The fourth episode of Mad Men, titled New Amsterdam (that would be the original name of New York) takes a step back, temporarily abandoning lingering subplots - Dick Whitman, Pete and Peggy, Betty's troubling domestic situation - and offers a more character-driven piece instead, focusing in particular on the tense dynamic between Don Draper and his employees. The result remains as superb as ever.
The tension is caused by Pete's sudden decision to go "rogue": while Don and his team are busy coming up with ideas for a new ad campaign, he goes in and pitches his own idea - without telling his superiors. This leads to a serious confrontation with Don, who has every intention of firing the guy ("Pete, I want you to take a cardboard box, and out all your stuff in it."), but is forced to relent after a talk with Roger Sterling that teaches him a lot about corporate politics. On a side-note, Pete's wife wants to buy an apartment in Manhattan, and Pete's parents are quite cold when it comes to a loan. Fortunately, the in-laws are much more welcoming...
The episode's focus on Pete allows Vincent Kartheiser to go even further in showing his range after the events of the first two episodes, having successfully moved on from the peculiar "troubled teenager" type he played on Angel. In particular, his scenes with Jon Hamm are a great example of two acting generations brilliantly squaring off. The same is true for Hamm's amusing scene with Slattery, which provides a predictable but spot-on justification for the characters' excessive drinking: "We drink because it's what men do". A class act, indeed.
The tension is caused by Pete's sudden decision to go "rogue": while Don and his team are busy coming up with ideas for a new ad campaign, he goes in and pitches his own idea - without telling his superiors. This leads to a serious confrontation with Don, who has every intention of firing the guy ("Pete, I want you to take a cardboard box, and out all your stuff in it."), but is forced to relent after a talk with Roger Sterling that teaches him a lot about corporate politics. On a side-note, Pete's wife wants to buy an apartment in Manhattan, and Pete's parents are quite cold when it comes to a loan. Fortunately, the in-laws are much more welcoming...
The episode's focus on Pete allows Vincent Kartheiser to go even further in showing his range after the events of the first two episodes, having successfully moved on from the peculiar "troubled teenager" type he played on Angel. In particular, his scenes with Jon Hamm are a great example of two acting generations brilliantly squaring off. The same is true for Hamm's amusing scene with Slattery, which provides a predictable but spot-on justification for the characters' excessive drinking: "We drink because it's what men do". A class act, indeed.