photo: amc
Mad Men
The Arrangements
Original Air Date: 6 Sept 2009
Brittany D. – Staff Writer
brittany@thetwocentscorp.com
Well, well, well my little ad execs, you know what they say: Time flies when you’re having fun. More than one person has already exclaimed that the episode went by too fast, and I agree. With so much centering around Gene, and with the previews from last week, I predicted that Mr. Hofstadt would not be with us much longer. Was I right? Can I predict the future? (Or…past as it were.) Let’s see, shall we?
Before we get to the drama inside the Draper household, let’s see what Don’s up to at the old SC. A young man about Pete’s age named Horace Cook Jr. has a big idea and a whole lot of money about something called Jai Alai, (pronounced Hi-Li) a sport that is billed as the fastest sport in the world and originated in Spain. (There’s more information over at Wikipedia which as we know, is never wrong.) Anyway, Don thinks it’s a waste of the kid’s money, but it’s Pete’s account and he wants to pursue it. A meeting with Junior’s dad only lets us know that Horace Senior is just waiting for his son to fail so that he’ll learn a lesson. At a dinner meeting with Junior, Don once again tries to talk him out of it which Junior glosses over. He does let Don and Pete know that if Jai Aalai fails, it’ll be Sterling Cooper’s fault. As they work out the fine details later, Don sends the Jai Alai ball through Cooper’s ant farm, but jovially says to ‘bill it to the kid’. Later, Joan sprays the hell out of it with Raid.
Peggy decides that she wants to move to Manhattan, so she puts up an ad looking for a roommate. The boys at SC get a hold of it (Paul, Ken, and Harry), and get Lois to prank call, making up a story about a woman who works in a tannery and has a disfigured face. Peggy removes the ad at once, and Joan advises Peggy to make herself sound more fun. “No dull moments or dull men tolerated.” She actually comes up with an entire ad off the top of her head which makes me wish Joan were in creative or something. It also made me realize that my dream is for Joan and Peggy to end up as roommates by the end of the series. Eventually a girl named Karen Ericson calls Peggy and Peg tries to sell herself, saying ‘I’m fun. And I like to have…fun.’ Oh, Peggy. When she breaks the news to her mother after giving her a new TV, the Catholic guilt is laid on thick (the Pope died, too. I’m sure that didn’t help) and Peggy is shunned from kissing her mother goodnight. As she leaves, her mother turns on the TV to enjoy, so perhaps all will be well.
The piece de la resistance is Sal who has been upgraded to commercial director. Kitty walks into the bedroom in some sexy lingerie, hoping to catch her husband’s eye who brushes her off. He tells her that he’s afraid his job as an art designer is dying out, and everyone wants photography. When Kitty is supportive, he gets up and does a little mock up of exactly what the Ann-Margaret inspired commercial will be; complete with saucy looks and little hand waves. And I hate to sound cliché here but he should have just said “Honey, I’m gay, now watch this!” To her credit though, Kitty manages to look absolutely shocked.
Now, to see if my psychic powers are rusty or not. Gene and Sally are obviously very close. He even lets Sally drive to school while he mans the gas and the brakes. They share ice cream even when Sally counters that they aren’t supposed to before dinner. “Why? Your mother afraid you’re going to be fat like she was?” Aw, so sweet. It should have been obvious through the episode now that I’ve watched it twice, that Gene was checking out. He was giving things away – a Prussian enemy’s hat from the war to Bobby, and he was going over his will with Betty early in the episode, despite her protests. He says to Sally as they eat ice cream that the chocolate smells like oranges. Uh oh. My Spidey senses are tingling.
Gene is late picking up Sally and Bobby, and later as Sally sits on the porch, a police officer arrives. He tells Betty and Sally that Gene collapsed at the A&P, and my guess is that it was a massive stroke. Sally is absolutely devastated that Grandpa Gene is dead, as is Betty, but the focus is on her daughter for now. (For good reason, she’ll start acting out next episode.) When Sally overhears the adults laughing about Gene being concerned with having two wives in heaven, she storms into the kitchen, upset with everyone for being able to laugh. She’s ordered to go watch television, where the news is reporting on a Buddhist monk who set fire to himself. The episode ends with Don putting away Gene’s fold out bed while the rest of the house is sleeping.
