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| Left to right: Elisabeth Moss and Jon Hamm |
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 4, Episode 7
"The Suitcase"
"What's so exciting about a suitcase?"
- Don Draper (Jon Hamm)
Plot:
Everyone at the office is going out to watch the boxing match. Meanwhile, it is Peggy Olsen's (Elisabeth Moss) birthday and she has plans to go out with her fiance to dinner. This gets sidetracked when Don Draper (Jon Hamm) asks her to stay and help work on ways to advertise a suitcase. This quickly turns into a dissection of each other's psyche, which includes Peggy breaking up with her fiance. Don opens up about how she is young and will have her success one day. They go to dinner, listen to old tapes of Roger Sterling (John Slatter). "Duck" Phillips (Mark Moses) stops by to cause trouble. As the night goes on, Don discovers that Anna Draper is dead. This causes him to panic, as she is the only person he felt understood him. Peggy tries to console him. Everyone returns the next day from the fight disappointed.
Rating: 5 out of 5
MVP:
Don Draper (Jon Hamm)
It is the most acclaimed episode of the series, and for good reason. In between Peggy and Don, there's a lot of tension that comes out in a conversation about suitcases. With both of them being candid with each other, there's more depth to the characters than initially perceived. However, Don's persona continually gets more and more complex as he finally opens up about his past as "Dick Whitman" (though not with that name specifically) as well as cries over the loss of Anna. He goes from manic to depressing over the course of one episode, spouting wisdom along the way. It is a performance that encapsulates everything that makes Don a compelling character.
Best Scene
It is hard to pick one specifically. The last 30 minutes as a whole are some of the finest moments in Mad Men history. However, for the sake of reveals, the phone call that reveals Anna's death is probably the most tragic. Don is vulnerable and alone. Where he would hide it in most situations, he lets loose, worried that he is now alone and has nobody to turn to. While it is debatable how much Peggy really knows him, in the moment she is the saving grace. By saying that she knows him, there's a new sense of opening up that makes for potential interesting plots. By the end, the two better understand each other and their strengths and weaknesses in profound ways. All over trying to figure out a slogan for a suitcase.
UP NEXT: "The Summer Man"
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