Mad Men Season 4, Episode 2: "Christmas Comes But Once a Year"

[Disclaimer: I have avoided reading any other recaps, writeups, or other commentary on this episode before writing this, so if I express something similar to thoughts you've read elsewhere, it's entirely a coincidence. And as always, assume there are spoilers ahead and act accordingly.]

It's Christmas 1964, and a few old friends stopped by this week, some more welcome than others. When we last saw Freddy Rumsen, it was two years (and two seasons) ago (in episode 209, "Six Month Leave"), and he was being let go due to his drinking problem. Now he's resurfaced, and we learn that he's been sober for 14 16 months, which means he didn't clean up his act immediately, but it's still good to see him in a better place.

Not only does Freddy bring SCDP an account, but we also learn that he's acting as a sponsor for another alcoholic. Good for you, Freddy. I don't know if his character is going to stick around; I think someone mentioned that he was working as a freelancer, so hopefully we'll see him again at some point this season. I always liked his interactions with Peggy, and despite their somewhat awkward reacquaintance, each respects the other's talent, and they are both smart enough to know they can learn from each other.

Slightly less agreeable was the appearance of Glen Bishop, looking well-fed but as creepy as ever, or rather even more so now that he's doing neighborhood B&E's and petty vandalism. Next stop is peeping in windows, then torturing and killing small animals, and in another few years he'll be out in San Francisco committing the Zodiac murders, or something similar.

Of course, his behavior makes troubled Sally swoon--someone cares enough to pay attention to her! And he's a misfit bad boy whose parents are also divorced. (Was that a lanyard key fob thing he left on her bed? I never went to camp, so I never had any up-close experience with lanyard.) Loved Glen's line to Sally: "My mom said that would happen" (referring to the Drapers getting divorced Betty remarrying). Right on, Helen, stay classy--and look what a good job you're doing as a parent.

At the bottom of the holiday gift pile, but the top of Santa's naughty list, is Lee Garner Jr. from American Tobacco. Lee is both a jerk and a bully, which we already knew from what happened with Sal last year (in episode 309, "Wee Small Hours"). But now you could see a deeper awareness on Don's face as he watched Lee order Roger to put on the Santa suit; it's one thing to treat a midlevel employee badly, and even to ask for him to be fired, but to turn that same behavior on one of the agency's top executives is another story. I hope SCDP finds a way out from under Garner's thumb.

As for Don, he continued to wallow in his loneliness and self-loathing, but now he's inflicting himself on others too, making him no better than Lee Garner. He didn't explicitly hire any prostitutes this week, but he effectively made his secretary into one by drunkenly pouncing on her, then giving her her Christmas bonus the next day. At first I thought he'd left his keys in the office on purpose, as a ploy to get her (I'm sorry, I didn't catch her name) Allison to come to his apartment, then I thought he was too drunk to be so calculating, then I changed my mind back after he so emphatically said (twice), "Thank you for bringing me my keys." The worst part of it is that his secretary thought it was more than just a drunken screw, that he was really interested in her. How much longer do you think she'll be around?

Don called Peggy "sweetheart" at the Christmas party. Again, kinda creepy. How long until he tries to have his way with her? The show is skirting the edge here with Don, in terms of his bad behavior. Viewers have had glimpses of Don's dark side before, but they can only take this so far before reaching the point where people will start to lose their feelings of empathy or good will toward him.

Hardly a word from Betty this week.

Peggy's dorky boyfriend Mark, trying to act worldly and sensitive at the same time: "I want to be your first." Oops, too late. Peggy, do you have anything you'd like to say?