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Mad Men, Season 6, Episode 8 (Patreon)

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2024-04-17 22:02:40
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2026-06
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Content

"The Crash"

Comments

AlecSinWonderland

The moment Ken did "Because it's my Job" rant/dance, this episode became my favorite. Could not stop laughing

Dylan Hearts

I like this episode a lot (the whole second half of S6 is brilliant), but it was quite controversial episode for the audience. I remember that people on IMDb boards (when they still existed and were immensely useful for many great discussions) were arguing about whether it's a genius or bad writing. Main reason for criticism was that all plot structure relied on some kind of sketchy twist - Jim Cutler had to bring into the agency "a doctor" so the narcotic's influence on people there helped to move the story in the most convenient way for writers. There's zero chance that without the "magical" shot Don would have get into the reminiscence about his traumatised teenage years and realised that all this time he was longing for his gross misrepresentation of love and always gravitated towards certain type of women which had both maternal and immoral instinct (obviously, each of them was maternal and immoral in different scale and way, but they had similarity with Aimee who Don kinda idealised in his mind until this episode where he start to understand what it really was - an illusion of "happiness"). I get why some people would have the problem with the writing of this episode. Nowdays it's mostly universally considered as one of the greats, but in 2013 (when it aired) it was the episode which divided the audience on two camps - admirers and haters. I also think that people in general dislike when some kind of "fantasy" elements make usually dry and rational Mad Men universe into strange experience (even if it's quite appropriate with the late 1960s when the whole country was living through inmaginable things in the history). This seems as writers trickery, and the viewers felt a bit deceived by it. It's not a spoiler, but I hope that you'll remember "The Crash" again when you see the rest of the season 6 as it's explained a lot about Don's current state of mind and his overall psychological portrait. P.S. I agree with the sentiment about Betty: Mad Men characters are complicated individuals, but after Don she is the most interesting to witness. I'll write more about her when the time is right.

tom
>>135498664

Interesting perspective. On the convenience thing, no wonder that criticism has faded away with the years, it seems like it was made by contrarians who are looking to be let down by something! If there was this big plot problem and the drug came out of nowhere I would understand, but it's the premise of the episode and in turn everything is written around it, it affects multiple other characters and isn't used as a crutch but for an incitement. As for the non-literal aspect, Betty has weird dreams in both S3 and S5 that are abstract and unexplained, so that also seems a bit silly. Moments like this being in stark contrast to Mad Men's usual mundane realism are what makes up the show, remember how out of the blue the lawnmower incident was?

tom

Last season we had that time-jumping episode, the one where Don and Megan fight over the sherbert, you guys talked about how weird and surreal it felt and all I could think was "Wait until you get to Season 6". The way time jumps and we see from Don's perspective as if it's all one continuous action makes for a disorienting feel. Peggy is there to ground us but there's also an isolating feeling to how her sense of time moves outside of ours, the audience's. I remember feeling so stunned when Don walked into the office and she's just been to the funeral and just trying to figure out what was going on. Those type of moments in TV shows and movies always catch me off guard. I love Don's wordvomit speech! Just full of nothing with a couple platitudes thrown in there. Everyone buys it, and Peggy just asking him "cool... so what's your pitch?" was so funny. Meanwhile Ginsberg, who knows what that guy's thinking of? I love that his first thought after that nonsense with Don was just "I want to nap in this office". It's so in character that he's the only one remaining sober. And outside the office isn't any less surreal. The whole robbery situation plays with our minds, makes us think for a moment "Could she actually have raised Don?". Even though we know his story, we also don't. Then, like Sally, we feel stupid for even considering it. Supreme gaslighting. The truth is played with in a way that just enhances the whole feeling of the episode.

