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"The Jet Set" is the eleventh episode in the second season of the American television drama series Mad Men. It was written by Matthew Weiner and directed by Phil Abraham. The episode originally aired on the AMC channel in the United States on October 12, 2008.
| "The Jet Set" | |
|---|---|
| Mad Men episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 11 |
| Directed by | Phil Abraham |
| Written by | Matthew Weiner |
| Original air date | October 12, 2008 |
Plot[edit]
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (October 2018) |
The episode begins with a montage of Jane Sterling (Peyton List) spread out in a bed with sheets covering her naked body. As she recited a poem or piece of literature that she has been writing, we see Roger Sterling (John Slattery) emerge from the bathroom. The scene continues with the two of them speaking about their connection and what their relationship means. While it is clear that Jane enjoys her time with Roger, she worries about the future with him especially since he has a recent ex-wife and a daughter. Jane proceeds to tell Roger that their, "souls are the same age." Soon after Roger confesses how much love he truly feels for Jane and asks her to be his wife.
The episode then continues to a meeting in the office of Sterling Cooper where creative and accounts are meeting and are discussing their account with Right Guard. The conversation then turns into the group of co-workers asking Kurt Smith (Edin Gali) what he does with his spare time as a single man. When he mentions that he has seen Bob Dylan in concert, Peggy takes an interest. Once it is clear that the meeting is not very productive, the group disperses, and Peggy asks Kurt about seeing Bob Dylan live. He then invites her to see the show with him, and she accepts.
While the employees at Sterling Cooper are busy with their day at work, we see Don Draper (Jon Hamm), and Peter Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) arrive in California where they have traveled for a business trip. As they settle into the hotel, a man comes up to Don and says how he and his friends have been, "speculating about you, trying to decide who you are and what you do." The young woman that appears to be a part of his family has taken an interest in Don, and also catches Don's eye.
Back in California, Don and Pete listen to a presentation on nuclear weapons and the new technology that will be useful in the conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. After Pete and Don discuss some business matters, Don sees the same young girl who had taken an interest in him earlier in the episode. The girl, Joy (Laura Ramsey) mentioned how she is about to leave for Palm Springs and invites him to come. While at first, he declines, Don then decides to leave his business trip behind and embark on a journey with Joy to Palm Springs, leaving Pete all alone to handle the business matters.
Once Don arrives at Palm Springs with Joy, Don passes out from heat exhaustion and wakes up in a house with the same family and Joy right beside him. Don continues his night with Joy and her family, joining them for dinner where everyone at the table seems to be very curious with Don and who he is. While they play a game where they name different cities, the individuals at the table seem to love and enjoy Don's presence. Joy proceeds to kiss Don passionately at the dinner table and then leads him to a bedroom where she explains that she is only 21 years old.
Back at the office, the employees of Sterling Cooper are gathered around some donuts in the break room enjoying time together. Several different employees at the office make remarks about how adorable Peggy and Kurt are together. Kurt then interrupts this discussion by admitting to the group that he is homosexual. The group is shocked, and after Kurt leaves the room, many individuals made derogatory comments on Kurt's sexuality. Throughout this conversation, it is evident that Sal (Bryan Batt) is made uncomfortable.
In New York, the episode shows Duck (Mark Moses) sitting down for drinks with the owners of Puttnam, Powell, and Lowe, an advertising agency based in London. It appears that Duck had previously worked with this hugely successful agency and is looking for another position. They politely decline and say that if they were hiring Duck would be the first one they would call. Duck then starts to propose an alternative option for them to work together. He suggests that the company should purchase Sterling Cooper. The owners of the company seem to fancy the idea of it.
Duck has a meeting with Bert Cooper (Robert Morse) and Roger where he proposes the possibility of Puttnam, Powell, and Lowe buying Sterling Cooper. Both Bert and Roger seem to enjoy the idea and ask Duck to try and get an offer from the agency to see how much they will pay.
The episode starts to close with Don still in Palm Springs making a phone call. Instead of introducing himself as Don Draper he says, "Hello it's Dick Whitman." He then speaks to the person over the phone and asks if he can come to see them soon. He writes down an address and says that he will see the person soon.
The final scene of the episode shows a delivery person dropping off a suitcase with an LAX tag on it which appears to be Don's at Don's house back in New York City with "What'll I Do" playing by Frank Sinatra as the episode comes to a close.
Reception[edit]
Noel Murray of The AV Club gave "The Jet Set" an A grade and gave the high praise “For about the first 20 minutes of this week's Mad Men, throughout Don Draper's adventures on the left coast, I was a little confused about where "The Jet Set" was headed. And then, Don's story took a turn. And then another. And I was about as awestruck and enraptured as I've been this whole season. (And this has been a good season.)[1]”. Alan Sepinwall said that the had “a lot of action (by "Mad Men" standards) at the Sterling Cooper offices, but Don spent the hour in a remote location, surrounded by strange people and not acting remotely like the man we know”.[2] And Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode a 8.6 rating and said “The episode got progressively more intriguing as it progressed” and “What a trippy episode. Don's trip to California was certainly memorable, as it brought him into a very different, very unusual world.”[3]
Production[edit]
 |
According to an AMC interview, the producer intentionally begins the episode muted inciting that Rogers girlfriend is also in a fancy hotel having sex, ironically relating Joan and Rogers relationship in season 1. He listens to Jane creative poetry writing about their love together and its meant to imply affair and not serious, but instead it manages to make clear there love to one another. The similarity between Roger and Don is clear as well, seeing as their lovers whom are cast to play their lovers are “arty young women”. The producer also had in this episode Roger turn to his lover Jane and ask her to marry him coming as a surprise. Relating to Don laying on the couch towards the end calls an unknown person as a surprise claiming to be Dick Whitman. We also see an intentional scene where Don sees a woman whom he believes to be his wife from across the room. The producer has Betty and a completely different woman walk the scene to imply the confusion and show the significance of his wife.[4]
Accolades[edit]
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The episode was nominated for Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series at the 61st PrimeTime Emmy Awards.[5]
Cultural References[edit]
Sal asks the group if they watched Loretta Young the night before, saying it was really awful. Harry then said that she is his dad’s favorite. Kurt Smith says that he went to Bob Dylan's concert last week at Carnegie Hall. Pete tells Don he saw Tony Curtis in the men’s room. The Space Aviation is planning to send off warheads into the USSR. Fourteen individual warheads with fourteen different targets each with ten times the payload of Nagasaki. The girl that Don is sleeping with is reading a novel by William Faulkner. Kurt takes Peggy to see Bob Dylan. There are riots happening in the town of Oxford for its registration of its first Negro student in the school’s 118 years. Ken, Harry, Peggy, Sal and Pete were all watching, with Pete saying “it’s strange, isn’t it?”
External links[edit]
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Category:Mad Men episodes Category:2008 American television episodes