Mad Men Season 5 Episode 7: At The Codfish Ball

 Joe Chiarenzelli is an editor at The Gadfly Press and wishes he was Don Draper.

                 Mandy Lafond is a soon-to-be graduate of St. Lawrence University, studying philosophy with a minor in Asian studies.  She’s currently writing a thesis on postmodernist film theory and Jean Baudrillard. In her spare time she likes philosophizing, playing with her pet rabbit and reading Wikipedia for fun.


            Mandy:

“How’s the city?” Glenn asks Sally. “Dirty,” she replies.  Cue credits. This abrupt yet highly satisfying ending sums up the episode in its entirety, given the myriad meanings of the word dirty.  Between dirty deeds and dirty business, it’s not surprising this episode had a viewer discretion warning. From Roger’s tryst with Megan’s mother to Peggy’s mother’s reaction to her new living situation, this episode focused on the scandalous and the sinful, the immoral and the loss of innocence.  

In the beginning of the episode, Sally talks with Glenn (her old neighbor who used to have a thing for Betty) and we discover that Glenn is at camp and has recently broken up with his girlfriend.  Henry’s mother (who sally refers to as ‘Bluto’), who is babysitting while Mr. and Mrs. Francis and Baby Gene are away, trips over the telephone cord.  She’s taken to the hospital, and Sally and Bobby go to stay with Don instead. Moments later we see Roger at a party chatting with his ex-wife about his impending divorce from Jane, and with his newfound lysergic wisdom he proclaims “She may have just been an excuse to blow up my life.”  He then espouses the wonders of LSD as a “life changing experience”, but I have to wonder how much he’s really changed, especially given his behavior later in the episode.  The arrival of Megan’s parents, in town to see Don receive an award (“They’re honoring him for kicking Lucky Strike in the balls with that letter”), sets the stage for more drama and tension, as it is clear that Megan’s Communist father has strong disdain for Don’s line of work.

            Over dinner with her parents Megan comes up with a great advertising idea, which I think the show has been priming us for for quite some time.  Serving spaghetti to Sally just as her mother had done for her inspires an idea for SCDP’s troubled Heinz campaign.  Ken Cosgrove is none too thrilled and senses some nepotism at play, but Don and Peggy recognize her idea as genius. (“Heinz: Some things never change.”) Given Megan’s idea which likely saved SCDP from being dropped by Heinz, I think we can expect to see Megan become even more involved in creative, though I’m sure some of the copywriters won’t be pleased.  Do you think Megan will get the credit she deserves?

            Joe:

            The imagery in Megan’s idea for the commercial is indicative of the whole episode. A mother passing down the tradition of a certain food is a benign example of what parents do in all facets of your life, project their own ideas and expectations on to you. While Megan must contend with her father’s disdain for Don’s field of work (and all of capitalism really), Peggy has to contend with the expectations her mother has set for her. While Abe is at SCDP to have lunch with Peggy and (involuntarily) the rest of the lower level creative types, he gets the pleasure of listening to Stan and Ginsberg talk quite openly about the Playtex account and Peggy’s role as a “boob carrying consumer”. This visibly upsets Abe and he makes a quick exit. Later, Peggy receives an upset sounding phone call from him asking her to go to dinner, which she thinks is his indication that they are going to break up. Distraught over this she decides to talk to Joan and indulge in a cigarette, something she seemingly only does when she is particularly upset.

            Joan, however, doesn’t see the situation quite in the same way that Peggy does and quickly persuades her that Abe has no intention of breaking up with her rather, he is going to propose to her. Joan sends Peggy off to get herself a dress and Peggy arrives at her dinner looking stunning in a modern pink dress. She waits expectantly as Abe stumbles through his proclamations of how much he feels for her in quiet (Peggysmirk) expectation however he only wants to move in together. You can watch her slowly deflate but she agrees that they should move in together.

Sally also gets to go on a shopping trip this episode with Megan and her mother. This seems to be designed so that Sally can also get to come to the awards ceremony for her father. As they arrive back home laden with packages a boxered Don is convinced that Sally should be allowed to come to the ceremony too. In regards to whether Megan will get the credit she deserves, I think it’s a null question she doesn’t seem to mind working behind the scenes. I think the more important question is, does she find the work itself validating?

            Mandy:

            As you know, Megan came to New York from Montreal in hopes of becoming an actress, and honestly I think right now she is content to play the role of Don’s wife.  When her father Emile tries to push her to talk to him about whether or not she’s happy with her work and her new life, she seems upset with him and I think part of it may be that she is putting aside some of her life goals to be with Don and she just doesn’t want to talk about it.  The party scene in “A Little Kiss” certainly demonstrates that Megan’s got acting chops, and loves to entertain, and I think she still has that ambition, as evidenced in this episode. 

