Babylon (1x06)
"Babylon" is perhaps the first watershed episode of Mad Men. The title is evocative - Babylon, the first metropolis, the first city of the world. The original idyllic city. It's not only reflective of New York, but of Don's life, and of Israel, all of which play key roles in this show and this episode in particular. It's thematically rich, and finally lets the viewer inside the mind, and past of Don Draper, and it does so immediately.
The episode opens on Mother's Day. Don is making Betty breakfast in bed. As he begins to ascend the stairs, he missteps, and crashes to the floor, likely sustaining a concussion in the process. His fall triggers a repressed memory of his childhood, to the day Adam Whitman was born. We see that he was resistant to Adam from the very beginning - "He's not my brother," Dick tells his stepmother, who bristles at the comment. Don comes to, and sees Betty and the kids standing at the top of the stairs, concernedly looking down on him.
*Newbie Spoilers*
Note the cinematography of this scene. There are two enduring images that result from Don's fall. The first is the shot of Don, lying dazed on his back amidst the ruins of the breakfast tray. The normally unflappable Don Draper is shell-shocked, which, as we returning vets know, recurs as the show progresses. The second is the image of Betty and the kids, staring at Don as he lays there. Sally is the first to react, yelling a palpably concerned "Daddy!", before Betty is even in the frame. The whole shot is framed by the staircase itself. It's probably not intended as foreshadowing, but in retrospect it reads that way. This is Don's first moment of weakness in what should be his domain - his home. It certainly won't be the last.
*End Newbie Spoilers*
Despite the less than ideal start to the day, the Drapers have a lovely Mother's Day, which is capped off by Don and Betty at perhaps their most romantic. Betty's "want" monologue may very well be January Jones' finest moment on this show. I also think that this scene may be the very zenith of Don and Betty's marriage. They look so happy, so fulfilled.
The next day, Sterling Cooper has a meeting with the Israeli Tourism board, who wish to make Haifa the Rome of the Middle East. They know Americans have a strange affinity for Israel, and they want to turn that into a thriving tourist economy in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Israel as a whole. They give Don a copy of Leon Uris' Exodus, which is a few months away from seeing its film adaptation - starring Paul Newman, no less - hit the big screens. The gentile SC crew comes out of the meeting cautiously enthused, but also flummoxed.
As they exit the meeting, runs into his wife and daughter, Mona and Margaret, who are in town to get Margaret a haircut. As Joan approaches with Don, Mona comments that they make a "handsome couple" (she's right). Joan doesn't "go for handsome," she says. Joan sets up Margaret at a posh salon, and the scene ends. It cuts to Roger, sitting on a bed, wearing his shirt, socks, and shorts, and he is griping about Mona. As the shot closes in through the doorway, it pans to the left, revealing Joan getting dressed in the doorway of the bathroom. She and Roger get intimate - again - and Sterling comments that she doesn't "know how unhappy I was before I met you - I was thinking of leaving my wife."
At the office, the Israeli contract is still confounding our Madison avenue gentlemen, so Don gives Rachel Menken a call. "It's for business," he assures her in what is certainly a half-truth.
[Continued]
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2010 Boardy Winner for Mafia Host of the Year