Bert not-so-subtle racism had me laughing on the floor. His face expressions while talking to Joan were excellent.

Yeah Bert's scene was fantastic

My read of the Don/Sally diner scene is that while on paper it seems good that they were able to talk openly and relate to each other, what it really meant was that they are both cold calculating assassins and that's why they get along (despite all the baggage in their shared past). The tell was the way Sally cut her friend off on the phone when normally a teenage girl lives for that stuff. I could be misreading it because if that's what the real intention of the scene was it was really buried. When Sally quickly says "Happy Valentine's Day, I love you" as she's slamming the door, the "oh crap" look on Don's face is similarly ambiguous, since on paper it means he forgot to do anything for Megan, but what it's really about is Don realizing what a killer his daughter is.

edit: oh, he did do something for Megan. That "I'm feeling something" look on his face at the end is even more.... uninterpretable.

That face reminded me of the face he had after he watches the planet of the apes with Bobby and Bobby tells the cleaning guy "people go to the movies when they're sad". Seems like for a moment Don discovers the kinds of feelings for his kids that he said he doesn't have.

Some good lines from Ginsberg and Stan this episode

"Look at her calendar, she has plans -- Feb 14th, masturbate gloomily"

"Hard to believe your cat has the money"

Why in the world was Lou so upset that Sally dropped by the office? I HAD TO TALK TO A LITTLE GIRL IT WAS AWFUL

Yep, was laughing pretty hard at these.

Peggy storyline this episode was truly horrific.

One of the hallmarks of so called quality TV seems to be the casual narcissism of the characters - Tony Soprano, his son, his wife; pretty much everyone on Mad Men (especially Betty), everyone on Girls, etc. This has gotten to be a quite boring aspect of Mad Men - Sally Draper and friends being ruthless is just a yawner. I enjoyed Peggy's mixup with the flowers and the miscommunication there - that too involved casual narcissism, but also a weird projecting on Peggy's part. I felt it not only an amusing mix-up - honestly, it seems like it's cribbed from a Matt Weiner Curb Your Enthusiasm spec script - but an examination of how people can hold on to negative feelings for no sensible reason. There's no reason why she should think the flowers are for her except that she wants them to be, but if they are then it just makes her feel worse because it seems more like a spiteful gesture than a conciliatory one, except there's still hope at the very back of her mind that this isn't just an apology from Ted, but the rekindling of that romance. Mad Men loves this theme of people thinking things are true can make them true (indeed, this seems to be a guiding principle of advertising), but this is the ugly reverse of that.

All in all this episode was hilarious, though. The mixup with the flowers, Don eating Ritz while watching TV, getting dressed to meet with Dawn, the NY-LA meeting was a riot, Sterling's story about being called a k*ke, pure gold, Stan, Goldberg and Peggy in the elevator, Don telling Sally they're going to run out on the check - amusing stuff all around.

Glad to see that Pete is back to being himself, constantly feeling like he is undermined.

There's a lot of different ways to read how Sally acted at the end of the episode - cutting the phone call short and telling Don that she loved him. I think it's easy to read both as Betty-esque machinations, especially the latter, but it seemed to me to be a more adult recognition of the fact that her dad is a f*cked up guy and was willing to tell her both about who he was and how he lost his job. Don's look of horror seems to be that not only did he not say that to her, he probably didn't even think it.

Keeed: This is my last post that will be addressed to you, but Lou was upset because he was telling Draper's daughter that her dad was living a lie, which is not exactly news that you want to deliver to anyone. He was also leveraging this incident to complain about the fact that his secretary is covering for the fact that Don no longer works there. There's likely some trepidation in Lou's mind that Don could get his old job back somehow, and incidents like this don't help.

"It's a shock to him."

It was just silly that he acted like it was some huge burden to him. It was a thirty second interaction.

fine I'll give you the answer guys

Man here: I was laughing my ass off. Loved Ginsberg's and Shirley's digs on Peggy--even Stan's fed up with her. So much Peggy hate is excellent to see.

I actually enjoyed the Peggy arc too (and Grinsberg's and Stan's jokes mentioned above), and was just pointing out that probably women who watched the show really enjoyed that story.

Now that I think about it, this must have been the funniest Mad Men episode in a while.

Damnnn bonnie, you fine girl

Just got to triumph's post--full agreement. This episode was awesome. Another thing, loved the interaction between Pete and his Cali real estate girl. At first you get the idea he's talking to himself, but in reality she IS listening, but only because it's something that she can relate to. More subtle narcissism, more absolutely amazing execution by MM.

Power watching my way through, 3 in to season 4... and it seems to have got a bit ****.. Loved it season 1-3. Does it go up or down from here?

I think he is a prick and doesn't want to deal with anything he shouldn't, lots of people in his position are like that. I also think triumps comment about him is true too.

opinions vary, but imo it goes up.

S4 likely the best (although S4E1 isn't great iirc.) I think 5 is close to best as well. Also really like 6, but more people would disagree with me there.

I didn't like parts of S6 compared to other but its still an amazing show and S6 beats almost anything on TV.

I think I'll go back and re watch everything at some point before S7 part B.

Yup.



Lou Avery is a massive douche and I hope he dies slowly.

I hope when Don's banishment ends we are set up for a scene of Roger firing Lou Avery and Don getting his office back. I have to think that is the driving reason behind having Lou acting like such a prick.

After reading the latest thread derail, I get the impression that not only are some posters watching a totally different show than the rest of us, but that they are living an alternate reality in their own lives.

I liked the ending of this scene a lot:



"I'm sorry, but I have to get back to work." She recoils. Don opens the window and is flooded with light. BAM. DON'S BACK.



This is what I thought too.

Yeah, that's something considering that not even Mozart makes Freddy look good.

MW makes the point that like other real-life captains of industry in America, Don made himself into something he wasn't born to, and this season will explore the question of whether anyone can really change.

Roger mistaken for a kikeleh; what kind of person mistakes people like that?

BTW, Dawn's afro was, how they say, groovy؟

Pretty meh expect for the Don/Sally bits. Pete is his old self again, I guess that was good too.

****ing Lou though, I hope we get to see another Burt Peterson moment with him and Roger