TV and radio blogMad MenMad Men, series two, episode 12: The Mountain King
Our episode by episode reviews of Mad Men's second season continue, with revelations about Don's past and a nasty shock for JoanSpoiler warning: Don't read on if you haven't seen any of the first series of Mad Men, or the first 11 episodes of series two. Watch The Mountain King on iPlayer.
Welcome to the penultimate instalment of NFTBR. Last night we learned about how Don's been getting away with it for the last decade. We also saw Pete's professional life take a hit from his personal life and discovered that Joan's dishy boyfriend has an ugly dark side. All in a week's work for the Bafta winner.
"So, there'll be another Mrs Draper"
As many of you guessed last week, the person who Don, as Dick Whitman, rang at the end of last week's episode was Anna Draper. The real Don Draper's widow. Spotters' badges to those of you who sussed that she was the recipient of Meditations In An Emergency too.
What was more surprising was that as well as giving Don tacit approval to "be" Don, she'd become his one link to his real past. We saw from his interactions with her, both in the 1962 present and in flashbacks, that around Anna he could literally be himself: admitting his mistakes to her, telling her things he's never told Betty. We learned that, in return for subsidising her career as a piano teacher/cutlery-windchime-maker on the Californian coast, Anna was quite happy for Dick Whitman to assume her deceased husband's identity. Even being so generous as to grant him a divorce as a Christmas present.
The juxtaposition between Dick and Don was made clear enough by Draper's clothes. He arrived in his trademark grey suit, but, for the second time in a few episodes, Don was handed a bag of new clothes by a woman who wasn't his wife. The last time Jane gave him a top-up to his Don uniform – new clothes from Menken's. This time Anna went to The Broadway to get Don some casual slacks – the kind of clothes you might wear while admiring a '34 sedan and thinking of the easy life in the west. You can't help but feel he'd be happier just sacking it all off and moving here with Anna. He still doesn't know who he's supposed to be: "I have been watching my life. It's right there. I've been scratching at it trying to get into it, but I can't." (See the Peer Gynt comparisons below.)
Beside Don's continuing adventures in the sunshine state, last night saw developments for many of the Sterling Cooper family: Roger and Bert approved the sale of the company to PPL; Kinsey returned from the south having been dumped by Sheila three days in (she did well to last that long); Betty's weird vicarious puppeteering with Sara-Beth and Arthur took an odd turn as she turned from confidante to moraliser and Pete's sword of Damacles finally dropped – he still won't adopt and thus his father-in-law pulled his lucrative Clearasil account. His throwing the turkey out of the window was wonderfully, quintessentially Campbell. I did like that he let the account go rather than be bullied.
I'll leave you to discuss the various plotlines spread-eagling from all those twists. But, before we go, let's have a look at the two women who define the gender divide at Sterling Cooper: Joan and Peggy.
"Why don't you just put on Draper's pants while you're at it?"
Peggy, as always, was a bit of a star in this episode. Leading the Virgin Mary-styled Popsicle campaign with Draperesque aplomb, bagging Freddie's plum office and swaggering about drinking and smoking. Her contrast to Joan was, more than ever, stark. From the start of the show the two have been – though de facto allies – established as opposites, representatives of different sensibilities. They're envious of each other too. Peggy of Joan's confidence and her charming (we thought) fiance; Joan of Peggy's careerist bent and freedom – though she does seem quite proud of Peggy's ascent.
Joan must be envious of Peggy for slightly darker reasons too. Peg's not the one stuck with Dr Greg, whose Mr Hyde side emerged last night. After we'd seen him rebuff Joan's advances in their shared bed – he chose a quiet moment in Don's office to rape a shocked Joan. This removal from the perfect life Joan had led herself to believe in was certainly the most shocking moment in Mad Men so far – Christina Hendricks's resigned look to the drinks cabinet utterly chilling as the camera panned away.
The writing hinted at the fact that Greg has some serious issues with Joan's sexual past – he admitted to feeling inexperienced while they were in bed and sniffed at Roger's familiarity with Joan. This sexual loathing seemed to out itself in that compulsive sexual assault. Marital rape wasn't a crime at this point – but they aren't married yet. Even so there'll be no repercussions for Greg, you fear. Where on earth does Joan go from here?
"The Catholic church knows how to sell things"
Finally Christianity oozed throughout last night's episode. Sal kicked off the theme by mentioning his mother sharing out Popsicles like a priest breaking bread, Peggy ran with it, developing the Virgin Mary as dispenser of ice snacks ad image ("The mom looks familiar," mused Mr Popsicle), and Matt Weiner finished it off with the final scene of Don baptising himself in the Pacific over the music of George Jones's country hymnal The Cup of Loneliness. The producers were – on purpose, I think – a little less subtle than usual: the ritual element of communion being used as a marketing tool seems fairly self-explanatory. But Don's baptism? Was it a nod to his own transformation from Dick to Don. Or the reverse? A spiritual resurrection and the end of "Don" as we know him?
Notes:
Bert Cooper's sister is called Alice. Alice Cooper. I hope we hear from her, especially with lines such as: "You have your children to think of" to Roger.
And then Roger to Alice: "I'm sorry I don't know whose eyes to look at."
Is Bert really ill? Or just old?
What was funnier? Sally smoking? Or Bobby's Droopy mask?
Why was Betty bleeding? If it was menstrual blood surely it would be too much of a red herring to be remarked upon? Is she pregnant, as many of you speculated?
Don was fixing a chair for Anna. Note his willingness to do this compared with his reluctance to fix things for Betty.
Is Puttnam a nod to David Puttnam? "The British are coming," etc.
Pete: "How the hell did you swing that?
Peggy: "I'm sleeping with Don. It's really working out."
Culture watch:
The tune Anna is teaching when Don arrives is, her pupil explains, Grieg's In The Hall of the Mountain King from the Peer Gynt Suites, hence the episode's title. The comparisons with Ibsen's character run as deep as you'd expect from such a textured show – especially the scenes with Don and Anna discussing how he is, ie what it is to be oneself. The bloggers at AMC picked up the theme here and here. What are your thoughts?
The original The Day The Earth Stood Still was on telly. Guess which sharp-suited TV actor starred in the 2008 remake?
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJulocG2vsRoq6%2BZnpm%2ForDIqJmlp5dkf3F8mGiYqapfZ4ZwucCdZKadnmK6sMHNrZiipl2gtq%2Bz