The Inheritance (Mad Men)
"The Inheritance" is the tenth episode in the second season of the American television drama series Mad Men. It was written by Matthew Weiner and directed by Andrew Bernstein. The episode originally aired on the AMC channel in the United States on October 5, 2008
| "The Inheritance" | |
|---|---|
| Mad Men episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 10 |
| Directed by | Andrew Bernstein |
| Written by | Matthew Weiner |
| Original air date | October 5, 2008 |
| Running time | 48 minutes |
Plot
This episode opens up with the Sterling Cooper creative team talking about an upcoming Aerospace convention Pete Campbell and Paul Kinsey will be attending in Los Angeles. Pete is naming off some of the big companies in attendance such as General Motors, General Electric, Ion Physics Corporation and Bell Telephone Laboratories, to name a few. Sterling Cooper wants to try and secure new and important clientele, and as Don says very bluntly, “ every scientist, engineer and General is trying to figure out a way to put a man on the moon, or blow up Moscow, whichever one costs more.”
Trudy Campbell wants to accompany Pete to Los Angeles, but Pete denies her by saying “It will make me look less serious in the office. Maybe next time.” She then turns the conversation to her parents concern about them having trouble conceiving and begins to talk about adoption agencies, which causes Pete to become agitated. He exclaims “It’s someone else’s child. It’s not natural.”
Betty Draper finds out that her father, Gene Hofstadt has had a stroke. She calls Don Draper at the hotel late that night and they make the trip to Betty's childhood home. After arriving, Betty finds out that Gene has had a few mini strokes before this most previous one, which Gloria Massey Hofstadt, Betty's stepmother, has neglected to tell her. Due to his stroke and Betty's resemblance to her late mother, Ruth, her father mistakes her for his late first wife and forgets his daughter's true identity. Betty's brother, William Hofstadt makes her feel guilty that she lives so far away. We also see Don's relationship with his father-in-law. Gene seems very upset with Don while they are sitting at the table putting a puzzle together. His temper flares and he tells Betty “He has no people! You can’t trust a man like that!" This makes her feel even more left out there, just like she's left out of Don's life. With insight into Betty and William's home life, Gene seems like the authoritarian in the family, though he clearly adores Betty like she adores him. Since Betty understands having a strict father figure, she wishes Don would be that figure in her family as well. When the longtime housekeeper of the Hofstadt family, Viola, comes to help around the house during Betty's stay, she crumbles back into somewhat of a little girl, exclaiming “I’m an orphan.”
Next, we flash to the office, where Sheila White, Paul's girlfriend, joins him for lunch. We then find out that Paul had made a promise to join her in traveling to Mississippi, to help in the fight to register African American voters. Due to the Aerospace conversation, however, he is now unable to go which upsets her. She asks Paul “Are you scared?”, to which he rebuttals with “Don’t pretend this isn’t scary.” They then leave the office for lunch, where lift operator Hollis greets him as "Mr Kinsey,” as Hollis usually does. Kinsey, in front of Sheila, decidedly makes it a point of telling Hollis to call him Paul. This is despite never having acknowledged Kinsey on a “first name basis” prior to this.
Pete is seen talking with his brother, Bud Campbell, about their mother's financial standings after their father's death. Pete agrees to go over to his mother's to sign papers regarding this matter. While there his mother, Dorothy “Dot” Campbell, begins to criticize Pete for him and Trudy's idea to adopt a baby by telling him that his father said it would be “picking from the discards” and if he chose to adopt, he would be cut off. It's at this point that Pete tells Bud to share the fact that their father spent all of the family's money, leaving their mother with virtually nothing.
At Harry Crane's baby shower at the office is going on, Don tells Joan that he will be going to L.A. in place of Kinsey. Joan Holloway then tells Kinsey that Don will be taking his place for the Aerospace convention, embarrassing him in front of the whole office. He calls Sheila, saying that it was his choice not to go and that it was more important to go down to Mississippi and be by her side.
