Mad Men Quits Smoking

SPOILER ALERT!!!


Some notes on the second to last Mad Men for the year:

A big client didn’t come walking through the door of SCDP This week, but I still think something will happen to save the firm. The question is whether it will be in the finale or if we’ll be left hanging.

I wasn’t expecting to ever see Midge again, and it’s unfortunate that she returns as a desperate heroin addict, but at least we know where the $5,000 Don gave her in Season 1 went. And I for one thought Don might have been a little more understanding with Midge seeing as he’s had some substance abuse problems himself.

I’m glad Lane’s back too, although I guess his Playboy Bunny girlfriend is no longer in the picture with the news that his family returned to U.S. with him.

I have to admit I was fooled by the Bobby Kennedy phone call . . . even though in hindsight it was a pretty bad impersonation. Damn you Teddy!

I’ll continue to say that Sally and Glen together cannot end well, so it’s probably for the best that Betty chased him off . . . and I’m guessing he doesn’t play running back on the football team considering he couldn’t run 20 feet without being out of breath.

I’m interested to see where the Faye-Don relationship goes now that it can be in the open with Faye no longer working with SCDP. My money is still on a breakup, maybe as soon as next week.

Don owed Pete for taking one for the team with the North American Aviation account, so it was appropriate for him to pay Pete’s loan for him. Hopefully this means Pete won’t be tempted to jump ship.

Twice in the episode the camera framed Megan between Don and Faye. First when Don and Faye were in the conference room and Megan was in the background at her desk and then when Don and Megan were coming back from the break room (I guess) and Faye was waiting by Don’s office. Good director work.

Why did Bert quit? Just because Don didn’t consult him on the NY Times ad? Does he get consulted on anything these days? What was his role with the new firm, other than decoration for the office? It did lead to the funniest line of the episode when the layoffs began and Bert came by to wish everyone luck and Stan said “I didn’t think they’d start with him”.

So here we are, after months of waiting for Season 4, suddenly there’s only one episode left. We’ll see if Don’s ad causes the firm to crumble or if he saves the day again.