There’s been a Misunderstanding, (SPOILER ALERT, EPISODE 511 OF MAD MEN,) and the Business of Pleasure.

The Other Woman expanded incredibly upon the times are changing motif laid out by Matthew Weiner in season five of Mad Men.  Ostensibly, Peggy needs to move out to move up, (we’ll see about this, I don’t think the 1966 female career trajectory ceiling was made of glass,) Meghan uses jarring honesty as a negation tool with Don, and Joan submits to a predator to ensure that she will never again be prey. 

The mixing of business and pleasure is nothing new on Man Men, and I don’t want be the 10 millionth blogger to harp on prostitution motifs in the show.  However, the fact that Joan is not the first Sterling, Cooper, (Draper, Price) character who's career has been impacted by a demand for a dalliance has largely been ignored.

Remember that Don fired Salvatore Romano for his refusal to engage in a tryst with Lee Garner Junior during season three.

Sal pleaded, "what if it had been one of the girls?"

Don Replied, "it depends what I knew about the girl..."

At that point, if fans of Mad Men were to identify Mr. Draper’s character flaws; they would say (in this order,) he is a workaholic, a womanizer, and an alcoholic.  After episode 309, fans keeping track of shortcomings on their fingers would have had to turn to the thumb, (not to their pinky, no one make any fucking jokes about pinkies.)   

Don Draper is a homophobe. 

Sigh. 

Why the sigh?  In 1966 these so called flaws may have been assets, dare I say prerequisites, for employment at a Madison Avenue advertising firm.  In previous episodes, Don is happy to ignore Sal’s indulgence with a swarthy busboy.  He doesn’t want to lose his art director to an unfortunate encounter that is easy enough to ignore. 

But, when Sal comes clean about the details that lead to his eventual firing, Don adapts a you people disgust me attitude, and callously sends Sal packing.

Two seasons later we have the benefit of hindsight.  Don doesn’t womanize, his drinking is in order and he could give a fuck about work.  Episode 510 made it clear that though the series hasn’t spent a lot of time exploring this, Don and Joan are quite close.  When Joan is presented with a diluted version of the proposition presented to Sal, (on some level, Sal had to know the consequences of his rebuff would be disastrous,) Don moodily huffs out of a partners meeting, then goes so far as to call on Ms. Holloway to make sure she knows that she doesn’t have to do this. 

For me, this is when the pieces fell into place.  Don didn’t fire Sal because he was sickened by homosexuality; he fired Sal because he didn’t understand a person who wouldn’t sacrifice everything for his job.  When Don said, “it depends what I knew about the girl,” he wasn’t referring to sexual history, he was refereeing ambition.  Suddenly, Don’s bout of stewardess induced blindness makes sense.    

In 1963, a propositioned Don would have fucked the shit out of Lee Garner Jr.  And it wouldn’t have been gay.  I don’t think he would have viewed it any differently than his affair with Bobbie Barrett.  He proved that he was was actually incapable of comprehending a different viewpoint by firing an art director that was not only loyal, but insanely talented.    

In 1966 Don has found happiness outside of work.  Of course, some of his objections to the quid-pro-quo sleepover stem from a desire to win the Jaguar account with earth shattering creative, (just as to an extent, Don’s firing of Sal had to do with a level of discomfort with homosexuality that was typical in the 1960’s.)  But mostly, his late night visit was to show Joan that he, Don Draper of all people, now understood how someone could the prioritize morals, or a respect for their body ahead of their career. 

We learn later that Joan had already made her choice.  It is a choice that shows she is cut from the same cloth as Mr. Draper.  She showed us that while Don, Peter comparisons have been popular, Don, Joan comparisons are more apt, (remember Don got his job by getting Rodger Sterling drunk, he was gifted an 8% share of what was then Sterling Cooper when Mr. Sterling suffered a twin induced a heart attack.)

All of this made me wonder what would have happened if Sal had acquiesced to the demands of Mr. Garner.  Weiner could have swept the whole thing under the rug, (as he will undoubtedly do with Lane Price’s embezzlement,) critics would have bemoaned sad workplace realities for homosexuals in the 1960’s, and Sal would be directing commercials at an agency where a woman is the de facto creative director, a Jew is making waves as a talented copywriter, and an African American serves as a competent executive assistant. 

I’m not saying that Sal should have swallowed hard, or that on the job prostitution is ever a good alternative to anything.  I just wonder how the show would be different without the banishing of Sal.  I have a hunch that Sal will be seen in one of Mad Men’s last two episodes, and that perhaps, an apology from Don is in order.  Times are changing after all…