Television Review: Dark Shadows (Mad Men, S5x09, 2012)

Dark Shadows (S5x09)

Airdate: 13 May 2012

Written by: Erin Levy
Directed by: Scott Hornbacher

Running Time: 48 minutes

Dark Shadows, the ninth episode of the fifth season of Mad Men, arrives as a title laden with gothic expectations, yet the episode itself delivers a performance that is, by the standards of the series, somewhat restrained. It is undeniably another entry in the high-calibre season five, maintaining the production values and narrative density that fans cherish. However, compared to the truly grand, operatic swings of the season’s peaks, this episode feels rather business-like and underwhelming. It lacks the seismic emotional shifts found in its predecessors. Ironically, despite this relative mediocrity, it is the episode that inspired one of the more popular Internet memes related to Mad Men, a digital legacy that outshines its actual narrative impact in the modern era.

The narrative opens by dissecting the fragility of Betty Draper’s domestic life. Set roughly before and during Thanksgiving Day of 1966, the episode focuses on Betty’s struggles with her weight. Having joined Weight Watchers, her attempts at a fish-based diet have frustrated her husband, Henry Francis, who takes the extreme measure of cooking a steak by himself. However, the real cause of frustration for Betty occurs when she travels to New York City to pick up Sally and the other children. It is there that an accidental glimpse of Megan’s thin and desirable figure, combined with accidentally seeing Don’s love note for his new wife, causes her immense jealousy. Her reaction is petty. When Sally asks her to help with a school project detailing their family tree, Betty “casually” mentions that Don used to be married to Anna Draper and wonders why he or Megan have never told her about it. During their next encounter, Sally confronts Megan about it. When Don hears about it, he is furious and wants to call Betty, but Megan tells him that it is exactly what Betty wants. Instead, Don decides to come clean and explain that he and Anna were just friends who had married for convenience.

As this domestic turmoil unfolds, another issue occurs at SCDP. The firm has been hired to develop an ad campaign for Sno Ball ice creams. Don has some ideas, but he covertly looks at Michael Ginsberg’s concepts and realises that many of them are better than his own. Ginsberg has developed an idea based on questioning authority, while Don has developed an idea based on the devil. During the creative team meeting, it is decided that both concepts will be pitched. Yet, before the actual meeting with clients, Don deliberately leaves Ginsberg’s concept in a taxi and uses only his own. The pitch works, but Ginsberg is visibly upset and expresses his displeasure while sharing a lift ride with Don. When Ginsberg defiantly says, “I feel bad about you,” Don retorts with, “I don’t think about you at all.”

Simultaneously, a subplot involving Bert Cooper informs Roger that SCDP has been approached by Manischewitz, a famous producer of kosher food. Bert tells that the advertising deal has better chances if, during the business lunch, Roger takes his Jewish wife Jane, pretending not to know about their upcoming divorce. Jane, in the end, agrees to accompany Roger and keep the charade, but only in exchange for a new apartment, because the old one, where she lived with Roger, is “full of painful memories.” The meeting goes well, during which Jane is being ogled by one of Manischewitz executives’ sons. Following the evening, Roger asks to look at the new apartment, and there they both have sex. Next morning, Jane complains that another of her apartments is “ruined.”

The episode ends with Don and Megan looking at the smog that engulfed New York City during Thanksgiving, while Betty, Henry and the children are enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner. The title shares a reference with the gothic soap opera television series which was airing on the ABC network between 1966 and 1971 and became popular among a teenage audience. In the episode itself, Megan helps her friend and aspiring actress Julia, played by Meghan Bradley, prepare for an audition for that show. The airing of the episode on 13 May 2012 coincided with the premiere of the feature film based on the series. While Dark Shadows was popular in the USA, like many soap operas, it wasn’t so outside US markets, so its reference might have been lost on foreign markets, and certainly on younger audiences that found Dark Shadows a little too obscure.

While the episode is well-acted and well-directed, it simply doesn’t have much impact as developments in the previous episode. While the exchange between Don and Ginsberg in the lift represented a clear display of corporate power and hierarchy, and served as a popular source of Internet memes, what preceded and followed was rather banal and anti-climactic. The same can be said for the scene in which Beth Dawes suddenly arrives to Pete’s office and reveals that she doesn’t wear anything underneath her mink coat. Apart from providing some fan service and a rather predictable twist of being nothing more than Pete’s fantasy, this detail does not contribute anything to the plot and characterisation. It confirms the impression of Dark Shadows as a filler episode.

Ultimately, Dark Shadows serves as a reminder of the show’s ability to generate cultural moments even when the narrative substance is slightly diluted. The lift scene remains iconic, a testament to the chemistry between the actors and the sharp writing of Matthew Weiner. However, the surrounding plot points regarding the Drapers and the Manischewitz deal feel secondary, serving more to pad the runtime than to drive the story forward. The episode is a competent entry, but it lacks the visceral punch required to be considered a standout. It is a testament to the show’s longevity that even a filler episode can resonate so deeply with the audience, even if it is merely a stepping stone between the season’s true masterpieces.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

IMDb link

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