Mad Men – Recap & Review – The Color Blue

photo: amc

Mad Men
The Color Blue

Original Air Date: Oct 18, 2009

Brittany D. – Staff Writer
brittany@thetwocentscorp.com

If ever a recap deserved to start with an OMG, it’s this one. So you guys? OMG. I don’t even…If you haven’t seen the episode and you’re just scrolling by, I don’t want to spoil you, so I’ll wait to get into it after the jump!

Let’s start with the non-juicy stuff first! BOL (hello there British Over Lord, I’ve missed you.) delivers Don’s five thousand dollar bonus check for signing a contract, then gets called away to his office where his wife is waiting. Mrs. BOL is upset because she hates New York and wants to go home to London. There’s going to be an anniversary party for SC where Don is going to get an award, but BOL finds out that London is selling the company. Mrs. BOL is pleased because it means a ticket back to London. On the surface, it looks like no one knows about this but BOL.

Paul and Peggy are working to come up for ideas for Western Union, and while Peggy takes the approach of recording everything, Paul gets drunk, has a conversation with a night janitor, then forgets to write down his brilliant idea before he passes out on his couch. The next morning, Lois (how does she still have a job there?!) wakes Paul up and he tears his office apart trying to find the idea he didn’t write. He goes to the meeting with Peggy, even though he has nothing, but they somehow get through it. Peggy repeats a quote Paul said to her – “The faintest ink is better than the best memory” – and Don tells them to go in that direction.

OKAY, THE OMG STUFF.

Don’s having his affair with Ms. Maypole, and one night her brother Danny shows up. He’s lost his job because he has ‘fits’ which equates to seizures. Meanwhile, he’s been telling Betty that he’s working on the Hilton account all night every night. Doing the laundry, Betty finds the key to Don’s desk and opens it up. First she finds stacks of money, which she doesn’t seem too perturbed by. Everyone needs an emergency stash, right? It’s what she finds when she pulls out Don’s box full of old pictures that shocks her. Old pictures of ‘Dick Whitman’, dog tags, and a divorce decree for Don and Anna Draper.

Ms. Maypole is getting a bit obsessive, finding Don on a train, sitting next to him and saying “I don’t care about your marriage or your work, or any of that. As long as I know you’re with me.” Later on, she gets her brother a job at the V.A. hospital in Massachusetts, and Don drives him over so that he can be alone with Ms. Maypole when he gets back. Betty has stayed up all night, with the box on the dining room table waiting to confront Don, but of course he never comes home. He does call her from work though, and tells her when to be ready for the SC anniversary party. First, she wants to yell at him, thinks better of it and tells him she doesn’t feel well. He tells her to get over it and look jaw dropping. At the dinner, Silver Fox says a lot about Don that he doesn’t really mean since their friendship is seemingly over, and as Don takes the podium, Betty looks like she’s either about to throw up, or looks like she has a bomb ready to blow up at the Waldof Astroia. (Thanks to my twitter follower @elsienita for that gem!)

The award for best ‘laugh out loud’ moment is a tie:

Why so serious?
[Sally has answered the phone, and the person on the other line hung up. Sally is very upset about this.]
Betty [raising her voice]: My goodness Sally Draper. Try not to take everything so personally!
Sally: Jeez, Louise.

Awkward family moments
Richard: This is Jane, mummy. My wife.
Mrs. Sterling: Does Mona know??
Jane: Yes, she knows.

So, was this an OMG episode for you? I feel like I have been waiting for that moment since the middle of last season and it now I can’t wait for the fallout. How do you think it’s going to go? I liked that Betty called Henry after the prank call, and used that as her excuse. Will she leave Don this time for Henry? Will Don sit down with his wife and try to actually explain? There’s so much to do and only THREE EPISODES LEFT to do it! What are your predictions for what we have left? I know; it’s practically impossible to predict, but with the coming state of turmoil the nation is about to be in, it looks like our characters are going to be shadowing all of the chaos in their personal lives. Let me know what you think by leaving your Two Cents in the comments!