Mad Men S03E13: Step Into My Office, I Am Fired
Don meets with Connie Hilton, who tells him that Powell, Putnam, and Loeb is being sold to McCann Erickson (I've heard of them! This show is so accurate in how it uses names that I have heard of!), and for some reason that means that Connie can't work with Don anymore? I'm not sure I completely understand what is going on with Don and Connie, businesswise. But I do understand what is going on with them man-relationship-wise. Don begins to get very angry at Connie, just as Don has been getting angry at everyone lately. He blames Connie for toying with him, and Connie is like "I really thought you were not such a crybaby who cried and wore diapers." Me too! Don seems at the end of his rope! Maybe he is just so tired from sleeping in the dog house every night. Don wipes his baby tears off of his baby face and goes back to the office, but now he is ready to stir up some trouble!
But first, a flashback to Don's dad getting kicked in the face by a horse. Dead.
OK, so, Don goes to see Bert Cooper and tells him what is up, and Bert Cooper is like, "well, that's not going to stop me from taking this nap." So Don starts yelling again. Always with the yelling, that guy. He explains that if they don't get their company back, Bert Cooper is going to be professionally finished, which must be a very compelling argument to someone like Cooper, who is only 102 years old and still very much (not at all) in his prime. Don says that he wants to do something with his life, and surely Bert Cooper should understand that. And Bert Cooper is like "of course I understand that, I want to do something with my life, too, which is TAKE THIS NAP!" But Don does finally convince him that they should try and get the company back. But in order to do that they are going to need Roger Sterling. Uh oh!
They go down to Roger Sterling's office and Roger Sterling is like "Don and I are in a fight, and I'm not going to help you guys until he apologizes for DeFriendstering me." It is a very good scene, though. Roger Sterling, most enjoyable character on Mad Men to watch? Y/Y? His TONGUE is almost as silver as his HAIR! He explains that he doesn't want to help them because he is going to go sit in a chair on a cruise. But eventually he does want to help them. But how?!
Putnam Powell and Loeb turn down their offer to buy back the company at the purchase price plus 12 percent. Sterling Cooper is worth much more than that now. So they're stuck. Or are they?! They make a deal with the British guy to fire all of them so that they can start their own advertising agency. OMG! Sterling will bring his Lucky Strike account, which is the biggest account the agency has. But they will need more accounts! Will this plan even work? It is so crazy it just might, etc. But they will have to act fast. Wait a second. Hold on. Am I getting excited about a small group of middle-aged men...leaving an advertising agency...to start another advertising agency...45 years ago? SOMEHOW I AM! Television is magic.
They begin to round up their Street Team. Pete is out "sick." Don calls Peggy into his office, and Peggy is like "I don't want to make a career out of being there for you to kick me when you fail." ZING! ZING MEN! STERZING AND COOPZING! PEGGY OLZING!
Don and Roger finally go over to Pete's house, and he puts on a very convincing (not that convincing) "sick" costume, which consists of a bath robe (cough cough!) and Tobey Maguire's bangs from Spider-Man 3.
Pete tries to play all coy, but come on, Pete, we all know what is going to happen. You are a little nerd, so eager to not be picked last for dodgeball! He wants to be made a partner and have his name in the lobby. RELAX, PETE! There's not even going to be a lobby, he is told. Yikes! No lobby? Maybe they should rethink this whole thing. Anyway, Pete springs into action. It's go time, guys!
After the successful recruitment of Pete, Don and Roger have a drink just like old times. Except that it used to be Roger complaining about his woman problems, and now it is Don complaining about his woman problems. What a revolving door of woman problems! A virtual lazy susan of marital unhappiness! Could you pass the divorce! Etc! Anyway, Roger kind of lets slip about Betty and Henry Francis. Uh oh. Even I don't like hearing about it this way. Don goes home and oh, oh is he so mad.
He very roughly wakes Betty up from her sleep of the just. And then they have their big moment. No offense to this show, which I love, and which is great, but I liked this scene better when it was on The Sopranos.
