Mad Men: "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword"

This week’s Mad Men gave us a Don Draper on top of his game, rather than the disintegrating mess we’ve come to know in recent weeks. While this clearly is not an indication that Don has permanently pulled himself out of the muck, it was nice to see that his strategic genius is still intact, even as other aspects of his life remain in the toilet.


The episode’s title, “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword,” refers to a book that is omnipresent throughout the episode, in spirit if not literally. The book was written by Ruth Benedict during World War II about Japanese culture, in order to help America figure out how to approach its enemy (and it should be noted that many parts of the book have subsequently been discredited). The book draws the distinction between “guilt cultures” and “shame cultures.” In guilt cultures, individuals are taught to feel badly when they do something wrong, whereas in shame cultures, individuals are taught to feel humiliation when they fail to meet societal expectations. While Benedict’s book classifies Japan as a shame culture and America as a guilt culture, it is clear throughout this episode that shame is a defining characteristic of both societies.

The A-plot of “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” features Don at his brilliant best, and begins when Pete announces that SCDP is being given the opportunity to compete for the Honda motorcycle account. Roger tries to put the kabosh on this deal before it even gets started. He still holds a massive grudge over the friends he lost in the war, and even though the rest of the world has moved on, he isn’t ready to. It’s ironic that at the beginning of the scene Roger is the one arguing for tolerance, as he touts the importance of The Civil Rights Act, while Bert and Pete show their racist colors; yet, when it comes to the Japanese, he unabashedly refers to them as Pete’s “little yellow friends.” Roger spouts, “Lucky Strike is great, meeting adjourned,” his point being that he’s responsible for SCDP's livelihood, so the other partners should relent to his position on Honda, a sentiment Pete will later throw back in his face.

Once Roger vacates the room, the rest of the partners decide to proceed without telling him. Pete tells the group he’s been advised to read “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” to better understand Japanese culture, and Don demands they get a copy to put on everyone’s desk for the Honda execs to see when they arrive. The book is massively offensive to Japanese culture and would have proven a disaster had they not been removed before the meeting.

Don tries to immerse himself in Japanese culture by taking Bethany to Benihana’s, where of course every customer in sight is white. There, he runs into a rival, Ted Chaough, who works for CGC. In the episode’s opening scene we learn that Chaough is drafting accounts off of SCDP, acquiring first Jai alai and then Clearisil, and is now unfairly being touted as Don’s equal in the New York Times. At Benihana’s, Chaough tells Don that CGC is competing for Honda as well, and that unfortunately for Don, “The best man’s going to win.” Chaough’s threat effectively doubles the stakes for Don and SCDP to land this account. Another firm, JWT, is also competing, but they don’t really factor into the episode.

The meeting with Honda turns into an unmitigated fiasco. It begins pleasantly enough, with Joan showing the Japanese execs, who communicate via a translator, around SCDP. There are some humorous moments on this tour, such as when the translator is unable to describe SCDP’s “creative lounge” in Japanese and simply says “I don’t know what this room if for.” And I couldn’t help but laugh at the executives’ overt ogling of Joan. The meeting, itself, seems to go well at first, despite Pete awkwardly foisting wrapped gifts upon the execs. Pete behaves like a child in asking them to open their presents right there in the office. When Bert denies him the privilege, Pete simply tells them what’s inside each box: a cantaloupe and 2 bottles of Johnny Walker Red. A cantaloupe? Really, Pete? I couldn’t help but think of the Seinfeld episode where George kept giving the Japanese businessmen oranges because he thought it was considered an exotic delicacy. And of course, as soon as Pete told them what the gifts were, the cantaloupe got passed down to the translator while the bosses took the liquor.

