s7e3 ‘Field Trip’ Recap: Reward and Rejection
The show’s ex-couple find themselves in wonderlust in ‘Field Trip’. They, however, cannot wish for perfection. They just want to fix; they have a ‘hankering’, and decide not to take their ‘rewards’ for granted. What they do is to take a field trip, which end with some expected twists, reinforcing the theme of this season - it’s all about change and how we gonna face it.
I don’t know if I can undo it, but I think I fixed it. - Don
Betty has an afternoon tea with her housewife-turned-travel-agent friend. The friend has become the new woman, starting business for ‘reward’. But children, ain’t they reward? Betty wonders. For once, she is there for her children outside the grand country house. She is all very cool until Bobby gives her sandwich to a friend, and pisses her off. ‘It was a perfect day and he ruined it.’ whines the mother. Betty is not just old-fashioned; she takes on a time machine and becomes the baby of the family.
Don has a hankering and flies to L.A. The field trip is supposed to be juicy, yet it turns sour. Being suspected of having an affair, the tomato-juice-drinker Don confesses he only lies because he is being put on leave, and has no idea if SC&P still wants him. Megan replies, ‘Don’t do that [lie to me], I’m your wife’, and put Don on another leave - marital separation. It is noteworthy here how Megan turns a blind eye to Don’s possible disloyalty, yet cannot stand the fact that her husband is at home (although getting paid) and refuses to come to L.A. to be with her. ‘I can’t believe after all this time you don’t know me.’ Megan wants a man respecting her self. Someone who can fulfill a promise, and understand what she aspires. Don’s reply is yet all about his self, ‘I know how I want you to see me’. Not as a husband anymore, I’m afraid.
The disastrous field trip in L.A. pushes Don to argue for a return to SC&P. And surprisingly, Roger gives his consent immediately. So, on Monday the next week, he revisits his old agency. It is not supposed to be a field trip, but all the gazings, surprises, and excitements make it like a field trip. Don, sitting in the booth, is like an interviewee, or rather, some rare animal, or a phantom from the past. (The look on Peggy’s face!) This time, the field trip doesn’t end up too bad. The partners welcome him back on board with a few thoughtful, if not exaggerated restriction. Don accepts, not letting you read his inner thoughts behind the poker face. But after all, it’s a reward, not a rejection.
I’m not walking out of my own house. So that means you have to leave. - Megan
As Matt of the Vulture pointed out, Mad Men is a show about asserting power and marking terrain, ‘Field Trip’ witnesses Betty and Don entering the terrains that they think they can have a say, even if they might not be the owner. Betty has a lovely chat with Bobby on the bus, drinks a basket of milk under the eyes of a group of admiring kids. She feels good and confident and powerful. She takes the initiative and everything is under control. Don feels he can decide what to tell and what to conceal. He feels he keeps the right to break the promise and walk away as if nothing happened. He believes he, as Alan Silver put it, ‘probably have more influence’.
But the other side of the story is, it is 1969. Everything is changing. Computer service, wealthy women taking job after kids going to school, and etc. You have to live with the unexpected. The sandwich may evaporate. So does a marriage. The decision can no longer made by one people (Roger might disagree), it depends on two parties, or multi-parties. Ginsberg’s unflattering footnote of his boss’ missing the nomination - ‘You wasn’t rejected, you wasn’t even considered’ says much.
They are getting rejected too, maybe they are just handling it better. - Don
But when could Don join the club of ‘they’? This episode is a reminiscent of season six’s premier. Back then, Don believes an experience (of a fancy hotel in Hawaii) could change someone. Leica is the life-changer. Doctor fixes people’s illness, and thus changing them.
But the truth is, changing is a long and uphill struggle. Worse still, shadows from the past will always be there. Be it a beauty in while, or a blonde air hostess, or a body under the bed. The past lures you; it keeps hanging on.
