# Mad-Men: 6.05 "The Flood" (open spoiler) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977 "2013-04-29T01:30:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [April 29, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/21 "2013-04-29T13:40:11Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > What was with the weird LSD-addled insurance guy? The scene was good for a few chuckles between Don and Stan but it didn’t seem to be setting anything much up or offering a whole lot. I’m sure next season will have some pivotal moment that depends on what happened last night but most of the scenes can stand on their own and that was some combination of awkward, amusing and boring. I was glad when it was over. Wait, how did you know he was on LSD? I was wondering why he was acting so oddly. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/22 "2013-04-29T13:44:04Z")
Don’s confession about pretending to love his children was a shocker; that was something that I thought was genuine from the first episode. Using _Planet of the Apes_ in the MLK assassination episode was brilliant as far as thumbtacking it in time. (Did anybody else notice the “Ape” newspaper Don was reading in the theater? Nice “collectible” touch.) I was a baby when MLK was assassinated, but my parents, who were teaching in newly integrated schools in Alabama at the time (where they said half the teachers called in “sick” the next day), both said the potential powder keg aspect of it was terrifying. All of the churches- black, white, liberal, conservative- had special services and went on radio and TV as did politicians and black leaders all _begging_ their members to “Just be calm”, the white MLK haters being essentially told “this city is half black and they are so mad it’s dangerous- one ill timed snarky comment might see this city go up in flames”. Surprisingly (considering the level of dumbassery and hatred and chest thumpers at the time) it worked; there no major riots or violence in Montgomery- but they said it was scarier than the Cuban Missile Crisis. (Of course their summer vacation that year was in D.C. when RFK was assassinated, which they said was “rinse lather repeat” on the terrified aspect.) Does anybody here remember the aftermath of the assassination? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/23 "2013-04-29T13:47:47Z")
James Brown calms Boston following the King assassination > **[James Brown calms Boston following the King assassination](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/james-brown-calms-boston-following-the-king-assassination)** > > On the morning after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., city officials in Boston, Massachusetts, were scrambling to prepare for an expected second straight night of unrest. Similar preparations were being made in cities across America,... ---
**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:** [April 29, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/24 "2013-04-29T13:54:20Z")
Similarly, [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyCWV_N0EsM) is Robert Kennedy announcing in Indianapolis the news of Dr King’s assassination. (The text is [here](http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/rfkonmlkdeath.html).) Supposedly there was no rioting in Indianapolis following his speech. And I’ve always been impressed by RFK’s eloquence here, especially given that it’s apparently off-the-cuff. (He even quotes the Greek playwright Aeschylus without sounding douchey or condescending.) ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/25 "2013-04-29T13:56:28Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > So 10 button touch-tone phones did exist in 1968. I don’t know if they had spread to New York between 1963 and 1968 or if it was an experiment confined to Pennsylvania. A couple of years ago, I found a 1500 at a thrift store in New York (state, that is) for $2. It was made in 1967. and it had the exact color scheme as the phone used on Mad Men. Still had the four prong plug, too. I cleaned and polished it, listed it on eBay, made note that it was the exact same kind of phone as seen on Mad Men, and it sold for around $150. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/26 "2013-04-29T14:23:46Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Wait, how did you know he was on LSD? I was wondering why he was acting so oddly. I don’t, really, aside from Roger making some off-hand remark during the meeting about “whatever you have in you” or something to that effect. I thought the implication that the insurance guy’s ideas had some chemical help was pretty heavy. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/27 "2013-04-29T14:48:16Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I don’t, really, aside from Roger making some off-hand remark during the meeting about “whatever you have in you” or something to that effect. I thought the implication that the insurance guy’s ideas had some chemical help was pretty heavy. I was under the heavy impression that Roger met him through the LSD friends he made last year. I assume Roger is still using from time to time, as he certainly enjoyed it. I also think (and stole this from Sepinwall) that the guy’s line about an opportunity for change was an important one in the show. “This is an opportunity. The heavens are telling us to change.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/28 "2013-04-29T15:16:10Z")
Was the TV remote an anachronism? I don’t recall remote controls being around until much later. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/29 "2013-04-29T15:18:30Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Was the TV remote an anachronism? I don’t recall remote controls being around until much later. First wireless remote [was invented in 1955](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_control#Television_remote_controls). Don was probably using one more like this though: > [@](#): > > In 1956, Robert Adler developed “Zenith Space Command”, a wireless remote.[8] It was mechanical and used ultrasound to change the channel and volume. When the user pushed a button on the remote control, it clicked and struck a bar, hence the term “clicker”. I think a lot of the reason many of us see anachronisms with things like touch-tone phones and remote controls is that most of us didn’t grow up with Don’s wealth or social status. People like him will always be able to afford the most cutting edge things and the masses have to wait a little while before the prices of those things come down. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/30 "2013-04-29T15:22:13Z")
