Mad Men C to Z S4E2 Podcast Transcript for Christmas Comes But Once a Year

Our Mad Men C to Z podcast re-watch discussion of Season Four, Episode 2: Christmas Comes But Once a Year has a human-edited transcription below.
You can listen to the podcast here, and visit our episode page for more details, like responding to our Double Dip questions, or voting for your favorite Sterling Lines. Thank you for re-watching with us!

Mad Men C to Z S4E2 Christmas Comes But Once a Year 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 rewatch.
 
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: Welcome to Mad Men, Season 4, Episode 2, Christmas Comes But Once a Year.
This episode was written by Tracy McMillan and Matthew Weiner, and directed by Michael Uppendahl.
 
The episode opens showing Betty with Henry and the kids choosing a Christmas tree. I really notice how Henry is doing stuff with Betty, family stuff, like picking out the Christmas tree as a family.
Later, we'll see that they've all been out together somewhere for the evening. And of course, Don opted out of so many family things. And in contrast, Henry seems happy to be there.
 
Steve: It does feel like a real contrast between the life Betty lived with Don, and always wondering where he was, and now where she's with a much more conventional man, who wants a much more conventional life with her.
And I also get the sense that this is more in alignment with Betty's expectations of what marriage would be like.

 
Jenna: And as they're choosing the Christmas tree,
we haven't seen him for all of season three of Mad Men, and I have to say, I didn't miss Glen, but here he is. He's working at the Christmas tree farm.
 
Steve: I like the writing of Glen and Sally's conversation here, because it really feels realistic in the way kids talk to each other. And you can tell Glen's trying to pump himself up and impress Sally.
And Sally seems to, I think, appreciating the attention from Glenn.
 
Jenna: I just hate the smarmy way he says, oh, I saw your new dad. My mom said that would happen.
Henry isn't her dad. And blatantly admitting his mom is gossiping and so all knowing about their lives - it's so awful.
 
Those two sentences are exactly, to your point, how an insensitive kid would reduce somebody else's life story. So it, it feels believable,
but it also feels a lot like Pete with Peggy already to me.
It's like he's claiming a position of power over her that he hasn't earned.
 
Steve: It does seem like he wants to show off his superior knowledge or experience, I guess, with the breakup of the family and the reconstitution of a new family. So he's strutting his stuff here for her.
 
I mean, I understand your objection to the content of what he's saying to her, but that's an adult objection. I think in terms of kids, this idea that there's somebody who can pull the curtain back and tell you what's happening or what's going to happen next, I think it's realistic that Sally might have some curiosity as to what he's saying.
 
Jenna: As much as I dislike Glen as a character,
I do appreciate the writing, in that you don't usually see kids on TV like this.
Usually they’re adorable innocents, or their wise-cracking brats, or maybe hardworking prodigies, or supernaturally powerful or something.
And Glen isn't evil or, you know, unusually giving along Sally's journey.
 
And we know this is a kid who's had some issues. He ran away from home and he's a kid. Kids do show off around younger kids, so there is such a realism to his behavior.
And even though there is some truth in what he says, he's so unpleasant. I just don't want to cheer for him or for him to be Sally's friend.
 
I agree with you. She does seem to be interested and intrigued.
I just - I don't know anybody who loves Mad Men and goes, you know who my favorite character is? The Glen storylines are so compelling!
I mean, nobody raises a hand and says, I want more Glenn in my Mad Men.
 
Steve: Agreed. And full disclosure, I'm not a fan of the Glen character, either.
 
Jenna: I guess we should point out here that Glen shows off a braided lanyard that he made, and Sally compliments the colors. We're going to see that pop up again a little bit later.
 
Steve: From this scene, we cut to Don typing in his office.
It's a very mundane scene, but I like it, because it seems to be the day to day of a creative, right. He writes. And his admin assistant Allison comes in with his mail.
 
Jenna: You can see they have some trust together.
Don didn't bring Allison over initially when they formed SCDP, but then he got her back by the first episode.
 
We know Don doesn't let his guard down completely, but we saw how reluctant he was to let Jane, for example, see anything about his life,
especially when he knew she was with Roger.
 
And in this scene, Allison has access to some very personal information and he doesn't punish her or hide from that.
So I like that they're establishing that this is a really successful working relationship.
 
Steve: And we can also see the integrated role of the admin assistants in the executive's life here in this mid-1960s style, where stuff they talk about is very personal. It doesn't really have anything to do with the job.
 
So Allison is going to getting Christmas presents for his kids.
And as she reads Sally's letter, her real wish for Christmas is to have Don there with them. But she knows that can't be true.
 
Allison gets a bit weepy at that. Sally longs for her father, and getting some, you know, wrapped present is a poor substitute.
 
Jenna: It's a small moment, but the way that Allison does this  - shout out Alexa Alemanni - it's really good. If she were sobbing, it would make Don so uncomfortable. He would hate it.
 
But she has this human moment reading this letter from this little girl to her dad, and this tear comes to her eye, and immediately she brushes it away and apologizes. But you can see more of her humanity and more of her story in that tiny moment. And it's great work.
 
I looked up the most popular Christmas toys of 1964.
It's not in the wish list for any of Don's kids, but GI Joe came on the scene that year. It was hugely popular, and they deliberately used the word “action figure” in place of the word “doll.”
 
I'm not sure the Don Draper of December 1964 is much of an action figure, though.
 
Steve: Matt Weiner makes that point in his commentary for this episode when he says that for all Don's faults as a husband, as a father,
he probably has been present on Christmas morning.
So I guess we can decide how low or high that bar is.
 
That was something that Sally had in her life that she's now lost, you know, along with the other things.
 
Jenna: Don hears the letter, chooses some things he wants Allison to get for Christmas presents to buy for his kids, because he's too busy to do that, I guess.
Speaking of the bar. 1964, okay, this is how they do it.
 
And it includes a drum set. And I wondered if that was a joyful choice for Bobby or Sally, or if that was more like a vindictive thing for Betty.
Don also tells Allison to get Sally some Beatles 45s.
 
And 1964 was a huge year for them. They released All My Lovin', She Loves You, ‘Til There Was You, I Saw Her Standing There, and I Want to Hold Your Hand.
.
Steve: The conversation moves on to whether they can bring dates to the Christmas party. And Don makes a point of mentioning that it's been scaled back.
 
And Don also tells Allison that she's going to get a bonus, even if he has to pay for it out of his own pocket.
Don apparently is rather fond of Allison and commits to looking after her, regardless of how the company decides on the bonus situation.
 
Jenna: To be clear for what's coming in this episode, I don't see any flirtation or anything improper between them, do you?
 
Steve: No, I don't. I don't pick anything up along those lines at all. It just seems like she's a good admin assistant, supporting him and what he needs as an executive. And they seem to have a solid working relationship.
 
 
Jenna: The next scene gives us our first look at Roger's office in the new SCDP. It's very distinctive. He says Jane got a decorator.
 
This black and white geometric painting on the wall represents the Op Art movement. And you can see some work by painter Bridget Riley in this style. There was apparently a critic who described Op Art as “commercial retinal titillation,” which is not a phrase you get to use very often.
 
Steve: It's a friendly meeting between Freddy and Roger, but it does seem to lack that genuine warmth of true friendship. And it seems to be more about coinciding professional interests. What was your take?
 
Jenna: I read it differently. I thought that Roger seemed to have genuine affection for Freddy. He was happy to chat with him, joke with him.
It isn't that they're equals or that Roger confides in him, but I felt a warmth there.
 
