Mad Men "Flight 1" (2008)

After a bit of a slow start in the season premiere which spent most of its time reintroducing our favorite ad agency and setting the stage for the stories to come in this new batch of episodes, this second outing start to dig in deep on our characters in the same manner in which made the first season so fascinating. Don and Duck continue their adversarial dance that began last week with Duck going over Don's head to get some young talent into the agency. This week Duck brings out a shining red apple for the partners at Sterling Cooper: an account with American Airlines. After the crash of Flight 1 resulting in the deaths of up to eighty people, AA is looking for a fresh start once the dust settles. Problem is, Sterling Cooper has already signed with Mohawk Airlines, the ad we saw Don signing off on last week. Duck's plan is simple, drop Mohawk for a shot at AA.

I admire Don's loyalty and his practicality. He sees business as being a foundation of trust between the ad men and the clients. His pitch to AA sounds incredible: he told them they would grow big together, but now he needs to drop them to eliminate the conflict of interest in pitching to AA. Don's feelings are that they are dropping a client who took a chance on them for a shot at a bigger airline with no guarantee it will pan out. Duck's visions of dollar signs are too much and Roger gives Don the dirty task of letting the client know. Don's promotion has been showing him the dirtier side of the business where profits outweigh integrity. I can see his crisis as Sterling Cooper is a relatively new agency and have made a name for themselves based on loyalty to their clients. Don is also a drawing factor for companies which he's clued into by Henry Woffard (Matt Riedy). They were drawn to the loyalty that Don Draper represented and now they are getting dropped for a bigger account with Don left feeling the sting of betrayal.

Home life for Don is not much better as he and Betty seem to be having a silent argument. He does seem happier at home, but I think he's being guilted into it by the revelation that Betty knew he was having an affair last season. When she wants to something, he does it without question even if it's not something he wants to do. In the kitchen after the card game, Betty seemed to be baiting him about how Carlton should be glad with everything at home after he cheated on Francine (Anne Dudek, House's CTB). Don ends it on a stern note that he will say whatever she wants him to say but he won't be drawn into a fight. I'm not sure if Betty is manipulating him with his knowledge she knows about the affairs and he's appeasing her so she won't bring it up or they have already fought about it and she's forgiven him at a price. All will be revealed in the coming episodes and I can't wait to dig deeper into the Draper household.

Betty and Don don't have a monopoly on the relationship drama here as we get to find out more about the past relationship between Paul and Joan. Paul throws a party with the people at the office where he walks around spouting off about the finer things in the neighborhood that outweigh Manhattan, drinking his rare brandy and showing off his African-American girlfriend. He's trying hard to show to his coworkers how cultured and open-minded he is unlike the sell-outs who live in the city. Joan will have none of it and she immediately calls his on his showy behavior. Paul thinks she's just jealous and racist but she knows how to him where it hurts and points out how everything he does is for the benefit of others. Paul gets back at her by photocopying her driver's license and alerting everyone to her real age which shows he knows how to hurt her too through her vanity. I don't think we've found out yet what happened between them exactly or how long they were involved but hopefully more will be revealed.

Revelations continue into Peggy's story where we find her baby boy is living with her mother and sister. She can't bring herself to even say good night to her son and it very uncomfortable holding him in church while the rest of the family accepts Communion. We discover that her giving up the baby may not have been her choice as the state of New York and her doctors felt she's not capable of making her decisions. We see now why she is more assertive at work and in her social life as she's trying to prove them wrong and that she can do things on her own. Does this mean she wanted to keep the baby despite the fact she wouldn't even hold him after he was born?

Peggy's family troubles pale with Pete's as he finds out his father was on the ill-fated AA flight which started off this review. Unaware of how to react he's forced to turn to the one person he feels comfortable talking to, and that's Don, the guy he tried to extort a promotion out of. You have to feel sorry for a guy who believes the only person he can turn to for comfort is a man who greatly dislikes him. Don't feel too sorry for him as he uses that tragedy in the end to try and guilt AA into signing with Sterling Cooper. He seems to have no qualms whatsoever about using his father's death to further his career at the company. The new alliance between Pete and Duck could certainly spell bad news for Don in the future. Only two episodes in and the series is back on track with the biting examination of the lives of all these great characters and the end of the summer is going to be good indeed.

Favorite moment: Paul and Joan's face off in the bull pen at Sterling Cooper was a brutal and direct private discussion that takes place right in the center of the office. Joan can certainly read people very well and there is clearly lingering feelings between her and Paul. Maybe their pranks will escalate as we head further into the season especially with her engagement to the doctor. It's certainly become my new favorite relationship on the show and one we better be seeing more of and also get a bit more of the back story.