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I'm really liking this season so far. I thought that the new agency would breathe some new life into the series, and it did, but what's most interesting is that it is the characters themselves that are doing the breathing.

What? That was terrible. Forget I said that. You know what I'm trying to say.

SPOILERS

- It's funny to think how wrong Don was about Ali. Don wonders why, if someone was "the greatest", would they have to proclaim themselves to be "the greatest"? Well, maybe if you do that others follow suit and soon do it for you? Cassius Clay would go onto become one of the most iconic athletes of all time. He knew how to sell himself. I'm surprised Don wasn't able to appreciate that, although maybe that would change?

- Don's secretary is funny. And kinda racist, actually....

- Harry isn't as funny. And is kinda racist, actually....

- Poor Roger. Being stuck at the bar with two guys who don't drink must be his own personal Hell.

- Speaking of Roger, Don plays the recording of Roger's memoirs. And laughter ensues. So exactly what is Roger's use at the company? Is he just the face? The charm? He really doesn't have anything to do and the boredom is getting to him.

- So Karl from Lost is getting pretty upset with Peggy. While I think she could do better I really can't blame the guy for being mad at her.

- Don is a mean drunk. And kind of petty. But he has a point about Peggy. She's lucky to be in the position she's in. So where are the ideas she managed to create when working at Sterling/Cooper?

- I'm kind of surprised that Duck is still on this show. Just when you think he's written off for good, he pops up in a new episode. Pissed drunk. And farting in Roger's office. Which leads us to....

- DRUNK FIGHT!

- Not as epic as I was hoping for.

- "Why are you shitting all over my idea?" I can't stop noticing when they shit. I need help.

- This episode was very cathartic. We see Peggy breaking down for the first time in a long time (ever?). Then Don crying over the death of the woman who was the one link to his past. But what will become of it? Peggy finally asks Don what he's doing to himself. He can't go on like this. He's been drunk every episode. It's affecting his work, and his life. Has he hit rock bottom, or is he only getting there? It's hard to say. The ending offers a glimmer of hope, but we might be in for a sad final stretch of episodes.

And we're halfway through the season.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

You will have to excuse my delay, my love/hate relationship with TVshack went sour on this episode and it took me quite a while to finish !

Anyways, awesome episode, Jon Hamm was awesome, as always, and I feel terrible for Don, one could very well argue that Dick Whitman has finally died, it was very heartbreaking for me.



Being able to sell yourself doesn't mean you're the best , I saw that scene more as Don's attitude to loud-mouthed people, he would never like someone like Ali simply because he is too introspective to appreciate someone as radically different as him.



With every new episode, the same question arises, why in god's name is she still employed ?



Well, that's what working for Don does to people, she was terrified of the consequences if she just left and went to have a nice dinner at some restaurant with her family, it is what it is !



When I saw him call Peggy, I suspected for one moment that you were one of the writers of the show , the only two things missing were the kitchen and his mother ! I don't think I expected to see him in such a depressing state !



Certainly not with Don hitting like a bitch

And what the fuck t3cii ?! No comments on Peggy and muthafuckin' Don Draper holding hands ?!

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Have you tried Megavideo? I seem to recall being able to watch the Wire on that site years ago.



Well, she's good for some laughs.

Peggy and Don was muthafuckin holdin' hands!

There you go.

But yes, it was a nice moment. I really hope the show doesn't try to make them a couple, though.

Also, no Betty! Am I wrong in thinking one of the reasons this season has been as good is because she's barely on it?

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

They would've already been fucking if this was another show , but I honestly don't think it will go that direction.



Well, I think she's only been a royal bitch in this season, if anything, the show feels different without her, no longer are we seeing the suburban life and aspects of the era as often as we did through Betty and co.

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Just started downloading season one to finally see what this show is like. I've heard it's very character based so that should be interesting.

Anything else I should know before going into this show?

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http://vimeo.com/korireaymackey

The pitches, the business, the clients, etc. The main theme of the show is VERY important, so pay attention to that.

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Is Don writing his memoirs? His diary? A novel? Mad Men uses Don as the narrator in this episode, another solid episode coming off last weeks, which might have been the best of the season. And I think this season of Mad Men might just be its best. Shows don't often increase in quality after 4 seasons, so the show is earning its accolades.


SPOILERS


- Don Draper wearing shades and lighting a cigarette. To the Rolling Stones. A cinematic moment, and one of the most badass moments of the season. Also a reminder of how deep into the 60's we are. I sometimes forget as Don and most of the cast still dress in early 60's style.

- This episode is about Don starting to piece his life back together. He had a major break though last week, and now starts the tough journey into his future. Which includes laps at the pool. Should've quit smoking, Don.

