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Mad Men Season 2 Episodes
Season 2 Episode Guide
13 Episodes 2008 - 2008
Episode 1
For Those Who Think Young
Sun, Jul 27, 200848 mins
It's Valentine's Day 1962, approximately 15 months since we last saw these cast of characters. On personal fronts, Don and Betty seem to have settled into an agreement of sorts that Don will try to be a better husband and father. Although Don makes a romantic gesture for Valentine's - dinner and a hotel stay at the Savoy Hotel - both Betty and Don realize there are still unspoken problems in their marriage. Joan and Roger have cooled off their romance, with Joan now actively dating. Pete and Trudy have worked out their early problems to now have what seems to be a supportive marriage, although the one stress in their lives is that they have not yet conceived a baby. And after an undisclosed leave of absence, Peggy has returned to her copy writers job at Sterling Cooper. There is much speculation among the men at the office as to Peggy's obvious weight loss, some speculating - correctly - that she had a baby, but wrong in that it is Don's (what else could explain Peggy's meteoric rise on the corporate ladder?), others thinking she went to a fat farm during her leave. On the work front, Duck is wanting a younger staff to provide the perception that Sterling Cooper is a hip, modern company with hip, modern ideas, this against Don's view of what is good for the company. Under this overriding directive, Salvatore and Peggy are working on the Mohawk Airline account. And the clerical staff is gawking over the newest office acquisition: a photocopying machine. The problem is it's size and where to put it.
Episode 2
Flight 1
Sun, Aug 3, 200848 mins
A conflict of interest does not deter the Sterling Cooper agency from aggressively pursuing an airline account. Also, Paul introduces his special somebody to his Sterling Cooper colleagues when he throws a party at his place, and Peggy has dinner with her family.
Episode 3
The Benefactor
Sun, Aug 10, 200848 mins
Harry tries to gather support around a controversial sponsorship in order to bolster his career. When Don ditches work for a day, trouble brews on the set of a commercial. Later, Betty joins her husband when he attempts to placate his clients with an amicable dinner.
Episode 4
Three Sundays
Sun, Aug 17, 200848 mins
A last minute pitch meeting has Sterling Cooper staffers working double time in preparation. Peggy's family hosts lunch for their church's new priest, and Don and Betty have a family weekend together. Also, Roger Sterling is smitten with a "date" that Pete and Ken provide to a client for a business lunch.
Episode 5
The New Girl
Sun, Aug 24, 200848 mins
Pete and Trudy visit a doctor to discuss their problems conceiving a child. Pete deals insensitively with the resulting news. Bobbie continues her personal pursuit of Don. After a drunken evening with Bobbie (in which they run into a now married Rachel Menken), Don, driving Bobbie home, gets into a traffic accident. He fails the breathalyser test and calls the only person he can think of who can bail him out of this predicament and will protect this secret for him. Through flashbacks, we learn why Don chose this person as his confidante. Although Don walks into the office the following day with his arm in a sling, he is paid little attention due to the arrival of Don's attractive new secretary, Jane Siegel, and an engagement ring on Joan's finger. Despite falling under the radar of doing anything wrong with Bobbie, Don dreads an urgent meeting called by Jimmy Barrett. And Peggy receives some career advice from an unexpected source.
Episode 6
Maidenform
Sun, Aug 31, 200848 mins
Duck is facing pressures both at home and at work. On a Memorial Day holiday visit from his children, he learns that his ex-wife is planning on remarrying. At the office, he is still smarting from the loss of the American Airlines account, from which much tension still exists between himself and Don. Roger orders a truce between the two, who comply. More work stress is added on Duck's plate when one of Sterling Cooper's largest clients, Playtex, who has been happy with their advertising thus far, have of late aspired to the edgier advertising of their competitor, Maidenform. Ultimately, the stress for Duck becomes too much, Duck's dog Chauncy taking the initial hit. With the Playtex account, Peggy has been shut out by "the boys" in providing any meaningful input and even asks for advice from Joan on how to infiltrate the boys' network. But working on the account for Clearasil, the client of who is Pete's father-in-law, Peggy does develop a new concept that plays well at least informally with Pete and his father-in-law. On personal fronts, Betty has been avoiding Arthur at the riding stable, but Arthur eases Betty's mind about any future advances. Pete relieves some of his sexual frustrations with a model auditioning for the Playtex account. And Don and Bobbie intensify their sexual liaison. However, Bobbie make an off the cuff comment which makes Don realize that he has to be more careful about his public personal life.