Quotes and miscellaneous:
Peggy’s mother has some good theories as to why Peggy wants to move to Manhattan, and finally comes away with a winner of a reason for Peggy not to move:
“You’ll get raped. You know that.”
In case you were interested, here’s more information about Jai Alai. Apparently it’s going to make a comeback in Hartford, Connecticut in 2010. Who knew?! Oh and here’s more information about the Buddhist monk. That effectively puts our date at June 11, 1963.
Sal put all of his hard work into the Patio ad for nothing – the Pepsi execs didn’t like the ad and killed it before it could even run. (Well, I suppose it wasn’t nothing if he got that new title.)
In the middle of the night before Gene died, Don went to his office and got out old photos, focusing on one in particular labeled ‘Archie and Abigail 1928’. His parents?
Joan, on Peggy putting up her ad for a roommate in the SC break room:
“Don’t put it up there. Everyone knows you here.”
Gene, talking to Sally over ice cream:
“You can really do something. Don’t let your mother tell you otherwise.”
When Peggy tells her sister Anita she wants to live in Manhattan:
Anita: You’re gonna be one of those girls?
Peggy: I am one of those girls.
I’m anxious to see how you felt about this episode, my little execs! Where is Sally headed now that she’s lost probably the only person in her life that ever treated her like a real human being? Do you think Kitty’s gaydar is finally fine tuned and she’s getting where her husband is coming from? And where was Sterling tonight? This episode was sorely lacking on the Silver Fox. Leave me your Two Cents in the comments, and we’ll see you back here soon!
TheTwoCents 
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Hi Brittany,
I just found your site via a simple “Mad Men” search on wordpress. Nice work. I wrote an MM post last week predicting that little Sally Draper would murder Grandpa Gene. I guess that didn’t happen…but close, right?
I hope to have my post up on this week’s ep. on Monday.
Anyway, yes, Archie is Archibald Whitman, Don’s real father. He’s mentioned him a couple times in past episodes.
I loved the prank call to Peggy and the jai alai ball going into the ant farm.
And I thought the ant farm belonged to Bert *Peterson*, the guy who was fired? Was it a gift from Bert Cooper, the SC partner (big boss)?
Thanks for taking the time to stop and leave a comment – I appreciate it! Feel free to shoot me an email with a link to your MM post, I’d love to read.
I thought at the end of this episode that we’d have Sally setting fire to the house, I’m glad to see that was not the case.
Maybe it was trying to process everything else, but I blanked on what Don’s father’s name was. Thank you for clearing that up, I appreciate it very much.
My impression on the ant farm was that it was an eccentricity put there on a whim while Joan was putting together the space, but it is possible that it was left behind by Peterson when he was fired.
Great thoughts on everything, and I very much hope to see you as a regular commenter!
Here’s my Mad Men post.
I like to have fun with my mockery and tomfoolery, but don’t get me wrong: I’m a very serious fan! I watch each ep. 3-4 times and totally geek out on it.
I’ve watched the episode three times now XD There’s no shame in multiple viewings!
Is that really your photo or is that the actress from Lost?
That is indeed Elizabeth Mitchell.
She actually comes up with an entire ad off the top of her head which makes me wish Joan were in creative or something.
I think this was the underlying point of that scene. Joan was determined to find a man and settle down – mission accomplished. Toward the end of last season though we saw her start to spread her wings when she was helping Harry out and now we see that she’s learned a thing or two during her years at SC. Methinks Joan’s not leaving to play wife and mommy for a while. Maybe Mrs. Older Doctor’s advice not to have a child for a while will influence Joanie in other ways.
I thought the comment Don made about the German soldier’s helmet being a ‘dead man’s hat’ was interesting. He got so upset about Bobby wearing it and almost battled with Gene to get it off Bobby’s head. As someone smarter than me pointed out, that’s essentially what Don’s adult life has been – wearing a dead man’s hat.
Oh, and I was right there with you when Gene made the comment about the ice cream smelling like oranges. Although I took it to be a sign of his dementia progressing and didn’t realize it was a sign of pending stroke.
I felt so bad for Sally. Her mother was so absorbed in her own grief (? somehow that word doesn’t quite fit for what I interpret Betty to be feeling) that she couldn’t see how much Sally was hurting. I mean for crying out loud, someone at least get her a nightgown and brush her hair out! Sally lost her only real ally last night – now to see if Don can step in and be the father that Gene clearly saw she didn’t have.
