603 replies to this topic

[PolkaDotty]

Megan rises again? Now Megan is the one re-inventing herself. I'm glad she's out of the office. Like Harry said, we don't have to worry about what she's going to say/do anymore.

Edited by PolkaDotty, May 6, 2012 @ 10:11 PM.

[Inquisitionist]

Never mind. Duplicate thread.

Edited by Inquisitionist, May 6, 2012 @ 10:11 PM.

[CarolfromAlabam]

How will Don react if she gets a part on Broadway? Interesting?

[mickbeth]

Pete and Beth: Beth has that fuck-it-all attitude that Sylvia Plath had regarding her husband's infidelities. Pete is going to go through the wringer with that one.

[mickbeth]

duplicate

Edited by mickbeth, May 6, 2012 @ 10:15 PM.

[DimeStormRing]

How will Don react if she gets a part on Broadway? Interesting?

Hope he reacts just like special guest star Rory: Draw a heart on the window and then coldly make it disappear. Totally waiting for that .gif to make the rounds.

[CookieChica]

The only thing sticking with me from this episode is that Mr. Belding gained a lot of weight.

[Brooklynista]

I think it was a wrap for Megan once she put that apron on. Don has always gone for the powerful, strong woman. To me, the actress dream seems a touch flighty at her age.

What's next for Pete? Boiling rabbits?

[dupreesgal]

I thought Peggy was going to slap Megan when she said that she was thinking of quitting. Don and Peggy understand each other because the live for advertising. Everything else is secondary and people that do not think that way are confusing to them. What was with Don and the open elevator shaft? Rory from Gilmore Girls and Mr. belding ruined it by taking me out of the Mad Men world.

[over30patheticgroupie]

Am I wrong for hoping Megan met Roz's fate on L.A. Law?

Actually I was hoping Megan would leave Don to pursue being an actress, I'm surprised Don is being so supportive. He seems actually afraid to lose her.

Yay for Peggy telling Don to shut up because she's not the one he's mad at.

Gotta love Joan snarking on Megan.

Pete, what a stalker. That heart she drew on the window, what a mind fuck!

...Harry is big? eeeewwww

[bluenote123]

Don's reaction to Megan's night time confession made me sad for Betty. Even though she downplayed it, as a good wife was supposed to do, Don knew perfectly well that modeling was her dream and he wouldn't support it. I guess the only upside is the fact that he seems to be trying to learn from his mistakes.

[izabella]

That fight between Don and Peggy was great! And they didn't have to chase each other around that test kitchen.

[Inquisitionist]

Pretty straight-forward story-telling tonight other than Don's vision of the elevator shaft (I assume Matt Weiner wasn't going all LA Law on us with that).

So Megan points Don directly at Tomorrow Never Knows, the most mind-blowing song on Revolver. He turns it off before the song ends. It that because he doesn't get it, or he does?

Toto, we're not in the 1950s anymore.

[pigeoninthepark]

The only thing sticking with me from this episode is that Mr. Belding gained a lot of weight.

Probably ate Fat Betty...

The excitement of seeing Mr Belding and Rory Gilmore is preventing me from being able to process the actual plot points from tonight's episode,

[Medigal]

Really enjoyed this episode. As always, outstanding acting by Hamm and Kartheiser in particular.

Without uttering a word, we could see exactly how Don felt tonight. When she tells him she doesn't like advertising, he looks like she just called his kid ugly. When she left for acting class he looked as though his only child had left the nest, proud but wistful. Hamm is so good at conveying complex emotions with a look.

And Pete, how can VK make a Pete so sympathetic even when he really isn't? He's cheating on his wife with his friend's wife and yet, somehow he makes the viewer feel for him.

Who played Beth - the friend's wife? Looked so familiar.

Maybe Pete's wife can go back to Community College......

[vb68]

I love Peggy giving both Megan and especially Don a good piece of her mind, but man I thought he was going to fire her there in that taste testing kitchen.

Pete is one self-destructive little shit. He wanted to get caught by Howard walking back in to the room. Where rock bottom be for Pete.

