agreed, and Don is not the type of man to record a greeting, then carry around a tone sender to retrieve the message if he was out'n'about. Or to even play back a cassette tape.

More suave to call the service.

Actually, mass adoption of answering machines in the home didn't occur until the 1980s. They were available as consumer items starting in 1971, but until Bell divested in 1980 there were lots of hurdles to installing your own equipment on your line.

Remember most phone service was still pulse-based in the 70s, not touch-tone, which was another hurdle to adopting answering machines.

This thread is delivering. Keep it up fellas.

Watched a bunch of old episodes getting ready for the return. Some things that stood out:

Don bitch slapping duck in the end of season 2 when duck is to be names president and tells don to fall in line or kick rocks, and don says sorry duck I don't have a contract. Duck just got destroyed in that meeting.

Season 5 is by far the best. Signal 30 is an unreal television episode. It's so good!

Love all the early episodes set in LA, especially jet set.

Forgot about that jai hai story line. Lol

I really hate that they split this up into two seasons. I spent most of this episode trying to hash out with the wife where things left off last season, and trying to figure out how much time had passed since then. I don't mind that as much in a regular length season (it can even be fun trying to look for clues to place the setting) but to watch that and then have them drop the, "only five episodes remain until the finale of Mad Men" during the credits was tilting.

AMC had huge success splitting up Breaking Bad's final season - ratings for the final episodes of Breaking Bad were basically double what they were in the first half of season 5 - the trouble is that Mad Men is a totally different kind of show and has had huge cultural cachet for years. Ratings for this week's Mad Men were the same as ratings for the first episode of Season 7.

Today I learned once a 19 year old Jon Hamm put a claw hammer under another mans balls and lead him around the basement of a frat house. WowZer. Guess the angry finger bang of Bobbi Barrett in season 2 was an old trick of his

Does anyone give 1/1000th of a **** about this old ugly waitress storyline? WTF

And now STAN is banging some 60 year old woman???? WHAT IS GOING ON

Harry making a strong move to save the episode

Might be the worst Mad Men episode OAT.

Harry Crane making power moves! but yeah i didn't like the episode, also feel like its a bit strange to bring in a new character into the fold this late in the series with such few episodes left.

Pretty baller to sign a one million dollar check in 1969. And by baller I mean stupid.

Roger's scenes have gotten even funnier now that he has that mustache.

I'm skeptical that Don Draper has a million dollars. I guess from the sale to McCann-Erickson he does, but damn, that's got to be a large portion of his net worth.

Hahaha, Harry Crane is my favorite - he goes from flattery to being sleazy in .2 seconds. He's probably right about Megan in terms of her ability to land roles given that it's 1970, but jesus, what a dirtbag.

It's hard to get a handle on what Don wants out of women other than to have sex with them, because he does seem taken by this woman and it's hard to see why, exactly. She reminds him of someone, but we don't know who. The idea that she's a real person who's lived a life and not just some 22 year old idiot? I guess it's kinda all of this. But they deal with pain differently and go their separate ways.

Laid it on a bit thick with the golf bag symbolism - why did Don have those clubs in the office? Either way, I think the episode drove home this idea well enough and didn't exactly need that little ornament.

"wasn't my idea" was terrific

That episode might've been more surreal than the actual surreal episode they did awhile back.

My favorite line was when Pete asked some sentimental question to Don and Don was like, "keep your eyes on the road." Guy wants no part of thinking anything through.

Where Harry is at in life versus Peggy.

Older woman (doubt she's 60) > Don's waitress

I mean seriously, do they have to speak French?

The actress is 59

the old waitress storyline is bizarre and I doubt it's over b/c that would make its introduction that much MORE bizarre.

Don writing a $1m check without a divorce agreement or lawyers present - lol.

definitely did feel like a surreal episode.

I'm willing to just chalk it up as some plot line that didn't work very well and never see or speak of that waitress again.

Its almost like they are trying to show the slow decline of Don. He keeps running his same life routine, but with worse and worse results.

Peggy, Stan, Mimi Rogers 3 way, one time!

An A grade from the av club for this episode? Lolololololol

Oh hi there Mimi Rogers

Loled hard at Roger's "What are you doing here.......Megan?"

I'd be surprised if it wasn't over. There was a lot about Don in that brief affair - did he want to reassure this woman that she wasn't a prostitute? Win her over with the Draper charm? It was a new reason for Don being rejected too, although it's sort of similar to why Rachel turned him down when he wanted to flee his old life and move to Los Angeles - Don was ready to abandon his children and pretend to be another person. Diana didn't want to pretend to be someone else, she wanted to live in the misery she'd created for herself. Don's basically abandoned his children regardless - they live with him once every two weeks, but they're Henry's kids now. He doesn't understand why Diana would make this choice - he tells her he's been in this position and knows what it's like - but he does understand that he's out of the picture once she does.

On the one hand, I think Weiner is overrated and it still stings me to this day that basically the reason why we got one split final season of Breaking Bad instead of two final full seasons was because of the $$ AMC had to pony up to Weiner to keep Mad Men on the air; but if this last stretch of episodes is going to be a subtle FU to those clamoring for a clear path toward closure, then I kind of have to tip my hat to him in a way. Plus, it's Don Draper....

Nailed it:

http://www.vox.com/2015/4/13/8398607...siness-spinoff