When Don Draper's daughter Sally is on the phone after spending a weekend with her dad in New York, her friend asks, "How's the city?" Sally responds with just one word that not only describes the streets of New York City as compared to her suburban home, but also everything she'd witnessed during her stay: "Dirty."
The little girl saw a lot during her visit with dad. She watched Megan Draper's parents fight loudly in a foreign language. She sat in the audience as her chain-smoking father won an (ironic) award from the American Cancer Society. Sally even accidentally walked in on Megan's mom cheating on her dad.
Sally's mood is obviously tainted by the weekend's events. It's as if she's seen first-hand how immoral life in the city (or life as a grown up) can be. But she's not the only one whose otherwise exciting weekend has been dampened; Megan's father expresses disapproval about her new life. "I always saw you were single-minded about your dreams and that would help you ... Don't let your love for this man stop you from doing what you want to do," he said.
Peggy's also having a weekend filled with mixed emotions. When her boyfriend Abe calls her at work and insists on seeing her that night, she instantly thinks the worst: He's going to break up with me. After confiding in Joan, she realizes Abe might not have bad news, but rather may plan on proposing to her. Peggy's all excited about the possibility, and shows up to dinner in a new dress expecting to leave with a shiny engagement ring. But Abe doesn't want to get married; he just wants to "shack up." After some hesitation, she agrees (and Joan later congratulates her, reinforcing the fact that it might be a good idea).
When Peggy invites her mother over for dinner to share the happy news, her mom is less than pleased. In fact, she leaves dinner, clearly disapproving of Peggy's decision. I think it's fair to say that the theme of the episode is "the wrath of the dissatisfied parents." Sigh.
But Sunday night's episode of "Mad Men" wasn't all raunchy and nasty. I can't be the only person who was both excited and impressed by Megan's performance during dinner with Raymond, the Heinz rep (yep, he's still around). During a trip to the bathroom with Raymond's wife, Megan learns he's about ready to fire SCDP because he's unhappy with their ideas for promoting Heinz. When the girls return to the table, Megan whispers the new information into Don's ear, and the two immediately turn on the charm. They win Raymond over, and open up a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
What does the future hold for SCDP? Yes, they finally won Heinz over, but that's not enough to keep them afloat. After Don learns that no one wants to work with him anymore since he published his hypocritical anti-smoking letter, he's visibly concerned. Playing dirty might make for great revenge, but it can sure come back to bite you in the butt.
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