Mad Men (TV Series) The Jet Set (2008) User Reviews

Kicks Off Season Two's Endgame

[borowiecsminus · 8/10 · 6 August 2016]

This episode contains a lot of plot and no plot at the same time. On one hand, you could say that nothing really happens in this episode. However, you could also say that a lot of things are starting to happen.

To debrief, Don and Pete leave for California, one of the foreign young men admits he's gay, and Duck wants to become partner, and when he's turned down, seeks elsewhere, hoping they will take action on Sterling Cooper. Don blows off the 'business' in 'business trip' and instead spends his time, and more, with a beautiful young woman. The episode is essentially a set-up for "The Mountain King," where events explode.

So why does everyone love this episode so much? To be honest, I'm not sure. I know, I gave it 8 stars, but that's "Mad Men" standards. And I get it, a lot of events are set into motion, but it feels like "Granite State." It's less of things happening, and more of Matthew Weiner setting up the things so they will eventually happen.

That all being said, this is still great television. There's nothing wrong with this episode, except maybe it's a little sloppy on the writing side. The problem is, nothing's specifically great about it, either.

Great television, just not by "Mad Men" standards.

Refreshing New Lives

[vivianla · 9 June 2020]

First, Roger Sterling is having sex with his fiancée, 20-year-old Jane Siegel. Her back is lovely. He holds her and asks her to marry him which she accepts.

Don and Peter arrive in Los Angeles, California, smiling at all the bikinis they see at the pool. Don is all business but Peter wants a day of fun.

Don goes to the bar and meets a group of people and one girl asked a man to tell Don she is interested in him. She comes up and Don tries to stay away from more trouble. Her name is Joy.

Don and Peter are walking up steps and there is a really pretty outfit walking down towards the right of the screen that the viewer sees.

Don meets Joy, the mysterious woman and he is lured into her car. She drives up to a beautiful Californian home. Very luxurious. It makes me so angry to see Don STILL cheating and getting into trouble. He drives away with her from his business responsibilities with Peter.

Peter is stuck in a chat with two businessmen waiting for Don who might be "making a phone call".

Turns out Kurt is gay. He is the European guy with the accent. They find out after Joan and the men tease Kurt with Peggy after they make plans to go to a Bob Dylan show. Kurt explains he makes love with the man and poor Peggy leaves, heartbroken as she thought it was a date.

Kurt and Peggy meet up and Peggy wonders aloud why she picks wrong men. Kurt says she is "old style" and offers to help. He says he "is very good" and gestures to his own handsomeness. He cuts off Peggy's ponytail.

Peter drops his papers when he is lounging on a chair next to the pool and two girls in bikinis pick them up for him. He greets them and they do not reply. Peter finds out the people here aren't like the New York girls he is used to.

Don and her go to their bedroom where she takes off her clothes and reveals a white bra and panty. She leans towards being top of Don and takes off her bra while Don stares and they proceed to make love. Joy is 21-years-old.

Don and Joy wake up, naked and covered with the blanket. A man comes in and compliments Don's beauty. He walks out and Don asks who it was. It was Joy's father and he apparently likes to seem young.

Duck goes to meet old co-workers to tell them Sterling Cooper is about to lose a ton of money as Roger Sterling is marrying his 20-year-old fiancée and his old wife is about to take all his money from the divorce.

Peter comes back to NYC alone and mumbles about the time he had in Cali not being that great. He mentions the people not being as great. He did not have as much fun with females as he thought he would have had.

Peggy looks great as she watches Kennedy talking on the news with the men. I love her do hairdo and the dark vibes in the room with the television flickering.

Later Don and Joy go to the pool where Joy wears a bikini showing off her cleavage. Joy takes off her bikini top and lets it drift away in the water. A dad and kids arrive to stay at the home. She is topless and does not do anything to cover...just lets everyone including dad and the kids see her.

Don makes a phone call and calls himself Dick Whitman and scribbles something on to a book page. It appears he is running away from his old life to go back to his old identity.

The swingers

[jotix100 · 10/10 · 9 March 2010]

Don, whose luggage was lost by the airline on his way to Los Angeles, sticks out like a sore thumb, as we meet him inspecting the pool area of the hotel where he is staying, wearing a business suit. There are beautiful women with the scantiest swimsuits parading all over. At the pool bar, a distinguished looking man approaches Don. He introduces himself as the Count and tells Don he wants to meet Joy, a gorgeous creature who cannot take her eyes from Don.