I want Joan to run that entire freaking Ad Agency when Cooper croaks and Sterling has his third and fourth heart attacks. And then it can be like the movie Lover Come Back or something. If you haven’t seen it, you should. Rock Hudson and Doris Day – it’s like Mad Men made during the actual 60s.
That’s interesting about Don and the dead man’s hat comment. I was so busy looking for metaphors of Gene’s death that I never stretched those metaphors over to Don as well. But obviously it moved him so much and reminded him of his past to the point where he had to go find the picture of his parents, and remind himself of why he ran away. What he was running away from.
The only reason I thought the off-hand comment about things smelling funny is that when people have strokes, they sometimes think they smell burning toast. I always thought that was because their brain was over heating or something else medically related that I made up, but maybe it’s just wires crossing and senses getting confused. Either way, I knew my prediction would come to pass at that moment.
And poor Sally. I feel terrible for her too, though if she had a father figure in Don that she felt like she could be close to, might not be so devastated now. I mean, I’m not saying she wouldn’t be upset, but if she had someone she could properly confide in and mourn with, maybe she wouldn’t go all Rizzo from Grease on her entire family. Because that’s all I see for our girl in the future. We’ve already had smoking, drinking, stealing, and lying – and you know what they say about slippery slopes.
Thanks for the comment! I hope you leave many more in the future 😀
Totally love everyone’s comments here. This was an interesting episode, and I believe that the show is hitting on all cylinders this season.
But I would like to return to the scene with Kitty and her husband, Sal. Given that Don saw Sal in flagrant delecto a few episodes ago–this scene may open the door to even more interesting story lines.
I am sure that Kitty’s reaction to Sal’s demonstration of the commercial was meant to be a pivotal moment–her realization that her husband is probably gay. No wonder her “needs” are not being taken care of. It will be quite interesting to see how that story slowly develops.
This show is so amazing for letting us peer into an era long gone. Everyone smoking in the office, sexual harrassment as a workplace norm, and two martini lunches, and drinking at meetings, breaks, and dinner.
Thanks for stopping by to comment, Eric.
The moment with Kitty and Sal was so absolutely incredible, and I’ve watched it a few times now. Sal’s line of ‘I’m not myself’ just gets me every single time. Especially Kitty’s corresponding question: “What does that mean?”
There’s no telling what was going through Kitty’s head as she watched Sal, and her face went from smiling supportive to shocked realization. Who knows if she actually has the thought of ‘My husband is gay’ floating through her head, but it was certainly a start. There’s no telling how versed she is on homosexuality or what she thinks about it.
Time will tell, and I think it will be a fantastic story line through the rest of the season.
That moment made me wonder if back then it would have been known that many musical theater performers were gay? I mean now, Hugh Jackman aside, musical theater chorus man = gay. Just saying that’s the *perception* by most Americans, I’d say, not trying to support that stereotype.
But back then…it wasn’t automatically considered feminine for a man to be a singer and dancer; the biggest stars were showmen, like Fred Astaire. Maybe to the guys down on the docks that made you a fairy, but they all wanted to be Frank Sinatra, and he sang and danced in movies, right? So did Brando in Guys and Dolls. Everybody knew that guys who could sing and cut a rug got the girls.
But Sal crossed the line; he was REALLY queening it up. And she could see that; plus it wasn’t just THAT, she was putting two and two together, or probably more like 100 and 100 as she’s known him for years. 🙂
Okay, Brittany, here’s my take on “The Arrangements!”
Hope you guys and gals enjoy it. I like to poke fun, keep it quick and entertaining, and I’m quite proud of my screen captures…
Enjoy!
On the ant farm:
In the season premiere when Joan is inviting Hooker to occupy Burt Peterson’s old office:
Hooker: Did he take the ant farm?
Joan: No, it’s actually Mr. Cooper’s. It just lives there.
Ah yes, thank you! I was going to re-visit that scene as I knew something was mentioned about the ant farm there, so I appreciate your homework.
And don’t you just love how Cooper just gets weirder and weirder? 🙂
Yay, I was right! Thank you for clearing it up 😀