Apologies for missing the big premiere of Mad Men last week, but I was out of the country. Can I say, though, what a shame it is that Don is back to his usual philandering? In this week’s episode, “The Collaborators,” he continued his affair with his neighbor’s wife, unaware that Megan was suffering through a miscarriage while he was playing around.
Poor Megan. All she’s ever done is be a good wife, a good stepmother, and her only “crime” was to have ambitions for herself beyond those two labels, but Don’s affair really has nothing to do with her. As the flashbacks to his teen years growing up at a brothel prove, his ideas about women and sex and marriage have been doomed from the start. He really never stood a chance there, but instead of trying to be a better man for his second (technically third) wife, he fell back into his old patterns. Wanting what everyone else wants isn’t good enough for Don; he is a man so accustomed to keeping secrets that when he doesn’t have any, he seeks them out, this time in the form of yet another affair that will probably destroy everything he is taking for granted.
On the other end of the philandering spectrum is Pete, who can’t stop himself from sleeping around with the women of the neighborhood, but doesn’t have the finesse of Don Draper that is necessary to keep his wife blissfully ignorant. When one of his dalliances ended up on his doorstep, bloody and beaten by her husband after presumably telling him about the affair, Pete was utterly disgusted, not with himself, but with the woman who stupidly fell for him.
I was so glad that Trudy saw exactly what was happening, yet directed her anger not at the other woman, but at the man who cheated on her the night before their wedding and never really stopped. Done with standing by her man, Trudy demanded a divorce and wouldn’t let Pete shame her into changing her mind. You go, girl!
It’s so rare that they use the gem that is Joan these days, so it was nice to see her this week, back in form, cutting down the icky Jaguar dealer who she slept with for the sake of the company last season. I also loved seeing Don fight for her by effectively talking the dealer’s superiors into poo-pooing his stupid ideas about the ad campaign. It was a tiny revenge for how the man treated Joan, but very important. Don can’t treat his wives like human beings, but he has a soft spot for Joan, perhaps because she never made the mistake of sleeping with him.
Peggy might have to choose between her new boss and her old after she (stupidly) told her new boss a funny story about the Hein baked beans rep versus the Hein ketchup rep that was told to her by one of the SCDP guys. New boss wants to use the inside info to steal Hein away; Peggy wasn’t down with that, proving she still has some loyalty to Don. I’m just glad that Peggy is still around, and that her stories are still somewhat relative to the overall plot.
Men. They didn’t do much to prove themselves worthy this week. What did you think about the episode? Let me know below. And remember you can always follow me on Twitter @krieli1 so you never miss a review.
Mad Men Season 6 Review “The Collaborators” – Bad Boys, Bad Boys
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