Did anybody else have a big L.A. Law flashback with that elevator shaft? Always look before you enter. I'm going to be waiting on that one. I don't think Don alerted anyone.

Edited by vb68, May 6, 2012 @ 10:21 PM.

[oceanblue]

Don saw Megan off then immediately pushed the elevator button himself. To follow her? To immediately resume his life of cheating? The abyss that opened up was a sledgehammer to the head. Roger's advice to set up a routine to keep them both out of trouble was odd advice coming from him. It was as if the Drapers 2.0 were the first couple ever to try NOT working together.

[mickbeth]

ETA: Don is asked to listen to the kind of Beatles music that heralded the Awakening that was 1967. When he was falling in love, he could whistle the kind of Beatles that had training wheels. How will he handle this stuff?

And I can see him telling Peggy not to let the door . . .

[CleoCaesar]

Pete mentioning that his life insurance policy covers suicide after 2 years? Either some nice foreshadowing or a red herring.

[capricasix]

Best line of the night goes to Pete - "Do they explode?"

Peggy really went up one side of Don and down the other in the test kitchen. He looked more than a little stunned.

[beedub]

Megan quits, gets on elevator. Door closes, other elevator arrives. Door opens, Don... stares into the abyss. The god of foreshadowing has spoken.

[Betsyb]

Rory Gilmore has always had the worst fucking taste in men. Oh, Rory.

When did Peggy become my favorite character? Even before her Don smack down. I loved how she asked Pete if he was a famous skier. I loved when she asked Don if he knew where Abe was. I love how even if she has conflicting feelings she always stood up for Megan around other people (because I think that shows a basic decency). She has truly become my favorite and she was absolutely not before.

"When did music become so important?" and then not understanding when Megan said it always was (thinking she meant jingles). I think that said a lot about Don. He is so out of touch now.

And I can see him telling Peggy not to let the door . . .

Don would never. Peggy has the power in that relationship now. The only issue is that she is uncomfortable with that. Peggy is a rising star who has done good work and made a name for herself. Don is an adman that no major company headquartered in New York trusts or wants to do business with. Peggy loves Bob Dylan, smokes weed, and had cool indie friends. Don think the Beatles are just noise.

But, beyond all of that, he knows he can trust her. That she will be there long after he goes home. That he can be vulnerable around her (he wouldn't constantly call Ginsburg looking for his wife).

Don needs Peggy more than Peggy needs Don.

Edited by Betsyb, May 6, 2012 @ 10:23 PM.

[gingerhorsesnap]

Oh Pete...Not Rory Gilmore! Pete just seems to be going down in flames more and more each episode.

Well, I was hoping for some Don and Peggy interaction since there has been so little of it this season, and then before I know it...BAM...they're having awkward phone calls ("PIZZA HOUSE!!") and yelling at each other in front of poor Ken Cosgrove Accounts (who by the way, I could watch dance/bop all day).

Lane continues to be MIA.

This season has been very...I don't know, creepy. Yikes @ the elevator shaft scene with Don.

[bagatelle1]

I guess this is how Don's marriage crumbles. Don needs her at the office.

[Inquisitionist]

Rory from Gilmore Girls and Mr. belding ruined it by taking me out of the Mad Men world.

I knew the actress looked familiar but didn't place her until seeing the end credits, and I have no idea who Mr. Belding is, so I was fine with the casting.

[Fonzie]

I'm getting sick of Megan & hope this is the last ep in which she has so much screen time.

How awkward to see Peggy and Don stumble through the role-playing that Don and Megan had done so beautifully--tough scene to watch!

And Pete took a huge chance inviting himself to his commuting buddy's house--who by the way, makes me laugh out loud. He's a very good actor.

Did Don report the elevator problem to maintenance, or was that not even real?

[kay1864]

Hope he reacts just like special guest star Rory: Draw a heart on the window and then coldly make it disappear. Totally waiting for that .gif to make the rounds.

Me, I didn't read that as cold, but rather as a goodbye kiss. Plus she couldn't take the risk of leaving it there.

