Television Review: The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (Mad Men, S4x05, 2010)

The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (S4x05)

Airdate: 22 August 2010

Written by: Erin Levy
Directed by: Lesli Linka Glatter

Running Time: 48 minutes

The era depicted in Mad Men was part of what is justifiably called the American Century, a period when the United States was, as it remains today, the most powerful and influential country on earth. Yet even during this apparent zenith of American dominance, the seeds of a slow but inevitable deterioration of that hegemony were being sown. Various nations and entities had begun to realise that globalisation was a two-way street, offering opportunities to influence America and beat it at its own game. One of the first countries to do so was Japan. For a brief period in the 1970s and 1980s, Japan's extraordinary economic performance led many to consider it a greater threat to the United States than the Soviet Union. The very beginnings of that process serve as the central plot element of The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, the fifth episode of Mad Men's fourth season, and the show's writers deserve credit for recognising that the roots of this shift lay in the very period they were depicting.

The episode's title, written by Erin Levy, refers to The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture, the 1946 anthropological study by Ruth Benedict. Originally commissioned as a study for the Office of War Information during the Second World War, the book became immensely influential in the United States following the conflict's end. In many ways, it shaped the way the American public understood and reacted to Japanese culture and society in the post-war years. Benedict's work, written without her ever visiting Japan, attempted to explain Japanese behaviour through the lens of cultural patterns, particularly the distinction between shame cultures and guilt cultures. The choice of this title for the episode signals that the show intends to engage seriously with questions of cultural understanding and misunderstanding.

The book is actually used as a reference by characters in the episode, which is a clever narrative device. The reason is the prospect of a new, potentially very lucrative deal for the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce agency: promoting Honda motorcycles on the American market. SCDP is one of three companies that Honda has approached, and the Japanese executives will decide based on the respective pitches. However, there are two serious problems for SCDP. One of those competing companies is Cutler, Gleason and Chaough, a new startup advertising agency whose partner Ted Chaough (Kevin Rahm), considers himself Don Draper's rival and most likely successor as Madison Avenue's top dog. The other problem is Roger Sterling, who lost friends while serving in the Pacific during the Second World War and cannot forgive the Japanese for that. He is adamantly against any deal with Honda, and when the other SCDP partners decide to proceed without his knowledge, he arrives at the meeting and insults the Japanese executives, all but guaranteeing that the deal will not go through. This creates a fascinating tension between personal grievance and professional necessity, one that the episode handles with considerable nuance.

Another problem for SCDP is the agency's precarious financial situation, which prevents them from producing an actual television commercial as a proof-of-concept pitch. It would also be against the rules set by Honda for the competition. Draper, however, gets an idea: while SCDP will not make the commercial, it will pretend that it does, thereby forcing Chaough and CGC to produce one themselves. The gambit works beautifully. When Honda arrives for another set of negotiations, Draper chastises them for talking to CGC and going against their own rules. He has studied Benedict's book and understands that the concepts of shame and honour operate differently in Japanese business culture. He deliberately pulls SCDP out of the competition, a move that is both audacious and calculated. The Japanese executives are deeply impressed. While the motorcycle deal ultimately fails, they decide to give SCDP an even more lucrative automobile advertising deal. It is a masterful sequence that demonstrates Don's strategic brilliance while also showing his willingness to engage seriously with another culture's values.

At the same time, Don's personal life remains a mess, and his family continues to suffer from the aftermath of his divorce. This has affected ten-year-old Sally the most. While she is left in Don's apartment and babysat by Phoebe while Don goes on a date with the glamorous Bethany Van Nuys, Sally commits an act of rebellion by cutting her own hair. Phoebe is horrified, and with good reason: Don fires her. Sally's return to her mother's home leads to unpleasant discussions between the former spouses, but soon Betty faces another set of problems. During a sleepover, the mother of Sally's friend catches her masturbating. Betty, after discussing the matter with both Don and Henry, reluctantly agrees to send Sally to a psychiatrist, Dr Edna Keener (Patricia Bethune), who specialises in children. This subplot is handled with sensitivity and avoids the sensationalism that a lesser show might have indulged in.

The Chrysanthemum and the Sword was, by that point, the best episode of Season Four. Erin Levy has successfully taken a relatively simple plot and used it as a canvas to explore themes of cultural difference and the often awkward attempts to bridge them. The episode features Don, for the first time in the season, acting successfully and helping his firm, probably awakened by the presence of a new and dangerous rival. There is a renewed energy to his performance, a sense that he has found his footing again after the disorientation of the season's earlier episodes. Jon Hamm brings a sharpness to Don's interactions that had been somewhat absent, and it is a pleasure to see him operating at full capacity.

The episode also plays to the interoffice dynamics within SCDP. Roger has very personal reasons to hate the Japanese and refuse any business with them, but he also has to prevent Lucky Strike, his personal achievement, from being diluted in SCDP's business value. Bert Cooper, with his already established fondness for anything Japanese, serves as Roger's counterpart in these debates. But it is Pete Campbell who, for all his character flaws, proves to be the most sensible and forward-thinking of the SCDP executives. He reminds everyone that the war ended two decades ago and that they must all orient themselves towards the future. Vincent Kartheiser's performance here is particularly effective, showing Pete's growth as a businessman even as his personal life remains troubled. The episode suggests that the ability to move beyond old grievances and engage with a changing world is a mark of maturity, both for individuals and for nations.

Sally's issues look very disturbing, although not that surprising, considering that her own mother had issues with irrational behaviour and her own negative experiences with psychiatry. The subplot is handled in exactly the right way: it is serious without being exploitative, and it treats Sally's struggles with the respect they deserve. Kiernan Shipka plays the role exceptionally well, conveying both the confusion and the defiance of a child caught between warring parents and struggling to understand her own emerging sexuality. Her performance is one of the episode's quiet triumphs.

In the end, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword is one of Mad Men's better instalments. It weaves together corporate strategy, cultural analysis, and family drama with remarkable skill. The episode suggests that understanding another culture requires more than just reading a book; it requires the willingness to see the world through different eyes. Don Draper, for all his personal failings, possesses that willingness, and it is what makes him, at least in this episode, worthy of our admiration. The episode also serves as a reminder that the American Century, for all its power and influence, was never as secure as it appeared. The seeds of its decline were present even at its height, and they were being planted by the very forces of globalisation that America itself had helped to unleash.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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