Mad Men - "The Inheritance"

So I missed recapping last week's Mad Men, which is too bad because it was my favorite episode of the season. In brief, there were about a half dozen truly incredible moments, my favorite probably being Don giving Jimmy a well-deserved punch to his face (also, they showed that Menken's bag three times! Was it foreshadowing, or just a shout-out for the fans?). It was an A episode all the way, which makes The Inheritance kind of a letdown.

Betty goes to visit at the worst time ever and it turns out that her father is in pretty bad shape. She also makes Don come along, forcing the two to interact for what is probably the longest period of time since they separated. Meanwhile, Pete and Trudy want to adopt, but Pete's mother threatens to cut them off if they do. And there's a baby shower for Harry. And creepy Glenn from season one comes back. All in all it was a lot of weight for this episode to carry and its easy to understand how it might falter. And frankly, there was so much going on in the episode that I got a little lost. Its clear though, that these are all connected by the idea of inheritance. Not the inheritance of things, but the inheritance of a way of life that none of them seem particularly thrilled with. Harry's dealing with the arrival of a child and a loss of the kind of freedom he used to enjoy. Its entirely possible that Don's story is Harry 10 or so years from now. And meanwhile, the same pressures that have pushed Pete to consider adoption are also now taking that away as an option.

This episode seems like a grower. Indeed, thinking about it has improved it in my head and maybe watching it again would make it seem even better. However after two episodes that showed just how good Mad Men can be, this one seemed to be a little off in terms of cohesion and flow. Next week promises Don and Pete in California, an idea which looks very interesting on paper, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

B+