Mad Men Discussion Thread

[pittypat]

In a previous episode, I thought the secretary (Meghan?) was so, so sweet to Sally. But now... I think that gal is up to something. Don't really think she has any great love for Don, maybe just a great love for getting ahead. Hope she doesn't turn out to be evil-Don's life is waaaaay too complicated as it is!

 

[MoneyNeverSleeps]

I took it as Heinz was with a different agency, but Faye knew they were unhappy. Don is stealing business because Faye is giving him info that betrays the trust of her other clients.

makes perfect sense...

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

I took it as Heinz was with a different agency, but Faye knew they were unhappy. Don is stealing business because Faye is giving him info that betrays the trust of her other clients.

Yeah, me too.

Someone mentioned that Sal could come back now that Lucky Stike has abandoned ship. There was a question posed in Parade magazine about him either this past week or the week before and this was Bryan Batt's answer:

"He's not dead," Batt says of his character Sal Romano, who disappeared last season. Mad Men creator Matt Weiner also confirms that Sal's still alive, but that's all they're saying. While awaiting his fate, Batt wrote what he calls a "momoir," She Ain't Heavy, She's My Mother. "She's like a Steel Magnolia meets Auntie Mame," he says. "When hardships came her way, she rose above them--in style." linkage

So.... ya never know. Matt Weiner is notorioulsy tight-lipped (which I LOVE), so anything is possible. I really liked the character of Sal.

And I don't believe for one second that Joan had that abortion.

 

[MoneyNeverSleeps]

I got the impression Don was disgusted with Sal though?

 

[redlight]

I got the impression Don was disgusted with Sal though?

I don't think Don was disgusted with Sal. Don's not particularly homophobic, at least not by the standards of the times. Remember all he said after he knew about Sal and the bellhop was that Sal should be discreet (not in so many words, but you know what I mean). Don did see Sal's firing as necessary because that was what the client wanted. That doesn't make Don a hero, by any means, but I think he doesn't harbor resentment to Sal.

 

[NotUrsula]

I think that Don's attitude about Sal was just the run of the mill simple prejudice that most straight men felt toward gay men at the time, but he was surprisingly un-hostile. I don't think he cared at all what Sal did in his private time; it was the intrusion of it into work life that bothered him (Lee Garner, Jr. again.) Of course, that was back when Don's "Chinese wall" that separated his work life from his personal life was actually still standing.

Did anyone else wonder if Don wanted to head down to Raleigh with Roger because he was considering a small spot of blackmail? I don't think that Roger was ever told the story of Sal's encounter with Garner in the editing room, but Don knew about it, and he knew that Garner initiated it. A few well-placed innuendoes might have had the board running very scared that Garner's "tendencies" (to use the period word) might be revealed.

Oh, and no question about it, Megan is up to something. It wouldn't begin to surprise me if she had some connection to Ted Chaough.

 

[redlight]

I don't think he cared at all what Sal did in his private time; it was the intrusion of it into work life that bothered him (Lee Garner, Jr. again.)

Right!

 

[beachlover9395]

It wasn't an interview with Heinz, it was a meeting.

Oops, my bad! I meant meeting, not interview. I typed this way too early this morning. I knew it was a meeting, but for some reason it came out interview.

 

[MoneyNeverSleeps]

I don't think Don was disgusted with Sal. Don's not particularly homophobic, at least not by the standards of the times. Remember all he said after he knew about Sal and the bellhop was that Sal should be discreet (not in so many words, but you know what I mean). Don did see Sal's firing as necessary because that was what the client wanted. That doesn't make Don a hero, by any means, but I think he doesn't harbor resentment to Sal.

Hmm I just remember when Don caught Sal with the bellhop when he looked through the window. It seemed to me that he had a look of disapproval on his face..

 

[Cindy B]

Re: Don and Sal

On the plane ride back from Boston, Don shows Sal a copy board for the London Fog campaign.. it said "Limit Your Exposure" Sal definitely understood the implication.

The old Sterling Cooper had biases against gay people. Kurt (of Kurt and Scmitty) was gay. The men in the office would berate him about it, but Peggy actually got a haircut from him! Peggy wasn't sure at first, but he did come out to her. To say Sterling Cooper was "ok" with gays, would be incorrect.

