Mad Men All Episodes Ranked
First time watching Mad Men thought I would try and rank all of the episodes like I did Breaking Bad, The Wire, and The Sopranos. This is the first time I'll rank all of the episodes of a show on the first watch.
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- DirectorJennifer GetzingerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon deliberately delays returning an important call from California, because he knows it's bad news about Anna. Instead, he keeps himself occupied by forcing Peggy to miss her birthday dinner to pull an all-nighter with him for a client.One of the best episodes I've ever seen. It's just Peggy and Don for most of the episode talking and opening up to each other. At first they have a big fight. Loved that part where Don tells her to come in and she says no like a toddler. They laugh over Roger's diary tapes. Here asshole boyfriend breaks up with her. Her and Don share so many heartfelt moments throughout the entire episode. That final scene where they wake up the next morning and they touch hands was so perfect because it's a call back to the first episode when Peggy touched Don's hand and he said no. It's an acknowledgment that the previous night did happen. Don doesn't pull what he pulled on his previous secretary where he pretends nothing happened. He acknowledges it. This may not seem like much but it's a massive change for Don. He always refused to open himself him. Don and Peggy both open up to each other this episode. This professional relationship changes to a much more personal one. Don has a heartbreaking phone call as he finds out that Anna has died. He cries and Peggy comforts him. Jon Hamm is an insanely great actor. A drunk Don fights a drunk Duck. Duck knocks him down and then tells him he killed an absurd amount of men during the war. Don says uncle and a drunk Duck tries to leave with Peggy. She comes back to Don and tells him that she got rid of him. So many times within the episode I thought Peggy was going to leave. That whistle made me jump when it seemed like it was cutting to black and the episode was ending. Oh yeah also Duck was gonna take a shit on Roger's chair thinking it was Don's office lmao. This entire episode just perfectly captured Don and Peggy's relationship. I was actually going to be extremely disappointed if their relationship turned romantic this episode and I'm glad it didn't. Maybe Peggy can be Don's new Anna. A person he can actually connect with. Almost every single one of my favorite episodes of my favorite shows are ones that have the big plot twists or the big moments but this one didn't. This one just had two people talking and dealing with their issues through connecting with each other. This entire episode just has this very heart warming vibe that can't be put into words. It's something only few shows can manage to do. Easily one of the best episodes of television ever. Can't wait to watch this perfect hour of television over and over for the rest of my life. 10/10 Awesome Episode
- DirectorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserWith another sale on the horizon, Sterling, Cooper, and Draper convince Lane Pryce to fire them and then join them as they start up a new advertising firm. At home, Betty follows through with her plans to divorce Don.They all really just jumped ship didn't they. Holy shit this was a shocking turn of events. I had a grin on my face through most of the episode. Don calls out Conrad. Sterling Cooper is a goner. Don gives Cooper an inspirational speech. Cooper and Don give Sterling a not so inspirational speech. Don, Cooper, and Sterling all hatch a plan with Lane. Lane fires them all and then gets fired himself in a series of hilarious scenes. Don and Sterling patch things up. Don gets the gang together. They are restarting over. Peggy first calls out Don out for his bullshit and says no. Later Don and Peggy have an extremely touching scene. "I will spend the rest of my life trying to hire you." Peggy joins the gang. Pete jumps onto their ship after making Don tell him what makes him so great. He can see the future. Later we cut to Roger and Don patching things up and trashing Pete while getting drunk. They call in Harry and threaten him by saying they will lock him in a closet if he says no. Harry jumps on board. Joan gets called in. They rob the Sterling Cooper building. Sterling asking Peggy to get him coffee and Peggy saying no was hilarious. Everyone coming on Monday and thinking the building was robbed was hilarious. Saul and Ken being left on the burning ship made me laugh. They begin to realize exactly what has happened. Everyone gets together in a hotel ready to start anew. Harry calling to see what room it is was hilarious. The second plot line focuses on Don's final days of his marriage. Don and Betty are finished with each other. Don has a very scary scene where he seems very close to getting very violent with Betty. He finds out through Roger that Betty has been cheating on him. He tells her that he's going to fight her on this and take her kids and she wont' get a penny. The scene where they have to tell their kids about how things are going to change was heartbreaking. Their daughter walks away and Don is left hugging his son. Later in the episode Don tells him that he's not going to fight her like he originally said. They have accepted what's going to happen. Where's Duck? Who gives a shit he sucks. The episode ends with an amazing montage played to Shahdaroba. Definitely thought this season was gonna end in a very depressing way much like the other two. It took a complete 180 turn and ended in a very beautiful way. Best episode so far. 10/10 Emotional heartbreaking heartwarming hilarious rollercoaster ride of an episode.
- DirectorJared HarrisStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserThe partners discover that the firm is losing its independence and there's nothing they can do about it. Peggy is not sure if she wants to come along. Meanwhile, Pete and Trudy have trouble getting their daughter into private school.This entire episode had me smiling ear to ear. Holy shit we get a reverse Shut the door have a seat. We get another doomsday episode where everything is gonna change and then our main characters rush in with a genius idea and save the day. Except they don't. They lose. We even see the usual reverse of things when Don tries to say a bullshit motivational speech but everyone is panicking and no ones even listening. "this is the beginning of something...not the end...."- Don It is the end Don. Peggy and Stan have kid actor tryouts. We get a fun scene with Peggy trying to connect with the kids. "Like a battle royal last kid standing gets the gig." "It would work"- peggy "You hate kids."-stan Joan comforting Roger with a hug after he finds out that they are absorbing them. Pete sees a kid hugging Peggy which reminds him of season one and he tells Peggy what's going on. Peggy also trusts Stan enough to tell him what's going on. Lou Avery gets Scouts Honor made as a cartoon in Tokyo. He calls Don and rubs it in his face. "Sayonara my friend enjoy the rest of your miserable life."- Lou Avery Roger and Pete try to get Ken to join them but Ken completes his revenge and refuses to accept their offer. "I've toyed with you long enough. No. Sorry about that."- Smiling Ken Ted and Don two notable scenes where they talk together. That hate for each other is gone and now they have a friendship. Pete gets mad at the dean of whatever at the school his daughter is trying to go to. "THE KING ORDERED IT!"- Pete Pete punches him in the face and walks out. "You can't punch everyone Pete."- Trudy. Trudy and Pete have a few nice scenes. Their hate for each other has seemingly disappeared and they are on good terms with one another. Pete comes in with the save. "Go ahead"- Roger "Were they difficult to move?"- Don Shockingly they lose. Don gets his awesome super amazing save the day pitch cut off a few seconds in. They lose and they can't do anything about it. Joan loses extra cause she isn't even mentioned. They all bond together in their defeat except for Ted who is happy. All he ever wanted was a pharmaceutical. "I'd like to make a toast to Lou Avery. The japs are going to eat him alive."- Roger Pete and Joan have a heart to heart in the car. "Well they don't know what they're dealing with."- Pete Stan and Pete have a heart to heart where she tells him about the kid she abandoned. Another classic drunk Don and Roger scene.
"when i married my secretary you were hard on me. And then you went and did the same thing"- Roger Roger finally said it. Also roger tells don about Marie. Roger grabs Dons head with his hands and tells himself he's okay before kissing his cheek and then he leaves lmao. Peggy and Stan stay on the phone and talk while working. It's these episodes that make me realize how much I'm attached to these characters. It will be sad to see them go. But not yet. I still got a few amazing episodes left. - DirectorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon's journey ends in California with Anna's niece, Stephanie, where he contemplates his future. Roger decides to marry Megan's mother, Marie. Joan has a business proposition for Peggy, who is coming to terms with her feelings for Stan.Don Draper finally finds peace. Don finds himself in the middle of nowhere. He goes to Stephanie who takes him to some time of hippi commune type place in California. Earlier in the episode he has a phone call with Sally. Sally tells him Betty is dying. He says he'll come home and take care of them and everything because he knows that's what he should do. But that's not what he wants. Sally grows into an adult and recognizes this. We see Bobby burning some toast and Sally helping him learn how to do it. We last see Sally cleaning the dishes as Betty smokes. She's taking the role of the adult and the mother figure for her brothers. Betty's cancer has allowed Sally to mature. Betty is smoking and is free as she slowly dies. Sally knows Don and she knows that Henry is what her brothers need. Not Don. Don has a heart breaking phone call with Don. She tells him that this is what needs to happen. These are her last wishes and she wants Don to understand that. It is easily one of the most heartbreaking moments in this entire episode. "Birdie.."- Don "I know..."- Betty Don later makes a phone call to Peggy. He hits rock bottom when he confesses the truth to her. "I broke all my vows. I scandalized my child. I took another man's name and made nothing of it."- Don Draper He hits rock-bottom and even Peggy get scared that he might be suicidal. Don makes a call to each of the three most important women in his life similar to what Ted said about the three women. As he hits rock bottom a woman walks up to him and takes him to a meeting. There a man walks up to the seat and confesses his greatest fear. And his fear is exactly what Don's fear is. Don learns he is no longer alone in this world because there are those who share his pain. Prior in the episode in a hilarious scene he refuses to respond to an old lady who then pushes him. He hugs Leonard and they cry together. We then see him meditating among the others. As the sun lights up his face we see him smiling. He's found peace within himself. During the entire show Don kept running from Dick Whitman. Whenever anyone got close enough to discover who who really is he runs away from them. For example when he had to choose between Megan and that other girl. The other girl was close enough to Don to slowly figure out who he really is and before she can he runs away from her. He didn't like who he truly was and decided to create a fake persona. The man he wanted to be. But the thing is you can't run from who you are. And we see his persona break throughout the series as Dick Whitman constantly comes through. When he hugs Leonard he is hugging Dick Whitman. He is embracing himself and finding peace within himself. He finally finds peace within himself and goes back to his life. The episode ends with a Coca Cola ad which is confirmed by the writer and Jon Hamm to be his ad. His masterpiece. He finally makes something of it all. Don comes back to advertising as a new man and creates his masterpiece. Also you can see the coca cola ad in a cynical way but the writer of the show spoke out and said that it shouldn't be viewed in a very cynical way. It's a pure piece of art. Don finally gets to just be the artist instead of the head of the company and all that. He doesn't have to worry about the fact that if he doesn't please the client their business could fall apart. He gets to do what he loves and he gets to come home a new man who loves and accepts who he is. Part of who Don is is being an ad man. And so Don goes back to do what he loves and to fix himself. He has a long road ahead of him but he finally conquered the fear of becoming discovered which hindered all of his progression. Don Draper wins. We get a conclusion to Joan's story as she builds a name for herself. She starts a production company and she breaks up with that adventuring guy she was with. She stops herself from ending up with another adventurous guy like Roger. We last see her taking phone calls in her house which is filled with boards and papers related to her new business. She gets to be her own boss. She wins. We see Roger and her talking as he brings home their kid. He splits his the money in his will with his daughter and their son. We last see Roger and Marie having the time of their life and enjoying one another. Harry and Pete come into Peggy's office. Harry always thinking he's friends with the people who hate him. Pete gives Harry his chocolates and he gives Peggy his cactus. They share a last scene where they are both happy. We last see Pete with his wife and his child as they board into the private plane of theirs. Pete doesn't screw up. He reunites with Trudy and his family and they have their happy ending. I'm glad Pete finally got the success and respect he always wanted along with the family life he didn't realize he needed. Pete spent the entire show trying to be someone else. He wanted to be Don Draper. Part of the reason I think he cheated is because he thought that was just what men in his business did. In the end Pete decides to be his own man and decides to carve his own path as he leaves his city. Pete wins. Peggy in this episode has a few talks with Stan. She first gets angry with Stan after he pretty much suggests that she is going to join Joan for the wrong reasons. She is looking to further her career. She sacrificed everything for her business life and even pushed her baby away which has haunted her ever since. Her arc ends with her realizing that work isn't everything. She stays on the path of working at McCann for a few years before leaving and going to whatever agency she wants. She finds the one thing she was missing in her life. Her entire life was consumed by her work until now. Stan confesses his love for Peggy. Peggy saying what was hilarious. She explains how she doesn't think of Stan in that way until she realizes that her words aren't exactly true. She realizes that she actually does love Stan. Stan immediately runs out of his office and we see him rush into her office. They smile at each other before embracing one another. We last see Peggy working while Stan walks up behind her and massages her shoulders. Peggy ending up with Stan was perfect. Peggy wins. Majority of the main characters got a happy ending and I love that. Don wins. Peggy wins. Pete wins. Roger wins. Joan wins. And we the audience win because we just witnessed an amazing show. This entire episode had my eyes glued to the screen. Goodbye Mad Men. For a while at least. I am definitely going to rewatch this show over and over.
- DirectorJennifer GetzingerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserAn old flame and potential client reenters Roger Sterling's life, Joan's husband searches for a new job, and Don finally comes clean to Betty about his true identity.Holy shit the scene that has been built up for three seasons has finally arrived. In the beginning we see that Betty is going to leave town. This amazing scene starts with Don coming home and being greeted with his daughter. Immediately the rug is pulled from under us. Betty is standing there. Betty knows everything now. Don coming home with his girlfriend still in the car and Betty is there waiting for him. We have that intense scene where she tells him to open the box and he refuses. She tells him that they both know that she knows exactly what's in that box. Don's persona falls apart, literally. For the next few minutes Don Draper is gone and we have Dick Whitman. This is probably the only time Betty has seen his true self. He doesn't pull any Don Draper last minute stunt. He has no time to prepare. There's no way out of this situation. He's screwed and he knows it. He's a nervous wreck and even Betty sees this when he struggles with the cigarette. She offers to get him a drink. He goes up to the bed and they have a talk and he shockingly starts crying. It's almost as though that he has finally faced reality regarding his brother's death. He doesn't even cry the first time he finds out. He's just in a state of shock and then back to normal but here he starts crying. Jon Hamm is insanely good here. January Jones is insanely good here. This is probably my favorite scene in the entire show so far. Don says goodbye to his girlfriend over the phone. In the first half we have Roger and his ex girlfriend and we see that maybe his marriage isn't that bad. He actually does in fact love Jane, and he doesn't even cheat on her. He refuses to do so and sends his ex girlfriend home. "You were the one." "You weren't." Roger and Joan's scene together was great. Joan shockingly smashing her husband's head with a vase was hilarious. Him randomly joining the army was hilarious. The final scene with the Drapers walking down the street for Halloween was perfect. "And who are you supposed to be?"
- DirectorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon and Peggy prepare to pitch to Burger Chef, one day after the Apollo Moon Landing. Meanwhile, a power struggle in the firm between Sterling and Cutler leaves Don's future hanging in the balance.Ted turns off the plane's fan and just chills there while his clients scream. He's done this and doesn't feel happy. "AND THE CLIENTS WANT TO LIVE TOO TED!"- Pete Everyone gets the letter than Don violated his contract. Don's secretary tries to hit on him and console him and hilariously fails. Don confronts Cutler and Cutler makes fun of him opening up about his childhood. That line cut deep for Don. Peggy hugs and consoles Julio. Everyone has a partner meeting out in the open in the office and everyone except Cutler and surprisingly Joan agrees that Don shouldn't be let go. Roger and Cooper discuss Dona and Cooper tells him what it means to be a leader. Everyone watches the moon landing. Sally kisses that one nerd dude and that guys so socially awkward that he literally asks what to do next. She rejects the stupid jock dude and values her father's opinion. The last we see Cooper he's grinning from ear to ear. Roger gets a call and he goes to the office. Roger takes the Cooper sign off Cooper's doorway. Bertram Cooper is dead. Cutler immediately jumps to pushing Don out as he has the votes now. Roger just lost Cooper he isn't going to lose Don Draper too. He even chokes up a little bit when he acknowledges that. Roger pulls a genius move and combines their company with McCann. He pulls together a meeting and everyone raises their hand. Don convinces Ted to stay. Cutler even raises his hand. "really?" "That's a lot of money!"- Cutler Also Harry gets his partnership denied by Roger lol. Damn Harry right when I thought you were moving up in the world. "None of your bees wax"- Roger "Cutlers not gonna stop until it's just Harry and that computer"- Roger We get an insane dance sequence with Cooper in Don's mind. Cooper reminds him that money isn't everything. We also see Don make a selfless decision and he lets Peggy present because he's going to get kicked out and leave her nothing. Peggy kills it at presenting and does a fantastic job. Don watches proudly. They get the account. We also get a phone call scene between Don and Megan that pretty much acknowledges that their relationship has come to an end with Don saying that he'll always take care of her. Awesome episode I loved it. Gave me massive shut the door have a seat emergency vibes. Against all odds Don makes it through once again. Except now he is a relic of the past. He's becoming like Bert Cooper. No longer essential to the company but still consumed by work. Let's just see if he can make it through the rest of the series without destroying everything in his life. Also Pete has some amazing lines this episode. "I own 10%!" "Marriage is a racket" YOU'RE NOT JUST PATHETIC YOU'RE SELFISH!"
- DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserPeter asks Joan to make an unspeakable sacrifice to help secure the Jaguar account, Peggy prepares to make a drastic move in response to Don's treatment, and Megan's acting career begins to create tension with her and Don.Best scene was Peggy and Don's conversation. Jon Hamm's acting is insanely good. This is for sure one of my favorite scenes in the show so far. Loved the way Don laughs almost like he thinks it's a joke. We even see him lay back and then lean forward when he realizes what's happening. He admires that she's trying to get a raise but then he slowly realizes that she is leaving not because of the money but because she has to. She reaches out for a handshake but he kisses her hand and holds it for a very long time before she eventually pulls back. The hand holding scenes between Don and Peggy are always fantastic as we see the context behind them change over the show as their relationship evolves. She's the employee he wants but can't have. We get this at a smaller scale when Don wants his wife to stay but she has to leave for three months for her acting gig. She says she'll pick him over her career. I doubt Don would do the same. We get an interesting dilemma this episode with Jane. Pete tells the partners about the proposition and at first they all disagree and say it's disgusting except for Pete of course. Don says no and walks out and as soon as he does they all start to think it over. They all eventually agree. Lane offers Joan a good deal but his intentions are bad because he doesn't want to be exposed for what he did. He can't get another loan. If he truly cared for Joan's well being he should have warned her not to go through with it. Don does this later in the episode and we get a great moment where Joan sees that he's one of the good ones. It sucks that Don showed up afterwards and not before because she had already gone through with it before he showed up. It's sad to see Don's sad look when he begins to realize what Joan did as she shows up at the partners meeting. They get the Jaguar account and everyone's happy except Don. His wife is leaving for a few months, they got the jaguar account but at a massive cost, and Peggy leaves. Also loved Michael's pitch to Don about the jaguar being the thing you can finally completely own. Pete reading to his kid was great. Pete always talks about putting his foot down with Trudy but he never actually gets to do it. Trudy has too much of a hold on him. I just wish she had an even greater hold so that maybe he'd change into a better person. Freddy's lunch with Peggy was fun to watch. He knows she is being held back and gives her good advice.
- DirectorChris ManleyStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserLane's entire world comes crashing down after getting busted for forging Don's signature on a check, and Sally experiences an awkward rite of passage while spending the weekend with the Drapers.The first half of this episode had my extremely nervous. I was afraid Lane was going to kill himself via elevator shaft from that previous episode or something. Sadly he kills himself. R.I.P. Lane one of my favorite characters on the show. In a heart breaking scene Lane cries in Don's office. Then we get another with Lane finding that his wife bought himself a new car. It doesn't even work when he tries to kill himself. Later he is found hanging in his office as we see each of the characters react. Don, Roger, and Pete go to his body and cut it down from the ceiling. That was an amazing shot where they rush in through the door and it closes behind them to show Lane's body hanging near the door. Very haunting. They walk out and then Roger reads what was in the envelope he left. It's his resignation letter. :( Sally has a very uncomfortable story this episode. Betty has a very sweet moment but of course she becomes annoying again by rubbing it in Megan's face. Don takes a very direct and forward approach towards that company owned by Ken's wife's father or something. I love that Ken didn't want to become a partner. He just wanted Pete out of the way lmao and he wanted to be involved. We get a very sweet moment in the end where Don takes that kid from across the street driving, When your a kid things as small as driving a car for 5 seconds will bring you happiness. I'm glad Don was able to give him some. Heart breaking episode.
- DirectorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserWith his personal and professional life crumbling around him, Don positions himself for a change of scenery. Meanwhile, Pete's life is falling apart as well, thanks to the meddling of Bob Benson.Roger's grandsons drawing of him. It's a king holding bags of money. Pretty much what his daughter views him as. "You know what why don't you just tell em what I saw"- Sally. Sally isn't forgetting what Don did. Don steals Stan's idea to go to Hollywood. Unlike his interaction with Ginsberg Don actually seems to feel bad for doing that to Stan. "Where are you going?" "I'm gonna have that sandwich on my desk. Have to get to it before you do."- Stan Pete finds out his mom has been thrown overboard and is missing. "How are you?" "NOT GREAT BOB." "MARRIED HER AT GUNPOINT AND THEN THREW HER OFF A SHIP"- Pete Bob screws Pete over with the car as Pete doesn't even know how to work a stick and slams the car backwards. Pete and his brother? (I think it's his brother) decide not to waste any more time and money trying to look for her possible killer. Don has been trying everything to fix his life including taking another man's dream and making it his own. Ted begs Don to allow him to go to California instead because he knows if he stays anywhere near Peggy he is going to destroy his family. Peggy and Ted are not good for each other. Peggy throws out her values and dresses like a whore to get his attention. Being with a man with kids was definitely good for Peggy. Stan and Peggy share a nice scene together in Don's office later in the episode. The best scene in the episode was Don trying something knew. He decides to stop lying. In the middle of the pitch he breaks down and reveals that he lied about the fake Hershey's story. He tells the true heartbreaking story instead of taking money from the pants of the guy one of the whores was with to eat a Hershey's bar alone. He covers his face with his hands as his voice gets more shaky. Loved the part leading up to all of this of his hands shaking after staring at Ted. He allows Ted to go to California saving Ted's marriage and family in the process. All of the partners get together and hold an intervention for Don. He's leaving and his leaving now and he won't get told when he gets to go back to work. It's best that he leave for a few months. Don runs into his "old chum" Duck in the elevator as Duck brings in the new guy. Don tells his wife that they are going to California and she quits her job and then Don has to tell her that they aren't going any more. But it seems like now they can go. Don decides to try to fix his relationship with his daughter as he brings his kids to the broken down whore house. He begins to explain to them that this is where he grew up. He's finally telling the truth. Now let's just hope he sticks to that.
- DirectorScott HornbacherStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserA peaceful hotel getaway ends in disaster for Don and Megan, an LSD trip could have a disastrous effect on Roger's marriage, and Peggy loses her cool after an unsuccessful pitch meeting.Pete, Don, Roger, and Cooper all men on the same path. Hopefully at least one of them manages to break this cycle. I hope it's Pete honestly Trudy is great and doesn't deserve to have a divorce. Anyways this episode we focus on Roger, Don, and Peggy. Peggy gets screwed over by Don. She yells at the account man and gets kicked off it. She focuses on her relationship with that dude whatever his name is. Unlike the other relationships in this episode it starts out bad and ends pretty good. She has a talk with Ginsberg. Ginsberg alien conversation was great. His father seems like a really cool guy. Loved that scene where Bert Cooper calls out Don on his bullshit. "You have a little girl running this place." "This is my business." Loved that shot of the camera going from Don to Peggy and then we see the other guys waving at Don as they pass by. Roger gets high on LSD and faces the fact regarding his marriage. Jane and him break it off and are having a divorce. It took LSD for them to communicate with one another. My favorite story this episode was the Don and Megan storyline. They go to a restaurant and have a massive argument. Megan embarrassing him was hilarious. Don pulls one of his run away stunts and just leaves her at the restaurant and drives away after she refuses to enter the car because she wants to have a talk. Don comes back and finds that she's gone. He stays there for hours and looks around. He even barges into the women's restroom. He eventually comes home to a crying Megan and a locked door. He kicks down the door lmao. Megan and Don argue with leads to a chase around the house. Eventually Don grabs her and they falls backwards. Shockingly Roger doesn't have the best line it ends up being Megan. "Every time we fight, it just diminishes us a little bit."- Megan They walk to work and act as if they didn't just have the biggest fight they've ever had. Loved that they separated the episode into blocks. Peggy gets the phone call way earlier in the episode and we see it from Don's perspective later in the episode. That Bert Cooper bill was cool.
- DirectorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon is stuck in Oklahoma after his car breaks down. Betty discovers that she is not in good health. Pete gets an unexpected job offer that could enable him to get his life with Trudy and his daughter back.Heart wrenching episode. Betty has cancer and we see how her family deals with it. Her husband struggles to get her to get treatment. He tells Sally and ends up crying while sitting next to her as the camera pulls back. Sally has a talk with her mother and Betty tells her why she isn't getting treatment. In the best most heart wrenching moment of the episode Sally reads the letter her mother left for her and cries.
Sally, I always worried about you because you march to the beat of your own drum. But now i know that's good. I know your life will be an adventure."- Betty I enjoyed the Don Draper veteran story. He hangs out at a motel and then has drinks with some veterans. He makes deals with a small time hustler to get himself some alcohol. He tells those veterans about how he blew up that one guy in Korea. They later beat him up with a phone book and think he stole their donation money. It turns out it was the kid. Don gives the kid a ride to the bus station. He then tosses the kids the keys and sits as the bus stop while the kid drives away in his car. "Don't waste this."- Don Draper. Pete please don't fuck this up. Pete gets his marriage back. After a few hilarious scenes with a drunk Duck he accepts a new job offer. He goes to Trudy and professes his love for her and how he wants their life to be the way it was. They are going to move away from the horrible city and live the life they always wanted. Earlier we see Pete ask his brother why they always want what they don't have. They always want more. He decides to fix his mistakes and tells Trudy about their future plan and she says yes. Also Don being asked to fix the coca cola machine hilarious because in a way it was what he was trying to escape with McCann. Also I enjoyed the Sally Don phone call was great. “The three of us. Like it was the first time."- Pete. Pete stops trying to persuade Trudy through reminding her of the past but this time he persuades her through telling her of the future. Unlike Don Pete is starting over without erasing the past. Betty is controlling her own future now. No more Don looking over her shoulder and controlling her therapy sessions. She makes the biggest choice of her life and it's her decision. Nobody else's. The episode ends with Don sitting on a bench as everyday by Buddy Holly plays. - DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon goes AWOL from McCann Erickson in the middle of a meeting. Joan quickly gets fed up with the sexism at the new firm. Roger and Peggy put off reporting to their new jobs as long as possible.Don just leaves in the middle of meeting. He walks in to a room with 50 guys instead of 4. It's corporate takeover. I days he knew are over now. As someone in the av club comment section pointed out Don is just a cog in the machine now no matter how the boss man tries to make it seem like he's special. He just leaves and we get a scene in the car between him and imaginary cooper. Those shots with Don in the country are perfection. Stunning cinematography. Don goes to that waitress lady's old family house and the husband immediately figures out the ruse. He has a small talk with Don next to his car where he warns him that no one can save her and only Jesus can so stop trying. Roger and Harry have a talk in the office where Roger roasts the shit out of him but Harry doesn't care. Everyone gets split up in the office. Everyone is spread so thin that it gives the feeling that those relationships we've seen over the seasons have fallen apart because they are no longer near one another. It gives that high school vibe where you know you won't be friends with these people anymore because you won't be near one a another. roger's keep track of your hat size line. Don and Betty talk for a bit and his massages her shoulders. "Maybe you're getting old"- Don He then leaves and sees that she's more happy because she's trying to further her education. "Knock em dead birdie"- Don Loved the Roger and Peggy scenes. They both scare the crap out of each other. They get drunk and Roger gives her the creepy octopus Cooper painting so that she can keep him company. Later it cuts to a drunk Roger playing the piano while a drunk Peggy skates around the empty office. This episode really hits you with the fact that this show is unfortunately ending. This is the end and we only have two episodes left. Roger's boat story was great. "this was a hell of a boat you know"- Roger Peggy and Roger toast to each other. Slow motion Peggy was awesome. Cigarette in her mouth with glasses holding her stuff and Cooper's octopus painting. And it's all in slow motion. Joan has a heart breaking story where she stands up to that creep by going to the boss. She stands up the boss and we see him try to take control and then he slowly loses it. In the end the boss stands his ground with lawyers and Roger goes to Joan and tells her to take the deal. She accepts it and walks away sadly defeated. But she's defeated in a way where she has her self respect. Years ago in season 1 she would have stayed with that creep. She's really changed.
- DirectorJohn SlatteryStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserWhile Lane needs some help closing with a potential new client, Peter begins to crack under the pressure of both his home life and work life.Lane fighting Pete made me laugh harder than most comedies. Lane and Pete have the lamest fight while Draper, Cooper, and Sterling close the curtains and watch. Roger as always has the best line. "I dunno about you two but I had lane."- Roger Don also has a great one. "What was I supposed to do? Step in? Punch lane?" Trudy is one of the best wives in the show. Even she's not dumb enough to let Don skip out on their dinner. They have a nice dinner scene together where they all bond. Nobody knowing Ken's girlfriend or wife's name was funny. Don fixes the dripping sink and makes Pete look dumb. Loved that ending scene where the camera moves past Pete and we hear the leaking faucet sounds over Ken's monologue. This is also partly a Ken episode. Loved Ken and Peggy's scenes this episode. They seem to be having a good friendship going. Pete's story was extremely sad. He wants power and respect. The thing is during season 4 he had it. He was one of the most important people in the company. He might have actually been more important than Don at one point. He thinks he doesn't have it but he does and then because of his actions he looses it again. He cries in the elevator and gets the shit beat out of him by Lane and everyone knows it. Pete has the best life out of all of them. He has an amazing wife and a daughter. A great home in the suburbs. He has the stereotypical life that most men want. He has the American dream yet he doesn't want it. Lane sucking at trying to get information was fun to watch. They lose the count and gets pissed and challenges Pete to a fist fight. Later he kisses Joan but she doesn't let them ruin their friendship and continues to talk with him. They seem to have a good thing going as well. I feel bad for Lane he just wanted to fit in. I thought he and Pete had a good thing going but he realizes Pete is just another American asshole who won't accept him. I also enjoyed the car scene between Pete and Don. Pete wants to be the Don jock type guy but he always ends up being the small weasel little shit or whatever Lane called him before he punched him. Lane wants to be an American but won't be accepted. Don seems to be content with his life but it's only a matter of time before he destroys it again. Ken the happiest dude in the show continues doing what he loves and writes. Lane's chewing gum line was hilarious. Seeing everyone's reactions was even better. Also Lane's fighting stance is the most British thing I've ever seen.
- DirectorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon and Betty Draper have an argument when it becomes apparent that he doesn't want to spend Thanksgiving with her family and she plans on going only with the children. He also learns some information about his brother Adam. Pete Campbell confirms that he has landed an account from his father-in-law for a new skin care product called Clearasil. He objects however when Don gives the account to Peggy Olson, whom he has just promoted to junior copywriter. Peggy proves her mettle in auditions for the weight loss device but later is feeling unwell and goes to the hospital where she is given some shocking news. Don comes up with a brilliant presentation for Kodak on a new wheel-like storage device for a slide projector that he dubs The Carousel.Don's amazing speech about the carousal and looking at the photos he took with his family and his wife. He slowly realizes that he has been running from the one thing he has always been wanting. "It's called 'The Carousel.' It lets us travel the way a child travels. Around and around and back home again. A place where we know that you're loved." Betty learns Don's secret about the therapist. Her scene with that kid who consoles her was heart warming. Betty saying she has no one else to talk to was extremely sad. Pete's father in law pushing for him to have a kid. He ends up having a kid but not with his wife. The twist with Peggy was shocking but also a little odd given that she had no idea she was pregnant. People chalk it up to delusional thinking and sexual knowledge not be very openly available. Peggy gets the job up there with the rest of the guys and also Don gets to rub it in Pete's face as well. Harry in the office pleading to his wife to let him come home. Harry in his underwear talking with Don in the office. Peggy's awkward music stand scene. She's not afraid to hurt someone's feelings in order to get things right. Don finds out his brother is dead. Betty trying to communicate with Don through her therapist. Don's imagination of him coming home in time and making everyone happy. In the ends it's just his imagination and he comes home to an empty sad house.
- DirectorLesli Linka GlatterStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserThe bosses come in from London to reorganize Sterling Cooper, but a key player's career is sidetracked by a freak accident. Meanwhile, as Joan prepares to leave her job, her husband gives her some bad news.Holy shit that lawnmower scene came out of nowhere. The shot of the blood splatter on the three guys was great. Roger's talk with all of the dudes in the office was great. All it took was one secretary who doesn't know how to drive to end his career. He didn't get the tragedy with the happy ending unfortunately. We see everyone get ready for the British dudes to show up and we see everyone hyped to get promotions especially Don after Cooper tells him that he's probably gonna move up. Nobody gets a promotion other Harry. Harry's awkward clapping was great. Later we see that Don maybe? has gotten a promotion when we see that the guy he met at the bar earlier was the boss. Don's no one wants to see a mouse in a hotel quote was great. Don's quote about the suffocating snake great. Joan quits when she didn't have to because her husband didn't get the promotion. Joan and Peggy have a heart to heart. Don and Joan have a heart to heart. Don and Roger make up for their previous argument. Don's daughter is scared of the baby and it's not because she is jealous it's because she thinks the baby is her dead grandfather. Don and Betty argue over the name and we find out Don hates the name because her father hated him. Lane Pryce has been sent to Bombay. His talk with Don about him seeing his own funeral and him not liking the eulogy was great. Roger being left out of the chart and having to be scribbled in was hilarious. Don's great at understanding his kids as always. If you ignore the constant thoughts of running away and abandoning his children and his cheating on his wife which almost tore the family apart, Don is a pretty good father. He's good at interacting with the kids. The final shot of him holding the baby with his Sally next to him was fantastic.