tom

Death continues to loom over the show's sixth season. I like that Ted, the character we know that will be most affected by it, is nowhere to be seen. Probably because he's actually coping with it in a positive way. Meanwhile we just watch the office turned into a playground of chaos and debauchery -- or a whorehouse, as Don put it. But it really does paint a picture of how far Don's fallen that it was his job to keep everyone in line, to continue the Chevy work while Ted was gone, and he did nothing. He looks like a madman (ha) who thinks he unlocked a conspiracy that solves everything. And we the audience wait with bated breath, again almost buying into the deception in this episode for a moment and wondering if he's actually going to have something brilliant. I think I mentioned before that Sylvia's character is a big reason why I love Season 6, and this episode is a big reason why I love her character. Building up to this, and with last episode, there's clearly some sense that Don needs this woman, why? This episode finally unveils some of that with a long-needed Dick flashback that was foreshadowed from the first episode. You guys mentioned that there was the symbolism of a transactional nature between their affair, I believe in the third episode, but this episode really recontextualizes that: in that scene, Don is in the elevator to go meet Sylvia and it cuts right to Aimee's face. I'd forgotten how much it's spelled out there, but this episode really confirms that connection and goes into it deeper. It's all wrapped up in this complex and fucked up web of maternalism: Sylvia, Aimee, the woman that raised him, the woman that birthed him. It informs everything about him and explains so much. I love both S5 and S6, and I think they pair well. S5 really explores the ensemble and arguably focuses more on other characters than Don, whereas S6 really hits the ground running and gets deep into the core of his character. It's much darker and stranger.

Actuarial Lurker

Now the big psychological reveal... Don's first sexual encounter as Dick was as an underage teen- non-consensual with a prostitute, and of course his birth mother was a prostitute who died delivering him....so his sex addiction and link of sex to nurturing motherhood is due to him having been assaulted himself.... the episode from Don's view had nothing to do with Chevy but falling deeper into his pit and his major original trauma with the 50s soup ad from the archives

Brian Harris

Great reaction, one of my favorite episodes. Big themes of kids being horribly manipulated and used by adults in this episode. Every time I see this, I wonder about how depraved Cutler really is. Like, did he bring Gleason’s daughter to the office specifically for that purpose? The way he’s watching … it’s like he knew what to expect. There’s a whole predatory element to this episode that’s very, very disturbing. I don’t think Don is really into S&M. I think he’s about whatever he thinks will make a woman tell him he’s the best she’s ever had. It’s an extension of his advertising kick, he gives people what they don’t know they want, and that’s how he gets off. I’ll never forget the first time I saw that scene with the burglar. It was so surreal, and completely in tone with the hallucinatory shit. I kept thinking it was a dream sequence. But the genius of it is that there are moments like that in life, where what’s happening is so legitimately strange that you’re unsure of your own reality, which is how Don spent the whole weekend.

Actuarial Lurker

The hippie is real- it's Frank Gleason's daughter....the CGC partner who just died....and she does have sex with Stan

Actuarial Lurker

That's a service door to all the condo's penthouses...for the "help". So Don is stalking Sylvia via the service elevator at her back door

May Hibbard

All the chaos in the office is Mad Men’s reflection of the Vietnam war. Ken’s a soldier facing violence day-to-day, with his company’s only concern being why he hasn’t made any progress/have an answer yet. Creative don’t know what direction to go in, talk about putting more bodies on the ground - but conclude that if they just keep trying they’ll eventually break through. Don is giving inspirational-sounding but completely meaningless speeches. There’s a spectre of death all around with Gleason’s funeral. People are dampening trauma with drugs and sex. Direct visual references to the Deer Hunter. And most directly the grief Stan is going through. Mad Men’s commentary on the events of the 1960s is sometimes direct, but how they reflect the events of the changing world around them through the lives of Don & co. is one of the shows greatest strengths. We’re a long way from the 1950s….

Patrick Anthony

One of my favorite episodes of television ever.

Weird Magic

I'm not a fan of using drugs as plot devices in shows as it does seem like a cheat code for the writers (you mentioned Ted Lasso episode that does this too). Sorry for being the contrarian and I'm 100% sure I'm in the minority - I just lose interest in the storyline when it's because of drug use. Originally airing on May 19, 2013, 'The Crash' is Episode 8 of Season 6 of Mad Men. It is the 73rd episode overall and has an IMDB rating of 8.7, placing it as the #3 ranked episode of this season and #17 out of all the episodes shown so far.

Youtalkingtome
>>135498664

Yeah I don't understand the criticism. I've always been a fan of the flashback episodes. I feel like we get closer to Don in every single one of them. I don't think it's a stretch to imagine Jim or anyone bringing in narcotics into the office. Maybe it's a crutch to get Don to have his little episode, but it was gunna happen regardless. We just needed some sort of catalyst.

