“Forget about the man in that box.”

Jesus Christ, what an amazing episode. I knew it was gonna be great but it was even better than what I expected. They’ve been adding some minor elements here and there about Don’s backstory but nothing compared to what this episode gave us. I also love how everything that happens in this episode is somehow connected in one way or another.

The main plot of the episode was Pete trying to make Don fall by telling Cooper that he’s an imposter because of that box he finds. The title of the episode is “Nixon vs Kennedy”, which is the electoral battle that happens during this episode. The way I see it, Nixon, as Don himself said, is supposed to be the one that came from nowhere and because of his hard work ended up getting to where he is, and Kennedy is the rich kid that got everything since the first moment, and that’s what Don liked about Nixon. In this episode, Kennedy wins the election despite the efforts that Sterling Cooper tries to do for making Nixon win. Pete Campbell, the rich kid, puts his effort in winning against the one who came from nowhere but got to where he is with hard work, “Don Draper”. But in this case, it’s the poor one the one that ends up winning because, like Cooper said: “Who cares?” No one cared about who Nixon was, they just care about who Kennedy is right now.

Sometimes you just need to make the right choices to get to where you are, but the right choices don’t have to be the ones that are morally correct, but the ones that get you where you want to be. Dick Whitman accidentally killed the real Don Draper and he stole his identity to become Don Draper, without even considering other options, without thinking it through, which is a vile and evil act, but it’s what he needed to do. They mistook him with someone else and he just grabbed the opportunity. Like Peggy said, innocent people suffer, and bad people get to do what they want. It’s unfair, but that’s life. Don Draper didn’t think this through. He ran away from his family, and when the time came, he provided for his brother Adam, just the way he said he was gonna do when he went to Rachel’s place. Don Draper forgot about Dick Whitman.

5/5 and best episode so far.

Specials

Season 1

Season 2