MAD MEN 3.11 - "The Gypsy And The Hobo"
WRITERS: Marti Noxon, Cathryn Humphris & Matthew Weiner[SPOILERS] It's Halloween; the perfect thematic time for Don's (Jon Hamm) mask to fall and regale wife Betty (January Jones) with his own ghost story, as "The Gypsy And The Hobo" brought a prime piece of Mad Men secrecy out into the open, making this one of the more compelling and important hours in the show's three-year history...
DIRECTOR: Jennifer Getzinger
GUEST CAST: Robert Morse, Kiernan Shipka, Kristoffer Polaha, Sam Page, Patrick Cavanaugh, Abigail Spencer, Eric Ladin, Mary Page Keller, Dan Desmond, Jared S. Gilmore, Anthony Burch, Edin Gali, Troy Vincent, Jay Burns, Mark Doerr & Julie Sanford
Meanwhile, Don planned to leave for a dirty weekend with Suzanne (Abigail Spencer) because Betty's going to be out of town, but after leaving his mistress outside in his car when he nipped back home, he was surprised to find Betty and the kids had arrived back early. Even worse, Betty led him to his office and demanded he open his desk drawer containing the shoebox of mementoes of his life as Dick Whitman. And, despite his attempts to quell the situation, once it became clear Betty had already seen the contents, Don prepared for what he's long believed would be the end of his marriage, and perhaps his freedom, by telling her his awful secret.
It's here that we got some of the best acting yet from the always-marvellous Jon Hamm, as Don finally opened up to Betty about his poor upbringing as a farm boy, his prostitute mother who died giving birth to him, his time fighting in the Korean War, his decision to assume a dead soldier's identity as a means to get home quickly, how he's been providing for the real Don Draper's widow Anna all these years, why they divorced so he could start his own life as "Don" with Betty, and how his real half-brother Adam Whitman committed suicide after he'd refused to make contact -- out of fear Adam would expose his lies and he'd go to jail for identity fraud. Credit to Don for unburdening himself without blurring the issue too much, too. It really was a fantastic performance from Hamm, with Don struggling to even hold his cigarette lighter because he was shaking so violently. Jones was just as great in a quieter way; the camera capturing every flicker of her outrage, dibelief and concerned gestures from her.
And, as I've always suspected it would, Don's full disclosure appeared to work. Betty was more sympathetic than he expected and hadn't left him by the next morning. In fact, she's made him breakfast and things appear relatively normal. Or is she just playing a game and actually just biding her time to get proof he's having affairs, so she can divorce him and keep the kids? Right now though, it's easy to shrug your shoulders and wonder what the big deal was, coming from the cynical perspective of the 21st-century, but this episode did a great job reminding you of how potentially devastating Don's secret has been, and why he'd lied to his family all these years. Of course, for all of my relief Don didn't try to obfuscate the situation, or flat-out continue to lie to protect himself, it was distressing to see him refuse to end contact with Suzanne. Instead, their affair is simply on hold for the time being. It'll be interesting to see if this newly-unburdened Don Draper changes in any way towards Betty, but I'm guessing his cheating ways are too ingrained in him now.
The B-story this week gave us a long-overdue focus on Roger (John Slattery), who's been pushed to one side rather too much throughout season 3, sadly. Slattery's so gifted at delivering comic lines that it's a terrible shame he hasn't been more prominent, so it was great to see him on top-form here again. Roger was presented with his own ghost from the past, in the form of old flame Annabel Mathis (Mary Page Keller), the owner of Caldecott Farms, who arrived at Sterling Cooper with the challenge to reverse a downturn in her business because consumers have learned their dog food products contain horse meat.
Annabel's recently widowed and still holds a candle for Roger (whom she dumped when her father found her a more "suitable" man), so uses her business as a way to see more of him -- ostensibly to discuss the campaign, but really to try and rekindle their romance. The pair clearly have a more relaxed and evenly-matched rapport around each other, certainly something more fulfilling than Roger would appear to have with "mid-life crisis wife" Jane, who's half his age. However, Roger appears to have slightly more scruples than Don perhaps would exhibit in his shoes; shunning Annabel's half-drunken advances after a dinner together. He also wasn't afraid to risk losing her business by telling her straight that there's nothing more between them, because she wasn't "the one".
Joan herself had a small subplot, which involved her giving husband Greg (Sam Page) advice during some interview rehearsals at home, to help prepare him for a psychiatry resident placement. Their small storyline faintly echoed Don's, with Greg similarly revealing a family secret to his wife (that his father underwent psychiatry treatment), and it was amusing to note how Joan's a far more gifted interviewee. She'd probably make a much better shrink, too, such is the cruelty of the times she lives in.
Greg's interview went badly, leading to him getting a vase smashed over his head after grumbling to Joan about how she doesn't understand what it's like to want something your whole life (as she knows only too well). I still find Greg/Joan scenes a little unnerving to sit through, but so far this season Greg's been relatively normal as a mildly chauvinist husband, but memories of him essentially raping Joan in Don's office in season 2 still dance around my head whenever he's around. Has he changed? Here, he seems to get his act together by joining the army to be a surgeon – solving all their problems, because Joan longer needs to work and he gets his dream vocation – although I'm predicting he'll be killed in Vietnam. Will Joan really become a fulltime housewife, or will she accept whatever offer comes her way thanks to Roger's help? There must still be a way for her to wind up back at Sterling Cooper, surely.
Overall, "The Gypsy And The Hobo" was another brilliant episode of wonderful performance and fine dialogue, made all the sweeter because it made huge headway with a core piece of Mad Men's backstory for Don. This should mark a major turning point for the Draper marriage, but as it would be boring if they lived happily ever after I suspect Betty has plans. Can she blackmail Don into letting her have the kids, or else she'll tell the authorities about his fraud? Is her own fancy man up to taking on her and two kids, if she leaves to be with him? Or will she give their marriage another shot, because at least Don came clean?
Asides
- There's still no sign of Sal, who was unfairly dismissed a handful of episodes ago. I hope he returns, as his story wasn't over. Or will we end season 3 with Joan and Sal both still elsewhere?
- I love Mad Men's use of symbolism, subtext and themes in every episode, but sometimes it's very on-the-nose. Like the final scene here, with Don and Betty taking their kids trick-or-treating (dressed as the titular gypsy and hobo) and a neighbour asking Don "and who are you supposed to be?"
- Great choice of closing song: the musical Oliver's "Where Is Love?", sung by the titular orphan boy from a deprived background, not dissimilar to Don.
