Red In The Face

Mark here...Laurel and I have just watched the next episode of "Mad Men", this one is called "Red in the Face." For this meal, I made us a meatloaf, which seemed appropriately retro, along with baked potatoes with a yogurt and sour cream chive dressing and steamed green beans, so a pretty 60s-ish meal?

Anyway this episode is heavy on the sexism, specifically the depravity of some of the guys.  For starters, Roger Sterling, Don's boss and friend (I guess), finagles a dinner invite from Don after drinks (after work).  Betty was only expecting Don so is forced to settle for an iceberg lettuce salad herself.  Roger picks a moment when Don is out of the room to hit on Betty.  Don walks in and suspects something, but instead of confronting Roger, waits until he leaves and blames Betty.  The next day at the office, Roger makes a tortured roundabout apology without being specific, but we can tell Don's pissed.  And at the end of the episode, he gets his revenge by taking Roger to a big lunch, multiple rounds of drinks and oysters.  After lunch, Don has paid the bellboy to put an "out of order" sign in front of the elevator, forcing them to walk up however many flights of stairs.  Roger, being a chronic drinker and smoker, as well as older than Don, can barely manage this.  When he reaches the top, he throws up in front of the client they were scheduled to meet.  Then we see a sly smile form Don and it becomes clear the whole thing was his subtle revenge.  From the look on Roger's face, he realizes it too.

There is also a bit of a subplot with Pete Campbell, who's also a piece of work.  His wife has asked him to return a wedding gift, and he's clearly resentful of having to do so.  He ends up buying himself something with the money.  Along the way, he harasses the returns girl.  He also makes a point of telling a deranged story to Peggy, who remains infatuated with him, despite the fact that he seems psychotic!

Laurel here...something to add about dinner...Marks meatloaf is AMAZING!  Also it has hard cooked eggs in the middle which I feel like makes it especially retro.  When I eventually post the photos you will see...also it was wrapped in bacon!?!  Double amazing.

I agree with Mark on all counts about the episode.  The other noteworthy thing in this episode was a situation in the market between Betty Draper and her neighbor.  Helen Bishop, she is the single mom that Betty helped out by going over to babysit last minute when her babysitter cancelled? Supposedly she was going to volunteer for the Kennedy campaign but Mark and I both thought that she was possibly going out on a date.  Anyway, this weird thing happened where her son, Glen, who is 9 but seems like he is going to hit puberty any day now, walked in on Betty in the bathroom, when he knew she was in there, and lingered.  She got really upset with him but then felt bad because this kid was obviously obsessed with her.  He asked for a lock of her hair, and Betty gave it to him.  Mark and I both thought this was inappropriate but not that big of a deal.  She was trying to do something nice after she reamed him for the bathroom thing.  Also we are coming to learn that Betty seeks male approval to validate herself.  She says to her other neighbor friend, "as long as I keep getting that attention from men I am earning my keep."

Anyway like I said Mark and I both thought it was inappropriate, and the mom did too.  When they run into each other in the grocery store the mom confronts Betty about it (and kind of makes too big of a deal out of it) and Betty ends up slapping her in front of everyone!  Now of course the whole neighborhood is going to hear about it.  Poor Betty.

Also I just wanted to elaborate on what Mark said about Peggy.  I feel like she is trying so hard to be a modern woman who casts aside traditional gender roles that she continues to have a somewhat inappropriate relationship with Pete.  She is definitely infatuated with him but I feel like she indulges it a little too much because she is trying so hard to be a modern woman who bucks convention.  She thinks that carrying on with a married man somehow empowers her, makes her different than the other gals...she's not just a secretary, she does what she wants...

What I took away from this episode is how women really had it hard at the time.  When some smarmy guy flirts with you, you're supposed to just smile and laugh and politely put him off.  Like for example your husband's boss.  Also women are expected to "earn their keep" by being beautiful and living up to men's expectations for them to be trophy wives, baby machines, sex objects, and meal makers.  Tough times for the ladies.