Roger confesses that the office setup is Potemkinville, which, of course is a reference to the story about Russian Prince Potemkin, who, according to legend, constructed cardboard village facades before Catherine the Great's visit to create this illusion of prosperity, or at least to hide the poverty.
 
And it's such an offhand remark, but I appreciate the writers’ ability to offer a variety of metaphors for Don Draper's masks and facades. And we've often talked about how great his life might look from a distance, but behind the doors in his actual life, it looks very different.
And more so lately, it seems.
 
And for Roger to confess that to Freddy, that it looks good, but behind the scenes, it's tricky, and Freddy's just come in - that seemed a little bit like something you would only tell a colleague you trusted.
 
Steve: Yeah, I don't know about that. I wonder if that's just a tip of the hat of Roger to Freddy that Freddy's intelligent and is going to figure that out for himself in short order.
 
All their conversation is around sort of what each can do for the other.
To me, I would look for something that goes above and beyond just the straight transactional value of what Freddy proposes.
You know, he's bringing the $2 million Ponds Cold Cream account over from JWT.
 
Freddy's got a good in with the client there, but he tells Roger that, you know, it's more than he can handle by himself.
Roger, of course, reads and picks up immediately knows Freddy wants to work with Peggy. And then Freddy does make one request that he doesn't want Pete Campbell near it. Freddy obviously believing that Pete was instrumental in his ouster from Sterling Cooper.
 
Jenna: And Freddy makes the point of saying he's been sober for 16 months now.
He looks very confident. He refuses the drink that Roger offers him.
How awkward that Roger fired him for drinking too much, and now he just offers Freddy a drink.
 
Steve: Personally, I'm a big fan of the Freddy Rumsen character, and I like the dynamic he brings, so it makes me very happy to see him back in the fold here.
 
 
Jenna: Don, Pete, and Peggy are all in a meeting when Roger and Freddy come in and join them.
Peggy is genuinely enthusiastic to see Freddy and he's happy to see her and work with her. He calls her by his nickname for her: Ballerina.
 
Fred also refuses the drink Don offers him this time.
And Roger makes a crack that, it's a little early for that, isn't it, Don?
We saw Roger was already drinking in his office.
But do you think that's a casual joke, the way that Don seems to take it, or do you think he's noticing something about Don's drinking habits,
especially with reformed Freddy there?
 
Steve: Having been through this series with these writers, I'm going to guess it's more of the latter. It is the first buzzing of an alarm about a potential problem that's going to grow and fester here.
 
Jenna: Pete is simultaneously professional and smugly irritating.
He's got shades of Glen here, when he talks about meeting with Ponds.
 
Roger, on the other hand, is very generous.
This is what makes me think he's happy to see Freddy and work with him.
And he jumps in before Pete can lecture Freddy about drinking in front of everybody else.
He changes the conversation to the Santa costume instead.
 
And I love that that he does that for Freddy. It feels like a kindness to Freddy more than it's a criticism of Pete, even though it's both.
And we can't deny Roger's happy to have an account in addition to Lucky Strike.
 
Steve: Yeah, I agree with that. And I think there's plenty of reason for Roger to grease the skids and make sure they get this $2 million account in the door without any additional tension or friction, because Freddy potentially has other options of where he could shop it.
So Roger doesn't want that train going off the tracks.
 
Don is fairly warm when he sees Freddy. Peggy is obviously the most enthusiastic. And then, you know, you can feel the tension between Pete and Freddy here. But it's all smoothed over, and I think it's the band getting back together a bit.
 
Jenna: You wouldn't have thought Freddy was very vindictive. But the list of people against Pete Campbell definitely seems to be growing here. I think Roger and Don have some issues, and probably Ken, and maybe Hildy, wherever she landed.
 
And I think if Don knew Pete was the father of the baby Peggy had,
it would totally activate his code and he would write Pete off forever.
Or, I don't know, maybe he would just shake his head at Peggy, and wish she had better taste, because he can certainly relate to making poor decisions that way.
 
Steve: That's an interesting question, just because of Don's own background.
How would he perceive that and how would he perceive the people involved? I think that's a really good question, because I'm not sure where he would land on that.
 
 
Jenna: At the Draper - now Francis  - household, Carla answers the phone. Glen is calling for Sally, but he says it's Stanley, and that it's about math homework.
 
Matt Weiner says that to him, Glen is Sally's spirit guide.
Personally, I want better for her, just like I wish Peggy had never been interested in Pete.
 
This is a cost of Don and Betty's unwillingness to engage with their kids and their habit of ignoring them all, although their physical needs are met.
Sally doesn't need to take the call from the neighbor kid if she feels safe and valued at home.
But she's been repeatedly ignored, and now she's finding her voice in scenes away from parental figures.
 
And we're hearing her confess she hates it at her house. She misses her father.
 
Steve: If Glen is Sally's spirit guide, as a fellow divorced child,
I feel he is bringing some substance to the table here in terms of how things are developing or will develop, you know, based off his own personal experience, he's not terrible from that standpoint, I don't think.
 
And I agree with you, I think Sally is so starved for attention, positive attention from someone, that Glen has a real window of opportunity here to step in there.
 
As Sally hangs up and Carla asks who Stanley is, her answer back is just a boy, and she's sort of got a satisfied look on her face of, I've gotten some attention. This is my little secret, and this is a budding relationship that's all my own.
 
Jenna: Yes, I'll give the writers credit for crafting a believable, if unlikable voice in these lines that he has to Sally.
 
I mean, I know there's a neighbor kid who doesn't have good social boundaries and manners. I totally believe it.
I feel sorry that's who Sally chooses to confide in, though.
 
And I think it would have been more interesting to see Sally navigating female friendships at this age, more than the Glen screen time.
 
I think this is an aspect of the show that doesn't serve the overall story as well. I think Glen could lift out and much more interesting options could open up for Betty and for Sally.
But I think you only notice it because the rest of the show is so well crafted that this sticks out.
 
 
Steve: Our next scene is in the boardroom at Sterling Cooper Draper Price and it's a presentation by Dr. Atherton from the Motivational Research Group.
 
Jenna: Dr. Atherton is played by John Aylward. His screen career goes back to 1976. He might be best known as Dr. Donald Anspaugh on ER.
 
With him is Dr. Faye Miller, played by Cara Buono, who has a long screen career including Kelli Moltisanto in the later seasons of The Sopranos, and Karen Wheeler in Stranger Things.
 
Steve: Dr. Atherton and Faye are bringing the science of consumer evaluation to Sterling Cooper Draper Price, and they cite one particular example that Faye was behind the carefree gal in white pants to allow the sale of feminine products.
 
We can also see that Bert is extremely enthusiastic about having this group in there to try and take their ad agency to the next level.
Don Draper seems a little skeptical.
 
Jenna: I think there are so many interesting things to note about the character of Faye Miller right from the beginning.
 
When Dr. Atherton compliments Faye's research in her work, she makes a self deprecating comment. She compares it to the polio vaccine development, which became available in 1955.
 
And you can see her doing things to appear to diminish herself, or not to appear to take herself too seriously in front of groups in future episodes too.
This strategy, this behavior is less common in women now,
but I grew up with it, and it's this apologizing for taking up space mindset, and I love that it's depicted here.
 
And usually characters are only shown with the most extreme examples of this behavior or else the characters are, you know, 100% confident all the time or they have two seconds of doubt.
 
