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

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

''. 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 ...

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

Maria Jacquemetton Maria Jacquemetton ( Mastras) is an 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 her husband, Andre, three episodes of th ...

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 Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 1960. The Democratic ticket of Senator John F. Kennedy and his running mate, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, narrowly defeated the Republican ticket of incumbent ...

, 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 *** ...

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 has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

comes to visit for

Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...

. 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 ...

, whom 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 *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 village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

promising to join them the following day. Meanwhile,

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

tries to convince Joan to spend the evening with him, but she rejects him in favor of going out on the town with her roommate, Carol McCardy. Carol is distressed because she was fired from her publishing job when she was made the

scapegoat In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...

for her boss's mistake. Joan and Carol 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 characte ...

informs Don that one of his accounts, Dr. Scholl's, is leaving for another agency because of their dissatisfaction with the firm's creative talent. 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 A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

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.

First appearances

* Gloria Massey: Eugene Hofstadt's new girlfriend and Betty's upcoming stepmother whom she despises. * Eugene "Gene" Hofstadt: Betty's elderly father, the deceased Ruth's widowed husband, Gloria's new boyfriend, Sally and Bobby's maternal grandfather and Don's father-in-law. He was a former

salesman Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...

and a WW1

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

keeping a

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

Helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protecti ...

with him.

Final appearances

* Carol McCardy: Joan's

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for LGBTQ people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior. This metaphor is associated and sometime ...

roommate A roommate is a person with whom one shares a living facility such as a room or dormitory ''except'' when being family or romantically involved. Similar terms include dorm-mate, suite-mate, housemate, or flatmate ("flat": the usual term in Brit ...

and

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

friend who works at a literary agency and has a crush on her.

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 ...

, writing for New Jersey's ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' was the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. It is based in Newark, New Jersey. The newspaper ceased print publication on February 2, 2025, but continues to publish a digital edition. In 2007, ''The Star-Ledger''s ...

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

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an 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 created in ...

'' in 2014, was more critical of the episode, writing that it was "one of Mad Men's clunkier episodes" but still praising some aspects, including

John Slattery John M. Slattery Jr. (born August 13, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as Roger Sterling in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15), for which he was nominated 4 times for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outsta ...

'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