Mad Men: The Color Blue – Season 3 Episode 10 Review

Don is continuing his affair with Suzanne Farrell, Sally’s ex-teacher. I’ve prognosticated, along with a few of the people who read these reviews, that in some way, Don is going to get his proverbial bunny boiled. To this end, a few things happened this week that let us know that Suzanne Farrell may not be planning on keeping their relationship a secret forever. Things get interesting when, during a rendezvous at Miss Farrell’s house, there is a knock on the door. It’s Suzanne’s younger brother Danny, who has been fired from his job because of his epileptic seizures. The strange thing is that in this time of discretion, Suzanne actually wants Don to meet Danny. Family introductions are not typical behavior for someone who wants to hide an affair.

Later in the episode, Don agrees to drive Danny to Massachusetts to start a job that Suzanne got him. Danny explains that he won’t accept another menial job because of his condition and asks Don to just let him out. After a conversation where Danny explains to Don that he can’t just pick himself up by the bootstraps because of his condition, Don agrees to let him out, and gives him some money and his business card. This is an interesting moment, because even after what Don has been through in his life, it seems that he’s never met someone who is so not in control of his own future. In the style of Mad Men, we also get the feeling that this isn’t the last we’ll hear from Danny, especially since he knows a good secret.

Another very awkward and tense moment between the clandestine lovers occurs on the train one morning when Suzanne stalks Don because he didn’t call her. Again, the crazy-meter is getting dialed up ever so slightly. Nothing bad happens during this encounter, but rather the act itself and the way Don feeds into Suzanne is going to be a problem later. On a side note, while Don and Suzanne are lying in bed, she talks about a student who wondered if everyone sees the color blue in the same way. Don’s response is, “People may see things differently, but they don’t really want to.” Deep, man… Deep. Classic Mad Men writing that could be analyzed for days.

Don isn’t the only one with potential problems, as usual. In a bombshell, we learn that Putnam, Powell and Lowe, the British company that bought Sterling Cooper, is planning on selling them after having trimmed the staff and raised profits. This is an immediate problem for Lane, whose wife is having issues with living in America. She’s not going to be too happy when she finds out they’ll be living in Bombay, India, which Lane obviously has not told her yet. Aside from this couple’s problems, selling Sterling Cooper obviously sets up some good cliffhanger material for the end of the season, and I don’t expect this to get resolved in the next three episodes.

There is also the obligatory “ad stuff” going on. Paul Kinsey starts a pissing match with Peggy after he accuses her of making him look bad for refining one of his ideas. After a night of drinking, Kinsey gets the perfect idea for a Western Union ad, but forgets to write it down in his stupor, leaving him with nothing when he and Peggy show up to Don’s office. In a great bit of irony, Peggy again refines Paul’s idea when using a Chinese proverb to explain his forgotten idea. It works out in the end, and we assume a humbled Paul and Peggy are friends again.

Meanwhile back at the Draper house, Betty finds the key to Don’s desk after he carelessly leaves it in his robe. Opening the desk, she finds a horde of cash and the shoebox with all of the Dick Whitman material, including the deed to Anna Draper’s house in California and the divorce papers. Uh-oh! Betty waits up to confront Don with the contents of the shoebox, but since Don’s been spending every night at Suzanne’s house, he doesn’t come home, and at about 2 in the morning, Betty puts the box back and goes to bed. As much as I think this may be Don’s Waterloo, he has gotten out of stickier situations before, and I predict this will be more fodder for the season-ending cliffhanger. To add to the marital tempest, there’s a mysterious phone call and hangup at the Draper house one evening, and both Don and Betty assume it to be their extra-marital friends. As far as we know, the caller remains a mystery, but it does prompt Betty to call Henry Francis, who makes it clear he’s not playing games. It remains to be seen what Betty has up her sleeve, though.

In the end of the episode, there is the Sterling Cooper 40th anniversary party where Don is receiving an award. In his introduction, Roger Sterling gushes about Don and how great he is. Betty is there as well, putting on a happy face. People are clapping and cheering Don, and his wife and boss both revile him. It’s the perfect juxtaposition to lead us down the home stretch of season 3.