But here's Faye. She's confident, she's educated, and at the same time she doubts herself sometimes. And that's real and interesting.
 
Steve: Well, I also think it makes sense as an approach, because you're going into these ad agencies that are full of men who have plenty large egos of their own.
 
So I think the cap in hand, humble pie strategy is a good one to play here, because you need to hook them and get them interested so they open their minds up to really consider it.
 
I agree with all those other reasons you mentioned that she may be pitching things this way, and this questionnaire that she's given out, and this will further draw them into this methodology, and then hopefully they can use the results of the questionnaire to demonstrate the utility of the work they're doing.
 
Jenna: And spoiler inbound, so pause right now if you want to avoid it: I have a lot of patience for somebody like Faye. I appreciate that she tries. She's got ambition and honesty. I think she's a really interesting love interest.
 
She isn't a heartless career woman. She's not a beautiful fool.
She's just infinitely more interesting and well defined in this single episode even than Suzanne Farrell's character.
 
Steve: I do like that Don is true to his code and his beliefs here. Like that seems true to me for the character. He's not looking to jump on the latest fad.
You know, it harkens back, I believe it was to the first season where they have the research, which no one wants to believe or even look at.
And here we have Don Draper still with that same mentality. He's not impressed by their prior success.
 
We're not surprised when he finds a excuse to exit himself from the conference room so he can avoid taking the questionnaire. When he leaves, both Bert and Lane start giggling.
 
Jenna: I noticed that, too. Like, they know him so well. That's predictable. But since they're paying Faye's organization for this research, I would think they would insist he stay.
 
Steve: I agree with you, but I think if that was their intention, they would have prepped him in advance.
 
Jenna: I also wanted to make the point that obviously Don Draper doesn't want to answer questions about himself, and share with the group. So we get why he is reluctant to engage with this quiz she's giving.
 
But it's so incredibly rude. He could have just sat there and doodled without giving away his personal information.
 
I think a big part of why he leaves is that as much as he doesn't like to draw attention to himself in some ways,
in other ways, he can't stand it if he's not the main voice in the room and some woman telling him how to do his job.
There's not enough self deprecation she can apply to take the sting out of that for him.
 
I like to think that he's more egalitarian, but I think the fact that she's a woman is a factor.
 
Steve: I didn't see him as openly rude. I mean, he makes up the excuse that he has an appointment and he's polite as he gets up. But I mean, he has not engaged on the survey.
 
And I think, you know, to your earlier comments about Faye, her radar is up. We can see from the look on her face she's not buying the he has an appointment excuse.
 
 
Jenna: When Don gets out of Faye's meeting, he just goes into his office and hides with a drink. He doesn't have anywhere to go. It doesn't even seem like there's a particular campaign he's working on right now.
 
Steve: Yeah. And then again towards the rudeness, he wants to know when the curtains get pulled so that he can sneak out of the office so he's ready to bail, even though we're in the middle of the work day.
 
 
Jenna: Back at Don's apartment the next morning, he's awakened to the sound of hammering, as the nurse across the hall starts hanging lights. It's eight in the morning.
Phoebe is played by Nora Zehetner, who starred in an indie film called Brick with Joseph Gordon Levitt, as well as Everwood, Grey's Anatomy, and Grosse Pointe Garden Society.
 
Steve: It's pretty clear that Phoebe is too young for Don.
So although it feels like Phoebe is flirting with him as he comes out all groggy to figure out what the noise is, there's no reciprocation here.
 
And he's starting to move into another stage of his life.
Hooking up with someone who lives in the same apartment with him, who's much younger, isn't something that he's especially interested in.
 
 
Jenna: At the office, Freddy and Peggy are talking about Ponds in the creative lounge.
Freddy wants to use Tallulah Bankhead in the Ponds commercials.
She was born in 1902, so she would have been 62 in 1964.
 
She was maybe best known for a Broadway play from 1939 called Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman, and Alfred Hitchcock's film Lifeboat from 1944.
She was a huge personality, but Peggy would have been about four during Tallulah Bankhead's heyday.
 
Steve: My interpretation of this interaction between Peggy and Freddy goes back to the father daughter relationship I perceive them to have earlier.
 
It really feels like that new generation versus old generation argument.
And both generations are honest in their perspective,
but both are very dismissive of the other generations.
So although there's warmth and love between the two people,
the views are so divergent, neither can get through to the other to get them to understand what it is they're saying.
 
It also involves, I think, some of those assumptions or stereotypes that the generations have about each other that frustrate individuals to be pigeonholed into those stereotypes, rather than seen for how they see themselves, being hostage to that blindness by the other person.
 
You can feel they're getting on each other's nerves,
even though we know they're both very fond of each other.
 
Jenna: I agree. There's such a mismatch between Peggy and Freddy here, even though, as you say, there's affection too.
 
Their ages and their perspectives, and even their goals with the work are different. Freddy wants to get the work done. He says, I know the client,
it's rigged, and go home.
 
And Peggy wants it to be award winning if possible, or at least modern, if not innovative. And they both want their working relationship to work. But now it's shifted too, because Peggy's not the shy secretary Freddy Rumsen first noticed. Now she's been in charge of other copywriters and artists.
 
I love that Peggy says, “Have you seen our work? It's very different from this.”
This to me gets back to Don's comment about, “I want to work, I want to build something.”
And now he's hiding in his office with a drink.
 
But she's talking about how people look at their work, not just the clients.
So she is paying attention to their image after that ham thing.
 
 
Steve: As they're talking, Roger stumbles into the office. He's obviously been drinking, and it turns out he's had a power lunch with the client.
 
We can see this disturbs Freddy. It turns out Freddy is a sponsor for the client, and they're going to meet up at the Baptist church. So they're actually both recovering alcoholics.
And it sounds like Roger has helped the client to fall off the wagon.
 
Jenna: Peggy has a great line when Roger comes in and he says, I gotta go lay down. She goes, “I can't believe that's his job.”
 
So as much as we're disappointed that Roger has had this effect on Freddy's friend, we're a little bit with Peggy on this.
 
Steve: We are. And then just getting back to the father / daughter. I like the writing here, because I think that power dynamic shifting between parent and child is one of the main sources of the friction, because the parent had total control over this being and dominated them at one point.
 
How will the child assert and get to a point of equality and assertion of what they want?
Peggy's not taking no for an answer.
If you could climb in Freddy's head, his view would be like, gosh, you know, when did she become so insistent and pushy about these things and so confident that she knows best?
 
 
Jenna: In the next scene, Roger takes a call from Lee Garner Jr., who invites himself to the office Christmas party.
He imagines it will be the stuff of movies,
and I feel sorry for Roger in this moment a little.
 
But it also reminds me it's like the avenging Betty for when he invited himself to their house and stole her steak.
Don could not tell Roger no, and Roger cannot tell Lee no.
 
Steve: And it really fits with the bigger theme we see in Mad Men of clients who want things or insist on things, that just complicates your life.
 
So this seems to be like a classic example where we've got a client who represents more than two thirds of their business,
and suddenly he wants a real Madison Avenue Christmas party.
 
And, I mean, I love Roger's line afterwards, trying to fix their party now and upgrade it, and it needs to go “from convalescent home to Roman orgy.”
 
I'll also call out Darren Pettie here as Lee Garner Jr. He's perfectly reptilian, and creepy and selfish. He's got that asshole vibe that I think makes him perfect for this role.
 
