# Mad-Men: 7.11 "Time & Life" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605 "2015-04-27T00:27:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/21 "2015-04-27T19:33:07Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Plus Joan’s new beau seems to be independently wealthy as well. At least rich enough to retire and buy an extra place in New York and spend his years “seeing the pyramids”. Assuming that doesn’t blow up in the next three episodes, she should be fine. Maybe he’ll buy SC&P? :dubious: ---
**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 27, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/22 "2015-04-27T19:44:56Z")
The _real_ question to come out of the whole school plotline is: Why didn’t _Pete_ go there, if his brother did? Probably failed the drawing test, too… ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/23 "2015-04-27T20:36:10Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > The _real_ question to come out of the whole school plotline is: Why didn’t _Pete_ go there, if his brother did? Probably failed the drawing test, too… I may have misunderstood but this was not a normal school but rather a school of the arts wasn’t it? ---
**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 27, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/24 "2015-04-27T20:40:15Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I didn’t get the MacDonald vs Campbell thing. According to Pete, Campbells have always attended that school. Why is the feud surfacing only now? It was pretty clear that “No room!” and “You were arrogant to apply only here!” were just excuses covering up the real reason. Did MacDonald only just become Admissions Officer? (He did look relatively young.) Or did I miss something? Pete didn’t attend this school. It’s pretty clear that this MacDonald guy wasn’t in charge of admissions when the rest of Pete’s family was attending. ---
**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 27, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/25 "2015-04-27T21:40:59Z")
Could be worse. Her backup school was Greendale. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/26 "2015-04-27T21:51:20Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I may have misunderstood but this was not a normal school but rather a school of the arts wasn’t it? Normal school. The Man Drawing test is a pretty typical kindergarten readiness test. The more you add the better an indicator it is of intelligence. My exceptionally bright niece did poorly on it because she added few details (like clothes etc). When my SIL asked her later why she drew such a plain drawing she answered that it was a newborn baby just delivered and just had the umbilical cord cut and was waiting for the pediatrician examine her. Yet by the picture she wasn’t scored very high. Funny story (she’s almost done with her Phd, btw). [http://www.jonahlehrer.com/blog/2014/8/27/the-draw-a-person-test](http://www.jonahlehrer.com/blog/2014/8/27/the-draw-a-person-test) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/27 "2015-04-28T01:45:15Z")
Wasn’t this a much better episode because it focused on the principles at Stirling Cooper (and the only new characters were peripherals)? This is the real fan service. It was everything we’ve been asking for during the past couple of seasons. A Mad Men that felt like a real Mad Men. Finally. Now let’s hope that Weiner doesn’t blow it in the time remaining. This would actually have worked fine as a closer. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/28 "2015-04-28T02:32:21Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Still don’t like Joan’s new man. Either do I but it made for a good feint towards the everyone moves to California idea. > [@alphaboi867](#): > > Yeah, McCann isn’t going to do much more for her other than keeping her on Avon to save the trouble of training a new account rep. Things will be better for Peggy, but she will never be Creative Director unless she starts her own company. On the other hand Joan doesn’t need to work anymore, and she doesn’t seem to be all that in to the account management part of her job. Without the prestige of being a partner she’s just going to bolt, and I doubt McCann is going to put up any kind of fight to keep her. She can’t leave. She is under a four year contract and has to work for them in that time or she loses the money. She has too much pride to do a crappy job. Finally a great episode. ---
**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 28, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/29 "2015-04-28T02:47:25Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > > [@Lightray](#): > > > > The _real_ question to come out of the whole school plotline is: Why didn’t _Pete_ go there, if his brother did? Probably failed the drawing test, too… > > I may have misunderstood but this was not a normal school but rather a school of the arts wasn’t it? It was [Greenwich Country Day School](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Country_Day_School). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/30 "2015-04-28T06:30:08Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > …Still don’t like Joan’s new man. It’s Captain Freakin’ Pike! What’s not to like? ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/31 "2015-04-28T07:25:38Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > On the other hand Joan doesn’t need to work anymore, and she doesn’t seem to be all that in to the account management part of her job. She might not need to work anymore, but I think it’s the exact opposite. She loves being an account woman. She was so disappointed last season when Ted turned landing Avon over to Pete that she basically stole them from him. She went the extra mile to get the information that would land that shoe business that was going to leave them and go in house. Last episode she told Captain Pike in bed “I finally got the job I’ve always wanted.” She looked pretty distressed in the cab with Pete when she said “Hobart listed off accounts for everyone but me.” I have no idea where she will end up after the merge, but I think it’s pretty clear she loves her job. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/32 "2015-04-28T12:25:19Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Either do I but it made for a good feint towards the everyone moves to California idea. > > She can’t leave. She is under a four year contract and has to work for them in that time or she loses the money. She has too much pride to do a crappy job. > > Finally a great episode. Wait. She DOES have to stay to get the money? I thought she already had it. So now she has to keep working to get the million dollars, or whatever it was? If so, maybe she will quit and take up with her rich new old man. (but I thought she and her son were now financially secure and she was just working because, loved her Sterling Cooper job.) ---
**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 28, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/33 "2015-04-28T15:47:55Z")
Last week Roger tells Don (I think it was Don), “You have to stay, unless you want to give up the rest of the money”. And a few weeks ago, Pete tells Ken that the payments are staggered “for tax purposes”. I think that they are getting their payouts over the course of their contract and, if they leave prematurely, they forfeit the remainder of their payouts. Cutler, from the sound of it, just sold out his shares somehow and took off for sunnier pastures. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/34 "2015-04-28T16:00:03Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Last week Roger tells Don (I think it was Don), “You have to stay, unless you want to give up the rest of the money”. And a few weeks ago, Pete tells Ken that the payments are staggered “for tax purposes”. > > I think that they are getting their payouts over the course of their contract and, if they leave prematurely, they forfeit the remainder of their payouts. Cutler, from the sound of it, just sold out his shares somehow and took off for sunnier pastures. And Joan said something this week about how they can’t quit because they have four year contracts. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/35 "2015-04-28T17:14:22Z")
Interesting episode in that I hadn’t thought about what must happen to the agency. If we’re to take this semi-seriously, as the show does itself, there is no known descendant of Sterling-Cooper today… so something has to happen to it. An unexpected turn that should have been obvious. As for the partners’ options: Slavery being illegal even in 1970, they can all quit any time they like, but only by losing further payouts (in addition to salary, etc.) - and by not working in the industry for four years because of their noncompete agreements. Uh, strike what I said about slavery… ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/36 "2015-04-28T17:34:45Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > As for the partners’ options: Slavery being illegal even in 1970, they can all quit any time they like, but only by losing further payouts (in addition to salary, etc.) - and by not working in the industry for four years because of their noncompete agreements. That’s exactly it. Thanks for explaining it better than my attempts. ---
**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 28, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/37 "2015-04-28T17:35:17Z")
The whole California thing didn’t make sense to me. This was ultimately not a real estate issue. McCann had decided to discontinue Sterling Cooper as a separate entity. Why did they think that pointing out the existence of the California office would change their minds? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/38 "2015-04-28T17:44:49Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The whole California thing didn’t make sense to me. > > This was ultimately not a real estate issue. McCann had decided to discontinue Sterling Cooper as a separate entity. Why did they think that pointing out the existence of the California office would change their minds? The reason they were given to dismantle SC was that renting two floors in the Time-Life building was too expensive when they had space with the home office. The downside was the they would have to drop conflicting accounts once they became absorbed into McCann. The CA office was much smaller and cheaper, so SC argued it was a good investment that let them keep profitable accounts by staying a separate entity in cheaper real estate. ---
**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 28, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/39 "2015-04-28T17:57:27Z")
I thought they had four-year _noncompete_ contracts. So, they could quit, they just wouldn’t be able to work in the industry if they did so. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605/40 "2015-04-28T18:44:05Z")
Four year with a non compete. Money over four years and if they decided to quit anyway, the couldn’t work in the industry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-men-7-11-time-life-open-spoilers/718605.md?page=3)