Sep

Mad Men: The Gold Violin - VIDEO

By admin

(S02E07) “You’re not like everyone else around here.” - Ken, to Sal

So Don Draper used to be a car salesman?

I guess it fits with the career path of an advertising guy, and ties in nicely with the plot of Don getting a new car because he’s moving up in the world of business in general and Sterling Cooper specifically. There’s a big unresolved issue in this episode though. I’m really glad they brought it up but a little disappointed that they didn’t follow through with it, though I’m sure we’ll see more of the plot in later episodes this season.

It could actually change the entire direction of the show.

So … Sal likes Ken? That was a plot that seems to come out of left field. Actually, it’s further back then that, up about 40 rows of bleacher seats, past the concession stand and the public phones. But even though I didn’t expect it at all it also seems to make sense. After bringing up Sal’s sexuality in a couple of episodes last season, we really haven’t seen it talked about this season, so I’m glad they’re going forward with it. Last year I felt sorry for Sal; this season I feel even more sorry for his wife. I wonder if she was really upset about being left out of their dinner conversation or she’s upset because she suspects the truth about Sal.

I’m also glad to see them continuing to use Ken’s writing career as a plot point.

Some more observations about this episode

- Really glad to see Jimmy back in the picture. I want the mad men of Sterling Cooper to have a link to the showbiz world of the early ’60s. At first it seemed like Jimmy was going to be a character we’d see in one or two episodes, then he’d vanish. And he still might vanish completely, but not before putting a nasty thought into Betty’s head and confronting Don about Bobbie. For the record, I can’t argue with anything Jimmy said to Don. I wonder how Betty is going to deal with this (after they clean up the vomit in Don’s new car).

- At first I thought “The Gold Violin” was a reference to the Mark Rothko painting in Cooper’s office. This is a rather Cooper-heavy episode as things go, full of many great quotes (”Philanthropy is the gateway to power” and “Nobody’s ever asked me that. Probably because it’s none of their business.”). I thought Harry would get into trouble by letting something slip in his meeting with Cooper, but it was Jane that gets the brunt of the trouble from Joan (Joan…Jane…Joan…Jane). I like this battle of the women that’s brewing, and I like that Roger is in the middle (and I’m sure Roger wants to be in the middle literally - ba ding bang! Thank you and good night!)

- I’d like to read Ken’s stories. He seems to be writing the stories of the people of Sterling Cooper (I would guess that the episode hinges on what he says to Sal - about the violin being gold but no one being able to play it).

- Also good to see the young Smith & Smith return to the show, successfully pitching the Martinson Coffee (now owned by Tetley) guys. What’s the deal with those guys?

- So that unresolved plot point I mentioned above. A woman came into the car dealership (I’m thinking it’s around 1950, if I understand what Don said to the father and son looking at the car) to confront Don. She said “you’re not Don Draper.” I thought they’d get back to that point at the very end, like they usually do with flashback episodes. But they didn’t show it again! This is something I’ve been wondering about since it was revealed that Don is actually Dick Whitman, who took Don Draper’s identity back in Korea. Wouldn’t there be someone - a family member, a friend, a business associate, a fellow Army person - who would know that “Don Draper” is still alive and know that this person is not him? How exactly did Don/Dick get away with the charade? I hope they tell that story, and it’s hinted tonight that they will.

- The picnic: the Drapers are litterers!