Love Among the Ruins (Mad Men)

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Love Among the Ruins (Mad Men)

"Love Among the Ruins" is the second episode of the third season of the American television drama series Mad Men. It was written by Carolyn Humphris and Matthew Weiner and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter. The episode originally aired on the AMC channel on August 23, 2009.

Plot

This episode begins with the Harry, Ken, Salvatore, and Peggy watching a clip of Ann Margret singing Bye-Bye Birdie. The men in the conference room are mesmerized by the sexy performance that Margaret put on and thought a similar idea would be perfect for their possible new client, Patio Cola. Peggy argues that a similar campaign would appeal to men, but that it would not attract women who would be the ones interested in purchasing a diet beverage.

Men from Madison Square Garden meet with Pete and Paul. The company has been facing public scrutiny for their plans replace historic Penn Station with a new building. They all peruse ads and articles that greatly oppose this new addition to the city. Paul agrees with the opposition and that the city has no memory, it’s out with the old, in with the new.

Betty then meets Don at the office to go to dinner with Lane and his wife. While leaving the office, Betty informs Don that she is “in a foul mood”. After dinner, her mood remains, and she reveals to Don that it is because she is worried about her father, who has been abandoned by his significant other. Betty suggests that she and Don visit her father.

Don and Roger go meet with an executive from the Madison Square Garden Project. Don tries to save the possible account and win them back. Don tries to reassure him that “New York may not like it but they can’t stop it”. He also says “if you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation. He advocates for the change and the for the out the old, in with the new mentality. He shares the story of his visit to California, where everything was new and fresh. He believes that New York is in decay and that the new building could be the start of a city on a hill.

Back at home, Betty’s father and brother come to visit. Betty’s brother believes that the best solution would be to put him in a home because he is not in the best health and is alone. Betty and her brother have an obviously strained relationship. He claims she fought with their father constantly but seems to forget about it. Betty worries that her brother is only worried about getting their father’s house. In the end, Don is the one that makes the call by telling her brother that their father will be moving in with them with his car and that his house will remained untouched.

Peggy seems preoccupied with the Bye-Bye Birdie clip and the reactions of the men of Sterling Cooper. She tries to reenact the video in the mirror of her bedroom. The focus on this video and account remains a focus for Peggy. She later shows the proposal to Don. Peggy and Don disagree on the feeling the video creates in the viewers. Don believes that Ann Margret’s performance is “pure”, and that she “makes your heart hurt”. Peggy again defends her worry that it caters to the male audience and not the female audience that will be the ones making the purchase. Don counters her argument with the fact that the video is about being young and excited.

Production

This episode was written by Carolyn Humphris and Matthew Weiner, and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter.

Peggy showed a glimpse of her inner insecurities through her complicated feelings regarding the Patio commercial. Elizabeth Moss commented on Peggy’s actions, “All this time she’s been fighting to not become a sex symbol, but then she sees that and there’s a part of her that wants that a little bit.” Later on, Don scolds Peggy for her thoughts on the Patio ad, Weiner explained that, “What Peggy’s being told is, be an adult, be sexual. She goes out there and she does it.” By going out on her own and having a sexual encounter with a college boy, Peggy was trying to do what the men did, but by doing so, she only further realized that it was not her. Elizabeth Moss commented, “Her walking away and not making any further plans with him is showing that her and the sort of divide between personal life and work and showing how sort of cut off from anything sort of personal she is.”

Cultural References

Sterling Cooper is working on creating an ad for Pepsi Patio throughout the episode. The employees at Sterling Cooper watch a video of Ann Margaret Bye-Bye Birdie Video. When discussing the negative views towards the Madison Square Garden project, they read an opposition article written by Ada Louise Huxtable, an architect critic. It was an article looking to preserve Penn Station. Joan referenced Wilma Flintstone when she tells Betty that she hasn’t seen someone carry a baby so well since the cartoon character. Roger makes a Yetta Wallenda reference over drinks saying “a Yetta Wallenda sized misstep” Yetta Wallenda was part of a family that tight rope walked and who fell to her death while performing. (The Flying Wallendas)

Reception

The episode was viewed by 1.90 million people on its original air date August 23, 2009 on AMC.

Critic reviews for this episode were overall unanimously positive. Todd Vanderwerff from Slant Magazine said, “This season seems to be shaping up to be a season all about how these characters and the country as a whole rushed headlong into forgetting both what it was and the things that had made it that way. So if season three is going to be about change, both on a societal and personal level, then ‘Love Among the Ruins’ hits that theme in a myriad of ways for nearly every character.” Vanderwerff also said that he enjoyed that this was a Peggy heavy episode because she’s a character who’s quite difficult to understand. He rated the Mad Men episode an A-.  IGN praised Elisabeth Moss’ exceptional “skill at displaying the art of observation.” They rated the episode as great. Similarly to Slant Magazine, TV AV Club also rated the episode with an A-.

References

• • “Wilma Flintstone.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Apr. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilma_Flintstone.
  • “Ada Louise Huxtable.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Apr. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Louise_Huxtable.
  • “The Flying Wallendas.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Apr. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flying_Wallendas
  • Basket of Kisses – Mad Men, Downton Abbey, The Walking Dead, Hell on Wheels & more.. Cultural References: Season 3 – Basket of Kisses. Retrieved from
  • Goldman, Eric. "Mad Men: "Love Among the Ruins" Review." IGN. IGN, 24 Aug. 2009. Web. 19 Apr. 2018.
  • VanDerWerff, Todd, Kenji Fujishima, Mark Matousek, Keith Watson, Eric Henderson, and Alexa Camp. "Mad Men Recap: Season 3, Episode 2, "Love Among the Ruins" | The House Next Door." Slant Magazine. N.p., 26 Aug. 2009. Web. 19 Apr. 2018.
  • Phipps, Keith. "Mad Men: "Love Among The Ruins" ." TV Club. Tv.avclub.com, 24 Aug. 2009. Web. 19 Apr. 2018.

External Links

• "Love Among the Ruins" at AMC
• "Love Among the Ruins" on IMDb

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