[Libby1975]

Peggy should be glad to see the back of Megan. She came in late, left early (admittedly a lot of that was Don's fault) and left Peggy on her own working late into the night. Peggy should have been more resentful of Megan's presence than she actually was. That said I thought she was mean to Megan when she finally came clean. Surely she would have been glad to hear that Megan was showing herself the door?

What on earth to make of Don's view into the abyss of an elevator shaft -- why was he even summoning a second elevator? It's not the first time some massive fall has been foreshadowed.
And the mention of Pete's life insurance policy and how it (maybe) protects the firm rather than him and how it even covers suicide (yikes!) The prefiguring of someone leaping from a tall building are everywhere.

[Sister Magpie]

Interesting ep. One mention of suicide (good thing Pete's got that on his insurance policy...), one empty elevator shaft right after Don says good-bye to Megan. The two of them are no longer a team, a bit like Pete and Trudy this season.

Ginsberg's line about Megan owing him for lunch seems wonderfully significant without being important. Nice girl, but there was this wonderful awkward thing where nobody wanted to criticize her but felt like everyone else was. Well, except Joan, who was happy to give the sort of Old Wives Tale interpretation of events, even comparing her to Betty. Ginsberg in general was very entertaining this week. Loved his reaction to the song. And Ken's dancing.

Also in the early scene where Don and Megan were doing the commercial, Don was better than Megan. More importantly, there was the joke about how they were like a real couple but seemed like they liked each other--which is what made them right for a fake couple on a commercial. Then Peggy shows up and acts like a total wife, not putting up with Don's bull or letting him blame her for things.

Peggy was on fire in this ep, telling off Don, demanding recognition for all she's done for Megan and setting Megan straight. Did Megan say she'd tried at advertising more than she did at acting? Because she didn't try that hard at advertising. No wonder she gave up easy on acting. I admit I though the same thing as Joan--nice to be a failing actress with a rich husband. And it seems like her decision to go back to acting might very well have to do with pleasing her father as well as her own old dreams. She's "seeing herself" on stage again now, but everything looks better when you're not actually doing it.

Pete, Pete, Pete. Last week I had this big revelation about how in Accounts Roger was a pimp and Pete was a prostitute and that was pretty much what his role was this week. Even though he knew the woman was only sleeping with him to get back at her husband, he still turned into a clinging needful thing. I hope that's the end of it for the most part. No one wants to be your mistress, Pete. It's just like Accounts. You're there to fill their needs. Go home to your wife. Oh, and I love how Pete can't do anything gracefully--his exit with the skiis was fantastic, as was his natural wariness at anyone giving him a compliment. Even the one about his eyes turned out to not be a compliment.

Btw, did we finally get that answer about boxers or briefs for Pete?

Edited by Sister Magpie, May 6, 2012 @ 10:29 PM.

[rogaine2233]

My husband's review:

I stayed up for this? I could have watched daytime soaps.

I agree, unfortunately.

So the good stuff:

Thank God Megan left the the agency. Maybe it means we'll see less of her.

Loved Joan's comments about second wives and the play book. Very true! Also loved when she told Peggy about what kind of women Don marries.

Loved the fight between Peggy and Don. That was a long tome coming.

Loved that when Megan (sniffle, sniffle oh poor me) announced she was leaving, neither Stan nor Ginz initially gave her the time of day!

Thought the role turnaround in Don's marriages was interesting. Megan was sneaking around ( though she came clean), and Don was sitting up waiting for her.


The not so good stuff:

I really don't like where they're taking Pete. Don's been neutered so Pete has to cat around now? And I noticed that suicide was mentioned yet again.

Megan. Still piss poor acting on JP's part. And how ironic that she wants to be an actress!


Puzzling:

The elevator shaft

Why Peggy is so enamored of Megan

Where all this business for SCDP is coming from

How they never picked up on last week's "Don is a pariah" comment.

Don's not even losing his temper now? He has calm, thoughtful and sensitive conversations with Megan when he was chasing her around the apartment a few episodes ago?


Meh