We begin the episode seeing that Don has just won an advertising award and he is doing his best to downplay it. It was nice seeing Don and Betty seem like a couple that is actually into each other and you can tell Betty is relishing this moment with her husband as it doesn't come often.
We later find out why Don was trying to downplay his award (keeping a low profile considering noone knows much about him and few episodes back someone called him Dick Whitman) as Peggy announces that there is someone here to see him and it's none other than his half-brother, Adam. Adam has seen his picture in Advertising Age and rushes over to see him after believing he was long gone. He updates Don on how their mom passed away from cancer. It was cute to see how eager and genuinely happy Adam was to see his brother. Too bad, Don/Dick doesn't feel the same way as he is visibly shaken at this turn of events.
In the other corner of the office, Ken Cosgrove announces he has had a short story published and all his "friends" are so jealous. No one more than our resident sweetheart, Pete Campbell. Pete is so jealous that he makes his wife Trudie go meet an ex (An ex that was her first and which Pete did not take kindly to when she told him) he is so desperate he asks her to meet him and try to see if he can get his story published. Trudy later expresses her hurt by asking why Pete would make her do something like that. And this is where we begin to see how terrible Pete is and how this marriage might be in for a turbulent ride.
Don has a lunchtime tryst with his mistress, Midge and Peggy overhears this conversation. She doesn't know Don like we do and seems surprised Don is having an affair. Betty and the kids pop in for a family portrait appointment and Don has popped out to see Adam. Peggy gets flustered and thinks he's out with his mistress and doesn't know what to tell Betty. She confides in Joan and Joan scolds her for even sharing that info with her. She reminds her that her job is to keep Don's confidence.
Don can't take the sheer terror he has at the reappearance of his brother and asks to see him immediately. Adam, ever so eager (I mean he asked Don if he missed him or ever thought about him) says he always has time for him. Don hands $5000 over to Adam (remember Pete makes $75 a week, now think how huge this is for a janitor) and tells him to take the money and he never wants to see him again. Friends, my heart broke at the look on Adam's face. A boy who clearly idolized Don but also knew how much this money would change his life.
Ah Don, we are just beginning to see how much of an awful human being he is.
Altius says:
This week on Mad Men, we find out that Ken Cosgrove is a writer in his spare time and he’s just had a short story published in The Atlantic so this is no small feat. This hilariously sparks the jealousy of many of the men at Sterling Cooper and of course Pete’s jealousy is the worst. I can’t help but crack up when he subjects poor Trudy to his own (terrible) short stories. He encourages her to go and see her publisher friend Charlie Fiddich, who was also the first man she slept with. Pete is essentially pimping out his wife to get his shitty short story published and it’s exactly as gross as it sounds.
Midge reappears and Peggy accidentally overhears her asking Don to come “pull [her] hair ravish [her].” Poor Peggy looks scandalized as Don leaves the office on some weak pretense in order to go to Midge and do just that.
In the meantime, Betty drops by the Sterling Cooper office and Peggy panics when she realizes that she has no clue where Don is. She thinks he’s with Midge so she stalls painfully and asks Joan for help. Joan, cool as ever, laughs at Peggy’s ineptitude in concealing the vagaries of her boss and teaches her the benefit of discretion as a secretary. Poor Peggy is getting her innocence stripped away one incident at a time.
Seems like everybody wants to visit Don at work this episode because he also receives a visit from an Adam Whitman who refers to him as “Dick.” Don initially pretends that he doesn’t know what this man is talking about but it’s hard to buy when 5 episodes in, we’ve heard somebody call him “Dick Whitman” twice. Adam saw the picture of Don winning something called a “Newkie” award in the newspaper and immediately recognized his long-lost older brother. Don eventually gives up the charade and agrees to meet with his brother for lunch. We discover that Don disappeared from 8-year old Adam’s life and nobody had seen or heard from him until this moment. He finds out that his stepmother has since passed from stomach cancer and the only response he has to that is “good.” Adam’s eagerness to reenter his life terrifies Don and he lets Adam know in no uncertain terms that there will be no happy fraternal reunion. However, Adam mails a picture of Don and himself as a child, along with his room number in case Don changes his mind. Don indeed pays him a visit and gives him $5,000 (just over $40,000 in today’s money) to leave New York for good. The brothers embrace in a tearful goodbye and my heart absolutely breaks for Adam. Here is somebody who thinks he’s lost every single relative, miraculously finds his older brother, only to find out that he wants absolutely nothing to do with him.
I love the way that Mad Men is slowly peeling back the layers of Don’s life. Just when you think you’ve got him figured out, you’re thrown a curveball. I look forward to what comes next.
