| "Red in the Face" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mad Men episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 1 Episode 7 | ||
| Directed by | Tim Hunter | ||
| Written by | Bridget Bedard | ||
| Original air date | August 30, 2007 (2007-08-30) | ||
| Running time | 47 minutes | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| Mad Menseason 1 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Red in the Face" is the seventh episode of thefirst season of the American television drama seriesMad Men. It was written byBridget Bedard and directed byTim Hunter. The episode originally aired on theAMC channel in the United States on August 30, 2007.
It's Thursday, and the staff of Sterling Cooper have weekend plans.Roger's wife and daughter are going out of town, so he tries to go away withJoan, but she already has plans.Peggy, who has been gaining weight, is going to work on copy for Belle Jolie.Pete is taken aback to learn that Peggy is working on copy and assumes it must be a woman-related account, such assanitary napkins. He offers to take a look at her copy, untruthfully claiming copywriters have him do it all the time. Flattered, she agrees.
Roger, feeling lonely, insistsDon go out drinking with him. Roger flirts with some women at the bar, musing that girls lose their glow when they turn 30. He then discovers the young women aren't looking at him, but at Don. Roger invites himself to dinner with Don andBetty, with Betty skipping her entrée so that Roger can eat it. After dinner, Roger drunkenly makes a move on Betty when Don leaves the room. After Don returns, Roger leaves; Don angrily turns on Betty and says she was leading Roger on by being talkative at dinner. Don calls her "a little girl," echoing Betty's therapist, who has paternalistically been sharing everything said in her sessions with Don. The next day, Roger attempts to apologize to Don, but Don feigns ignorance.
Meanwhile, Pete attempts to return a "chip-and-dip" that he andTrudy received as a wedding present, claiming that they were given two by mistake. At the department store he feels emasculated when he is unable to charm the store employees into giving him a cash refund and uses his store credit to purchase arifle instead. Later, it is revealed that Trudy did not want him to return the chip-and-dip and is furious that he did so. The next day, Pete brings the rifle to work and shows it to Peggy. He tells her about a fantasy he has in which he uses the rifle to kill a deer, then drag it to a cabin in the woods where a woman cooks it for his dinner and watches him eat it.
Betty has a chance encounter withHelen at the supermarket. Helen angrily confronts Betty about thelock of hair she gave toGlen, telling her that it was "inappropriate" for a nine-year-old. Betty responds by slapping her in the face. Later,Francine tells Betty that the other housewives are on Betty's side, and they agree to shun Helen. Meanwhile, Don plots his revenge on Roger for making a pass at Betty. Don takes Roger to lunch in preparation for a meeting with officials fromRichard Nixon'spresidential campaign. Before they leave the building, Don bribes an elevator attendant. At lunch, Don pushes Roger to eat and drink more and more. When they return to the office, the attendant tells them that the elevator is out of service, so they must walk the twenty-three flights of stairs to the office. Roger becomes exhausted and vomits in front of the Nixon officials. Don asks if Roger is okay, then walks away smirking to himself.
The episode was received positively by critics.Alan Sepinwall, writing for New Jersey'sThe Star-Ledger, wrote that the episode captured the generational divide of the era.[1] Andrew Johnston, writing forSlant Magazine, praised the episode's sense of humor.[2] Emily VanDerWerff ofThe A.V. Club graded it an "A" (the highest possible), praising its "audacious character writing."[3]
