Television Review: Red in the Face (Mad Men, S1x07, 2007)

Red in the Face (S1x07)

Airdate: 30 August 2007

Written by: Bridget Bedard Directed by: Tim Hunter

Running Time: 47 minutes

The inaugural season of Mad Men is a piece of television that doesn’t have much of a plot, and serves mostly to introduce the audience to this strange setting and characters. Indeed, across the first six episodes, the audience learns that hardly anything of conventional dramatic consequence occurs; the plot is largely sacrificed for the sake of meticulous character and setting exposition. This deliberate pacing can lull the viewer into a state of observational calm, which makes it all the more jolting when something actually happens. Red in the Face, the seventh episode, is one such memorable exception. It is an episode where the simmering tensions of the Sterling Cooper office and the Draper household boil over into a shocking act of physical violence—a moment that etches itself into the viewer’s memory and underscores the series’ ability to pivot from ambient period study to intense, character-driven drama.

The episode’s central plot concerns the increasingly troubled friendship between Don Draper and his boss, Roger Sterling. The catalyst is domestic: Roger’s wife, Mona, has taken their daughter Margaret out of the city, leaving Roger at a loose end. He attempts to transform this into an opportunity for some illicit fun with office manager Joan Holloway, only to be rebuffed—she has plans with her roommate, Carol McCardy (Kate Norby). Feeling lonely and somewhat pathetic, Roger calls Don to join him for a drink. In the bar, a telling moment unfolds: Roger gazes longingly at two young women, only to realise their interest is directed squarely at the younger, more handsome Don. This sting of perceived inadequacy prompts Roger to invite himself to dinner at the Drapers’ home. What follows is a display of excruciating social discomfort. Betty Draper, unprepared for a guest of her husband’s boss, must improvise a meal. The evening grows increasingly awkward as Roger, lubricated by alcohol, mistakes Betty’s polite interest in his wartime stories for genuine attraction. In the kitchen, he makes a clumsy, drunken pass at her. Though Betty deftly deflects it and Roger stumbles out, the damage is done. Don’s fury is palpable, yet, in the rigid hierarchy of 1960s corporate America, he cannot strike back at his boss directly. Instead, he channels his rage towards the nearest permissible target: Betty, berating her for the incident as if she were somehow complicit.

Betty’s subsequent reaction forms the episode’s most visceral beat. Trapped in the same powerless dynamic—unable to strike back at her husband—she too seeks a collateral target for her humiliation and anger. She finds it in Helen Bishop, the divorced neighbour already viewed with suspicion in their conformist suburban community. At the grocery store, Helen chastises Betty for giving a lock of her hair to Helen’s nine-year-old son, Glenn. This minor transgression, magnified by Betty’s pent-up frustration, triggers an explosive response: Betty slaps Helen across the face in full public view. It is a shocking, brutal moment that lays bare the repressed violence simmering beneath the era’s manicured surfaces. The incident becomes the talk of the neighbourhood, but, as Betty’s friend Francine later assures her, the community would take her side over that of the unorthodox, “weird” woman. The scene is a brilliant commentary on the tribal social codes of the time, where conformity trumps morality.

Back at Sterling Cooper, Roger offers a half-hearted, whisky-soaked apology to Don, who appears to accept it with stoic resignation. This, however, is merely the calm before the storm. Don has been plotting a revenge that is both meticulously calculated and brutally petty. It hinges on an upcoming meeting with a Republican Party delegation, there to discuss Sterling Cooper’s services for Richard Nixon’s 1960 presidential campaign. Prior to the meeting, Don plies Roger with vast quantities of oysters and alcohol under the guise of a friendly lunch. Upon their return, Hollis (La Monde Byrd), the African-American elevator operator (whom Don has quietly bribed), informs them the elevator is out of order, forcing a climb to the twenty-third floor. Don, younger and fitter, manages the ascent with relative ease. Roger, however, is utterly wrecked. He arrives at the meeting sweating, gasping, and—in a moment of perfect, grotesque comedy—vomits spectacularly in front of the horrified clients. The final shot of the two men locking eyes is exquisite: Roger, in his miserable realisation that he has been played, and Don, his vengeance exacted with cold, elegant precision. It is a masterful sequence that blends office politics, psychological warfare, and physical comedy.

The episode’s B‑storyline, dealing with Pete Campbell, is less successful. It revolves around a surplus “Chip ’n’ Dip” received as a wedding gift, which Pete attempts to return to the department store. Foiled by a store-credit-only policy, he uses the credit to purchase a hunting rifle, which he then brandishes childishly around the office. His wife, Trudy, is furious and demands he get rid of the “toy.” The storyline, reportedly inspired by showrunner Matthew Weiner’s own parents receiving the same gift, feels somewhat tangential and sitcom-ish amidst the nuanced tension of the main plot. It serves primarily to reinforce Pete’s characterisation as a vain, immature, and incompetent man punching above his weight—a figure who is utterly unlikable and tries to be Don.

Yet, even within this weaker subplot, there are glimmers of Pete’s potential complexity. He is clearly under the thumb of his more assertive wife, and his despondent discussion of hunting fantasies with Peggy Olson hints at a deeper insecurity. More significantly, in the Sterling Cooper conference where the old guard (Bert Cooper and Roger) confidently predicts Nixon will easily defeat the “young and inexperienced” John F. Kennedy, Pete is the sole dissenting voice. He argues that Kennedy’s youth and his appeal to “Elvis fans” could be a decisive advantage—a notion that, with historical hindsight, proves prophetic. This moment suggests that Pete, for all his many flaws, might possess an intuitive understanding of the cultural shifts that will define the coming decade, setting up his future trajectory.

Written by Bridget Beddard and directed with characteristic subtlety by Tim Hunter, Red in the Face is one of Season 1’s stronger instalments. Its main plot is a masterclass in economical storytelling, weaving together themes of office politics, bruised masculinity, lust, revenge, and mild violence with a darkly humorous thread. Hunter’s direction adheres to the series’ “show, don’t tell” ethos—the tension at the Draper dinner table is conveyed through glances and pregnant pauses—yet it also delivers two of the season’s most memorably visceral images: Betty’s public slap and Roger’s catastrophic vomiting. These moments land with such force precisely because the series has spent so much time building its quiet, observational foundation.

Red in the Face exemplifies how Mad Men can transcend its own deliberate pacing. It takes the simmering resentments and social anxieties meticulously established in earlier episodes and allows them to erupt in ways that are both shocking and deeply revealing of character. While Pete’s subplot feels undercooked, the episode’s core narrative of Don’s calculated revenge against Roger remains a high watermark for the season, demonstrating that when something finally does happen in this world, it resonates with unforgettable power.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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