Television Review: Public Relations (Mad Men, S4x01, 2010)

Public Relations (S4x01)

Airdate: 25 November 2010

Written by: Matthew Weiner
Directed by: Phil Abraham

Running Time: 48 minutes

Mad Men entered its fourth season from a position of considerable strength. The series had not only survived the departure of key creative figures but had emerged with its critical cachet intact, a status symbolically cemented when President Barack Obama—then at the zenith of his popularity—publicly declared himself a fan. The viewing ratings had begun to improve, and the season premiere arrived with the promise of shedding the static, traditional world of the first three seasons to ride the wave of social and cultural change that defined the 1960s. Yet, as the episode’s title “Public Relations” suggests, the gap between perception and reality is vast, and the season opener, while competent, ultimately feels like a holding pattern rather than a bold leap forward.

If the series was in a good place, its protagonist was decidedly not. Don Draper (Jon Hamm) now lives alone in a cold New York City apartment, his cleaning lady a poor substitute for the family he has lost. The episode’s B-plot with Betty (January Jones) and Henry Francis (Christopher Stanley) at Thanksgiving underscores the domestic dislocation, but Don’s own situation is more poignant. Goaded by his accountant, he is forced to confront the financial reality of maintaining the Ossining house, telling Betty and the children to leave so he can sell it. It is a moment that crystallises his rootlessness: the man who once defined himself by his suburban home and family is now a visitor in his own life.

Things are scarcely better at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (SCDP). Bert Cooper (Robert Morse) wryly notes that the price of corporate freedom was steep, and the firm cannot even afford a proper conference table. The charade of claiming a second floor to impress clients is a necessary fiction, but it underscores the agency’s precarious position. Matters worsen when Don is interviewed for Advertising Age. His understandable reluctance to discuss his past leads to an article describing him as a “cypher,” making clients uneasy and costing the firm the lucrative jai alai contract with Horace Cook Jr. Bert publicly blames Don for the fiasco, and the only comfort comes from Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks), who offers the weary reassurance: “It’ll pass.”

Don receives another professional setback when dealing with Jantzen Swimwear. The executives make an impossible demand: a campaign that gives them an edge over competitors while abstaining from sex, as they wish to be “wholesome” and “family oriented.” Don tries his best with an innovative, only slightly suggestive image, but when the Jantzen men refuse, he loses his temper and chases them from the office. The scene is effective in illustrating Don’s fraying patience, but it also represents a historical distortion. Real-life Jantzen was known for its playful, often racy 1950s ad campaigns, and depicting their executives as prudes feels like a simplification of the struggle between the Old and New in the 1960s business world.

Meanwhile, Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) brings Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) another account: Sugarberry Ham, a company producing canned ham. Peggy and her young subordinate Joey Baird (Matt Long) stage a publicity stunt by paying two actresses to fight over a ham, later creating the slogan “Our hams are worth fighting for.” The stunt nearly ends in disaster when the women are arrested, and Peggy must embarrassingly beg Don for bail money. Yet it ultimately succeeds, with Sugarberry Ham sales soaring. The subplot is interesting but not particularly original, and it feels like a retread of earlier, more inventive schemes.

Don’s private life grows increasingly messy. Instead of picking up women in the usual way, he fulfils his sexual needs with a call-girl who slaps him during sex, a subplot that dabbles in BDSM territory but feels like padding. Roger (John Slattery), apparently concerned for his friend’s wellbeing, arranges a blind date with Bethany Van Nuys (Anna Camp), an aspiring stage actress and college friend of his young wife Jane. When Don meets her, he sees a striking resemblance to Betty, but Bethany is reluctant to yield to his initial advances. The episode ends with Don realising his mistake and agreeing to a second interview with a Wall Street Journal reporter, previously arranged by Bert, to repair the damage from his first disastrous interview.

While Public Relations maintains the high quality of the previous three seasons, it represents a slight disappointment. With the plot advancing roughly a year since the last season finale, most of the dramatic changes have already occurred, and the episode largely deals with their long-term consequences. There is too much focus on Don and his private issues, with corporate and broader cultural struggles being overshadowed. The only saving grace is Jon Hamm, who shows a little more acting range by playing a protagonist suddenly realising he has lost some of his “mojo.”

The episode also appears stuck in the past it tries to escape. Peggy and Joey playfully recreate “Johnny and Marsha,” a 1951 novelty song by Stan Freberg, a reference few in the mid-1960s would remember and hardly anyone in the contemporary audience would recognise. It is a moment that feels like a relic, undermining the show’s claim to be riding the wave of change. Ultimately, Public Relations is a solid but unspectacular season opener, one that sets the pieces on the board but lacks the dramatic momentum of the series’ best episodes.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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