Skip to main content

Easter Eggs and Cocktails: Three Sundays on "Mad Men"

I've rarely ever wanted to reach into my television set and slap a character as much as I did watching last night's episode of Mad Men ("Three Sundays").

While I understand the jealousy that is clearly seething under the surface, I felt that the actions of Anita (Audrey Wasilewski), Peggy's sister, were completely unforgivable and selfish. Is Peggy living in a deluded dream world where there don't appear to be consequences to her actions (namely having a child out of wedlock)? Sure, but that doesn't give Anita the right to rat her out to the new young priest, Father Gill (Colin Hanks) who seems to be taking a shine to Peggy... and may have been the only person who could have gotten her to rejoin the church, something that both Anita and her mother Katherine (Myra Turley) seem to want.

Anita's betrayal of Peggy, couched as it was in the terms of the confession, was all the more calculated and cruel; she wanted to take something of value from Peggy and to punish her. The look of shock and horror on Peggy's sad little face as she took the blue Easter egg from Father Gill ("for the little one") was absolutely heartbreaking, all the more for the fact that the episode ended right there and then.

"Three Sundays" also hiked up the tension between Don and Betty as Betty needles her husband about his lack of discipline when it comes to their children. While their confrontation quickly turns ugly--with Don smashing his son's toy robot and then shoving Betty (after she pushed him)--he does finally reveal some small detail of his past to his wife, telling her that his father beat him senselessly as a child.

This, and the touching scene of Don holding his son Bobby (how adorable and naive was his "we'll have to get you a new Daddy"?), gave Don Draper a much needed softening after his Tony Soprano-like behavior in last week's episode and made Betty's line about Don being the man he is because of his father's corporal punishment all the more ironic: Don is the man he is today in spite of those beatings, not because of them.

I do wish there would have been some fallout from Little Sally drinking at the office (she can sure make a mean cocktail), but that doesn't seem to be Don's style. Still, I love how outraged Betty is about Bobby's constant lying but she won't ever confront her husband about his own falsehoods. But that's what I love best about Betty, that she seems to be a woman filled to the brim with paradox. She tells her psychiatrist that one of the things she loves best about Don is how good he is with the kids and how he never lays a hand on them... but in this week's episode, it's that very restraint that is driving her mad. Still, it's that paradox that fuels her own sublimated rage, at being trapped in the house with the kids all day, at Don not disciplining their children, at her lost potential. Never before has the gilded cages of the 1960s housewife seemed all the more gleaming or fraught with peril.

As for Roger, he truly is in everything for the chase, whether that's business (as evidenced with his casual reaction to losing American Airlines as a client before they've even landed them) or with women (see his fascination with prostitute Vicky). And yet Don does seem to be different. For him it's not necessarily about the chase but about the prize at the end of it. Roger seems to be tumbling further and further down the rabbit hole; other women are one thing in the world of Mad Men, but now he's sleeping with hookers and taking them to Lutece? Could it be a midlife crisis--stirred up all the more by his daughter preparing to marry--that's sending him into a tailspin?

Next week on Mad Men ("The New Girl"), Joan finds a perfect secretary for Don but then reprimands her for her, uh, "decolletage"; Don finds himself trapped between comedian Jimmy and his wife Bobbie.

Comments

Another fantastic episode. Colin Hanks was wonderful in the role of Father Gill. I hope they keep him around for awhile!
Anonymous said…
I pretty much wanted to slap Anita as well, but unforgivable? I don't know. I think that the beauty of Matt Weiner's prose is that he makes even the most unsympathetic characters/moments somewhat forgivable. Even though it definitely wasn't very Catholic of her, I could definitely see what drove her to do what she did. It's beyond jealousy. Even if Peggy is living in a dream world, Anita's point is that everyone else (mama included) seems to let her off the hook for everything. She glides in, plays the dutiful daughter, and glides out. She doesn't have to deal with all the day to day crap. I can see how that would build and build in Audrey (remember it's been a year and a half since the baby), and then here comes this new priest who seems equally blinded by Peggy, and....

Popular posts from this blog

Katie Lee Packs Her Knives: Breaking News from Bravo's "Top Chef"

The android has left the building. Or the test kitchen, anyway. Top Chef 's robotic host Katie Lee Joel, the veritable "Uptown Girl" herself (pictured at left), will NOT be sticking around for a second course of Bravo's hit culinary competition. According to a well-placed insider, Joel will "not be returning" to the show. No reason for her departure was cited. Unfortunately, the perfect replacement for Joel, Top Chef judge and professional chef Tom Colicchio, will not be taking over as the reality series' host (damn!). Instead, the show's producers are currently scouring to find a replacement for Joel. Top Chef 's second season was announced by Bravo last month, but no return date has been set for the series' ten-episode sophomore season. Stay tuned as this story develops. UPDATE (6/27): Bravo has now confirmed the above story .

BuzzFeed: Meet The TV Successor To "Serial"

HBO's stranger-than-fiction true crime documentary The Jinx   — about real estate heir Robert Durst — brings the chills and thrills missing since Serial   wrapped up its first season. Serial   obsessives: HBO's latest documentary series is exactly what you've been waiting for.   The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst , like Sarah Koenig's beloved podcast, sifts through old documents, finds new leads from fresh interviews, and seeks to determine just what happened on a fateful day in which the most foul murder was committed. And, also like  Serial  before it,  The Jinx may also hold no ultimate answer to innocence or guilt. But that seems almost beside the point; such investigations often remain murky and unclear, and guilt is not so easy a thing to be judged. Instead, this upcoming six-part tantalizing murder mystery, from director Andrew Jarecki ( Capturing the Friedmans ), is a gripping true crime story that unfolds with all of the speed of a page-turner; it

BuzzFeed: "The Good Wife Is The Best Show On Television Right Now"

The CBS legal drama, now in its sixth season, continually shakes up its narrative foundations and proves itself fearless in the process. Spoilers ahead, if you’re not up to date on the show. At BuzzFeed, you can read my latest feature, " The Good Wife Is The Best Show On Television Right Now," in which I praise CBS' The Good Wife and, well, hail it as the best show currently on television. (Yes, you read that right.) There is no need to be delicate here: If you’re not watching The Good Wife, you are missing out on the best show on television. I won’t qualify that statement in the least — I’m not talking about the best show currently airing on broadcast television or outside of cable or on premium or however you want to sandbox this remarkable show. No, the legal drama is the best thing currently airing on any channel on television. That The Good Wife is this perfect in its sixth season is reason to truly celebrate. Few shows embrace complexity and risk-taking in t