MAD MEN: “The Rejected”

Photo Credit: Michael Yarish/ AMC.

Read on for my recap & review of Mad Men 4×04, “The Rejected,” aired August 15th, 2010:

This week, Don and Allison both dealt with the consequences of their night together.  Allison cried, she threw something breakable, and finally quit.  “I don’t say this easily, but you are not a good person,” she declares, as she walks out the door.  It was a brilliant exit for her character, and for her portrayer Alexa Alemanni, as we so rarely see women show how they really feel on this show.  Our three female leads—Betty, Peggy, and Joan—rarely permit the world to see what they’re feeling.  But Allison let it all out.  While one could argue that she should have known better than to get mixed up with her boss, and that she really could not have hoped for better treatment from him, it was still almost triumphant to see her confront him.  After all, he is in a position of authority over her, as her employer, so the burden of the blame must be put on him.  The icing on the cake, however, was Don’s punishment at the end of the episode: he is saddled with Miss Blankenship.  At first I thought that perhaps Don’s guilt over hooking up with Allison drove him to request an older woman, so he wouldn’t be similarly temped.  But then I realized, no.  No way.  When Joan saw Allison running out of Don’s office, she sized up the situation immediately.  This is certainly not the first time that she has seen this behavior, and it will probably not be the last.  While Joan can’t control everything, she does control the hiring of secretaries.  This is Don’s punishment, as meted out by Joan.  Thank you, Joan.  (Also, that royal blue dress looked absolutely divine on her, didn’t you think?)

This was also an important episode for Peggy, who had a lot to do.  It was interesting to see her reaction to Allison’s break down in the session with Faye.  Peggy is very sympathetic … at first.  However, when she realizes that Allison slept with Don, and, even worse, that Allison (and probably others too) thinks that Peggy slept with Don too, she gets defensive.  She cares about Don, and doesn’t want to believe the worst of him.  Additionally, she is offended on her own behalf.  Peggy lashes out: “You’re problem is not my problem.  And honestly, you should get over it.”  Waaaaay harsh.  And also a lie.  In many ways, Allison’s problem is Peggy’s problem … or at least it was.  No, Peggy never slept with Don, but she did have an office romance that ended badly: a sexual relationship with Pete that resulted in an unwanted pregnancy.  But Peggy has pushed that part of her past so deep down, that she’s not able to access those emotions to relate to Allison.  Instead she berates her.  Her words to Allison echo those of Joan, back when Peggy was falling apart, but there is a far different tone.  Joan didn’t want any of her girls crying to her about their problems.  Personal problems were to be dealt with outside of work, and on one’s own time.  Peggy is far more defensive, and far less professional.  But knowing what she’s been through, how can you blame her?  

Instead of dwelling on the past, Peggy is ready to live in the present, and start having fun.  She seems to be finally embracing the reality of being a young single woman in New York City.  Key to this development is her new friend Joyce, who works at Life Magazine.  Joyce is young and hip, and “kind of pretentious.”  She is far more modern than Peggy has allowed herself to be up until now, and she introduces Peggy to a whole new world, where her work in an advertising agency is equivalent to selling out.  Like Don’s old Bohemian girlfriend—the one who threw the television he bought for her out the window—Joyce’s artist friends don’t see copywriting for an advertising agency as real writing.  Nor do they see her work as anything of value.  Peggy may start to question that as well.

The party that Peggy attends with Joyce is also notable for being a rare scene featuring racial diversity.  Peggy meets a black woman who modeled for Joyce’s photographer friend, and the guests ambling around the party include far more African-Americans than we’ve ever seen on Madison Avenue.  An art film with a political message is also shown at the party, and it has an effect on Peggy, despite the fact that she doesn’t think she’s “supposed to like it.”  The next day she asks Joey, “Did you know that Malcom X was shot last Saturday?”  He did, and is a little amused at her ignorance.  “Do you ever read the stuff between the ads?” he asks.  I have to think that she probably hasn’t in a long time.  She has been so consumed with work, and getting ahead.  Her night out with Joyce certainly sparked a new awareness of the world beyond advertising.  I find myself very intrigued as to where this will lead Peggy next.

There is also an element of sexual liberation at the party.  Joyce kisses Peggy, but she shrugs her off, good naturedly.  Peggy says she has a boyfriend.  Joyce: “He doesn’t own your vagina.”  Peggy retorts, “No, but he’s renting it.”  Ha!  Best line of the episode.  The idea that it would occur to Peggy to respond in this way, and the fact that she’s not made uncomfortable by Joyce’s advances, is a sign of a new openness.  Two weeks ago, she told her boyfriend that he would never get her to do what people in Sweden do, but this week she looks at nude photos, gets kissed by a girl, and then kisses a man (a near stranger) in a closet.  In a couple of years she’ll be wearing a mini skirt.