That's OK, this was still "very good," which is not really the way you want to describe it, what with it being actually kind of horrible, but you know what I mean. Betty wants Don to leave the house. She also wants a divorce. Oh no! It's like Pam and Jim's wedding all over again, but reversed and opposite. Also, what is Betty thinking with this whole Henry Francis thing? She has spent 15 minutes with him! That's going to work out great. They're going to be super happy and there are never going to be any problems in that relationship at all. (Ummmmmmm.) Anyway, Don eventually relents and stops calling her a whore and says that he is not going to fight her anymore. They sit down with the kids and explain everything, not that the kids don't already know what is up, since they are in THE LIVING ROOM. Kids always know more than you think they know about what it means to talk about something in the living room. This scene, incidentally, does NOT have a precedent in an episode of The Sopranos. Although it would have been hilarious if AJ had hugged Tony's legs and been like "don't goooooooo!" AJ was kind of a punk, you guys.
Don realizes that Something's Gotta Give (2003™), and he goes to Peggy's house and apologizes to her for being such a whatever the 1960s equivalent of "douchebag" was before they had "douchebag." He asks her to join him in this new adventure, and she is like, "if I say no, you will never talk to me again," and he's like "no, I will spend the rest of my life trying to hire you." I knew she'd eventually say yes, but I kind of hoped she'd say no just so that in season 12 of Mad Men Don Draper is 970 years old, trying to hire her from his hospice bed, but she is like "no way, Don," from her hospice bed.
So Don brings Peggy with him (yay!) back to the Sterling Cooper offices, where they are pulling all of the relevant files. Pete sees Harry Crane in the elevator and Harry Crane is like "isn't it crazy that they're calling us in to help clean the carpets or whatever?" Get ready, Harry Crane! You're hardly going to even believe what is about to happen. Anyway, they've got a good headstart on this business, but something is missing. Oh, I know what is missing. JOAN IS MISSING.
BAMN! You knew it. Come on, you knew. Raise your hand if you knew it. One...two...three...OK, all the hands. I'm also pretty sure that even though Sal was not in last night's episode, Sal is going to be in next year's episode, if you know what I mean. "Sterling Cooper Draper and British Guy Incorporated have the best gay art department in New York." (Direct quote from next season's premiere.) But they're not taking Kinsey? Sorry, Kinsey. Good luck with the hippies, you hippie. "Has anyone seen Kinsey?" "I saw him doing devil sticks in Central Park." (Direct quote from next season's second episode.)
They move out of the office. It's awesome how you can just hire movers to move some stuff out of an office on a Sunday afternoon, no questions asked. I'm sure their company was called Two Men And A Very Legitimate Above-Board Truck. Don goes to lock the door, and Roger is like "don't bother." IN YOUR FACE, ICONIC TELEVISION OFFICE.
When people come in to work on Monday they are like "We have been robbed." No you haven't. You've been JOAN'D! It's just like that scene in The Game when they go into that office and it's just got a phone on the floor. Sterling Cooper was a classic Long Con. Kinsey is like "I knew I should have shaved off my stupid beard." Whoops, Kinsey! Putnam Powell and Loeb fire the British Guy before he can even have his morning tea. But actually, he WANTED to be fired, see. Everything is going according to plan! Meanwhile, the gang is over at the shop in a hotel room in the Pierre. Like a family.
So:
Don moves into a new apartment.
Betty goes on an airplane.
The kids are left with the black maid (it was a different time back then, you guys).
Peggy and Pete exchange knowing glances over Trudy's sandwiches.
Joan and Roger flirt again.
Sal gets ready to unsurprisingly return next season.
Kinsey batiks his peasant blouse.
:)
Good night, and good luck, indeed!
Posted by Gabe at 11:37 AM in Love-Watching, Recaps
Tags: Christina Hendricks | Elisabeth Moss | January Jones | John Slattery | Jon Hamm | Mad Men
That episode was the most uplifting depressing show I've ever seen.
Score = 14
Score = 54
does the door say fart department?
Score = 11
yes. it does. ok.
