Mad Men-- "The Beautiful Girls"
There are many ways to say “goodbye.” Some are loving and kind. Some close doors and end relationships. Make no mistakes about it; Sally Draper closed the door on her father. There may be a chance for Don Draper to repair any damage he did in this relationship to his young daughter but by forcing her to go home, by never once trying to find out what’s happening to her in the Henry Francis household, by never once trying to find out what’s in the mind of this young girl, he basically kicks her to the side of the road so he can get on with his life. The suburbs and that house no longer exist; his children are as much in his past as his father and brother are. When Sally Draper says “goodbye” to her father, there’s no love in those words and no hope. She’s basically a prisoner now in an unloving house and her one chance at escape has sent her back.
In “The Beautiful Girls,” Mad Men shows us that no matter how much things change, things stay the same. Women and blacks still suffer for who they are. The young and the old are pushed aside—Burt Cooper doesn’t have an office? Seriously? For as much lip service as Don Draper paid to change and growing up a bit last episode, how much of that did we really see this episode? Don Draper doesn’t fight his battles; he tries to get others to do it for him, particularly Faye who is woefully unprepared to deal with a small girl.
But the world is changing around him. The neighborhoods that Roger Sterling and Joan Harris walked through just a few years ago have become run down and dangerous. Peggy, with her horizons expanded, sees the injustice and horrors of the world but what can she do as she’s shot down by Don who doesn’t want to face those concerns. He doesn’t want to face the injustices dealing with a client who won’t sell their product to black people in the American south. I think by now we know enough of Don to understand that he knows about these injustices but he just doesn’t have the courage to stand up to them. The same way he doesn’t have the courage to stand up to his daughter or his ex-wife.
It’s funny and sad that even as we watch Don Draper stumble through life, looking for one, true human connection, we have to watch as Roger and Joan have to fight to deny theirs. Is there any doubt that both of them would be happier if only they could have the real relation they want with each other? If you can say one thing about Roger, it’s that his life has been a pursuit of happiness. Some of those pursuits have been momentary and fleeting, such as most of his affairs. Actually, most of his pursuits have been fleeting but Joan has always been there. And likewise, Roger has always been there for Joan. Who can really figure out what Joan’s marriage is? Does he really love the guy or is it that he’s not Roger so she won’t feel the pain that way? The romantic in me hopes it’s the former choice but I really think it’s the latter; her husband is not Roger Sterling. He’ll never be Roger Sterling so he can never hurt her in the way that Roger Sterling can. Of course, he can never love her and make her smile in the same way that Roger can.
And then there's Mrs. Blankenship- poor, poor Mrs. Blankenship. In perhaps the funniest moments since a lawn mower was driven through the old offices of Sterling Cooper, Pete gets pulled in to help move Mrs. Blankenship's body and in a bit of marvelous pantomime, we see just how effective Pete is around SCDP. Actually, it's the reaction to Mrs. Blankenship's death, particularly how hard it hits Roger and Burt, that shows just what effect these beautiful girls have on the men. Even in her old age, Mrs. Blankenship obviously meant a lot to these two men. "She was an astronaut" is Burt's epithet for her, commenting on how far the woman came in her life more than what she actually did.