A few weeks ago, I disagreed with TOC Comedy editor Steve Heisler when he said that episode four (“Three Sundays”) didn’t have a lot of oomph. I thought it did what Mad Men does best: lay out small details that act as bread crumbs for major developments in future episodes. Last night’s ep felt the same way to me: Familiar notes, but different verses, of the same song. Spoilers and more after the jump.
This week’s episode was called “The Gold Violin,” named for the story Cosgrove published in Atlantic Monthly that Salvatore calls “beautiful and sad.” Worth noting then that every beautiful setting (Sal and Kitty’s well-appointed apartment, The Drapers night out with Betty’s decorous earrings, Cooper’s painting during his meeting with Harry Crane) covered up some underlying sadness.
Other than Jimmy Barrett’s bean-spilling at the end, the revelation that Dick Whitman didn’t just suddenly become the steely-eyed, largely unflappable “Don Draper” we know was my favorite moment. From his struggle to get the upper hand to the “please like me!’ puppy-dog enthusiasm in his eyes during the flashback, we got yet another peek behind the curtain.
The painting-raid on Cooper’s office had just a whiff of sitcom-hokum. The tone was different, of course, and I’m willing to give it a pass since it led to–hoo-boy!–that who-blinks-first showdown between Joan and Jane. I figured Peggy for Joan’s foil this season, but perhaps Jane is stepping into that role (One question I’ve always had: Was Joan ever Draper’s "girl?" It’s always said to be the best/toughest desk, and would seem to be a stepping stone to Joan’s current position and would explain Joan’s anger of how quickly Peggy ascended.)
While Sal’s internal struggle with his sexuality could have come off as “we get it already,” I liked the way they upped the tension by bringing it both into the office and his home (his genuine remorse toward Kitty and using Ken’s lighter again were deft touches). Same thing with Draper: His dalliances could potentially blow up at work as well as at home. The next time I have need of an insult, I’m pulling out "You’re garbage."
Jimmy’s mano-a-mano with Draper also shows off another of Mad Men’s gifts: Deftly shifting the power dynamic between a supposedly weaker character and a stronger one. If the preview of next week’s episode is any indication, the same thing happens with Betty. (I’m also waiting for Kinsey’s big moment with Joan, and–to pick up on a comment from Becca last week–Pete’s with Don.)
Lastly, am I the only one who’s annoyed whenever Smitty and Kurt show up? My eyes were rolling so hard when they were talking about their “generation,” I scraped them on the ceiling. Then again, at this point in my life, I’m probably more Draper than Smitty. Still, if one of the themes of this season is the tension between young and old, these guys are straw men of the worst order. And are the Drapers the worst parents ever? Chauncey got treated better last week than Sally did in this episode. (Also: devil-may-care-littering!)
I also think that the theme of the gold violin (is that an actual, real story somewhere, it just seems so familiar - then again it could just be the golden fiddle from the Charlie Daniel’s Band I’m thinking of) was the best metaphor yet for all of these characters - beautiful but kind of useless and empty. Look at Don and Sal in this episode.
Don is at the top of his professional game, has a beautiful wife and kids, the admiration of his son & daghter (scarily acted by such a youngster in both the scenes at the country club as well as when she watched her dad shave), etc. - perfect on the outside, but deeply screwed up on the inside. Another scene that I thought was beautifully paralleled was when the Drapers were putting things in their car and leaving the garbage on the field where they picnicked (sp?) and then Jimmy calling Don “garbage”. Weiner, you are awesome!
Also, more obviously a metaphor for the gold violin, we see Sal. Successful, married to a cute, young, eager-to-please, girl “from the neighborhood” also very successful at work, but he’s not leading the life he wants. Heck, he went after Cosgrove who by all accounts so far is straight despite the fact that the Belle Jolie lipstick guy made an advance for him last season!
As far as Joan and Kinsey, we caught a little something about them last season. When he was drunk he asked her, “Why didn’t it work between us?” to which she responded, “Because you have a big mouth.” I’m not enjoying the power struggle between Joan and Jane as much as I thought I would. Maybe because they haven’t developed Jane beyond a naive bombshell. It’s going to be interesting to see how that goes. Roger never spoke with Joan. Is he just playing one against the other to see where that gets HIM? That *would* be classic Roger!
The paiting curiosity thing, I don’t know, I think that led us to see more about Cooper. Everyone thought there was an ulterior, philosophic or artistic motive for his purchase. We then find out it’s only there because it will double in value. Cooper just looks for the financial gain (quite reminscent of the whole Pete ratting Don out to Cooper last season). That’s probably how he’s stayed on top. I have to say, I really like the Cooper always more or less knows what’s going on in his office without *really* knowing (e.g., he figured out what was going on between Don and Rachel).
And to the writer - no, you’re not the only one annoyed whenever those smartass kids show up. I hated those kids while I was IN college and I hate them now that I’m a few years out.
And apparently garbage gets left on the side of the road. So…foreshadowing?
I still feel like we’re going to see more of the Joan/Kinsey stuff that got set up on Election Night. And I think this was the first setup of a Joan/Jane struggle. Def. the first time we see Jane make a bold stand against Joan. And yet, when Joan told her to put on a sweater, look at the kind of sweater she put on: Definitely a “Joan” sweater rather than a “Peggy” sweater. And it’s interesting how Joan tells Peggy to start “dressing like a woman” but admonishes Jane (last ep) for tarting it up.
Did you notice how Cooper told Harry he was only there cos he’s good with numbers? As if Harry is a by-the-numbers kind of guy? I think Harry aspires to be more like the creative guys but knows he’s strictly a numbers man. And those guys are stuck in the side offices.
Picking up on Scott’s comment on the interaction between Harry and Cooper — that connection between the two when Cooper reveals his motivation is so great. To me, it foreshadows big things for Harry in Sterling Cooper: Cooper may not really “get” Rothko — or TV, but he recognizes the monetary value in both. And recognizes that Harry saw the future in TV, too.