"Long Weekend" is the tenth episode from the first season of the incredibly successful American historic series "Mad Men" and I watched this show around the time when it was new, but by now it has turned into one of my favorite shows, if not even the number one, so I am giving this another go now and from what I have seen so far, I would say that it has aged really well. This episode is no exception as you can see from my rating. I would still say that among the great episodes from season one it is among the weaker episodes, but this is really just more of a luxury problem because it is all pretty amazing. Tim Hunter directed again and the screenplay for these minimally under 48 minutes was written by no fewer than four writers. One of them is the series creator Matthew Weiner. It is an episode that is more about the relationships between characters this time than about what was going on there in terms of politics and society. However, there is one exception and let's start with that. With this I am of course referring to the upcoming election that had Nixon and Kennedy clash. So the year is 1960. We see 2 spots that have the intention to convince voters that their candidate is the more suitable for the job and those spots could not have been any more different. In the end, we see another brief spot that involved the man who was still President at that point, who won by a landslide in 1956. It was also interesting to hear the characters talk about the background of these two candidates, how one of them was pampered and came from a rich family while the other was a hard worker without a similar background. But we will go into detail about all this more in the review for episode 12 that is of course all about the election then.
Now, let's look at what episode 12 was about at its core. You could say it is about the females and their romantic relationships with men. This really involves everybody here pretty much. Peggy only has a small inclusion, but we understand he career beyond being a typewriter and secretary is not going bad and we understand she still has romantic feelings for Pete. Very short scene. There is way more about Joan. She decides to spend the weekend not without Roger, but with a friend who has her own romantic and professional struggles and needs some cheering up. The real cheering up the latter is looking for is something that Joan cannot provide though. So there was a bit of lesbianism included here and this also applies to the twins featured in another scene, well Roger wants them to make out and apparently he has not been the only one who asked them to do so in their lifetimes. They are no lesbians and not super comfortable with it. Clearly, at least one of them was only interested in Don. But back to Joan. It was pretty ironic to have this scene in which we see her with her friend and two bachelors and clearly everybody in the room wanted her more than anybody else. Including the girl. But well, only one gets her. Still, this scene makes an interesting reference to women dating men, strangers and how it requires no big effort at all to get things done there. But I will not go into detail any further there.
My favorite scene of the episode included Joan too or it was actually two scenes, namely the ones she shared with Bertram Cooper. May Robert Morse rest in peace, an absolute scene stealer with that show every single time he is on. First was when she rushes to the office to send out notices to important business partners in what can be called an emergency, which showed us how important she is to the company. Second was the end then when the two are through with it and we have Cooper say something to Joan about her romantic relationship(s), which showed us how she is absolutely not just an ice queen that she may sometimes be perceived as because of her pale skin. I loved the inclusion at the beginning how he says in a professional manner that it is not really any of his business and that she should not take it the wrong way, but in the end we find out that he was not talking about the man she brought to the office that night, or rather who brought her, but Cooper was referring to Roger there with his words and he saw from her state what it was doing with her that he had a heart attack. Maybe she even had regrets and felt in a way guilty that she decided not to spend the weekend with him. Which was of course absolutely not her fault what happened there. Because Roger has quite a bit going on. Take Joan. Take the twins. Take probably many other females he has met over the years. I mean the character is somewhat fascinating, but also he is much less likable than I remembered from my original viewing back then. How weak or rather pathetic he came off when his wife came to visit and comfort him at the hospital and she is really as unknowing as it gets in terms of all the stuff he has been doing (to her).
Oh well. That was a lot already, but let's keep going a little longer with some brainstorming. Don is of course also in this episode and one of the key characters. This has more to do with Rachel here, however, than with him. She is in town again and well what can I say I like the actress and I like the character, way more than Betty, so Rachel would be the far better fit for Don. Or actually she exactly would not because he is about as unlikable as his wife. All his deep talk to Rachel about what was going on in his mind also did very little for me there. What he says at the very end was more memorable, but still nowhere near the big highlights of the episode. I mentioned early on that this is a lot about romance relationships between characters and this also includes Betty's father and his partner about whom we find out a little but at the beginning. Also what Betty thinks about them. Or about her especially. So everybody really gets their share here almost. The funniest or maybe most ironic moment of the episode was when we have the male employees drool over the twin girls there, certainly their fantasies got fueled, and it was Roger I think who comes in and asks if the men don't have anything other to do when he is not one bit better than them. Even worse. He does not even allow all the women to get interviewed to find the most suitable ones, but simply employs the ones on the spot that he considers most attractive. That says it all. And getting the job comes with a price in terms of sexual favors obviously for the young twins. With all this stuff, it comes pretty easy to not feel sorry for Roger with what happens to him immediately afterwards and what was maybe the most dramatic moment from season 1 altogether although what happens to a female character in the final episode of season 1 if I remember correctly was also really bad, but you cannot really compare those two shocking developments. Let's just say that what happens to Roger here is so far the heaviest twist in season 1. Will I keep watching? 100% yes. Another stellar episode that taught us quite a bit about the characters and the level is still incredibly high. After this episode, you do not wanna miss out on what happens next.
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