Mad Men

Out of Town

Season 3, Episode 1, Aired 8/16/09

Episode Summary

In the third-season opener, Salvatore and Don take a business trip out of town. Pete Campbell and Ken Cosgrove worry about the changes at Sterling-Cooper and how the changes will impact them.

8.6

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Cast & Crew

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Aaron Staton

Ken Cosgrove
Michael Gladis

Paul Kinsey
Vincent Kartheiser

Pete Campbell

Fan Episode Reviews (6)

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Dons mother gives birth to a stillborn baby, of which we catch a brief glimpse (great analogy of Don's life). Subtle hints Sal is gay is replaced with a brazen display of such. Don catches Sal red-handed. Pete is promoted but has to share with Ken.moreless

8.5

"Great"

By cliokitty, Nov 05, 2011 Report Abuse

The curtain has been pulled back. Life before the 70's was not as pure and simple as we have been led to believe. Human nature has always been the same and the proof was offered up in this episode. The juxtaposition of period authenticity with 21st century shock and awe was well blended. The flashback to Don's "birth" was superbly blended with him standing at the stove current-day. The words coming out of Don's mother's mouth (remember that had to be the 30's) were unexpected and yet another layer of lies was added as the midwife presented Don's mother with a live baby named Dick. Pete's shock and disappointment was almost tangible and Ken's naivet was real.

Sal's performance was awesomely uncomfortable.moreless

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5 0
Plenty of emotion, plenty of underplayed majesty.

7.0

"Good"

By colinmoon, Dec 18, 2010 Report Abuse

The subtle nature of this show is one of its most endearing powers. The slow, untidy reveal of Don's previous life (here expressed in the opening with Don's strange moments of imagining the past; his birth, his adopted mother's taking of him in). This episode brings in new characters to be pulled into from the get-go; the agency has gone through tumultuous times, and here we find our cast rediscovering their limits and strengths. Major progression happens with some long-standing characters (Salvator not the least of which), and we see Draper at top form, his ability to grant ease to his subordinates while he himself is sometimes unhinged.

The birth bookends--Don's birth at the beginning and his daughter asking for the story of her own--is a perfect example of how well paced, plotted, and timed this show can be--subtle, again, but not too cocky with it. Not the strongest episode of the show--any episode in which Ken Cosgrove and Campbell play major roles often leads me dangerously close to being bored (both seem almost too adolescent for me; their roles in the company barely discussed, their abilities too unevenly contrasted)--but a strong episode to begin the season with.moreless

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1 0
Mad Men is finally back! Sal and Don go out of town where a secret is revealed. Ken and Pete learn ther promotion is not what is seems. The British bosses get introduced.moreless

8.0

"Great"

By guyroy1971, Dec 18, 2010 Report Abuse

Mad Men is back and the episode starts with a very "Soprano-esque" sequence where Don views his birth. It turns out its his "real" birthday (not Don's but Dick's) We learn the rather grim way he originally got to be named Dick and the rather embarrassing circumstance of his birth. Don could never know any of this of course and it was very surreal. Everyone knows the writer of the show worked on the Sopranos, and they were known for doing this sort of thing, it was artsy but well executed.

The great thing about this show is how the product ties into the show. For the new season, it is London Fog. At that time it only did raincoats but it was a big account and the firm sends Don and Sal to Baltimore to cement the client after Sterling Cooper cans Burt, the head of accounts. A case of mistaken identity happens when a pretty stewardess reads the name on Don's luggage that had his brother in laws name on it and gives Don carte blnche for infedelity as he casually assumes the new identity. (this time for fun and Sal played along) This led to the first great line of the new season as Sal remarks after the gorgeous stewardess practically picks Don up on the plane that "he never saw a stewardess that game" to which Don quizically replies "really?" Welcome to the world of Don Draper Sal! Don and Sal goes out to dinner with the stewardess and two other airline employees and they expand their cover story by saying they are accountants. When one of the employees seems to put Sal down for being an accountant, Don leaps to his defense by saying he is an accountant to then casually mentions they are accountants for...wait for it..the FBI! Now they got their cool back at the table. Watching it was like an instructional video on how to be a wingman to pick up girls. lol

The big reveal was Don discovers Sal's homosexuality when a fire alarm goes off and while on the fire escape he sees a bellboy in Sal's room. Luckily for Sal, Don is where secrets go to die, so if he is discovered at the office, it won't be by Don. The theme of the episode ties into this as on the return trip, Don asks Sal to be honest with him (which Sal thinks means they are about to talk about what Don saw) and instead Don pitches an ad for London Fog with the tagline "limit your exposure" which obviously has many meanings considering the circumstances, and Sal obviously got it.