Jenna: We don't see a lot of Lane in this episode, but what we do see, Jared Harris does very well.
Lane is always concerned with costs, and he suggests anything else.
 
He says, “Take him to the Four Seasons. He can have three entrees.” You know, a party is just going to be too expensive.
 
And his line to Roger is again, just hitting Roger in that true spot.
“I know you've lived your life from a bottomless pocket, but there's a real system of money coming in versus money going out.”
And Roger knows Lane is right here, so all he can say back is,
“I hate the way you say ‘percent,’ you know that?”
 
Steve: Roger knows Lane's observation is absolutely correct.
But at the same time, Lane knows Roger is right. When a guy represents 69% of their business, he gets the party he wants at Christmas. So this thing is going to happen, and who do they call in to make this happen?
 
Jenna: Joan isn't ruffled by having only a few days to plan an impressive Madison Avenue party at all. She's planning New York deli and Chinese food.
 
Roger's already flirting with her, and talking about what she's going to wear. There's a certain red dress with a bow that makes her look like a present, he says.
 
So Roger left Mona for Jane, and he's still at the office flirting with Joan.
 
Steve: In the commentary from Matthew Weiner and the director,
they talked about the need to reshoot the end of this scene because there was just a little too much heat between Roger and Joan.
 
So in the reshoot, they dialed it back.
But as you mentioned, we all can feel this undertone of the connection between them and that affection that Roger feels for Joan.
 
 
Jenna: The next scene is at Peggy's apartment, and she opens the door to find Mark standing there with a plate of cookies.
 
This is such a subtle thing, but I love it.
In Faye's presentation,
there was a joke about Harry saying, what if we don't take a cookie?
And she says that means you're a psychopath.
 
Then she says, the purpose of the survey is to show you how the process works.
And the point of the cookies is to show people they're rewarded for their time.
And here's Mark with a plate of cookies he didn't even make,
and he's showing up for his reward.
He expects something in return for the cookies.
 
Steve: The irony here is the reward Mark is expecting is taking Peggy's virginity, which, unknown to Mark, is long gone.
 
Mark has set himself up and is full of assumptions about Peggy and her level of experience and is misinterpreting Peggy's hesitation to go down that path with him as being, you know, fear or inexperience.
 
Whereas we know that Peggy has her reasons, and none of them are what Mark thinks they are.
 
Jenna: The way Mark is being with Peggy reminds me of how Glen is being with Sally. He's really trying to assert control without a lot of expertise.
 
Mark is similarly unlikable. He's pretty whiny, and he thinks he knows a lot more than she does. And as you say, in fact, we know a lot about her that he doesn't know.
 
And he's got all this confidence with Peggy. All I can see is his mediocrity.
What is it about Mark that's good for Peggy, other than the fact that he's showing her some attention?
 
Steve: I think we're both very critical of Peggy's choices in men.
So I'm not even going to try and attempt to say if there's anything good about Mark for Peggy.
 
I think what she does represent, though, is something that Matt Weiner talks about in his commentary.
Peggy realizes she needs to start over in terms of dating.
And this has put her in a position where she's pretending to be something she really isn't.
 
A lot of that is around cushioning and protecting the ego of the men like Mark that she's dating.
So it's an interesting quandary that Peggy finds herself in here again.
 
And I think it gets back to some of your earlier comments,
Peggy having to take what she's getting from Mark and then play a role for him that isn't exactly representative of her reality.
 
And then a question of how does she navigate and migrate that to get it closer to truth for her and to something real rather than just being an actor?
I really like the writing here because it's something that I think is handled in a relatively subtle way. But it's fun as the viewer to be on both sides of the fence and look through Mark's eyes and look through Peggy's.
 
Jenna: Mark has this line where he says,
“You're so old fashioned.”
Remember that line for a little bit.
 
And the audience has to be screaming, she really isn't.
She looks him in the eye and she says calmly, “No, I'm not.”
 
We don't even know what job Mark does, or what matters to him, or how he and Peggy met. So we can all understand Mark is not important. He's not the one.
 
And I find him tiresome. But I love his inclusion in the show, because so much media is about fairy tale romances, and so much life involves dealing with people like Mark along the way.
 
He's fine. You know, you could forgive his foibles if you loved him,
but you don't. It's great writing.
 
Steve: And the scene wraps with just this great shot of Mark's confidence. Peggy tells him he should go home. They kiss. He tells her to think about things.
 
 
Jenna: Don goes back to his apartment. He's not quite staggering, but he's not steady on his feet.
The nurse across the hall, Phoebe, is cleaning up from her Christmas party and she helps him inside his apartment.
 
He pulls her onto the bed with him. And you think this is going to happen, because we've seen this movie before.
 
But she's a nurse and she says her dad was a drunk.
And that's what she sees when she looks at Don Draper.
He's not a charming ad man to her. He's a lonely drunk who happens to have heat in his apartment.
 
Steve: And as a nurse and as a child of an alcoholic,
she knows how to take care of him.
So I do, as a viewer, go through that arc from thinking, oh, yeah, this is definitely going to happen.
 
It does feel rather pathetic that Don Draper, this power executive,
now reduced to, you know, slumping in his own hallway, too drunk to open his door, being tucked in by a neighbor he hardly knows alone to sleep it off.
We can start to see the fall of Don Draper here.
 
 
Jenna: The next day at the office is the first appearance of Megan Calvet, hanging snowflakes, and getting party directions from Joan.
 
She's played by Jessica Pare. You may have also seen her in Jack and Bobby, Brooklyn, Lost and Delirious, or Seal Team.
 
Spoiler territory here: to me, the nods at Megan here diverge from Mad Men's usual great work embedding characters.
I mean, there are a zillion secretaries in this office, and we only hear Roger calling for Caroline. We don't even see her, though.
Of course, Allison has a storyline here.
 
And then Joan calls specifically for Megan twice in this episode, and they're the only secretaries named, even though many more appear. And all Megan does is chase down some chafing dishes and Hand Lee Garner a drink.
It just feels too noticeable that they're making a point to use her name so immediately. I wish they had done that more subtly.
 
Steve: Yeah, point taken.
But I'll also say, you know, as a rewatcher, it is fun to spot this character, you know, the first time. Even if I agree with your earlier points. Absolutely.
 
 
Jenna: Across the office, Peggy and Freddy aren't part of the party planning. They're edging closer to the core of their argument from yesterday about Ponds.
 
He wants to use a testimonial from an established movie star. And the line could be either, use it and you'll find a husband, or if you don't use it, you'll never get married. Which one is better?
 
And Peggy tries to talk to him about focusing the ad on the women who use it. Indulging yourself, putting the cream on, self care.
Freddy can't even hear that line of thinking.
 
Steve: It really is that that generation gap between the two of them.
And I think it's really perfect because in this scene especially, I think it's Peggy, who’s the one who's more irritated and her irritation leads her to lash out that he's old fashioned.
 
And it's such a put-down from the young generation to the new generation. And it, it hits home. She hits her mark and she succeeds in hurting Freddy.
 
And I think it's very much in retaliation for what she perceives as his hurts to her. You know, reducing her and people like her down to just searching for husbands, and not seeing them as people who are entitled to seeking an experience or a sensation.
 
So again, I just love this generational fight between the two of them.
And as a viewer, I love that they have such affection for each other.
You know, that saying, you know, we only hurt the ones we love.
That's exactly what's going on here in this scene.
 