Now SCDP, may be a bit more tolerant but certainly not an "open closet" type thing. Right now, Peggy is friends with a lesbian.. and people know it. Just a few episodes ago, Peggy licked her friend in front of male coworker. I would never think that would happen for a woman trying to make it in an mans world in front of male coworker (even if the action was in jest)

As far as bringing Sal back, i don't think it will happen at SCDP. All the major accounts are leaving so I don't think there is a budget for it. --although I would love it.. he's one of my favorite characters.

The more i think about it -- I think Roger is going to commit suicide this season.

 

[antmaril]

The more i think about it -- I think Roger is going to commit suicide this season.

I, too, think that Roger is going to commit suicide (or, at least make an attempt).

 

[Mimi1965]

I knew Don would get that secretary at some point. But did anyone think she looks better far away.. her face kind of looked a bit funny up close.

.

I thought the same thing!!!!
Almost looked like a DIFFERENT actress upclose

Matbe when Joan starts "showing" roger will commit suicide?

 

[beachlover9395]

"Why even have an office? Why don't we just work out of a cab?" Pete's funny, LOL.

Wonder if the company's going to fold - was kinda shocked by Don taking out a full page ad in the NY Times. Also, looks like Betty gets grilled about Don again by the FBI and I think we're going to find out more about Joan and what she did with her pregnancy. Should be an interesting season finale next week.

 

[NotUrsula]

The actress who plays Megan is, as the saying goes, "toofy" -- she has very prominent teeth that make her look kind of horsey in closeups.

I don't trust Megan as far as I can throw her. She had to know that "Kennedy" call was a prank that was coming in from only across town, and from a number that the switchboard could undoubtedly identify as a rival agency.

Looks like $50K means that Don and Pete are square now; the debt's been paid.

It was rather interesting that one of the people who was shown reading the NYTimes letter was Henry Francis -- knowing Wiener, that's somehow going to be important.

The irony of this entire plotline is that getting out of the cigarette ad business is actually the smart thing to do, as the handwriting was on the wall that year when the UK banned cigarette commercials. The US ban did not go into effect until Jan 1971, but ad firms began to back away in the mid-1960's, because it was just a matter of time and everyone knew it. (My BIL was in ad sales for a newspaper at the time; he noticed that the decline started after the Surgeon General's report came out -- suddenly it was in kind of bad taste to make claims about smoking being good for you and cool.)

 

[Mimi1965]

I thought Don's letter was brilliant-they sure as heck couldn't afford an AD that big

Me thinks peggy had a pretty snart idea-they need a new name

Now that so many have left-I hope Sal comes back. I really like him


Great episode

 

[Family Fun Mom]

Another great episode! I loved Roger's line "I gotta go learn a bunch of people's names so I can fire them." He's my favorite character on the show. He always has something hilarious to say, without really intending to be hilarious.

Can't wait to see next week's finale

 

[gometros]

Now with Lee Garner Jr. and Lucky Strike out of the picture, SCDP can hire SAL back... I love SAL!

Caught up with the two episodes before last night that I missed while on vacation. I don't see Sal coming back, especially with SCDP forced to fire people due to their drop in revenue.

"Why even have an office? Why don't we just work out of a cab?" Pete's funny, LOL.

Wonder if the company's going to fold - was kinda shocked by Don taking out a full page ad in the NY Times. Also, looks like Betty gets grilled about Don again by the FBI and I think we're going to find out more about Joan and what she did with her pregnancy. Should be an interesting season finale next week.

I thought the ad was a brilliant move. You can't get advertising like that at any price and as somebody already stated, they don't know it yet, but ad revenue from cigarette ads will soon dry up anyway with the law changes that take place in the latter end of the 60s. The last ads on TV and radio was in 1971 and ironically, I believe it was for Virginia Slims.

 

[FloraFauna]

I thought the letter was a brilliant move also.

I loved when Don asked if no one was happy about the letter. Roger said " I don't know, its good not to be the reason this place went down anymore".

 

[MoneyNeverSleeps]

I really hope when Don turns out to be the hero that he rubs it in all their faces.. Cooper, Sterling, Campbell, Price... just rub it in their grills real good.

 

[sparklynails23]

In a previous episode, I thought the secretary (Meghan?) was so, so sweet to Sally. But now... I think that gal is up to something. Don't really think she has any great love for Don, maybe just a great love for getting ahead. Hope she doesn't turn out to be evil-Don's life is waaaaay too complicated as it is!

She's no more evil than Don. He's using Faye for business purposes. If Meghan is doing the same, so be it. Faye started out as a strong woman, someone who "didn't have to play their [the men's] games." She's becoming one of Don's typical women. I don't like her, anyway.