Mad Cap: "Maidenform"

Left to right: Jon Hamm and January Jones

Welcome to Mad Cap: a daily rundown of every episode of the acclaimed AMC series Mad Men. During this time, I will be compiling my thoughts and highlights as we travel through every moment and season of the Emmy-award winning drama that has come to define modern TV. The goal is to be a refresher on every moment for Don Draper and his band of advertisement executives leading up to the final season. Stay for all of the shocking moments and the brilliant acting performances, and make sure to chime in with your thoughts and criticisms on why the show means something to you.

Season 2, Episode 6
"Maidenform"

"You want to be taken seriously? Stop

dressing like a little girl."

- Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks)

Plot

Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and Betty Draper (January Jones) hit a country club for an annual event. Midway through, Don decides to call Bobbie Barrett (Melinda McGraw) with hopes of getting together. He discovers that she has children that he didn't know about. He then decides to go to work. Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss) is working Peter Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) on a Clearsil campaign only to come up with a terrible catchphrase. Meanwhile, Don and the other men are working on a Playtex deal involving the Maidenform brassiere. This gets Peggy uncomfortable since she is not being included. The men in the office begin to objectify women to better fit their campaign. Herman "Duck" Phillips (Mark Moses) brings his dog to work and gets reprimanded by Don about his insufficient tactics. This drives him to drink. Don also finds out that he got the airplane client. Pete ends up going up with one of the bra models and having sex. Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) offers her advice to dress more sexual to get people's attention. This pays off when she meets the team at a burlesque show. Don has sex with Bobbie, but doesn't let her talk. He is last seen talking to Sally Draper (Kiernan Shipka) in the bathroom where she promises not to talk. He feels some remorse.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Hamm

MVP:

Don Draper (Jon Hamm)

There have been many themes explored in the run of Mad Men in its already short run. The most apparent is sexism, which is almost done to exploited new heights here. Opening on a montage of women getting dressed and ending with a haunting allusion of his own daughter potentially getting objectified. While the entire episode could be given MVP to the women for making this point so clear, having Don as the central figure between the country club, Bobbie, the Maidenform campaign, and his own daughter, it makes for a rather fantastic exploration. He simply accepts it and it helps to make him a regular individual in all of the predictable ways. While the women show vulnerability, he accepts their quest to please a man to be nothing but their job. There's a lot that's explored and it makes for a fascinating, sometimes uncomfortable revelation about how gender equality worked in the 60's.

Kiernan Shipka

Best Scene

Not to be outdone by Peggy finally being accepted by the guys or Don's shocking move to have Bobbie be quiet during sex, he is taken down by Sally in the bathroom. Mimicking a moment from earlier, Sally claims that she will not talk. This comment was made earlier by Bobbie, which gives Don a little bit of a shock. In an episode all about objectifying women, this is the powerful closer that was needed. It doesn't so much glamorize the issue as it brings an uncomfortable realization that like Peggy, Sally may end up becoming a woman who is abused because of her looks. Don is no longer looking at women as an object, but as a person who once had innocence and grace. Sally's optimism and naivety that swings through the moment with minimalist dialogue is fantastic and says more than any monologue could. 

UP NEXT: "The Gold Violin"