- Joan's husband can be very tender with her. Almost makes you forget how he practically raped her in Don's office. I'm surprised that nastiness has yet to resurface.

- Don calls Mrs Blankenship "Ray Charles". Don, that's the kind of material you should be writing down!

- I was afraid this was going to be a "Betty's a bitch" episode. Luckily it wasn't too bad. Her husband is a bit of a dick though. Which brings us to...

- "Jean's birthday is Sunday....so you should come on Saturday". Holy shit, did Henry just own Don?

- I don't know why Don is so down on Bethany. Getting a blow in the back of a cab? This girl is a keeper!

- Joey is a little piece of shit. It's tough seeing Joan being taken down a notch by this twerp. Peggy fires him, but it wasn't quite that satisfying. While she was well within her right to fire him, keep in mind when the show takes place. This was before sexual harassment could get you fired. And Joan isn't too appreciative of it anyway.

- While Dr Miller is attractive, she still leaves me a bit cold. She hasn't made a big impression on me, as I always seem to forget her name.

- Sally's little wave to Don was sad. It must suck when you don't have custody of your kids.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

Great episode, although I have to say I was fooled for a moment when Don looks at Peggy drinking, I thought he was infatuated with her and that the relationship was a go !



True, Mad Men does deserve it's praise for keeping up and passing the test of time, still, the show needs more Pete !



Don't know what he pretends with swimming out the damn pool and still keep with the smoking.



Also makes you forget the continuous string of terrible decisions he makes.



They clearly are trying to get her back on the show in some manner, if you asked me, I think she still has the hots for Don, so Henry, watch out.



That girl was gorgeous in True Blood.



Poor Peggy, no matter what she does, she always ends fucking it up somehow !



Who's that ?

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It looked more like Bethany was down on Don.

YEAAAAAAAAAAH

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I don't mind being the smartest man in the world. I just wish it wasn't this one.

Comedy and tragedy in equal measure. This was tonight's Mad Men.


[SPOILERS]



- Mrs Blankenships dead! She will be missed. She managed to add humour to a show that was never particularly known for being funny. Even her death was kind of funny. I was afraid this was going to turn into "Weekend at Donnie's", with the office trying to pass her off as being alive. "She was an astronaut!" Speaking of which....

- At what point did the word "astronaut" enter the public lexicon? This would have been years before the moon landing. I'm not very familiar with America's space program. Which leads us to....

- While pondering this question, a commercial featuring astronauts came on. Coincidence?!

- Don enjoys crazy monkey sex with Faye. Then off to work. I want to be Don Draper.

- Betty is such a bitch. I know I pick on Betty a lot, and other characters have done bad things as well, but she's just consistently cold and petty. I thought she got over that in the last episode?

- French Toast+Rum= Yummy!

- Ken seems like an easy going guy, which makes it easy to overlook his homophobia and casual racism. I'd like to know more about why he was left behind, though. Has he brought it up yet?

- Joan looked cute in her glasses and pyjamas.

- Peggy's lesbian friend reminds me of a real life, grown up Peppermint Paddy.

- Some Mad Men fans have been disappointed by the lack of black characters on this show. Well, their voices have been heard! We get.....a mugger.

- Roger and Joan are into really kinky sex....

- I have a feeling this is the end of the line for Faye. She's a bit too calculated to end up with Don. I predict she'll be gone by the end of the season.

- Sally is really growing up before our eyes. Sometimes seeing a child actor grow up can be awkward once they hit puberty because the jump from childhood to young adulthood can be so sudden. What's funny is that there were moments when she reminded me of Betty. Seeing her fall flat on her face at Don's office was pretty sad. Actually, her little story arc is pretty depressing.

I think shit is about to go down next week judging by the preview. Hard to believe we only have four episodes left this season.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

America's space program was well underway at the time, having been sending people up since 1962.

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I don't mind being the smartest man in the world. I just wish it wasn't this one.

This episode could've been called "Mad Women", the only one missing in that elevator at the end was Sally !

Poor girl by the way , I was dissapointed at Don's utter pussyness when having to deal with his daughter, at one point or another, either Betty or Don, will have to deal with it, if not, then some bad shit will surely happen, I can see the season finale having some "Sally Drama" too.

And Joan ................................................. Joan was just too hot in this episode, once again it is clear that all men in the show, except Roger Sterling, are gay !

But now that we are talking about Roger's awesomeness, why didn't he fought the mugger ? wasn't he a veteran from the pacific ?

And what the fuck Mad Men writers ?!!! Where's Pete ?!!



No, what the hell made you think that ?