My cousins had one of those. When they changed TVs, my aunt let me take the remote home and take it apart. Two metal rods inside with some sort of striking mechanism. I thought the previous week’s episode showed a remote as well. Actually, I want to say it was at the Campbell household so maybe a couple weeks ago. I could easily be misremembering. **Bob Ducca** , I thought the guy was one of Roger’s LSD companions as well but with the insurance talk and him being at the awards show, I figured he might just be related to the company in some way not previously shown. > [@Bob Ducca](#): > > I think a lot of the reason many of us see anachronisms with things like touch-tone phones and remote controls is that most of us didn’t grow up with Don’s wealth or social status. People like him will always be able to afford the most cutting edge things and the masses have to wait a little while before the prices of those things come down. Seeing the color TV reminded me of the episode of The Wonder Years where the boys are scheming to get their father to purchase a color television instead of their lame B&W model. I don’t know what year that episode was placed in though. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/31 "2013-04-29T15:26:09Z")
Roger also said the guy once talked him off a rooftop, though he might have been joking. Does anybody else pick up on hints that Ginsberg’s father might be Jewish? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/32 "2013-04-29T16:14:37Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Does anybody here remember the aftermath of the assassination? Tense. Really, really tense. There wasn’t widespread rioting in St. Louis, but there were more than enough instances of broken windows and other small-time disturbances – including right in my own integrated neighborhood. Businesses actually stocked up on plywood, ready to board up the windows at a moment’s notice. Even without rioting there was a very high police presence, cars patrolling constantly, that sort of thing. In Baltimore, Gov. Spiro Agnew’s handling of the riots attracted the attention of Richard Nixon, but that’s another story for another time. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/33 "2013-04-29T16:18:50Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > I think a lot of the reason many of us see anachronisms with things like touch-tone phones and remote controls is that most of us didn’t grow up with Don’s wealth or social status. People like him will always be able to afford the most cutting edge things and the masses have to wait a little while before the prices of those things come down. That must be it. We were lower middle class, so no money for frills like that. I liked the episode for the most part, although I wish there was much less of the Betty story and the Abe story. Perhaps the writers are having trouble coming up with interesting ad campaign stories. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/34 "2013-04-29T16:20:34Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Perhaps the writers are having trouble coming up with interesting ad campaign stories. I don’t know, I found the Molotov cocktail insurance ad idea “interesting” at least. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/35 "2013-04-29T16:24:47Z")
Not my favorite episode. I especially didn’t like Don’s “confession” about his children. I get what it was about and all that but the writing seemed really poor, IMO. Too poetic or something, not sure, it just bugged me. I’m not a big fan of Peggy’s boyfriend, he seems a little passive-aggressive to me. When he left the dinner, he didn’t even bother to consider how Peggy was going to get home. And the whole ting with the condo, he was content to say nothing and be a dick in indirect ways about living there. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/36 "2013-04-29T16:31:06Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I wish there was much less of the Betty story and the Abe story. Henry Francis might be mad and he might be a man but he ain’t a Mad Men and I couldn’t care less about his run for the state legislature senate. ---
**Author:** ![Evin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@Evin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/37 "2013-04-29T16:31:39Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Peggy is getting a place on 84th and York (between 1st and York)? She’d be living a block away from where my sister lives now. (Not too far east for my sister…) My office is just a few blocks north of The Lorraine Motel. The sound of Cronkite describing Mayor Henry Loeb’s curfews was chilling, to say the least. This one hit me in the gut. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/38 "2013-04-29T17:29:38Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Henry Francis might be mad and he might be a man but he ain’t a Mad Men and I couldn’t care less about his run for the state legislature senate. I think it provides interesting material for Betty at least. I did like Don’s comforting of Bobby by saying “Henry’s not that important” and now Henry’s running for office. 😃 Also, Don’s speech about faking pride in your kids was great. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/39 "2013-04-29T17:43:59Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Does anybody else pick up on hints that Ginsberg’s father might be Jewish? I always assumed that was the case. We know that Ginsberg was born in a concentration camp, was adopted by Morris Ginsberg from Sweden, and identifies as Jewish. It stands to reason that Morris is Jewish too. ---
**Author:** ![stoplight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@stoplight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stoplight)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977/40 "2013-04-29T17:44:02Z")
Way out of context for Don to spill his imaginary guts to Megan. He did not wear it well and would have been so much better if Megan’s response was more like ours, confused and bewildered. A true Narcissist will make somebody pay for his attempt at being genuine 🙂 Agree on Betty becoming Henry’s ma…now we know why the black hair. And what us up with the kids, they do the oddest things sometimes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-6-05-the-flood-open-spoiler/656977.md?page=3)