Mad Men - "Collaborators" - Review

Back in season five, Jon Hamm directed his first episode of television, “Tea Leaves”. Whether it was Hamm’s direction, the writing for the episode, or both, “Tea Leaves” was a weaker episode in the fifth season, which on the whole was one of the strongest seasons of Mad Men. “Collaborators” is the second episode Hamm has directed, and, once again, perhaps its Hamm’s direction or perhaps it’s the content of this episode, but “Collaborators” is a real step down from last week’s premiere “The Doorway”.

It’s not all bad because this is Mad Men, and it’s the top prestige drama on television so invariably there are moments that are strikingly lyrical and bitingly funny. But on the whole, the episode suffers from gluttony. There is simply too much going on in this episode. “The Doorway” could get away with its wealth of stories because it had an extra hour to tell those stories, but with the standard episodic length here again, the episode has trouble telling all of its stories (which I hope I'm not overstating; it could be more overstuffed, but the stories are balanced a little awkwardly). 

Initially the episode looks like it’s going to be an episode where we learn some more information about Don’s past, which I wouldn’t protest against because episodes featuring flashbacks have been this series strength since season one’s “The Hobo Code”. But the flashbacks are almost an afterthought, acting solely as bookends. It adds in a tinsy bit more backstory relating to the mysterious figure Uncle Mac and Don's time growing up in a brothel, but we probably could have guessed what the deal was with that portion of Don’s life was. It might have been justified if there were a few more flashbacks, but otherwise it’s one more element of story that strains the episode's storytelling abilities. The episode is trying to reach this poeticness utilizing the bookends but it just doesn’t reach it (the flashbacks just aren’t as interesting as the writers seem to believe). 

What the episode really is about is paralleling Don and Pete. Pete has been slowly falling into bad habits that are turning him into a sort of young Don Draper (though with much, much less charm). He hits on a neighbor’s wife Brenda (Collette Wolfe) (like Don is) and invites her to the city to “give her tickets”. They sleep together, but it all turns disastrously quickly. She tells her husband who beats her horrifically. Rather than letting Pete get away with his adultery, the show doesn’t let him keep his success like Don has been with neighbor Sylvia. This provides the episode with its best moment when the superb Alison Brie as Trudy scolds Pete. She’s not upset with his indiscretions (heck that was why she let him have the apartment) but his idioticness in choosing the neighbor’s wife. She tells Pete not to come home until she tells him to. 

Where Pete is failing to be successful with his affairs, Don is, as always, too good at his infidelity. He hates it and Sylvia is still doubtful of it. She particularly begins to doubt the whole affair after Meghan confides in her about a miscarriage. It shakes her whole worldview, and when fate conspires so that she and Don end up alone at dinner, she’s quickly won over by Don’s commanding (but honestly pretty awful) argument that “You want to feel shitty right up to the moment where I take your dress off” (that was disgusting. I was uncomfortable throughout that scene).

Another thing the episode does well, in a way Mad Men has always been good, is taking a character (in this case Sylvia) that is essentially a plot device and giving them enough of their own story time that they become humanized. Sylvia likes sleeping with Don (because: holy shit, have you see Jon Hamm’s body!), but she also doesn’t want to be a home wrecker and she sympathizes with Meghan and hates herself for wedging Don’s relationship with her.  

If this were all the story this episode featured, it would be pretty compelling because much of this is very good. But we get more story time with other characters as well. The creepy Jaguar guy, Herb, hits on Joan, who denies his advances. Hey, I love Christina Hendricks as much as the next guy but it’s one scene we could do without and we only get it to establish the presence of this character again (although: Hendricks knocks it out of the park). Then Herb demands the ad agency sell his partners on the idea of more local ad space (as opposed to a national campaign). Pete, “yes man” that he is, acquiesces to this, but Don realizes it’s an awful idea. Don kills the idea in the pitch meeting; he “sells” it to the other Jaguar clients but he purposely does a terrible job (he's enthusastic about it to a fault). It’s a really funny scene and it brings together Pete and Don’ts stories in a nice way. Pete’s no good at being Don, and Don hates that he’s good at being this persona he keeps adopting. 

Meanwhile Peggy gets more story time that is awkwardly fitted into the episode. Elisabeth Moss is a fantastic actress and I like this new more confident version of Peggy, but the story mostly comes off as an excuse to check in with this character. Stan (in another of his late night phone calls) lets it slip that the head of Heinz Beans, Raymond, is feuding with the head of Heinz Ketchup, Tim, a much younger guy who’s had everything handed to him (sound like Don and Pete, huh?). Peggy tells her boss, also named Tim, offhand about this and regrets it because Tim wants to go ahead to and steal the displeased client away from Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. This plot appears to be more about setting up future story than about actually going anywhere. Peggy and Don may soon be in conflict over an account and that’s a story that could potentially be fascinating.   

Don sits outside the door of his apartment at episode’s end, unable to enter. Inside is his wife, a woman he doesn’t want to see because she reminds him of all his failures. Don never had a mother and his mother figures (such as his aunt seen in flashbacks) were pretty lousy. Don has projected his motherly needs onto the woman he’s in relationships with. Meghan tells Don about the miscarriage and he’s suddenly like a child again. All he wants to do is please her (especially considering he's feeling bad for sleeping with Sylvia). He tells her he’d do whatever she wanted to do. “Don’t you have your own room?” the prostitute tells Don in the flashback. No. Don doesn’t. Pete does though, but it’s off alone in the city. He had everything and he fucked it up and lost it. Don should have everything he wants … and yet he doesn’t.   

It’s a slightly overcrowded episode and some of this feels forced (the appearance of Herb and the Heinz people each feel awkwardly placed and don't completely rub up with the affair plots entirely well) but it’s not without its moments. May be this is just the curse of Jon Hamm directing (although: this is much better than "Tea Leaves"). 

Stray Observations:

 -The title of this episode (like most Med Men episode titles) is rife for deconstruction. Of course it refers to the appeasement of Hitler by France and England which is paralleled to what Pete was trying to do with Herb. But it also speaks to the "collaboration" between Trudy and Pete in pretending their marriage was still the happy little enterprise it looked to be on the surface. There's also Don's "collaboration" with Sylvia in their affair. 

-"I thought there was no smoking" "I found out the maid does"

-Peggy is awful at pep talks. But then again her heart was totally not in that. If she were Don (and a man), she wouldn't feel the need to do that and she definitely wouldn't be given advice like that by her secretary. 

-Pete was so awkward at making sexual advances on Brenda in the apartment.
-Don essentially pays off Sylvia at one point, which is deeply unsettling.
-If it hadn't been a miscarriage, Meghan says she'd have gotten an abortion. Although he upbringing would have her raising kids at some point in the future.
-Once again: Alison Brie was excellent. I got chills. 

Grade: B