Mad Men Season 3, Episode 6: 'Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency' Review - Featured

First of all, props to Mad Men for such a cruelly clever episode title of, 'Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency.'

That's definitely one of those deviously foreshadowing titles no one could possibly think of the implications of until after seeing this surprising episode!

After last week's bizarre episode focusing on Betty having the baby and having all sorts of weird dreams leaving Don's role to sitting in the waiting room drinking, it was great to get back to the Sterling Cooper office drama, and oh was it ever more than we could have hoped!

The British were coming in for an untimely, yet appropriate, 4th of July check-in to evaluate their acquired New York branch, which of course sent everyone in the office into a tizzy as that not only meant they had to be on the ball with making themselves look extra productive, but they had to do presentations, AND miss their full holiday weekend.

While everyone was busy freaking out the morning of the announcement, good ol' Ken made a big scene riding into the office on a John Deer lawn mower to show off officially landing his John Deer account. He only slightly joined in the worries of the rest of the gang, but obviously felt pretty confident he would impress... well, we'd see about that!

Before the big moment of the episode went down, it seemed the big moment was going to be Don promoted and told he was going to be spending a lot of time at the London office.

Soon after Cooper suggested this possibility, not only did that promotion not come up, but the London guys presented a new flowchart of power, the only differences being that they forgot to include Sterling, promoted Harry, and switched out Lane Price for their shiny new boy, Guy MacKendrick.

Oh, but how shocking fate would have it for Guy! One of the ridiculously great parts of this show is how much they let go not only at noon for a few cocktails, but when they actually have an excuse to party in the office! Things may have seemed out of hand when Don and Roger were having a private party in the office with a few twins including Roger riding one like a horse and then ending the night in a frightening heart attack, but Joan's going away party had that beat!

Mad Men may usually keep to the more subtle drama, but last night, we got some seriously shocking blood-spraying drama like we couldn't ever have imagined. As one of the guys cleverly said later in their morbid humor, just as Guy got his foot in the door, he got it cut off.

As the party got crazy, the John Deer lawnmower came out for some silly secretary riding, which automatically made me nervous about the glass office walls I was sure would be the worst of the drama, but oh, no! Let a silly drunken secretary on a thing with wheels and blades in an office, well, you're going to get her running over someone's foot and slicing it, causing a shocking spray of blood allllll over the bystanders and those glass office windows we were all so worried about. Which, by the way, also got broken, but that was besides the point by the time it happened seconds later.

In all that gore came Joan's moment of glorious heroism as she not only thought fast enough to make a tourniquet, but was on the ball with yelling out where the first aid kit was, and probably really did save Guy's life... though how much will he thank her when he lives in the 60s where someone can offhandedly fire you while you're still in the hospital getting your foot taken off??

Joan certainly showed us that it's beyond tragic that she's leaving Sterling Cooper, not only because she's not meant to be a stay-at-home wife, but also because it's not going to be that glorious since her husband didn't get his residency, and since she truly was what was making Sterling Cooper run like a non-foot-cutting well-oiled machine.

So where will Joan go from here? Will she be missing for a few episodes then back asking for a job? Will we follow her in a new job? And will they, though I don't care much about this new character, really let poor Guy go entirely just because the man can't walk or play golf? After watching that scene with the London higher-ups acting as if it were obvious the man couldn't possibly do business without a foot, I can't imagine why anyone ever thought we needed laws about fair hiring and firing in the work force.

And, while it got overshadowed by the foot incident, where do you think Don's new relationship with Conrad Hilton will lead? Could we be seeing some major shifts in Sterling Cooper including either a huge bump up for Don due to a Hilton account, or Don leaving realizing he could do better with some sort of new business Hilton leads to? Share your thoughts on this shocking episode and where you think it will take our mad men and women next!


| 08:11 EDT, 22 Sep, 2009
amazing episode.

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