# Mad-Men: 7.05 "The Runaways" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221 "2014-05-12T00:15:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/41 "2014-05-13T00:10:54Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > So I suppose Don crashing the Phillip Morris meeting counts as “going off script”. No, that’s the genius of Old Don. He is still a partner, so he technically belongs in that meeting, and “Let’s humiliate Don and/or remove him from the agency,” which he literally went along with, _was_ the script. He is to office politics snares what Jackie Chan is to randomly placed objects in a large room. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/42 "2014-05-13T00:21:03Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > No, that’s the genius of Old Don. He is still a partner, so he technically belongs in that meeting, and “Let’s humiliate Don and/or remove him from the agency,” which he literally went along with, _was_ the script. He is to office politics snares what Jackie Chan is to randomly placed objects in a large room. That is not, by any stretch, why Don was safe doing what he did. He did, in fact, do _exactly_ what he had agreed not to do. Don was safe in doing so because the way he set it up, it is the _client_ who will insist on keeping Don around – no matter that he gave them cause to void his partnership shares and get rid of him, to do so they’d lose the client. Cutler recognized that is what is going to happen, hence his parting comment “you think this saved you?” It’s only the client’s soon-to-be insistence that Don be their public whipping boy that’s saving him; if the client didn’t swallow Don’s bait, Don would’ve been out the door the moment Cutler could have gotten a partner meeting 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:** [May 13, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/43 "2014-05-13T00:52:10Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > …Between Betty “checking the Sterno” and Megan lighting her smoke on the stove - both wearing long sleeve flammable 60s fabrics, I had the oddest feeling one of them was going to get torched à la lawn-mower-over-the-foot style… Glad I wasn’t the only one thinking that. I also love how Betty, the Wellesley alumna who speaks fluent Italian, insisted on handling the food for the dinner party herself while leaving it to her \*maid \*to help Bobby with his homework. :rolleyes: Somebody’s got her priorities in order. It would be long before he’s off to the loving embrace of an all-boy boarding school. > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I wanted to cheer Betty on when she pushed back against Henry. As awful as she is to her kids, she’s from the generation that watched the feminist movement from afar, and didn’t always realize how controlled and stifled her life was. It was really weird watching _Betty_ be on the receiving end of someone acting like an ass without having done anything herself to deserve it. > [@Jophiel](#): > > …I think Don was sincerely happy to hear from someone from that life again and disappointed when she had supposedly split before he could get there. Me too, but Don was never under any illusion that Stephanie only called because she needed money. He was expected her to leave as soon as she got the money (speaking of how hard would it be for her to actually cash Megan’s check?); which is why he didn’t bat an eye or ask any follow questions when Megan said she left after the money came up. > [@Jophiel](#): > > …So I suppose Don crashing the Phillip Morris meeting counts as “going off script”. It’s a moot point if Phillip Morris makes putting Don on the account a condition of working with SCP (which pissed Culter off even more since he intended to use Phillip Morris as an excuse to fire Don :p). > [@SaharaTea](#): > > Betty doesn’t get any sympathy from me. She’ll probably never see the contradiction between her contempt for people who dare to question the status quo, and her own dissatisfaction with being under Henry’s control. She’s a perpetual child who will probably always be dependent on some man. Agreed; she’d be completely unable to function without a man to support her. She’s never come close to being on her own. I’m absolutely positive Daddy was still paying her bills during that brief “modelling career” she sandwiched in between college and marrying Don. And if Henry had just briefed beforehand what her opinion was supposed to be she wouldn’t have given in a 2nd thought. :smack: > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That bit was a little confusing. Presumably after he mutilated himself, he walked into a hospital and they sewed him up without locking him up or otherwise inquiring as to the reason for his injury? It makes no sense. Would (could) a hospital in 1969 even reattach the nipple, or would they just sew up wound and send him on his way (to the psych ward)? 😕 Even if Ginsberg could afford it was there anything a plastic surgeon could do? ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/44 "2014-05-13T01:09:55Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Would (could) a hospital in 1969 even reattach the nipple, or would they just sew up wound and send him on his way (to the psych ward)? 😕 Even if Ginsberg could afford it was there anything a plastic surgeon could do? It’s not a top priority. That operation is as useless as tits on a boar. