‘Mad Men’ Breakdown: “The Strategy” (TV Reviews)

SPOILER ALERT, so keep your eyes Drape-d, Mad Men obsessives…

Season Seven, Episode Six: “The Strategy”

Written by Semi Chellas; Directed by Phil Abraham

Each season, Mad Men gives us at least one great Peggy/Don episode, and this week’s “The Strategy” is just that. It is very much in the vein of “The Suitcase” from season four (which took place on Peggy’s birthday). Season seven has dealt a lot with the changing times, and this episode continues that theme — from Peggy’s continued struggle as a career woman to Bob Benson’s “marriage proposal.”

Quick Breakdown

The episode opens with Peggy doing some field research on Burger Chef. She’s paying for people’s dinners in exchange for some information. In the opening scene, she’s talking to a woman in a station wagon who is taking her kids home with some fast food. The woman isn’t interested in talking to Peggy but agrees to answer more questions for an extra 10 dollars. She informs Peggy that her husband isn’t thrilled with the fact that she isn’t cooking dinner, which gives Peggy the idea for an ad campaign focused on giving mothers permission to buy fast food.

We then flip to Pete and Bonnie on a flight to New York. Pete is going for business purposes, and Bonnie is going for a vacation. Pete tells her he has to spend at least one day with his daughter, and Bonnie offers to join him. Pete, of course, still has his conservative ideas and feels that would inappropriate. Bonnie mentions how it bothers her that Pete and Trudy aren’t officially divorced. Any awkwardness in this exchange is erased by Bonnie suggesting they join the mile high club, which I guess isn’t inappropriate in Pete’s world.

The next morning, Bonnie comes by Don’s office while Pete is catching up with the others. She says Don’s the only person she knows. Pete quickly stops in too and clearly enjoys showing off Bonnie in the office. Pete insists Don join him for the Burger Chef meeting since he was on the team. (Don’s getting good at crashing meetings.) Lou is, of course, annoyed by Don’s presence. Peggy is a little rattled as well but pitches her idea perfectly about how to reach homemakers. She walks through the storyboards, and everyone agrees it’s a solid idea. Pete wants Don’s take, and all he says is “It’s right on strategy.” Is this what Don really thinks, or is he just playing nice?

After the Burger Chef meeting, Pete and Lou call Peggy in to discuss the presentation for the client. Pete wants Don to deliver it and for Peggy to come in at the end with the “mother’s perspective.” He says, “Don will give it authority, you will give it emotion.” This is just the beginning of Pete’s dig at women in this episode. Peggy is clearly frustrated by the idea and then extra rattled when she realizes Ted is on speakerphone. Finally she agrees to do it their way. Pete is pleased and adds, “She’s every bit as good as any woman in this business.” (How condescending!)

Upstairs, we get even more reunions with the return of Bob Benson! After causing so much mystery last season, Bob’s has been absent so far but made quite the return in this episode. He’s there with some guys from Chevy and is greeted by Ken and Joan. He quickly makes plans with Joan for the following Sunday.

Peggy goes to tell Don that she wants him to give the pitch to the client. To save face, she says it was her idea. Don seems a little unsure but pleased to be back in the game (so to speak). After agreeing, he makes a suggestion about changing the ad, which Peggy shoots down quickly. (She rightly feels like she’s losing control over this big account.) She leaves Don’s office to see Megan in the hallway. (Everyone is in New York this week.) Peggy introduces Megan to one of the secretaries, who responds “I didn’t know Don was married.” (Ouch!)

Stan comes by, and we get our only mention of Ginsberg (Remember last week he cut off his own nipple and was taken to a psych ward). Megan asks how he is, and Stan says he’s been to see him but that Peggy won’t go.

That night Bob gets a phone from one of his Chevy guys, Bill. The guy has been arrested for attempting to fellate an undercover cop. He’s been beaten up pretty badly as well, which is realistic for the way gay people were treated by law enforcement (the Stonewall Riots happened in June of 1969). Bill says he called Bob because he thought he’d be able to keep this private. He then asks how many times Bob has been arrested (clearly assuming Bob is gay). Bob says never and acts quite offended.

That is until Bill spills the news about Chevy leaving the agency and how Buick is going to offer Bob a job. This pleases Bob and loosens him up a little. Bill asks, “How did you live in this city? There’s so much temptation.” Bob responds, “It was hard.” Bill also says how he’s lucky because his wife understands — and this gives Bob an idea.

The next morning, Pete goes to visit Trudy and Tammy but finds only Tammy and the maid there. Trudy is getting her hair done. Tammy looks at Pete like he’s a stranger and doesn’t seem to want to see him. He takes her for the day anyway. When he returns later that night, it’s just the maid again. No Trudy. The maid says that she’s out (probably on a date). Pete is not pleased, so he calls Bonnie in the city and lies about there being no one to watch Tammy. He then cracks open some beers and waits for Trudy’s return. (This can’t go well.)

