Jordan's Review: Mad Men, Season 3, Episode 1: Out of Town

Mad Men is back for a third season, and it means business. Since we last saw Sterling-Cooper, there has been a British invasion, and some serious "redundancies." Gone are the days of Burt Petersen as head of accounts (days, which we missed entirely) and the new owners have decided to pit Pete and Ken against each other for the job of Head of Accounts (Duck, unsurprisingly, is nowhere to be seen after his meltdown at the end of last season). And Don, now “the face of Sterling-Cooper” has to head to Baltimore to assure London Fog that everything is stable at the office. He brings Salvatore along, and soon the two are embroiled in what I like to call “The Don Draper Classic”—they impersonate business men to seduce airline stewardesses. Don, as per usual, gets the girl, and Sal, as per usual, returns to his room in a fit of sexual frustration. He’s tired of repressing himself and tired of never getting what he needs. And then a hotel employee comes along and makes his dreams of a little man-on-man a reality. Sal can’t contain his ecstasy—he finally gets to be himself to have the one thing he’s been deprived of (damn you, ‘60s!)…and then the fire alarm goes off. And then Don learns the dirty little secret of yet another colleague.

Back at home, Betty has a bun in the oven, and Sally has broken Don’s suitcase, because she doesn’t want him to leave her again. And Don is recalling the circumstances surrounding his own entrance to the world.
Things in the Mad Men world are becoming more complicated, and no one is quite sure how to deal with it. Pete is excited, then crushed by his promotion. Don is about to bring another child into the world, has to hide his continued affairs, and has to deal with his fractured sense of self. Roger is, as always, winningly ambivalent to it all. And Joan has married herself a little doctor, who just happened to rape her in Don’s office last season. Oh yeah, Mad Men is back. And this time, it’s personal.


Grade: A


Stray Notes:
Sorry if the insight is lacking tonight. Surrounded by conversation may not be the best way to attempt blogging.

Sal’s love scene was beautiful and heartbreaking.

January Jones and Christina Hendricks. Need I say more?