By Joe Osborne
Simply put, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is screwed, and it’s all that bastard Dick Whitman’s fault. Don Draper’s life almost came crashing down, but was saved for the cost of a major client, and no one knows about it except for Pete. To add more fuel to the fire, the agency is 30 days away from losing it’s top client, cigarette company Lucky Strike, and no one knows about it except for Roger. The agency has definitely seen better times.
"My name is Don Draper. Actually, it's Dick Whitman. Aw, nevermind."
It’s rare in this show when we get to see Don scared, as he pretty much crumbled and was ready to give it all up when he realized he might be exposed as a fraud by the FBI, after unknowingly applying for a security clearance with potential client American Aviation. The usual calm and cool Draper panicked to the point that he thought he was having a heart attack. He all but begged Pete to get him out of trouble, thus giving Pete a ridiculous amount of leverage that he will be able to use in the future. What’s so bad about being Dick Whitman anyways? Obviously it would be tough to ‘come out of the closet’ to announce that he isn’t exactly who he said he was , but isn’t that better than living a lie? I was surprised to see Pete fall on his sword for Don and take the blame for loosing a major client. Loyalty isn’t exactly one of Pete’s top character traits, but like I said, he’ll probably use this and the information he has to his advantage somewhere down the line.
Meanwhile, Rodger was busy loosing the agency’s top client and arranging an abortion for Joan, whom he cheated on his wife with. I guess it’s all in a days work in the world of advertising. When they moved to the new agency, Lucky Strike kept them afloat, but can they survive without them? The great thing about the situation is that Roger’s the only one that knows they’re leaving, so it’ll be interesting to see what type of strategy he uses to either convince them not to leave, or maybe he’ll wrangle in another big client to save the day. Something tells me he’s going to need a little bit of help with this one. If that wasn’t enough, Roger also had to deal with a ‘mistake’ he made with Joan. The moral of this story – If you’re married and you have sex with someone who’s also married, you will get the woman pregnant, she will have to get an abortion, and you will have to live with the shame and guilt. Yet another valuable lesson that I’ve learned from watching this show.
The episode also delved into Lane’s relationship with his father and his new love life. While he gains some serious points for getting his hooks into what he calls ‘a chocolate bunny’, he lost all credibility when his father makes him look like a serious bitch by practically knocking him out with a blow from his cane to the skull. Lane puts up a tough front, but he seems to let other people dictate his life. His former employers in England did if for years, and it’s pretty obvious his father does too.
The events in this episode laid out the blueprint for how season three will conclude. How will Don handle the latest conflict with his former self, what’s the status of Roger and Joan’s relationship and how will the agency deal with the loss of its premier client? With a few episodes left to go, all these questions should be answered as Mad Men continues to be one of the top shows on TV.
Joe Osborne is a sports and entertainment enthusiast who resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia. To read more stories like this, visit WhatUpSports.wordpress.com, or you can e-mail Joe at osbornejt@hotmail.com.
