[QUOTE=AMC]
Don is troubled by a letter; Peggy may seek a new future on a risky venture; Roger receives a phone call; Pete and Cutler butt heads.
[/QUOTE]
Last episode of the year; which is a huge shame given that last week we finally got an episode that was up to the show’s old standards.
Called it.
That was a good guess about Bert.
And this was a good episode… up until that WTF ending. Dream sequence, really? At least no drugs involved this time.
I loved that WTF ending.
Hey, they had a guy with a musical theater background in the cast. Perhaps they figured they had to showcase his talents one way or another.
The musical number went on about 15 seconds too long for me; it took me out of the story instead of enhancing it.
But I just have to give a shout-out to set decorator Claudette Didul for achieving an extraordinarily level of geeky historic accuracy: Megan’s green telephone is a geographically accurate Automatic Electric phone, as General Telephone would have installed in the West Los Angeles-Bel Air-Topanga area. All the New York phones are Bell System Western Electric equipment, none of it with the modular plugs introduced in the mid-1970s. And Roger’s phone has no dial, reminding us that he lives in a hotel suite.
I didn’t catch who Betty’s houseguests were. Was that explained?
And they mentioned that Joan’s five-percent stake was worth $1.5 million. According to an inflation calculator I found online, thats worth about $9.5 million today. In other words, easily enough to retire and live quite well on the income.
Except she’ll have a five year contract. Not that she isn’t young enough to have a long and happy retirement in five years.
Harry got screwed!
The dreams of Draper Campbell & Olson seem a lot more distant with two-thirds of them signing contracts with McCann.
Eh, we’ve seen Don weasel his way out of agreements and contracts all the time. I’m curious if they’ll tell McCann about Dick Whitman, though…
hm. Pete’s divorce isn’t final yet, is it?
Vulture already has an interesting article about the song Robert Morse performs, and the way it dovetails into the lunar landing theme of the episode.
RIP Bert Cooper, we’ll miss your barefoot plodding around in the background, and your oblique objectivist words of … well I hesitate to say wisdom, let’s just say pith.
I know already a lot of people will hate it, but I am kind of impressed that the show steadfastly refused to provide a big SHOCKING game-changing cliffhanger that everyone expected the ‘mid-season break’ to end on. Instead, everything could just simply end right there and then: It’s the end of the 1960s, most of the plot-lines have been wrapped up, Bert’s death serves as a neat “end of an era” note to play out from. I understand the notion of leaving the audience with bated breath, but it seems almost cliche to leave fates hanging in the balance at this point. Don is about to lose his job, Megan didn’t get murdered by savage hippies, Sally didn’t eat brown acid at Woodstock, no just a brief whimsical musical interlude until next year. Kudos.
No it isn’t. Anyone care to know what kind if settlement Trudy would walk away with in 1969 NYS? Would it make any difference if Pete could file in CA? IIRC when Roger got divorced Mona she didn’t have any actual legal claim on his assets, but was entitled to a huge alimony (though part of that was because Roger had to pay her off to get her to file for divorce in the first place, he didn’t have any grounds to divorce her). Either way Pete’s not going to be happy.
The wife was a friend of Betty’s from Bryn Mawr; though she must have been 2-3 yrs ahead of her if she has an 18 yr old son (or she dropped out to get married). Was anyone else expecting Sally & him to get caught doing something? Or even Bobby & the younger brother (as much as it’d suck for Bobby I’d love to see Betty’s reaction to that ;)). I’m also a little surprised Joan still had a 5% stake even after the merger, but at least Pete’s twice the woman she is. 
Not just some guy - Robert Morse! I loved it.
Don is back. He talked Peggy into doing the Burger Chef bit. He talked Ted into staying. The Don/Peggy team is back. Roger earns his keep. And Sally kisses the nerd, not the jock.
I really didn’t expect this half season to end on an upward trajectory like this.
Good episode.
But was it just me, or were some of the effects terrible? The prop plane looked like an effect right from the 60s, then you could tell they used fake backgrounds in Meghan’s scene, and on the jetliner. Not huge deals, but I’ve never noticed any problems like that in the show before, let alone 3x in one episode
Exactly! I’ve been waiting for Robert Morse to bust a move ever since the show began. And he did not disappoint. Even if it was only a swan song.
Great episode.
Also, as a long-time business road warrior, I could totally sympathize with being stuck in a “dry” state on a Sunday night wishing you could find a drink, but coming up short. Arghggh!! Talk about frustration!
Two interesting tidbits: the older boy houseguest was wearing an OJ Simpson USC Jersey. And did the scene of Bert watching Neil Armstrong have a Jackson Pollock on the wall behind him?
The credits included thanks to a museum for a Pollock, so I guess that was the real deal. The credits also mentioned a Rothko, so there was probably one on a wall somewhere there as well.
Great episode.
Yes. Harry did get screwed.
I get the feeling that maybe Harry reminds the showrunner of someone in his past and he likes to take every opportunity to stick it to Harry.
Harry just cannot catch a break.
In a fair world, Harry would tell them all to “stick it” and go start a company like Apple Computers. But, I think that Weiner just may have a vendetta against someone and that he gets some satisfaction repeatedly sticking it to poor Harry.
Just a feeling I have.
That’s my main complaint about it: it took up time that could have been used for more “Mad Men”.
Good episode.
Can’t remember last time I enjoyed the original cast of characters as much as I did watching this episode.
Liked it so much I can even forgive the musical number at the end.
Would someone please explain why Roger went to Mccain . I don’t quite get it. Avd they would give cash bonus?? Business mergers for the remedial please;)