Mad Men, Season 5, Episode 4: "Mystery Date"

Go Joan! Goodbye Greg! Not only did Joan finally kick Greg to the curb, but she did it in an extremely satisfying manner, airing the grievances of seasons past: his never consulting her on important decisions that affect both of their lives (like his joining the army in the first place, and now deciding to return for another tour), and most importantly, his raping Joan on the floor of Don’s office. “You’re not a good man. You never were, even before we were married. And you know what I’m talking about.” This line had me applauding my television. Greg has always been a selfish, oblivious fool, and he demonstrates it in spades in this episode. After breaking the news about his imminent return to Vietnam, he tells Joan, “I need to store up as much of you as possible,” totally oblivious to Joan’s needs and feelings. Later, at the restaurant, Greg explains his volunteering to go back with one sentence: “They need me.” As in the previous scene, Joan’s reaction shot speaks volumes: what about her needs? However, the show did a good job of selling his desire to return to Vietnam; unlike his career in America, he is actually an important person in Vietnam. We see it in the restaurant in his brief exchange with the enlisted man, and again when Greg and Joan have their final argument later in the episode. Nevertheless, it was wonderfully satisfying to see Joan finally decide to stop deceiving herself about Greg, and to finally apply the strength and severity of her office persona to her home life. Good for her for realizing she doesn’t need this rapist and his perpetual letdowns; I hope the writers have someone more worthy of her in the cards.

I liked the tension that resulted from Don and Megan running into one of Don’s former affairs in the elevator. Don’s infidelity with Betty is yet another interesting wrinkle in his relationship with Megan; his openness with Megan and her knowing about his affairs has got to weigh at least somewhat heavily on their relationship. We see in their scene in the office kitchen that he blames his behavior on his unhappiness with Betty (much like Betty blamed her unhappiness on Don), but in the back of Megan’s mind (or the front of it) must lurk a weariness over the possibility Don could fall back into old habits. At the very least, Don’s affairs, and his attribution of their cause, puts added pressure on both of them to make things work, lest Don become unhappy and indulge his wandering eye. Don’s murderous fever dream speaks to these concerns, at least as far as Don is concerned – he feels so guilty about his former behavior he literally wants to kill his past. His assurance to Megan not to worry about him rang somewhat hollowly though, in light of his succumbing to Andrea in the dream. Thankfully though, the writers decided not to turn Mad Men into season 2 of Friday Night Lights by making Don a murderer, although it was kind of clear it was a dream all along – the one moment I was doubtful was when Don gave in to Andrea’s advances. Perhaps I’m underestimating the appeal of Jon Hamm, but who would want to sleep with a feverish, disgusting Don?

Sally again reaches out to Don to come save her from unhappiness at Betty’s “haunted mansion,” (as Don calls it), this time stemming from Henry’s mother, who seems better than Betty, but who is also both excessively strict and exasperatingly ignorant (as seen in her revealing the cover of the paper after trying to hide its contents from Sally, and feeding Sally sleeping pills). Nevertheless, I do like Sally and Don’s repartee here – it’s no wonder she still reaches out to him. He’s her dad, but also seems to be the only adult who treats her like a person.

I have a feeling Alan Sepinwall might be right about Michael Ginsberg being a threat to Peggy’s role as Don’s number two at SCDP. Even though Michael seriously angered Don by elaborating on another possible direction with the nylon ad campaign after already selling the clients on the first pitch, both of the wunderkind’s pitches were the most inspired ad talk the show has had in a few seasons. It blew Peggy’s Heinz pitch out of the water, and is even better than anything we’ve seen from Don in a while. His affected accent and his dress are still obnoxious, but his talent is certainly a sympathetic trait. I have a feeling Don will warm to him, challenging Peggy to step up her game.

Speaking of Peggy, the end of the scene between her and Dawn was incredibly squirm-inducing. Ugh. With once lingering glance at her purse, the smile drained from Dawn’s face, the walls between them went up again, and Peggy brought much shame upon herself. I doubt this is the only story we get about race this season, but I like that so far Matt Weiner and company are working these issues into small stories about the characters.

Finally, there are some nice stylistic touches when Peggy hears a bump in the night at SCDP. The characters’ discussion of the Chicago rape/murders throughout the episode primed us for the characters to fear things that go bump in the night, and the low key lighting, quite sound design, and especially the close-up of the Peggy’s hand has she turns the door handle to Don’s office were a nice departure from the Mad Men house style, and a nifty evocation of slasher films.