MAD MEN on AMC - Season 6

"that disgusting man with his disgusting wife. she's the apple that goes in the pig's mouth"

generally work >>>> relationships

Generally watching TV shows > either

Only if "The Cosby Show" and "Murder, She Wrote" alternated all day.

when we marry that's how it's gonna be, love

You said that in Jessica Fletcher's voice, didn't you?

one of my great regrets in life is that I was not able to write the final episode of Murder She Wrote

By far the best episode this season. Snap your fingers, pace yall!

- Bar scene in Detroit was fantastic
- Pete falling down the stairs was fantastic
- Tension between Pete and Trudy was fantastic
- Megan's mum? Fantastic
- Joan standing up to Don and telling him how everyone around him lives in fear? Fantastic
- We all knew a merger was in the works, but the way they played it out? Fantastic
- Peggy? Poor Peggy.... Think the "Peggy is surpressed by Don"-plot is a bit heavily played, but I can see her discomfort

Eric, Shakey moved to the front of the queue.

We all knew a merger was in the works

we... did?

Well, yeah... it was coming, especially since last weeks episode. Two short 'uns not being able to compete with the big 'uns etc

we'll see how it unfolds but that whole angle seemed weirdly rushed to me, worried that it's just a cheap ploy to get all the major characters under one roof again. (in the next episode, Betty and the Francises move in with Don! wacky hijinks ensue)

Employees running when partners emerge from the conference room was great, if obv, comedy.

yeah they've been foreshadowing the merger since at least the ketchup pitch and amped it up w/ the ad awards last week - keep wondering if a merger is in the cards also, they keep emphasising small agencies like ted's and scdp getting squeezed out.

― balls, Monday, April 29, 2013 11:59 PM (1 week ago)

I don't know. Saw several people on here I think (?) hinting at a merger too. Yes, it was done pretty quickly, but I don't see it as a cheap ploy. All season SDCP has been losing out on the big accounts, same for Peggy's employer too. I think we were set up for this merger last week.

xxp

Eric, Shakey moved to the front of the queue.

Not until the last drugstore has sold its last pill.

Exactly xxp

i wonder how this merger will work, if peggy's creative team will function semi-independently of don's or if they will all be under don's auspices now.

yeah merger raises a lot of random questions for me - how does this benefit anybody if they've both been losing clients? aren't they just increasing their overhead at SCDP by adding a bigger staff? and who buys out Cutler? How does this merger even go through at all if the only people behind it are Don and Roger (don't they at least need one more vote either from Joan, Pete, or Bert - all of whom have reasons for hating this idea?) Wouldn't Don take this is as an opportunity to freeze out Pete (what do they need him for anyway, now that he's lost his major clients?)

yes it's rushed and a yes it raises lots of "wait, why are they" questions but at least it introduces a new vector to a show that had been spinning in place thus far all season. honestly, if they wanted to introduce superheroes or have pete climb a clocktower with a rifle, i'm all for it at this point. too much navel gazing; let's fuck everything up and see if there's anything left worth saying

not looking forward to more scenes of Peggy making out with Dick Van Dyke

There's a lot of questions that will arise, of course. But come on, both are small companies losing out every time; Peggy - after kissing her boss, the attraction obviously there - in a similar awkward bind as with Don; beard-guy (forgot his name) already working for Don but keeping a warm bond with Peggy all the time through the phone... It is hardly a surprise.

How it will work out though? No idea.

Forks otm

yeah i'm curious about the logistics as well, in an episode where you had joan (and pete but who cares about him) go off on don for making unilateral decisions it's interesting to see him put together a merger on a whim (necessitated somewhat by need and obv the spin is that it was chevy's idea but everyone knows that if don didn't blanch at a client stepping on his freedom and genius then it was probably his idea in the first place), ted would only have to sell harry hamlin on the idea w/ the incentive of having to buy out their soon to be dead partner working for him, don gets to tell the other partners that forget about the ipo and whatever other ideas about scdp and their lives they might've had or been working on he's decided they're doing a merger w/ a rival. presumably they consulted w/ other partners before putting out a press release but boy i would've liked to have heard those phone calls.

it was a pretty awesome high-five moment when they merged you guys gotta admit

the logistics arent keeping me up at night but im delighted to see how they'll play out

every big thing that's happened on this show happens in a rush. don et al found out sterling cooper was for sale, decided to leave then left all in the same episode (all while don & betty decided to get divorced).

also, for some reason i kept thinking we were gonna see sal come back??

one way it benefits them is it gets them the chevy account

balls pretty on-the-ball

i think sal's w/ the russian in new jersey tbh

wait waht

Harry Hamlin?

i will say i was really pissed they didn't have the chutzpah to cut to the pitch for chevy and see how the sell went down. all that buildup and no payoff? tease.

wait did they get the Chevy account? that wasn't clear to me

I too hold out hope for return of Sal, but who knows

xp

Harry Hamlin?

he's been in the last two episodes bro where ya been

and if so whose pitch did they use lol

i didn't get why one small ad agency in the mix would have a chance, but with two they were fucked, but whatever

I didn't recognize him.

they did get the chevy account

and it was obviously pretty huge, like "open offices in detroit" huge.

I mean -- blond fag hair? hornrims?

I didn't recognize him at first either cuz he's so gaunt now

I think it's actually quite significant that Joan stood up to Don. When did that ever happen before? Never. And not in this harsh/truthful manor either.

And Pete was absolutely right when he said to Don "Don't act as if you had a plan"... Don, company-wise, was like a steerless ship, lost at sea. He already was personally, but he had to endure some failures in his pitches. Joan standing up to him - Joan! - was very significant. Pete shouting at him as well. His position is being undermined.

Which is good, Don probably needs a shock at work most as a wake up call than anything else.

I agree about Joan.

as for Don, all he needed was a bj from wifey eh lol

I don't think Joan's insubordination was out of line. She's exercised her power since Season ONe.

it's not out of line at all, but she has always been deferential and/or had a special camraderie with Don. she's never taken him to task for anything.

I dunno, that showdown had been building for a while.

one small agency in the mix = chevy serious about going w/ that one small agency if they decide not to go w/ a large firm w/ added implication that that small agency being there already means they're looking not to go w/ a large firm. two small agencies = chevy exploring whatever options are out there, not necessarily looking to go w/ small firm but hey who knows bring em in. heinz ketchup all over again. for large firms this is another (potentially great) day at the office, for small firms cutting ties w/ alfa romeo or jaguar is an existential risk you do cuz you think you've got a strong hand. when ted sees don is also there (in kind of a reversal of don running into ted in that hotel hallway) it's like he caught a bad beat on the river.

don also asked her "don't you feel 300lbs lighter?" which is just, hoo boy

joan was much more passive aggressive about standing up to don in the past

http://www.vanityfair.com/dam/online/oscars/2010/09/24/mrs-blankenship-460.jpg

in kind of a reversal of don running into ted in that hotel hallway

also an inversion of Pete running into his father-in-law, no?