Talking seriously, they have to do something with her character, I wouldn't mind seeing her and Henry in each episode having their own little sub-plot, or Betty talking with Francine like in the old days.



Not yet, but I'm confused about him being brought back, don't know what the writers are trying to pull there, if anything it's for the best that they leave it at Ken, it's gonna suck if they bring Kinsey and Sal too.



Just CUTE ?



I've heard that before, it's not that I would be against a black character, but I didn't know shows needed characters from other ethnicities to be good, I wonder what would happen if someone told Tyler Perry that his movies suck because he doesn't have relevant white characters in them.



At least she did something in this episode, even if it was just drool and beg to Don, I can't blame the actress, I'll always remember her as Hulk's mommy, and for her short role in that movie she didn't do so bad, it's here that I feel the writers didn't do something interesting with her character.

She might be there just to show how psychology gradually became more relevant in the advertising business, who knows !

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It's awkward because she's almost been written out of the show. Since the show is predominately about the office, she really doesn't have much reason to be there. I know you're still on the first season of the Wire, so I don't want to spoil it anymore, but this was something that happened in season 4. One character was barely in the season since the plot didn't call for them to be there. It's cool that shows are willing to play it ultra realistic by not having contrived reasons to continue having characters involved, and I guess Mad Men is no exception. Still, because she is the mother of Don's kids, the writers have to find ways of bringing her into the story. Unless they decide to write her out altogether, which some shows end up doing.



It was odd how he had the mugger routine down pat. How many times has he been mugged?



He's disposing of the body.



I think Ken is basically a human plot device. He's there to pose as competition to Pete, provide accounts for the company, and act as one of the gang. You'll notice we never see his personal life. He exists purely to serve the story whenever it needs him. I wouldn't mind seeing Kinsey and Sal again, so long as they're just cameo appearances. I feel both characters arcs were wrapped up too abruptly, in particular Sal.



It's kind of different with Mad Men, though. The show is set during one of the most tumultuous times in American history. With Mad Men, black actors are on the show, until they're not. They're sort of kept to the background, almost like scenery. That made sense when the show started, since the show began being set in a rather exclusive world. But the show is now in the mid 60's, an important time in black history. Mad Men has show us the 60's from a woman's perspective, from the perspective of a gay man (in fact, there have been 3 gay characters so far), but not from a black character. Sure, we have Carla, but it made sense for her to be black as the Drapers, living in the early 60's, would no doubt have had a black housekeeper. Later, we see Don has someone to clean his apartment, and the woman is Hispanic, which is significant as Hispanics are often seen as being represented in the hospitality field. But Carla is also like Ken, she's just there to provide interaction for Sally and Betty. As soon as her work is done, she ceases to exist.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

I get what you mean, but I don't know, the only difference from now and then was that Don came home to Betty, I don't see why they have to butcher her character out completely, we still saw a lot of her even when it was only her own turmoil living the suburban life, an issue not intimately related with the office itself.



A LOT probably, specially considering how he ate at that place so often. I also assumed that he didn't unleash a can of Sterling's Ass Kicking because he didn't want to worry Joan.



I noticed, but what the fuck ?! the most evil bastard on current TV is having a baby and then they just cut him off ! I could go as far as to say that we've seen more of Betty lately !



Kinsey got to a point where he was dead weight in the show, he simply was there to suck. Now Sal on the other hand, well, that DID end quite abruptly !



Well, I can agree with that, who knows ? maybe we'll see someone given how Peggy is going rogue !

But I really hate it when people demand dumb shit for pure political correctness, given your argument I think that this wouldn't be the case.

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Shit. Has gone. Down.



SPOILERS


- This episode was all about the unravelling of Don. It was interesting to watch, but I feel two ways about it. On one hand, there is something very visceral about seeing Don lose his shit. On the other hand, because he's usually so cool and collected it almost comes off as being over the top and humorous. Especially the scene where he's on the phone to Betty, and they suspect the government might be listening in on their phone call. They abruptly try to play it cool, but the scene just came off as false to me. The problem is Don goes from stoic to outright panic. It's such a big contrast.

- So Joan was pregnant. I'm surprised they followed up on last weeks plot about her and Roger hooking up so soon. It seems like the sort of thing you could drag out for an episode or two, but I guess since she's late it's not the sort of thing you can drag out for more than a few episodes. While I think Roger has genuine affection for her, he's not above thinking of himself in that situation.

- Pete makes his slimy return. I always think of him being younger than he actually is, which sometimes makes me forget his clout and status at the office. He bites the bullet and takes one for Don at the end, but Pete's favours come with a price and he'll be coming to collect some day. Maybe by the end of the season.

