MadMen follows the lives of employees at an ad company in the 50s. The main character, Mr. Draper, is the primary focus of this episode, though it does follow Peggy Olson, his secretary. This episode follows the circuit of a major crisis for Draper, a deal with a cigarette company that really needed to have a new sales strategy because of the harm being done by the medical issues associated with smoking. Draper has a meeting with a Jewish store owner that goes south because he is so concerned over the impending loss of the larger company because he had nothing to give them. The meeting with the large cigarette client almost goes completely south when Draper chokes and his fellow admen can't make a convincing pitch, then just as things are going the worst he has an idea that the customers really like. This puts him in the good graces of his boss and he then rallies the previous client back so they can have another meeting.
Two themes that are very apparent is the degradation of the female sex and loneliness. The degradation of the female sex throughout the entire episode, from the first scene in the office elevator on, The entire time you have guys making snide remarks and treating ladies like trash, according to my standards. There is no respect for women, they are treated in a disrespectful way and are given a role as either stay at home wives or harlots to do as they are told. There isn't much room for anything else. This is made pretty clear about even Draper, who didn't seem to adhere to that standard the rest of his team, when he disrespects the female Jewish store owner.
The other theme, loneliness, is somewhat of a surprising one though i should have expected it, I think, from how men and women treated each other. Various characters, the most blatant instance being with Draper surprisingly, struggled with being alone in some way. Draper starts of sleeping with an artist that he says he wants to marry but by the end of the show he has that meeting with the Jewish store owner where we see some of his characters inability to connect with the world around him, even the family he has at home, a wife with two kids.
