This episode is difficult to summarize.
From a theme standpoint, we have the women (including Sally) making positive strides towards advancement, which in retrospect turn out to be disappointing. And we have Don and his father-in-law discovering that success is an ephemeral illusion.
And from a theme standpoint we see generational breachs, particularly for the Peggy, Megan, and Sally.
Then there's the title. At first I assumed the point was this shot, offering that sometimes for Sally disappointment comes from all directions:
But things are never that simple in "Mad Men", in this case because the episode title is a song title from a 1935 Shirley Temple movie:
Come along and follow me
To the bottom of the sea
We'll join in the Jamboree
At the Codfish Ball
Lobsters dancing in a row
Shuffle off to Buffalo
Jelly fish sway to and fro
At the Codfish Ball
Finnan haddie leads the eel
Through an Irish reel
The catfish is a dancing man
But he can't can-can like the sardine can
Tunas trucking left and right
Minnows mooching, what a night
There won't be a hook in site
At the Codfish Ball
In this second post, I'm going to focus offerings by the writers through Roger, the forlorn, lamentable character that often provides comic relief and is the only character who seems to consider Don "a friend."
Roger has Don thinking they can get new clients at the American Cancer Society thing where Don's getting an award. So they both are doing their dances like the catfish and the sardine. Only Don discovers it was not only fruitless, but that the award itself is likely to be a symbol of being frozen out of the competition for the big advertisers.
It appeared that Roger befriended impressionable Sally and then unintentionally traumatized her by doing what Roger does best, stepping out of the room for a momentary tryst, this time with Megan's mom Marie Calvet, played by Julia Ormond.
But, as usual, there is more going on here. Megan pointed out to Don that dear old Mom competes with her resulting in this exchange:
Megan said: "Didn't you notice she touched you six times in an hour?"
Don replied: "She's French,"
Megan sighs: "No, that's not what that is."
But the we know Marie would not become involved with her daughter's husband. Enter stage left the hapless Roger, the perfect surrogate for Don.
Poor Sally. Her parents are rather neurotic. She's got two new step-grandma's that are quite a bit further out there in terms impact on Sally. And her best friend seems to be Glen. She did handle the fallen (tripped) grandma emergency pretty well.