Score = 7
ohhhhhhh my god, there are not enough upvotes on Madison Avenue for this one. Lots of Love over here. Lots. Of. Love.
Score = 1
I'm flattered. Thank you.
Score = 0
I hope Matthew Weiner is aware of the odd fascination with taking seemingly arbitrary scenes, converting them to GIFs and creating out of context comic gold.
Score = 8
He must. For about 15 minutes last night, all my hopes and dreams in life hinged on making that GIF.
Score = 2
Don Draper: He Gets Things Done.
Score = 0
"I swear, that girl's never shown so much interest in a book depository in her life."
-Roger Sterling's nomination form for the 2009 Best Awards.
Score = 21
Related:
"Peggy, will you go get me some coffee?"
"No."
Score = 35
Peggy is the best. I miss Peggy being the best! The season has been mostly about Don and Betty. I hope next season Peggy is not fucking Duck and has returned to top Peggy best form.
I couldn't help but think of this make-our-own-new-business plan as a scheme to get Joan back on the show. And what about Ken? Can he come too? He has accounts to bring too, with his perfectly coiffed blond head! I can't wait another year for answers to these very important Ken-related questions, Mad Men. Put it in my eyes NOW!
Score = 5
Yes! I hope they resolve the Ken thing either by bringing him on board, or by having him be the new bitter rival a la Duck (minus the gross sexing). And I want to know what happens with Kinsey, and with English weenie assistant guy, too, because I like those characters. Also, Lois! Will she live to chop off another foot? I have to know!
Score = 7
I dunno. I wouldn't really mind Ken giving me the once over. I mean giving PEGGY the once over. Right.
Score = 1
You're forgetting the "golden porkchop" line. NOW he won.
Score = 6
Even though I can't watch this season until it comes out on video, I can't not read these. So good.
Score = 3
Such a great episode and I am ecstatic that Lane will be around for another season. Aside from "the Rodge," Lane was my favorite character this season. BTW when Don VanDammed the Art Department door I kinda expected Sal to be in there because he would totally be the guy to sneak into the offices on the weekend to be around his art!
Score = 4
AMC original series Mad Men or Why Sally will Never Recover
Score = 17
I love that Sally blames Betty for everything. That girl knows what's what.
Score = 23
true!
man i know dons like a dirtbag or whatever when it comes to his marriage - but damn! betty is so fucking dumb! she has this idea of what a real and a perfect marriage would be in her head - and assumes this henry (that shes known for exactly 15 minutes) can provide this. sisters gotta another thing coming next season. grass is not always greener bets.
i like the soprano scene too, but i think don responded quite fitting to his character.
Score = -1
I'm slightly surprised that everyone is totally taking Don's side. I mean, he can't keep his ding dong out of other chicks' va-jay-jays. And he's been lying about his entire life to his wife. And he's a dick (literally!). They are both at fault. Though it's probably not a good idea to marry a dude you've known for only 15 minutes. But what's she supposed to do -- wait until Don gives her Syphilis?
Score = 10
I'M SO CONFLICTED. Don can bang his child's teacher (same season no less), but I feel like he is the better parent?
Score = 1
How in the hell has everyone (myself included) legitimized Draper as the favorite when Betty was forced into domesticity and is clearly depressed, whilst her time faithful was absorbed by Draper fucking everything that moves? Fuck us, society.
Score = 8
i know this may not make sense to many of you but this is the best i can do to explain a defense of don.
bets reminds me of nora from a doll house - a character who, when i read the play so many years ago - disgusted me completely. a selfish, self-entitled woman who was consumed with material things and financial securtiy that stuck around despite being a mere plaything until she reached a breaking point and had to flee the illusion for a better offer. she doesnt take into consideration what is best for the children and cares only about fulfilling her own new ideal for happiness.
don cheated, betty forgave him and allowed him back in the home. you can't convince me thats the reason she wants a divorce - its not.
dons lying about his past is forgivable - he is the same man, different name. thats not why bets wants a divorce either.
betty meets this henery francois and suddenly its all about her. he wants to please HER, take care of HER, and listen to HER. betty wants henery because his world will revovle around her and dons never would - and thats a shitty reason to take their kids away from their father and expose them to some dolt youve known for a month.
and yes, marriages should be about love, obvs - but when there are small children you make some sacrafices. you're not going to feel like puppy love newlyweds forever - you make it work. betty wont do that.
