Mad Men - Recap: Nip It In the Bud

Don (Jon Hamm) is planning on flying out to LA after getting a call from his "niece" Stephanie Horton (really the niece of the late Anna Draper). Stephanie is pregnant as all get-out, and in desperate need of food and lodging. So Don puts her up with Megan (Jessica Pare), their marriage apparently back on track. He plans on getting out to LA that night, but he's unable to when Lou Avery (Allan Havey) orders everyone to stay in late after Stan (Jay R. Ferguson) inadvertently mouths off about "Scout's Honor," the ridiculous comic strip Lou is trying to get launched. This provides Megan with an opportunity to get a window into a side of Don's life she hasn't really seen. She knows about his past as Dick Whitman, and the early years of his life as Don Draper, but she doesn't know much about the in-between. Thus, she plays a dutiful hostess to Stephanie, cooking for her and offering her the run of the house as she attempts to find out more about the mystery she calls her husband. In some ways, Megan's demeanor with Stephanie is part of an overall arc in which she tries to reclaim Don, to get through to him in some way by obtaining control. She tells Stephanie that Don would simply try to take control of her pregnancy and try to dictate what she should and shouldn't be doing, since this is his way. So she gives Stephanie $1000 to help get her on her feet, and then sends her on her way. And then, surprisingly, she tells Don that Stephanie left of her own volition, and that she was unable to stop the girl from leaving.

Credit: AMC

What could have seemed like a fairly straightforward storyline instead reads like a power play on Megan's part, particularly since the rest of the episode seems centered on Megan's desire to reclaim her husband. This is represented in the party she throws the next night, in which she has all of her actor friends over, and even dances provocatively with one, making Don feel a bit like an outsider in his sport coat and slacks. However, once the party is over, Megan...initiates a threesome with Don and her friend Amy?! Yes, a threesome happens, given us one of the more sudden, steamy scenes in the history of the show, which is why it's so stunning that, well, it doesn't appear to work on Don. Sure, he goes through with it, but the morning after has this peculiar glaze of regret in both his and Amy's demeanors. Only Megan seems to be clear-headed about what happened. And she's clear-headed enough to get upset when Don doesn't appear to have changed from his usual awkward emotional distance. However, Don has reasons for being detached, as he's just learned from Harry Crane (Rich Sommer), of all people, that Sterling Cooper & Partners is looking to obtain the Commander cigarettes account from Phillip Morris. Since Don paid for that full-page ad blasting Philip Morris several seasons ago, obtaining the Commander account will likely come with the condition that Don is fired. And so what does Don do? He turns the tables...

Once back in New York, Don storms the Commander cigarettes meeting, upsetting Lou and Jim Cutler (Harry Hamlin). Once there, Don assumes responsibility for the full-page ad in the Times, and explains that what he did was simply one man attempting to save his business, not damage the other guy. In attempting to win the Commander account for the agency, Don says he's prepared to leave SC&P (earning Cutler's thanks for saying as much, so they wouldn't have to say it themselves), although he's confident that won't be necessary since he feels he can be a valuable asset to the campaign. As Don astutely points out, he's the only person who's taken meetings with the competition. He knows Lucky Strike's strategy, and he knows how to beat it, meaning he can help put Commander cigarettes on the map. It's a recollection of the brazen, bold Don of old, and who knows? Maybe that threesome gave him the kick he needed to get some of his groove back, it's hard to tell. Either way, Cutler is begrudgingly impressed -- although Don still isn't in his good graces just yet. As Cutler departs in a cab, he asks Don, "You think this will save you, don't you?" Don doesn't answer, but from the way he carries himself, confidently hailing a cab and standing tall and proud, as if once again a man to be reckoned with, it seems Don Draper is back. Or, at the very least, he's getting there.

Credit: AMC

The Don storyline would have been enough to anchor the episode, but we also get a story involving the maddening intrusion of the future on the present. Part of the strength of the series is that it has such a deep bench, with characters as rich as Ginsberg (Ben Feldman) on the sidelines who can weave in and out of episodes at a moment's notice and leave lasting impressions. That's what I'd assumed this Ginsberg storyline was going to be, just a simply drop-in to check on how ol' Michael was doing. But as the episode rolled on, the story became something much darker, as Feldman is driven slowly mad by the presence of the computer and its inescapable hum. First, he comes in on a Saturday to get work done, only to find Lou and Cutler in the computer room, using the safety of the machine's noise-cancelling hum to have a secret conversation. Ginsberg assumes that this means Lou and Cutler are gay, and that the machine's mission is to turn everyone into homosexuals. He tells this to Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) after barging in on her apartment under the pretense of getting work done away from the machine. And things only get more devastatingly awkward from there, as Ginsberg kisses Peggy and tries to get her to "procreate" with him, arguing that this is the only way to subvert the computer's twisted agenda. This all culminates in Ginsberg appearing in Peggy's office on Monday morning...and presenting her with his nipple.

Credit: AMC

Yes, Ginsberg carved his nipple out of his own body, put it in a box on some cotton, and presented it to Peggy as a warped kind of gift, arguing that he got rid of the "pressure" that the computer was exerting on him. It isn't long before Ginsberg is being removed by men in white coats, strapped to a gurney as he shouts insane ramblings. If this is the end for the Ginsberg character, which seems like the case given that Ben Feldman has been cast in NBC's newest comedy pilot, A to Z, then it's an auspicious end for one of my favorite ancillary characters. Feldman has been terrific with everything they've given him to do, and the decision to have the future literally drive Ginsberg mad is a bold, if on-the-nose choice. At the very least, it's more impactful than the continued issues in the Francis household, as Henry gets mad at Betty (January Jones) for stating her opinion on the Vietnam War during a dinner party, stunning Henry's constituents by revealing she has an opinion that actually differs from his. This leads to a big blow-up that pales in comparison to the mother-daughter fight between Betty and Sally (Kiernan Shipka), who injures her nose while play-fighting with friends, prompting Betty to figuratively rake her over the coals for damaging her best feature. Sally gets downright contemptuous with her mother, eventually storming off after telling her that the only reason she got Henry was because of her looks (implying she has no substance as a person; or worse, that she has substance that goes largely ignored by Henry, who views her as a valuable accessory for his political ambitions). Yet Sally isn't alone in her feelings of displacement within the Francis household, as Bobby wants to runaway with her when she goes back to school. Much like Don and Sally, Bobby is yet another Draper looking to escape the trap of his position in life. However, unlike Don, neither Sally nor Bobby are in much of a position to do all that much about it. And I suppose that's the story of "The Runaways," that not every situation is so easily gotten out of, if it can be gotten out of at all.