# Mad-Men: 5.12 "Commissions & Fees" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 4, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980 "2012-06-04T00:16:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/81 "2012-06-04T21:43:38Z")
Good episode. Did Lane know Don Draper isn’t the real Don Draper? ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/82 "2012-06-04T21:43:43Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > What dispute would there be? Wouldn’t his wife inherit his share of the firm as next of kin? IANAL, but wouldn’t embezzling funds, forging partners signatures, etc. in some way nullify his share. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/83 "2012-06-04T21:47:50Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Cooper, Sterling, and Draper are equal partners. Pryce and Campbell are half partners. Pryce managed the books. That’s pretty much all there is to it. There is no “chain of command” beyond that. I saw they all filed into Roger’s office when Jaguar was “calling presidents from each firm” and Roger took the call. I know Roger doesn’t have more partnership power than Don or Burt but is Roger company president? Is Burt’s title “Senior Lobby seat warmer”? ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/84 "2012-06-04T21:49:12Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > IANAL, but wouldn’t embezzling funds, forging partners signatures, etc. in some way nullify his share. That’s a really good question. Maybe someone with knowledge of corporate law will weigh in. I imagine it will come down to how the partnership documents were drawn up. In any case, I can’t see the partners leaving Lane’s widow high and dry. I would bet they offer to buy our her (formerly Lane’s) share for what it’s worth, minus the embezzlement amount. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/85 "2012-06-04T21:52:57Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Since Cooper knows about the check, even though he doesn’t know it was forged, is he going to start asking Don questions about it? I assume he’s going to go ahead and tell them what happened. > [@Jophiel](#): > > I saw they all filed into Roger’s office when Jaguar was “calling presidents from each firm” and Roger took the call. I know Roger doesn’t have more partnership power than Don or Burt but is Roger company president? Is Burt’s title “Senior Lobby seat warmer”? I don’t think there’s anything official about these roles. They just do what they’re used to doing. Roger is used to playing the part of the public face of the company. Cooper has been sitting around warming lobby seats because he just have specific tasks to attend to, not because his official job is warming lobby seats. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/86 "2012-06-04T21:59:47Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I learned from _Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret_ that it used to be a _belt_ you pinned a horrible giant pad to. (Awfully, newer editions of that one change that detail, which is a shame because I don’t know where else a young woman would learn anything at all about what our foremothers had to deal with unless they did research of their own.) I started my period at age 11 (1959). My mother was not as forthcoming as Betty (who I thought did a GREAT job with Sally) and gave me a little booklet that I still have put out by Kotex called [“You’re a Young Lady Now.”](http://www.mum.org/youreay1.htm) The booklet is quite circumspect and not too too awfully informative. The thinking back then was that you started out with pads and graduated to tampons. BTW, the booklet refers to tampons as being “inserted into the opening from which the flow comes.” God forbid we should use the word _vagina_. It wasn’t until the ground-breaking book _[Our Bodies, Our Selves](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Bodies,_Ourselves)_ came out in 1971 that we started calling things by their rightful names. The [Kotex pads](http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbnid=5hRoEMXhnUPXpM:&imgrefurl=http://www.mum.org/miraclel.htm&docid=IqRzEZOcF4zUpM&imgurl=http://www.mum.org/miraclel.jpg&w=792&h=583&ei=fy_NT8yrAouo8ATeyOiqAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=313&vpy=196&dur=3773&hovh=193&hovw=262&tx=140&ty=114&sig=116751669335916815254&page=1&tbnh=152&tbnw=206&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:116&biw=1172&bih=731) weren’t all THAT big and the belts weren’t all THAT awful. The belt, which went around your waist and had a tab that hung down in back and front to which you attached the front end and back end of the pad (either with a safety pin or with a tab similar to the kind that you use with hose and a harter belt), did tend to hold the pad in place firmly against you, unlike the pads of today that stick to your undies and move around WITH your undies. Let’s face it, women have been dealing with this issue day in and day out, month in and month out, all over the world, since Eve. But the first time it happens to YOU, it IS a very big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/87 "2012-06-04T22:06:45Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I assume he’s going to go ahead and tell them what happened. > > I don’t think there’s anything official about these roles. They just do what they’re used to doing. Roger is used to playing the part of the public face of the company. Cooper has been sitting around warming lobby seats because he just have specific tasks to attend to, not because his official job is warming lobby seats. Mayhap, but the fact that the call to company presidents went automatically to Roger Sterling (damn his eyes!) implies that president is his official title. Which makes sense. His name comes first, after all, and though Bert has seniority (assuming we pretend that there is continuity between SCDP and SC, which properly speaking there isn’t), he is pretty much semi-retired. No? And somebody’s gotta be president, and it sure as hell isn’t gonna be Pete. Which reminds me. Pete will now go through life considering that he is morally superior to Lane. That is the true tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/88 "2012-06-04T22:14:34Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > What dispute would there be? Wouldn’t his wife inherit his share of the firm as next of kin? We have no idea because we haven’t seen the incorporation documents. It’s unlikely that she’ll be left with nothing or that she’ll have any voting rights either. They’ll probably have to buy her out using some pre-determined formula. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/89 "2012-06-04T22:18:00Z")
> [@clnilsen](#): > > Tonight on AMC, a very special crossover episode of The Walking Mad Men. 😃 In which case we may not have seen the last of Lane. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/90 "2012-06-04T22:22:10Z")