I think Freddy unintentionally, and then I think Peggy does it deliberately.
And then as soon as she sees the knife go home, you can see that she regrets it.
And, you know, she tries to apologize and back it up,
but the damage has been done at that point.
And Freddy grabs his things and walks out.
 
Jenna: I think the generational distance is important, but there's genuine sexism taking place here, too.
And Freddy is affectionate and is genuine to Peggy, but that sexism is a huge part of the divide between them.
 
And I also noticed that when Peggy pulls out her dagger to use against Freddy, when Freddy says Peggy is overly sensitive about his ad campaign idea, because she's afraid she'll never get married,
which is a sexist assumption, but also, you know, it's a little bit true.
 
And Peggy pulls out Mark's line when she tells Freddy, you're old fashioned. And in this case, she is a little bit right too.
 
In their truth of the hurt they're causing each other,
of course, both of them are only capturing a slice of the truth about the other person's story, and they like each other. So it does hurt more, I think.
 
Steve: Well, and I think that's a great point, because I think that sexism is absolutely present in Freddy and it's a further disappointment that Peggy feels about him. And I think your point about there's a truth in their insults to each other, that's what makes it hurt, right?
 
If you're given an insult, which is just patently ridiculous and has no applicability to you, it bounces off.
Even if you're irritated by the intention of the person to hurt you, it's when there is a kernel of truth in there somewhere.
 
And I totally agree with you - look at Peggy with Mark. She's wasting her time with this guy.
She's got to be thinking about, how do I find the right guy? And is he even out there?
 
 
Jenna: At this Christmas party, the chafing dishes are heated, the guests are dressed in their best,
and they're all waiting for the one client this party is now about.
 
I think Janie Bryant, Mad Men's costume designer, must have had the best time with this episode, because the dresses are particularly elaborate and super fun.
 
Steve: And I love the way this scene starts out or you know, sets up that we've got Pete saying how he's very happy to spend, you know, Christmas in New York City.
But Trudy's got her eyes on the Bahamas. Harry's headed off to Mount Stowe. Don claims to be going to Acapulco.
 
Jenna: When Peggy and Mark show up, they really don't fit into this circle with Roger and Jane and Pete and Trudy.
They don't have any plans to go to the Bahamas. They don't know how to schmooze.
 
And it reminds us, first of all, that they don't really go that well together,
but also how hard it is to fit in the way that Don Draper does every day.
 
It's very difficult to put this mask on and belong in this space when you don't come from that.
 
Steve: Yeah. And it really is an interesting contrast between Peggy and Don Draper, because we know Don's background and how successful he has been is in insinuating himself into this world.
 
But we see him now in a world where his marriage has fallen out and now he's starting to stick out and not fit in so well, you know, Don doesn't have a companion here at this party.
 
And then it's such a great contrast over to Peggy and Mark, where,
as you mentioned, she does have a part, a companion, but they don't fit in. And they're not part of that group. They're at an entirely different place in life.
 
We also get a scene here where we have Dr. Atherton sitting there with Lane and Bert, and the comment is made that all the civil rights agitation is the beginning of a slippery slope.
 
I think to myself, what slippery slope? A slippery slope to where everybody has the same legal rights and is treated fairly,
you know, or a slippery slope where we're going to change this world that's existed to this point?
 
And that we've got these conservative older men clinging to that world. And in his commentary, Matt Weiner talks about, at their core, these are conservative people with a low opinion of other people, you know, and this is reflected in their thoughts about how to manipulate consumer preferences and behaviors.
 
But it's also manifested in their politics. And I think it's interesting to look back at that with modern eyes,
that there were people who would be happy if the civil rights movement just dried up and blew away back at that time, and things could just stay statically the way they had been to that point.
 
You know, for Bert, Lane, and Dr. Atherton, in the positions of very Influential and powerful people.
 
Jenna: Didn't you get a sense that Lane and Faye were on the outside of that conversation and that they didn't feel it was their place to disagree?
 
Steve: I think I do. Yeah. But it's also, like you point out,
even if you dissent here, it's not an open discussion.
It's the lead senior hands expressing their opinion.
And everybody politely nods and takes another sip of their drink.
 
 
Jenna: At last, the man of the hour, Lee Garner Jr. shows up to the party, and they welcome him with this game where they pass an orange underneath their chins,
which I guess is the height of Madison Avenue frivolity or something.
 
Steve: Again, I love this Lee Garner Jr. character, because there is a menace inherent in his presence here.
 
Everybody gives him the big rousing welcome, as if he's this welcome guest of honor. There's a sense of danger here, a sense of a stress on Roger keeping Lee Garner happy.
 
You know, wherever this goes tonight, they need Lee Garner to walk out of there thinking he's had his Madison Avenue Christmas party.
 
Jenna: And the foreboding line that he gives at the end of the scene is,
“I've been drinking all day.”
And we saw what happened after he'd been drinking,
and his behavior led to Sal's firing. This does not bode well.
 
Steve: We have Lee Garner also referencing the Glo Coat ad to Don.
So again, it reinforces, like, what a huge success the Glo Coat ad has been.
 
And then we have Joan stepping in, getting another drink in Lee Garner's hand. And now the party's really kicking off.
 
 
Jenna: Back at the Draper Francis house, we see that Glen has brought a friend over to make a giant mess.
He called the house earlier to make sure nobody was home so they could do this.
 
It's supposed to be his way of helping Sally, like, making the family want to move sooner, I guess, because she said she was unhappy.
 
And I can't speak for Sally, but if somebody wants to make a heroic gesture for me, I would rather they not destroy my kitchen.
 
Steve: I like the writing because it is so nonsensical. And it does seem to be that sort of adolescent logic of, oh, we'll smash eggs in the kitchen. And as an adult, you're just left sort of shaking your heads here.
 
Jenna: Oh, I'm so irritated watching this mess they're making. It's like in Zombieland, when they blow off steam in the gift shop and they knock over all the glass collectibles.
 
I don't find that satisfying in any way. It just really stresses me out, like, why are we stirring chocolate syrup and cornflakes on the counter?
I don't understand. I would not have understood it when I was eleven,  either.
 
 
Steve: Back at the Christmas party, things are kicking into gear. There's a conga line winding through the office.
We've got Joan at the head of it, Lee Garner Jr. right behind her.
 
As the line breaks down, Roger encounters Lee and expresses his desire that Roger dress up as Santa. The scene just gets uglier and uglier as it goes.
 
Jenna: Freddy had said he was going to wear the Santa suit, but he's nowhere to be found. And Lee is so sinister and bullying.
 
Crucially, Pete steps up and he volunteers to be Santa, which Trudy supports. She can tell, we need to veer away from this awkward cliff that we're hanging from.
But Lee is not going to release any rope there.
 
Roger was very quick to fire Sal when Lee said so. And now here he is. He has to dance to Lee's bully music himself.
I think Don Draper walks away instead of putting on a Santa suit, don't you?
 
Steve: Oh, that's. That's a good question.
Um, he's 69% of their revenues.
I don't know. Why do you think Lee wants Roger to be Santa so badly? Because, I mean, he's got outs at every point here, but he is so insistent on it.
 
Jenna: He's a giant power hungry bully, and he's just gonna watch him dance, because that amuses him.
 
Steve: Yeah, I think that's it. And I think Roger's objection is trying to get out from under that reality.
And it's such an awkward, painful scene where we have, you know, the true socialites like Pete and Trudy, they've got nowhere to go.
 
