Wikia

The Chrysanthemum and the Sword

Production
Season Four Episode 05
Air date	22 August 2010
Written by	Erin Levy
Directed by	Lesli Linka Glatter

Previous The Rejected	Next Waldorf Stories

"The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" is the fifth episode of Mad Men, Season 4 and the forty-fourth episode, overall.

Synopsis

Pete brings a potentially huge new client to the table: Honda. Despite the lucrative business venture, as a man who fought in the Pacific Theater, Roger still remains anti-Japanese. Ted Chaough of Cutler Gleason and Chaough proclaims himself as Don's "new rival". Betty reaches her wits end after an erratic incident leads Sally into trouble.

Detail

A New York Times reporter calls to solicit Don's reaction to rival agency Cutler Gleason and Chaough landing the Clearasil and Jai Alai accounts. "Every time Don Draper looks in his rearview mirror, he sees me," the reporter quotes CGC’s Ted Chaough as boasting. "I've never heard of him," Don replies.

At a partner's meeting, Pete announces Secor Laxatives has agreed to put out a commercial as well as that he's arranged a meeting with the Honda motorcycle company, which is expanding into automobile production. Pete's "new yellow buddies," Roger protests, killed his friends during World War II. "The war is over," comments Bertram Cooper. Pete says that he's reading the book The Chrysanthemum and the Sword to familiarize himself with Japanese customs.

Phoebe arrives at Don's apartment to watch Sally and Bobby while their father dines at Benihana. Bobby says hi but Don has to nudge Sally to say hello. Bobby is also impressed by Phoebe's doctor kit with a stethoscope but Sally doesn't even give it a glance. Sally says, "You're going to see a girl aren't you?" Don confirms this and tells her the girl's name is Bethany. "I don't like that," says Sally.

While Don is at dinner, Sally hacks off her hair. "You have short hair and Daddy likes it," she tells Phoebe. "Are you and Daddy doing it?" Sally asks. She tells Phoebe that she knows "the man pees inside the woman" because a girl at school told her so. Phoebe tells her to talk to her mom but Sally doesn't want to. When Phoebe asks Sally if she knows how much trouble Phoebe is in for this, Sally replies that she just wants to look pretty. Phoebe tells her that they'll try to fix her hair.

At the restaurant, Don and his date Bethany sit with other diners watching the table side chef. Bethany's not impressed because the restaurant may be expensive but not intimate and claims her hair now smells like she's been frying chicken. Ted Chaough, also scoping out the Japanese restaurant, spots Don, brags about working with some director for a Clearasil commercial and goads him by predicting victory with Honda. As they walk away, Ted's wife expresses annoyance at Ted's actions. "Who's he?" asks Bethany. "Some fly I keep swatting away," Don replies. Don asks Bethany to teach him how to use the chopsticks. From his table, Ted pathetically glares at Don from behind.

Back home, Don carps at Phoebe about the "river of shit" he'll receive from Betty over Sally's hair. Phoebe tries to tell Don something else but he stops her, saying he doesn't want her advice, before she leaves.

Betty explodes, "What the hell happened to you?" and slaps Sally when she sees her hair and Sally tells her she cut it herself. Betty coldly sends her daughter upstairs, telling her she can't go to a sleepover. Don says that Betty didn't have to hit her and that kids do this, asking if Betty didn't do anything similar when she was little. Betty complains that Don can't even watch the kids for a second, that it's like "leaving them with nobody" but Don counters, "Because you're so good with them?" before leaving. Betty tells Henry she wants Don dead and Henry assures her he feels the same.

Little girls do things like this, counsels Henry, it will only make matters worse if Betty punishes Sally. Betty He encourages Betty to assure Sally she'll go to a hairdresser and still get to go to the sleepover. "Reward her? Really?" says Betty. They kiss and smiling, Betty calls him soft. At the office, the partners minus Roger greet two Honda executives and their translator. They give them a tour of the office, where in the creative area, they meet Joan. She tells them that she hopes no one's taken them to Benihana's but one of the businessmen say David Ogilvy has. She offers that she has a list of great steakhouses if they wish. In Japanese, one of the businessmen asks the other, "How does she not fall over?" and they laugh. "Not very subtle, are they?" says Joan.

Peter hands the businessmen gifts after insisting that they are their guests, gifts of a cantaloupe and bottles of Johnnie Walker Red. Roger arrives uninvited and insults the executives with references to atomic bombs and "Jap crap" before the businessmen explain the rules and conditions of the competition for their business. Each firm will receive $3000 for a competitive presentation. Cooper humbly apologizes for Roger. The businessmen still look forward to their presentation.

Pete accuses Roger of sabotaging him because new accounts reduce the agency's dependence on Lucky Strike and therefore Roger himself. Roger goes "Why, you little shit" and lunges at Pete, but Don intervenes. Pete coldly tells Roger that "the rest of us are trying to build something" before leaving Roger's office. Don agrees with him.

At her friend Laura's slumber party, Sally lifts her nightgown while watching television. Laura's mother catches Sally and immediately drives her home. Privately, the mother notifies Betty that Sally was playing with herself.

"You don't do those things," Betty scolds Sally later. "You especially don't do them in public."

