Mad Men Recap of The Doorway: Don Draper is at The Royal Hawaiian resort with his wife, Megan Calvet, who is enjoying their Christmas vacation far more than he does. Her delight intensifies when a fan of the soap opera, To Have and To Hold, approaches her for an autograph. They spend a night of lovemaking while high in marijuana. Don, however, does not appear particularly pleased, and he makes his way to the bar, while his wife is fast asleep. He meets a fellow Army man, Pfc. Dinkins, extremely inebriated after celebrating his last day of being a bachelor. The young man is marrying a Mexican woman and after a brief conversation with Don asks him to give away his bride on their wedding given that her family in Mexico is unable to attend. Megan wakes to find Don at a wedding ceremony by the beach attended only by five people including the minister.Continue reading...
Betty Francis attends the ballet with the women in her family. She is later pulled over for speeding. Her mother-in-law, Pauline Francis, drops her son’s name who is now working for the mayor of New York City in order to evade a ticket, which only results in embarrassment when the stern police officer refuses to do them a special favor. Sally Draper informs her stepfather about the incident making him disappointed at both his wife and his mother, the former for her reckless driving and the latter for invoking his name to evade the law. Bobby Draper’s infatuation with Sally’s friend, Sandy, focuses their attention to the teenager as they learn of Sandy’s musical prowess as a violinist. The adults manage to persuade the teen who will be attending Juilliard in the next semester to play the violin for them. Sandy beautifully plays for them Chopin’s Nocturne in E Flat Major Op. 9 No.2. Later that night, Betty maliciously accuses her husband of having lurid desires for the teen and teases him with vicious thoughts of violating the girl with her blessing. Henry becomes fearful of his wife’s wicked, salacious thoughts. Betty later finds Sandy in the kitchen sitting in the dark, smoking a cigarette. The teen could not sleep, while Betty has a craving for a snack, one she confesses would ruin her diet. Sandy flatters Betty with a statement of her being beautiful despite her obesity. Ostensibly, her statement is not mere flattery for the teen whose mother recently passed away regrets having her mother wear a girdle despite the stomach pains just to please her husband. Sandy then confesses to the real reason of her distress; Juilliard rejected her application. Betty offers a lie to hide her shame, but only receives an insult from the teen for her deceitfulness. Sandy is not so much concerned about the rejection, but rather the missed opportunity of experiencing a Bohemian life in New York City. She envies Betty for having had the life experience, one similar to the glimpse she saw on a trip to the Village, forgetting that Betty still became the suburban housewife Sandy tries to escape. Betty believes in Sandy’s talent and persuades the teen to wait two more years before pursuing her dream.
Abe Drexler and Peggy Olson arrive home from dinner at a vegetarian restaurant that gave both of them a stomachache. She is about to receive a headache from Burt Peterson, who had called at midnight to inform her that Koss Headphones decided to withdraw their Super Bowl spot following a sketch at The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson where a comedian had successfully made a satire of the war. Peterson provides very little details of the issue. He had only called Peggy to pass on to her the burden thus relieving him of the problem. He soon learns of the actual reason that prompted Koss Headphones to pull their ads. The Tonight Show had joked about soldiers cutting off the Vietcong’s ears as a trophy thus making their “Lend me your ears” tag line undeniably inappropriate. Unable to reach Ted Chaough in Colorado, Peggy is left to follow Burt’s advice and begins to pursue a path of less resistance. She, however, is disinclined to agree to his suggestion of simply removing the inappropriate tag line. Peggy, nonetheless, manages to convince the client to retain the Super Bowl spot and to allow her to provide an alternative solution. This, however, necessitates getting a hold of Ted.
Don and Megan Draper return to bitter cold New York City surprised to find their doorman back at work. Jonesy had suffered a heart attack in front of the Drapers and the Rosens not so long ago. The man would have died if not for Dr. Arnold Rosen. Don bumps into Dr. Rosen at the elevator and offers to give him a Leica camera free of charge after the good doctor had asked for advice on what model to get. Don has great admiration for the man after witnessing him save Jonesy’s life. Don arrives at the office and meets an eager Bob Benson from Accounts who claims to have spoken to him at the Christmas party, of which Don has no recollection. He finds the partners posing for portraits and his office rearranged as part of the publicity photo shoot for the agency. Pete Campbell is anxious to hear that creative is prepared for the meeting with Sheraton. Ostensibly, Don’s vacation is part of research about The Royal Hawaiian Resort in Waikiki, and his team is also anxious to hear of his input for the upcoming pitch to Sheraton on Friday, but his thoughts are elsewhere. He returns to his office looking out the window with the crashing of the invisible waves ringing in his ears. He, at last, begins work with a review of the creative for Dow’s oven cleaner. He rejects the creative, particularly the nonchalant use of the word love. They had not only managed to sterilize the oven, but also to desensitize the meaning of the word. Dr. Rosen arrives at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce just as Don is lecturing his team and witnesses him at work as Don had done so when he kept Jonesy from dying. He too begins to admire his neighbor though he confesses of wishing that the gorgeous man had no intellect. Don hands Dr. Rosen the Leica he promised him and the man leaves for another afternoon of surgeries after Dawn Chambers calls Don for the photoshoot. The photographer instructs Don to look as if he is lost in a confident thought. Don begins to light a cigarette and realizes having accidentally switched cigarette lighters with Pfc. Dinkins. The lighter reminded him of the incident in the Korean War that led to his assumption of the Don Draper identity, this substantially disturbed Don that his reaction became palpable. Waking up the following morning feeling the same anxiety at the sight of the cigarette lighter prompted him to discard it in the trash.