Youtalkingtome
>>135516781

Yeah, I do love it when the show gets surreal. It's done in a very subtle way that doesn't feel out of place but also echos the time period. So many movies from the late 60s utilize "psychedelic" film making. Even noirs like Point Blank, have that element to them. I love this show because you never know what you're gunna get week to week.

Youtalkingtome
>>135517416

Death really is hanging over the show. It's not in your face though. After Lane's death in S5, I didn't think the show would continue down that road. Maybe it's symbolizing the end of an era, the 60s? The end of Sterling Cooper? This show is not impossible to binge, but I'm really glad we're not so we can really think about the episode. If we just straight binged it we would miss so many details.

Youtalkingtome
>>135517515

I have a lot of empathy for him. No matter how much he's in the wrong or how unhinged he gets, he will always be that broken little boy. I hope this show ends well for him.

Youtalkingtome
>>135518908

Yeah, very disorienting and truly scary. The burglar scene was fantastic film making. I liked that you picked up on the predatory themes. They were present in almost every storyline of the episode. The underbelly of this show is pitch black.

Youtalkingtome
>>135569688

I think that if has a purpose it's fine and can be used as a device to have some interesting film making. Just the like episode where Roger takes LSD for the first time. If they were having them take drugs just to look cool while doing it then I'm with you. I take it you're not a fan of Easy Rider?

Weird Magic
>>135569688

I didn't like that Roger LSD one either 😄. I guess I am a narc.... Let's get back to the womanizing! (sarcasm)

Jesus
>>135498664

Yeah and is it really that alien to the overall narrative arrow of the show to introduce narcotics (and the net-negative shock to the system they have on Don) into the ways and means of Sterling Cooper? Alcohol and cigs have been kingly vices in the show thus far, a kind of social anchor for when you loosen the tie and reflect on your success - the way a real Man relaxes. Think on Roger’s monologue from season one:“we drink because we deserve it”. Its not a mind altering substance, its a status justifying and self congratulatory activity. But drugs have remained the margins of the show as a kind of low-fun, strictly within the alternative and unprofitable supporting players of the series. Midge and her gang, the hippies we’ve met, the Bourgeoisie (yet jobless) jetsetters from Palm Springs, Megan and her actor friends. People for whom The Way Things Are is a burden. The whole country is growing up while Don is growing old - and the culture is shifting from status-embracing to status-challenging, towards the risky space of “why, man?” I thought the injection of drugs into the show was the crash of 1969 rebellion smashing into the very guts of the agency, Don’s last bastion of cultural safety. And he did not fare well. It was brilliant and intentional writing.

Actuarial Lurker
>>135522902

Yep the guy who died was the sailor that Stan brought to Don's surprise birthday party in the Season 5 Zou-Bi-Zou opener who Bert Cooper said was going to die....

tom
>>135498664

Right, and Roger has a whole mini-arc in S5 that's completely spurred on by LSD. I mean come on, it's the 60s!

Robert Bauman

I remember my first time watching this I was not a big fan of the episode - just found it bizarre. Rewatching this time I was able to appreciate it more (Don's very confident word salad speech is hilarious). Still not my favorite Mad Men episode but I had forgotten the flashbacks were part of this episode, which helps fill in some on Don's resurfacing issues

Robert Bauman

Jim Cutler seems kind of slimy. All we've seen from him is a leering older guy who doesn't seem to have much empathy for others and whose one idea since the merger is to inject everyone with amphetamines. Seems like the polar opposite of Ted in terms of likeability and personality.

Youtalkingtome
>>135710900

I can see where you are coming from. Watching it weekly in it's entirety has really made us aware of the progression of the show and I love the direction it's headed in

heheheheheh
>>135569688

I am trying to understand why though...drugs are a part of this society, for better or for worse. In some people's experience more than others. So...should we ignore it because it's morally "wrong"? Like, it can be an actual real life plot device.

heheheheheh

Sylvia's headscarf + mole, Aimee's scarf + mole, the poster with the boy, having soup from a woman with a headscarf and a mole... The theme of Don confusing prostitution and motherhood was crazy this episode. As if the clothes weren't enough, when asked who taught him to tap dance, Ken replies: "My mother... No... My first girlfriend."