Despite Pete’s goofy enthusiasm, the meeting is progressing nicely until Roger walks in and torpedoes the whole deal. This scene was so mortifying and brutal that I had to watch it with my hand over my eyes, through a slit in my fingers (the same way I watched Legally Blonde 2, but for completely different reasons). Roger taunts them with lines like, “They won’t know it’s over until you drop the big one…twice.” Roger’s vicious tirade concludes with him telling them that SCDP doesn’t need any of their “Jap Crap.” He then storms out of the room. As I didn’t see the translator communicate any of this, it’s tough to tell exactly what they understood. But either way, Roger’s tone was angry and nasty and the impact wasn’t good. Once Roger is gone, the translator informs the SCDP partners there will be a competition between the three vying ad agencies, in which they each get three thousand dollars to prove themselves with a presentation. But for all intents and purposes, SCDP appears to be out of the running.

Don and Pete confront Roger in his office and Pete accuses Roger of sabotaging the deal to maintain his own importance to the firm (since Roger is responsible for Lucky Strike, which accounts for much more than half of SCDP’s entire income). This accusation shames Roger in front of Don-an example of the role of shame in American culture. Even though Roger’s biggest motivation is the one he stated, resentment over his lost comrades in the war, there’s no denying the truth behind’s Pete’s words. “He’s right,” Don tells him, Roger enjoys being the most important cog in the wheel and fears obsolescence.

Bert is able to convince Roger to apologize and to agree to go along with any accounts the firm is able to acquire, though it appears too late to have a real shot at Honda. As a talk with Joan later reveals, Roger still isn’t ready to move on, but he’s at least able to accept that the rest of the world has.

With a presentation for Honda on the books, Don doesn’t want to waste the opportunity regardless of how miniscule the odds appear to be. He first suggests that SCDP go over the allotted three thousand dollar budget and out of pocket to create a full blown commercial that will knock the socks off of Honda. But Lane, a man with his finger always on the financial pulse of operations, points out that SCDP doesn’t have the money to create a commercial on spec, and that doing so would virtually bankrupt the agency.

Don’s ingenuity is able to turn Lane’s piece of seemingly negative info into an advantage. Knowing that ted Chaough is always in his rearview mirror, Don plans to “make a left turn right off a cliff.” Since CGC is the same size as SCDP, that means they can’t afford to make a commercial on spec either; but because CGC is still in the running for the account, they might be willing to take the chance thinking the risk will be worth the reward. Don fools Chaough into thinking SCDP is making an expensive commercial. He has Joan bring in CGC’s director and offer him a job directing the Honda commercial, which will of course be shot at the same time he’s doing a Clearasil commercial for CGC. This means he has to turn down the job. The director immediately reports the news to CGC. Don even goes so far as to rent studio time at the same time and place that CGC is shooting their Clearasil commercial, and has Peggy wheel a Honda motorcycle into the studio in full view of the CGC executives. CGC is kept out of the studio and all they hear is the revving of the motorcycle inside, thinking an expensive commercial is being filmed. Inside, in the episode’s funniest moment, Peggy is driving the motorcycle around in a circle inside the completely empty studio set, with absolutely nothing being filmed. This convinces CGC to go for it and blow their budget for the whole year on an expensive commercial.

But Don’s plan isn’t done yet. After CGC shows Honda their elaborate commercial, Don walks into the conference room for SCDP’s pitch all by himself, and using what he read in the book, literally shames them into choosing SCDP. He tells them he wants no part of the competition because Honda didn’t follow their own rules by fielding a pitch that went way over the allotted budget. He writes them a check for the three thousand dollars SCDP was given for the pitch and walks out.

“A man is shamed by being openly ridiculed and rejected, it requires an audience,” Don tells Pete earlier in the episode, a quote from the "Chrysanthemum and the Sword." Don puts this theory into practice by making the Honda execs feel dishonored, not only in front of each other, but in front of Don, and by extension all of SCDP, if not the entire advertising community (in doing so, Don also sets himself apart as a man of principle and honor). In shame cultures, honor is restored by making the socially expected decision. It turns out Honda wasn’t looking to take their motorcycle account from their old ad company at all, but was looking for a company to handle their upcoming line of automobiles. To restore their honor, Honda has no choice but to give their account to Draper over Chaough. In one fell swoop, Don manages to land what we in 2010 know will go on to be a massive account, while simultaneously bankrupting a rival company.

