I’ll be the first to admit that I could be wrong. But no one can prove it for another nine months! 
He’s done it before. Peggy says she’s there because Don told her once that it’s a good way to clear your head.
Anyone else who reads Tom and Lorenzo’s Mad Style? As soon as I saw Joan’s women’s suit and glasses, I could hear their commentary in my head.
At this point, Baby Tammy is more than a match for him.
On a very special episode of “Mad Men”…everyone in the cast, past and present, punches Pete Campbell in the head: Don, Roger, Bert, Peggy, Joan, Lane (back from the dead for a second go-round), Betty, Sally, Bobby, Gene, Harry, Ken, Sal, Ida Blankenship (also back from the dead), Dawn, etc, etc…
I expect Beth, now separated from her husband, to find out she’s pregnant with, due to the shock therapy, no idea how she got that way. She names the baby Electra. The au pair, Gudrun, returns with her own child by Pete, and Beth begins a quest to find their child. Pete lands the account for the first ever beepers and as a perk gets one for each of his baby mamas.
What about the symbolism of “Beauty & the Beast”? That story is about how a woman’s love and sacrifice redeems the outcast Beast. I can’t fit that theme into this episode.
Well, I think that’s what Megan thinks she’s done with Don… but perhaps the Beast is a bit more wily than first assumed.
Was this story line just dropped or forgotten about…or did I miss something. Did not Peggy have a baby by Pete? The baby was being raised by her sister? How come there is no mention of the baby…or Pete finding out he had a child with Peggy?
16:9 or 1.33:1?
The baby was given up for adoption. The one you saw was Peggy’s sister’s biological baby. That confused many viewers early on, and I consider it a misstep on Weiner’s part.
And Peggy told Pete about it in the Season 2 finale.
That dream sequence with Don’s dead brother was dire. To be honest I am not a fan of the the whole Don Draper/Dick Whitman/existential crisis/self-hate theme. It’s cheap melodrama which the show uses to ramp up the tension every now and then, often in the most ham-handed way (e.g. the dream sequence with the strangled woman). Personally I think Mad Men works far better as an ad agency drama with a light touch than as an exploration of Don’s psyche but obviously the latter is very important to Weiner.
It was interesting to see Megan act like such a child. I hope it has challenged this view many of you had that she was this well adjusted, flawless, blameless saint that makes Don better. She’s really not. She’s just as bothered as all of the rest.
I agree with the comments that Don has lost respect for her. He did. His response showed that he cared to see her as an artist and was moving to accepting her as an actress. But both her ask, and the way she positioned it “my friends would kill for this” revealed she was more concerned with impressing them, or landing anything than acting. I know she’s frustrated, but she hasn’t been trying for that long, and while she does, she has the luxury of not only being taken care of, but at a high level of comfort.
I did love seeing Joan stepping into her partner role. She is way more pragmatic than the rest of them, save Cooper.
Well I guess we saw where Lane saving the picture woman from the wallet he found worked into the story. I think his wife thinks Don, Pete and Roger lured him into adulterous situations, like the Jaguar dude, and maybe he killed himself out of guilt for adultery or something. She’s going to be a problem.
I loved seeing Peggy at her new job and Don’s comfort with her, holding no grudge. The “smoke it, name it, sell it” line by Ted Chaough was a nice call back to the “take it, break it, love it” line she came up with for the lollipops in season one or two.
I don’t think it’s that simple. She accused Don of leading “a man like” Lane on by letting him dream of “success.” I think Mrs. Pryce is more complex than simple suspicion of infidelity would suggest.
Yeah, Don lost respect for Meagan and literally turned his back on her. Her sin was to reveal herself to be a human being with the same flaws we all have. Don has a very narrow band of what is acceptable behavior in his wives, which is a tad hypocritical given his many, many flaws and deceptions. Don is pretty much Pete Campbel with charm.
I see Megan as spoiled, petulant and immature. But, let’s look at it from her perspective.