I’m thinking that Cooper will do something drastic next week. When he approached Don with the check, Don says, in a way that can now be considered portentous, “I’ll take care of that.” How can Cooper not put two and two together? With all the lead-up about other characters the past few weeks, the last episode has to concentrate on Don. Although Lane’s suicide was the least surprising plot development of the season, I’m not going to try to guess what specifically happens to Don. But I will bet that SCDP won’t have all the partners by the end of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/91 "2012-06-04T22:25:00Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Since Cooper knows about the check, even though he doesn’t know it was forged, is he going to start asking Don questions about it? I think that Cooper will figure out the connection between the check and Lane’s suicide. Perhaps he’ll conclude it was forged. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/92 "2012-06-04T22:26:58Z")
Cooper thought that Don gave in and gave Lane his bonus and criticized him for being too much of a nice guy. I am sure that in the next episode they’ll (probably Joan) find out about the extra $50k. It’ll all come together. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/93 "2012-06-04T22:29:37Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > We have no idea because we haven’t seen the incorporation documents. It’s unlikely that she’ll be left with nothing or that she’ll have any voting rights either. They’ll probably have to buy her out using some pre-determined formula. Presumably that’s one of the reasons why each partner has a life insurance policy that pays the firm; to help cover the costs of buying out the decendent’s heirs. In which case Lane having resigned before offing himself may have voided his life insurance (though they’d probally just destroy the letter). They definately don’t want to get involved in any kind of lawsuit with Mrs Pryce. Even if they can prove Lane was embezzling funds in court and use that avoid having to pay his estate it still doesn’t do them any good to have all that come out in public. They’ll settle out of court with Mrs Pryce and everything will be sealed. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/94 "2012-06-04T22:40:00Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Mayhap, but the fact that the call to company presidents went automatically to Roger Sterling (damn his eyes!) implies that president is his official title. Which makes sense. His name comes first, after all, and though Bert has seniority (assuming we pretend that there is continuity between SCDP and SC, which properly speaking there isn’t), he is pretty much semi-retired. No? And somebody’s gotta be president, and it sure as hell isn’t gonna be Pete. That was my thought. Someone needs to be the public head of the company (if in title only) and Roger has to have something on his business card besides “Booze Hound”. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/95 "2012-06-04T22:44:31Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > We have no idea because we haven’t seen the incorporation documents. “Next week, on a very quiet and tedious episode of _Mad Men_ …” ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/96 "2012-06-04T22:46:25Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I am sure that in the next episode they’ll (probably Joan) find out about the extra $50k. It’ll all come together. Wasn’t “the extra $50k” just a line of credit extension, though? Other than the money Lane drew on it for his self-awarded bonus, do we have any reason to believe that the agency has drawn on any of the rest? Isn’t the $50k analogous to getting the limit on your credit card raised, and not equivalent to having already borrowed it? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/97 "2012-06-04T22:47:22Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > …Let’s face it, women have been dealing with this issue day in and day out, month in and month out, all over the world, since Eve. But the first time it happens to YOU, it IS a very big deal. From [Kimberly-Clark](http://www.cms.kimberly-clark.com/umbracoimages/UmbracoFileMedia/ProductEvol_FemininePads_umbracoFile.pdf) (it’s pdf!) > [@](#): > > With World War I raging in Europe and provoking cotton shortages, Kimberly-Clark executives realized that the Cellucotton developed by their researchers could be used a cotton substitute for a variety of purposes… After the US entered the war in 1917, K-C produced wadding for surgical dressing… Red Cross nurses were using the new material as sanitary pads… Until then, “American women wore a diaper of birds-eye or outing flannel, which they were obliged to wash and reuse.” Advertising made this useful product part of every American woman’s life. (Tampons were racy–they might impair your virginity.) ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/98 "2012-06-04T22:48:16Z")
> [@Kyrie\_Eleison](#): > > Wasn’t “the extra $50k” just a line of credit extension, though? Other than the money Lane drew on it for his self-awarded bonus, do we have any reason to believe that the agency has drawn on any of the rest? Isn’t the $50k analogous to getting the limit on your credit card raised, and not equivalent to having already borrowed it? No - remember they gave out bonuses to the rest of the staff (except the partners). Not sure how much that is, probably nowhere near $50k, but it’s definitely been tapped. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/99 "2012-06-04T23:25:14Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Mayhap, but the fact that the call to company presidents went automatically to Roger Sterling (damn his eyes!) implies that president is his official title. No it doesn’t. There is no requirement that a commercial entity have a person with the title of president. > [@](#): > > Which makes sense. His name comes first, This really means nothing by itself. Once a fictional entity is created, it’s no longer “his” name. ---
**Author:** ![BluePear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@BluePear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePear)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980/100 "2012-06-04T23:34:17Z")
Now that I think about it, Sally’s period was pretty interesting. Throughout this season we’ve watched Sally try playing adult by dressing up, wearing make up, ordering coffee, etc., and something biological happens to her that is a sign of maturity in age, and she gets all childlike wanting her mommy. It’s kind of sweet. > [@Sampiro](#): > > One more episode. Will Don make it through the entire season without cheating on Megan (to our knowledge)? I don’t think he will. The last few episodes he’s been unraveling to his old self, and the adultery is all that’s left to reclaim. Someone mentioned him possibly sleeping with Megan’s acting friend, and I can totally see that. > [@Acsenray](#): > > At the time, Pete bitched and whined to Don and Don took care of it for him. That’s not exactly accurate. Pete did bitch and moan, but Don took care of that because Pete saved his ass by letting go of the Dept of Defense account that would have likely revealed his identity and ended everything for him. Covering his share was the least Don could do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-5-12-commissions-fees-open-spoilers/623980.md?page=6)