Mad Men

Mad Men

Episode 4: New Amsterdam

By: Carlos Uribe

Mad Men is a show about people who work in the advertising agencies in the 60's. It currently airs on AMC.

Spoilers Ahoy!

This is probably the first episode of Mad Men that doesn't have Don at the center. The first three episodes followed the personal and private life of Don, but he takes a backseat in this episode. This is an episode that decides to follow Pete and in doing so develops him even further. The only contribution to the plot by Don is trying to fire Pete but failing. The episode also had a large sub-plot with Peggy. It was an episode that managed to continue to improve and I'm starting to find myself becoming more invested into what is happening. I'm not completely in, because I still feel there are some narrative issues that this first season is facing. It is fixing them, which is always good. In other words, it is slowly winning me over as it manages to improve. Mad Men has probably the first episode where I wasn't completely bored through parts of the show. There were scenes that got close to boring me, but they managed to end before they overstayed there welcome. The episode “New Amsterdam” is my favorite so far.

Pete got married in the first episode. He had slept with Peggy, but he was committed to his wife. His wife is Trudy, who we meet in this episode. While Trudy is seen to be all optimistic and happy, Pete is shown to be more cynical and a bit jaded. That's largely because Pete is a character who wants to be self-recognized and who is frustrated that his ambition has a large obstacle in front of it. His job is to largely handle accounts and to entertain clients. What he wants to do is to pitch ad campaigns and to do what Don does. He is a character who isn't happy with where he is professionally, which is affecting his mood outside of work. Pete has been shown before as someone who despises Don while at the same time wishing to be him. He has tried to undermine Don in the past, but only to find failure and to have his ideas ignored. Ideas that he considers to be good. Pete is a character who has a future ahead of him, but isn't happy with the present. This is who Pete is and that's the picture that this episode managed to paint.

There is a scene in the episode where Pete decides to use his time with the client, at a bar, to pitch an idea. The client seems to ignore him, as usual, but in a later meeting the client reveals that he liked it. Pete seems to have finally found some success: one of his ideas is now going to be used in an ad campaign. He's not happy because the client assumed it was Don's idea and Pete didn't get any credit for it. This is where Don tried to fire Pete, because Pete had successfully undermined Don. He had tried to get ahead but in the wrong way. Pete is so desperate to get ahead that he almost undermined his position in the company. The only reason that he kept his job wasn't because the company wanted to keep him, but because of who his family is. His family is influential. It's unknown how wealthy they are, but angering them is not good. Pete is therefore saved by his family name, and not his merits. Pete doesn't know this. He's merely told that Don fought to save his job.

It's ironic that it's his family name who saved him, because he doesn't have a good relationship with his parents. He feels that they don't respect him and seems to be jealous of his brother for the attention that they give him. This is all shown when he tries to ask them for money for an apartment. They refuse to help him and they don't really give a reason. He doesn't have a good relationship with his family, and yet it's the family name that led him to keep his name. His wife's family are a good contrast with his own family. Trudy's parents were more than willing to help Pete out financially, despite his protestations. He may not have wanted their money because he was proud, but they show him more love than his own family. They also ensure that his wife gets the apartment that she wants. It's not an apartment that Pete seems to really want, but it's the one he gets. This is the fourth episode to end with family, although it's not with Don's family. It ends with Pete at his new apartment, with his parent-in-laws and his wife telling some lady stories about his family.

While this is going on, Betty is dealing with her own sub-plot. Helen is a woman whom Betty seems to pity. Helen is divorced, has to work for a living, and is taking care of two children. While Betty is friendly to her due to that pity, Helen actually does look at Betty as a friend. This is exemplified when Helen asks Betty to babysit her son, Glen. Betty doesn't want to, but she eventually does. She also reveals her thoughts to a therapist. She doesn't want to be like Helen, simply because she doesn't believe that Helen can actually be happy. It seems to escape Betty's mind that the reason she's talking to the therapist is because she isn't happy. Helen might see happy families, but their not really. Betty's own husband cheats on her. This was a good sub-plot and while Helen's child was weird, it was at least entertaining.