To Have and to Hold (S6x04)
Airdate: 21 April 2013
Written by: Erin Levy Directed by: Michael Uppendahl
Running Time: 48 minutes
To Have and to Hold is not an episode that announces itself with any particular fanfare. It does not deliver a bombshell revelation nor does it pivot the season in some dramatic new direction. Instead, it simply continues the narrative trajectories already in motion and ties up a handful of loose ends left dangling from the previous instalment. Yet this is precisely where Mad Men demonstrates why it became such a touchstone of the so-called Golden Age of Television. Even its "filler" episodes maintain a level of craft and intelligence that lesser series struggle to achieve at their peak. There is something almost reassuring about this consistency, even when the storytelling itself feels somewhat routine.
The episode's title refers to a fictional soap opera in which Megan Draper has secured a regular role. When she learns that her character is slated to embark upon a romance—complete with on-screen love scenes—she frets about how Don might react. It is a reasonable concern, given her husband's possessive nature and his history of jealousy. When she finally broaches the subject, Don manages to keep his temper in check, outwardly agreeing that she should do whatever is necessary to advance her career. One can almost see the rage simmering beneath his composed exterior, but he swallows it down with the practiced ease of a man who has spent decades hiding his true feelings.
Sensing Megan's lingering unease about the situation, Arlene (Joanna Going), the soap's leading lady, attempts to break the ice by inviting the Drapers to dinner with her husband Mel (Ted McGinley), who happens to be the show’s head writer. Arlene and Mel present themselves as thoroughly "open-minded," a descriptor they deploy with increasing emphasis until their meaning becomes unmistakable. They are proposing a partner swap, an invitation to group sex that lands with all the subtlety of a dropped tray. Don and Megan are visibly stunned, though they manage to decline with something approaching grace. Arlene and Mel, to their credit, accept the refusal without apparent rancour, though one suspects they have weathered such rejections before.
Meanwhile, back at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, Ken Cosgrove approaches Harry Crane with a delicate matter. Dow Chemical, one of their clients, faces a public relations nightmare over its production of napalm, which is being deployed against civilians in Vietnam. Harry, ever eager to prove his worth, leverages his television connections to arrange an hour-long sponsored broadcast featuring celebrities including Joe Namath, the New York Jets quarterback. The event proves successful, and Harry receives a handsome $23,000 bonus for his efforts. Yet rather than satisfaction, he seethes with resentment. Joan Holloway has been made partner whilst he remains merely an employee, a fact he finds galling given his substantial financial contributions to the firm.
Joan's own storyline offers a stark counterpoint to Harry's grievances. Her old high school friend Kate (Marley Shelton=, arrives for a visit. Kate works for Mary Kay cosmetics and harbours ambitions of becoming a partner at Avon, clearly inspired by Joan's apparent success. The two women embark upon a raucous night out that leaves them nursing hangovers the following morning. It is then that Joan attempts to disabuse her friend of any romantic notions about her position. She explains that "partner" is largely a hollow title, that the men at SCDP still treat her as little more than a glorified secretary with an office. It is a rare moment of vulnerability from Joan, who typically maintains an impenetrable facade of competence and confidence.
Her true standing becomes painfully apparent when she discovers Scarlett (Sadie Alexandru), Harry's secretary, engaged in punch card fraud with Dawn's assistance. Joan sacks Scarlett immediately, but the decision backfires spectacularly. Harry storms into the senior partners' offices, furious that his secretary has been dismissed without his consultation. Bert Cooper and Roger Sterling, ever pragmatic, placate Harry by reinstating Scarlett and heaping praise upon his financial achievements. They refuse, however, to grant him the partnership he covets. Later, Dawn approaches Joan of her own accord to apologise for her role in the fraud. Rather than punish her further, Joan recognises something in Dawn's initiative and grants her additional responsibilities. It is a small victory in a day of humiliations.
The episode's other major thread concerns Don's continued defiance of instructions regarding the Heinz Ketchup account. Despite being explicitly told not to pursue it, Don conspires with Pete and Stan on "Project K," a secret pitch they develop in a rented hotel room. Their plan unravels when they discover that Tim Jablonski intends to hear not only their presentation but also one from Cutler, Gleason and Chaough. This sets up an excruciating encounter between Peggy and her former colleagues, with Don listening at the door as she delivers her pitch. He recognises immediately that hers is the stronger concept. In the end, neither agency secures the account; J. Walter Thompson walks away with the contract. Ken Cosgrove subsequently informs the SCDP team that Raymond Geiger, incensed by their behind-the-back manoeuvring with Heinz Ketchup, has terminated their existing contract. Ken's commentary on the firm's disloyalty carries a bitter irony, given how much business their scheming has ultimately cost them.
The episode concludes with Don visiting Megan on the soap opera set. He watches, visibly troubled, as she performs a passionate kiss with her co-star. When they are alone, he cannot quite mask his displeasure, his supportive husband act crumbling under the weight of his jealousy. His hypocrisy is complete when, shortly thereafter, he slips away to sleep with Sylvia Rosen.
Written by Erin Levy and directed by Michael Uppendahl, To Have and to Hold is competent piece of television that never quite catches fire. With the characters and their various agendas already firmly established, nearly everything that transpires feels predictable. We expect Don's jealous hypocrisy, Harry's staggering lack of humility, and Joan's ongoing struggle for recognition from her male colleagues. These beats are played with precision but without surprise.
The segment featuring Joan and her friend Kate suffers particularly from uneven direction, occasionally becoming confusing in its transitions between their night out and the morning after. Levy's script also breaks from Mad Men's typical formula by failing to anchor itself to a notable historical event. Most episodes use the cultural touchstones of the 1960s as backdrop and thematic counterpoint. This instalment drifts somewhat untethered without such an anchor, though one suspects the seismic events of 1968 will make themselves felt in episodes to come.
The only genuine surprise arrives with Arlene and Mel's proposition to the Drapers. Yet even this unexpected moment fits neatly into the season's emerging preoccupation with the Sexual Revolution and the sometimes radical, often uncomfortable ways in which members of the older generation attempt to adapt to new permissive standards. It is a glimpse of the changing times, offered with a wry smile and a raised eyebrow.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
==
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo Substack https://draxster.substack.com/
LeoDex: https://leodex.io/?ref=drax InLeo: https://inleo.io/signup?referral=drax.leo Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax 1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7 BCH donations: qpvxw0jax79lhmvlgcldkzpqanf03r9cjv8y6gtmk9
