The next Mad Men episode is really terrific – it’s hilarious, serious, very emotionally gratifying and with many surprising twists! One of the characters I rarely talk about is Joan Holloway, the head secretary at Sterling Cooper. She married a handsome doctor, Greg Harris, after Roger Sterling ended their affair. But her doctor seems to harbor some sort of secret... A few episodes back they hosted a dinner, and one of the guests advised Joan not to get pregnant adding ominously that she’s optimistic about Greg’s future, no matter what happens, because he married a woman like Joan... Then there’s some kind of mishap during one of his surgeries he tries not to talk about... Now, Joan is about to quit her job, because he’s expecting to be appointed chief resident at the hospital. But when she’s waiting for him with a romantic celebratory dinner for two, he comes home drunk late, trying to hide the fact that he got passed over. He admits he’s not a good surgeon, and tells her she needs to keep working. Despite all the setbacks, she remains clam and gentle: “I married you for your heart, not for your fingers,” she tells him. The unbelievable patience and kindness she shows him while her own world’s suddenly turned upside-down, too. What a woman!
At the Draper residence, Don and Betty are dealing each in their own way with the birth of their child – and especially Sally’s response to her little baby brother. She’s afraid of the dark at night, she doesn’t want to come close to the baby during the day. Bets thinks that Sally is simply jealous, resentful of the attention baby Gene is getting. So she gives Sally a Barbie doll, as a “gift” from baby Gene. But Sally tosses it out the window later. At night she confides to her father that she’s afraid of the baby because she thinks it’s inhabited by her grandfather’s ghost... poor thing! Bets and Don argue about it. She won’t change the baby’s name. It’s her way to keep her father’s memory alive. “I hated him, he hated me. That’s the memory,” Don shouts... Then Sally walks in to apologize and Don takes her to baby Gene to hug and cradle him. How endearing!
At Sterling Cooper, the news is that London executives will visit the New York office (meaning everyone will have to work on July 3rd, although they had originally been given a day off before the Fourth of July celebration). It’s a hush-hush affair rife with speculation. Bertram has a hunch Don might be offered a dual post in London as well as New York... The next day the Brits arrive, all pomp and circumstance, praising the accomplishments of this chap, Guy MacKendrick, and before we know it, we hear that Guy will replace Lane Pryce as Sterling Cooper’s liaison with the London office. He sets himself up as part of a triumvirate also including Bert and Don – Roger is nowhere to be found on Guy’s reorganization chart! Don is likewise dismayed he won’t be moving to London... Then Guy commences with celebrations, including a toast to Joan. When folks get too tipsy, people jump on the lawn mower Ken Cosgrove had brought in. The thing spins out of control ... and runs over Guy’s foot, blood gushing everywhere! Oh, my goodness, freaking unbelievable! How do they come up with this! Incredible! Sad and gross, and funny and completely unexpected! Wow, this is a marvelous show! Joan manages to apply a tourniquet and they take him to the hospital. The British executives fear that Guy’s career is over after losing a foot. They reappoint Lane in his position at Sterling Cooper.
At the Draper residence, Don and Betty are dealing each in their own way with the birth of their child – and especially Sally’s response to her little baby brother. She’s afraid of the dark at night, she doesn’t want to come close to the baby during the day. Bets thinks that Sally is simply jealous, resentful of the attention baby Gene is getting. So she gives Sally a Barbie doll, as a “gift” from baby Gene. But Sally tosses it out the window later. At night she confides to her father that she’s afraid of the baby because she thinks it’s inhabited by her grandfather’s ghost... poor thing! Bets and Don argue about it. She won’t change the baby’s name. It’s her way to keep her father’s memory alive. “I hated him, he hated me. That’s the memory,” Don shouts... Then Sally walks in to apologize and Don takes her to baby Gene to hug and cradle him. How endearing!
At Sterling Cooper, the news is that London executives will visit the New York office (meaning everyone will have to work on July 3rd, although they had originally been given a day off before the Fourth of July celebration). It’s a hush-hush affair rife with speculation. Bertram has a hunch Don might be offered a dual post in London as well as New York... The next day the Brits arrive, all pomp and circumstance, praising the accomplishments of this chap, Guy MacKendrick, and before we know it, we hear that Guy will replace Lane Pryce as Sterling Cooper’s liaison with the London office. He sets himself up as part of a triumvirate also including Bert and Don – Roger is nowhere to be found on Guy’s reorganization chart! Don is likewise dismayed he won’t be moving to London... Then Guy commences with celebrations, including a toast to Joan. When folks get too tipsy, people jump on the lawn mower Ken Cosgrove had brought in. The thing spins out of control ... and runs over Guy’s foot, blood gushing everywhere! Oh, my goodness, freaking unbelievable! How do they come up with this! Incredible! Sad and gross, and funny and completely unexpected! Wow, this is a marvelous show! Joan manages to apply a tourniquet and they take him to the hospital. The British executives fear that Guy’s career is over after losing a foot. They reappoint Lane in his position at Sterling Cooper.
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