Christmas Comes But Once a Year (Mad Men)
| "Christmas Comes But Once a Year" | |
|---|---|
| Mad Men episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 2 |
| Directed by | Michael Uppendahl |
| Written by |
Tracy McMillan Matthew Weiner |
| Original air date | August 1, 2010 |
"Christmas Comes But Once a Year" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American television drama series Mad Men, and the 41st overall episode of the series. It was written by series creator and executive producer Matthew Weiner and Tracy McMillan, and directed by Michael Uppendahl. It originally aired on the AMC channel in the United States on August 1, 2010.
The episode opens in December 1964, as Sterling Cooper Draper Price is hosting a Christmas party. As the company faces financial problems because of its limited client base and expensive new office space, Don Draper's private life becomes ever more chaotic. Critical reception of the episode was positive.
Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is planning a scaled-down Christmas party, but when Lee Garner, Jr., of the client Lucky Strike, which represents 73% of all SCDP billings, invites himself to the event, the company has to go all out. Joan puts the party together in hours, assisted by one of the girls, Megan. Garner gets drunk and makes increasingly offensive demands of the SCDP staff, ultimately publicly humiliating Roger Sterling by forcing him to put on a Santa suit. A more hopeful occurrence is the return of a sobered-up Freddy Rumsen, who brings along Pond's, a valuable new client, which he poached from J. Walter Thompson. He is opposed to Pete Campbell working on the account, though. In addition to not thinking well of Pete, Freddy was fired by Duck due to Pete telling him about Freddy's drunkenness.
Don Draper's life continues to unravel, as Dr. Faye Miller - a female psychologist from a hired consumer research company - brings to light his issues with his own past. She tells Don it always comes down to "what I want vs. what is expected of me," and tells him he'll be married again within a year. A drunken Don's encounter with Phoebe - a young nurse from across the hall - leads nowhere, but he later ends up getting intimate with his secretary Allison—a line he has never before crossed—which leads to awkwardness in the workplace.
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