# Mad-Men: 7.02"A Day's Work" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576 "2014-04-21T01:27:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/41 "2014-04-22T01:16:04Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Pete has lost whatever it was that made him anything other than a ball of slime. Pete’s always been a ball of slime - I’ve hated him since season 1. I watch his scenes to see the character get slammed. Needless to say, I enjoyed his parts of this episode. 🙂 ---
**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:** [April 22, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/42 "2014-04-22T02:21:38Z")
I really love Jim Cutler. He’s a perfect foil for Roger. > [@alphaboi867](#): > > The non-compete clause only applies if Don resigns; not if he quits. You mean “not if he is fired,” I think. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/43 "2014-04-22T02:28:45Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#): > > Lou’s blandness is deliberate, I think. Probably the partners just wanted someone more predictable than Don. He might not be able to come up with brilliant campaign ideas, but he also won’t make an embarrassing revelation about his background in the middle of a client meeting, or make a secretary so mad that she throws something across the room at his head. Dawn blew up at him, but that was a pretty routine office outburst, actually kind of mild by SC&P standards. I enjoy his interactions with the others. It’s an amusing dynamic. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/44 "2014-04-22T02:52:48Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Hell, he should have just offered her a cigarette. I thought he was, until he said “French fry?” ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/45 "2014-04-22T02:55:28Z")
I really enjoyed this episode. I think Lou is interesting in his blandness (if that makes sense). He’s just a boring boss, which is making Peggy all sorts of crazy. She knows she could do better in that role. I do like Dawn and Shirley getting promoted by racism - that was a fun side effect of Bert’s uncomfortableness. Poor Roger though. Basically has no voice in the company anymore - he’s like Don, but can still go to the office. That final scene and “I love you” was just a shot in the heart though. What a powerful scene and great acting by Jon Hamm. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/46 "2014-04-22T03:22:24Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > …You mean “not if he is fired,” I think. Yes, that’s exactly what I meant. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/47 "2014-04-22T05:16:59Z")
I thought this was a really great episode. Most of the best bits have already been mentioned, but i really loved Roger in the meeting, making a series of inappropriate comments and apologizing after each one. “Sorry sweetheart” “Sorry again” Then just a resigned look as he does it again. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/48 "2014-04-22T07:47:52Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Really enjoyed this episode. Loved the scene where Roger hung up on Pete-- I know it was a minor thing, but I laughed out loud. And when Don asked Sally what to write in the note and she said “Just tell the truth”. They even addressed the hat issue I raised last week!! Could the mini skirts be any mini-er? I mmust have missed it, but how did they address the hat issue? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/49 "2014-04-22T08:59:53Z")
Seems kinda weird to keep Don on payroll but not producing anything. If they’re concerned about him weirding out clients, why not just keep him out of meetings? Plus his breakdown in front of the Hershey people didn’t really seem that much worse then what the other SCP folks have gotten up to. I’m not sure I understand the whole “on leave” thing. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2014, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/50 "2014-04-22T12:15:19Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > I mmust have missed it, but how did they address the hat issue? Roger told Lou what he thought was an amusing story as he got into work in the morning-- _someone else here will remember it better than I_– the punch line was that a guy called Roger a kike. And Roger says to Lou, “Must be the hat, eh?” The point being that hats have so gone out of style that only orthodox Jewish men routinely wear them anymore. The story falls completely flat on Lou, like everything else, and he just says, “Weird things happen to you.” For an ad man, Lou appears to have not one molecule of imagination. He’s more than boring. He’s like that basketball that the Harlem Globetrotters have that when you try to bounce it, it just goes _splat_. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/51 "2014-04-22T12:22:34Z")
This episode highlights the problem of cast bloat the show is experiencing. Too many cast members, too little time to devote to most of them. Hey, it’s Stan and the other guy! Bam, they’re done. Etc. The best parts of the episode were the ones like with Don and Sally. Spend some time with them. Get the conversation going. See a change of heart happen. That eats up episode time though, so you can’t do that for many characters. While Peggy got screen time, she was practically just monologuing. Perhaps to reflect her loneliness? (Still awaiting the first appearance of Bobby. Will we get yet another one?) Pete having to deal with a woman who is also career minded is a bit interesting. Again, Allan Havey continues to disappoint. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/52 "2014-04-22T12:26:19Z")
I feel like they’re building to another split. Half the company takes Chevy, the other half takes the dealers. That will be how Don comes back. I felt like the “I wouldn’t want you as an adversary” comment on the elevator at the end was foreshadowing. It can’t be that predictable, can it? I bet not. ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/53 "2014-04-22T12:40:37Z")
