‘Mad Men’: The inheritance

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

I give up on trying to make sense of the “Mad Men’ ratings. Sure, after all of the publicity leading up to the Season 2 premiere, it stood to reason that the ratings would start off high. And others have argued that the subsequent falloff in viewers was the result of the darkness and nuance of the show. But then things picked back up after AMC aired a marathon of Season 2 episodes, and -– hey! -– the show won the Emmy for outstanding drama. And now we’re back down to 1.6 million viewers. I guess people really are paying attention to the presidential campaign. Or perhaps they’re too busy stuffing their money into their mattresses to watch television.

Speaking of money, this episode of “Mad Men” was entitled “The Inheritance.” Naturally, the meaning of “inheritance” can be extended beyond the financial implications to those involving genes, dysfunction and items of sentimental value, and this episode touched on them all. Two of the main storylines involved families –- Pete Campbell’s and Betty Draper’s -– and the shift that occurs when the older generation begins to die off and the next generation’s time has come, whether that generation wants it or not.

Pete’s wife, Trudy, has begun to lobby for adoption, and although Pete protests that “it’s not natural,” he seems to be getting on board. He mentions the prospect to his brother, Bud, who shows understated compassion in the moment. But the reason Bud and Pete are seeing each other is that they’ve had to liquidate their mother’s extensive holdings so that she can continue to live in comfort; you may recall that her late husband had been squandering her inherited fortune on the high life, and there’s nothing left over for Bud and Pete. When Pete shows up at his mother’s house to sign some documents, it becomes clear that Bud has mentioned the possibility of Pete and Trudy adopting a child. The matriarch does not approve, and, apparently unaware of her financial situation (which in this day and age would have qualified her to run a major investment bank), starts making threats to Pete about his possible excommunication from the family if he goes through with adoption, which she refers to as “picking through the discards.” This allows for a kind of awesome moment when Pete reveals that she’s in no position to threaten him, and he sweeps out in victory, such as it is. Later, at a drunken office baby shower for Harry Crane, however, he attempts to share his malaise with Peggy Olson, claiming she’s got it easier than he has. “It’s not easy for anyone, Pete,” she says. And how.

Meanwhile, in the Draper household, which now encompasses both the suburban residence and Don’s room at the Roosevelt, Don and Betty are forced back into each other’s company for a few days when Betty learns that her father has had a stroke. She and Don travel to New Jersey to see her father, his second wife, Gloria, and her brother, William, who still lives with his family in the area. When the Drapers arrive, they learn that this isn’t the first stroke, and that no one bothered to tell Betty about the other one. The father, Gene, seems okay initially, but it soon becomes clear that he’s quite confused. He repeatedly mistakes Betty for her mother, including one rather uncomfortable scene in which he propositions her. Betty doesn’t like that everyone’s been hiding things from her, and she doesn’t like Gloria, and she doesn’t like the fact that her brother’s wife took this hideous jardinière that Betty wanted. The brother’s wife returns this objet to Betty’s house, horrified about the whole thing since William told her that their mother had promised it to Betty. The only source of comfort for Betty is Viola, a housekeeper who has continued to work at the house even after Gloria took over. Viola says that Gene is dying, that things are only going to get worse. She encourages Betty to essentially grow up –- that it’s time for her to take care of her own family.

Well, Viola, that’s not going to be so easy, since even though Betty slips beneath the covers with Don while they’re at her parents’ house, that hardly means everything is fine. When they get back to their house, Don wants to shower, but Betty insists that he leave right then. “Nothing’s changed,” she says. “We were just pretending.” Where is this going to go, you might be wondering at this juncture. It turns out that what this moment needs is the return of young, weird Glenn Bishop, who has run away from home because his mother is too busy dallying with her boyfriends and handing out pamphlets. He hides out in the Drapers’ playhouse until Betty discovers him, and they hang out all day until it becomes apparent that Glenn is harboring some kind of escape fantasy about Betty. Right then, Sally and Bobby return home, and Betty calls Glenn’s mother, Helen Bishop, to come get him. Helen returns later to ask Betty what the hell is going on, and Betty divulges that Don isn’t living there anymore. I totally predicted this. Ignore my numerous other incorrect predictions. Helen tells Betty that the hardest thing about being alone is realizing that you’re in charge.

Back at Sterling Cooper, there was much hullabaloo in this episode about Paul Kinsey and Pete Campbell traveling to Los Angeles for a conference and client visits. Midway through the episode, Don decides he needs a getaway and issues a fiat that he will be going with Pete and that Kinsey will not. Now, because of the business trip, Kinsey had already blown off going to Mississippi with Sheila, his black girlfriend, to register voters. Sheila was displeased, stated as much, and got to hear Kinsey tell her that, in essence, advertising was more important than working in a grocery store. Nice. Well, once his trip is canceled, he calls Sheila back and tells her he’s reconsidered and will be going to Mississippi, and we see the two of them on a crowded, decrepit bus, where Kinsey holds his pipe and holds forth on Marxism and civil rights to a bunch of African Americans.

The final scene of the episode is of Pete and Don on their flight to Los Angeles. Say what you will about the sorry state of air travel these days, but thank goodness people can’t smoke on the plane anymore.

-- Sarah Rogers