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‘Mad Men’: Gods and ladies

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At Episode 9, “Mad Men” is purring along like Draper’s Buick. I’m enjoying the ride, but I’m eager for our destination. Where will the season finale take us? So many plot developments: Draper and Betty; Draper and Rachel Mencken (don’t think for a moment she won’t reemerge draped or feathered in something fabulous); Pete and Peggy; the barely closeted Salvatore and office vixen Joan … where will they be a mere handful of weeks from now? The only storyline we know the end to is Nixon’s. The “Mad Men” characters should count on a better fate, but then again, who understands the whims of TV writers?

This week, nothing too jazzy happened, but it was sumptuous viewing all the same. A rundown for your scorecard:

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Draper gets seduced by another company: I was filing my nails throughout this particular storyline, just like one of the steno pool ladies would do in the face of some ad man’s mildly amusing but still tedious sex-pitch. I didn’t worry that Draper would flee Sterling-Cooper, even for the stewardess-rich heavens of Pan Am. But we learned a few things about the nature of his loyalty and ambition. Turns out it’s not all about climbing the ladder for Draper. His stasis is about comfort and maybe fear. He’s not loyal to S-C because it’s that great. After all, is anyone ever loyal simply for the sake of it? As long as he’s allowed to be a mysterious god among men, he’ll stay put.

“I used to be a model, you know.” Yes, Betty, we know! I’ve not always been convinced that the domestic sphere of “Mad Men” works as well as the work place, but suddenly, when it was threatened, I didn’t want to see it go. Betty models for the company that’s trying to hire Draper, a lowball move on their account, and when Draper turns down the offer, Betty gets the pink slip. She covertly sobs while some doppelganger all but rips jewels off her body. More than ever, Weiner and company are highlighting the symmetries between Betty and Carmela of “The Sopranos.” Both long to leave the trappings of home, but when they venture out, they often become disillusioned or hurt. They climb back into the cocoon, where it’s safe and warm and they understand their place. As much as Betty pushes on the walls, she also loves it. Hanging out in your nightie at 1 in the afternoon and shooting birds isn’t so bad, is it? By the way, what was that? Did Ted Nugent rewrite the last three minutes of the script?

And then we have the tempestuous, seductive, bawdy workings of the office. Peggy and Joan’s interaction was delicious and overdue but perhaps not loose enough. In a moment like that, “Mad Men” seems shackled by its devotion to idiosyncratic, HBO-nursed ideas about “quality TV.” I’m all for subtlety, but it’s OK to get a little trashy here and there. “Mad Men” could take a pinch of the soapy, go-for-the-jugular spirit of a show like “Desperate Housewives” in its heyday and make it work. The boys get to brawl, but the women’s argument was more like the foxtrot. Maybe a good row is yet to come -- I always thought Joan was the one with fangs, but it looks like Peggy’s growing her own venomous pair.

--Margaret Wappler

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