'Mad Men' episode 7 recap: Welcome to the real world, Sally - The Express Times - LehighValleyLive.com

Michael Yarish/AMC Don Draper invites his daughter, Sally, to a grown up dinner where he receives an award.

Sally Draper's growing up.  And maybe a little too fast.  

On last night's episode of Mad Men, "At the Codfish Ball," Donald Draper allowed his 12 year old daughter to enter his world, without makeup on of course.  

The night started with Sally placing a call to her old friend, Glen, you know, the kid who was obsessed with Betty back in season one.  No longer is Glen a shy, misunderstood little boy, he's a cool cat.  Leaning up against wall talking to Sally, he loves that the other boys around him think she's his girlfriend.  And I think they both wish this were true.  

But right in the middle of the conversation, Sally's grandmother trips over the phone cord that was stretched in Sally's room, breaking her foot.  So Don has to take the kids at an inconvenient time as Megan's parents are also staying in the apartment.  

We get a glimpse of Megan's French Canadian parents who to say are dysfunctional would be an understatement.  Right off the bat, Megan's Marxist father loathes Don for his success, but her mother can't stop flirting with him.  "Didn't you notice she touched you six times in an hour?" Megan told Don later that night.  "She's French," Don said. "No, that's not what that is," Megan sighed.  

The next day at work, Megan came up with a brilliant idea for the Heinz beans account.  Perfect timing since a dinner was planned with the Heinz executive later that evening.  Don gushes at her idea, which includes the catch phrase, "Heinz beans, some things never change." 

Later at dinner, Megan and Don impress the Heinz guy with their idea.  But the next day when the couple share the news with their colleagues at SCDP, Megan doesn't take much credit for the huge success, calling it "beginner's luck."  She initially expressed insecurity when pitching the idea to Don, and thought the others would be pissed.  I even thought that they would be jealous, but even Peggy was genuinely happy for her.  

Side story: Peggy's boyfriend Abe asked her to move in together, and she happily accepted, even though she thought he was going to propose.  But when Peggy invited her mother over to dinner to share the big news, she wasn't happy. 

"You are selling yourself short," Peggy's mother scolded her. "You want me to be alone," Peggy said.  "You know what your aunt would say," her mother replied, "you're lonely, get a cat." 

That same night, Don, Megan, Megan's parents, Roger and Sally attended an American Cancer Society dinner where Don would receive an award for his letter he wrote bashing Lucky Strike last season.  Sally gets all dolled up for the occasion in a tight, metallic dress with go-go boots and makeup. The last two pieces of her wardrobe Don vetoed.  

But she did look beautiful, even without the extra flare, and Roger was adorable with her during the dinner, cracking jokes like your inappropriate uncle.   He told her she was his date for the night, and towards the end brought her a shirley temple telling her she needed to taper off.  Oh, Roger. 

All of this cuteness occurred with Megan's mother's flirtatious giggles in the background, and boy did Roger take advantage of her attention later in the evening.  As Sally wandered off to the bathroom, she opened the wrong door, and well let's just say Megan's mom was on her knees.  Welcome to the real world, kid. 

Alone at the table, Megan's father gave her a talk. He mocked her recent success, and told her that she shouldn't let her capitalist husband get in the way of her real dreams, whatever those may be.  

"I always thought that you were very single-minded about your dreams and that would help you through life," he said in English. "But now I see that you've skipped the struggle and went right to the end."  

Once home, Sally called her friend, Glen, again.  She told him she was in Manhattan, and when he asked how the city was, Sally replied with a frown, "Dirty." 

I always knew she was a smart girl.  

Another episode down, and I keep asking myself, when will we see the return of "Fat Betty?" Ok, in all seriousness, I'd love to hear your thoughts.  What does the relationship between Megan and her parents tell us about her? And will Peggy and Abe's new step in their relationship cause more dysfunction?  I seem to think that this is a play by Abe to get Peggy to take some of her attention off work.  But that's just my cynical mind, maybe he really does love her.  

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