Only Cooper and Pete know about Dick Whitman. Don didn’t spill those beans at the Hershey meeting.
McCann has to buy the partners’ shares with cash in order to gain 51 percent control. It’s not a bonus.
Lane killed himself before Don ever told anyone else about the embezzlement.
Cutler is a jerk but his idea of building an ad agency around data-crunching with the 360 is actually quite brilliant, decades ahead of its time but still quite feasible by 1969. He and poor Crane should form their own agency.
It was Harry’s idea though. I think that Cutler has proven to be a “me too” kind of guy.
The WTF ending (which I think is becoming the official name) cracked me up for a slightly obscure reason, which may not be entirely unconnected.
In the 1950 novella “The Man Who Sold the Moon,” the capstone to his Future History series, Robert Heinlein has his protagonist frantically using marketing techniques to sway public opinion about the first (commercial) trip to the moon. He tells a minion, hey, remember this song - and sings a few bars of “The Best Things In Life Are Free” - and adds, I want it back on the charts in two weeks. The combination of a moon landing, that song and the naked use of the levers of marketing is not a common one. Maybe it’s totally unconnected, but it made me laugh. More so than Robert Morse’s soft-sock.
Here’s that Q&A with Robert Morse. Here’s one snippet:
I really enjoyed that episode! A great ending to the half season and Robert Morse dancing and singing just was the perfect capper (IMO). I also almost forgot about Meredith trying to ‘comfort’ Don because there was just so much great stuff in the episode.
Peggy really nailed that pitch. That was fantastic stuff. And Roger made one heck of a last second deal. I think while we are focused on this half-season being the redemption of Don - it was also the redemption of Peggy and Roger (at least from where they were in Episode 1 of this season).
Interesting that the nerd’s name was Neil.
I loved all the high points and I’ll miss old Bert! That dance number was something else. The look on Don’s face was magical: bewildered, happy, amazed, sad. Dancing in argyle socks: one giant soft-shoe for mankind.
What about Peggy and her little boy Julio? Mommy that I am, I was crying with her when he told her he was moving away. Then she left the impression that it was her 10-year-old, watching TV back in New York. <sniff>
I loved the look on Don’s face when Peggy said that. 10 year old waiting at home? Wha?
For all of those feeling sorry for Harry Crane, if he hadn’t spilled the beans to Don in LA the whole thing could have played out differently.
Harry wasn’t ready for prime time.
The AV Club recap of this episode reminded me that Peggy gave up a child for adoption a few years earlier. They suggested that she views Julio as sort of the reincarnation of that child. Clearly she feels maternal towards Julio.
The YouTube video of Bert’s farewell. He has some game for an 83 year old.
I missed Don’s look but it just occurred to me (duh) that Peggy got pregnant in Season One, 1960. Her son would be close to Julio’s age by now.
[edit: That’ll teach me not to click Page Two of the thread before posting]
Yeah, Harry’s never been ready for prime time. He may be good at running the TV department, but the guy is a gaffe factory and he’s abrasive and petulant. He was only up for partner because he was part of Cutler’s vision of a high-tech, data-driven ad agency, and because Cutler saw him as an ally who would side with him on partner votes.
This season gets the late 1960s attitudes to computers quite well. Computers were in glass houses and dehumanizing. Grace Slick sang about computer killers being part of the revolutionary army. Not long before Ted Nelson and pretty long before PCs.
It is a bit of a war between the computers and creative, with Cutler being on the computer side. And the computer got its first victim already.
I vaguely remember a sociology class in which the professor discussed the changing attitudes towards computers. In 1969, companies were proud of having a computer so it was behind glass so it could be shown off. But later, there were bombings and protests against computers so they were put in secure rooms.
FWIW, Sharon Tate wasn’t murdered until about nine weeks after the moon landing, not that I’m rooting for that particular outcome or anything…
The moon landing did kind of coincide with Chappaquiddick. Mad Men is under no obligation to jam in every news item of the era, but it might have been an interesting mention.
Mary Jo Kopechne and Bert could have done a water dance.
I loved that Bert’s maid was sitting down with her feet up watching TV with him, like an old married couple.
Harry didn’t get screwed, he did it to himself. His marriage was going downhill and he wanted to stall signing until after the divorce terms were settled, so his future ex wouldn’t get anything from him becoming a partner. Don advised him to just sign the deal. Harry didn’t and he deserved what happened.
Loved the Robert Morse dance. A perfect moment for him. I got it right away that this was How to Suceed … . In other shows this might be labeled Emmy bait, but given how poorly the Emmies have taken to MM lately, this can be considered just a nice send off. And in socks, too!
Re: Bert’s Rothko. Bert bought a Rothko for his office way back when. People snuck into his office to look at it and wonder.
They really overdid the grownup makeup and hair for Sally this time. Kiernan is only 14. Creepy.
The cityscape background for Megan seems wrong. She is supposed to live in a canyon. Why they decided to show Megan in a bikini again is weird. Liked how she was okay with Don coming out and seeing a movie with her. Not so much moving out.
I think on the TV at one point there was an Episode of ST:TOS showing. The one with a (??) psychic? (I keep coming up with Jane Wyatt, but that’s not it. She played Spock’s mom.)
Mrs. FtG points out that Betty is completely irrelevant to the story. She isn’t representing any sort of 50s housewife becoming liberated or anything. She’s just there. Her storyline is over.
Note that a key reason Roger went to McCann is to save Don. McCann wants Don and Ted. Cutler has to go along with that. He also wants to save Ted. Each gets what they want and it’s win for both.
The percentages don’t add up. (And since when does a 5% partner get an equal vote to 10%+ partners?) Pete couldn’t have had a 20% share before the merger. He was a junior partner. Lane dying frees up some shares, etc., but still that’s too big a share after all the dust settles.
Ted is in the thralls of Don. He went along with the merger idea. And now he gets hope from Don. Weird.
And he’s going to be back in NYC. But Don and Peggy are getting close. Soap opera ensues.
Speaking of intrigue. I think the Meredith and Don kiss is going to be a set up for something. E.g., Meredith gets mad when Don chooses to date someone else and she seeks revenge. Maybe Don has Dawn transfer and fire her, sexual harassment lawsuit arises (never mind who started what).