‘Mad Men’ Recap: “Lost Horizons” and New Opportunities
Like bewildered freshmen on the first day of college, the SC&P team is having trouble finding their way in the big world of McCann Erickson.
Don is lost. Literally — he can’t find his office. But his confidence is buoyed with a hero’s welcome from Jim and Ferg; he’s the star recruit they’ve been trying to snag for 10 years. Jim gushes, “You’re my white whale…we expect you to bring things up a notch around here.” The ego stroking builds as they imply they’ve bought an entire agency in Milwaukee to get the Miller beer account, just for him.
Other members of the Class of SC&P are floating around the multi-floor behemoth, coming to terms with a much bigger change than anyone anticipated. Harry Crane is his usual piggish self (no change there), relishing the power that will come to him as he ingratiates himself with the big boys. Roger is adrift with nothing to do, the former big-man-on-campus who finds that no one really cares about his small-time triumphs. Harry’s callous question — “Why are you still still here?”– rings of truth.
Joan isn’t too phased about the transition. She expects to be as formidable — and as valuable — as she was at SC&P. The two female copywriters who give her the hard sell about putting them on her accounts reinforces her expectations. Peggy, on the other hand, isn’t getting the welcome she expected at all. At least Joan was recognized as an executive; McCann thought Peggy was a secretary, so she doesn’t even have an office yet. Refusing to work in the secretarial pool, Peggy stays at the desolate SC&P building until she can enter McCann on her own terms.
Peggy’s future looks bleak, but it turns out to be much worse for Joan. The McCann account man assigned to her is disinterested to the point of offending her client. He clearly doesn’t take her or her accounts seriously, saying, “I’m sorry, who told you you got to get pissed off?…I thought you were going to be fun.” The job of her dreams is becoming the nightmare she predicted.
Joan runs into Don in the elevator (this place is so big they never see each other) and complains that she’s “homesick.” But even so, she optimistically decides to take matters into her own hands, asking Ferg, who knows her status as an SC&P partner, to replace her offensive new account man. Ferg’s positive and respectful response seems like a good sign, right?
Nope. Ferg’s news that he’ll personally partner with Joan turns unwelcome once he insists the two of them go on an unnecessary business trip together, expecting “a good time.” She’s just replaced one sexist pig with another — and a worse one, since this is a pig with power. Ferg makes it clear that her employment, and the accounts that go with it, is just a requirement of the buyout agreement: “We can’t lose those accounts…what would you do around here?”
Don’s day isn’t much better; if he thought he was going to be the big man on this campus, he was sorely mistaken. The Miller meet and greet is a chance for the new clients to meet Don and a boardroom full of other creative directors. Adding insult to injury, Don overhears that Ted was also told his presence would “bring [McCann] up a notch.” After losing everything else that made up his identity, the one thing he thought no one could take from him — his power as a giant in the profession — is slipping away.
Thirty identical creative directors take notes on 30 identical summary reports as a market researcher discusses the target Miller customer (from Diana’s home state of Wisconsin, no less). Don can’t focus, and he’s done. In typical Don style, he walks out, but this time, no one seems to notice. Except Ted, who just smiles.
For Betty and Sally, it really is the first week of school. Betty, reading Freud, already has homework. Don arrives for a planned trip to take Sally back to school, but she left without him hours ago. No one could get in touch with him to tell him, but no one thought it was worth it to wait. Betty’s stressed and tired from starting school, and Don tries to comfort her, massaging her shoulders. Yet Betty gently asks him to stop; she doesn’t need anything from him either (is it possible that the only person who experiences personal growth is Betty???). In a sweet callback to their past, he tells her, “Knock ‘em dead, Birdie,” and takes off.
Since Don’s not taking Sally to school and is clearly not missed at the office, he leaves town to look for the one person left who might need him: the elusive Diana. Delusional after being on the road for hours, an imaginary Bert Cooper warns the lost Don not to take this journey; after all, he likes to “play the stranger.”
Don makes it to Racine, wearing the persona of yet another man — the Miller beer market researcher — concocting a story to get inside the house. He fools the new Mrs. Bauer, though almost loses his cover when he meets Diana’s daughter, a spitting image of her mom. Mr. Bauer, however, is onto him in a second. Don isn’t the first sorry guy who’s come to look for Diana, trying to save this woman who “seemed so lost.” He knows better. “You think you’re the first one who came looking for her? She’s a tornado, just leaving a trail of broken bodies behind her….You can’t save her. Only Jesus can. He’ll help you too. Ask him.” Don drives and drives, more lost than ever.
In New York, Peggy gets the call that her that her new office is ready. Yet as she’s leaving, creepy organ music comes from nowhere and seriously freaks her out. She walks past the ominously-placed “graves” of former SC&P logo signs to find… Roger. Playing an organ (huh?). In a surreal and highly amusing moment, these unlikeliest of colleagues give the firm a properly ridiculous sendoff with vermouth, an organ, and some roller skates. But they’re sentimental too; they know they’re saying goodbye to an era. Roger passes along the gift of Bert’s erotic octopus painting (cue a million fan giggles), with the wise advice that making men comfortable is not the way to success.
Back at McCann, Jim is livid that Don disappeared and missed a number of meetings, but the only SC&P partner he encounters is Joan, who’s now trying to remove Ferg from her accounts. But she’s made a big mistake: Jim is on Ferg’s side and is not going to have this conversation with a woman. “Your status has changed…Find a way to get along, or you can expect a letter from our lawyer.” She stands up for her rights, threatening him with the full power of the feminist movement: the ACLU, Betty Friedan, and the EEOC. Jim couldn’t care less, but Joan isn’t backing down. She’s not fighting for money anymore. She’s fighting for respect and for the life she always wanted, a life she only recently attained. But Ferg, Jim, and the rest of McCann make her new status abundantly clear.
Joan has lost. And the only one who can salvage anything for her is Roger, who secures her a 50-cents-on-the-dollar buyout deal and convinces her to take it. She may be sad, but she’s not finished. And she makes sure to take her Rolodex.
Meanwhile, Peggy takes a different approach to her status at McCann. In a moment worthy of Wynonna Ryder in Heathers, Peggy becomes a badass executive, sunglasses on, cigarette in mouth, and octopus porn painting in full view. She’s said a proper goodbye to the small time and is ready to take on a new challenge.
Don is still driving. Somewhere in the Midwest, he picks up a hitchhiker to drive in the opposite direction of SC&P, McCann, and even Diana. Lost and no longer needed, Don Draper is heading off into the horizon.
What did you think of “Lost Horizons?” Tell us in the comments!
