Mad Men – What the client wants, the client gets

Mad Men continued its fourth season this week, and we got a look at just how much the fledgling agency of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce needs every one of its clients. Well, maybe not every one, but with Lucky Strike floating the entire company, it was no surprise that Roger was willing to do just about anything to keep Lee happy. He may have told Joan that she was off limits to Lee, but I think if it came down to it, he would have gladly handed her over. Though, as we saw last season, the chances of that happening were probably not so great. It was fun watching Roger get put through the ringer and even humiliated a bit as Lee forced him into the Santa outfit.

This week’s episode featured the return of a couple of familiar faces aside from Lee. I love when a series revisits old characters that you thought were gone for good. I never would have guessed that we would have seen Glen or Freddy Rumsen, but then they both popped up in the same episode. I think it speaks to the wide cast of characters that the show has created over the years. Much like real life, people tend to come and go, and return to your life when you don’t expect it.

Freddy is a likable guy and it was  fun to see him and Peggy working together again. It also served as a great reminder of how far Peggy has come professionally. Freddy tried to fall back into their normal relationship, but Peggy has advanced far beyond the secretary-turned-copy-writer that she was before Rumsen got fired from Sterling Cooper.

I love the writing on this show. Whenever people claim they don’t get the fuss over Mad Men I can only shake my head. How can you not love the way Peggy took the jab that her boyfriend took at her (“You are so old fashioned”) and threw it right back onto Freddy? It’s so true to life for someone to take a hurt and try to redirect it somewhere else. Here, Peggy even used the exact phrasing. I’m concerned for Peggy, though. She really is following in Don’s footsteps, beginning a serious relationship with a series of lies. Can’t she see where Don has ended up?

Don is getting more pathetic by the week, and people are starting to notice. I can’t say that I’m too broken up about it. I’m actually enjoying seeing him on hard times. Let’s face it, he’s not a very good man. Sure, he would like to think so, and I think he would like to actually be a good man, but his behavior through three seasons has proven that he is not. Yet women continue to throw themselves at him. Should we start a pool now? How many episodes before he’s in bed with the nurse down the hall?

It seems like Don may be headed toward a drinking problem. In this episode we saw him stumble home to his apartment drunk twice. As if that weren’t enough, Roger of all people commented on his early office drinking. Add the juxtaposition of the return of Freddy, a former drunk now clean and sober, and I’m wondering. Is Don going to have an issue with alcohol abuse?

What do you think about the fourth season of Mad Men so far?

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Aug 02, 2010 @ 19:21 EST5EDT