Mad Men Watch: Waldorf Stories

It’s no coincidence that as Matthew Weiner and his talented cast took home their third consecutive Emmy Award for best drama series, his fictional advertisers took home an award of their own. The much-talked about Glo-Coat ad, the one that seemed to give Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce a sliver of notoriety, earned them a CLIO Award, and an opportunity to legitimately capitalize on their success. A great thing, for most, but this is Mad Men after all, and no victory comes without a dark companion, this week in the form of days-long bender on the part of Don Draper.

Peggy and Don interview a potential new hire, a favor for Roger’s child bride, Jane. As the two pour over his “portfolio” they notice a trend. Not only does it contain many ads that aren’t his, but it’s void of originality, save for repeat of the same idea, a pun on the idiom “cure for the common…” They send him on his way, but not before Don has a little fun with him, edging him to unknowingly push Mrs. Blankenship’s buttons. (As an aside- I know her character is gimmicky, but that doesn’t keep me from chuckling every time she spouts off one of her unintentional quips).

While relaying the ineptitude of this nepotistic encounter to Roger, we get a long overdo glimpse into how their working relationship came to be. Though Don remains judgmental toward the lackluster candidate, it appears that he was once in the same shoes- a fur salesman taking every opportunity to convince Roger to hire him, despite lack of experience and sub-par creative ability.

After their pitch meeting for Life cereal is derailed due to weather, the gang began their pre-game celebration in anticipation for the CLIO’s. Pete runs into Ken, who he begrudgingly brings onboard at SCDP, at the insistence of Lane. Sterling’s insignificant, and Pete can’t be expected to carry all accounts, so Cosgrove is the right choice, in his eyes. As the show goes on, it’s apparent that SCDP aren’t the only ones imbibing, as we get a glimpse of a character whose season 4 fate was as of yet unknown- Duck Phillips. I’ll spare you the details- it involves drinking, and lots of it. As their category comes up, Roger secretly clutches Joan’s hand under the table, while usually stoic Don grabs the other. If this isn’t a metaphor for Joan’s place as the anchor of the agency, and of these men’s lives overall, I don’t know what is.

After a brief moment of post-victory celebration, they’re all called back to the office to deal with the Life cereal gang, who braved the elements and arrive in time for their pitch. While Pete’s ready to reschedule, due to the “lubricated” state of all involved, an inebriated and cocky Don is anxious to ride his victory wave and conduct the meeting. He sets up the pitch, and then cuts off poor Joey, who seems eager to step out of the shadows, and is thankfully donning something other than his usual sweater vest. Don stumbles through their existing art with disheveled hair, before plopping down into a chair, so confident in his work that he’s a half-step away from waving his hands and shouting “ta-da!” after his conclusion. The folks aren’t convinced, and Don isn’t content to let it go, rattling on bad slogan after bad slogan-- “Enjoy the rest of your Life. Cereal!” before ultimately stealing the idea of his earlier interview—“Life. The cure for the common cereal.” The clients are thrilled, ready to seal the deal. Peggy’s not convinced, worried that Don’s drinking has led him to forget that he’s borrowed this bad idea from the young pup they both mocked earlier.

As much as season 4 has centered on Don’s drunken decline, it’s also focused heavily on the evolution of the spry and sassy Peggy Olsen of the mid 1960’s, and this week we saw Peggy at her manipulative and inventive best. She’s now stuck working with Stan- a pig and political “visionary” who thinks she’s boring, bland, and sexless. The two are less-than-productive on creative for Vick’s, so before heading off to continue his celebration, drunken Don demands that the two spend a weekend holed up together in a hotel, to get the work done. Stan sits on the bed perusing Playboy, and claiming that it's nudity that really inspires him. Taking this as inspiration on how to regain the upper hand, she strips, at first to her skivvies, before baring it all. He remains dumbfounded, gets mildly aroused, and stares at her, never able to really get the job done- no pun intended.

Celebrating too hard the victory of his Glo-Coat ad, Don continues his downward spiral, this time drinking and sleeping for days with no recollection of the previous nights’ events. He forgets to pick up the children and in a clever shot on the part of the director- takes home two different women in a fog of booze and poor judgment. If not for the name tag on the crumpled uniform of that poor waitress, Don would most likely have a less-than-fleeting chance at remembering the name of his romp partner.

Ultimately, Peggy interrupts Don’s regretful darkened solitude, and confronts him with the fact that he’s stolen the idea, and in turn forcing him to notice the consequences of his alcoholism. He remembers nothing, not changing the slogan, not demanding the hotel room, not even where he left his coveted award. He returns to the office with his tail between his legs, prepared to offer a small fee for stealing the work, and is ultimately talked into giving the kid a job- mirroring very closely the swindling manner in which he ascertained his own job from Roger- the right place, the right time, and a good amount of alcohol. Sometimes, things just work out that way.

What did you think? Is Don’s drinking going to get the best of him? I’m sensing some sort of intervention in the future. Are Pete and Ken going to be able to work well together, or will Ken fail to take Pete seriously as a boss figure? Will we see more of Duck? And finally, will Peggy and her new coworker become more than just coworkers? I know he’s a pig, but I sensed a little something between them.