However, Peggy can’t completely escape her past.  At SCDP, when a secretary brings in a card congratulating Pete on his impending fatherhood, Peggy is thrown for a loop.  The father of the baby she gave away is now having a baby with his wife.  At the end of season two, Peggy admits: “I had your baby, and I gave it away.”  As she explained to Pete, she could have shamed him into remaining in her life forever but she didn’t.  Peggy rejected Pete.  She rejected their baby.  She rejected that direction for her life.  But she can’t help but be shaken by the knowledge that he is now having a baby with Trudy.  What is going on in Peggy’s head?  Disappointment?  Jealousy?  Regret?  It is just so hard to tell with Peggy.  Regardless of her true feelings, she congratulates Pete.  He thanks her, graciously, but there is a lot of subtext.  Afterwards, she goes into her office and bangs her head on the desk.

Later, as Peggy waits for the elevator with her new hip friends, on the way to lunch, she catches Pete’s eye.  He is surrounded by a whole bunch of older men in suits.  While Peggy’s friends laugh and chat, Pete’s companions talk business.  The contrast is striking.  Peggy is still young and unattached, with her whole life ahead of her, but Pete is now growing up.  He is married, and is now going to be a father, and as such he has taken on certain societal expectations.  But the two still share something, including some pretty darn significant glances.  Is this just a nod to the bond they share?  Or will these significant glances lead to trouble?  We shall see.

The knowledge that he will become a father seems to be the direct impetus for Pete’s progress towards growing up.  At the beginning of the episode, he is given bad news:  Pond’s sees Clearasil as a conflict, so SCDP must drop Clearasil.  As Lane explains, Pond’s is just a bigger account, so it is not up for debate.  As you may recall, Pete brought Clearasil with him to SCDP, courtesy of his wealthy father-in-law.  The idea that he must now drop this account and risk angering his father-in-law horrifies Pete, and he pleads with Roger and Lane to reconsider.  The will not.  In typical Pete fashion, he completely over-dramatizes it, and appeals to Roger, emotionally, arguing that keeping this account has had a “personal toll” on him.  Boo frickin’ hoo.  Roger is not moved however, and tells him to throw himself “on the grenade,” and “protect the agency.”  But is Pete even capable of such selflessness?

It seems that he is … sort of.  Pete goes from terror at the possibility of his father-in-law’s disapproval, to joy at the news that he will be a father.  The news of Trudy’s pregnancy delays the Clearasil news, but ultimately it aids in a striking power play.  While Trudy and her mom are looking at the future nursery, Pete prepares to tear of the band-aid.  His father-in-law cuts him off: “Oh, I know what you’re gonna say …”  Pete interrupts: “Every time you jump to conclusions, Tom, you make me respect you less.”  Wow.  He continues: “I’m done auditioning.  You gave this to us under a certain pretext.”  He explains that he’s done everything expected, and more.  Now it’s time for him to get the big accounts.  His father-in-law is shocked, asking “Are you mad at me?”  Pete explains that it’s not personal; “Clearasil was conflicted by a bigger company.”  He asks smugly, “Who’s doing a better job for you than I am?”  Yes, Pete wants it all.  His father-in-law replies, hesitatingly, “Well, you’ve given me something to think about.”  Pete: “Really?  It seems pretty simple.”  Pete casually and victoriously pours a drink, and his father-in-law mutters, “You son of a bitch.”  Pete just shrugs.  Pete somehow realizes that he is the one with the upper hand, and just takes control of the situation.  So, Pete does do what Lane and Roger ask, but he advances his own interests in the process.  No grenade-falling necessary.

Another important part of this episode was the Pond’s focus group, led by Dr. Faye Miller.  Don gives her access to all of the girls at the office, and she picks all young single ladies—the significance of which I will soon address.  One of them is Allison.  Additionally, the focus group is conducted in the conference room, with Joan’s office as the viewing room.  Joan is clearly annoyed that she has to give up her office for this.  Faye’s methods are very manipulative, but fascinating.  She changes her outfit to one with color, and more youthful, and makes sure to remove her engagement ring (or is it a wedding ring?), before seeing the girls.  She also refuses to take the name tag that Peggy provides her, as her name is spelled correctly.  Faye explains, “I like to correct it in front of the girls.  It makes them trust me.”  She further explains, that it shows that she’s “not that important.”  Wow.

Once Faye enters the focus group, she immediately ingratiates herself with the secretaries: “I don’t have a nametag.  I guess they forgot about me.”  She also tells them about her beauty routine, which she’s been doing since she was a little girl.  Everything she says is carefully constructed to elicit the confidence of the other ladies.  While the discussion of beauty begins with a sweet story from one of the girls, Megan (played by the lovely Jessica Paré), it quickly turns into a sobfest about another woman’s ex-boyfriend.  This is the last straw for Allison, prompting her breakdown (which I’ve already discussed at the beginning of the post).   Sadly, this makes Freddy think that he was right all along: “My strategy was right.  They just want to get married.  They’ll buy anything that will help.”  Shut up, Freddy.