She’s probably been good at anything she’s tried her entire life. College? Easy. Dealing with children? Easy. Working in an ad agency? Easy.
But none of that’s what she wants, because look how she’s grown up. She’s had a socialistic professor of a father who rails against capitalism and Megan knows would look down on any “non-artistic or non-intellectual” pursuit. At the same time, she sees her mom as both worldly and bored with life and Megan doesn’t want to end up like that.
So she has a job that her dad would hate, and so she quits. But now, if she can’t make a go of acting, she’ll end up like her mom, which she also doesn’t want. But she’s suddenly in a world where things don’t come easy to her and she’s not good enough to just shine right out of the gate. So she begs Don “please don’t make me end up like my mom. I really need this to prove myself to you.”
Doesn’t make her any less immature, but at least I understand where she’s coming from.
Regarding the two James Bond films references:
Casino Royale (2nd version) was released in the US April 28, 1967. Easter, 1967 was March 26. (Megan’s mom was visiting for Easter since the Dad was an Atheist.)
Kind of hard for Peggy and Don to have gone to see the film.
You Only Live Twice was released June 6, 1967 in the US. A little early to be using the theme song, but close enough.
I guess I was the only one who flashed back to the last time Peggy was in a movie theater with a guy. That would have been double icks if she had repeated what she had done.
I don’t see Peggy as being happy about being stuck in a motel in Virginia with two dogs humping outside. Richmond has real hotels, she knows she should be in a classier place.
Is Pete getting punched in the face regular fan service now?
Surprised how quickly Pete caught on that Beth didn’t know who he was and reacted appropriately. Basically out of character for him.
Trudy, Trudy, Trudy. The reason we don’t like her is because she is clueless. A completely self-centered, vapid idiot. In other words, perfect for Pete.
Joan regretting not doing something with Lane was creepy.
I think Joan is getting overwhelmed with the growth of the firm, her new role, and her view of her capabilities. She initially didn’t want to expand, but then realized it had to be done. There’s just all this money coming in. And she doesn’t want to end up like Lane.
Bert and Harry turned down Lane’s office. Wimps. I think it was turned into a group office.
The $50k that Don returned to Mrs. Pryce was not Lane’s original partner share. It was from just a year earlier, not from the startup. It is not clear what happens to his share. I would think that that would be in part what the insurance was to cover, to buy out a dead partner’s stake. But, who knows.
It wasn’t the firm that pushed Lane over the edge, it was stuff outside the firm. SCDP wasn’t too much for him. But I guess Don doesn’t need to tell his widow that.
I had thought the firm was about to go belly up, and suddenly it’s a success and expanding. Too much of a fairy tale.
MM is famous for its subtle, well-framed shots. But the 5 partners in the new space shot is far from subtle. Definitely goes against the previous appearance of the show. I hate it.
I disagree. Pete is a very perceptive person. He’s also a self-centered asshole.
Yes, I get angry with her not because she is evil, but because she is stupid.
So did Joan. Harry actually was one of the ones who saw Lane hanging above the door. I don’t blame him for refusing.
I don’t think so. They said several times that they had high accounts payable, so they were expecting money to come in. And then at least two other things happened–labor problems at Mohawk ended and Jaguar signs on. So it doesn’t seem fairy-tale-ish to me.
I’m not sure I’d call it creepy. Joan is capable of compartmentalizing her sexuality. She wasn’t attracted to Lane, but she generally liked him. If she had known he was in such existential despair before his suicide, and had thought that having sex with him once would keep him on this side of the River Styx, she’d have done it with him. He was her friend.
I don’t see where you’re getting the impression of her being overwhelmed from, though admittedly this episode did not have my entire attention. If you refer to her reticence with Harry in the elevator, I ascribe that to her needing to keep the expansion under wraps until the partners are ready to announce it. She is management now; he is an employee. She behaved appropriately.
So did Joan.
He used to do it all the time.