Like most fans of “Mad Men,” we tend to be obsessive about the show — no detail is too small to analyze. Series creator Matthew Weiner feeds into this obsession by loading every episode with a long list of reference points — from literature, television shows, music, and more. Each week, we’ll provide a quick and handy guide to the previous episode’s cultural references, from the obvious to the elusive. This week, we have nods to Greek mythology, a possible reference to Charles Manson, and a few songs that speak to Don’s new situation.
Cassandra
A big part of this episode was Ginsberg flipping out. The hum of the new super-computer, which took over the creative workspace in the office, is driving him crazy — literally. And if this was not clear, the end of the episode sees him dragged out of the office on a stretcher, yelling at his coworkers. But at the beginning, he just thinks he knows something that everybody around him can’t or won’t see. “What am I, Cassandra!” he yells at Peggy when she tells him it’s just a computer, nothing more or less. The reference is to the prophet of Greek mythology, the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy, who is cursed with never being believed. So, what is happening here? Has Ginsberg just lost his mind, or is “Mad Men” becoming one long metaphor for the dehumanizing aspects of modern technology? Based on this episode, I’m willing to bet Matthew Weiner bangs out these scripts on a typewriter.
Emily Post
With everything that happens between Don and Megan, not to mention Ginsberg losing his mind, it’s easy to forget the third subplot of the episode between Betty and Henry. Who knew Betty was such a closet conservative and supporter of the war in Vietnam? While their argument later highlighted Betty’s dissatisfaction with her current situation and Henry’s flip-flopping attitude toward politics and his wife, there was also a strange reference. At point during their argument, Henry calls her Emily Post, the writer famous for books on social etiquette. This was a dig at Betty, who is typically so concerned with her presentation. But it also backfires, because it speaks to what Henry wants in a companion — someone who will smile, look good, and not speak out of turn. When Bobby Draper mentions a possible divorce, he’s saying what the audience is thinking.
Charles Manson
This is a possible reference, but considering everything that has been mentioned in previous episodes, along with all the theories passed around about Sharon Tate’s story being superimposed onto the narrative of “Mad Men,” it’s one worth talking about. Stephanie, Don’s “niece,” returns to the show. When we last saw her, she was young, blond, and drenched in California sun, her easy-going happiness offering a path for Don to follow (and which, of course, he didn’t). Now things have changed. She is grungy and pregnant. She lives in Oakland but somehow ended up in Los Angeles, calling Don from a payphone outside the famous Capital Records building. She needs money, and Don sends her to Megan’s home. It’s there that she lays out her story — the child-to-be is the product of a relationship with a musician who’s now in prison for selling pot. But he has no clue she’s pregnant — if he found out, she says, he would probably murder somebody so he could stay inside. Aside from the fact that Stephanie seems a little unfocused, even weird, a little digging reveals that Manson was a struggling musician (he famously almost worked with the Beach Boys) and went to jail for petty crimes before his group, dubbed The Family, committed the murders that “Mad Men” has been alluding to for a while now. Maybe this reference was a tip of the hat to fans, letting us know that Megan got away safe. Or maybe it’s one more reference, a hint of dark things to come.
Blood, Sweat & Tears — “You Made Me So Very Happy”
Don comes out to Los Angeles to visit and Megan and finds out she is having a party for her acting class. Of course, Don is not happy. When is Don ever really happy, especially at parties? He sulks in the background, staring out at the California skyline, drinking something on the rocks and refusing joints from stoned girls stunned by his Rock Hudson-looks. Thankfully, the party looks lame anyway. Especially when somebody puts on “You Make Me So Very Happy,” the corny anthem of 1969 from Blood, Sweat & Tears. Released that year, song reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and would go on to be a dance floor staple at the cheesiest weddings you’ve ever been to.
Waylon Jennings — “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line”
Released in 1968 as the second single from Jennings’s album “Only the Greatest” (the first being the great “Walk on Out of my Mind”), the song is one of the outlaw musician’s most famous hits. Its lyrics also spell out Don’s newfound confidence and plan of attack: “Everybody knows you’ve been steppin’ on my toes and I’m gettin’ pretty tired of it. You keep a steppin’ out of line and messin’ with my mind, if you had any sense you’d quit.” Don may be at the bottom, but he’s fighting his way back to the top.
