Long Weekend is an unusual Mad Men episode, in that it presents itself as lighter fare (while actually having some darker undertones), deliberately inspired by the work of Billy Wilder.
The title refers to Labor Day weekend, which means most of the men at the agency are sending their wives away for that time period. Betty Draper isn't too happy about that, since it requires her to spend two days with her father and his new girlfriend. Back at the office, Roger is experiencing some trouble with Joan, who has just seen The Apartment and feels a little like Shirley MacLaine's character. Don tries to improve the situation by having twins from a casting session join him and Roger for a late drink, but things get out of hand when the boss suddenly has a heart attack.
Save for the dramatic turn of events at the end, the episode plays out much like a sophisticated comedy, as shown in the clever referencing of The Apartment (complete with a brief scene where Joan sort of becomes an elevator girl) and two other films: according to some, the episode's title is a tribute to another Wilder film, The Lost Weekend, and there is some truth to that claim if one thinks of the reference as a dark joke about the characters' drinking (The Lost Weekend being a rather serious drama about alcoholism); and there's also a subtle, clever in-joke as John Slattery not only does his customary riveting work as Roger, but also gets to criticize Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, which starred the actor's late father-in-law Martin Balsam. Who said serious dramas can't do this kind of humor?
The title refers to Labor Day weekend, which means most of the men at the agency are sending their wives away for that time period. Betty Draper isn't too happy about that, since it requires her to spend two days with her father and his new girlfriend. Back at the office, Roger is experiencing some trouble with Joan, who has just seen The Apartment and feels a little like Shirley MacLaine's character. Don tries to improve the situation by having twins from a casting session join him and Roger for a late drink, but things get out of hand when the boss suddenly has a heart attack.
Save for the dramatic turn of events at the end, the episode plays out much like a sophisticated comedy, as shown in the clever referencing of The Apartment (complete with a brief scene where Joan sort of becomes an elevator girl) and two other films: according to some, the episode's title is a tribute to another Wilder film, The Lost Weekend, and there is some truth to that claim if one thinks of the reference as a dark joke about the characters' drinking (The Lost Weekend being a rather serious drama about alcoholism); and there's also a subtle, clever in-joke as John Slattery not only does his customary riveting work as Roger, but also gets to criticize Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, which starred the actor's late father-in-law Martin Balsam. Who said serious dramas can't do this kind of humor?