SPOILER ALERT, so keep your eyes Drape-d, Mad Men obsessives…
Season Seven, Episode Two: “A Day’s Work”
Written by Jonathan Igla and Matthew Weiner; Directed by Michael Uppendahl
This week’s episode was titled “A Day’s Work,” but very little work was actually done. It focused on Valentine’s Day and questioned how long Don can stay in this state of limbo and lies.
Quick Breakdown
We open on a sleeping Don who wakes to a 7:30 a.m. alarm on a Thursday. We get glimpses of him throughout the day in his apartment watching TV, flipping through magazines, and eyeing a bug crawling across the rug (This open was reminiscent of Betty being the housewife in the early seasons). We know from the last episode Don is still on leave from the agency. As the day goes on, we finally see him get dressed in his suit, but it’s dark outside.
The doorbell rings and it is Dawn (Don’s secretary). She is keeping Don informed of what is going on at the office and helping him keep up the charade for his family that he is still working. She tells him she has no problem doing it, but that taking his money makes it feel wrong. Don insists she take it anyway.
We then flip to Sally at school. Her roommate’s mother has died (another death) and her friends and her are planning their trip into the city for the funeral. They plan to use it as an excuse to go shopping.
In California, Pete and his girlfriend, Bonnie, celebrate a new deal Pete made with Chevy by having sex in the office. Ted walks in, but doesn’t seem to mind. He congratulates him on his way to his office.
The next morning (Valentine’s Day), Peggy arrives at work to discover flowers on her secretary’s desk. Assuming they are for her, she takes them into her office. There’s no card, so Peggy makes the assumption they are from Ted. In reality, they are her secretary Shirley’s flowers (Poor Peggy, she’s having a rough go so far this season). Shirley tries to tell her, but Peggy won’t listen. She calls LA and leaves a cryptic message for Ted about losing an account, thinking he will understand.
Sally and her friends are on the train heading back to campus. They’ve gone shopping, but Sally realizes she’s left her purse. She gets off and tells them she will take the later train.
Back in the office, Dawn and Shirley have a great scene in the break room where they jokingly call each other by each other’s name. Shirley tells Dawn about the flowers and how she wants to set Peggy straight. Dawn recommends letting it go.
Don goes to lunch with a guy from another agency who informs him of the various rumors floating around about him. Word has spread about Don’s “leave of absence” and what caused it. Don seems to want to get the word out there that he’s available (Is this just a ploy to get SCP to take him back?)
Back at the office, Sally shows up looking for Don but discovers Lou in her father’s office. Lou is a bit confused and tells her Don isn’t there and is probably at home. Sally looks for Joan, but finds nearly everyone is out to lunch.
Peggy is still thinking of the flowers and feeling annoyed at Ted. She then decides to give them to Shirley. Shirley’s pleased to have them back without having to confront Peggy about the mix up.
The partners in New York have a conference call with Pete and Ted in L.A., where Pete discusses his new business with Chevy in California. The conference call is full of humorous technical glitches and frustration from Pete who doesn’t want Bob Bensen involved (Remember mysterious Bob?). Roger and Jim argue about how it should be handled and eventually the call gets disconnected. Pete is once again not feeling the respect he deserves. He complains to Ted who tells him, “Just cash the checks — you’re going to die one day.” (More death talk.)
Don comes home from his lunch to find Sally in his apartment. He lies and says he was at the office (which she knows isn’t true). She doesn’t call him out about it, but agrees to let him drive her back to campus.
Back at the office, Lou confronts Dawn about where she was when Sally showed up. Dawn says she was at lunch and buying a gift for Lou’s wife. Lou is annoyed (more than he should be), and Dawn is worried about Don’s secret getting out. She calls Don to tell him that Sally came by the office, so now he knows that she knows.
Lou thinks Dawn is more worried about Don than him and calls a meeting with Joan to have Dawn moved. A frustrated Joan moves Dawn to the front reception.
On Don’s drive with Sally, he asks a lot of questions about what she was doing and who died. He then confronts her about coming to the office. She says she didn’t say anything “because it is more embarrassing to catch you in a lie.” Don makes a comment about her being like Betty. Sally’s angry and says how she hated having to come to his apartment because she worries about seeing the neighbor he had an affair with last season (the one Sally saw him having sex with). This isn’t going well.
At the office, Ted tries to call Peggy, but she refuses to take the call. Peggy comes out and asks Shirley to throw away the flowers because they are cursed. This forces Shirley to tell Peggy the truth, which embarrasses Peggy and causes her to ask Joan to take Shirley off her desk. (Not a good day for the black secretaries.)
Joan is having trouble balancing everyone’s staff requests. Bert sees Dawn at reception and isn’t pleased with Joan’s shuffling around. He goes to her and asks that Joan fix it again saying, “People can see her from the elevator.” Joan is annoyed, but finds an interesting solution when Jim comes to her office and suggests she take an account man’s office upstairs and hire someone else to do personnel management. Joan is moving up. She ends up giving Shirley to Lou and giving Dawn her old job. (This should be very interesting.)
Back in L.A., a frustrated Pete goes by to see Bonnie (who is hosting an open house). He wants her to leave early for their Valentine’s Day plans, but Bonnie tells him not until later. Pete whines about his job to her and Bonne offers a story from her own work experience and tells him to buck up basically. She says, “I’m in sales too. Not just some housewife.” This relationship seems like it will provide some interesting changes for Pete who is used to a more traditional woman.
Don and Sally stop at a diner where Don tells her the truth about what has happened at his job and tells her he’s not sure what to do, but he’s trying to fix it. (This truth-telling Don is refreshing.) Don also tells her, “I don’t like you going to funerals.”
As they eat, Sally warms up and seems pleased her father has trusted her with this information. Don then makes a joke about running out on the bill. (Not sure what to make of this.)
The episode closes with Don dropping Sally at school. Before she leaves the car, she turns to him and says, “Happy Valentine’s Day, I love you.”
Rating
A-
Mad Men is great at balancing seriousness and humor and this episode showcased that perfectly. It also provided strong moments for both Dawn and Shirley. The focus on Don and Sally also gave us great insight into this new non-working Don. Where will he go from here? What’s in store? Why so much death talk in these first two episodes? The Mad Men world is changing, and I’m on board.
Now for some random thoughts and my favorite moments of the night…
Peggy’s confusion over the flowers was priceless.
The show has been so great at progressing Sally’s character.
Lou really is terrible. He needs to go away.
I’m ready for some Betty.