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/45 "2014-05-13T02:13:38Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Me too, but Don was never under any illusion that Stephanie only called because she needed money. … STEPHANIE! You should get some sort of points or something for paying attention enough to remember her name. You may be the only one in the thread. 😃 ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/46 "2014-05-13T02:20:16Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > [li]The tobacco maneuvering really felt like classic Mad Men for five minutes, and check out Don in the brown suit! Tom and Lorenzo will have something to say about that.[/li][/LIST] Wearing a completely mismatching hat. Ugh. I couldn’t look at that combination. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/47 "2014-05-13T02:36:45Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > It’s a moot point if Phillip Morris makes putting Don on the account a condition of working with SCP (which pissed Culter off even more since he intended to use Phillip Morris as an excuse to fire Don :p). Oh, I fully understand why Don did it. He was a dead man anyway if SCP got the account so his only salvation was in directly appealing to Philip Morris to make himself indispensable. I was just thinking of his permanent record, so to speak. It’s sort of interesting that when SCDP merged with CGC, you’d have expected Don vs Ted to be main conflict. Instead, Ted’s off being “useless” in California and Cutler’s the one trying to purge Don at any price. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/48 "2014-05-13T02:43:08Z")
It was my interpretation that Ginsberg meant “If you cut yourself you can go to a hospital and they’ll sew you up, but if you go there asking them to cut something off you’re out of luck!” So he didn’t go to any hospital/clinic/ER after he did the deed. He went in and asked them to do it and they said no and he left and did it himself. He did not return to be stitched up. Why would he want to get stitched up? He needed a way to keep the data flowing out. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/49 "2014-05-13T03:04:00Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > …(speaking of how hard would it be for her to actually cash Megan’s check?)… I wondered about that, too. Going into a bank, with probably no I.d., and coming out with fifty $20 bills? I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/50 "2014-05-13T04:10:17Z")
It wasn’t so hard in 1969. She’s in California, so there are branch banks. She goes to the nearest branch of Don & Megan’s bank, shows her drivers license—remember, she says she has a car—and leaves with the cash. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/51 "2014-05-13T04:26:42Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Wearing a completely mismatching hat. Ugh. I couldn’t look at that combination. Thanks for posting this. I too thought it was a horrendous getup I thought I was being nutty thinking how awful it was; it’s actually one of the main things I remember from the episode. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/52 "2014-05-13T07:03:03Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Cutler and Avery were going to hook a new big tobacco account and make the agency fire Don because the account would be worth too much to lose over Don’s being there. Don came in and presented the idea to Phillip Morris that they’d gain more prestige over their competitor (American Tobacco - Lucky Strikes) if they roped Don into an apology after Don had previously savaged the industry in a newspaper ad. See, I get that that’s what Don was offering. But… > [@](#): > > So now rather than PM saying “We’ll only give you the account if you ditch Don”, they’d say “We demand that Don be on the account”. That happened so fast, I’m having a hard time believing it. Wouldn’t the Philip Morris guys want to discuss it among themselves, and privately? Seems like they immediately went to “We don’t need to see his identification.” * * * The threesome may have been Megan’s way of distracting Don from the pretty clear indication that she’s shagging the guy she was dancing with. (Also, rawr.) * * * I got distracted for a minute. What did Betty say at the open house that got Henry so bent out of shape? ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/53 "2014-05-13T12:00:18Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > That happened so fast, I’m having a hard time believing it. Wouldn’t the Philip Morris guys want to discuss it among themselves, and privately? They didn’t conclude the deal then and there. Don just left them to consider it. > [@](#): > > I got distracted for a minute. What did Betty say at the open house that got Henry so bent out of shape? She expressed a pro-Vietnam War opinion when Henry’s president and party were now seeking to end the war. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/54 "2014-05-13T12:06:26Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > Thanks for posting this. I too thought it was a horrendous getup I thought I was being nutty thinking how awful it was; it’s actually one of the main things I remember from the episode. It’s burned into my brain. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/55 "2014-05-13T12:15:36Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > It wasn’t so hard in 1969. She’s in California, so there are branch banks. She goes to the nearest branch of Don & Megan’s bank, shows her drivers license—remember, she says she has a car—and leaves with the cash. Yeah. Stephanie was in a bad situation but was not a hopeless druggie. She had a car & ID & some sane friends on Oakland. I could see her resuming her education once she has the kid. But she would have enjoyed talking to Don… ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/56 "2014-05-13T12:47:29Z")
