Pretty sure he told Harry over the phone to fire Sal. Madmen is On Demand. Would need to rewatch the episode to be absolutely sure.

Betty seeks intimacy. She has a husband who won't talk about his past and doesn't share important news of his work life. This leaves only the surface of day to day family life.

OTOH, she's all about doing things the "correct" way, and appearances. As much as she may want the intimacy, she can't imagine herself going through the mechanics of some tawdry fling.

I hadn't thought of it from this perspective. Good point.

I think Don would have been fine with ignoring what he knew about Sal until it comes into the workplace. At that point it crosses the line into unforgivable.

The same with Roger and Jane. Roger brought his infidelity into the office, involving Don in his personal life in the process.

If we do lose Joan and Sal, I have to wonder if it isn't a "victim of the show's success" problem where its popularity drove up salaries beyond what they can support. I hope they aren't really gone.

I watched this part again: Lee Junior tells Harry Crane that he wants Sal "to be gone" and "to get rid of him". Harry responds with "No, I can't do that. Pete and Roger are handling your account." Now, to me, the implication is that Lee Junior just wants Sal off of his own account, not fired completely. If he wanted Sal fired altogether, why would he say something like this to Harry who heads only the TV Department? He should have gone to someone like Roger or Don if he wanted Sal really fired.

That's just my interpretation though. You could make an argument for either way really.

Don Draper himself is the character who has crossed the line the most between personal and professional at the office by having affairs with clients (Rachel Mencken) and having affairs with people's wives who are doing commercials for clients (comedian's wife Bobby). And then his whole disappearing act in California when he was supposed to be there on company business. Not that this rationalization couldn't be what Don is using as justification for firing Sal, but it does make him a huge hypocrite though.

I heard the same words you heard and thought he meant 'fired him'. Lucky Strikes is a $25M account. Mohawk was $1M and American Airlines was $7M. Lucky Strikes must be a huge percentage of SterlingCooper's business.

This was my interpretation too.

Either way this whole storyline feels rushed and sloppy, as does the Roger/Don whathaveyou. I'm also not feeling the excess focus on Betty - though that may be more of my issues with the performance than the writing. Many of her scenes feel like detours from the rest of the show (which very well may be intentional but I find their frequency and length unpleasant).

These guys have shown to be masters of pacing - be it a scene, an episode, or a season. I've been a bit let down, when taken in conjunction, by these last three episodes. It's not that they have been bad but it's not the level of storytelling that we've been getting.

I don't know; maybe the episodes are shorter now and an arc or two had to be discarded.

January Jones interview from the OOT thread. Money.

She grew up in Sioux Falls, HH!

This pretty much sums up my feelings too. It's hard for me to put a finger on what it is exactly but these last 3 episodes have been my 3 least favorite episodes of Madmen ever.

I have to agree, reluctantly. The shows still have moments of brilliance, like the scene where Don fired Sal. But I too am not particularly fond of the recent storylines.

last episode was the best thus far this season imo.

Season 3:Episode 11 - The Color Blue

Don's sinking into a helluva of a lot of trouble...imagine if Sterling Cooper is sold and say someone with a vendetta against Don - oh I don't know, someone named Duck - convinces his ad agency to buy SC...and now Don is tied to SC for 3 years. Oh boy. Don, you are seriously slipping.

He's not paying attention to anything that he should be - his job and his marriage - and that will come back to bite him in the ass (conveniently within the next 3 episodes, I think...there really are only 3 episodes left in the season, right? How sad. )

I don't have the slightest clue what Betty is going to do with the information that she's found out about Don/Dick...if she's even able to piece it all together, which is doubtful. The last shot of the episode of her looking sideways out of the corner of her eye at Don (after he'd just had the "Kennedy shot" of himself at the podium with the camera focused on him from below to make him seem grand with the lights glinting off him and the applause sounding) was perfectly ominous. Betty knows (via a paper divorce decree) that he is BS and all that Roger is saying about Don - devoted husband and caring father, etc. is all BS. In the world of advertising, the only truth is that it is all lies. What do people think Betty will do with her newfound knowledge? Will it give her enough justification to start revenge-****ing Henry?

I really liked Peggy in this episode. To me, she never gave off the impression that she was trying to one-up Kinsey or to make him look bad in front of Don. She just seemed like she was really just trying to do her job and come up with the best ad pitches. Her burping into the dictaphone and then saying "Sorry, Olive" was funny.

Ms.Farrell is crazy, Don. Way way crazy. She doesn't seem to understand the essential nature of an affair: secrecy. I think that she's going to burn you real good...and I can't say that you don't deserve it here.

I don't think Don could care any less. But when Sal's homosexuality hurt the business you got to see tough/mean Don. The "you people" line was meant to be hurtful. It was def. lame (of Don, not lame writing). At least that was my impression.


Last night Betty clearly intended to confront Don about what she found (waited up drinking w/ the box at the kitchen table until 3) but then when she gave up they made it just as clear that she was hiding her discovery (putting the keys back in the robe and hanging it up).

The likable Peggy of this episode made me hate the Peggy that slept with Duck even more. Specifically because I don't like Duck though... at all.

Since I haven't posted in a few episodes I have to second everyone who said they'd be sad if Sal and Joan are done. They were two of the only genuinely likable characters on the show. Joan esp. imo.

I liked this episode a bit more than the past few. Draper about to have his whole world implode. At the end there he was at his happiest and proudest moment. He hit his pinnacle and seems to ready to decend into the abyss that the opening credits show. Teacher chick is definitely wacky and her brother could cause problems too. What, when and how will Betty handle her newfound partial information?

Was happy to see Joan in next weeks preview. I hope Sal comes back too. But like the Sopranos this is the kind of show that will discard characters that the audience likes. Freddy Rumson was one of my Madmen faves and they got rid of him.

