The only reason this episode does not get a ten is because of a few quibbles I have. It is not that the show is too subtly involved in its period. "Mad Men" can only do so much to spoon feed us what things were like in that different era. For example, when Don says that Nixon is president and all is right with the world, he is probably being a sarcastic drunk, although he is a bit all over the place in talking about different presidents. When the barroom preacher says that not one of the men Don has mentioned is or was a Godly man, it is hard to be sure which president was the sacred cow that made Don angry enough to punch the preacher (if this is the correct interpretation of the scene).
Another problem is Don's quick turnaround both in recognizing that he has an alcohol problem and that he has an identity disorder all in one episode. He doesn't solve these problems overnight, but he has a good start with the breakthroughs he makes. Don might not crash and burn after all, but we will have to wait and see.
Despite its speed, Don's nobody-saw-it-coming revelation about who he really is (he didn't reveal his name, but he told everyone who he once was anyway) was a breath-taking scene. He started out giving executives from Hershey's a false story about how he grew up middle-class and associated his Hershey's chocolate bar with the loving father who gave it to him. My eyes rolled and then he sat down. Then he tells the true story of how he grew up an orphan in a brothel and his real Hershey's memory was that a prostitute used to give him a chocolate bar for helping her rob her johns. "It was the only time I felt normal" he says about eating the chocolate. Then one of the executives says, "I don't get it. Do you want to use that in a commercial?" Comedy turned to tragedy and back to comedy. But, as in earlier episodes, the comedy is drained out of it because of the pain on display.
Don has made himself vulnerable once again, but unless he can't finally give up the bottle and unless he can't pull his career and his marriage and relationship with his kids back together, he might just make it. The final scene of this episode, of Don showing his kids the house where he grew up might be a start to repairing the tear in his relationships with them.
Pete's situation also betrays comedy mixed with tragedy. He can't get himself to stop being the prick that he is, and he and his brother prove not to be as different as they think they are. When they find out that their suspicions that Manolo murdered their mother are not being pursued by law enforcement, they are at first outraged, but then they both agree that since it would be costly to mount their own independent investigation, it is very tempting to let the matter lie. They are both funny and vile but it is tragic for poor Mrs. Campbell--unless she turns up next season, alive and happy. Then it will be comedy again. But her sons will still be vile.
Another problem is Don's quick turnaround both in recognizing that he has an alcohol problem and that he has an identity disorder all in one episode. He doesn't solve these problems overnight, but he has a good start with the breakthroughs he makes. Don might not crash and burn after all, but we will have to wait and see.
Despite its speed, Don's nobody-saw-it-coming revelation about who he really is (he didn't reveal his name, but he told everyone who he once was anyway) was a breath-taking scene. He started out giving executives from Hershey's a false story about how he grew up middle-class and associated his Hershey's chocolate bar with the loving father who gave it to him. My eyes rolled and then he sat down. Then he tells the true story of how he grew up an orphan in a brothel and his real Hershey's memory was that a prostitute used to give him a chocolate bar for helping her rob her johns. "It was the only time I felt normal" he says about eating the chocolate. Then one of the executives says, "I don't get it. Do you want to use that in a commercial?" Comedy turned to tragedy and back to comedy. But, as in earlier episodes, the comedy is drained out of it because of the pain on display.
Don has made himself vulnerable once again, but unless he can't finally give up the bottle and unless he can't pull his career and his marriage and relationship with his kids back together, he might just make it. The final scene of this episode, of Don showing his kids the house where he grew up might be a start to repairing the tear in his relationships with them.
Pete's situation also betrays comedy mixed with tragedy. He can't get himself to stop being the prick that he is, and he and his brother prove not to be as different as they think they are. When they find out that their suspicions that Manolo murdered their mother are not being pursued by law enforcement, they are at first outraged, but then they both agree that since it would be costly to mount their own independent investigation, it is very tempting to let the matter lie. They are both funny and vile but it is tragic for poor Mrs. Campbell--unless she turns up next season, alive and happy. Then it will be comedy again. But her sons will still be vile.