- DirectorJennifer GetzingerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon flies to Los Angeles to visit Anna before his New Year's vacation to Acapulco, but her bad news influences him to cancel his vacation and return to New York, where he discovers that Lane has problems of his own.This episode has one of the most heartbreaking scenes and some of the hilarious scenes in the show. The first half deals with Don and the complicated dilemma he faces. Anna has cancer :(. She had only one episode previously and she was already one of my favorite characters. He's loosing a mother figure. The only person he was honest with. The only person who knew his true self and accepted it. Damn it I hope Mad Men breaks all it's rules with continuity and being a period piece just so Anna can live. Create a cure for cancer in the 1960's lmao I don't care just don't kill her. Don decides not to tell her. He hugs her and says goodbye. Assuming she dies soon, he has a heartfelt goodbye with her. He comes to the office only to find Lane who is distracting himself from the fact that his life has taken his kids and left. Don and Lane share a bottle Lane's father gave him. They paint the town red. They run around town drunk. Lane showing off a massive piece of American meat in the middle of an office. They get a few girls and have an all around good time. I had a grin on my face during that entire montage of scenes. Beautiful episode. This scene is off to a hell of a start and it's only gonna get better from here.
- DirectorAlan TaylorStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserElection night arrives and the staff of Sterling Cooper has a party while watching the returns. The election is close and it's obviously going to be a long night. Now a senior partner in the firm, Don Draper must hire a new head of account services, a post that Pete Campbell yearns for. Aware of Draper's secret past, he tries to strong-arm him into giving him the job. With his secret out, Don panics and he asks Rachel Menken to run away with him. Regaining his composure, Don calls Pete's bluff leading to a confrontation with Bert Cooper.The scene with everyone quietly waiting for Don to leave and then partying. Joan lets them have access to the storage closet so they can get stronger drinks. Ken embarrassing Paul by exposing his script and then everyone in the office a few scenes later is watching as they preform his play. Harry unfortunately cheating on his wife with Hildy which leaves him extremely nervous the entire rest of the episode. The next morning Peggy walks in and sees everyone dealing with their hang overs. Joan has a surprising talk with Paul revealing they had a relationship at one point. Pete threatens Don with revealing his past and quickly connects the dots regarding Don and his fake past. His friend in the defense apartment tells him that Dick Whitman died in Korea while Don Draper dropped off the map. "If your information is powerful enough to make them do what you want, what else can it make them do?"- Don Draper. Don gets extremely nervous and goes to Rachel's office and offers to run away with her. She quickly realizes he just wants to run away not run away with her. Don talks with a crying Peggy who talks about how people do bad thing and others take the blame for it. This causing Don to stand up and face the consequences of his actions. He confronts Pete. Pete actually goes forward with his threats and tells Cooper everything and Cooper says who cares. "Mr. Campbell who cares? This country was built and run by men with worse stories than whatever you've imagined here" We see Don's flashbacks as well and what really happened in career. After pissing his pants and checking them he drops his lighter accidentally blowing up the real Don Draper. His body is unrecognizable. Don grabs his dog tags and mistaken to be Don Draper. Don hears that he will be able to leave the military and he takes this opportunity to leave. He's in the train when they carry off "his corpse" and he sees his family waiting for it. A young Adam sees him in the train and tries to chase after the train while his parents don't believe him. Dick abandons him and starts his new life. Don comes home turns on his television and watches Nixon's speech.
- DirectorJennifer GetzingerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon is preoccupied with keeping Sylvia's son from being drafted, Peggy has a rat in her apartment, Don and Ted bury the hatchet, Pete has a problem with his mother's new nurse, and Sally makes an accidental discovery about her father.I enjoyed the scene with the Pete, Peggy, and Ted dinner. Pete and Peggy have a real heart to heart. I just realized that the doorman is Carmine from the Sopranos. I like doorman guy. "Oh no what did he do?" "He's a pervert!"- Pete. "I told you we needed a nurse and you sent us a rapist!"- Pete. Pete thinks his mother might be romantically involved with French dude. Ted rubs his leg against Pete. Well now we know that Bob isn't a kgb spy because the kgb would never hire a gay guy. The war between Don and Ted heats up and then dies down. Don makes a horrible mistake when bringing up the draft thing during dinner. Ted lightens up the mood a little bit. Ted strikes a deal with Don and says that they will end the war between them if he calls his old flight instructor guy to get that kid out of his jam. "Oh is it your kid?" "No it's my friend's kid" "I can't stop the war Ted" "don't be an asshole Don the war your waging on me" Ted seems like a great guy. Even though he likes Peggy he doesn't make the mistake of throwing his family away at least for now. He piggy back rides his son out of the room while his wife sleeps. Peggy has some sort of demon rat in her apartment. She calls up Stan lol. Loved the entire boyfriend conversation. "I'll make it worth your while" "no u won't" "Then why are you using your sexy voice" All of this Sally boyfriend stuff was boring but I did not expect it to lead to her walking into the apartment to find Don with Sylvia. Great acting by Sylvia's actress and great acting by Jon Hamm. We see Don pace back and forth across the hallway as he has no idea what to do. We see everything get a thousand times worse as the other family comes over to congratulate them. Sally sees them thanking Don and then sees Megan telling Don he's a great guy and all. "YOU MAKE ME SICK!" - Sally Don goes to her door and decides to lie to her. She knows exactly what happened and Don knows that she knows. His entire world can fall apart if Sally says a word. His relationship with Slyvia is pretty much over, his relationship with Megan will be destroyed, and worst of all his relationship with his daughter may be completely destroyed as well. Sally sees the true Don Draper for who he is and Don realizes just how horrible of a thing he's done.
- DirectorMichael UppendahlStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserThe creative department has a wild, drug-influenced weekend as they work on the Chevy account, Don has trouble letting go of Sylvia, and Sally walks in on an unwelcome intruder.This insane drug trip of an episode deals with rejection. Don keeps getting rejected by Chevy. Don takes his recent girlfriend's rejection extremely hard. He becomes a stalker and stands by her door so long that he has like 10 cigarettes on the ground. He has a phone call and she tells him to leave her alone and he smashes the phone into a bunch of glasses. We also see that he was pretty much raped as a kid by one of the prostitutes at the whorehouse. She later rejects him and exposes him in front of his mother who then proceeds to beat him in front of all of the other women. Roger defending Ken was great. Everyone gets hopped up on drugs and Don's bad emotional state is even more heightened. Stan races Cutler and Stan jumps all over the room like a child. That Cutler guy is very creepy and suspicious. Don walks down the stairs and sees Peggy with Ted. She's giving him the emotional support that Don wants. Peggy has been learning from Ted. Ted doesn't run away from his emotions like Don. Ken goes insane and says his speech while tap dancing for like a full minute. Don running and sliding across the hallway and then entering the room slowly like nothing happened was hilarious. "That was very inspiring. Do you have any idea what that ideas is?" "no....but i'm not gonna stop trying." Michael sees everyone going batshit crazy over the drugs. "Wasting my Saturday with you lunatics"- Michael. Everything about the apple scene was great. "But you hate him" "But I hate apples more" Ginsberg throws it right into Stan's arm. Stan doesn't even feel it. Stan and Peggy have an extremely touching scene where Peggy tells him to confront his emotions regarding his dead cousin and not hide from them. That was the best scene of the episode. Michael's second lame throw was also great. Also we see a very creepy and unsettling woman randomly break into the apartment. That one girl and this lady randomly showing up like fever dream characters was unsettling. Also Ginsberg's line "You think he'll care if I nap here?" Ted comes to work and finds out that no one did shit. "Half of this work is gibberish. Chevy is spelled wrong." - Ted Don focuses on his job and decides to stop trying to come up with ideas for Chevy. Don hasn't even been working on chevy he has been trying to get his girlfriend back lol. "A chevy." "no it's not." "then it's oatmeal?" We also get clued on on a big reason as to why Megan's scene hit Don so hard. She was like the woman who pretended to be like a mother figure only to turn out to be a whore. We also see that Sylvia rejecting him who is kind of a whore reflects the other whore who rejected Don as a kid. Oh yeah also Bobby's line. "Are we negroes?" Also Peggy has the best line. "I've had loss in my life. You have to let yourself feel it, you can't dampen it down with drugs or sex."- Peggy Olsen. Don REALLY needs to take this advice.
- DirectorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon takes the kids to California and comes back with a surprise announcement. Meanwhile, Betty fires the kids' nanny before they move out of the old house over one questionable incident, and Peggy gets a shot at a new account.I think Don's old friend from last episode might have gave him some heroin because he married his secretary. Roger's reaction was hilarious. "Who the hells that?" Kind of ironic that Don looked down on Roger for leaving his wife for his secretary. He leaves his awesome girlfriend for his secretary. Peggy saves the company with Ken. Except Ken says something stupid and almost screwed it up. Peggy hugging Ken was great. Ken in the beginning actually does the right thing and doesn't prioritize his job over his life like everyone else in the show. He doesn't put his relationship with his father in law at risk. Peggy's reaction to Don was hilarious because she knows he just made the stupidest mistake he's made in a long time. Her talk with Joan was hilarious the giggle after Peggy says that's bullshit was one of my favorite scenes this episode. "Whatever could be on your mind"- Joan. Joan kept the baby and lies to her husband. Don in California with his kids was fun to watch. He's a pretty good parent except for the cheating on their mother. Betty looks like an asshole this entire episode. Her husband calls her out on her bullshit because she fired their long time nanny over nothing and didn't even write her a letter of recommendation. Sally and that kid say goodbye to each other. Don and Betty share a drink as Betty says goodbye to the house. Best season of Mad Men so far. "Did you get cancer?"- Roger
- DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserPeggy has second thoughts about her Burger Chef campaign when Don is asked to pitch her commercial, Pete visits his wife and daughter on his trip back to New York, and Bob Benson gets some surprising news from G.M. about the account.My favorite scene was easily the closing shot. Don, Peggy, and Pete all together at the restaurant laughing and talking with each other as the camera pulls away to all of the families around them. It's a nice little moment with the three most important and popular characters in the show. Harry gets promoted to partner. Even Don hasn't forgotten what he did for him last episode and points out that he's loyal. Pete cool with it. Only Joan and Roger don't want Harry. Harrys moving up in the world good for him. My favorite story was Don and Peggy. He hints at the fact that her idea isn't bad but it isn't her best. She calls him angrily and then they lock themselves in the office and pitch ideas to one another. Don tells her how he starts over when he thinks his idea isn't good enough. They talk about their life problems. Don talks about how he hasn't done anything and how he has no one. Peggy talks about how she's thirty. "I worry about a lot of things. But I don't worry about you"- Don. Don and Peggy dance together after a song plays on the radio. They have their first real scene together since she left Don's company. Oh yeah Bob is gay or whatever and tries to marry Joan so they can have some sort of loveless agreement marriage thing. Joan obviously doesn't agree. Pete and Trudy have their talk about their complicated marriage. If you can call that a talk it's just Trudy avoiding what he's saying. Pete puts his beer can in the cake or whatever that was. Trudy says they are divorcing and it's over but she still hasn't pulled the trigger. Also Pete backs Don and wants him to present.
- DirectorMichael UppendahlStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon checks in to a hotel after his separation from Betty. Back at the office, he is forced to get rid of Freddy against his will because of his drinking problem.Absolutely loved this episode from start to end. I laughed for a long time after that scene with Freddy pissing his pants and passing out and everyone standing around thinking he's dead. Don became more likable this episode because of how he stands up for Freddy. Freddy unfortunately gets fired but they give him one hell of a send off. Also Don punches that annoying actor dude in the face. Roger and Don have a heartfelt goodbye with Freddy. Good bye Freddy, the zipper musician. Pete was a little more likable after that flight episode but now he sucks again. Peggy yelling at Pete was great. Betty is falling apart and the scene with Don and the kids and her gave me Sopranos flash backs. Don and Roger's bar talk. Roger's speech leads to him leaving his wife for a secretary. Don fires his new secretary.
- DirectorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserUnder the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Don returns to New York just as Betty finds out that she is pregnant. Meanwhile, everybody at Sterling Cooper contemplates their futures as news of the merger slowly leaks out.Just like last season's finale someone is revealed to be pregnant and it's Betty. Loved the scenes of Don and his kids and his scenes with Betty. Betty accepts him back after cheating on him after he cheated on her. Liked Pete's story this episode. He decides to reveal to Don the plan to make Duck boss which allows Don to not be caught off guard. Don actually praises Pete earlier in the episode shockingly. Don makes Duck look emotional and makes him look like a fool in the meeting. Peggy is confronted by Tom Hank's son who insists she confess. She confesses but not to him, instead she confesses to Pete. Pete lost an opportunity to be with Peggy and have a child. Peggy dogged a bullet there because a relationship with Pete wouldn't have gone so well. It seemed like Betty could have had an abortion and could have continued on a path similar to Don and the same goes for Don. But in the end they return to each other and try to hold together their broken family.
- DirectorJohn SlatteryStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon makes a bold, desperate move to save Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, but the other partners are furious with his actions. Meanwhile, Sally's psychiatrist suggests that she is improving, but Betty is skeptical.Damn they fired my guy Danny. Best scene was either between Don and the heroin addict or Pete finding out that Don paid his share and then raising his glass to Don in the hallway. Pete under the illusion that he has any choice in the matter. Pete is just controlled by women every where he goes. I like where his relationship with Trudy had gone though. Betty sucks and is very annoying now. I enjoyed that kid coming back and hanging out with Sally. Him running and getting tired after a few feet was hilarious. I enjoyed Sally and her therapist talks. I enjoyed Henry coming in and pulling an Obi Wan. Betty purposely gets Sally mad. Betty talking with the child psychiatrist because she's borderline acts like a child. That scene with the heroin addict was so sad and had to watch. It happens all the time in real life and it's so sad to see people reduced to people who manipulate people they know in order to get money for drugs. Gives me flashbacks to haunting of hill house except that had a much more uplifting ending than she'll probably get. Don fires everyone and sees them crying in the hallway. The entire episode we see that everyone is completely screwed. We think Don's gonna pull a 500 IQ move like he always does but he just makes himself look like a moron. I bet it'll lead to something eventually saving the company so he's probably not that much of an idiot. He still doesn't consult with his partners. Poor Harry getting kicked out of the office room. Everyone listens in and they try to understand what's going on through people's expressions. That one dude saying that he didn't think they would start with Bert Cooper.
- DirectorAlan TaylorStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon drops off the Sterling Cooper radar and visits the wife of the man whose identity he stole. Back at the office, Bert and Roger consider the merger offer, Peggy makes a play for a real office, and Peter loses his father-in-law's account.Betty and Sally have a heartfelt conversation after discussing Don's disappearance. Peggy's breaking popsicle idea was great. The flashbacks were the best part of the episode. Nervous Don offers her money and is extremely worried that he's done. Over time we see Don and Anna have developed a relationship. She is like the mother he never had. We see the flashback of him telling her that he wants to marry Betty. Then we see him tell her in the present that he's ruined everything. Peggy gets an office. Anna reveals that Don has screwed everything up because he thinks he's alone. We see he had someone like Anna all along but because he's refusal to believe anything other than that he's alone he hadn't contacted her in years. Don walks into the ocean shirtless seemingly symbolizing that he is restarting and is going to attempt to fix everything.
- DirectorJennifer GetzingerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserAs the firm prepares to go public, Don and Pete's actions cause them to lose two huge clients. However, Roger uses a new connection to put them in position to gain their biggest client ever.Lots of great scenes my favorite was probably Pete versus Don while everyone in the office watches. It starts off with Pete yelling and storming down the stairs before tripping. He gets in Don's face and reveals to him how badly he just screwed up. They go to the office where Joan leaves after yelling at Don for making her sacrifice meaningless. I love the shot where we see the entire creative team looking at them from behind the glass window and like 50 feet on the stairs in the corner. Don turns around and they all rush out of the shot. Don pulls a season 3 finale and saves the company. He combines his company with Peggy's company without any of the other partners say so. How they did this? I dunno. But Don does it and they get Chevy and leave Peggy with complicated feelings. She wanted a new experience but Don just forces his way back into her life again. Then she's got to write a press release. Ted seems like a cool guy. Peggy fantasizes him and we hear romantic music playing and then it cuts to her kissing her boyfriend in a shitty apartment with blaring music. I enjoyed the bar scene between Don and Ted where they share their pitches. Don gets the idea to combine their companies and Ted starts to see this opportunity as a win. Don has dinner with the fat guy and then destroys his relationship with Jaguar because he can't stand to look at the guy. An extremely selfish decision on Don's part. "You're just Tarzan swinging from vine to vine!"- Pete He's rich and it doesn't matter to him but Pete and Joan aren't. They see a massive waisted opportunity. I enjoyed Pete's story. Loved the scene with Pete and Ken. Ken's laughter after Pete says "biggest blackest prostitute you've ever seen" was hilarious. Ken saying that he was never afraid of the bomb because it was mutually assured destruction. Well Pete's father in law is alright with that. "You just pressed the button. You just blew everything up."- Pete. Pete is sent out of the office and goes to Trudy and tells her what happened. Trudy cries and say she and Pete are done. Trudy isn't spineless. She knows how to control Pete. Also enjoyed Pete and Joan talking about how happy they are gonna be with their money. Cooper just walks in and sits down on Pete's couch and waits for Pete to acknowledge him. He tells Pete how rich they are gonna be and Pete looks truly happy. Happier than he's been a while. I swear why is that Doctor dude ALWAYS in the elevator at the same time as Don. I suspect that he hides in the corner of the hallway until Don comes and then follows Don into the elevator.
