going in.
Hilton never called.
 
So Don goes to knock on Suzanne Farrell's door.
She lives over somebody else's garage, she's renting.
It's late, but she's awake with a drink. She lets him in.
 
Don's only here for one reason, so Don will go have this while judging Sal.
And Suzanne argues against it. She knows better:
You only want this because I'm new and different.
I know how this ends. I live in your neighborhood. I run into your wife.
None of this is a good idea.
 
I don't think his arguments are particularly compelling.
He says, I don't care. I want you.
 
Like Pete in the last episode, or like Conrad Hilton or Lee Garner Jr., he is okay to intrude on her life and take what he can without thinking too much about what that means for him or for her.
 
Steve: I liked Matt Weiner's comment in the commentary where he said, Don's like a vampire here. He can enter, but only if she invites him in, and she knows the nature of what he is and she knows she has that control in the moment.
 
So as they talk back and forth and then she decides to invite him in,
she knows what she's signing up to in this moment. And again, I think that just underlines this idea that she's very modern, intelligent.
 
She makes her own decisions.
She makes them with her eyes open.
 
 
Jenna: The closing song is Prelude to a Kiss, written by Duke Ellington, Irving Gordon, and Irving Mills.
 
Its lyrics say:
How my love song gently cries
for the tenderness within your eyes.
My love is a prelude that never dies,
A prelude to a kiss.
 
I think Don is seeking tenderness and comfort here with Suzanne and that line, my love is a prelude that never dies -
we know he only likes the beginnings of things, advance shout out to Cara Buono there -
Nothing good can come from this relationship.
It's like he wants to be caught at this point.
 
Steve: Yeah, it's not a cautious or careful move on his part.
It's in the neighborhood. All his previous relationships have very much been out in the city and firewalled from his day to day life and he's crossed that line now.
 
Jenna: Our listener shout-out today is going to Dan Jasper, who co hosts the OG Mad Men Rewatch podcast, They Coined It, with Roberta Lipp.
They have a lot of great discussions about thematic implications of the show, and they were blogging when the series was on air, and had access to some of the cast members and writers at that time.
 
So to get a listen and a kind word from Dan Jasper,
it's truly a thing like that.
 
Thank you so much to everybody listening to and sharing our rewatch podcast. We appreciate you!
 
Steve: That's it for this episode of All Things Mad Men, from Chip and Dip to Zou Bisou. Visit our website, Mad Men C to Z dot com to vote for your favorite Sterling lines and to share your opinions on our Double Dip questions for each episode.
 
Jenna: You can find us on Instagram and YouTube at Mad Men C to Z, and please listen, like, and subscribe. That's what the podcast's for!
 
Steve: Thanks for listening, everybody.