Mad Men Wiki
Register
Advertisement
The Gypsy and the Hobo
Gypsy and the hobo
Production
Season 3 Episode 11
Air date 25 October 2009
Written by Marti Noxon
Cathryn Humphris
Matthew Weiner
Directed by Jennifer Getzinger

Previous
The Color Blue
Next
The Grown-Ups

Intro[]

An old flame and potential client reenters Roger Sterling's life, Joan's husband searches a new job, and Don finally comes clean to Betty about his true identity.

Synopsis[]

Betty Hofstadt and the kids are preparing to leave town for a week. She asks Don Draper for some additional cash. He tells her to swing by the bank. "You have no more money?" Betty asks. Don pecks her on the cheek without responding.

Roger Sterling, Don, and Bertram Cooper meet with Annabelle Mathis, an old flame of Roger’s. Annabel’s company, Caldecott Farms, is losing market share because consumers have learned its dog food contains horse meat. She's challenging the ad agencies to reverse public opinion. The ground rules: She won't change the recipe, or the product's name. "What are you doing here?" Roger later asks Annabelle, a recent widow. Her business needs help, she explains, and she wanted to see him. The two arrange to have dinner.

At her apartment that night, Suzanne Farrell laments that she and Don can't dine in public, but then backpedals: "I swear, I'm not talking about our future," she says, though she adds that whether she pictures herself in Don’s life or not, she sees an unhappy man. "I’m happy now," he replies.

Joan Holloway coaches Greg Harris for a psychiatry residency interview. He reveals a family secret; that his father underwent psychiatric treatment - and she encourages him to be as open with the interviewer as he was with her.

"I just wanted more than I thought I would want," Suzanne tells Don that night. "But it'll pass." Don says that he doesn't want it to. With Betty out of town, Don proposes that he and Suzanne go away somewhere. She agrees.

Joan calls Roger for help finding office work. During a flirtatiously laced call, Roger says, "I like that you thought of me".

At the home of their late father Eugene Hofstadt, Betty and her brother William discuss selling the property with the family attorney Milton Lowell. "This is ugly", William declares when told that his proposal to purchase Betty's share at a discount violates the terms of Gene's will.

Betty, seeking Milton's advice in private, describes Don's secret past. Divorce could leave her broke, Milton explains, and she could lose custody of the children. "It's a lie so big", Betty argues. After getting her to agree that Don is a good provider and wouldn’t harm her, Milton counsels Betty to try to salvage her marriage.

Over dinner, Annabelle reminisces about being young and in Paris with Roger, who reminds her that she dumped him for someone her father found more suitable. Roger, she counters, was adrift, walking around "like you were hoping to be a character in somebody else's novel." The two drink heavily, but when Annabelle says that she knows Roger still wants her, he replies, "So what? I'm married," and sends her away.

Annabelle mathis

Annabelle Mathis and Roger Sterling at dinner. Episode: The Gypsy and The Hobo.

At their apartment, Greg sulks to Joan because his interview went poorly. Mentioning to his surgery career, he says that she doesn't know what it's like "to want something your whole life and not get it." To which Joan responds by bashing his head with a vase, in furious irritation.

Joan smash a vase over Greg

Joan about to smash a vase over Greg's head, in The Gypsy and the Hobo.

Annabelle watches behind a two-way mirror as focus-group participants become incensed when told their pets are eating samples of Caldecott Farms dog food. "The name has been poisoned," Don says. She will find another agency to solve her problem, she declares.

"Is this about last night?" Roger asks Annabelle later. He concedes that she broke his heart years ago. "Well it was a mistake," she says. "You were the one." "You weren't," he replies softly.

Suzanne remains in the car when Don stops at his house before their trip. Discovering that Betty and the kids have returned early, he says that he left his hat in the car. "Get it later," says Betty.

Betty orders Don to open his desk drawer. He refuses. "You know I know what's in there," she says, opening the drawer.

Unsteady, Don says that he needs a drink. Regaining some of his composure, he asks quietly, "Where do you want me to start?"

Don explains how he assumed the real Donald Draper’s identity following an accident during the Korean War. "I found out it was easier to be him than to start over," he says.

"Why couldn't you tell me any of this?" asks Betty after Don recounts the details of his marriage to Anna Draper. "When?" he says. "The day we met? On our first date? On our wedding night? Why did you need to know?"

"What would you do if you were me? Would you love you?" Betty asks. Don says that he was surprised that she ever loved him. "I don't know who you are," Betty says. "Yes you do," Don replies.

Looking at photos, Don tells Betty about his prostitute mother; his father, Archibald Whitman; and Archibald's wife, Abigail Whitman, who raised him. Don sobs over his half-brother Adam Whitman’s suicide. "I turned him away," he says. "He just wanted to be part of my life and I couldn't risk all of this."

Roger, meanwhile, phones a friend, suggesting that Joan could whip his business into shape. "She's important to me," Roger says.

