The Beautiful Girls (S4x09)
Airdate: 19 September 2010
Written by: Dahvi Waller and Matthew Weiner
Directed by: Steve Uppendahl
Running Time: 48 minutes
Following the emotional gut-punch of The Suitcase and the bold stylistic experimentation of The Summer Man, Mad Men in mid-Season 4 returns to a semblance of normalcy with The Beautiful Girls. This is not, however, a criticism. The episode demonstrates that "normalcy" in the world of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is a relative term, and the quieter, more character-driven approach provides a necessary breather whilst advancing several key arcs. The series proves that even when it steps back from its most audacious storytelling, it remains capable of profound thematic resonance.
Co-written by Dahvi Waller and Matthew Weiner, The Beautiful Girls is, by that point of the series, the most explicitly feminist episode of the show. The script and plot are unapologetically concerned with the position of women in American society, examined through the prism of different generations, different life choices, and different positions within the microcosm of SCDP. The title itself is deliberately ambiguous – it refers to the literal beautiful women who populate the episode, but also to the idealised, commodified version of femininity that the advertising industry both sells and perpetuates. The episode interrogates what it means to be a "beautiful girl" in 1965, and whether that label is a compliment, a cage, or both.
The plot makes another time jump of roughly a month, setting the action in July 1965. In that period, what had looked like a tentative romance between Don Draper and Dr. Faye Miller has evolved into a full-blown and passionate sexual liaison. Don is so comfortable with Faye that he allows her to stay in his flat, a significant breach of his usual emotional defences. Their relationship appears to be working precisely because Faye is his intellectual equal – a modern, professional woman who understands the games people play. Yet the episode plants subtle seeds of doubt. Faye is presented as competent in the boardroom but curiously inept in the domestic sphere, a dichotomy that the episode will exploit to devastating effect.
In the meantime, Peggy continues to navigate her bohemian social circle, including her friend Joyce, who is determined to set her up with Abe Drexler, an outspoken leftist writer who rants against corporations and the advertising industry. Upon learning that SCDP has taken on Fillmore Auto Parts – a firm that refuses to hire Black workers in the South – Abe writes a scathing piece entitled "Nuremberg at Madison Avenue". When Peggy reads it, she is horrified, and warns him that the text could cost her her job. Their argument is one of the episode's sharpest scenes. Abe contends that the position of Black Americans in society is worse than that of women, a claim that Peggy, as a woman who has fought tooth and nail for every scrap of respect she has earned, finds deeply insulting. The argument is a brilliant encapsulation of the emerging tensions within progressive movements, foreshadowing the fractures between second-wave feminism and the civil rights movement that would define the coming decade. Neither character is entirely wrong, and neither is entirely likeable, which is precisely the point.
Just as SCDP hosts the Fillmore brothers for their advertising pitch, two different crises occur simultaneously. The first is the sudden death of Don's elderly secretary, Ida Blankenship, which the staff must hide from their clients during the meeting. The death of a woman whom Roger Sterling had slept with in his younger days, and whom Bert Cooper nostalgically calls an "astronaut", forces Roger to confront his own mortality and the choices he has made. The sequence is played for dark comedy – the sight of the staff manoeuvring around a corpse whilst pitching car parts is genuinely absurd – but it also carries a melancholic undertone.
The second crisis involves Joan. Having learned that her husband Greg has been called up for Vietnam, she agrees to his offer of dinner. The two end up in a deteriorating part of the city where they are mugged by a young Black man. The experience, terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure, leads to impromptu sex in a filthy alley. The scene is meant to represent a moment of raw, primal connection, a rekindling of passion in the face of danger. Yet the episode is honest enough to acknowledge the problematic nature of this encounter. Afterwards, both Joan and Greg recognise that, being married to other people, this might not have been the best idea.
The other crisis is Sally running away from home in order to stay with her father, whom she has started to idolise. Before Don can arrange her return, he is forced to use Faye as a babysitter. When Betty arrives to collect her daughter, she makes a scene, and Faye proves utterly useless in calming her down. It is the tall, dark-haired receptionist Megan Calvert, played by Jessica Paré, who effortlessly soothes the tension. This is a pivotal moment, and Faye knows it. She later admits to Don that she is "bad with children", a confession that feels like a death knell for their relationship. The episode positions Megan as the antithesis of Faye: warm, maternal, and instinctively understanding of domestic chaos, whereas Faye is clinical, analytical, and fundamentally unsuited to the messy realities of family life.
The episode ends with Joan, Peggy, and Faye entering a lift together – a trio that symbolises the different choices and options available to women in 1965. Joan represents the traditional path of marriage and domesticity, though her recent infidelity has compromised that ideal. Peggy represents the career woman, carving out a space for herself in a man's world. Faye represents the modern, professional woman, educated and independent, yet somehow incomplete. The silence in the lift is pregnant with unspoken understanding and judgement. Each woman is looking at the others and seeing either a cautionary tale or a missed opportunity.
Despite some melodramatic contrivances – Ida dying and Sally running away at the same time is a bit too neat – The Beautiful Girls generally works, and this is largely due to the excellent acting. Christina Hendricks brings depth and vulnerability to Joan, a character too often reduced to her physical attributes. Elisabeth Moss continues to impress as Peggy, capturing her ambition and her insecurity in equal measure. Cara Buono, as Faye, manages to make her character's limitations feel tragic rather than merely frustrating. The script also works because Blankenship's death is portrayed as a darkly humorous affair, albeit one that unfolds somewhat predictably. The character had been given little to do in recent episodes, and her demise felt like a narrative convenience to clear the desk for Megan's arrival.
While Mad Men in Season 4 had generally avoided dealing with the contemporary social and political issues of the period covered, here some trends are recognised. The introduction of Abe Drexler brings identity politics to the forefront, positioning it as the main trend of the US Left. The episode also acknowledges the transformation of New York City into a crime-infested hellhole, a reality that would persist for three decades before the Giuliani-era reforms. If there is a flaw in the episode, it is the direction by Steve Uppendahl, which makes the mugging scene somewhat confusing. The geography of the alley and the suddenness of the attack are not clearly established, diminishing the impact of what should be a shocking moment.
In the end, The Beautiful Girls is a strong episode that balances multiple storylines with a clear thematic focus. It may lack the emotional wallop of The Suitcase, but its quieter exploration of female identity and societal change is no less valuable. It is a testament to the show's ability to find depth in the mundane and to use its period setting to reflect on timeless issues.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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