I just watched the first episode of the season again and I noticed that in the final shot the lights in the building over Don’s head form a pretty good cross. Any discussion on the symbolism of that shot? I’ve always been of the opinion that the final episode will have Don taking a header off his balcony. A cross could be a symbol of sacrifice he makes for his family. Or perhaps it’s a symbol of the death of Don’s downward spiral and the resurrection of the true Don. In episode 2 he certainly seems more on top of the ball and he was truthful with Sally. ---
**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 22, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/54 "2014-04-22T13:14:10Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Too many cast members, too little time to devote to most of them. Hey, it’s Stan and the other guy! Bam, they’re done. Etc. I don’t entirely disagree about the cast bloat but I don’t think Stan and Ginsberg are a great example. They’ve pretty much always been auxiliary characters to prop up the main cast. It was sort of bizarre when the show took that brief turn into Ginsberg’s home and dating life which was apparently just as quickly dropped. Stan we’ve never seen outside a work setting (including him and Peggy in the hotel -?- room). > [@Anonymous\_Coward](#): > > I’ve always been of the opinion that the final episode will have Don taking a header off his balcony. God, I hope not. If they don’t have a better ending planned than “Let’s have him fall just like in the credits!” I’m gonna, you know, bitch a lot on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/55 "2014-04-22T13:32:01Z")
Duck slept with Peggy. Duck brought Stan in to replace Don. Where’s Duck? ---
**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 22, 2014, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/56 "2014-04-22T13:55:37Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > I feel like they’re building to another split. Half the company takes Chevy, the other half takes the dealers. That will be how Don comes back. My job is working as a media buyer (Harry Crane style) for the ad agency that currently has the Chevy dealer associations as clients, this episode hit pretty close to home. ---
**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 22, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/57 "2014-04-22T13:56:45Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > Duck slept with Peggy. Duck brought Stan in to replace Don. Where’s Duck? Duck is a freelancing headhunter. He just finds talent and takes a fee. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/58 "2014-04-22T14:15:02Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Seems kinda weird to keep Don on payroll but not producing anything. If they’re concerned about him weirding out clients, why not just keep him out of meetings? > > Plus his breakdown in front of the Hershey people didn’t really seem that much worse then what the other SCP folks have gotten up to. > > I’m not sure I understand the whole “on leave” thing. The Hershey meltdown was only the last straw in a series of “Don is out of control” events. It reached the point where they can’t trust him in _anything_ – outbursts in client meetings, drama in the office, series of drunken affairs keeping him away from work all the time. His mad skillz simply weren’t worth the cost, anymore. But they don’t want him working for the competition. That would harm SCDP’s reputation _and_ his mad skillz are an actual threat to SCDP, too. If he is “on leave”, he is bound by his non-compete contract with SCDP. If they fire him, he can immediately go work for the competition. So they continue to pay his salary to keep him on the “non-compete” hook, until it has been long enough for Don to be old news (won’t take long; this is advertising, after all). At that point, he won’t be an attractive hire for the competition, so they’ll be able to fire Don and buy him out of the partnership. > [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > I feel like they’re building to another split. Half the company takes Chevy, the other half takes the dealers. That will be how Don comes back. > > I felt like the “I wouldn’t want you as an adversary” comment on the elevator at the end was foreshadowing. It can’t be that predictable, can it? I bet not. They’re _already_ adversaries, and both he and Roger know it. I don’t think they can split; the only reason Chevy went with them was the merger, and by splitting they’d be too small to service Chevy. There is definitely a restructuring of some sort in the making, though. Don is out, and Roger is being marginalized. I think we can count on Lou’s bland incompetence screwing over SCDP really soon, though. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/59 "2014-04-22T14:25:35Z")
I guess I’m the only one who is not interested in the Don/Sally story. He’s a gorgeous, troubled, asshole father who means well, and she’s the snotty, judgmental (typical) teenager you would expect from her dysfunctional background. Their relationship leaves me cold. When the Human Potential Movement kicks in, she can do some Transactional Analysis, Primal Scream Therapy, take an est weekend with Werner Erhard, go out to Big Sur and soak in a hot tub, and eventually make a pilgrimage to India to do some TM with Ram Dass, the Beatles, and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Then write a book about it when she’s 55 and people are looking back with fascination on the 60’s and 70’s. She’ll be fine. ---
**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 22, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576/60 "2014-04-22T14:30:02Z")
Well, it’s too late for her to go to India at the same time as the Beatles; they’ve already been there. But Woodstock is later this year. Will Sally go to that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-02-a-days-work-open-spoilers/686576.md?page=4)