'Mad Men' review: 'A Night to Remember'

Well early in the morning, about the break of day,
I ask the Lord, “Help me find the way!”
Help me find the way to the promised land
This lonely body needs a helping hand
I ask the Lord to help me please find the way. – “Early in the Morning”

We start early, with Betty riding hard before Don even wakes. She’s been in a lather since Jimmy Barrett dropped his bomb at the Stork Club, and trying to work off some of the anger and aggression in the saddle. It’s not enough; when she gets back to the house she tells Don to fix the broken outlet in the dining room. She’s going to be throwing a dinner party in a week and needs him to take care of the items on his list. He’s flirty, she’s all business.

Betty’s mood remains serious all week, only allowing a few brief glimpses of the lava bubbling underneath. When cleaning the dining room, she finds a wobbly chair and slowly, calmly, methodically smashes it to bits on the floor. Another task from Don’s list left undone, no doubt. January Jones lets the cracks show ever-so-slightly until erupting, making Betty’s anger palpable. This was the best I’ve seen her.

Tonight is all about the women of Mad Men. As Peggy explains to the CYO committee and Father Gill, if the girls show up, the boys will follow. Likewise, Don pushes Heineken to look to upscale women as an untapped market, unserved by any competitors, and Harry and Joan convince a client that As the World Turns will give them the best bang for the buck. This field dominated by men, clueless about the needs and desires of the women around them, concentrates much of its energy on targeting women.

Each of the three stars tonight manages to keep some semblance of control in public, when wearing their armor. Betty’s armor – a flouncy, polka dot dress – gives out on her, but she’s got the most at stake. The fight over the Heineken, the fight over Don knowing her so well he knows what she’ll buy, is too much for Betty and once that fight starts, the Bobbie Barrett accusations can’t be contained.

Peggy keeps her composure while working through in miniature the same creative/accounts/client struggles Don and Duck recently resolved but weakens when Father Gill probes her about her sins. He wants her to confess and wants her to come back tightly into the church’s embrace, but she resists. Her eyes moisten during the interrogation, but not until she’s alone in the bath – her armor of high collar and bangs removed – does she finally break down.

Joan best handles her anger. In fact even when her armor comes off, all we see is the marks it leaves behind. Her moment of growth cut off too fast, she’s back to being what her finance sees, a woman who walks “around with people staring at you.” Leave it to Harry, the least competent of the junior men at Sterling-Cooper, to think new hire Danny Lindstrom is going to be able to match Joan’s performance.

These three women – a porcelain doll, an undercover nun, and a woman with ambition but no direction – are in various stages of breaking the bonds of the ’50s. Peggy, farthest along in her career, is still finding her way out of the grip of the Church, the grip of her family, and the grip of the past. Joan may never break free. Her girdles and bras and tightly coiffed hair constrain her more than society. She’s chosen her own straight jacket in a flattering color and can’t escape it.

And Betty – the happy homemaker and most traditional of the three – is seemingly done with the past. She’s done with the facade and done with the lies and done with Don. Assuming Betty doesn’t slide back, she’s on the road to learning what it’s like to be Helen Bishop.

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