Score = 4
Marry me.
Score = 0
The only problem with Sal coming in next season is Lucky Strike, because of the dude with the "I hate you/I love you/I'm not gay!" thing with Sal. So the scenario is either a) Lucky Strike/no Sal, or b) no Lucky Strike/Sal/Sterling Cooper Draper et al mega-fail.
Probably B, 'cause I love me some Sal!
Anyways, BEST SEASON FINALE EVER! Though I'm still a bit miffed that the only resolution we've had all season to the Pete/Peggy revelation LAST finale is a couple of snide comments and a meaningful look over a sandwich.
Also, who here at the end of last week's episode when they showed, instead of a preview, a montage of clips of dramatic moments that still need to be resolved, and thought, "Ah, a list of things that will NOT be dealt with next week. . ."?
Score = 4
Since they're working out of a hotel room, when they do business with Lucky Strike maybe they can hide Sal in the closet... my sincerest apologies for that one.
Score = 8
yeah I'd love for Sal to come back but because Lucky Strike is like, the most important account ever, I don't know if that's possible...but he'll probably still be in next season. right? right?
Score = 0
They should have recruited Don Cheadle as their demolition guy.
Score = 8
Loved it. Don spent the entire season peeing on everyone's face before realizing that he needs them because he has no one else and then he has to wipe the proverbial pee off of their faces. Next season he picks the huge dump he took on Sal's chest up in a tiny plastic bag by turning it inside out. Seriously though, new beginnings for all. New office for Don and his crew, new family for Betty, new president for America. A little parallel to our times, perhaps? No, probably not... but really, yeah.
Score = 6
Personally, I thought it was the best episode of the season and, given that there was an episode where somebody quite horrifihilariouscally lost a foot, that's saying something.
Also, that final photo above is like the best family portrait ever. The whole happy bunch - the grandad, the uncle, the English guy, the sleazy cousin and his wife from Community, the bumbling brother, the kooky older sister and the girl who you really really really hope you are not in anyway related to because that would just be weird....
Until next series, you crazy Mad Men (and Joan)!
Score = 5
Price had the best line of the night... it was subtle.
"Very good! Happy Christmas!" is definitely the new "Have fun at dinner" which was the new "Fuck you."
Great finale!
Score = 22
"You've been JOAN'D!" should be a part of the national lexicon. Or something.
Score = 9
I would very much like to be JOAN'D.
Score = 9
I wish I could upvote you times a billion for your icon.
Score = 0
I like how Pete and Trudy now actually love each other, and that she is his squirrelly little soulmate. They are going to grow up to be one of those bickering old couples that you always see in large manhattan apartment buildings who go the "op-era" and travel a lot because they don't have any kids to spend money on.
Score = 11
You're totally right. It'll be like their own OH HELLO SHOW!
Score = 3
I absolutely agree, one of the best things about this season has been how much Trudy and Pete actually seem to love each other and be real partners in a real marriage. One of the best moments last night was Trudy kissing Pete after Don and Roger left. Aw shucks.
Score = 5
Just wait until next season. Pete and Peggy will be sharing a DESK. We all know what that means...
Score = 4
Just when I finally want to get out of my love for Mad Men, they keep pulling me back in! TWSS. OK, Mad Men, my following, it is with you now. Don Draper is a total crybaby. Ugh, pull up your diapers, wet sack. And what's to happen with Peggy? And Joan is back! And where's Sal, we need Sal. And if I don't grow up to be that SIlver Fox that is Cooper, well then, I guess I'll just have to have another bourbon.
Score = 1
I mean Roger Sterling. Whatever, if I live to be either, I'm gold.
Score = 0
Cheers, Mad Men!
For a ridiculously good season.
Score = 17
That scene between Peggy and Don in her apartment was maybe the best three minutes of television I've ever seen. That is all.