Over at Joan's apartment, Greg returns with flowers, an apology for "feeling sorry for myself," and a surprise announcement: He's joined the army. He'll be able to work as a surgeon, and Joan won't have to return to work. Joan pretends to be happy for Greg but is apprehensive.

Outside Don's house, Suzanne exits the car and walks away.

Don calls Suzanne from his office the next morning to say that he can't see her anymore. Upset, she asks; "are you okay?" Don responds by saying, "Only you would ask about me right now". That evening Don and Betty take the kids trick-or-treating. "Look at this," says Carlton, Francine's husband, to Sally Draper and Robert Draper. "We've got a gypsy and a hobo." Glancing up at Don, he asks, "And who are you supposed to be?"

Cast[]

Main Star[]

Guest Star[]

Co-Star[]

​Quotes[]

Roger Sterling: "Hello?"
Joan Holloway: "Roger, it's Joan; Joan Harris."
Roger: "Jesus, you're lucky I answered. Ginger's not in."
Joan: "I know, she has a hair appointment, the last Tuesday of every month."
Roger: "She does?"
Joan: "And I know that, you're lunch cancelled."
Roger: "What am I wearing?"
Joan: "So, how are things?"
Roger: "Mr Hooker, has re-arranged the secretaries in the pool, alphabetically."
Joan: "By cup size?"
Roger: "Well, I'd know where you'd be sitting."
Joan: "You're making me sorry I called you. I need a favour, I need work."
Roger: "Something happen with Mr Cut-up?"
Joan: "He's pursuing his dream in becoming a psychiatrist but that requires more training and i just don't want him moonlighting all the time. Why does it matter?"
Roger: "It doesn't, none of my business. Why don't you come back here?"
Joan: "Roger, I've been replaced. And a secretary make less money, than if I were working in a department store."
Roger: "I'm so glad you called me."
Joan: "I'm sorry it had to be for a favour."
Roger: "No, I like that you thought of me. You know to ask, You wanna be on some people's minds, some people's you don't."
Joan: "That's nice."
Roger: "So, do you miss it here?"
Joan: "Are you asking if, I miss you?"
Roger: "Well I guess I am becaue everything else is different."
Joan: "Well, I should go."
Roger: "So, how should I work this? You know? If I think of somebody? Do I just give them your number?"
Joan: "Look at you, figuring things out for yourself."
Roger: "Bye, bye Joanie."
-- Joan Holloway calls Roger Sterling for a favour in "The Gypsy and the Hobo".

Seasons of Mad Men
Season 1 • "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" • "Ladies Room" • "Marriage of Figaro" • "New Amsterdam" • "5G" • "Babylon" • "Red in the Face" • "The Hobo Code" • "Shoot" • "Long Weekend" • "Indian Summer" • "Nixon vs. Kennedy" • "The Wheel" •
Season 2 • "For Those Who Think Young" • "Flight 1" • "The Benefactor" • "Three Sundays" • "The New Girl" • "Maidenform" • "The Gold Violin" • "A Night to Remember" • "Six Month Leave" • "The Inheritance" • "The Jet Set" • "The Mountain King" • "Meditations in an Emergency" •
Season 3 • "Out of Town" • "Love Among the Ruins" • "My Old Kentucky Home" • "The Arrangements" • "The Fog" • "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency" • "Seven Twenty Three" • "Souvenir" • "Wee Small Hours" • "The Color Blue" • "The Gypsy and the Hobo" • "The Grown-Ups" • "Shut the Door. Have a Seat" •
Season 4 • "Public Relations" • "Christmas Comes But Once a Year" • "The Good News" • "The Rejected" • "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" • "Waldorf Stories" • "The Suitcase" • "The Summer Man" • "The Beautiful Girls" • "Hands and Knees" • "Chinese Wall" • "Blowing Smoke" • "Tomorrowland" •
Season 5 • "A Little Kiss, Part 1" • "A Little Kiss, Part 2" • "Tea Leaves" • "Mystery Date" • "Signal 30" • "Far Away Places" • "At the Codfish Ball" • "Lady Lazarus" • "Dark Shadows" • "Christmas Waltz" • "The Other Woman" • "Commissions and Fees" • "The Phantom" •
Season 6 • "The Doorway, Part 1" • "The Doorway, Part 2" • "The Collaborators" • "To Have and To Hold" • "The Flood" • "For Immediate Release" • "Man With a Plan" • "The Crash" • "The Better Half" • "A Tale of Two Cities" • "Favors" • "The Quality of Mercy" • "In Care Of" •
Season 7 • "Time Zones" • "A Day's Work" • "Field Trip" • "The Monolith" • "The Runaways" • "The Strategy" • "Waterloo" • "Severance" • "New Business" • "The Forecast" • "Time & Life" • "Lost Horizon" • "The Milk and Honey Route" • "Person to Person" •
Advertisement