Bye-bye, Sugar
Mad Men
creator Matthew Weiner
“The Arrangements” is one of the most memorable episodes for me in the series. It is the fourth episode in the third season (the premiere of which saw Salvatore Romano (Bryan Batt) receive his “first” kiss from the bellboy at the Baltimore hotel that he and Don stay at), and features the death of Grandpa Gene and this memorable scene in which we witness Sal’s wife, Kitty (Sarah Drew), make the discovery that her husband is a homosexual; a fact we have known since the pilot episode “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”. After Don peeps in on Sal and the bellboy, later Don only reminds Sal to “Limit your Exposure”, to borrow a line from Sterling Cooper’s campaign for London Fog. An advisement Don himself should take.
Here we have what should be a perfect image of a man holding his wife, a commonly warm gesture of love and comfort but her expression is clearly one of discomfort. She has just come face to face with the harsh truth about the man she married.
The heartbroken look in her eyes says it all. Off-camera, Sal is re-enacting the beginning of “Bye Bye Birdie” where Ann‐Margret sings the titular song while running on a treadmill that’s just off-screen. Kitty knows something isn’t right in her marriage.
Sal feels guilty; I think he does love Kitty, but his love is of the platonic, “love you, but not in love with you” sort. She is obviously a caring and devoted wife, (especially considering how little sexual attention he has been giving her) asking Sal what was the matter. Sal offers, “I’m not myself.” His understatement is true, Sal is not who he pretends to be: a heterosexual man. In a way it is passively cruel, like Don cheating on/lying to his wife.
After Sal’s trip to Baltimore with Don, things haven’t been the same in Sal and Kitty’s marriage. Her needs in the boudoir have not been met, and she doesn’t know what to do. Lingerie is just another attempt to get Sal to tend to these needs. He deflects her barrage of questions using work as an excuse. It sells so well (he is in advertising after all) because, in part it is true: he is nervous about directing the commercial.
Kitty comes out in her new lime green nightie. “You like?” she teases. She kisses Sal hard on the mouth. It lacks the passion of the bellboy’s kiss. It lacks the depth and passion of the kiss we saw with the bellboy. It lacks Sal’s reciprocation.
Here we have the compared kiss. Take into consideration the mirror in the background. Sal is more or less a very useful device with which to compare the 2000’s with the 1960’s. The mirror here works in a similar meta‐fashion. It is a reflection of a reflection. Another way of looking at it is as a window to another universe in which Sal is able to openly gay. Another is as a reminder to Sal: This is who you really are. Add in the fact that Sal is drunk and uninhibited, the mirror also says: This is who you could be.
We, the audience are happy to finally see this. We barely survived his disastrous date with Eliot from Belle Jolie, and his pathetic and vain attempt at chasing Ken Cosgrove. We cheer Sal on; we want him to have what he wants. We want him to be happy. He is like Peggy in that way.
The scenes with Peggy and her family are an inverse facsimile of the scene with Sal and his wife. Her mother and sister are finally realizing who Peggy has become. Her mother, a staunch Irish-‐Catholic, rejects this choice. Peggy’s sister is more understanding. Unlike Sal, Peggy embraces this change in herself and is open and honest about it, much to her family’s chagrin. Her acceptance of herself as “one of those girls”, gives her confidence. The confidence which Sal may feel one day if he ever accepts himself. But can he? Although it is not saying much, the world in which they live is a lot nicer to women than it is to gay men. In fact, it wouldn’t even begin to know what a gay man was. So while Sal may be conflicted and “not himself”, in a way, he can’t be. To be himself would be suicide. Because of the times and environment, Sal is forced to be in the closet.
Both scenes play with expectation and disappointment. When Peggy sits her mom down, her mother expects to hear bad news. When Peggy explains that she is having problems with her apartment, her mother expects to hear that Peggy is going to move back in. She’s severely disappointed to hear, of course, that Peggy is moving to Manhattan. Her matter-of‐fact response: “You’ll get raped, you know that?”
Peggy’s mother’s bitter comment flips the sympathy we felt for Kitty after her quiet and understated reaction. After Peggy delivers the news, we feel sorry for her, the bearer of the bad news, not the recipient.
“The Arrangements” was directed by Michael Uppendahl and beautifully shot by Christopher Manley.
Mike • 1 month ago
I think it’s interesting that you compare Don’s philandering to Sal’s frigid act with his wife. They both deprive their partners something of themselves, one rather selfishly, the other unintentionally. I always assumed there were dalliances on the side for Sal, but perhaps the bell boy was his first real experimentation with his feelings? Maybe not, as you imply.
Sal is a character I really missed after his dismissal.