Ep 11. The Jet Set

In Mad Men season 2 episode 11, titled "The Jet Set," the show takes a brief detour from the dreary world of Sterling Cooper to explore the glamorous, jet-setting lifestyle of a group of Europeans living in upstate New York.

The episode begins with Don Draper being whisked away on a spontaneous trip to California by a mysterious woman named Joy. After a brief stay in Los Angeles, Joy takes Don to her villa in Palm Springs, where he meets a group of free-spirited individuals who seem to be living a life completely divorced from the strict social norms of 1960s America.

Bobbing in the pool with carefree abandon, taking drugs with casual nonchalance, and trading kisses and partners with abandon, these people represent a stark contrast to the monochromatic, uptight worlds of Daper's professional and personal life. Yet, for all their apparent freedom, they are not without their own forms of manipulation, control, and hidden agendas.

As Don becomes more and more enmeshed in this world, the line between fantasy and reality begins to blur, leading him to question both his own identity and the strict conformity of the world he lives in. This tension comes to a head when he is forced to choose between his old life and this new, seductive existence.

Meanwhile, back in New York, Sterling Cooper is undergoing a crisis of its own. Seeing an opportunity to finally shake off the shadow of his father, Pete Campbell decides to manage a wealthy client's election campaign, leading to an all-out war between his rival, Ken Cosgrove, and the rest of the agency.

As the episode reaches its climax, these two strands start to intertwine, forcing Don and Pete to confront the consequences of their choices and the deeper forces that drive them. It is a tense, thrilling, and emotionally complex episode that shows Mad Men at its best—daring, subversive, and unafraid to confront the darker sides of human nature.