"Long Weekend" is the tenth episode of the first season of the American television drama series ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its fict ...

''. It was written by

Bridget Bedard Bridget Bedard is a television writer and producer who has garnered four Peabody Awards, a Golden Globe, both Writers and Producers Guild awards, as well as multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Life and career Bridget Bedard grew up in S ...

Andre Jacquemetton Andre Jacquemetton is an American television writer and producer. He served as a producer for the first season of ''Mad Men''. He and Maria Jacquemetton co-wrote three episodes of the first season. Alongside his colleagues on the writing staff, he ...

Maria Jacquemetton Maria Jacquemetton (née Mastras) is a Greek American television writer and producer. She graduated from Lehigh University in 1983. She served as a producer for the first season of ''Mad Men'' and co-wrote, with Andre Jacquemetton, three episodes ...

and series creator

Matthew Weiner Matthew Hoffman Weiner () (born June 29, 1965) is an American television writer, producer, and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series ''Mad Men'', and as a writer and executive producer on ''The Sopranos''. ...

. The episode was directed by Tim Hunter and is set within the increasingly close

1960 United States presidential election The 1960 United States presidential election was the 44th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1960. In a closely contested election, Democratic United States Senator John F. Kennedy defeated the incumbent V ...

, with TV commercials emphasising Kennedy's energy and Nixon's lack of leadership. The episode originally aired on the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...

channel in the United States on September 27, 2007.

Plot

Betty Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beatric ...

's father

Gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

comes to visit for

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

. Since the recent death of Betty's mother, Gene has found a new companion named

Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins) ...

, who Betty dislikes. As tensions increase, the three of them leave for their Labor Day weekend trip, with

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

promising to join them the following day.

Roger Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

tries to convince

Joan Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters *:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine * Joan (surname) Weather events *Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multip ...

to spend the evening with him, but she rejects him in favor of going out on the town with her roommate, Carol. Joan's roommate is distressed because she was fired from her publishing job when she was made the scapegoat for her boss's mistake. Joan and her roommate bond over their anger at being used by men. When Carol later expresses her love for Joan, and desire to be with her, Joan remains neutral and impassive.

Pete Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to: People * Pete (given name) * Pete (nickname) * Pete (surname) Fictional characters * Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe * Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a character ...

informs Don that one of his accounts,

Dr. Scholl's Dr. Scholl's is a footwear and orthopedic foot care brand originating in the United States, marketed in some countries as simply Scholl. Since 2021, global rights to the brand have been owned by investment firm Yellow Wood Partners through s ...

, is leaving for another agency because of their dissatisfaction with creativity. Roger, still looking for companionship, offers to help take Don's mind off the lost client. They meet a pair of young twins at an ad audition for aluminum cladding, and Roger invites them upstairs for drinks. In the now-empty office, Roger propositions both girls, while Don seems uninterested in doing anything but going home. At the office, Roger suffers a major heart attack while attempting to have sex with one of the girls for a second time. He survives, but is hospitalized and cries as his wife and daughter visit. Don is shaken by the event and calls Betty but then visits Rachel seeking a sexual encounter.

Reception

The episode was received positively by critics at the time.

Alan Sepinwall Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He th ...

, writing for New Jersey's ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

'', praised the episode, saying that it and the show itself were "dense and layered" and "deserving of deeper analysis". Emily VanDerWerff, writing for ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' in 2014, was more critical of the episode, writing that the episode was "one of Mad Men's clunkier episodes" but she praised other aspects of the episode, including

John Slattery John M. Slattery Jr. (born August 13, 1962) is an American actor and director widely known for his role as Roger Sterling Jr. in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15), for which he was nominated four times for the Primetime Emmy Award fo ...

's performance as Roger.

References

External links

"Long Weekend"
at

* {{Mad Men episodes, 1 Mad Men (season 1) episodes 2007 American television episodes Television episodes directed by Tim Hunter (director) Television episodes written by Matthew Weiner