Score = 6
Both scenes where Don is trying to woo Peggy were perfect. His first take in his old asshole style and then realizing he had to change and be honest with her and that he actually needed her which led to that second attempt.... it is so nice to see Don respect Peggy.
Score = 7
SOMEBODY'S costume designer was having a go 'round with us this whole episode! The scene with the Drapers in the living room was delicious: The mother and kids with their dull palette of outfits and Papa Draper with his stark, sharp, contrasting black and white sweater and collared shirt - BECAUSE HE IS GOOD AND BAD WRAPPED INTO ONE. Message! Literary tools materializing in clothing form! SOMEONE GET THIS SHOW A RAISE.
Score = 8
Something that always surprises me about Mad Men is how ballsy it is, specifically with this finale. Most shows would make the sale of SC the very last part of the finale and make it some sort of metaphor for Don's failed marriage, but instead Mad Men makes it an almost tossed off line flippantly referred to by a character that couldn't even be considered part of the main cast, and turns into a catalyst for all of the events that follow.
Also, despite the period's feelings towards women's rights and whatnot, I feel like the sudden outburst of Don's when he called Betty a whore and grabbed her by the shirt was incredibly daring, even though Don is more anti-hero than hero anyway. Don's ability to mask his brokenness over his failed marriage (who teared up in that scene with the Draper kids, and who screamed at the TV IT IS ALL BETTY'S FAULT when Sally said as much?) during his business dealings is as much an excellent character trait as it is a sign of the excellence in acting that is Jon Hamm.
Also also, many shows would expand the episode to an hour or so for a season finale, but only Mad Men would dare cut the show off 8 or 9 minutes before it usually finishes broadcasting. Or was that just the east coast feed?
As an aside, Christina Hendricks is hot as hell. I'm pretty sure I jizzed in my pants when she answered the phone.
Mad Men=the greatest show on TV right now. I've hesitated for a while to say that since I still feel like LOST is the best broadcast show on TV, and this is the first season I really watched Mad Men, but last night cemented it.
Score = 4
The show was 8 to 9 minutes shorter because of "limited commercial interruptions" provided by that George Clooney movie. They kept the show the regular length though for future showings when it has a regular allotment of commercials. So regular length show + less commercials = 8 to 9 minute difference.
Other points well made though. I need more Mad Men and I need it now!
Score = 1
I don't remember the premiere being that short though. Generally shows are still the same length even with limited commercial interruption. But I get your point.
Score = -1
Yeah, I hated Betty so much in this episode and that scene was heartbreaking because it, for the most part, is Betty's fault, yet the way things played out, Don was being villainized by the kids for leaving them. Don is a much better parent and everyone knows it.
Also I agree with the Mad Men not taking the easy way out by making the sale of the company a metaphor for his failed marriage. The way they did it, it was sad and triumphant at the same time and that tension/mix of emotions is what I really liked about this episode.
Best episode of Mad Men ever? Definitely Top 3 at the very least.
Score = -4
I feel like I'm the biggest Betty apologist. I don't understand how she gets the blame for everything. Yes, she asked for the divorce, but was she the cause? No. I don't recall her lying about who she was or sleeping around all of the time. And he had the nerve to call her a WHORE? Uh uh. Don's a better parent? Sure, when he's actually around. Don't get me wrong, she can be very immature, especially by thinking marrying Henry Francis will solve all of her problems, but Don is the worst husband.
Score = 11
Oh and you know Sally is going to blame Betty for Don leaving!