When Dr. Faye Miller goes in to see Don later, he is far less thrilled about the results of the focus group.   Faye recommends the matrimony strategy: “A veiled promise.”  Don responds: “Hello, 1925.  I’m not gonna do that.”  I kind of love Don for that.  She counters that despite how old the idea is, it’s still true.  Don disagrees: “You can’t tell how people are going to behave by how they have behaved.”  Interesting, coming from Don.  Faye wonders why he is being so hostile to her.  Don doesn’t like her methods, arguing “And you know what, not only does it have nothing to do with what I do, but it’s nobody’s business.”  What’s never said, but should have been, is that Faye basically stacked the deck with the response she expected.  None of the married women in the office are chosen, thought they clearly buy beauty products.  And none of the women with higher career aspirations or more important jobs are chosen.  There is not a Faye or a Peggy type in that room.  Instead, it is a room full of single 22 year-old secretaries/ receptionists, who are trying to navigate newly adult lives in the big city.  Of course they all want a relationship that is better than the one they have had in the past.  Of course they wish they could find someone to love them unconditionally, and to be deemed worthy of devotion.  None of that means that every girl who uses Pond’s will do so in order to get married.  As Don says, “Hello, 1925.”  There is so much more than that going on for the women of 1965.  Look at Peggy, and how she rejected the path of marriage and children.  Or at least delayed it, in favor of a career.  Look at the new friends she has made, and their aspirations of making a difference.  Look at Stephanie, and her outlook on the world.  Look at Dr. Faye Miller herself, with her psychology degree.  Goodbye, 1925, thank you very much.

Ultimately, however, we are left with the truth that, most of the time, people don’t want to be alone.  Don arrives home to an empty apartment.  As he is walking down the hallway, his neighbor, and old woman, is also arriving home, to the husband who waits for her.  The old man asks his wife repeatedly, “Did you get pears?”  She tells him, “We’ll discuss it inside.”  Don is struck by this, and at first I didn’t really get why.  But I think it just underscores his own feelings of loneliness.  Yes, that woman is no longer younger and attractive, and the man is perhaps not all there mentally.  But they have each other.  I think this scene gets at the heart of why people want that other someone to share his or her life with.  And there’s nothing superficial about it.  Thus, it both proves and disproves Faye’s strategy.

Additional notes:

• This episode was directed by John Slattery, a.k.a. Roger Sterling.  Well done, Mr. Slattery.  Well done

• Don’s explains the new legal restrictions on advertising cigarettes: no more smoking teenagers, famous athletes, or “angles that make the smoker appear ‘superhuman.’”  Hee.  Roger tries to give this a positive spin: “Even without athletes you can still have sports.”  What is he talking about?  Why bowling of course.  I love you, Roger.

• One of my favorite parts of the episode was when Don is on the torturous call with Lee Garner, Jr. and he suddenly exclaims, “Oh my god, there’s some type of fire!”  Roger backs him up, and explains that they should really find out what’s going on.  Hilarious.

• When Peggy arrives at the party, Joyce says, “You look swellegant.”  Kind of an odd compliment, seeing as how the word was coined by Cole Porter, and featured in the 1956 film High Society.  You’d think that would be an old-fashioned inspiration for the hip and pretentious Joyce.  Perhaps she is quoting Cole Porter ironically?  Or it is a veiled insult towards Peggy?  Hmmm.

• I really like Megan, the receptionist, played by the gorgeous Jessica Paré, another Jack & Bobby alum.  On Jack & Bobby, John Slattery (Roger Sterling) played her father, and Joey Baird (Matt Long) was her love interest.  It would be fun for her to share a scene with one or both of her old co-stars.  Loved her line to Peggy, “I don’t even like magazines, but I brought in a book and they told me it didn’t look right.”  It is a sad world.

• Ken Cosgrove is back!  And he calls Pete out: “I would appreciate it for the future if you did not say shitty things about me behind my back.”  Ha!

• Best scene of the episode?  Peggy’s head popping up behind the glass in Don’s office, spying.  Love it.

• Don decides to type a letter when he gets home: “Dear Allison, I’m very sorry.  Right now my life is very …”  He crinkles it up before he finishes that sentence, and goes to lie on the couch.  Oh, Don, you can do better.  But your life is so very … something.  Just figure out what that something is.  Also, alcoholic-Don is depressing.  He needs help.  Maybe Peggy will confront him, and pull him out of his hole, like he did for her after she had her baby.

• I recommend that you read EW.com’s interview with Cara Buono, who plays Dr. Faye Miller.  Important fact I learned from said interview: Cara Buono played Christopher’s wife, Kelli, on The Sopranos.  I knew she looked familiar!  (Also, now I miss Adrianna all over again. *sob*)

• Additionally, AMC.com has online extras for episode 4, which are definitely worth checking out.

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