            At the dinner with the Heinzes, Megan finds out in the bathroom from Mrs. Heinz that SCDP is going to get fired from the campaign.  Being the actress that she is, Megan gets Don to pitch her ad idea in one last go, knowing that Mr. Heinz wouldn’t take a woman seriously.  While Megan’s idea is successful and Heinz decides to stay on board, Megan doesn’t seem to care if she gets credit for her idea, as she actively encourages Don to take the credit.  Back at the office when Peggy congratulates her, Megan is offput when Peggy says, “This is as good as this job gets.”  I think if Megan found her job truly satisfying, she would seek credit for her work, and her father’s words force her to confront the reality that her true ambitions are on the back burner while she builds a life with Don.

            Meanwhile back at Peggy’s place, Peggy’s made a ham dinner as her mother’s coming over to the apartment.  Peggy and Abe plan to break the news of their new living arrangement to her mother, and seem very happy to be having their first dinner guest.  However, Peggy’s mother, a very traditional Catholic woman, is less than pleased with their plans.  “He’s just going to use you for practice,” she says, suggesting Abe is just using Peggy and eventually leave her and marry someone else.  Peggy and her mother have never gotten along really, but I figured after that whole “Peggy having a baby” thing, she might be a little more open to cohabitation, because hey, she already had a baby right? How much worse could it be? But no, she tells Peggy she’s “living in sin”, but for Peggy it was more important for her to tell her mother, even if she was displeased, than to lie about it.  I have to wonder how this will affect Abe and Peggy’s relationship, and how long their relationship will last given Abe’s demonstrated discomfort with certain aspects of Peggy’s career.

            Back at the Draper apartment, everyone is getting ready for the awards ceremony.  Sally is allowed to attend, and Marie (Megan’s mother) declares “Every girl should get a chance to see their father as a success,” an apparent dig at her husband who angrily storms off.  Megan reveals to Don that her father, a professor, has been having an affair with a grad student named Claudette.  Perhaps the reason Megan was wary of Don’s former conquests earlier this season is because of her father’s history of affairs, but that’s just speculation.  Later, Sally appears donning her new dress, and everyone is stunned, especially Don, who is struck by how grown-up she looks.  “There’s nothing you can do, one day your little girl will spread her legs and fly away,” says Emile, and Megan corrects him by noting that the phrase is supposed to be “spread her wings”.  But it’s obvious he meant what he said, in an apparent critique of Megan.  Things lighten up once Roger comes over, and Roger strikes up a friendship with Sally, making for some amusing banter between the two (“Go get ‘em tiger!”).  And things get really interesting as it becomes clear that there’s a sexual attraction between Roger and Marie, wouldn’t you say so?

            Joe:

            Yes, Roger has found a new lease on life albeit his old lease on life. His chemistry with Marie is evident the moment he walks in without his bow tie tied. Marie senses the lack of a woman in his life through his disheveled appearance and jumping to help him with his tie, a transparent message to Emile that she can flirt outside of their marriage too. After Don tells Sally she can’t go to the ceremony unless she takes off her makeup and sparkly knee-high boots they are off to the party.

            The party itself is a decadent and elegant affair with the exception of there being no staircase into the ball room, something that suprises Sally. Mr. and Mrs. Draper are immediately led off to meet some bigwigs including Ken’s father in law (a delightful turn by Ray Wise, of killing Laura Palmer fame). This leaves Megan’s parents and Roger and his “date” Sally to seat themselves at the table and entertain each other. Sally looks at her plate of fish and picks at it disaffectedly, providing more evidence that she hasn’t been eating much and, I’m now certain, foreshadowing some sort of eating disorder. Roger must go speak to some of the important people in the room but first instructs Sally to help him by telling him to, “Go get um tiger” whenever he comes back to the table.

            Pete finds his way over to the Draper table and seats himself next to Emile. Being derisive of the advertising business, Emile scoffs at Pete when Pete tells him his job as an account man. Pete asks him about being a professor and the important work that that entails. When Emile responds positively to Pete’s compliments, his ego swelling, Pete explains to him that, “That, Emile, is what I do every day.”

            Don then finds himself at the bar with Cosgrove’s father-in-law and attempts to drum up some business for the firm. But, he is informed that while the people in attendance may bury his desk in awards he will never get any of their business after biting the hand that fed him with his big tobacco advertisement. Don, visibly deflated, bows his head and orders another drink. Meanwhile Roger spots Marie at the bar and wanders over to her, where they begin to chat each other up. Marie notes that “inside you is a little boy” and asks him “why shouldn’t we have everything we want?” The camera cuts back to the table and Sally gets up to try and find the restroom. As she wanders out of the ballroom and into the hallway, Emile starts to put doubts in Megan’s head about whether or not she wants wealth and decadence handed to her by her husband, or would rather earn it for herself. In the hallway Sally mistakes a room for the bathroom and peeks her head in. What she sees inside the room is Marie going down on Roger and she shuts the door horrified. The final shot of the event is everyone sitting at the Draper’s table in different states of shock, disappointment, and despair. Back at the apartment Sally talks on the phone to Glen, who is on the other end of the line in underwear and a parka. She tells him the city is “dirty”. But, oh Sally, you don’t know the half of it.

How dirty is your city? Do you think Roger is just reverting back to his old ways? How could Emile get into the country being a "pinko"? Do you agree with me that Sally's food intake is being highlighted in order to suggest something is wrong? Let us know in the comments.