Episode 7
The Gold Violin
Sun, Sep 7, 200848 mins
To show that he has "arrived," Don buys a new car. Pete, Harry and Ken come up with a plan to attract new business, and Don's secretary makes a serious error, which could mean trouble for Joan. Cooper gets a new piece of office art that attracts the interest of the Sterling Cooper staff.
Episode 8
A Night to Remember
Sun, Sep 14, 200848 mins
For the Heineken beer account, Don and Duck think that targeting upper class suburban housewives is the approach to take. True to their thoughts, Betty even ends up buying Heineken for a small company dinner party. When an inside joke is made at the party about her buying Heineken, Betty uses this situation to later confront Don with her knowledge of his affair with Bobbie Barrett. Don denies everything, although Betty deep in her heart knows the truth. She searches for conclusive evidence of the affair, without luck. But Betty makes a short term decision about their marriage. With other work goings-on, Harry is chastised for a faux pas regarding airing a Maytag commercial on a television movie Maytag deemed unsuitable. Harry, working alone, pleads for extra help for the fledgling television department. Roger denies his request but does allow Harry to co-opt someone from the secretarial staff to assist in at least reading scripts. Thinking it sound interesting, Joan volunteers. She enjoys this new job and is good at it, as the Maytag folks are pleased with the new direction of their account. Despite what seems to be a new direction for her at Sterling Cooper, Joan quietly and sadly accepts the news that her tenure in the position is short-lived. Another account, albeit a pro bono one is for Peggy's church. Father Gill wants Peggy's help in developing a campaign for an upcoming youth dance. Peggy treats this task as she would any account, speaking bluntly to Father Gill about what she think right and wrong. On the flip side, Father Gill uses this situation to question Peggy about her life.
Episode 9
Six Month Leave
Sun, Sep 28, 200848 mins
Marilyn Monroe has just passed away, and Joan and many of the women in the office are feeling the loss of a person with who they could identify. Betty and Don are still on bad terms with each other, and don't have all the answers in how to deal with their situation publicly. The ball is basically in Betty's court on the next step. She takes some solace in her horseback riding in the company of Arthur Case, but privately she is still not taking her problems with Don very well. Don finally confides at least to Roger and Jane about the fact that he is no longer at home, the information which creates some unexpected issues with others. On other office fronts, Freddy embarrasses himself just before a presentation to clients, this embarrassment a manifestation of over-drinking. He is lucky that this embarrassment did not happen in front of the clients. Because of this issue, Roger and Duck feel that Freddy should take an extended leave of absence, effectively meaning that he should be fired. Freddy understands the implications of his forced leave. However, before Freddy is gone for good, Roger and Don treat him to one last night on the town. Someone in the office is promoted to Freddy's job, the person happy about the promotion but not the reasons for it.
Episode 10
The Inheritance
Sun, Oct 5, 200848 mins
The talk around the office is the business trip that Pete and Paul are going on to Los Angeles to a aeronautics convention in the hopes of gaining contracts from the emerging aerospace industry. For Paul, this trip is a good excuse not to accompany Sheila to Mississippi where she hoped he would assist her in a civil rights campaign. Family fronts are not going as well. Pete and Trudy are still arguing about their lack of progeny, Trudy wants to adopt. With the other generation, Pete is finding it difficult to relate to his mother, who still is not aware of her new poor financial situation. With the Drapers, Betty's father, Gene, has suffered a mild stroke which brings Don and Betty temporarily back together as Betty needs Don's support in visiting with her family. Although the Hofstadt family outwardly does not want to discuss the seriousness of the situation, it looks like Gene is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. Back home, away from Gene and Gloria's, Betty still does not allow Don back into the family home. To preoccupy himself, Don decides to take Paul's place on the trip to Los Angeles, much to Paul's dismay who can now go with Sheila to Mississippi. Back at the Draper household, Betty, alone, finds that Glen Bishop has run away and has been hiding in her backyard. Besides having problems at home, Glen wants to be Betty's knight in shining armor. Although still not on speaking terms with Glen's mother Helen, Betty calls Helen to pick up Glen, and ends up confiding to Helen about her own personal situation with Don.