Don’s intricate plane to snag Honda and destroy CGC was reminiscent of his mutli-part plan to extricate himself from Sterling Cooper in the season 3 finale, “Shut the door, have a seat.” As fun as it was to see Don back in top form, it was a rather abrupt change from the Don we’ve seen in recent weeks, who was blowing up in pitch meetings and striking out with women. The biggest question coming into tonight’s episode was whether Don would continue to sink even lower, or if he had hit rock bottom and would now start to turn things around. The question after last night’s episode now becomes, “Was this a Don who has truly turned things around or merely Matt Weiner’s way of showing us that even while Don is failing at all other aspects of his life, in the workplace he’s still Don Draper?” I would be severely disappointed if it was the former (which would mean Don’s turnaround largely happened off screen), but have too much respect for Weiner and company to think this is the case. My vote goes to the latter and I think last night’s subplot featuring Sally Draper was evidence of that, as Don still hasn’t figured out how to relate to or even be around his kids.

If the episode’s A-plot had a much lighter vibe than Mad Men’s recent outings, the emotional core of this episode rested squarely with Sally Draper in the B-plot. Poor, poor Sally Draper. You have such terrible parents. Ever since Sally’s grandfather died, the only person with whom she had a true connection, she has been struggling to find someone to relate to. Don has one of his rare weekends with his kids at the start of the episode, but instead of spending time with them, he abandons them to go on a date with Bethany. Nurse Phoebe, acting as babysitter, asks Don, “which one is it?” in reference to which restaurant he’s going to. But Don momentarily misinterprets this as “which girl are you going out with?” Sally angrily adds, “You’re going out with a girl, aren’t you?” This tells us that Don makes a regular habit of leaving his kids to go on dates on the weekends he’s supposed to spend with them. He later confesses to Faye Miller that he has no idea how to be around them and always wants them to leave as quickly as possible.

While Don is out, Sally sneaks into the bathroom and cuts off most of her hair, leaving her head a disheveled mess. This is a cry for attention from her father. She tells Phoebe that her dad likes women with short hair. Sally then tries to ask Phoebe about sex; if her parents won’t have a real conversation with her, maybe this nice nurse will. But Sally strikes out again. Phoebe simply tells her, “you don’t need to know right know, so stop changing the subject.”

When Don gets home and learns what happened, Phoebe (before being handed her severance), tells Don he’ll have to take Sally to the beauty parlor. The next day we learn Don didn’t even take the time to do that, despite his knowledge that doing so would have mitigated the lambasting he takes from Betty. That’s how badly Don wants to NOT spend time with his children. And poor Sally now has to face her increasingly detestable mother. Out of the frying pan and into the fire is the expression. When Betty sees her daughter’s hair, she slaps her across the face. And this is no small slap. It is hard, it is vicious, and it most definitely hurt like hell. Remember in season 1 when Betty was, you know, likeable? Don really did a number on her, didn’t he? Betty has never been a good mother to Sally, but once she found out her husband’s true identity, she began treating her daughter like an extension of Don (whom she now views as a gutter rat).

Henry makes a good point, though, that Don isn’t being a much better father, than Betty is a mother. Don’s weekends with his kids should be “sacrosanct,” as Henry puts it. He shouldn’t be spending them by taking out women. Of course, I’d take neglectful over vicious and abusive any day of the week. Henry once again proves he’s the only decent adult in Sally’s life by convincing Betty to apologize to Sally and to forego punishment. I’m thinking that Henry must be having some serious regrets about whom he chose to marry.

Sally’s next act that draws her mother’s wrath is far more disturbing than cutting her hair. On a sleepover, Sally begins masturbating to "The Man from Uncle," while her friend sleeps right next to her on the couch. In fairness to Sally, she did check to make sure her friend was asleep first. Unfortunately, her friend’s mother catches her and, outraged, takes her straight home and reports it to Betty. Betty, who we know is obsessed with giving off the outward appearance of the perfect family, feels mortified and shamed, more proof that shame is universal and not limited to the East. “You especially don’t do them [masturbating] in public,” Betty yells. Again, for Betty it’s all about image, not about the internal confusion her daughter is experiencing. Betty is thrown into such a rage that she threatens to cut Sally’s fingers off. At that moment, it was impossible not to think of the flashback scene in The Sopranos episode, “Down Neck,” when Livia Soprano threatens to stick a fork in Tony’s eye. For those who haven’t seen The Sopranos...Livia Soprano…not a mother you want to be compared to. Henry, again proving his intelligence and decency, is able to convince Betty to take Sally to a therapist.