Score = 4
Don't get me wrong, I usually try to sympathize with Betty, but tonight after seeing her going to the divorce lawyer with Henry Francis, I lost a lot of the capacity to do that. If she was upset with Don for being a bad husband, fine. I thought she was right to kick Don out back in Season 2 (even though ultimately I was rooting for them to get back together), but the whole Henry Francis business really turned me off from her character. Like it's been mentioned many times, she hardly knows the guy and she expects him to be her knight in shining armor to save her from the monotony of being a housewife. And she's willing to break the family structure for that. Not to say that if she's unhappy with her marriage, she should sacrifice herself for the sanctity of that bond, but she's doing it for some douche who came on to a married woman. How does she know he's more honest than Don? Don lied to her for so long, but does she really know Henry Francis better than she knows Don? And now after a handful of encounters and an unrealized affair, she wants to marry him? The scene with the family in the living room was heartbreaking (as I said) because they kept asking Don why he was leaving them as if Don wanted to leave them, but Don was asked to leave and Betty initiated the divorce. Don hasn't been the exemplary husband, but in that situation, I did feel like Don was accepting the role as the bad guy for his kids and for Betty. Though Sally did seem to see through it (accusing Betty of making Don do it) and I agree that she'll probably have a tense relationship with Betty from here on out (maybe leading her to rebel at the end of the 60s? Kind of weird to think about since she's like 12 years old now...)
Score = 1
There's no reason to bring Ken on board the new ship - he already won over at the old firm. I hope the do have the two companies as rivals for clients next season - then we can see Ken v Pete, Kinsey v Peggy, etc.
That means I also hope they do not skip too far ahead next season - it'd be great to see this new company as a startup and struggling and 1964 means great pop culture developments such as The Beatles.
Score = 5
I'm going to make a list of tv show episodes that have made me really want a sandwich. This one and that one 30 Rock with the Teamster sandwiches are it so far. It's a very specific longing.
Score = 5
How bout that lovely Orbison song at the end? I was not familiar with that number. Now I am. It's called Shahdaroba.
Score = 2
"I'll just spend the rest of my life trying to hire you." Sweetest thing ever said on television.
Score = 4
Hospice isn't funny Gabe
Score = 0
"i will spend the rest of my life trying to hire you" = “I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you” + "you make me want to be a better man" + “I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone"
Who else thinks Don and Peggy are gonna do it next season???? Exciting!
Score = 4
According to Natasha Vargas-Cooper, douchebags were invented in 1953, so you're all set on that metaphor if you want to go with it.
Score = 1
sometimes i dream of putting Betty in a big blender and pressing "Blend".
Score = -2
I love that everyone likes the Christina Hendricks' Bust Line of Women (™) because it further validates the fact that people (men) more than likely enjoy these/my measurements. Also, this was the most exciting episode of the season, by far. While my boyfriend gently drowsed I could not stop talking out-loud to the television. It was probably very irritating. But after so many slow to mildly arousing episodes, they blew their top with something spectacular. Too much for one episode Mad Men! You reduce me!
Score = 0
My only 'thing' with this episode, which: what do I care? they're giving me a really good show for free, but my only thing was it sort of felt like that one point in Battlestar Galactica where they spent two or three episodes undoing everything the previous season had established so they could get back to the original premise.
HAVEN'T YOU HEARD? MCCANN ERICKSON LOOKS LIKE PEOPLE NOW
Score = -1
I have so many problems with Betty Draper. I understand that she is upset about Don lying about his name, but really? Is it worth ruining the childhoods of your children because he didn't tell her about an illegal name change? Also, SHE LEFT HER CHILDREN WITH THE MAID FOR SIX WEEKS. But God forbid she let Don live in the house while she goes to establish residency in Reno. And the reason she seems so unhappy and miserable all the time is that domesticity doesn't make her happy, as society says it should. I can understand her misery up to that point. But she solves this problem by...agreeing to marry Henry Francis, a less-interesting/less-suave Don Draper? Girl does NOT know what's up.
Also, I want to marry Roger so hard. He is the best. "Are you joking?"
"Yes we're joking. Happy Birthday."
Score = -2
i'm obviously a million years late but i don't get how anyone could take Don's side. This motherfucker is barely ever there for the kids, he lied about his entire life. He's not only slept with random women that he picks up everywhere he's had multiple ongoing affairs, all while calling his wife "desperate" for wearing a bikini and parading her around like a trophy without shame. he never appreciates her, he always belittles her. I'm willing to believe that Betty has a better chance with Henry Francis than Don because Don is the absolute worst. Also he looks like an IRL Homer Simpson and it's gross.
Score = 0