In that moment when Lee insists, you know, they're just kind of silent and frozen because what can you do at this point? You know, all manners and social graces have been pushed aside.
And it's the raw power of Lee Garner Jr. forcing Roger into that suit.
 
Jenna: And back to the opening of the scene.
Shout out to Christina Hendricks, who is leading that conga line. It looks like she was born to do this.
 
She makes it look like a great time, because you can tell she's being the best hostess.
She makes sure Lee has a fresh drink, that he's having fun, that there are things to do.
 
So they have been caring for him so assiduously throughout this whole party, but that's not enough for him. Right? Like, that's not the good time. The good time is being able to make somebody else feel small.
 
 
Steve: Meanwhile, back at the Draper Francis residence.
The family comes in the door, and Henry can immediately see that something's gone on here in the kitchen with the message.
 
As they get their bearings, Betty suggests they call the police.
But Henry's already realizing this. It's kids. Kids playing a prank.
 
Jenna: In the commentary, Matt Weiner says this happened to his family and his dad, like Henry, said, it was probably kids. And as a child, he wondered how his dad could have figured that out. [Laughing]
And now - and looking at the crime scene, you know, he laughs in reflection about it.
 
In the commentary, he also says he told Janie Bryant to dress the family like they were coming back from the Nutcracker, even though nobody says that's where they went. And you can completely tell.
 
And again, this is another family outing, something that Don would have been very reluctant to go attend.
And Henry completes this family picture. This is what they do in their time together.
 
It's not that Don's slinking away to go have pretend meetings with Conrad Hilton. It's. This is a family man who does family things,
and then he comes home to a messy kitchen.
 
Steve: Would Don Draper be coming home from the Nutcracker with his family, or would he, like you say, you know, I think you allude to the possibility he would be MIA somewhere, and then Betty would be left grappling with this and trying to figure it out.
 
But in this relationship with Henry,
he's always present. He's where he's supposed to be, and he's stepping up to handle this situation.
They're not in any danger.
They just need to lock the door and clean up the mess.
 
 
Jenna: Back at the office party, Roger shows up as Santa, and it's hard to believe Lee could behave any worse, but he does.
 
He's poking Roger about his age and his prior heart attacks, and then he puts an arm around Jane.
And Roger does not pause or protest. He's in the suit. He's doing the dance. He doesn't get any dignity here.
 
Steve: Yeah, and Lee definitely seems to want to take any potential dignity he may have squirreled away and take that from him as well.
 
I do like Roger's line where he says he's got a special present for a boy who's been very naughty, referencing Lee.
 
Jenna: Lee's present is a Polaroid camera, which would have been a very desirable gift.
And Lee says this weirdly sensitive, touched thing in response, which is so at odds with his cruel self.
 
He says it reminds him of when he was a kid. Remember that? You'd ask for something and you'd get it, and it made you happy?
 
And again, here's the writers with this absolute, menacing, unlikable bully. I mean, he's definitely in the running for one of the least likable characters in the entire series of Mad Men, this man.
 
And when he says this line, you realize how unhappy he is.
And of course, he would have to be if he's bullying people to this extent all the time.
 
But you can just see this moment of vulnerability with him.
He's got everything he could possibly want, and it's still empty.
 
Steve: Yeah. And we know this happiness is going to be fleeting for him. Right. Like the novelty, the newness of the Polaroid camera will wear off soon enough, and then he'll be left with that empty spot.
 
His devotion to emasculating Roger is just so complete at this point.
Humiliated Roger in front of his wife, in front of his co workers,
made him dress up in a costume. You know, his victory is total.
 
And only then do we get a glimpse of his own sort of emotional hole that I guess the Polaroid camera fills for a moment for him.
 
 
Jenna: Back at the Draper Francis house, they're inspecting the rooms, which all have some damage. Bobby's got eggs in his bed,
but Sally's room is undisturbed. She finds a corded lanyard like the one Glen showed them at the tree farm.
 
Steve: And a very satisfied smile on her face as she quietly picks it up and holds it and connects the dots to realize that this is.
Glenn has been in here and done this, and that's why her room is pristine and safe and probably why there was a few extra eggs thrown on Bobby's bed, you know, just for good measure.
 
 
Jenna: The SCDP party is winding down and Faye goes into Don's office.
She calls him out for leaving her presentation earlier, and he's disappointed.
His line is, I thought you came in to flirt, but you came in to fight.
 
Like Phoebe before her, Faye knows something about Don.
Phoebe knows he drinks a lot, and he grunts when he puts his keys in the door.
And Faye studied Don's ads before she arrived at SCDP. And he knows nothing about either of these women.
 
I appreciated Faye's honesty and her directness in this scene, too. She lets him know she noticed that he left and she didn't like it.
And it's kind of vulnerable when she says,
“Your work is very interesting, and I guess I was hoping you thought mine was.”
 
Steve: She really advocates well for herself here, I think, too.
She's not whiny, she's not excessively aggressive, but she's standing up for herself and her work.
 
And also in the face of Don, who I think comes across pretty poorly at first, you know, oh, you know, I thought you came in to flirt, but you want to fight.
He's dismissive, you know, I don't think you can learn a lot about people from their childhood in terms of how to sell products.
 
He's so dismissive and really not engaging in a serious way with her and treating her as an equal.
And she's staying very professional and focused and I think making a really strong case for what she's advocating for.
 
Jenna: Faye is a problem for Don Draper.
Like Rachel, she's honest and direct, and she's reasonable and intelligent.
But of course, a corporate psychologist would definitely be threatening to a man who's all about keeping his past from creeping to the forefront.
 
Faye gets what might be the defining line in the series when she describes this basic universal conflict:
“It all comes down to what I want versus what is expected of me.”
And in our truth, call out for this episode. Don acknowledges that's true.
And then he invites her to dinner, which she is smart enough to decline.
 
Steve: I do get the sense in the latter part of this scene that Don is now starting to be intrigued by her because she's just been firing truth bombs and just making a fantastic case.
 
She hasn't risen to any of his bait or fallen for any of his diversions,
I think, although he doesn't really give any sort of indication that he's starting to be intrigued. I suspect that the seed is planted right here.
 
Jenna: And then she throws out a line that's pretty rude, even if, spoiler, it's prophetic.
She says, “I know the holidays are hard in your situation, but don't worry, you'll be married again in a year.”
 
And you can see Don is shocked by this.
That's not where he sees himself.
He is a man who is sad, lost, and alone. He's never felt like he had a real family growing up.
And now Henry is living in his house, going to see the Nutcracker with his former family.
He can't even picture a new family for himself.
 
Steve: It's really kind of brilliant on Faye's part, because for everything we just said about how she's being assertive and standing up for herself,
she takes that and suddenly shifts it.
 
And it almost makes you wonder if all that was designed just to get Draper to lower the defenses, because she hits him so hard with this comment, and it is so brutally effective.
 
And I think it gets back to that earlier point. We were talking about that, you know, there has to be a kernel of truth for it to hit home.
And it this absolutely hits home.
 
And then he's got nothing clever to say back. He's just sort of like, what? And, you know, we know from the series that Draper always has the great comeback, and in this case, he manages a what?
 
And then she takes that opening to then apologize that nobody wants to think they are a type.
So it's game, set, match for Faye at the end of this scene.
 
It's such a striking turnaround from the way things started off, where I think I'm expecting Draper to come out on top of. And it really feels to me like he's completely beaten.
 
