User Reviews

This episode is truly great. While seamlessly mixing light, fun scenes (still dripping with sublime) with tragic, intense ones, this episode most definitely breaks new ground in the show.

In addition to finding out Draper's tragic backstory in his nude confession at the end of the episode, there is some foreshadowing within the episode itself. Roger asks the sisters to kiss, obviously to simulate lesbianism, and not too far in the future from there, a confession of love from one woman to another is made. In that scene, the tension is palpable and the writing is perfect, if in the sense that silence speaks the most.

While building up to the Nixon/Kennedy election night, the episode shows just how much power someone like Don Draper would've had in the most important night in four years.

As usual, the scenes with Betty Draper shine the brightest, thanks to January Jones' world-class performance.

Long live Mad Men Season 1.

A really good episode with some amazing scenes and acting.

Roger Sterling having a heart attack was a big part of the episode. The best is the scene of him in the hospital with his wife. It is also shown how it had affected Don. It goes that far that he tells Rachel about his past when he got to her.

Another great scene in that where Joan's roommate confesses her love to her. Perfectly acted, so much was said without words in that scene. Joan has another great moment when finding out about Roger's heart attack.

The campaign ads were an interesting part of the episode. Was that Kennedy ad a real one???? Wow, those times were different.

It's Labor Day week-end. Most of the wives are sent away\; Betty Draper is not looking forward to her outing. She dreads the idea of getting stuck with her father and his new girlfriend. Don has it better; even though he has to go to the office, at least he won't have to deal with his father-in-law.

Don makes a presentation for Abraham and Rachel Menken. Although not totally pleased with what the agency has created, they decide to go along with it. Don appeals to Mr. Menken's pride in being ahead of the crowd. After the Menkens are gone Don is given the news of the loss of an account to Leo Burnett, a rival agency. To make matters worse, Nixon's campaign is not going as well as expected.

Roger Sterling tries hard to get Joan Holloway to stay with him for the long week-end. Joan is hurt after having seen Billy Wilder's "The Apartment", in which a similar situation is at the center of the story. Joan is surprised by her roommate Carol, who arrives with the news of having been fired. Joan tries to cheer her up, but Carol has a revelation for her that will totally confuse Joan. Carol has been secretly in love with Joan since their college days!

The casting of a new commercial brings a lot of twins to audition. Mirabelle and Eleanor Ames are the chosen ones. Roger Sterling, in making the announcement, has something naughty in mind. As they go to his office, he is contemplating seducing one of the girls, Mirabelle. Don doesn't want anything to do with Eleanor. As he is about to leave, Mirabelle comes in a state of panic. Roger has collapsed with chest pains. He suffered a heart attack and Don must tell his wife about it.

This chapter ends as Don goes to Rachel Menken's apartment after his ordeal with Roger at the hospital. Don reveals a lot about himself to the sympathetic ear of the lovely Rachel.

Tim Hunter directed this installment. Bridget Bedard, Andre and Maria Jacquetton and Matthew Weiner contributed to the screenplay. This was another great show that Mr. Weiner created. It captures the atmosphere of that historic 1960 Labor Weekend. The director gets good all around performances from everyone in the large cast. This series is one of the most original things that have come to television lately.

"Long Weekend" is the tenth episode from the first season of the incredibly successful American historic series "Mad Men" and I watched this show around the time when it was new, but by now it has turned into one of my favorite shows, if not even the number one, so I am giving this another go now and from what I have seen so far, I would say that it has aged really well. This episode is no exception as you can see from my rating. I would still say that among the great episodes from season one it is among the weaker episodes, but this is really just more of a luxury problem because it is all pretty amazing. Tim Hunter directed again and the screenplay for these minimally under 48 minutes was written by no fewer than four writers. One of them is the series creator Matthew Weiner. It is an episode that is more about the relationships between characters this time than about what was going on there in terms of politics and society. However, there is one exception and let's start with that. With this I am of course referring to the upcoming election that had Nixon and Kennedy clash. So the year is 1960. We see 2 spots that have the intention to convince voters that their candidate is the more suitable for the job and those spots could not have been any more different. In the end, we see another brief spot that involved the man who was still President at that point, who won by a landslide in 1956. It was also interesting to hear the characters talk about the background of these two candidates, how one of them was pampered and came from a rich family while the other was a hard worker without a similar background. But we will go into detail about all this more in the review for episode 12 that is of course all about the election then.

Now, let's look at what episode 12 was about at its core. You could say it is about the females and their romantic relationships with men. This really involves everybody here pretty much. Peggy only has a small inclusion, but we understand he career beyond being a typewriter and secretary is not going bad and we understand she still has romantic feelings for Pete. Very short scene. There is way more about Joan. She decides to spend the weekend not without Roger, but with a friend who has her own romantic and professional struggles and needs some cheering up. The real cheering up the latter is looking for is something that Joan cannot provide though. So there was a bit of lesbianism included here and this also applies to the twins featured in another scene, well Roger wants them to make out and apparently he has not been the only one who asked them to do so in their lifetimes. They are no lesbians and not super comfortable with it. Clearly, at least one of them was only interested in Don. But back to Joan. It was pretty ironic to have this scene in which we see her with her friend and two bachelors and clearly everybody in the room wanted her more than anybody else. Including the girl. But well, only one gets her. Still, this scene makes an interesting reference to women dating men, strangers and how it requires no big effort at all to get things done there. But I will not go into detail any further there.

