In this episode we finally touched base with some of the other main characters in the show, particularly Joan and Harry.
We found out that Scarlett (played by Jersey girl Sadie Alexandru) is now working as Harry's secretary. She talked Dawn into punching out for her at the end of the day so that she could go shopping for a gift. Joan discovered what Scarlett had been up to and confronted her. Shortly after that, Joan abruptly fired Scarlett and told her to pack her stuff and leave. The next time we see Scarlett, she's in her coat and crying, on her way out.
Enter Harry Crane.
When Harry lands this huge TV special that is both big money and hilarious (Joe Namath on Broadway), he demands recognition. He managed to make money for the firm while making a very important client - Dow Chemical - a little happier about things. Dow's problem? They make napalm. While napalm was nothing new in 1968 (it was, after all, the chemical used in the flamethrowers that were essential to American G.I.s fighting the Japanese in World War II) but now it's getting loads of bad press for its use in Vietnam. So Harry comes up with an idea for Dow to be the primary sponsor of a comedy hour featuring Namath. The premise is that the fine folks at Dow are responsible for making people smile and laugh.
The pitch that Harry made to Dow was the result of a conversation between he and Ken, who is the son-in-law of one of Dow's honchos. Scarlett brings Harry his danish and when Harry tells Ken that he as an idea for Dow, Scarlett cheerfully says on the way out of the room, "Harry has lots of great ideas." Mad Men is always so great about providing hints of plot lines with a minimum of words. I think with that one line from Scarlett, viewers everywhere had the same thought: Harry and Scarlett! Of course, Harry is married with children but hey, this is Mad Men...
So when Harry returns to the office with Ken after the successful pitch to Dow and encounters a tearful Scarlett on her way out, stuff packed in a box, he goes ballistic. He marches her to Joan's office and informs Joan that he's tired of her "petty dictatorship" and that she had no right to fire his secretary.
We don't know how he knows, but Harry has obviously heard about what Joan did to get her partnership. Like the rest of us, he's not cool with it. But rather than feel sorry for Joan, who felt she had no choice but to take the only path offered to her, Harry feels that she prostituted herself and he's not sympathetic.
He also feels, not without reason, that she benefited from a situation that was not open to him. He feels unappreciated for everything he's done for the firm. The television department, which he created as a one-man operation within Sterling, Cooper back in Season 2, is an important source of revenue for the firm and Harry can't be blamed for feeling like his contributions to the well-being of the firm deserve more credit than what Joan did. Some have dismissed Harry's value by pointing out that he's simply riding the TV wave. That's certainly true but it was Harry who recognized early on the value of television. He spotted the trend, created his department and is now reaping the rewards. That's the way it works.
Also, Joan has been belittling him for years now, ever since he failed to acknowledge her talent when she was helping him with his work (reading scripts to make sure there are no conflicts between the material and the sponsors). We saw how good Joan was at this type of thing but Harry did not. So when he was finally allowed to hire an assistant, he hired some new guy with no experience. Joan was forced to go back to being the de facto office manager. No promotion for her, and no recognition.
So, after blasting Joan over the Scarlett situation, Harry decides to push things further by barging into a partners meeting and demanding that he be given a partnership as well. He lets them all know that he knows what she did for the partnership and Joan has to just sit there and take it. She may be a partner but because she's a woman and because she got there in a sketchy way, she discovers that she is still not their equal. At least she's not equal in their eyes. The partners decide that it's not wise to fire Dawn and that Scarlett's humiliation is punishment enough. Thus Joan has, effectively, been overruled and put in her place. It's hard.
But if Harry's rant was somewhat inappropriate and obnxious, so was Joan's behavior towards Scarlett. Joan has an office. She could have summoned Scarlett to her office and reprimanded her there. Instead, she confronted Scarlett at her desk, out in the open, humiliating her. Then she yelled at her, again out in the open, and fired her. If Joan were a man and acted like that people would be upset, right? Also, even though Joan is a partner she should have waited to speak to Harry first and let him know what happened and what she wants to do about it. He at least should have been given an opportunity to weigh in on the problem. In other words, Joan could have handled it better.
It's after this trying day that Joan goes with her friend Kate for a night on the town that includes a visit to the Electric Circus. The next day Kate encourages Joan to ignore what the men think. Whatever she wants is right there for her to take. Kate envies and admires her. Joan decides to enhance her status by shedding some of her old responsibilities (giving the keys to the supply closet and supervision of time cards to Dawn).
Harry had a meeting with Bert and Roger, who are unwilling to be bullied into giving him a partnership. But they do acknowledge and reward his initiative by handing him a check for $23,000. It's his commission for the Dow Chemical TV show and it's more than his annual salary. It's a big payday for him. But he lets them know that if he gets a better offer from another firm that he will leave. Time will tell.
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