 
Jenna: Outside of Don's office, the party continues, and Lee's bullying goes from bad to worse, because now Pete is getting off Roger's lap  -Roger dressed as Santa, where Lee has been taking pictures with his Polaroid.
 
And then Harry walks over muttering, “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” to Roger.
And to his credit, Roger is leaning into this as best he can.
But this has to be worse than the wedding they hosted for a third of the guests that he planned for. I mean, this has to be so humiliating.
And I have to say, Roger is doing as well as you possibly could.
 
Steve: And he's probably the character who's best equipped to make the best of it, I think. Right? Like, he's got a quick wit and he rolls with things, so he's got to use all those skills here.
 
 
Jenna: Don makes his way home past the tinsel garlands in the hall, and realizes he doesn't have his keys.
He calls the office from a pay phone, where Alison is planning to go out with some other young people after the party.
 
But now she's got to bring his keys to him. His apartment is about two miles from his office, and he's had a lot to drink. But surely asking Allison to come by by herself late at night is not very cool.
 
I mean, he could just take a cab back,
but she and her friends were headed to a pub in the Village, so I guess at least it was on the way for her.
 
Steve: Maybe. I think the emphasis here is the power disparity between the two of them. He doesn't insist that she bring them to him, but she quickly offers to drop by and bring them, and he accepts.
To me, it's just illustrating the power disparity.
 
Jenna: And Joey, who's part of the group Allison is planning to go out with, makes a comment about Don.
He's pathetic, he says.
 
So, like, Phoebe in Don's building, Joey doesn't see Don as a creative mystery man. He's just an old drunk guy.
 
And we've seen Freddy Rumsen be that guy.
Do you think the audience has turned like Joey and redefined Don at this point?
 
Steve: I don't think I did at this point.
But again, you know, with the benefit of hindsight here,
his spiral is very evident.
 
He's losing his grip. He's losing control here,
and he's very drunk outside his apartment here as well. Right.
So we had the earlier scene with Phoebe, and then here he is again, stumbling to his door, alone and drunk.
 
 
Jenna: When Allison arrives, she helps Don into his apartment, and gets him some aspirin.
He looks so much like Archie when he sits on the couch with his face in his hand. I don't know how he manages it, but he looks just like Archie
in the flashbacks.
 
Allison's on her way out, and Don catches her hand, and he looks at her. He's smiling. He's expectant.
 
Phoebe said no, Faye said no,
and Allison says “don't” when he kisses her. And he looks at her like this is normal for them, and it never has been.
 
So he's the drunk one here, and you might say he's had too much to drink to consent, but he's also her boss, and he does have the power in this relationship - you mentioned that earlier.
 
She pulls away twice, and then you see her give in,
and you can see why. He's this gorgeous, powerful man, and she knows all about him.
And it's not unreasonable that she might have fantasized about this, even though she has seemed very professional with him to this point.
 
Her lines are, “oh, God,” and “I feel dizzy.”
It feels like she can't quite believe this is really happening.
This is clearly not something she expected, and it doesn't feel like she's the one leading things here.
 
Steve: I think another critical element of Allison in this scene is,
you know, she's young and inexperienced herself.
So unlike the nurse Phoebe with the father who was drunk, you know, Phoebe's seen all this before,
 
Or the more experienced, educated, academic Faye.
Same thing. You know, she's got something she wants to say to Don Draper, and she's not gonna fall for flirting in the moment or get distracted.
 
I think we can see this distinction here with Allison, who is an admin, like you say. And I think Matt Weiner mentions in his commentary, you know, she's likely fantasized about, could she be one of those admins who, you know, gets with one of the executives and goes off to a happy ending
like Jane or someone?
 
In that moment. I think that's what she thinks is happening here.
And drunk Don Draper is after what he wants, and he doesn't mind that she's likely misinterpreting what's about to happen.
 
Jenna: And remember, Alison had been with Ken before in the office, and they had a perfectly good working relationship after as well.
I like her well enough. She's a competent secretary.
 
But Don has never really seen her before. She's just been a tool for him.
She continues to be in this moment - I don't really want this for her.
 
Steve: She's definitely missed right now in this moment for Don Draper.
 
Jenna: And I think it's interesting to reflect about the fact that she had this past with Ken. It isn't that she's entirely innocent, but I think Don Draper is another level.
 
Just like Jane was constantly refusing Ken's advances, he wasn't high enough up on the food chain for her. She had her sights set elsewhere, right. Like it needed to be more impressive.
 
And I think Alison recognizes that. Unlike Joey, who sees a pathetic drunk man, Allison still sees the star of the agency.
That's who she thinks she's with.
 
Steve: And her direct supervisor, right? He is her boss. So in contrast to Ken, who, you know, is a senior account man, he's not her boss.
 
So I think the power disparity is an important element here because Ken is Mr. Right Now for Alison, back at that earlier liaison.
But in this moment, it's her boss. And to me, that's such a difference maker.
 
 
Jenna: In the next scene, it's nighttime. Sally's in her nightgown, alone in her room.
The lanyard Glen made for her was under her pillow, so it's special to her.
 
I don't want to repeat all my objections to Pete for Peggy here,
but there is nothing about Glen, apart from his attention to her, that Sally could be into.
 
He's just not especially friendly or clever or kind.
He's dishonest. He's odd. He's a vandal. He's bossy.
 
I mean, I just have to accept that she's into this, but I feel like she would already have developed a BS detector savvy enough to overlook this kid. I mean, you can keep your braided lanyard, my dude. Where are my eggs?
Like, what?
 
Steve: I think Matt Weiner in his commentary says, you know, it's the romantic loneliness of Sally in this moment. So that's what I take out of this scene.
So maybe she's misplacing her hopes for a solution to that romantic loneliness.
But, you know, she's getting older, and she's starting to have those longings.
 
 
Jenna: Back at Don's apartment, Don and Allison are on the couch getting themselves together.
He still seems into her. He doesn't seem like he's in a hurry to have her leave, but she has plans, and she's not sticking around.
She kisses him goodbye, and he's left alone.
 
He doesn't seem especially guilty or happy. It doesn't even register really, as a big deal to him that this happened.
 
Steve: Yeah, I think that's my take on it as well. You know, he pulls out a smoke and flops over on the sofa.
You know, it's. It's been a physical act for him, and he's not emotionally invested in this.
 
From her side, she seems to think something more significant has happened. So I think, you know, this misinterpretation of it.
She does a very good job of conveying this expectation just by that hopefulness that this is the beginning of something bigger, a good thing for Allison.
 
Jenna: Okay. Do you really think she has that expectation? Do you think she thinks this is, they're in a relationship, an exclusive relationship now? Because I don't get that at all.
 
Steve: Yeah, I get that completely. You know, I just. The way she says -
the way she looks at him, the sort of sweet, loving kiss goodbye.
 
I get the sense that she's. Maybe it isn't a relationship, but it feels to me like it's weighted with. She's got a lot of hopes here about the potential of this being the start of something.
 
Jenna: To me,
she says, “my goodness.”
And she gets herself ready to go. She's going, and she's meeting friends.
The fact that she doesn't stay longer,
I mean, she leaves almost immediately afterward.
 
And to me, it's like, oh, this was unexpected, and it was fun, and I'm flattered to be chosen.
 
But I think because she had that prior relationship with Ken,
I don't think she's under illusions about he's going to marry me now.
I think it's just, well, this was kind of a fun surprise.
I don't think she expects him to be her boyfriend.
 
