Mad Cap: "The Mountain King"

Elisabeth Moss

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 12
"The Mountain King"

"I have been watching my life. It's right there. 

I keep scratching at it, trying to get into it. I can't."

- Don Draper (Jon Hamm)

Plot:

Betty Draper (January Jones) catches Sally Draper (Kiernan Shipka) smoking and immediately punishes her. Sally retorts by calling her a terrible mother. Meanwhile, Don Draper (Jon Hamm) is still in California and decides to visit Anna Draper (Melinda Page Hamilton), who was married to the original Draper. Out of respect, Don stuck around to take care of her and learned a lot about life including spirituality and the essentials of life. Back in New York, Sterling Cooper needs to continue without Don. Roger Sterling (John Slattery) and Bertram Cooper (Robert Morse) are forced to hold a meeting and forfeit his vote. They are in midst of discussing the future of the company, which may involve selling/merging. Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss) gets angry that her office has a xerox machine and asks for a change of scenery, which gets everyone ecstatic. Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) tells Trudy Campbell (Alison Brie) that they are not having kids in any way possible, which upsets her. This is all to please his father and get the Clearasil deal which doesn't go through. Peggy manages to do an excellent campaign about Popsicles. Don consults Anna about his failing marriage as Betty tries to come to terms with her issues at home. Pete informs Peggy that Don is likely not to return for a while, as he is personally frustrated. Sally and Betty make up with each other. Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) sneaks into Don's office and ends up having non-consensual sex. 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Jon Hamm

MVP:

Don Draper (Jon Hamm)

If the Dick Whitman story wasn't fascinating enough, things continue to get deeper as we discover just what he did after the war. He consulted the widow and essentially took her on as a new lover and mentor figure. Meanwhile, it parallels nicely with his misery and struggling marriage, which were in the optimistic beginnings in the flashback sequences. While it does occasionally get tricky for the flashback to differentiate itself from the modern times scenes, both are rather effective in giving us information that complicates his personality and makes his whole trip to California a little more exotic and fun. This is a man whose myth is starting to crumble and needs time to reboot. It is fascinating to see the man who was really confident at the start of the season now crying and complaining about his problems. Don Draper is human after all. We also get closure on where that book he was reading towards the start of the season came from.

Left to right: Hamm and Melinda Page Hamilton

Best Scene

It is important to note that in the process of everything, there are a lot of great moments that don't involve Don. In fact, this episode reflects how people grieve or move on without him. Betty is in shambles while having to deal with Sally. Sterling Cooper is forced to find alternative motives, and Pete doesn't care as he sacrifices his relationship for business in ways that are Draper-esque. With all of this said, it plays out in a strange It's a Wonderful Life parody where nothing really happens and Don is miserable, but his absence is felt. It also fits in with the best scene of the episode in which Don complains to Anna that he feels inferior and a spectator to his own life. For the first time in the series, he cries and shows emotion, thus feeling like an actual person. This is what gives Don the edge as a character. Even if Betty has had her tantrums, we haven't really gotten a fully realized vision of any other character yet.

UP NEXT: "Meditations in an Emergency"