Mad Men Review: Fight Night

It is hard to believe but with this week’s episode, Mad Men saw itself hurtle past the half-way point of its fourth season. A season, that should be noted, is arguably the series’ best. Each episode has proven to be more revealing, more interesting, more touching, and more laced with dark humor than the one before it and I simply cannot get enough.

This episode in particular, “The Suitcase” saw a number of things come to a head with Cassius Clay’s (Mohammad Ali) classic defeat of Sonny Liston serving as the backdrop for a duel between Don and Peggy. Everyone in the office is pumped for what is expected to be the boxing match of the century except for Don’s new secretary Mrs. Blankenship who claims that, “if she wanted to see two Negroes fight, she’d throw a dollar bill out the window.” Mrs. B’s enthusiasm not withstanding, everyone has plans to watch or listen to the match except for Don and Peggy. Don bows out in favor of working overnight on the Samsonite account, which has a looming deadline and a lack of options that Don finds suitable from Peggy’s team.

And even though it is her birthday and her boyfriend is awaiting her arrival at a nice restaurant, Peggy is sucked into staying behind to work with Don. The tension between these two characters has certainly been palpable in recent weeks with Peggy’s growing frustration from her lack of recognition and Don’s perception that Peggy has an overwrought sense of entitlement. I’ve always been fascinated by the similary, and yet so different, dynamic of these characters and watching their interaction here was just a pure joy because they finally air their grievances with each other at the top of their lungs and before it’s all over Peggy finally becomes a girl crying in the bathroom – something she has tried to avoid from the very outset of the series.

But it wasn’t just the issues between them that fueled the outburst of emotion. Both of them had very personal and private things happen to them concurrently which essentially created a perfect storm of solitude, anger, and, ultimately, sadness. As I mentioned earlier it was Peggy’s birthday and although only turning 26, she is faced with the scorn that women of the era had to deal with if they were unmarried and childless at her age. In a fascinating scene in the restroom, one woman congratulates her on how far Peggy has gotten in her career at such a young age, while not 30 seconds later, Pete’s wife, Trudy, “comforts her” by assuring her that 26 really isn’t that old. Poor Trudy. If she only knew that the baby inside her has a big brother courtesy of the “unaccomplished” Peggy. On top of that, her dorky boyfriend (Blake Bashoff) is waiting at the restaurant with her entire family and the scenes of him taking annoyed calls from Peggy that escalate into breaking up while her family listens in uncomfortably were wonderfully excruciating to say the least.

Don, on the other hand, is facing the inevitable moment he knew was coming when he found out that his first wife and best friend, Anna was dying of cancer earlier. At the outset of this week’s episode he gets an urgent message from Stephanie in California to call back immediately. In typical Don fashion he puts off the call and avoids his feelings all day long, allowing the tension to build as he and Peggy confront each other over work-related issues.

But following the explosion between them something somewhat beautiful happens. Don realizes that Peggy missing her birthday and breaking up with her boyfriend because of it is actually pretty shitty, so he takes her out for a meal and drink where the two of them start to open up to each other. I was reminded of earlier in the season when Don took Lane out and they both were able to ease some of their pains but this time instead of hookers, they deal with a drunk Duck Phillips (Mark Moses) sneaking into the office in his continued pursuit of Peggy…and to poop on Don’s chair.

Things almost turn to serious fisticuffs between the two drunkards but Peggy is able to get Duck to leave without any blood shed. And this is where things get really fantastic. Don asks Peggy to make him another drink so he can make the phone call he’s been avoiding but before doing that he curls up on the couch and sleeps with his head in Peggy’s lap while dreaming of Anna. At the earliest break of dawn he wakes and calls Stephanie in California who confirms that Anna has indeed passed away, which we see completely destroys Don. He begins sobbing uncontrollably thinking that Peggy is still asleep on the couch, but she is wide awake and swoops in to comfort him in a moment that can only be described as heart-breaking. This was a phenomenal episode for both Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss who I don’t think could be feasibly any better together on screen.

A little while later after Don has had the chance to pull himself together a bit we think he is all business as he and Peggy resume discussing the Samsonite project but for a moment he grasps her hand tightly as if he’s saying thank you for being there for him. The moment was truly stunning to behold and I don’t think I’ll be able to shake it for quite some time. I wouldn’t dare guess where Peggy and Don go from here but I, for one, cannot wait to find out.

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Season 4, Episode 7: The Suitcase (originally aired September 5, 2010)

Sundays at 10PM/9C, AMC

Photographs courtesy of AMC and imdbpro.