In a contentious scene, Betty calls Don to inform him what happened, and puts all the blame at his feet for the endless line of women he’s been dating. Don reminds Betty that she’s the one that took another man into her bed in Sally’s own house. Betty’s defense is that she’s married, making it completely different. It should be noted that one of the staples of “guilt cultures” is a condemnation of sexuality except in the context of marriage. It’s no coincidence that after the phone call, Don, who was in the middle of reading “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword,” flings it across the room in anger.

In a scene right out of The Sopranos finale, “Made in America,” Betty visits with a prospective shrink for Sally, and instead begins talking about her own problems, similar to the way Tony began whining about his own problems in a visit to his son’s therapist. We learn the role that shame played in shaping the monster that Betty has become. When her mother caught her brother with a skin magazine, she posted it to his door to humiliate and shame him from ever doing it again.

As soon as Betty starts talking, Dr. Edna realizes that Sally’s problem isn’t sexual disturbance, but rather, a disturbed mother. Dr. Edna puts Sally on the books for four visits a week (4 visits a week? Seriously? Is she a serial killer or something?). While Dr. Edna marks it down, Betty stares longingly at a pristine dollhouse in the office. This represents the outward appearance of “the perfect home” Betty has always longed for.

I thought the ominous music that played when Sally walked into the therapist’s office and the door closed behind her was an odd choice. This can’t be a negative for Sally. It can only be positive or neutral, since there’s no doubt that without it, Sally will be completely emotionally annihilated by her mother. Hopefully, Dr. Edna will finally give Sally someone to talk to and forge a connection with. Though I must admit, there is a fear in the back of my mind that just as Sally begins to connect with Edna and make progress, Betty will cruelly yank her out of Sally’s life.

Pretty much all episodes of Mad Men range from very good to great, and I’d say this one falls somewhere in between. Mad Men’s trademark humor was on display throughout and Sally’s plotline provided a wonderful emotional sidebar. But because the A-plot had a much lighter tone than recent episodes, and Don, himself, seemed to be much less of a mess, the episode didn’t pack the same emotional wallop as, say, “Christmas Comes But Once a Year,” this season’s best episode.



OTHER THOUGHTS:

-Looks like Don and Faye Miller will definitely happen. The scene between them was wonderful. Don complains to her, “Why does everyone need to talk about everything,” and she responds with, ““I don’t know, but they do. And no matter what happens, when they’re done talking, they feel better.” Don immediately takes this advice to heart and, in a very un-Draper move, begins unloading his personal problems on Faye. She reveals her wedding ring is just a “stop sign” to keep away unwanted advances. This relationship is happening.

-Lane has become a magnificent addition to the show even in episodes where he barely appears. I loved him yelling, “Where’s my other half?”, making fun of Honda’s greed at wanting a new ad agency, when their current one has helped them corner 50% of the motorcycle market. Even better was his mocking of Honda’s tiny car, “The nice thing is it has windows, so you can see your brains splatter against it when it crashes.”

-Scenes between Roger and Joanie are always wonderful. In last night’s episode, she helps Roger accept that the world has moved on from WWII, while telling him to keep his mouth shut about the horrors of war, knowing full well her husband might soon be headed to Vietnam.

-Don’s new secretary continues to be hilariously incompetent. Fighting over the package with Pete was great. And I loved the moment when she announced “Mr. Sterling and Mr. Cooper” about 5 seconds after they had already arrived in Don’s office. Don’s gotta be missing Alison, doesn’t he? It can’t be too long before a new secretary is in order.