Mad Cap: "To Have and to Hold"

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 6, Episodes 4
"To Have and to Hold"


"If you don't like what's being said
change the conversation."
- Don Draper (Jon Hamm)

Plot:

Harry Crane (Rich Sommer) wants to get a partnership after years of loyal service. Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) fires Dawn Chambers (Teyonah Parris) for breaking a few rules regarding clock punching. However, due to the racial issue, the staff reconsiders the firing. Dawn is just as confused about how things work as everyone else. Don Draper (Jon Hamm) secretly works on a Heinz client with hopes of landing it. He runs into Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss) there and feels jealous of her pitch. The word gets out and people become paranoid of his work. Joan goes out to a dating club and hooks up with somebody. Don continues to see Sylvia Rosen (Linda Cardellini). Megan Draper (Jessica Pare) is doing a love scene on a TV show and has dinner with the loving couple, who are more progressive than Don's tastes. Dawn gets her job back. Harry is frustrated. Everyone kind of disapproves of Don. Don doesn't like Megan kissing strangers pleasurably. Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) is looking into doing something new.


Rating: 4 out of 5

Jon Hamm
MVP:
Don Draper (Jon Hamm)

It is an episode about relationships and the challenges they face to be left in tact. Of them all, Don is the suave criminal who has a lot of questionable relationships. There's Sylvia, who prays for him to find inner peace. It is the least problematic as of this moment. However, he feels uncomfortable about the fake relationship that Megan is sharing with actors. Most of all, he wants to try something fresh by working independently and putting his marketing skills to the test. He wants to land a client free of the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce moniker hanging over his head. The results aren't great. However, he is smooth the entire time, noticing the change of things around him and that he can't always be the hero that he perceives himself to be.

Elisabeth Moss
Best Scene

This is the Mad Men that gets interesting. With Peggy now working on her own projects, Don has to stop seeing her as an understudy and more as competition. Despite a familial relationship, there's a sense that when they cross paths on the way to the Heinz client, they are kind of shocked to see each other. They both are going to fight hard and only one of them will win. As Don listens from the other side of the door, his faith falls in his own work, realizing that he crafted somebody who may possibly be better than him. It is a simple moment that for the first time shows marketers go after the same client. It is interesting what the small tweaks are and the confidence in Peggy being better than Don is quite astounding.



UP NEXT: "The Flood"

Comments