Mad Men "Wee Small Hours": What do you want?

Poor, poor Sal... he started out as comedic relief and quickly turned into the most tragic figure on Mad Men.

Expectations are a bitch in the "Wee Small Hours." "The baby's up every three hours, Hilton only calls every four." I can tell you from experience that babies are made cute so you don't throw them out the window during the black hole of night (3-4AM - or, the wee small hours). Connie Hilton is far from cute, but Don's got a sort of inverse relationship with the millionaire. Connie easily slides into the role of missing father figure in Don's life, which serves the same purpose as baby Gene's large baby blues.

That makes it even harder to take when Hilton is disappointed in him. "When I say I want the moon, I expect the moon." Don looks more like young Dick Whitman, listening to Archie's voice. Then Roger comes in as a secondary parent, and piles on the disappointment. What does Don do in the face of all this? Naturally he runs... but since he's signed a 3-year contract, his leash is much shorter, and Miss Farrell, two miles down the street, is the mark.

Getting back to the comparison of Baby Gene and Connie Hilton, I'm reminded that being denied four hours of continuous sleep over a period of time will drive you absolutely batty. There's no apologizing for Don that can make up for some of his irritable moments here (with Peggy, Smitty; with Sal), but even the makeup is pointed to make him look exhausted, so I'm pretty sure it's the intention of Matt Weiner that we know Don's mood is affected by his lack of sleep.

And on that note...

[The final song was the Duke Ellington penned "Prelude to a Kiss," sung here by contemporary jazz singer Nnenna Freelon. Not finding it available anywhere at this time.]

Previously: "Souvenir" (Episode 3.08)