When she does, he attacks her for going out with men and having a child. Pete is full of double standards in this episode when it comes to women. Trudy stays fairly calm and tells him they are getting a divorce and that he’s not part of the family anymore. Pete has the last word by smashing his beer bottle into a cake on the counter and leaving. (Classy move, big guy.)

The next morning, Don wakes up in a good mood. He seems to genuinely miss Megan being with him in the city, but Megan doesn’t share his feelings. He then offers to take Megan shopping. (Maybe this is a new Don.) Later in the evening, Megan makes dinner, and Don takes a phone call from Peggy. Peggy is second-guessing herself and thinks the whole Burger Chef idea needs to change. First, she calls Stan, who tells her it’s fine, but her call to Don is a lot more aggressive. She tells him she’s thought more about his suggestion — and it’s bad. Don’s not very amused and cuts it short.

On Sunday, Bob arrives at Joan’s with gifts (a toy for Kevin and flowers for Gail). Then he takes them out for the day. When they return to Joan’s apartment, Kevin and Gail go to sleep, and Joan and Bob have a drink on the couch. Suddenly, Bob gets a little nervous and pulls an engagement ring out from his coat pocket. Joan immediately tells him to put it away. She’s rather confused by his sudden proposal and tells him, “You don’t want this. Bob, you shouldn’t be with a woman.” (Welp, that’s pretty direct.)

Bob blurts out everything he learned from Bill the night before (minus the arrest), which is clearly a mistake. Joan is now preoccupied with SCP losing Chevy and not with Bob’s emotions. Bob tells her Buick will expect “a certain kind of man.” Basically, he is offering her a marriage that he thinks would benefit them both. They could do what they want: Bob would have a wife for business purposes, and Joan would have a father for Kevin. But Joan wants love and thinks Bob should have it too. Rejected, Bob tries one more attempt by insulting Joan about her age and single-mother status. It doesn’t work. (Oh, Bob.) For the time period, Bob is being realistic here — but it’s sad nonetheless.

Over at the Draper’s, Megan is searching through closets and acting a bit odd (What’s new?). She says she wants more of her things with her in L.A. Don says he could bring her some stuff when he comes out again in July, but she’d rather they meet elsewhere (not L.A. or New York).

A few hours later, Don decides to stop by the office, clearly knowing Peggy will be there working. She’s in Lou’s office (Don’s old office). She’s frustrated and tries to blame Don for ruining her idea. “If you really want to help me,” she says, “show me how you think.” He makes a good joke about how he would first abuse his co-workers and then he’d take a nap.

They end up drinking and coming up with new ideas throughout the evening. Peggy suggests mothers who work, but Don says that would be too depressing. Peggy jokes about an ad with a pregnant daughter and a drafted son and then questions, “Does this family even exist anymore?” They go back and forth about the idea of family but realize neither of them really knows much about it. Peggy says, “What the hell do I know about being a mom? I just turned 30.” She kept her birthday a secret but is suddenly overcome with where she is in her life.

“I worry about a lot of things,” Don adds, “but I don’t worry about you.” (He can be sweet when he wants to.) Peggy wonders what he has to worry about, and he says, “I worry that I never did anything and that I don’t have anyone.” Maybe they are the same after all.

Peggy then gets an idea about a place without a without TV where you break bread with your family, and maybe it’s not the idealized version of family. It’s the beginning of something better, and they both know it. Then Don notices the radio is playing Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” (which came out in 1969). The lyrics seem not only fitting for both Don and Peggy but for the fact that this is Mad Men’s final season. Don asks Peggy to dance, and they slowly move together until she places her head on his chest and he nuzzles his head into hers, which feels like the perfect coming back together for these two great characters.

In the office the next day, the news about Chevy breaks. Jim suggests to the partners that they get ahead of this and do two articles about their agency (before Chevy leaves). He also suggests making Harry Crane a partner to show how serious they are about new media. Everyone agrees — except Joan, who hates Harry.

The episode ends with Peggy, Don, and Pete in a Burger Chef, where Peggy pitches her new idea to Pete. The idea would be to film inside the restaurant and focus not on mothers but on the idea of family. Pete is unsure, but Don assures him it’s good and they’re going to do it her way. (Get it?)

Rating

A

This week’s episode packed an emotional punch and brought Peggy and Don’s relationship to a new (and final?) stage. It also perfectly highlighted the continued struggle of females in the 1960s, which is something the show is so good at doing. For every step these women take, there is always a push back. There’s just one more episode before the season breaks. (For a year!) Will Don get back on top at the agency? Will Lou implode? Will we see Ginsberg? Will Betty milk more cows? Only time will tell.

Now for some random thoughts and my favorite moments of the night…

Pete’s tan looks really fake.

Best face of the night: Joan’s when Bob pulled out that ring.

Joan really attracts the gays. Remember her roommate from the beginning of the show?

Isn’t it refreshing that the most compelling relationship on the show is between a man (Don) and a woman (Peggy) and it has nothing to do with sex?