It’s the most memorable and best little snippet of “The Crash” using the clarity of drug use as an excuse to all-but lay out entire themes and character arcs in plain text. Sometimes it’s really funny, like when Don is playing a game of speed-pitch with himself, babbling a bunch of smooth sounding but completely incoherent platitudes, while getting an awed reaction from one of the CGC transplants. It’s loopy stuff, and after so, so much dourness this season, there’s a lot to enjoy about Mad Men getting to completely lose its shit for a week. Sure, you’ve got Peggy having a Real Talk with Stan that she’s probably rehearsed for Don, but everyone’s feeling a little free to express themselves. I mean, we can pretty much just call the “The Crash” a wacky one-off, with no real long-term implications, right?
Well, unfortunately, no, because there are some important bits of backstory filled in this week, accomplished using more of the flashbacks we got in “The Collaborators,” though a bit less awkwardly inserted this time. There’s a better sense that we’re watching the Dick Whitman scenes because they’re memories actively being remembered by Don, with the lose of his virginity to Aimee (the blonde in the red nightgown who caught his eye last time) arguably illustrating ground zero for Don Draper’s unhealthy sex life. The flashbacks are still awfully clumsy though, feeling like they’ve been retroactively infected with some of Dr. Hack’s jitter-juice, but the bigger issue is whether this backstory that needs filling in.
Mad Men bringing its thematic undercurrents and metaphors into the foreground has been a point of debate for many these last couple seasons, but sometimes, life makes its subtext obvious. Sylvia dumping Don, and his recognition of how badly things have gotten with Megan, has caused him to recognize his own patterns, and start looking for their source. I’m not sure I like how strongly “The Crash” hints at Aimee being that source though, because the old soup ad that Don becomes obsessed with sure seems to suggest so. Featuring a mother (beauty-marked like Aimee, and wearing a doorag out of Sylvia’s collection) feeding an excited little boy his lunch, this ad might be to Don what everyone thought the Rothko painting was to Burt, and Don Draper’s life story never once seemed like something that could be captured in a 3 by 4 piece of poster board.
Then again, there is something sadly beautiful about Don believing this one ad is somehow the origin point for his career and home life, but it’s a revelation that’s out of place in an episode that’s otherwise flying by the seat of its pants. Peggy’s gaining suitors by the week, as Stan tries to put the moves on her, emboldened by the drugs, and having shown his bravery in front of a firing squad of co-workers (Ginsberg attempting to throw a pencil is a dumb joke that’s also really, really funny). Then there’s the home invasion subplot, which has a babysitting Sally matching wits with a genial burglar, which is so utterly bizarre, it lends credence to anyone wanting to argue “The Crash” was just a dream.
And some will definitely want to make that argument, because this was not your average Mad Men episode. “The Fog,” with its obtuse dream sequences, is often considered among the show’s least successful episodes, and “The Crash” is, in some ways, its spiteful sequel. “Every time we get a car, this place turns into a whorehouse,” Don tells Teddy and Cutler, after announcing he’s taking himself off day-to-day for Chevy. This is the moment where, if it wasn’t already clear, Matthew Weiner is f*cking with us. He doesn’t care if you think the show is being too vague of too obvious – it’s his show, and while you’re welcome to critique his driving, he decides when the ride is going to be measured and mysterious, and when it will take a detour into tell-it-like-it-is Crazytown.
- Stray Thoughts
-The strangeness of the episode is only enhanced by the absences. Where was Joan, or Roger, or Burt? Pete barely gets a gripe in edgewise.
-With all the shenanigans going on, this was indeed a terrifically funny episode. The Doc’s “don’t worry about it,” in response to Roger mentioning his heart condition, and Stan’s excitement at having 666 ideas were a few belly laughs among many.
-Speaking of the occult, Sally’s been reading Rosemary’s Baby. That kid’s growing up to be such a rebel – she’s already scared the blonde back into Betty.
-Amidst all the nuttiness, I love love loved the descent from madness at the end, with Don and Sylvia sharing that elevator ride. It’s anything but awkward: Don’s far too bitter to be feeling embarrassment.
–I’ll be keeping this handy for the next time someone asks me why I review Mad Men each week