Official Mad Men Thread

June, 1985

Sally Franklin-Draper, 31 years old and recently divorced, headed down Madison Avenue in Manhattan to see her father. Gene was going to be there, his birthday was this weekend. Since Bobby's OD, Don had become much closer to Gene. Bobby had rejected almost everything Don had stood for and grew to hate his father. The late 70s saw him sink deeper and deeper into the drug culture prominent in the New York's gay society. Sally missed her brother, but felt he had missed the worst part of being gay in America. The influx of the conservative movement in the 80s, to say nothing of AIDS, made her feel Bobby had died before it got really bad. She probably only did that to make herself feel better about Bobby's death. They, too, had grown apart. First Betty, then Glenn, then Bobby, then Ted, her husband. No, Ted wasn't dead. He was just gone forever.

Spring was holding on with a vengeance that early summer morning. Sally's apartment at the Dakota was only a short walk through Central Park to that Chinese place her father enjoyed so much. Hopefully, they didn't have to wait for Gene. She knew, however, that they would. They always had to wait on Gene.

Sally entered Liu Ming's right at noon, she was always punctual. She was surprised to see her father already there, Peggy at his side as she had been since Sally was a girl. Don and Peggy never dated, nothing like that, but Sally knew Don would have faded away a long time ago if not for Peggy Rizzo. Peggy's husband, Stan, had disappeared almost ten years ago. He left for a pack of cigarettes a few days before Christmas 1976 and never returned. Always stoic and unflappable, Peggy kept her upper lip stiff and carried on. Sally beamed at the two of them as she always did. She loved Peggy like an aunt, maybe even a mother. And Don... well, who didn't beam at Don Draper.

Don stood and wrapped his arms around her, holding tightly. "Hey Pooh bear," he whispered in her ear. "It's good to see you."

"You, too, daddy," Sally replied.

"Sally, you are just the picture of beauty. I'm amazed everytime you walk into a room. Makes me wonder if I'm a lesbian," Peggy said, pulling her close.

"That's creepy, Peggy," Sally laughed.

"Eh, whatcha gonna do?", Peggy said back, holding her at arm's length and looking her over. "My god, you look just like your mother sometimes. She was beautiful as well."

"Thank you, Peggy. I can only pray to look as good as you in twenty years. It seems you get prettier every year." That wasn't really true, the years had taken a toll on Peggy. Sally couldn't remember another man in her life since Stan left. Peggy had thrown herself even more into her work. You know that ad where Folger's coffee was served at expensive restaurants to fool the guest that they weren't drinking expensive coffee but Folgers instant coffee instead? Brought to you by Peggy Rizzo.

Sally sat and scooted over toward her father. The years hadn't been so rough on Don as they had Peggy, they looked to be about the same age now, although Don was thirteen years her senior. Don was turning sixty next year and the gray at his temples was proof of it. Still, he was a handsome man and could carry a room if he desired. Never a slave to fashion, Don still kept his hair short and his face clean-shaven (after a dismal experiment with long sideburns and a fu-manchu in 1974).

"How have you been, Pooh Bear? Still working?" Don asked, pulling a napkin from the ring.

"Of course I am, daddy. I love it there. I don't think they could exist without me," she replied to Don, a sly smile on her face.

"That's my girl." Don smiled, a real smile. A Dick Whitman smile.

Sally had taken over editorial duties for Cosmopolitan magazine a few years back. She was the one that pushed the parent company, Hearst Corporation, to buy Esquire to have a "man's version of Cosmo". After that, she was a star over there. Like her father, she was integral to the success of a successful company. It was no mistake that McCann-Erickson was the preeminent advertiser in Cosmo through most of the 80s.

"Well, look at this. A bunch of Reagannites sitting around discussing how to make more money. I hate all of you." They looked up to see Gene, a big smile on his face. Tall and dapper like his father, Gene, like Bobby, was more opposite Don than like him. His long hair was pulled into a ponytail and his jeans looked to be vintage 1890. A bright red T-shirt emblazoned with Husker Du was draped across his slender frame. A pair of industrial Doc Martens completed his ensemble. A waif of a girl, wearing a green sun dress and nothing else, held his hand.

"Gene, you do make an entrance. Sit, son, tell me what life is like in the Village. And introduce your friend." In true Don Draper style, Sally, Peggy and Gene disappeared when he spoke to the girl in the green dress.

"This is Matilda. Matilda, this is my bourgeois elite family. What's left of them anyway." Gene said, taking a seat next to Peggy. He leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Still single, old lady?" he said to Peggy with a smile.

"Better single than accidentally finding someone like you. Didn't you vote for Mondale?"

The waiter came and Don ordered for everyone, they were used to that. They knew he would pay as well. Don's legend had only grown since "the Coke ad" and he was made full partner at McCann in 1973. In 1980, after Erickson died, Peggy Rizzo joined him.

The food came and with it came conversation. Gene was working at a bodega in the Village, making next to nothing and loving his life. Don had offered to take him in, send him to college, even get him a job, but Gene always refused. It was easy to say Gene was the black sheep of the Drapers, but if asked, Gene would have labeled everyone else sheep. He loved his life. He and Matilda had just recently moved in and were always talking marriage. Well, she was. Gene seemed cool to the idea. As the meal began to wane, so did the enthusiasm they had earlier shared. After a lull in the conversation, Sally reached for her purse.

"I need to get back home. Helen will be calling in a few hours to check on my progress. I have to actually show up tomorrow. Ugh."

Peggy and Don exchanged a look and Don spoke up. "I have some news. It's rather... important."

Sally and Gene looked at their father as he clutched Peggy's hand.

"What is it, Dad?" Gene said, leaning forward.

And Don spoke.

 

I wrote that.

 

Thank you.

 

Arkie Proud

I have come to associate fan fiction with a certain amount of gratuitous sex which yours was sadly lacking. I did appreciate the fact that you didn't work a dog into the story though.

 

Seasons 4 and 5 were the best of the show, so I would be surprised with someone saying it went downhill after 3.

 

Which one was that?

 

Probably because it sucks, I'm guessing.

 

Anyone undertaken a rewatch? I've been watching clips recently because this show is so damn good but it's so heavy and the pacing so slow that I don't know if I could do an entire rewatch.