- DirectorLynn SheltonStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon becomes frightened that his lie will be exposed when government agents question Betty about him, Lane has shocking news for his father when he comes to bring him home, and Joan considers having an abortion.Everyone has those moments where it feels like the world is ending. Whether it be an upcoming test or an upcoming due date the thought of it is always in the back of your mind especially during the day right before the day. But then it happens and then you move on and you don't think about it again. Something that stressed you out so much for weeks and then as soon as your done with it you don't even remember it. Don is on edge the entire episode. On top of that he gets a fever. Government agents interrogate Betty. Loved that scene where he's struggling to put the key in the door as two government looking guys start walking towards him. Loved his interactions with Pete this episode. Pete yells at him in the elevator and calls him out for his bullshit. Speaking of getting called out that scene where the doctor insults Roger was hilarious. He calls out Roger's behavior and his age. The entire time however Pete stays loyal and doesn't even tell his wife. He takes the fall for the account and Roger explodes at him. Joan and him deal with the abortion. On top of that Roger looses the biggest account that they've had for decades. He looses lucky strikes and only has 30 days to try and make a difference. That Hitler party dude turns out to be a decent guy and gives Roger that time. Roger explodes at Pete but really he's talking about himself. Lane gets smacked in the head by his father's cane. He is forced to return to his country for a few weeks to sort out of his family issues. He says the company is in a fine state and that it's okay that he leaves for two weeks. Roger laughs because he knows they are all screwed. He doesn't tell them that they lost lucky striker however. Don shockingly tells his girlfriend his closely kept secret that he never even told Betty. Betty had to find out for herself. He's definitely changing and becoming more open to people. Also Don tells Sally that he has tickets to the Beatles for them to go on Sunday. She screams for 30 seconds and then thanks him. Don and Betty seem to be on better terms. Their phone call together didn't turn bitter. She didn't even blame him and she didn't even get angry at him. I was afraid that he wouldn't get the tickets but he does. Also Roger taking into account that her husband might die was hilarious. I hope her husband does die though I hate him. I hope he steps on a land mine. I hope the next episode randomly cuts to him stepping on a landmine or something for five seconds.
- DirectorScott HornbacherStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon returns to work, but quickly falls off the wagon after learning that he's been assigned to Peggy. Meanwhile, Roger and his ex-wife go to a commune to rescue their daughter, who has abandoned her child.My favorite story this episode was Roger dealing with his psycho daughter running of to a commune. His ex wife has enough of the bullshit and leaves. Roger stays with his daughter and enjoys the whole hippi thing but he knows it doesn't matter that she's temporarily happy there because he doesn't want her to do to her son what he did to her. She goes off with a hippi guy and Roger starts to recognize himself. And that's not good. I also enjoyed that scene in the beginning with Roger hanging out with his grandson. He drags her away until they fall back into the mud. She finally explodes and tells Roger what's on her mind and how he was a shit parent. A defeated Roger walks away covered in mud down. Don struggles with the fact that Peggy is ordering him around. Peggy gets a raise but she's been set up so that either she or Don fails. Don refuses to listen to her and gets drunk and in a series of entertaining scenes stumbles his way across the office. He calls up FREDDY!!!! "I want you to meet the Mets. Step right up and greet the Mets."- Drunk Don Draper Freddy gives him the ultimate pep talk. "Are you just going to kill yourself? Give them what they want? Or go in your bedroom, get in uniform, fix your bayonet, and hit the parade?"- Freddy Rumsen Don pulls himself together and the episode ends with him telling Peggy that he'll have her tags by lunch. I also enjoyed that heart to heart talk with Peggy and Joan. It was also good to see Roger was checking up on Don to make sure that he wasn't coming in late and screwing up his second chance.
- DirectorMichael UppendahlStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserSally discovers that Don is not working, Pete lands a big account but is undercut by management, and Joan is forced to move some secretaries around after Lou and Peggy have some problems.Don bored at home eating out of the box while watching a kids show. He even dresses up all nice for Dawn who just comes by to keep him up to date. Then he undoes his tie and watches tv again right after. So bored that he notices a cockroach moving around a table.
Ted walking in on Bonnie and Pete. "howd it go" "I got em. "good work " Good ngiht bonnie" Goodnight" they crack up laughing
That little moment of peggy saying hold that please and ginsberg not even moving an inch and stan has to do it
"maybe if you invite me you can have till tuesday"- peggy
"now ill know you dont have plan for valentines day"- Stan
dawn and shirley office talk
Don hasn't told Megan he's on paid leave holy shit
"You pulled a major boner. you cried or punched someobody or something. They cut you loose." Dawn celebrating the new or rather old flowers on her desk.
"I think they can't hear us." "WE CAN HEAR U!"- Pete
The entire partners meeting just people on either end cutting out and having to yell over the phone.
Oh shit one of the characters is finally addressing Don in a not so positive way. "Don who? Our collective ex wife you still receives alimony?" Don is being pushed out. They realize as good as Don is they are succeeding without him. He's too much trouble.
"Sally what am I supposed to say?" "Just tell the truth"
roger hanging up and pete still going
Pete and teds scene together
"you an have my office" "no that is not THE POINT!"
"We're not talking anymore. From now on we'll both pretend I'm in new york.
Don and Sally car talk
Peggy's cringe face after she explodes
Don and Sally diner talk
Joan having to rearrange her rearranging. It all works out as Joan gets moved a floor up and Shirley gets a new office.
"happy valentines days. I love you"- Sally. She's accepting her father into her life again. Their scenes together were my favorite parts of the episode. Fantastic episode all around. - DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserPeggy becomes unsatisfied with her apartment and with Abe, Don has an eventful weekend with Betty while Megan has problems on the set, Roger has time with his grandson, and Pete begins exploring his options outside the firm.No one pays attention to Pete in the meeting which further fuels Pete's thoughts that he's going to be cut out. Peggy gets forced into an uncomfortable situation where she has to pick between Don or Ted. "Unjustifiably in a position that I'd rather not be in."- Randy Savage Harry not even caring because he knows his opinion wouldn't matter. "Oh it speaks"- Pete. Betty is no longer fat. That's great. Roger hanging out with his grandson on the stairs was great. He later takes him to Planet of the Apes lol. His annoying daughter gets mad at that tho. Pete gets way to paranoid and asks Duck for advice. Shockingly Duck has gotten his life back together and actually gives Pete very good advice. Make sure your home life is good before you try to fix your work life. Betty and Don has some sweet moments together like the dinner hand song with bobby. They sleep together. Two self destructive people reuniting. Megan doesn't deserve this. Henry doesn't either but then again he met her when she had a husband. Arlene going in for a second and third kiss was hilarious. Peggy the broom warrior tapes a knife to the front of the broom. Holy shit she stabs her boyfriend. They finally break it off when he realizes that they are two people on opposite sides of issues all of the time. "Your gonna protect me? you only have one hand!"- Peggy Ambulance guy shrugging with Peggy says he's not gonna die. It's super awkward for him after they break up. It's nice to see that Joan doesn't despise Pete. He's the only one who hasn't broken a promise to her. Roger of course doesn't recognize Bob Benson. "Who are you?" I swear Bob is some sort of KGB spy or something he is super suspicious. Ted avoids Peggy's feelings and she realizes that he pretty much is like Don. Two sides of the same coin. They both care about their own ideas. Peggy is left adrift in the middle between them. Don would have given her the day after her break up just saying.
- DirectorScott HornbacherStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon has a wild lost weekend after winning a CLIO award, while Peggy is forced to work all weekend in a hotel room with an "uninspired" co-worker. Meanwhile, Peter is livid after he learns that the other partners hired Ken Cosgrove.Don tries to come up with a new idea on the spot. Danny played by the security guard guy from the show Justified is introduced. He sucks and is terrible but Don steals his garbage slogan and idea without realizing. He ends up hiring him to clear his guilty conscious lol. Stan and Peggy stripping hotel scene. She makes him uncomfortable and it's hilarious. Pete is pissed that Ken is coming back. He talks to Ken and makes it clear that he is the boss now. Afterwards they go right back to being friends but there clearly has a been a huge change in how Ken views Pete. Loved the twist that Don manipulated Roger into hiring him. He got him drunk and then just showed up the next day and tells Roger that he said he hired him when he was drunk. It turns out he didn't and he completely manipulated Roger into hiring him. Don hustled his way into his job lol.
- DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserWhile Don's thoughts turn inward while he deals with Anna's death, Peggy is placed in a difficult situation when an obnoxious employee in the creative department is disrespectful to Joan.Don and Betty both think the other is living the life. Don starts monologuing during the episode. He's starting to change. We get a satisfaction song scene. Don already has two dates. Don's line of "he thinks that mans his father" hit hard. Betty sucks. Her husband seems like a pretty good dude but I'm not gonna pretend like I don't remember how their relationship started. Peggy fires that annoying dude. Harry trying to hang out with that dude was so awkward and funny to watch. Don drops that girl off at the doorstep but doesn't ago any further. He's improving but slowly. Don racing the dude in the pool lol. That scene with Betty and Joan in the elevator was so unexpected. Joan was right though now she looks powerless and now Peggy looks likes she's no fun. Henry smashing Don's boxes with his car lol. He purposely insinuates that Don should pick up the boxes soon because he's not invited. Don comes by for the party. He picks up his kid and Betty watches. She always loved Don and wanted to be with him, but he screwed everything up.
- DirectorChris ManleyStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserAfter a fight with Megan during a surprise trip to California, Don decides it's time to get back to work. Meanwhile, Betty joins Bobby on a field trip to a farm.In this episode everything is flipped upside down. Don's marriage goes to shit as Megan introduces the idea of them splitting up. She's fed up with Don after she finds out that he's been at home for an ENTIRE YEAR. Don has dinner with a rival company and then brings the offer to Roger. Roger is so cool that he tells Don to come to the office on Monday. Don awkwardly meets with all of his old employees. Everyone is extremely confused but seem to go with the flow. Don gets caught back up. Roger comes to the office and it's revealed that Roger definitely didn't speak with any of the other partners. Peggy comes face to face with Don again and says no one missed him and walks away. Roger being the coolest guy as always completely backs up Don. Joan backstabs Don. She wants him out. Cooper and Roger don't want him out it seems like. Sterling Cooper backing Don. They address the fact that they will need to buy out Don which means the company will take a big hit regarding finance. Also they want a computer for their Tv productions or whatever. Harry makes up a lie on the spot lol. Roger just decides to decide for Pete and Ted's friend decides to decide for Ted on the Don issue. I wonder if Ted would want Don out even after Don said he could take his place in California. A bunch of sharks together in a room. Roger is the only one who seems to be acting on the fact that he is friends with Don. He even says he'd never remove Don. They all come to a conclusion and produce a list of rules that Don must follow. Shockingly Don accepts these terms. WHAT ARE YOU DOING DUDE! You have the upper hand Don. Don is going to mess up with season and it's going to be the end I just know it. Also we get Betty being a horrible parent as always. She starts out pretty good even talking with him and making jokes. Then she gets angry. He gave away your sandwich calm down. She even believes that her children don't love her. Henry comes home to his broken family. "I wish it yesterday"- Bobby Draper. The amount of times I thought that exact same thing. Roger is a very loyal person. Last time we saw the bad side of his loyalty with his racism and his pact with his brothers in war, and now we see the good side. He's not the usual laid back guy he was fighting for Don and I liked that.
- DirectorJohn SlatteryStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserPeter finds out that he will become a father, and has to break some bad business news to his father-in-law. Meanwhile an office focus group study for a client has some unintended personal consequences for Don.That final glance between Pete and Peggy was such a great scene. They just might be ready to put the past behind them. They both seemed to have ignored the situation but Peggy discusses his new baby. The acting through their facial expressions in both of these scenes is amazing. This is a good Pete episode where things go well for him. He finally gets a kid and he gets an amazing account. Love that part where his father in law calls him a son of a bitch and he just shrugs. Don's secretary looses it and throws something at his wall. She storms out and runs away after calling him a horrible person. He tries to write an apology letter but just ends up talking about himself half way through the sentence. She quits and Don gets a 200 year old secretary. "How the hell did this get so sad so fast."- Freddy Peggy spying on Don by standing on her desk and peaking at him through the window of his office gave me a good laugh. Also loved that split second shot of Cooper just eating an apple and reading a magazine in the corner of the room. Don's drinking has gotten worse as he's already finished entire bottles within his office in a short period of time. He's a miserable wreck. Also loved that scene between Lane and Pete. Never really cared for Lane's character but I'm liking him more. The return of Ken! Ken and Pete make up and hang out together like old times. Harry as always is super fun to watch. Peggy hangs around that hippy place and makes new friends. She hides from the cops with a dude in a closet.
- DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserThe new firm is struggling for business, so Peter and Peggy resort to a cheap publicity stunt to lure a client. Meanwhile, Don's personal problems and an unflattering newspaper interview puts his and the firm's image in jeopardy.Hell of a start to this season. Best scene was Don going bat shit crazy and yelling at the two guys to get the hell out of the office. Pete trying to salvage the relationship was hilarious. Don having the awkward interview was great. This time Don is the screw up. Harry comes in ready to tell the good news and then Don messes it all up. Don looses control in this episode. He gets pissed enough to kick the chair in the middle of the meeting which leads to everyone staring at him. Don looses his temper when Betty comes home with her boyfriend and insults them before telling them that Betty has to pay rent or leave. He also gets pissed at Peggy. Peggy and her side kick showing up at the door was great. Peggy and Don's argument at the end was fun to watch. Their stunt goes wrong but it gets the job done. The table jokes were great especially when they have that extremely small one that the guy puts his leg on. His date that Roger and his wife set up goes not as planned. Times are changing and so are the women. He likes to get slapped a bunch now apparently. Roger's conversation with him about setting up the date was one of my favorite scenes of this episode. Also that Thanksgiving dinner scene made me cringe so hard. Loved the ending scene of Don explaining the story behind their business. He gets the hang of it. Solid episode and fantastic first episode of the season.
- DirectorBarbet SchroederStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserOn the weekend of the John F. Kennedy assassination, Pete finds out that he lost the promotion to Cosgrove, Roger Sterling's daughter's wedding goes off as planned, and Betty musters up the courage to respond to Don's confessions.Pete's the something something account line was great. Pete doesn't get the job unfortunately and gets some other meaningless title. He refuses to go to the wedding and in the end his wife tells him that he should move on. She tells him to start gathering up his clients. We'll see whether or not he's gonna make a movie against Sterling Cooper. Betty sees that guy again at the wedding party and decides to be with him. She finally faces the fact that her marriage with Don is pretty much over. She tells him that she doesn't love him any more. He walks away and walks into another room with a scared look on his face. Later we see him watching his family at breakfast with a scared look on his face. He knows it's over too. Roger and the wedding was a great story. His phone call with Joan was a highlight of the episode. John F Kennedy gets killed a day or two before Roger's daughter's wedding. Seeing their mess of a wedding was hilarious. Roger delivers a killer speech and then glances at Don. Don's strongest relationships are starting to crumble. Now that I'm thinking about it, all of his relationships are falling apart. His relationship with Roger fell apart, his relationship with Betty has fallen apart, his relationship with that teacher fell apart, and his relationship with his higher up boss fell apart after he failed at the pitch meeting. This episode does a good job at capturing America's shock after the death of Kennedy.
