Mad Men Episode 8: The Hobo Code

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Podcast Show Summary: Mad Men Season 1, Episode 8: The Hobo Code
Mark your man - or your gate, or your career. Whether it's Don Draper's past, Pete and Peggy's relationship, Sal's dreams and life outside the office, Midge's Bohemian lifestyle, or the Belle Jolie account, The Hobo Code explores the trajectories of professional success and the personal costs.

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Mad Men Fairy Tales

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Steve's Star of
S1-E8:
Sal Romano

Sal Romano: He's loud, but he's shy

Sterling Script Lines - S1: Episode 8

1) Pete, to Peggy: I have all these things going on in my head and I can't say them. We're supposed to be one person. She's just another stranger.

2) Bert, to Don: When you hit 40, you've met or seen every type of person there is.

3) Sal, to Duane: I told you, you don't need money to dress better than you do, Duane.

4) Don, to Belle Jolie clients: You've given every girl who wears your lipstick the gift of total ownership.

5) Don, to Peggy: Want another drink?
Peggy: I don't know.
Don & Freddy: Not a writer.

6) Roy, to Don: The words, man. You are good with the words.
Don, to Roy: Well put.

7) Elliot, to Sal about New York: Building after building. Little compartments filled with possibilities.

8) Joan, to Lois: I'm not saying Peggy doesn't have anything upstairs, I'm just saying that at Sterling Cooper things are usually happening downstairs.

9) Don, to Midge's friends: There is no big lie. There is no system. The universe is indifferent.
Judd: Man, why'd you have to say that?

10) Abigail, to the Hobo: My mama always said life is like a horseshoe: fat in the middle, open on both ends, and hard all the way through.

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Podcast Time Stamps - Mad Men S1:E8 - The Hobo Code

0:36  "Draper has you in early."
Peggy and Pete both arrive early to the office. Pete seems glum about the fact that he and Trudy are moving today, while Peggy is excited and nervous about the Belle Jolie ad campaign. We get the second "A Thing Like That" from Pete in the elevator.

3:12  Mega Spoiler. Listen with care.
Peggy makes the same disastrous decision a second time. Pete mostly continues to mope and hints that Trudy doesn't understand him.

6:08  "Ciao, ciao. My stars."
Lois, the new telephone operator, is smitten with the sound of Sal's voice and determined to find out who he is.

7:42  "I might start keeping a spare."
Peggy's collar got ripped earlier in the day, and Don notices. He already keeps a stack of shirts in his desk.

8:20  "I am appreciative of your talents, and although that cannot be measured, I have made an effort to quantify."
Remember when your boss handed you $2500 for no reason? You might have to listen to some Ayn Rand promotion, but otherwise, there don't seem to be strings attached.

10:26  "I'm such a featherhead."
Lois finds the art department in order to meet Sal, and Lois says "I work in a closet all day."

12:19  "This is my office. How do you think it looks?"
Trudy surprises Pete at the office with champagne, excited to move to their new apartment. Pete is grouchy and defensive.

15:41  Mark your man
Fred, Don, and Sal present Peggy's concept to the Belle Jolie clients. It's a big turn from their current strategy, and it focuses on a woman having choices beyond lots of colors.

18:37  "Peggy! Ice."
Peggy wasn't part of the client presentation, but the team invites her in to celebrate afterward. "Home run, Ballerina," Fred congratulates her.

21:18  "We have to celebrate! P.J. Clarke's?"
Peggy is bubbling over with her success and some of the office women are happy for her, proposing a bunch of them go out to celebrate after work. Peggy's finally fitting in.

22:34  "I don't know, Peggy. I'm kind of senior ranking when those other men are gone."
As assistant to the regional manager - ish - Pete tries to decline Peggy's general invitation to go out with the group.

23:43  "We'll have breakfast at Versailles."
Don takes his bonus check and invests in Betty's deepest hopes and dreams. Just kidding. He runs to Midge and asks her to go to Paris. She prefers to get high with her friends while they listen to jazz records.

26:47  "Dick Whitman! Stop diggin' holes."
A flashback to Don's childhood recalls the time a hobo showed up at the family farm looking for some food and the chance to earn a coin.

31:32  "Little compartments filled with possibilities"
Sal and Elliot meet for a drink and talk about architecture and the wonder of Manhattan.

32:45  "My God, the whole office is here."
        "Dance with me."
At P.J. Clarke's, people from the office mingle - dancing and chatting - except Pete, who sits apart. Lois is disappointed that Sal hasn't appeared, Harry and Hildy and Paul and Joan dance together, and Peggy approaches Pete, who stomps on her heart and rips up the remnants.

39:04  "What are you afraid of?"
Although Sal and Elliot have a meaningful conversation, Sal is unwilling to build a relationship or take things further than the dinner.

43:11  "Every day's a brand new place."
In the next flashback, the hobo tells a young Dick Whitman what it felt like to leave his job and family behind - how free he feels now to go where he pleases. He teaches Dick a series of marks that travelers know - where to find good food, or where you might not be able to trust a man.

46:14  "Love is bourgeois."
At Midge's apartment, among her friends, Don looks at a Polaroid he's taken that evening and recognizes that Midge and Roy are in love. When he says it out loud, they both deny it.

49:09  S1E8 Double Dip Question for The Hobo Code
Listeners - we want to know what you think - why doesn't Midge go to Paris with Don? And why does he give the whole bonus check to Midge?

50:18  "Ask me anything."
Don goes home, wakes up Bobby, and tells his son he can ask him whatever he wants. Don will never lie to him. (Except, we guess, for all the times he does.)

51:15  "I'll be on my way."
In the final flashback, the hobo goes to Archie Whitman, waiting to collect the coin promised for the work he did, but Archie sends him away without it. Young Dick Whitman sees the dishonest man marking cut in to the post outside his father's farm. The episode ends with a shot of "Donald Draper" marking this man's office door.

55:45  Overall, how good is this episode compared to others this season?
Steve enjoys it; Jenna finds it disappointing.

Things We Should Have Said

• Although religion doesn't seem to be key to Don's present life, he references it in the Belle Jolie presentation (a carryover from Abigail's influence, perhaps?): Either Jesus lives in your heart, or he doesn't. Later, Don says "the universe is indifferent," which is not something a believer would say.
• We talked about lots of reasons for Pete's rejection of Peggy, but not the idea that he loves being the manly pursuer. When she invites him to dance, she's making them more like partners and equals, instead of keeping his image of himself as a hunter. He's never seen her as an equal.
• In the third episode, we talked about how Mad Men overall does not depict racism with the same kind of nuance and visibility that it depicts sexism and classism. In this episode, we mentioned Pete's irritation about sharing an elevator with the janitor, but we didn't touch on whether this was classism or racism or just plain rudeness on Pete's part. Having to think about someone who is invisible to him most of the time and being annoyed by it amplifies Pete's selfishness, if nothing else.
  
• Don never used any of his bonus to buy the book he told Bert he would read.

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