My favorite scene of the episode included Joan too or it was actually two scenes, namely the ones she shared with Bertram Cooper. May Robert Morse rest in peace, an absolute scene stealer with that show every single time he is on. First was when she rushes to the office to send out notices to important business partners in what can be called an emergency, which showed us how important she is to the company. Second was the end then when the two are through with it and we have Cooper say something to Joan about her romantic relationship(s), which showed us how she is absolutely not just an ice queen that she may sometimes be perceived as because of her pale skin. I loved the inclusion at the beginning how he says in a professional manner that it is not really any of his business and that she should not take it the wrong way, but in the end we find out that he was not talking about the man she brought to the office that night, or rather who brought her, but Cooper was referring to Roger there with his words and he saw from her state what it was doing with her that he had a heart attack. Maybe she even had regrets and felt in a way guilty that she decided not to spend the weekend with him. Which was of course absolutely not her fault what happened there. Because Roger has quite a bit going on. Take Joan. Take the twins. Take probably many other females he has met over the years. I mean the character is somewhat fascinating, but also he is much less likable than I remembered from my original viewing back then. How weak or rather pathetic he came off when his wife came to visit and comfort him at the hospital and she is really as unknowing as it gets in terms of all the stuff he has been doing (to her).

Oh well. That was a lot already, but let's keep going a little longer with some brainstorming. Don is of course also in this episode and one of the key characters. This has more to do with Rachel here, however, than with him. She is in town again and well what can I say I like the actress and I like the character, way more than Betty, so Rachel would be the far better fit for Don. Or actually she exactly would not because he is about as unlikable as his wife. All his deep talk to Rachel about what was going on in his mind also did very little for me there. What he says at the very end was more memorable, but still nowhere near the big highlights of the episode. I mentioned early on that this is a lot about romance relationships between characters and this also includes Betty's father and his partner about whom we find out a little but at the beginning. Also what Betty thinks about them. Or about her especially. So everybody really gets their share here almost. The funniest or maybe most ironic moment of the episode was when we have the male employees drool over the twin girls there, certainly their fantasies got fueled, and it was Roger I think who comes in and asks if the men don't have anything other to do when he is not one bit better than them. Even worse. He does not even allow all the women to get interviewed to find the most suitable ones, but simply employs the ones on the spot that he considers most attractive. That says it all. And getting the job comes with a price in terms of sexual favors obviously for the young twins. With all this stuff, it comes pretty easy to not feel sorry for Roger with what happens to him immediately afterwards and what was maybe the most dramatic moment from season 1 altogether although what happens to a female character in the final episode of season 1 if I remember correctly was also really bad, but you cannot really compare those two shocking developments. Let's just say that what happens to Roger here is so far the heaviest twist in season 1. Will I keep watching? 100% yes. Another stellar episode that taught us quite a bit about the characters and the level is still incredibly high. After this episode, you do not wanna miss out on what happens next.

Don tells his daughter to slow down from running.

He's at work where they watch a successful and fun John F. Kennedy ad. The Nixon (other candidate) ad that they are doing is boring and dull.

Don gets angry after finding out from Peter that they lost an account - Dr. Scholl's. He is furious and swipes everything off his table. Peggy comes in wondering what the noise on the intercom was. She stoops to pick up the stuff but Don stops her.

Don goes to his boss's office where he tells him the bad news while his boss is getting a trim. The boss suggests that they go down to look at the ladies. There are a bunch of twins for casting. The boss chooses the pair that he likes. They are redheads and the other twins leave. Don and the boss bring the twins up to a luxurious office and that is where each man is paired up with a twin. One twin has sex with the boss and her pink underwear is really pretty. The other twin kisses Don but does not have sex with him.

The boss tells the girl his concerns of his daughter's behaviour. She rolls her eyes at him and she is only a few years younger than these 20-year-old twins. It is gross he is with a girl around the same age as his daughter. They talk about how the twin's name is better than Margaret, his daughter. He was going to name his daughter Margaux but lost the battle for that and believes his daughter would have hated it.

While having sex a second time, the boss has a heart attack. He lies naked on the floor and Don tells the girls to phone an ambulance and leave. As he is being moved away he keeps moaning the name of the twin he was with. Don slaps him and reminds him his wife's name is Mona. Don goes to the hospital looking white as paper and he breaks down into tears.

Mona, his wife, comes in and pulls him in for a hug. The boss cries and tells Mona how much he loves her and hugs her. He wants the benefits of a marriage but he is not committed. He likes the motherly side of a wife. Margaret comes in and hugs her dad.

Joan and another man get to work on writing telegrams to send out to the company workers.

Don calls Betty to let her know about the heart attack while she is sharing a bed with her kids. Dad and his partner insisted on separate bedrooms.

Don goes over to the Jewish girl's place. The girl with the store. He is miserable and upset about the heart attack. He kisses the girl and she pulls away saying this was an excuse for bad behaviour. Don feels the tension of her wanting him and he asks her before having sex if she actually wants it. She says yes and they have sex. We see Don lying on top of her, both naked, while she reaches for a cigarette.