- Speaking of Pete, his wife Trudy makes an adorable pregnant woman. A very pregnant woman. I suppose she'll be delivering by the end of the season.

- Sally gets to see the Beatles. I was convinced Harry was going to screw up and not be able to get the tickets, but after all Sally's been through she deserves a little something.

- A new black character! And she's a playboy bunny. I guess that would be a step up from last weeks mugger.

- John Slattery did some of his best acting work in this episode. We can see the desperateness as Lee Garner Jr lets him know they're dropping the company. It's so unlike Roger. I knew they would lose the Lucky Strike account by the end of the season, though.

- Layne's father at first comes off steely, but somewhat warm. But then he makes the crack about Layne's drinking habits. And then came the assault. This was one of the most upsetting scenes on this show, in my opinion, because I've come to like Layne. The scene was so brutal, that it actually distracted me from the rest of the episode. It lets you draw your own conclusions about Laynes' past. Being his by his father wasn't the first time. It makes me understand him wanting to please his superiors, and not appear weak in front of them (like in season 3, when he took off his glasses before meeting them). When his father pressed down on his own son's hand and made him speak up, it was so cold and viscous. And hearing Layne give into him was so heartbreaking.

- I was surprised Don admitted to Faye about his past. I still don't know where these two will end up. His glance at his secretary at the end suggests she'll just be another notch on his belt.

- Roger dropping the F Bomb was a surprise, but AMC censored it. I've mentioned quite often how characters have been saying shit a lot this season (in almost every episode). Some fans think that the show chooses not to use more cursing, but clearly they're not able to get away with anything they want.

Only three more episodes to go.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

If the last episodes of this season are as brutally awesome as this one, then Don Draper should run for president of the United States, not Jon Hamm, Don Muthafuckin' Draper !

In other words, good episode !



Maybe that's the point ? people who seem completely confident and in control of themselves can break down from one minute to the next, I really loved Hamm's performance on this one, it reminded me just how vulnerable someone as talented and succesful as Don can be.



I think he played it very well given the expectations, he didn't chicken-shit at the situation and actually granted Joan a lot of leeway (sp), reminding her that in the end it was her decision, pretty good Mr. Sterling !

I've always thought of Roger as a good, decent guy who unfortunately never realized that getting dragged into an amazing and lucrative business may not be a good idea, even when it seems like it is perfect.



YEAH !!!

No really, ENOUGH Peggy !



I don't know what to think about this situation, on one hand Peter worked his ass off in getting the NAA account into the firm, and now he has to deal with Don's problem.

I can't criticize Don or Pete because I just can't throw someone to the wolves just like that, but Don needs to realize that his past will come to collect with bigger bills each time, and that some people will get hurt.



Isn't she a little young to see The Beatles ? I know it's not Cannibal Corpse or anything, but how old can she be ? 12 ? 13 at most ?



It was foreseeable indeed, I knew that the moment I saw Lee Garner Jr. in that table I thought "fuck".

By the way, was that a cyanide pill that Roger put in his mouth ?!



What kind of an influence must a man have on a another that he can do what he does to Lane and not expect to get beated to a pulp in return ? I kinda asked Lane to get up and smack him, but really, can Layne get enough heart to even do it ?



Somebody needs to take Anna's place, given her character outburst in the previous episode and her honest caring for Don, I think she is a fine candidate, I can see the point of her character now.

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Oh, I totally get the point, it's just they're such big emotions, and in total contrast to how Don normally is, that they seem almost heightened.



Well, at the time The Beatles were essentially a boy band. I know how that sounds in light of how influential and important they would become, but their look and image were no less contrived than bands like N Sync or the Backstreet Boys. To teenage girls they were cute guys with "long" hair, and charming accents who played nice songs about holding hands. It was Beatlemania.



Nah, just good old regular drugs. Valium maybe?

So, where does this leave us for the next 3 episodes?

Don - Dodged a bullet, and now must make up for it to Pete
Roger - In love with Joan, and now even more useless now that Lucky Strike has left
Joan - Did she really go through with the abortion?
Pete About to be a father for real. And just lost a big account
Pryce - Off to Britain, maybe never to return
Sterling/Cooper/Draper/Pryce - In very serious trouble

Last season had three big, dramatic episodes for the finale. What does Mad Men have up its sleeve?

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

Who the fuck is Jane ?

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What? (reads post). Aw damnit! I knew that didn't sound right. Well, he is married to a Jane, anyways.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

It's still wrong, he is in love with J O A N ! Then again, who isn't ?

Just yesterday I was wondering about Jane, I know she wasn't the most important character, but for such little role she did a good job, I think she should get in the long line of "characters that may appear sometime in the future".

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