Several comments about Don’s brown suit and mismatching hat; Any speculation on the reason behind the get-up? It could not have been without purpose, right? ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/57 "2014-05-13T12:51:34Z")
Brown suits went through a period of popularity in the early 70s, didn’t they? I think the hat mismatch was more to call attention to how out-of-style hats had become. If brown suits were popular, hats weren’t, so probably no new brown hats to match the brown suits. Don may be trying to keep up with new styles (brown suit), but is falling behind nonetheless (still wearing a hat). Contrast with Cutler and Lou, who wore hats and suits of their days of yore. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/58 "2014-05-13T13:10:05Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > That happened so fast, I’m having a hard time believing it. Wouldn’t the Philip Morris guys want to discuss it among themselves, and privately? Seems like they immediately went to “We don’t need to see his identification.” > [@Acsenray](#): > > They didn’t conclude the deal then and there. Don just left them to consider it. Right. Philip Morris hasn’t even given them their business yet. But Don knows that a PM account means he’s out unless PM demands otherwise. Nothing is a done deal but Don’s chances might have went from 0% to, say, 50%. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/59 "2014-05-13T13:14:20Z")
Very intense episode. Lot of strong emotions expressed all over the place. But not usually in an interesting way. No Joan, Roger, Bert, Pete, Ted or Ken. (Or Little Gene.) Cast bloat is a bitch. The Megan threesome stuff just didn’t play well. Inconsistent with Megan’s persona, didn’t suit what Don has been doing, etc. Fan service. I agree, who cares about Ginsberg? But it was definitely clear that he was treated for his wound professionally. The removal was not professional. They wouldn’t necessarily flagged him as needing to be put away if he was convincing in saying that “I cut myself shaving.” or some such. Betty is smart, she speaks Italian! (Sheez.) The guy Betty and Henry were talking to at the party with the striped tie and checkered jacket. I know it was 1969, but still, didn’t this guy look in the mirror? I agree, Don went off script. Cutler wins. Don is out. I don’t believe for one second that Cutler would think otherwise. Stephanie is in Oakland. Oakland is west of [Altamont](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Free_Concert). Marigold/Margaret is somewhere near Bethel, NY. I think both festivals are going to visited in later episodes. One line used in the _Gimme Shelter_ trailer was something like “4 births, 4 deaths and a whole lot of scared people.” Stephanie will have given birth before Altamont, however. One trope in such shows is that there is a couple who want to have children but can’t and a pregnant girl shows up. But since there is no such couple on the show AFAIK, we will hopefully avoid this. (Even Ken and Cynthia have a kid.) I don’t know why so many people are surprised that Don and Megan are still together. Yes, in _Field Trip_, they had a nasty fight, but they had a phone call where they partially reconciled. Too many articles assumed that they had broken up. The real low point came when Stan and the other guy were joking in the men’s room. Of course Lou was going to be in a stall. Could see that coming from Rye. Good shows don’t do trite crap like this. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221/60 "2014-05-13T13:18:51Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > She expressed a pro-Vietnam War opinion when Henry’s president and party were now seeking to end the war. In Betty’s defense, she thought she was speaking in support of Henry’s position. He did not tell her that the views he expressed privately were not the same as the views he was expressing publically. For once, Betty wasn’t the bad guy. I felt for her because she screwed up at her “job” and got blamed for it, even though it was her “boss’s” fault. I also felt for her because the best evidence of her non-stupidity she could come up with on short notice was “I speak Italian.” She may be immature, but she has never been portrayed as having low intelligence, but like so many upper middle class women of the time, she had no accomplishments of her own to speak of. Or maybe she wasn’t giving herself credit for the things she did do. It brings to mind an anecdote that my mom told me recently. Around 1975 or 6, she did a lot of volunteer work for my nursery school. In the newsletter, she was acknowledged as Mrs. Dadsname Lastname. She was really annoyed at that. She absolutely didn’t mind being addressed that way socially, but in this case, SHE did the work, and my father had nothing to do with it. Why was he being given de facto credit? Note that this was after the womens’ movement had caught fire. Maybe in 1969 she wouldn’t have even thought to question it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-05-the-runaways-open-spoilers/688221.md?page=4)