- DirectorMatt ShakmanStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon runs into someone from his past. Joan makes a decision, and Roger gives Peggy extra work.Finally they address Dr. Rapey. Best scene Joan and him finally breaking up. And I'm glad she exposed him for that good man lie of his. Glad we got another Roger Peggy story. Their scene where she exploits his lie and gets something hundred dollars out of him was hilarious. This entire episode was very funny. Sally talking with that woman whoever she was I dunno I forgot. Loved that shot of Sally sleeping underneath the bed while the old woman has a knife next to her. That shot with Don at the phone in the bar was perfection. Don has a crazy insane fever dream where he murders a woman and kicks her corpse underneath his bed lol. He fears that he'll end up cheating on his wife again. Which he will. Definitely. Peggy and the black secretary have a little story together where they hang out. Peggy accidentally shows her racial bias when she focuses on her purse. Full of shame she pretends she was going for the beer and walks away. Also Roger needs to stop carrying an absurd amount of cash around in his pocket. Pete and Roger having a talk and Roger immediately getting up and sneaking past Pete was hilarious. Pete is honestly right. He sucks at his job. Also that new Al Pacino looking guy they hired pitches not one but two ideas even though they were already sold on the first one. That elevator scene was hilarious when Don's old girlfriend starts hitting on him and doesn't realize his wife is right next to him. It's even more funny when his wife says how many times is this going to keep happening. This episode felt very unmadmeny now that I think about it. Still loved it tho. Best scene was Peggy and Roger."Are you drunk? Get your feet off the table."- Roger
- DirectorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserAs the partners consider expanding the office space, Don begins seeing ghosts and gets a request to advance Megan's acting career. Meanwhile, Peter's affair comes to a disappointing end, and Megan's mom briefly reunites with Roger.I'm surprised Don lasted this long before eventually turning back to his old ways. I think we know just by that walk and that look he had that he definitely was ready to cheat on his wife. We've seen that hunger that was within Don disappear and affect his job. As a guy in the av club comment section for this episode says the toothache is an example of this. If your hungry you can't eat with a tooth ache like that. He's lost his ability to talk people out or into things. He ignores the pain in his tooth and then has it pulled out before it's too late. Then he goes back to smoking which was what caused it in the first place. Don is stuck in a permanent loop of being unfulfilled. He gets his wife the commercial and breaks his morals that he set out for himself. Megan is just another Betty now. She's not the go getter because she needs her husband to get her the job. She's no longer what he married and so he walks away. Loved the scene between Peggy and Don at the theater. Don meets with Lane's wife and gives her cash and she insults him for thinking he's made a difference. Loved the iconic shot of all them on the top empty floor looking at the view. Pete meets with that lady again and it turns out she's been getting her brain zapped. He meets with her in the hospital and she doesn't even remember who he is. He is a heart to heart with her. He then attacks or husband and gets his ass kicked. He then gets punched in the face by the train guy. He comes home to his loving wife who makes yet another sacrifice for him and decides to get a city apartment. Roger in front of the window wtf. Also Megan completely screwed over her friend. This seemed like a middle of the season episode it felt very odd for a finale. It did wrap up the big plot of how long Don can last however. Pretty good episode.
- DirectorPaul FeigStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon is courted by Jim Hobart, head of a larger ad firm who offers him more money and more creative resources to join them. Betty Draper rekindles her interest in modeling after Hobart suggests she should try it. She doesn't realize it's all part of the strategy to get Don on board. Peggy Olsen is fretting over her weight gain but doesn't appreciate Joan's advice about getting ahead in the office. The ad team tries to counter the advertising coming out of the Kennedy campaign. Pete Campbell comes up with an idea to keep Kennedy's image off TV in key States.Great final scene of Betty getting revenge on the neighbor and shooting down his birds. Cooper and another guy each try and get Don to be on their side. This results in Cooper giving Don golf clubs and pay raises, and the other guy giving Don's wife a model job reviving her modeling career. The other guy oversteps and threatens Don with ending her modeling which is ironically exactly what Don wants. Draper gets the pay raise and he has Betty stay home and her modeling aspirations and career is practically over. Betty's story as also interesting and really sad seeing that it was never about her, she was just a pawn using in a game against Don. Don tries to comfort her and tells her that she is the type of mother he would have wanted. "I would have done anything to have had a mother like you. Beautiful and kind, and filled with love. Like an angel." Everyone in the office notices Peggy has gained weight and this pushing Pete to punch one of the other dude in the face. "I know what men think of you. That you're looking for a husband. And you're fun. And not in that order." Peggy and Joan's talk was great. Also Betty's therapist scene was great where she said her mother was weight obsessed which was a problem because Betty likes hotdogs. Pete and the other dude fighting in the background while Don and Roger talk. Pete's clever idea to take up the ad space so it would only leave Nixon's ads. Pete and the other guy seemingly getting in trouble only to find out that they are being congratulated.
- DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon renews his battle with Ted after seeing his relationship with Peggy, Sally interviews at a boarding school, and Pete discovers Bob Benson's background.Don has successfully pushed everyone important in his life away from him. He's distanced himself from Megan. His girlfriend left him. His daughter goes off to boarding school. Peggy storms out of his office and calls him a monster. Who's he got now? Roger? Ken get shot in the face. Pete takes his spot and tries to push out Bob. "I'd listen to the Cyclops Pete"- Roger He could actually do it if he wants to. Pete gets Duck to find some dirty on Bob. Turns out Bob is a fraud that lied about his past. Pete shockingly doesn't fire him however. He knows better than to mess with his kind. He sees opportunity in Bob. They will now work closely, but not too closely. Don sees Peggy and Ted hanging out and laughing ever five seconds. Everyone knows immediately that hey like each other. Don and Megan at the movie theater run into them. Going to a movie. At 5 pm. Together. It doesn't take a genius to know what's going on but Don refuses to acknowledge it as Megan tries to talk to him about it. Don gets increasingly jealous and annoyed by Peggy and Ted hanging out. But he also sees that it's affecting business as Ted is starting to give Peggy everything even at the cost of business. It gives Don the perfect excuse. I also loved the looks that Don and Joan exchanged with each other around the increasingly enthusiastic Ted and Peggy. " Wah wah wah"- Don "Can I do it from here?"- Peggy Don embarasses Ted during the appointment. He leaves him hanging for a few seconds so he knows exactly what Don is really talking about. Then Don uses his dead friend as an excuse to save them which probably pisses Ted even more. Ted confronts Don and Don talks him down and exposes what's really going on and tells him that everyone in the office knows at this point. Peggy storms into Don's office and then calls him a monster. Don is left in a fetal position. Also we have a boring Sally in boarding school or whatever. I enjoyed the scene with Betty stupidly letting Sally smoke as they ride in the car. She's definitely fishing for information no doubt.
- DirectorChris ManleyStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserSet among the events surrounding Martin Luther King's assassination, Peggy tries to get a new apartment, Ginsberg is set up on a date, and Don has a revelation during his weekend with the kids.When that guy shouted someone died at the dinner I had no idea what he said. I thought he was talking about Bobby Kennedy getting shot lol. "I need binoculars"- Joan This episode focuses on the reactions of the city towards the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the riots that followed. One of my favorite scenes this episode was Pete screaming in the office at Harry. "Don't yell at me!"- Harry Pete calling Harry a racist was hilarious. The office scenes between Randall and some of the partners was hilarious. "Randy it never works."- Roger Randy talks about the ghost of Martin Luther King visiting him. Stan tries to hold in his laughter and Randy takes that as him making him smile. I enjoyed Michael Ginsberg's interactions with his father. His father surprises him with a date and it starts out awkward but then ends up being alright before it's cut short by the sad news. We see Peggy buying an apartment and growing closer to her boyfriend. My personal favorite part of the story was Don hanging out with his son. "I'm not allowed to watch tv for a week" cut to them in a theater. Don later lays down next to his son and calms him down after hearing that he was worried that Henry wasn't going to get shot. He evens adds a jab towards Henry in there. "but they won't Henrys not that important."- Don Hell of an episode loved it. Reminds me of the death of JFK episode. Also we get a glimpse of how Pete's marriage is going. Not good. Also Pete being so lonely that he's trying to have a conversation with a man who clearly doesn't know enough English to have one with him. "hiiuu hiuu ehuuu ehuu ahuu aaahuuu"- Randall Walsh
- DirectorChris ManleyStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserWhile Lou becomes the object of ridicule for the copy writers, Don tries to get away to California after a call from his pregnant niece. Meanwhile, the new office computer drives Ginsberg to the brink of insanity.After all this time we finally see the true villain of Mad Men. The one behind the scenes that is pulling all the strings. The homo machine. My favorite story was the sad end of Michael Ginsberg. He completely goes nut. He hangs out at Peggy's for a bit. He then goes to her and cuts off his nipple and gives it to her. Holy. Shit. We last see him getting wheeled out on a stretcher. "Get out while you can!"- Michael Ginsberg. He was right tho those machines are replacing them and by the end they will. Stan goes with him and Peggy cries. In the beginning we get a funny story of Lou's cartoon being discovered. Scout's honor. "You know who had a ridiculous dream and peopled laugh at him?" You?"- Stan Even Don cracks up at that. Also its cool to see Hulio just goes to hang out at Peggy's apartment sometimes to watch some tv. Bobby and Sally hang out. Harry shows up at Don's party and Don actually goes out to hang out with him. It seems like Don respects him more. Before he didn't even want to be in the same room as him. Maybe it's because Harry actually managed to make himself important in the company. He warns Don of Lou and that other guy's plan to overthrow Don by getting that cigarette client that Don trashed in the newspaper. Don shows up at the meet and does what he does best. He wins this round. But how long can he keep this up. He has two people looking to remove him from the picture. But he has Harry, Roger, and Pete to back him up. Joan and Cooper on the fence about it because it's business for them. Peggy and Don are on good terms again. Peggy has accepted that her relationship with Ted didn't mean anything. She acknowledges that work place relationships don't matter when talking to Ginsberg. Megan goes batshit crazy and does a three way with Don hoping it would bring them closer. Very very dumb of her. We see Stephanie again. Megan despises her and pretty much forces her to leave. Also Betty sucks but that's nothing new. Also is that kid's name spelled Julio or Hulio or something I dunno cares.
- DirectorLesli Linka GlatterStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon is forced to compete with a cocky upstart rival for a potential account with Honda motorcycles, but Roger's prejudice causes unexpected problems. Meanwhile Betty considers a psychiatrist for Sally because of her behavior.Roger is super racist and refuses to work with these Japanese dudes. Roger ruins everything and insults the Japanese to their face in a super uncomfortable scene. Don creates a genius plan to shoot a fake commercial. Don then tells the Japanese dudes that they broke their own rules manipulating their ideas of honor against them. Sally cuts her hair. Don talks to the Dr. Faye or whatever her name is and she reveals she lies about being married to avoid being faced with men like Don constantly trying to date her.
- DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserPete Campbell and Peggy Olson start an office romance. Peggy's copy for the lipstick account goes over well and the men in the firm congratulate her. A new telephone receptionist, Lois Saddler, takes a liking to Salvatore Romano but his own interests seem to lie elsewhere. Don Draper gets an unexpected bonus from Bert Cooper and wants to take Midge on a surprise trip to Paris. She seems too involved with her beatnik friends however. Don reflects on his unhappy childhood and in flashbacks he reveals some life lessons he learned early on when a hobo spent the day working on the family farm in exchange for a meal.Best part of the episode is easily the story of the hobo and him explaining the markings to a young Don Draper or whatever his real name is. He marks his house showing that a dishonest man lives there. The final shot shows Don go into his office and the door closes behind him and a different kind of mark is on the door showing his dishonesty. It's his name on the door of an office of an advertising company. Don Draper getting high and arguing with those hippies. Peggy having fun at the party but Pete comes along and ruins it. Pete struggles with himself and is unsure of almost everything he does. Don gives his girlfriend the 2500 dollar check to go buy a car or something. Don comes home and in one of the best scenes so far he wakes up his son and asks his son to ask him any question and he'll answer. His kid says "why do lightning bugs light up." Don's reaction was great. Don tells him that he'll never lie to him. He falls asleep next to his son. Seeing those two guys at the dinner having to be very careful with their words and dancing around the situation was tough to watch.
- DirectorJennifer GetzingerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserMegan is hurt by Don's negative response to the surprise party, Lane finds a missing wallet in a cab, Joan makes an unexpected visit to the office, and Pete makes a play for a bigger office.So many great scenes I don't even know if I can remember them all. Lane and Roger's dance mocking Don's wife. Roger always has the best lines. Lane and Joan have a heartfelt conversation. Lane makes Joan laugh and stops her from crying. Pete and Roger being confused by what the hell Harry is talking about. Pete playing a prank on Roger was hilarious. He makes him go all the way to Staten Island at 6 am. Peggy apologizing to Don and to his wife. Don's wife being even more childish than Betty. Roger's negotiation with Harry. Stan wondering where Harry is and Pete going who cares. Harry being paranoid about Don's wife telling Don about what happened in the office. Everyone interacting with Joan's baby. Her baby gets passed all around the office. Peggy avoids it but ends up having to hold on to it for a while. She hands it off to Pete and it circulates back to one of the secretaries. The Pete and Roger war was great. Also that shot in the elevator was beautiful.
- DirectorLesli Linka GlatterStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserBetty becomes suspicious that Don is having an affair after her conversation with Jimmy Barrett, Joan helps out in the television department, and Peggy helps the church with a dance flyer.Don Draper sits alone in the empty office drinking alone. Everything blows up in Dons' face as Betty finds out. She can't find evidence even though she goes through the entire house but she knows. Don embarrasses her and she snaps. She begins to see through him as she begins to realize everything is just a pitch from him. He can look her in the eye and lie to her and she knows it. The second story lines were also entertaining with Joan and Harry. Joan get a taste of what it feels like to be Peggy and then it's ripped away from her as another man gets the job. Peggy deals with the priest and avoids confessing her sins. The small moments in this episode were great like Roger waiting for Harry to open the door and the undercover nun joke between Pete and Ken.
- DirectorLesli Linka GlatterStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon Draper is shaken when his past life comes back to haunt him. After his picture appears in a local newspaper, Adam Whitman, a man who claims to be his younger brother, approaches him. Don, or Dick as his brother knows him, initially denies everything but in the end admits to having taken on a new name. He refuses however to have anything to do with him and tries to buy his silence. When one of the ad men gets a short story published, Pete Campbell is frustrated that his own stories have yet to see the light of day. When his wife approaches an old beau to see if he will publish the stories, he has an interesting proposition for her.Fantastic episode best so far. We see that Don Draper is not who he seems and seemingly has a fake or new identity? Best scenes where his scenes with his brother and his decision to not allow his brother within his new life. He does however make the decision to give him five thousand dollars. I heard that money converted to our time today would be around 33,000 or something so Draper actually did him a huge favor. But the bigger favor would have been accepting him into his life. His brother hugs him and then part ways. Draper seemed to have been adopted and had a rough time it seems given his response to his brother's mother's death. We see the secretary find out about Draper's cheating and is put in a tough spot when Draper's wife comes to the office and he's gone. Her conversation with Christina Hendricks was hilarious. She tells her the secret and in return she gets advice that she would have done anyways. When she talks with Draper's wife and Christina Hendricks calls her up halfway through and asks how it's going was great. Pete being an asshole to his wife saying she should have done whatever was necessary to get his story published for The New Yorker. "Make your own life. I have too much here."- Don Draper.
- DirectorMichael UppendahlStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon has reservations about a misguided potential client who wants to sell jai alai as the "new national pastime." Meanwhile, Sal produces the "Patio" television commercial, Peggy searches for a roommate, and Betty's father passes away.Sally and her grandpa driving in the car gave me a good chuckle. Sterling Cooper dealing with that total moron was great. "When you get a yes, you go home." Gene showing his grandson a world war Prussian helmet. Don gets triggered by this and refuses to allow Gene to give him son the hat. Sal's wife being weirded out by his dancing. The prank call on Peggy was great. "Who is this? You know something your a jerk." Gene hanging out with his grand daughter was great. Don starts to become overcome with guilt when he talks to the kid and realizes what he wants. Pete giving him dirty looks was great. Joan and Peggy's talk about branching out was fun to watch. Don smashing the case with the weird baseball glove thing was great. "Bill it to the kid." Damn it Gene sadly dies.
- DirectorMichael UppendahlStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserFreddy returns with a valuable new client, the firm reluctantly throws a Christmas party for its most important client, and Don prepares for his first Christmas away from his children.The fuhrer story was great. Roger is put in an awkward position in which he has to dress as Santa. Don's heartwarming letter from his daughter turns bitter sweet. That kid Betty hung out with hangs out with Sally over the phone. After hearing she wants to leave the house because it reminds her that Don won't be there, he breaks in and trashes the house but leaves her room clean. Don hates Christmas as he has to deal with another holiday where he's reminded of what he's lost. He makes a horrible decision to sleep with his secretary. She wasn't looking for a one night stand but he was. Don handles it in a very poor way and looks like a total asshole. Which he is. The final shot lingers on his secretary trying to get back to work. She gets her bonus but it makes her feel more like he was paying her for what happened the previous night. The return of Freddy the zipper musician. He's quit drinking, good for him. He has a small fight with Peggy but they share a heartfelt moment at the end. Peggy's boyfriend sucks. Don has changed for the worse as he has begun drinking even more. He always dreamed of the day he could start over and now that he can he doesn't want it. The secretary doesn't fall for him and neither does the nurse. Maybe he's changed or maybe the times have changed. He's lost that spark he once had. He's a miserable drunk who stumbles his way home to a small apartment. Harry having to sit on Roger and whispering sorry gave me a good laugh.
- DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserMegan convinces Don that she should give up her job at the firm so that she can pursue a career on Broadway, while Peter has a fling with an acquaintance's wife.Hilarious episode. Peggy fumbling with the skis was hilarious. "Are you asking if I ski?" "Do they explode or something?" The best line of the episode goes to Peggy. "PIZZA HOUSE"- Peggy. Pete's interaction with Harry. "What do you want." "Nothing you came over to me." "you opened the door." Stan's reaction to Megan going to acting. "Are you kidding me?" Peggy grabbing the ice cream and the people telling her to not touch it. Don and Peggy arguing and then we find out one of the workers there is still in the corner akwardly waiting. Don and Roger hanging out and talking. Awesome ending montage. Megan quits and we see this hitting Don hard. He liked walking with his wife to work everyday. She was good at it. Peggy and Don blame each other but Megan really just didn't like this job. Pete cheats on his wife with his train friend's wife. He keeps bothering her and she doesn't give in. Pete and Harry talking to each other. Pete is always controlled by the women in his life and he talks to Harry about it. "Why do they get to decide whats going to happen?"- Pete "They just do."- Harry
- DirectorJennifer GetzingerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon decides to sell his apartment, Joan stumbles into a relationship while on a trip to Los Angeles, Glen tells Betty and Sally that he is going to Vietnam, and a copywriter gets in trouble for his rude behavior to a client.Glenn comes in looking completely different. I hope it's his last episode he's too much of a bad acting weirdo. Nothing against the actor just his character is weird. He tries to kiss Betty but she refuses and they have a heart to heart. He looks like discount jean ralphio. "Do you have my thesaurus?" "probably."- Peggy sally and Betty signing checks was a nice little bonding moment. It's nice to see that their relationship isn't all just yelling at one another. "he can't fire my men" I CAN FIRE YOU!"- Pete Peggy and Pete rushing to Don like two kids trying to get the other in trouble by going to their dad. Glenn joining the army was hilarious. "Are you fucking stupid?"- Sally. Peggy going to Don about the performance review. "I'm tired of this." "I'd start with that"- Don Does Don even have dreams. He's seems empty and there are so many shots this season where it's just him in a big empty space alone. This episode even ends with a shot like that. That dude trying Don's line was hilarious. Everyone's smile immediately fades and Pete's look was hilarious. That guy confronts Don and Don fires him, but he hits Don hard with the fact that Don was only able to get out of that problem last time because the guy was attracted to Don. "You don't have character you're just hansom."- Guy who's name I don't know. One of Peggy's workers I think. Sally sees how much Don loves attention and is disgusted by it. She has two terrible people as parents and it's had an affect on her. Don tells her that she should work to become more than just a pretty face. Don looks lost in the final scene. He isn't the type of person to plan ahead. He just goes with the flow and if he doesn't like where he is at he just abandons his life and restarts like he abandoned his marriages and restarted. "You're a very beautiful girl, but it's up to you to be more than that."- Don Draper Joan has a new boyfriend or whatever. "We have a peanut butter cookie problem!"- Pete. Pete has lately started to have the best lines. He's the new Roger. I guess Bruce Greenwood and Joan are going to have a happy relationship from now on maybe. He's like all of her other boyfriends but he chooses her and her kid over the fun lifestyle unlike everyone else she has met. Roger loves the fun lifestyle while that other creepy doctor dude liked his job more than his wife. Joan even pretty much tells her child that he's ruining her life but she stops herself and says goodbye honey before leaving because she knows she has too much responsibility now.
- DirectorMichael UppendahlStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon gets a visit from the in-laws and his children just as he's about to receive a prestigious award and tries to save the Heinz account. Meanwhile, Peggy and her boyfriend take the next step in their relationship.Roger usually has the best lines. This episode was full of them. "For all we know, Jesus was trying to get the Loaves and fishes account." Don's son asking Roger if he was babysitting was great. Roger and Sally hanging out was probably the highlight of the episode. "Here's the handsome prince. Nah." "Your a mean drunk you know that." Loved that final shot of everyone coming back extremely sad or traumatized. Every started out pretty happy but ended up miserable. Well except for Roger he's on top of the world. Megan and Don's pitch together was great. She actually did pretty amazing. Peggy congratulating her was great. Joan and Peggy hanging out was great as always. Peggy thinking her boyfriend was going to propose to her was hilarious. Don's career seems to have taken a huge blow after that one guy tells him that no one in this room of heavy hitters is going to hire him. Sally defeat mamma Francis via phone wire. We get so Ken. It's nice to see at least one happy person. Megan's father is a communist which means Megan is secretly a KGB spy who will team up with Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings down the road. Sally and her phone conversations with that one kid was great.
- DirectorJennifer GetzingerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserMegan throws Don a surprise birthday party, the war between Pete Campbell and Roger Sterling intensifies, and new mother Joan begins to wonder if she still has a job when she's ready to come back.Don hangs out with the kids. It looks like he's gotten his life back together. He seems happy with his wife. I give it 20 minutes into part 2 before we see one of his girlfriends that he's cheating on his wife with. Don is a massive party pooper. Maybe it's actually his wife who will be unfulfilled and divorce instead of him. Pete trying to handshake Don was great. After he leaves we see Don yell for coffee and Pete jump a little and look startled. Roger's secretary saying he's not in and Pete rushing in and tripping and slamming his nose into the wall lol. It's so unexpected it's hilarious. Real three stooges stuff. Pete comes home to his wife. He has a pretty good relationship with Trudy. He eats his dinner which is cereal straight out of the box. Roger and Jane ruining the surprise for Don by arguing in the hallway gave me a good laugh. "Why don't you sing like that."- Roger "Why don't you look like him."- Jane Don's wife does a dance in front of everyone. Don feels embarrassed. Don's wife learns the hard way that he really doesn't like parties. She doesn't understand what she got herself into. Harry getting invited and Don's wife accidentally letting it slip that Don doesn't like him was great. Peggy dislikes the new Don as she sees that he has changed and has become softer than before. She knows that isn't good. I keep calling her Don's wife because I have no idea what her name is. Roger and his secretary was pretty great as well. Roger dropping in on Pete's airline meeting. Joan and her baby was fun to watch. Definitely did not need to see that particular shot. It was real quick but I think it was something I definitely didn't want to see.
- DirectorMichael UppendahlStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserWhile Megan comes to New York with her mother and sister to collect her belongings, Don has a romance with the waitress. Meanwhile, Peggy and Stan work with a famous photographer on a commercial shoot.I loved the twist that that waitress doesn't end up being like everyone else in his relationship. She ends up being him. She abandoned her child and started over because she couldn't handle her grief and emotions. She's a warning for Don. In the beginning of the episode we even see Don hanging out with his kids and making milkshakes. He has a solid relationship with Betty not it seems as they don't despise each other anymore. Henry comes in and he leaves but before turning around to look at what he could have had. What he had but threw away. We get a final conclusion to Megan's story. She tried to succeed in Hollywood but failed because she gave up her spot to Don. Harry stops being the funny moron and becomes extremely creepy which is sad to see. She confronts Don and tells him how he is horrible and how he has ruined her life. She then takes his million dollar check. She became a actor partly because of her father's comment about how she skipped the struggle. And she does it again. She lives off Don's cash. She was doing it before but then she relied on Don to get her that specific role. She never made it on her own and now she can't really blame Don either now. Even after he's out of her life he's not truly because she's living off his money. Loved the joke throughout the episode of Megan's mother stealing literally everything in Don's apartment. Everything that reminds Don of Megan is gone though. "THATS EXTORTION!"- Marie "Holy shit" "What?" "Where is everything?"- Roger "Where the fuck is everything?"- Megan. Roger and Marie really did that in Don's apartment. On the floor too probably given the fact that she stole literally everything. Megan finds out about Roger and Marie. Stan got a little unlikable this episode. He was the cool guy these past few seasons but now he cheated on his great girlfriend for an old art woman who played him. She tries to play Peggy but Peggy doesn't fall for it. Peggy tells Stan this and Stan walks away angrily trying to deny what he knows is true. Roger projects his Jane experience onto Don in the same way Marie projects her garbage marriage onto Jane. She says Don destroyed this family but it really was Marie's marriage. "I'll roll up my sleeves and throw my tie over my shoulder, they'll probably love it."- Don "They probably will"- Pete Also Don's secretary calling the manson family the "manson brothers."
- DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserThe partners try to keep their cool after they discover that Roger has lost their biggest account, Peter's wife goes into labor, and Don tries to convince Faye to compromise her ethics to drum up new business.That short guy raising his hand and nobody seeing it was great. Drunk Roger saying don't yell at me. Roger and Joan seemingly end their relationship together. Pete finds out his baby is born right after arguing with Roger. Everyone awkwardly says congratulations. Oh no she gave Don the account right after he cheated on her hours before. Peggy and Abe patch things up and get together. Roger's fake phone call. Pete gets offered a great position at a new company. Pete falling asleep in the conference.
- DirectorScott HornbacherStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserA depressed Betty tries to make things uncomfortable for Don and Megan, Roger tries to take out some secret weapons for a meeting with a prospective Jewish client, and Don makes a snap judgment that angers the creative department.Tons of great quotes. "Michael can you keep a secret." "Nope." Roger finally addresses the fact that he needs to start carrying less cash. Roger and Jane had some pretty great moments. They don't have the toxic divorce relationship like Betty and Don. It does end on a sad note though with Jane's new apartment being ruined. Betty was likable for a few minutes when she's just hanging out with the kids. "Yeah I just might do that"- Betty. But then of course she pulls a Tony Soprano and wants everyone miserable and manipulates her daughter into causing mayhem at Don's place. Megan has gotten very likable lately. It's gonna be sad when their relationship falls apart like it eventually will. She knows exactly what Betty is trying to do and tries to stop Don. She actually succeeds. "The thrill of having poisoned us from 50 miles away."- Megan. Pete and Don's call was pretty funny. "He's a rat bastard."- Pete Peggy and Roger's elevator talk was great. "I'm not a plane either." "Were we married?" Michael has a pretty good story. Don totally screws him over and leaves his idea in the cab. He confronts Don and Don roasts the shit outta him. Also Betty being fat doesn't bother me as much anymore. Her scene with Henry was pretty sweet. He gives her a piece of his food. She says something very sweet to him as well. She was improving this episode except for when she tried to sabotage Don's relationship through her daughter. Sure sabotage Don's relationship he was a horrible person but don't manipulate your daughter into doing it. I love that part where Sally tells her that Don showed her pictures and they were cool with her.
- DirectorMichael UppendahlStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon works in secret on a Heinz ketchup campaign while Megan gets a love scene on the set of her soap opera. Meanwhile, Harry makes his power play while Joan has more trouble with the secretaries.My favorite scene was Harry standing up for himself in the office. He comes in and makes himself look like a goof as always but then we see that he recognizes his talent and demands to be made partner. We see Roger and Joan has a small reaction to their words because they haven't truly worked to be where they are and they know it. I enjoyed the scene afterwards of Harry taking his money and still demanding to be made partner. He also stands up to Joan and refuses to allow her to fire his secretary. Good for Harry he's one of my favorite characters and its good to see him growing to become more independent. Another great scene was Peggy and her agency clashing with Don's. They have an awkward confrontation in the hallway. Don listens in on Peggy's pitch and has a great reaction to Peggy repeating his line. They have a bar scene afterwards where Stan rightfully flips off Peggy who tries to smile at him and tries to act like she didn't totally backstab him. Ken storms in and is pissed. We've never seen Ken angry until they all started to screw him over. He's getting angrier and angrier. I enjoyed Joan and her friend hanging out. I enjoyed the secretary talking in the dinner about how she sees everything there. It really is depressing. I also loved that we got more Stan scenes this episode. We see Michael looking at him locking himself in the super special secret agent room. We see them built his his account up as some super secret government stuff when it really just is ketchup. We see Don being a massive hypocrite. We get the super awkward dinner scene. Seeing Don's weirded out face was great. Don and Megan has a hilarious conversation in the car afterwards. Don gets angry at her after watching her scene on set and then goes home and cheat on his wife lol. Don has a hole in his soul that he keeps trying to fill in the wrong ways.
- DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon accidentally learns a secret about Salvatore during a business trip to Baltimore. Back at the office, the firings continue, but the new management appoints Peter and Ken as new co-heads of accounts.Goddammit Don is already cheating again. He really doesn't change. He seems to feel a little more guilty though. Don and Sal's story was great with Don finding out about Sal being gay. That "limit your exposure" scene was great. Pete and Ken's story was also pretty hilarious especially when they are in the elevator. Ken is super chill and happy while Pete is clearly angry. It felt really good to see Pete doing his happy dance and phone calling his wife but as always things don't go the way Pete plans. The staff struggles with the new British people in the office from the merger. Joan and Peggy talking and Peggy trashing her secretary. Roger walking in late was great and that guy being fired and smashing shit all over the office was pretty great.
- DirectorAndrew BernsteinStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserTo show that he has "arrived," Don buys a new car. Pete, Harry and Ken come up with a plan to attract new business, and Don's secretary makes a serious error, which could mean trouble for Joan. Cooper gets a new piece of office art that attracts the interest of the Sterling Cooper staff.Someone recognizes Don in the past and sadly we don't get to see where that story goes just yet. Sal invites Ken over for dinner. That entire scene was great. The sneaking into Cooper's was a great scene and Joan's hatred at the person who essentially is a younger her was fun to watch. She fires Jane but Jane manipulates Roger into allowing her to get her job back. The picnic scene great also. Jimmy reveals to Betty that Don is having an affair. Jimmy insults Don and calls him garbage which he is. Don looks shocked as if he really didn't do it. Almost like he's sees himself as two different people. Betty's abrupt throwing up was a great way to end the episode. Solid episode overall..
- DirectorMichael UppendahlStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserLane searches for a way to get rid of a sizable debt, the firm prepares to pull out all the stops when it gets a second chance to land Jaguar as a client, and Don tries to comfort Joan when she reaches her breaking point.It's a Harry episode yay. Harry's storyline with the shocking return of Paul Kinsey was easily my favorite storyline of the episode. Paul ends up in this odd religion with this cultish girl. In a surprisingly emotional moment Harry gives Paul 500 in cash and sends him off. I thought he was going to get blackmailed or something. Easily the best scene of the episode. "You know all these people said they'd do something for me. You're the first one who did."- Paul to Harry. Lane forges Don's signature and writes a check to himself to cover a debt. Joan and Don hanging out was great. I was extremely nervous because I thought he was gonna cheat on his wife. He comes home to an angry Megan who doesn't take any shit from him. She screams and smashes her plate against the wall. She forces him to sit down and eat dinner. Joan yelling at the lady at the front desk was great. She get played and gets served. Lane explaining the bonuses and everyone having no reaction until Roger points out what's happening cause they had no idea what Lane was saying.
- DirectorMichael UppendahlStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserSally makes an unwelcome surprise visit to the office to see Don, Peggy tries to stop an acquaintance from publishing an article that could get her in hot water, and Roger Sterling tries to reconnect with Joan.Rip Blankenship. Peggy touching her and Blankenship's corpse falling face flat into the desk was great. Loved that scene where behind the business man Pete is seen arguing with Joan. He helps wheel Blankenship's corpse out of the hallway. Loved that bitter sweet story between Don and his daughter. She has a fit and gets angry because she has to leave her father and go to her mother but she doesn't want to. The secretary hugging Sally after she fell was a nice small moment. Honestly Don would be a better parent than Betty without a doubt. He just refuses to man up and go through with it. He can't abandon his kids so he does the next best thing. He needs to take responsibility because honestly right now Betty is a mess. She is a bigger mess than when she was before. Alright I'm gonna say it Betty sucks. I never really minded her but ever since her role was reduced I have enjoyed this show a lot more because we are able to spend more time with other characters. Her storylines are always the same with little differences between them. I'm glad we got more of a focus on Peggy this season. She gets in an argument with her date and leaves him. He can't keep his ideas to himself. Joan and Roger get robbed. If they got together would their relationship fall apart like every other one of theirs? Who knows. They would probably be more happier together than apart, however long that would last. "Don't come out of this office!" "I know!" "My mom made that!" Hey we also finally know why Cooper has just been in the lobby for this entire season. He doesn't have his own office.
- DirectorAndrew BernsteinStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon and Betty try to keep up appearances as they go to Betty's parents after her dad has a stroke. Peter has a long-dreaded meeting with his mother before he and Kinsey leave for a convention in Los Angeles.I gotta say that I just realized I'm at the point where I'm no longer feeling a little bored and I'm fully invested in these characters now. I've probably been at this point for a while. Season 2 is awesome and I personally like it more than 1. Loved the ending of Don looking out of the plane window as telstar by the tornadoes plays. Funniest scene of the episode was easily "I just wanted to say happy birthday." Betty seems to finally understand her relationship with Don and even as he attempts to be affectionate she says "Stop it Don nobodies watching." That had me laughing for a good 2 minutes. She pretends to be with Don and then when they come home she tells him to go after telling him that they were just playing pretend. We see her father's negative reactions towards Don and how he points out that Don has no people and that they can't trust people like that. Those scenes with Betty and the kid were great and it was sad that he's just a kid who doesn't realize what Betty did was for the best. At one point that kid was the only person Betty could talk to. Betty has a heartfelt talk with the kid's mother and she finally opens up about Don to someone who understands how it feels to have their marriage fall apart. Pete's talk with Peggy in the office was great. He just needed to say it out loud. We see Paul getting kicked off the trip in order for Don to step in. We last see Paul in a crowded bus trying to pitch his knowledge to random strangers next to his girlfriend. This episode doesn't deserve this low of a score I absolutely loved it.
