Mad Men – Recap and Review – Wee Small Hours

photo: amc

Mad Men
Wee Small Hours

Original Air Date: Oct 11, 2009

Brittany D. – Staff Writer
brittany@thetwocentscorp.com

Previously: Don promoted Sal to a commercial director, Connie Hilton is going to change Don’s life, and Betty has the hots for Henry, who works for the governor. Also, she had a baby but the only thing he’s good for is crying off screen.

Sal is directing a Lucky Strike commercial, and Lee Garner Jr. tries to keep getting involved, finally telling him to change what the actor is doing. Funnily, Pete tries smoking and hacks for a good two minutes in the background. While Sal is with Jr. in the editing room going over the commercial, Jr. puts the moves on Sal, but Sal says he’s married and that there’s been a misunderstanding. Jr. says “I know what I know”, but otherwise leaves. Later he calls Harry and tells him to fire Sal, but Harry never does and two days later just before a meeting, Jr. walks into the meeting room where Silver Fox, Harry, and Sal are waiting, then walks right back out when he sees Sal. Harry fesses up to his phone call with Jr., Silver Fox fires Sal on the spot and tells Harry to advise Don to fix everything. Alone with Don, Sal is forced to tell the truth about what happened, which earns the response ‘You people’ from Don as if Sal actually did anything wrong. Sal is still fired though, but calls his wife from a pay phone and pretends he’s still at work so that she won’t know the truth.

Betty has a dream that she’s gettin’ busy on the fainting chair, and it seems like she’s ready to get hot and heavy with Henry. She sends him a letter asking him if anyone else reads the mail, and he responds no, not anymore, and then she decides to report to him about the kids, and life, and how she thinks about him. He shows up at her house one day, and the sexual tension is nice and high when Carla arrives. He leaves, and later in front of Carla and Don, Betty says that Henry stopped by to talk about having a fundraiser for Governor Rockefeller. She even goes one step further by calling Henry to confirm a date. The night of the fundraiser, Henry sends a girl on his behalf to speak, so the next day Betty storms his office and throws the money box at him. He rationalizes to her that she had to come to him because she’s married, and then they kiss. However, Betty tells him that she can’t do this because it’s tawdry. Later, she’s talking to Carla about the death of the little girls in Birmingham, and says that maybe it’s a sign that Civil Rights is trying to happen when it shouldn’t be just yet.

Meanwhile, Connie has taken to calling Don at all hours of the night, waking the baby and Betty. He’s turning into my least favorite character because he feels so privileged to do whatever he wants. (Wow, I see where his great-granddaughters get it from) Connie tells Don that he wants Hilton hotels everywhere, even on the moon, and the whole pitch has Don up late nights and early mornings. As he drives to the office before the sun is even up, he pulls up next to Ms. Maypole jogging. He tells her to get in the car (which defeats the purpose of jogging) and he drives her home while they listen to Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech.

At work, after getting everything together for Connie, Don has a private moment with the man, and Connie is only upset because there’s no ad with the Hilton on the moon. “When I say I want the moon, I expect the moon.” Despite the fact that logically speaking it’s kind of a dumb ad, Connie leaves in a huff. Silver Fox visits Don and says that two clients have stormed out of the building in a week, and that he thinks Don is in over his head. That night when he gets home, he lies and tells his half asleep wife that he has to go into work, and instead goes over to Ms. Maypole’s house. Of course they sleep together. Of course.

There was something about this whole episode that made me, not thoroughly enjoy it. I don’t like the way Don used what he knew about Sal to save his own ass and keep SC’s lights on. Especially considering the lies he’s kept about himself. And it had been like a breath of fresh air to not have Don cheating, but I guess we’re back to that. How do you all feel about it? I like the Civil Rights tidbits sprinkled throughout, especially the things with Carla, and I like that Carla totally knows what’s going on between Betty and Henry. The look on her face when Betty said Carla worked for her and not the kids, was very, very telling. So how did you feel about the episode? Am I wrong to feel like something felt a little…awkward about the whole thing? And if I’m not alone, leave me your Two Cents and tell me what you think.