- It's Labor Day weekend and most of the men are sending their wives away for a few days. Don Draper's wife Betty is dreading the thought, as her father and his new girlfriend, whom she detests, will be staying with them. With the election approaching, the team at Sterling Cooper is gloomy since the Nixon campaign has not been following their advice. Roger Sterling was hoping to spend Friday night with Joan Holloway but having just seen the movie The Apartment (1960), she is feeling a bit used. She plans a night on the town with her old college friend who has some surprising information for her. Don and Roger invite twin sisters from a casting call to join them for a drink but things go badly for Roger who suffers a serious heart attack. After the incident Don ends up spending the night with Rachel Menken where he reveals a lot of his inner self.—garykmcd
- The Labor Day weekend is upcoming. Betty's father, Gene, and his girlfriend, Gloria, have stopped by the Draper house before they will all head to their waterfront recreational property for the long weekend. Betty hates Gloria, or at least the idea of who Gloria is in her father's life, especially as a replacement for Betty's deceased mother. With Mona and Margaret heading off on their own for the weekend, Roger wants to spend the weekend with Joan, who has other ideas based on what she has seen in Hollywood movies. As Joan ends up dealing with a last minute issue concerning her roommate Carol which has its own unexpected consequences, Roger looks for double the trouble with a much needed wingman, who becomes more important to Roger by the end of the evening. Before the weekend, the creatives brainstorm about how to tackle the issue of the pedestrian Nixon ads versus the happy Kennedy ads, which has had the result of Kennedy narrowing the gap in the polls, something that should never had happened. Don and the team also have a meeting with Menken's, this time with both Rachel and her father, which may make the final sell more difficult because of their differing views. Before the weekend begins, Don needs to turn to someone he feels he can trust to get a realistic perspective on his life.—Huggo
- Episode 10 Recap:
The recap below contains plot spoilers about Episode 10: Long Weekend. If you haven't seen episode 10 check out the Mad Men Schedule to see when we're airing encore presentations, watch it On Demand, or download it on iTunes.
Don comes down the steps for work as Sally cheers, Grandpas here! And Aunt Gloria! He goes into the kitchen to find Bettys dad sitting at the table, Gloria standing beside him. He wants sugar in his tea, but Betty only allows him saccharine. Theyre getting ready to leave for the beach when Betty suggestively asks Don to help her with something upstairs.
Was she waiting at the funeral unbuttoning her top button? Betty asks, regarding her fathers new girlfriend. Shes a vulture. Don tries to calm her down and suggests that her father cant even fix himself a cup of tea by himself after having been married for 40 years.
Don heads to the office for one more day before the long weekend. There, the men are watching a Kennedy campaign, trying to strategize their next move for their pro-bono work with Nixon. Perhaps a negative ad would be more powerful than a positive one, which only attracts people who already like him. Don thinks there is more to the story: Kennedy? Nouveau riche, a recent immigrant who bought his way into Harvard. Nixon is from nothing. Abe Lincoln of California, a self-made man. Kennedy, I see a silver spoon. Nixon, I see myself.
They cut that meeting short for another, this one with the Menkens -- both Rachel and her father Abraham. Abraham is somewhat open to the suggestions Sterling Cooper offers -- they want to add a restaurant on the ground floor and close the store during construction -- but he has concerns that hes creating a store that even he wouldnt shop in.
Don, looking at Rachel, describes how his customers have changed: Theyre like your daughter, educated and sophisticated. They are fully aware of what they deserve and are willing to pay for it.
Roger passes Joan in the hall and tells her that his wife and daughter are out of town this weekend, so they can do whatever they want. Instead, she asks to see the new movie, The Apartment before making a comparison to how Shirley MacLaines character was handed around to the office men like a tray of canapés.
As Joan puts up a memo in the break room, her friend Carol -- her eyes bloodshot -- walks in. She had just gotten fired after covering for her boss. These men, were always building them up, and for what? Joan says. Diner and jewelry? Who cares? They decide to spend the weekend on the town in search of actual bachelors.
Meanwhile, Pete walks into Dons office with some bad news. They lost the Dr. Scholls account because, as Pete says, they were disappointed with the creative. Angry, Don shoves everything off his desk onto the floor. He goes to Rogers office, where hes getting his hair trimmed, and tells him the latest.
The day you sign a client is the day you start losing them, Roger says, echoing Dons sentiments.
On the main floor, Pete pesters Peggy while she tries to ignore him. Every time I walk by I wonder, are you going to be nice to me or cruel? Peggy says when he wont let up. Disappointed, Pete walks away.
Meanwhile, the other ad men are busy flirting with a group of models, all sets of twins, at the Cartwright double-sided aluminum casting call. Roger and Don show up and set their sights on Eleanor and Mirabelle Ames. Roger hires them on the spot and requests a private celebration upstairs in his office. Drinks all around, Roger flirts relentlessly. Do you love your sister? he prods. Why dont you show her how much? Give her a kiss. Before anything happens, Don rises to leave. Before he can, Eleanor asks him to dance.
Across town, Joan and Carol are getting ready in Joans bedroom. When Joan notices Carol staring, Carol reveals her true feelings. I did everything I could to be near you -- all with the hope that one day you would notice me, she says. Joannie, just think of me as a boy. As she finishes packing her purse, Joan simply asks if they can forget about it and just go out.
Later that night, Joan and Carol return with Franklin, a Fordham college professor, and Ralph, a carpenter. When Joan asks Franklin to change her light bulb -- in her bedroom -- Ralph makes a move on Carol.
Back at Sterling Cooper, Don and Eleanor sit in Dons office when they hear Mirabelle scream. I knew I shouldnt have asked him to do it a second time, she says. Don rushes in to find Roger, naked on the floor. Several moments later, two orderlies push a gurney with a conscious Roger toward the elevator lobby.
At the hospital, Roger recovers from a heart attack and asks Don if he believes in human energy, like a soul. When his wife Mona arrives, he breaks down and cries. Then, his daughter Margaret comes in. The three embrace.
That night, Joan rushes to the office to help Cooper send out telegrams to all Roger Sterling clients, assuring them that business will go uninterrupted. She holds back tears as Cooper tells her she could do better. Don calls Betty to tell him he wont be going to the beach house, and Pete watches a television ad for Kennedy -- in which President Eisenhower trashes Nixon -- in the hospital waiting room.
Don knocks on the door of an apartment. Rachel, in a robe with tousled hair, answers. She lets him in and fixes him a drink. He leans in and kisses her desperately. Is this like the end of the world, she asks, stopping him. Just do whatever you want?
Don opens up and talks about the first time he was a pall bearer and being that close to death. This is it, this is all there is, he says. And its slipping through my fingers. They kiss passionately, slowly laying back onto the couch. He asks if she really wants this. Yes, please, she replies.
Afterwards, Don opens up once more. His mother was a prostitute, and when she died in childbirth, they delivered the baby to his father and his wife. His father was a drunk who got kicked in the face by a horse. When he died, she took up with another man. I was raised by those two sorry people.
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