Mad Men: The Gold Violin

The stage was set for lots of drama for the folks at Sterling Cooper.

The episode begins with Don checking out a 1962 Cadillac Coupe Deville, “the kind of car a man like you should own.”  The kind of car that shows ”you’ve arrived.”  This visit, however, takes him back to an unsettling time when he was hustling used cars and a beautiful young woman (looks a bit like Betty, no?) shows up and tells him “he’s a hard man to find.”  Oh, and he’s not Don Draper.  This flashback rattles Don, who can’t get out of the dealership fast enough. 

At Sterling Cooper, after Joan’s scolding last week, Jane, Don’s new assistant, is keeping her head down and her cleavage covered, which does little to deter the gaggle of admirers.  This includes an overeager Ken Cosgrove, who perseveres despite repeated rejection.  Young Jane, though, proves to be bolder than we thought.  After talk of a $10,000 Rothko painting, she leads the march to Cooper’s office with Cosgrove, Harry, and Sal in tow.  Cosgrove gives a surprising analysis of the work and afterwards, Sal and Ken share an elevator ride where Sal reveals he knows Cosgrove’s a writer.  Cosgrove tells Sal he’s not like everyone else there and asks him to read one of his stories.  Sal agrees with an invite to his house for dinner with him and Kitty.

Sterling pays a visit to Don and questions his reluctance to buy the Cadillac.  ”You can afford it….Not to get too deep before the cocktail hour, but do I need to remind you of the finite nature of life?”  Later, after Don closes the Martinson deal, Cooper tells Don he’s moving up the ranks and that “philanthropy is the gateway to power.”  Don realizes that with power comes the accessories, so he takes the plunge and buys the Cadillac.  He heads home to show it off to Betty.

Joan now has learned of the little field trip to Cooper’s office and is none too happy.  Jane tells Joan that she’s twenty years old and doesn’t need a mother.  Joan tells Jane to pack her stuff and go.  Jane “happens” to stop by Sterling’s office to tell him good-bye.  When Jane says Joan fired her, Sterling tells her not to worry, he’ll fix things, and that Joan is going through “a rough time.  She’s engaged, you know.”  It’s not hard to imagine what he has in mind for Jane.

Monday morning and Jane arrives at her desk per Mr. Sterling’s (“call me Roger”) orders.  Joan demands to know “what on God’s Green Earth are you doing here?”  Jane informs her that Mr. Sterling told her Joan is impetuous and not to worry about it.  From Joan’s expression, there is no doubt that the war is on.

Over at Sal and Kitty’s, Ken is late.  Sal rushes around like he’s waiting for his prom date.  Ken arrives and marvels at their apartment.  Kitty tells him, “once we decided not to look for a bigger place, we just let ourselves go.”  What she means is there won’t be any little Sals running around anytime soon.  Kitty does her best to entertain, but she may as well be a salt shaker on the table for all Sal notices.  At the end of the meal, Ken lights Sal’s cigarette, giving him the kind of look he’s never given Kitty.   After Ken leaves, Kitty confronts him.  “Do you even see me here?”  A shocked Sal comforts her and tells her to put her feet up and he’ll take care of the dishes.  It’s obvious there will be no post-dinner cuddling.

Back at the Draper residence, Don is showing off his car to Betty, which he says, will remain pristine.  She tells Don that Jimmy’s invited them to a party celebrating his TV show.  We can see the unease on Don’s face and his doubt that the reason he called Betty is because, “he likes talking to [her].”  Nonetheless, Don agrees.

Don and Betty arrive at the Stork Club and are greeted promptly by Bobbie.  Betty innocently makes her way out of the shop only to run into Jimmy.  Jimmy, no stranger to cruelty, tells Betty, “What do you think happened between the two of them?”  Betty’s reaction is heartbreaking.  “There they are and they don’t care where we are.”  Betty tells Don she’s not feeling well and sends him for her coat.  The moment between Jimmy and Don is one the reasons this show racked up the Emmy nominations.  The performance of John Hamm makes this scene chilling.  Jimmy thanks Don because now he has “everything.”

“What did you get?  Bobbie?  Lots of people have had that.”  Jimmy tells him you don’t step out on your wife with another man’s wife, you go to a whore.  The pain and anger in Jimmy’s voice when he tells Don, “I go home at night and I laugh at you” is palpable because Jimmy has fame, money, and power, and he still wants to be Don.  On the car ride home, Don and Betty sit in silence, Betty taking in all she heard and then it all comes up, the pain, too many drinks all over Don’s brand new car. 

The new car sullied, the new girl taking charge, Sal holding onto Ken’s lighter like a life raft, and Betty left to ponder how quickly her life got upturned.  It’s sure to force big decisions to be made for all in the weeks to come.

 

Sundays at 10PM/9C, AMC

Photographs courtesy of AMC

 

 

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