"It's one thing after another," Henry points out, suggesting that Betty seek professional help for Sally. Betty admits to having seen a psychiatrist herself. "I don't think it helps," she says.

The partners arrive in Don's office. Roger apologizes for his actions and promises his full support on coming accounts. Cooper informs his partners that the Japanese likely expect Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce to resign from the competition because of Roger's outburst despite having still given SCDP an appointment for their presentation. Cooper says they should have received a gift. Miss Blankenship brings in a package addressed to Don but it is just a mocking gift from Ted Chaough. "Clearasil, Jai Alai, now Honda. Chaough wins another one by default," grumbles Don. To revive their chances, he proposes they violate the competition rules -- which limit the budget to $3,000 and prohibit finished work -- and shoot a splashy television commercial.

Lane objects on financial grounds. Pete says he'd be willing to bankrupt SCDP if he didn't believe they were already dead in the water. Looking at Roger, Pete concludes "But we are." and leaves, with Roger and Cooper following.

Don is reading The Chrysanthemum and the Sword when Betty calls about Sally needing to see a psychiatrist. She insinuates that witnessing Don's bachelor life could be causing Sally's problems. "You brought another man into your house," Don retorts.

At work, Don calls Joan, Pete and Peggy into his office. He quotes from The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: "A man is shamed by being openly ridiculed and rejected. It requires an audience." Neither CGC nor SCDP can afford a commercial. Don mentions how Chaough thinks he's in Don's rear view mirror. "Well, guess what? I'm gonna make a left turn, right off a cliff." He continues that if Chaough thinks that Don is shooting one a commercial, he'll follow suit. Pete frets that a fantastic commercial will deliver Chaough the account. "You let me worry about that," says Don.

Joan offers to hire a director who is already booked with CGC work for SCDP’s Honda commercial. While they chat, Don wheels a red Honda motorcycle by the door.

The director alerts Chaough, who quickly envisions an elaborate commercial. He asks Smitty, now at CGC, how Don operates. "He definitely doesn't think the rules apply to him," says Smitty, "He's a genius."

Peggy and Joey openly wheel the red Honda motorcycle into a television studio near one that Chaough has booked. Chaough’s people try to enter the studio, but are turned away. Inside, Peggy rides the Honda in circles.

Back at the office, Don asks Faye why people "need to talk about everything." It makes them feel better, she responds. As they chat, Faye reveals that she pretends to be married to avoid "distracting conversations."

Don admits to feeling inadequate as a parent and mentions that Sally may see a psychiatrist. Faye offers encouragement, then excuses herself. "Fake dinner plans with your fake husband?" asks Don.

Betty visits Dr. Edna, a child psychiatrist. Betty explains that Sally has been "different" since Gene died. "I feel like Sally did this to punish me," says Betty. They set up sessions for Sally starting at four days a week.

Chaough gloats to Don after unveiling his commercial. Don faces the Honda executives and chides them for not following their own rules. Presenting a check for $3,000, he withdraws SCDP from the competition.

At the office, Roger bemoans the deaths of his war buddies to Joan, who tells him to stop feeling sorry for himself.

Pete and Lane inform Don that he charmed the Japanese executives; SCDP has a shot at Honda's automobile account, and CGC is out. Lane takes credit for permitting Don's "unseemly" stunt. He could have canceled the studio rental, he says, but "I realized that our financial future was related to Mr. Chaough's demise."

Carla and Sally sit in Dr. Edna's waiting room. A boy emerges from the office. "Hello, Sally," says the doctor. "Why don't you come inside?"

Cast

Main

Jon Hamm - Don Draper
Elisabeth Moss - Peggy Olson
Vincent Kartheiser - Pete Campbell
January Jones - Betty Draper
Christina Hendricks - Joan Harris
Rich Sommer - Harry Crane
Aaron Staton - Ken Cosgrove (credit only)
Jared Harris - Lane Pryce
Kiernan Shipka - Sally Draper
Robert Morse - Bertram Cooper
John Slattery - Roger Sterling

Supporting

Guest Starring

Jared Gilmore - Bobby Draper
Brian Elerding - Bill Mitford
Timi Prulhiere - Nan Chaough
Michael Sollenberger - Raymond Dunst
John Henry Canavan - Howard Moses
Akie Kotabe - Akira Takahashi
Keisuke Hoashi - Hachi Saito

Quotes

Roger: "Have a drink, it'll make me look younger."
Joan: "I'm not going to watch you feel sorry for yourself."
Roger: "I feel sorry for all of us, Don's over there surrendering right now."
Joan: "Would you stop?"
Roger: "There was a kid, on the Destroyer; P.F.C Bryson. And he was an honest to goodness poet. And then..."
Joan: "Roger, I don't want to hear it. My husband's going to be in uniform any day now."
Roger: "But how do you think hes going to feel when one day, some Pete Campbell goes to some Vietnamese doctor? Since when is forgiveness a better quality than loyalty?"
Joan: "Roger, I know it was awful. And I know it'll never seem like it was that long ago; but you fought to make the world a safer place, and you won, and now it is."
Roger: "You think so, really?"
Joan: "I have to."
- Joan and Roger share a candid moment, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword.

Wikia

The Chrysanthemum and the Sword

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