MAD MEN 3.7 - "Seven Twenty Four"

WRITERS: Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton & Matthew Weiner
DIRECTOR: Daisy Von Scherler Mayer
GUEST CAST: Chelcie Ross, Mark Moses, Kiernan Shipka, Christopher Stanley, Anne Dudek, Kristoffer Polaha, Abigail Spencer, Trevore O'Brien, Erin Sanders, Joseph Culp, Jacqueline Hahn, Alexa Alemanni, Jared S. Gilmore, Jeanne Simpson & Dani Repp

[SPOILERS] A solar eclipse is a prominent symbol of "Seven Twenty Four", as various characters stop to stare at the celestial event occurring above. Betty (January Jones) squints from the sun's glare with her naked eyes and feels dizzy; Don (Jon Hamm) coolly looks skyward, believing himself protected behind aviator glasses; while innocent school children safely witness the eclipse from inside homemade camera obscura boxes. For me, the eclipse seemed to signify an obstruction that crossed every character's lives/souls, which they'd only find relief from after being plunged into the salve of darkness before morning's light broke...

Unusually for Mad Men, this episode played with its narrative structure more than usual, opening in media res to find three characters in unusual repose: Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) in a luxurious bed with a mystery man asleep beside her; Don lying on the floor or a cheap motel room with a bloodied nose; and his wife Betty reclining on an ornate Victorian "fainting couch". A sly hint that those couch sessions with a shrink in season 1 weren't such a bad idea, after all? It was an intriguing way to begin, which I felt worked well, even if the mystery of Peggy's sleeping partner proved obvious before I think it was supposed to.

The big storyline this week concerned Don, who was astonished and nervous to find Connie Hilton (Chelcie Ross) sitting at his desk when he arrived to work one morning. It's kind of unsettling whenever Don looks fazed by something, but hotel magnate Connie's important and famous enough to knock him for six. It turned out Connie wants Don to work on marketing three New York properties for him; the catch being that Don must sign a three-year contract with Sterling Cooper to ensure continuity with the deal. This isn't something Don's at all comfortable with, as he hates feeling constraints on his professional life. As a lone wolf type pretending otherwise, the prospect of being tethered to his job contractually scares Don more than his friends believe is reasonable; particularly his wife, who was embarrassed to hear about her husband's offer from Roger (John Slattery) much later.

Betty had a decent subplot all to herself -- asked by her Junior League members to help them stop an unsightly water tank being installed in a picturesque local reservoir, and urged to help fight this development by meeting with an influential contact she made at Roger's garden party: Henry Francis (Christopher Stanley), the older gent who took a shine to her and felt her then-pregnant stomach. They agree to meet at a local bakery to discuss the reservoir carbuncle and see if he can help block it, both arriving with excuses for why they've come alone. Outside, it's Henry who mentions the Victorian fainting couch in a shop window, telling Betty how people used them when they were feeling "overwhelmed". Betty tellingly buys it to add to her recently redecorated living room (despite it looking unbefitting), as a means to cope with her beleaguered life as a mother-of-three with a straying husband who keeps her in the dark. He's the moon eclipsing her sun, both stuck in the gravitational pull of marriage.

Elsewhere, Betty found herself in two-minds about Duck's (Mark Moses) tactics to get her to jump ship and join company, mainly because he's started sending her expensive gifts like a Hermès scarf to soften her up. On the phone to Duck, Peggy's asked to again discuss the opportunity at his hotel suite, but despite her insistence she's not interested, a fallout at work changes her mind. That situation was a humbling chew-out with Don in his office, after she'd arrived under the pretense of work to fish for an opportunity to work on the Hilton account he's destined to land. Don, venting his frustrations about other things on his mind, jumped on the chance to let off steam and berated Peggy over the fact she's never satisfied with her lot in life. As a fan of Don and Peggy's working relationship, this was a particularly disconcerting blow to the stomach, not least because it's just never pleasant seeing Don get riled.

At Duck's suite, there came an "unexpected" development that would have worked a lot better without the opening scene of Peggy in bed with a mystery man, as Duck made his feelings for Peggy very clear. They kissed, then moved into the bedroom to make love, which strikes me as a development that could go a variety of ways. Are Duck's feelings for Peggy genuine, or is this a desperate tactic to secure her services as a means to knock Don's nose out of joint?

Finally, Don argued with Betty over his mystifying indecision about signing a simple three-year contract, and went for a drive. Along the way he picked up to young lovers hitchhiking, who claim to be eloping to Niagara Falls to get married as a way to avoid possible conscription to Vietnam. Don joins them at a motel to get high, unaware that they intend to drug and rob him. As the drugs work their magic, Don hallucinates his dead father Archie (Joseph Culp), who berates his feminine "soft hands" and choice of work "selling bullshit", before Don's punched in the back of his head.

He awakened the next morning to find his money stolen, forced to go to work with a bandaged nose he blames on a "fender bender", noticing Peggy in the same clothes she wore the day before. Cooper (Robert Morse) was lying in wait inside Don's office, contract ready for him to be signed, and alluding to the fact he knows Don's a false identity ("...when it comes down to it, who's really signing this contract anyway?") Don reluctantly signs, his wandering spirit shackled, but managing to make it a condition that all contact with Roger cease.

Overall, I really found a lot to relish in "Seven Twenty Four", even if it felt more like a staging area for future episodes. Peggy/Duck and Don/Connie are storylines that should only get better in the weeks to come, and I'm relieved to feel that season 3 has started to really find its footing now. The quality's always present, but it helps when there's a sense of bigger picture direction and the characters are being taken into more interesting areas.

Asides

-- There were more obvious nods to the looming war in Vietnam this week, with Pete mentioning he's close to getting the American Aviation contract because of probable conflict, while the hitchhikers' admit they're only getting married to avoid conscription.

-- I'm probably just forgetting something from season 2, but why is Don so keen to get away from Roger?

-- Sally's teacher, Miss Farrell (Abigail Spencer), made a welcome return and appeared to mistake a casual teacher/parent chat with Don as him flirting, which he denied.

-- Did you notice that Betty's fainting couch was positioned to intentionally block the hearth? The warm heart of the home, she was told -- that she eclipsed.

-- I enjoyed seeing Connie and Cooper emasculate Don by sitting in his office chair at two crucial points in this episode.

3 MARCH 2010: BBC4 / BBC HD, 10PM