The opening sequence bears a resemblance to the chasing scene in Vertigo, when the private detective cannot walk out of the past. The end is unnerving. Trapping in the past, which Don has done for so long time, was indeed ‘a scary thought’.
I wish it was yesterday. - Bobby
But darling, it isn’t.
I don’t know if I can undo it, but I think I fixed it. - Don
Betty has an afternoon tea with her housewife-turned-travel-agent friend. The friend has become the new woman, starting business for ‘reward’. But children, ain’t they reward? Betty wonders. For once, she is there for her children outside the grand country house. She is all very cool until Bobby gives her sandwich to a friend, and pisses her off. ‘It was a perfect day and he ruined it.’ whines the mother. Betty is not just old-fashioned; she takes on a time machine and becomes the baby of the family.
Don has a hankering and flies to L.A. The field trip is supposed to be juicy, yet it turns sour. Being suspected of having an affair, the tomato-juice-drinker Don confesses he only lies because he is being put on leave, and has no idea if SC&P still wants him. Megan replies, ‘Don’t do that [lie to me], I’m your wife’, and put Don on another leave - marital separation. It is noteworthy here how Megan turns a blind eye to Don’s possible disloyalty, yet cannot stand the fact that her husband is at home (although getting paid) and refuses to come to L.A. to be with her. ‘I can’t believe after all this time you don’t know me.’ Megan wants a man respecting her self. Someone who can fulfill a promise, and understand what she aspires. Don’s reply is yet all about his self, ‘I know how I want you to see me’. Not as a husband anymore, I’m afraid.
The disastrous field trip in L.A. pushes Don to argue for a return to SC&P. And surprisingly, Roger gives his consent immediately. So, on Monday the next week, he revisits his old agency. It is not supposed to be a field trip, but all the gazings, surprises, and excitements make it like a field trip. Don, sitting in the booth, is like an interviewee, or rather, some rare animal, or a phantom from the past. (The look on Peggy’s face!) This time, the field trip doesn’t end up too bad. The partners welcome him back on board with a few thoughtful, if not exaggerated restriction. Don accepts, not letting you read his inner thoughts behind the poker face. But after all, it’s a reward, not a rejection.
I’m not walking out of my own house. So that means you have to leave. - Megan
As Matt of the Vulture pointed out, Mad Men is a show about asserting power and marking terrain, ‘Field Trip’ witnesses Betty and Don entering the terrains that they think they can have a say, even if they might not be the owner. Betty has a lovely chat with Bobby on the bus, drinks a basket of milk under the eyes of a group of admiring kids. She feels good and confident and powerful. She takes the initiative and everything is under control. Don feels he can decide what to tell and what to conceal. He feels he keeps the right to break the promise and walk away as if nothing happened. He believes he, as Alan Silver put it, ‘probably have more influence’.
But the other side of the story is, it is 1969. Everything is changing. Computer service, wealthy women taking job after kids going to school, and etc. You have to live with the unexpected. The sandwich may evaporate. So does a marriage. The decision can no longer made by one people (Roger might disagree), it depends on two parties, or multi-parties. Ginsberg’s unflattering footnote of his boss’ missing the nomination - ‘You wasn’t rejected, you wasn’t even considered’ says much.
They are getting rejected too, maybe they are just handling it better. - Don
But when could Don join the club of ‘they’? This episode is a reminiscent of season six’s premier. Back then, Don believes an experience (of a fancy hotel in Hawaii) could change someone. Leica is the life-changer. Doctor fixes people’s illness, and thus changing them.
But the truth is, changing is a long and uphill struggle. Worse still, shadows from the past will always be there. Be it a beauty in while, or a blonde air hostess, or a body under the bed. The past lures you; it keeps hanging on.
The opening sequence bears a resemblance to the chasing scene in Vertigo, when the private detective cannot walk out of the past. The end is unnerving. Trapping in the past, which Don has done for so long time, was indeed ‘a scary thought’.
I wish it was yesterday. - Bobby
But darling, it isn’t.
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