Welcome to my viewing diary for Mad Men
. Every Monday I will review another episode of seasons four, five, and six. Both parts of season seven will be covered in the summer of 2022 (now updated to winter 2021-22). I have never seen this series before so there will be NO spoilers.
Story (aired on April 21, 2013/written by Erin Levy; directed by Michael Uppendahl): "Project K" goes for the ketchup and doesn't even get to keep baked beans. SCDP's supposedly secret mission to craft a campaign for a new Heinz client unfolds behind tin foiled windows with only Don, Stan, and Pete in the know - supposedly; Stan's late night call to Peggy obviously let the cat(sup) out of the bag. The disaster is anticipated by both successful and unsuccessful taglines in the agency's tumultuous Heinz history. "Pass the Heinz," Don prints over tantalizing images of topping-less fries, steak, and burger, before Heinz passes over him, whereas in season four Megan pitched Raymond with "Some things never change." In reality, Don's rejected ketchup concept is so damn catchy that Heinz
actually did lift it for a print campaign in 2017 - but it's that earlier, solid slogan for baked beans that could be this episode's only partially ironic mantra. "To Have and to Hold" depicts the tug-of-war frustration of finding oneself tormented by both bewildering transformation and the impossible-to-shake tendrils of what holds one back.
Joan may be a leader at SCDP now, at least in terms of her title, but she is still capable of being humiliated by an ostensible inferior (and incapable, it seems, of inflicting that same humiliation on those even further down the food chain). When she tries to fire Harry's secretary and probable mistress Scarlett (Sadie Alexandru) for faking her timecard, Harry explodes, bursting in on an elite meeting to demand his own promotion for work that's valuable to the company "even if it's done in the light of day," an obvious allusion to the seedy Jaguar transaction. Bemused, Bert and Roger don't take the bait, offering a substantial bonus check but no executive perks after Harry successfully coaxes Ken's father-in-law at Dow Chemical into sponsoring a Joe Namath-led musical special to alleviate the company's Vietnam-related PR woes. If Ken cringes at Harry's outburst inside the boardroom, he is more openly outraged by the revelation of Project K's failure, delivering the news of Raymond's departure to both the SCDP reps and, inadvertently, their CGC rivals at the bar where they stew over ketchup's rejection.
Joan meanwhile has better luck with Dawn than with Scarlett. Frightened by Joan's threats (Dawn was the one who agreed to punch Scarlett out long after she left the office), Don's secretary breathes an immense sigh of relief when Joan merely "punishes" her by putting her in charge of the other secretary's hours. "Well, I don't care if everybody hates me here," Dawn tells Joan, "as long as you don't." There is something reminiscent of Peggy here - the secretary who can't quite fit in with the others possibly finding a route to advancement in precisely that discomfort. It's notable that Dawn has several "solo" scenes, featuring just her and a friend discussing work and an upcoming wedding at a diner (where, incidentally, the waitresses repeat the Twin Peaks-clone uniforms last seen in the Westchester restaurant where Betty met with Henry). Dawn is only the second of the show's significant black characters and the first we've spent much time with away from the other characters, so the writers may have more in mind for her.
The rest of the episode is consumed by two other plot hooks. One is Joan's night out with her Mary Kay-promoting friend Kate (Marley Shelton), a wide-eyed charmer pushing forty whom Joan teases by asking, "When did you get younger than me?" It's meant to compliment her looks but could describe Kate's overall demeanor too as she drags her pal to an adolescent soda fountain with telephones atop each table (for giggling would-be suitors to call one another up across the room). From there, they proceed to an Andy Warhol-promoted psychedelic downtown nightclub with one of the waiters. Sipping a traditional drink and still smarting from her embarrassment at work, Joan mostly serves as a chaperone though she eventually pairs off with another groovy clubber impressed by her elegance. Through contrast and compliment, Kate provides Joan a subtle boost in confidence.
Don, on the other hand, tumbles in the opposite direction. Megan, nervous that her husband won't accept an onscreen romance in the soap where she portrays a duplicitous housemaid, is initially relieved to find that he plays along with barely a grumble. He's even amused, if slightly appalled (and maybe even a little flattered), when the producers of the show take the Drapers out...and then try to take them home. But when he shows up on set to watch her kiss a co-worker, he follows her into the changing room and launches into a savage tirade. As if to underscore the incredibly, epically absurd double standard, Don immediately races into Sylvia's arms and flicks her cross around her neck so he doesn't have to stare at it as they make love.