At the office, the British bosses are introduced as well as setting up a story about the boss's male secretary, who obviously is defensive about it. The secretaries are perplexed with what to do with him, as this is quite a gender norm breaker for the time. He insists to all he is not merely a secretary, but is his boss' "right hand man". By the end of the episode however it is revealed his boss really only considers him a secretary.

Finally Pete and Ken, in an amusing bit, both get told they will be head of accounts, although they do not find out until later they will split up the business and share the title. This is a tortose and the hair story as the show shows each of their interactions with the brit boss and they are a study of contrasts. Pete, the whiny corporate shill, makes a mess of butt kissing, forgets to ask if he will get a raise but gets the job anyway. Ken, Mr. Laid back, is pleasantly surpirsed, casually makes small talk and asks about salary and shakes his boss' hand. The Brit was obviously more impressed with Ken.

Pete seeths about sharing duties with Ken, as Ken barely cares and Pete wants the status soo badly and tries to make it personal. Ken won't bite and points out to Pete the boss wants them to hate each other. Pete can see this too, but falls into the trap anyway because of his emotions.

All in all an enjoyable episode, well acted, and keeps up the theme of tying the product into the story and keeps up the "nothing happens/alot happens" vibe of the show.moreless

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7 0
New season & new faces - the British are here and they're stirring things up

10

"Perfect"

By welwynrose, Dec 18, 2010 Report Abuse

Excellent start to the new season with changes being made at Sterling Cooper including the addition of two interesting new British characters.
When Don & Salvatore take a tip out of town to see a client, Don proves that although his wife is pregnant a leopard does not change his spots and Salvatore reveals more to Don than he should have done although Don handles it well on the journey home.
Pete Campbell again proves than he is not easy to please and is more like a spoilt child than ever.
It will be interesting to see how these story lines are going to progress over the next few weeks.moreless

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3 0
You would have to be "mad" to like this.

5.5

"Mediocre"

By thefanof, Dec 18, 2010 Report Abuse

Mad Men was one of the biggest success stories at the Emmys last year, and no doubt will walk away with a few trophies again this year. But does the show constitute such achievements? Is the product really of the quality critics claim it to be?

The answer is no. This episode was not the sophisticated, charming, realistic look at 1960's life people believe this program offers; no, it was rather a pedestrian and hackneyed attempt to stereotype a generation of people into one group that does nothing but do the dirty deed and drink more than any alcoholic throughout history.

The scenes run for too long and too many low-level supporting characters get way too much time. I have no interest in Ken Cosgrove, because the first two seasons gave me no reason to care about him. Suddenly he is thrown into one of the top positions in the company? Sorry, I am not buying that.

I am sure people will love this premiere, but there is just so much superior television out there.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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Notes
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Quotes
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- Don: (looking at a whiskey ad) Can you believe this? What is the world coming to? Sal: That is a big bottle. Don: That's not a bottle, that's a date. Sal: My oh my, what a big bottle you have. Don: Sorry honey, but I'm taken. I just pawned my typewriter so we can be together all weekend. Edit
Allusions
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- Shelly: We're heading to Haussners for dinner.
  Haussners was a German restaurant in Baltimore city that was a must see and in the 1960's was very hard to get into. Edit
- Don: You ever heard of James Hoffa? James (Jimmy) Hoffa was the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters who was convicted of jury tampering and bribery in 1964 and later disappeared in 1975. Edit
- Sal: Our worst fears lie in anticipation. That's not me, that's Balzac.
  Balzac is French novelist and playwright, Honore de Balzac. Edit