There's nothing quite as dramatic as what happened last week in this episode, but Mad Men is keeping its position as the most intricately gripping drama currently on TV.
So let's get to our overriding theme: As per the episode's title, "Three Sundays," it's all about how our characters spend what's supposed to be a holy day. Fat chance! Those who aim for religion miss the point, and those who care more about work get jerked around completely.
You have to love a largely Peggy-centric hour like this one. She's still going to church regularly after being guilted into it by her mother and sister, though she ducks out after saying she's not feeling well. (That same excuse is used by just about everyone this week to get out of a variety of onerous tasks.) But before she can get away, she runs into a hip young priest, played by a fast-maturing Colin Hanks. (It's a surprise to see him here, but he apparently begged for the part.) They quickly become friends -- we'd say and maybe more, but this really isn't The Sopranos.
Father Gill, who's trying to make a personal connection with his congregation in a very conservative era, asks Peggy to use her mad copywriting skills to help him with an upcoming sermon. She gives him some advice right out of Public Speaking 101, and it seems to help. So when he drops by the Olsons' for dinner a couple of times, he seems a lot more interested in talking to Peggy than to the rest of the clan.
All of this stokes the sin of envy in Anita, who sees her sister as a licentious slut who doesn't deserve the handsome young priest's attention. (Okay, she's not entirely wrong on that first part.) So she shares these feelings in the confessional -- knowing full well it's Father Gill on the other side -- and in the process tells him all about how Peggy had an out-of-wedlock baby with a married man. In the annals of passive-aggressiveness, it's a classic.
Back with Don and Betty: Have we mentioned that they're the worst parents in the world? When they notice the kids at all, it's so they can argue about how to punish them for doing something wrong. Or in the case of Bobby, for not doing something wrong, since it's starting to appear that he's been taking the rap for Sally all this time. And what an evil genius she's turning out to be! In the course of just this episode, she gets Bobby in lots of trouble, makes her father a drink that consists of about eight ounces of liquor with a splash of tomato juice, steals sips of booze herself, and comments on Joan's "big ones."
Most of this happens in the office, because one Sunday is take-your-daughter-to-work day when Don has an emergency meeting. (Meanwhile, Betty has to take Bobby to the emergency room because, while his folks were busy neglecting him, he burned himself on a hot stove.) The secretaries all find Don with his little girl to be the hottest thing they've ever seen -- but they give a big ol' cold shoulder to Peggy, whose new writing job has sent her status soaring above theirs.
The emergency is that the American Airlines presentation has been moved up a week, and everyone needs to get ready a whole lot quicker. Don's ideas are brilliant as always (he tells the copywriters to forget the crash, and pretend it's a whole new company), and we'd love to see what they come up with. But we don't, because just before the presentation, the head of the airline gets fired. They still show their ideas to the remaining staff, but realize that these guys are now lame ducks with no power to make a deal.
So does anybody get what they want this week, despite not really deserving it? Why, yes -- Roger, who meets a cute prostitute and throws money at her until she's practically his girlfriend. Of course, he has a perfectly nice wife at home who would kill for that kind of affection, but, sadly, it's not that kind of show.
Photo: AMC
Previously:
Mad Men Recap: Taking the Reins