- DirectorTim HunterStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserFreddy and Ken take a client out to lunch who stirs Roger Sterling's heart.Loved Don's story with the kids this episode. The highlight for me for this episode was easily the scene between Don and his son after his argument with Betty. Don can be a horrible person but his most redeeming quality is how he interacts with his kids. Being a victim of abuse himself he doesn't want to repeat the cycle. "Dads get mad sometimes." He opens up to Betty about this and reveals a part of his past which he never would have done in season 1. Perhaps he is changing even if it's just a little. He brings his daughter around the office and after making so many drinks for adults she decides she wants to have one herself and falls asleep on the couch. Betty pushes him and he pushes her back even harder. The kid sit at the bottom of the stairs and listen as their parents argue. Roger's scene of the feeling of the chase pretty much sums up his character as a whole. We see him at dinner with his daughter and his wife which is one of the few times we've seen his wife so far. Betty asking Don that if his father didn't hit him would he bet the man he is today? He wouldn't be the man he is today but I'm not sure that he likes the man that he is. He doesn't want his son to be another him. I was so worried that at the end of the episode he would snap and hit his son but thankfully he just smashes his toy and then has a heartfelt conversation with him. Also great to see Collin Hanks he was fantastic in Fargo.
- DirectorAndrew BernsteinStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserA plane crash causes the firm to go after the account for the airline involved and drop the smaller airline they have an account with. Peggy pays a visit to her mother and sister, who are now guardians of a child.Why the hell is the imdb score for this episode so low? This episode was fantastic. Peggy's story this episode involves us finally knowing what happened to her baby. Her baby is being raised by her parents and her sister. That last shot of the baby shoved in her arms and crying is very representative of her as a character as she clearly is trying to avoid becoming the stereotypical female of the 60's and her holding that baby reminds her of what she's trying not to become. Pete takes a huge turn this episode. He makes the joke about the airplane and then when he gets the call something changes. He wanders into Dons office almost accidentally and he does it again. He doesn't have anyone he can talk to but he does go to Don. He despises Don yet he went to Don in the moment he needed to talk to someone the most. Pete is very stoic and unsure about what he should fear. He points out that he hasn't even cried yet. He refuses to take part in Sterling accepting this new airline but in the end he sells his soul and helps advertise the company that killed his father as Sterling Cooper begins to make big moves. Pete puts his feelings aside and makes an important decision regarding his work that certainly caught the attention of his co workers. Joan and Paul's story and her exposing how he is only dating a black girl to look unique and different. Paul exposes her birth date showing everybody in the office that she is in her thirties. Don at the poker game was a great scene. He is extremely nice to his kids probably because his parents were extremely mean to him. His wife even points out that she was more afraid of her father than of not going to sleep on time. She points out her son's flaws which clearly bothers Don. Don seems to have made a change in his lifestyle. The waitress flirts with him and he says not tonight. He say's not tonight however meaning he's not completely done with his old lifestyle. Don is angry about them ditching the old airline and sticking to a new one. When he meets with one of their prior airline's guys and delivers the news the other man responds to him by admitting that Don fooled him. He leaves and Don is left feeling bad and looking guilty. He has had a change of heart and is starting to make wrong business decisions. Old Don would have gone ahead and would have left his feelings behind when it came to work. Pete definitely became more likable this episode. Don was already likeable but he got a little boost this episode as well.
- DirectorTim HunterStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserIt's Labor Day weekend and most of the men are sending their wives away for a few days. Don Draper's wife Betty is dreading the thought, as her father and his new girlfriend, whom she detests, will be staying with them. With the election approaching, the team at Sterling Cooper is gloomy since the Nixon campaign has not been following their advice. Roger Sterling was hoping to spend Friday night with Joan Holloway but having just seen the movie The Apartment (1960), she is feeling a bit used. She plans a night on the town with her old college friend who has some surprising information for her. Don and Roger invite twin sisters from a casting call to join them for a drink but things go badly for Roger who suffers a serious heart attack. After the incident Don ends up spending the night with Rachel Menken where he reveals a lot of his inner self.Roger's scheme leading to his heart attack. Don Draper really wanting to come home which is ironic given how he's been wanting to avoid home for so long. Roger tries to keep the party going stopping Don. Roger still trying to act young and he ends up having a heart attack. Joan's scene with her lesbian friend. That was such a great scene and did a great job introducing us to this character we haven't seen before. Don slapping Roger and reminding him of his wife's name was great. Roger's reaction to his daughter coming to visit him in the hospital and he starts crying. Bert telling Joan not to waste her youth on age. Don shockingly reveals details regarding his past to Rachel. He was the son of a prostitute who died during birth leading to him being raised by a drunk father and an angry step mother. He was 10 when his daughter died by a horse kicking him leading. He gets stuck with an angry step mother and a step father.
- DirectorTim HunterStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserWhen Don invites Roger home for dinner, too much alcohol fuels repercussions between Don and Betty and between Don and Roger. Joan puts Roger off for the weekend, spending time with her roommate Carol instead. Pete exchanges a wedding gift for a rifle, and then shares a hunting fantasy with Peggy. Bertram Cooper arranges for the Nixon campaign to meet with him, Roger, Don, and Pete.Best story in the episode was Don's revenge plan. The dinner scene with Roger explaining some of his war stories was great and made me really like Roger but then he makes a pass at Don's wife. Don gets extremely angry and gets a little too hands on with his wife and calls her a child. He called the therapist earlier who tells him that she's child like and it'll take time before they can figure out the deeper issues. She slaps that one chick at the grocery store. Anyways Don gives the elevator guy money to make the elevator appear out of order. Roger tries to apologize to Don and Don makes it seem like it's okay. Don and Roger laugh at Pete making fun of Pete earlier in the episode but the second time at the meeting Don doesn't laugh. Don calls Roger to have lunch and makes him eat a bunch. They then go to the Nixon meeting and walk up a bunch of flights of stairs. Roger did a speech earlier on how Hitler made Chamberlain look weak by having the meeting take place in a non smoke free zone. Chamberlain's addiction got the better of him and made him more susceptible to Hitler's demands. As they walk up those steps Don gets ahead clearly showing Roger that his "light" that he mentioned earlier was gone. Just like how he thought those women were looking at him but then he finds out he they were looking at Don. Don walks right past him up those stairs and he's down at the bottom. As soon as Roger gets to the top floor with the Nixon guys he immediately throws up in front of them which makes him look extremely weak. Roger looks up at Don clearly knowing what Don has done and that there's nothing he can do about it. Don asks him if he's okay and then walks away smiling. Pete's speech about wanting to be a super masculine hunter man. Expected Peggy to be weirded out but she wasn't and says that wonderful. That scene earlier with Pete's yelling at him and he's just quiet and holding his rifle that she calls a toy. Pete, the butt of everyone's jokes including Roger's throughout the entire episode.
- DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon blows off the convention in Los Angeles when he meets a beautiful, exotic woman. Back at Sterling Cooper, a member of the creative staff comes out of the closet, and Duck falls off the wagon and initiates his power play.Such an odd episode. I was thinking that the whole thing was gonna be a hallucination or something like something out of that one sopranos episode where he imagines the girl next door. Pete being denied the opportunity to just enjoy the vacation and then being able to enjoy it after Don abandons him was great. Kurt admits to being openly gay shocking everyone in the room and making Peggy look like an idiot. The "Kurt's a homo" line was hilarious. Don makes a mysterious call where he admits his identity. Don seems to become his old crazy self but then he sees the guy with the two kids and it's almost like reality hits him again. This is what he imagines when he thinks of running away. But it's too late for Don to do that because he has people who depend him now. He has kids and he can't just run off like he did once before. Duck decides to have the company be sold off. Roger gets ready to marry Jane.
- DirectorDaisy von Scherler MayerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserAs Don secures an account with Conrad Hilton, Sterling and Cooper try to strong-arm Don into signing a contract. Meanwhile, Betty meets with her acquaintance from the governor's office, and Duck tries to get Peggy to leave Sterling Cooper.Don gets stuck with an interesting dilemma regarding a contract. Don refuses to be tied down. The best scene was the hallucination Don has when he sees his father. Don gets knocked out and robbed after getting high on drugs. Don meets alotta people that have what he wants but can never have. They get to be free from society while Don is stuck. Peggy makes a mistake and gets involved with Duck. Pete warns her prior to this and tells her to return the gift which ironically ends up getting her closer to Duck. Don snaps and explodes at Peggy. Don's meeting with the British boss man was great. Bert Cooper talks with Don and his quote about discovering America was great. Cooper shockingly blackmails Don with the identity theft situation. Don walks up the stairs defeated after telling Betty he signed it. The opening Breaking Bad esque teaser for the events later in the episode were great. I also liked that Sally's teacher immediately knew what was going on with Don and wasn't afraid to come straight out with it. The episode starts off with a strong independent Don and ends with a broken one. Peggy starts off professional and ends the episode doing something extremely unprofessional. Betty remaking her living room and then shoving a giant couch in at the end of the episode was hilarious. "Would you say I know something about you Don?" "What do you do? What do you make? You grow bullshit."
- DirectorJohn SlatteryStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserCutler and Chaough prepare to make radical changes to the firm while Sterling and Draper are visiting a client in Los Angeles. Joan's decision to go after a new account on her own leaves Pete furious and frustrated."Pete as head of new business-" "Since when? I don't want that!"- Pete Joan cuts Pete out and doesn't tell Peggy. She obviously is not doing the right thing but we understand why she's doing it. It's because she's getting cut out. Joan grabbing on Peggy's arm so much and Peggy yelling stop that gave me a nice laugh. Peggy looks down on Joan for doing what she does but ultimately saves her by lying to her that she got a phone call. For some reason there's a super secret listening device outside of the room I guess? I liked Bob Benson saving Michael. I liked that Bob was able to save Michael from his breakdown. Previously in the episode we see Ginsberg calling one of the new partners a fascist lol. "Cmon buddy your not death."- Bob Benson Let's go Danny gets successful. Roger comes in with the short jokes. Danny hits him in the nuts and walks away with Lotus. Loved the song blasting while a hallucination of Megan drags him away. He wakes up in a pool somehow. I enjoyed the Hollywood scenes. Harry's on top of the world with his awesome car. Roger backs Harry after Don insults him when he points out how hard it is that Harry was able to get them this. Pete finally chills out. He steals Stan's blunt and smokes it in slow motion as a woman walks past the screen. His eyes follow her. Don's Hollywood story gave a super cool calm vibe while Joan's gave me a very nervous and scary vibe. She was very close to being badly punished for what she did. Also that other dude who's not Ted keeps trying to take over the company. He even asks that they should backstab Don and the other partners and fire their staff while they are gone.
- DirectorScott HornbacherStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserBetty tries to meet with Henry Francis again, while Don steps up his pursuit of his daughter's former teacher. At the office, Don disappoints Conrad Hilton and is forced by a client to fire Salvatore over an unwelcome advance.Don tries so hard to impress Conrad Hilton that he completely misses the key thing Conrad asks for. Conrad tells Don that he sees him like a son. Don disappoints yet another father figure. Roger makes Don face the facts and confronts him in his office. Betty is borderline screwing with this guys head now. Sometimes she's into it sometimes she's not. She pretty much realizes that she cannot have this relationship without anyone finding out or knowing. Harry and Paul watching tv was great. Harry gets stuck in a tight situation. Sal has the most interesting story this episode where he pays the consequences for acting in a professional manner. That scene with Sal and Don in the office was great. Don insinuates that Sal should have gone ahead with Lucky Strikes. We see an ugly side in Don this episode that culminates with him cheating on Betty once again. Oh yeah and Sal got fired. Ironically not because he was gay but the exact opposite.
- DirectorJennifer GetzingerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserRoger Sterling throws an expensive party with his new wife, Joan throws a dinner party, Peggy and Paul get stoned while working on an ad campaign, and Don's daughter Sally steals money from her grandpa.Paul and his discount Tom Cruise weed storyline was great. The scene where Tom Cruise and Paul have a little fight and then make up and sing together was great. I thoroughly enjoyed those scenes. Stoned Peggy was fun to watch. Roger's blackface was extremely uncomfortable to watch because of course it was. Don walking away to talk with the guy at the bar was great. Don and Pete weren't amused by Roger's black face. Jane reminding Don and Betty of their recent troubles. Jane being drunk was hilarious. Don tells Roger than no one thinks he's happy they think he's acting foolish. This clearly hits Roger pretty hard. Don pushed a button he shouldn't have. Betty and Don's marriage seems to be on good terms after they share a kiss at the end.
- DirectorJon HammStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserBetty discovers that she has a tumor, Peggy interviews an obnoxious young copywriter for a job, the firm tries to get the Mohawk Airlines account back, and Don and Harry try to court The Rolling Stones to record a commercial.I feel bad for being super distracted by fat Betty. "Marie I can't understand you."- Don "Harrys such a liar"- Peggy. Enjoyed Peggy interviewing Al Pacino. It was probably my favorite story in the episode. Al Pacino makes a good impression with Don. Peggy gets mad at Al Pacino because he could have controlled his behavior the entire time. I've noticed Roger and Peggy don't get a lot of scenes together. They got one this episode and it was great. Don looking super sharp and out of place at the Rolling Stones concert. It's a Harry episode! Harry tries to be friends with Don but Don hates him and it's fun to watch. Loved the car scenes between them where Don points out that there were 20 in there. He thought Harry got it for his family lmao. Betty get's a cancer scare but it turns out that she's just fat. "I know your mothers obese"- Betty. Henry is a pretty good husband. Betty isn't a pretty good wife. Pete's jabs at Roger were great. Don comforting Roger and talking to him about the cancer scare. Betty eating Sally's ice cream after she leaves.
- DirectorScott HornbacherStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon is on the outside looking in on the forced indefinite paid leave from his job. While Ted heads back to New York for a few days, Don takes the opportunity to head to Los Angeles in part to meet with a California transformed Pete while he reunites with Megan, who is living full time there while pursuing what looks to be a promising acting career. Back in New York, Peggy avoids Ted at all cost while she learns to deal with the new "Don", Lou Avery, most specifically on the Accutron account for which she is getting consulting help from Freddie Rumsen. On top of that, she is also having to deal with being a landlady to who she believes are overly demanding tenants. Ken feeling overworked leads to Joan taking over his scheduled business meeting with Wayne Barnes, the new Head of Marketing for Butler Footwear. Barnes' news results in Joan taking what she hopes will be seen as decisive and preemptive action in overcoming a potential problem, action which she hopes demonstrates that she deserves to be more than just a glorified secretary. And Roger meets with Margaret on her request, the two who have been somewhat estranged over the last few months. Their individual new approaches to life may result in a friction-free reunion.Final season let's go. Loved that it is revealed that Freddy's amazing pitch really was just from Don who is working through Freddy. At the moment he doesn't have the one thing that kept him sane. He's stuck in a terrible marriage which is shown when he's hitting on the lady in the plane. He knows he's a horrible person and a horrible husband and he knows that Megan pretty much knows at this point. His wife is a long distance away and he borderline doesn't have a job anymore. We seem out in the cold with dead eyes in a very haunting shot. Peggy is stuck under a boss who doesn't give a shit about the work. He wants the minimum done. He wants the fast and easy unlike Peggy who is frustrated by this. Peggy also breaks down crying when all of her life problems begin to weigh on her. She also struggles with seeing Ted around the office. She calls in Stan for the rescue. "Stan you want any coffe?" "What?!" "He said yes." "STAN!" Pete gets his life on track as he becomes a happier person. Instead of a hand shake he hugs Don. The Hulio and Megan talk was hilarious. Roger's daughter forgives him for all of his issues and problems. "To fear of an ambush."- Roger Ken is no longer the happy dude we know. He's under so much stress that he's exploding at the office. Ken throwing Joan her earing and missing by an absurd amount because of the fact that he has one good eye. Don can no longer distract himself with work. Peggy can't either as her boss is accepting subpar work.
- DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon and Duck try to bury the hatchet, and Peggy attempts to join in on the execs' after-hours meetings. Also, Duck receives a family visit at the office.I liked Duck a lot more this episode. He reminds me of the character Carl Weathers played in the shield where he reflected a possible future for the main character of the show. Duck reflects a possible future for Don. He's divorced and drunk and abandons his dog after feeling guilty about falling back into the bad habit of drinking. He feels guilt when he sees his dog's eyes looking up at him in the same way Don is plagued with guilt and can't look at himself in the mirror anymore. That was easily the best scene in the episode and it was extremely eerie and unsettling. He sees his daughter look at him when he stands up for being a war veteran. He's a fraud and he feels guilty. Throughout this entire episode he feels guilty over his actions. He leaves his new girlfriend tied up after she points out how he's popular around town for his actions. Pete however looks in the mirror and smiles and is proud of who he is. Pete making himself look like an idiot by saying they should get an office dog. Peggy stops standing out and attempts to get noticed by going with the flow and wearing an outfit Joan would wear. She dresses like Marilyn Monroe and abandons her professional look when going to the bar. Love that part where Pete glares at her. He sees exactly what he's doing and he's disappointed. He is mostly an idiot but he seems to understand Peggy sometimes.