Episode 11
The Jet Set
Sun, Oct 12, 200860 mins
After leaving Mona, Roger asks Jane Siegel to marry him, an offer which she accepts. The divorce looks to be a messy proceeding. At the office, Duck wants to make partner, but Roger, being candid, tells him that his performance to date doesn't warrant such a move. Duck decides he has either to be more aggressive in looking for a better job elsewhere or in finding additional business for Sterling Cooper to warrant the partnership. Still at the office, the creative team is talking about the difficult time Paul seems to be having in Mississippi from what they see on the news, the good time that Don and Pete are probably having in Los Angeles, the Right Guard campaign and Bob Dylan. With the latter, Kurt asks Peggy to Dylan's concert after she expresses interest in his music. Peggy sees this as a date, whereas Kurt sees it purely as friends going out as he assumed she and everyone in the office knew he was gay. This news brings out everyone's deep feelings about homosexuality and pushes Salvatore deeper into the closet. However, Kurt helps Peggy in other ways. In Los Angeles, Don pushes Pete into working harder than he expected - Pete expected a lot of time sitting by the pool and swimming - but Don himself abandons Pete and work when he meets Joy and her band of "beautiful people" who seem to have a lot of money but don't work for it. Don's time with Joy and her friends makes him think about making a connection to his past life.
Episode 12
The Mountain King
Sun, Oct 19, 200848 mins
No one at Sterling Cooper knows where Don is. Since he abandoned Pete in Los Angeles, he has been missing. In fact, he is still in California visiting with his old friend, Anna Draper, the widow of the real Don Draper. The two came to an understanding years earlier where Don has been her financier and confidante. Don is contemplating remaining in California for good, resuming a life now known as Dick Whitman. Back in New York, the partners, including Bertram's sister Alice and without Don, are reviewing the merger with Putnam, Powell & Lowe and make their decision in Don's absence. Things are not going well personally or by association professionally for Pete. He and Trudy are still arguing over the possibility of adopting. Because of the magnitude of their argument, Trudy tells her father Tom of the issue, he who gives Pete an ultimatum: make Trudy happy by giving her what she wants, or he'll pull the Clearasil account from Sterling Cooper. Pete is decisive in his decision. Peggy's fortunes at the office are better. Almost single-handedly, she gets the Popsicle account for the company. And she is the only one who is forthright enough to ask Roger for Fred Rumsen's vacant office. Joan's life outwardly seems to be extremely happy now that she's engaged to Dr. Greg Harris, but their relationship is not unlike the bunch of roses he gave to her: fragrant and sweet at some times, with thorns under the surface. Betty is still trying to deal with life without Don. She decides to tell Sally about her and Don's marital troubles. And she and Sarah Beth argue over Arthur and Tara's impending marriage.
Episode 13
Meditations in an Emergency
Sun, Oct 26, 200848 mins
The Cuban Missile Crisis is preoccupying the minds of Americans. Nuclear war is a very real possibility and as such, many are thinking about where and with whom they would want to die. Trudy wants to be with her parents, whereas Pete wants to stay in Manhattan. Father John uses the crisis as a basis for one of his sermons and also ties in with it a private conversation with Peggy about her life. Betty learns that she's pregnant and because of the state of the world and her family, she's not sure she wants to keep the baby. Coinciding with this news is Don's return back to New York, he who wants to resume his life as it was, both personally and professionally. Don's return does not alter Betty's feelings, but a night alone on the town while Don has the children gives Betty the opportunity to figure out what she wants and needs to do. At Sterling Cooper, Don is surprised by the news of the merger, whereas the accounts and creatives executives are wondering about what's going on, most thinking that Don is opening a west coast branch office. For a price, Lois, who has been working at the switchboard since being fired as Don's secretary, uses her position to broker what she thinks is a deal for herself in the new Sterling Cooper. And Duck brings Pete into his confidence about being the new President of the company and wanting Pete to fill his old position. Pete uses this information to what he thinks his best advantage. Duck is anticipating that the new management structure will either bring Don in line under his thinking or will send Don packing into another line of work altogether. The restructuring meeting does not go according to Duck's plans. And Peggy and Pete have a heart to heart about their professional and personal lives.