I'll just chime in here that Don is acting incredibly stupid.

How could he just leave all evidence of his past in the desk? If I had such a secret, I sure wouldn't feel secure just because I have a lock to a drawer. Hasn't he heard of a safe deposit box?

And the business about offering a ride to the girlfriend's brother, followed up by leaving him on the side of a road, was just weird.

I was reading another blog that was saying that they thought Don acted this way with Teacher's brother because he was seeing his own brother Adam in this epileptic kid (and also probably a bit of himself AND Don does have a thing for hobos! ) Anyway, Don seems to be trying to correct his past mistake with his own brother by not just trying to buy him off and instead also encourage him to keep communicating with him.

I guess this interpretation fits in nicely with the whole supposed theme of the episode in how two people can see the same thing in completely different ways - i.e., the color blue.

Thie first thing that struck me when I heard about the sale was being proposed was that the Brits (not Hilton) probably forced the contract making SC more valuable. I didn't think of the Duck angle but that makes a ton of sense.

I was thinking about why Don seems to be so willfully not paying attention to the **** storm that is building around him and it could largely be due to the fact that he signed that three-year contract with SC. He feels tied down and caged into something he may be good at, but doesn't necessarily like or is always fulfilled by (Don really should ask Betty about this state of living life) so he just doesn't care so much about the aspects of his fake life - his job and his marriage to Betty - to keep up his vigilance.

Just a thought...

Hey, hurry up and offer some analysis of last night's great episode, already!

I'm too tired to write anything, but not too tired to read. Get on it, people.

Alrighty then, here I am.

Season 3: Episode 11 - The Gypsy and the Hobo

God, I Joan. She's so kick-ass - even though she was only in a couple of scenes. I really laughed when she quite calmly turned around and broke that vase over her dim-witted husband's head.

My oh my Roger...you were quite the ladies man. "Well, I won't brag about how big I am." Everybody else assumes that Roger's "one that got away" was Joan, right? Hmm...I wonder how Joan really feels about Roger? I know they had their office affair, but was there ever any real indication of whether she was emotionally invested in him at all?

And BETTY BUSTED DON FINALLY! Once she showed him the pictures, that Don Draper bravado and confidence disappeared real quickly. She took charge completely and shut him down with the "you don't get to ask the questions" line. Don/Dick was suitably contrite and completely humbled himself to Betty and was noticeably deferring...but I still don't know if it's going to be enough. She's going to find about the teacher before this season ends, mark my words. And I definitely felt bad for that teacher, sitting in the car for hours as Don forgot about her. I felt so bad for her when he called her the next day on the phone and her voice quavered as she asked him, "Do I still have a job?" I'm starting to have a different interpretation of Don's affair with her though...I think it may mean as much to him as it does to her. They were playing house at the beginning of the show with her cooking him dinner and him napping in her bed. He definitely seems more emotionally invested in her than I originally thought. And she didn't seem as crazy this episode either...

I really didn't like the ending of this episode. The whole trick-or-treating scene with Francine's husband Carlton asking Don, "who are you supposed to be?" was way way too obvious a statement/scene for such a subtle show as MM. I literally went "blech" out loud after I watched that part.

Overall, a really great episode. And next week, it's Pete and his shenanigans again! There's no character on this show that I don't love seeing an episode about.

Betty will NOT find out about the school teacher.

That would be too much drama for one family. I think the teacher is basically gone from the show (and by the way, I never thought she was crazy).

I liked the ending. Yes, it was obvious, but somehow, that in itself seemed funny.

I declare that the actress who plays Joan is the best one on the show. There, I've said it.

This was a great episode! The look on Joans face just before she hit him with vase was priceless. And Betty came alive! I didn't think she had it in her to confront him so forcefully and it was good to see. I feel this has to strengthen their relationship. As far as the teacher goes that was where Don went when Betty cold shouldered him after coming back from Rome. I agree that I don't think Betty finds out about this.

It was great to see some Roger and Joan storylines too. I can't help but think those two will get together again somehow someway.

Maybe I'm overestimating the worth of Roger and Joan's relationship...

(Quoted from a blog I read: )

I'm just having an impossible time getting my mind around the fact that Roger feels that Jane is "the One" that he tells Annabelle about...and that it's not Joan. Jane is so...bland and one-dimensional, and I don't really ever seeing being able to match Roger in wits like Joan can and does.

Roger had his chance to have Joan. He could've left Mona for Joan, but given that it was Jane for whom he severed his marriage, it's pretty clear to me how he feels about each woman. The way I see it, there are some girls you like as a fine piece of ass, and there are others you'd take that leap for. A guy can have tremendously strong feelings (not just sexual lust) for the former, without her being the latter, as Roger has expressed towards Joan.

As for matching wits, I don't see Roger needing that in a woman. Jane is carefree, young, and pretty. From what we've seen, she has little personality, talents, or ambitions, and it seems like that's Roger's perfect woman. Makes sense to me.

It didn't register to me that Roger was talking about Joan, when turning down Annabelle in this episode with the "You weren't" line. It's possible, but I think he loves Jane. He's shown it repeatedly this season.

But yeah, I would've liked to see Roger & Joan get together. There's always season 4

hey...im new to the thread but have been watching MM for yrs ... I love the show but have some issues with certain storylines over the yrs and wonder why the writers introduce certain characters and then forget all about them

way back in the first season peggy seemed to be getting very friendly with the young priest ( young priest played by tom hanks' son ) ..and it seemed as if something were gonna happen but then poof, priest storyline is gone..

also, why is it necessary to show a whole 20 min of peggy and the boys smoking weed , just seemed amateurish ,