“Mad Men,” Season One, Episode 7: “Red In The Face”

This episode definitely exemplifies sexism of the 1960’s. From the get-go of this episode when Don calls up Betty’s therapist up to ask him what she has been talking about, one sees that women have absolutely no privacy. Don has no respect for Betty’s personal feelings and is shocked when he finds out that there may be deeper issues troubling Betty, because how could a housewife of the 1960’s possibly have a deep thought in her head, right? But Betty’s therapist concludes that Betty is just overwhelmed with the daily chores of being a housewife. “We’re dealing with the emotions of a child,” he said. And it seems as though that concept of Betty as a child runs throughout this episode – especially later on in the episode when Don said to Betty, “Sometimes I feel like I’m living with a little girl.” Clearly Betty’s therapist got inside Don’s head.

Don’s boss Roger Sterling is clearly unsatisfied with his life. At first I thought he just couldn’t bare with the realities of his dull home life, which led him to develop real emotions for Joan, but now it just looks like Sterling, an older man with a head of white hair, is just looking for an attractive woman much younger than he and his standards seem to be much too high.

Don and Sterling were pretty chummy with each other over the course of this episode – some parts made me laugh and some made me very disappointed. Don was basically forced to invite Sterling over for dinner after an after work drink and Betty was clearly not too pleased since she had only cooked enough food for her and Don. Betty sacrificed her piece of steak for Sterling and as an alternative Betty nibbled on some romaine lettuce, which was sweet of her. Over the dinner conversation, numerous glasses of vodka, and dozens of cigarettes, I could tell that Sterling was going try to make a move on Betty. It disgusts me how the majority of the men on this show just think they can get any woman they desire, and how they expect even married women to give it up so easily to them. But what shocked me was the way Don reacted to Betty after sensing that his boss just hit on his wife. This was the first time Don got physical with Betty and roughly grabbed her by the arm. Don isn’t the type of guy to beat his wife so he immediately backed off, but he even blamed Betty for Sterling making a move on her, which I didn’t think was right at all. Betty wasn’t flirting with Sterling, she was just interested in his war stories because Don never talks about that part of his life with Betty, which is why she was so fascinated.

The next day Sterling walked in to Don’s office with a bottle of liquor and basically gives Don a cheap apology – “We’ve all parked our cars in the wrong garage.”

This episode was just chock full of sexism and the great divide between men and women, especially when Pete goes to return a $22.00 “chip-and-dip” wedding present he and Trudy received. The fact that the “chip-and-dip” was mentioned so many times in this episode was just comical. It was odd how Pete bragged about the gift so much, but yet he was going to return it. The sexism truly came out when at the store Pete gave the name Campbell for the registry in order to return the gift and the store clerk said nothing was under that name. The clerk told Pete it would probably be under his wife’s maiden name, and Pete abrasively responded, “Why would you do that?” He was completely shocked to find out that his wife’s maiden name would be on anything at all. It is a man’s world and that was clearly unfathomable to Pete that a woman can account for anything. I guess it just wasn’t Pete’s day. When he found out he couldn’t return the chip-and-dip for cash he tried flirting his way for cash back. Like I said these men on this show just think they can get anything they want. They really should get off their high horses. Pete winds up exchanging the chip-and-dip for a classic man-toy – a 22-caliber rifle, and Trudy is not pleased at all.

It was odd how after Pete got that rifle in exchange for the chip-and-dip he clung on to it everywhere he went. He even aimed at the women secretary’s in the office and they didn’t so much as move a muscle. If that was today’s times and someone brought in a rifle to work and pointed it at anyone they would probably go to jail. It was odd how Pete went on his hunting/hunger fantasy to Peggy and it was even odder how to reacted to such a weird fantasy – it looked like it even turned her on a little. I don’t think Peggy and Pete’s love affair is over.

This episode definitely wasn’t my favorite, but there was definitely a lot going out and a lot of character developments that played out through Sterling, Don, Pete, and Betty and I appreciate the effort and thought that went into this episode even surrounding the tiniest scenes. This episode was full of a lot of faults by the means of Sterling and the episode even ends with him throwing up on the office rug in front of Nixon’s men.

One scene that I actually laughed out loud at was when Sterling and Don went out to dinner and made gluttonous pigs out of themselves – inhaling four dozens of oysters, dozens of martinis, and to top it all off, cheesecake. It must be nice to live such a glamorous life.

Another scene that stood out was when Helen runs into Betty at the supermarket and Helen confronts Betty about the lock of hair she found in her son Glen’s drawer. I knew it was only a matter of time before Helen would find that lock of Betty’s hair and be completely appalled. It’s odd how Betty doesn’t see the fault in what she did, and how weird it is to cut a piece of your hair and give it to a 9-year-old boy. I was shocked when Betty actually slapped Helen across the face in the middle of the brightly colored supermarket. The slap Betty gave to Helen definitely gives Betty a new image, because apparently everyone in the neighborhood thinks she’s such a delicate flower. Betty’s therapist is right – she does have some deeper issues to be dealt with, but definitely not the everyday struggles of being a housewife.

One more thing – usually every episode has an account that Don and the other men work on, but this account was unclear to me – I wasn’t sure what they were selling but it has to do with Nixon versus Kennedy. This storyline will definitely be developed within the episodes to come.

(Viewed at 12:00 PM on a Friday in my room).

I rate this episode a 4 out of 5.