Mad Men: Seven Twenty Three – Season 3 Episode 7 Review

After last week’s episode, this season of Mad Men gained even more momentum as a few of the seeds of drama that were planted earlier came into bloom this week. The episode starts with 3 short vignettes. Peggy wakes up in a bed next to a man, Betty lies down on a couch, and Don wakes up on the floor of a motel room with blood all over his face. The scene then shifts to Betty in her newly decorated living room with the decorator, letting us know that the job of the rest of the episode will be filling in the pieces of the puzzle.

Things jump off quickly at Sterling Cooper, when Conrad Hilton shows up in Don’s office and wants Don to handle his New York City hotels. The thrill of this account is short-lived as it turns out that Hilton’s lawyers want Don to be under contract before they’ll proceed. Don initially pushes back, and intends to keep pushing, but in a rare moment of lowness, Burt Cooper blackmails Don into signing the contract by subtlety bringing up what Pete Campbell told him a season ago: “Would you say I know something about you, Don?” This, of course, refers to Don’s alleged dual identity. Much to his chagrin, Don signs the contract.

Before Don gets the chance to sign the contract, however, he’s out drinking and driving contemplating this career move. He encounters a young couple hitch-hiking who say they’re on their way to Niagara Falls to get married and could use a ride there or to the nearest motel. After Don takes a couple of their phenobarbital pills, they get to the motel, where he winds up getting punched in the head. He wakes up to a note saying that they took his money but left his car. This was quite a “soap-opera” moment for this show, I thought. I did enjoy the suspense of guessing how Don would wind up on the floor of the motel, but it didn’t add directly to any of the ongoing plot stories.

Betty Draper was off having lunch with Henry Francis, whom she met at Roger and Jane’s party, to talk with him about the erection of a water tower in their town. Henry works for the governor, and the Junior League thought it would be a good idea for Betty to talk to someone with connections to try to halt the building of the tower. Of course, the meeting was about more than just the tower, as for a couple of reasons, they both show up alone; although no indiscretions occur, there is some obvious flirting, and I’m sure we haven’t seen the end of Henry Francis.

The juiciest bit of the week had to be the rendezvous between Duck Phillips and Peggy. Duck is continuing to court both Peggy and Pete to come to Grey by sending them gifts. Peggy receives a Hermès scarf and contacts Duck to decline the offer. She stops by Duck’s hotel suite to return the scarf in person, and after saying she just can’t leave Sterling Cooper, asks Duck what he wants from her. Duck replies, “I want to take you into the bedroom, lock the door, throw you on the bed, tear your clothes off with my teeth and give you a go around like you’ve never had.” Nice! The two begin to kiss and eventually wind up in bed. I like where this is going.

The last good sub-plot involves Don and Sally’s teacher. During an eclipse-watching event with the kids and some parents, the teacher, Miss Farrell, misinterprets Don’s small talk as him coming on to her. Now, it’s possible that Don can’t not come on to a pretty young thing, but it seems to me that even though Don tells her, “We’re just talking,” this isn’t over. I look forward to Miss Farrell doing something drastic in a future episode.

This season continues to gain momentum, and considering all of the sources for great stories that haven’t even developed yet, Mad Men will likely continue to be my favorite show of the fall.