Roger Sterling speaks to his psychiatrist of his fear of having led a meaningless life that is inching close to the end. With New Year fast approaching, he is anxious of another year of emptiness. News of his mother passing away only validates his concern although it was not a shock given her age. Moreover, he feels nothing towards his mother’s passing that he ends up consoling the distraught secretary who received the news. He holds a funeral for her mother attended by family, friends, and apathetic colleagues. Mrs. Hazel Tinsley insists on giving the first eulogy and begins to speak of the tremendous love the mother of Roger had for him. A heavily inebriated Don Draper vomits as Mrs. Tinsley ended her speech. However, it is not Don’s heave that caused his ire, but the presence of Mona’s new husband, Bruce Pike. Roger overshadows Don’s embarrassment by expressing the displeasure of having Bruce Pike at his mother’s funeral. He orders everyone to leave, but everyone disregards his command, adding more to his embarrassment. Notwithstanding the outrage directed at her new husband, Mona consoles Roger. She found Don’s retching more embarrassing than her former husband’s outrage. Mona uses Roger’s regret at having ignored his mother to persuade him to spend more time with his daughter, Margaret. Roger finds that everyone had left the house except for Margaret. He gives her a jar of water from the River Jordan that was used to baptize them, but she had expected something more valuable. Margaret learns that her grandmother left everything to the zoo, while Roger learns that her daughter only loves him for his money. Margaret speaks to him about her husband’s plan to go into the budding refrigeration business in order to receive his financial support. She becomes affectionate towards him after agreeing to help. Meanwhile, Pete Campbell and Ken Cosgrove bring Don home. He further embarrasses himself with incessant appeals for Jonesy to relay what he saw when he suffered a heart attack. Don is convinced that the doorman had died. Megan returns home to find Don in bed and relays the excitement of having been given a bigger role in the soap opera. His disquiet returns when the Pfc. Dinkins’ cigarette lighter reemerges, since the maid thought twice about throwing it away after seeing it in the trash. Its reemergence reminds him of the inescapable secret that will haunt him for the rest of his life. He decides to compensate for it by returning the lighter to its rightful owner, but does so anonymously. Meanwhile, Roger learns of the death of the man who shined his shoes after the grieving family sent the shoeshine kit to the one client who asked about him. As if seeing a glimpse of his future, he returns to his office and grief at last overcomes him.
Betty learns from Sally that Sandy had gone to Juilliard earlier than planned. Fully aware that Juilliard had rejected Sandy, she makes the trip to the Village to look for the teen. She comes across two young males and follows them inside a decrepit building. She sees Sandy’s violin case in the hallway, but does not find her there. Betty decides to wait for the teen in the company of the destitute young men whom she helps cook goulash. Two more men arrive and one of them, the young man called Zal, claims to have bought the violin from Sandy, who decided to leave for California unable to stand living a Bohemian life in the harsh cold winter of New York City. Zal becomes insolent and rummages through Betty’s wallet only to validate his suspicion that the woman is a well-heeled suburban housewife, the type of people the young dissenters loathe. Betty leaves taking the violin with her despite protests from Zal, who does nothing much to retrieve it. She, however, realizes the futility of finding Sandy that she decides to leave the violin and ends her search. She then decides to change the color of her hair in an attempt to exude a different person. Following the disapproval of her children, her ever-supportive husband found the need to compliment her new hair.
Ken Cosgrove finds Bob Benson working at the lounge and chastises him for sending a nice deli spread at the funeral, a gesture no one else thought of doing. He also accuses him of working in a public area to flaunt his hard work. Bob returns to his office after an embarrassing encounter. Meanwhile, Don meets with Jules and Terry from Sheraton who fortunately are not expecting a full presentation. He instead relays of his stay at the Royal Hawaiian Resort as an experience more than a vacation. He conveys of feeling like a different person and of not feeling homesick. At his cue, Stan Rizzo shows the clients the sketch of their creative. They were remiss at not connecting it to thoughts of suicide until the client points out how it is reminiscent of the last scene of the movie A Star Is Born that starred James Mason as an alcoholic man whose addiction spirals out of control following his younger wife’s rise to fame. Don struggles to disassociate the creative from death and insists on having used the Hawaiian legend as inspiration, but the overtone has become too obvious to ignore. Don’s intransigence prompts Pete to end the meeting before he infuriates the clients. Fortunately, the clients are hopeful that Don will be able to figure out a new approach. Stan stays at the office and keeps Peggy company with a phone conversation of gossip at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Ted arrives just as Stan puts her on hold to get a cup of coffee. Peggy is surprised and touched at the gesture of support from her boss. She shows him a solution to the issue with the Koss Headphones ad. The outtake of the actor fooling around with the headphones that initially irritated Peggy might just save their ad. She plans on showing the outtake without any music but with the voice-over Koss Headphones, sound so sharp and clear, you can actually see it. Ted is extremely pleased with the alternative solution that turned out to be far better than the original. He gives Peggy his genuine compliment, but also teaches her about kindness. Ted tells Peggy that she needs to inform her people that they can leave to celebrate the New Year, an instruction Peggy assumed was not necessary. Stan heard their conversation. He teases her of Ted’s fixation towards her.
Don returns home to celebrate the New Year with his neighbors, one of the women, Cathy, shamelessly flirts with him. The woman becomes even more captivated at him after hearing Megan tell the story of Don giving away a bride at a stranger’s beach wedding attended only by a few as seen on the picture Megan took. Later, Arnold’s answering service calls to inform him that he is needed at the hospital. Arnold, without hesitation, makes his way to the hospital in spite of the snowstorm and lack of transportation. Don helps him look for his skis. Arnold steps into the snowstorm and skis his way to the hospital to save a life, while Don goes up to the Rosens to make love to the doctor’s wife, Sylvia. The affair has been going on for a while, an act Don dislikes committing, but an urge he could not resist.
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