Mad Men, Season 6, Episode 10: “A Tale of Two Cities”
Written by Janet Leahy and Matt Weiner
Directed by John Slattery
Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on AMC
“I don’t know what happened. I usually feel better out there.” When Don goes to California, there is the expectation that we’re going to get a look at a looser, more relaxed Don. When he signed the wall “Dick + Anna ‘64” in Season Four’s “The Good News” it created the impression that California Don is actually Dick Whitman, the idea that this is how he behaves when the expectations of the Don Draper persona are left behind. But it’s 1968. Things are changing in this country. California is no longer an escape for Don, somewhere he can find solace, and as he awakes from his hash-fueled near-death experience, he is as lost as Pete Campbell when he descends onto the couch, taking a hit of Rizzo’s joint as the sounds of Big Brother & the Holding Company permeate the soundtrack.
Things are falling apart. The episode opens with television coverage of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and that remains a theme throughout. Eerily serving as an echo of the sirens that provided the sonic backdrop to their conversation on the balcony last episode, the DNC is present in the background of all (non-hallucinatory) interactions between Don and Megan this week. The radio announces the Democrats decision to abandon an anti-war platform and inspires an outburst from Ginsberg that nearly gets him fired. A discussion of the violence in Chicago sabotages Don and Roger’s attempt to obtain the Carnation Instant Breakfast account.
There are identity crises abound. Ginsberg comes to a realization we all do at some point in our lives. To survive in a capitalistic society, you end up supporting causes you don’t agree with monetarily. As a citizen in a democracy, you end up having actions you don’t agree with enacted in your name. His schizoid response—“I can’t turn off the transmissions to do harm, they’re beamin’ ‘em straight into my brain.”—recalls “Far Away Places” and his assertion that he was born on Mars. There are facets to Ginsberg’s character that remain unexamined. His awkwardness with women, revealed earlier this season, adds another layer as he (like several viewers) inquires about Bob Benson’s sexuality. This echoes the firm’s greater identity crisis as they try to find a name. As people frequently do when faced with an uncertain future, they look to the past, settling on Sterling Cooper & Partners.
The most intriguing plotline is only tangentially related to the political violence and the identity crises it has invoked. Joan makes a play for an account and, while successful, reveals just how little she knows about what goes on at SC&P. When asked what sets them apart from other agencies she can only say “We listen to the clients. She interrupts Peggy as she is making a pitch. The office runs as smoothly as it does because she “think[s] of things before people know they need them,” but she is a bit out of her depth here. She directs her frustration towards Peggy saying, “You were so brave letting Don carry you into the deep end of the pool.” It hurts Peggy, but inspires her to play that role for Joan. It’s always best to make a power play when things are unstable; timing more than anything allowed Joan her success.