Pete explains the thought of going on the plane to California and that it will be the first time he has flown since his father's plane crash to Peggy Olson. He makes sure to tell Peggy he isn't afraid but that "It seems significant, that’s all.” Peggy tells him that the statistical chance of multiple family members dying from a plane crash on different flights is highly unlikely. Pete confides that “It wouldn’t be the worst thing. I hate my mother. What do you think about that?” Peggy is in shock by this statement, and just exclaims she doesn't know the circumstances. Pete says that him and his brother didn't turn out the best so maybe having a child that wasn't his own would be the better option. Peggy, of course doesn't know Pete is talking about adopting a child, so Peggy just says he should go home. Pete comments “Everything is so easy for you” unaware that he is the father of Peggy's child. Peggy ends the conversation by saying “It isn’t easy for anyone Pete.”
Next, we see Betty up in the middle of the night at the kitchen table. Polly starts growling at a noise coming from outside. Betty just locks the door and doesn't think anything of it. The next day she finds Glen Bishop in Sally's playhouse in the backyard. He says he has run away from home because his mother is never home and she is always out “making pamphlets and handing them out” or she's out with her male suitors. He also says his dad wants him and his sister to move in with him and his stepmom, and Glen confides that they have a child together and that his stepmom is mean. Betty invites Glen in, washes his clothes, and makes him lunch. She gives him one of Don's t-shirts to wear. After they eat lunch together they sit and watch TV. Glen reaches over and holds Betty's hand, which she doesn't pull away, even after Glen's weird attraction to her in a previous episode. Glen turns to her and says “I came to rescue you.” Since Glen had comic books in his runaway bag, she takes this as a joke, asking Glen ”Did you bring your cape?” He tells Betty this isn't a joke and "We can go anywhere. I have money.” Carla, the Draper's housekeeper, then comes home with the kids, Sally Draper and Robert Draper. Glen quickly lets go of Betty's hand and goes to play with Sally and Bobby. Betty calls Helen Bishop, Glen's mother, to let her know that Glen is there and when he picks him up, Glen tells her that she hates him and Betty simply and sadly answers “I know. I’m sorry.”
Toward the end, we see Paul and Sheila on the van ride down to Mississippi. He claims that advertising can help bring on change. He says that “The market- and I’m talking in a purely Marxist sense- dictates that we must include everyone. The consumer has no color.”
Helen, Glen's mom and the neighborhood's divorcee, pays Betty a visit claiming that these incidents with Glen have to stop. With this statement she implies that Betty is letting them happen. Betty says nothing has happened but says “Glen feels alone. Honestly I don’t blame him.” After asking if Glen had directly said anything to her, Betty replies “nothing, but it’s obvious.” Helen explains that with her husband out of the picture, she thought things would be easier but says she's been a terrible mother. Betty then tells Helen that Don is no longer living at home. After being asked a few questions from Helen, Betty tells her that the kids go out to dinner with them and that she isn't sure if it's really over or if she wants their marriage to be over. She says “Sometimes I feel like I’ll float away if Don isn’t holding me down.” Helen explains “The hardest part is realizing you’re in charge.”
We finish out the episode with Pete and Don on the plane to California, the flight attendant explaining the easy flight ahead of them. We see Pete with his sleep mask over his eyes and Don peering out the window, taking a long drag of his cigarette.
Cultural References
Pete refers to the 1948 Alfred Hitchcock film Rope when he jokes with his brother about killing his mother.
The two comics of Glen's that Betty picks up are Action Comics #203 with Superman on the cover (later alluded to in the exchange between Betty and the boy) and Showcase #39, featuring Metal Men.
References
^Dean, Will. “Mad Men, Series Two, Episode 10: The Inheritance.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 15 Apr. 2009, www.theguardian.com/culture/tvandradioblog/2009/apr/15/mad-men-series-two-inheritance.