Back in New York, Roger now plainly involved in an affair with Jane, meets with his lawyer. Roger is made aware of what he will be facing if he proceeds with the divorce. Mona will take whatever she can, but Roger, smitten with the young and luscious Jane has made up his mind to go ahead and break his marriage.

Duck Phillips questions Roger about not having been made a partner yet. Roger is evasive and dismisses Duck. Things begin to look better for Phillips as he meets with two British executives from the firm he used to work. Duck proposes the men a deal they cannot refuse: how about a chance to get an American representation by merging with Sterling Cooper and putting him in charge of the new company. The Brits are all ears because they see a good deal in the making.

In California, Don finally goes to dinner with Joy, who has plans to go on to Palm Springs the next day. She asks Don to go with her. Suffering from heat exhaustion, Don collapses. A doctor is called, but nothing is wrong. Don is a bit put off with the man, who for he knows is a quack! He recuperates quickly enough to bed Joy and have great conversation w with the Count and his assorted guests. At the pool, that night, Joy asks Don to follow them to the Bahamas. According to her, they are nomads, going from one chic place to another.

Back at the office, a new sponsor has sent over some samples of his baked goods. Kurt Smith tells Peggy about liking Bob Dylan, who is performing at a Village club. Kurt doesn't conceal the fact he is gay. He declares he is a homosexual, and he "makes love with men, not with women", something that doesn't go too well with the men that hear him. Peggy, on the other hand, is not shocked. Kurt wonders aloud why would anyone be shocked when the advertising world is full of gay people. Peggy, who loves the music of Dylan, agrees to accompany Kurt to the concert. When Kurt shows up to pick her up, he decides to give Peggy a new look because of her frumpy appearance.

When Pete returns from California without Don, he tells Duck about the business opportunities in the West. Pete notices also Peggy's new look and is impressed. He is told by Ken about the "homo" working in the office. Duck walks to Bert Cooper's office to inform him about the business deal from his former British colleagues. Cooper sees the possibilities and riches that will come from the selling of Sterling- Cooper.

Don, who is still in Palm Springs, makes a strange phone call where he announces he is Dick Whitman. Back at the Draper's Don lost suitcase is delivered by a messenger.

Phil Abraham directed this episode, written by Matthew Weiner. Don's escapade gives him a diversion from his problems back home in the way of finding a highly sophisticated crowd, which he doesn't belong. The machinations about Sterling-Cooper by Duck Phillips represent a windfall for the higher ups in the agency. Homosexuality in the work place is also explored in a time where nothing so open would have been discussed. Mr. Abraham gets good all around acting from the cast.

A bizarre deviation from reality

[petewood-59951 · 6/10 · 10 April 2020]

What is this? James Bond? Don Draper gets approached by a beautiful mysterious woman and whisked away to an exotic location. I kept waiting for one of the odd supporting characters to start talking about plans to take over the world. Look, I know Draper is a self centered s.o.b. and all, but his affairs have at least been in the realm of reality so far. He either pursued the women or his reputation preceded him. The fling in California just strained all credibility for me. Took the show down a few notches. Zero complaints about the writing until this episode.

Disappointing

[Esmollin · 19 December 2022]

This was the first episode that I was less than happy with. It seemed that Don was taken over by another personality. Yes he cheats but he always has his mind on business. I can't see him go off for weeks, first with some rich loafers who he has nothing in common with, then visiting his first wife. The characters were vapid, I didn't care about any of them. It seemed like a different show.

I enjoy the New York energy that is central to the series, even when it focuses of his family. Los Angeles is, in comparison, poorly written in my opinion.

The office scenes saved this episode for me. I enjoyed Peggy's date with Kurt.

Poor DVD Video Quality - This Episode Only

[DANEMOD · 25 May 2015]

'The Jet Set' is not one of my favorite 'Mad Men' episodes - it looks a little too much like it was written to take advantage of the ready-made midcentury ambiance of Palm Springs. And a good thing, too, because on this one episode, the video quality on the DVD is very bad, a problem I have verified as being present on three different copies of Disc Four of Season Two. There is horrible "combing" evident from first frame to last on this one episode - as bad as anything I've ever seen on a public-domain, dollar-store DVD of forgotten TV shows of the '50s. The rest of Disc Four's episodes are fully up to the impeccable image quality of the rest of the DVD releases for this series; the problem exists only for this episode.