- DirectorJennifer GetzingerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserJoan finds Don the perfect secretary, and Don finds himself in the middle of issues between TV comedian Jimmy and his wife, Bobbie.Freddy with his zipper Mozart symphony was hilarious. Don crashes his car. His new girlfriend seems to have a bad impact on him and he makes a mistake that could have cost him his life. He calls in Peggy to help him. We see a flashback of Don helping Peggy and telling her to move forward and pretend like it didn't happen in the same way he pretends like his past never happened. "This never happened. It will shock you how much it never happened." Don's scenes with his wife and explaining how how his drinking didn't mix well with his pills for his high blood pressure. In the final scene his wife refuses to give him any salt. "Why can't daddy have salt?" "Because we love him." Pete's subplot with his wife was pretty entertaining. "What is this all for?"- Annie Edison. Roger playing with the paddle in his office and his talk with Joan about her getting married. Also Peggys powerplay? Don gets angry at her for not being prepared and then moments later she asks to be repayed for the money she spent on his bail.
- DirectorMichael UppendahlStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserAs Sterling Cooper prepares for its 40th anniversary party, the bosses in London drop a bombshell to Lane. Miss Farrell's troubled brother pays a visit to her and Don, and Betty stumbles onto her husband's secrets.We all knew she'd find out eventually. I just thought Don would eventually tell her but of course he didn't. We don't know if she has put all the pieces together. She probably hasn't given that Pete had to call some of his higher up friends to truly put the pieces together. She knows he is and has been lying all along about a massive secret. My favorite story this episode was Paul and Peggy's storyline. Paul gets an amazing idea and forgets to write it down. Don and Peggy both relate to this. Loved that scene where Don yells at Paul and then Betty says something along the lines of don't yell at him. Betty being the spontaneous person she is quickly gets inspired by the quote Paul recalls and forms an idea. "You can't frame a phone call." Don makes another horrible decision when he allows his girlfriend's brother to just leave instead of going where his sister wanted him to go to. We get a phone call and then we see Don question his girlfriend and Betty question her ex boyfriend. Maybe she's still with him who knows at this point. I love that he finally pointed out that this is becoming an annoying game for him. We see Don get congratulated at his party by Roger. Roger and Don's relationship is starting to fall apart or maybe has already fallen apart.
- DirectorJon HammStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserWhile Don continues his affair with Sylvia, Pete's latest infidelity threatens his marriage. Meanwhile, Peggy's icy relationship with her new staff continues, but she also gets an unlikely tip on a potential new client.Best scene was Trudy exploding at Pete after addressing the fact that he was cheating on her. She kicks him out of the house. Loved that part where she says that she will not be a failure and that she will destroy Pete if she has to. Shockingly she already knew but was pissed that he did it so close to their home. Don does the same thing because we find out his girlfriend literally lives in their apartment and is the wife of the doctor dude who Don is friends with. Don is asking for his marriage to blow up at this point. I enjoyed Peggy and Stan's phone call but it seems like Peggy accidentally stabbed Stan in the back and is now going to have to go for ketchup. Don does the worst pitch of all time on purpose and pisses off that fat guy. Joan roasting that fat dude was hilarious. Pete ends up cheating on his wife with a woman who gets beat up by her husband. We see Pete starting to get extremely nervous as Trudy drives her to a hotel or something. She comes home and we can just tell by her look that she knows everything.
- DirectorScott HornbacherStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon is oddly drawn to a diner waitress as he learns about the loss of an old acquaintance, Peggy and Joan are disrespected by a chauvinistic client, and Cosgrove is in for big changes after his biggest business connection retires.Roger has a mustache now. So does Ted or at least I've noticed now that Ted has a huge mustache. Don has a dream about Rachel and finds out she died from leukemia. He goes to her funeral and meets her sister I think and learns that she kind of got the life that he's been running away from. She even has two kids like Bobby and Sally. Don become obsessed with this waitress who reminds him of Rachel. They share a nice little moment where she tells him that he's just dealing with death in one of the weird ways people deal with death. After an extremely awkward but over the top business scene with these misogynist dudes Peggy and Joan argue in the elevator. Peggy is jealous of her looks and blames it on how she dresses. Joan is jealous of how she gets treated with more professionalism than her and makes fun of how she dresses. Ken hears advice from his wife that he should quit and become a writer but he refuses to do so. Don and him share a nice moment where he tells Don that he's been fired and everything. Don and Pete share a not so nice moment where Pete pretty much happily takes away his accounts right in front of him. Ken gets fired because of how he left McCann for this job and then he gets fired from this job for leaving McCann. Ken gets revenge and becomes head of advertising for Dow Chemicals and becomes a client for them. He walks up to Pete and Roger and tells them that he's their client now and that he won't make it easy and fire them. He's going to make them work for it. And he's not easy to please. Maybe he'll shoot Pete in the face in the same way he was shot by his clients. Ken wins and walks away. Ken should have probably started writing but he couldn't walk away knowing that Roger and Pete totally screwed him.
- DirectorAlan TaylorStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserNew York City, 1960s. In the ego-driven Golden Age of advertising, everyone is selling something and nothing is what it seems.Pretty engaging first episode. Lots of great scenes. Seeing Don Draper being nervous for the meeting and not coming up with anything and then coming up with something on the spot. I thought it would have gone the cliché route of him stealing the idea that was given to him previously but they reveal that he could have but didn't because he knew it wouldn't work. Better to look like someone without ideas than someone with bad ideas. The opening scene of him trying to write down pitch ideas on a napkin and him talking to the waiter about why he has chosen that particular type of cigarettes. The twist ending at the end was particularly great. Seeing that he had a wife wasn't too big of a twist but seeing that he has two kids caught me off guard. This show doesn't shy away from the fact that this time period that some people called the golden age was just as ugly as any other time period.
- DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserBetty has hallucinations of her deceased father as she delivers her baby, Peter considers trying to sell the untapped "Negro market" to a reluctant client, and Peggy begins to question her future at Sterling Cooper.Liked the scenes between Don and that guy in the room a lot. They have a heart to heart. Betty has insane hallucinations. Fairly entertaining episode.
- DirectorLesli Linka GlatterStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon is brought in to save the day for a P.R. campaign involving the building of the new Madison Square Garden, only to have the rug pulled out from under him. At home, Betty argues with her brother over how to care for their sick father.The bye bye birdie video was so hard to watch. Don and Betty having dinner with Lane and his wife. Roger dealing with the wedding situation was fun to watch. Don giving William an ultimatum was great. He allows her father to move in with them. Gene was great. Seeing him pour the drinks down the sink was sad to watch. Paul being called a communist was great.
- DirectorJohn SlatteryStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserThings quickly become awkward after the two firms merge, Don asserts his dominance over Sylvia, Pete has to deal with his ailing mother, and Bob Benson helps out a sick Joan.Don is at his worst this episode. He has this really weird dominating thing going on that is super uncomfortable to watch. I'm glad it ends with the whole almost being reversed with Don begging her to stay. It seems like he got a huge warning sign seeing that she and her husband got in a massive fight and that this might all blow up in his face. He purposely acts like a dominating asshole but she doesn't get angry. He starts liking it and then forgets why he did it in the first place and as a result he gets hurt when she leaves. She actually breaks up with him instead of the usual opposite. He makes Ted drink enough so that he looks bad. Don's need to dominate people has isolated himself to the point where he's drifted apart from his wife and his wife hasn't even noticed it. I feel like Peggy is right. A big part of the merger was trying to get Peggy back to him. What he saw in his girlfriend was what he wants for everyone. He tells her to stay in bed and doesn't even give her anything to distract herself. He wants everyone in his life to stop and then start again when he interacts with them. Ted pulls a "Red in the Face" and pulls a plane stunt so that he can get focused on more than Don. Don can't one up him. I enjoyed Ben and Joan's story. Ben is a weirdly mysterious guy. He just kind of showed up one episode. She saves his job. That one dude returns and then gets fired again lol. "What about everytime there's a change I get bumped down to a worse office"- Harry Pete struggles with his mother and her gradual declining mental state. "my mother can go to hell ted shaw can fly her there." Pete is super paranoid that he's going to get shut out of the company even though he's one of the most important people there. People just forget to get a chair for him and he takes it as they are all against me. "Dammit Burt you stole my goodbye"- Roger I really like Ted cool guy. "Awww. I knew it Mathis. What's wrong with you? Don't you have any hope?"- Ted This episode gave me huge The Sopranos "chasing it" vibes. We really see the ugliness in Don this episode. Also loved the scene where Peggy tells him to be an adult.
- DirectorAndrew BernsteinStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserThe Agency is looking to land an advertising contract to promote tourism to Israel. Don and his team try to come up with a theme but know so little about the country that they're stumped. So Don calls Rachel Menken to see if she has any ideas. Roger Sterling is getting tired of sneaking around with Joan Holloway and suggests she should get her own apartment but she knows better. Peggy comes up with an advertising concept during a testing session for a new line of lipsticks and she's subsequently asked to write copy.Don making breakfast for Betty and falling down the stairs and seeing a memory of when his brother was burned. What he did still weighs heavily on his mind in his subconscious. Roger and Joan's scenes. Rogers delusional and Joan knows how it really is and that final scene of them across from each other and getting into different cars symbolizes this. Roger giving Joan the bird in the cage. Bird in a cage just like Joan and Peggy. Given the chance they could fly. Peggy seemingly has been given this chance. Don going to the art show and insulting that one guy was great. "Perpetuating the lie. How do you sleep at night?" "On a bed made of money." The ending montage with artsy song speech. Don is clearly uncomfortable at the art show and is out of his element. The higher ups being impressed with Peggy's thinking and giving her a chance.
- DirectorTim HunterStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserPeggy is given the opportunity to write copy for a new weight loss device that everyone knows is useless. She finds an interesting use for it, however. Afraid of losing the Lucky Strike cigarette account, Bert Cooper gets Roger Sterling to come in for a one-hour meeting but he has another attack. Don Draper becomes a partner and takes over for his friend Roger, but some of the ad men are sharpening their resumes nonetheless. Pete Campbell wants a promotion but Draper doesn't seem too interested. Pete sneaks into Don's office and takes home a parcel sent by Adam addressed to Don that the mail room boy comes to deliver.Adam Whitman hangs himself :( I liked his character a lot. Pete takes the package off Draper's desk. Roger has another heart attack when he's told to come back in to maintain the image of them handling things. He's so close and does so great and then he collapses. Draper gets promoted. Betty and the salesman talking and Don getting angry at her for letting him in.
- DirectorPhil AbrahamStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon and Betty renew their love affair while on a business trip to Rome, while Peter has a bout of infidelity with an au pair in his building while his wife is away.That scene with Pete and the neighbor's nanny was extremely creepy until I looked into it and found out that the actress just played the scene wrong. The story is kind of hilarious because the actor joked about how she wouldn't kiss him. Anyways Pete cheats on his wife and is overcome with guilt. Trudy seems to have figured it out maybe? The thought has crossed her mind at least. Pete seems to love Trudy a lot more than before (but not enough to not cheat on her.) Don and Betty go on vacation. It's all great and fun and Betty feels young again when those guys hit on her. That was probably the best scene of the episode and it was pretty hilarious. Then the vacation ends and Betty goes back to her crappy life. Don buys her a gift to help remind her of the trip but all it will do is remind her how much she hates her current situation in life. She is stuck in a failing marriage. Pete going to see the manager and it's Joan stepping in for him or her was a great scene.
- DirectorTim HunterStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserPete Campbell oversteps the mark when he pitches an idea for ad campaign to the head of Bethlehem Steel without telling Don Draper. Draper wants him fired but learns a lesson in corporate politics. Pete's wife wants to buy a Manhattan apartment but he has to approach his cold and distant parents for a loan. Pete's in-laws, however, are more forthcoming.Pete pitching his idea. I thought he would get a pat on the back which he does get but right before Don says put all your stuff in a card board box. Pete struggles with his parents and struggles with the fact that his wife's parents are more open to help than his own. Pete cries in his office. He overstepped. He gets the apartment and doesn't get fired because of his parent's reputations. Everything gets handed to him but he wants to work for it. He comes to the same conclusion as Don Draper when pitching the idea meaning he could possibly be good at this marketing thing. Don's wife baby sitting for the new neighbor. Something's obviously up with her kid because his mother is not giving him enough attention. Don's wife notices this and tells the therapist. Don and his boss going to meet the weird higher up guy who doesn't even wear shoes in his office. Don is powerless and despises Pete. The boss tells Pete that Don backed him even though he didn't. ""Turned out it already existed, but I arrived at it independently."
- DirectorEd BianchiStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserPete returns home from his honeymoon excited about his new marriage but conflicted about his past encounter with Peggy.Draper hanging out with his kids and filming everyone with his camera. Seeing that he is very anti social and really doesn't want to be there. He just leaves half way through and comes back at night time with a random dog. "As a little girl, a dog can be all you need." Don meeting with the business lady and refusing her on the rooftop saying he's married which was surprising. Ladies back then being together in circles and smoking a stupid amount. Seeing that one dude slap that kid caught me off guard. The next lady joins the circle and is immediately attacked. "Quite a crowd in there." "It's the same crowd out here." Refusing Rachel is slowly eating away at Don. That one shot of him looking out towards the train and seeing the train's reflection in his windshield was an amazing shot.
- DirectorScott HornbacherStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon strikes up a friendship with the surgeon in his building, Peggy tries to save her campaign, Roger makes a scene at his mother's funeral, and Betty goes to Manhattan to find Sally's friend.Don's girlfriends are always the most boring part of the show. Megan was the only one I actually found interesting. Favorite scene was Peggy talking over the phone with Stan at night. It's nice to see that they still keep in touch. Don drunk talking to that elevator doorman or whatever his job is was great. Don throws up at Rogers funeral and Roger ends up screaming at everyone. Roger says a nice moment with his daughter. He later eventually breaks down and starts crying over his mother's death. I enjoyed Betty trying to help that one girl and hanging out at that run down apartment building.
- DirectorTim HunterStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserOn Valentine's Day, the staff of the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency is hustling and checking out the newest office equipment. Don and Duck clash over an account, and Betty hears from an old friend.We don't get the answer as to what happened to Peggy's kid. Creative gets two new people. The oversized copy machine was great. Pete sitting alone eating his wife's chocolates was great. Romano is shockingly married. Don taking out the heart his daughter gave him was great. We are introduced to a mystery of who he is sending the book to. Is he already back to cheating again? Who knows. He probably is honestly.
- DirectorScott HornbacherStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon and Megan take a trip to Hawaii for the holidays, Sally's friend visits the Francis family, a comedian torpedoes Peggy's Super Bowl ad campaign, and Roger gets some bad news about his mother.Favorite scene was Don and the drunk military dude. Enjoyed Don hanging out with Doctor man and giving him the camera and the jokes that came with it. Good to see that Megan is popular enough to get recognized. Peggy seems respected in her new work place. Pete and Don's short talk was great. Roger finds out his mother died and is kind of chill about it. We have to address the Betty joke. What the fuck were the writers thinking. It wasn't funny and it added nothing to the show. If anything it took away from the show. That was the edgiest joke I've heard in forever. That is the edgiest joke I've heard in a show ever. This isn't the shield where it's trying to push the boundaries of television (I'm not trashing the shield I love that show) this is Mad men no time for incredibly inappropriate graphic pedophile jokes.
- DirectorAlan TaylorStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserDon continues to conceal his complicated personal life, even in the face of Roger's invitation to open up.The scene of Peggy looking at all the creepy dudes walking past her desk and giving her. Don refusing to give any information about his personal life and seemingly using the excuse that it's rude to talk about yourself. He doesn't even tell his wife things. The scene of his wife crashing the car because her thumbs going numb after seeing somebody moving? Lot's of mysteries this episode. Interesting to see where these questions go. Draper trying to figure out what women want which parallels his own issues with his wife and how she isn't happy. The twist ending at the end was great with Don Draper calling the psychiatrist and having him tell him what happened during the appointment. The ending shot of the camera moving through the kitchen and hallway. "I was raised to see it as a sin of pride to go on like that about yourself"
- DirectorLesli Linka GlatterStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserTrouble rises on the set of a commercial while Don plays hooky from the office.Harry's storyline with the opened check and the abortion show was great. He gets a raise and he gets to be head of tv for Sterling Cooper. Salvatore and Harry's scene and Harry asking for help was probably my favorite scene of the episode. If it wasn't that scene then it was Roger's scene with Harry in his office. Also this episode introduces the most unlikable character so far. Jimmy Barret is an unlikable version of Ralph from The Sopranos. Fat jokes and everything. Don initially declines but eventually gives in to cheating on his wife again which parallels his wife who refuses to cheat on Don. Don firing his assistant was hilarious. I can't remember if I even saw Pete this episode. Peggy had a quick scene or two if I can remember. This episode was different than the usual but not better for it.