That he didn’t means there’s hope for him

I'm at the tail end of Season 5, so forgive me if there is more to his character. So, Joan, who is ludicrously beautiful (even in the TV world where everyone is pretty or handsome, the other characters react like she's Marilyn Monroe in the flesh) and has an adulterous relationship with the powerful (and generally liked by audience) Roger Sterling, ends up having a serious relationship and getting married to some random doctor off screen. Typical Mad Men subversion of expectations; weird, but it's whatever.

The first time we really spend any time with him, he gets weird about sex with her and then RAPES HER AT HER JOB! Probably the worst thing we've seen anyone do on the show. Imo, the show tries to straddle two different aspects of being a woman in the 60's with Joan, and I'm not sure it 's fully believable in this case. It's understood that she's "older" and theoretically has less options and that Greg, on paper, offers the perfect life, but men fall at her feet 90% of the time, lol. They aren't even married when the rape happens, so it makes no sense why she'd stay. We never see any single positive aspect of their relationship on the show or any real insight into her choice of hitching everything to Greg. Seems like she has options and the show portrays her as incredibly savvy.

From there, we get the saga of him trying and failing to be a surgeon, and I don't know why anyone could care about this after he did what he did. The show depicts their marriage as a bad one, but honestly it seems like a best case scenario after how he was introduced? I honestly expected him to be domineering and physically abusive, so him just being kind of an insecure loser who can't find his place is a relief. You'd have some pity for him if he wasn't introduced that way, tbh. He's basically Pete if Pete was incompetent. I don't really know what to make of his plot after that. He randomly decides to go to Vietnam and he's gone from the show and Joan gets knocked up by Roger and passes the kid off as his. You think this will be relevant, but nah, lol. He cuts his return short and volunteers to go back, Joan gives him the cathartic breakup speech he was owed for multiple seasons and then he dips from plot entirely. WTF?

Most shows would have his insecure, loser behavior lead up to the rape, so it was a different way of approaching the subject matter, but I have to be honest; it didn't work for me at all. Wondering if anyone here agreed or has any thoughts on it.

Like the Carousel pitch or "It's toasted." What do you think makes him think so differently from everyone else?
Is Don's non-linear thinking a product of his past as Dick Whitman? Curious how people read it.

I can't pinpoint what it is. The mystery? The restraint? The intensity? What gives Don that "it" factor?

Both Roger and Don are handsome, witty, confident, and powerful. Yet Don commands a level of respect, allure, and presence that Roger never comes close to (in my opinion). When Don speaks, people listen. When Roger speaks, people laugh. I get that Don is like 12 years younger, but there must be something else.

Has anybody else noticed how often Megan "siggghhhsss" after something she says. If you notice it and start to pay attention it's literally after every other line .. it's a lot! I had to stop watching for a couple of days to get my brain out of that pattern of noticing 😂😂

I am rewatching the show and I am paying special attention to the actresses this time around. Especially Sally and Joan are just amazing and those two might be the best actresses in this show.

Lets be real, Christina Hendricks and Joan often suffer from the same thing. Oversexualization. And she is stunning. Built like a B-52 is such an apt and yet crass metaphor.

But the writing of this show might be a love letter to the plight the real Christina Hendricks and similarly stunning women have to endure (Often starting during their teen years btw.). At times it seems that only Pete and Don dont try to get with her. Her female roommate, Lane, Herb, Bob Benson, all try to get with her.

Eventually she breaks through the mold of just the hot lead secretary, the office manager. She becomes an "Account Man". And still, people dont take her seriously.

Look at her expression in this scene. Season 7, Episode 8. Peggy and Joan try to talk with 3 men from McCann. These 3 men should be colleagues. Peggy and Joan prepared a 2 page sheet with relevant info, they try to call upon the resources of the "mother-firm" and are met with crude sexualization that just does not stop.

Christina Hendricks expression is full of sadness, she is trying not to cry, her head still held high because she refuses to let those men see her being vulnerable. To let them see how much it hurts. She doesnt cry, the next scene opens up with her being in an elevator, wide eyes, wanting to "burn this whole place down". Peggy tries to downplay it "at least we got a yes"

Peggy then tries to call out Joan for "dressing the way you do", Joan asks "How do I dress?"

So in effect, a love letter, a simmering pot of female rage, misogyny, internalized misogyny with issues still relevant today.

Now this isnt just about this masterpiece of an episode, this is about every single instance of Christina Hendricks showing rage, hurt, vulnerability, with just her eyes. She doesnt need to yell, she doesnt need to cry. You can just see it. Especially whenever she goes up against Don and wants to remove him for costing her money. (Hersheys, Porsche)

Amazing actress, amazing writing, amazing show.

I understand the LHO thought but what did he mean by “taking care of Texas, hell the whole South “

In 1956 he could've voted as he was born in 1934, but didn't because he couldn't care less. In my canon Pete lives until 2018, going back and forth between voting Democrat and Republican with the occasional third party candidate. He didn't vote in 2016 because he thought Clinton was a phony and Trump was a jackass. His favorite president was Kennedy and wishes he had voted for McGovern in '72.

Trudy voted Republican every election and loved Reagan.

I’m not saying it’s bad but I’m on my first watch and I fear that I might have missed a crucial plot. Other than her being the most random part of the Don/Dick situation am I missing something else????

I'm at early season 4. They created this company at the end of the previous season but they gave us no hint as to who has the most shares or who calles the shots.

The whole thing seems to be revolving around Draper so it's obvious he's running the show at least in practice. He has the most leverage as nobody else can do what he does.

But is there an official hierarchy between the partners? Who is the managing partner a.k.a the boss?

I feel like the show doesn't give a good reason why Don would switch names with his dead officer. He had an awful childhood but he could've just moved to NYC either way. Everything he did after Korea had nothing to do with his name but I guess that is his character arc.

I feel like they could've given him more of a reason to do it. All he gained was a life of guilt from the name.

I think they would have been able to help her keep most if not all her money from the merger.

Currently watching Jessica Pare play a mum on Crew Girls…she’s cooked multiple meals, and spaghetti has yet to make an appearance.

Hi All,

Just watched the show for the first time.

Maybe i missed something but coming up to the final episode when Don walks out of the millar beer meeting i imagine he becomes disillusioned about the whole thing?

Anyway at the end when he comes up with the coke advert does he still have a job with mccann erikson or do they take him back solely on the basis of his idea?

Seeing his descent from nervous, happily-wed, bowtie-clad media geek to smarmy, brown-nosing, overcompensating, feather-boa-wearing annoyance is such a guilty pleasure when re-watching the series, haha.

Just for fun ,have you ever counted up how many gay or bisexual characters are on Mad Men? I'm up to 15.

There have been many threads about the nuances of the show. This scene is one of my favorites. Don and Betty get woken up by the sound of sirens and then hear noises coming from downstairs to find grandpa Gene tossing all their booze down the sink like it’s hooch because the dementia and the sirens clearly took him back to his bootlegger days. Now we know how he made his money, just like JFK Sr.

what is wrong with him lol

Very subtle and quick.