 
The next day, Peggy walks into the office. The floor is littered with garbage after the party the night before.
Hopefully she didn't keep anything in her locker.
This time, she finds Freddy sitting at her desk, and they exchange apologies.
 
He didn't show up to be Santa, because there's usually a bottle in the suit pocket, he says.
She was worried he would start drinking because she hurt his feelings.
And he's honest and vulnerable with her.
He says, “Then why don't you stop hurting my feelings?”
 
We know Peggy has struggled with nurturing people through difficult conversations - with Annie in the radio booth, with Paul,
but she does want to be a good person, I think.
 
She apologizes for saying he was old-fashioned, and he apologizes for saying she wants to get married.
Even if both of those things are true, they weren't kind to say.
 
Steve: I think we get an expression of Peggy's loneliness too, here when she says to him, you know, I don't want to be alone on New Year's Eve.
I think that touches on the heart of Peggy's needs and what she's trying to find here, and her fears.
 
Freddy then seems to slip into fatherly mode, and it feels like he wants to give her some relationship advice.
From his perspective, she needs to work less and find a boyfriend.
 
And then he gives her advice that, you know, don't do anything because he won't respect you if you do, you know, if he's the one.
 
Jenna: It's kind of like Don with Allison.
Peggy is keeping Mark as a placeholder so she doesn't feel lonely.
 
And it's a relationship and she's investing in it to some degree.
Who does she talk to? It's not her mother, it's not a friend, it's not her sister.
She ends up talking to Freddy about this, and it's personal.
And you can see her sort of recoil from some of the personal stuff he shares about Violet.
And she does need to sort this out, but she has to know Mark is a no at this point.
She just doesn't want to cut the strings because being lonely sucks, you know?
 
Steve: I think that's the truth she gets from Freddy's comments.
And I think Freddy's comments help her to come to that realization, and give her that clarity.
So maybe that's the advantage of Freddy.
He's not her father, and he can talk to her in a way that is fatherly,
but this is friend advice I think he's giving her here.
 
And it's a sweet scene. And again, I just, another reason I love the return of the Freddy character here, because this, these interactions with Peggy, I think are so rich.
 
Jenna: I love Elisabeth Moss's face when he goes, don't lead him on. That's very physically uncomfortable, you know, and her face is so funny.
 
 
Steve: And speaking of another scene I really enjoyed, we cut to Roger and Don walking in for the day.
And I just love, when Don says to Roger in the German accent, he says, you know, did you enjoy the Fuhrer’s birthday? And Roger responds in a German accent, “May he live for a thousand years!”
 
It's such a great line about Lee Gardner Jr., because that's exactly what he is.
And the fact that they both see that, get that. And then they can tease each other about it - it's a really quick scene, but really enjoyable.
 
Roger then comments that his father used to say it was the greatest job in the world, except for the clients. And I think that's just a very funny, ironic statement about the advertising work.
 
 
Jenna: Don is taking the long way around to get to his office.
He knows he's going to have to face Alison when he gets there.
She's happy to see him, but still professional.
 
He goes into the office and he sees a bunch of wrapped presents, and he asks, what's all this? And there's this moment when he looks really worried until she says, “For your children. I finally got them wrapped. And I think he fully expects her to want a relationship with him.”
 
They're going to have this really painful conversation.
He says, “I overdid it at the party.” And she says, “Me, too.” And she kind of laughs.
 
And I feel like right here they have the opportunity to move forward.
Maybe it would be a little flirty sometimes, maybe it would happen again,
but he wants to keep work and life separate, until he doesn't.
 
Everything seems like it's really going okay until he says,
“Thank you for bringing my keys. I've taken advantage of your kindness.”
That's the moment on her face when it gets bad for her.
 
So he says this very clinical, impersonal thing to her,
and then he repeats it. It's so selfish and cruel.
 
 
Steve: Yeah, and we can see she's kind of knocked off her feet.
She says, excuse me, and there's shock.
 
And then Don fishes around in the drawer to pull out the Christmas bonus that's tucked inside a card that he had spoken about earlier.
And now we know the card is already there, because he's just come in the office.
 
But it's starting to feel very transactional, and it's starting to be in the neighborhood of, you know, here's a payment for you, rather than this thank you bonus for a year of work, you know, supporting him.
 
Jenna: Even Pete Campbell came to Peggy and said,
look, it was a mistake. I'm married now.
Even though, like Don, he initiated that mistake,
at least he privately acknowledged it and clarified expectations going forward, even if it wasn't a real conversation, because he wasn't considering her needs and wants.
 
But Don is trying to erase the sex that he initiated, and retelling the story so that all that happened is she brought him his keys.
And the only personal thing he says is, did you make it home okay last night?
 
And you can see Allison shifting from pleased to small in this scene.
She never tears up. She keeps it professional, even when this man is saying these things to her.
Even if he had said this never happened, it would have been more honest and sensitive.
 
Steve: And shout-out here to Alexa Alemanni's acting in this scene, because most of it is non verbal.
And we really see her go from this optimism and happiness and pleasure at seeing Don Draper walk into the office, to watching her being crushed and destroyed right in front of her eyes, and then having to hold it together and get out of his office, and then sit down there at her desk and load the typewriter.
 
She devastates the viewer with with her performance.
Here you feel the pain, the hurt, and that hollowness.
And it's heartbreaking to watch.
 
Jenna: Don was ready to make this same mistake with Faye and Phoebe, who both knew enough to say no to a drunken Don Draper.
So you can accuse Alison of being naive for staying with him,
but I don't think she expects marriage. I think she just doesn't want to be invisible.
 
And here he is, you know, pretending it never happened.
And when she walks out and you see his face, he knows he didn't do right by her.
 
Steve: Regardless of what she expects, she didn't expect to be simply used. And that's what's happened. And I think that's the shame of Draper. And I think that's what's so crushing to Allison.
 
You know, no matter what your expectation is, nobody wants to be simply used in the moment. And that's exactly what's happened for her.
And it's heartbreaking to see that look on her face at the end as she looks out the window of the office into sort of the nothingness of the city.
 
Jenna: This bonus of $100 in the card would be worth over $1,000 today.
So it would be a kind gesture, except in this particular context, after the previous night.
 
And I think the impersonal note as well, it amplifies the fact that there's nothing special about her to Don.
 
 
In the next scene, Peggy and Mark are in bed together.
She decided to sleep with him after all, which, given her conversation with Freddy, means she's probably decided he's not the one.
 
Steve: Mark is still feeling good, you know, asking how she feels, being her little tour guide, completely clueless.
 
Jenna: Do you think she has guilt about having sex with him because she knows she doesn't want to be with him?
 
Or do you think she's just disappointed by him because he looks very self satisfied and she does not look thrilled?
I'm getting a vibe that maybe sex with Mark was not so magical or great.
 
Steve: She may be disappointed with Mark's performance,
you know, and given that, you know, she's been with several men and perhaps more experienced men, you know, that that seems more likely to me.
 
Jenna: She looks very lonely even while she's with him, which is an interesting nod to Don's loneliness.
I think we can often connect Peggy's arc to Don's in some ways,
and I appreciate that the writers show us how you can feel lonely while you're with somebody who's wrong for you.
 
 
Steve: The last scene of the episode wraps with Don alone, drinking in his office.
Turns out the light, walks out of the office holding an armful of presents, nicely, beautifully wrapped for his kids, and he's all alone, as I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus plays into the end credits.
 
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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.
 
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Steve: Thanks for listening, everybody.